Forsgren Family Reunion 2010

For our family reunion this year we went to the Heber Valley Girls camp. We roughed it. Ok, not really we had cabins, running hot water and flushing toilets. It was cold but we still had fun.

 

Sitting around the campfire

 

Grandma sitting with the kids

 

Sam, Christian, Sally and Brad

 

Brinley and Meikle singing in the program

 

Brad, Sally, Ty, and Lauren singing for the show

  

I'm not much for talent shows so our family's talent was that Marie sang a song.  

The banana's at the talent show

  

Sally

  

John and Wyatt

  

Grandpa

 

Rebecca

  

Just sitting here having some juice

 

John and Nat

  

So Cold

  

Snacks after the treasure hunt. We saw a deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and a few mice.

 

Jeff

  

Meeting of the minds

  

Grandpa and Aaron

  

Lauren

  

Wyatt

  

Tyler

 

Meikle

 

Emma

 

Rebecca and Rachel

 

Brinley

  

Grandpa and Aaron

  

Just Chillin'

 

Natalie and Christian

 

Christian trying to stay warm and chowing down

 

Grandpa, Brad, Wyatt, Natalie, Brinley and Tyler

  

Seth riding along in the paddle boat, but so tired.

  

My hot hubby on the lake in the paddle boat. 

 

FD and a sweet Sister Missionary that took her out on the lake because she was throwing a fit and didn't want to go with us. 

 

Playing in the dirt at the Lake

  

Seth and his Frog binkie 

  

Seth with the Scooper that has a back hoe

 

Seth, Wyatt, and Tyler

Seth and Wyatt in the Dirt

I have a lot more pictures, so I only uploaded every 3rd one. But I had to have this one on here. Just because I happened to take it at just the right time and it got a laugh. 

We had a great time and hopefully it will be warmer next year and June and her family should be here. Yeah for Heber Valley Girls camp.

How he proposed

I know you are thinking that our proposal was something like when Chandler and Monica got engaged. You're thinking there is going to be rose petals, candles, overwhelming words of love that bring me to tears because Sam is so amazing.

Well our proposal story is a little underwhelming, in fact it's kind of funny. We got engaged on New Year's eve 2002/2003. The Christmas before I got Sam a palm pilot and programed it to be funny to go off at 12:01am on 1/1/03, with a reminder to propose. Well Sam found it before hand, so he started planning. Well, a few days before Sam got pneumonia and was so sick. He would cough so hard. He was on prescription cough syrup that made him loopy. So all our plans changed, of course  I didn't know that he had plans. So, we curled up on his couch in his new apartment (he had to move out by the 1st), with a fire in the fire place, hot cocoa and watched a movie. He dozed off. When the neighbors up stairs started banging pots and pans and screaming happy new year and the alarm on his palm pilot went off, Sam woke up a little bit, rolled off the couch got on one knee and said "will you marry me?" Cough, Cough, Cough. before I could answer he rolled back up on the couch. I leaned over gave him a kiss, said "yes" and tucked the blanket around him and let him go back to sleep. A little while later I went home for the evening.
I was on my way to work the next morning to check on my clients when Sam called me. He said "I was supposed to ask you to marry me last night, did I?"
I told him that he did. He said "oh good."
And that's it, we were engaged, very anti climatic but still very happy.
The next chapter in our story... I haven't decided yet.

Things about us...

I'm getting ready to get my blog printed into a book, the way I figure it that's they only way that my kids are going to have a family history. But I figured since it was being put into print that I would put a few stories on here so they can be saved.

I'll start with how Sam and I met.
I was working as a manger at a residential program for adults with disabilities. They lived in a mainstream apartment complex, that Sam also lived in. I started working at the program in 1999. I had been dating a guy off and on for about 3 years. A few of the clients didn't like him because he wasn't LDS. So on one of our breaks they decided to find me a nice Mormon boy to marry. The ring leader of the group was Earl. He stood up in Elders quorum and said I have a girl from his program that needs a nice Mormon boy to marry which one of you wants her?
No one responded.
Earl does not give up easily. He went to the bishop and asked if there was a nice boy in the ward who was single. The bishop said the only one that he knew of was Sam and his roommate Kendall. Earl knew Sam. Sam had befriended Earl and would drive him places like to the grocery store etc. So Earl went to Sam and said that he had a friend that needed a date. Sam being the sweet soul that he is said he would take out Earl's friend. See Sam has a disabled sister and thought that if his sister wanted a date that he would hope some nice person would take her out.
Earl came to me and said that  he needed me to drive him on a double date with a friend from special mutual. Dating more was his current goal so I agreed to be his driver.
Earl said that the boy that  I was going to be driving needed more information about me before we went so he would be comfortable with me there. Earl only had large print paper (the kind with the dotted line in the middle that you use in kindergarten). I neatly printed a few things about me. Name, age, phone number etc. just like Earl said.
Earl took that note and a female client who was in on the setup, delivered the note to Sam.
Earl had previously given Sam my daytime number, I was working as a para educator in a special ed classroom at the near by Jr. High. Sam called the number and realized it was a Jr. High and went back to Earl and said that he couldn't take out a girl in Jr. High. Earl explained that I cleaned up messes at the Jr. High. Sam thought that meant that I was a janitor.
Sam called me at the office later, and said that his car had broken down so if we were going to go out we would have to go close or I had to drive. I said I could drive. (he thought that I was making up that I could drive but humored me anyway) 
The day finally came (September 6th 2002) that I was going to drive Earl's friend from Special Mutual and Sam was ready to take out Earl's friend from the program. Earl conveniently backed out of the date at the last minute.
I picked up Sam, we shared a tolerable pizza, went to blockbuster and rented "The Rookie." We were standing in the isle by the back wall looking at movies when Sam held my hand for the first time. It was cute our hands had brushed each other a few times, kindof teasing wither or not we were going to hold hands and he finally just grabbed my hand.
The movie was lacking, but we cuddled up on the couch and continued to talk and talk and talk. After a few hours of talking and getting close to kissing a few times I finally just went in for the kill. As I got close to kissing Sam he whispered "do you know what you are getting yourself into?"
I responded "I think so." We kissed for a little while. It was the kind of kissing that left you weak in the knees and left butterflies in your stomach.
Finally at about 1 am I went home. Sam had been up for 24 hours (he was working graveyards at the time for Sam's club) and I had to work at 8am the next morning. As I was leaving he told me to stop by the next day, because he wanted to meet my puppy, Lucy, and maybe to see me again too.
I did. And the next day and the next. We spent almost every day together since. We worked in dating around his crazy work and school schedule and my 2 jobs.
I didn't know what I was getting myself into, I had no idea. But it has turned out better than I could have ever imagined.
Love you Sam! Thanks for taking a chance on a girl from a Special program!

The Darndest Things

Me: Stop Squirming I need to comb your hair
Seth: No
Me: You don't want to look homeless.
Seth: (hand on his hip) My hell Mama!
Me: Excuse me?
Seth: I said MY HELL MAMA! Me nice boy.

A older woman in traffic cut me off and I mumbled under my breath..
Seth from the back seat: Crazy Lady stop that!

Seth let out a large loud smelly fart and said: Lucy stop that! HAHAHA! (fart jokes must be a boy thing that starts early)

Seth: My head hurts behind my eyeballs, I need chocolate

At the aquarium Seth was dancing around like a penguin singing: Little penguin likes to poop, but we don't touch it we use a scoop.

He makes me laugh. He obsesses about his "monkey toes". he will put his binkie in his toes and then sit down and put it in his mouth with his toes, he loves to pick stuff up with them and giggle.

He thinks it is hilarious to make Christian laugh, he will sit in front of Christian and start laughing, making Christian laugh it's a viscous cycle that can go one for almost a 1/2 an hour. It's really quite funny.

Seth was sitting in time out on his time out rug, he rolled up his time out rug and carried it with him out the dog doorand when I asked what he was doing he said "I'm still on my rug so still in time out."

There is more but naps are over. So more to come.

Who are you?

Swim Away Little Fishie Swim Away

Three, almost 4 years ago when I was working running a summer camp we would take the kids swimming at least once a week. One week at the pool they were giving out gold fish. I brought a few home and surprisingly they lived, and lived and kept on living. We have used the fish tank lights for Seth's night light since he was born. I didn't understand why you would by a fake fish thing to put on the side of the crib when I real one was cheaper and looked better, but that's just me.
So Seth has fallen asleep watching his gold fish swim since he was tiny.
Well it was a sad day when we got home from Hurricane...
Fred died.

Seth was so sad, I asked him to say good bye to his fish as we went to flush him and Seth kept saying "no say goodbye, no say goodbye!" After a few minutes Seth said goodbye and flushed Fred away.

Seth started asking today to go and get the fishie a friend. So we may venture to the pet store today. 

It's HERE!!!

I love  this little boy!!! There's been a different kind of anxiety with his adoption then there was with Seth. With Seth I had all the anxiety of it being the first. With Christian it's been more of an anxiety wondering if I treating him the same as we did Seth as a baby, if I am loving him as much etc. I guess it's just the anxiety of being a Mom because I still have anxiety and doubts if I'm doing this mother thing right.
We've had some hurdles to jump with the adoption, most just like everyone else, the waiting 6 months for it to be official, standing in front of the judge, waiting to bless him. There's been a trial of my faith that has come with the adoption there have been differing opinions on wither or not to have Christian sealed to our family and/or his birth parents. It's a long story. Not having him sealed to us increases my anxiety. But I've had to come and accept that it will all work out and no matter what he is my baby.


Today this came...

It's his Birth Certificate. On Mother's name it says mine, on Father's it says Sam's. It doesn't say adopted, it doesn't say he's someone else's, it says he's ours. And we couldn't be happier!
We love you Bubba Bear!

Should have been a Cowboy!

Logan  and Seth

Papa Great

Grandma Great

Papa Hall

Seth keeping an eye on the Calf's

Christian's First Cattle Drive

Seth Cowboy Boots

Uncle Kendall

Cow really stuck in the mire (they had to use a truck to pull her out but she was fine)

Uncle Matt and Aunt Angie (and Baby Dalton)

Working Hard (Sam got the job of castrating)

Codey

My Cowboy! (in his baseball hat and Green Lantern Comic Shirt)

So once a year the Hall family brings the heard of cattle down off the mountain from winter grazing, down the BS trail. Why is it called the BS trail you ask? Because it's a trail down a cliff. And it's been said that when new comers are told that the trial they are following they often say BS! My boys LOVE being cowboys, so we head down every year we can. The cows are herded up and then brought down the trail. It's really quite a sight, because what used to be open land is now being taken over by subdivisions, so the cows get led right through a neighborhood. As the cows and cowboys move their way through the streets (after coming off the mountain) people come out and watch, almost like a parade, it's really quite a sight. They get to the pasture, the cows and calves are sorted, branded, castrated, tagged and then let into the pasture. Hot dogs roasted on an open fire, dirt, cows, horses, ATV's, and a chance to be a real cowboy every boys dream! (notice it doesn't say little boys dream because I know that Sam enjoys it as much as Seth does if not more.)

We are so grateful that we can be a part of it. If it wasn't for Hall beef I wouldn't eat red meat, and my boys wouldn't know how much fun it is to be COWBOY!!!