December 2013

We had just finished reeling from my mom's brain surgery when my dad went in to finally get his ribs fixed that he broke back on Memorial Day in a 4 wheeler crash. They thought they were going to have to plate 9 of them but only ended up having to do 2. He still had to stay in the hospital for 11 days! It was not very fun for him. He and mom are recovering at home and glad to be there! To top that off, my sister-in-law Jayme aslo had surgery on her thyroid on the 26th. She is doing great as well too thank goodness.

Lily loves her tomato soup :)

 
 Our Little Monster:

What a fun and crazy month. Lily was a little more into Christmas this year but still a little wary of Santa. She loved her presents and getting together with family and friends though!

We got to go on the Polar Express to see Santa Claus! We went with Amber, Brad and their kids and Amber's family.

Lily is our Computer Genius! :)

I had my Christmas Piano Recital on the 15th. All 7 kids all did great! I'm glad there isn't another recital until June though!

Craig was Santa Claus for their ward party. Some of the grandkids came over to get some pictures with him. Lily loves her Bapa but not so much in a Santa Costume. It kind of freaked her out!

We got a lot of snow this month!

 Lily got a new big girl carseat! We still haven't put it in the car yet because we are lazy and worried we are going to do it wrong ha ha. She loves to sit in it in our living room and watch her shows. Buckled and everything!

Finally Christmas! We did what he have done for the last 8 years: We went to my parents early on Christmas Eve, about noon and hung out there all day. My family all came over and we ate delicious Cafe Rio style pork or chicken salads with some other yummy mexican sides. Then we did the Nativity. Lily was an angel for the 2nd year in a row and she made quite the cute one! Then we opened presents. Lily got a lot of cute princess themed presents from her cousin Bentz. Then we ate dessert and relaxed for a little bit.

Our sweet angel

I love her cute ringlets

Daddy and his little angel

Lily with her constant sidekick dog

Bapa Stoker and Lily

Lily loves Tyler and Anna

My niece Marisa with her braid beard being a Wise Man

Michael was the donkey!

This picture cracks me up! Don't worry she didn't fall. 

Around 8 or so we went to the Maloufs just in time for their family Nativity. Lily was an angel again! We got to see Aunt Diane, David, and Cheryl for a bit before they headed home. Then Grandma gave everyone the traditional Christmas Eve gift: Pajamas :) 3 of the families slept over! Lily had refused to take her nap earlier and by this point it was about 10, 3 hours past her bedtime! She was excited to go to sleep. All the adults got to hang out and get Christmas ready. I snuck in Lily's room and went to sleep. Around 3 she woke up with a poopy diaper :( She wouldn't go back to sleep after we changed it too. She just kept talking to me all night. She finally fell asleep around 7. We were both so tired! We got up at 10 to do Santa with everyone and she went back to bed right after and opened the rest of her presents later.  We were all a little too spoiled this year! It was a fun day.

Malouf Family Nativity

Lily getting help from her cousins Emmy and Erin.

We were going to sleep over again on Christmas but Lily woke up at about 11 and I knew I couldn't do another night like the night before so we headed home. At least we got to stay up late and play games!

It was such a fun holiday! I love Christmas! We are excited for more fun, family, and games on New Year's!

November 2013

With Halloween behind us we were ready to relax a little bit in November. But that didn't work out so well. My mom finally told us the cause of her seizure. She wanted to wait until after Katie's farewell to tell everyone that she has a brain tumor. They didn't catch it at the hospital. She went to a follow-up with Dr. Welch and he ordered an MRI and they found the tumor. The whole family plus some others fasted for her the Sunday before her appointment with the specialist. She is having the best neurosurgeon around here doing her surgery though! His name is Dr. Reischman. I depend on her almost every day. I can't imagine my life without her and I know the rest of my family feels the same way. We had a family home evening and family testimony meeting the Monday before her surgery. There was a lot of ugly crying going on, but it was a beautiful meeting. I think everyone bore their testimony and they were all so good. I love my family. They are amazing.

My brother Ryan flew up from Arizona for the surgery and then has to drive his family back up the weekend before Thanksgiving. All the brothers and sisters and my dad decided to be in the waiting room for my mom's surgery. We kept her company until she went in and then we played some scrabble and even went to Brick Oven for lunch since we had been there since 7 and the surgery didn't get over until after 3! The surgery went great. Her tumor was benign, and she is recovering great! We couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

Ryan, Judy, Dad, Mom, Mike, Jana, Me, and Tina. We are missing Tyler. He came soon after.

Mike, Ty, and Ryan. The 3 Brothers.

passing the time

Lily had just finished up some antibiotics when a few days later she was diagnosed with Pneumonia! The poor child can't catch a break. On top of that she got a yeast infection from all the antibiotics. She is a champ though and was usually still very happy. They gave her a liquid z-pack and sent her on home. When the doctor first said she had pneumonia I was afraid she was going to have to be hospitalized since it sounds like such a dangerous thing. I'm glad we got to keep her home with us. At the end of the month she started complaining that her ribs hurt and was moving like an old woman. We took her to the instacare and they did an x-ray. She looked okay but had a bruise. Thankfully she is doing a lot better now.

Michael got to go to Park City again for Associates and stay in the amazing hotel. With everything going on I just stayed home with Lily. Hopefully I can go the next time!

I did another UEN class with Tina, Amber, and Kristie. We have another one in December too!

Thanksgiving was fun! My brother Ryan and his family came up for the whole week so we had lots of Stoker family time. My mom was feeling a lot better by then but she is still tired. I had 2 Thanksgivings. I ate with my family while Michael stayed home with Lily while she napped and then we went to Michael's Aunt Diane's house for a delicious feast as well.

So excited to eat a turkey leg!

Me and Tina

Ryan and Jayme

Jana, Scott, Mom, Dad, and me

My mom's sporty new look

Hilarious Turkey Race!

Aunt Diane's house is always amazing:

Here are some more random pictures:

Lily's first fort

She really enjoys her food

Loves her dog and her new owl hat. We think she might have an underbite!

coloring on her huge bubble guppies book

Lily Facts:

She was 21 months old throughout November. She is so cute and smart. we have a picture of Jesus with his robe up over his head. She now says that Jesus is taking a bath because her towels have hoods :) She is obsessed with Winnie the Pooh and watches it multiple times a day. She is still also obsessed with bubble guppies, Elmo, Curious George, and Daniel Tiger. She talks a lot more now but still signs occasionally. She loves our Christmas tree. We put up bubble lights so she is always asking for the bubbles. She has excellent balance. She likes to jump around everywhere using both feet at the same time usually while holding 5 stuffed animals. She goes up and down the stairs usually hopping from stair to stair. She must get her coordination from her dad, not me! She loves story time. We go to the Lehi one with Amber sometimes and we go to the Highland one every week. She calls Craig and Renee mama and bampa Bruce (the name of their cat, its their new last name apparently) and my parents just mama and bampa. She loves owls. She threw a fit today because I tried to put on an elephant outfit and not an owl one. She has 8 teeth now! 4 molars and 4 front ones. She likes to eat cereal with milk in it like us and then drink the milk out of the bowl after but usually spills it all over herself.