1 YEAR

I sure do miss him. The kids and I talk about him everyday and although Maylee was a baby when he passed, she still recognizes his pictures and has to kiss each of them. Slade told me today that he just wants to be a dad right now. He explained to me that he just wants to do eveything that daddy did, so in his mind he needs to be a dad in order to accomplish that. It was cute. Daisy tells daddy about everything! I listen to her playing in her room and she pretends that he is playing right along with her. I love it. We love and miss you Skylar!

Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween this year with a few parties and handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. We carved one big family pumpkin and the kids enjoyed lighting it up each night. Slade made sure not to eat too much candy this year so he wouldn't throw up like last year :) Daisy changed her mind about her costume about every 10 minutes up until it was time to get dressed up. Maylee was pretty good at sneaking candy! She has a sweet tooth like her mom!

Slade was a handsome Cowboy! He originally wanted to be Batman but decided he didn't have a cool Batman shirt, so he switched it up to being a soccer player. After being a soccer player for his preschool party, he decided to be a Cowboy for our ward party.


Daisy made the perfect Batgirl. Her personality really came out with this costume!

Slade asked me to be a Cowgirl along with his Cowboy costume and I agreed. I usually don't dress up but it was hard to say no to a sweet loving Cowboy. My talented sister Kendyl captured this photo of me :)

Daisy is MIA in this photo. I believe she was in line for the fishing game at our ward carnival. Maylee made a perfect Tinkerbell!!

We all had a great time!

Maylee Rayne at 18 months

Miss Maylee had her 18 month well check a couple weeks ago and she had only gained 7oz from her last appointment. She is still in the 2nd percentile (18lbs). Her DR was disappointed as he had hoped she would have had a growth spurt by now. I mentioned to him that she has had diarrhea for several months now and so after discussing a few things, he wanted me to take her off of gluten for two weeks and see if the diarrhea would go away. If that didn't work, I was to take her off of dairy for two weeks. It was either that or get her blood taken which would have cost me $530. So, for the past two weeks she hasn't had any gluten and it's helping! I am new to the gluten-free diet so its been difficult for me to find and make food for her. I went to the Gluten World store and spent $36 on 5 items. I don't want to do that anymore! I feel the need to take her off of dairy for two weeks to see if that is a problem as well because that runs in my family.
Otherwise she is doing great! She is officially in a size 3 shoe and 12 month clothes. She talks a lot and has the cutest voice. She loves Barbies, animals, babies and her blanket. She climbs on everything too! Her DR gave me permission to put her in a forward facing carseat although she isn't 20 lbs yet and she LOVES it! Grandpa Stock gave her the nickname Just Big Enough and it fits her so well. She is tiny but she keeps up very well!

*I let Maylee pick a picture of herself for this post. She would look at the picture and then look at me and pretend to eat something just like she is in the picture. She would then giggle and do it again and again...

Little bit of Skylar

Skylar's 2nd love (after me of course) was bow hunting. He had found Elk antlers on his last hunting trip and I remember him calling me the day he found them. He was so excited about them because they were huge and he couldn't wait for me to see them. Well, as you know, he didn't come home from that hunting trip, but the antlers did. Skylar's brother Beau, had them mounted for me and I was able to bring them home from Utah. The antlers on the top are from the Elk Skylar shot right after his mission. The ones on the bottom are the ones he found. He was right! They are huge!! I don't know the specifics on them but they are impressive!

The other day I received a letter in the mail along with this drawing. It turns out that Skylar drew this in sixth grade while attending Neely Elementary. His teacher, Mrs. Elston was the one who sent it to me. She explained that her classroom was named the Elston Eagles and Skylar also nominated her for the Silver Apple Award, which she won. (I also have the application he sent in.) Skylar was always doodling his drawings always surprised me because they were so good! I remember helping him review for a test for the fire department and all over his notes were pictures that he drew. Thank you Mrs. Elston!

Side note- It turns out that Mrs. Elston lives down the street from Skylar's station that he worked at, at the time of his passing, yet she never saw him.

Utah

Daisy wants to be a cowgirl princess ballerina and Slade wants to be a cowboy fireman policeman worker. Both want horses so they were more than excited to ride Zee. Thanks Beau for taking them the whole 10 miles, haha!

Maylee loved Beau's dog, Girl.

Guess what?! Slade learned how to ride without training wheels in Utah! Grandma and Grandpa Stock both worked with him and he can do it! He was very nervous at first but after a few crashes he got the hang of it. He is growing up! (Tear).

Utah

For some reason I can only upload 4 pictures at a time, so the post above will have the rest...

The kids and I were able to take a trip to Utah in August and I am so happy we did. The drive was long but the kids were very well behaved thanks to a dual DVD player :) Maylee wasn't able to be forward facing yet, so she got her own screen while the other two kids shared. It was perfect! Anyway, while we were there we went fishing!! Four of us fished and we all caught one. Mine is the smallest one but it tasted yummy!

We spent a lot of time outside and at one point I lost track of Slade. I didn't know where he was so I yelled his name and he didn't respond. I knew he was probably by the horses, and sure enough, he was! He said he heard me yelling but he didn't want to scare Zee. Grandpa Stock had been teaching him to not spook the horses and he knew better than to yell. He was just standing on the horse trailer talking to and petting Zee. It was really cute.

I brought a sword home from Disneyland for Slade and he packed that and a wooden stake to bring up to Utah so he could sword fight Uncle Beau. It was a pretty good match!

The Boy

This post goes along with the one below....

Grandma Stock gave Slade a really fun nerf-type toy. You pump the rocket and it shoots into the sky. Slade absolutely loved it! Then he stuck his middle finger into the hole and he couldn't get it out. Grandpa Stock tried everything to loosen up the finger and slide it out but nothing worked. NOTHING.

So, Grandpa Stock cut the toy down so it would be easier to work with.

This is the only time he will EVER be allowed to pose like that for a picture.

After about an hour or so of trying different things to get it off, cutting it off was the only option. Slade did a really good job and didn't ever cry. The butter knife was placed inside the toy and over Slade's finger so he wouldn't get cut. Grandpa Stock was able to saw through the plastic and finally release Slade's finger. His finger was very swollen and had a red ring around it for a couple days. The only time he did cry was when his toy was thrown away.