Grammy's Visit

Gardner Village and the display of the elves. Chasey enjoyed looking at all of the elves getting ready for Christmas, he was such a good sport letting us take so many pictures of him. Aren't these pictures just adorable of him? His expressions are so tender.

 We also went to go see the lights on Temple Square. It was pretty cold out and we stayed warm with all of the layers we had on. Temple Square is so magical during the Christmas season with all of the lights and creche scenes. I love it!

Mom also decorated our entire tree, so so so helpful! I was in the same room but I was typing up some things for Chase's accident we are still trying to work through. 

Thank you for coming to visit Grammy, we had so much fun with you. Thank you for all of the things that you did to help us, love us and spoil us.

We love you! 

Maple Lake Christmas Party

I've been very blessed to continue working for Maple Lake doing kind of odd job things like planning the Christmas party. I totally loved planning this event. I hauled Chase around to a bunch of different stores and did projects during his sleeping hours. It worked out really well and it turned out wonderfully. I'm sad I didn't get pictures with the great people that helped carry this out, surely I didn't do this alone. It was seriously a lot of work. My mom actually flew into town that afternoon and she helped with the prep just before the party began. She also captured all of these pictures which are the only ones I have so for that I am also very grateful. At the party we had a hot chocolate and appetizer bar, a photo opportunity with Santa, a full meal, a raffle and awesome entertainment. The party started at 6:30 and entertainment (put on by the staff) finished around 9:30. It was an awesome affair and yet I was very happy when it was all said and done.

 The entrance

The tables

The Stage

 Hot Chocolate Bar

 Employee Gifts

 The Raffle Tables

The Photo Opp

Festival of Trees

I love the Festival of Trees sponsored by the Children's Hospital in Salt Lake. I think it supports such a great cause and I love seeing the stories about the people. It usually is a real heart tugger as you read "In memory of" stories about those who have passed on from different illnesses. Chase and I went with Aunt Caitlin and had a great time. Going in the evening wasn't the best choice as it was super crowded and Chase didn't want to be in his stroller. Chase has a talent for finding balloons wherever we are. In the huge auditorium, Chase found the three balloons in the whole building and was so happy that he did. He points and grunts until he can no longer see them, it's pretty cute.

Nov. 30, 2012

Free Day at the Zoo

Chase and I loaded up and went to the zoo the day it was free admission. I was afraid that there were going to be tons of people there but there really weren't at all. And I think we timed it just right because every exhibit that we went to the animals were stirring and putting on a great show.

 Chase was really intrigued by the baby elephant, isn't it cute!

 I really enjoy going on dates with Chase, it makes me so happy. I love to see him experience new things and still so many things are brand new for him. I love to see what he focuses on and what intrigues him.

The sea lions were being fed and trained when we went to their exhibit. The polar bear was doing flip turns on the glass and we were less than a foot from him. Crazy huge animal. It was so cool. The Tiger was out pacing and scanning us like we were his next meal, made me a little nervous. The whole day was very fun and well worth the ride to SLC.

Whenever I go upstairs without Chase and I don't hear him playing or babbling, I know he's getting into something or doing something he's not supposed to. So when I came down after not hearing anything, I found that he had climbed unto of the walker and climbed onto the arm rest of the couch, which he was standing on before I could snap a picture. He laughed so hard and thought he was really something. He has quite the personality and sometimes I have a hard time keeping a straight face when all he can do is laugh. Going to have to work on that.

The Removal

We went back to Dr. Frazier on November 27 for Chase's pin and cast to be removed. Once again Chase was so good when the nurse took off his cast even though it's a loud and scary machine. Then the doctor came in to remove the pin and this is when I left the room. However, I didn't know when to go back in the room because I thought my cue would be Chase crying... he didn't make a peep. I couldn't believe it. He had a small hole at the end of his finger where the pin was. His arm and hand were also very mangy (if that's a word), just covered in dead skin. His fingernails were also very long and gross. You could tell that it was pretty sore for him for the first couple of days or first week. He wouldn't put any pressure on it and cried if it was jostled or hit. This little boy was seriously a rock star throughout this entire experience.

We bathed him when we got home, trimmed most of his nails and put some lotion on his arm 

and that was that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jon had to work at 3pm on Thanksgiving so we did a nice meal before he went to work. It was a yummy dinner and not as big as the norm so it wasn't overly exhausting. Chase seemed to really like the ham and made a big mess out of all the creamy stuff.

 We have many things to be thankful for this year!

Jon was able to come home for a few minutes to hang out with us.

Because both he and his brother Nate had to work that day, we also had a big Turkey dinner the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I liked that dinner better because I feel like you should be with family on Thanksgiving. 

Family Night Out

Since Chase has been able to eat on his own, we have only taken him to a restaurant if we were with family. We rarely go to restaurants. However, we had a gift card to Cracker Barrel and decided to go as a family. Chase might just be super messy and it's hard to keep him from making a royal mess. It was nice to go out as a family (especially not having to cook or clean up) and Chase was pretty good.

This night was also significant because I had just gotten my new and very first smart phone! So fun!! It was so fun to play with the GPS on the way their and the camera.