The Meyers

Montana cabin trip

2011-11-30T15:07:00.000-08:00

After we got back from Utah I quickly unpacked and then repacked for our Montana cabin trip. It was so much fun spending time on Glen Lake skiing, wakeboarding and tubing with friends and family.

Cousins on Uncle Jared's boat. Poor Logan just broke his arm right before the trip but we wrapped it up real good so he could go on the tube and jet ski.

Austin was a little timid at first but loved going on this big tube.

Skiing is one of my favorite things to do. There is nothing like it.

Mel came with us to the cabin and skied as well.

Austin decided he did not like anyone on this trip besides Carter and I so Angie was REALLY happy when he sat on her lap.

Picnic in the park with Maverick, Mel, Austin, Levi and I.

Whenever Levi got fussy Angie sang "Do you like it when I talk close to you face?" and he immediately calmed down. Angie and Levi bonded on this trip.

Levi in a glass bowl. Angie kept putting Levi in strange positions.

Amanda's brother is in the FBI so I, of course had to take a super serious FBI picture.

The boys found these crawdads in the lake and so we dared our cousin Dallin to let it bite his nipple. I cant remember how much we dared him but Palmers can be quite persuasive.

I seriuosly think this is one of the most hilarious pictures I've ever taken. Ohhh Dallin!

We would go on a long swim everyday while the babies were sleeping. Dont we look hot in our wetsuits? I cant wait to go again next year. Is there anything better than a cabin on a lake? I think not.

5x7 Folded Card

2011-11-12T15:21:00.001-08:00

With Love Christmas Card

Customize your Christmas cards this year at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Family Trip to Utah

2011-11-02T13:39:00.001-07:00

The day after Austin's party we packed up our Pilot (best vehicle ever) and headed to Utah. We have devised the best driving strategy for our family. We left our house at about 4pm and got to the border about 7pm, no traffic and then the kids slept most of the way to Utah. Then we got to Utah at about 5am and Hans took a sleeping aid and slept till 2pm. It was the best roadtrip with kids ever.....when Austin was awake he played with the ipad and that kept him entertained. Horray for roadtrips again!!!

We really had a great trip and Austin and Levi got to bond with Grandma and Grandpa.

First stop was the pilgrimage to BYU. While walking on campus, we felt old! Everyone looked sooooo young! We were "those old people with kids" I used to make fun....haha. To make us look even more dweebish we had to all buy matching shirts and take pictures. Now Austin loves to chant "B-Y-U!!" at the top of his lungs.

A trip to Utah is not complete without a visit with Aunt Gayle. We had a BBQ at her house to say goodbye to Jeremy who just left on his mission. *Tear* I am sooooo lucky that this sweet boy Levi is such a good kid. He was so happy the whole trip!

We went to Thanksgiving point the next day to look at the animals and it was HOT!! I had to strip Levi so he would be comfortable.

Austin's first time on a horse and he loved it!! He wanted to do it "all by himself" which meant he didn't want us walking beside him like the other kids.

We went to Snowbird to try the alpine slides. I though Austin might be scared/nervous but I was wrong again. "I'm not scared mama!" he was yelling at me.

"I can carry this sled ALL by myself". Are you catching the theme here? Mr. Independent lately.

Austin and I going down the slides. As soon as we got to the bottom he was saying "Again!!"

Grandma and Grandpa threw him a little birthday party while we were there. Easter cake is a Meyer favorite.

We took a trip into Provo Canyon to have a picnic and see Bridal Veil falls. It was a beautiful day and I thought this picture was adorable.

Picnic time! Apparently everyone had the same idea as us and there were no picnic tables available so we sat on this concrete slab :-)

Bridal Veil Falls!

The last day we were there we went to Lagoon. It was soooo much fun. Austin loved the rides and there was a good mixture of little kid and big kid (aka adult) rides.

There was also a waterpark. Who knew? I spent 6 years living in Utah and I never went to Lagoon. Silly me.

I heard LOTS of laughter coming from the bathroom and I went and found this! This is how grandpa does bubble baths I guess. Austin was in heaven.

Crazy!

We had such a great trip and cant wait to visit again!

Austins 3rd Birthday!

2011-11-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

First off, I LOVE the fact that Austin's birthday is in the summer so we can always have his parties outside. This makes my life a whole lot easier :-) This year it came as no surprise to me that Austin wanted a "cars" themed birthday party. He is pretty much obsessed with the movie and all of the characters.
Treat bags for all of Austin's friends.

We had a slip n slide on the lawn which the kids loved.

Pizza picnic on the lawn.

The bounce house I borrowed from a friend was a big hit.

Pinata (Lightning McQueen of course)

Sorry I had to put this in here. My brother singing happy birthday. This guy cracks me up!

Austin was VERY excited about his ice cream cake from DQ.

Sweet cousin Evan with the ruined pinata.

Opening presents got a little crazy with 9 little boys running around! Austin had a great party and loved all of his presents (all car themed of course)

Fun with my bestie!

2011-10-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

It has been soooo great being home and being united with my bestie Mel again. It is hard to find someone that just "gets you" and she does. We spent alot of time together this summer....okay who am I kidding....we just spend alot of time together period. Here is Mav and Austin riding the Carousel together at Heritage Park.
For some reason, this boat swing is one of Austin's favorite things to do.

Mel took this picture of the A-man.

Bonding time with Levi and Austie Mel.

Wagon ride with the kiddies (I guess there must have been something interesting to look at)

So my brother is someone who buys tickets to EVERY concert that comes to town and he bought Back Street Boys/New Kids on the Block tickets. He forgot he was going to be out of town so I inherited them. So I thought to myself....who would enjoy this crazy concert as much as me and would dance like a maniac.....Mel of course!! We had to walk through the Stampede grounds on the way in so we picked up some red bulls and corn dogs (the dinner of champions).

To say we had fun would be an understatement....we had a blast! The concert was actually really good and I knew most of the songs somehow. I can now check that off the bucket list...lol

Heritage Park and 4th of July

2011-10-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

We got a pass for Heritage Park this summer and we had a blast. Heritage Park is a great place to take little kids! They have rides, wagon rides, shops to look in, a boat to ride in and of course a "real" choo choo train! Here is Nixon and Austin riding the toddler ferris wheel.

So happy!

Caterpillar ride is one of the favorites. Keshia and I had to take turns riding wih the kids as we both had new babies.

The crew on the train....complete with two sleeping babies!

I miss 4th of July in the states! America really knows how to throw a good party :-) Good thing I have American friends here to throw parties for the special day. My friend Bree is from Utah and is the best party planner I know. I felt lucky to be invited to my first "Bree" party. Nick likes to show kids experiments and here he put dish soap and dry ice and the kids were in heaven.

Bree and I in her backyard.

The family. Notice the sack Austin is holding that was full of treats for the kids (and a bow that Bree made and Austin was determined to wear).

Daddy and Levi

Austin with his Bree bow on.

The Bumbo Seat

2011-09-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Bumbo seat. What a great invention this was. Here is the L man at 2 1/2 months old sitting in the Bumbo.
This kid is always making me laugh. I am lucky that Austin totally and utterly adores Levi. He is soooo good with him. He gives him toys, puts in his pacifier when he cries and sings him songs. Sometimes my mom will tell Austin that she is going to take Levi home and Austin will almost start crying and say "No! He is my baby brother". Brotherly love :-)

Levi's Baby Shower

2011-09-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the main event! Baby Levi had his baby shower on May 29th 2011 . Since Levi decided to come on the date of my previous baby shower we had to reschedule.....which is funny in many ways. For instance, Melanie made these potted plants as party favors and the sign on them said "When your bulb begins to sprout Levi surely will be out!". Well that was for sure! I dressed Levi in this blue velour outfit and Hans thinks he will hate me for it in the future. I thought it was cute.

I am soooooo blessed to be living near my closest friends and family. They really spoil me (and my family) rotten! It was such a wonderful baby shower.

My sis in law Amanda with baby Levi

Mumsy and I. My mom has helped me out alot with this baby. It has been soooooooo nice! One night she even came over and got up with Levi when he was about a month old so I could get a full nights rest. Man I needed it!

This picture is us to a tee!

This is our tousled hair look. I'm thinking we are looking pretty good :-)

The table set up.

Baby blocks and the potted plant. Thanks to everyone who helped with the shower. It was awesome!

Levi's Blessing Day and kid update

2011-05-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

We decided to bless Levi this weekend as Hansis parents were able to come up to Calgary. It was a perfectly beautiful day out which I was so excited about since it has been raining straight for the past 2 weeks! Mark did the food for the special day and of course it was absolutely delicious. Here is the crew in the backyard.
Hansi's parents

Me and mum

Happy new parents

The girlies enjoying the sunshine

Austin found a ladybug and thought it was the greatest thing that had ever happened. Perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Austin update

Loves his baby brother- sometimes a little too much :-)

Talks non stop-where did he get that from??

Is fully potty trained-Horray!!

Has stopped taking naps everyday- so sad :-(

Is very curious about everything

Plays well on his own and is obsessed with cars

Is full of energy!

Some funny things he says: Thats Balicious! (That's delicious)

I splushed the toilet (I flushed the toilet)

Oh yes I do!!! (If asked if we wants to do anything)

Levi update

Is the sweetest baby ever!

Is finally 8 pounds

Some nights sleeps 5 hours

Starting to smile

Still sleeps most of the day

We feel so lucky and blessed to have these sweet and handsome boys to take care of!!!

Easter and Newborn photo shoot

2011-05-09T14:19:00.001-07:00

One of my childhood friends Liz, does photography and so I had her take some photos of Levi when he was just 5 days old. I LOVED how the photos turned out and I am just going to post some of my faves. You can check out her blog at pigtailsandsnails.blogspot.com. At this point Levi only weighed 5lbs and 3 oz and was so squishy. Perfect for getting all the shots. I love this one of him in the wagon.
Wrinkly back picture. Love it!

All curled up.

This is how he was in the ultrasound. He always had that hand by his face.

He always lifts his eyebrows while he is sleeping. It is sooooo cute!!

Momma and baby pic

The day before Easter I had my nephews over to color Easter eggs and play in the backyard. I think I might have had more fun coloring the eggs than they did :-)

Amanda and I were very excited about egg decorating

So about 2 weeks before Easter I was telling Austin he had to be a good boy for the Easter Bunny to come and bring him treats. I guess he thought it was like Santa because after I told him that he started saying the Easter Bunny was going to bring him "Mack" (the truck from cars). I could only find a pink Mack truck but he loved it anyway.

Austin LOVED hunting for Easter eggs. He is currently in a phase where he wont smile for the camera so I got this side smile.

Daddy and Austin on the hunt for eggs before church.

So after church we went to my brothers house for a big family Easter meal. They did turkey AND ham and of course my mums homeade buns. It was super yummy and so fun to be with the family. Look how cute these boys are :-) Hope you all had a happy Easter.

Welcome to the World Levi!!!

2011-04-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Levi William Meyer! Born on April 9th at 5:53pm weighing a meager 5lbs and 10oz and 17.5 inches long. He was born at 36 weeks and 3 days which was a little earlier than expected. I woke up on April 9th expecting to attend my baby shower thrown by my fabulous friends and family but instead found that I was contracting. I decided to ignore it for awhile because I was only 36 weeks along (1 month early) and it was the day of my baby shower of all days!! Anyways I showered and did my make-up but the contractions just got stronger and stronger till I had to head to the hospital. We dropped Austin off at Melanie's house and off we went. Hans drove to the hospital like a maniac and I was sure to be wearing my seatbelt :-) we got to the labor unit at like 11am and I was 3 cm dilated which was totally disappointing to me because I was in sooooooo much pain. I dont know if any of you out there have had back labor but it is awful. I have never been on that much pain in my life! It was even worse than 3 degree burning my foot. Anyways I had to stay in triage for 4 hours in intense pain because there were no rooms for me. It was brutal because they wont let you have an epidural until you are in the room. They gave me morphine, which did nothing but make me dizzy and loopy and they gave me laughing gas. I was saying all sorts of crazy things like "I wasn't born in the 1800s you know!!" and "this is not right!!". I feel like apologizing to those nurses now. I finally got a room when I was 5 cm dilated and I told (yelled at) the nurse to get me an epidural but she told me the anesthesiologist had gone into the OR for a c-section. That is when I lost it and started bawling all over the place. Let's just say I screamed hallelujah when the anesthesiologist came into the room. Notice my face in the above picture. It was instant relief. I think Hans might be scarred for awhile from how much pain he had to see me endure. Then the Dr. came in and broke my water and he came out an hour later in 2 pushes! He was 5lbs and 10oz and such an easy delivery.

All wrapped up after being born. Levi was not breathing very well at first so they had to take him to the NICU the first night. That was very sad for me not to have him in my room.

They had to give him tube feedings the first night because he had such a hard time breathing.

By the next morning he was doing really well so they gave him his first bath.

Then we had all sorts of visitors come. They have a really strict visitor policy at the hospital so only grandparents, siblings of the baby and one support person are allowed to visit. Austin loves his new baby brother and is constantly wanting to hold him and kiss him.

Papa, Austin and baby Levi

Granny Lanny and Levi

Checking out his new brother.

The day after we got home from the hospital a home health nurse came to the house to check on the baby. She did a blood sample to check Levi's bilirubin level and told me she wold call back with the results. Well they were high so she told me we would have to be readmitted to the hospital downtown for phototherapy. I just started crying because I wanted to be home with my little family but I knew it was best for Levi. I stayed with him all night and felt so bad for him laying naked all night under the lights. They let us go home the next day thankfully!

Here is an open eyed picture of Levi. I think he looks like a Meyer. He is such a sweet little guy. So calm and a good sleeper so far. Let's hope that keeps up!!

We love our new little man and our so grateful to have him in our family.

Life Lately

2011-03-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a crazy couple of months...again! I would like to blame my lack of blogging skills on being too busy to do so but I we all know I could fit some time in to capture all these memories. We have had alot of changes lately. Hans has started working full time at the office on 130th and is loving it. He is the only dentist there and is really enjoying it. He took a sedation dentistry course in November and has been doing a ton of cases lately. This last week he took the invisiline course and I will officially be his first patient. Horray! I am excited. Our ward was recently split and Hans got called as Young Mens president. He is already super busy with planning YM camp, firesides, activities ect but is loving every minute of it. He loves working with the youth. I am still compassionate service leader and I love that calling! I am getting ready to have this baby in the next couple of weeks so I thought I should probably catch up on my blogging before then. Growing up my mom always had a special Valentines Day luncheon for me and I thought I should carry on the tradition. I invited some of Austin's friends over for pizzas and a special craft. They seemed to like the necklaces best :-) Carter, Austin, Nixon and Preston working on their Valentines Day boxes.

Okay I have to be lame and admit that I planned my own birthday party this year. Hans always does a great job on my birthday but I knew exactly what I wanted to do this year so I took over all the planning (Hans didn't mind). I had a "fry" party. My step-dad seriously makes the best french fries ever! He does special seasonings and sauces and they are to die for. I invited 8 couples over and we ate fries and turkey burgers and played games all night. It was lots of fun.

We borrowed the Larsens's turkey fryer to make all the fries because there was so many people to feed.

My sister Kelley and I went out for our birthdays together and ended up at this really cool hat shop at the mall. Kelley has to teach me how to accessorize because she has style and I.......dont. I really got spoiled this year for my birthday with pedicures, lunches, dinners and massages. Man I am a lucky girl!!

My dad has been living with us while his house is getting renovated and it has been awesome. My step-mom is at their house in Arizona while the whole process goes down and I dont blame her!! It is still snowing here and it is April! It has been great to see Austin and Papa get close and spend so much time together. I can now get Austin to do anything if I say "papa does it" For example:

Me: Austin eat your yogurt

Austin: No!

Me: Papa eats this yogurt

Austin: Yummy! I love Papa yogurt

So my dad was sitting on the couch eating wasabi peanuts (disgusting) and of course Austin wanted to eat them because Papa was. I thought this might not be a good idea since they are SUPER spicy but he was adamant about it so I let him eat one. He LOVED them. I haven't decided if he really did like them or he just liked them because Papa does. Anyway they ate almost the whole can between the two of them.

Austin drinking the peanuts. Silly boy!!

January Happenings

2011-02-15T21:03:00.001-08:00

Well January was a crazy month to say the least. So crazy in fact that I hardly took any pictures of anything, which for me, is a rare thing. We had LOTS of drs. appts for Austin and I (me for pregnancy and Austin they are testing for celiac...yikes). Lots of parties and evenings out. For Christmas my dad got us all tickets to see Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall. It was completely hilarious and more hilarious was watching how hard my brothers and dad were laughing at the whole thing! Hans and I were given hockey tickets from the lab which were amazing and on the first level. It was a great night out!! We have been taking Austin swimming alot. He LOVES the water!! They have a great pool out in Okotoks where they keep the water really warm and there are lots of things for toddlers to do. In the fall I will be putting Austin in swim lessons as I think he might be part fish :-)
Justin and Evan going down the slide

Austin and daddy. After daddy went down a few times with him, he decided he would go on his own. What a crazy little guy :-)

It is so nice that my mom does not own the restaurant anymore! She has so much more free time and we are able to spend alot of time together. I love it!! We have had lots of Chinooks this January so mom and I were able to hit up the zoo a few times. Austin and Carter are still the best of friends and are showing off their wild side here. They wore these tiger masks and growled for a good half hour. Ohhhh boys!

Austin loves this computer I got him for Christmas and he will sit on his special cars seat and when I ask him to do something else he will tell me "I just have to do something on my computer...okay mom!!". A few Austin updates:

He is obsessed with guitars-he usually walks around with his guitar all day

He loves to count-then usually ends it with blast off

He has decided he is a puppy- Which is sometimes the only way we can get him to eat. We have to address him as "puppy" (Oh geez!)

If I leave somewhere then return he will yell "I missed you mom!!"- Gotta love that

He will play with his cars for hours-he has full on conversations with them

He LOVES to help me cook- which then usually doubles the time it takes me to make a meal but I love that he wants to help

He wants to be doing whatever daddy is doing

He honestly makes me laugh all day because he says the most hilarious things :-)

This video is of him watching the wiggles and "rocking out" as he puts it.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T14:14:00.001-08:00

What a fun (and interesting) Christmas we had this year. I will get to the interesting part later. Christmas Eve was spent at my dad's house and I was on the food planning committee. I thought it would be fun to do ALL appys for the food. I did a yummy chicken salad and lots of different dips. My sis in law made the yummiest shrimp appy. Man I love appys! My dad could not resist the temptation to buy and cook a "turducken". A "turducken" is a chicken stuffed inside a duck all stuffed inside a turkey. It was really good actually! We opened gifts and this picture was the highlight. Most of my family is obsessed with the Broncos. Why? Poor choice if you ask me. I thought this hat was hilarious. Then we came home and I became REALLY sick. It is hard being sick when you are preggo and cant take anything for it. So I didn't sleep and on Christmas I felt worse :-( It is sad being sick on your favorite day of the year but I still managed to have a good time.
Here is what Santa left little Austin man. He LOVES this thing. He goes upstairs and will play with his train table for hours....which allows me to get lots done...like blogging! Horray for Santa.

Austin Christmas morning opening his Santa gifts. Just as a side note: we let Austin pick out his pajamas for Christmas Eve and this is what he came up with.

We were making Austin some lunch and when I was done I came back to this. Opening presents is exhausting! So we were supposed to go over to my brother's early on Christmas day but I was sick, Austin was sleeping and I called to find out this: My brother had been in a car accident Christmas Eve!! He had gone in for an emergency patient and was driving home but had to swerve so he wouldn't hit a deer and drove into a ditch and hit his head on the steering wheel. He then passed out for an hour until someone finally stopped and let him use their cell phone to call AMA and his wife (who was panicked as you can imagine). He finally got home at 2am with a bloody car and face. Not fun! He is fine and the car is in the shop. Crazy!!!

After Christmas we headed up to the Chalets in B.C. for some snowshoeing fun. Austin likes being shirtless lately but is in love with his new toque. Looks cute to me!!

Hans pulling Austin and Michael on the sled outside the Chalets.

We went on the most beautiful hike through the mountains to a waterfall. What could be better than that?? The weather was perfect.

Mom and I before the hike

Breathtaking!

Here is the waterfall we hiked to.

They had this bench near the waterfall where we ate our lunch. It was sooooo much fun!

Leaving our mark.

I love Christmas!!!

2010-12-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas! Seriously, what is not to love? We have had so much fun with all the festivities and parties. It is funny now that Hans is in the "family business" because all the work parties have my family in them. What a treat! This year we wanted to take Austin to see Santa Claus. We made a "big build up" for it because we wanted him to smile and not scream.....Austin is not that fond of strangers. To get him to smile, mommy and daddy had to be in the picture.
This is Austin and Maverick on Santa's lap. Maverick is my besties little boy. Isn't he adorable? Austin's face is priceless in this picture. This is the face I expected of him.

They have all these fun things for the kids to do while waiting in line to see Santa. Genious! They had cookie making, an ice skating rink that lit up and a tunnel through a tree. Austin was in heaven! He wants to go and see Santa everyday (but maybe not sit on his lap).

We went with our friends, the Low's, to zoolights this year. I thought Austin wouldn't last very long outside since I now live in the arctic tundra but it was actually a pretty nice night. We were there for about 2 hours and he didn't want to leave. They had this area where you could bowl for snowmen and Austin LOVED it! I guess all I need is some styrofoam and a ball and we are good to go!

Austin and Madeline in the reindeer hay pit. I am not sure who thought of this as an activity but it was a good one. He just climbed over, and jumped on hay bales for half an hour. I had to literally pry him away with bribes of hot chocolate. The lights were awesome but didn't really turn out in the pictures.

I let Austin help me make cookies for friends. We made a BIG mess but had sooooo much fun doing it. He also loved dropping off the cookies. "bye bye cookies" he would say "miss you"

Our ward party this year was "Christmas in the Tropics" spawned by a friend's recent trip to Hawaii. Notice the flowered shorts worn by Santa in the backround. Santa couldn't let all the kids in our ward sit on his lap because there are SO MANY kids in our ward. He gave out lifesavers which as you can tell by Austin's face, were a hit :-) We have had so much fun thus far this Christmas season and we are excited for lots more to come.

Crazy Update

2010-12-09T14:49:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a full update since I have not posted in awhile. I guess the biggest news is that I am preggo! I am 20 weeks along and just found out I will be having another baby boy. We are so excited about having a baby brother for the Austy man. We have a name in mind but we are not sharing it because everyone has sooooo many opinions about names. I am due May 3rd but I am hoping the baby will be born in April (a girl can always hope). This will be the 7th grandchild for my parents and the 7th boy!! We are hoping for a full basketball team.

In November Hans had a dental conference in San Fran and I was able to go with him. His sister lives there and I thought it would be nice for Austin to get to see his cousins again. Jen had a baby in April and so I got to meet the little guy for the first time. Austin LOVED playing with Landry and Sadie. They were so good about playing with him....even though he is 2 and not always the best playmate. I love this picture of them holding hands.

Trying on hats in Gymboree.

Austin fell asleep in the cart at Target. What a lovely treat!! I got to shop at my favorite store, uninterrupted, for 2 hours.

We really enjoyed the great weather and the opportunity to spend time outside. We went to the park and played in the sandpit for hours.

Austin has never met Hans' grandparents and so we got to see them this trip. Love you Nana and Papa!

Okay I threw this random picture in. This is Sunday dinner at my place where there was impromtu moustache wearing. It just makes me laugh!

We had such a fun Halloween this year. The older Austin gets, the more fun all the holidays are. We let Austin pick out a pumpkin to carve and he was having so much fun until....

Daddy showed him the "guts" inside the pumpkin. He kept saying "yucky daddy! throw it away!!!". Not impressed.

Austin was a robot this year and I think trick or treating was the highlight of his life so far. He STILL talks about it. You cant really blame him though....get dressed up all silly and you go around to people's houses and they just GIVE you all the candy you want. He was one happy robot. I cant belive all the trick or treaters we had at our door this year. In Kentucky we were lucky to have 3 or 4 kids. Here I bought a 100 piece candy box and was out in 45 min!! Guess I'll have to get more for next year.

Sister Halloween picture at my dads party.

Group pic....minus me. We have had a great couple of months and now I am excited to start blogging about all the Christmas fun we've been having!!

Trip to the Wiggles

2010-10-28T11:32:00.001-07:00

This trip was not really supposed to be a trip in the first place. Let me explain. The Wiggles were coming to Calgary on Friday but that was the day my sweet nephew Michael was going to get baptized. I talked with my frother (friend+brother) and we dicussed that we could make a trip out of going to see the Wiggles in Edmonton (3 hours away). Of couse we had to add a million other activites to the list :-) On the way up to Edmonton we stopped halfway in Red Deer and took the kids to a wave pool. They had a great time, then we hopped back in the car, chlorine and all, and headed to the concert. Here is Austin and Carter before the concert started. Austin was amazed by the Wiggles. He has been talking about it ever since!
Toot Toot chugga chugga big red car!

After the concert we headed over to West Edmonton Mall, which by the way is the biggest mall in North America. Sorry Mall of America you are not the biggest. This mall has a waterpark, ice skating rink, indoor theme park, submarine, sea lion show and the list goes on. We met the big boy cousins at the Theme Park and they all wanted to ride the carousel of all things. Silly boys! We went to the arcade, got a bite to eat and then played mini golf. After the kiddos went to bed the adults hung out in the hotel lobby and played games. The fun never seems to end when my brother is around.

The next day we headed over to Denny's. Needless to say we did not get much sleep. Hans gets a little delirious without sleep.

Not enough sleep didn't seem to affect these boys.

The group! We had such a great time. Horray for the Wiggles!

Life Lately

2010-10-20T14:58:00.001-07:00

Ok this picture just makes me laugh
Austin loves building forts in the front room with daddy.

I had 16 people over at my house for Canadian Thanksgiving! It was fun though. I did the turkey this year and I was having paranoia about it. Thank goodness we have a chef in the family! I think I called Mark about 20 times to make sure I was doing the turkey right. It turned out really well...horray!

Austin and his cousin Carter are BFF. When they are together they do not leave eachother's side. They rarely fight....but they do cause a lot of mischief. Grandpa Mark gave them some fudge and they loved it :-)

I had everyone come early for dinner so the kids could make a Thanksgiving hat. Okay trying to take a picture of 6 little kids all looking at the camera is impossible!

I love this picture of Landon. What a cutie!

Austin has started preschool this year. I have gotten together with a bunch of girls in the ward and we switch off who's house preschool is at each week. We are doing the letters of the alphabet. Austin loves wearing his backpack to "school". I am amazed at how much he has already learned.

Preschool at our house.

A week in Waterton and Heritage Park

2010-10-07T15:30:00.001-07:00

This really has been an awesome summer. I really love living back in Calgary with all my family and my BFF around. This summer my Aunt Kathy called and asked if I wanted to use our summer cabin for a week. Yes of course I said! So my bestie Mel and I decided to make it a girls week and we had such a good time. Melanie is someone that just "gets" me. We always have a great time when we are together. Here we are with are cute kiddos in front of Cameron Falls.
We decided we would be brave and hike our kids up a mountain. Austin did pretty good and hiked most of the way up. Then he slept ALL the way down and was like dead weight on my back. It was VERY tiring but it was worth the experience.

Here we are at the top. Isn't it beautiful? It looks like we are taking a picture in front of a backdrop. Waterton is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

When the kiddos were sleeping we would sit on the lawn and read, eat snacks and heckle the people who walked by.

We rented a surrey and drove around. Austin loved it!

Austin and Auntie Mel bonding time.

Another fun thing we did this summer was go to Heritage Park. I was surprised at how many rides Austin was able to go on. Here he is on a boat swing with my friend Janae's little boy Preston.

Austin LOVED his older (second) cousin Seth. Seth held Austin's hand the whole time and helped him on the rides. Too cute :-)

Here they are getting on the ferris wheel. I love Austin's face in this one. He is looking at the attendant like "are you really strapping me into this thing?"

Cute little Austin's face peering over the edge.

This was Austin's first experience on a real "choo choo". He was thrilled to say the least. We have had a great summer and are excited for the fall. Swim lessons, preschool and the list goes on. Never a dull moment around here.

Austin is 2!!!

2010-09-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Austin has turned two already! I think I am in denial. Here are some Austin-isms so that I will remember. His language is really starting to take off. Isn't it so cute when they start talking?

Gackle- Michael (one of his favorite people)

Weekee- Logan (I dont get the connection)

CarCar- Carter

Bum- Gum (It is funny in the store he will say "I want some bum momma!")

Wapple- Waffle

Un go?- Where did it go?

Okay- Yes (he wont say yes but he says okay to everything I ask him)

Nilk- Milk

Nunkey- Monkey

His favorite things to do right now are driving cars, kicking balls, eating food and playing with his cousins. He loves going to the gym and will laugh and clap his hands when I pull up (horray for that). He is starting to take an interest in animals. He will give me a play by play of what the monkeys are doing in their cage at the zoo. He definitely has a very strong will and will let me know of his every need and want but I love him all the same. He loves living in Calgary and will ask me to drive him to either "nana and papas" house or "Gackle and Weekee's" house. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

Houseboating on Kookanusa

2010-08-12T20:09:00.001-07:00

Okay so this was our first year going on the houseboat in Kookanusa and it was soooo much fun. It is only 4 hours away from Calgary and the water temperature was like 76. Perfect!! No wetsuit for me thanks. We went for the August long weekend and the weather was awesome.
Hans taking his first waterski of the season. I went on the first waterski of the morning (8am) when the lake was glass and I had a "perfect" moment. Perfect weather, perfect setting and the perfect ski. Life cant get better than that!

Thanks to my pyro nephews we always had a fire going, even in the middle of the day. We started Michael- Pyro Palmer.

Here are the boys lighting fireworks at night....why do guys always do stuff like this?

So since we brought my lovely nephews who are 6 and 7 they kept Austin pretty entertained the whole time. It has been awhile since I could just sit on a floatie and relax. Thanks Logan and Michael for letting me float for hours!

We decided to make a quadruple chain down the slide....why?.....I dont really know but it was fun.

My jam faced child. Isn't he cute?

Austin and I chilling on the wave runner. He liked sitting on it but was too scared to actually have it move.

Lori decided to change Landons diaper and it has been awhile for her so she only brought one wipe. Well he was full with sand and was squirming everywhere. It was hilarious.

On this lake they have fish called Kokanees and they taste like salmon. We had a great time fishing with the boys and we caught a lot.

Sun+toddler+not enough sleep=child who will sleep anywhere (Austin is sleeping in the front room while we had the music blasting having a dance party)

Landon and I dancing! What a great weekend. Hope we can repeat for next year :-)

The Crazy Palmer Reunion 2010

2010-07-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

This was the first time that I have planned a family reunion....well I co-planned it actually with my bro Justin. It was stressful for me to plan as I had just moved across the country and I was planning meals, sleeping arrangements and activities for 50 people but it all worked out great. We decided this year we would include a "pre-union" so that all the family could enjoy Calgary fun. The first stop was Calgary Olympic Park where they have the fastest zipline in North America and Zorbing.
Here is the group before we went on the zipline. It was SCARY! They drop you off the top of the ski jump and I screamed if you can imagine.

We also went to the Stampede which is always a lot of fun. We took Austin in the morning and here he is in the Canadian Army truck wearing a beret. He loved looking at all the horses, which he calls "hoo hoos". Too funny. He also LOVED the dog show. Hans took him home for a nap and I stayed with all the crazy cousins and went to the rodeo.

Here we are at the rodeo looking all sad because it rained but luckily we were inside when the downpour started.

We all tried our luck at this one game where you throw the balls into the barrel. I was trying to win Austin a new cow stuffy because his was getting old and ratty. All the adults tried and I think we put down about $30. No luck. Then as we were walking away the carnie said "If you put $5 more down I will give you the cow even if you don't win." Done! I let Michael throw the balls because I was going to win anyway. He got them both in the first try!! So Angie wanted a giant banana and there was one at the barrel game. She gave the carnie $5 and of course Michael got them both in again. Can you tell we were excited??

Then we were off to Waterton for the reunion. The first night everyone slept on Bertha Beach. We have family memories here as my grandma took us all here one night to watch a meteor shower. The little boy to the right is cousin David. Austin was in LOVE with him. Everytime he saw David his face would light up and he would say "HI!!". It was too cute.

The two year olds chilling on the lawn- Austin, Eva and Carter

Michael helping Austin to the start line of the race at the Family Olympics.

This is a new game my cousin David thought up. It's call "swing your thing". It entails putting an orange in a stocking and tying the stocking around your waist. No hands allowed while hitting the ball into the net. It was hilarious!

This is one of our family traditions- Launching children into the air with a parachute. It is a very safe sport :-) We also went canyoning this day but did not bring the camera because it would get wet. It is Hans' favorite thing to do in Waterton.

Another tradition is hiking a mountain "Bears Hump" in the dark. In Waterton it doesn't get dark till 10:30 so we got to the top at about midnight.

Here we are at the top of the mountain.

Here is Hans hiking up to Wall Lake (aka most beautiful place on Earth). He pushed that double stroller two hours up and two hours back. What a trooper!

Austin on Papa's shoulders during the hike.

The boys always take off their shirts at the top and yell WONDERBAR, and of course eat wonderbars while doing it. All the family fishes at the lake but we took Austin back down.

The moment we put him in the stroller, this is what happened and he slept the whole way down. He was such a good boy that whole hike.

My brave cousin Teresa brought her 8 month old twins sans husband across the border and we were so happy to get to meet them. Aren't they the cutest!

We had such an awesome time and we are now exhausted from all the fun and the planning of the reunion. Cant wait for another 3 years till the next one.

The BIG move!

2010-07-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

I cant believe it has been 2 months since we have moved to Calgary! It feels like 2 weeks...maybe. We have so busy since we have gotten here that I have not had much time to blog at all. I need to do some catch up before I get to the family reunion we just got home from. Austin has been loving being around his cousins (especially the older ones). He has started copying everything they do. My nephews are in gymnastics so the are usually doing cartwheels everywhere. Now Austin says "Mommy..like Gackel (Michael)" then does his rendition of a cartwheel.....which really is his two hands on the ground and one leg sticking straight up in the air.
The cousins

My mum lives in a little town called Black Diamond and they have a parade and family fun run every year. As you can tell it was pretty cold for the parade but still really fun. That night was the 10km race and it was so beautiful running in the mountains and I was AMAZED at how much better I can breathe here. I love Kentucky ....but not humidity. Mark, Amanda, Justin and I ran the race and we all did really well. We will definitely be doing it again next year.

In other news.....we bought a HOUSE!!! We got a really great deal on it and we love it! It is right near all of our family and close to parks/shopping/splash park and the library (a must for me).

One Sunday all the girls went to Lilith Fair. It was the first stop on the tour so all the headliners came-Colbie Caillet, Sheryl Crow, Erikah Badu, Sugarland and Sarah Mclaughlin. It was an amazing day with some amazing girls I know :-)

Kira and I were so excited to be sooooo close to Sheryl Crow during her performance.

I was this close with no zooming. I am a big Sheryl Crow fan and so I was in heaven! At one point her son came on stage and played the tambourine. It was adorable.

One night Hans told me he was going to surprise me and I had to dress up. I love surprises and really was surprised when we ended up at Stage West with Justin and Kira. It is this place where you can watch shows while eating a fancy dinner. The show was called "Two Pianos Four Hands". Which was a story of two friends growing up around playing the piano and I really haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was a great night.

We have really enjoyed our time here so far and are excited about this next chapter in our lives.

Great Wolf Lodge

2010-07-06T18:08:00.001-07:00

The week before I left Kentucky we took a trip to Cincinnati to stay at Great Wolf Lodge with our wonderful friends, the Mills. We decided that we would stay in one hotel room to save some $ and it was an adventure for sure. On the way up we stopped at a bargain shopper's paradise (aka Chelsea's heaven). This is where they send all the flawed items for Gap, Banana and Old Navy. I got a pair of jeans, dress pants, shirt, 3 pairs of pajamas for Austin and a pair of socks for $28. Hello? I want to go again but too bad I live 3 days drive away now :-( This is the waterpark inside Great Wolf Lodge. There are plenty of slides for kids AND adults. We made the boys watch the kiddos so Heather and I could enjoy some thrill rides too. It was funny because the rule was you could not go down the slides with your toddler but you could send them down alone. Interesting rule.....

The Meyer family before going swimming.

Heather and I (and Austin in the backround).

Austin and Ree Ree(Reagan) being silly and eating chips in the bed. These two loved playing together.

Brushing our teeth while trying not to wake the kids. We had such a fun time and would love to go again. We miss you Mills Family!!!

This is a video of Austin watching the show at night. He got into it!!!

Graduation-Finally!

2010-07-02T14:33:00.001-07:00

It as been a LONG time since I have blogged so I have alot to catch up on. We have been living out of suitcases for the past month with no access to my beloved computer. It is amazing really how much I missed having my own computer with all my stuff on it. Anyway I need to hurry up and blog before my active little dude wakes up. Hans' parents came out a few days before graduation so we got to take them to the horse races. I love going to the paddock to watch the horses gear up for the races. They are such beautiful creatures.
Big Hans and I won the last race before we left so we were happy :-)

Big Hans and Austin chillin outside in the beautiful weather.

Both of my brothers were able to come to the graduation as well as my dad and step-mom and my brothers wife Amanda. We all went out the night before graduation and went to Wicked. It was really amazing. If you have not seen it yet, it is really worth the money to go.

After the show my dad realized he could not find the keys to the car. This is the face he made when he realized he left the keys in the car with the car running!! Too funny.

After 4 years of dental school my man is finally a dentist. I am soooo proud. At the awards ceremony we found out that Hans won 3 awards, Pediatric dentistry, Crown and Bridge and Operative. Way to go Hans!!!!

Hans and the parentals.

Hans' new employers.

Actually, they are quite a serious bunch...

The dental men: Hans, Brian, Kelly, Eric, Jeff, Jon and Ryan

Janelle and I had some great times together. We are so happy we are finally done (we felt like we went though dental school too).

Good-bye Kentucky!! We had such a great, wonderful, exciting, interesting and life-changing 4 year there. I now feel like Kentucky is my home and I will miss it alot! Off to our new adventures in Canada.

House Sold!

2010-05-11T18:11:00.001-07:00

So we sold our house on April 26th to our wonderful friends, the Wyatts. I am so glad they are going to be living in this great house and loving it as much as us. Here is a picture of us toasting after we signed the contract.

Thunder Over Louisville and the Pegasus Parade

2010-04-30T11:38:00.001-07:00

I have to be honest and say that April and May are the best months of the year to live in Louisville. My family called me the other day and said it was snowing while it is 70-80 degrees here. I am really going to miss the weather! Anyway in April/May there are so many fun things going on all centered around the Derby. There is a fireworks show, airshow, boat races, ballooon races, mini-marathon and parades. This was the first year we have actually been to the parade and it was soooooo much fun. Austin really loved it. Here are my two handsome men checking out the scene.

I thought this was hilarious. Why have I not thought to strap a large ball to my behind before?? It would make for a great costume and then you could sit on it when you get tired. I think I have Halloween covered for next year thanks to this genius.

This is a large balloon horse of Secretariat. Austin thought it was pretty darn cool.

I dont know if you can tell from the picture but this car is made completely of mirrors. Sweet!

A couple of weekend ago we went to Thunder Over Louisville which is a huge air show and fireworks show. I went down with my friends at about 10am to save a good spot. Wes went down at 6am to start holding the spots for us. Thank You Wes!

Hans did not come down to the waterfront until after Austin's nap so I took some quality time with the girls.....and read a magazine :-) We also went and got some free stuff and Laura managed to heckle someone out of a water bottle. We had a great time! I will miss these girls ALOT!!!

Austin loved the air show...but I think he loved this football even more. Like father, like son.

Here is a great picture Laura took of the sun setting over the river.
As we were walking to the car we ran into this guying walking his turtle downtown (on a very dirty street). I really don't know what to say about this....maybe....only in Lousiville.

3rd Mini Marathon!!

2010-04-25T18:21:00.001-07:00

This weekend I had the opportunity to run my 3rd mini marathon. I had decided only about a month ago that I was going to run it and so I was proud of myself for running it 12 minutes faster than last time! I ran it in 2 hours and 5 minutes. I really think that having a child has helped my running. I feel stonger than I ever have before so thanks to Austin :-) The Derby mini marathon is a great one to run because of all the fan support along the whole route. There were people playing music, cheering, handing out oranges and water and running along side us to keep us motivated. Also at about mile 7 you get to run through Churchill Downs and see all the horses. I was nervous because they were calling for a huge rainstorm but it turned out to be a small drizzle for the first half of the race which I quite enjoyed. There were 15,000 people who ran the race this year so I was worried that I would have a hard time finding Hans but I spotted my giant husband right near the finish line and it made me so happy to see my two boys cheering me on. I am so happy that I decided last minute to run the race and it has made me motivated to maybe run some more this summer! Canadian races here I come!

Easter Weekend: Parks and Eggs

2010-04-09T11:59:00.001-07:00

To start out: I just LOVE this picture. Everyone always makes a comment about Austin's big blues and I just love how this picture captures them. On friday night we went down to Waterfront Park (which is a park right on the river) with a group of friends and had a picnic to kick off Easter weekend. I love the Spring and being able to be outside all the time.
Austin has decided that it is way more fun to go headfirst down slides.

He thought he should teach his little friend Dominic....

And also his girlfriend Regan how to slide properly.

The next day we went to an Easter egg hunt put on by a local church in the area. This was Austin's first time looking for eggs and he had a really good time....especially when he found a soccer ball Easter egg. I can't believe how many eggs there were!

Enjoying his treats.

Later that day we went to a lunch and Easter egg hunt put on by our friends, the Cluffs. I decided to put this picture in because we dont have too many group shots. Thanks to my friend Heather for getting all the Meyers in one frame :-)

This is what I am going to miss most about Louisville. All the great people!!!

It was such a nice day on Sunday that we headed out to another park near U of L campus. I thougth these swings were pretty interesting.

When Hans got into it I just died with laughter. He looks hilarious in it.

Then we came home for our own family Easter egg hunt. This time Austin knew that all the eggs had candy so he just wanted to sit and open them when he found them.

Hans is always making me laugh! Happy Easter everyone!!!

My 18 month old

2010-03-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you are having fun. I am loving Austin at 18 months old. He is full of wild and crazy energy and learning so much everyday. I cant say every minute is "fun" as my little wild child can throw some pretty amazing tantrums. For some reason he likes to throw tantrums while I have a cart full of groceries at the store or when I am trying to get ready in the morning. Anyway in the past month he has really started talking. I was getting worried because right at his 18 month checkup he only said cracker, banana, mama and dada. I told myself that when we got home from out trip to Canada I was going to look into "First Steps" which is a government program that evaluates children. Then all of a sudden in Canada he had a language explosion. He really says the cutest things like:

CooCoo- Cookie or muffin (I keep telling him the word muffin but he always says coocoo)

Bup- Up

Baball- basketball (which are everywhere I might add due to March Madness)

Dah- Dog

Cah- Car

Na!- More

ChooChoo- Train

His likes:

Basketballs or any type of ball really

Trains, cars, airplanes, trucks, buses (and he names them constantly while I am driving)

Dogs
Snacks (he could be happy eating snacks all day and no meals)

Babies

Slides

Blowing his nose

Giving hugs and kisses

Going to bed at night- this is a weird one but he really does. When I tell him it is time for "night night" he runs into the bathroom to brush his teeth then kisses Hans and I goodnight. So thankful for that!

His Dislikes:

Waking up from naps (hello grumpy pants)

Getting his diaper changed
Eating in a high chair

When Mommy and Daddy leave (cant blame him because we are pretty awesome :-))

Trip to Calgary

2010-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, travelling on the airplane with a toddler is really not that fun and this picture really captures it. Here Austin is trying to open and shut the window....like five thousand times! Anyway, we just got back from our trip to Calgary and we really had a great time. The main purpose of the trip was that Hans took his Canadian Boards and so hopefully this will be the last test Hans takes in his life. Horray!!!
For my birthday my brother Justin and his wife Kira took us to the hockey game. I really love going to hockey games. My dad used to have season tickets and we would go on "date nights" together and he would always buy me a malt ice cream. It was funny because after 5 seconds of being at the game, Justin bought me one. Ohhhh memories.

Here we are at the dinosaur park at the Calgary zoo. When I was young, this park was REALLY boring. It was just a bunch of plastic dinosaurs. Anyways, they revamped the park and now all the dinosaurs roar and move their mouths, limbs and tails. At first all the kids were pretty scared and then they thought it was "awesome" (in the words of my nephews).

Here are all the boys at the dinosaur park. I was really happy because I got to bring my nephews who took the day off school. They are such good kids!

I was so excited that my birthday was going to be when I was home. We all went out for sushi and the chef made this for me and said "Happy birthday on your 20th birthday". I guess that is how old I look :-) Too bad I could not eat this because I got sick!

I love my family!

We went to the childrens museum in Calgary and had a great time. Here are all the boys rockin out.

When I was home I was able to go to one of my nephew's gymnastics meets. It was so cute seeing them do all of their moves. It is amazing what little 6 and 7 year olds can do on the rings!

We went hiking with my step-dad Mark in the Kananaskis one day. We were really lucky to get such great weather while we were up there. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do and I just cant get enough. Austin really loved it too and said "wow" and "cool" to pretty much every rock stick and leaf. It took us awhile to get where we were going.

View from the top.

What a cute family :-)

One morning I went out with Mel, Lauren and Jessica from highschool. It was great spending time with some old friends. We had a really great breakfast at Coras. Eggs Benny are yum!

One night the guys made dinner for the girls and served us at mom's restaurant. How great is that? The guys make you dinner and you get to sit and talk and not have to clean up......heaven.

The bestie comes to town

2010-02-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

After my last posting about friends I thought I would post about my bestie Mel coming to visit me. We have known each other since we were 3 when she moved in next door. She is one of those people who knows what I am thinking and can finish my sentences. She is my "childhood" friend (as mentioned in the previous posting) and knows everything about me. It was so much fun having her here! We are excited as she is expecting a baby in April (she thinks March).

We went bowling with the dental wives club. I was sporting a tummy like Mel. I actually think I should not go bowling as I am really horrible. I like bowling on the Wii much better :-)

The dental wives club. I am going to miss these girls!

Silly faces!

Melanie came with us to our weekly story time adventure. Here are Austin and Reagan acting silly as they normally do.

The weather was really nice one day so we got to go to the zoo. Okay the term "really nice" is relative....to us Canadians 55 degrees in winter is like a tropical heat wave! Austin and Mel had to pose by the gorilla sign. It is a must.

Okay so they say never to feed the animals at the zoo. Now my question is: Do the ducks at the zoo count? If so, we are busted. We were feeding the ducks Austin's cheerios and he thought it was hilarious.

I love Austin's face in this one.

Preggo lady giving Austin a ride. Aren't they cute?

Taking pictures of ourselves.

We went over to the Cluffs while Mel was here for game night and Bachelor night and we caught this picture of Austin and Harrison in their matching jammies . It was alot of fun. We also ended up watching this show called Hoarders on A+E. It is crazy! Melanie and I had a great time and now I am really lonely. Come back Mel!!!

8 friends who can make you healthier - TODAY Health

2010-02-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

8 friends who can make you healthier - TODAY Health

Friends

2010-02-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

I was watching the "Today Show" at the gym and saw this really interesting story about how friends are good for your health. Here is the link http://today.msnbc.com/id/34752540/today-today_health/

It states you need these 8 types of friends
1. A childhood friend
2. A new friend
3. A workout friend
4. A spiritual friend
5. A younger friend
6. Your partner's friends
7. Your mom
8. Yourself

I am so thankful for all the great friends in my life and I really feel blessed! Let me know what you think of the article

Christmas Part III- Christmas Day and beyond

2010-02-04T12:32:00.001-08:00

Well Christmas Day finally came and so did Santa! Cousin Landry got this really neat pirate ship that Austin loved to play with. Why are other people's toys so much more fun?
Auntie Jen and Uncle Ben have a really cute dog named Albert. For some reason I dont have any pictures of him. Anyway Austin loved the dog and would follow him around wherever he went. He saw Albert eating out of his dish and then began to eat like him :-)

Hans spent many hours in the backyard making this sledding track for everyone. It was really fun to get outside and go sledding.

Uncle Shugi was going a little too fast down the ramp and busted through the fence. Too funny!

On Christmas Day Eve we headed over to my Aunt Gayle's house. Her house is like a second home to me as Aunt Gayle was my Utah mom while I was in college. I spent many holiday's over there and she really is one of the sweetest and most generous people I have ever met. I am so glad to call her family! Anyway while at her house I got this hilarious picture of Austin looking at Ang. He is thinking "Where did you come from?" Classic

Angie bought all the girls these new trendy little head scarves. Too cute! They are all the rage in Utah right now. I dont know if it is just me but I really never know what the "new thing" is.

Angie is one of the best cooks. I love it when she comes to visit because she cooks for me and it is always delicious. She made fondue and my favorite crab dip. She made these Korean beef wontons that were to die for. I am drooling a little right now just thinking about them.

The day after Christmas the girls went out and got pedicures. I love getting pedicures and I dont care if that makes me sound girly. There is nothing better than having someone massage my feet....ahhhhhhh....bliss.

One of mine and Hansi's traditions is making gingerbread houses. It really makes a big mess but it is sooooo worth it. We always have a great time making them.....and eating them. Lyndsey and Jeff were making their house extra special. They cut windows out of the gingerbread and put a flameless candle in there. What crafty people.

This is a typical Hans face. He thought of the genius idea of using Necco wafers for the roof. My hubby the genius :-)

Finished product

One night I was able to go out with one of my good friends from Labor and Delivery days, Deborah. She actually trained me when I was a brand new nurse and I am so thankful she did. She was so patient with me. It took me awhile to figure out IVs at first. Now it is one of my best skills. Thanks Deborah!

My bestie from college, Catherine, was also able to come over for a visit.....okay her husband and son came too but we really did all the talking. Her son is a month older than Austin so we always have alot to talk about. We pretty much talk everyday on the phone. I am so glad I have Catherine in my life to tell all my inner thoughts too. Love ya girlie!

Apparently Austin and Colton really liked each other. He will hate me for posting this when he gets older but it is too cute!

Christmas Part II- Christmas Eve

2010-02-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is a big deal at the Meyer home. Hansi's family incorporated the German tradition of opening all the gifts from eachother on Christmas Eve. I really enjoy the tradition as I feel it spaces out all the present opening. As many of you know, Christmas is my favorite holiday, so any way to space it out works for me. Hansi and I will be including this tradition into our own family. It really was a fun night with LOTS of presents. As you can see from the picture, all the presents didn't even fit under the tree. Then after Santa came the next morning, there was a whole batch more. Crazy! Here are all the cousins cuddling in their matching PJs. That was a tradition from my family. We always opened PJs on Christmas Eve. Thanks to Auntie Jen for the lovely pajamas for Austin.

Here are the cousins just being silly. Austin always wanted to be sitting next to his cooler, older cousin Landry.

Hansi had to get into his Elf costume for the night. He disappeared for awhile then came knocking at the back door and everyone had a good laugh. Here is the silly Meyer family :-)

Papa Elf and Austin opening the first present.

Austin got a handmade pillow case from grandma and he loved it! He has now graduated to having a pillow.

Lyndsey reading the Night Before Christmas.

Papa Elf got an emergency kit for the car and Austin wanted to drag it around everywhere. He then started waving "bye bye". So cute! We really had a wonderful and present-filled Christmas Eve!

Christmas in Utah Part 1

2010-01-27T11:43:00.001-08:00

Austin in the grandparents huge tub.

This year we travelled to Utah for Christmas to spend it with Hansis family. We had such a great time with family and friends. This first post is dedicated to food and fun. What I love about Utah is that they have the greatest food ever. I don't know why the great food is centered in Utah but it just is. Cafe Rio, In N Out Burger, Panda Express, Edo, Zupas and the list goes on. I think we ate at In N Out about 4 times and Cafe Rio about 3. Yes I gained a bunch of weight but it was all for a good cause and I came home and ran it off. Now for the "fun" part. Utah has lots of things to do for kids. I did not know this before I left because little Austinator was not here yet. We went to the Dinosaur Museum with Michelle and all of her kids, the Children's Museum, a huge indoor waterpark, Cabela's and even the malls in Utah have these huge indoor playplaces for kids. Who knew?

Here is Austin at the Children's Museum in Salt Lake City. It was sooooo much fun for him. They had lots of things to do for kids his age. Here he is running down a ramp. He would climb up and then run down, repeat, repeat repeat.

Austin with Grandpa Hans at the museum in the "truck" area (aka little boy heaven)

Hans and Grandpa Hans wanted to join in on the fun. This is the picture before Austin came and knocked it all down.

Daddy and Austin at Cabelas. Hunting stores are so much fun!

I couldn't believe how many people work at In N Out Burger so I had to take a picture of it. To be continued.....

Catch Up

2010-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Well I was downloading my Christmas pictures and I realized that it has been a LONG time since I have posted anything. As many of you know, keeping up with an active toddler can be exhuasting and between that and getting Christmas gifts together I have slacked on the blogosphere. This year we did not have alot of money to spend so I ended up making most of my gifts. All that being said I need to catch up on the last few months before I post about our wonderful Christmas vacation. It was Hansi's birthday this month and we had to make the pilgramage to Red Robin for his birthday burger. No matter where we go and eat, Hans always ends up getting a burger anyway so might as well go to the place that specializes in them. The Dicksons joined us and were kind enough to provide the birthday hats. Our waiter thought the birthday was for one of the children.....ha ha
Somehow my child always ends up with food all over! On Hansi's real birthday our lovely friends, the Cluffs watched Austin and we went to P.F. Changs (our all time favorite) and had a great time just the two of us.

This year for Thanksgiving the Evans' had us over for a lovely meal and we watched Elf. This made Hans very happy!

Brian made a deep fried turkey which was absolutely delicious. Yum!

One of my favorite days of the year is Black Friday. Okay dont hate me for this because I am really not much of a shopper but I always have sooooo much fun. This year I went with my good friend Yolanda nad we got some great deals. I dont know what I am going to do when I move to Canada! I will probably have to fly down for Thanksgiving because Americans really have this holiday down.

Austin update: his new favorite thing to do is get into every cupboard and empty it. Silly boy!

Here he is in the pots and pans cupboard. He can spend a good half hour taking everything out and banging all the lids on the pots.

Never a dull moment around here!

Halloween Part 2 and Huber Farm

2009-11-08T16:43:00.001-08:00

At ward trunk or treat Austin found his female counterpart Marin who had the same costume. Sooo cute! Trunk or treat was fun and Austin learned the art of taking candy from people and putting it into his pumpkin.
Just as trunk or treat was ending it started pouring and so we quickly buckled Austin into his carseat with his costume on. I looked back at him and this is what I saw. You could barely see his eyes over his "fatsuit". Hans and I were busting up laughing.
The town we live in has an annual trick or treat party for the kids during the daytime on Halloween. This is a picture of the Jeffersontown courthouse. So many memories of all the festivals we have attended here.

Austin and daddy going to get some treats.

Austin's favorite part...getting the candy!

After the Jeffersontown festival we headed to Toys R Us because they had trick or treating for the kids and had a parade. Then of course we had to check out all the toys......

We went trick or treating with the Cluffs this year but we had to end it early. Austin thought it was a good idea to run into people's houses when they opened the door and then he would run into their backyards. Oh my active little guy! Maybe we will have better luck next year!

This past weekend we went to Huber Farm with our friends the Mills. we have gone once before to get a pumpkin but we thought we should take advantage of the 70 degree weather in November and spend the day outside. The kiddos loved it! Here is Austin on a cement duck he thought was pretty neat.

After a LONG (and ever changing) explanation of how much everything cost at the farm we decided to take a wagonride to see the animals and to go through the corn maze. Here we all are on the wagonride around the farm.

Austin and daddy walking through the cornmaze. Notice the shorts and T-shirt Hans is wearing in November!

Here is our guide Felix with our precious children. Look how happy they are to be on his lap.

Austin loved to feed the animals. He would giggle everytime they ate the corn out of his hands.

I thought this was a cool shot. This is Austin and daddy going down the tube slide from the hay loft. We had a great time at the farm enjoying the beautiful weather.

Halloween Part 1

2009-10-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween this year. Okay, I really have always loved Halloween but this year I have embraced it with open arms. I think all the excitement started with finding the cutest costume for Austin. He is a monster. People think he might be a bug, alien or a frog but he will growl at you to let you know that he is a monster. This first picture is at storytime with Dominic and Bethany the Penguins, Ella the Bee, Reagan as Tinkerbell and Austin the Monster. Let's just say storytime with 20 1 year olds can get a bit hectic but it really was fun!
Here is Austin taking a snack break from all the chaos.

After storytime they get to play with the toys and make a craft (or eat the craft).

This year my friend Heather and I planned an "adult only!" Halloween party. It is not very often we get to hang out with just the adults and have a really good time. Heather and I had so much fun making the decorations for the party. This picture is hard to see but there is a zombie in the window. Heather traced me on cardboard....I have not been traced since Elementary School and it made me giggle.

Here is a ghost we made. The funny part was trying to attach the ghosts to the ceiling. You did a good job Heather (and it only took you 4 hours) lol

Notice the "bleeding" candles we made. Spooky right?

The flaming cauldron.

Hans has been wanting to be Buddy the Elf for like three years now and we finally caved and bought him the costume. He studied up on some Elf quotes and stayed in character all night. He was funny. I am just a pioneer working the plains.

Hans and Jared. Classic

Heather and I and baby pumpkin Cluff

The group. I think I might need to plan a Halloween party every year. Nothing better than dressing up, acting silly and having fun.

The zoo here has something called Boo at the Zoo where they decorate the whole zoo into themes like Shrek, Disney Princess, Finding Nemo ect and the kiddos get to Trick or Treat. We had a great time and Austin LOVED it. He has now also discovered the beauty of candy (much to my dismay). Here is daddy and Austin with the talking pumpkin.

Mommy and Austin with the Shrek characters. I think Austi looks a little like Shrek.

Austin found a peacock to chase and that is why the smile in this picture.

We got Austin's pictures done at the Picture People this year to send out with our cards. What a cutie. We still can't wait to do church trunk or treat tomorrow and real trick or treating on Saturday!

Austin and Company

2009-10-22T13:00:00.001-07:00

I have to start out by saying how nice it is to live in a place where there are so many kids Austin's age. He is so many friends to play with! There is something therapeutic for the mommas aswell by talking (venting) about what the kiddos are doing ect. I have loved living in Louiville with so many great friends! This first pic is at the Dicksons with Austin's first encounter with a fire pit...let's just say that it is hard to explain to a one year old why he cannot play with the neat flamey thing :-)

Austin's frriends, Dayna, Dax Kaeson (only 4 days younger than Austin) and Parker. Oh yeah our friends are there too. Do we count anymore??

We have loved going to the zoo with many friends this summer. This is my friend's little boy Brock and Austin making music in the park. They were so cute!

Brock and Austin flying high in the swings.

This is one of Austin's girlfriends, Addie. This was her 1st birthday party.

The dental student wives (and Jeff!) with their babies.

We were able to take swimming lessons with Addie and Matthew this August. It was so much fun! Austin liked most of it, except the part where he had to wait on the side of the pool to jump in.....let's just say that my little man lacks some patience

Fun Weekend

2009-09-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend!. On Friday night a bunch of dental students and their wives went out for dinner at Sapporo. It is a Hibachi grill and it was so much fun! We had our lovely friend Maria come over to watch Austin so we could enjoy a little adult time. It is not very often that we all go out without the kids (okay there were a few newborns there). We had a great time so thanks to Brian Evans for planning the night.
What a cute couple :-)

Me and Amber got to sit next to eachother. She is awesome. I only had one pic and her eyes were closed. Sorry Amber!

The next day we took Austin to All About Kids Gym. It is this place that has so many things for kids to do. There are tumbling mats, a swimming pool, cheerleading, karate ect. They have a place just for toddlers and Austin was in heaven. He just ran around for about 2 hours having a blast. I think half the time was spent in the ball pit. Our little man loves cars and balls!

That night we went to Balloon Fest at Bowman Field. It was so much fun and Austin loved it. We bought Austin a book a little while ago that has a balloon in it and every time he turns to the page he points at it and laughs. When we got the festival he was very excited and was flapping his arms everywhere and pointing at the balloons. Don't kids make everything more fun?

This was the balloon race

The festival was a fundraiser for the children's hospital where I work (notice the balloon in the backround). Nothing better than having fun while supporting a good cause. Austin learned how to blow a whistle......

Daddy and Austin

Mommy and Austin next to the birthday cake balloon. I recommend this to anyone that lives in Lousiville!

Being Silly

2009-09-09T19:24:00.001-07:00

I was cooking the other day and turned around to see Austin had found the strainer...
He liked to wear it around

and make his momma laugh...silly boy :-)

All you need are some straws to have alot of fun :-)

Going Private!

2009-08-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends and thank you for taking time to read my blog. We have decided to go private and hope you would join us for the ride. Please leave your email address if you would like to continue to read about the Meyers :-)

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!

2009-08-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

His first birthday cake. I had a "ball" themed party for Austin at Veterans Memorial Park. We had it on Saturday which turned out to be a very nice day. I was worried it might rain but the weather held out so all the kids could play at the park
The Mills brought this lovely 7 layer dip

He wasn't so sure about the cake at first

Then he dove in!

Daddy and Austin reading the very complicated instructions.
Austin showing me his new steering wheel

Looking happy in his new birthday present

Cruisin' the streets of Springview

Today is a very special day. One year ago today I gave birth to the greatest gift I could ever ask for. I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit to send Hans and I little Austin. This past year has been a whirlwind to say the least. It has brought the greatest joys and of course the struggles of having a new baby. When I first had Austin I was determined to go back to work. For those who know me well, know that I am a workaholic. Since I was 14 I have always had a job. I did end up going back to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave but after 2 months back on the job I could hardly bear being away from Austin. I am so thankful that I have been able to stay home with him as this past year has been amazing. Watching him learn new things makes me sooooo happy. I love that he can point to all his body parts and is now catching on to sign language. He is such a smarty pants! Can you tell I am a proud mama?? Happy Birthday Austin! Your mom and dad love you soooooooooooooo much!

Yard saleing and Austin Walking!

2009-08-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

I love going to yard sales and now I have found a perfect partner in crime, my friend Stacey. We went this morning and got some really great deals. It is almost Austin's first birthday so I decided to go out and look for some presents for him. I scored!
I got 3 "Little People" sets, a walker thing with blocks, two books and a pair of gap jeans for $8. The bounce and spin zebra I got at once upon a child for $10 and he loves it! I love to spoil my baby for cheap (is that an oxymoron?)

My little man starting walking this past week. To get him on video I have to bribe him since he is obsessed with the camera. He is soooooooooooooooooooo cute!

These are a few of my favorite things...

2009-08-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I should do a little post of Austin's favorite things so I will not forget what this silly boy was up to when he was 11 1/2 months old.

His favorite food:
-strawberries
-avocados
-watermelon
-Crispex
-Gerber puffs
-cheese
-yogurt
-cheese puffs
-Anything Hans and I happen to have on our plates... I mean anything! I don't know why but food tastes better when it comes from someone else's plate :-)

His favorite activities:
-swimming (he is taking lessons this month)
-taking a bath (I usually have to take him out because the water has gone cold and his fingers and toes are pruney)
-opening and closing doors
-smiling at strangers
-turning the TV on and off (and on and off...ect)
-swinging in swings (he cries when I take him out)
-having daddy come home (then he gives him a huge hug)
-opening the lids of everything....
-helping mom empty the dishwasher
-putting things in the garbage can (I love this one...)

Austin is almost walking and will take a few steps. He will also stand on his own for a little while. I can't believe my baby is almost a year. This little man really keeps me on my toes but I am loving every minute of it. I love to see him growing and developing. I can't wait to see what he is going to be up to next!

Stampede, Cabins and Parties....oh my

2009-07-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

This year Austin and I got to go to Calgary for the Stampede. It was soooooo much fun. The Stampede happens every year in July and lasts for 10 days. There is an exciting feeling in the city and there are so many things to do eg. Stampede breakfasts, runs, rides, games, exhibits ect. You must have a cowboy hat and boots to truly experience the Stampede!
Kira and I took the boys during the day and they had a great time looking at all the animals. This is my sweet little nephew showing me his "cheesey face". Notice he is sporting a cowboy shirt :-)

My wonderful "bestie" Melanie took Austin for the night so I could go and do the adult Stampede things. Here we are trying all the yummy fair food. I really dont think I have ever eaten so much junk in my life! My brother is eating pizza on a stick. haha

Mark (aka Sparticus) was the master gamer. He won so many stuffed animals. He won the big horse during the shooting game. I guess he has been practicing out at the ranch...

Aunt Jackie and I in the Agricultural Exhibit. Dont we look cute in our hats??

This is us at the Grandstand show/Chuckwagon races which was amazing. I know this isn't a very good picture but I wanted to show off our ponchos. It started to sprinkle so Sparticus bought us all ponchos. What a smart guy. We all stayed dry and warm and they also made us really silly. As soon as I put my poncho on I started giggling. Thank you Justin for the great tickets! This was the first year I actually saw the show from a good location.

I also went to the Millarville Farmer's Market where Mom and Mark sell their soups. I know I am biased but their soups are the best!! My mom, grandma, Aunt Jackie and I would always go to this market together when I was younger. It holds some very good memories for me.

My favorite place on Earth is Waterton. This is where I have spent all the summers of my childhood. I really wanted Austin to go there for the first summer of his life. It was just as beautiful as I had rememered. As you enter the park, you have to open your window because the smell is amazing. You have to go there to know what I am talking about. This picture is Jared on Waterton Lake with his new boat.

This is a view of the lake in Waterton. Amazing!

Austin playing in the cabin. Can you tell it was decorated in the 70s?

This is my nephews sporting the cabin jackets that have been here forever. No one claims them but everyone wears them.

Having a bath with cousin Carter in the big clawfoot tub. We love Waterton!

We had a joint birthday party for Austin and Evan while I was in Calgary. Austin's birthday is not unitl August but we thought it would be fun to celebrate with the family. Here is my mum and Austin at Auburn Bay lake. Austin found a gummy bear in the car and dove for it.

Kira got this cake from the lovely Costco and she got matching cupcakes. Thank you Kira for putting in all the time for the party!

This is Austin first discovering his birthday cupcake.

Diving in......

He ate the whole thing! After this picture he tried to eat the wrapper. Silly boy!

Papa and the birthday boy.

Chicago is my new love

2009-06-30T17:27:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a wonderful last minute trip to Chicago. My cousin Teresa and her husband Cameron live there and so Hans and I decided to mapquest Chicago. I did not realize it was only 5 hours away! I called Angie and let her know I was going to visit her "old stompin' grounds" and she booked a quick flight. I love last minute trips because you dont really have any expectations. We had such a great time. This first picture is Angie and I in front of Mario's Italian Ice. It is a local favorite and we had to go back everyday because it was sooo good. Angie and I have a habit of acting really silly when we are together. I usually spend the whole time laughing.
On our way to Mario's I looked down at little Austin to see him sporting a nose ring...or a puff..

When Austin went to bed our wonderful cousin Cameron took us on a night tour of Chicago. We had to go and see the Oprah studios of course!

This is a picture of the skyline from the Planetarium. So pretty!

We lucked out because the weekend we went was the start of Taste of Chicago. It was a dream come true for me. You buy tickets and get to sample the best of Chicago's 70 local restaurants. My favorite was the Vietnamese noodles.

After "Taste" Teresa picked us up and we drove to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a really interesting and interactive museum. My dad told me I "had to" go there because they have a German submarine. It was pretty awesome. This is a picture of Austin and Hans checking out the chick hatchery.

This picture is from the farming exhibit as you would have guessed. The sign above the cow said "Say Cheese" Ha ha

Austin loved the big John Deere tractor wheels. Already such a boy!

That night we met up with some other cousins, Tanya, Jim and Harper at Giordanos. It is THE place to go for Chicago deep dish pizza. It was delicious.

Now that is what I call Deep Dish :-)

The next day was mostly spent at the Shedd Aquarium. It was really worth every penny. We spent alot of time there. They had things to do for kids of every age. This is Austin playing with the fake sea creatures.

I thought my trip could not get any better until Teresa told me we were having Cafe Rio for dinner. Bliss! Thank you to Cameron and Teresa for such a great weekend!

Water Boy

2009-06-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Austin really loves the water. His favorite time of the day is bath time. I think we are really lucky that our zoo has a waterpark in it because Austin loves it! He does not like feeling the gound on his knees though so he crab crawls. I have a feeling he will be walking soon :-)

After the zoo he gets SUPER tired and usually falls asleep in his stroller on the way to the car. Then he takes 3 hour naps. Love it!

9 Month Update

2009-06-10T11:58:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my baby is nine months already! Wow time really flies. I thought I would give a little update about our cute little man. Austin is a very curious little thing. He crawls around and explores everything and definitely keeps us on our toes. There are things I never thought were dangerous until he came into our lives. For instance, the door stoppers have a little white cap on them that he has figured out how to pull off.....then it promptly goes into his mouth. He is really so much fun and has a great personality. I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with him :-)

This is Austin getting his first haircut from daddy. He wasn't too sure about all the vibrating going on.
Soooo cute in his little vest.

He loves to help mommy empty the dishwasher. Well really he throws all the silverware around and then looks up and smiles at me.

He loves animals. There is this really neat park that Papa Johns owns that is near our house and we love to go there and feed the ducks.

This is Austin and the duck sizing eachother up. Austin holds his own.

Austin and I love to go to the zoo together. We look at all the animals, splash in the waterpark and play at the playground.

Austin and his friend Brock at the splash park. Austin has to wear a rash guard because he is pasty white like his mother :-)

Austin has always had a healthy appetite. Recently he has decided that he does not like baby food anymore. Nope...it is gross. We have moved on to finger foods and he will eat almost anything.....even broccoli stems

When I go into another room, Austin likes to follow me...well actually chase me and he laughs the whole time. He cracks me up

Awesome trip to Calgary

2009-05-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

I just came back from an awesome trip to Calgary. I think I spent half my time eating and I probably gained a few pounds but man was it ever delicious! When I first got there after a long and exhausting plane ride I drove out to my mums place to stay the night. All the things they tell you about flying with babies is true (aka it is awful)and Austin is at a very mobile age. He wants to be moving constantly. Thank goodness this very nice lady on the plane asked to hold him for awhile. She ended up holding him for an hour and a half! Thank you Susan...whoever you are! Anyway the next day we went to the Okotoks swimming pool to swim with my very adorable nephew Evan and Aunt Kira. This was Austin's first time in a pool and he loved it! He spent most of his time spashing everyone and trying to drink the pool water. He definitly does not have any fears about the water. He wanted to dunk his head under. Then we went to my mums restaurant (Route 40 Soup Co) and ate the best food ever. I am not kidding about this. My mom lives on a ranch and it is so nice to be in the country and enjoy nature.
My dad had all the kids over for steak night (I am not joking about all the eating I did) and it was so nice to see everyone. Here is Austin and Carter having a bath together. We are determined that they will be the best of friends :-)

We decided to take a walk even though it was cold for me. Yes I have become used to nice weather sorry to say. It was freezing the first couple days I was in Calgary. Why do I want to move back? Anyway here is Evan and Austin going double dutch in the swing. Aren't they cute?

Evan was so nice to let Austin borrow his little car. Yes it is April and I am wearing a hoodie!

I had the awesome opportunity to go to Time Out for Women with my mom and my sister's in law in Edmonton. It was just amazing! I laughed...I cried and I was spiritually uplifted. They asked us throughout the whole thing to think about one thing we absolutley knew for sure. This is what I know: I am a daughter of God and I am truly loved and blessed. If any of you have the chance to go I would highly reccomend it.

Austin with his Papa.

Austin with Granny Lanny

Besties posing in front of Jared's fireplace. Thank you Mel for watching Austin when I went to Time out for Women. You are a great Auntie!!

I made my brothers take this picture with me. I always see sisters have this pic and I wanted one too!

Mel's mom had us over for a Lebanese feast. She made 12 different Lebanese dishes and it was delicious. My fav was the Lentils and Baba Ganoush. Yum!

It was our 6 year anniversary while we were in Calgary so my parents watched Austin while we went to the Keg. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband like Hans! He truly is my soulmate.

This is on my dad's back deck. It was so nice to spend time with my family. I miss them so much! It was worth flying with my wiggly baby.

I can't believe how fast Austin is growing. He was riding on this pony and he looks so old. What happened to my little baby?? He is now crawling and cruising!

Spring Fun and Spring Projects

2009-04-19T18:39:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter! We painted eggs at the Dickson's house and this is silly Hans showing Austin his very "interesting" egg that would spew out the yolk.
Austin loved looking at the eggs. He really wanted to eat them though. I had to pull a piece out of his mouth. This kid will eat anything!!

Austin is very close to crawling here and getting very proud of himself.

For the Kentucky Derby festival they have an awesome airshow. We braved the crowds and partied with all 800,000 people who showed up. Austin loved to watch the jets pass by overhead. It really was quite amazing. We plan to go back again next year.

Family shot at Waterfront Park

Austin and Hans watching the jets go by.

Hans has been doing alot of projects lately. This is one I really love.

Hans decided one day that he "needed" stepping stones outside so off we went to Home Depot but he was not satisfied with the quality of stones there. What to do?? Well of course he concocted a way to make his own! He made the stone mold out of roof flashing we had lying around and a piece of plywood. I was a bit skeptical at first but I think they turned out really well. What do you think?

The final product.

The things we do....

2009-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

The things we do to make our kids laugh.

Spring Break 2009: Hilton Head Island

2009-03-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to go on spring break to Hilton Head SC. We went with the Taylors, Dicksons and Wyatts. We found a great deal on a beach house that we could split 4 ways and it ended up being super cheap. It was a really beautiful house and since we went in March it was considered "off season" so that is why we got such a deal. The first day we were there we had to go and check out the beach and Austin got to stick his feet in the ocean for the first time. Woohoo! Hans decided to bury Dax and Dayna in the sand....fully clothed of course!

Hilton Head is a place where everyone rides bikes around so we had to join in on the fun. Janelle and I called around to find the best deal and Bicycle Billy ended up being it. He was a really great guy and of course Janelle ended up getting the best deal with him. The picture is of Hans with Austin on the back cruising near the ocean.

We ended up having really great weather and so we spent alot of time at the beach. The water was pretty cold but of course I still had to swim in it!

We had "guys day out" and "ladies day out". For guys day out they went golfing. There are ALOT of golf courses on Hilton Head but I have no pictures of that because Hans never takes any. For ladies day out we went and got pedicures. We (I should say Janelle) found a really great place and they did a wonderful job.

You cant go near the ocean without having a "crab feed". We went to a place called Crazy Crab and had a wonderful meal. The second picture is of us trying a Southern drink called Cheerwine. Notice that I am cheering and Megan is whining. Yeah...we were probably tired.

We also went to this lighthouse in Sea Pines which was really neat (first picture is on top of the lighthouse). Then we went to the nature preserve and went on a gator hunt (second picture we were hunting for gators and we found a bunch) . We had a wonderful trip to Hilton Head! We are definitely going to go back!

Hans in Honduras

2009-03-13T06:29:00.001-07:00

My hubby the dentist!
Local people coming to get dental work done.

Goofin around...

I love this picture of my dad. This is SO him!

My two favorite men working together

Hans flying high

Lovin life!

In January Hans went with my dad to Honduras with Kindness in Action to do charity dental work for the people there. He had a great time and many adventures. He learned alot about "real-life" dentistry and was able to extract over 250 teeth! He loved working and serving the people there. Only one year left and he will be a "real" dentist! Go Hans!!!

Food for thought

2009-02-09T06:09:00.000-08:00

Austin is such a funny little guy. He has me laughing all the time. Our new adventures include the wide world of eating. I have realized this is a very messy business. I usually have to wear an apron so my clothes dont get dirty. Food usually ends up on my clothes anyway, the table, all over Austin's face, his hands and anything he then touches. All I know is that he loves to eat! Does anyone know how to get your kids to eat fruit? Austin will eat peas, squash, sweet potatoes and beans with reckless abandon but if I put fruit in his mouth he looks at me as though I just stuck needles in his mouth (then he spits it all over). Suggestions anyone?

Jumperoo Update

2009-01-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

Okay starting yesterday Austin began to fall asleep in his Jumperoo. I think it is hilarious because he will fall asleep for a few seconds and then realize he fell asleep, then wake up and jump a couple of times and then fall asleep again. He is such a cute little boy :-)

2009-01-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

This is a video of Austin in his Jumperoo. He loves it and it makes me laugh watching him jump and laugh then jump and laugh some more. Mainly this is for the family to watch as I dont think anyone else would find it quite as funny :-)

New Year = New Do

2009-01-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Austins first Christmas and New Years

2009-01-05T10:13:00.001-08:00

Austin in his stocking
Our fireplace reading for Santa to come

Austin licking his presents open Christmas morning

Playing in all the paper!

Sarah, Chelsea and Stacey on New Years Eve

Austin ready for the new year!

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Austin here in Louisville. It was nice to be just the three of us but of course I missed the family in Canada. I think Austin's favorite part was licking all the wrapping paper. He screamed when we took it away from him. It was hilarious. For New Years we went over to our friends house to celebrate. We played games and just had a great time. Now it is time to make some New Years resolutions:

1. Make a new recipe every week

2. Get in shape again to run a half marathon

3. Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover

4. Go to a movie (okay this sounds pathetic but it really is a goal)

5. Take Austin to Waterton for his first family rebellion

I find if I dont write things down then I wont get things accomplished. This is just a start....

Christmas Fun

2008-12-08T09:25:00.001-08:00

Dayna putting the first ornament on the tree.
The Dicksons (and Austin) posing in front of the tree

Hans thought using caulking would be easier than icing

Our gingerbread house

Our gingerbread house and the the Dicksons

Dayna wanted a taste. Yum!

Baby Claus

Hans and I have a tradition that every year we buy a real Christmas tree from Home Depot (b/c it is cheap) and decorate it while listening to our favorite Christmas CD...The Carpenters! Hans and I both grew up listening to same Christmas CD so we didn't have to compromise on that. This year we invited the Dicksons over to help because it is way more fun with kids around. Dayna noticed that we didn't have a star to put on the top of our tree so we made one and she decided it HAD to be pink. She got the honors of placing it on the top of our tree. After decorating the tree we made our gingerbread houses and Hans decided that he needed to use caulking because the icing just wasn't doing the job. Silly Hans! Anyway I think the houses turned out pretty well. We love Christmas around here and now our house smells like pine. I love it! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday!

Time Out for Women

2008-11-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

Chillin in the van
Hiding licorice in the baby wipes container (we are resourceful!)

Eating at Demos for lunch

Posing with our super cute new totes

Getting a photo with Hilary Weeks

This past weekend I had the great opportunity to go to Nashville for "Time Out for Women" which is hosted by Deseret Book. I went with some wonderful friends: Natalie, Janelle, Ashley, Brinn and Ashley. The day started at 4:30am waking up to get ready for the 2.5 hour drive down there. We all piled in Brinn's van and of course she came prepared with bagels, juice ect. It was nice having the chance to spend some quality time with my girlfriends. As you know with 6 girls, we never ran out of things to talk about. The event was really amazing. It was spiritually uplifting which is something I was in need of. Hilary Weeks was the musical guest and she was making us cry the whole time. She has a great voice and sings with conviction. I would recommend the song "Just Cry" off her new CD. I am grateful I had the chance to go and I am planning on going again! It will be in Cincinnati in the Spring for whoever wants to come with me :-)

Thoughts of the day

2008-11-12T07:15:00.001-08:00

After becoming a parent I have realized the following things

1. The drive-thru is a great invention. That way you dont have to get unstrapped and strapped back into the car seat. It saves alot of time
2. Whoever invented the pacifier was a genius
3. Who knew the Baby Einstein videos would be so entertaining to a 3 month old
4. Sleep is precious- you dont realize so much until you are unable to control how much sleep you get
5. Showering and shaving your legs is a luxury
6. Whoever invented the baby bjorn was also a genious. This way I can actually get things done and hold my child at the same time. It is like baby trickery. haha
7. I dont know how mothers with several children get anywhere on time!

My best friend's wedding and Austins blessing

2008-11-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

The bridesmaids (Lauren, Jessica, Sara, Mel, Melissa, Jodi and I)
Besties gettimg ready for the big day

First moments in the dress...literally

The fams at Austins blessing in Turner Valley

Family pic

Well the big day has come and gone. Melanie has gotten married! Mel and I met when we were 3 years old and she moved next door to me. We have been besties ever since. She was the most beautiful bride and the whole day was perfect! Who knew that it would be 70 degrees in Calgary in November? It was perfect for the pictures. I am so happy for her and Mark and so glad I could be part of their special day. The day after the wedding we blessed little Austin in Turner Valley at my moms ward. It was very spiritual and then Hans bore his testimony and had my whole family in tears. That Hans!

Friends + cousins = Frousins

2008-11-04T16:40:00.001-08:00

Chillin at Papa's house with Logan, Austin, Evan, Carter and Michael
Bath buddies with Carter

Chillin at Granny Lanny's

This past week I went to Canada to visit the family and to go to my best friend's wedding. It was a little crazy travelling with a newborn but worth it! Austin got to meet all his Palmer cousins....all boys so far. It is going to be really fun in a year when Austin has some playmates. In our family we call our cousins frousins because we are all so close. What is better than a best friend that you are sealed you?......enough said.

Smiles and laughs

2008-10-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Cute little smile
Favorite toy to look at

laughs

More laughs

Austin is getting to be so much fun. He has started smiling and laughing. It just melts my heart! It erases all the night of no sleep. He now likes to lay on the ground and look at things and laugh and kick his legs. So much fun!!

Mothers Day out and Zoo fun

2008-09-27T10:45:00.001-07:00

All the mothers and kids at Olive Garden
Austin and the Giraffe- His first time to the zoo!

Austin and the Elephants (okay I'm not risking waking the child up to take him out of his carseat!!)

Dax, Kyrie, Janelle, Dayna, Natalie, Austin and I at the zoo

Starting to smile!

I love this picture

Well it has been a great week. Austin is now a month old and is really getting big. He already weighs 11 lbs which I cant believe. He is also starting to track things with his eyes and starting to smile. Okay I dont know if it is a real smile but I like to pretend it is. On friday we had "mothers day out". I have to admit when I was at BYU, I was envious of all the mothers who got to go to this coveted occasion. Now I know it is a way to keep sane and to know that others are going through the same thing you are (eg. sleep deprivation). Austin also had his first zoo outing. Well he slept the whole time but I am sure he was still being enriched with animal knowledge.

Updated pics

2008-09-11T08:21:00.001-07:00

Look! I have the Palmer toe (2nd to last toe)
Grandma comes to visit!

Bathtime fun

I love getting my hair washed

One Week old!

2008-08-31T13:25:00.001-07:00

Birthday friends

One week old birthday cake...I know I am a nerd

Wide eye look
We love our little guy!

Auntie Mel has come for a visit

Thanks Uncle Justin for bringing us this baby swing

Dressing up for his first football game

I cant believe a whole week has gone by since Austin was born! So far he is a pretty calm baby. He lets his mum sleep at night which is greatly appreciated. He likes his baby swing and being in his car seat. He does not like getting a bath or having his diaper changed. I guess he is a little modest :-) We are falling in love with him more and more each day. Now I know what everyone is talking about when they have kids. I worry about him all the time!

Welcome to the world Austin!!

2008-08-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

Cute little Austin
Tummy time with daddy

My best friend...the epidural ;-)

First moments on Earth

The weight pic....a must have

What a handsome boy!

First moments in our home

Like father...like son

Well we are pleased to welcome little Austin into our home. He was born on August 24th and the delivery went really well....thanks to my new best friend Mr. Epidural. I did not feel any pain at all which is pretty amazing. I know that when I worked in labor and delivery that people would tell me how awesome the Epidural was but to experience it myself is another story. Austin decided to come 8 days early....thank goodness for that because he weighed 7 lbs 11oz and was 20 inches long. When I look at him I think it is crazy that he was all cramped up inside me. He is huge! Anyway we are at home now and loving it. I forgot that in the hospital you get NO sleep. Austin was good but those dang nurses (haha) kept waking me up. Today we went to Austins first appt. and he passed with flying colors. Horray for healthy babies!! Being a nurse gives me paranoia about every possible disease/condition he could have. Well we hope that you can all meet our sweet little boy soon. We love you all and thank you all for your support!

Recent Preggo Pic- 36 Weeks

2008-08-05T18:00:00.001-07:00

Brittney and I workin it out

Work Baby Shower

2008-08-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Opening a baby quilt that my friend is making me.
Sweet Gwen and baby Brock. She's got the magic touch!

A delicious cake from my favorite local bakery

This is my crazy happy face. Also featured in this picture is Jamie.

Awesome co-workers! Angela, Bev, Karrie. Sarah and Lisa

Babs and Carla Philpot of Lexington Lane

A couple of weeks ago my wonderful co-workers threw me a baby shower. It was really great! I have loved working in Pediatric Research for the past two years and it has been so much fun sharing this experience with the great friends I have made. They had a potluck lunch for me and everyone brought such delicious food. I know that Austin is going to love all the goodies from the shower. We even had some new babies join us. Two of my friends at work were preggo at the same time as me which was really nice. They were both able to bring their new babies to the shower. It made me really excited to see this rascal punching away at my insides! Thanks again gals!

I love Pepcid

2008-07-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

Okay I know this is really lame but I need to profess my love to a product called Pepcid. During this last trimester I have been having some gnarly heartburn. I was taking so many Tums per day that I thought I might overdose. At my next Drs. visit I asked for something a little stronger than Tums as I thought I might get Calcium toxicity. The Dr. told me to get Pepcid. It has made the biggest difference. I ran out the other day and I was completely miserable. I am soooooo grateful I was born when I was because I love modern day medicine (and modern day pregnancy safe drugs) :-)

Passed!

2008-07-21T07:34:00.001-07:00

Horray!! On Saturday Hans got his letter and found out he passed his Part 1 dental boards. All his hard studying has paid off. I am soooo proud of him!! Now I have my husband back...just in time for baby :-)

Fun with the bestie and her fiance

2008-07-13T17:46:00.001-07:00

Out to eat at our favorite restaurant...Cheddars!
First time at Six Flags. More flags....more fun!

Fun on the rides

Being silly. I was hiding my belly...

The American Flag cake that two Canadians made.

Posing on the 4th of July

At the Dicksons on the 4th

Mel and Mark at Churchill Downs

I love this pic!!

It was wonderful to have my best friend from home and her fiance come and visit us here in Kentucky. When they got here we picked them up from the airport and took them to our favorite restaurant...Cheddars! The next day we went to Six Flags and had a great time. I think I was the pressure person of the group. I made them do all the roller coasters all in a row. Hey I grew up with all boys so what do you expect? I think Mark might have tweaked his back with all the crazy rides....sorry! Dont worry I did not ride the roller coasters but I did get to enjoy the great waterpark they have there. On the fourth of July we saw the movie Hancock, which was good, then of course we went shopping! (In the midst of all this there was of course alot of giggling that went on.....that is what we like to do when we are together). We went to the Dicksons for a great BBQ on the 4th and had a firework show. Then the next day we took them to Churchill Downs to see the horse races. It was a fun trip and we loved getting to know Mark better. He is a great guy and we are excited for the two lovebirds who are going to get married in November. Thanks for coming to Louisville! We love you guys!

Baby Shower

2008-07-06T16:39:00.001-07:00

Austin's first cake
Cute diaper cake made by my friend Abby

Fabulous friends

Opening some great gifts

A couple of weeks ago my friends threw me a wonderful baby shower. Thanks to Pam, Abby, Janelle and Ashley for a great shower!! It was so nice to get all my Louisville friends together and celebrate little Austin. We are so excited to see what he is going to look like. My vote is that he is going to look identical to Hans. We shall see. Thanks again for everyone that came!

Girls Camp Fun

2008-06-21T19:21:00.001-07:00

Making food fun. The Navajo Taco Man.

Delicious Navajo Taco meal

Masked Maria and I

Lexi eating a roasted Cicada. Horray now there is one less to bother me!

We always have to make Lexi's hair crazy for the skit. This year we went hyena style

The beautiful ladies- Lexi, Hana, Allison and Sharon

We had a great time at girls camp this year as you can see from the pictures. I was so worried it was going to rain when they all went out to set up camp but someone must have prayed real hard. No rain all week! Although it was 95 degrees and VERY humid. Not much fun when you are carrying around a 15 pound heater on your abdomen. I was very happy that the day I went out to camp we went to the pool. It was great. The Navajo Taco meal was delicious! I cant even cook that good when I am at home. Great job Amy and Shelly for all the wonderful food! One of the highlights was that Lexi ate a roasted Cicada (which are these realy annoying bugs that only come out every 17 years). She became famous at camp for eating that delicacy. Yummy!

PJ Party....literally

2008-06-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

Learning how to sew. Look at the intensity in their eyes!
Amy measuring out the pattern

Da girls- Ashley, Bethany and I sporting the Rambo look

Look what we made!! We are good lookin'!

Gotta have a cute foot picture.

It is girls camp time again! This year for our theme we are doing the Lion King. In preparation for camp we thought it would be fun to make "tribal looking" pajama pants that we could all wear together. What better reason to have a sleep-over at my house. I have never actually made pajama pants so I was thankful that Shelly was so patient with me and was willing to help me learn. The night started out with Hawaiian haystacks for dinner and pina coladas. Then we started on the pants and watched the Lion King which really took us until midnight. All the leaders slept in my room which they thought was freezing but since I am preggo I thought it felt fantastic! We really had a great night together learning a new skill. Thanks to Amy and Shelly for taking on girls camp this year! The girls loved the sleep-over. Did I sleep? Well maybe a few hours.... Where was Hans you ask? Sleeping in our good friends, the Dicksons basement :-)

5 Years and Counting

2008-06-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

As of May 3rd, 2003 Hans and I have been married for 5 years! It has been a wonderful 5 years and I thought I would make an "Ode to Hans" blog for our anniversary (belated I know) Here are some reasons why I love my hubby.

1. He is a very dedicated individual- when he puts his mind to something he will get it done
2. He can never sit still- This may sound like a strange reason to love someone but he is always working around the house getting things done. Which brings me to my next point...
3. He is never lazy- Lazy people bother me sometimes. I want to say "hello you only have one life here so make it good...and fun"
4. He appreciates the small things in life- For instance, whenever I make dinner he tells me I'm too good for him (even when I am too tired and make mac and cheese for dinner)
5. He is strong- strong in the gospel, physically strong, strong minded
6. He is very honest- he has never lied to me
7. He is thoughtful- he always gets me the best presents
8. He always knows how to get me out of a bad mood- He can make me laugh instantly when I am in a funk
9. He is silly- I like a man that can be silly and spontaneous
10. He is my soul mate- plain and simple

Florida Trip

2008-06-01T16:35:00.001-07:00

Dr. Justin Palmer-He is finally done!
We were trying to make an old fashioned picture where people look serious and dont look at the camera. I love my brothers!

The brothers skim boarding at the beach near St. Augustine

My cute little beach bum nephew Evan.

Eating gator tail at a local seafood place.

Well I went to Florida for my brother's graduation from dental school in May. I can't believe he is already done and moving back to Canada! It is crazy to also think that Hans only has two years left and then we also will be moving. Time really flies. Justin's graduation was really a lot of fun. If you know my brother then you will also know he can make anything fun. It was also nice to spend time with my brother Jared, my sis-in law Kira, my nephew Evan, my dad and step-mom. My favorite part was going to the beach near St. Augustine. It was such a beautiful day! I loved being able to float in the ocean waves. When you are pregnant, the feeling of being weightless is really a treat. I think I was in the water for about two hours and my skin got really burned but it was worth it. I am so proud of my brother for completing dental school and I wish him all the best!