Oh, What do you do in the Summertime?

This past week I took the kids and went shopping at Wal-Mart for a little grocery shopping. While we were there, I picked up a swimming pool for the kiddos. Kaleb picked out a Crocodile pool that has a sprinkler feature. Water shoots out of the Croc's head into the pool! It is really a cute little pool. For the past few days Kaleb has been begging me to fill it up for him and Karmindy so they can go swimming. Yesterday afternoon, I got ambitious and spent between 30-40 minutes pumping up the pool with a hand pump and then took it out back to fill it up. Do I love my kids or what? I should've used Mark's air compressor but didn't want to take the chance of blowing it up to fast and popping it. After filling up the pool, I let the water warm up for a couple hours and then turned the kidlets loose! They had so much fun! My friend Amy, who lives behind me, brought her two cute kiddos over and they joined Kaleb and Karmindy for their first swim of the season! Karmindy is our little fish and went right to town playing in the water. Kaleb on the other hand was a little hesitant to climb in. Kaleb and his little friend Jaxon kept busy taking cups of water out of the pool and watering our dry spots in the lawn for me. Funny boys! I tried every effort to have them get wet. I even turned on Kaleb's mickey mouse sprinkler but no luck. Maybe next time! Here are a few pictures of the kids first swim of the season!

Karmindy enjoying the pool! She is my little water baby!


My dear friend Brooke and her girls got Karmindy a swimsuit for her birthday! She looks so cute in it and it actually is high enough in the front to cover her scar. Thanks Brooke, Emma and Heidi for Karmindy's cute suit! Karmindy looks adorable in it!


Karmindy can't wait to dive in!


Kaleb attempting to run through the sprinklers. He was to scared to get to close! Silly Boy!


Kaleb with his friend Jaxon have fun in the pool! Cute boys!

Karmindy's First Birthday & Princess Party

On the day of Karmindy's Birthday (Friday May 15th), Mark was was able to work just a half a day, which was great because as soon as he got home we headed to Texas Roadhouse to have an early birthday dinner for Karmindy. We had a fun time enjoying each others company and of course enjoying our food! Karmindy dined on mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and loved eating the rolls with cinnamon butter. She also took quite a liking to our waiter! He paid her lots of attention and would shake her little hand when he came to the table. She loved it and wouldn't want to let go of him when it came time for him to leave or go get us drinks. She sure loves the men! We have a little flirt on our hands! After dinner we went home and opened presents as a family! It was fun to watch her try to open her presents. Kaleb was a great help and would take over after about a second of watching her. He got very impatient and was glad to give some assistance to his little sister. The following day after Karmindy's birthday (Saturday May 16th), we threw Karmindy a Princess Birthday Party! It was open house style so neighbors, family and friends could come and go as they pleased. For Karmindy's party I decorated our Living room with black and pink crepe paper and balloons. I did a little montage of pictures that we have taken over the past year of Karmindy and placed them along our bar in our kitchen. I sprinkled little rhinestone flowers around the pictures and put little KNick-knacks between the pictures. It turned out really cute! For dessert we served cake and raspberry punch (a recipe I found online). The punch was a hit as well as the yummy strawberry mousse Costco cake! I think everyone had a great time, including the birthday girl! We were really grateful to our dear neighbors and family members who could come and support us. We truly have been blessed with wonderful family and friends. Here are some pictures of Karmindy's birthday party and her special day!

We are so grateful for Karmindy and that we could celebrate her 1st year of life!

Happy Birthday "Sweet Heart!"

Our little Princess

Karmindy opening presents from Mommy, Daddy and Big Brother!(Books and Clothes)

Enjoying her birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse!
Karmindy filled up on Rolls with butter, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. What a yummy 1st birthday feast!


Karmindy's montage of pictures that were taken over the past year!


The Birthday cake!


The infamous 1st birthday cake picture! Dig In!


Big brother lending some assistance with opening up gifts from Gma and Gpa Rizbey!
She loves her tea set and clothes. Kaleb also likes the tea set and has been playing tea party with her on a daily basis much to Marks disgruntle. =)


Kaleb loves his little sister even though his little sister doesn't always like to be loved on!


This is a picture of Karmindy with her little friend Vienna. The had beds next to each other at PCMC and had the same surgeries just a day apart. They were also born 3 days apart from each other. It is fun to have a little friend that has gone through the same things!


Opening Gma and Gpa DeMille's Present! (Glow worm and clothes)


She loves her glow worm and rocks out to the music. She will actually hold on to the ears with her teeth so she can carry it with her from room to room! So cute!

A big THANKS to everyone who was able to come celebrate our birthday girls special day and also for all the lovely gifts and well wishes!

Our miracle baby is ONE!

I can't believe that Karmindy turned one today! This past year has really flown by! Today has been a day of rejoicing and counting our blessings especially counting Karmindy as one of them. It is amazing to think a year ago, about this time of night (11 pm) we were being told that our Daughter was born with congenital Heart disease and would need open heart surgery to repair two holes in her heart and a constricted aorta. It was devastating news to hear as parents, especially when we had no knowledge that our daughter had any problems prior to her birth. As many of you may know, with in hours of finding out, Mark and Karmindy were life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital. I joined them several days later. At four days old, Karmindy had open heart surgery! I can still remember sitting next to Mark at PCMC and having the doctors tell us what was involved in having open heart surgery. I have never been so scared in my life! The scariest thing was knowing that the doctors would have to stop her heart and then perform the surgery and then start her heart again. As a new mother, it was one of the scariest things I have had to go through. I was also so scared for my little baby girl! Mark and I said many prayers as well as friends and family in her behalf. I know those prayers were heard and it really is a miracle and an act of our Heavenly Father in letting her stay with us here in mortality. Especially when we know many of the little babies that lay next to Karmindy in the NICU and PICU have since not made it. We are so grateful for our daughter!Karmindy's surgery went well and all defects were able to be fixed. We spent 3 1/2 long weeks at PCMC and were so glad to take her home when she was around a month old!

It is amazing to look back and Since the get- go Karmindy has had a lot of fight in her. While I was pregnant with her she would squirm and kick so hard! If I was laying a way she didn't like, she would let me know and kick me until I would turn.

I know that this "Strong Will" is what has helped her be with us today! Karmindy continues to show us her "Strong Will" daily! It is one of the things we love most about her! She is as feisty as they come! She is also quite mischievous and can't be left alone for too long before finding things to get into and make HUGE messes. And I mean HUGE!!!! She constantly keeps me on the move! It has been so fun to watch her progress and learn new things and adapt little habits and traits this past year- and just grow and develop her little personality.
All in all, we love our DeeDee you are such an example to your family. We love you so much and love your determination and strong will. We are so grateful to have our little Dee in our family. Mark and I are so grateful and feel so priviledged to be your parents!
Happy First Birthday Sweet heart!

A trip down memory Lane-- Bitter sweet!

I was about a month away from delivering Karmindy in this picture!

Our little peanut is here! She weighed 6lbs. 9 ounces and
19 inches long!

Karmindy with her daddy! She is a total Daddy's girl!

Several Days after having open heart surgery!

Our little Sweet"heart" recovering from Open heart Surgery on the
Recovery Floor.

We Get to Take you Home 6/7/08!!!


Karmindy - Our sleeping beauty!


Our little Bug!


Around 3 months old!


6 months old!


Today!

Our little Dee!

* Stay tuned for more pictures of her birthday party!

One of my favorite mothers day gifts...

Last Friday Kaleb went to his first primary activity! I took him and dropped him off. I felt a little bad leaving him because he is getting so big and he doesn't seem to mind being away from his old mom anymore. I on the other hand, love having Kaleb around, I love spending time with him and he is such a big help to me around the house. I can't believe he, my little boy, is growing up! Sniff, Sniff. After dropping Kaleb off, I went home and spent some quality time with Karmindy. We read books and played together! It was fun to have some alone time to spend with her. even though we missed brother.

Kaleb had the time of his life at the Primary Activity. When I drove into the church parking lot, he was running around with the other kids and eating his "Creamies" ice cream bar. When I asked Kaleb if he had fun, he immediately said "I had a great time Mom!" While he was there all the kids made their moms a special little booklet that had a poem and their hand print for Mothers day. The Leaders also asked each of the kids some questions about their moms and then wrote down their answers in the booklet. To finish off their booklet, they took a brown paper bag and had the kids decorate the outside and tie it with a bow. It really was a darling idea! I wanted to share the cute poem and some of the questions and of course my favorite of all- Kaleb's answers.


Mothers Day Poem

Sometimes you get discouraged
because I am so small
and always leave my fingerprints
on furniture and walls
but every day I'm Growing--
I'll be all grown up some day
and all those tiny fingerprints
will surely fade away

So here is one little hand print
just so you can recall
exactly how my fingers looked
when I was very small.
Question and Answers

How old is your Mom?
Three more months
How tall is your mom?
She is very tall

What is your favorite meal that your mom cooks?
Hot Dogs and Chicken! :)

What color are your mom's eyes?
Blue. ( I was really impressed that he got this right!)

What makes your mom happy?
When I do something right.

What is your favorite thing to do with your mom?
Play games with her

What does your mom do when you aren't around?
She wraps presents for Christmas (Loved this answer!)

Why do we have moms?
Cuz we do!

How did Heavenly Father make moms?
I don't know

What was your mom like when she was your age?
She was sunny. ( I got thinking about this. Kaleb can't say his f's and they come out like s's so he actually was meaning to say that I was funny. I guess that I am pretty serious now! :))

What is your mom's favorite color?
Green ( Kaleb gets his reds and greens mixed up. What he thinks is green is really red!
Which is my favorite color! He can actually point to my favorite color. Colorblindness? I am not sure yet. Although, it does run in our family.)


How do you know that your mom loves you?
Cuz she does

What food does your mom make best?
Hot Dogs! ( I thought this was hilarious! They are actually Kalebs favorite food, so I am glad that I can cook them well!)

What is the recipe for your favorite food?
Hot dogs
buns
Mustard
Ketchup

I love this little present that Kaleb made me for mothers day! It truly touched my heart and it was so fun to see that he really does recognize things about me and enjoys things about me. I love you son, Thanks for the wonderful mother's day present.

A Happy Mothers Day to me!

Mothers Day has been a really nice day! I just have to brag about my amazing husband for a minute. Mark is such a wonderful man, husband and father. He always goes above and beyond to take care of me and our kidlets. I love you babe!

Early Sunday morning, Mark got up with the kiddos and made me breakfast in bed while I got to sleep in, which is always a treat!! Mark surprised me by cooking me a wonderful breakfast of Orange Juice, crepes topped with strawberry jam and whipped cream, with sausage and bacon and served it to me in bed! While we were at church he took care of Karmindy so I could go to Relief Society and enjoy some peace and quiet and pay attention to the lesson. So nice.
After we got home from church, Mark made me a wonderful dinner of shrimp, king crab legs, stuffed potatoes, and sparkling apple cider. For dessert he cooked a Razzleberry pie! I have to admit that I have the best husband in the world who spoils me! Thanks Honey for all that you do for me! I love you! Thanks for a making mothers day a special one!

Yummy Strawberry Freezer Jam

This past week, I got really ambitious and made some homemade strawberry Freezer Jam! I love making jam. It is really very easy to do and I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I look at each container and know that I am making something to set aside for a rainy day. Even though strawberry jam isn't the most nutritious it is definitely a treat to have on hand. A local store was having a sale on Strawberries. The sale was buy 4- 1 lb. containers of strawberries for $5.oo! I Thought it was a good deal so I picked up some strawberries! Here is my finished project- I got 5 containers of yummy jam!

A visit from Friends...

On Friday morning, I got a phone call from one of our dear friend and previous neighbors who lives in Southern Utah! My friend called to tell me that her cute family was coming up for a baby blessing and would be driving through the area and wanted to get together for dinner. I was ecstatic! It has been since Christmas since we have seen them so it was a treat to be able to get together with them! That night we were able to get together with them! We had fun catching up over dinner and visiting. We are so glad that we could get together with them! We love and miss our dear friends!

Our friends were so sweet and brought a early birthday Present up for Karmindy!


She loves her walking puppy dog!


Sydney, Karmindy and Kaleb cheesin' it for the camera!
Thanks again you guys for stopping by!
PS. Happy 10th Miss Sydney!

Special Delivery...

As you all know by now, we love getting mail, especially Kaleb! On Friday, we got a fun package from Grandma and Grandpa Rizbey (what Kaleb calls his Grandma and Grandpa Frisbey). Laurie sent up some darling outfits for the kids, swimsuits, coloring book, and stickers for Kaleb. The kids had a fun time opening the package and checking out what was inside. I always have to laugh at Kaleb because he always says the darnedest things. After we opened the package, we sat down for lunch. While we were eating, Kaleb turned to me and said, "Mom, I wonder who else loves me that will send me a package?" "Aunt Nicole hasn't sent me one yet!" I did remind him that his Auntie sent him a very fun Thomas the Train card in the mail that played music for his birthday that had money in it. He said, "That is right!" "She does love me!"Apparently Kaleb is keeping track of who sends him stuff. Kids are too funny and say the darnedest things!Kaleb loves his coloring book and stickers!

Karmindy's favorite part of the package was the hangers!


Thanks Gma and Gpa Rizbey for thinking of us!

Two Little Monkeys...

This past week has been a busy one! On Thursday, I was preparing for the following day to have my cute Activity Day girls come over to make assemble Lasagnas for some of the Sisters in the Ward that would be having babies soon. In that preparation, I needed to sweep and mop my floors. I have found that it is really hard to sweep and mop when Karmindy crawls after me, so I put her in her crib with a few toys to play with. She didn't like that I had left her in her room and started screaming bloody murder. Kaleb is such a great big brother and told me he was going to go and make his little sister happy while I cleaned up. Kaleb is such a good big brother and will usually do everything he can to entertain his sister if I ask him to. This time he volunteered which I was grateful for. When I came back, I found that Kaleb had crawled into Karmindy's crib and they were both having the time of their lives playing! They were jumping, throwing stuffed animals everywhere, and just making a big mess. Something that they both do best! Even though I had a lot to clean up, I was glad that Kaleb took the iniative and entertained his little sister while I needed to get some much needed housework done! Here are a few pics of my cute little monkeys in Karmindy's bed!

There is a first for everything...

Well, I did it! I took the plunge and went shorter. I have never had this short of hair in my life and I actually love it! Thanks Teresa for cutting my hair again!

Happy Birthday to Kaleb's Girl!

A few weeks ago, Kaleb and Karmindy received an invitation to a combined prince and princess birthday party for Kaleb's friend, Emma and her little sister. Emma is the little girl that I have mentioned before that is in Kaleb's sunbeam class. Kaleb adores and calls her, "My girl!" It is really too cute to listen to him say that. He really is a little Casanova and he is only 4! (I am a little Leary to know what the future will bring with my girl crazy son!)

Kaleb has been really excited to attend Emma's birthday party and hasn't stopped asking me about it since he received his invitation in the mail. On Friday afternoon, I took the kids and we went present shopping for Emma and her sister Heidi . Kaleb had fun picking out a present for each of the girls. We got Emma cute hair barrettes and a Polly pocket with accessories and we got Heidi a cell phone that came in a purse and some barrettes as well. When we got home, he helped me wrap each of the gifts up.

This afternoon, Mark and I took the kids and we went to the party. When Kaleb and Karmindy first got there, they were able to decorate crowns to wear and then the kids played several games- a fishing game and pin the tail on the donkey. Kaleb loved the games but wasn't too interested in the special princess guest that showed up- Princess Aurora. Kaleb kept his distance from her and occupied himself by playing with the only other little boy at the party. They kicked balloons and played with random toys that the birthday girls family had set out. I think things got too "girly" for him when the girls were twirling, giggling and singing the "I know you, I walked I with you once upon a dream." Even though he didn't care too much for the girly stuff, I think he really enjoyed making his crown, helping Emma open her presents and eating cake!!

Kaleb and Emma! So cute!


Kaleb loved playing the "Fishing Game."


Kaleb helping Emma open her presents!


Kaleb posing with his balloon and crown! He really had a fun time at Emma's Party!


Princess Aurora with Kaleb, Karmindy and Emma!


Karmindy loved playing with the Balloons