Just in case you were wondering...

if we are still obsessed with Daisy & Duke...WE ARE! How can we not be? Look at those adorable faces!!! (By the way, I do believe in putting sheets on our bed, I promise!)
I found them at the top of the stairs cuddling like this one night. They love each other!(Notice the little pieces of white fluff and plastic around them. This is a regular thing around here. We get them a toy & they rip it apart & leave all the pieces for me to clean up.)

Despite the messes they make, I realize even more how much I love having these two dogs when I'm sick. They cuddle with me and make me laugh and are so much fun! Who knew?!

Addicted to Nutter Butters

I ate 2/3 of a bag of these things tonight...which was somewhere around 700 calories. Lincoln thought it was hilarious. Oops.

Voice Your Opinion

The big question is should I keep growing my hair out or cut it short? Lincoln & I have differing opinions...so I thought the blogging world might be able to help me decide. Check out the pictures below & then vote in the poll on the sidebar...thanks for indulging me & letting me think people actually care about my hair. :)

Linc's Bday Celebration

The Moaks came over on Tuesday night to wish Lincoln a happy birthday and to bring him his favorite cake (strawberry). On the way there, McKenzie told her mom "I know what Lincoln would LOVE for his birthday. For us to jump on him and wake him up when he is sleeping!" Ha ha. When the girls lived next door they would help me wake Lincoln up sometimes...and of course he would act like he LOVED it. Here are Savannah, Lincoln & McKenzie with the cake...
Lincoln blowing out his "pretend" candles...
McKenzie insisted that she take a picture of me giving Lincoln a birthday spanking...
On Wednesday Lincoln & I went to Red Robin for dinner, since he had a coupon for a free burger for his birthday. I had a yummy chicken burger. It was fun!
After dinner we went to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". It was really good. Linc & I are huge Harry Potter fans. It was great going out and celebrating together.

American Idol Concert

My dad called me on Monday and told me that he had an extra ticket to the American Idol Concert. I have to admit...I'm not a big fan of American Idol. I'd seen a few episodes this season though, so I knew who some of the top 10 were. My family never missed an episode. :) They actually sang a lot of songs that I knew and they all have great voices, so I thought the concert was so much fun. Thanks Mom & Dad for the awesome night!
The gang...
Mom & I...

Dad jamming to the music...he was hilarious.

These pictures aren't great, but you get the idea..
The stage...

The boys...

Anoop...he is pretty funny!

Scott & Matt...I think these guys were my favorite! Matt was an AWESOME performer. It was interesting seeing how the other kids helped Scott around the stage without making it obvious at all. I think I was the only one that noticed, just because I was looking for it.

Danny Gokey...

Adam Lambert...ok, I have to admit that I am in love with his voice...but he is a crazy man! He was doing pelvic thrusts and strutting like a girl all over the stage...not cute!

Allison & Adam did a duet that was really cool...
Kris Allen singing "Heartless"...

The group...

Happy 27th Bday Lincoln!!!

HAPPY BDAY LINCOLN! His birthday was actually yesterday, but we are celebrating it today. He had to study all day yesterday for a chemistry test he had this morning. Anyway, I am so happy that this guy was born! He is so smart and sweet. I hope you have a fun birthday celebration Linc!

I Miss Her Already

Grandma Cooper & Anjane'-June 2007
My grandma died this morning around 2am. I was having a really hard time sleeping, so I was still awake when my mom called with the news. Right when my cell phone rang, I knew what the phone call was about. We've known for awhile that my grandma was going to die soon. It still doesn't make it easy. I seem to take death a lot harder than most people I know. Of course I know that my grandma is with my grandpa again, that she is not in pain anymore, and that she is happy. I just get SO attached to people...my relationships with others are some of the most valuable things I have. I hate knowing that I will be missing out on spending time with my grandma and that I won't have access to her for a really, really long time. My grandma always told me that she was sure I would be able to get pregnant again. She talked with me about it a lot. I was able to open up to her and express my feelings about my infertility and about Jackson, in a way that I honestly haven't been able to do with anyone else. She was always so concerned with my health and always asked me how I was feeling. When I found out I was pregnant with Jackson, my grandma was the first person I told after we told our parents. She kept a picture of Jackson on her nightstand and she talked to him every day. :) She promised me that she would give him a huge hug for me and tell him how much I love him and miss him...because we both knew that she was going to be seeing him soon. She told me that she would take care of Jackson for me until I could be with him. I love my grandma so much. I know it's going to take awhile for me to be ok with the fact that she is gone. I do know that she is happy though. I'm so, so, so thankful that I'm blessed to have her as my grandma. I will ALWAYS remember her and the huge role she has played in my life.
*After I was finally able to fall asleep around 3:30am, I woke up later this morning and decided I was going to stay in bed for as long as I could. I just wanted to ignore what had happened. I knew that once I got out of bed I would have to start living my life without Grandma here. I eventually almost peed my pants because I wouldn't get out of bed to go the bathroom. I know that's not entirely appropriate for this post, but Grandma probably would have thought it was funny. :)*

Lucky

I ended up staying home from the Cali trip. I am still really sick, so it's probably a good thing I didn't go. Lincoln told me that he was excited that I was staying home so that he could take care of me...and he was being serious. He has already rented movies for me twice today and has taken the dogs out to play multiple times. He made breakfast for me and went to bed later than usual (he worked last night) because he was doing things for me. I'm so lucky. Seriously...I am.

Missing Out

Sometimes I feel like I'm totally missing out on normal life. I'm supposed to leave in a few hours to go to California with my family. Melissa & Brad are having their Open House there tomorrow. My bags are all packed. I woke up an hour ago in excruciating pain. My stomach is KILLING me...I can hardly move. I am trying to distract myself any way that I can. I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to go on the trip. I know I'm just feeling sorry for myself, but this really sucks. I HATE it.
P.S.-Update: In trying to distract myself, I read some of my archived posts. My health used to be so much worse than it is now. I'm just lucky I've been able to do as much as I have these last few months. Looking at how far I've come (even though I still have big temporary setbacks) helps put life in perspective for me.

Annual Hiatt Family Reunion

We left from the reception to go to Linc's annual Hiatt family reunion at their cabin in Pine. After running home to pack and packing up all of the extra food I had to take (since I couldn't eat everything that was being served there), we made it up there at about 12:30am. Luckily Linc's brother had already set our tent up for us. The highlight of the night was finding out that nobody was supposed to bring their dogs...a rule that we hadn't been told about. The weekend consisted of keeping our dogs in our tent and taking them for short walks on their leashes, trying not to let them bark at anyone. It started out being kind of a nightmare, but ended up ok. We saw a few elk on the drive up. This one was on the edge of the roundabout in Payson...
Here's our cute nephew Pacer. He's a month older than Jackson would be. I love being around him & my other niece and nephew who are 2 months older than Jackson. I get to see what stage Jackson would be in, and it gives us the opportunity to be around & play with kids his age. It's awesome.

Lincoln's Aunt Susan painted this...she is so talented!

Claire Claire hiding her face from the camera...

Our niece Alyssa & nephew Jarod spent a lot of time in the tent taking care of the dogs. They were so cute with them. Here's Duke hanging out in the tent with the kids & I...

The three of us...

Jarod,Claire & I getting ready to watch the program on Saturday night...

Pacer wearing his new hat...oh I love his cute little face!!!

The whole family watched Andy Griffith on the lawn after the program on Saturday night. Lincoln's grandpa grew up with Andy Griffith and learned to ride a bike on Andy Griffith's bike....pretty cool huh?! When Linc told my dad that story when we were dating, Linc was automatically in as far as my dad was concerned...my dad is obsessed with Andy Griffith!

Jayten was such a good big brother and let Claire snuggle with him during the movie...

The weather at night was beautiful and the company was great. Lincoln's sister Holly & her family were at the reunion. We hadn't seen them for a year so it was so fun to spend time with them. Thanks to Susan & her family for planning this year's reunion. It was really fun!

Melissa's Wedding

The wedding was great. It was so neat to see my little sister get sealed to her hubby! I'm SO excited that Brad is officially part of our family now. We love him. Here they are in all their newlywed glory...Brad & Melissa McNeil!!!

My little sis & I...

The girlies...we missed you Ashley!

Aaron & I...

Meg was so grumpy standing outside the temple. She kept getting mad at me because I was dressed in black and wasn't as hot as she was. It was pretty funny. I made her show me her grumpy face so I could document her bad mood. She was nicer once we got out of the heat. :)

Lunch at The Landmark

After the wedding, my immediate family went with Brad's family to eat at The Landmark Restaurant. We had never been there before...it was delicious! The pasta I got didn't bother me, which was awesome...I felt like a normal person! Introducing the new Mrs. Melissa McNeil (and Meg) posing for the camera!

Melissa with her one-month-old nephew. She is obsessed with babies...it made me laugh that at her own wedding celebration she was standing in the corner holding the baby. :)