United Angels

Back at the beginning of December, Zach’s PT put something on Facebook about a Christmas Party for the United Angels Foundation.  I had never heard of it but she said it was for families with children who have special needs.  I looked into it and was really excited to get to meet more people.  Except for the fact that I really hate big groups of people, especially when I’m by myself.  Well, I signed us up for it, and thinking that Carlos was going to have to work, Amy said that she would go with me because there was no way I was taking all three boys by myself. 

Carlos ended up having the night off and we went up to the Orem Senior Center.  There were so many people, we had to park on the street and wait in line for quite a while to get in, then another half hour in line for the food.  They had way more people show up than expected.  And, they said dinner would be provided but asked that we each bring a treat.  So I made these yummy double chocolate cupcakes.

Chic-Fil-A provided a yummy dinner and the Chic-Fil-A Cow was there.  Let’s just say that Jaiden thought he was pretty COOL…

Austin was absolutely TERRIFIED.  When he came closer later and I was holding him, he alternated between telling me to leave because IT was there and to not to move so that he didn’t have to see the cow…

And Zach was OBSESSED!  He left the line three times to follow the cow and say hi.  I only got pictures one time…

And yes, his chair was also our coatrack…yeah, we probably need think of something better than burdening him with all of our stuff!

They had a fun slideshow of different activities the Foundation has done and then a cute little program.  And they also had Santa.  Austin, once again, was the timid one.  But in the end, he did start to crack a smile!

We had a really fun time, and even though we didn’t really get to KNOW anyone, we talked to some really nice people and enjoyed the spirit of the Christmas season with them.  On the way out, several women commented that they were glad their kids weren’t in wheelchairs because they wouldn’t be able to keep up with them!  Zach is very independent in his chair and took off quite often throughout the evening!  They also said he was very cute! 

Yep, cute boys! 

I’m glad I took that little leap and signed up for the party.  I’m excited to see what other things they offer!

Family Christmas Party

We had our party clear back on December 4th because that’s the day we could all make it work.  So, it was a good start to the month!

Amy and Eric hosted us in their home, which was a lot of fun.  We had a lot of fun last night too!  Thanks guys (if you ever go somewhere with internet and read this!….)

While waiting for the Polynesian Chicken Tempura, the kids were playing a ‘hit the table as loud as you can’ game and they all participated.  It was VERY loud!

Grandma came and showed them a ‘tap all your fingers on the table’ game, that went a little better, but the former game was still preferred…

Then, while waiting for presents, they played an ‘everyone yell as loud as you can’ game….

Zach was an original participant but later became the “Sshhhusher”

Grandpa, the official passer-out of presents, stopped a moment to listen to something very important that Brent was telling him.

What could these be?!?!

BEANBAGS!  

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  And thanks everyone for a great time!

Carlos and I came home and then later that night we all, except Carlos who had to work , went and saw White Christmas at the Pioneer Theatre Company.  It was a lot of fun.  And while, when the actor playing Bob Wallace, started singing, I thought “That’s not Bing Crosby!”, he quickly redeemed himself and everyone did an excellent job.  It was very enjoyable.  And can I just say that “Ezekiel” was hilarious!

Dashing and Slipping and Photographing and Shoveling through the Snow

I was going to put these on my photo blog but decided to post it all here…

These pictures aren’t in order, but these are from the fence in our back yard.  If I’d had time, and hadn’t been rushing to get Jaiden out the door for the school that I didn’t know had been cancelled, I would have sat with my camera, ready to take pictures as each section collapsed.  But what I DO have are some before and after pics!

             

I know that some areas got more snow than we did, but we haven’t had a storm like this for a while.  I remember that when we lived in Payson, we always got a ton of snow, more than other areas.  I think they got about 2 feet from this one, we had 13 1/2 when I measured this chair and it was about done snowing.

I took Carlos, with Jaiden’s help (and some of the neighbor’s son and grandkid’s help) three hours to clean both driveways and our little side driveway where the Jeep was parked. 

And we can’t forget the Suessical nature of the mailbox!

Carlos and I also took a little jaunt when he got home from work the night before, at 2:30 a.m., down to Main Street to take some pictures because he said they were really cool and I really wanted to go and his mom is here, so we left for a few minutes…

I have always loved the look of fresh, untouched snow on tree branches at night.  I remember that when I would walk on campus at USU, I would get a thrill seeing them and wish that I had a camera.  I probably would have taken more pictures this night if I’d actually put socks on before I put my [not snow] boots on!  And we totally parked here…

Just a few more photos of the snow night heading down the street towards our house.

That was at 2:30, then we woke up to this!

It was really kind of fun!  And we had a blast sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night!

Completely Uninspired

Though I both need and want to post, my mind is drawing a blank.  So I leave you with this…perhaps tomorrow I will be in a more blog-inspired mood.  I’ll probably put the rest of these snowstorm pictures on my photo blog!  So look for them….another day…………Goodnight!

So, back in September…

 

I keep forgetting to post about all of this, hence my reminder post below.  I won’t keep you in suspense any longer……I know, you just can’t stand it anymore!…

On the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, we went with Carlos’ dad and Sister and our nieces, here:

Neither Carlos or I have ever been.  Here are the little hikers ready to go!

The short version is that we’ve never been, Austin refused to walk up or down and I’m a wimp and have never been good at hiking, even when I was a lot thinner and younger.  Carlos was Superman, carrying Zach on his back and Austin in his arms, then Zach in his arms through the cave because you can’t take the back packs in, the cave was way cool and the hike was beautiful too!  We had a good time, even if I almost passed out on the side of the trail.  We went out to La Carreta for yummy Peruvian food, and then went home and probably couldn’t move for the rest of the day.  I don’t really remember, it’s kind-of fuzzy from after lunch on!

I’m really glad we went and maybe someday we’ll go again!

Oh, and one other thing.  After Austin was whining the whole way up, crying, “I NEED you!”, when we got in the cave (quite dark and somewhat closed it), he got down and walked the whole time, and after we first went in, he said, “This is WONDERFUL!” and was in awe the whole time.  Funny kid!

Reminder

I’m posting these to remind –and obligate- myself to post about the month that we went there!  But not right now because it 1:47 a.m.  Any guesses?

Goodnight!

I forgot something!

I forgot that while out for the Pumpkin Pickin’ Party, we made some fun Halloween treats:

It took a really long time to wrap all of these, but the kids liked them.

 

We had a couple of escapees but they were taken care of!

 

Also, check out my photo blog on the right for pictures of Mom and Dad’s beautiful yard in Autumn.