Wrapping up 2011

We had a GREAT holiday break! I love CHRISTMAS time it is the best... this year was even better because we had all of our shopping done early, and the perfect gifts for everyone.. that is such a good feeling to know what to get the people you love the most and know they will love it. We had great family parties, tons of food, lots of laughter, and an abundance of Love! We Three Kings trumpeting... Loved it! the boys playing fun games Aunt Elena brought she is so much fun! Uncle Kirk (not mad just pretending) and Auntie T cookin up some Shrimp for our Christmas Eve tradition MMM! Grayson on Christmas morning chewing on my new photo boxes silly boy love him! Waiting to open presents... look at that darling belly can't even wait to meet him/her our love has already sprung for that little peanut! My Dad made all the grand daughters these darling cribs for their babies they were a huge hit to say the least SO CUTE!
Needless to say we had a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!! There is nothing better than being with those you love the most in the whole world and feeling the spirit of Christmas.

In other news... Grayson got his first haircut... and he loved the buzzers they almost put him to sleep it was so funny to watch.. he would be almost out and then remember he wanted to watch the buzzers and pop his little eyes open so he could see what was happening. He also loves to have Laundry basket rides up and down Aunt Ashs hall way :) a serious workout might I add! He is seriously the funnest little boy! WE LOVE being his parents!
We went to Idaho for New Years and had a great time relaxing, crafting, playing games, and just being together more pics of that to come soon.

Time for an upgrade

I hate to admit it but Grayson is growing like a weed... It was time to upgrade the car seat and take a walk down memory lane... His first ride in the car seat.. so little Taken today 12/14/11 Maximum Capacity as Aunt Ashleigh would say
and his new Big Boy car seat he is in HEAVEN in this thing ha ha. It is so fun to watch him grow and learn new things and so hard at the same time we feel blessed to have him and certainly LOVE HIM!!

Heavens Angels

We signed up to run a 10K for Blaze in Moab. The first 100 to sign up got an automatic entry into the Moab 1/2 Marathon in the spring and we want to run that again. So on Friday we headed for Moab... the weather was AWFUL thru the canyon... 10MPH at most and I was certain we would spin off a cliff to our deaths... so I climbed in the back seat and Grayson and I stuck it out to Price and then the roads were fine. We woke up Saturday and it was beautiful outside... minus the wind and only being 40 we got our packets and took the stroller and gman on the bus. We got to the starting line about 9:30 and the wind was FREEZING lucky for our stroller cover! So before the race I stood in line for the restroom... and this darling girl came up to me and asked "can I see your shirt" (We wear shirts with Blazes picture on them when we dedicate our runs to him) so I said 'Sure' the rest of our conversation went like this
"How old was he about 27 weeks?"
"he was 25"
"And He only Lived a Week? I am so sorry! I am a NICU nurse here with 2 of my friends who are NICU nurses too"
"Oh thats awesome where do you work?"
"At IMC in Salt Lake City"
"That is where we had him we LOVE that hospital we were taken care of so well when we were there"
"Oh I am so glad! It was so nice to meet you and today we will run our race for Blaze"
"thank You so much that is so nice"
and we went on our merry way... I told Ray about them and then we started our run. We did pretty good... my goal was NO COMPLAINING since I hadn't had much time to train being sick... I almost made it w/o complaint but not quite I thought I would die between mile 2 1/2 and 3 but after I decided not to complain anymore we did great and made it one minute under our goal time which was and hour and 15 min. At the end of the race our nurse angels showed up to take pictures with us. We talked and laughed and I saw Gods love for us and our little boy through women that I had no idea existed just an hour before. They were our reminder of angels that day. The more time passes the harder it is to feel Blaze close... I am sure he is soaking in time with Maleah and family we have lost in this life. These women reminded me of the impact that Blaze had in his one short week on earth he continues to bless us from heaven and I am so grateful for the tender mercy of angels on earth and angels in heaven. Jess, Chelsea, and Shamar our reminder of Angels and Greater things!
After the Race WE MADE IT!
They had a light parade and Gman loved the trees and lights we had a great time with just our little family.
It was a nice little get away and a great way to kick of training for our 1/2 marathon in the spring.

Happee Halloween

Grayson had his 9 month check up yesterday he is 19lbs 15 oz and 29 1/2 inches... 39% for weight 87% for height. He is one tall and getting to be skinny kid. He has had pink eye and they gave him his first flu shot and on top of it he is still getting his front teeth... he has been a little bit grumpy but still his happee little self. He was a Dinosaur for Halloween SO stinking cute!
We took him into work and Silas (Blu from Rio) and Logan (the angry money from Rio) were there. Grayson loves his cousins! Aren't they DARLING!! Ready to go Trick or Treating This boy LOVES his Daddy! I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutal :)
We took him trick or treating at Aunt Pattis house he had so much fun! We LOVE being this little boys parents the holidays are going to be great experiencing them all for the first time.

I've got to get better at this

I can't believe how fast the months wiz by! In the last month here is what we have been doing
Ray
School, His classes are pretty low key since he's just finishing up some classes he wasn't able to get to into last year... we're almost done as fast as time goes May will be here really fast.
He just got back from Minneapolis Minnesota he went for the weekend for a Chem E car competition they took 12th out of a 100 not bad. Hopefully that will be the last one for him it is time to pass it on to they younger classes
He is working for South Salt Lake still working with refugee children teaching them science and helping with math HE LOVES IT! He starts his new job with Williams Engineering on Monday so he has to say good bye to South Salt Lake but he will be voulentering one night a week to still play bill nigh the science guy :)

Grayson
He's growing like a weed and SO MUCH FUN!! He Loves books but only wants to read touch and feel books... he is obsessed with feeling things. His favorite books are Thats not my Tractor (the baby farmer in him) and Thats not my monster. They are our go tos in Sacrament meeting.
He now has his top 4 front teeth the last one is just breaking through and his 2 bottom baby teeth.
He loves to scream, go on walks and runs, be outside, and he drools like madness.
WE LOVE HIM to say the very least.

Me
Started a new job at the State office bldg I do something with the state phone directories still in training... which I am doing mostly on my own because no one knows what the lady before me did. I like it its only 4 hours a day so its good.With Ray starting his new job I may not be there much longer it means sitters 5 days a week and I want to be home with Gman lets not lie. Still plugging away at school only one class luckily I couldn't do more with work and gman... Trying to find balance in all things...

We have started training for a 10k in Moab on December 3rd and will keep running for our 3rd 1/2 Marathon in March for Blaze.
We also went and did some yard work with my fam a few weeks ago. I love working beside my brothers and sisters we had a great time and got a ton done... we took little rides in the loader when we were done :) I love being an Aunt!
Graysons first bucket ride
Life is good!

Busy Busy Busy

It has been a very busy week but a very very good one! Here is what we have been up to... I started watching our good friends little boy Oliver HE IS SO CUTE! And such a good boy! I was worried going from one to two but it has been awesome they love each other and I get so much more done that just with the G man He is such a sweetie!
We canned a whole bunch of goodness! And the BOYS were SO GOOD!
35 jars of Pears and 6 of Pear Butter 44 jars of Tomatoes and 39 of Salsa... and 29 Quarts of Grape Juice.. all done in 3 days with my adorable Sister in Law Elena... it was really a huge blessing the pears and grapes were free... we have a pear tree and grapes and Elena had grapes. Then my Adorable Mom and Sweet Sister picked the Tomatoes for us and we got an AWESOME Storage from it. Still a little more to do this week but it is mostly done.
Ray has been growing his hair out for Locks of Love a goal he has had for a few months.. this is only growing it out for 7 weeks so long and shaggy! However we are in desperate need of a job and he has a really good chance at getting a pt job for an engineering company called Williams where they are really professional... so in hopes of an interview this week we thought he should be ready so he cut it off... He is SO Handsome! Locks of Love still to come... please pray for us to get that job :)
Grayson is cutting teeth... not so fun he is still his happee little self he has just learned to scream NOT SO FUN ha ha but he bring so much JOY to our little family it is so fun to watch him grow and learn my new favorite thing is he holds his own bottle finally... his new favorite way to sleep. These are his so cute 12 MONTH jammies... its not the roundness that gets us its his height... he is so tall 28 inches already... he's grown and inch a month since he was born crazy kid Love Him!He has one little tooth poking thru...
We were also able to attend the temple with our sweet cousin Lisa to get her endowments it was so great to be there then we got a text on Tuesday letting us know she would be sealed to our cousin Shane on Thursday... just two days after they received their clearance. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. To see them work so hard to be sealed and then to see them sealed as a family to their sweet little girl Mia was an experience I will never forget! It made me realize just how much Heavenly Father loves his little children. It was amazing I am so grateful to have the blessing of being sealed to my boys and sweet husband for eternity! Until next time. Thanks for reading our blog :) WE LOVE YOU!

LOVE YOU SIS

This is my cousin Cami and her husband Ryan. Cami has been in and out of our lives since I was small due to some silly family ties... she was never really allowed to spend much time with the 'Nessen' family. However thanks to Facebook and adulthood she decided she wanted to spend some time with our family. So she came to Utah in April and spent a week with us and then she came back in July and stayed for a month. We had a GREAT time with her we went to the zoo, the park, and up on Grandpa Nessens hill to let the kids play. It was like we had never missed a minute we just picked right up where we left off and instantly loved each other. I text her on Sunday to see if she was hit by the Hurricane at all she lives in North Carolina. She said they just got rain luckily... then went onto say that she had been having awful headaches for a few weeks and was seeing doubles and had blurred vision. I told her to go to the doctor and keep us posted on what it was... he last text to me was 'Love you SIS' I woke up to a call yesterday morning at 6:30 letting me know that Cami had passed away in her sleep and we now know that it was an aneurysm in her brain. My heart aches at the loss of someone so great! One of our own... her sweet little kids and husband without a Mom.. my Uncle without any living kids life seems so unfair sometimes!
This has really hit a hard key at home... we are the same age and its a hard pill to swallow when those little kids love her so much! Her husband is amazing but what an awful trial to have to face... Please keep her family in your prayers. Cami WE LOVE YOU and MISS YOU SO MUCH ALREADY! Earth is really at a loss without you in it... and Heaven has another angel unlike any other. WE LOVE YOU SIS! Me,Cami, & Ash at the Zoo July Cami & the cousins Easter Cami boating a few weeks ago at Bear Lake What a great example of love and a great Mom!! Till we meet again WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SISTER!