Shannon, Jill, Easton & Cohen Lucas

54...her last birthday

2011-04-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

A few weeks before my mom passed away she turned 54. At the time she had gotten the diagnosis that she had about a month to a few months left to live so we knew it would be her last birthday. Little did we know at the time it would be a much shorter time frame. Which makes me even so much more grateful that we got to throw this huge celebration for her, at the time life was kind of busy with a new baby and I had contemplated not making the trip. Can't imagine not being there! It was a wonderful day filled with lots of cooking, crying, and reminiscing about all the wonderful memories we've had together as a family. People stopped by all throughout the day dropping off gifts for her as she thanked them and made little jokes about wishing she could use it longer. This is a day I will forever have in my memory and be grateful for. It was the last time I came down before she was in her last days and didn't have the energy to talk much. Some family dropped by for dinner and we made a huge feast and her favorite chocolate wafer dessert for her cake.

Easton with my Grandpa Wahlen...who passed away this summer.

cousin's wife Cortney Markham holding Cohen and my sister Angie

cousin Brian, Uncle Dave, Aunt Colette

Grandpa, Mom, Brian, Hailey

Uncle Marc & Easton

Hailey

reading her cards

her cake, my neice McKinley & Mom

neice Halle

my parents

Mom opening her presents

cake

aunt Whit & Easton

Halloween and October happenings...

2011-02-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

October was a busy, busy month for us with Easton's birthday and Cohen's blessing. Somewhere in there we managed to fit in halloween and a few other activities.

We went on our annual halloween hay ride to a local pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins. Easton with his pumpkin

Easton was excited...in the pumpkin patch

We had a little family night out in Salt Lake City our first stop was at Buca Di Beppo...fine Italian family eating at it's best...Easton loving his mac n'cheese. (and yes, whenever he poses for pics he thinks it necessary to do crazy things with his hands?? don't know why)

The biggest dessert ever...and our fat selves finished the whole thing off!

The reason for our outing was to go watch my cousin Mitch. He plays hockey for the Utes. I know...only time I would ever be caught DEAD cheering for them. I must really love him (haha) It was such a fun night and he did awesome! Easton enjoyed himself too!

my cousin

me and the chubs

brothers in their first matching outfits

Shannon carving pumpkins with Easty. Scary one for Easton, cute nice one for baby Cohen, and a the annual Y (byu) for Shannon and I

my always content baby...he is seriously the best! love this liitle chub...

Per his request... Easton as Buzz Lightyear (thanks to my friend Emily Price for lending out this costume, was dreading dropping $50 on a nice disney store costume and she had one just easton's size)...he loved it so much he screamed bloody murder when we pryed it off him!at the ward trunk or treat

Buzz Lightyear and Superman

Cohen was the cutest superhero...

Buzz

Halloween was so much fun this year, Easton LOVED it. He still is talking about halloween months later and has already planned what he is going to be next year. So fun having him at an age where he is interested, I love it!

Cohen's blessing

2011-02-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

We blessed Cohen on Sunday, October 10th. Shannon gave the most wonderful blessing. So grateful for our little 'coco bean'. He is about the chunkiest baby ever, but the best baby ever...it takes alot for him to cry. We could not feel more blessed to have him as part of our family. Sure love our little guy! It was a great day with lots of family and food. We almost contemplated doing the blessing in Idaho because of my mom's condition. This was only about six weeks before my mom passed away, and from what I'm told one of the last days she was feeling ok. What a blessing it was to have her there, something I'll never forget.

Our family of four

Cohen and Aunt Hailey I love this little tux, my Aunt Colette made it when Easton was born...I just think it's the cutest!

Easton's birthday

2011-01-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

Easton turned the big THREE on October 2nd and he got several fun little outings to celebrate. It makes me sad to think how big he is getting, two months after he potty trained and after a major rough start is now a pro. He is getting so independent! Even though he can be MAJOR dramatic at times...we sure love him and his funny little voice and mannerisms. We love you Easty Beasties!

at TGIFridays for dinner with the fam
getting sung to...and really happy about it (haha)
at the nickel arcade after dinner

We celebrated a little more the week after when our families came into town for Cohen's blessing. My sister Angie and her cute family came a little early and we went to Salt Lake to go to Discovery Gateway Children's museum with them.

Halle and Easton. She sure loves him even though he is not so nice to her all the time!

My sis Angie and Cohen

The next day my whole family, shannon's parents, and my cousin Katie and fam came up and we all went to Chuck E. Cheese's to have a little party for Easton (I will never do that again, paid twice the amount for crappy pizza) but it was fun to have everyone there! Here are a few
pictures from his party...

Wake me up when September ends..

2010-11-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

In September we had a fun visit to Idaho for a week while Shannon was in Chicago on business. Cohen was just a couple weeks old and already being missed by the fam. My little sis Whitney was nominated for sophomore homecoming queen so we got to see her in the parade and the assembly and I got to help with her hair. I also got a chance to meet up with my gorgeous friend Stef Collins who traveled out from Iowa and who I haven't seen since Easton and her little girl Maggie were just newborns! It was SO great to see her!

Me with all the kids (she's a much better at taking pics than me)

Her two precious girls Marlee and Maggie with my boys...Maggie and Easton were only born a month apart? Aren't they precious? I just loved them, such dolls.
I didn't love taking pics with her, seriously not fair that a woman can be that skinny after having two kids...for real! Makes my excuses of 'I just had a baby' seem pretty lame!

loved snuggling on cohen

Can't wait to see you again soon Stef! Love ya!

Uncle Tanner holding Cohen

Mom, Whitney, Hailey, and I after her assembly. I look horrible, but I was the one responsible for her hair, getting myself and two kids ready after still being up every two hours, and getting to the highschool by 8 am. I barely made it in time. A rough morning for sure! Glad before mom passed that she was able to be a part of this, and grateful she was having a 'rare' good week and was feeling well enough to come.

What a beautiful little sis I have!!

Did this beautiful girl's hair for homecoming...

Cohen at almost 4 weeks old! He grew SOOOO fast.Best baby ever, for real! This kid has to be really hungry or sleepy to even cry...love him so much!

Isn't he a doll?

Easton is super into doing things with his daddy. Wanted to help in putting in solar lights in our front yard.

all dressed for church!

Our fat baby...only a month!

Cohen's first week

2010-10-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

So I have SO many things to post about...but adjusting to the whole 2 kid thing has been a little rough on me, not to mention Easton lost my camera cord somewhere so a new one is being shipped in the mail right now. So here is the start to many posts!

A couple days after delivery we got a few visitors

Aunt Shelly came delivering gifts and goodies...

My cousin Katie, husband TJ, and kids Taylor, Peyton and Jack came to visit too.

Taylor and Cohen
Peyton and Cohen

Katie, TJ, and Cohen

Four days after having Cohen I drove to Idaho to visit my family. My mom is going through rough chemo treatments and since she wasn't feeling well enough to come to Cohen I brough Cohen to her. Everyone thought I was pretty crazy to make that trip 4 days after giving birth but it was actually the easiest trip I've made so far, both kids slept almost the whole time!

sis Angie, Halle, and Cohen

Coco bean-one week old

my neice Quincy's birthday party- her and Cohen born on the same exact day..Craziness!

McKinley and Cohen

Me and my boys...

Uncle Tanner and Cohen

Aunt Whit-wee and Cohen

Cohen and his nana

Everyone was loving on him before we went home..

Aunt Hailey and Cohen

Easton LOVES his little brother

after bath...

cute boys in their jammies..

Papi and Aunt Whit-wee stopped by before going to the BYU game

had to do a little photo shoot of my boys after our first week of church...

matching outfits and everything!!

Cohen Kimball Lucas

2010-08-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF...

Cohen Kimball Lucas

weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. length 21 1/2 inches

born August 20, 2010 at 2:02 p.m.

right after delivery

with Grandma Lucas

this is the closest Easton would come the first day...seriously wanted NOTHING to do with him or me for that matter!

second day of hospital...warmed up a little. still holding him down in this pic.

me and the two cutest boys!

whole family shot...me and the three CUTEST boys! definitely outnumbered now!
drugs + no sleep = me looking a little crazy!

going home...

at home...giving me the finger already! he did not like those pics!

LABOR STORY: All of us (especially me) were anxiously awaiting August 19th because that's the day I was supposed to go in to be induced at 7 a.m. We get a call at 6 a.m. saying it was a no go because they had a couple of girls come in during the middle of the night in active labor. We called back around noon after still no phone call and they said for sure that night. When we called back that night they said a couple more girls went into active labor and that they could possibly induce me on Saturday! That's when I probably threw the most MAJOR adult fit ever, I wasn't sleeping at ALL at night and I was super cranky and ready to meet my little guy! The doctor called me back and promised me she would get me in by the morning. They had me call in at 4:30 a.m.- still a no, then at 5:30-still a no. After this I was convinced it was never gonna happen! I finally got a call about 7 a.m. saying they were ready for me! I came in, got started on pitocin, got the best epidural ever, went from a 4 to a 10 in a little over and hour, pushed about 6 times and he was out! Seriously twenty times better the second time around!!

So far he is the most content baby ever, a great sleeper, and a major eater! He has alot more hair than Easton had and way darker. We just couldn't be more in love with him! I seriously cry every day he gets bigger (the hormones make me a little crazy!) Easton is adjusting well now. He likes to give him hugs and kisses and say 'ohhh..baby brudder. he's SOO cute!!' I couldn't be more thrilled and feel blessed to be the mom of two adorable little boys! So glad also to have such a wonderful husband who is a major helper around the house and with the boys!

Welcome to the circus....

2010-08-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

So here I am at 38 weeks pregnant...I know could my belly get any bigger? I seriously think I could be a circus sideshow. Months ago people were asking me if I could go anyday now. This is why I don't post pictures of my belly...but I resorted to taking a picture so that one day my kids could see what I put my body through to get them here...

Luckily, I will be induced on Thursday if he doesn't come by then! We can't wait for Cohen to join our family!

Our summer so far...

2010-08-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our summer so far. Kinda weak I have to admit! I was horrible at remembering to bring my camera with me or get it out and actually take pictures...hopefully a new baby will cure my laziness about that! Also, our summer was rather un-eventful. I didn't want to do too much being all big and preggers so we kept it rather low-key. Alot of time spent at the local aquatic center with some friends, a little bit of the zoo, but mostly just spent some time with family!

Here are some pics from a weekend in Aberdeen, we went up and I did some hair. Also, my cousin came into town from California with his cute wife and kids.

Easton and Devin ridin the RZR
jumping on the tramp with cousins Devin and Emily

my cousin Troy and Easton on the RZR...he would ride this all day and night if someone was willing to drive him...he nonstop bugs my dad about it all day when we are there!

my birthday at Benihana..Easton's favorite part was wearing the chef hat!

Lucas family reunion at Murray park...the whole gang

LOVE my cute boys!

Uncle Steve, cousin Kenny, and Easton

Easton at the Clark Planetarium...he loved this place!

at dinner with the cousins and Uncle Steve's Iphone...he was spoiled for a night by all the cool games..

cousin Halle came to play....

2010-07-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Last month we were lucky enough to have this cute girl come stay with us for a couple days! Miss Halle (my sister Angie's daughter) came and played with us and we had such a blast with her, she is a funny girl...and she sure loves her Easty Beasty! She is just six months older than Easton and he doesn't get much time to play with cousins so he was in heaven! We went to the zoo, Toy Story 3, and played in the backyard pool. She was an angel the whole time! When she got home they asked if she had fun and she said 'ya, but sometimes easton was kinda wude (rude)' haha. It was definitely a reminder of how different girls and boys are. She is quite the talker! We hope to have her come again sometime, we love you Hal Pal!

they loved the giraffe!

on the train

Easter Sunday

2010-06-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Like every other blog post this is long overdo but on Easter Sunday we drove up after conference to visit the family, we got the chance to see my little sis Whitney for the first time since her snowmobiling accident in Island Park. She was life flighted to EIRMC in Idaho Falls. She broke her left wrist, broke her left femur, tore her left ACL, broke her left ankle, sprained her right ankle and wrist, and lacerated her spleen. She was in the hospital for a week, and has been bed-bound and out of school for two months and just went back for the last part! We are so glad she is safe! Love you Whit! I didn't get many pics so this is all about her...

The grandkids have sure enjoyed her injury..here's Easton with his cousins on Whitney's wheelchair. I think he asked for a ride a couple times a day when we were there.

The injured woman doing her homework.

Cute little video of Easton on Easter morning playing with his bubble machine from the easter bunny...this kid LOVES bubbles!

ZOO time!

2010-06-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

Easton is definitely a lover of all animals (yes, my child I know) so we decided it would be wise to invest in a zoo membership. A couple saturdays ago they sent me home from work because I wasn't needed, so I decided we needed to go have a fun family day outing! We then followed it up with lunch at our fav place..Rodizio Grill. Wonderful day with my favorite guys in the whole world!

I have the biggest pansy for a child. he's scared of the carousel even though I was standing there holding him the whole time!

pointing out the iguanas to me..

I love my boys!!

Salt Lake City 5k/Huntsman Heroes

2010-06-02T12:34:00.001-07:00

In April we had the opportunity to raise some money for the Hunstman Heroes Foundation for cancer research, something pretty close to our hearts since my mom was diagnosed. Originally, I had wanted to run the half marathon..but once I became preggers I decided I better stick with the 5k. I am so grateful for all those who donated to the cause and all the family who participated! Grateful for my amazing husband who slowly walked it with me even though I know he was dying to run it! I had four amazing aunts, three of which traveled from California to run the race. Our team earned a grand total of close to $2500! YAY! (can't quite remember the grand total) Thanks to the in-laws too for taking Easton for us! We hope to make this a yearly tradition...and I hope to never have to do it pregnant again. I did a 5k in 1 hour, my little brother did 13 miles in only an hour an a half after me! I was a little slow. However, he told me I can cut my time in half since I was carrying another person...

Here we all are at Olive Garden the night before...

me, easton, Tanner, & Aunt Sue
whitney and mom

Aunt Wendy, Kenzie, Whitney

my wonderful mother

easton decided that night he enjoyed sucking on lemons, who knew?

all the runners after the race. Hailey, Tanner, Joni, Misty, Abby, Shannon, me, Angie, & Darien

We ran for Huntsman and Misty, Abby, and Joni (my second cousins) ran for Alpha I (liver, lung disease) which both of Misty's kids have.

A little out of order, Hires after with all the fam

my mom with her sister Deb who came in from Cali and did the 5k with us

Shannon, me, Ang, Tanner, Hailey, my aunt Deb

All the siblings with my Mom, except Garrett. Hailey, Shannon, and I ran the 5k. Angie and Tanner ran the half marathon.

Shannon and I (big prego woman) with my mom...sure love that woman! Hope you are here for many more years to come mom!

The half marathoners..

Aunt Jan, Aunt Sue, Angie, Aunt Wendy, Tanner

Big news...

2010-03-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

After months of trying with no success and realizing we would have to again go the fertility drug route I am happy to announce we are expecting baby #2!! And it only took 2 rounds, YAY! I am due late August, luckily only having one. I am 17 1/2 weeks along and we just found out this last Tuesday we are having another baby boy! I'll definitely be outnumbered! I am so excited for Easton to have a little brother, I think they will be the best of friends (well, atleast when they are older). Many people ask if Easton is excited...I think he is trying to block it out. When we ask he either ignores us or just says 'no'. Six months ago he was obsessed with babies and would ask for a 'brudder or sister', now he is out of that phase and apparently wants to be on his own. When the doctor told him he was having a baby brother in his cranky voice he yelled back 'no', she then said it would be fun to which he again repeated 'no'. I think he will come around once he gets here (crossing my fingers anyways) We can't wait for baby boy #2!

family pictures

2010-03-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

Blast from the past....

2010-03-07T01:38:00.000-08:00

With my old computer it was such a pain to post videos, it always gave me errors, it was just a nightmare overall. But, for Christmas we got a new computer! So now I can share videos alot easier! Here are a few hilarious videos from Easton last year.....

This video is from last year during the NBA finals or March Madness (can't quite remember). Easton gets quite crazy while watching games, I can't imagine if this is him at 18 months what he'll be like when he gets older...I don't know where he gets it from :-)

This video is from last summer at Aberdeen Daze. Every year at Aberdeen Daze they hire some old band (or guy in this case) to come perform during the free breakfast. I was off talking to a friend while my mom was taking Easton around to some different toys in the park. She said on the way back he let go of her hand, got on stage and started dancing. She came and grabbed me instantly to start videoing. Let's just say provided entertainment for a while. The voices you'll hear in the video are mine and the old ladies next to me who got a kick out of it. Enjoy :-)

When one returns, one leaves...

2010-02-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

So a little over three weeks ago this guy left to Tempe, Arizona on his mission. Easton and I got to travel to Provo to drop him off at the MTC, before that Shannon met us for lunch at Panda Express..Garrett's favorite place ever to eat. We already miss Garrett so much. When we go back to my parents house easton said 'we're gonna see nana, papi, whit-wee, and garwhet' I think he's still a little confused as to why he's not there? The hardest part was watching him say goodbye to my Mom, fear of the unknown with what will happen with her. He's already doing so great and we are so proud of him! Love you Garrett!

But before Garrett left...we got Tanner back! Tanner is such a stud and we are so happy to have him back! He came back so mature and nice, not that he wasn't before but the mission just does something to these boys! The other night when I got home from a long day of doing hair he brought me a brownie sundae with chocolate and caramel spread on it and grated up almond rocha on top! He will make some woman very happy one day! He's still a little gangsta from being in Detroit...
with my parents at the airport!

So glad you are back Tan!

I'm pretty sure I have the coolest little brothers...

Jazz game!

2010-02-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

Last month we had the opportunity to go to a Jazz vs. Suns game with my family!

Here's the whole family together after the win....YAY! Go Jazz! My dad scored us some great seats on the 10th row of the lower bowl..he even scored a couple seats on the front row that were switched between my three youngest siblings and my mom and dad!

Tanner, Garrett, and Whitney and my dad (on his cell) on the front row
The ref gave the ball to Garrett during timeout

Ang & Chan sat with us during the game

The lucky ones

warming up

Garrett and the jazz bear were instant friends!

Some cool things about the game. We looked directly above us and sitting in a suite right above was President Monson! So cool! Also, Shannon's friend from work is one of the cameramen for the Jazz so he put us on the big screen! I was excited until I realized how horrible I looked on such a big screen! Yikes! It was lots of fun! Thanks again Mom & Dad!

December happenings...

2010-01-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

Saw the lights on temple square

Easton sat on Santa's lap at the mall (a very creepy Santa might I say)

Christmas Eve and Christmas morning

s
Santa was good to Easton this year...

Hope everyone had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happiest place on earth...

2009-12-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we were lucky enough to spend the week with my family in Newport Beach, my grandpa has a timeshare there we get to use every couple of years. While there we spent most of our time at Disneyland. This was the first time ever for Shannon! A big thank you to my Aunts Wendy and Sue for taking him the first day so we could have fun on the 'adult' rides! Then Easton joined us for the second day and we had a blast!

Whit, Garrett, and Shannon in line for Space Mountain
my cute mother braved the long day in her little electric scooter. she felt bad about getting us to the front of every line because she could still walk but we convinced her that there are too many bad things about cancer that you have to take advantage of the one positive you might get from a situation! right?

christmas parade

the whitster and I

going to see bugs life 3D

mom and the princesses

Easton and I waiting for 'Pirates'

Mrs. Clause

Easton nearly had a heart attack when he saw woody...

he kept saying 'hi woody, hi woody' over and over.

family pic with Woody. easton in heaven.

ran into my friend Chelsea that I haven't seen since the Pocatello days. It was so good to see her!

waiting for small world

he was waving to all the small world kids..

all decorated for the holidays.

family pic in front of the big disney christmas tree

whitney and easters in front of mr. potato head

easton and cinderella, not quite as excited to see her as woody.

uncle chan and easty

cute girls with cinderella, they were so excited

sisters

Halloween

2009-11-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

So yes, like everything else I'm posting late. It's just to be expected from now on!
For Halloween we decided to stray away from the superhero theme we'd been going with the past couple years and try something else. Easton loves 'Horton' so what better than a cute elephant...or as easton would say 'elfant' he loves his 'elefants' so he had fun walking around in his cute costume. Although we had to do some candy bribing to wear the hood! We got to attend our ward's 'trunk or treat' which Easton loved. I don't think he really understood why all these people were giving him candy...but either way he was good with it!

here he is saying 'trick treat' with his bucket of candy...

with cheerleader Bella

mouth full of candy

Easty sitting with the pumpkins

We had to do a pumpkin in support of our favorite team! Go Cougars!
We spent the rest of our night handing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters..our little Horton just loved getting in on that action! Hope everyone had a happy halloween!

Easton's 2nd birthday party!!!!

2009-10-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

My little boy is 2! Easton turned 2 on October 2nd! Yes, I am a horrible blogger and am over two weeks late on blogging about my own child's birthday....here's the cake I made for him. not great, but I refuse to pay lots of money to a store for flour, sugar, and some frosting...

Easton before his birthday. He had gotten into his present on the table, so he was scolded and had to put it back. He was TICKED if you can't tell, he didn't want to wait a second more for his presents...this is his 'i hate you mom' face..

we had some of our friends over for cake, ice cream, and present opening. we started with presents...

easton getting a little help from his friend aleksa

he got lots of clothes...boring...

but was very excited when he was done opening clothes and got to the good stuff...
he is OBSESSED with cars, so he was happy to get some...

so excited about his toys, that he didn't want anything to do with his cake...I know, I can't believe it either! What a difference a year makes..last year he was all about the cake and not so much the presents. This year all about the presents not so much the cake! We even had a little party for him in Idaho with my family but the camera died, so there will have to be an additional post on that...

Words can't even express how much we love our little man! He means everything to us! We love you so much BEASTY and the constant entertainment you provide us! Please don't grow up anymore though..I can't handle it!

pumpkin patch

2009-10-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

Last month we had the opportunity to go to Black Island Farms Harvest Festival with our friends the Nelsons and Petersons and watched pig races, rode slides, and went on a hay ride where we got to pick out our Halloween pumpkins! This is Easton and Shannon waiting for the pig races. doesn't easton look thrilled to be there?

pig races...we each picked a color of a pig we thought would win.

Easton even got some action from Bella out of the night

Easty & I on the slide..he was too much of a wimp to do it on his own

Daddy & Easty on the slide

Nelson family on the hay ride

our fam on the hay ride, at the end of the hay ride we got to pick out some huge pumpkins!

Another family picture. despite the look easton did have lots of fun. he just refuses to smile for pictures anymore....Thanks Nelsons and Petersons we had a great time!

our weekend getaways...

2009-10-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

We started off the weekend by watching my little sis Whitney cheer at the homecoming game, she is the flyer in this stunt..isn't she cute? she is growing up way too fast, easton calls her his 'aunt whit-wee'

we stayed at my sister Angie's in Blackfoot because my parents were getting new tile installed, this is late one night after going out to eat. halle, easton, and mckinley. mckin jumped on the roof of the car and yelled 'i'm the prom queen'. it was hilarious! she is definitely her mother's daughter!

the next morning we attended the Idaho State Fair parade in Blackfoot. Easton had lots of fun collecting candy...

Easty, me, Hailey, and whitney at the parade

I had to take a pic of this float, because...seriously? Christ's Cowboy Country Church?

Hailey, Easty, and Halle
After the parade my sis hired a babysitter and all the girls went to IF to enjoy food, shopping, and pedicures. It was wonderful, I enjoyed spending some quality girl time with the women I love most....

Mom and Hailey at five guys

all the sisters at Five Guys

sisters getting pedicures

Mom and the sisters-whitney. whitney wasn't in the pic because she was getting a manicure. she has a weird thing about people touching her feet.
We finished off the weekend by getting some Cafe Rio to go and watching the BYU vs. Oklahoma game. I had such a fun time with my mom and sisters. Love you all!

So the reason for the girls outing was because all the boys got to go to Dallas for the game. I was SUPER jealous! Especially since BYU won the game!

cousin Troy, Shannon, Dad, Garrett, Chan and Marc (bro-in-laws)

The whole gang! they golfed 27 holes in Texas heat. Chan, Troy (cousin), Dad, Blair Dance (dad's old college roomie), Shannon, Ryan (cousin), Marc, and Garrett.

brother Garrett in front of the stadium

Go Cougars!

Thanks for both trips Mom and Dad! We both had a blast!

what we did this summer......

2009-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

WE ATE ALOT!!!!!

Ok, kidding...we did eat alot. but we did some other stuff too. I've been horrible at blogging this summer (ok I know I was horrible at blogging before summer started too) so I decided to put it all in one post! This summer we.....

had loads of fun with friends at the Roy Aquatic Center, we spent a couple days there this summer...

my friend Lindsay and son Drake

Easton and his friend Dane
My aunt Wendy came up from California to Idaho. So my cousin Katie and I drove up for the day and spent some time at Ross Park with the family...

cute Taylor in her goggles

Easton decided he wanted the chips to himself, so he stole the bag and decided
to take them up on his own little hill away from the group....or probably so that I didn't
take them away from him....another instance of our passion for food...

Aunt Wendy & beasty...not too long before they were best of friends. Love ya Wend!

cousin Kelsey & Hailey

Peyton loving the kiddie pool

cousin Halle

easty and halle

more pictures with chips in the hand....he loves his food

I thought this picture was so cute...Taylor, McKin, Halle, & Peyton sunbathing....

we buzzed easton's head and realized he is getting too tall and can
now steal cereal from off the countertops...another picture of easton hoarding the food.

we went to Sparetime family fun center to go bowling....
but all easton wanted to do was ride the carousel.

and take rides in cars.

we went to Hogle Zoo and measured up to the gorillas...I was convinced it was impossible to get an almost two year old to actually turn around and smile for the camera.

went with Jess and Cali...my good friend from highschool

we traveled up to Rexburg to visit Shannon's family and attend his 'ten-year' class reunion at South Fremont High School in St. Anthony....this is him with some of his old friends

the whole class, (he's the tall guy with the blue shirt in the back row)

we rode the carousel at 'porter park' with cousin Ava and Aunt Hailey

does this face scare ya? it scares me.....
easton got spoiled with chocolate at grandpa and grandma lucas's house

we celebrated our sixth anniversary by going to one of our all time
favorite restaraunts in slc, rodizio grill....
that's right, six years! yes, we are getting old!
here's hoping the next six are as good as the first six...love ya honey!

Wig shopping....

2009-08-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last month was a rough one. My mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer. It is stage 4 because it has already spread to her liver and spine. When we went online the rate of survival said only 40% last five years plus. My parents came down to Huntsman Cancer Institute to get a second opinion. They let me tag along and my mother and I got to do some wig shopping after, and as her hairdresser I was more than happy to give my opinion!

Looking fabulous in a wig! We also bought some really cute bandanas and headwear. My mother is so amazing. She is always so positive about everything. Even cancer. through chemo, through the pain, through losing her hair. she always has a smile on her face. I'm trying my best to be more like her every day! We were happy to get some good news at Huntsman. thanks to many fasting & prayers the results from the first chemo showed it was working and shrinking the tumors. Now we just pray the hormone therapy will work after the chemo is done and she could be looking at a much longer life! She is in for the fight of her life, but I know if anyone can do it she can! Which is wonderful, because I can't imagine life without this amazing woman! Love you Mom!

Lucas family reunion

2009-08-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we had a Lucas family reunion. We went to Lagoon, ate like crazy, and had fun visiting with family!

Easty & I on the carousel
Easton and cousin ben on the boat ride, screamed bloody murder when we took him off!

captain of the ship

easton and uncle steve were instant friends

Ava, Jen, and I enjoying the lazy river
I was trying to get a tan...they obviously weren't

brothers

the girls

the boys

my two cute sis-in-laws. shelly and jen.

after our long day easton just went right up and snuggled with his cousin Grayson. TOO CUTE!

4th of july

2009-08-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

For fourth of July we made our way to West Jordan and got to hang with the Baker/Anderson crew for a bbq and small fireworks show! They are a blast to be with! We love you guys, thanks for inviting us!

helping the kids with their sparklers. Easton got so excited when it was lit that he reached around and grabbed it (ouch!) he was quite traumatized after, but he loved fireworks! Shannon and baby Jack

cousin Mitch and cute baby Jolie (shocking we are related huh? I wish I tanned like them....)

Peyton and Taylor were SO excited for the firework show....

TJ and Marcus
kids enjoying the smoke bombs earlier in the night

Wahlen reunion/Kelsey's wedding

2009-08-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

So I am finally catching up on my blogging from clear back in June! (whoops)

End of June we had a blast getting together with all the Wahlen, Baker, and Markham cousins together in good ol' Aberdeen. First, we attended the wedding of these two. My cousin Kelsey Wahlen and Bronson Funk...and since I've been her hairdresser for years I was lucky enough to get to do her hair...she is a beautiful girl and I am so happy for them! Friday we enjoyed some boating, Saturday we attended Aberdeen Daze festivities and Kelsey's reception and Sunday we congregated at Grandpa Wahlen's for lots of good cookin!

with my cousin Brian

the women preparing the meal at my grandpa's house

the kids playing at grandpa's (ahh..memories)

barbeque friday night at uncle dave & aunt collette's
easton would not get out of this truck all night, uncle garrett decided to take a break and hang out with easty

the fam at Aberdeen Daze parade

Angie, Halle, and Hailey waiting for the parade.

OK, so funny story. All those who have ever spent time with Easton know he is 'obsessed' with dancing. Well every year at Aberdeen Daze they have a guy sing to entertain those who are waiting in line for the free breakfast. Easton was heading back from the toys when he heard the music stepped out on the cement slab and started dancing. He was entertaining everyone in line for 15-20 minutes. It was hilarious! He even got his picture in the Aberdeen Times. (still trying to post the video, stay tuned!)

We love all our cousins, aunts, uncles, and kids on the Wahlen side!

We had such a fun time with them! Till next year.....

don't take my balloon from me...

2009-06-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

Lastnight at our ward's enrichment they had some leftover balloons, so I took some home with me because I knew Easton would love them. However, I probably never anticipated how MUCH he would love them. Since I have gotten home lastnight he has not removed the strings from his chubby little hands. He fell asleep with them (wanted to get a pic, but didn't want to wake him) woke up with them, and even ate his breakfast with them. Right now he is watching Yo Gabba Gabba with them..he also keeps playing with other toys with one hand while faithfully holding on to the balloon strings in the other hand. What a funny boy! Cheapest entertainment ever!

easty & kiersty

2009-06-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

this is easton and our next door neighbor Kiersty. We are sad because Kiersty will be moving away next month. She is such a good little babysitter to Easton, along with our other neighbor Lauren. We are so lucky to have cute girls just the right age for babysitting that live close! Easton feels so comfortable with her, he just walks right into her house and goes to jump on the tramp with her almost daily!

memorial day

2009-06-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

So every single year for as long as I can remember (or since I was in high school) we always go and visit my grandmother's grave in Aberdeen and do a little bbq with my family. This year was the first that we didn't attend. Living in Utah we have had to adjust to not being there for every little family thing. So this memorial day since we didn't have family to party with and all our friends were hanging with their families, we did what anyone would do and spent the day cleaning our garage. Easton was a big help as you can see....he got on his big boy gloves and thought he was being extremely helpful.

he also had lots of fun running through the sprinkler, he kept running through and saying 'oooh' really loud

easton update

2009-05-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

I kind of meant to do this little update post when Easton turned 18 months old, which was a little over a month ago..but better late than never seems to be my motto in life and in blogging! Anyways, when I took Easton in for his 18-month dr. appt. he was 85% in height. 60% weight (lowest he's ever been for weight and height) but it was funny when the doctor was giving his head % he said 'well, as always his head is ginormous and off the charts' (haha) So maybe one day the rest of his body will catch up to his big ol' head. We just think he must have really big brains in there!
He's doing lots of funny things lately and talking more and more everday. Last week, I was sitting with Shannon and he said to Easton 'my mom' and Easton goes' uh. no. my mom.' I think that was my mothers day present from him!
Just a couple days ago, Easton started calling me honey. It is rare he calls me mom anymore, now it is mostly just 'honey'.
Whenever he wants more juice or milk he hands me his sippy says more and then starts jogging his chubby little body to the fridge.
He is obsessed with bellies. Daily he lifts up my shirt and says 'mom, belly' hopefully he doesn't ever do it in public, that would not be pretty!
He loves playing with cars lately and scoots around on the floor driving his car saying 'vroom, vroom'...

Some of you may also have wondered about his naturally rosy red cheeks. Easton has a case of Eczema that will be on and off the rest of his life. There are some lotions that make it better but it never fully goes away! He is our little mini Santa minus the white hair! He has it on his cheeks, arms, and legs. Everyone always makes comments about his beautiful blue and eyes and cute red rosy cheeks! We love it, can't complain and feel really fortunate that it isn't something more serious and that he is in really good health!

We love him SO much, I can't believe my baby is almost TWO! here are some pics of our little man!

here he is with Grandpa Wahlen on his farm
he loves his monkey backpack and jamba juice, he's in heaven right here!

at the park on the swing, loves his sunglasses!

enjoying a cookie, my bribe to try and get him to look at the camera...believe me it's like pulling teeth to get him to look and smile!

A little family pic at our nephew's baptism. Easton was super ready for a nap!

This is a video of him 'jumping' or what he thinks is him jumping.

Happy Birthday Angie!

2009-05-10T17:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my older & wiser sister Angie's birthday! She turned 28. Angie is totally the life of the party, and gets upset if there is ever a party she can't attend! She is easy to talk to, always fun to be around, and really cares for all her siblings. She is very generous...will do anything for her family! She let Easton and I stay at her house for a couple days last month while I was doing hair and took care of Easton for me and never asks anything in return! I only wish I lived closer to her! She is a wonderful mom to three of the cutest girls who are wonderful cousins to Easton! We love you Ang and hope you had a great day!

Grandpa Kimball's Funeral

2009-05-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

On April 15th my Grandpa Kimball (mom's dad) passed away after battling lymphoma cancer. He was a great man. I always admired his honesty, hard work ethic, and generosity just to name a few. It was sad to see him go but I can only imagine the sweet reunion that took place between him and my grandma. He couldn't wait to be with her again and always seemed empty without her around. We traveled to Northern California where he lived most of his life for the funeral, after it was all over it was pretty hard to leave since I had so many childhood memories there and will probably not have a reason to go back anytime soon.

Wasn't he handsome?
at the funeral. He was a World War II vet, and had a military burial.

My parents and siblings (minus Elder Wahlen) at the burial.

We love you Grandpa, you will be missed!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

So, because I put the pictures on in the wrong order...this will be the reverse order of our Easter happenins....this is Easton after church. I tried to take some good pictures of Easton in his Easter Sunday outfit. The problem is my subject never smiles for the camera anymore. Apparently, as of a couple months ago he became too 'cool' to smile for the camera....

I think this is his 'Zoolander-like' model poseSunday morning he got his easter basket bright and early at 7 a.m. We usually have church at 11 but for Easter had stake conference bright and early at 9. He really enjoyed a paddle with the ball attached that was in his basket. He walked around for 10 minutes going 'wee, wee'..$1 well spent.

Easter basket...guess I shouldn't have been so cheap...anything that required batteries in that basket didn't work...so half of his basket.

Easton and I at the Clinton City Egg Hunt. He was pretty upset because when the horn went off he was saying hi to a dog in the park. So he pretty much cried while I picked up eggs for him. He wasn't interested in AT ALL! He loves doggies...it figures that Shannon and I would have a kid that is OBSESSED with dogs since we are not dog people. He seriously freaks out everytime he so much as hears one on TV. Soon to come...video clip of him saying 'doggie' and 'woof, woof'

All in all we had a wonderful Easter. It was the first one in our almost six years of marriage not spent with either one of our families...so it was a little weird. But at the same time fun to start our own traditions in our little family! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

ESPN here I come!

2009-04-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

This first video is of Easton yelling at the players/refs (who really knows?) during March Madness. He gets a little bit crazy watching games. It's pretty entertaining. We often wonder where he got this behavior, his parents never do this :-)

Video of Easton saying 'doggie' (sounds like dada) and 'woof, woof'...at my brother and sis-in-law's house. They have a couple dogs and Easton was entertained all weekend. Here he is staring at them through the window. Excuse the cleaning of the ears, I had just done it and apparently he decided I didn't finish the job on my own....

Happy Birthday Halle!

2009-04-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'm always late about birthday posts, but better late than never right? Tuesday my little neice Halle turned 2 years old. We love her little personality so much. She is so good to both her sisters and is just a happy-go-lucky little girl. She is six months older than Easton so I hope one day these two will be best of friends! Right now Easton hits her anytime she comes close....so sorry Halle! We love you and hope you had a great party!

HAWAII trip!!!

2009-04-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Last month (yes, I'm a horrible blogger) we got to go to Hawaii, the island of O'ahu with my family. It was the most amazing trip ever! We loved everything about it, if it wasn't so expensive to live there I think we would move there and become beach bums! Here is what we did...

SUNDAY- flew in

MONDAY

we visited the Dole Plantation did the garden tour, rode the pineapple express, and ate pineapple ice cream and chocolate-covered pineapple

TUESDAY

we went to Waimea Bay and boogie boarded and ate lunch at a shrimp shack and then spent the whole day at the Polynesian Cultural Center where we got to watch a canoe show, learned to hula, watched them play with fire, ate at a luau, and attended the most amazing night show performance ever!

WEDNESDAY

I went golfing at Turtle Bay (our resort we stayed at) with the boys, that afternoon we just hung out on the beach!

THURSDAY

We went shopping at the Ala Moana Shopping Center in downtown Honolulu, spent some time in Waikiki on the beach, then shopped a little more & ate dinner at Benihana

FRIDAY

I did shark encounters with the boys. There were a ton of waves and we all got extremely seasick, almost everyone (including me) threw up overboard. By the time we got in the water it was hard to enjoy the sharks because we were so sick, I spent the rest of the day in bed! Shannon got to go do surfing lessons in the afternoon which he really enjoyed!

SATURDAY

last day in Hawaii, in the morning we went to a swap meet in Honolulu and got lots of good souvenirs...that afternoon we toured the U.S.S. Missouri at Pearl Harbor..that night we took the red-eye flight home and arrived in Utah at 2:30 a.m. Hawaii time. It took us a while to recover!

That was our trip! We loved Hawaii and hope to go back again one day! However, it was super hard for us to be away from Easton for 7 days...I was shocked when I walked into our bedroom Sunday morning before we left and saw Shannon breaking down crying, he is such a good dad (he would probably be mad if he knew I wrote that, good thing he never checks our blog)! I thought I was freaking out way more than him! Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Lucas for watching our little guy for a week...and a big MAHALO to my parents for taking us!