Goodbye

We met them at Vandenberg Air Force Base in January 2007.

They drove Troy to church while he was in Tech. School at Vendenberg AFB.

They were a familiar face at church when we moved to Cheyenne.

They have celebrated all of the kids birthdays with us.

They have celebrated some holiday's with us.

He has honored his Priesthood and helped our family in times of need.

She has been someone I have always felt comfortable talking to.

They have babysat our kids so we could have a much needed "date night".

They came to the hospital when our 2nd and 3rd children were born.

They are some of my kids most favorite people.

They have a beautiful one year old little girl.

They love to serve others.

They are great examples of the church.

They are moving on and we are so sad to see them go.

They are some of our closest friends.

Thank you Paul, Kristine and Hayden Pratt

29

Yesterday we celebrated Troy's 29th birthday! Wow, we are getting OLD! We did not get to go out for birthday donuts because Troy was working and I didn't want to wake the kids up that early. The boys and I went to the store and bought stuff to decorate the house to surprise daddy after work. Sebastien spoiled the surprise at lunch as he told Troy all about the balloons and how we were going to decorate the house. He had a lot of fun taping balloons all over, carefully placing confetti on the table and steps and could not wait to yell SURPRISE! I did not get any pictures of the house because ten minutes after we finished, Manti woke up and down came the balloons. At least Troy got to see it, briefly.

For Troy's birthday dinner we went to Old Chicago. The food was okay but the service was awful. We had been there for forty five minutes after we ordered when the server came over and said they made the wrong meal for Troy and they were waiting to bring the rest of the food out until his was done. The boys were getting a little restless so once the food finally came we tried to eat as fast as possible before they got too crazy. After all was said and done, Troy got his meal for free.

Troy's birthday present this year is the kids and I are sending him to Texas in October for a Dallas Cowboys football game. He is very excited to go see the new stadium and watch the team play. We are hoping it will be a good game. To go along with his birthday present, I made a star cake that was suppose to resemble the Cowboys "star". It didn't turn out quite like I wanted but that's what happens when you wait until the late afternoon to start baking. I made a white cake from scratch, dyed it blue, made a strawberry cream filling, ground up some fresh strawberries/blue berries to go on top of the cream filling and used whipped icing to cover the cake. It was fun to make and I think Troy liked it. Manti had two pieces of cake, Sebastien ate the cake and frosting but no filling and I think Troy had a small piece. We had some friends over for cake too and Troy said to them "I think Holli has been watching too many cake shows." I have to admit, that might be true.
All in all, I think Troy had a good birthday, once he left work!

The finished product. I wish the frosting would have been a little darker but like I said, I ran out of time.
Singing "Happy Birthday"

The boys helped daddy blow out the candles.
Manti chowing down on his second piece of cake.

I think Sebastien had more fun playing with the confetti, singing happy birthday over and over and telling Troy to make a wish, then he did eating cake.

Manti's Party

For Manti's birthday party we invited a few friends over for burgers, hot dogs, cake and a pinata! The kids all had a fun time and it was fun for us to watch them play together.

He is a little confused as to how old he is.
"Baby Hayden" taking a swing at the pinata.

He had the cutest look on his face when he was hitting the fire truck.

The boys friend Coco took a turn to see what was inside.

Can you tell from previous pictures that the hose has been moved back? Sebastien is a rock star when it comes to swinging the bat so we tried to keep all the other kids behind the "line". Everyone listened except for Manti...and of course he took a shot in the face while his brother was swinging the bat!

He got over it really quick once the fire truck started dropping candy...he was very happy with his loot!

The CAKE! One of these times I am actually going to make the birthday cake, maybe! :)

The smile says it all - the lightning and mater cars were his FAVORITE!

Thanks to our friends, Manti had a great party and lots of fun playing with all the kids.

Chunky Monkey

I have decided that little miss Emree is going to be our "chunky monkey". She started out small but she is not having any problems growing! I took her to an appointment yesterday and to my surprise she had gained another 7 1/2 ounces, since last Thursday! She is now weighing in at 6 pounds 10 ounces. She has almost gained a pound since birth, which was 3 weeks ago! The doctor was very surprised. She said usually they are hoping the babies are back to their birth weight by this point. She is still smaller then the average baby but to me she is getting so big! I love how she cuddles up on my chest and will sleep until she needs to eat again or I put her down. I don't want her to get big so fast, I love the itty bitty baby stage.

2 Weeks Old

Our little Emree is 2 weeks old! She is such a good little baby and is growing so fast. We took her to the doctor for her two week check up and the doctor was very impressed with how strong she is. She can lift her head and hold it up while she looks around, rolls onto her side when laying on her tummy and is very alert to what is going on around her (when she is awake). She is doing great with nursing and not having any problems gaining weight. Last week when we took her she was back up to her birth weight (5 pounds 11 ounces) and today she weighed in at 6 pounds 3 ounces. She is still small but I can already tell how much she is growing. She is a really good sleeper too. I usually have to wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her because I get a little too uncomfortable. The boys love her and have been great with her...so far!

Emree's Arrival

Emree joined our family on the 29th of July at 8:28 PM she was 5 lbs 11.4 oz and 19 inches long. The delivery process was on the fast side to say the least. It all started at 10:30 earlier that morning when we had a doctor's appointment, they checked me and told us I was dilated to a 3 and expected us to have a baby soon. I had some contractions off and on all day. Troy got home at 6 and after a lot of convincing from Troy and Grandma, we decided it was time to head out. I didn't want to go too soon and then be sent home, I was a little stubborn! We finally arrived at the hospital at 7:00PM and they were just going to put us in a triage room, we didn't even sit down when they realized how close my contractions were. The nurse asked if I was "uncomfortable" and I said, "Yep, just a little bit." She decided to take us straight to a labor & delivery room. The labor and delivery nurse was really new, and told me she couldn't call the doctor to do the epidural until she had the administration paperwork done and IV in and running. It was a long process due to the fact she was asking questions from the wrong form. We actually never completed the form until after Emree was born. It took two nurses, 2 blown veins and a lot of poking to get the IV and by then my contractions were minutes apart and really intense. Troy was really good about holding my hand and reminding me to breathe! He tried so hard to get the nurses to get me the epidural fast but the baby had plans of her own. She was not going to wait any longer to make her grand arrival. The nurses had all left the room and I started to feel a lot of pressure with every contraction. I asked Troy to go get the nurses so they could check me. The doctor came in, broke my water and Emree was born. Yes this was a totally natural birth and NO not by choice.

The recovery process has been excellent. I have been very surprised at how well I feel and sometimes forget I just had a baby. I tried to pick up Manti and quickly realized my body was not quite ready for that. The boys have been so good with baby Emree. They love to give her kisses and hold her. I am a little nervous for Troy to go back to work and Grandma leaving but I think I will be able to handle it. I am just glad the weather in Cheyenne is still nice enough for the boys to play outside and burn a lot of energy!

Emree Ann Cahoon

Our baby girl, Emree Ann Cahoon born July 29th at 8:28PM. Emree weighed in at 5 pounds 11 ounces and is 19 inches.

Daddy's little girl!

Just after her first bath all dressed up. So cute!

I look like I am on drugs, however I was drug FREE!

She is such a tiny girl! We love her so much!