Vongsawad Family

2010-10-13T10:56:00.001-07:00

In no way will I take credit for the fabulous ideas I got to create this awesome Jedi party for Aiden (he is obsessed with everything Star Wars right now), but the excecution was great. We had his friends train to be Jedi before they got their outfits and lightsabers. And then a series of games came next. Destroy the death star with water ballons, save queen amidala and princess leah hidden in ballons, and of course light saber duels. Last of course came the yummy Yoda cake. It's a little funny looking, but it worked! The kids had a great time.

3rd child crazies

2010-05-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

I've heard from a couple of people that their third child is the more challenging one. I was the fourth, but my older sister (no offense at all Kristen) was probably one of the more challenging ones in my family. Although my Adi is adorable and sweet and cute and happy, I have a feeling that she is going to be my more challenging child. She has already broken her skull, and continues to scare the life out of me every day. Oh, and she like to dip her toys in the toilet water and then suck on them... repeatedly.

The week she broke her skull is the week she decided she would start walking down the stairs instead of safely crawling down the stairs.

Here she is taking her aunts and uncles for a walk through the house.

Well, what can I say.... when your older siblings are pirates, I guess you grow up to be a little on the "wild side"!!

2010-03-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

So, for the first time in almost 6 years, me and Tyler were finally able to vacation without kids. I say first time because I don't count the time went 30 minutes into the mountains for a couple of nights without kids. Because of the generosity of Northwestern Mutual and because Tyler is awesome, we got a free vacation to Cancun, Mexico. We stayed in an all inclusive resort in Puerto Morales. I know this is a lot of pictures, but I was having a hard time cutting out any of them. So, here is a fraction of the pictures we actually took.
This is the scene we encountered after we got off the plane in Cancun. We were not expecting customs and immigration to be this bad. We hung out in this room for an hour and a half before we even found the line. (Yikes!) Then another half hour in line and we were free.
P.S. Thank you mom, Blake, and Ashley for taking care of the kiddos!

The next morning Tyler woke up early to get some pictures of the sunrise over the Atlantic (this was on his "to do list". After we ordered room service before we set out on our first adventure.

Our first official day in Mexico was Sunday and we decided to visit the Coba and Tulum ruins. We first made it (finally, the bus driver drove soooooo slow) to Coba out in the middle of nowhere where we rented bikes and rode to the many ruins spread all around the area. We were lucky to have been able to walk and climb on the ruins, because as I speak, visitors are no longer able to climb on them. The view from the top of this ruin we are sitting on. That lake back there is where the entrance to the park is. We got a decent work out that day.

Next, onto Tulum ruins. This is on the coast on the way back to the hotel. Oh, my gosh it was so pretty.

The guys couldn't wait to get in the water, so us girls hung out and watched.

The next day was beach day! We started the day off however with an awesome yoga workout by the pool. "Shoulders back, sacrum forward". It kicked my butt.

Tuesday, I started off the day with some hydrotherapy followed with the "Excellence" massage. Tyler left to go kite surfing, and I went to play with some of the gal's Playa Del Carmen to do some shopping. I couldn't come home empty handed.

Wednesday, was our outing to Hidden Worlds. We got there, put on our wet suits, and hopped onto the Indiana Jones ride (the real deal). This is the engine. It cracked me up. P.S. Anyone going to Cancun. This place is low key, but totally awesome!!! The people there were totally cool. We had a great time.

We jumped on our sky cycle and rode around in the canopy. It was super cool (and another decent workout). We rode them into a cenote where we went snorkeling (I didn't so much like that part). Then we repeled into a cenote and hit up some zip lines including a splash zipline. The owner also let me and Tyler and Julie be test dummies for their "soon to be" rollercoaster zipline. SCARY!!!

The last day we woke up early (we actually woke up early every day) and went down to the beach before we had to get ready and leave. This is with his kite on the beach. He doesn't have a board, but he let the kite drag him around in the ocean. It was pretty funny.

This last video is a tribute to my brother Michael, who to this day blames me for loosing his pet iguana. No Michael, I did not open the window!

Mexico is packed with Iguana's. They were everywhere! Cute little guys... and girls.

Holiday fun!!!

2009-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a little pre-vacation pictures. The snowman Tyler, Aiden, and Travis built in our front yard and of course Aiden sitting with his preschool class in his Christmas pagent. So cute!

A little bit of holiday fun at grandma and grandpa's house. The kids loved playing with their cousins. It was a little sad to leave. Adi loved getting kisses from Palmer. She was hysterical.

A picture of all of the grandkids and(It's a miracle) we got a picture of my family together. I think it's been about15 years since we got a picture together. Maybe even 20 years.

This is just a random picture on our way back home to Utah. The mountain was casting a shadow on the clouds during sunrise. We thought it was kind of cool.

Root Canal

2009-12-01T12:34:00.001-08:00

So this is obviously not me... but this is the way I looked yesterday for 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours. Note: my mouth was wide open... for 4 hours. So although the experience altogether sucked, there were some comical moments that resulted from it (insight into my sense of humor). I came in, they layed me down and started me on laughing gas and gave me headphones with music playing (one of my selections being the soundrack to Last of the Mohicans). It was then that as I closed my eyes listening to this very dramatic music, my head spinning, feeling like I was Tom Cruise at the end of the movie "Far and Away" when he hits his head and the sky is spinning above him. Two seconds later as I am waiting for the Dr. to come in, I am picturing Steve Martin in "Little Shop of Horrors" singing "... shooting puppies with a beebee gun". They got started and having a rough go at my "long, skinny" and obviously very annoying roots they need to keep pouring "Drano" down my roots and then leaving me for 30 minutes at a time. Oh, I didn't mention that after they got me all set up and looking like the picture above, I had to pee. ANNOYING!! Anyways, as I am waiting for "Drano" to work I am listing to Dr. in other room tell a patient "Yeah, you really don't want that to turn into a root canal". I wanted to yell, "Yeah, YOU DON"T", but of course I couldn't. Oh yeah, there was also this song I kept hearing about "transporting all over my heavenly body". Weird, right? So, after they finally clean out roots, (P.S. titanium file breaks off in my root which supposedly happens some time) they give me some oxygen and then they give me the bill. Pay $1000 now and then you get to pay another $1000 when you come back to get your crown. If only it was one of those sparkly, gold and jewel studden crowns that princesses wear... if only. So.... yeah that was my day yesterday. I definitely don't want another one of those. I think I would rather them pull it. Regardless it is over, and my advice to everyone I know????... brush, floss, and regularly see a good (I repeat) good dentist.
UPDATE: Ok, so my dentist apt. was 4 hours. My root canal was probably a little over 2 hours. Still, that's a long time. P.S. Previous dentist was crap and messed up my teeth. This one is very good.

Halloween

2009-11-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

We survived yet another Halloween. I will feel better when all the candy is out of our house, but until then, I will just deal with the hyper kids. Here is the cute children... I mean, here's Bumblebee and two cute fairy princesses. Is it me, or was every girl a fairy this year?

Earlier in the week we got our pumkins. The kids each get to pick their own. They had a good time.

Here are the kids fighting over who is going to pull the wagon full of pumkins. Of course Sam is hitting Aiden. She does that a lot.

Adi's Birthday

2009-11-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

By the looks of it, I would say that Adi had a good 1st birthday. At least she liked the cake. We had family over and had a little party for her. It was fun to see her turn into a big girl! This year went by so fast. She is a good little girl and we love having her in our family.

California Fun

2009-10-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we got to go to California and stay with the Vongsawads in San Diego. We went for Tyler's 10 year high school reunion which of course we have no pictures of (snooze...), but we did get lots of pictures of all the fun we had, especially our time hanging out at the beach in Oceanside.

Of course there is no pictures of me. That's what happens when dad is out having fun playing!

Off to Knotts Berry Farm we go!

We also celebrated Aiden and Adi's birthday since the Vongsawads missed it. Adi got to eat her first piece of cake and Aiden got his first real camera.

Sundance

2009-09-02T14:27:00.001-07:00

A week or so ago, our family headed up to Sundance for a lift ride/hike/picnic. It was great, except for a couple of mishaps. #1- I forgot the bread for the sandwiches. So we had meat and cheese roll ups. #2- I made the mistake of mentioning bears, so the whole time we were eating Sam and Aiden wanted to leave so the bears wouldn't get them. It made Sam so upset she turned into an instant grump. Tyler had to take her away for a time out. Note to mothers: Don't mention bears in the mountains!

Pretty view!

Adi walking

2009-08-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

To all of those that care... I think it's official that our baby girl is walking! She loves it and is so happy. Now whats next? Oh yeah, getting her to go down the stairs on her own so we don't need chairs and gates blocking all of our stairs... and we have a lot of them.

2009-08-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

So, I have been telling my kids that I would paint them an ocean in their play room (partially so they would actually play down there), and I have finally done it... thanks to the artistry of a childrens book that I was successfully able to copy. The kids love it, and I had a ton of fun doing it. I think I'm going to take up painting. As in, taking other people's ideas and copying them. I'm very good at that.

They love the whale!

The "pinnapple under the sea" was painted for my mom.

2009-07-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Tyler participated this weekend in the Echo Reservoir Triathlon for his second year. He shaved 7 minutes off his last years time. He also looked a lot better out there than he did last year.

YAY!!!! He finished!His cousin Emily did the triathlon as well. Tylers goal was to finish before her, which he did, but then again she started 15 minutes after him. I do think she beat his time though.

Aiden and Sam got their face painted with hearts and dragons, compliments of Pop. Mike came as well thank goodness. I wouldn't have been able to take care of the kids without him. Thank you Pop!

Sam's tribute to Michael Jackson

2009-07-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

I found Sam listening to the Ipod and dancing. I saw that she was dancing to Thriller and I couldn't resist posting it.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day in Provo for the 4th. We did some swimming, so BBQ-ing with some friends and family, and of course fireworks! When we were done with ours we got to watch the Stadium of Fire's firework show from our front porch.

Adi has firecrakers coming out of her head!

Samantha played with the "snakes" and then rubbed her face. Aiden loves the smokeballs.
Tum and Jaime joined us for the festivities.

Aiden's first Triathlon

2009-06-21T13:31:00.001-07:00

Since Tyler has been getting into triathlons, he decided Aiden would want to share in the fun. Tyler signed him up for his first Triathlon at Utah Lake. It was all fun of course until the race started. After that it was blood, sweat, and tears (literally). However, he did finish. Even if he was last place, we are so proud of him! Maybe in a couple of years he will be the one to place 1st.

Getting ready to start.

I got to do the run with him. Actually, he wouldn't finish unless it was me that ran with him. Momma's boy!

HE DID IT!!! AND WITH A SMILE!

Family supporters

Happy 3rd Birthday Sam!!!

2009-06-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

Present mania!

Trying out new gifts.

Family fun

2009-05-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

The two things we do when we go to see my family. Swim and eat!!!

Cousins Leah, Hadley and Adi. All born within a month.

Kisses from grandma is a must.
Swimming pool + cousins = FUN!!!

My brother decided he wanted to look like Woverine's brother (a.k.a. Sabertooth) in X-Men Origins.

Disneyland!

2009-05-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Disneyland!!!

Here is our clan below! We all fit on a boat together on "It's a Small World". Our family, my mom, Jen and Leah, the Galley's, the Mestas', Jaime and Travis Vongsawad, and the Glasgow kids. Elizabeth was even there the first day of our California Disney adventure, thanks to her poor flight planning.

Aiden loved the rollercoasters!!! Big suprise.

We got to enjoy all the fun rollercoasters: Matterhorn, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain. We all traded off watching each others kids so that everyone could go. At least those that weren't.... scared! You know who you are!

The Vongsawad's are such a nice help. Holding our kids most of the time and taking the little one's so we could have a little bit of fun for an hour. They are so good to us.

Stinky Underwear!

2009-04-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when I tell my children to smile by telling them to say "cheese".

Not very impressive. A note to all of us parents who try to get "real" smiles out of their children. Instead of saying "cheese", it might work better if you get them to say "stinky underwear". Adi didn't really get it, but Aiden and Sam had fun saying it.

GO AWAY SNOW!!!

2009-04-16T14:09:00.001-07:00

Pretty, right? This is what we woke up to this morning. Beautiful!!! EXCEPT THAT IT"S APRIL! Not to mention that this weather is playing tricks on our bodies and making us all sick. I am ready for a real spring. All the poor blossomed trees were all ripped apart last night I noticed as I drove around town this morning. Sad!

April Fools!!!

2009-04-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

So, I don't think that I clarified to my children that when you play a joke on April Fools, it should ONLY be a JOKE! NOT FOR REALS! However they are kids, so now what to do about the new haircut Aiden decided to give Samantha (p.s. I knew it would happen one day or another... I just didn't think I would cry like a big baby when it happened.)

Mullet alert!!!

The crime scene.

So here is the finishing product. We took Sam to get her hair cut. Me and Tyler decided to get a hair cut as well in support of her. In the meanwhile, Aiden was at home in his bedroom with Elizabeth watching him. OK, so now what to do? Bow or no bow? Or should we officially call her Sam? Any suggestions?

Who thinks Adi's cute? I DO!!!

2009-03-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here's Adi at about 4 months old. I love the way she looks at me. Like she is trying to tell me something.... like she knows something. I am excited to see her personality develop. I think she will have a lot of it. Just like her big brother and sister.

Aiden's new adventures

2009-03-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

Aiden went skiing at Sundance for the first time this season. He went once last year, and is now improving his skills with dad this year. I think a few more times and he'll have it down... and then he'll start snowboarding.

Tyler enrolled Aiden in soccer this year and this is his very first game. He said he scored 5 goals, but he might have been exaggerating... or not! It looks like he'll be a good soccer player, once he stops pushing his teamates out of the way.

California

2009-02-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

This last weekend our family headed to Orange County for Casey's memorial. Tyler had a full itinerary for the two days we were there. It included sailing, dinner at downtown Disney, breakfast at Mimi's, the beach, lunch at In-and-Out, memorial, card playing. Although hectic, we did get to do everything he had planned.

Lake Mission Viejo

Newport Beach

Marcie holding cousins Adi and Hadley following the memorial.

Casey

2009-02-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

Lots of loves and kisses go out to our beloved Casey; mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law. We will miss you very much!!!

Casey passed away early on Tuesday morning, February 3, of cervical cancer. It was a short struggle with the disease and we are sad that she is not here with us anymore. We will always remember her example of love and kindness. I'm sure she has been reunited with her loved ones in the spirit world, and she will be a great asset to the work that needs to be done there.

We love you Casey.

Stow away

2009-01-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

Since I refuse to leave Adi at four months old to go on the all expense paid company Caribbean cruise, and she is not able to go until six months old, Tyler came up with a way for us to go on the cruise! ;)

Heck!!! Maybe we will take all of the kids.

Adelaide's blessing day

2009-01-15T11:29:00.001-08:00

We love Adi. She is such a happy baby... and so cute too!! Thank you to all those that were there with us that day. We only wish that we got a picture of everyone together.

Christmas

2008-12-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how we got Mike to be "Joseph" (I don't think we gave him a choice), but he was great, along with Casey, Adi (you could probably guess who they were), and Sam as the shepard with her sheep Aiden.

Aiden and Sam were pleasantly surprised with the kitchen Santa brought them. And Aiden of course got his roller skates. Wait, I want a new kitchen for Christmas too!!! Maybe next year.

Dinner Time

2008-11-30T15:39:00.000-08:00

For the longest time Aiden's A.D.D. kicks in when it's time to eat. He's constantly distracted and is rarely interested in food. The other night at dinner I told him "if you get up from your chair, then you're going to your room." The clever child began scooting his chair, with his rear attached to it, across the kitchen. I then rephrased my warning, "if you or your chair leave the table before you're done with your food, then I'll tie you to your chair and your chair to the table until you finish your dinner." After 5 minutes, here was the result.

Adelaide is Running

2008-11-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how this tradition got started, but we seem to do it with all our kids...I hope we don't get reported to a child abuse agency or something.

Gospel Made Easy

2008-11-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

Our family attended a funeral of a 20 year-old young woman who died in a car accident this past week. She was one of Amy's Laurels. A sweet and talented girl, who had a contagious smile and a love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Aiden, with his 4 year-old brain, let me know assuredly, "Dad, when I'm older and I die, Jesus will give me the power to come back...so then we can wrestle again dad." We are so thankful that Jesus did give us the power over the grave, so that like our Savior, we too will one day be resurrected...and then we'll be able to wrestle again :)

Aiden Wrestling

2008-11-13T18:50:00.001-08:00

Aiden's back in wrestling, at 4 years old and weighing in at 36 pounds. This is his second year wrestling in a league with several of his dad's coworkers' kids, he also has a friend in the neighborhood on his team. Here's his second match of the year.

Halloween

2008-11-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

Parties, parties, and more parties, I think we went to 6 Halloween parties this year, and Sam dressed up as something different each time - an elephant, a lion, batman, and weird mixes of the costumes. And Adi was born in the midst of all the madness.

Amy went to one party, while she was still pregnant, and dressed as a speed bump. She's so tall she didn't fit in the picture.

Aiden was going to be a lion, but it didn't quite fit him, so he was Dash again.

Tyler spent the last couple months growing out his hair so he could be Rufio from Hook. Rufio, Rufio, Ru-Fi-oooooooooooooooooo!

After Amy had the baby, Tyler was a little restless sitting around the house, so he started working on his costume for next year - a Transformer. The costume is still in the beginning stages, but he did try it out at the last halloween party they went to, and he even won most original costume...check back to see further updates on the transformer costume.

Adi's Here

2008-10-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Adelaide Sophia Vongsawad!
Born 10/27/08 at 12:58am.
6 lb 12 oz.
19 in.

Amy went into labor last night at about 6:30pm, her mom and neice, Ashley, arrived from CA at about 7:00pm as Tyler went off to a Sunday Evening Discussion. Contractions remained 10 minutes apart for the next 3 hours, Amy and Tyler decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. After stopping 3 times we decided to call the hospital, we told the nurse that Amy had been having contractions 10 minutes apart for the last 3 hours, they said to drink a couple big glasses of water and then come to the hospital when the contractions were closer together. Well after we hung up, 2 glasses of water went down the hatch and immediately the contractions started coming 5 minutes apart, and they hurt! Time to call Tyler's mom, who came over to stay with the kids while Amy, Tyler, Joyce, and Ashley headed to the hospital. Amy pleading, "get me my epideral" for the next little while got to the hospital and was already dialated to a 7. The quiet pleading for the epideral, turned to a more vocal statement of "if you don't get me the epideral I will DIE!" Luckily, Robert came with the magic drugs and gave Amy a great numbing feeling that made everything all better. 15 minutes later Amy was in heaven, the doctor came in and after 3 pushes the baby came out screaming.

No complications with mom or the baby. We're now sitting in the hospital, Aiden and Sam came this morning to see their long anticipated baby sister.

By popular demand, we have added more pictures of Adi.

Hike to Bridal Veil Falls

2008-09-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

In the fall we decided to hike up to Bridal Veil Falls and look at the changing colors of the leaves...although we didn't go late enough and most of them were still green.

Aiden and Sammy

We live in a beautiful place!!

Marriage Retreat

2008-09-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

For their 5 year anniversary, Amy and Tyler went on a marriage retreat at Aspen Grove. Fearing they'd be around a bunch of couples needing counseling and on the brink of divorce, they found themselves in the midst of couples young and old with great marriages and with a desire to improve. Amy and Tyler enjoyed a quiet, peaceful, getaway in the mountains while Amy was still pregnant. A few hours were spent listening to Dr. Kent Brooks and hearing his comments on the doctrines of marriage.

Amy scratching behind the bear's ears.

Tyler on the ropes course.

Pretty Trees!