Kyle's Break

Kyle had a two week "kind of" break. His two really hard classes ended, but he still had a couple hours of school everyday. The nice thing was that when his classes were over he could come right home because he didn't have to stay and study all night. We had so much fun having him around, but it all ends Monday when Anatomy starts up again and we won't get to see him until December. So we soaked up every moment that we could. 

It started out with my family coming to visit conference weekend. It was a fast weekend, but it was so much fun. I loved having them in my home and getting to see everyone. 

My parents both asleep, Kyle is faking although I'm pretty sure he was asleep at some point during the weekend. In their defense we had partied pretty hard the night before and my mom had taken pictures that morning and my dad almost froze to death running 14 miles in freezing cold weather.

The two teenagers didn't last very long either. This was about 5 minutes after I took the first picture. 

On Monday and Wednesday of this week Kyle didn't have any school so we went on some fun family adventures. On Monday we went to the science center with one of Kyle's dental school friends families. They had a membership and were able to get our entire family in for free! It was a pretty fun science center. There was a little room with a slide that was the hit of the day for Abby. And a movie about the "big bang theory" that she would leave alone. Its so fun to see the different things that catch her attention and entertain her. 

Kyle and I nerding it up in the science center. 

There is only one Cafe Rio in the denver area and it is right down the street from the science center. So it was a must that we went there for lunch. In Arizona every time we go to Cafe Rio we always see  someone from our ward. I figured that since the Cafe Rio was so far away from our home that we wouldn't see anyone we knew. Right as we were walking out I saw a family from our ward! How hilarious is that? 

Then on Wednesday we drove up to the mountains to go for a little hike. The drive was not bad at all and it was gorgeous up there. I love the smell of the mountains, there is something so wonderful about being there. 

Abby loved it, she insisted on walking almost the entire time. We walked pretty far, and we would only pick her up when there were a lot of rocks or steep hills. She was having so much fun pointing at everything and running around. 

She even let me hold her hand, this is a very special privilege. Abby is very independent and she wants to do everything herself, which means she doesn't want to hold our hands very often. She is getting so big, and it is getting to be more and more fun to be out and about with her. She is so curious about everything, and very animated. Her highlight of the day was probably a little puppy that walked past us that she got to pet. She loves, loves, loves, loves (+100) more loves animals. To bad Kyle and I are NOT pet people. Although I bet this little girl wears us down one day and convinces us with those big blue eyes that she needs something small and fluffy for her very own. 

Overall we had a super fun couple of weeks as a little family enjoying spending time together. We have a couple more adventures planned this weekend and then Kyle hits the books hard again. He is working so hard and doing so well. I couldn't be more proud of him. Over the next few months we have a trip to AZ for Thanksgiving, then we'll head back up here and get ready for our new baby girl to get here! I'm 29 weeks and feeling great, we can't wait to meet her!

Disneyland!

Disneyland was awesome. I think that about sums it all up! I was so excited to get to see my family and be in the happiest place on earth. The only thing that wasn't great about the trip was the fact that was so incredibly, miserably HOT! I about died, and it wore Abby out really fast. But we still made some awesome memories. I only have my iphone pictures, my mom took thousands with her nice camera and one day I'll get those from her. Here is Disneyland according to my iphone. 

Abby was ready to go!

Chilling out in the airport before our flight. She had made friends with everyone in our terminal before the flight. Our flight attendants were in the terminal and they fell in love with her before we even boarded the flight. That was really nice because they took extra good care of us on the flight. 

 Abby is all girl, sun glasses, necklace, and her purse. She was an angel on the flight. I was lucky enough to get two seats so she could move around a little bit. The guy that ended up sitting next to us has triplet 2 year old boys. So Abby didn't even phase him, he was so nice and that was such a blessing. 

Abby was too small to sit on my lap on Autopia... how lame is that? So we walked around and played while everyone else went on it. She had so much fun walking around and exploring. 

This is the new Cars ride in Carsland. It was a BLAST! New favorite ride for sure. Especially because we had fastpasses and stroller passes so we didn't even wait for more than 5 minutes for it. It was awesome!

All of the girls went to the princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Abby wasn't to crazy about the princesses until Minnie Mouse came out. It made her entire day, and she wouldn't leave her alone. It was so cute!

This is one of my favorite places to sit and relax. It is shaded, quiet and a beautiful view. 

 Abby was so worn out! As you can see from these two pictures. It was so hot that when I got back to the hotel I would just strip her down and let her nap in her diaper. 

We partied hard and we were so worn out when we got home. I am so grateful to my parents who were willing to fly us out there so we could be apart of everything. I love them so much and love every moment of being with them!

Quick Update!

So much has been going on lately! We went and conquered Disneyland, Kyle has had finals, I have finals this week, Conference this past weekend, and my family came to visit for the weekend! It was SO much fun to have them here! I'll post more about it, but I wanted to link my blog to my mom's photography blog. She took some maternity pictures for me at 28 weeks, and some fun family and Abby pictures. She is seriously amazing, and I love how they turned out.

More updates to come soon, but until then you can look at our super cute faces over here!

update!

They gave back my .5 credits! I will not be .5 credits short of graduating this December! I will have the full 120 credits to graduate. I just have to continue to work my bum off for the next few months and then I'll be done.

In the past two days I have done a weeks worth of my homework for two classes so that I won't have to worry about it in California this week. I had two exams, a discussion question and a 1000 word paper.

I'm awesome. I know.

And I'm going to Disneyland... like in only a few hours... I'm so excited!

Last Semester?

Remember this post? I made it through the summer successfully, and I started my last semester in August. It has been an uphill battle these past few weeks. I swear the world (ASU) does not want to graduate... ever!

Over the summer I set up a phone appointment with my advisor to go over all of my classes to make sure I was good to go come December. I needed 15 credits to graduate, which was going to make for a crazy fall semester but I knew I could handle it.

As we are going over my DARS report (basically a list of all the credits/classes I've taken) she realizes that there is a "duplicate". I took a history class duel enrollment in high school, and then a similar (definitely NOT the same) history class at BYU. So they took away 3 credits that I had worked very hard for! Now I needed 18 credits to graduate and I was starting to freak out. Then as I was looking over the rest of my transfer credits, I realized that ASU had transferred one Book of Mormon class but no the other. I asked my advisor and she looked it up, and told me it didn't transfer because I got a D in the class... umm no... I did not fail my religion.

So if I was able to transfer that class for 2 credits, I would only have to add one more 1 credit class. That wasn't too bad. I could handle that.

It transferred! Wahoo! Party time right? No. Because now they took away .5 credits from a snowboarding classes that I took at BYU. What? Why? I have no idea and I'm ticked. That means that if I don't get them to give back my .5 credits I will be .5 credits away from a bachelors degree come December. Are you kidding? Can you say nightmare?

And it gets worse. I was signed up for 3 classes at Chandler Gilbert Community College because lets face it they are easier and cheaper. One of my classes a psychology class was supposed to start August 25th, a Saturday... which should have been my first clue that this class was going to be a bust. Well the class never showed up up in Blackboard (that where I do my online classes). I emailed the teacher 4 times! and heard back from her a week later (at 1 in the morning... second clue that this lady was crazy). Anyway I am now 2 weeks late in the class and I haven't been able to access it, so I'm done and I'm going to have to find another class at ASU to make up for it. So it will be a little harder, but I'll still get those three credits by December.

This feels like a nightmare where you are trying to run to something, and you just never can get there. Please pray for me that ASU gives back my .5 credits so that I can graduate this fall.

I am so frustrated that this has been so difficult! But I am working so hard to be done before this new little girl comes so I can just be their mommy and not worry about any stupid tests or discussion boards!

One day I will be grateful for this degree, but today I want to give up. It feels like I'm never going to get there.

Sorry this has been such a downer post, its actually been a really good day, despite the school fiasco I'm trying to work out (I've sent about a 100 emails today). To make myself feel better I started packing for our Disneyland trip (3 DAYS!). Even though it is a few days away, packing makes it feel a little bit more real that I am going. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I'm just nervous about the flight there with Abby... by myself... hopefully she is nice to me.

A little Abby Update: Abby is learning how to help me do chores. She holds the dustpan for me while I sweep, she throws trash away(actually she will throw anything away I have to watch her close). She even helps me move the clothes from the washer to the dryer to the laundry basket. Its really fun. She never wants to help me pick up her toys, she just wants to pull them back out again.

And if you were wondering I will NOT be cheering for ASU today during their football game.

Lately

We have been pretty busy these past few weeks and it has been so much fun! We have been spending a lot of time with new friends and it has been awesome. We are loving all of the new people that we are meeting. I am about 23 and half weeks now and I've been feeling great. My stomach is starting to poke out more and more. This little girl is very active and I love feeling her kick all the time. This is just a little update of what we have all been up to the past month!

We love to go for a lot of walks around our neighborhood. The weather is absolutely wonderful and it is fun to be outside. 

I refinished my parent's old wooden headboard. For my first refinish job I learned a lot, but I think it turned out pretty cute. It looks good in our room, but our room still has a long way to go in decorating.  

Kyle has been really busy at school. He has had two tests so far and he did really well on both of them. He has been working so hard and I am so proud of him. He has class all day long, and then stays late to study. These two pictures are what he has been working on in the lab. They have to take wax and start learning how to mold it. His tooth turned out really good (its the green one) and he passed, so now he is starting to work on some lower teeth. 

The Saturday before Kyle's first test he spent most of the day at school studying so Abby and I brought him lunch and ate with him. It was fun to get to see him for a little bit and break up the day. 

Thats the dental school behind us! It is a sweet looking building, and Kyle gave me a little tour of the tech lab which was fun. 

Abby and I love to be outside and its nice to be able to get out the house without really having to go anywhere. She is walking all over the place and it is so much fun. I don't have to worry about her hurting her knees or getting super dirty. 

We don't often get a lot of pictures of Abby's face because as soon as she sees the camera she stops doing what she is doing and wants the camera. 

There is an outdoor mall right down the street from us and Abby was in love with this splash pad. She was so sure about it at first, but slowly she got closer and closer and then we couldn't get her out of it. 

 This is another mall that we've gone to a couple of times, it is kind of far away but it is probably the best mall I've ever been to. Its really pretty, has a lot of cool stores and a lot of fun places for Abby to play. 

We went to a welcome dinner at Kyle's school for all of the dental students. Abby had a cookie and two pieces of chocolate cake and a ton of lemonade for dinner. She was in heaven! 

Some other fun updates Carson got his mission call. He opened it late on Saturday when my dad got home from a trip. Kyle and I stayed up and facetimed with my family so it felt like we were in the room with him watching him open it. He got called to Berlin, Germany! He reports January 23rd. I am so proud of him, he is such a good kid. I can't believe he is actually going to be a missionary. Crazy!

Also there are only 7 days 4 hours and 26 minutes until I am boarding a flight to California!! I just got even more excited for the trip because Kyle has decided he is going to come for the last day. So he will get to share in the Disney magic too! Its going to be SO much fun!

I've been here a lot... And I can't wait to go again!

2 weeks from right now I will be on an airplane with little Abby. The destination will be Orange County Airport or John Wayne Airport whichever you prefer to call it. If we survive the flight, then we will be creative finding a way to our hotel in... ANAHEIM!!

I'm just a little bit excited. In fact its pretty much all I think about. I won't have seen my family for about a month and a half. Which really isn't that long, but its the longest I've gone without seeing any of them since I was at school over 4 years ago. And oddly enough I really like those people a lot!

The only really sad part is that Kyle isn't going to be able to come. Every time he starts to think that maybe he could miss just one day of classes and fly out for at least one day, reality hits him in the face and he remembers he is in dental school and it is all time consuming and a little bit difficult... just a little bit. I am so grateful that he is willing to let me take his little girl for a few days and leave him by himself. Although he won't really miss us since we hardly get to see him anyway, but we will miss him. He always makes everything more fun!

Back to a happier thought... Disneyland! I can't wait to take Abby, it will be her third time and she is only 15 months. We are so blessed to have such awesome families. I think that this will be the funnest time yet, she is just so active and she is going to love everything. This is also going to be a really special time because it will be Carson's last time before he leaves on his mission for 2 years. We are really going to miss that kid, and it its going to be so much fun to get to make some fun memories before he leaves.

We have a big group  coming too! Two of my aunts, their families and my grandparents are going to be there. Its going to be a lot of fun!

As I was thinking about all my Disneyland memories I was looking through pictures. We have gone every year since about 2002. I wish I had all of the pictures but I have pictures starting in 2005.

 My junior year, and Halee's 1st trip. She was about 2 months old, and contrary to her facial expression she did enjoy it!

 My Senior year, my mom was pregnant with Tragdon. She is such a trooper. Look at how little Carson is. I think that was the trip that he walked around with a bunch of Disneyland stickers on his face. And he wore like 3 watches. Weird kid.

This was in 2007. I flew in to meet my family from Utah. I was SO excited to see them and spend time with them in Disneyland. It was Tragdon's first trip and it was a lot of fun!

 2008, It was Kyle's first trip but he couldn't come until the last day because of school. It was fun to show him how to do Disneyland and he fell in love. He is now a hardcore disneyland fanatic just like the rest of us! Mwuhahaha! If you come to Disneyland with us you will become infected by the magic too!

 May 2009. Kyle and I made a spontaneous trip just the two of us. We were only there for one day, but we had a blast. Its still one of our favorite memories.

 These are both from fall 2009. So much fun to get to be with family in such a fun place. The bottom picture is at the Mexican restaurant in the park. We have always taken a picture there since the first time we went when it was just me and my parents and I was only 4 years old. We love it!

 May 2010- Kyle and I made another trip out just the two of us. We still only did one day, but we bought our tickets on Ebay and were able to get park hopper tickets. That made the day even more fun! I love spending time with him, we always have so much fun!

 June 2010. Thats right... a month later. We were in San Diego with the Cordners and we made the drive up for the day. Grandma and Grandpa Cordner watched the two little girls so it was just us adults and we partied hard. Such a fun day!

 Fall 2010 (three times in one year!) I was 10 weeks pregnant with Abby and I was pretty sick. Give me some zofran and I'll be fine. My doctor told me I was good to ride just about anything as long as it didn't make me want to barf. It was a fun, fun trip! Thats my little cousin Peyton hiding in the picture. It was the first time my aunt Val's family came with us. They are coming again this time because they too have caught the Disney fever!

 Fall 2011. Abby was 3 and half months old. I was the most nervous for the drive over and back from California to Arizona. She was a trooper and had a great time. Her favorite was Its a Small World, still is in fact. It was so cute to watch her eyes light up. Other than that she slept and ate the entire time. She even let me ride a few rides and sat out with my parents a couple of times. She looks so little in this picture!

June 2012 - We went to San Diego again with the Cordners and spent a couple of the days up in Disneyland. It was the first time we saw World of Color, and Abby loved every minute of Disneyland. It would take her forever to finally fall asleep in her stroller. Little stinker, she would only sleep for about 30 minutes each day. But when she was awake she was really happy! I was 12 weeks pregnant with little Girl #2 (poor nameless little thing...we're working on it!). I was pretty sick with her too, but a little zofran each day goes a long way and I was able to enjoy myself. I even went on the big roller coaster in California Adventure! So fun to make those memories with the Cordners.

So many good memories spending time with the people I love in the place that I love. I'm looking forward to the memories we are going to make this time! I'm so grateful to my Dad for flying me out so I can be there for everything.

2 weeks!