Tanners first day of school.

Nice to be back.

So as you all know I have taken a little time off with the blog thing but, yes yes I am back. I have missed it! Once again thank you all for your love and support. I am stronger, and slightly more tired but, I survived and am once again positive and excited about the future. Things are very different from what they once were however I am so loving getting back to basics (it really is good for a person). I haven't been taking tons of pictures lately however here are some updates.

Thanks

To my friends and family,
I love you all. Thank you for all the love and support during this time I could not, and will not make it through this without each and every one of you. Know that you are appreciated and love by both Tanner and I. I will not cry over what I have lost; only the loss of what I thought it was. We are focused on our blessings and people who love us. Each day gets better and we are looking forward to a bright future with each and every one of you in our lives.

Texas Trip

My mom, Tanner and I went to see Ash and Trav in Texas. We miss them so much and we just had to be there for Julia's first Birthday. When we arrived and the first items of business were, getting Ashley's hair fixed (anyone who knows Ash knows the story), and getting my eyebrows threaded. After the important things were taken care we held a princess party for Julia complete with a adorable butterfly birthday cake my sister made that she would not touch. The next day we took a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo which was amazing. Tanner liked the ROARING lion, and lets not forget about the train ride which was on Tanner's to do list. The next few days were set aside for walks in the park with the turkey ducks and seeing all the little places Ash and Trav like to go. The last day I was struck by the stomach flu which was not fun especially because it hit on our shopping day but it didn't last long thank heavens. Thanks so much Ash and Trav for everything and we look forward to seeing you in a few weeks.

Tanner at the zoo what a BIG bird

Playing at the park

Ash and Julia on a train ride.

Baby girls birthday party

Tanner on the airplane.

Cabo San Lucas here we come!

Glen won the Presidents Club for 2008 which is a very big deal in the sales world. Glen is very good at what he does, he truly cares about his clients and takes great pride in building personal relationships with each and everyone of them. The job is highly stressful and very demanding he spends many nights responding to questions and helping his clients out. Glen is in the top 5% in sales so the company recognize him and others for their hard work by sending them and a guest (me) on a trip to Cabo San Lucas. So my hat is off to you honey, thank you for all your countless and often times thankless hours. You more than anyone deserve this trip so lets feel the sand between our toes.

Our Day Out

Plans for our day out...
-Cousin Amanda and her THREE girls spending the day with me and my ONE boy.
-Tickets to the tour of the new Draper Temple 10:00 am.
-Lunch
-Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Tanner wakes up...
I can tell its not going to be good. GRUMPY still tired and wont eat breakfast.

Start to get ready...
Realize I know nothing about a temple let alone a tour. What do I wear? Can I take a stroller? Where do I park?

Driving to meet Amanda and her THREE girls (angels)....
Tanner crying in the back seat. Major anxiety and late of course.

Park and the day begins...
Not sure why I'm at a church about 6 miles from the Temple, and sweating like a pig. I try and negotiate with Tanner to stop crying and hold my hand (Not listening as well as I would like but no long crying).
I see my cousin and her three girls and we hug and then sit down in the gym in the church. Her THREE girls sit nicely on a chair and Tanner is all over the place.

WE wait 20 min feels like a hour...
Move to the chapel where they show a movie and ask us to be quite for reverence. Tanner starts singing loud. I walk out of the movie.

Go to get on a bus....
No system to restrain Tanner this is horrible. Three girls sit quietly in their seats along with the other 3 kids on the bus. Tanner is not happy because the bus I have been talking about for the last 30 min is not a school bus, he starts to cry.

Arrive at the Temple....
Beautiful, amazing and we start walking including Tanner at a snails pace and trying to eat the snow on the ground in between the tarps they have laid down for people to walk on. Stairs stairs and more stairs, with each one Tanner is getting more and more tired. Everyone whispering Tanner is not.

Arrive at the room for baptisms..
Tanner yells "COWS" I pick him up and hurry to the the next room. Tanner kicking and screaming put me down. I feel like I could cry. At the end of each hall a nice elderly person smiles not saying a word and then points were we are supposed to go next.

Celestial Room...
Beautiful, amazing like nothing I have ever seen. I have Tanner by the wrist there is no way I'm letting go in this room. He flops to the ground and will not move.

Sealing Room...
I see chairs set up my face turns white. We enter and Tanner is at the peak of his melt down. I have no idea what is going on but many others follow us along with 4 other kids who take a seat quietly. An elderly couple enters and starts tell us about the sealing room. Tanner has LOST IT!!! I want to cry I have no idea what to do. Can I get up? Do I leave? Is that my earring that was just thrown under the velvet ropes by my screaming child? I leave.

I am met by a nice old couple who says in a quite voice "Oh he is really not happy" I pick up Tanners jacket that has fallen on the floor on the way out and a dozen kernels of corn from the cornbelly festival last fall come tumbling out of the pocket and fall all over the temple floor. I am in my dress which is probably to short for the occasion anyway crawling on the floor picking kernels up in one hand and holding my screaming child by the leg in the other.

The nice old man offers Tanner a piece of gum so he will stop screaming. Tanner takes it and throws it. I leave. I'm now crying I think.

The rest is a daze but somehow we both ended up back on the bus with a cookie in my purse and a water Tanner need to wet his dry throat from screaming so much.

The rest of the day truly doesn't matter. He fell asleep after lunch and didn't see one dinosaur.

As parents we all have these days, some are in the grocery store, some are at a park mine just happened at the LDS TEMPLE.

I do want to thank Amanda for taking me. I have great respect for the LDS faith and their Temple. It is truly amazing and I wish I could have seen it under better circumstances however I did learn a lot and found it very interesting.

My Little Helper

Today was cleaning day at the Goldens. Tanner was such a big help as you can see. I got everything done and I'm thinking of painting this weekend ... This is Tanner helping me put the laundry away. He thinks he needs to be wearing it to put it away.

About 10 sec after this shot he ran into the wall because he could not see. He cried for about 10 min but would not let me take it off him.

Tanner sucking his face off with the vacuum.

Dentist

So Tanner went to the dentist the other day, and so far so good. Everything looks great and he was such a good boy. The dentist was great which helped things, and I'm hoping he will take after me in the teeth area. I love to go to the dentist. I love everything about it. I love the way it smells, I love the clean feeling after your leave, and the bag filled with toothbrushes and floss is almost like Christmas to me. Granted I don't even know what a cavity feels like, and I must admit I'm a little crazed when it comes to brushing. Glen on the other hand, well lets just say veneers.

Walking With Dinosaurs

We took Tanner to walking with dinosaurs thinking... He might get scared. He may be to young. Will he sit through it? Well he LOVED it! He was memorized and roaring like a big dino the entire time.

Viva Las Vegas

So I did something completely out of character, I went out of town with only a 12 hour notice. Glen asked if I wanted to go to Vegas and I jumped at the chance. So we packed up and got some movies for the drive and set off. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay and from the moment we got there had so much fun. Glen loves Vegas and he made sure I loved it this trip too. He made sure we had a beautiful suite because we took Tanner and I spent my nights in the room with him. He treated me to a day at the spa while he watched Tanner. I got a new purse on our shopping spree, and last but not least we left Tanner with the nanny one evening and went to dinner and the most amazing show Le Reve at the Wynn. Glen got his gamble on with the boys at night and during the day we did all the kid stuff that Vegas has to offer. We visited circus circus which was not wonderful but Glen won Tanner five stuffed animals so he was happy. We visited the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay which was so great, but I think Tanners favorite thing was looking out the huge windows in our suite and watching all the helicopters fly over the strip. It was such a nice get away for all of us. Sometimes you just need some lights in your life.

Christmas Morning

Yes Santa came to the Golden house! We woke up around 6 am and grabbed the camera to capture every moment of Tanners Christmas. We are so blessed to enjoy such a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to each and every one of you who made it a Christmas to remember we love you all.

Lights in our eyes.

After opening our Christmas PJs we quickly changed and jumped in the car to go see the lights at Thanksgiving Point.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent up at my parents house. When people say go to your happy place... most people think of themselves on a beach or an exotic destination. I think of my parents house at Christmas. Its the most peaceful, beautiful house tucked into the foothills and completely covered in snow. The wood burning stove is always burning and the Christmas music is always playing. Every nook and cranny holds Christmas magic, from the snow village to the 12' Christmas tree. This year we took Glen's grandparents and mom with us and I was so happy to see my dear sweet grandpa Anderson.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

THE HEAD OF THE GOLDEN FAM COMES TO UTAH

Jim and Judy came to visit, and got a little snow between their toes. We love seeing them, and this time was no different. Jamie (Glens little sis) and her boyfriend Newton also came and while they were here got engaged. Congrats little sis we love Newton! Jim and Judy took us all out to a wonderful dinner at La Callie they love to have a good time and they are so hilarious. Glen is so much like his father it is amazing I love to see them together. We were so sad to see them go, but we hope to get out to Alabama soon. Thanks again for a wonderful time and we love you.Glens Brother Brian and his wife Crystal.

Glens sis Jamie and Newton.
Mama and Papa Golden

Christmas

This Christmas season was filled with all the wonders Christmas brings. Having a two year old makes everything wonderful and special. Tanner understood the moment the tree was up that Christmas was here. He spent his mornings looking for the magic elf, putting up each day on the advent calender, and then finishes it up with his new favorite drink hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. I got my love for Christmas from my mom however my dad is quite jolly himself, so as soon as I got one free moment after Thanksgiving my tree was up and the Christmas music was playing. The rest of the month was speckled with gingerbread, Christmas parties, family, and friends. I made it to most of my holiday outings I love to do. Festival of the Trees, the lights at Thanksgiving Point, sitting on Santa's lap (several times Tanner loved sitting on his lap), and the Gingerbread Festival. It was truly magic from start to finish so here are some pics and highlights of December