Midway

Midway, is so beautiful. This is were I hope to live, permanently, not just vacation. After Matthews graduation we headed up for a couple of weeks of R&R.  

The kids quickly took their position downstairs, not for long though.  They wanted to head right over to the club house. Eliza loves to walk over to the horses and bet them, she dreams of someday having one of her very own. She always says, "If we live here, I am going to have to have a horse you know."

The kids room, Emme got to come up with us for a couple of Days. The kids were so happy. Eliza and Dallin ask all the time, "Are you sure we are not family?" I say, "yes, we are family."  

Sarah and Spencer hanging out in the back. It's such a beautiful view, huge mountains everywhere and so peaceful. 

They are in LOVE!!!!

Swimming, thank goodness my kids love the water as much as I do.  On Eliza's birthday we invited a bunch of friends up and had a big pool party for her. We went zip lining in the morning, then swam and played with friends. Dinner and then of course drove into Heber, to Granny's. The worlds BEST shakes. People even make the drive from Provo about 40 just for their shakes. Not to sure what they do different, but they do!!!) 

Happy Birthday Eliza!!! We love this girl so much, she is one amazing kid and  we are so lucky to  have her in our family. She wanted to go zip lining for her birthday, so we scheduled a time and headed down the canyon for an adventure. 

Dallin was not super thrilled to go, he wanted to stay and swim with Aunt Sarah. Sarah couldn't go because about 3 weeks prior to our vacation, she blew out her ACL and PCL. Although you wouldn't know it, she gimped along and did everything with no complaints. Well.... until she hurt it playing wiffle ball with the family. She was trying to hit for the fences, which she did, but tweaked her knee while doing it.   

Eliza was not nervous at all she got hooked in and jumped right off, she loved it.

Dallin did not love the idea at first but ask him about it now and he would go again!!! I think?

  

                          

                  Eliza's best friend, Emme, was their to celebrate all day with Eliza.  

My Mom was a total rock star. Even the lady that owns and helps run the zip line  made a comment to me, after she ran off the platform. "Your Mom is awesome, I  hope to be like her when I'm grown up." I think that means old, but obviously awesome. 

Matthew recorded his ride down. Because, I was the last one to go down I didn't get a picture of myself but I sure did have fun. 

The party continues...Sarah's friend, Jamie, came up with her kids. She has 3, the same ages as my kids. Couldn't work out more perfect.  

Camer's (that's what everyone calls her), was Spencer's girlfriend for the day. They kept kissing, it was to cute. There they are below riding the Harley. 

Dallin hurt his foot jumping off the stairs, it swelled up pretty good, and turned black and blue. Never, a good way to go into playoffs for baseball. Uncle Matt, was the best Uncle, he played cards and entertained Dallin, while he iced his ankle. 

Midway has so many cute little house with their own personalities. This house is one of them, and one of my favorites. It reminds me of the hobbits homes in, Lord of the Rings. 

Looking at my parents house, down the street.  Look how beautiful it is Steve, just want to remind you.  The great thing about my parents is the location, I just have to run or bike down the street before I hit those mountains in the background. Below is a picture of Provo canyon, I love to run, hike, bike, roller blade, swim, fish, picnic, just go and hang out up there. It is such a gorgeous canyon. 

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We also went to a petting zoo, Spencer had a love hate with this Turkey. He loved it until it would turn and come after him, then he would run in terror. 

We did do a few other things while there, a lot of things are tradition. Shopping in Park Cit, eating in Park City. Shopping in Midway, eating in Midway. Swimming, going to the lake, going on walks, relaxing, reading all the books you never have time for in real life. Having fun and building memories with the family. 

Baby Brother Matthew (Prince Matthew) Graduated

I was lucky enough to share my birthday with Matthew on his graduation. He is one amazing kid,  he graduated 4th in his class and makes all so proud. Can't wait to see what he does with his life. I was supposed to go to lunch with family and friends for my birthday however I got to spend the day in insta care with Spencer while he got his lip stitched up. We went to Tucano's to party before the graduation, we really do have the best family. All brothers and sisters flew out, except for one, he couldn't make it. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and family friends all came to support this great kid. 

We thought we were so funny. Matthew was sitting up in the front , the top ten  kids get to sit  up on the stage. So we did everything in our power to make him laugh. We sent him funny text, flashed the heart sign at him. We had fun. We also made it our goal to yell the absolute loudest when he walked, which we did. We even recruited kids around us to yell with us. I think we did our big sister and brothers job....make him embarrassed. 

The girls in Matt's life, minus his grandma. Notice the little boy in the back who snuck in.

Some of the men in his life. There was a party for Matthew  after his graduation , they were kind enough to get include  me and Eliza in the party.  Really great day.

Memorial Day, and Poor Spencer

Eliza with her cousins, Sophie, Ethan, and friend Emme. 

Some of the cousin kids.

Jack and Jack Jr.

Spencer pulled a table over on him. I went to get in the shower and asked Dallin to go down to the TV room and watch Spencer I was about 5 mins. into my shower when Eliza came in, in a total panic. I hurried out got to Spencer and knew right away he needed stitches. He bit all the way through his lip. I didn't even realize his forehead until we got to insta care.  Poor kid was a total trooper though. The doctor asked if it hurt? He quickly said, "Nope, I'm fine." He also kept saying how awesome he was and how awesome everything in their office was, until they put a shot in his lip. Then it took, Sarah, Matt and myself to hold him down while they stitched him up.

Baseball and Softball Season

I mean honestly what a handsome kid. Dallin is having a great season on the Priates. He typically plays center field or third base. Tonight he went 5 for 5. He hit a triple, a double, and 3 singles. He also caught a huge pop fly and made a play out in left field out hustling the left fielder to get to the ball. I was one proud Mom tonight. 

Dallin and his good friend Taige.

Melanoma

I don't really post about myself on this blog, I have mainly focused on my kids, their activities, the fun and the sad we have. I got to thinking this is a story of our life and I need to include my thoughts and personal feelings more often, so my kids have it all to look back on. The Codner Family story. This year I have been through quite a bit, 3 knee surgeries and Cancer.  For the most part staying very positive. There were moments of, "are you kidding me" or "I'm going to sue the pants off my first knee surgeon" some real legit frustration. But like I said I kept on going. I still was still very involved and always thought I can get through this. Right when I was getting back on my feet and had a awesome vacation with my awesome husband, I noticed a abnormal mole on my chest. I knew it was going to come back pre cancerous since I have had 2 prior and a bunch of other moles removed. I went in on a Wednesday and got a phone call on Thursday telling me it had jumped to Melanoma, skin cancer. I questioned her and said, "you mean pre cancer? She said no as in cancer. She asked me if I was doing OK, and I responded, "yeah just fine." She gave me a lecture about never going in the sun again and scheduled me for surgery 9 days later. Initially I was not very concerned, until..... my husband called me back, questioning, "Did she say, Melanoma." I said, "yes, that's what she said." Then he explained it to me, that Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer. There are a couple others, but melanoma is the one that spreads quick and kills you. Thanks for the peace of mind Steve. I know he was in shock and fear. He later told me, we both signed up for this job (meaning family, parenting) and he can't imagine doing it alone. Isn't it nice to know he can't live without me? Needless to say, it was a very emotionally exhausting week, waiting around to hear if the cancer had spread. I know it was on Steve as well, he hugged me different that  week, My kids were very worried, in hind sight I would not have said anything to them, but they were in the car when I got the phone call. Lesson learned!!!!   Luckily I caught it early, they got it all, and it did not spread. I will say that week gave me a lot of time to reflect about what is important. It told me a LOT about who my real friends are, how blessed I am to have my husband, my children, my Mom and Dad, my brothers and sisters, Sissy Jackson, Rachel Williams, and Kristi Garrett (Smith). I have a lot of other amazing friends but those 3 impressed me, all in different ways. I think it's been a tough year on me, well good grief, you poor friends, having to listen to me and occasionally talk me off the ledge. I learned a lot about prayer and the peace it can bring. I know that my Heavenly Father is always there for me and never disappoints. That is a very reassuring feeling when you are going through things that are out or your hands. In every situation in life I have felt like there was something I could do to fix what ever problem was thrown at me. While I was still being very proactive in this situation, there is not a lot you can do when your waiting around to hear if the cancer has spread.  Even though I found that through out the week I was more concerned about the life style change than if it had spread. My brother Erik called one day when I was feeling a little down about the changes I was going to have to make, with my best friend the sun and being outside. He let me vent, he just listened and then prayed with me. He was such a blessing at that moment and brought me so much peace. I love that he paid attention to the Holy Ghost and what a example of the savior he was in that moment. While this all sounds very dramatic, it's really not. Life has gone back to normal except the big scar and all the sunblock I now use. I think the dramatic thing has been the spiritual change, I have grown so much this year. I have thought a lot more about the Mom, wife, daughter, sister and friend I want to be, I have never done so much sole searching. I am thankful for the growth and hope to continue down the path. Maybe with a few less trials :) I feel so blessed for the people in my life who have helped me through all of this and helped me to grow. Thanks you guys for being such a great examples of love.  

Dance Recital, Talent Show

Perfect Princess Tea Dance, you might think this is a biased statement but I have the most beautiful princess.I loved watching her, she is such a pretty, sweet dancer. 

Stupid heads. those heads in the picture are screwing up my focus and  blocking  Liza  Lou' This year Eliza was in ballet, and Jazz. Perfect Princess, was ballet. The pirate dance was jazz.  She was in 5 dances in all and she did a great job in all of them. She made me, one proud Mom, and she made me smile a lot.

At the end of her recital, like I said could be more proud  of the young lady she is growing into.Below is a picture of her the morning of the school talent show. They had over 30 talents tryout and they only pick 10, Eliza's group made the cut. Initially a few girls asked her to be in their comedy skit but that group had a falling out. She came home and told me about it ,so we came up with a jump rope routine. She called her two best friends and they were all on board. They had practices after school and jump roped every recess so they could nail their routine, and they did. They did a great job.

Tabby, Kiara, and Eliza

Dallin and Spencer fast asleep in the storage unit  in Dallin's hammock. Funny boys, also cutest boys, kind of LOVE them.