Finally Blogging

It's been awhile...things have gone into CRAZY mode (as if they weren't there already). Here's the latest:

Sundance Getaway
For Dave's graduation, my parents gave Dave and I a night at Sundance. Now, Dave and I haven't been on a "vacation"/been alone together for over 2 years, so this was probably the BEST GIFT we could ever get. My parents were so nice to watch the boys for us during the day and my sister Abby took care of them throughout the night. We left Friday around 2:30 and checked in. We asked if we could have our "regular" cabin: 2B. They were awesome and our wish was granted. My parents had given us a gift card for food, however, after much deliberation, we voted to get massages instead of the food. So this is what we had for dinner: It was totally worth the sacrifice. This was actually the only picture I have since right after I snapped this, the camera ran out of batteries. But after dinner, we drove down to the Foundry Grill and ordered dessert to go.

After enjoying our dessert, we decided to relax in our own private hot tub. It was raining out, but luckily the hot tub is covered by a deck, so we got to relax as it rained. We were sitting there chatting and then I said, "Do you hear music?" So we turned off the bubbles and heard a familiar song by Alan Jackson "Living on Love". There was a wedding going on, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the music. But after the song ended, we heard clapping and Alan began to talk! It was a live performance!!! Someone had hired Alan Jackson for their wedding! So we got a live concert from the comfort of our own private hot tub as it lightly rained. It was AWESOME.

The next morning, we ate cereal for breakfast, got ready, checked out, and headed to the Sundance Spa for our massages. There are no words to describe massages at Sundance. They are just close to heaven!


Courage Reins
Cruise started his class at Courage Reins Therapeutic Horse Riding Facility. He loves it! However, he was not super excited about having to leave. He probably could ride his horse all day. I don't blame him...I love riding horses.






The Tree House
The tree house is coming along! Dave put up the rope wall, and the two of us put together the bouldering wall. Technically you're supposed to use plywood, but because we are working on a budget, we got particle board and just doubled it. Then Dave screwed them onto some 2x4s. We then bought some heavy duty outdoor paint in gray, mixed it with sand, and rolled it on a few times so it has that nice rough feel. We had bought about 50 climbing holds for $50 from a guy off of KSL.com, but they weren't big enough and we just needed more. Climbing holds are SUPER expensive. So as I was shopping around for some, I got the idea to e-mail a local climbing hold seller, Atomik Climbing Holds, and tell them Cruise's story. I asked if there was a way we could get 10 bucket holds for a discounted price; maybe holds with defects or flaws. I got a response that I hadn't quite expected: they were going to send us some perfect one for free. When the box arrived, it blew my mind! 27 bucket holds! I am so grateful for such wonderful people and businesses willing to help out kids with special needs.



So now the wall is finished!!! Cruise LOVES it and climbs it every day.

We still need to put up the enclosure walls around the deck and a few other things, but we are getting there!


Dave's New Job
Dave got a job at Backyards Inc. here in Orem. It is more of a temporary job until he finds the ideal job for him that actually utilizes his degree, but until then, he'll be selling and sometimes constructing outdoor playground equipment. He's obviously had a lot of practice. I am super proud of him and think he will do an amazing job, because after all, he is Dave, and Dave is just amazing.


Cruise's First Day of Preschool

Cruise started Preschool this past Wednesday! Tuesday night I was getting his backpack ready, when I realized it was just too dang small. So at 10:00pm, I drove to Target to get him a backpack. Luckily, they were all on clearance (50% off) so I got him a Spiderman backpack, which he loves.

I had made him a Social Story about the bus coming to the house, picking him up, and dropping him off at school. I read it to him atleast 3x a day for 3 days, preparing him for everything new that would happen. The school told us to have Cruise ready for the bus at 8:45am. So we sat and waited...and waited...then it was 9:00 (school starts at 9:15)...and we waited...and waited...and then it was 9:21. I was a bit upset, but I put him in the car and drove him to school. When we got there, all the other kids were sitting on the rug, listening to the teacher. I asked, "Was the bus supposed to pick Cruise up?" And apparently there was a mix up. But needless to say, the whole morning was a bust since Cruise had been expecting the bus to pick him up. Cruise screamed a whole 20 minutes after I left him in his classroom.

After school, Dave decided to go to the school and make sure not only the bus picked Cruise up, but took him to the right house, so he followed the bus. The bus pulled up to the house and Cruise's face expressed more confusion and shock than ever. But not 5 minutes after the bus left, Cruise was pointing and naming everything! He was interacting with us so well and was just so happy! So I guess he enjoyed school.

Jett Says Mama!
Cruise's first word ever was Dada. And he didn't learn to say mom until about 6 months ago, so you can imagine my joy when my 9 month old child will say Mama instead of Dada. Here's the world's cutest baby saying "mama":

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