Daisha Time

I sort of feel bad, alot of my posts consist of just Kasen.  Which, don't get me wrong is wonderful, but have little to do with my little Daisha Dana!  So, I am committing from here on out a post of her own:)  Daisha is going to be sad, or I am going to be more sad for the lack of pictures, but I guess we will deal.  She is such a sweet little spirit.  Right now she is getting her molars and they are giving her heck.  I can feel one of them on the bottom right, the top right is still coming and really swollen, the top left is the one I feel most horrible about.  I honestly have NEVER seen this with a teether, but it's swollen like crazy and it's black and blue, it looks almost like a busted blood blister inside of her little tooth area.  Anyway, I am not sure if that is normal or not, but I hope it gets better fast because she hasn't eaten hardly anything for the past 3 days and that is completely out of Character for her.  She still is a little angel though, she sleeps through the night and I think that I have her thumb to thank for that, but still, she has to be hungry:)  She is for the most part happy and playful. 
    She is getting more brave at taking steps on her own.  She so far has taken 4 steps all be herself before plopping to the ground.  She loves to walk around holding my fingers.  We have done laps around our little living room and kitchen every day.  She loves it.  She is getting more hair which is so cute but she never keeps her little pony tails in.  Always pulling them out and then she is left with this mohawk sort of look the rest of the day.  It suits her just fine though:)  She is wearing little size 3 or 4 shoes depending on the  brand and loves them.  I have those wonderful soft soled ones and she loves those.  Every morning she finds them, brings it over to me and lifts up her foot.  Then she'll play with the velcro and they will come off and we will put them on again.  She doesn't much care for the way her brother "plays" with her.  Which I think she needs to just relax a little bit because he really is trying to be nice most of the time and hug and play, but she won't have any of it.  It just bugs her to death for him to hug her or want to hold her.  If I am playing with them, then it isn't so bad, but if it's just the two of them and he is trying to touch her at all, she lets him know.  They do play so cute together if he isn't trying to touch her.  She will scoot her way down the stairs to the toys and Kasen will be playing some sort of pretend game and she will find things that she will play with and they will go and go.  It's so fun to watch.  I sat at the end of the stairs the other day and watched for a while till they caught sight of me and then it was over.  She is quite the little smiler.  She loves to look at people, wrinkle up her nose, and give them a big smile.  She really is quite the doll.  She knows what elk say, and also thinks that is what most every other animal says.  She loves to watch the horses outside, the puppy and the kitties that we see at friends houses.  She likes to stack things, and put things in piles then get them out and re-stack and re-pile and put them in a bowl or bucket or something to hold them.  Daisha loves to talk on the phone and say "hi", or sometimes we will get a "hi dad".  She is going to be 1 so soon, I can't believe it.  Can't time slow down, just a bit?  We will have a low key little party for her.  I told her Daddy that all she wanted for her birthday was to go shopping with Mom:)  I hope she will get what she wants, that is all she wanted and how mean would that be if Dad didn't get her a shopping trip with mom?  I think so too:)  Love you Daisha

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Kasen.  Kasen turned 4 on the 16th.  We had a fun little pirate party for him on the saturday the 17th.  He was so excited for his birthday, counting down the sleeps til it got here.  He asked for "hunting" stuff.  Dad was all about that.  He also wanted a pirate party.  I had fun planning that:) The morning of his birthday he woke up and asked where his presents were.  He had spotted them wrapped in my bedroom the night before.  He opened them to find out he got an elk, a mule deer, a hunter guy and a hunting four-wheeler.  We played hunting till it was time for lunch.  I took him to McDonalds, let him play to his hearts content in the play place, got an ice cream then went home to wait for our guests of honor to arrive.  Tate's brother Russell and his family were kind enough to come for a visit that weekend.  We were SO EXCITED.  They have 3 little boys and they couldn't be more fun.  They finally got here and we didn't stop playing.  Tate got home and made him a cake and we had a small little birthday song and party for him that night.  Saturday morning we went to the Spud Day parade and got loaded up with candy, then came home and decorated for the big pirate party.  We had fun blowing the balloons, and Kasen just about drove me crazy with his fighting the decorations (streamers, balloons) with his sword.  It's a good thing that Bev (Russell's wife:) was here, she totally saved me from stressing too much about the party and Kasen's crazyness.  The party crew arrived.  We handed out eye patches and pirate hats and were off.  We played a game, colored our treasure maps, and then went to hunt for pirate treasure, which just so happened to be buried under the apple trees.  The treasure chest was a pinata and the kids had fun wacking it till all the golden treasure fell from the skies:)  It was fun.  Had presents, and cake and ice cream.  It was a lot of fun.  I think Kasen had a fun time, he was SOOOO Exhausted from playing he could barely function. 

Opening presents.  His friends were so kind and gave him some great fun things. 

Here is some of the kids gearing up for the treasure hunt.  There is Tate instructing the kids on the rules of the treasure hunt. 

I only got a few pictures of Kasen, he wasn't very cooperative, but here is our pirate boy. 

Saved the best for last.  My wonderful friends Shantel and Meagan made this cake for Kasen.  I am pretty lucky to have friends as wonderful and talented as they are.  I think that they did a magnificant job.  It was a BIG HIT.  We still have the ship saved, Kasen never wants to throw it away:) 

Over all it was a fun 4 year old birthday party. 

Kasen as a 4 year old?  Well, lets see........Today he told me as I was trying to help him get dressed.  Mom, stop, I can do it all by myself, I am 4 now.  about 5 minutes later.  Kasen: "Mom I am just going to do whatever I want to."  Wow, I guess I am due for a child to say that to me.  I use to tell my mom that.  Recap:  "Mom, I am 12 years old, and I can take care of myself."  After she wouldn't let me play on the 7th grade basketball team while I was in 6th grade.  So mean. :)

Kasen is such a sweet,kind and caring little boy.  He is so funny too.  I really don't know what  I did before him, I don't know who I was before him.  I am Kasen's mom and I think that rocks because I think that Kasen is quite an amazing person.  He is learning and his little brain is going non-stop all day long asking questions and trying new things.  he is excited to start his 1st year of pre-school here in a few weeks.  I think that he will have such a fun time.  he loves friends, he is very social with other kids.  He is a leader amongst them.  I hope that he is always that way, being a good example and leading his friends to choose the right.  Pressures on mom right?  I love him so much.  He is our pride and joy.  He is such a great big brother. 

Love you buddy.  Happy birthday.  Time sure does fly.  It seems like just a short time ago when I was in the office of my basketball coach crying and telling him I was pregnant.  Worried to what he was going to say.   time sure goes by quick. 

No Camera

Guiding season = No camera season.  I hate not having a camera.  I go through my day and there are so many adorable things that I could snap a picture of and write cute blog posts about, but without a camera  I just forget about all the cute adorable things my kids do.  Makes me a bit sick inside, knowing I could have all these wonderful memories:) O Well.....
   Mom has been up with me this past week.  She is such a joy.  Pure joy.  She is leaving in the morning, Dad is here to pick her up.  We went to Rexburg the other day and spent the day with Aunt Claudia.  It's fun to visit, and to let Mom be with her sister.  We dropped her off at the Temple sat. morning while we ran errands in Idaho falls, she had a blast being independant and by herself. 
   We have been eating fresh sweet corn out of the garden.  There is a sense of pride when I go to my garden and pick dinner fresh!  It really makes me feel like I have accomplished something worth while.  Yum Yum.  I am hoping to freeze the rest of the corn I don't eat.  My tomatoes should be red hopefully SOON, before it freezes and so I can make something else yummy with them. 
   We are gearing up for Kasen's birthday.  He is going to be 4?  What?  He is so much fun.  He is so excited for is "pirate party" and I am excited too.  I have never had to plan a birthday party before, it's going to be great.   We have a bunch of friends coming and even a few cousins who we love, can't wait. 

The V

We canned alot of these little suckers.  I had such a great time being with my sister and cousin doing this all day long.  It was well worth the visiting to be in a hot sweaty kitchen all day:) 

On our way to the V. 

I love how Colt looks like he is skipping up the hill and Kasen is practically on his hands and knees crawling up the hill.

Aunt DeAnna making sure Kasen gets up alright.

We are just about to the top!

Crawling up the mountain.

Here we are having a great hike.

We finally made it up to the top of the V.  yeah!  Kasen said.  I can see the whole city, don't worry that his c's sound a little like the sh sound. 

Daisha's very first time on the V.  She was a great hiker and loved it!

Aunt DeAnna Dana and Daisha Dana. 

Mom and Daisha on the V.

My kiddos.  Notice Kasen's lovely facial expressions.  He is such a jokester. 

Nice face guys.  I decided I am going to stop trying to smile in pictures and just make the silliest faces I can to fit in with the rest of my family. 

We love the V.  On our way up to the top, Kasen began to tell me that Grandpa had painted all the numbers on that hill.  It was quite a cute story. 

Playing in Grandpa's water.  He wasn't too happy when they messed with the sprinkler and he had to go and fix it. Oh well, they had a great time in the hot day. 

We have been having such a wonderful time visiting Grandma and Grandpa and our cousins.  

O-Town

We have been in Orderville since the first of the week and have been lovin' every minute.  We have been doing alot of canning and yesterday we finished our pluot jam.  We canned around 160 jars, pints and half pints.  DeAnna attempted to make pluot juice yesterday and I am not quite so sure that she was successful, but it was still a great try:)  Kasen has been playing with cousins and going to get ice cream with Grandpa.  Grandma took him over to the elementary and picked out a few books to have.  He is spoiled like usual!!  Daisha has been having some good quality time with Grandpa.   I went and got my hair done yesterday at Michelle's and he watched her for about 2 hours.  They played and played.  I got home and Daisha started using things as a phone and talking and saying "hi".  She says hi, and it's the cutest little hi that you ever did hear:)  She is getting stronger and starting to try and stand up by herself.  Her balance is getting alot better and she is crusin' around the furniture like nobody's business.  Last night I went back and read the posts of when Kasen was this age.  Time sure does fly.  Yesterday, we took a hike to the V.  I will post pictures soon, but it was such a fun little hike.  Kasen has been wanting to do it so badly.  I held Daisha and DeAnna went along with Colt and Kasen.  WE made it to the top.  He wanted to go back up, the second we got down, and I am pretty sure we will be taking another hike today.  He is having a sleepover at Colt's house this morning.  He told me he would be brave, and have fun.  He was pretty excited.  It's wierd to see him have his own personality and opinions about life.  It's also very rewarding to watch him grow and learn things on his own and figure things out by himself.  Tate is busy guiding and we of course miss him.  Life is GREAT though and we have no complaints in the world.  Excited to get back home and check on my garden.  My corn and tomatoes should be getting really close.  Hopefully I will have a nice stock of canned goods for this upcoming winter :)  I am hoping to can corn relish and salsa and tomatoes.  WE will see how good I do.