Christmas Morning

"Cutting back" this year... looks like someone didn't get the memo!

Priceless faces

Reading the letter that Santa left for Mason

THOMAS!

Trying on the hat that Santa left in Mason's stocking- and it came off 2 seconds later!

Thanksgiving Famiy Photo

I miss my blonde hair!

Visit from Santa

Santa came to visit the week before Christmas to see what the kids wanted for Christmas... Mason didn't want to get too close! Although he did warm up a bit from the arm of the chair- but just don't put him on his lap!


Mason running from Santa





Bribery is a beautiful thing!

The Cookie Thief

So I had baked some cookies one afternoon, turned on Elmo for Mason to watch while I went up to shower- I know, great babysitter... and then came down to find this...










Nice of him to bring back the cookies after he removed the chocolate kiss!

It's been a while...

It has been a really long time since my last post... my life has been a little hectic with work and the last place I want to be when I get home is on my computer! So get ready for lots of new posts!

We love you Grandma!

Grandma, we are so glad that you were able to go to be with Grandpa once again, and that you are no longer struggling to catch your breath! Know that you will be missed everyday, but I will think of you each and every time that I gaze into Mason's blue eyes! You were an inspiration to all of us and I hope to live half the life that you did! I love you- xoxox!

DOROTHY D'AUTREMONT



Dorothy Mae D'Autremont 1918 ~ 2009 On November 12, 2009 our dear mom, grandmother, great-grand-mother and sister passed away peacefully in her sleep, after 91 years of life. Mom was born in Hocking, Iowa to MaryAnn Hayward and William M Snedden on August 5, 1918. She married Adrian "Duke" D'Autremont on July 1, 1938. Dad's career took them and our family to many cities across America, mom always made each place a home. She was deeply involved with our family and also enjoyed golf, bowling and bridge, in later life bingo. She flourished through her involvement as a business owner and operator of Mr. C Clothing Store. In 1986 mom and dad moved to Arizona and thrived through retirement together. She is survived by seven loving children, Gae (Peter) Hall, Pat (John) Klepfer, Tom, Barb, Don (Teri Rio), Connie (Rick) Taylor, and Kris (John) Canick; nine grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; siblings, Dick (Ruth) Snedden and Ruth Houghtailing. Preceded in death by her loving husband of 57 years, Adrian; four brothers and three sisters. The family would like to thank the residents and staff of Atria Sandy for making mom feel so loved and at home. We would also like to thank the Draper Rehab staff for their care and concern for mom and her family. Services will be held at 4:30 p.m. Monday, November 16, 2009 at St John's Catholic Church, 300 East 11800 South in Draper. In lieu of flowers, take your mom to lunch.

Published in Salt Lake Tribune on November 14, 2009

The Zoo

Mike and I both took Thursday off to celebrate Mason's Birthday... well my original thought in taking the day off was to prepare for the party that night, but when I saw that it was going to be in the mid 70's that day, I knew we had to take advantage! I don't know that we will be able to make this a tradition every year, although I have to admit it would be quite nice! Here are some of the pictures from our adventure!

My Little Buckaroo is 2!

I can not believe that it has been 2 years since this little ball of energy came into my life! He has taught me patience, love, all about Tomas, Elmo and how to laugh. Never a dull moment with Mason around- I can't imagine what my life would be like without him! This past year has been eventful to say the very least... Mason fell down the stairs at Gmas, 3 days later tripped as he was running into our bedroom and hit his eye on the corner of the bed giving him a nasty black eye, a week later came down with RSV! Following the RSV he got an ear infection, cut the majority of his teeth... he only had 2 on his 1st Birthday, he split his head open resulting in 18 stitches and then a month later had Tubes put in! We are keeping the medical professionals profitable in this down economy! Never the less, we sure do love this little guy... I mean how can you resist this face??

Thanks to Mike's cousin McKelle for taking these pictures for me before she ventured off to Italy! I have been meaning to post these pics forever and I just keep forgetting! Thought this was the perfect post!

Christmas Came Early!

My cute husband can't keep a secret- so my Christmas present came early this year... I got a new camera! So to christen it, I thought I would try to capture some photos of Mason at Wheeler farm last night... it was definately a try and I will need to do a lot more trying! Not to mention that Mason was not the most cooperative!

Talking to one of the donkeys!

If you look at this picture up close- his eyes are the same color as his sweater... and you know he got those blue eyes from his Great Grandma Dorothy!

This doesn't look dangerous at all... does it?

Playing in the chicken coop... a good place for him!

I thought it would be so cute for him to have 2 cupcakes for his 2nd birthday... and notice the shirt... the pictures turned out much better in my head!

The sugar coma!

Cobweb Cups

My mom found the cutest Halloween cook book, Halloween Food, Fun & Crafts... I think it is made by Pillsbury. It has the greatest ideas for all types of Halloween goodies- even though I must admit some of them look too gross to eat, like the "Feet of Meet" and the "Buzzard Claws with Swamp Dip", but most of them are cute to look at as well as appetizing. Tonight we are getting together as a big happy family to watch Arachnophobia- can't wait! I found this recipe in the cookbook and thought it fit the evening perfectly. I was so proud of myself- they turned out just like the picture! I think mine may actually be a little cuter because I added the spiders!

Cobweb Cups

1 Package brownie mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix
1/2 Cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
2 ounces softened cream cheese
1 egg
2 Tbls Sugar
2 Tbls Flour
1/4 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 standard muffin cups with paper baking cups. ( I found really cute Halloween ones at Harmons). Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cakelike brownies, stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.

2. Beat cream cheese and egg in small bowl until blended. Add sugar, flour and vanilla, beat until well blended ( make sure you follow these directions, the first time I tried just mixing it all together at the same time and it didn't work.... I had to try it again!)

3. Place the cream cheese mixture in a small ziplock bag- seal the bag. Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag- make it as small as possible... Pipe the cream cheese mixture in concentric circle design on each brownie cup; draw a toothpick through cream cheese mixture 6 to 8 times out from center.

4. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rach 15 minutes. Add spider rings if desired!

Silver Fork Lake

Yeterday we took went for a walk around Silver Fork Lake with the kids to check out the fall leaves before the cold weather hits this week- I am not looking forward to the supposed snow storm on Wednesday! The colors were beautiful and the kids had a great time...

Mason thought he would rather pull the wagon instead of ride in it!

The view

Very tempting...

Faker!

Cheese!

Thumbs up!

Little Climbers

Touch a Truck

Last weekend Mason and I went to the "Touch a Truck" fundraiser for the Junior League with Ashley, Tommy & Jake. They had all different kinds of trucks and I knew Mason was going to be in heaven... to my dismay, he was still not feeling quite up to par and did not enjoy it as much as I thought he would. For any of you who know my child... he is OBSESSED with "Fire Coks" he got so squeemish when I tried to get a photo on the front of the fire truck... oh well, it was worth a try! I will definately take him again next year and hope he feelds better! Here are some pics from the trucks I could get him to sit in!

Mason & Jake sitting in the Firetruck
Sitting on the front of the fire truck- if you can't tell Mason is trying to jump out of my arms!

Driving the Front Loader

It's a miracle- I got a smile!

Driving the tractor

Mason & Jake in some other piece of construction equipment- not sure what it was!

Oh and in case you are wondering... as a follow up to my last post, I took Mason to the dr. he had a double ear infection, went to meet with the ENT on Friday, and he is scheduled to go in for Tubes on the 6th of October... hopefully this will be the end of the ear infections!

Attempt at Moab

Well the attempt for a family vacation wasn't quite what we were hoping for. Sunday Mason woke up with a stuffy nose, by Monday morning when we were ready to go it was green and I was pretty sure that he was going to end up with an ear infection... despite it, we hit the road and headed south. After 4 hours of a whining, crying Mason and an irritated Mike, we made it in one piece. The first night ended up being quite nice, we swam, had dinner and walked around a bit. Yesterday was a different story... we woke up and Mason cried and cried and cried some more- if you looked at him wrong, he cried. On top of Mason's crying, the sky was crying too! We couldn't catch a break! Things cleared up a bit after nap time, so we walked over to the Pizza Hut to get some dinner, and ended up having to take our food to go so everyone else in the restaurant could enjoy their dinner. We went home and ate our pizza, and Mason and Mike were able to spend more time in the pool... but then the meltdown kicked in again and we decided to pack up and hit the road a day early- figured it was better to drive at night and hope that Mason slept- and it worked! He slept most of the way, woke up about the time that we hit the canyon and then he talked the WHOLE way home. I sure hope that his behavior was due to the ears and not a glimpse of what 2 has in store for us... he might not live to 3 if that is the case! We will find out in about an hour when we take a trip to my favorite place... the DOCTOR!

Oh and to top it off... I only took 3 pictures, and 2 of the 3 turned out blurry... it was just the icing on the cake! Can't get too excited about taking another family vacation anytime soon!

Green Goatee

McKelle (Mike's cousin) and I made the cutest cupcakes for Ava's Birthday party... at least we thought they were cute! They took some creativity and a bit of trial and error... but they turned out surprisingly well... I couldn't have done it without her help! Not to mention that they made for some cute photos! The cupcakes were baked in ice cream cones and then decorated accordingly!

I wish I would have gotten a picture of the cupcakes before all the kids dove in... Oh well, maybe next time!

Mason's First Trip to the ER!

This morning Mason was over playing with Jake and Ellie, while Ashley and I were going to work on a craft project. A tent made out of couch cushions seemed like a good idea, until someone falls off the couch into the coffee table... who would have thought a round table could cause so much damage! I ran in when I heard the scream to find Mason's head gushing blood, I took one look and knew we were going to need stitches. It took all the strength we had to hold him down long enough to control the bleeding.... I knew it wasn't going to be an easy task to actually get the stitches. When we got to the ER- to my surprise, we actually got right in... everyone was great! The decision was made to sedate Mason in order to get the stitches in without having to pin him down on a papoose board, I don't think I could have taken it! While we were waiting for the Respiratory Therapist, Mason got to go out and sit in the fire truck that had just come to drop someone off... he was in heaven! The worst part of the whole ordeal was coming out of the sedation... it was so sad to see him so lethargic and sad... after about 2 hours he was awake enough to head home and he was himself again, he barked like a dog and sang the ABC's all the way home! Still very woozy and not too sure footed, but all is well!

Warning... the following pictures are a little graphic!



Before:





After:

One minute...the face of an angel,

next minute, well see for yourself...

one scary looking face

hit mom

hit the plant, again and again

I'm so over it!!!

Katie and i were busy with wardrobe changes for Kaylyn at her little photo session. Mason was happy, getting into a few things here and there - while he wasn't the center of attention. He did manage to got the lid off the bubbles and dumped the soap all over the grass. Katie took away the bubbles. That is when the the transformation began . Oh my gosh, can you believe that face. He was going to show her! He went to him Katie. When that didn't work he hurled himself over to the flower bed and decided to hit the plant. One time wasn't enough, he had to hit it again. Then it was over and he was back to Mason! So funny-I guess you had to be there. (posted by GMA)