Girl's Night Out!

While I was in Salt Lake for the baby showers, I was also able to go see "The Little Mermaid" at Hale Centre Theater with my mom, Kendra, Jenna, Myrna, Kamie, Karen, Kamie's niece, Jenny, Lisa, and Kari. It was the perfect way to end the weekend! The show was amazing and so was the company! I love going to shows!

Friends Baby Shower

The same day as my family shower, I was able to go to Natalie's parents' house for another shower with all my friends! Laurel couldn't come to the shower but I was able to visit with her before the shower and catch up. All the other girls from Skyline made it, and it was so fun! Lindsay was also able to come from our college friends.

Lindsay and Livi, Kasi, Amie, me, Erika, Amy, Jenn and Natalie and Sarah on the bottom

Natalie did such a great job putting everything together! All the decorations were darling and we had yummy dinner. The best part was dessert! Natalie had Dunford chocolate doughnuts because she knows that they are my favorite!

Again, everyone was so sweet and generous! It was fun to get gifts from my friends who have babies and toddlers and to see what their favorite things are! It was also fun to get gifts from my friends without kids and to see what they picked out! I am so lucky that all our friends have kept in touch over the years. Through weddings, divorces, babies, moving, college, and all the other crazy things that have happened in the last 10+ years of our lives! I love you girls!

Fischer/Decker/Fox Baby Shower

My mom has been so excited for the baby and has been planning the baby shower for about as long as she knew I was pregnant! She was so worried and stressed and I felt so bad because I knew that it would turn out amazing and it did! My mom invited all of the Decker family, Fischer family, and some friends and so many people came to support us! I felt so much love from everyone!

The decorations were gorgeous! My mom used a lot of the colors from the nursery (navy, green, and gray) and included my favorite things- BOOKS! Everything turned out amazing! We had delicious chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, salad and desserts and my mom had the backyard set up so everyone could sit in the shade and relax!

My mom made a ton of darling wood signs with quotes about reading and had them set up all over, and made this cute banner with baby pictures of Matt and I.

This little tree was where people wrote their advice and hung it. It was so much fun to read all the fun ideas from friends and family.

This was what welcomed all the guests to the shower

And even better than the beautiful decorations and amazing food are the people who put it all together and came to support Matt and I and our upcoming baby boy!

My amazing mom is going to be an amazing grandma to baby boy!

Katie, Kallie, Denise and Ruth! Jeff's family is so amazing to support us!

The best part of showers is visiting with everyone! I wish that I could have talked with everyone for a lot longer!

Cute Claire! I can't believe she is old enough for big girl parties!

Alex and Cass helped my mom put the shower together. They are going to have so much fun being aunts! I am so glad that I got to be an aunt before we started having kids.

Getting ready to open presents

Everyone was so generous! Baby boy is going to be so spoiled.

My mom thinks she is so funny...

Becky and Lizzie were the only people who were able to come from our group of friends. It was so much fun to see them again and get caught up on their lives. Lizzie is expecting her first baby in a few months so it was fun to compare!

Ramona and Mayla (and Pam and Candice) came from the Fischer side, along with a ton of friends from the ward in Sandy!

What an amazing day! We had so many people come by and we were very spoiled. I am lucky to have such supportive family and friends who were willing to come out to Eagle Mountain to visit. I love you all!

What Do You Do In The Summertime?

After we got back from St. George, I have been looking for ways to keep myself entertained. This is the wonderful, albeit a little boring at times, part of summer for teachers! Some of the things I have done this month include work- yes, I have spent a bunch of time working! I had to go to a science training, had a half day work meeting with my team and principal, and spent three days at a robotics workshop at USU. I have had plenty of doctor's appointments, spent time helping Matt work on his parents' house, cleaning, and golfing! I am somehow addicted to golf right now! It is so much fun, even though I have a huge belly and am rapidly approaching my due date, I can't say no when Matt asks if I want to golf. Everyone thinks I'm crazy for going golfing, but it has been so much fun!

36 weeks pregnant... Not sure how pregnant Matt is

Photo bomb... Randy and Nate are good sports to golf with a pregnant lady

Matt and I have also seen Kenzy and Devin a few times for bowling and mini golf! It has been so hot that it is hard to get outside! My feet are soooo swollen! If only we had a swimming pool....

Richmond Baby Shower

On June 13, Jenny threw a baby shower for some of our friends in Richmond. The invitation she made was darling!

For the shower, we met at Angel Nails in Smithfield for pedicures! Kamie, Jenny, Claire and I had a blast getting spoiled!

After pedicures we went over to Costa Vida for dinner! Kenzy met us there and we ate and opened some presents!

My ward here in Richmond also threw a baby shower for me! I didn't take any pictures, but it was so darling and so many people came to support us! It was so fun to talk with all the ladies in the ward and get to know them better. We are so lucky to live in such an amazing place with such amazing people!

Grass!

I always laughed when my friends and family talk about their lawns and yards. Now, one year after we moved into our home, we are totally the same way! We put in our sprinklers and sprayed hydroseed in the fall and have been waiting for the grass to start shooting up! It took a little while, but now it is almost there! It came in the backyard first, especially right up against the house where the heat radiated better. We had such a wet spring that it grew fast, green, and wet! Matt struggled to mow the lawn because the grass was so long and wet. Now that it has warmed up, the grass is growing better in the front (not quite as nicely as the back) and has dried out a little so it isn't as green as it was. There are still a lot of weeds, but the grass is slowly hedging them out! It is fun to be able to walk around the yard, and even the neighbor kids play back there a little bit!

This year:

Last year:

It looks more like a real house with grass growing! We love where we live!

Charlie

It wasn't too long ago that I posted about Charlie, but I've put this post off for too long. I'm already getting emotional and I've only written one sentence! Wish me luck getting through this...

Charlie was the first dog I had ever had. Matt had dogs growing up, but I never had. I am not a particularly emotional person, and have questioned my own ability to love more than once- one of my fears about having a baby. So in January, when Tim called and told Matt that the puppies were born, I was a little apprehensive. Matt has wanted a dog since we got married, but is reasonable enough to wait until we had our own place. Well, here we are, six months in our new home and I don't seem to have any more excuses. The puppies were so darling. It was so crazy to watch them grow over the 8 weeks they stayed with Paisley (the mother dog).

The day we went to pick our puppy, Matt and I had talked about which one to get. He wanted the male with short brown fur, and I wanted the female with yellow fur and white markings. I didn't really know why, but I had been drawn to her from the first day. She had been fairly shy and calm, which maybe felt familiar. We stopped at IFA to get the puppy's shots and a few other basics (collar- blue because we were getting a male dog, dog dishes, leash, kennel, food, etc.). When we got to the house, all 9 puppies were running around the yard. Matt picked each one up, chased them all around, and finally decided that he wanted the yellow puppy. I was shocked! He seemed drawn to her in the same inexplicable way that I was. Kamie gave her the shot and she didn't even squeak, and then we went home.

I held her in my arms all the way home. Matt and I had been throwing around names all day and he finally said, "I think I like Charlie." So that was it. Charlie. I made Matt stop at IFA again and exchange the collar for a pink one, and of course I carried her with us into IFA. Everyone has to stop when they see a tiny puppy and say something! She was so small and had those beautiful white markings on her soft fur. I swear I could have pet her for hours, because she was so soft. When we got home, we set up her little kennel and everything and she just laid on the blanket. That night, Matt put her in her kennel and she cried a lot. He went out in the living room and slept on the floor a few feet away from her kennel so she could see him and know that she was still safe. I was so impressed that he was so patient. When I woke up, I felt so bad that I had slept all night in our bed and wanted to give him some time to sleep, but he was in a great mood. He loved her so much already!

She spent a few nights like this, and Matt did the same thing, even though he had to get up and go to work. Every morning, he would pack up the huge kennel into his tiny car, along with her food and toys, and cart her off to work. He pulled her kennel out during work and had her tied to it during the day until he felt comfortable letting her off. Every night, he would unload everything back into the house without complaint. I was so impressed. He did so much extra work in the morning and evening so he could take Charlie with him to work. She rapidly learned about the job site, and would run around while Matt was getting the job ready in the morning, nap until lunch while tied to the kennel, run around at lunch, and again nap until it was time to run around and clean up. She soon was good enough to be let off the leash for longer periods of time, until she was never on the leash. Matt still brought her kennel to work for a while so she would have somewhere cool and shady to sleep, but soon she started finding her own places to nap. Matt would tell me stories almost every night about what funny thing she had done at work. Everyone on the job seemed to love her.

In the evenings, Matt and I tried to take her for walks every day. She never really needed a leash. At first she would walk right under our feet and we would trip over her every few minutes. She got stepped on more than once! Soon she started venturing out further and further, but would always stop and wait for us to catch up. The only thing we had problems with on walks was her curiosity. She had to smell everything! And good luck if there was someone outside. She would run over to them and check them out. Especially kids. Charlie LOVED kids. We were really working hard to teach her to stay calm around the kids and not to jump on them. A few nieces and nephews were knocked down by the excited puppy, but she was learning. One day, everyone was over at Randy and Jenny's house and Charlie was kind of hiding under our chairs instead of playing. Matt picked her up and noticed that she had a huge lip! One of the kids got a little too rough with her and gave her a fat lip! After that, she was a lot calmer around the kids. I always loved it when we were outside and the neighbor girls would scream out, "Charlie!" Then I was mad because she would take off to play with them and I would have to chase her and carry her home, which got really hard as I started getting more and more pregnant! At this point, Matt decided that she needed to learn to heel while we were walking, so he borrowed a choke collar and we would practice. It was awful! I always made sure we let her off to run around before we got home.

Charlie loved to play with her toys. That first week, we bought her some small ropes, little tennis balls, some softer Easter eggs with squeakers inside, a little toy dog with a squeaky head, and a squeaky rubber Peep. The dog was her favorite, but she figured out how to squeak the Peep first. It was just big enough for her tiny mouth. She wasn't really interested in chasing the balls until later, so every time we threw the ball we had to go get it ourselves. Matt loved to play tug-of-war with her and basically just wrestle. She would pounce on him at home. One day they were wrestling and she pounced on Matt and bit his ear. He was so surprised that he pulled away, but she had her teeth sunk into his ear and he got a huge cut and was bleeding pretty bad! Both of us had some cuts from her little teeth. She did learn pretty quickly that I didn't like to play rough. She soon started to come sit by me and just let me pet her. At one point, just after I started to really look pregnant, Charlie was super attached to me. Whenever I was home she would come sit on my feet, or put her face up next to me on the couch. It was so weird. I started to feel like she knew who I was and wanted to see me. She would run up to me when I got home from work, or when she and Matt got home every day. She listened to Matt way better than she listened to me, but she liked to sit by me.

As Charlie started getting bigger, and she grew way fast, she started to get more and more comfortable with us and our home and life. She would put her head out the window in the car with Matt. Matt always said that she would scoot right up next to him in the car on the way to work and he would have to give her bites of his doughnut. I think that he bought doughnuts on the way to work just so he could share them with her! When we drove in my car, she had to sit on the floor by my feet, but was getting too big! It didn't help that I was getting bigger too! Charlie rarely had accidents in the house, and was learning how to let us know when it was an emergency and couldn't wait! She would go when we put her outside and told her to go. Whenever Matt would call her, she would come. He told me about the crazy distances she would go at work, and she'd come running when he called. I did get called twice from people who found her when she had run too far, and both times she had found some kids playing and wanted to join in! She still loved playing with toys and was just starting to fetch. Matt was teaching her how to stay and wait until he told her she could go get the ball and the kids loved to see how long she would wait. Matt had taught her how to sit, shake and lay down, although she wasn't very good at laying down when she was excited. Matt tried to teach her how to roll over, but that wasn't going very well!

Charlie was the best dog I could have asked for and I don't think I even knew it. On Thursday, May 28, Matt texted me after school got over to tell me that Charlie had been hit by a car and killed at work. I was in complete shock. I immediately started crying. I called Matt and he told me that she had been off her leash for only a few minutes and then he looked for her and she was lying in the street. Someone had hit her and driven away. He and I both cried together and I went home and we cried more together. We were both just so surprised that it had happened. She was never curious about the road and it didn't make sense that she had run into the road. We were both destroyed. That night, we drove out to Tim's house to bury her at the farm. It seemed fitting to bury her somewhere that she wouldn't be bothered and where we could visit. Matt had taken her collar off and as we left the house I grabbed the collar and her toy dog. I just held them in my hand the whole time they were digging the hole. I had thought about keeping them and putting them with a picture of her, but when we got her out of the car (Matt had wrapped her in the blanket she sat on in his car), I asked him to put her collar on her. He told me not to look, but I needed to see her one more time. Matt had carefully wrapped her up so she looked like she was sleeping. He put her collar back on and I tucked her toy dog into her arms and we wrapped her up again. We cried more and Matt said the sweetest prayer. It was in that moment that I realized how much I loved this little puppy that had joined our family for such a brief time. That night and the next day were really hard. Her stuff was everywhere. Every little thing I saw reminded me of her. Matt couldn't go to work the next day because he couldn't bear to go without her. I would randomly burst into tears after something reminded me of her. It was probably the most somber last day of school I've had or will ever have.

Matt and I are both still so sad that Charlie was taken from us so soon. We were looking forward to her interacting with the baby. We were excited for summer so we could teach her how to swim and take her camping. We were just getting ready to build her kennel outside so she could start sleeping outside. We were taken so off guard, and that made it so much harder. We miss Charlie so much. She was already a huge part of our family. We feel like there is an empty space in our home now. Everyone was so nice when they found out. Many people told us that they cried or were very sad when they found out. She was such a sweet dog and I think everyone saw how happy we were because of her. I can't imagine how anyone deals with losing children or other family members. I have felt so guilty for being so upset about losing Charlie when I know so many people who have faced much worse. I thank God for my many blessings, especially for the almost three months we were able to have Charlie.

This is the last picture I took of Charlie. It was taken three days before she died. I was laughing because she had fallen asleep upside-down in her kennel. She woke up right when I took the picture. Matt and I bought a new couch just a few days before and she was very confused by the living room. We had moved her "bed" aka blanket and every time we told her to go to her bed she would go into her kennel. She had just been starting to go into her kennel herself when she wanted to sleep. The day we got the new couch, I also had just gotten a new coffee table. Within a couple hours, Charlie had already chewed the leg of the table! I was so mad. Matt came home and Charlie was hiding on her bed because she knew how mad I was was. Matt told me we could paint over it and it would be fine. Obviously, we aren't going to paint over it now. Every time I see those little chewing marks, I am reminded of my puppy.

Charlie's collar and puppy toy. Her collar was so pink that when Matt washed her, the pink dye would run into her fur. We were constantly readjusting the collar because she was growing so fast. That little puppy toy was her favorite. She had ripped it open and pulled one of the legs off, but still loved it. Cassie bought her a new toy puppy but I couldn't take the other one away!

Charlie's gravesite. Myrna and Kamie had both gone down to lay some flowers on her grave. It was sweet how many people shared their condolences with us after she died.

Charlie all grown. We love you puppy.

We will always love you and will remember you forever.

XOXO

Matt's Birthday- Dirty 30!

Every year, I tend to forget to do anything special for Matt's birthday. I always remember to buy him a birthday present- or let him buy something for himself- but we never do anything really special! This year was Matt's 30th birthday, so I had to do something! He had already bought his new irons while we were in St. George, so he decided that he needed to go golfing! I had a baby shower in Salt Lake for Melanie Hightower, so we went to breakfast at Angie's, and then drove down to Salt Lake. Matt went golfing with Jeff while I was at the shower. After golf, we had a BBQ with my mom, Jeff, and Alex, and my mom and Alex made a questionable cake. All she had was a Halloween cake and Halloween frosting (don't worry, it wasn't expired) but it looked questionable when it was done!

While Matt was golfing, a huge storm blew in! They finished right before the torrential rain started to come down. Even though they missed the rain, Matt got hit by his allergies! His eyes were itchy and watering, and his nose was running like crazy! Poor guy!

We met my dad for a drink and birthday present exchange on our way home. My dad thought it was funny to give Matt a Ninja Turtle toy for his birthday and Matt spent the night having the turtle hit me and saying, "It's turtle time!" Thanks for that, dad.

On Sunday, we had cake and ice cream at Randy and Jenny's house. Matt requested a Funfetti cake with vanilla ice cream and toppings. He is such a kid! Tim, Kamie, Diet, Myrna, Todd, Melissa, Colton, Jenna, and Nate and Jenni came over to celebrate Matt getting old! We played a little corn hole and relaxed in the backyard. It was pretty low key, no Viagra shirts like on Randy's 30th birthday, but also just right for Matt.

I can't believe that Matt is already 30. We met the day he came home from his mission, and he was only 21 and I was 18. Matt was 24 when we got married, and I was 21. Time has gone so fast. I am so lucky to have Matt in my life. He is still my best friend. We have been through a lot together and are in such a good place in our lives. Matt is going to be an amazing dad. I am so glad that I'm having a boy that will get to learn from his dad. Matt, I love you so much and hope you had a good birthday!

Fischer Reunion 2015

The Fischer family spends a lot of time together. The boys are super close, as are the women and kids, so we tend to spend a lot of time together, including vacation time. We have gone on "family" trips before but are hoping to plan some special trips together. This year, Jenny and Randy were in charge of our trip and we all went to St. George for a few days! We left Saturday morning, the day after school got out. Matt and Randy drove down together and golfed at THREE different golf courses; one in Payson, Beaver and Fillmore. They had so much fun, even though they left at 3:20 AM! I rode with Jenny and the kids and we left at 7:00 AM. After a few errands, and a few drink stops, we made it to the condo in Washington around 3:00 PM. Everyone else made it within the next hour! We stayed at a townhome/condo that had 5 bedrooms, so each family had their own room. It was great having a shared kitchen/eating area as well as living room where we could all hang out together, and the boys could be as rowdy as they wanted without disturbing anyone! It was also great because it allowed everyone to be in and out as much as they wanted, so people could create their own schedule. With so many little kids, this was super helpful because of all the different nap times!

After we got to the condo and got settled, we all went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in St. George. After dinner, we hit WalMart for food for the week, and then the girls (and Diet and Matt) went out to Tuacahn! I have never seen a show at Tuacahn, so I was super excited. Matt decided to come because he didn't want to stay home and babysit with the other boys! We saw "Beauty and the Beast" and it was amazing!! I loved the outdoor amphitheater and the gorgeous natural backdrop. It was such a fun night!

On Sunday morning, Randy and Jenny took their kids for a day of adventures, as did Kamie and Tim, so we, Lance, Kendra and their kids, along with Diet and Myrna decided to go to a little splash pad in St. George. It ended up being a huge hit with all the kids! Kailee and Clay loved playing in the water, and Kendra and I chased them around while everyone else watched. That night, we had a family BBQ, with snowcones of course, and played games for family home evening.

On Monday morning, everyone else wanted to hit the splash pad too! The boys headed out golfing (because Matt and Randy couldn't get enough!) and we took the kids to the splash pad again. This time I took some pictures, although kids playing in water are hard to photograph!

Harrison is so tiny that he kept getting cold! He'd play in the water for a little while, then wrap up in his towel and sit in the sun to warm up before going back in the water!

Reagan is a little fish! She loves water! She was even brave enough to run through the giant spout in the middle of the splash pad!

Clay wasn't as interested in the water on Monday as he was on Sunday. He was content just to sit on the grass.

Kailee didn't love getting really wet. She liked getting splashed but wouldn't go right in the water!

I learned this trip that miss Blakelee doesn't like to swim. She also was content to sit on the grass and walk around.

Jenny and I both remembered to bring our sun hats!

 I think I have this exact same picture, except with Kamie walking Reagan.

Boys...

After the splash pad, we went back to the condo for lunch and to get dressed. Once the boys were back from golfing, Matt and I joined Randy, Jenny and the kids to go to the trampoline park. Obviously I wasn't jumping, but Matt was really excited to jump with the kids! Jenny even decided to jump too!

 Jenny and H

Jenny and Claire

Matt loved the trampoline where he could dunk the basketball! Brad was frustrated because he couldn't figure it out!

Matt and H

Three boys about Brad's age were there and asked Brad to play dodgeball. So of course, all the Fischers had to get involved! At first, these three boys were playing against Matt, Jenny, Brad, Claire, and Harrison! Slowly the teams evened out, but I think that Matt was having just as much fun as the kids!

Harrison liked to run up and then slide down this trampoline

After the trampoline park, Randy had to go to interview some people at his rental business in St. George, so we joined Jenny and the kids to find something new to do. We were planning on meeting everyone else at the Children's Museum but it was only open for members! Then we wanted to go to an inflatable park, but it had closed permanently! Finally, we decided to go bowling at the Fiesta Fun Center! I remember going here as a kid during softball tournaments to hit in the batting cages. The bowling alley was brand new and there was no one else there! It was way fun to bowl with everyone (Kendra and Kamie were chasing Clay and Blakelee around the whole time so they didn't bowl).

Jenny entertaining Harrison and Reagan

Kailee had to High-five everyone

So did Harrison

Kailee watching her dad bowl!

A little bit of dancing in between turns!

A little tired after a busy day!

This was the ball rack for kids to use to bowl, although most of them climbed on it and slid down the other side when it wasn't being used

After bowling, Kamie bought a few tokens for Reagan to play some games, and then it turned into everyone playing games! Lance and Matt found this game that was kind of broken so they were able to play around without paying any tokens, although Lance was supposed to be watching Clay...

Then Tim joined in although he was supposed to be watching Blakelee...

Matt and Tim had to beat the kiddie games...

And Matt was super proud of himself!

After games, the kids went out on the bumper boats with Tim and Matt. They didn't really care about bumping each other, they just wanted to shoot water at each other! Everyone was pretty wet afterwards!

After bumper boats, everyone except Randy and Jenny went to The Habit for dinner. After dinner, everyone put the kids to bed and then the adults went to run a few errands and get smoothies!

On Tuesday, the boys went golfing again, and the girls took the kids to the splash pad and the Children's Museum, and I went to the temple! I have done baptisms and been to a wedding, but have never done a session, and it was amazing! It was so nice to have some calm time in a busy week. After the temple, we relaxed at the condo for a little while and then went to the golf store so Matt could get his birthday present- a new set of irons! Okay, they are used, but Matt was excited. Then we met everyone for some swimming at the condo. I wasn't too impressed with the pool, but it was very refreshing! After swimming, everyone put their kids to bed and Matt and I went with Tim, Kamie and Diet to Red Robin for dinner. After dinner, Matt and I went mini golfing. It was like 10:00 PM and it was finally not crazy hot! It was really fun to get out just the two of us.

Wednesday morning was busy getting everyone ready to go home! We were supposed to golf, but our tee time got messed up, so Matt and I golfed in Logan on our way home. We drove like maniacs and made it from Washington to Logan in 5 hours without stopping! I was impressed with my pregnant bladder!

We had such a fun trip! I can't wait for more family reunion trips in years to come!