Arrie is a walking machine!

Here is Arrie walking today!!! She goes everywhere!!!

Our Sappy Shows

A new season has started with TV! We are sad not to have our "LOST" and "Jack Bower 24" but we have two new favorites and they are completely opposite from last year. We LOVE Extreme Hose Makeover and Undercover Boss.


These show make us cry! It's pathetic but so awesome!! We love the story behind all the houses that they build. And the impact it has on the families/people that they build them for. We both would love to be a part of the show or something like it. Last night they did a house for "Girl's Hope" in Baltimore Maryland. It was so touching. They sent the girls on a vacation to LA (I bet the girls had never been on a vacation anywhere) and they built a house for them while they were gone. This house is where they will live away from their families so they can focus on their education and not live in the projects with the violence and drugs. It gives them an opportunity for life.



With Undercover Boss, it is so neat that these CEO's want to really find out what is going on in their companies. The best part though is the sappy part at the end. These CEO's get to work with and really get to know some of the employees that work for their companies. They get to know their stories and their needs and their dreams for the future. Usually they are your run of the mill jobs (like hotel maintenance or hospitality, waitresses, factory workers, street cleaners, delivery jobs, etc.) so the workers usually are more blue collar and have had a rough start. The best part is at the end when the CEO reveals himself and then compliments the people he met on their performance, their hard work, their ambition and promises them things, such as a postion in the company that is better pay, a vacation with their families, paying for their education so they can do better in life, etc. It is just great!

So check these shows out if you want to see that there is still a lot of good in this world.

My Grandma Andersen

My grandma is staying in Orem Rehab and Nursing. She is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's but is still always happy and laughs and says some of her good old sayings on good days. I get to go see her about once a week. The last move was hard. She used to be up by my mom in an Assisted Living place but she has gotten too advanced now and is now in Orem. But we go see her as much as possible. I think most of the days I have gone to see her she's had good days. She is usually in bed when we get there but the aids are great to get her in her wheelchair so we can sit in the dining room or go for a walk in the courtyard. It is fun to see her with Arrie. Arrie gives her "loves" and somehow knows she is grandma. Grandma talks (makes sounds) different with Arrie than with us. You can tell she knows she is "talking" with a baby. Below are clips from a couple of weeks ago...it was a really really good day. Grandma was smiling so much and made sense a couple of times. I caught her on video with mom, mom didn't know I was filming - it was just so sweet I had to capture it. Then we got her on video with Arrie. She turns 90 this October, I can't believe she is still with us. My grandpa passed away 9 years ago. Well, this is my grandma - we love her so much!

This is Funny!

One day I gave Arrie a sip of my drink. I pulled the glass away and she opened her mouth and went "Ahhhh"! I laughed so hard! I have noticed since that Braden and I usually make that sound after we drink. Here is Arrie doing it. She needed a little reminding with the pressure of being on camera but she does it.

What a night!

So Arrie had a really rough night last night. She had diarrhea yesterday but seemed to be doing ok by bed time. We had been easing whole milk into her bottles and so I thought MAYBE that was causing an upset stomach...or MAYBE it was because of her 3rd tooth that just came in...or maybe she just caught a bug. But anyways, she was fine around bedtime. Well, about midnight she woke up. I went into her room and it smelled SO bad. Poor girl had really bad diarrhea. Braden and I changed her clothes and sheets and got her another bottle and she went back to sleep. About 1/2 hour after that she woke up again. I went in and she had thrown up all over herself and her bed. So, I changed her into her 3rd pair of pajamas and cleaned her up the best I could with wipes and tried to rock her to sleep. I did so with her being very cuddly (that was one good side to the whole night). I didn't have the energy to change the sheets again, so after she fell asleep I took her into our bed. I was awakened about an hour later by a wet explosion in her diaper! I got up quick and rushed to her room to see the damage. To spare you the details, I had to change her into her 4th pair of pajamas, and her 3rd diaper for the night. We got back into our bed and she slept with us until morning. She stayed in bed with me until about 9:00 very calm and relaxed as I scratched her back and arms and legs - so unlike her to be still that long - and cuddly. She's been pretty slow today and while I folded laundry we had a movie on. She fell asleep just like this picture below just on the floor - she's so tired! She's never done that before. She seems to be doing better, just taking it slow today. Hopefully she can have a good night's sleep and be her busy happy self tomorrow.

having fun with the camera

I was playing with Braden's SLR and had a fun time trying different angles, filling the frame and catching Arrie in some fun shots. Enjoy!

Labor Day Weekend Boss Camping Trip

So, this past weekend we went on our first family camping trip. Our neighbor, Brother Bushnell was kind enough to let us borrow his 1970's El'Dorado camping trailer!


It was pretty sweet with the orange seats, the wooden/woven blinds, and the sleeping areas :) but we really loved the toilet, so we didn't have to use the public ones! It was so nice though to have a warm place to sleep, especially for Arrie. She didn't do the best the first night - she ended up sleeping with Mommy. The second night she did great and slept the entire night. But then the last night was like the first. We had so much fun with all the family. It was beautiful weather and great to do NOTHING and just be together. The last night all the adults played Truth or Dare and we had some pretty funny ones. DeLanea had to ask the neighboring camp for a roll of toilet paper. Jenell had to stick her head in the near by stream (REALLY cold water). Braden was dared to stick grapes up his nose, blow them out without his hands, and then.....GROSE....eat them!



And Jake was dared to dance for one minute, like Jenell always says he does at home. Here is the video!

It was a blast, we all had a really great time! Here are some pics!

Brittney

DeLanea

Arrie and me

My Hot Husband

Georgia

Arrie and Jackson (Arrie adores Jackson)

See, Arrie is "loving" Jackson.
She will lay her head on you if she is giving you "loves"

And one more of Arrie