A Cowgirl, A Pumpkin & A Cast

 For the last month or so things have been sooooooooooooo crazy around here! And I have felt like the craziness never stops! Thankfully I feel like it has slowed down just a little bit the last few days. And I have a few minutes to myself right now so what do I do? Update the blog :)

Hubby update: Kiley gets a little better everyday. This last month has been one of the longest and hardest times in his life but he has been so strong through everything. I couldn't be more proud of him. He still has a long road ahead of him but at least we feel like we are on the up-swing of this whole thing. He also has a cool green cast on now!

Me update: I spend most of my time taking care of my girls, Kiley and the apartments. Yup, that about sums up my life these days :)

Azuree update: Azuree is getting so big and so grown up! She has been a great helper for her mommy through all of this and she has been so patient. Mommy has been pretty busy and she's so good at keeping herself entertained. She is such a good girl.

Emri update: I think that she will be crawling by the end of this week! She already gets around just by scooting and rolling, but lately she has been getting up on her knees and trying to move that way. So it won't be long!

So, here's some pics...

 Love these guys!

 Emri snuggling with her elephant. Aaaaaaaaaw :)

 Trying out the high chair for the first time...

 The first time that we went up north for Kiley's surgery we were told that they couldn't do it that week. It was pretty sad, but at least we were able to hang out with Brenda, and Halie and Michael and their family. They took Azuree to a Halloween party while we were there and they let her borrow their Tigger costume. She looooooooved it!

 Azuree's mustache is my favorite :) (Don't mind me, that was my "trying-hard-to-keep-my-mustache-in-place-while-smiling-at-the-same-time" face...)

 We went back up north for Kiley's foot surgery the next week which was the week of Halloween. Halie, Michael and Brenda took Azuree to another Halloween party. (This time we brought Azuree's costume just in case we were going to be there for Halloween.) This is a picture of Azuree the cowgirl, Adrienne the black cat, and Logan dressed as Scooby-Doo! Azuree had so much fun with these two! She loves her cousins so much.

 She was such a cute little cowgirl :)

When we came home from Kiley's foot surgery we had an awesome sign on the front of our apartment! It made our day :) Thanks Chip & Nicole's family!

 We actually ended up coming home for Halloween. Things were kind of hectic when we got back so Christian and Melanie were nice enough to take Azuree to a trunk-or-treat that they were going to. I felt bad that I couldn't take her so I was so thankful that they were willing to take her. She came back and was so proud of how much candy she got! She was in heaven :) This is a pic of Emri the pumpkin, James the bee, and Azuree the cowgirl.

 Emri was our little pumpkin this year!

 Love, love, love my girls!!!!

We didn't have the chance to carve pumpkins this year either, but a friend gave us a little pumpkin and Azuree was able to color it and put stickers on it. She loved it :)

I just had to include this picture. We put Azuree on the stairs for time out. One day I heard Azuree go over to the stairs and say "Ok monkey, you go to time out." I went over and this is what I saw :) Made me laugh.

 Here is a random pic of a sign that I made one afternoon. Kinda fun. Next time I will probably add some color...

 Kiley and I went up north again last week and he got a cast on! I think it helps him a lot and allows him to be a little bit more mobile.

I am getting so excited for Thanksgiving! I love this time of year, but I also get kinda homesick for my family. This year it's our turn to spend Thanksgiving with my family, and I couldn't be more excited! I feel like I don't see my family near enough so I love it when we are able to get together for holidays and things. I love spending time with family!

Kiley and I want to thank all of our family and friends again for all of their help, love and prayers. We would not be able to make it through this trial without you. We love you all so much!

Kiley's Accident

I am sitting here in the recovery room, Kiley is sleeping (kinda) and I guess this is as good a time as any to make a post about the accident.

On the 8th of this month Kiley, his dad Kim and his brother Chip had all gone up Beaver Mountain to log. At around 3:30pm-ish that day I got a call from Chip. He told me that Kiley had been in an accident and that he had broken his leg.

 Kiley had rolled the skidder and as it rolled his foot got smashed underneath the roof of this big piece of heavy equipment. And yes, that is Kiley laying there by the skidder. Kim and Chip were very good at not rushing things too much and making sure that they did all that they could to take care of Kiley. So this picture was taken while they were trying to decide the best way to get him off of the mountain. And throughout this whole thing Kiley has been very insistent that we get documentation and pictures of everything, so I'm sure that this picture was taken at the urging of Kiley as well :)

 Once Kim and Chip drove him off the mountain they took him to the hospital in Beaver where they were able to get his boot off. There they told him that it was too bad of an injury for them to take care of and he'd have to go to Cedar City to get it fixed. I have to say that out of all of the pictures we've taken this picture might be my favorite. Only because of the doctor's face :) Other than that I hate this picture because Kiley is in so much pain. (It also kinda' looks like his leg was completely cut off, but it wasn't. The bones just came through the skin.)

 This is Kiley once he was in the Cedar City hospital. He was in so much pain :(

 Having the girls come and visit him seemed to be the best part of his day. He loved seeing his girls!

 This was a day after they operated on his leg. They had to re-wrap it so I was able to get this pic. He had an incision by his knee where they inserted a steel rod into his tibia, an incision by his knee and by his ankle where they put screws into the bone and rod, and another big cut where the bones had poked through. All in all, his leg looked pretty yucky :( During the operation on Kiley's leg the Doc took x-rays of his foot to see what damage had been done there. They found out that his foot had been pretty badly crushed and that we would have to go see a specialist up north in 2 weeks for surgery. 

 Kiley got a bit stir-crazy so we made a trip to the store with the girls one day. After this Kiley almost never went out because it was too painful and we had to keep his leg elevated. Azuree was super excited though that Daddy was going to ride in the back with her and Emri :)

 I moved the mattress downstairs so that Kiley wouldn't have to use the stairs. It's kinda fun having him hang out with the girls and me all day :) I just wish he wasn't in so much pain...

 It's just like one big sleep-over everyday at our house! Here's Daddy and Azuree playing a video game together :)

 2 weeks after the accident we went up north to have the specialist look at Kileys foot. I got some pretty nasty and painful looking pictures of Kiley's foot while they unwrapped and re-wrapped it. It made me sick to my stomach to see this. This was such a painful injury and I hated that Kiley was constantly in so much pain.

 The blood blisters were a result of the swelling. Ouch, ouch....

 Definitely not a pretty picture...

When the specialist took a look at Kiley's foot he said that it was way too swollen for him to operate on and that we'd have to wait another week at least for the swelling to go down. That was some of the hardest news to take. We did not want to go home without having that operation taken care of. But there was nothing we could do about it so we went home and Kiley spent another very painful week in bed. We tried our very hardest to keep it elevated so that the swelling would go down. Apparently our efforts and all of the prayers and help from our family and friends payed off because when we saw the specialist a week later he said that Kiley's foot looked one hundred times better! I wanted to cry when he told us Kiley was good to go for surgery. This surgery meant that we could move forward with our lives and work on recovering.

 This is Kiley after his final surgery! Yay!

 Happy, happy day! Even though there is still a long road ahead of us, it is so nice to know that Kiley is moving forward and getting better. He is still in a lot of pain and probably will be for a while as he heals. But it's ok because it feels like the worst is behind us. 

Words cannot express the gratitude and love that we feel for everyone who has helped and supported us through all of this. The doctor's, nurses and everyone in the hospitals have been so wonderful and so helpful. We have felt the prayers and love from all of our friends and family members and we know that they have worked miracles. We would not have been able to make it through this trial alone.

We love you all so much!

Azuree & Emri

 Emri turned 6 months on October 8th this year!! (Kiley also had his accident that afternoon, but that's a different story for a different post.) So on the morning of the 8th I decided to take Emri's 6 month pictures. I also took some of Azuree just for fun. Here they are! My sweet little girls :)

 Here's Azuree! I feel like she looks so grown up in these pictures. It makes me kinda' sad...

Azuree Update:

• Azuree is the sweetest girl ever! She is Mommy and Daddy's big helper and she loves her little sister. She will bring us diapers, help Emri drink her bottle, bring her toys, and try her hardest to make her little sister happy when she's sad.
• Azuree's hair is getting longer and longer. Mommy really enjoys fixing it and playing with it.
• Azuree has never been a picky eater! She will eat almost anything Mom puts in front of her. But Azuree especially loves fruit, fruit and more fruit. I haven't found a fruit that she won't eat. She also loves her veggie's (most of them anyways). I think some of her favorite meals are spaghetti, tuna fish sandwiches, hot dogs, green beans, oatmeal & peaches.
• I think Azuree's favorite thing to do is to be with others! She has never been shy and seems to be quite the little social butterfly! It doesn't matter who you are, if you give her attention she will love you :) But she especially loves being with other little kids and her cousins.
• Azuree does and probably always will love nursery. It's my only leverage I have to get her to sit still in sacrament meeting. "If you don't be reverent you won't be able to go to nursery!" That is quite a sad thought for her. She loves to go and play with her friends, have snacks and learn about Jesus.
• Azuree is speaking in full sentences now! She has been for a while, but it seems like everyday her vocabulary is expanding and she gets easier and easier to understand. And she NEVER STOPS TALKING! It's pretty fun actually :)
• Speaking of never stopping...Azuree just NEVER STOPS! She wakes up so happy and full of energy and that never seems to goes away. (Other than the happy part...she definitely has her grouchy times :)
• Azuree is the biggest copy-cat I have ever seen! It's great because she learns so much and is such a smart kid. But it kinda makes Mom & Dad nervous sometimes because we really have to watch what we say and do around her. (Not like we do anything really bad but...ya know what I'm saying :) She just seems to absorb anything and everything around her.

 And here's my little Emri!

Emri Update:

• Emri, Emri, Emri! What a little doll! I really think that she is the best baby ever. I know that when Heavenly Father sent her to us He had me in mind. She makes Mommy's life so easy! Well...as easy as it can get with a toddler and a baby :)
• Emri has always been a great sleeper.  I have never had a problem with getting her to sleep through the night. And she definitely loves her sleep! She still takes 3 (sometimes 4) naps a day. And then she sleeps through the night! Some days I wish I could sleep that much...
• She has been eating baby food for a while now and recently started eating things like soft crackers and those little baby puffs. She loves to eat! Gotta do something to keep up on all those adorable rolls :) 
• Speaking of rolls, Emri is rolling ALL OVER THE PLACE! Even though she's not quite crawling yet she has no problem getting around. She's at that point where she seems to get frustrated when she can't get around much so I know it won't be long until she's crawling!
• Emri is still pretty bald but has some blonde hair growing in and her eyes are still kind of that baby grey-blue color. I think she will have blue eyes when she gets older because it seemed like by this age Azuree's eyes had already begun to change a little bit to hazel . But Emri's eye's seem like they're just becoming more grey-blue.  
• Emri is a thumb sucker!! She's been a thumb sucker ever since she was really little and it hasn't stopped. From what I've heard there are quite a few thumb suckers in her family (including her mom) so I guess it was bound to happen.
• Talk about a smiley girl! Emri is always smiling! It sure makes Mommy and Daddy's day happy :)
• She is a Daddy's girl! At least he's the one who *always gets a smile from her and he's the best at getting her to laugh. She definitely loves her Daddy time :)

"Children are the past, the present, and the future all blended into one. They are consummately precious. Every time a child is born, the world is renewed in innocence." ~ Boyd K. Packer

July-September Fun

Well...what can I say? Life is busy! But today seems to be kind of a calm day which means that I get to sit down for a bit and update you all on how our little family is doing :)

To begin, I have decided that I am the worst at remembering to take pictures during special or important events. I'm just too caught up in enjoying myself that taking pictures usually doesn't even cross my mind till after the fact. I always regret not taking more pics. Here are the ones that I did remember to take...

 We celebrated the 4th of July in our new home with Christian, Melanie and Baby James.

It was a fun day!

 We were able to have Aunt Brandie and her kids over. We loved being able to see them! This is Azuree and her cousin Ruby.

 Emri and cousin Isaac

 Azuree, Jet, Isaac and Ruby

 On our way to Moab for Emri's baby blessing we saw a double rainbow. So pretty!

 Now this...is what I am most sad about. I didn't get any pictures of just Emri on her baby blessing day. *gasp!* I know, I know! I am very sad about that. Ya...I'm a terrible mother. Oh well, at least she still has her dress, right? :(

 Even though I don't have many pictures to prove it, it was such a special day! Emri was blessed on the same day as her cousin James, and her Uncle Kamron gave his farewell talk that day as well. It was so wonderful to have so many family members there.

 We went to Hurricane for Kiley's Grandma Jepson's funeral. That was another very special day. We will miss Grandma Jepson very much.

 Kiley with his brothers Shane & Travis.

The next day was the Jepson family reunion. That was a lot of fun! The Woodbury's did such an amazing job.

 I love this picture! Azuree and Ruby enjoying their treats :)

 What sweethearts :)

 

 Kiley, Azuree & I had a toenail painting party one night. Kiley is such a good sport :)

 Sisters!

 I've had fun trying new things with Azuree's hair now that it's getting longer.

 Emri and James

 Silly sleeper :)

Azuree fell asleep with her head under the bed :)

 Emri couldn't be a happier baby! She is always so smiley! We love it!

It's always so entertaining when they start eating baby food. Makes for some fun pics :)

 Yum yum!

 Kiley threw me a birthday party. It was way fun! He made me cheesecake (my favorite cake :) and even bought some fun photo booth props!

 I think everyone had lot's of fun with the pictures :)

 Azuree loves playing kitchen

 So smiley!

 Smolder :)

 Emri loves Daddy time

 For our anniversary we took a trip up north. On our way up there Kiley surprised us and we stopped at a petting zoo! Needless to say Azuree was THRILLED! She loved the animals! We had to work hard to keep her from chasing the animals :)

 I think the baby goats and the ducks were Azuree's favorite.

 Ha ha ha! I just had to include this picture. This was our attempt at setting the camera up and getting a family pic. It didn't really work :)

Of course, this was the only pic we took of our whole anniversary trip. This is an RSL game! We went up north and were able to drop the girls off at Rob and Natalie's house so that we could go to the RSL game that night. It was awesome! We had never been to one of these games and we had a blast! The next day we went to Seven Peaks. I had never been there before and loved it! Kiley was in charge of our anniversary this year and he sure made it fun. Thanks babe! And thanks again to Rob and Natalie for watching our girls :)

 James and Emri again. Aren't they the cutest things ever?!

 One of our favorite activities is to walk to the park that's just a block away from the apartments. Azuree found a sunflower on one of our walks :)

 This is kind of random, but I tried my hand at making granola and I loved it! I think I will make some more...soon.

This is what happens when Daddy helps get the girls ready for curch :)

Our new apartment doesn't have a pantry and we were in need of some more storage, so I bought this display case/shelf at DI. Because this was going to serve as our pantry I didn't really like the glass fronts showing all of our food. So I bought some fabric and put it behind the glass to hide the food. I kinda like our "pantry" :)

 Happy, happy girls!!!

 I just love Emri's face in this picture

 Oh how I love being a mom!

 Silly face!

 I finally mustered up the courage to give Azuree her first haircut...and I actually think it looks pretty cute! I was just glad I didn't completely butcher her hair. I was very nervous.

 Azuree, Emri and I just recently took a trip to Arizona with my mom and Symomy.  (Sadly, Kiley had to work so he couldn't come) Grandpa Skouson was celebrating his 79th birthday and Grandma Skouson was throwing him a party. So we decided to take a girls trip! It was lots of fun! We were able to see Grandma and Grandpa Call and some other family in Taylor, and then we saw lots of family in Mesa at Grandpa Skouson's party. And again, these are the only pics I got of the whole trip. But I think these pics show how good these girls were for almost the entire trip! I was so surprised at how good they were. We drove every single day of our five day trip, so having happy girls made the traveling that much more bearable.

 When we got back to Cedar City daddy surprised us with flowers and a Mini Mouse cup! What more could these girls ask for?! He is so good to us :)

Well, that about wraps up the last few months of the Sanders family life :)