Monday, May 23, 2011

I'm pregnant!

For those of you who have seen me at church and have wondered why it looks like I have gained a few pounds in my belly....well....I have! I'm pregnant again and this time am expecting twins! They are fraternal twins (not identical) and will be joining our family in November (if not earlier). Dan and I are thrilled but shocked and freaked out at the same time. I'm so blessed to be able to be pregnant again knowing what we went through before, but didn't expect two little babies to join our family at the same time.

Stay posted for more details and to find out what sex we're having. I'm praying for a boy and a girl, but I've come to realize that life never turns out how we'd like it to or expect! :)

Sunday, May 15, 2011

In loving memory of my sweet dad

Words can't describe how much I love and miss him!

DAVID RACKER

David Carl Racker 1944 ~ 2011 David Carl Racker passed away on May 3, 2011 after a courageous battle with a pulmonary illness having valiantly completed his mission on this earth. David was a unique and amazing individual who will be missed by many. David was born on August 2, 1944 to Carl Racker and Ramona McKean Racker in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended Weber County High School. He served an LDS mission from 1963-65 in Denmark. He then attended Weber State University and graduated from Utah State University in 1970 with a degree in landscape architecture. He married Alecia Ann Walker May 12, 1972 in the Idaho Falls Temple. They are the parents of five beautiful children. He is survived by the love of his life, Alecia; and children, Matthew (Lesa) of South Jordan, R. Monty (Jennifer) of Abilene, Texas, Merianne (Dan) Jensen of Fairfax, Virginia, Natalie (Kaveh) Sowin of Provo, and Noelle (Matthew) Toskovich of Bountiful; 13 grandchildren and nine brothers and sisters. David worked for the Salt Lake County Parks Department and landscape architectural firms in Utah and Florida before establishing David C. Racker & Associates in 1973. He was renowned in his profession having prepared the plans for such projects as Abravenal Symphony Hall, the Delta Center and Stein Eriksen Lodge. He did numerous municipal parks, office complexes, community master plans and hundreds of residential gardens throughout the intermountain area. He was a member of the Salt Lake and Bountiful Rotary Clubs and associated with numerous professional and fraternal organizations. He was elected to two consecutive terms as a national Trustee to ASLA and in 1995 he was inducted into the ASLA Council of Fellows. That same year he was also elected National Vice President of ASLA. He served in various church callings in scouts, as an Aaronic priesthood advisor, Elders quorum councilor and president, councilor to three bishops, stake missionary and High Priest Group Leader. He was an amazing teacher whose gospel knowledge was unsurpassed. He served as a tour guide on Temple Square in Salt Lake City for fourteen years. At the time of his death he was a home teacher and a basic trouble maker in the Bountiful, North Canyon 4th Ward. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at the North Canyon 4th Ward, 965 E. Oakwood Dr. Bountiful. Friends and family may visit, Friday, May 6, 2011 from 6-8:00 p.m. at Lindquist Bountiful Mortuary, 727 N. 400 E. and Sat., 9:45-10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment at Lakeview Memorial Cemetery.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter weekend! We celebrated it with 2 egg hunts, dying eggs, dinner with friends, and then today we were able to go to the Annual White House Easter Egg roll. It was stinking hot and there were a gajillion people, but we still managed to have fun!

Here are some pictures of our weekend:

David waiting patiently for the egg hunt to begin

I've never seen a 2 year old so eager to find eggs.
He was crawling through the mud to get them!
Proof: Look at his knees!

Success!

Dying Easter eggs

All the Easter loot

As long as David has his bubbles he's a happy boy

White House Easter Egg Roll

Dying eggs

Friday, January 28, 2011

Update on our lives

I have been such a slacker with my blog. Facebook has taken over my life and I've let my poor blog go by the wayside. Do people even use blogs anymore? I may be writing all of this in vain!

The last few months have been a whirlwind. Since I posted last (in October) so much has happened. Thanksgiving & Christmas came and went, I was called as the Relief Society president for my church, David has had numerous health problems we've been trying to get to the bottom of, and Dan and I have once again been seeking help with our fertility issues and have been trying to have another baby. All of this in 2 months...yikes! No wonder I haven't had time to post on my blog. I barely have time to breathe let alone sit for a few minutes and update my life.

A few months ago, David had some abnormal bruises on his face that wouldn't go away. They were there for at least 3 weeks, and the doctor suggested we have him looked at by a hematologist. They were concerned about leukemia, hemophilia or possibly a clotting disorder. He had extensive blood work done and his results were all across the board. He tested negative for leukemia but one test showed he had a bleeding disorder (hemophilia), the other tests showed he had a clotting disorder. After thoughtful consideration, the hematologist decided that we should go back in March and have him retested. Sometimes when children have been sick with a virus, their results come back skewed and the doctor feels that's what happened with David. So, we'll head back in March and try to figure out what's going on.

We thought all was well until a few weeks ago David's eyes started rolling to the back of his head. The episodes would last 3-5 seconds and it really agitated the poor thing. Our doctor had us come in and be checked out, and she immediately sent him to have an EEG, CT scan, and today he had the MRI. The EEG and CT scan came back negative and we're still waiting for the results of the MRI. The neurologist diagnosed him with a neurological condition called Paroxysmal Tonic Upgaze, (a rare eye disorder where the patient has periods of upward deviated eyes with neck flexion involving a downward pointing chin to try to compensate for the abnormal eye position). The condition is benign and will improve in the future - most likely by the age of 3 or so. He hasn't had an episode for a few weeks so we're looking at that as a good sign.

He's going to be fine and I'm not too concerned anymore, knowing that it's benign and doesn't hurt him. It's just frustrating to have to be dealing with this right now. He has been a trooper and is so well behaved at the doctor's visits. All the doctors are shocked at how well he sits still and lets them draw his blood, check his ears, etc. He's a good boy!

Here is a picture from this morning at his MRI...right before he went under anesthesia.

We had a great Halloween. My friend Mallory and I threw a Halloween party at our house for some of our friends. Our church had a trunk-or-treat activity where David got all the candy he could ever want. Man, that kid loves sugar!

Picking apples at Marker-Miller Orchards

What a handsome devil he is!

Dan, David, & I spent Christmas here in VA. We missed being with our families in Utah & CA, but loved being here at home and watching David open all his fun presents. We had a low key Christmas and tried not to go too crazy with presents. It's hard though when you have an 18 month old who loves toys!

So excited about his new train table.
It hasn't looked this put together since Christmas day.

Helping decorate the tree. We had to put all the lame stuffed animal ornaments at the bottom so he wouldn't break the nice ones.

That's about all the blogging I'm able to do for one day. I need to go take care of some Relief Society stuff and get ready to teach piano lessons for the day. Life is always full of adventures! Before I leave though, I must post one more picture of the cutest boy in America.

Do you agree?

Adios for now!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Natalie got married! Hip Hip Hooray!

Last week I went to Utah for my sister Natalie's wedding! Unfortunately, my camera battery died the minute she walked out of the temple, so I only got one picture of her and her husband. Bummer!

Here it is in all it's glory:

Congratulations to Natalie & Kaveh!

I did however, manage to take a gajillion pictures of the things we did while we were there. We had a great time spending quality time with my family and for the first time in 8 years living in DC, I didn't want to come home!

David loved playing with his cousins Katie & Sophia (Noelle's daughters). He was such a good sport as they beat up on him. Looks like I'm going to have to toughen him up a little.

David & I took a drive up Mueller Park Canyon, in Bountiful, UT. I hadn't been up there in years, and forgot how beautiful it was...especially with the leaves changing colors.

We went to "This is the Place Monument" in SLC, UT. The kids had a blast trick-or-treating, riding hay rides and the train.

This is David's cousin (my niece), Brittney! She's my brother Monty's daughter and was in town for Natalie's wedding. It was so fun having her in town!

We also went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. There were tons of activities for the kiddos to do, and David had a blast!

Here we are watching the pig races. He wasn't too thrilled about his pumpkin costume...guess we better figure out something different for him to wear for Halloween!

This is my sister Noelle's family riding the train at Cornbelly's

My mother is crazy! She has always wanted to ride a bull, so when she saw this mechanical bull she almost wet her pants! I'm proud of her for hanging on, although it barely moved. :)

David rode the cow train all by himself. It was at this point that I realized he's growing up way TOO fast!

Here we are waiting for Natalie to come out of the temple after getting married. David wanted to just run around and wasn't too happy being held by his crazy mama!