I Year Old!

One year ago last night, I was blessed with the opportunity to give birth to a little boy. It was fun for me to go back and read this post of my experience. I can't believe that was a year ago. It has gone so slow at times and so fast at times. Travis is the sweetest little boy! Heavenly Father knew what we could handle and blessed us with a boy who fit perfectly into our family.Trav wasn't feeling very good on his birthday. He wasn't interested in eating anything but his bottle, so we tried a few times to get him to eat cake but he didn't want it (the pictures above are from the second time we tried to get him to attack the cake). Aubree and Tanner were happy to help him. Trav was more interested in the candle and kept trying to grab it. I love the picture above - he does this everytime I say, "cheese". He is so funny. It is pretty fun, to now have two 2-year-olds and a 1-year-old.

Handsome Tanner before Travis' party.

We had Trav's birthday party on Sunday night.

Aubree and her cousin Carly, at Trav's party. They love hanging out together.

All the Nygard grandkids. Poor Carly just got whacked by Tanner, so she was sad.

Happy Birthday to Travis. I know I'm a beautiful singer! :) I get so off key. Sorry!

p.s. My sister Jackie had a little baby girl on Sunday night. They named her Brianna Kathrine. She weighed 7lbs9oz.

Congrats to the Future Dr. Nygard!

December 1st is the first day that dental schools send out acceptances and Eric got two of them today. I got this post all done with just the acceptance from USC. Within a half an hour of posting this, the UW admissions lady called offering Eric acceptance! I am so proud of how hard Eric has worked to make this a reality. We are so excited for him and he is going to make such an awesome dentist.


On Saturday, I had the chance to play in an alumni game at Big Bend in Moses Lake. I played there from 2001-2003 and it was so fun to go back and play again. We (the alumni) played against the current Big Bend team. I wasn't in as good as shape as I wanted to be and there were a few times I thought I was going to throw up, but it was still so fun to play again.

This is the picture we took almost 6 years.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life doesn't get much better than this! We have so much to be thankful for and these three are at the top of our list!

Photoshoot plus a few

We have all been in and out of sickness for the last few weeks, and I hope to be done with throw up and diahrrea. Here are a few pictures I took of the kids before church the other day. They are growing up too fast!

Tanner and Travis are so handsome!

I have started to learn how to use photoshop and tried to take some "professional" looking pictures of the kids.

We got a new fish last week and Eric walked into the kitchen to find Tanner on the kitchen table dumping the whole bottle of fish food into the bowl. That is why I try to keep the kitchen chairs tied to the table.

I love how Trav is concentrating with his tongue out. This boys' smile makes me melt!

Tanner is going to be a heart breaker. He is so cute!

I love these pictures of Aubree. She is so beautiful and acts like a teenager. She went from wearing diapers to being completely potty trained (night and naps!) all with in two months. It was all her. She came up to me the other day and told me she is big now. I said you are big now. Then she said, "I can wear make up now." Nice try! A couple days ago she told me that we needed to eat all of our Halloween candy, so her and Tanner could go Trick or Treating again.

I wish we would've gotten some family ones where you could see my eyes!

Halloween

I can't believe that it is already November!

Halloween was really fun this year with Aubree and Tanner old enough to enjoy it. We trick or treated around the Eastern campus and went to our ward's trunk or treat. While we were trick or treating at Eastern, Aubree turned to me and said "I love Halloween, Mom." It doesn't get much better than dressing up and candy to her.

2 Dragons and Tinkerbell
Love this picture of Trav. The costume pushes his cheeks out, so he looks super chubby.
Aubree and Tanner with their candy.

The rest of the pictures are from Tanner's birthday party. I don't know what Aubree is supposed to be. She just loves dressing up.
Tanner blowing out his candle. I made him a spider cake and he LOVED it. I wish I would've got a picture from the front.


Tanner loved getting sung to for his birthday. I love this video because Isaac (my nephew) had his eye on the candle and knew he was going to blow it out before Tanner. We did relight it and Tanner was able to blow it out.

3 YEARS!

October 24th is a special day in the Nygard household; it is a day of celebration and gratitude. It is a time to celebrate life, celebrate Eric's health, celebrate what we have learned, and celebrate blessings and miracles.

Today marks the three year anniversary of a day when Eric had an appointment with a urologist, while I was at work. Never in a million years did I imagine the outcome of this appointment. I was waiting for Eric to pick me up from work, so I decided to give him a call. He had just left the doctor's office, and he was on his way to pick me up, but he sounded different. I asked him how the appointment went, and he simply said that it would be better if we talked about it when he picked me up. His response made me anxious and worried, and I had the craziest ideas run through my mind, but cancer was something that didn't even cross my mind. Eric picked me up and as we were pulling out of the parking lot, he told me he had cancer. I instantly broke down in an uncontrollable cry (i really am not a big cryer). We had no idea how serious things were. We didn't know how far the cancer had spread, or if he'd need chemo or radiation. All we knew was that Eric had cancer, and the doctor said it was essential that he have surgery as soon as possible. That was one of the longest, hardest, and most emotionally challenging nights of my life.

When Eric was diagnosed, it changed me. I had a different attitude and outlook. Instantly, I saw things from a different view. Little things that I previously thought were a big deal, just didn't seem to matter anymore, and some things that I would have overlooked became increasingly important. I looked at people different – I had a different love, appreciation, understanding, and concern for people. When a person starts dealing with death, life takes on different meaning. I wish I could maintain those feelings and perspectives always.

That is why I like to celebrate today. I want to always remember how I felt and how fragile life can be. The event that occurred three years ago was completely life changing, and it taught me a lot. Sometimes, I feel as though I have lost the perspective that I gained on that wild day, and I don’t want to lose that. Celebrating is my way to help me remember.

I am so grateful for Eric and the strength that he has. Eric inspires me. I appreciate that life's challenges have allowed us to look at our life differently. I appreciate that God has blessed us with this opportunity to improve.

I was looking through some of the stuff we have from the time Eric was diagnosed, and I found a tv clip that was done on him. I still get emotional watching it, even though I hate seeing myself talk.

And this is my favorite newspaper article they did about Eric.

It is crazy to me to see what has happened in our life in the 3 years since Eric was diagnosed. That was the beginning of a whirlwind of blessings, trials, and miracles.

We have been so blessed!

BOO! Tanner's 2!

Tanner turns two today! I can't believe he is already 2. We get to have two 2 year olds for a couple months.

We went to Red Robin to celebrate Tanner's birthday and the picture above was the look on his face the whole time they sang to him. It was fun to go out as a whole family. We don't do that too often.

My mom let Tanner open one of his present this morning and it was a little spider man that sings itsy bitsy spider. Tanner has loved playing with it. He sat with it in his lap with a toy spider for his itsy bitsy spider.

Tanner is such a special boy. He is such a blessing to our family. He is the coolest dancer and especially loves to dance to the song, Clumsy by Fergie. In church he points out everything in the chapel and tells us what they are (flower, clock, light) in a very loud voice.