I LOVE this place!

Have I mentioned lately I LOVE living in Price?
There are so many things about this place that I just LOVE!
One of these things is the Carbon County Recreation and Sports Programs.
Ty just finished his first basketball lessons.
He did GREAT!
It was a lot of fun to watch him learn the fundamental skills such as dribbling, shooting, passing, and being a team player!
Not only was it convenient--right after school in the gym once a week it was inexpensive!
It was a good experience for Ty to get some exercise and wiggles out and also a great social experience for him. He had several friends from class in the program and it was neat to watch my shy little boy break out of his shell!

These are NOT the best pictures--but here is Ty in action playing one of my personal favorite sports!!

The other thing I LOVE about Price is this play group I go to with Mara and Caleb called Mom and Me.
(Thanks Charity for telling me about it!!)
It is so fun to meet other moms in the area and feel like instant friends!
We do fun activities with the kids and visit and watch the kids play!
Also, once a month all the moms get together for a Mom's night out and do something, whether it's a book club, or scrapbook, eat out....!
Tonight--can't wait, dessert at a restaurant here in town!


I think I will LOVE Price even more when we can get settled into a home of our own!
We are still waiting for our home in Oregon to sell.
So far a few people have looked at it but no offers or bites on it yet.
This is really teaching me patience and faith.
I KNOW everything will fall into place and work out but I just don't know WHEN!
It's all about timing: The Lord's timing!
I'm not doing a very good job being patient though--I check my email at least 200 times a day to see if there is an email from our realtor with an offer or check my cell phone hoping there is a voicemail with someone interested in buying my house--nothing yet!
Which is okay, because we haven't found a home yet that we really LOVE!
We've seen many houses but none of them we are really exciting about!
Are we being too picky?
Or maybe we just haven't seen the right house yet!
Everyone keeps telling us to wait until Spring, that's when all the homes come on the market and we will have many more good options.
We are definitely living a simplified life here!
It's interesting how little you can live on--I do however miss my big, double pillow-top, mattress bed, and my kitchen-aid, and some of my kids' toys!
But other than that it's all just stuff!
And I've got my family and we have good health, at the moment, finally!
So I guess we have everything we need!

Will it ever end?

It seems to never end around here- sickness, illness, infections, viruses. . . Enough is enough! When will it all end? Since moving to Price we have had strep throat (some of us had it twice), the flu, Rotavirus, infected toe. That makes two trips to the ER, seven doctors visits, and one well-baby check up! I am sure glad we have good health insurance! Our insurance is probably thinking 'what is wrong with this family?'!!

Last week I took Caleb to the doctor. He had diareah for 10 days and no signs of getting better. The doctor said it was a nasty virus--close to the Rotavirus. Diarrhea could last up to two weeks. We were worried about Caleb being dehydrated and put him on strict BRAT (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) diet with lots of liquids. Not to mention taking him off all dairy and introducing him to soy milk. Luckily he loved the soy milk and drank it better than whole milk--go figure?! Anyway, Caleb is now slowly being introduced back into other foods and seems to be feeling a little better: minus the four teeth coming in and a nasty runny nose and cough that has just started as well!! Ahhhhh!!


On Friday night we noticed Mara's toe was bright red with an infection. She hasn't complained much about it and we don’t know what happened, whether she got a cut or how she hurt it. We've been soaking it in hot water and Epson salt and putting Neosporin on. Last night after soaking her toe again we noticed that it was worse. Instead of being red it was almost purple and completely swollen. We called the nurse and she recommended taking her to the ER ASAP! Mara was already in bed half asleep. Nate and I wondered if whether or not she could wait until morning, but we worried that the infection could spread, get worse and she could possibly lose her toe. So we decided it would be better to be safe than sorry and headed at 8:30 to the ER. We waited and waited and waited. It was a full house! There was only one seat available in the waiting room when we arrived. Mara sat on my lap and we watched the Olympic Ice-skating, read stories, colored, watched all the sick people in the ER and hoped we didn't get what they had....and we continued to wait. Mara finally fell asleep on my lap and I sat cuddling my little girl hoping and praying her little toe would be healed. We finally made it back to see the doctor and he said it was a good idea to bring her in. He gave her four syringes of antibiotics and one pain killer and sent us home with a prescription for the next 10 days to fight off the infection. Three hours later we headed out in the cold of night to go back home and made it in bed at 12:00am!!
This picture does not to justice for Mara's little toe--the middle one is the one that has the infection and although it doesn't look too bad trust me: it looked terrible! I thought Mara was going to have her toe cut off last night. My poor little sweetie--so tired. Notice her sticker: My ER rocks. Ya right! I was NOT impressed with the ER and hope we do not find ourselves back for a long, long time!

On a lighter note:

So it doesn't sound like I'm complaining let me say I am grateful for moments like this that remind me that life is meant to be joyful!

Yesterday Mara was helping me clean the house. While I did the dishes she vacuumed the living room. She loves to vacuum and I love her help! I was standing there by the sink washing away when I hear the vacuum stop, followed by giggles and laughter. Then the vacuum starts again and a minute later it stops followed by more giggles and laughter. This happened several times! I peaked my head in to see what was going on and grabbed my camera to see if I could get it on video but I was too late. The fun had ended! What was happening was Caleb would pull the chord out of the wall and the vacuum would stop. They thought this was so funny and Mara would put it back in and start vacuuming again and Caleb would take the chord out of the wall again! (I know--safetly hazard right?! Ya, but it was pretty darn cute to hear the two children laughing together over such a silly thing!) I was happy that Mara didn't get mad at Caleb and instead laughed about it! I think it would have tried my patience and I would have been holing him and trying to vacuum at the same time! Mara was a good example to me on finding laughter instead of getting annoyed or upset!

Making a Mess!

I'm usually not a big fan of cleaning up messes! But if it involves having fun or playing than I guess it's not so bad! The kids had a lot of fun making a mess with jell0 pudding, rice and corn! Sounds CrAZy?! I know! But my kids sure seemed to enjoy it--and it really doesn't take much sometimes to have a good time with my kids!

Doesn't his face say it all: pure joy!! Caleb loved this activity!

He especially loved that it was edible! Yum!

Even with a face covered in chocolate he is such a handsome little guy!

Oh and Miss Mara? Yes she loved it too! Can you tell?!

This was a great little activity to do right before a bath--everything and everyone came clean!

What a messy little sweetie!

Another fun activity we enjoy doing is playing with dried corn and rice.

Oh and yes, Caleb even tried eating it! Kind of crunchy!

He loved feeling the rice between his chubby little fingers!

And Ty thought it was fun using the trucks!

Filling up her load!

The best part about this activity is you sweep it up and the mess is gone!

The ones I love the most!

I've always thought Valentine's Day is kind of a silly holiday! Why should we have a day that focuses only on love? Then I thought more about it and thought: Why not?! Why not have a day to show extra love and attention to the ones we love the very most? So after celebrating Valentine's day last week I decided it wasn't such a silly holiday but rather a fun and special day to celebrate LOVE! We told the kids all day "Oh no teasing or fighting today is a special love day!" And it was! There truly was extra love in the air!

To celebrate Valentine's Day Grandma and Grandpa Lewis came down and stayed with us. What a treat to live so close to family and feel their love! Nate and I went out on a date to a fun Stake (don't be confused with steak) dinner! It was fun to be with other couples from our ward and mingle with friends. We had yummy Mexican dinner (I think I would take steak any day!) and then listened to really neat Latino music. The kids loved being with their grandparents and thought it was so cool to have a movie night with Grandma and Grandpa!

Sunday felt like a special day with a delicious breakfast of waffles, strawberries, and whip cream! Then for dinner nothing says I love you more than a delicious Sunday dinner complete with BBQ pork spare ribs, red potatoes, blueberry jello salad, bean salad and not to forget Erica's famous mint brownies shaped into hearts with pink frosting!
I kept teasing Nate about getting me flowers all weekend and when he took the boys to the store I whispered in Ty's ear "Don't forget to remind daddy to buy mommy flowers for Valentine's day!" When the Valentine's day came and went and no flowers I figured "oh well--it doesn't really matter anyway! Ty must have forgotten to give daddy the message!"

Monday Nate had to leave for Salt Lake for training all week. I was bummed he had to go and a little sad that he would be leaving me for so long but glad he could get the training he needed for his job and maybe with any luck my mom would be able to come down and stay with us. Well after I had my pitty-party and said good bye to Nate I fixed lunch for the kids, got them down for naps, and went in my room. And to my surprise there were the flowers I had been waiting for all Valentine's weekend with a darling card that made tears come to my eyes and I started laughing out loud!
So I just wanted to say I love you to those people in my life who I love the most:

First of all Nate: I love you! I'm so grateful we are married and that we are best friends. I love being with you and never have felt lonely since the day we met! I think you are the greatest man in the world and grateful my kids have you for a dad! You make me laugh and we have had quite a wonderful journey together thus far!

My three beautiful children: Ty, Mara, and Caleb! I think I must be the luckiest mom in the world for having these three kids! I never in the world would wish to go to work and have to leave these children. I feel very blessed I have the opportunity to raise them and take care of them. These little cuties make me smile and I love to hear them giggle and laugh. I love playing with them and being just being silly with them.

My Parents: I love you Mimi & Papa! I am thankful for their willingness to serve their kids and grandkids! They are always there when we need them and willing to help whenever they can. I am grateful for their love and support and so glad to be living closer to them.

My Family: What a great family I have! I love them all so much! I love my two sister-in-laws and grateful for their addition to our family. I look forward to a fun trip with the entire family in May and hope we can strengthen our relationships. We always have such fun times together.

Oh my brothers! I love you three! I hardly tell you enough, but I really do! I'm grateful to be your one and only sister! If I ever have a question--I know I can ask my brothers and they will have an answer--maybe not exactly the answer I was looking for but non the less they usually have good answers and good advice!

My wonderful in-laws! I love them so much! I couldn't have asked for a better family to marry into! I am thankful for all they do for my little family, for their love and generosity. I must say my kids are pretty lucky to have such awesome grandparents and aunts and uncles who show them so much love! I look forward to fun camping trips and good times this summer with all of them!

I have two beautiful nieces and one darling little nephew! I love them so much and I have loved getting to know them better. They have such cute personalities. I am grateful my kids can know their cousins and be friends.

And to all my friends I love so much! I couldn't name names because this blog is too long already! But thank you for bring my friend and thank you for keeping in touch and being there for me! Life would be too hard without good friends and I am grateful for great friends throughout my life!

The Castle of Love!

To celebrate Valentine's Day at Ty's school each student was encouraged to decorate a box or make a box into something to put all the valentine's in. Ty, of course, wanted to make a castle. He LOVES knights and often on a daily basis says "When I grow up I'm going to be a knight!" So we began weeks ago making rocks for the castle--we made them out of salt dough and baked them. But of course we procrastinated putting the final project together until the night before--oops! Oh well, it got done and it turned out great! Ty's Castle of Love was a hit!
He took his castle to school on the Valentine's Party day and what made it even more exciting was that I was able to go to his classroom and help out at the party!

A few of Ty's friends and classmates!
Ty having a little snack after making a mouse out of hershey kisses.
A Valentine cupcake walk!
After the cupcake walk each child got a cupcake to decorate and eat!
Pretty Tasty!
Dance & Freeze!
Wow--check out all that candy and treats!
Ty filling up his castle with all his loot.

The Flu Bug

Flu bug flu bug fly away,
We don't want you here to stay.
Flu bug flu bug you make me want to cry,
It's been TEN long days, my oh my!
Flu bug flu bug you're so mean,
I'm so tired of having to clean.
Flu bug flu bug you are very bad,
You make us all feel so sad.

Flu bug flu bug just go away,
And NEVER come back here to play.

It all started a week ago last Thursday when during the middle of the night Ty started throwing up. He felt horrible with a sick tummy, aches and pains, and chills. Saturday he seemed better and we had a fun time at the CEU basketball game with friends. Sunday Ty complained of his tummy hurting but we thought it was an excuse to stay home from church. However during Sunday School the primary counselor came and found me and said "Erica come quick!" There was Ty out in the hall over a garbage can. Yup! He 'tossed his cookies' at church, luckily he made it in the garbage!

Sunday night was a complete nightmare with two sick children. During the night Mara and Caleb woke up half a dozen times up-chucking simultaneously! Monday I played Dr. Mom for three sick kids with diarrhea and throwing up and did numerous loads of laundry! That night was another bad night of sleep! This time I was the victim! It was horrible. I vomited all night long and felt completly waisted in the morning! I should have stayed in bed the next day but we had an appointment with our realtor to see homes so I put on the best act I could of feeling well (which wasn't very good) and went out and saw four houses.

Tuesday night Nate got hit hard with the flu bug. He's never sick, but this darn bug has no mercy! Nate was a sick man for two days luckily I was feeling much better after one day and was able to care for my sick hubby! Mara and Caleb still have a few signs of sickness and hopefully will be over this soon.

A year ago....

On January 20 2009 our lives would change forever!
A sweet bundle of joy would be added to our family!
What a little blessing from heaven entered our home!
Caleb Daniel Lewis was born and oh how we love this beautiful, precious gift from God!!




A year later...

To celebrate our big boy's 1st birthday Mara, Caleb and I went out to lunch to Wendy's! This was Caleb's first time eating french fries! Yum! Mara loved feeding Caleb the frosty! That was very tasty as well! I know--not the most nutricious lunch for kids but hey it was his birthday!



I made a three layered, melt-in-your mouth, very chocolate, from scratch birthday cake! WOW! Just looking at the pictures makes my mouth water and want more! It was quite delicious!

Even the birthday boy enjoyed his cake--enjoyed playing in it more like it! We invited some of our friends over for cake and ice-cream. Ty and Mara loved having friends come play.