Go UTES!!!!

Well, Joe has season tickets to the U of U football this season and has really enjoyed it. The best game was definitely the U against BYU last night, which I went with him to. Now, I will be the first to admit I am not a big fan of watching sports, I've always had fun playing them, but I really don't care for watching them. However, last night was a lot of fun; now it was cold(I was numb by the end), the food was so so, and I was trying to keep Lincoln warm and happy the whole time, but the best part was watching Joe have such a good time. It was a fun game, with good friends and it was exciting to share in something that Joe enjoys so much(Joe rushed the field with all the other crazy fans while I waited in the stands with Lincoln). So, I guess we'll be getting season ticket for next year tomorrow ;) Joe has already turned Christian into a little Ute fan, when he took him to one of the games earlier this season and Christian said the blue guys are bad; getting him started early I guess. Go UTES!!!

Go UTES!!!!

Christian's Field Trip-Dino Museum

Protirement Party

Congratulations to Dad who has worked for so long and so hard for protirement. We had a great time celebrating with the family; first we surprised Dad at work on his last day, went to El Farol's for some dinner, and had a lovely little program back at the house. It was a lot of fun and we are all so thank for the many blessing that Dad's career has brought to our lives. Now the fun begins for Mom and Dad to work on their goals and dreams as they start protirement together!

Protirement Party-Congratulations Dad!

The Three Musketeers

Our Little Lincoln Boy

Lincoln is almost 4 months old now and has the sweetest little spirit, hardly ever cries or fusses and tolerates his older siblings very well;) It has been such a joy to hear his little giggles these last few weeks and to watch him grow, as they change so quickly the first few months. I have loved having three kids, they are all at different levels and it is so rewarding to have them play, interact and love one another so much. Christian is the best big brother anyone could ask for, her protects Mercedes everywhere we go. He loves to help me and to boss the younger ones around, but Mercedes adores him and does pretty much whatever he says and does(unless they are fighting over a batman toy that is) Christian is doing great a school and is eager to move to the new house and have Christmas! Mercedes is a smart cookie but quite the drama queen. She has been a ROCK STAR with potty training, she was accident free after only a few days and dry through the night after less then a week. I am crossing my fingers she doesn't regress after the move. Lincoln has been a piece of cake up until a few weeks ago, he starting vomiting every time I fed him, not just spit up, he was throwing up probably half of what I was feeding him. After a few days I took him to the doctor, he thought it could be a number of things; a little stomach bug, maybe acid reflux, or something more serious called pyloric trichinosis. What happens is the muscle between the stomach and the small intestine works and works and works until it close up, so the food can not pass through and is forced out by vomiting, usually found between 3-6 weeks old. He listened to his stomach and said it was churning and that he wanted to do an ultrasound. Okay, so I was a little nervous at this point but didn't want to jump to any conclusions yet. They set up an ultrasound for first thing in the morning at Utah Valley. So, I headed back to my parents to pick up the kids. After getting there I called the doctors office to change the ultrasound to Primary Children's so that Joe would be able to come. The nurse called Primary Children's and then called me back and said to go straight to Primary Children's Hospital and be there by 6 p.m. It was a little after 5 p.m. and I told her I don't know if I can make it up there before they close. She said I talked to the radiologist and he said to come immediately this is an urgent matter!! I quickly left leaving the older kids with my folks and headed for the hospital. I was a frantic mess; trembling, crying, and praying to God that he would be okay and not need surgery. Joe was on the golf course with his company when I called and met me on the way up. The ultrasound took a while and the whole time I just sat there holding him on the table praying he would be okay.
Lincoln's stomach was full of air and they had told me not to feed him so he was starving too but luckily they checked everything out and he was perfect. Those few hours of fear and panic where exhausting, but we were so grateful Lincoln was alright. I think one of the hardest things about being a parents is the fear of something happening to one of your children, you feel so helpless and vulnerable. It was a very humbling experience, and I get teary eyed just thinking about it. I feel it such an honor to mother and raise these elect spirits. I guess that's part of the reason I want so many kids, the baby phase goes by so quickly and it is at those moments that I feel closest to God, having Him trust me with these special spirits is such an amazing responsibility. Don't get me wrong we have our days and I have my moments of craziness and one of the 3 usually needs or wants somethings, but at the end of the day I am so grateful to be their Mother.

Does This Make My Butt Look Big?

Well, kids say the darnedest things and my little man Christian is no exception. Last night as I was getting the kids ready for bed, Christian turns to me and says. "Mom, Mercedes has a little bum, I have a a big bum, and yours...yours is just FAT!" I couldn't believe my ears and quickly turn to him and asked "What did you just say?" Christian looked stunned and replied with "I... I said I Love you?" I wasn't very amused at the moment but found the humor in it later relaying it to Joe. Truth comes from the mouth of babes huh? On the flip side though, Sunday I was playing with Lincoln and Christian was watching. He put his hand on my arm and said "Mom you are such a good Mommy to Lincoln, I Love you." That's enough to melt my heart and make up for the fat comment. Christian is such a joy and constantly keeps us smiling and laughing.

Sandy House

Well, here are the picture of the house we have made an offer on. Here's the stats. It is located on Wasatch Blvd. in East/South Sandy near Hidden Valley Golf Course and is close to the mountain. It is over 3700 square feet, fully finished basement, on .33 acres. As you can see in the pictures the main floors is all hardwood except for the 2 small bedrooms and those are carpet. The main floor has 2 bedrooms, a small den, 2 full bath, living room, great room-family room/kitchen/dining. The basement has 3 bedrooms and 1 bath and is all carpeted(which is pretty hammered and would need to be replaced) We have made an offer and should hear back from them within the next week. We are very excited and will keep you posted, we will be able to move in mid-December :)

Sandy House

Halloween

Well, it's a few days late but here are our crazy Halloween adventures. We had a couple days of Halloween fun; Thursday Christian had his Halloween school program at Elite Academy. Christian did a great job with all the songs and loved having everyone come and see him perform his scary secret Halloween songs. After the program we went to Cafe Rio for lunch and went to Gardener Village one more time to see the witches. On Halloween day we got so lucky and Mercedes Costume arrive(maybe this Murphey's Law thing is wearing off;) she was of course Batgirl, only because I wouldn't let her be Batman. She loved it though and was a perfectly pink little crime fighter. They have had so much fun with those costumes already. Joe got off work early so we could go to the pumpkin patch and get our pumpkins to carve(I know just a little last minute) but, it all worked out, I gutted the pumpkins and Joe carved them while I got the kids ready to go trick or treating with Jeffrey and Alexia. The kids had a blast and Mercedes ate the treats, chips, and juice as fast as we got it. We only visited a hand full of houses and that was good enough. Then we raced down to my parents before the kids fell asleep(like last year). We had lots of fun taking pictures, eating chili/corn bread, and watching a old Batman Movie from the seventies(Christian thought it was equally cool, who would have thought!) Our night ended with everyone asleep on the sofa/floor. It was such a blast and now Christian is counting down the days till Christmas and making his list for Santa Clause.

Halloween

Erika and Ryan's Visit

We were so excited to have Erika and Ryan come and visit us and meet our new baby Lincoln for the first time. We had lots of fun during there little visit back home. We played up at East Canyon/Park City, lots of swimming, shopping, and catching up. We also spent sometime at the Olympic Park Museum, where Erika and Ryan went on a zip line down the mountain(Ryan won). Sunday we had a little family celebration for Ryan's 30th Birthday with lots of great food, super gifts, a yummy cake(made by Erika, 2 cakes actually:) and lots of wonderful things to say! Ryan had his first experience with Heavy, Heavy Hang Over, and the boys bonded over a Batman Puzzle while dinner was cooking. We had a blast and can not wait for them to come back in a few weeks for a big Thanksgiving Feast.

Erika and Ryan's Visit

Potty Time

Everyone that knows Mercedes, knows that she loves to do whatever her big brother Christian is doing(good or bad). Luckily in this instance it is a GREAT thing. Mercedes decided a few weeks ago she was going to start using the potty just like Christian, and she has been working at it ever since. Christian has been a great help and he validates her constantly. I was so excited, since we have had two little ones in diapers the last three months, this will be a big money saver. As you can see they are two peas in a pod and do everything together. Christian tells everyone at school his best friend is his little sister Mercedes.

Halloween Party

Happy Halloween! I am a little slow at getting things caught up, but the Family Halloween Party was a blast. Thanks for all the fun and creative costumes, we had so much fun eating/visiting, playing games/watching movies, and enjoying the yummy caramel apple bar. We will be sure to do it again next year.

Halloween Party

Lincoln's Birth/Blessing

Summer Love

Well, the day has finally come and I have started a blog. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, mostly to document all the fun things we do as a family and keep a little online journal. So, first I am going to do a little recap of the summer because a lot happened and it happened so fast.

Our summer was full of fun things; Florida, East Canyon/Park City, Fish Lake, Alaska-Joe. Lots of shopping, swimming, and playing; a Halloween Party, 2 big birthday parties and one baby birth/blessing. It has been a very eventful few months.

Christian turned 4 this year and invited Bruce Wayne aka BATMAN to his birthday party. It was a lot of fun we had salad, pizza, cake and ice cream. Christian was ecstatic when BATMAN arrived, he told Christian to always stand for good and fight evil. Christian showed Batman some of his 'moves' and got a batman T-shirt from him. It was a lot of fun; we ate, had a pinata, opened presents(Christian's favorite present was his own Bat mobile), got to spend time with family. Thanks to everyone that came!



Mercedes also had a birthday and turned 2 this year, boy it goes so fast. Mercedes being the little diva princess that she is, wanted a princess party, so mom made a cake just for her. We didn't have any special guests for this party, Cinderella was out of town ;) It was sweet and simple and as you can see in the pictures, the princess was ready for her beauty rest by the end of the party.
(Mercedes is just like her mother and hates to be dirty/messy and loves to clean.)



Well, being on the 2 year plan for having kids, we have: Christian 4, Mercedes 2 and our brand new baby boy Lincoln Kevin Grover. I was about 2 weeks late and had to be induced as always but things went very smoothly on the delivery day (even with Joe having a exam early that morning). It was a lot of fun having our families there to welcome baby Lincoln, we are so grateful for your love and support. Lincoln was 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 19 1/2 inches (he is now 3 months old and weighs 13 lbs. 4 oz.) He came with dark blue eyes and brown hair, but his eyes have lighten a little and his hair has fallen out and he is looking like a Blondie now. Lincoln has such a sweet peace about him and he is getting used to all the 'help' brother and sister give :) We love him so much and are so grateful he is here. Lincoln was blessed on Sunday, October 12th; we woke up to the first snow of the season(luckily it melted while we were at church). It was a lovely blessing and a great day. Thanks for everyone's help with the luncheon, we had a delicious spread. Joe and I are so grateful for all of the love and support we have been shown by our family and friends as we continue to grow our family. Thanks We Love you all!