Bionic Man

Now that Jim is 1 month Post-Op we can finally relax and are all in much better spirits.  Jim ended up having neck surgery, or anterior cervical fusion surgery and is now left with major hardware in his neck.  He was off of work for 3 weeks and now is adjusting to being back at work. We will admit that the recovery has been much harder and longer than we expected.  Jim is really hoping to be fully recovered by mid -August, especially in time to do a little golfing before the weather turns.  I'm just looking forward to the time when he isn't  exhausted after a day at work- come home and just crash/dead to the world type of tired.  Each day is a little better and brings us closer to it fulling fusing!!!

We are also looking forward to the time Alex is actually allowed to be next to dad without major supervision. Last week Alex head butted Jim in the neck and I thought we were in deep trouble, luckily things are OK, but he is now only allowed at arms length. 

Here are a few pictures taken while they did the surgery. 

Pinkalicious

For the last 3 weeks Samantha has had us read this book to her EVERY night and often throughout the day.  It is such a fun book all about Cupcakes and PINK,  two of her favorite things.  It really is such a delightful book that I haven't gotten sick of reading it to her.  

Little Man Lookin Good

I can't believe how fast Alex is growing up.  He is really such a sweet little guy, so willing to still give the best snuggles and kisses.  This Sunday he finally attended and stayed in Nursery- yes, I was their the entire time, but he stayed!!!  It has been such a change compared to Samantha, she loved nursery from the very first and Alex starts to cry once we step foot in the church building. What a tender hearted, all bear paws, Mama's boy- boy he has truly won my heart!!

Happily ever after Princess Style

One of the highlights of our Disneyland experience was goingo the Princess lunch.  Samantha was in Heaven- I've never seen her in such awe.  We let her wear a Princess dress and she truly thought she was one of them.  She loved meeting Ariel and actually cried as we left the restaurant.   

Samantha was able to get her picture with all of her favorite Princesses.  It really brought all of these fairy tales to life. 

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Alex may not have enjoyed the Princess outing as much as Samantha, but he did love the treats. Hooray for Churros!!!!

We think that this Pugh Family trip was a success.  After a week of spoiling them we had a few rough spots during our drive home- the kids wanted their freedom.  We are slowly getting back to schedules and getting over the post vacation let down. Boy do we love our Little Princess and Prince!!!

Happiest Place

During our Disneyland adventure Samantha selected a Minnie Mouse dress to wear one day.  She looked so darling and we continued to have so much fun.  It's hard not to spoil your kids, when you're having so much fun and loving everything you see and there is a billion shops.

Jim and Samantha on the bumping bug ride.

Even though Alex is still too little to go on many of the rides he did love being around all of the fun.  He loved the Dumbo ride, It's a Small World, and the Buzz ride- after he said Buzz Awesome. 

He was very patient even when Samantha was able to ride a few rides he wasn't yet big enough to go on. 

Happy Kids make it all worth the while. 

Can I say, just one more time how much FUN we had.  It made coming home to routines a little tough.

After spending time relaxing at the beach, then we decided to tackle Disneyland.  We had SO much fun and the kids loved it!!! It was so fun to see them experience and see there eyes lighten up.  From the very first Samantha thought it was so amazing. She loved to see all of the characters and truly thought she was a Princess-the only down side was lines.

Mickey Mouse Ears. What a cutie!!!

One of Samantha's favorite rides turned out to be the Tea Cups.  At first many of the rides scared her, but as we spent a couple of days there she soon grew to love more and more.  She also LOVED going through Sleeping Beauties Castle.

Disney land truly is one of the happiest places on the world. Especially if you are staying at a hotel close by so you can take your kids back for naps, swimming and a little time out of the parks-before melt downs occur. 

Family Get Away-The Beach

Over Easter weekend Jim, Samantha, Alex and I decided to go on a family Road Trip to Southern California.  As gross as that sounds, being in a car with two young kids, it ended up being a very fun family vacation.  We started with a stop over in St. George so we could see my Grandma/pa Hendrickson. Then we continued down to the coast to spend a couple of days at the beautiful beach. We also had the chance to go and spend some time with Jim's grandparents.

Samantha absolutely loved the beach!!  From the very first moment we arrived she wanted to go and build sand castles and just play in the sand. Alex on the other hand cried the first step onto the sand and hated getting sand on his hands and feet.  He slowly warmed up and by the end even enjoyed eating it.

We spent a couple of days going down and playing at the beach- building many castles, flying kites, getting sand in every crevice and cranny and loving the warm sun.  I'm sure the people in CA didn't think it was warm, but we thought it was absolutely wonderful.  I just love the sound, feel and smell of the ocean and love the sound of my kids enjoying themselves.  

Prof that Alex finally warmed up to the Sand. Jim's beautiful sand turtle.

Samantha also grew to love the ocean and liked playing in the waves. 

Our Kids

Sometimes I feel like I'm living vicariously through my kids.  Samantha has these darling cowboy boots that she loves to wear, and I just love her wearing.  When I was younger I wanted cowboy boots -but my parents didn't think I would wear them, so I am enjoying Samantha's pink boots.  She calls them her cowboy girl boots.  

A little smile from Alex.  This picture was taken after capturing him outside-again.

She also loves rain boots- I guess really she just loves dressing up. Or dressing down in this picture.

Just buddies hanging out together.  Now that they have gotten a little bit older, it's fun how much they like playing with each other.

More proof that my kids are crazy about dressing up.  It's a party at our house, feel free to wear what ever you want when you come and visit. I can almost promise that one of us could be a princess, pirate, lady bug, cowboy, fairy, super-hero or a combination of just about anything if you stop by. 

More on our stay at home vacation

One of the best things about not going to CA was that I was able to be here when Monae had her baby.  Harrison Elizabeth was born on Saturday March 7th. She is absolutely beautiful, sweet and babylicious.  I forgot how small and absolutely wonderful babies are.  

We also enjoyed spending a lot of time outside.  The weather was so nice -love spring weather.  This gave up the perfect opportunity to pull out Samantha's trike.

Samantha loved spending so much time with her Dad. She couldn't get enough snuggle time, daddy kisses and really just being around him 24/7. During the week she turned to Jim and said "dad you are my favorite, not mom".  I guess I'll just have to win her back over. 

Alex has a tendency of finding the last remaining pieces of snow and playing or sitting in them.  He also has a talent of breaking out of our house and wanders around our backyard-don't fence me in. 

Stay-Cation

Earlier this month, we had planned to go to CA, but ended up staying home for a Stay at home vacation. At first we were a little disappointed at not being able to go, but then it ended up being so much fun. The kids just loved having Jim home, and I think he got tired of their constant hounding. Each day we decided to do something new around the city. We explored the Kid's museum, the church museum, the Dinosaur Museum, feeding ducks at the park, going on walks, going to the Zoo and just playing and relaxing. It really turned out to be a great week!

The beautiful tiger decided to make a special appearance for us. He walked down to where we were standing and then went and disappeared. Boy, they are beautiful animals.


Samantha and Alex loved the train and carousel ride at the Zoo. The whole train ride Alex was softly saying choo-choo, he LOVED it. It was almost as good as Disneyland-or at least we will pretend it is until we can make it down to CA.

The Princess and Destroying Angel

Sometimes pictures are so deceiving. I had to capture this soft, precious image of Samantha, after refusing to take a nap "I'm not tired". Ever since she has given up her binkie's, at the first of the year, she has now refused to take a nap. She eventually crashes or ends up being grumpy. She is such a fun, energetic kid and I do enjoy our one on one time. Lately I have questioned- is there such a thing as too much dressing up? When do you know if too much is too much. I know she is only 2 1/2, but I also don't want her to be the kid who walks around wearing a cape when she's in high school, or the kid who really starts to believe she's in some fairy tale. Oh well, until then she will just wear some sort of Princess outfit everyday. Who doesn't want to be a Princess, or to dress up?

Alex has become our award winning drama king- when he's not destroying something. He has such an angelic face that it's so hard to get mad at him and most of the time we just end up laughing at his crying fits. Luckily he is easily distracted and will change his mood very fast. He has also remained to be the best snuggler!!! I was so afraid he was going to out grow this, but he will give the best hugs.

Stylish Kids

Samantha finally got her first hair cut!! She was so excited to have Grandma Diane cut her hair and be a stylish big girl. I was terrified that it would cut off all of her darling curls, but luckily she still has a cute curl. My mom was so wonderful to be their personal hairstylist and both Samantha and Alex loved their new hair cuts. Thanks mom for always helping out our crazy crew.

Lost That Lovin' Blog Feeling

I have to admit that I had lost my love for blogging- or at least I haven't wanted to relive the craziness that has been going on. So far, 2009 has been a little trying. So I decided to get it all out in one blog and then focus on all the good that's also been happening. I am just listing the happening of the last few months to remember- with putting no focus on any one event, even though some have been much greater than others.
This year started with Jim in New Orleans at the Sugar bowl- Go Utes. Coming home with the flu, and stomach virus. Jim's grandmother Leta Pugh passing away, at the age of 97 years old-boy we miss her so much. Jim's parents coming to SLC, and his dad having heart surgery-WOW event. Jim getting shingles. I got a wicked sinus infection. Nana and Papa going back to PA on their mission. Becoming Primary President-which I have loved. Alex getting an ear infection, and getting 5 new teeth-not sleeping through the night any more. Working on Potty training with Samantha. Jim having back and health trouble. Finally our trip to CA getting postponed.
This week even though we were suppose to be in CA has turned out to be a very fun family Stay at home vacation. It's been fun to have Jim home with the kids and just do fun things around SLC and be a little lazy.
Well there, I am now rededicating my self to updating the family blog.
Love you all and wishing you all the best.

A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas was so fun!!!

 Alex finally fell back asleep at 7:30 am and Samantha woke up at 7:45. So we just snuggled the kids until they were both finally awake.  Then we went and had our delicious Christmas breakfast. During breakfast Samantha looked in our living room and finally noticed presents.  We had so much fun watching the kids open and play with each present.  Alex didn't much care for the wrapped presents, but once they were unwrapped he loved them. Samantha just wanted to play, so after some convincing she would open up the next gift.  Billy the elf must of reported good things because she definitely got pink presents and chocolate.  She loved her baby doll bed, castle, Ariel doll and dress ups.

Alex loved his Pirate ship, balls, super cape and tool box. Oh and any of Samantha's gift, and vice versa. 

Samantha got a little tricycle. She really liked the princess helmet, but alex took more of a liking to the bike then Samantha. Oh well, I wondered if that was going to happen.

Alex and his new green soccer ball. Now he won't have to play with Samantha's pink soccer ball.

Samantha received a box of Princess dress-ups, which she just LOVES.  She wears these 24/7 in our house, at least she will take then off when we go out. She has so much fun dressing up like the different Princesses and now she truly believes she is a Princess.  Thanks Princess Grandma.  

In the afternoon we were able to go to my Grandma and Grandpa Mangum's and see my cousins on that side of the my family and then go see Grandma Pugh.  It was so nice to be surrounded by family all day.  And then at night My mom, Jaclyn, Lizzy and Jose came over for dinner and to watch some Christmas movies.  It really was a day full of fun, family, love and laughter.  A truly wonderful Christmas.