Another year over.....

so 2010 is coming to a close. i have mixed feelings about this year, it's been a good one, we got a squishy, beautiful baby, but i feel it's been an emotional year as well. i think you always feel that way after having a baby, it's such a HUGE recovery and adjustment. emotionally, mentally and especially for me, physically---but enough about all that, maybe sometime i will find another extra 15 minutes and blog more details but for now, let's focus on the events of 2010 in the gatherum family...here are some of the highlights {for me}

*this is the first year that our house and yard really came together, we have been working NON-STOP for FIVE long years on it and i felt that it was really awesome this year--JUST in time to put it on the market---maybe we are just crazy-who knows!

*we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out that our 4th baby was healthy, thriving and growing right on track, we also decided we weren't going to find out the sex--the funny thing is, the ultrasound tech told us that the baby was being VERY generous-so we totally could have found out, for some reason, her saying that made neal and i think we were having a boy...it just added that much more to our EXTREME surprise in july!

*we commemorated the 4th anniversary of nathaniel's death and the 5th of my moms...funny how i can now put these days on the lists of "highlights" from the year-it's taken many, many years of healing and grief to be able to list these days as anything but sad, so that to me is major progress, thus making it a highlight of my year!

*we switched the kids rooms around in anticipation for #4, painted, redecorated and made them all really cute.

*we started in the hellish i mean exciting CRAZY world of competitive soccer--holy cow, i NEVER knew something could be SO time consuming. jury is still out as to whether we are going to continue with that for the time being or hold off a few years---i am STILL recovering and it starts up again in less than THREE months---the kids did great though and they improved and learned a lot!

*boe turned SIX!

*neal and i celebrated NINE years of being married! holy cow-time FLIES by, in another 9 years, gage will be SEVENTEEN!

*neal got a sweet promotion at work--i am so proud of him!

*we got the BIGGEST surprise of our lives, when on july 15th, we had a baby GIRL! i kept asking my doctor if it was really a girl and he asked me if i knew the difference between boys and girls!

*ryder turned TWO!

*neal turned 34-OLD MAN-with the GRAY hair to prove it!

*we blessed lucy

*we went to bryce canyon for a week and lake powell for another

*kaylee got MARRIED--my littlest sissie is now a married woman, it was THE most beautiful day ever!

*neal got himself neutered-i KNOW this is TMI but most of the three peeps that still read this blog are family or very close friends and they already know and they know that neal and i have a very inappropriate sense of humor...so sorry if you are a random reader and this offends you---it is AWESOME to know that we are done--LOVE having babies and LOVE my kiddos but SO happy to move onto the next chapter of our lives.

*gage turned EIGHT!

*gage was baptized!

*we celebrated lucy's first halloween {she was the CUTEST lil pumpkin you ever did see along with a perfect harry potter, a "NICE" lion and a rad hip hoppin' michael jackson}, first thanksgiving and first christmas. she pretty much slept through it all!

*i turned 33!!! the jury is still out on how i feel about that one!

and here we are on the last day of the old year. there is something about this time of year that gets me sentimental. reflecting back on events and happenings. evaluating situations and thinking about how i could have done things differently or better. all in all, i feel this was a year of self exploration, of many, many realizations and reflection. i have made many goals for the new year. sure i have the old stand-by of "getting back into shape" i have discovered that no matter how thin {or not} that i am, i ALWAYS have this goal, so it doesn't really count. i want to focus on the inside this year (although, i feel that i need to be honest and give full disclosure for a moment--i am planning on getting a rockin' bod back AND getting breast augmentation {read: boob job} this year, so i am not going to pretend to be completely... um, pure? ;) continuing on, i really want to focus on being a better person, being more patient and kind and empathetic and less judgemental. everyone has a story and sometimes finding out those stories can change perspective and opinions. speaking of opinions, i am going to try to be less opinionated too---i know this one is a STRETCH, but i'm gonna try. i said T.R.Y! i have realized that while i am trying i can always TRY harder, so i am going to. i think my number one goal for 2011 is going to be to try to live in the moment. i have a hard time with this. i have a tendency to look ahead and always plan for the next big thing, i am going to try to enjoy the little moments of life that make it real and that truly matter. i am going to try to live everyday so that if something were to happen tomorrow, i WOUlDN'T have a regret from yesterday. i hope that each one of you has a happy new year, that you look back and reflect on another year over, and a new one just begun!

HobbleCreek Half 2010

neal my dad, kim and kaylee ran the hobble creek half marathon this year. i was SOOO jealous to not be running with them. you would think (and hope) that this jealously would be a motivation for me to get my butt running again but alas that has not happened yet. hopefully soon ;) anyways, they all did great. neal's goal was to do it in 2 hours or less and he did it in one hour fifty seven minutes! that is a GREAT time. my best time is 2:08---i want and NEED to beat the two hour mark and neal was able to do it his FIRST time! it was fun to be at the finish line waiting rather then running thru it! maybe next year i will be ready to run again, one can hope right?! my dad, kim and kaylee all did great too! way to go--13.1 miles is a L.O.N.G distance!

THIRTY FOUR ain't no bore...

what a lame title for a post. oh well, it rhymes. can't go without giving a (much) belated shout-out to the BEST husband and dad on the P.L.A.N.E.T (at least MOST of the time ;) anyways, neal turned the big 3-4 on august 5th. he had a happen' farm-themed party with his favorite two year old. don't judge, i was THREE weeks out of giving birth and i just couldn't do two parties with two different themes! i hope he had a great day. here is my annual "34" for neal. I:

love his kindness
love his sense of humor
love his ears
love the dad he is
love the husband he is
love the friend to me that he is
love how he serves others
love how he loves my family, espesh my sisters
love how he helps me out with all my crazy ideas and projects
love how he entertains my OCD (usually)
love his smiley eyes
love his legs (seriously, wish i had such great legs-such a waste on a man) haha
love his brain and the way it works
love his jokes
love his creativity
love his crazy hobbies (i have had to GROW to loves these things about him ;)
love his work ethic
love his ambition
love his taste in homes...hopefully together we are going to build an awesome house this upcoming year!
love his opinions (usually lol)
love his sense or even lack thereof sometimes, of style
love his sensitivity to me
love that he loved/loves my mom
love the way he looks at lucy
love that he loves vacations
love that he loves adventure
love that he isn't afraid of change
love that he remembers and celebrates special days and anniversaries
love that he gives me pink roses
love that he has NEVER forgotten our anniversary
love that he loves holidays (almost) as much as me and let's me go all out
love that everyone loves him too!
love that he loves me!
love the example he is to my boys
love that he wants to drive his car to 200,000 miles (we are at 110,000!!!)
love that we have a REAL relationship, with ups and downs but that we have a vision of where we want to be together

i think that may be a few more then 34-but oh well! love you babe!

my three little guys...and the big one too!

here i am playing catch-up AGAIN!!! oh well, better late then never i suppose. i decided that instead of going backwards, i am just going to move forward...birthdays, christmas, new years and everything else before, after and in-between will just not get blogged this year...
my kids are all at such fun ages, there are so many things i don't want to forget about them RIGHT NOW so i thought i'd do a bit of catch-up on each of them...

GAGE----
at 7 1/2...he is in the 1st grade, has mrs. durrant whom he LOVES, is doing amazing at reading and math and generally loves school. he has lots of friends both boys and girls, though based on the love letters that get sent home to our house, i think the girls have a different idea about their friendships with gage then he does! gage started soccer up again and did AWESOME! we had him try out for a competition team and he made it! he will soon start the U8 academy with USA soccer. they will have practice twice a week for the whole summer and will then play as a team this coming fall season. it is SO fun to watch his games and he has become a very good, very aggressive (in a good way) offensive player. gage LOVES to watch tv and play video games, therefore we have to put time restrictions on these activities, otherwise, he would do them both ALL DAY LONG!!! gage loves to play outside with friends, ride bikes, run around, jump on the tramp and play on the swings. he also L.O.V.E.S. to read and will ask to stay up late reading in his bed. we recently switched the rooms up in preparation for the baby and gage now has his own room which he is very excited about. i honestly can't believe that he is almost EIGHT years old-it blows my mind. gage is a great eater and will pretty much eat anything except tomatoes. his favorite foods are pizza, cereal and sandwiches and anything i cook ;) he is learning to play chess and recently participated in a multi-school chess tournament. he would like to start tumbling lessons so he can learn to do back handsprings and flips on the tramp. the trait i most appreciate in gage is his ability to examine a situation and act accordingly. he is very sensitive to others feelings and cares about his friends and family.

Boe----
at six. boe is still my most energetic kid. he is ALWAYS happy--he is ALWAYS willing to help out and he loves to please. boe is in kindergarten and has mrs. winegar whom he loves. he has made lots of new little friends and LOVES to have playdates. he is reading so well and is working on his handwriting (poor kid got his mom and dad's genes and is LEFT-HANDED). boe has been taking violin lessons for the past 4 months and is doing awesome! i have to say, it is sometimes a challenge to teach my own child, but for the most part we get along and it works. boe has also been playing soccer again and did great this year. we signed him up for the pre-competitive academy (you have to be seven to be on the comp team) and he hopes to make the comp team next year. boe is determined and aggressive and LOVES to win. he has become an excellent dribbler this past season and loves to make break aways during games. boe is a TERRIBLE eater, something we have been working on since he was about six months old. he is getting a *little* bit better but unless dinner is VERY basic, it is a fight to get him to eat. his favorite foods are grilled cheese sandwiches, tacos, spaghetti and cereal. boe is an awesome big brother to ryder and they are best little friends. in the recent room switch, boe and ryder became roommates. they LOVE it and i often find ryder in boe's bed or vice versa in the morning. ryder is going to have withdrawals next year when boe is in school full-time. the trait i most admire in boe is his ability to ALWAYS be happy. he looks for the positive in every situation and it takes a lot to get him down. he is mine and neal's little buddy and loves to shadow us throughout the day.

Ryder----
at 23 months...holy cow!!! where does the time go??? i SWEAR i was just pregnant with this little guy and now he is walking, talking AND potty-training himself! ryder is so much fun. he is easy-going and for the most part extremely LOW matinience. he loves to play and cuddle and be held. we have affectionately referred to him as silent bob because until lately, he hasn't talked much. he does know a bunch of sign but as far as verbal skills, he was kind of lacking. the last couple of weeks however, he has become a talking machine. he says mommy, daddy, neal (which i think is hilarious), gage, boe, ellie (our dog), zep (our other dog), papa (grandpa for my dad), melmo (elmo), baby, baba, no, uh-oh, side(outside), milk, yes, see ya, bye bye, out, tub (bath-tub) and probably a few more that i can't think of. he can also sign most of these words which has been great to be able to communicate with him. neal is still ryder's most FAVORITE person in the world, he LOVES kitties and has the cutest meow ever. he loves animals and LOVES to be outside as much as possible. i cannot believe that we are just 1 month away from celebrating his SECOND birthday! i have so enjoyed having a baby in our house again. they are so loving and accepting and forgiving. i love the presence that follow ryder wherever he goes.

i am 36 weeks (and counting!!!!!) along---can't believe that my last pregnancy is almost over---while i can't say it has gone by particularly fast, i can say that i have *tried* to enjoy it---i don't know how successful i have been, this has not been an easy pregnancy, but i am so grateful for the opportunity to have children---since i have been feeling better the last few months, i have started to really look forward to having this baby. secretly i think it *might* be a girl, but then i just don't think that is really possible so i am planning on a boy and i have to say that i am totally happy with that if that is indeed the final outcome. i mean, come on, four cute little boys who LOVE their mommy---what more could i want or ask for---we have an induction date set for July 15th so we are just 4 SHORT weeks away from finding out what this little person is. we have a cute boy name but we are EMPTY in the girl name department...

neal is still super busy--i have no idea how he handles all the balls he has up in the air at any given time, but somehow he always does and always ends up doing amazing at everything--he is my hero. he was recently promoted at work and now holds the title of SALES MANAGER for the LAMAR office in Salt Lake! this is a huge opportunity for him and he is doing great at it. with the promotion comes a lot of added time and stress, but i don't know anyone else who can handle stress as well as him. he NEVER (well, RARELY) takes it out on me and the kids, he leaves work at work and comes home to us and is the biggest help to me. there is no way i could have made it through the first 4 months of this pregnancy without him. he picked up all of my slack and then some and helped keep everything running smoothly. he's the best. he recently went through a mid-life crisis and bought himself a motorcycle. i am still on the fence on this one. i have been SO against it for so long, but he has wanted one for FOREVER and you know, who am i to squash his dreams--so after much um debating and discussion, we were able to come to a compromise that we were both happy with and voila! neal is now the *PROUD* owner of a Suzuki Boulevard. ask him about it next time you see him, he is practically GIDDY and for a fairly emotion free guy, that's saying A LOT!!! today is our NINE year anniversary! can't believe how the time flies by. we have had our ups and downs, some of them caused by circumstances out of our control and some caused by mistakes that we have made, i hope that at the end of it all, these hills and valleys have made us stronger then we were when we started out on this journey. i KNOW that there isn't anyone else i would rather be on this trip with. love ya sweetcakes.

well, now that this sounds like a chrismas card letter or something, i feel pretty caught up on our lives. i am very happy where we are. i am LOVING life in my thirties and i can't wait to see what the next THIRTY TWO years have in store for us---BRING IT ON!!!

it's a great day to be..

33!!!
holy cow neal-you are an OLD man!
neal turned 33 on august 5. he celebrated by leaving me and the kids for SIX whole days to go fishing in alaska with his dad and two of his brothers! i can't think of a better gift then that for my lil' sweetcakes!

here are THIRTY-THREE things i love about neal:

*his smiley eyes....
*his sense of humor-seriously he's hilarious
*he is kind to everyone
*he is the best dad EVER
*he's a pretty great husband too ;)
*he is so content-it doesn't take much to make him happy
*he is humble-to a fault
*he serves ALL the time-usually it goes on without notice-he doesn't ever bring attention to himself, just sees a need and fills it.
*he is tolerant
*he has great legs-i don't see the point in wasting a great pair of legs on a man ;)
*he is great with money and budgets-i don't call him the budget nazi for nothing
*he is such a hard worker
*he is creative
*he does things to make me happy-sometimes that is no easy task-i can be such a pain
*he lets me give him honey-do lists and he always gets them done
*he gets up in the middle of the night and checks the house when i think someone has broken in (i am ultra paranoid-such a nerd)
*he lets me rant and rave when i am upset
*he tries to help me solve all my problems (sometimes this bugs the heck out of me, but i usually appreciate it after)
*he is logical
*he is not an over-reactor-this is good cause i am!
*he takes over when he gets home from work and gives me a break
*he lets me sleep in a few extra minutes in the morning and gets the kids up, bathed and dressed before i get up
*he loves treats as much as i do (don't know if this is REALLY a good thing???)
*he loves pretty much any and all music-has THOUSANDS of songs on his hard drive)
*he agrees with me on pretty much EVERYTHING about what we want when we build our house
*he entertains my endless list of home improvement projects and for the most part goes along with them and does them for me
*he is an awesome wakeboarder/skier
*he doesn't hang up his "kills" in our house-thank goodness for this...
*he is a creature of habit-so predictable-it's funny
*he is an AWESOME gardner
*he loves reality television as much as i do
*he looks so great dressed up
*he is MINE-

love you so much-hope your day was great...
adrian, gage, boe and ryder

June 2009...

i am still alive...VERY behind on blogging, but still kickin'! i am going to do several posts to try to catch us up on our latest happenings...

BASEBALL:
gage and boe both played their second year of baseball. boe was in t-ball again and gage did coach pitch. they have both improved a lot since last season. they were both lucky to have AWESOME coaches, thanks Cory and Mark! it was fun to watch them play and see how much better they are getting.





BOE'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS:
we celebrated boe's birthday on june 13. he wanted a hotwheels birthday. we had everyone over for a pizza party and cake and ice-cream. go figure, it RAINED in the middle of june so we had to do it all inside! it was a fun night and we love our little boe-boe.




EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY
on june 15, neal and i celebrated our EIGHTH wedding anniversary! holy cow we are old...it's been quite the journey. we've experienced a lot together and there is NO ONE else on the planet who i would rather experience it all with. he "gets" me-and that is no easy feat! here's to MANY more wonderful years together...love ya.


WASATCH BACK 2009
FINALLY on june 19 the event that we had been training for, sleeping for, eating for, waiting for, looking for-ward to, dreading-etc. etc. was here at last! we divided into 2 vehicles, the women in one the men in the other. the ladies had the first 6 legs so we had to be in logan first-we met at kim's house at 4:30 in the A.M., packed up our stuff and headed off to begin our THIRTY hour jaunt across the back of the wasatch mountains. it was an experience INDEED. we slept in the YUKON, on the grass at the highschool and wherever we could squeeze in a few extra ZZZZZ's. after our legs were over, we would go shag the guys. it was a great experience. i loved doing it w/family and friends. i still haven't 100% decided if i am going to do it again next year. i am giving myself until the end august to decide, so we'll see.
i just have to give a little shout-out to the men in our group...by and large they took the hardest legs. they ALL did AMAZING, i mean, literally, they ROCKED it. i would say the last 4 runners had the hardest legs. neal, jerimy, adam and josh took those legs and i was so impressed with all of them. neal, jerimy and adam each had a part of the mountain going over guardsman's pass. neal's last leg is called the "RAGNAR" because it is the most difficult leg in the entire race. it is 4 miles STRAIGHT up the mountain at an average 8% grade. not only is it the most difficult let, it comes at the end of the race after a full day and night of running and little or NO sleep. neal did SOOOOO-O great on it. his goal was to run it in 49 minutes, he did it in just over 50. good job babe-so proud of you! here are a bunch of random pics from the race...
here we are-bright-eyed and bushy-tailed...we are all WASATCH BACK virgins-have NO IDEA what is up ahead for us...
MARTI getting ready to start us off
me starting my first leg, i was runner #2
kim running-seriously this chick ROCKED it!!!
kaylee and i being...us...look at here ROCK hard bod-seriously, she got the good genes...
go kent stockton go...k, so THIS guy-he ran an average 8 and a half minute mile on ALL three legs...i won't publish his age, BUT, he's MY dad and I am 31, hmmm...the guys nicknamed him KENT STOCKTON...let's just say he has some shorts that are "quesionable" in length...love ya dad!
neals cute brother darren-we were so proud of him! he trained so hard and did amazing! way to go DEE!
goats tethered up to their front yards are just the sort of things you see whilst running through small town utah..
getting ready to start the night legs...
me getting ready to go shower and eat at the morgan high school...
this was the sign below the start of the RAGNAR leg...it ain't lying...
neal coming up on the end of the worst leg EVER! getting ready to hand off to adam-it was eerily quiet during this leg, usually you have people cheering and shagging their runners, but on this one people were basically silent trying to help the runners concentrate...crazy!
adam getting ready to start the last leg of his run...
neal and i after the RAGNAR...he was seriously pale...i was super proud of him...

Thankful For...

these four. I don't know what I'd do without them. In these times of economic strife, uncertainly, war, turmoil and sadness, it is easy to forget about ALL THE GOOD that still exists in our world. Love you...

Wahoo, He's 32!

Today is Neal's birthday. Yep, I'm married to an OLD man-notice ALL the GRAY hair he has! He likes to tell me that I am responsible for about 90% of it, which in all fairness is probably true. Anywho, I sure do love this guy. I am pretty lucky if I do say so myself, Neal is truly a great husband and dad. Sure, we have our problems and in my perfect world, he'd do a lot more housework and laundry, but when it comes down to what is most important, he is awesome. I hope today is great sweetcakes, Love ya!

Happy Father's Day...

Happy Happy Father's Day to THE two most important Dad's in my life...
Let's start with my little sweetcakes Neal. Here are mine, Gage's and Boe's top 10 reasons why we love him so much:

1. He is patient and calm.
2. He gets down on a kids level and truly tries to understand and connect with them.
3. He treats our kids with respect.
4. He is consistent, firm and very fair.
5. He is fun and active and is always up for anything the kids want to throw his way.
6. He is easily persuaded to do things that I would probably not go along with, like eating popscicles at 10:00 at night before bed!
7. He is a hard worker and a great example to my kids.
8. He is all about QUALITY family-time.
9. He is funny and even participates in "potty" humor every once in a while.
10.He is our dad and we LOVE him to pieces and hope he has a fantastic day!

FATHER'S DAY CONT...

Now onto my own Daddy-O:

1. He is steady and constant.
2. He is wise.
3. He is sensitive to mine and my sister's needs.
4. He treats us with love and respect.
5. He has become a friend as well as a dad to me.
6. He loves my kids and they love and respect him.
7. I know he would do ANYTHING for me.
8. He took care of my mom and my brother for 11 years-seriously, he's the best.
9. He is open-minded to others beliefs but sticks strong to what he knows to be true and right.
10.He will always be my #1 Daddy-O and I love him. Hope you have a great day today dad!

SWEETCAKES

So Neal has been out of town for ten of the last fifteen days. He is coming home tonight and I am SOOOOOOOOO excited. I don't realize how much of a help he is and how much I miss him until he isn't around, so I wanted to dedicate a post solely to him. Here are 10 things I love about him...

1. He is REALLY funny and sarcastic-and the best thing about his type of humor is he doesn't try to be funny, he just naturally is.

2. He is REALLY good with money. If it were up to me, we'd be broke, we'd have everything we want, but we'd be flat broke. Neal, however, is a pro with a budget (I call him the budget nazi) and I have to say that I really appreciate having financial security no matter what happens. I must really miss him, I can't believe I just admitted all of that!

3. He is an excellent dad. His work keeps him super busy and he is gone a lot, but when he is home, it's all about him and the kids. He gets down to their level and listens to them and validates them. I love how he treats them with respect.

4. My mom REALLY loved him, she told him that he was her soul-mate, he agreed and they forged a great alliance against me. Just kidding, but she did love him and always told me how lucky I was to have him.

5. He gets along with my friends and family, actually, he gets along with everyone. People enjoy being around him.

6. He is humble. He doesn't flaunt his accomplishments, he would never want someone to feel inferior to him and he is so good at making others feel comfortable around him.

7. He is quietly faithful. Just like he doesn't flaunt his accomplishments, neither does he flaunt his beliefs but he is such a good example of being faithful and living by faith.

8. He is optimistic and positive almost all of the time. I am more of a "glass half-empty" type of gal and he definitely sees more of the "half-full" side of things.

9. He enjoys the simple processes of life. He is good at recognizing the small, important things in life.

10. He loves Me!

Okay, sorry if that was too cheesy for some of you, but I don't tell him enough how great I think he is, and I do, I think he's the greatest! Love ya Babe!