Pirate Island Pizza!

So, we have gone to a new restaurant in Orem, Utah. It is called Pirate Island Pizza. It is a lot like Chuck E Cheese. You go eat, and then they have an arcade for the kids to play games, win tickets and get prizes. We had a really great time when we have gone both times. The food for us was really good, but the Barbecue sauce is a little on the different side. My sisters have gone down, and they didn't have as good of an experience as we have had. They went on a Friday night, and we went Saturday day. They had a rude waiter, but we have had great waiters both times. They weren't too impressed but I think if you have kids, you might have a different perspective than an adult would have. My boys think that going to eat in a place that is decorated is awesome. They could careless how the food taste, but as long as playing games is included after....it is all good. These pictures aren't the best, but I only had my phone on me. All in all we had a great time, and I am sure we will be at Pirate island Pizza again sooner rather than later.....our kids just keep talking about it :)

Pregnancy

Well, if you didn't know....now you do! We are expecting our fifth, yes fifth child in May. Well, due date as of now is May, but it will be born early April. I thought by the fifth pregnancy that I kind of knew most things about pregnancy....NOT! This pregnancy has thrown me for a loop. I have a lot of different things this time that I haven't had before. I have insomnia so bad! I go without sleep for four or five nights, and then I sleep the next one or two. I am tired all the time, because if I don't sleep I am still taking care of my boys, and if I do sleep that is all my body wants to keep doing, and I can't because I have four boys! I have also had constipation. I haven't ever had this during pregnancy either. You all know that constipation sucks, so I need not go into more detail. With the boys I always craved spicy stuff, and loved Taco Bell. This one spicy makes me want to hurl and for some reason Arby's is all I want. Even though all this is new I am not going to predict one sex or another, because all my pregnancies have been very different and they have all been boy :) The decision to have another child was really hard for me. I had Tyler to the point of some independence, and I just didn't want to go through another c-section. I mean who wants to go early to a hospital, get an IV put in and your privates shaved by another woman? Then to walk to a freezing cold operating room, where they prick your back several times with a local, and then stick a huge needle into your back? Then immediately you are laid down on a table to let the good old spinal make your whole body go numb. At this point they strip off your gown, and you lay there completely naked as all the nurses and doctors walk casually around you. I am a pretty private person, and I always find this part to be so freaking funny. Then I watch them clean and put on a large sticker type thing over my tummy and up right by my face. I have oxygen put on as well as little stickers all over to get good heartbeat and blood oxygen numbers. Then I smell flesh burning as the cauterize the incision across my hips. This always makes me want to hurl, but luckily I have only puked during one of these operations. Finally, they pull out my beautiful baby, and stitch me up. Recovery isn't bad till they try to move me, and I start puking my guts out. It is a really long day, and at the end I just want to show off how beautiful my baby is. So, I wasn't sure I wanted another baby....but when all came down to it, I knew it was just right for our family. I never thought I would be a mom of five, and I was never sure I wanted to, but as of now.....I am so excited! I can't wait to find out if we are finishing our basketball team, or adding a cheerleader?

Volleyball!

Last night I got to play church volleyball with our ward. I haven't played volleyball much since high school. Our team did awesome though, and I actually had a really fun time playing. I was a little confused when we didn't stop playing at 15 points and went to 25. The rules have really changed and I found some of them to be really funny actually. Like the fact you can actually use your foot, and you aren't allowed to come in contact with the other team when changing sides? I think the best part was listening to my kids cheer me on from the side lines. It was so cute to hear a GO MOM! We only play two more weeks, but five more games. I am excited and can't wait to play again.

My Dad

It has been two years since my dads passing. I can't believe it has already been two years, but it has made me really think back to what my dad was to me. My dad wasn't just a normal everyday dad. He really made our life fun. As a kid I remember the numerous Halloween parties with funny races to put big shirts on while getting a quarter to stick in your eye, having a ball between your legs and an egg on a spoon. He always made sure we had a great firework show and of course the neighbors were always invited. He was an official Girl Scout, and he went with us to Disneyland and Yellowstone. He would take us to Liberty park at least once a week as a family and play fat bat. We went rollerskating, miniature golfing, to the arcade, and bowling a lot. We would go on a family vacation at least once a year, and he always made sure we got to see the best of where we were. Many times it was in Yellowstone. He didn't just hike and camp here. He would set out cans of tuna fish hoping to see bears and other wild animals. This always freaked me out, but we did get to see some really cool animals. My dad taught us how to flip over the end of the couch using pillows and a mini trampoline when my mom was gone. He would take us hiking almost every Saturday. He always showed his love of this world while we were hiking,he often would bring along his little pistol and taught us how to shoot too. We always went camping,and of course he would freak us out talking about bears the whole time. As I got older he would still make sure we had some good family times. He was an awesome Grandpa! When my mom watched Trevor he would take him on walks everyday at lunch. I would come after work to find my dad singing Peter, Paul and Mary songs to him like Lemon Tree. He made these soft bats for my boys to play balloon ball with him in the house. That is probably the thing I really miss about him. Most of my boys will never get to know my dad or the love he had for them. I was barely pregnant with Tyler when he passed, but every time I saw him before he would ask how my little embryo was doing. It always made me smile. This picture below was taken almost two years before his passing in Yellowstone at his favorite geyser. It is one of my favorite pictures of him, and our last vacation with him too. I will never forget the morning I learned my dad was no longer here on Earth with us, or my moms voice saying "He's gone Holli, we've lost him." I can still hear it echoing perfectly in my head, but I also never forget the great dad he always was either. Love my dad!

Preschool!

Last Thursday was Dilan's and Bryson's first day of preschool 09'. They were super excited! It was only a half day because it was the first day, but they came out so excited about everything they had done. I am lucky this year to have found a preschool just a couple blocks away. I enjoy walking them to and from everyday. Three hours of preschool full of fun with painting, singing, playing with kids, and of course the fundamentals of knowledge. I have decided that preschool is as good for the kids as it is for the parents and other siblings. I enjoyed a couple of hours to do what I wanted. Being that it was my birthday yesterday, I gave myself the day off from everything house. I watched a few shows off the DVR, and I played cars with Tyler. Last week he seemed a little lost and confused without his brothers, but yesterday he really seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Tyler can now say car, so he would hand me a car saying it, and I would repeat and push it around with noise. We had a blast, and it was so much fun having a little one on one with him. The other boys didn't miss us a bit seeing how they got to paint with blue paint and do the hokey poky. All in all.....I LOVE PRESCHOOL! Seriously, don't you love their faces! ha ha

Mini Vacation

We realized we still hadn't made it camping this year. We bought a new tent a couple of months ago, so we would be all ready to go, but here it is August, and we still hadn't made it. So, we packed up Saturday afternoon and headed down to Diamond Fork campground in Spanish Fork canyon. Our neighbor suggested this location to us, because they have walk up available. We found a great campsite and set up the tent. It was really hot outside, so we decided to leave and head to the Harley store in Lindon. We had always wanted to go, but never made it. The boys loved looking around at all the motorcycles. They had said it was a museum too, but only like four were actually old. We were a little disappointed that it was just a store and not quite the museum they said it was, but the boys loved it anyways. We went and got them slurpees after and headed back up the canyon. We got out our hot dogs for dinner. It was funny to watch the boys see how long it took to actually cook a hot dog. It was a little scary having the fire with Tyler, because he loved to look at it and doesn't quite understand "Hot" all the way. He did really good though. He tried to help start the fire too by adding dead grass, and blowing on it like I did. Finally, we got dinner done and started on the best part of camping.....S'mores. We took a walk down to the stream, so the boys could see the water. There is something magical about watching little boys throw rocks into water. I think they liked this part the best, because they always had a smile on their faces and laughed at each kerplunk noise. It was so fun to watch them be little boys in the wild! ha ha It was starting to get dark, so we headed back and got the tent set up and all our food into the van. Bryson was freaking out that bears could be near by, but I told him as long as the bear couldn't smell food it would most likely not come around. He made sure all the food was put away too...ha ha. We all got into sleeping bags, Tyler wasn't fond of being stuck in the tent, but eventually calmed down. Then we all took turns telling stories. The three older boys did really good at this, but I would have to say Dilan has the best imagination of them all. His stories were so cute. We left the fly off the tent so the boys could see the stars as they fell asleep, but at 3 am it started raining. I had to just laugh, because it was so funny to me. Tyler freaked when Spencer started putting the fly on though. Bryson eventually climbed into my sleeping bag because he was cold. It was a fun little get away, but I have to say camping isn't the same as it used to be. Some people had brought skateboards, bikes, electric cars, and roller blades with them. There was a group that had some kind of party going on. They had music blasting as they laughed and talked till the rain came. I was glad at least the boys slept! All in all it was a fun night get away, and I only wish we had done it more this summer.

Happy Birthday Bryson!!!

Yesterday was Bryson's third birthday. I feel so accomplished getting him to three. Since this is my first birthday blog for him, I am going to go over some early things about him. Bryson was born 8:28 am on a Saturday morning. He was 8 lbs 15 oz, and three weeks early. He was a big baby! He had a few lung issues at first but very quickly recovered. He was a great baby till about day five. Then he started this sleep for an hour, eat for 20 minutes, and then scream for the next hour. I spent many nights crying with him because I was so tired and felt so hopeless for not being able to console him. Our pediatrician said some babies just come this way, and eventually grow out of it. He finally started to sleep about three hours, but was still in the bassinet. He was now 16 pounds, so we needed to change him to a crib. He went back to every hour of waking. The pediatrician suggested to put the bassinet on the floor and leave him in that if he was at least sleeping three. Good suggestion, but that didn't work. We tried the cry it out method and first night he screamed for three hours, slept for ten minutes and another three hours, ten, three...etc. Second night same thing, third, fourth fifth! Finally, I just needed sleep and put him in our bed. He was now close to nine months, but he slept a whole four hours before screaming, and then went back to sleep for another four. This continued till he was 18 months! By this time I was pregnant again, and he finally started sleeping ten. There is nothing like sleeping eight hours and being pregnant. Bryson is an extremely strong willed child. He started talking really early and that helped out a ton. Over the next year a lot has changed in him. He is now a very pleasant little boy who still gets very frustrated with people, but has learned to control it a ton, and is way advanced for his age. At two and a half he could say all his letter by sight, their sounds, colors, shapes, and could talk like a five year old. He is a joy to have, and I am so glad I had this sweet little boy.


I always make my boys a train cake for their third birthday. He requested his look like Thomas, so I did my best, because I wouldn't ever want my kids to not have the best birthday. We had a lot of fun with family that came to celebrate and here are some pics of his special day. Thanks everybody!