Lucy's Blessing

Today (December 12, 2010) we blessed Lucy in church. We had such a great weekend with family. Our weekend included several family get-togethers, including a birthday party for Simon and Jane (Rachael's daughter). I am so thankful we have such a great family. I'm thankful for family that traveled long distances to be here. I'm thankful for family who helped us prepare for the weekend. I'm thankful for everyone who took time out of their Sunday to be a part of this special day with us. I'm so thankful my wonderful husband, Jacob, was able to come home for the weekend to bless his daughter (he lives in Denver now). I'm thankful for my mom who spent hours making a blessing dress for Lucy. She looked absolutely beautiful. We are so very blessed.

The Birthday Party

Beautiful Lucy

Our Happy Family

Happy Birthday Simon!

Thursday was Simon's 3rd birthday. The entire day, he screamed if I happened to mention he was no longer two, but yesterday, he finally came to terms with the fact that he's getting older. What a trooper.

I Love Lucy

Lucy Elizabeth Mercy Paulsen was born Saturday, November 13 at 4:59 a.m. It was quite a surprise since I'd gone in for an appointment that morning (being 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant) and scheduled and induction as the doctor thought I might never go into labor myself.

From my first contraction to Lucy being born was only 3 1/2 hours. For anyone who might say "Oh. You're so lucky your labor was so short," it's not true. It was as if all the pain of a long labor was crammed into 3 1/2 hours. It was more than worth it though.

I had complained profusely about going over due, sure Lucy would come out a 15 lb baby. I was shocked when she was only 6 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches.

Lucy is a wonderful little girl. We're so happy she came to join our family!!

Side story: When we found out Lucy was a girl, we wanted to get her a pink monkey. When Simon was born 3 years ago, Jacob got him a blue monkey at Ihop and Simon still sleeps with it. When we asked Simon if Lucy needed a pink monkey, he was so excited. We got online and discovered the pink version of the blue monkey was now a collector's item and was on Ebay for $40. We tried to pretend the pink monkey conversation never happened, but Simon wouldn't let go of the idea that Lucy needed a pink monkey. We did some research and found a similar version to Simon's monkey for $10. When we came home Monday with Lucy, Simon immediately ran up to her room, got her monkey, and brought it to her before we even had a chance to get her out of the car seat. He then brought down his blue monkey to show Lucy. He as been a wonderful big brother. He loves to bring her toys and is very concerned every time she cries.

Halloween

Simon is obsessed with Halloween. With the pumpkins, ghosts, TV specials and the idea that all you have to do is knock on someone's door to get candy, I've never seen Simon so excited about something.

Every Halloween, we do fondue for dinner. For dessert, we make an orange cake to dip in chocolate. Simon loves to help me cook. He did an excellent job mixing.

There happened to be a huge rain storm that night, so Simon patiently waited for the rain to stop to begin trick-or-treating.

Trick-or Treating was one of the greatest adventures of Simon's life thus far.

After trick-or-treating, we went to Shannon's house for a Halloween Party.

We spent Monday morning making Thanksgiving crafts to help Simon accept that all the Halloween decorations were gone. He's already talking about how excited he is to bring out his jack-o-lantern next year.

Nutty Putty Cyclers Cross Country Bike Trip for Charity

On November 25, 2009 John Jones went with family and friends to explore Nutty Putty Cave in Utah. John slipped and became trapped upside down in a tight crevice. Rescue teams tried all they could to rescue John, but after 28 hours, John passed away. He left behind his wife Emily of just 3 1/2 years; a 13 month old daughter; and an unborn son.

Emily's brother, Dan Petersen, immediately worried about his sister and how he could help her. He organized the Nutty Putty Cycling Team, originally planning to raise money and support for his sister. Emily felt she'd been so blessed by family and friends, she asked the cyclers to raise money for those who are less fortunate. The trip quickly became a nationwide fundraiser for widows and widowers.

On October 4, 2010, the Nutty Putty Cyclers set forth on a charity bike trek, traveling from Virginia to California, to raise money for the Liz Logelin Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting widows and widowers across the US.

Dan Petersen of Salem, VA, Jonathan Miller of Crestwood, KY, Eric Maughan of Salem VA, and Oliver Thompson of Salem, VA plan to complete their journey December 10, 2010 in San Diego, CA. The four cyclists carry sleeping accommodations and food, but are extremely grateful to those who have offered them last minute room and board. “We’ve surprisingly needed very little because people are so nice and offer us a place to stay,” said Miller.

Donations can be made to the Liz Logelin Foundation at thelizlogelinfoundation.org or can be sent to P.O. Box 26366, St. Louis Park, MN 55426. Those who donate $75 or more will receive an official Nutty Putty Bike Trip t-shirt. The cyclers ask all those who are able, to contribute to this worthy cause.

To view the cyclists travel schedule, and learn more about the cause, visit nuttyputtycyclers.com. If you or someone you know is able to contribute to the Liz Logelin Foundation, or provide support to the traveling cyclers, please do so. If you find this to be a worthy cause, please copy and past this post in your own personal blog. We can all do something to make a difference.

RS Trip and Nursery

For my last weekend I had the okay to travel, we decided to take a trip to Rock Springs to see my family. My brother and his family were visiting from Boise, so it was great to see them.

This week, I finally finished (for the most part) Lucy's nursery. It's probably a good thing since I'm only 3 weeks from my due date. Sorry the pictures are a bit awkward. The room has a lot of strange angles so it's really hard to photograph.

Family Vacation

This week, we had our first family vacation. When we began planning our summer vacation, we looked at cabins and hotels all over Utah. After a lot of research, we decided to stay home and do all the things around here we never get to do. Taking a vacation at home has a lot of advantages.

We didn't have to pay for travel or hotel, we could do meals at home, we could prepare picnics, we could put our 2-year-old to bed in his own little bed and we didn't have to find a house sitter. Plus we felt better about splurging on a few activities since we saved so much money on travel, hotels and meals.

Here are the highlights of our vacation.

The Bean Museum

Campfire dinner - From day one of our planning, the most important thing to me was to have a campfire. I absolutely love them and we haven't had one in years. We thought about camping one night, but then I remembered I'm almost 7 months pregnant. We had the great camping experience without the hard ground and hiking to the bathroom at 2 a.m. Plus Shannon's family was able to join us, which made it even more fun.

The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point

Thursday was our 5th anniversary. This was another plus of having a vacation at home: babysitters. Jacob and I were able go go to dinner and then to the mall while Grandma Linda watched Simon.

Living Planet Aquarium - We're glad we went, but it wasn't quite worth $9 a person. Though Simon did spend a good half hour at the sting ray tank. Thankfully, Jacob had a stuffed stingray at home in storage from his childhood. Simon has carried it around since.

Walking around Temple Square

Geocaching and Feeding Ducks

A trip to The Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery

Five Years Later

Today is my and Jacob's 5th anniversary. It's hard for me to believe we've been married five years.

I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful husband. I saw this video on Facebook and I think this is a good representation of marriage. When Jacob and I first got married, we were all wrapped up in the romance. Then as life happens, the romance is still important, but it takes a back seat to other things. It's hard to be romantic when your wife is curled around the toilet for 3 months every time she gets pregnant. It's hard to be romantic when date night changes from a romantic dinner and moonlight walk, to an evening of take-out and Bob the Builder. It's hard to be romantic when your husband travels 3 weeks out of the month. I'm so grateful to have a husband who is my best friend. I'm grateful to have someone who will take care of me when I'm sick, talk to me when I'm sad, and support me when I'm not sure what to do. Marriage is such a wonderful thing and I'm so thankful I found the person who is perfect for me. I love you Jacob!!! Thanks for always being there to flip me over when I get stuck. :)

Denver

This week, Jacob had to go to Denver for a few days for work. Simon and I decided to go with him. While we had a fun time, this reaffirmed my desire to never live directly in a big city. We plan to move to the Denver area one day, but we will definitely be suburb people. Those of you who know me well, know I'm terrified of driving. Driving by myself (well, with Simon) through downtown Denver for 3 days was plenty of big city for me. We had a great time visiting though and are SO glad we got to go with Jacob. Colorado is a beautiful state with a lot of fun things to do.
Here are the highlights of our trip:

The airplane:
Simon is obsessed with anything that could be considered a mode of transportation. He was so excited to be in the airplane. On the way there, he fell asleep on take off. I think he remembered he missed the first flight and stayed awake for the entire flight home, even though we didn't even leave Denver until 9:45 p.m.

The Hotel:
Though this was only his second time in a hotel, we were able to keep Simon happy the entire day with the promise of a hotel. He loves riding in the elevator, having his own queen bed, and most of all, the pool. I'm not exaggerating when I say we spent 3 hours in the pool the second day.

The Forney Transportation Museum:

While looking for something to do that cost under $20, Simon and I stumbled across this little gem. This museum had cars, trains, motorcycles, bicycles, carriages, tractors, airplanes, etc. I finally had to lure Simon out after 2 hours with the promise of a treat from the gift shop.

The Hard Rock Cafe:
I was so excited when I discovered there is a Hard Rock Cafe in Denver. I don't think I've ever been on a trip with my dad, where a Hard Rock Cafe was available, and we didn't visit it. Simon loved it too. He spent a good portion of the dinner dancing, and singing every song he knows at the top of his lungs. I hope he got the Heyborne rock star gene.

Visiting Rachael, Emily and Jane at the Childrens Discovery Museum in Fort Collins:
Driving outside of Denver proper and through to Fort Collins made me once again realize why I want to live in Colorado. It is beautiful. We met up with Rachael in Fort Collins to visit this museum. Not only was the museum great, but Simon thinks Emily is the coolest big kid in the world, especially since she gave him a green car to take home as a souvenir.

The Denver Temple:
Simon loves temples, so on the way to the airport, we stopped by the Denver Temple. As soon as Simon saw it out the window, he began singing, "I Love to See the Temple."

Even though we didn't get home until almost 1 a.m. (and poor Jacob had to be back on an airplane at 6 a.m.), and we've spent the day thus far doing laundry and unpacking, we're so glad we got to join Jacob.

August Thus Far

I don't scrapbook and despite my best efforts, I'm horrible at keeping a journal. So basically, the only somewhat complete record I will have of my adult life and my childrens' childhoods is my blog. That said, here is a random posting of what we've done so far this month.

The first weekend in August, Jacob, his dad and his brother, Jeff, competed together in a triathlon. Jeff began by swimming nearly an entire mile, then passed the baton (it was actually a timing chip, but a baton has a cooler image) to his dad who rode 22 miles on his bike; who then passed the torch (an even cooler image) to Jacob who ran a 10K. A good deal of the family was there to cheer them on, and I think I can safely say we were all very proud of our boys. Here is a picture of Jacob crossing the finish line of the 10K, thus completing the triathlon. We all celebrated by going to Iceberg for massive ice cream cones and shakes. I can't think of a better way to celebrate.

Last week, Simon's cousin Emily (Rachael's daughter) came to visit us. She was staying with my parents in Rock Springs, but they had to come to Provo for the day for a dentist appointment. Simon and Emily had such a great time. This picture is not fuzzy because my camera is substandard (though amazingly enough, my camera is substandard) but because Simon and Emily were jumping on the bed at an incredible rate! Sorry Rachael, if I opened a can of worms. I'm guessing Emily is a bed-jumping veteran though. We again marked the occasion with ice cream.

Lastly, Saturday, we went on a hike with Jacob's parents, Aunt Shauna and Uncle Dave to Stewart Falls. When I saw the sign said "2 miles," I thought "Simon and I walk 2 miles a day and I'm fine doing it at 6 months pregnant. I can do 4 miles." Little did I know, the hike had a lot of hills, slopes and strange climbs over rocks. Even Jacob said it was a was a pretty good workout. While I had fun the last mile or so (it was downhill and in the shade), I wouldn't recommend this hike to someone who is 6 months pregnant (or 2 1/2, as Simon spent the entire hike on Jacob's shoulders). It was a beautiful hike though and I began to remember it as a good time shortly after the hike was over. And of course... we celebrated the completion of the hike with another trip to Iceberg for lunch and ice cream.

I am so grateful to have a family who loves the outdoors and loves to be together. I'm thankful to live in a place where I am surrounded by beautiful landscape. And, of course, I am thankful for ice cream.

I Love My Family

This post is dedicated to my family. If you're not related to me, this post may be quite boring to you. Lately, I've been thinking about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family, and I wanted to express that in my blog. So if you aren't or never have been a Heyborne or a Paulsen, I won't be offended if you skip this post.

Recently, my friend lent me a book called "Mitten Strings for God." The basic idea is that it's not the expensive outings and exotic vacations that are the most important things in our childrens' lives. It's the simple, everyday things that make the huge difference.

Lately, Jacob travels about 3 out of 4 weeks of the month. Because of this, we rarely travel as a family, but try to make every moment count when we are together. This has made me realize how much I love my family and how important they are to me.

My most common family grouping, is me and Simon. With Jacob gone so much, Simon and I have to find creative things to do, especially in the evenings.

Here, Simon and I decided to make cookies with every cookie cutter we had. I love cooking with Simon. Making cookies has become one of our favorite activities. Though so has eating them...

The most important family to me is the three of us (me, Jacob and Simon). One of our favorite, FREE activities to do as a family is to go Geocaching. If you've never tried it, visit http://gogeocaching.com/. This is a GREAT family activity. Here is Simon retreiving his first Geocahce.

We're always looking for a way to spice up walks, and Geocaching is a great way. Tonight we'd planned to go walking by the Provo Temple for Family Home Evening, but Jacob is a bit sick, so we decided to try to build the temple out of blocks instead.

Simon was heart-broken when he accidentally knocked part down, though that did begin a whole new game of building towers and knocking them down with his excavator.

Next, I am blessed to have such wonderful parents and parents-in-law. I know I can count on them for anything and I'm so thankful Simon has such amazing grandparents. All four are such amazing examples to me of good parents and good people.

Then of course there are my siblings, who I don't get to see as much as I'd like, but I know are always there for me. I feel so blessed to have been raised in a household that emphasized the importance of family. Because of this, we continue to be a close family, even though we're far apart. I know I can always turn to my brother or sister for advice and I know they'd do anything they could to help me.

And then of course there is the family I married into. I have great brothers and sisters in law. We have so much fun when we all get together. I not only enjoy Heyborne Family gatherings, but Paulsen family gatherings as well. I of course have to mention my sister-in-law Shannon. Not only is she the best friend I've made since I moved to Provo, but she's the person I count on the most here outside of Jacob. This is the closest thing I have to a picture of me and Shannon. Shannon, we need to take a picture together. Especially since we both have huge bellies right now.

I love you family!! Thank you for EVERYTHING you do for me.