the one about arbitration, hogle zoo, the Castillos and the air show

We went to SLC and Ogden this weekend and stayed with our good friends the Castillo's. We originally went for Brett's hearing about his motorcycle accident 2 years ago. It went well, but we won't know much for about a week or so. I don't want to dwell on it and I hate to broadcast any details on the web, but the crazy thing about it is that it is very clear that Brett was not at fault. He did nothing wrong, but the insurance companies of the other two people involved are fighting about who has to pay for OUR BILLS! In the mean time, we have been sent to collections, get harassing phone calls and are stuck with thousands of dollars in medical bills. Nobody else was injured, Brett was the only one not cited, yet WE are the ones that have suffered for two years! ERRRRRRRRR!!! Its so frustrating. Oh well, hopefully it will come to an end soon. Coincidentally, it was the same weekend as the Hill Air Force Base Air Show. Tony and Melanie Castillo invited us to come stay with them and hang out this weekend, so we thought, "What the heck!" It worked out well because Spencer wanted to go pick up a few things at his parents house and visit with them. They just live a few miles from Tony and Mel, so it was perfect. We had never met his parents, so we were able to sit and chat with them a bit. It was so nice. They were so nice and welcoming. We loved them! It was fun to finally meet some of the people that I have been blog stalking for so long! ;)

First thing Friday morning (we left home at 6:00 am. YUCK!) Brett and I had to go to arbitration at our lawyers office. Thank goodness we had Spence to hang with Quayd. They went to the Clark Planetarium, an arcade and their favorite place to eat: Panda Express! After that part was over with, we headed to the zoo to meet up with Melanie, Mikah and Konnor. Sweet Mel had packed a lunch for us to eat at the zoo, and it was delicious! We just did the typical zoo stuff.



We put Spencer through absolute hell by making him be in pictures with the kids and stuff.


It is funny to us, but poor Spence. He is a good sport though.

It was so great for Quayd to be able to play with Mikah. She is 8 and such a cutie! They hit it right off and had a BLAST together.

We were also able to get some "family" pictures taken at the zoo! (thanks mel!)
It was so weird... I saw this cute little girl in the funniest tiger mask and paws. I had to show Brett and everyone because she looked so cute. Then I realized it was Cara's daughter Anika! She was there with her girl scout troop! I took a picture with my phone and sent it to Cara. It said, "Look at this rare white tiger I just spotted at the zoo!"

Saturday morning was time for the air show. SO COOL! We had never been, but we knew we would love it. It did not disappoint! Spencer ended up going to his parents in the morning. It is so weird, but we sorta felt "incomplete" with out him. Brett and I worried about him all day. Then he ended up spending the night at his parents! Of course we knew he was fine, but we missed him like crazy! We have gotten pretty attached to him. Anyway, it had been rainy and yucky the day before at the zoo so we were a little concerned about weather for the air show. It actually turned out to be PERFECT! It was slightly overcast and a little breezy so the temperature was just right.

We got there just as it started and stayed until the kids were getting bored, about 2:00. Then we went to the Museum on base.
We stayed at Mel and Tony's again Saturday night, picked up our big boy and headed home Sunday afternoon. It was such a fun weekend! Tony and Mel were AMAZING hosts. They fed us wonderful food (AWESOME RIBS TONY!!!), they played wii with us, set up the pool for us and truly were fantastic to us. We are so glad to have such great friends.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. The weather was a little rough at times, but we didn't care. Arbitration went well and its over with. Good food, fun, great friends, met the parents with whom we share a son and we just relaxed. Does it get any better?

the one about Quayd's new digs

This post has been a few weeks coming. I didn't want to post until I had pictures and my SD Card Reader on my printer was being weird. Now I got that all figured out, so I can post. Looking at it now, my pictures weren't really all that great so I just took a few more. It is a more accurate look at his room since it is a little cluttered and "lived in," if you know what I mean.

When we first moved into this house, nearly 5 years ago, I decorated Quayd's room in these really cute tractors and trucks. It was bright, fun colors and he really liked it. He was almost 2. Well now, at age 6 1/2, it was time for a change. We took him to the Clark Planetarium last fall and since then, he is obsessed with space, stars and planets. We thought that would be a perfect theme to decorate! I searched online for a cute bedspread and found a few that I liked, the cutest one being on K-Mart's website. One afternoon, Quayd and I were bumming around town and we had to stop at K-Mart. I thought I would just look and see if they had anything. To my surprise, they had it in stock!! I bought it right then, and got the decorative pillows and sheets to match. I was so excited. The next step was a new bed. He had a full sized bed before, but his room is so tiny that it left no room for his other stuff. We knew he needed a twin. Another problem we had was when he had friends spend the night, there was no place for them to sleep and I ended up tearing my living room apart to make beds on the floor. We thought a bunk bed might be a good idea. He plays video games in his room a lot so this fouton bunk bed seemed PERFECT! It gives him a place to sit and relax alone or with friends, and he can sleep on the bunk. The other day, he and I were watching a movie in his room and I laid on the bottom part and actually fell asleep. It was so nice! We bought it, used actually and we are SO happy with our purchase. It was from a lady here in town and Brett found it on the KSL.com classifieds. It was in such good shape, very well cared for, clean and PERFECT!!! We had to buy a mattress for the top. Altogether, the bed cost us around $300. Not to bad. Quayd loves the colors blue and turquoise, so he wanted at least one wall that color. This is the color we chose, and we actually did two walls that color. (this is when we were putting the bed together)

When Brett was working out of town a lot, Quayd got used to sleeping with me. When Brett was home, Quayd wanted to sleep in our room. It was also around the time Brett's dad passed away. Quayd would wake up crying all of the time because he was so upset about losing his Papa. He also went through a spell of night terrors. We wouldn't let him sleep with us, but he had a little bed in our room. I know what you are thinking... PSYCHO! But I don't care. I loved having him in my room, and it was sure handy when he woke up freaking out every night. He was sad when we told him he needed to sleep in his room now, but the transition was really smooth. I think it was time for all of us!!!

Now we have all of it decorated and put together. He LOVES his new room and has had no trouble sleeping in there. He doesn't even wake up during the night. I love it! He is such a good boy and he deserved an awesome room! He is doing so well in school and he is growing up so fast. He feels so grown up in his big bed and he is so proud of all of it. He takes good care of all of his stuff and he has been doing a great job of keeping it clean. Good job Quayd!! We love you!!!!

Here are a few more pictures...