Swim Lessons and Troy's Birthday Presents

The boys started a 2 week swimming lessons. They are both having fun going to the pool everyday to learn and have fun with their teacher.


They are both still having a hard time putting their heads under water but while Ryan was in the bath tub last night, we did it! I'm excited to tell his teacher next week so he can start having more fun!

Now..... Here are the 2 toys Troy got for his birthday! (Spoiled little brat!)

Troy's first present... The Ipad. He loves to use it for his new job. He needs to take lots of notes at work and take it to all of his meetings. He can also jump on the internet with it wherever he needs to pull it up. It's a really handy little notebook.


The boys are having fun with it too. We've added the Toy Story 3 app on it. It's a storytelling app that also has games during the story. The boys are in heaven!

The second present... A new car!! It's a 2010 Jetta TDI. I don't know alot about cars so go Google it and find out all the specs. All I know... it runs on diesel fuel and gets about 50 miles to the gallon. That's pretty great! The reason we bought it was to replace our 2001 Passat. We spent a fortune last year on getting the car fixed and it ran smooth! All of a sudden, it started making more sounds and that was the last straw for Troy. He really needed a dependable car to commute all the way up to Salt Lake and back. Here it is!

All I have to say is that Christmas better be great for me! I better get something good!

Up to date news...

We've now had our house up for sale for 6 months now. There have been some people that have been interested but either their loan didn't go through or they needed to still sell their home they are in. I'm really trying to be patient but it's getting pretty exhausting waiting and keeping the house clean.

At the beginning of June, Troy was presented with an opportunity for another job that was better paying and that is a different career. He would be working with a sales company called ASG that sells computer equipment. Troy would basically be explaining to his clients the technical side of the sale. He will help them build their systems that would best fit their needs and help them handle any technical issues they might have in the future after purchasing it. Troy was pretty excited for this potential job since he would be moving away from the operational side of computers. No more being on call and no more dealing with keeping computers and servers up and running. He thought this would be a fun change. I have no idea what Troy knows about computers. I think he’s a computer genius. All I care about is the fact that we get more money! Wahoo! More shopping for me!! Things moved fast for this job and the official offer came in the middle of June.

So, since I got my boot off and I can now start exercising, something else happened to me! A couple of weeks ago, on Thursday, July 15th, I fell and sprained my ankle pretty bad. I have to wear a brace for another week!! With the luck I’m having, maybe next week I’ll fall and break my arm. I am still going to the gym every day and I’m training for 3 triathlons that my gym hosts in the winter. The first one is in November so hopefully I’ll be ready by then. I’m crossing my fingers. As for my weight situation, my sister Anne helped me start Weight Watchers and I’ve already lost about 7 pounds!! I’m excited to lose weight and get back into shape! Pray for me!!

Bales Family Reunion
Houston, June 2010

I am finally posting again! I am waaaaaay behind. So much has happened in the last month! Last month in June, we drove all the way down to Houston, Texas for a Bales Family Reunion. It was a very welcomed break!!

We all started down in Galveston. We rented a beach house and had fun going back and forth to the beach. Here are some pictures of the boys at the beach the first night we got there.

We all had fun playing the Wii and, thanks to my mom for getting a fun dance game. All the grandkids had a blast playing the same songs over and over again. Since then, I've had "The Eye of the Tiger" in my head!

We also had fun making shirts for all the grandkids. Everyone painted their hands and put their hand prints on every shirt. Ryan didn't do very well with this part. he wasn't use to this and he had a huge meltdown while we forced paint on his hands.

Benjamin didn't do too bad. He just didn't understand why we kept getting him dirty with all the paint.

We also had to get the grandkids together for the grandkid picture. My mom made all the girls WAY CUTE pillow case dresses! We pilled all the kids on the stairs and started shooting.

Another reason I love being there was when things settled down at the end of the day and all the siblings with my mom and dad sat on the deck and talked. It was great.

After leaving Galveston, some of us went to the Rainforest Cafe. It was really cool inside.

But, Ryan didn't do very well inside. He was paralyzed with terror. Every 20 minutes or so, the lights would fade and it would start "thundering and lightening." He really struggled with that. Poor Ryan.We also went to a really cool store called Murdocks. It is a huge souvenir shop that has everything you can think of. I got some cool wind chimes, some t-shirts that say Galveston Island on them, and a sundress. Really cool stuff!

After the fun of Galveston, we headed back to Humble and chilled for the rest of the week. We had fun going to the movies to see the new Toy Story 3 in 3D.

This was Ryan and Benjamin's first time going to a movie! They both did really good. At the end of the movie, Ryan fell asleep because we've been keeping him up at nights. Ben was pretty restless and I had to go out a couple times with him. I didn't see the last of the movie so we'll have to get it when it comes out.

We also took the wonderful opportunity to eat wonderful BBQ!! While we ate there, they had karaoke set up and the kids got up to sing "Sweet Home Alabama." We also sang happy birthday to my nephew Kaleb. He's 12 now!! He's getting so old!!

One of the most important things we did, we ate Blue Bell ice cream!

Lastly, we just had to get some family pictures done. (Please excuse how I look. I know I'm really big. I'm working on it!)

My boot is off!!!

I went to see my foot doctor today. He looked at it and then he pulled the pin out. It didn't hurt at all. I thought it was going to be long but it was really short. Now the important part... he told me that I could stop using my boot! Yay!! He told me that I can start working out. I can bike and swim but I still can't quite run yet. Maybe a few more weeks and then I can run. Another thing I get to do now... take showers!! Waaahooo!! I've been taking baths for the last 5 weeks and I'm sick of it!


Ok, I'm going to post a picture of my foot and it might gross you out. If it does, then I'm sorry! I just wanted to post it to compare the before picture!

Here's before...


Here's after...

Wow! That is amazing!! Can you believe how cool that is? My foot looks almost weird now because I've lived with my bunion all my life. Now that it's gone, my foot looks crazy weird!! What do you think??

I do notice that my big toe looks pretty swollen still. And yes, it looks like I need to cut my toe nail. I haven't been able to do it for 5 weeks. Sorry if that grosses you out.

I'm happy now that I can get back to my life. I'll be glad too when I can start running again... but I'm stoked to start riding my bike! I just got a brand new bike for my birthday too! Wahoo!!

'Tis the Season for the Water Slide
(( Fa la la la la, la la la la ))

Today was the first day that we got out the water slide! Ryan had an absolute blast! We invited over Kari and Sara with the kids.

Benjamin didn't want to get on the slide. One way or another, I'll get him in this summer. Maybe Troy will have to go down with Ben to get him more comfortable.

Here are some pictures that I got of Ryan...



After awhile, Cody and Whitney showed up and Cody decided to get in too with Ryan. They both had a blast!

In these 2 pictures, Cody was counting to 3 and then off they went!

Lastly, here is a video of Ryan and Ben. I thought it was funny!

Day out with THOMAS!

Yesterday we went up to Heber and went to their annual Day out with Thomas. The boys had a blast!

Here are tons of pictures...


Here is Troy and Ben with Sir Topam Hatt. Ryan was off to the right because he was scared.

Here are the boys on the train. They were so excited!

Here is Ben watching everything go by.


Ryan liked to look outside too but he really wanted Thomas to go faster. It was a really slow moving train.

Here we are in front of Thomas!

After we rode on Thomas, they had these little motor cars that you could ride on. Ryan was dying to get on them! He had a blast!

We were happy that we went. The boys sure did have fun!

I got my cast off today!

But, I still have to wear this big boot. The doctor told me that my toe still hasn't healed enough for me to walk on it. So, he put me in the boot. At least, at the end of the day, I can take it off and move my foot around and rotate it. That will feel good. But, I still can't take showers... baths only. That has really been hard for me since my surgery!!

Ryan's Craft

Ryan came home today from school with a craft. It looks like a fish to me. He seemed pretty proud of it. Troy called me and Ryan tried to show Troy what he made. He didn't quite understand that Troy can't see it over the phone.

Here is Ryan's craft he made...

Surgery Done!

Here is a picture of my bunion...


And here's after...


Do you see the color of my cast?? PURPLE!!! For those who know me, I'm infatuated with the color purple! I love love love it!

The before picture doesn't look horrible but it sure did hurt! Do you see that bone or hump that's sticking out on my right side of the foot? That's the bunion.

So, Troy and Ben took me to the hospital to drop me off. Luckily, it was Wednesday and Marianne (my MIL) was off work and she put Ryan on the bus. After my surgery, the hospital called Troy to come pick me up. I remember waking up but Troy said that I was really concerned that Marianne was there at home to get Ryan off the bus. I was also worried about Ben because he caught a little bug a couple of days ago and he was throwing up and had a fever. Again, thankfully Marianne took the kids so Troy could focus on me. I came home and I was out of it. I was so tired! After my numbness wore off, my pain medicine helped a little. I was in pain yesterday and the boys were driving me nuts because they were in my face. They were concerned about me but I couldn't take it. I was really super tired. But, I had some really nice things happen to me yesterday!

Ryan came home from school with this...

Then, I got my birthday gift from my sister Lindsey! She makes these watches! Her site is called Her Findings... *click on the link to see her store!*

Aren't they gorgeous?? I am so excited to wear one of them on Mother's Day to church! The top one is, of course, green but the other one is my favorite color, Purple!! Thanks Lindsey!

Then, my great FIL, Andy, let me borrow his awesome chair! I know it's totally ugly but it is sooooo comfortable!! It reclines up and down which is perfect because I need to have my leg elevated.

Anyway, back to my leg, I do have a walking boot but I'm on crutches right now. I don't want to walk on it yet.

I'm hoping that today, the day after surgery, I will be feeling better. Pray for me!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!

I forgot to post some videos I took of Ben on his birthday.

Here's me pregnant with Ben... (by the way, that's not my Dr. Pepper I'm holding. It was Troy's.)


And here is Benjamin when he was born...


For Ben's Birthday, I made a number 3 cake...



Also, here is a picture of Ben after he found my swimming goggles...


And, here is Ben and daddy laying down together watching Toy Story... his favorite movie!

Well, the videos aren't working. I'll try again later.