SWIMMING IS BACK!

I haven't felt like I have had anything really interesting going on the last little while, so that is why I havn't written. The big news is that we got to go swimming last week for the first time in months. Since there was some virus going around, they banned all kids 5 and under. The ban just lifted, so we went and had a blast. It was Gavin's first time, and he loved it. He hung his tongue out the whole time as if trying to catch a drop. We will definitely be going more. We are going to spend Thanksgiving at my parents this year, and then hop in the car and drive to St. George. The weather there is supposed to be sunny, but it is only supposed to be in the mid fifties. I wish it was going to be warmer. Michelle and Dan, Rus's sister and brother-in-law, are going to go down with us as well. It will be good to get away. Rus has been working alot with talisker. Last week was a bad week where he got home late every night. So far, this week has been better. He says he is finally caught up with everything. A couple of weeks ago he bought a new truck. It has been good since we can now all fit in it. It is the same kind of truck that he already has, just four-wheel drive, a crew cab, and it's a little newer. It is still runs off natural gas, like his other. He is keeping his other truck in the company. Not much is happening around home. Brigham loves school, and enjoys playing with his friend from school, Jack. Luckily he lives in our ward not to far from us, so we see him alot. Caleb is his same crazy self. He has a lot of energy and is always pulling funny faces. He is growing right now. He has gotten taller. He is wearing 4T clothing and he is not even 3 yet. His knowledge never ceases to amaze me. He wanders around singing his favorite songs now. He can count and say the alphabet. It's scary. Gavin is starting to sit up on his own. If I set him on the floor, he can sit up for maybe a minute before he falls over. He seems to be getting steadier every few days. I think he is getting close to getting a tooth also. Since last friday he hs been knawing on anything he can get his hands on. Then its his hands if he can't get anything. He has been moody as well. Let's hope there's a tooth coming. They all keep us very busy and frustrated, but happy at the same time. Well, now that Thankgiving is already upon us, let the christmas shopping begin. I'm already gearing up to get up at the crack of dawn on friday to head over to the wal-mart in bloomington. Another adventursome day. Brigham got so many toys for his birthday, that the last thing I want to do is go buy him more. But that is the fun of the whole thing, isn't it! OH WELL!!:)

THE EVERYDAY

This past weekend we went out to the west desert to a place called the knoll's. Its a big sand dune area for four wheelers, dirt bikes, etc. We took our ranger out and had a blast. Brigham and Caleb enjoy going up and over the sand dunes, and getting out to wander, probably the best. Caleb was going "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" when we would start heading down the dunes. It gets a little intense when you start heading straight up a mountain side. Rus just kept saying "floor it, floor it!!!!" I have to say, I never got it stuck once!! It was a fun day. Gavin hung out with my sister Michelle, enjoying himself thoroughly as well. Sunday was the first day in about six weeks now that we were able to go to church as a family, though it didn't matter much. I still ended up out in the foyer with Gavin, and Rus ended taking Caleb and Gavin home early due to much crankiness(it was daylight savings). Still the thought of us all getting to go is nice. Things have been pretty uneventful since last week. Now were just going through the day to day. Caleb went to the dentist for the fist time yesterday. He was said to have squirted everyone with the the mouth rinser! Well, talk to you later! gotta go fold laundry!:)

BIRTHDAY BOY!

Well, yesterday was the actual big day for Brigham! He has been waiting for this for many (like 9) months now. He had a great day that started at 6 am. We had a wonderful birthday breakfast of french toast, then opened his present. He spent the morning playing with his pirate ship with caleb. We were so happy to get a call from Grandma and Grandpa Randall from Germany. Brigham talked to them for a long time. Most importantly he wanted to know when he would get his present from them. The mind of a five year old. He spent the day with friends as he went to a neighbor boys birthday party and then went to a friends house for the rest of the day. For dinner we went a little overboard and went to jungle jims! He had a blast!! The night before his birthday he had his Grandma and Grandpa Beckstead over and his aunt and uncles from Laura's side over. He got many good presents. He has had a great couple of days. The party continues Thursday when we have his friends over for a party. What a week. Multiple birthday celebrations and Halloween.

Are you getting annoyed yet?

I told you I wasn't going to be great at this whole blogging thing. Hopefully it will be more enticing now that I can put some pictures on. Well, Gavin had his two week check-up this past monday. We found out that the things that have been up his nose (nasal stents) have to stay up his nose for the next six months. The great thing is they don't stay up on their own. I have finally taped up his face royally enough that they have actually stayed on for about 6 hours now( that's a record!!) I met Rus for lunch at Cafe Rio and someone came over and asked me if my baby had broken his nose. My poor child!! Six months!!!??? Brigham is extremely excited about his up and coming birthday next Monday. He is turning 5. I can't believe I have a five year old. He has been talking about it everyday for probably the last month. He has actually gotten extremely mad when I told him it wasn't the next day. We are going to have a "sports" party for him next week. Fun:) Rus and I went to see the dance performace Thriller Last night with our neighbors. It was so cool! I definitely reccomend seeing it, but leave the kiddies home. Lets just say the chainsaw guys and the chucky guys might leave them a little rattled. They might not understand the Lorena Bobbit part either! It was a riot!! Anyway, See ya soon! Love to all!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?

Have you seen this man? He is considered to be highly contagious for a new unknown disease. If you have exhibited symptoms of strange silliness, excessive laughter, inexplicable need to put on crazy clothes, or just plain rolling on the floor, you need to get to the nearest doctor as soon as possible. Not long after this picture was taken, he was found to be a carrier of the new mystery disease, and then fled!! Please help us find him and bring him in before he infects other innocent bystanders!

HIGH-SPEED!!!

I just got high-speed internet!! It is 11:15 at night, but I am so excited that this is up and working that I just had to go somewhere, so here I am! I am going to get some pictures on just so I can watch how fast they come up!! My last post was of Gavin. His surgery went really well, and we are now over a week out. Next monday he gets his gear off, and we will be back in business. It is amazing how good he looks! Our plastic surgeon is truely a miracle worker! Gavin has been a little trooper through it all. He just rolls with the punches!(almost literally) Anyway, here are some pictures.(hopefully) I'm adding some pictures of our trip to St. George in our new toy. We ended up on the top of this mountain looking over all of St. George. It was Awesome!

GAVIN

Well....tomorrow is the big day!! I am glad that it is finally here. I didn't think about it for a long time, but for the last three weeks I have just been waiting. We will find out later today when he goes in. He will have his lip worked on and then it should look like what it is going to be. This past weekend we went to St. George to play on our new 4-wheeler. We were going to go to Moab, but there were not any vacant hotel rooms due to a bike race. We still had a blast. We went and rode the sand dunes of sand hollow, then went up past santa clara to a place called the joshua tree loop. Both were great. We took Gavin both times. Just put his carseat in the seat belt on the bench seat. I was surprised how well he did. He seemed to enjoy himself. Rus had a great birthday. He enjoyed the phone calls that he recieved. We really enjoyed confrence. Sorry for the lack of pictures. we still are dial-up(i know) and pictures take forever. To my defense, we did try to get high-speed through Qwest, but it was an abosolute disaster, so we told them to forget it. Everywhere else is super expensive. Any ideas!? Well, I will let everyone know as soon as I can how tomorrow goes. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.