Valentine's Day 2015

We had great Valentine's day this year. We started the day off with a yummy breakfast. We had waffles, strawberries and sparkling cider. Then Matthew spent most the day helping his dad around the farm. In the afternoon my sisters and mom came over to craft. We made maxi skirts, and I helped my mom work on a Menu board. Friday night we watched Janelle for Jan ( who was staying with Stan and Jan for the weekend) so they could go to the movie Unbroken. We swapped and they watched our kids so we could go for Valentines. It was such a great movie too. I sure am a lucky girl to have the sweetest Valentines.

Enjoying our yummy Valentine's breakfast

 

 

Dinner as a family before our movie date.

Valentine's Cookie Party

Kasi always has Halloween and Valentines cookie decoration parties at her house. The kids had a blast this year playing with their cousins, and decorating cookies. Chloe loved it and decorated so many cookies with lots of sprinkles. Ian even got into it this time. He loved shaking the sprinkles on the cookies after I frosted them. It was such a fun party.

Deadwood, SD- Our Early Valentines Getaway

Wednesday-Friday, Matthew and I were able to get away for a few days. Matthew was invited to a Zoetis animal drug company winter retreat for Vets. He was super excited that he was invited to go. As soon as he told me I called my mom to see if she could watch the kids for a few days. She was more then happy to do it. The nice part about this trip was our stay at the hotel and food was provided for. We just had to pay to get to and from Deadwood. Our hotel was super nice. The only funny thing was that they gave us a double bed room. When we asked if we could just get one big bed they said no can do. They were booked for the next two nights. We made the best of the two beds and each slept in the middle of our beds without pushing the other one off.
When we go there they had a reception that night. Just kind of a informal one. They had appetizers and drinks, and everyone just chatted. After about an hour of that we headed over to the nice hotel restaurant for some dinner. We decided that it was perfect that this trip landed so close to Valentines day, so we used it as our celebration. We each got really yummy steaks to eat.
The next day Matthew had meetings all day. I went down to breakfast with him, but then headed back to the room to hang out for a bit. Once I was ready for the day, I decided to head downtown to check the place out. Deadwood is a old historic town, with lots of saloons and casinos. It was really fun to walk around and look in all the little gift shops. I go prizes for the kids, a couple sweatshirts for Mathew and I and gifts for my parents for watching the kids for us. I also go myself a really pretty aquamarine Black Hills Gold ring. I have always wanted a ring with Matthew's birthstone in it. Also I looked at the emeralds (which is my birthstone) they are super pricey, but I love my ring.
I got back just in time to call my mom to check on the kids, and head down for lunch with Matthew. Once lunch was over Matthew had more meetings. I however headed up to the room for a very needed nap, and me time. I napped, watched TV and did my nails all afternoon. It was wonderful. I guess there was a spa that all the other wives were going to, so maybe next year I will do that. It was so nice to have a relaxing afternoon though all to myself.
That night they had a really nice Prime Rib dinner. We ate our dinner and enjoyed talking with the Zoetis drug rep for the area we are in.
The next morning we had the choice to either go snowmobiling or skiing, and it would all be paid for by the Zoetis. We had decided that we would go snowmobiling. When it came down to it we didn't go, because we still had a 5-6 hour drive ahead of us, and we missed the kids. On our way home though we took a small detour to see Devil's Tower. We have both lived in Wyoming almost all our lives and never seen it before. It was pretty cool.
We had a great weekend, and the kids had fun at Grandpa and Grandma's. It was so nice to have some alone time just Matthew and I.

22 months

Chloe is 22 months now! She turned 22 months on the 28th of January. Crazy girl keeps growing up on us. All a sudden she seems so big too. She weighs more, seems taller and talks up a storm. Chloe has decided that she doesn't like going to nursery anymore. She did great for the first little while because Ian was in there with her. Once Ian moved to sunbeams she thinks she needs to go with him. She is super sad and mad at us when we drop her off, but when we pick her up she is totally fine and happy. Silly girl. It's going to be a long time until she gets to go to big kid primary since her birthday is in March. Chloe loves putting things in bags and carrying them around all over the place. She has a little backpack that she took to Matthew's parents the other night while they babysat for us. Well she came home with one the grandma's baby dolls. Little thief :) She still has to do everything Ian does. Since Ian has had lots of ear infections lately she thinks she has to have the ear drops as well. We just put the lid on the bottle and pretend to put them in, and she is happy as a clam. Her and Ian both take a gummy multi-vitamin. Ian kind of gags his down. If he gags his down she does too. That's how she asks for one as well. She starts to cough and point to the vitamins after we brush her teeth. Chloe loves to play with babies, block, color, look at pictures of family & friends, swing, play on the ipad, watch shows is what she says, and make messes. She can say George ( for curious George her favorite cartoon), dog, kitty, horse, cow, book,fast, oh shoot, snack, ipad, mom, go play, dad, ian, papa, gnama, paige, britt, car, go, look at me, whats this, please, no, yes, cheese, juice, baba, dress, pants, nose, toes, eyes, head, bow, pop, jump, socks, shoes and boots. I am sure there are so many more that I am missing, but she talks so much. It's so fun to hear her put two words together like no mama, please no. Today she went to her very first dentist appointment. They didn't do much but count her teeth and check for any noticeable cavities. She rocked it! I am was so proud of her. Chloe we are so glad you are in our family. We love you so much!

Bumps, Brusies & Aches

This family has been beat up lately. Ian has had constant ear infections since the end of October. He has been on and off antibiotics since then as well. Yesterday I took him in for his 5th ear infection. It ended up being a double infection. They finally switched him to a different antibiotic that they hadn't used before. We also have an appointment with the ENT, but not until February 12th. I just hope we get this figured out. Poor guy.

Matthew got a little banged up about 2 weeks ago as well. He was helping his dad out at the corrals on his day off. He was trying to move some cows, and went to shut the gate behind the cows. A cow kicked the gate pretty hard, slamming Matthew's left wrist in the gate. He also slipped and fell on the ice all in one motion. He could tell right away that his wrist was dislocated. (He had dislocated it right before we moved to Pullman riding horses.) He popped his wrist back into place, and came home. I called the doctor and got him in. They did a x-ray and said it looked good, and didn't think that anything was broken. They put him in a brace for 6-8 weeks. He came home and headed out to preg-check a few of the neighbors cows with his right arm. Crazy guy! The next day the Dr.'s office called and they wanted him to go in for a CT scan on it. He did and they still didn't find any fractures.  We are both relieved though.

Chloe has had her share as well. Saturday we were in Billings at my cousin and Stetson's baptisms. We had a nice little dinner with both families afterwards. Chloe was running on the gym floor, tripped and cut her lip. The next morning she was pretty swollen, and had a great duck lip. Monday, Chloe was chasing her cousin Landon in our small living room. She tripped once again, and either hit the rock on the chimney or wood stove. She has a good black eye now.

I also have had a good share of aches. It's been since before we moved back to Wyoming. My wrist have really bugged me. They would just ache all the time. Depending on what I had done that day too. Now it has moved to my fingers, elbows and shoulders. I went to the doctor before Christmas to get it checked out. I was thinking that maybe I just have a pinched nerve that is causing it all. He didn't think so since it was a aching pain. He has me do some blood work, but said that he thought that it could possibly be rheumatoid arthritis.  He said that their machines don't always catch it though. My test came back normal, and he referred me to a rheumatologist. I don't see her until March 12th, so now we play the waiting game.

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam...

Today, was Ian's 1st Sunday of being a Sunbeam at Church. We now go to church at 8 o'clock. It was kind of a rush to get to church today, but it was great. I am always a person who likes to do things 1st thing and get on with the day, church included. We are up by 7 o'clock anyways with kids, so it was great. Ian has Carola Hyde for his Sunbeam teacher. He has has Madison Tippets as sort of a aide for him. Madison is amazing with kids with disabilities. Ian absolutely loves her too. I text Madison after church to see how he did. She said he did great! He sat mostly in his chair, and when he was tired of that she just let him lay and roll on the floor. I cannot believe that our sweet boy is even old enough to be in Primary. Time is flying by too fast for my liking. I do though have the most handsome boy their is. I am a little prejudice, but really.

Saying Goodbye to 2014

2014 has been a busy and great year. It has been a big year for us actually. We feel so blessed and thankful for all the events, challenges and life changes that happened during 2014. We are looking forward to 2015 though. We can't wait to see what it has in store for our little family!

Here is our 2014 rewind of events:

 

Matthew passed the National Boards. We celebrated by getting a babysitter, and going out to a fancy restaurant at the Golf Course in Pullman. 

We took one big road trip to visit all the job offers Matthew had. Our first stop was Malta, MT, next Buffalo, WY and last Powell, WY. We decided on the job in Powell. Not only were we able to get the services we needed for Ian, it was close to both our families, and the insurance was amazing for paying on the therapy Ian needs.

Ian had to go to the eye doctor. His therapist and us were concerned about his eye sight. He eyes were fine and he is far sighted, but not bad enough to need glasses yet.

Chloe turned one. We through  a big 1st birthday party for our sweet Chloe girl.

My brother Jake got called to the Virgina Chesapeake Bay Mission, and entered the MTC in August.

Ian turned 3. We celebrated with lots of family and friends. Ian's birthday was on Matthew's graduation day.

May 10, 2014, the day we had been waiting for forever, finally came. Matthew graduated from WSU with his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine.

We moved from Pullman, WA to Lovell WY. We sure do miss Pullman and all our friends, but are so glad to have a job and a house with a yard.

Matthew started his first job as a Vet at Powell Veterinary Services with two other Vets. He is enjoying being a vet and living his dreams.

We celebrated our 6th anniversary. We were able to celebrate by leaving the kids with my parents for a few days and going to Denver. It was a relaxing and fun weekend. I sure love being married to this sweet guy.

Ian had his 1st day of preschool on September 8th. He goes to the Children's Resource Center. He also receives speech and occupational therapy while he is at preschool. He really enjoys school. Ian has also been receiving ABA therapy since July. We have Dani that comes to the house Mondays, Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays. Then on Tuesdays we go to Billings for ABA therapy, occupational therapy and speech.  We are loving how much progress Ian has made. We feel so blessed to have the services we have for him.

We love being back home where we can help with the cows. The kids really love riding horses when we trail cows.

Chloe and I were able to attend a Tumble and Tot class on Fridays for a month while Ian was in school. Chloe loved having her cousins Landon and Paige in the class too. It was such a blast.

We had a great Christmas. We enjoyed our first Christmas morning in our own place since we have had kids. It was great!

Uncle Jared married the sweetest girl Renee. We are so excited that she is part of the Asay family now.

We rang in the new year with lots of family and food. Just how it should be done. Goodbye 2014 and Hello 2015.