Sweet little boys

Jacob and Joshua

July 12, 2006-October 25, 2007
Daniel and Aunt Tracy at the twins funeral.
Family and friends at Paul and Melinda's.


Daniel just loved playing with his cousin Kastlee, she took such good care of him, she was helping feed him and was playing with him all the time.

Our Pop Pop

It was so good to see Jasons family, here we are at Pops funeral.
(Tracy, Heather, Jason, Kary, and Randy)

4 generations!
Can you tell Daniel didn't want his picture taken!
Daniel and Aunt Kary

Pops funeral was very beautiful and spiritual, we were hoping we could focus more on him and celebrate his life, but with all that was going on that week it was really hard to focus. But he lived a good long and fulfilled life, and now he is able to be reunited with family and most of all his wife. With all that has been going on, I think that is what has got us all through this week, having the eternal perspective and knowing that we can be together again.

These last couple of days have been a very trying and challenging time for our family. On Wed Oct 24th just after we arrived in Virginia, we recieved a phone call from my brother-in-law Paul. It was then that we got the news that his 15 month old twin boys had drowned, these sweet little innocent boys fought for their life until about 3:00 a.m. Jake and Josh died about an hour apart at VCU Hospital in Richmond, VA. They entered this life together and they left this life together, we know they are in a better place now, and as my mother-in-law said they were just to perfect for this world we live in. But we are just so grateful for having the knowledge we have and that we can be an eternal family.

So lately I have been slacking with keeping up on my blog, but with many good reasons why. And it may even be longer until I get some more pics and get up to date with everything, we have had a crazy week and a half, with Daniel being sick, then me, then on Sunday we got news that Pop (jasons grandpa) passed away. So on Wed we are heading back to Virginia to be with family. We know he is in a much better place now and he is no longer suffering or dealing with the physical limitations he was going through these last couple of years. We are so grateful for having the knowledge of the gospel and knowing that families can be forever. We are really looking forward to getting to spend this time with family and celebrate his life.

bookworm

One thing we can't get enough of in this house is BOOKS! We put the books in a place easy to get to, and where they are visible for him all the time. Of course he can't read yet, but one thing he has been doing for awhile now is when he looks at a book he always turns it the right way, if its upside down he turns it around, the speech therapist was shocked when she saw him doing this.

I love how into books he gets, he really analyzes the pages and focuses on all the pictures and tries to take it all in.

Thanksgiving Point- Scarecrow Festival

So after today I have decided it is unrealistic for me to think that a 22 month old will sit still and smile for a camera. After what seemed to be a million pictures Daniel just was not interested in looking an smiling at me, he wanted to stare at everyone else and make faces and talk to everyone else. But hey thats ok, he's still cute as can be.

They had a toddler section and Daniel had a blast playing there.
He was just in heaven in there playing with all those balls


With fall break and it being Jasons day off(wow..a whole day with the 3 of us, and I don't mean that sarcastically, its just with work and school this doesn't happen very often.) So we decided to head down to Thanksgiving Point, We were hoping for a little more than what they had, but we still had a lot of fun and Daniel had a blast taking in all the surroundings, he was just amazed at all the animals in the petting zoo area, I think he was like wow..they do exist, it seems we are alwayas looking at animals in his books, but he really hasn't had any experience with real live farm animals, so it was fun for him to actually see them, and I was helping him with all the sounds they make and he just looked at them in amazement. Plus they had this little toddler section, he had so much fun with the blow up toys and the balls and just playing with kids his own age. So once we were done there we had some time to waste so we headed off to IKEA, wow..you could spend a whole day in there, then we headed to downtown SLC and met up with my parents and Grandma for Dinner. It was so nice to spend some time as a family and then get to meet up with some more family. I miss days like this. But hey it gives me things to look forward too in the future.

Daniel and his Tigger

How the simpliest things please him.
The tag goes in his mouth
and is still there.....
and again still in his mouth.

So to explain. Daniel's favorite stuffed animal is his Tigger, Grandma Goins got it for him last summer(2006) and he has slept with it every night since, except for those rare occasions when I left it somewhere by accident. But since he has had tigger he has had this obession to play with the tag on him, he chews on it, sucks on it, and now he is carrying it around the house by the tag.

Bath Time

Can you tell he's having a little fun!! He sure loves his baths.
His new game is to throw his toys out of the tub and wait for me to pick them up, if I don't he'll stand up and bang on the edge until I do.
So lately I have been trying to get Daniel to drink out of a regular cup instead of a sippy cup all the time, well he thought bathtime was a good time to practice, and yes I got a hold of it before he drank that soapy water.
This was before the bath, I think a bath was a good idea!

Another successful trip to Primary Children's

Well its that time of year again for us, today was our long day up at PCMC. And just as I was hoping and praying for, it went really well. Today was a clinic day for us, which means we see a series of Doctor's and if there need to be test done, we can do those then as well. Today we saw his Neuro Surgeon, Orthopedics, Neurology, Urology, Genetics, Nutritionist and Physical and Occupational Therapist. Yes it was a busy day for us, but very successful too. What I love so much about these clinics, is we get it all done in one day, we just get put in an exam room and the Doctors come to us, one after another, who ever thought of this is a genius! But as each Doctor or Specialist came in to see Daniel they all had good news, The Neuro Surgeron was very pleased with how his scar is healing from is surgery back in March of 06, and they gave us pointers and things to look for in case of retethering, they think its unlikely to happen but its always good to know what to look for in case that was to happen again. Orthopedics were pleased with Daniel as well, we did have some x-rays done today, he may or may not need surgery for his feet, but we have know about this for some time now, so no surprises there. We are just waiting to hear back from the Doctors about his x-rays. Then Urology came in, they went over his results from his CMG(bladder study) he had done about two weeks ago. Nothing unusual there, he does have a small bladder but they don't think that will be a problem for him, but its just something they have to watch and we really won't know much until we get ready to potty train him. Then we talked with Genetics, The Nutritionist, the PT and OT. They just helped give us ideas and suggestions on ways to further help Daniel. I was very happy with the way things turned out today and as always its a very stressful day but when its all over its a such relief and feel like a weight has been lifted off me. We feel so blessed to have such amazing doctors and to be able to have access to such a wonderful Hospital. Primary Childrens has taken such good care of Daniel and has helped us in so many ways. We will be forever grateful to them!

Playtime

With the weather so nice outside we had to take advantage of it. So we decided to play outside today.
Can you tell he's not a fan of the grass.
Still not quite sure what to think of it.

And to end a fun time outside, a nice little snack.

Just Playing

As he was going for the DVD's I kept telling him no, no and he would just look at me and laugh, then he would go for it again and I would say it again Daniel no, then another laugh, finally I had to just go over there and pick him up. Up until now we really haven't had to say no to him or discipline him, so for him right now he thinks its funny and for us its frustrating, but I guess we all have to start somewhere, and I just gotta hold my ground, but Its just so hard when they look at you with that cute little face.
Still one of his favorite games, peek-a-boo. We just can't get enough of it.
I realized its been awhile since I have really posted any pictures of Daniel, so here are a few from him playing today. Next week we go to PCMC so I'll be posting on his progress then.

Snow in September

So I looked out the window today and what did I see....its snowing! As you can tell its not very much, but I just couldn't believe it. It been coming down for some time, but most of it was melting as it hit the ground.

Seattle Aquarium

We had a little down time while up in Seattle, so we decided to take a day to go up to the city. We took Daniel to the aquarium, he really enjoyed it, he wasn't so sure about touching the fish, but he sure loved looking at them.

finally home

After what seemed to be a forever long drive, we made it home from Seattle. We really enjoyed our time up there, we got to spend a lot of time with our friends, and most of all we got to celebrate the wonderful life that Mike had. So hopefully here soon I'll get some pictures posted, but for now I think I need to catch up on some much needed sleep, we didn't get home until about 4 a.m. so we are all pretty exhausted, but it was all worth it. We are just grateful that we had the means and opportunity to go up and support Kendall and Elise. But for now good night everyone and hopefully within the next few days I'll get some pictures posted.

Lunch with the girls, and Daniel of course!

I just love these girls, here I am at lunch with two of my good friends Rosie and Amber. Well it might be awhile till I post again, on friday we are heading up to Seattle.

Swiss Days 2007

Daniel's first cut, well not really a cut, more of a rug burn, right as we were getting ready to head out of the hotel Daniel thought it would be a good idea to go head first off the bed, that'll teach mom a lesson for putting him on the bed.
Mom and Daniel at Swiss Days as you can see it gets pretty crowded, by lunch time it twice as crowded, lucky for us we got there bright and early so we didn't have to deal with the crowds to much, plus because I was pushing a stroller on grass may I add, we decided to get there right when they opened. but hey its worth it, I got some great things for my apartment.
Me, my mom and Daniel getting ready to head home. Thanks mom for a great weekend!
I don't even know how long we have been doing it, but every year over labor day weekend me and my mom go up to Park City and then on Friday morning we wake up bright and early to go to Swiss Days in Midway(just outside Park City) This year was yet another fun and successful shopping year. We stayed up in Park City, went shopping at the outlets, and of course did some major shopping at swiss days.