Best friends

Carter and Ellie have finally hit the stage I have been dreaming about ever since I had the crazy idea of having 2 kids less than 2 years apart. They are the best of friends and it is so much fun!! The kids play together all day and want to do everything the other one is doing. They get into "mine" fights over toys constantly and still haven't mastered the art of sharing (we are working on it). But even with all the drama I am having so much fun. It is so nice to have 2 kids that are able to do so much on their own. Today we were driving home and I stopped in a drive thru to get Carter some lunch (Ellie was sleeping). After about 15 minutes Ellie woke up and wanted some of Carter's food, we were on the freeway so I couldn't help so I asked Carter to please share with his sister,  as I was driving I heard him ask her if she wanted a chicken nuggy or a fry. Ellie responed "chicky nuggy" and I watched in the mirror as Carter reached his arm across the middle seat to Ellie's and gave her a nugget. He then told her to say thank you and a little "dankk youuu" came out of her mouth. AHHHHHHHH these moments make the crazy days as a mom all worth it. I love my babies and I am so thankful to be able to stay home with them everyday as I watch them grow into healthy and smart little kids.

 

 

happy.

I have had a really rough month.  I feel like my world stopped, but life just kept going on around me. I feel like I have been dragging, and I know I haven't been the best wife or mom. Today I am thankful. I am SO thankful for two healthy kids that call me mommy and a husband who loves me more than anything. I am thankful that they have all been patient with me this last month. Today I read a book, the entire thing from cover to cover and it was SO good. It was about the spirit world and life after death. I am starting to feel a little better about things. I am starting to realize that my dad is happy right now and healthy, and doing great things. I miss him SO much, but HE is happy. And that is all I really want. So I have decided it is time for me to be happy again, to be a good mom and wife again, because I know that my dad would want me to do that. 

and because every blog is better with pictures of my kids :)

 

P.S. The book is called 'The Message' by Lance Richardson. You can get it at Desert Book or Amazon. I highly recommend it for anyone who has lost a loved one, or is interested in learning more about what happens to the spirit after death.

Carter is 3!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY CARTER BOY!!!

I seriously can not believe that my baby boy is 3! What an amazing 3 years it has been with this boy.  I am in love with his cute little personality and the red hair he has to match it. This year he has been a sponge and soaked up so many new things. He has gotten so smart and blows my mind everyday with the things that he knows. He knows his numbers 1-10, can sing a ton of songs and almost has the ABC's down, he knows his colors and shapes! I am so proud of the big brother that he is, he gives his sister lots of love and they play together all the time. We love you so much Carter, you are the joy of our family and we can't wait to watch you continue to grow and learn! 

My dad

My emotions are running high right now and I am not sure how I am going to get through this post. For prosperity's sake I really want to write this. On Sunday November 4th I woke up to phone call from my mom. She told me that my dad was in the hospital fighting an infection in his blood. I had received MANY calls like this over the past few years. My dad has been so so brave. Fighting multiple forms of cancer and other various diseases for years. I remember looking at phone and saying it's November 4th, I don't ever want to have to remember this date. My dad was a fighter, he always pulled through and I wanted so bad for him to pull through that day too. I gathered clothes and various things for Skyler, I and the kids to go stay at my parents for a few days so I could be there with my dad while he was in the hospital. We left town as soon as we possibly could to make the hour drive to Brentwood to see my dad. Not even 15 minutes into the drive I got another call from my mom. The doctor had just spoken to my mom and things were MUCH worse than she had originally thought. She told me that the doctor said my dad was not going to make it. I knew my dad was sick but hearing those words was not something I could of ever prepared myself for. I begged her to keep my dad alive so I could see him. I HAD to talk to him, hold him and be there for him. That drive to the hospital was torture. I was screaming and crying uncontrollably, I felt like I was crawling and would never get there. Finally I arrived, I was met in the hall by my aunt and uncle and led into a room where my dad laid in a hospital bed surrounded by his parents, his children, his siblings and friends. I held his hands as gently as I could a told him more times than anyone could ever count how much I love him. How perfect of a dad he was to me. Saying goodbye to my dad was something I was not ready to do. I kept asking if there was any way. How could we save him. At that point I would have given my own life for him. My dad is my BEST friend and I could not picture my life without him. A few hours passed quickly and the decision was made by my grandparents to take my dad off of life support. I held him as we watched his heart rate go down by the minute. After about 15 minutes his heart rate was 10 and my mom decided that we needed to sing to him. We started to sing "families can be together forever" and his heart rate went up to 30. My heart was so full as I held his hand watching tears come down his cheeks. He heard us and I knew he did. When we sang the last note of the song I looked up at the monitor and his heart was no longer beating. I looked at the doctor, he nodded at me and I knew. I collapsed. My dad was gone and my heart was shattered. The sadness was like nothing else in this world, I felt no other emotion but pure sadness. I spent the next hour and a half holding his hand, kissing his cheeks, and hugging him as tightly as I could. This was the first time in years that I could hug my dad tight and not have it cause him pain. At that moment my dad looked perfect to me. As everyone started to leave I struggled with the thought of leaving him. It took me a long time to leave that room. I watched every single person leave as I held him. Finally I was told that I needed to go, I asked my dad to come with me in spirit and gave him one last kiss. The next few days were a blur. Filled with funeral planning, friends, family and lots of tears. Thursday November 8th we held funeral services for my dad. This was hard. Much harder than I had imagined. I am so grateful for all the wonderful people in my dad's life that stepped up and spoke such kind words about my dad. My dad was remembered as the wonderful man he was. He was quick witted and VERY funny. He had a kind heart and loved so many things on this earth. He was the king of trivia and owned almost every CD and DVD ever printed. He was devoted to his family, working 20 years as a dentist and after retiring due to his declining health went back to school to earn his credential to teach science at the high school. My dad accomplished so many great things in his 54 years of life and it was amazing to hear so many memories of him. The church was packed. As packed as a church could be, hundreds upon hundreds of people there because they loved my dad. I was at a loss of words and beyond grateful. I am so blessed to of been my daddy's little girl and that I was able to spend 24 years with him. I know that there is so much more I could say, and so much that I am leaving out but I can not type through my tears anymore. I love my dad. He is my best friend and always will be. I know he is watching down on me. I know he is still my biggest supporter. I am now just trying to remember how to live life. How to be happy again without my dad. I can not wait for the day that I get to be with my dad again. Until then I will live my life to make him proud. I will raise my kids with the memory of my dad. They both LOVE their "papa" and I will never let them forget about him. 

I love you so much. I was not ready for you to go, but thinking of your body as whole and healthy brings my heart peace. I know you are happy right now. I also know that if I could wrap my head around how amazing heaven is that I would be happy, because you truly are in a much better place. I am so thankful that families can be together forever and I will see you again. 

The beautiful program 

 The display table 

My dad's parents, my wonderful grandparents

 My sister 

The pallbearers: My dad's brothers Eric&Glenn, My dad's brother in law Mark, His friend Barry, His three sons Mitchell, Jeffrey and Scotty and his son in law Skyler.

My grandparents 

My mom and 4 of her 5 kids. 

I didn't say goodbye because I will see my dad again. Instead I told him how excited I am to see him again one day. 

Recycle

Ever since moving to California the Evan's family have become recyclers! We have a recycling center right by our house and one day I decided to check it out. It seemed pretty easy to use and I thought that it would be something fun for the kids and I to do. We saved up our cans for a few weeks (skyler drinks Dr.Pepper like it is water) and headed out. Carter LOVED it! There is a big machine and you put the cans in one at a time. Carter and Ellie squeal with excitment every time the machine "eats" the can and Carter can't wait to put the next one in. When we are done we press the button and a receipt prints out. We walk next door and turn in the reciept for $$$. We usually get a few bucks and go waste it on donuts and icee's. I have never been a "green" person but "free" donuts is starting to make me change my mind.

5 years of family pictures

Every year I have made an effort to have professional family pictures taken in august (the month we got married) so I can watch how our family grows. Even though I only have 5 years worth, it is still so fun to look back and see how much life has changed!

 

2008: Our wedding day. I have 0 professional pictures from that day because I was never given rights to them (long and very sad/heart breaking story) I love this one because it's candid and perfectly shows how happy we were on our wedding day. 

 

2009: In August I was 6 months pregnant with Carter and SO ready to meet him

 

2010: We actually waited till November to take our pictures because I wanted to combine them with Carter's first birthday pictures. I still LOVE this picture. 

  

2011: Ellie at 6 days old, we were ALL exhausted! 

 

 2012: Content with being a family of 4 (for now) and enjoying having 2 completely mobile babies who entertain each other!

best friends

 

There is nothing cuter than a little boy and his daddy!

Ellie is ONE (a month late)

In August my little Ellie Claire turned ONE. I feel like she is still a little baby but her attitude reminds me that she is not, haha! She add so much personality to our little family and we LOVE having her! She is our little comedian and keeps us laughing all the time. She is the perfect addition to our family and this last year has FLOWN by with her here. On Ellie's first birthday her stats are

Height: 30 1/2 inches (90%)
Weight: 19 lbs. 12 oz. (20%)

Has 4 teeth with 2 on the way!
Claps whenever anybody else does.
Waves at everyone she walks by and yells "HIIIII" everyone in the store (or wherever we are) is always laughing and telling her hi back. Her brother has noticed the attention she gets from it and sometimes they will do it together. Glad we provide shoppers with some good entertainment!
She has blonde hair and GREEN eyes.
She is absolutely beautiful!
She is the boss.
Ellie FINALLY walks all the time but on her birthday she was still crawling and only walking sometimes.
She LOVES to eat. she seriously eats ALL day.
When she wants something she does not stop until she gets it.
She loves to give kisses and blowing kisses.
She loves belly buttons and thinks they are hilarious. 
She is also known as chatty cathy cause she never stops jabbering.
Loves to dance and can find a good dance move for any rhythm she hears.
Loves to make messes!
Loves to make her brother mad. She sits right in front of the TV if he is watching it. If he pushes her away she just walks over and turns it off. She thinks it hilarious. Carter does not.
Drinks whole milk and eats everything that we eat.
Says: mama, dada, hi, ball, yum yum, no no no, baba, baaa(bath), and yea.
Smiles and laughs all day long.
Loves to help mama do the laundry.
Ellie loves to copy her brother. She wants to eat whatever he is eating, play whatever he is playing with and even tries to mimic his words.
Plays peek-a-boo ALL.THE.TIME. never gets old....for her atleast! 
She LOVES her big brother and gives him kisses all the time.
We call her dede and that's the only name she answers to. (It's what Carter has called her since she was born) 

WE LOVE YOU ELLIE GIRL!

8 months

Happy 8 months to my big crawling, smiling, screeching, BEAUTIFUL Ellie! We love you so so so much!!!

exploring our new surroundings

Since neither Skyler or I have ever lived in the Sacramento area we have been having lots of fun exploring. We spend our weekends trying out restaurants, going new places and enjoying the warm weather with our little family! So far we have ventured to Roseville, Old town Sacramento, The Nimbus fish hacthery, The train museum, The Sacramento Temple, Fishing on the American river, and The Folsom outlets. We love the area so far and are having lots of fun getting to know a new area.