There are a few of reasons I like to blog and really only two reasons I don't.  I want to blog because I like to write, I like to keep a personal record and it pushes me to take pictures.  I don't actually blog much anymore because I'm lazy.  Oddly, the fact that I live a pretty generic life that nobody else cares to read about isn't a reason I don't blog.  Here is a 45 second summary (in no particular order) of the events of the past four months.

ason and Porter had a blast at Christmas.  They got some fun toys but Mason was more excited about an old clock that I gave him around New Years day.  I had won it at a family auction for a buck or two.  It's nothing fancy, but he loved it.  You just never know what kids are going to like.  This spring we took the training wheels of his bike.  He picked it up very quickly and now likes to cruise the block and make tight corners on the driveway.  He has been going to pre-school twice a week.  He really likes his teacher Mrs. Harms and his attention span has improved since... (click here to read the rest)

I am so not one to do this sort of thing.  (meaning: me publisizing someone elses story)  I happened upon this site through one of Kev's cousins.  I could not NOT read it, curiousity got the best of me.  It is a blog dedicated to a little boy named Charlie Cooper.  He is fighting for his life to recover from Pneumoccocal Meningitis.  My heart ached as I read this little boys story - it still aches.  His parents are dealing with his circumstances in such a postive manner.  I truly admire them.  I remember the roller coaster ride we experienced when Porter was first born and how hard it is when your baby is sick. It can be unbearable and they are dealing with everything so well.  Some of the things that they are experiencing with Charlie are the same as what we went through with Porter.  I guess that's why it has touched my heart in such a big way.  I can completey empathize.

When we were dealing with Porter I never once worried about finances.  I am so grateful that I live in a country that provides health care to ALL.  Whether rich or poor.  I remember commenting to the Neonatologist one evening (DR.... (click here to read the rest)

Okay - so it's been just a little while since we've blogged...what's new? you might ask.  Well, so much that I can't even begin to recap it all.  I've been leary to post personal things, seeings as you don't always know who's checking up on your blog.  I keep bugging Kevin to make our site private, but to no avail.  If you're really my friend, you will have seen pictures posted on facebook, either by Kevin or myself.  I like to put up pictures there because I atleast know who has access to my info!  Since our last entry in November I have a new calling (2nd Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency) and we had a wonderful long family Vacation (finally), Christmas, New Years, countless Business Trips, My Birthday (which was awesome), Ear infections and cold after cold, Ridiculously COLD weather, Valentine's Day and last but not least Porter's 3rd Birthday.  Those are just some of the big things.  How the time flies.  Life just seems to be getting crazier each passing day!  The boys are a handful!  That's just putting it mildly.   They tire me out - they are good boys, just active.  They have tender hearts and I... (click here to read the rest)

Ahhh - it's 2:40am and I'm wide awake.  I've been so exaughsted this past weekend with this ear infection, early Saturday morning, and crazy Sunday.  I decided to go to bed early tonite.  I woke up around 12:30 and I am still awake.  I can't turn my brain off.  This totally stinks.  Has anyone else ever had one of these nites?

So here is a bit of interesting news.  Yesterday Microsoft invested $240,000,000 into Facebook and got 1.6% of the company.  It looks like Facebook is here to stay.  This factoid tells us several things.

• Facebook is valued at $15,000,000,000
• Mark Zuckerberg (the owner) who happens to be 23 years old is a very happy boy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg in case you feel like reading about him)
• Microsoft is really trying to make a point.
• The world has a very strange perspective.  I love Facebook, but, what about poverty, education, health etc. Business is business I guess.
• I wish I was Mark Zuckerberg

As I mentioned.... I like Facebook.  I think it's going to become my blog (not that I've been blogging much lately).  There are so many free services like blogger.com and facebook.com that I've decided that I will probably not be updating the code on my personal blog application anymore.

To those who use my blog application:  I'm sorry I haven't updated anything in a long time.  The themes are ugly as sin and I expected to update them earlier.  There have also been a lot of bugs and in general the site has just been a little unfriendly.  I don't plan on taking down anyone's site unless they request... (click here to read the rest)

I know a lot of people have thought this for a long time now, but I've officially crossed into the "lame" category.  Or rather, I have accepted the fact finally. 

Something strange is going on with me.  Our car was experiencing troubles so we ended up buying a minivan.  The strange part of the story is that I'm in love with it.  I find myself thinking about it and wanting to go for a drive.  I could have my signals crossed though.  It could just be that I'm excited to have a car that works.  Who knows.  In any case, I'm now a minivan driver and I'm not ashamed to say it.  The kids both really like it too.  Mason and Porter can now actually see out of the vehicle as we drive.

The second part of this story will equally make me look like a girl, but, I'm pretty stoked to have the new van because we're driving down to Vegas in November to watch Celine Dion... and I'm looking forward to that as well. 

I'm still jogging regularly.  Sort of.  I get killer shin splints when I run to the point where I can barely walk.  I think they are worse... (click here to read the rest)

Well - Kevin has been slacking on the posts as of late, so I guess I'll just pick up where he left off.

We've had an eventful July already.  I've taken the boys on a few adventures, to the zoo, Calaway, Riley Park, etc.  All trying to keep cool in this awesome heat!

This past weekend was a huge deal for me and my family.  Mainly a big deal for me because I was in charge of the entire weekend.  Organizing activities, meals(groceries), arrangments, etc.  I had a blast doing all of this, but it was definately a full weekend and I am glad to say that it is over and that it was a huge succsess.  I couldn't have done it without the help of the Calgary people and even help from the relatives from Vegas. 

Our activities included:  Swimming, Family Dinner #1, BBQ Breakfast, Scavenger Hunt, Chinese Food dinner, Family Dance, Golfing, Cooking "Class", Weiner Roast, Family Dinner #2, Program and Auction, Church, and Family Dinner #3.

We all had such a fun time, and it was so fun to be together as a family.  All of the activities turned out really well.  The food for the weekend also turned out really... (click here to read the rest)

In my last entry I said that I hadn't written much because I don't have a camera and therefore entries would be pictureless and boring.  I was wrong.  I bought a new camera about 3 weeks ago but still, no writing.  Turns out, I'm just lazy. It's not like nothings been going on.  I just went through a faze where I was motivationaly challenged. 

There is no way I'll be able to recap the last couple of months, so I'll just randomly shoot out things as they come to mind.

The new camera is pretty spiffy.  It takes great pictures and great video.  We almost never break out our video camera because it's annoying to lug around and the batteries are never charged.  Now that we have this mini camera I've been shooting all kinds of video so expect to see some live action.

There was no summer solstice party this year.  I ended up going to Baltimore that week for work.  It was good trip.  I once again have a new boss.  The company I've been working for for the past 4.5 years has been growing like a weed and organizational structure keeps changing.  I've moved from the programmer team to the user interface... (click here to read the rest)

I think the reason I haven't written in a long time is because we lost the charger for our camera and therefore don't have any new pics to post.  It's not like we've lived a boring life lately.  It's not like we've lived an incredibly exciting one either.

This week Elise had a follow up surgery on her ear.  When she was a teenager she had surgery and this week they removed a plastic mesh thingy that they left in to hold everything together.  The doctor thought it was a good idea to remove it, so that's what Elise and I were up to this week.  It went smoothly. Recovery time was very short and other than a little sensitivity, everything is pretty much back to normal.  One interesting thing did happen that day.  While Elise was being admitted, the entire admitting system across Canada went down and Elise ended up getting "surgeried" without being officially admitted.  None of the nurses knew how to manually write out admitting forms.  It was chaotic that day.  Elise was up getting prepped for surgery and I waited down in admitting in case the computers came back up and I could finish off the "questionaire".  The nurse... (click here to read the rest)

Well - after almost another month of no posting I thought we would add something that might be of interest to those who still check out our blog. 

Last month a new fire/EMS station opened down the road in our neighbourhood.  We thought we would check it out and that it would be something fun for the boys to do.  When we first arrived it was packed and they were doing all the official, political stuff, so we decided to leave to grab some lunch and come back after the boring stuff.  When we arrived back there was hardly anyone left, and our kids were some of the only kids touring the firehouse.  Meanwhile a camera guy from the SUN wanted to get a picture of a kid with the crew.  He really wanted Mason to do it, but Mason refused.  Kev and I could not convince him to do it...so we suggested Porter.  He's usually so smiley and happy and it normally doesn't take much to make him laugh or smile.  We though it would be a piece of cake.  However at this exact moment, he was very ripe (I didn't have a diaper on me - poor EMS guy), he just fell... (click here to read the rest)