Visiting Tucson 2007

Tucson Children's Museum
February 20, 2007
Tuesday we visited the Children's Museum. We have a year pass and the kids had a great time showing Tyra all the fun things to do. There are different areas that have been donated by different companies from the city. There is a firetruck and motorcycle donated from the Fire Department, an area donated by Tucson Electric Power Company, an art area from Cox Communications, also there is a computer center, a dinosoaur exhibit, music room, and a craft center where they make a different craft every day. The day we were there the kids decorated a bandana for rodeo days. There were a lot of visitors in town during the week for rodeo days and for the Match Play golf event which brought Tiger Woods and a lot of other big golfers to town. Josie was just pleasant and enjoyed being pushed around and played with by Tyra and Grandma.

Visiting Tucson 2007

Old Tucson Studios
February 21, 2007

My Dad, Mom, & Tyra were able to come visit us for a week. We were so excited to have them come and we enjoyed their company so much while they were here. We did so many fun different things and now we're excited for more visitors because we know all the exciting sites to see! This is Old Tucson Studios where most western movies are filmed. I'm sure there are some that you've all seen. It was an exciting place for adults and kids because it had the fun rides and cute little schoolhouses and things for the kids, but a lot of fascinating things to keep the adults interested as well. So these are our pictures from Old Tucson Studios. I wish we would have taken more of the town, maybe some of it would look familiar.

Livingstone update ...

Livingstone update:

It seems like there is always something new to report on, so here is our new news:

1) John made contact with BYU-I yesterday, they told him there were two lists of applicants to call-- a short list of applicants to interview and a list of people to crush their world and let them know they're not interested. He wouldn't tell John which list he was on or when he'd hear back, so we're really no better off except that we know they're at least making progress.

2) As a big surprise, Josie is sick ... again. This time she has Pneumonia AND RSV. They decided not to admit her to the hospital yesterday because she responded so well to the breathing treatments. She is the most miserable I've ever seen her and we're hoping that she recovers soon. It is frustrating to make a one year old wear a mask to inhale medicine for 15 minutes every 4 hours when they are already so wiggly and irritable. She finally slept last night for the first night in four, therefore, John and I also were able to finally rest last night for the first time in four nights. She also has ear infections in both ears and even though they are draining the mucus is infected so she's suffering from that and hopefully will respond to the external drops she's getting and the antibiotic she's on. All in all, she'll live I'm sure and we'll also live through this, but I sure wish she could get healthy and stay that way. I just don't know how she even picks everything up, but we're praying for her immune system to build up enough to fight these infections and any others that may come her way in the near future so that she can get healthy. And, reason #572 to live closer to family: it is so hard to depend on other people to help. One of my sweet friends picked Johnny up from school yesterday and watched the kids all day, which I am so grateful for, but it is hard to ask and it's hard to feel so far from family when you really need help.

3) Johnny had his 100 day party at school a few weeks ago and they had to make a poster displaying 100 things, so this is the one we made together and he was so excited to post a picture of it so everyone could see.

4) I got a new kitchen table! Happy tax return to us! we finally have enough room that we can all eat together and have the food on the table at the same time. Also we can now invite people over because we have 8 chairs and a leaf that extends it into a perfect 54 inch square. I woke up so excited this morning just to go look at it and smell it (because it smells so new). So, there is an open invitation to all to come and visit and eat with us because now we have lots of room for everyone to sit!

5) My Dad and Mom and Tyra are coming this weekend and we are all so excited. Now that we've been here for awhile we have a really long list of fun things to do and we're not sure a week will be long enough to do it all. Every morning when Johnny wakes up, before he's even coherent, he names the number of days until Tyra gets here, it's really sweet. We've been preparing and planning and we're really looking forward to spending some time together and now we have a new kitchen table to fit us all!

Happy 30th Birthday!

Well, it's official, John is old-- he turned 30 on Tuesday. For his birthday it was 80 degrees, probably his warmest one yet. He took an extra long lunch hour and we ate at PF Chang's and then for dinner our friends babysat while we went out alone. We've started a tradition now of going to Peter Piper Pizza for birthdays, so we did that on Monday to combine John's and Josie's birthday dinners. We missed Micki and Spencer a lot because I think every birthday any of us had we spent together, and I'm sure they're really missing out on Peter Piper Pizza! John appreciated the cards, gifts, and phone calls. Not much else to say except that I guess now it's time to grow up!

Go Little Devils!

Go Little Devils!
These pictures are from Johnny's soccer game this past Saturday. My friend, Sunday, and I signed up Johnny and her son, Jon to play together. Jon also has a sister, Abbie, who is Maggie's age. Needless to say, we became quick friends and we're so grateful to have them here and we've been enjoying each other's company as we've done different sporting activities together. Johnny is having a great time playing soccer this season. He is really improving and learning some great skills and we're hoping to start T-ball in March. It sure makes a difference when you get to play with your friends!

Top 10 facts about Josie at 1 year old:
1) She loves to get into drawers and cupboards and pull EVERYTHING out.
2) She loves to crawl in the bathroom and if the toilet paper is hanging down where she can reach it, she'll pull it down so that she can eat it.
3) She still doesn't have any teeth.
4) She loves to play peek-a-boo.
5) She weighed 16 lb. 10 oz. at her 1 year check-up.
6) She loves to wear necklaces and cries when we have to take them off (like at bed time).
7) She loves to pull her hair out of clippies and pony tails, unlike her older sister.
8) She absolutely LOVES bath time!
9) She has learned how to fold her arms at prayer time and thinks she's so big for it!
10) She has a family that loves to play with her and make her laugh and loves her the most of all!!

Happy Birthday to you!

This is from Josie's 1st Birthday. Sorry the video quality isn't so great, I had to edit it and flip it around because I accidentally took it sideways. We had a great time and she loved her cupcake!

Make an online slide show at onetruemedia.com

Happy 1st Birthday Josie!

Happy Birthday Josie!
Josie had a really busy birthday. It started off with Johnny's soccer pictures and game, after a little snooze we went to our Stake Luau, and after we got home we had a little birthday party for her. She hardly slept all day, but was happy most of the time. She got a new car seat and was thrilled to sit forward in it and watch Baby Einstein, McDonald's Farm. She got spoiled with presents that the kids loved opening for her, she has loved playing with them all day today. Maggie picked out for her one of the toys she loves most, which is a little Fur Real baby piglet that oinks and moves. She goes crazy with excitement when she's holding it and has figured out how to make it oink and move in her arms. We're so happy that she's in our family and that we've been able to have her for one year now. She's such a good, happy baby and we're looking forward to many more birthdays for her!

It's a Snow Day!!

Can you believe it? Yesterday as we were relaxing on a quiet Sunday afternoon we looked out our window and saw SNOW! Big, wet flakes were covering the ground. The pictures don't quite do it justice. The kids were so excited, they wondered if it was going to be Christmas again. Wouldn't that be fun?? So this morning we woke up to snow and all the schools have been canceled for the day. There are car accidents all over the freeway and city, John's 10 mile commute took over an hour this morning. This city has no idea what to do with snow, but it sure makes us feel at home.

Where did my baby go?

Josie is officially into the stage now where I have to vacuum the floor twenty times a day! She went to the ENT yesterday and also the audiologist and they said that everything looks great. She passed her hearing tests, although they weren't 100%, they weren't concerned because she's at the age where she's too wiggly to keep the probe in her ear. She has progressed so much in the past month since her surgery and is all the suddon not a little baby anymore! Now, if she'd just get some teeth, feeding her would be easier ...
Click on the thumbnail below to watch her video.


She can crawl!

Better late than never!

This is a cute picture of the kids on Christmas Day in their matching sweaters.
This is my new neice, Madelyn. Check out her hair, it's unlike anything I've ever seen! She is so sweet and it was great to get to cuddle her.








See all the stockings? It was so great to have everyone there. Our family sure has grown!


Merry Christmas to us! We had such a fun time at my Mom & Dad's for Christmas. It was so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa there to spoil the kids. Maggie didn't want to leave and she really thought she was going to get to stay. After thinking it over, she thought staying was a way better option than going home to her friends, school, and gymnastics in Tucson. It's a good thing that Grandpa & Grandma & Tyra are coming Feb. 17, or we couldn't have drug her away! We all got spoiled rotton and we're grateful for all the gifts and fun and company we had for two weeks. I'm happy to know that it will come again next year, just as quickly as it came this year. If only we knew where we'd be by then ...

After Christmas ...

So we are a little out of order- I still have Christmas pictures to add, as soon as I can find them. Yes, it is January 10th today and my tree is still up. We were out of town for 2 1/2 weeks and while I was in Idaho and John was here working, he said, "Do you want me to take the tree down?" Of course, not wanting the nostalgicness of it all to end when we got home, I told him no-- only to come home and not be able to find the time nor the desire to deal with it yet. But, today was like Christmas all over again. While we were out of town I didn't want to get everything out of boxes and I didn't want any of it to get lost so the kids were so deprived (or so they thought) of being able to open all their new things. So today we got out the screwdriver and piles of batteries and we all got to finally play with our new things, so the tree will have to wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day ... So, Josie got to play with her new ball popper, which provided hours of enjoyment and entertainment for me as I watched her try to crawl after all the balls. She laughed so hard as they shot all over the room, worth every penny. Maggie was a beautiful dancer with her 12 Dancing Princesses Dance Mat and instructional video with a "REAL BALLERINA". She was so excited and has been practicing for hours. The 4 shots she got today didn't hurt so much as soon as she got home and got to dance some more. As if all the excitement wasn't enough, Johnny got to make some new Creepy Crawlers with his little bug making oven. He was thrilled as could be. It's a cool little machine and he's had a great time creating a family of bugs (he even let me and Maggie add to their little family). So, Christmas hasn't quite ended at the Livingstone's yet. I think Mags still has things under the tree that haven't come out of the package yet. They all got spoiled as usual and are having a great time with it all, now to find places for everything ...
Also, I just wanted to post a picture of Josie, check out those curls!

Christmas Eve 2006

Christmas Eve is almost as good as Christmas to me. I have so many good memories, this year was just as special being able to spend it with my family that I haven't seen in so long. We spent Christmas Eve at my Grandpa & Grandma's house. Johnny had the flu all day, but pulled through that evening so he could participate in singing carols and being in the traditional nativity we do every year. He got to be a wiseman (John thinks from the 70's), and Maggie was a beautiful angel, although she didn't want to wear her halo. We had a great time getting to be with our aunts and uncles and cousins.

We always get new pj's for Christmas Eve, here is a picture of the kids-- before and after.





The kids are loving all the attention from their Grandpa & Grandma & aunt Tyra. So are we!

Happy Birthday Maggie!

12-19-2006

Happy Birthday Maggie! (And Happy Anniversary Mindy & John ...)

After many months of being asked the question, "how old are you?" and responding by saying, "three-and-a-half", she can finally just say "four"! Maggie celebrated her birthday by taking treats to her school class, opening presents, going to Peter Piper Pizza, and getting the flu. Thankfully, the latter was so much later that cake and ice cream and playing with toys was over anyway. She is happy to be four because she keeps thinking that she's going to catch up to Johnny. She had a great day and we're glad that she keeps getting older so we can keep celebrating!