Just Turned 4

On December 19th Alyssa turned 4 years old. Andelynn is getting so tired of Alyssa hanging on to everything that she does. We decided it's about time that Alyssa gets her own friends. So we did a birthday party with her friends from school. Alyssa wanted an all girl party except her friend Jace. All girls and one boy. Some day he will realize how lucky he is.

Birthday Girl

party at chuck E cheese

This is the cake Alyssa asked for and of course it had to be blue, her favorite color.

It is not my best or worst cake. I made it during the middle of the night so I was dead tired while making it. So I was trying to get it over with so I could get some sleep. I ended up with 2 hours of sleep.

Notice all the blue and white flowers, Andy even helped me make all those. What a good guy to help me make sugar flowers.

Making Pretzels

We had Tammy and her two kids come over and help make pretzels. And boy did we make pretzels. We made so many of those things and it still seemed like it wasn't enough. We let her kids make some to send over to their dad. We were up making these things until 1am. But boy did we have a blast.

Cody and Aly

my kids even jumped in on the fun

The Gang Is Back

It has been a long time since we have all been together and we are still not all here. We still missed Emilie, Ryan and Heidi. It is so hard to keep in touch with everyone when you get older and have your own lives. But it was so nice to get back together and see everyone again.

This is the group that I hung out with through High School and after. It was those in this picture and Emilie and Ryan. They are all the ones who knew me the best. And boy did we have fun together, So many memories...

In this picture
Chris, Stacie, Brad, Dave and Kelly

Thank you Kelly for putting this together so quick. It was fun. And good luck to Brad who just moved to North Carolina. I hope things will go well for you there, we will miss you.

Dave wants to plan a Moab trip for this spring with everyone. Lets see if we can make that happen.

Birthdays

Andy and I had pretty good birthdays. I love to make chocolates and other goodies so I got this book for my birthday. And my chocolates have improved a ton since then. However it does take a lot more time now to make my chocolates. And less time to have them gone.


Poor poor Andy had to spend his birthday by himself in hotel in Texas. He had to fly out the morning of his birthday. When Andy is traveling he always stays at the same hotel (Marriott of course). So they get to know ya pretty well. When Andy checked in the day of his birthday they asked if it was his birthday today and Andy said yes. They wished Andy a happy birthday and they gave him this plate of cookies and a card that every employee at the hotel signed.

Thanksgiving

Ok, So I know I am far behind on my blog. I know that this is old but I thought I would put it up anyways.

My brother Corey flew in from Denver, CO for Thanksgiving. Since we were all together for Thanksgiving we decided it would be a nice time to get some family pictures. I am not a fan of the pictures of me, but it is nice to be all together. Oh and Thanksgiving dinner was at our house. That was fun...

The Gerlach Gang

Me and my siblings

BYE BYE CAR

Saturday we sold our lovely Accord. What a car. I did love to drive it around and just blast my music. Yeah I was one of those that people hated when I was next to them at the stop light. I loved having the beat. No wonder why I am going deaf. I will miss that wee little car.

Christmas Poem

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
'SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LOVE IS FOR GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'

9 and 9

It's about time that I share some good news about my surgery. It is now 9 days after surgery and I have lost 9 pounds. I am now able of eating normal food. I ate a slice of pizza for dinner tonight. It feels so good to eat again, something besides all this mushy food. Overall I am feeling pretty good.

Normal or Not?....

Any of you that have had your tonsils out or know someone who has please let me know if this is normal or not. I have had so many other symptoms since I have had my tonsils out and I have guessed that this is all part of the process but now I don't know.

Some symptoms: tight jaw, I can not open my mouth very much and when I try it hurts. migraines, I get the worse headaches that are migraines, even having lights on affect my headache. neck pains, I can not turn my head too much. If I need to look to the side then I need to turn all of me I can not just turn my head over. I can not check my blind spot if I were to drive. Very dizzy and tired all the time, I can not drive because I am always getting dizzy and cant even hold myself up. And I will just fall asleep in the middle of doing things. (I feel asleep while eating). I guess that this one is due to the medicine. And this is why I won't drive. Raw cheeks, ever since my surgery inside of mouth my cheeks are pure raw. I scream when I have to brush my teeth. that is pure pain and then of course I can't open my mouth very wide to brush. numb tongue, every since my surgery my tongue has been numb and I have no taste buds. every time I eat I don't feel it or taste it, but I know i am eating because of the severe pain when I swallow. and now the worst for last. My tongue is all cut up. I have 3 deep cuts in my tongue. these cuts go half way through my tongue. This one scares me the most. Will this heal? I have tried to call the doctor and he is in surgery. So I have to wait until next week before I can get in. From what I understand is that they had problems with the clamp that holds my tongue down and my mouth open.

Any of you that know any of the symptoms please let me know if any of these are normal. and how long did it take you to heal? Please give me any advice that you might have for me. Thanks for your help and prayers.

The Hardest Part

Oh what fun this healing process is. Friday was my surgery and I have been doing pretty good. Yeah Friday was a bad day, but other than that I have been doing great. I have been trying to eat new things. I did really well with mashed potatoes, rice with a cream sauce, vegetables and just about anything that is mushy. I even got out of the house for a little bit yesterday. And then today hit. Today is the hardest day so far. I don't know if I over did it and now I am paying the price or if this is just how it is. I was told that it does get worse before it gets better. I am feeling the worse. I hurt so bad, I can't even get down applesauce or yogurt. I really hope that the better stage will come back and come back soon.

Tonsils

So yesterday I went and finally got my tonsils taken out. I only had to reschedule 3 times due to Andy always being sent out of town. This time I finally did it. Honestly I was so scared and I would have backed out if I could have. But knowing how bad I swell up, I knew that I had to get this done.

Everything went well. Due to my throat being so small I guess they had a hard time getting the tube down my throat. And then they couldn't get my mouth to open wide enough. And of course my tonsils were a lot bigger than they thought. So I gave them a challenge. But everything went well in the end.

I am now home trying to get better. Yesterday after getting home things weren't too good. I could not stop from throwing up. We discovered it was due to the pain medicine. Today I am on new medicine and I am doing great. I even ate mashed potatoes today. So I am happy!

HALLOWEEN...

I know I am late getting these pictures posted. There is no excuse, I am just lazy I guess. Well here are a few pictures from Halloween.

Andelynn = Vampire

Alyssa = Princess

Vampire + Princess = TROUBLE

Fighting the Bull

So I was looking back at my pictures and noticed that I didn't add all the pictures that I was going to from when I went to Thanksgiving Point over UEA weekend. I am not planning on adding them all however I thought you would like this.
They had Bull riding and I thought I would give it a try, not a good idea when just a month ago I injured my back. Yeah I am still feeling the pain. I did have to ask him to stop because I could feel the pain in the back. But it was still fun.

TRICK OR TREAT

What is going on with the weather these days? I am not complaining, I like how it is. But not too long ago we woke up to snow. This last week it has been warm enough to wear shorts. Here we are almost November and wearing shorts. And it looks like not much is going to change for Halloween. That will be nice for all those ghost and goblins knocking at your door.

one lucky guy

A prince with three beautiful princess...

Lost in Archuleta

At Thanksgiving Point this year the corn maze is David Archuleta. My friend Tammy and her kids were going to go down and see it and they invited me and the girls to go with. We had such a blast, all 7+ hours of it.

And I was off

And we are off to a good start and everyone is having fun

nobody seems to agree on which way to go

"Are we totally lost"

And we did it. We found the exit. However it's phase 2 exit, we went in phase 1 "oops" At least we are out, right.

The kids stayed uplifted and full of energy the whole time.

Our House

We have been in our home for just over a month now. It is so nice to be back in a home rather than a hotel room.

Andy and I saw this home the first day we were back in Utah and we both said NO. I went through about 25 - 30 more homes and then I came back to this home. And of course the first house we looked at (which we said No to) is the home we ended up taking.

Now that we are in our home we are loving it. There is plenty of space here. The house it self is not as big as our home in Bozeman, but that is Ok. The home is perfect for us. Most of all we are loving the huge back yard (which we did not have in Bozeman). Also the neighbors here are great and of course we are not far from family.

our back yard with a nice full basketball court

We also have tons of grass and plenty of room to play. Here you see our barn and behind that is the basketball court. So as you can tell, our back yard is pretty cool. We do love it. When I should be inside cleaning, I end up our here instead just playing.

It's Snowing Already....

A COUPLE DAYS AGO THIS IS WHAT WE WOULD SEE WHEN WE ARE IN OUR YARD.

AND NOW THIS IS WHAT WE SEE...

I DON'T THINK I AM READY FOR THIS ALREADY.

LAST NIGHT WAS THE FIRST SNOW FOR THIS SEASON. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THIS TIME IS ALREADY HERE. CAN'T WE JUST GO ONE YEAR WITHOUT ALL THE SNOW?


ALYSSA WOKE UP THIS MORNING AND SAID, "MOM, DAD IT'S SNOWING OUTSIDE DOES THAT MEAN THAT TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY?" AT LEAST SHE KNOWS WHAT SEASON HER BIRTHDAY IS IN.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

ALYSSA ON HER FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL. SHE WAS SO EXCITED AND A LITTLE SCARED.

On the first day of preschool Alyssa woke up real early (earlier than we normally would on a school day). She got dressed and brushed her own hair and then grabbed her backpack and asked if she could now go to school. She wasn't happy when I told her that she had to wait another hour and half before we could go to school.


ALYSSA IS LOVING PRESCHOOL AND HAS WONDERFUL TEACHERS. SHE IS STILL SUPER EXCITED EACH MORNING SHE GETS TO GO TO SCHOOL.

UNCLE COREY IS IN TOWN

MY BROTHER COREY HAS MOVED TO COLORADO WHILE WE WERE LIVING IN MONTANA. SO IT HAS BEEN AWHILE SINCE WE HAVE SEEN HIM LAST. (WHICH HAS BEEN HARD ON ALYSSA) COREY IS ALYSSA'S FAVORITE UNCLE AND SHE IS NONE STOP ASKING FOR HIM. WELL COREY CAME BACK TO UTAH FOR THE WEEKEND TO SEE A FRIEND THAT IS REALLY SICK. AND SO OF COURSE WE HAD TO MEET UP WITH HIM.

WE REALLY ENJOYED OUR SHORT VISIT WITH COREY. WE MET DOWN AT THE GATEWAY AND ENJOYED A NICE LUNCH. (THANKS FOR THAT BRO) AND THEN JUST HAD A NICE VISIT. THESE GIRLS WERE SO EXCITED TO UNCLE COREY AGAIN AND NOW THEY ASK WHEN WILL HE BE BACK AGAIN.

WE MISS YOU COREY AND HOPE ALL IS GOING WELL FOR YOU. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT TIME WE GET TO SEE YOU.

Time with Grandpa

The girls are so excited to be back in Utah. They have missed seeing the whole family. I think everyone is excited to have them back also.

Grandpa enjoyed taking the girls on the new Front Runner (UTA). They rode the train all day and enjoyed a nice lunch in Ogden.

Grandpa even takes the girls out for Ice Cream. I tell ya this is one Grandpa who loves his granddaughters. I think he is the one who is the most excited to have the girls back again. These girls are so very lucky to have such a wonderful Grandpa!

GETTING BACK TO BLOG

So it has taken me longer than I thought to get back to blogging. Once you have been gone and haven't blogged for a long time it's hard to get back to it. I will try to be better from now on.

I AM BACK......

I am now finally back to where I can add to my blog again. Once we got to Utah after being in Texas for the summer we have been staying super busy. We were in Utah for a week (none stop house hunting). Then we took off to Bozeman for a week. We got back to Utah the day before school started. Then we finally moved into a home Labor Day weekend. We have been busy.
Now that we are all moved in I am hoping to get some pictures up soon. So check back soon.

Scooter

Andelynn has been wanting a scooter for the longest time. She asked for one last year for her 8th birthday however I can not spend that kind of money for a birthday present. So of course she did not get a scooter. As spring came this year Andelynn said again that she wants a scooter. This time I told her that if she wants a scooter than she would have to save her money and buy it herself. She said ok and she started saving. During are whole time in Texas Andelynn would not spend a dime. Well her 9th birthday was coming and she didn't have enough money for that scooter so all she asked for, for her birthday was money. Andelynn got just enough money to go buy the scooter this week. She has been on it everyday since the day we bought it. She is so happy, she loves it and she said that she is so glad that she bought it and it's worth all the money. I am happy that she loves it and I love seeing her happy.


It doesn't look like it goes fast however it does go up to 15mph, that is pretty fast for a kids toy.

Too Cute!

I love Andelynn and Alyssa so much, they are so precious. Andelynn reminds me of a prom queen with that crown on. They grow up so fast, here soon Andelynn just might be prom queen at her school dance. I don't want to make time go by any faster than it already is. I can't believe that Andelynn is 9 years old and Alyssa is 3. didn't I just have Alyssa a year ago? What happened to all that time?

I do love my girls. Heavenly Father did bless me with the two must beautiful girls and so well behaved. I am so very lucky and blessed to have such great daughters.

Fruit Heights Founders Day...

WE ARE BACK! Boy does it feel good to be back. I loved being in Texas however it was starting to get old. Andy was here in Utah for a couple days before he had to fly right back out to Texas again. That poor guy! Sometimes I don't know how he can do it. His whole life is nothing but traveling and staying in a hotel. Sounds good I know, But all the time and not being able to be with your family. Yeah, it gets old really fast.

Well during the short time Andy was with us here in Utah we got to have a little fun. We went house hunting, had a birthday party for Andelynn and we even went to the Fruit Heights Founders Day thing with my parents. At the Fruit Heights Founders Day they had tons of games and prizes for the kids, a little train ride, lots of shows and so much more. It was really nice and boy did Fruit Heights fork out a lot of money for that night. I enjoyed going on the Velcro Wall, but that thing really takes a lot of energy and strength. I may look like I am in my 20's but my body knows that I am not. Sometimes I think I can still do all the things I use to do until I try it. I learn really fast that my body doesn't work the way it use to.

Andelynn won a little white bear and was so excited and Alyssa won some barbie mermaid doll. They were not cheap on their prizes. Some kids even won Camp Rock soundtracks and other good CD's for kids.

You have to have the good fluffed sugar that we call cotton candy.

Mike did a magic show for the Founders Day. He did a wonderful job. He couldn't do the floating table due to the wind. However he did a lot of good tricks and a few new ones that I have not seen before. Mike is the guy whom I have hired to do birthday parties for Andelynn. He really does an amazing job. So any of you, if you need an idea for a family reunion or a party of any kind, I highly recommend hiring Mike for you entertainment.

Here Mike drew a picture of a bowling ball and then a bowling ball fell from the pad of paper. And this was no small bowling ball. it had to weigh at least 10 pounds. Then on the pad of paper (after the ball fell) the picture of the bowling ball was gone but the words were still there.



The girls enjoyed the little train. It was a cute train. "I want one." You know how much fun I would have if I had that. all the neighbor kids would love me.

Curses

So if you are in need of a party game then I highly recommend the game called Curses. Andy's brother gave us this game a long time ago for either Christmas or Birthday. This has been our favorite game ever. We had to buy this game for Candice and Steve for their birthday. And so of course we had to play it.

On this game you are given a curse and during the whole game you have to do whatever your curse is. You don't get just one curse you can have several curses at one time. Well at the beginning of your turn you have to do a challenge and of course don't forget your curse. You don't want to get caught forgetting your curse or else you may just lose the game. Well this is a video of Steve, he is captain hook and has to speak like captain hook and also each time he speaks he has to bock like a chicken and of course many other things like each time he speaks he has to clap his hands but then whenever someone claps (including himself) he has to take a bow. It is so funny. Candice is sitting next to him and whenever Steve speaks she has to shake.

I love this game! But remember to always use the restroom before starting to play the game. Guaranteed that YOU WILL LAUGH.

Oasis

Our last couple of days in Texas was our family vacation for the year. So we went out and played and had a lot of fun. My sister, LeeAnn, flew out to vacation with us. We were told that being in Austin that we had to go out to the Oasis that is overlooking Lake Travis . This place is amazing. So pretty and nice. I see why everyone tells ya to go there. However their food is not that good. We got a appetizer that was wonderful but the main dish was awful and then again the dessert was also wonderful. Really this place is all about the live music and atmosphere. We loved it and I would definitely go back.

LeeAnn and I at the Oasis in Austin

What a cute couple

Of course we had to go out somewhere special since the girls were so cute from their libby lu's party. We had to show off how cute they all are.

At the Oasis overlooking Lake Travis just as the sun was setting