Sarah Redd Haslam

Shawn's sister Sarah was married this September! She was a gorgeous bride. She married her “kindergarten boyfriend”, Jake Haslam. They have known each other for years, and they just look like they belong together. Their families are in the same ward. We all love Jake, and he is such a good match for Sarah. One would have thought it was Shawn's daughter getting married – he was so nervous for her! Nervous we were going to be late to the temple, anxious for everything – it was pretty funny! He is very protective of his little sis. In fact, he gave her an old fashioned “chastity belt” for her shower gift! It was a good laugh!! That gift came as a final gift in a long line of funny gifts that he has given to her for her past birthdays. I was able to help do Sarah & Jake's wedding video, and I also took her bridal and engagement photos. It was quite a bit of work, but I hope she liked the end result. I was really nervous (probably similar to Shawn's nervousness!) because I really wanted her to like the shots. That's something you can't go out and re-do! But her announcements were designed by my sis-in-law Brooke, and they turned out AMAZING. Sarah & Jake were married in the Salt Lake temple on a gorgeous fall day – September 22. Afterward, they had a reception in her front yard. It looked so pretty. She had fall colors with lots of twigs and branches intertwined in her flowers. I couldn't believe how she had transformed the yard! Sarah has a really good eye and vision for decorating. There were SO many people who came! I couldn't believe it. It was a steady stream of people coming through the line to congratulate them for a solid two and a half hours. After cutting the cake, the dancing began. I have never seen, and probably will never see again, my father-in-law Bryan busting a move the way he was on his driveway! It was soooo funny! Everyone was dancing and just having a great time. It was a perfect day, and we are so happy to have Jake in the family.

Hannah

If I had to summarize Hannah in one picture, it would be this one. If you can't tell what it is, it's a dried up dirt clod with a heart shape in the middle. I should probably mention that I found this little gem in my kitchen drawer. I didn't even have to think twice about who put it there - Hannah's name is written all over it. Hannah loves dirt, being dirty, smelly, muddy, slimy, stinky, grungy, whatever. She can hang with the boys and enjoys being with Chance and all of his buddies. But at the same time, she's also very girly and feminine. She loves hearts, love, peace signs, dolls, princesses, pink, sparkles, fingernail polish, doing hair, clothes, Taylor Swift, and everything else girl. Then, back to the other hand, she just checked a book out of the library about grasshoppers because she loves bugs. She's our sweet little unique gal!

Buddies

West and Rags are best friends. West will chase poor Rags around in the walker while Rags runs for his life. But Rags benefits from every scrap that West drops on the ground. Now West will purposely drop food for Rags, which is a horrible habit, but how do you correct a baby from throwing food on the ground? Rags has a very gentle bite. He won't ever chomp down hard on fingers, and never bites out of anger. Here I caught West feeding Rags.

Here I caught the opposite - West drinking out of Rags' bowl! gross!!

Here's one of their beginning bonding moments.

First Day of School!!

The kids were very excited for their first day of school! A little nervous, but excited. Hannah's first grade teacher is Mrs. Romer, and Chance's third grade teacher is Mrs. Garner. Chance was nervous about Mrs. Garner until we attended back to school night and he discovered that Mrs. Garner is a BYU fan!

They both had a wonderful first day. I'm so glad their teachers made their first day experience a good one. I think it sets the tone for the rest of the year. Hannah's first day reaction was that her teacher "is really nice, but has a high voice. But that's okay." ?? For some reason, it has become one of my very favorite highlights of my life to follow the kids into their classroom on their first day and take a picture of them. Especially of Chance. Probably because of the reaction I receive as demonstrated below, hee hee {evil laugh}...

Wind Rivers

Shawn decided that it was time for Chance to take a trip to the Wind Rivers. It has been a tradition in the Redd family for the boys to go to the Wind Rivers as soon as they turn eight. Shawn and I were also hoping that the trip would toughen Chance up a little bit. Sometimes he gets a little whiny and wimpy. I don't mean that rude, but he sometimes makes a big deal out of things that aren't that major. The morning they left, Shawn announced, "We're leaving as boys and returning as men!" Shawn's mom told me that her boys always had great memories of the Wind Rivers, and as youth, expressed to her that they preferred that trip over a professional football game and Disney World! Anyway, the trip was a success for our family as well. Shawn and Chance hiked nine miles in to camp with heavy packs on their backs, slept in tents, and ate only the food that they carried in. Chance's pack was about 15 pounds and Shawn's pack was about 60 pounds. So in reality, Shawn carried 75 pounds because he ended up helping Chance with his pack most of the way in! But on the way out, Chance carried his own pack and was the first one back to the trucks! Shawn didn't mind carrying Chance's pack, as he insists he's in the "best shape of his life" and enjoyed the hike because he didn't even get a bit tired. I was proud of both of them! They went up with some people in our ward, the Petersens (Colton, Hayden, father Kelly and grandfather Randy Prisbrey). Shawn told me that the day after they arrived, he and Chance woke up early to go fishing. Chance kept telling Shawn that he didn't feel good. He said he was sick and wanted to go back to camp. Shawn finally gave in and took Chance back to camp. Chance fell asleep and did not wake up until 6:00 p.m. that evening! He woke up, had dinner, and slept the entire night into the next day! He was exhausted to say the least!!! But, the next day, Chance got up bright and early and asked, "Hey, when are we goin' fishin?"

Shawn in his makeshift hat that he conjured up to keep the mosquitoes off of his neck! He HATES mosquitos, and they were extra bad up there this year because of all of the moisture we have had. Isn't it cute? I laughed so hard. It looks just like something his dad would create.

Broken bones, a lost tooth, and a growing boy...

Chance has been trying for months now to be able to hang on the basketball rim by jumping on the trampoline. He will run, jump on the mini-tramp, then try to hang on the rim. He wasn't successful until June 20. On this day, Chance ran, jumped on the mini-tramp, and hung on the rim. He ran in the house to tell me, and emphatically declared, "this is the best day of my life!!!" I went outside to watch him run, jump, and hang. After about five times I went back inside. Chance must've done it 20 additional times in a row. But on the 21st time, Chance ran, jumped, tried to hang and fell on the cement, right on top of his right arm. I heard a terrible cry, so I ran back outside. Chance is, let's be honest, DRAMATIC, but I could tell he was really hurt. Chance had a friend over, West was asleep, and Shawn was gone, so I decided to let Chance sleep on it to see if it still hurt the next morning. Shawn ended up taking him to the Instacare the next day and a splint was put on.

I took him to the doctor a week later and he got a blue cast.

No one ever told me that since it is 2011 there are now waterproof casts!! I didn't request one, and I was told that once the cast was placed it wasn't good for the fracture to remove and put a new cast on. Since it is summertime, our backyard neighbors have a swimming pool and Chance is a typical 8-year-old boy, let's just say that the cast is not smelling too good these days. Oh well, August 3 isn't too far away, is it? Oh, and Chance tells the story about how he broke his arm a LOT better than I do. I, for some reason, do not use quite as much enthusiasm and seem to forget to include how he was going up "just like Jordan".

The other day, my dad was with his horse working on the horse shoes, and the horse stepped on my dad's foot! The horse broke my dad's foot in two places, so now my dad has a cast too! I haven't ever broken a bone in my life. That just shows how daring and exciting I am.

Hannah finally lost her front tooth! It was starting to turn gray, and she (like last time) would NOT let me pull it out!! I didn't know what to do. I was considering pulling it out of her mouth while she was asleep or something! But at Courtnie's house, it fell out while she was eating a piece of BREAD of all things. Yay! She looks adorable toothless.

This summer, Hannah is having a lot of fun swimming in our neighbors' pool. She dared to go off of the diving board AND down the slide today for the first time! She wears a bubble on her back, but she is getting very confident in the water. Hannah is so excited to go to first grade next year. She found out her teacher's name is Mrs. Romer, and her friend Eliza Tubbs is going to be in her class! She is starting tennis lessons this week, and will be playing soccer in the fall. In the meantime, she watches a lot of TV (which we are trying to limit) and we're also trying to get her to quit eating so much sugar. She is a sugar junkie, so we tell her she is going to get "the Beeties" (diabetes) if she doesn't knock it off!! ha!

I was a month late taking West-a-boy to the doctor. I guess that's what happens on the third child. West weighs 18 1/2 pounds (50%), is 28 inches tall (75%), and has a head size of 44.5 cm. (45%). I think he's my kid with the smallest noggin. Lucky for me, due to PAST RUDE JOKES ABOUT NOGGINS!!! ha! He is still just happy, happy, happy. At 8 months, he has four front, top teeth and three on the bottom! Does that seem like a lot of teeth for an 8 month old? His little grin is so cute. And don't you love how his hair stands straight up on end.

West loves to copy noises. If Hannah screams, West screams. If Hannah clicks her tongue or makes a "raspberry" sound, West clicks his tongue and makes the same sound. If Hannah says "huh, huh, huh" then West says "huh, huh, huh" just like her! It is pretty cute. West gets so excited and smiley when he sees anyone in our family. He is running around LIKE CRAZY in his walker. He will squeal and chase Rags around the kitchen as fast as he can! Poor Rags can barely escape. West is starting to feed himself, and loves scrambled eggs and vienna sausages. He is sitting up by himself, but he hasn't started to crawl yet. He just sort of rocks back and forth on his tummy. He'll spin all the way around on his tummy, but he hasn't lifted himself up on his knees yet. And that is JUST FINE with me!!

Ty

I'm writing about Ty tonight because my emotions are on the surface. Last Friday (July 1) we were enjoying ourselves at Shawn's family's cabin in Star Valley, WY. Shawn's friend, Blake Keyes, called him and asked what was going on with Ty. Ty's uncle, Blair, had posted something on facebook that made him worry. Shawn called his cousin, Blake, to see what was going on. Blake did not know, so he called someone else who was over at the other cabin in Star Valley. Through this chain, we were informed that Ty Redd, Blaine & Jaylynne's son, had accidentally been shot in the stomach while practicing shooting targets, and had been given a 10% chance to live. We were shocked. Speechless. All we could do was kneel and pray. Shawn's brother, Matt, gave a beautiful prayer, mentioning that we would accept Thy will with whatever happened with Ty, but also asked for comfort. We all did receive much comfort from that prayer. We knew Ty would be okay and felt peace. An hour or so later, we received the news that Ty had passed away. Again, we were shocked, but now we were heartbroken. The reality of it was a lot to grasp in those few moments - from the time we learned of the accident to the time of Ty's death was approximately two hours. Shawn, Matt, Brett, Bryan, April, and Sarah spent much time crying, praying, and giving blessings to those who were at the other cabin. There were a lot of swollen eyes and tears.

As I think of Ty, I think of his sparkly brown eyes, olive skin, and contagious smile. I mostly recall him around the age of 5-6. Full of life, and cute as a button. You just wanted to squeeze his cheeks when you saw him. On a sad note, I vividly recall Tucker and Ty acting as pall bearers for their baby sister Emma's funeral. Even though they couldn't have been older than 8 and 6, they were the cutest little men -- acting so grown up at such a young age. As Ty got older, we did not see him as often, but we always heard classic "Ty" stories. Ty broke his arm. Ty broke his leg riding bulls. Ty's hunting cougars with Lance. He was always busy doing something, and as his obituary stated, Ty "used his time wisely" while here on earth. At the viewing, I read through Ty's business brochure that described his hunting guide business. He was an awesome little hunter, and described how he could guide people to find "a mature tom" without "breaking your pocketbook." Chance was impressed that Ty had named one of his hounds "Jimmer." While at the viewing, Hannah wrote Ty a note that simply said, "I love you." As I attended the viewing tonight, my memories of Ty were confirmed. Ty was a tough little cowboy. I would love for either of my boys to be half as tough and half the man that Ty was on his way to become.

We heard more Ty stories at the funeral. My favorite was how he walked his mom through locating a deer on the hillside over the phone! Ty told his mom where to go and how to find the deer that he had shot earlier that day. Jaylynne located the deer through Ty's instructions, as well as through the stench of the deer! Once the deer was found, Ty instructed Jaylynne to pull the arrow out of the deer. Gross!!! When asked why, Ty exclaimed, "Mom! That arrow cost $15.00!" Jaylynne begrudgingly pulled the arrow out of the deer and took it home for Ty. I bet she is so glad she went through that for him as she looks back on that event. Another Ty story included how he had walked up a mountainside in snow up to his neck. Ty's bishop had a young man ask him if there was hunting in heaven. Ty's bishop replied, "I don't know, but if there isn't, I know Ty's up there right now talking them into it." Ty's toughness, along with his continuous obedience to his mom & dad, were emphasized throughout the funeral.

Ty was 14 years old when he died. He was not your typical 14-year-old. He lived in a world full of hunting, fishing, horses, and hounds. Girls were far from his mind, even though I read in a memory book that the girls thought Ty was the cutest boy in all of South Ogden Junior High. For Christmas this year, he was given a cell phone. Ty looked at the cell phone and asked, "What the heck am I going to do with this?" Ty began taking videos of his adventures during what would be his last six months of life, which are now priceless treasures to his family. I learned today that in May (last month), he took a video on his cell phone with the song "Take Me Home, Country Road" by John Denver playing in the background. With his video phone, he took a picture of himself, then of the temple, then of a picture of Jesus holding a boy. His parents and grandparents found this video on his phone a few days after he died. You can't help but wonder if Ty was inspired to make this video. It has been such a great comfort to them during this very, very difficult time.

Through the attendance of Ty's viewing and funeral, I received a strong impression of how distinctly separate our bodies and spirit are. The boy's body in the casket was not Ty. It was a shell of Ty. Ty's spirit lives on. It did not disinigrate or disappear just because his body gave out on him. I know that Ty's presence will be with his family on and off during their earth life. He is not far away. I hope Ty might pay our family a visit from time to time in order to inspire us to "cowboy up."

Memorial Day

We have had sooooo much rain this spring! For some reason I thought the rain would let up for Memorial Day. Nope. I thought it would be fun to stay overnight and hang out in Salt Lake over the Memorial Day weekend. I could lay out on a lawn chair, the kids could swim…nope. It was cold and rainy. I was able to get a good deal on a hotel room through Hotwire. Little did I know that the hotel I ended up reserving (the Sheraton) was one of the main sponsors of Pride Week in SLC! And Pride Week was starting that weekend! Augh! Gay people everywhere. My friend at work always says, "They're gay, it's okay, and they're here to stay." However, my response from now on is going to be "I don't mind gay, just don't display, I don't like the PDA." Clever, eh!? Anyway, we did stay in Salt Lake, but the kids just took a dip in the hot tub and that was it. I thought for sure Chance was going to question me about the large number of men speaking intimately with one another around the pool, but he didn't. ha! We decided to get out of downtown and take the kids to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. That was fun. And yummy. Chance ordered chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake and was pretty much in heaven. We walked around the mall, and Hannah earned a Build-A-Bear for doing a good job on the potty. (Yes, it's really sad that I am still pushing potty incentives on a six-year-old.)

The next day, we decided to eat at The Original Pancake House, a breakfast place in Salt Lake that got awesome reviews online. As we walked through the door of the restaurant, the first person I saw seated was John Stockton. Shawn was surprised I even recognized him; he looked just like a normal dad having breakfast with his family. We happened to be seated right across from the Stockton family, and I whispered to Chance, "Don't look now, but John Stockton is staring right at you!" Chance's face got bright red and he was completely speechless. Not something that happens very frequently with Chance. After the Stocktons left the restaurant, they jumped into a silver Honda Pilot. Granted, it was about 10 years newer than ours, but it gave us a renewed love of our vehicle! After breakfast, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It was a cool place! I think my favorite thing there were the manta rays. They were just freely swimming around in a large pool, so you could reach your hand down and pet them when they swam by! They also had jellyfish that changed colors and glowed, an octopus, sharks – you name it. The Aquarium also offered the opportunity to go in to where they keep the penguins and hang out with them for a few hours, but it was sold out for the day. We were able to see the penguins, though. It is a neat place, a nice change from a regular zoo. It's hard to believe that there is an entire world in the ocean that we rarely see. My pictures are kind of fuzzy because I couldn't use flash and my ISO isn't the greatest on my point-and-shoot.

This gigantic, freaky looking fish was staring at me when I turned around!

See the penguins up above?

Touching the manta rays! Hannah let out a little squeal when one got close to her and everyone started laughing! She was embarrassed the rest of the time and didn't want to walk near the manta rays again.

On Memorial Day, we woke up to SNOW. Yes, snow. It was sort of melting, so Chance, West, Rags and I went on a little walk up to the cemetery. We saw my great-grandma and great-grandpa's graves, and then it started to HAIL. I thought Memorial Day was the official first day of summer?? Oh well. We pulled our hoods up over our heads and walked home.