Zions National Park

So October is usually a crazy month in the Payne household. Rick does his Elk hunt and is gone a good portion of the month and when he gets back I get to go on my girls weekend with the Payne women. I am breaking it into a couple parts so that I can post lots of pictures!

To start, Rick's hunt was not successful this year. I know he's disappointed but I also think he just enjoys the time away from home and being out with the guys. I will say that he didn't stay as long this year as he was extremely anxious to get back to the boys - and they missed their Daddy too!

After he got home we had a week in between and I went on my girl's trip to St. George. I went with my Mother-in-law Allison, Rick's sister Nicole and Jessica, sisters-in-law Amber and Christina and my nieces Lexi and Taycie. The drive down was a little slow due to construction and a bit claustrophobic with 5 of us in a car but we still made pretty good time, we made it in time to eat at the traditional spot- Poncho and Lefties. Truly we just go for the fried ice cream - ummmmmm!

The next morning we headed over to Zion's National Park for a little hiking. I have to say - Christina was a trooper! 8 months pregnant and scaling rocks - wish I was as adventurous as her! The scenery was absolutely beautiful, I live in such an amazing place! But the company is what made it so fun!

After hiking and lunch Amber, Nicole, Jessica and I decided that we would try and find a salon to get out hair washed and styled then we would be able to get ready for Thriller faster. Well, as it turns out not many salons are open or staffed on a Saturday - who knew? So we ended up at the WalMart where there was only 1 girl working. She took pity on us - (after driving through Zion with the top down we looked a bit scary!) and let us use the salon. I wish I had pictures to show because this actually turned out pretty funny! When I went to wash Amber's hair I didn't realize that the sprayer was pointing up - so when I turned on the water full force - I got soaked! Needless to say, after out little adventure I will always have fun memories of a Wal Mart Salon!


My Mother-in-law led us on quite an adventure! Jessica provided the comic relief!




I am one with nature - but who wouldn't be in a place like this!



Jessica's got some captain in her - no surprise there!

Christina, me, Jessica, Nicole, Lexi and Taycie

10*18*50

Last year was my Mom's 60th Birthday. We were fairly certain that it would be her last one and we wanted to make sure it was memorable; so, we threw her an incredible surprise party. It was so special! The word she used afterward was "honored". She felt so honored that her friends and family would come and celebrate her life while she was still around to enjoy it. Her best friends drove from Arizona to add to the surprise and it was an amazing night - one I will never forget.

Yesterday would have been her 61st Birthday; I can't even begin to describe how badly I miss her! She always made such a big deal of Holidays and Birthdays - really she just looked for any opportunity to get everyone together and make memories. I am so thankful that I was raised that way! I couldn't let her Birthday go by and not try to get as many siblings together as I could. I wish so badly that Misty and Skip and their families could have been with us, but I am hopeful that this will become a tradition on her Birthday to remember the incredible life that she lived.









We all met at the cemetery at 6:30, I couldn't believe that all the flowers were still there from her funeral, some of them were still very pretty! There were some fresh flowers too from friends that had been up that day to wish her a happy B-day.







I got to the cemetery a little early and actually looked around for the first time. I saw this statue of Christ and thought it was so beautiful so I wanted to get a picture of it. When I got up there I found this saying on the side and knew it was what I needed to see "NOT MY WILL BUT THINE BE DONE". I know that the Lord has a need for my Mom and is keeping her very busy.






After everyone was there we wrote down a memory on a piece of paper that Heidi had brought; on the front they said "In memory of Debby Adams, if you find this please consider making a donation to cancer research". We tied each piece of paper either a red balloon or a teal balloon. Red was her favorite color and teal is the color of the ovarian cancer ribbon. We all sang Happy Birthday and then let the balloons go.






The kids loved watching the balloons! We all thought it was pretty amazing the way they all stayed together, we figured that the whole bunch was going straight to her. I am so thankful that I will get to see my Mom again some day and I hope she knows how much she is loved and missed here.

Black Island Farms = Fall Fun!

We had such a fun weekend! It has been such a crazy week and a half with Rick gone on the hunt so I decided that we needed to go have some fun on Saturday. In Syracuse there is a pumpkin patch called Black Island Farms, it is a fully functioning farm but during Halloween they have a pumpkin patch, games and fun things for the kids to do. We opted out of the hayride since Karsen was with us and I didn't want to lug his carseat around the pumpkin patch.

Ryker had so much fun on the slides and all the games but I think his favorite part was picking out pumpkins. I told him to pick out one but he was just so cute I came home with four! Oh well, it was worth it!! I love being able to spend the time with my boys and make these memories! My friend Heidi came with her kids Kyron and Zoe and they all had so much fun together. Ryker keeps asking when he can play with them again.

In Loving Memory

I have written this post about 50 different times and erased it every time. Writing has always been therapy for me, I can usually express what I'm feeling better through my keyboard than in a conversation. Maybe it is all still to fresh, I'm not sure; but I need to remember what an amazing Mother I had and express my gratitude for all that she taught me!

I was thinking the other day of words that describe my Mom; here are just a few that I came up with: fighter, independent, loving, happy, Grandma, giving, nurturer, provider, faithful, and (of course) Mom!

She loved everyone she met, she wanted to help everyone and always put the care and comfort of others before her own care and comfort. She loved spending every minute she could with her children and grandchildren, and fought for every ounce of life that she could get! When she was diagnosed they told us she only had months to live - no one would have believed that after her diagnoses she would see her 4 youngest children get married, see 8 more grandchildren be born, travel to Australia and Oklahoma to pick up her 2 youngest sons from their missions. Cruise around Alaska, spend time with her high school friends, and continue to offer service for 9 more years!

As she got sicker the thing that hurt the most, for me personally, was that my boys wouldn't remember her, that Ryker would forget her. But I think they have a better understanding than I do. Whenever I catch Karsen smiling and laughing when no one is looking at him, I know it's my Mom that's making him so happy! The last couple months of her life I would say nightly prayers with Ryker and always made sure that he prayed for Grandma Debby to be at peace and know of our love for her. The other night we were saying prayers, without my prompting he said "Thank you so much for Grandma Debby and letting her live with Jesus. Tell her we love her." I'm so thankful my boys had her example and will continue to be watched over by her. I miss my Mom so much and my heart feels broken right now, but I'm so thankful that she is out of pain, back in her most perfect form and that I will get to see her again some day. I love you Mom!

Here are just a couple pictures of her that mean the world to me!

Ryker's Tumble Bus Birthday!

Where does the time go? I swear it feels like yesterday that I was trying to figure out if I was peeing my pants or my water was breaking! My life changed so completely that day! Ryker has taught me what it means to put my own needs second. I remember watching every little thing he did and being so amazed that someone so small could do the things he was doing. He is one of my favorite people to talk to and probably the one who makes me laugh the hardest. I love the special dates we get to go on and when he runs and jumps to give me a hug and kiss. It means the world to me that Mom can still fix everything. Ryker loves to play with his Dad but says that Karsen is his very best friend. He is a master negotiator, comedian, stunt man, and (occasionally) a cuddle bug! He loves music (you should see him rock out), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, waking Mom and Dad up at 6 AM, riding his bike, asking questions, and making people laugh. He loves to spend time with his cousins and his grandparents!! I am so excited to watch him grow and see what he becomes and feel so blessed to be his Mommy!

The other thing that Ryker really loves is the Tumble Bus. This is an old bus that was converted into a tumble playground. They have rings, swings, slides and even a zip-line. He goes a couple times a month through his daycare and is so excited on Tumble Bus day. So for his 3rd Birthday I decided to rent the Tumble Bus. It was great!!! You could hear them playing music when they came around the corner so all the kids started jumping up and down and yelling, they were so excited! They got to play for an hour and then do an awards ceremony. Ryker got a special birthday medal and then got to put everyone's medals around their neck, it was so cute!




No one was more surprised than me when my Mom decided there was no way she was missing Ryker's Birthday party, she hasn't missed one yet and until she has to, she wasn't gonna miss this one. It was such an incredible moment to me to see just how much she loves her kids and grandkids. We helped her up the stairs of the bus so that she could see the kids and all the grandkids turned around and started yelling for Grandma to look at them, I had to excuse myself for a minute and have a good cry - she is such an amazing woman!


Ryker on the zipline - what a cutie!


Going out the slide.



And getting his award - what a great Birthday!

Karsen is 5 Months Old!!!

Where does the time go? I can't believe my baby is already five months old! Karsen is the happiest, most loving little baby ever! He can cheer anyone up, he is such a snuggle bug. He's got a touch of temper and is very spoiled since no one ever wants to put him down. Ryker tells me every day that Karsen is his best friend, it melts my heart to see the two of them together. Karsen looks so much like Rick, he even has his big blue eyes! My life is so blessed and I am so excited to watch him grow and see his personality develop every day!

Dinosaur Park

This summer has been such a blur, I swear I blinked and missed it! Normally summer is packed with all sorts of fun things; the zoo, Carver's Cove, the Aquatic Center, fairs, Tree House Museum, etc... This year...not so much! So after work on the 3rd I decided to make up for some lost time and take Ryker to Dinosaur Park. We had so much fun!! He loved running from dinosaur to dinosaur and I scored major points since he thought I actually knew all the names of the dinosaurs (thank goodness for the plaques that tell you what it is)! We played on the playground, fed the ducks, and picked out prizes. My mother's heart swelled with pride when Ryker asked if he could pick out a present for Karsen - how could I say no to that! I wish summer would last longer, but more than that, I want to have more time to create these moments with my boys!

Potty Training, Prizes and....Puke

What a crazy week! After much bribery Ryker decided he was ready to wear big boy underwear. Well, I'm happy to report that he has gone one whole week with NO ACCIDENTS!!! My little guy is growing up (sniff...sniff). Since he has done so well I decided to take him on a special "Mommy-Ryker date" to pick out a toy. We went to Target and he had to have the Thor sword and shield, and a Spiderman. Lucky for him, Mom is a sucker and couldn't tell him no - so he got both. Then (it get's worse) we went to Carters to exchange a couple pairs of pants and I was so excited to see that the whole store was 20%-50% and they were doing an additional 20% off your entire purchase (and I had a coupon for another 20% off and a $10 coupon). So, I went a little nuts! I was able to get the boys their fall and winter wardrobes for $150 - pretty proud of myself! But, Ryker fell in love with an ugly pair of rain boots - he carried them around the whole store and just had to have them. I gave in. I do have to say though - it's created hours of entertainment for us:


Then we have little Mr. Karsen. My poor baby was so sick all weekend it broke my heart! He would try and drink his bottle and as soon as he finished it all came right back up! I was getting extremely worried about dehydration but luckily we got him to drink some pedia-lyte on Saturday night and that seemed to be the turning point. He started smiling again and stayed awake a little bit longer. He sill won't drink more than 4 oz. but we are working back up to his normal 6 oz. He is normally such a bright, happy, sweet baby; it was easy to recognize that he wasn't feeling well with how somber he was all weekend.

Just a few Pictures

Ryker likes to pull the ottiman over to Karsen's crib and climb in every morning. They love each other so much it makes me smile!

This was from Karsen's newborn photo shoot. He is getting so big and handsome, I love my Ryker!

Karsen at 4 months, we tried cereal. Not a big fan yet. Look at those big blue eyes! He is such a sweet, happy baby. Everyone who holds him falls in love with him - especially me!

This is my Karen when he was just a couple weeks old - he is so beautiful!!! I love this little boy with all my heart!

Ryker's first sunburn - breaks my heart! Sorry about the bum but he wouldn't just pull his pants down a little - it was the whole moon or none at all!

Starting Over

I know, I'm not so great with this whole blogging thing; I could promise I'd do better but life is crazy right now and that probably won't happen. However, I have a request that would really mean a lot to me.

As most everyone knows my Mom is sick and we know that we won't have her with us much longer. There are so many different emotions that I have gone through over the course of her illness and as her time get's closer a lot of those emotions are hard to deal with. One thing I'm very afraid of is that when I look back my memories of her will be when she was sick. And while I think it is important to remember this time I also want to be able to remember my good times with her.

I have started writing down some of my favorite memories and I want to post them on my blog, but I also want to hear others memories of her so that when I go through hard times I have something I can read that makes me happy. Please take a few minutes and comment on this post and I will put together something soon for everyone to read. For now I will share a funny memory I have of my Mom.

Now at the time this happened I didn't think it was funny but now that I'm older it cracks me up! I was dating a guy that my Mom didn't care for (probably was more than a few of those), he lived in Idaho and I decided to be a rebel and ditch school to go see him - needless to say, I was caught; and grounded for a month. Well, he decided to return the favor and come to Utah and see me while I was grounded, of course I snuck out of the house to see him - and got caught (maybe I really don't want daughters after all!)! We were outside of his Aunts house in my car when we heard tires screeching around a corner and come to an immediate stop right behind us. My little Mom ripped open the passenger side door and yanked my boyfriend out of the car by the front of his shirt. She got right up in his face (she's 5'3", he was 6'4") and told him that he was never allowed to talk to her daughter again. I thought he was going to pee his pants, the look on his face was priceless!

Needless to say, I called him a week later to apologize and he hung up on me. Never heard from him again. At the time I was humiliated - but the older I got I realized how lucky I am to have a Mother who was looking out for me and always trying to keep the wrong type of people out of my life. She has adopted pretty much every person we've ever brought home and "mothered" them all, but she never let any of us doubt that we were her number 1 priority!

Karsen Odin Payne

Well (once again) I was scheduled to be induced and (once again) my baby decided to come on his own time. I was scheduled for April 18th but was so excited to welcome Karsen to the world on April 11, 2011. On the 10th I was trying to get my house clean and laundry done and kept having to stop due to pesky contractions. Finally, I started timing them and was surprised to find they were only 5 minutes apart. I took a bath and a nap to see if they would stop - nope. I told Rick that if they hadn't stopped by 7 pm I was gonna have him take me to the hospital. I packed my hospital bag and still battled over whether or not to go up. Jesse and Kara came over to stay with Ryker and I think both Rick and I figured we'd probably be back in a couple hours. I thought they would probably give me something to stop the contractions and be sent home. Well, they monitored me for hours, even the nurse wasn't sure what to do, at this point they were three minutes apart but I was only dilated to a 1. At midnight she finally decided she was gonna give me morphine and see if my body could relax enough to start dilating more. She checked at 3 am and I had finally made some progress so she decided to admit me to the hospital and start me on petocin. I tried to get a couple hours of sleep but I think I was a little in shock that it was actually happening so soon and couldn't fall asleep. My doctor came in at 8 am and broke my water, by 10 I was ready to go and at 10:50 I finally got to see my little Karsen! He weighed 8 pounds even and is 21 inches long. He has a lot of similar features to Ryker but has his own look as well, his hair is darker and he has a deeper cleft in his chin (thanks to Dad). He is such a little cuddle bug, I could hold him all day long!

My sister Misty got in from Idaho to stay with Ryker and help me out when we got home and Ryker had so much fun with her! She brought him up to the hospital and he was so funny with Karsen, no one was allowed to come near him or hold him. He wanted to carry him so we really had to convince him that it wasn't necessary. He tried to feed him a french fry and soda so I'm for sure gonna have to keep a close eye on him once we are home.

I am so thankful for this new little life that is now a part of our family and so thankful for the incredible friends and family we have that give so much love and support! Don't know what I would do without each of you!

Countdowns On!!!

Holy Cow, was it really November that I last wrote on here! So much for keeping my promise to keep more up to date - Sorry! Truthfully, between school, work, and family it seems like no time has passed at all. And yet .....so much has changed! The holidays were great, we spent a lot of time with family and welcomed two new babies - Evie Adams (to Skip and Emma) and Crew Adams (to Jared and Brittany) both are so adorable and fun to play with, makes me excited for my own little guy to make his way into the world! I am in my second term at school and am plugging away, trying to keep to my goal of being done in 2 1/2 years. Sometimes it takes every bit of wheel power to make myself study after everyone has gone to bed, but it is paying off.

Rick is still working at Hill Air Force Base and shows me every day why I am thankful I married him! He is such a hard worker and is so willing to put in overtime when we need it, he also tries to build up his comp-time so that he can stay home if one of the kids get sick. He is such an incredible father and I love him with all my heart!

We are now down to the final stretch with baby Karsen, I am set to be induced on the 18th but am keeping my fingers crossed that he decides to come on his own before that. I finished his room this weekend, I'll post some pictures later, it turned out great - so excited!

There is more going on but I only have a minute so I'll try and jump on later with another update and pictures.

Always Playing Catch-Up!

It feels like I'm always so far behind I just give the basics of what has been happening! Wish I could say that this post was different - but it's not. So much has been going on I haven't been able to find a free minute for myself! I'll try and pick up where I left off and maybe then you can understand why I don't get to post as often as I would like.

The end of May I decided it was time for me to get my degree. Things moved pretty quickly after that! I enrolled at Western Governor's University and started classes on June 1st. I am doing my B.S in Business and Human Resource Management. I love the way the classes are set up. You pay a set fee for tuition every 6 months and can complete as many classes as you want. I'm pretty proud of myself for finishing 18 credits my first term. It is all done on-line so usually after Ryker goes to bed I lock myself up and force myself to study.

In July Ryker and I got to go to Colorado and spend some time with my family. We went shopping, tubing down the river, hiking, rode the alpine slide, and played A LOT of games. It was so much fun, I love the time I get to spend with my brothers and sisters and their spouses! And of course all of my nieces and nephews - they are so great! Everything was great until the drive home. My niece Shy was my navigator and I think she was having more fun texting than watching the road. We took a wrong turn in Roosevelt, UT and ended up in the Uintah mountains. I nice little 2 hour detour! We had to turn around and go all the way back but made it home in 1 piece!

A couple days after returning from Colorado Rick and I found out we are expecting our second child! We were trying and so thankful that it didn't take long. Ryker is convinced it is a sister and I am keeping my finger's crossed that he is right. I would love to add a little girl to our family. I would love to see Rick with a little girl, I know she'd have him wrapped around her little finger in no time!

It was also about that time that we found out the house we were supposed to move into was not going to work out. We were bummed but figured everything happens for a reason. We got busy right away trying to find another one and found a home we were both so excited about. After a lot of negotiating and endless paperwork we closed on our house the end of August and moved the first of September. It is in Plain City which is close enough to all the action but far enough away that there is no traffic and the neighbors are really friendly. We have a nice big back yard for Ryker to play in(he LOVES it) and plenty of room for our growing family.

Two weeks after moving in we celebrated Ryker's 2nd B-day. Can't believe my little boy is getting so big! He is so smart, he loves to sing, is a huge tease and laughs the hardest when he is with Daddy. He is still a Momma's boy, but his best buddy is for sure Rick! That little boy is my heart and I'm so happy every time I'm with him!

We spent September getting unpacked (still working on that) and getting my classes done. In October we had a surprise 60th B-day party for my Mom. I am so thankful she got to celebrate this milestone and it was so heart-warming to see all of her friends, church members and family there! I admit, the pregnancy hormones got the best of me and I cried when everyone yelled surprise. I know it meant a lot to her too and the one word she used afterward was "honored". So much time and preparation went into that night and I couldn't be happier that we kept it a secret and still had her here for it!

Of course Halloween was after that and Ryker got really lucky this year with 4 different opportunities to trick or treat. Not to mention all the time he got to spend with his cousins and me with my brothers and sisters. He was a lion this year and looked so cute! I'll post pictures soon.

I think that brings you all up to date but if I think of anything else I'll try and squeeze in a quick post! Hope everyone is doing well and is ready for the upcoming Holiday season! Love you all!