Our backyard

Okay, now it is time to play a little catch up.  If you may remember, we had our deck destroyed by the overhang roof.  This summer we were able to tear out the deck, and Brandon's parents came out for two weeks to help us do some work on the backyard.  (A big huge thank you to them.  Nothing would have happened without them.  I was pregnant and useless.)  I felt so bad though, it was so hot while they were here and working.  I did try and keep them hydrated. 

They started with our window well that was made of railroad ties and was rotting away.  They ripped out all the old ties, and then filled it with cement bricks. 

 This was the pile of wood that they pulled out of the window well. 

 They then pieced together the bricks in layers.  They definitely got their workout in; we had about 2.5 tons of brick which they loaded on the trailer, then took it off, then hauled it over and stacked it up.  Again, I was useless in that endeavor.  Though to clarify, Grandma didn't lift any bricks either, but she did help to level etc. 

 They made it so perfect, even our kids can climb up and out from the window if necessary. 

 They also ripped up all the nasty wood that was around our trampoline (which was loose and dangerous).  Grandpa even fixed one of the railroad ties that was rotting out under the trampoline.  (They line the edge- railroad ties must have been a big thing back when this house was built.  Wouldn't be my first choice...)  I wish I had gotten a picture of Brittany and Grandma holding up the trampoline while Grandpa worked underneath.  It was pretty awesome!  Poor Brittany didn't know what she was getting into when she came down to spend the day.

 And the final major improvement they helped us with was pouring a cement patio and walkway.  Brandon and Grandpa worked until 2am one night to finish up all the prep work, and then they had a truck come the next day to pour the cement.  They were very tired when that was all done.

 This was just after it had been pour and finished. 

 And this is the final product- the walkway.  Now we can go out to the garbage cans from one of our back doors. 

 And the patio.  It is a lot smaller than our deck was, and it makes the backyard seem so much bigger.  They did such a nice job on everything.  I love how it all turned out. 

We had planned on putting in sprinklers and planting grass, but when Rachel was born that changed our plans slightly.  So we will get to that next year.  I can deal with one more winter of muddy dog feet.  *sigh...
But we made so much progress this summer I can't complain at all!  And again, a big huge thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Garner for all their help.  Someday we will have an amazing backyard.

Families Are Forever

I haven't posted in a while because I have had a hard time knowing how to put this up here, and I haven't wanted to post anything else until I get this up here.  By now most who read this blog are already aware of it through other means, but here it goes.
In January we found out we were expecting our fourth child, and we were very excited.  Aside from me being very sick, tired, and sore things progressed well.  We had our ultrasound and found out we would be having a little girl.  Everything looked good on the ultrasound; she looked healthy and well.  On Aug 14, I started having real contractions and we finally went in to get me checked out.  I was very nervous because she was 9 1/2 weeks early.  At the hospital they determined that she was indeed coming, and they took me to the OR because it was closest to the NICU.  One of the doctors asked if they had confirmed presentation with ultrasound, which they then did and found out she was breach.  So they performed an emergency C-section, and got her out.  She had difficulties from the beginning and they had a hard time getting her stabilized.  She had some abnormal anatomy that wasn't allowing her to process her urine back into the amniotic sac, so she had no amniotic fluid while in utero and she had very severe edema (swelling).  She was born in the evening and they kept her in the NICU overnight and were planning on flying her to the children's hospital up in Salt Lake the next day.  They were able to stabilize her overnight, and prepped her for Life Flight in the mid-morning.  She was on the transport cart hooked up and ready to go when her heart stopped.  They tried very hard to save her, but it was not meant to be.  She lived a total of 14 hours on this earth.  We named her Rachel Garner.
All of this was a very big shock to us, as we had thought that everything was perfectly fine with her.  We are so grateful to the many providers who helped us during this ordeal.  Her doctors were amazing as well as the doctors and nurses who took care of me.  We were very blessed to have such good care. 
This has been one of the hardest things in our lives, and yet it has also been one of the sweetest as well.  We feel so privileged to have this little girl be a part of our family now.  We know that she has returned to live with our Heavenly Father and that she is watching us from Heaven, waiting for us to return as well.  We have felt so much peace through this whole experience, and know that it was meant to be this way.  People often give us disbelieving looks when we tell them that we are doing well in response to their questions.  But we really are doing well.  Yes, we miss our daughter, and we sorrow at her loss.  Yet we rejoice in the knowledge that she is not lost forever, that we are an eternal family, and that we will see her again.  We know that the Lord is in charge and that His plan is perfect.  We know that He is watching over us, and loves us. 

These are some pictures of her just after she had passed away.  You can see how swollen she was.

 This was us in my hospital bed.

 This is right before we buried her.  My friend made her the dress and the bonnet, and another friend made her some little booties.

 

And this is her headstone that now marks her grave. 

 

We were able to have family come down for the funeral, and it was a beautiful simple service.  We have had amazing support from family and friends, and are so grateful to all.

Isaac plays T-ball

This summer we signed Isaac up for T-ball.  And because of a lack of help, Brandon even got to be one of the assistant coaches.  Overall Isaac had a good time, he had good coaches, and good kids on his team.  He did have a few times of not wanting to go, but he always went. 

I think it was a good experience for him, and he did have a lot of fun going with Dad to all his practices and games.  We may try something else next year though.  We'll see...

A little catch up... Jared's 1st Birthday, and 1st haircut

I figured I should try and play catch up a little bit.  Jared turned 1 in April, and we had a little party with a few friends and family.  Jared wasn't really sure what was going on, but once he figured out there was stuff in the bags, he got a little more into it.  He did love the things he got though.

This was his cake that I made.  The other kids picked it out for him as he didn't care what he got.  If you can't tell, it is supposed to be a dinosaur. 

 He was really not sure about the candle and the fire.  He didn't blow it out...

 He did like the cake okay.  He didn't go to town on it like I thought he might.  But he ate some cake and some ice cream.  Everyone else enjoyed it, so I guess it was good enough!

Just after his first birthday, we decided it was time for him to get a hair cut.  His curls were super cute, but they were also super long.  So we attempted to cut his hair.  Brandon held him while I cut.  He was not a big fan of the clippers on his head.  It is very difficult to cut a moving target, but in the end we managed well enough and called it a success.

 This is what he looked like.  There were and still are a lot of long stray hairs, but it worked.  Now he already needs another one.  My kids just grow hair really fast I guess...

 

Family Pictures

Back on Easter we took some family pictures just with our little tripod.  This is how they turned out.

(They wanted to do a silly one...)

Deck progress

So, our deck has made some progress in the last 6 months.  The first two are of the initial clean-up.  (It was really, really cold outside!)

 Then came the fixing of the house, putting on soffit and fascia.  (I don't have a clue if those are spelled right.)

 The kids (mostly Isaac) were big helpers.

Then fast forward to now, and we are finally getting some of it taken apart.  Isaac was a huge help to Dad, taking boards to the pile. 

 Emily worked on digging up some weeds on the other side. 

 We now have a dirt pit where the deck was.  Plus we found all sorts of treasures under there. 

 This is the pile of wood that has come from this endeavor.  Anyone need some wood?

 

In the next few weeks we will be taking out the rest of the deck, tilling up the whole yard to prepare for planting grass in the fall.  It will be a big undertaking, but we will have help.  Brandon's parents are going to come out and help us while they are here.  (Thankfully)  I'm excited to have some progress!

Farewell to our deck

Well, a few months ago we had a loss in our family.  Well, I guess it's not really a loss if you didn't like it in the first place.  When we moved into this house we had this awesome deck in the backyard.  (If not noted, there is sarcasm dripping from that!)  We really didn't like the deck or covering and were planning on ripping it out and replacing it sometime in the future.  Apparently that future is now.  Due to a combination of rotten wood, poor workmanship, and a ton of snow and ice pack, the roof of our deck came down all by itself.  It was just the kids and I at home, and I was up in the bedroom with Jared and the kids were down in the living room.  At first I thought the kids had gotten into something and knocked it over, then I thought something big in the kitchen had fallen, then I thought is this thunder.  It was really loud and a little scary.  The kids didn't get too freaked out, but they were definitely scared by it.  Shoot, it shook me up a little bit.  The kids were coming up with all sorts of explanations.  The one that eventually stuck was that a giant robot stepped on the roof and made it fall.  It sure looked like it...

We were very blessed though.  No one was out there, not even the dog.  The only casualty was Brandon's grill.  And that may even be salvageable, we'll see.  Plus, now we don't have to figure out how to take the roof down!  Though we do have to figure out what to do with all the wood...

 Why yes, that is the grill.  It was the main fall breaker for the roof.

Oh the joys of home ownership!