Merry Christmas!

Grandma and Grandpa Fields usually spend Christmas at our house, but since mom and dad were in Utah, they called and asked if they could spend it with us. They came over Christmas Eve to spend the night. Grandma brought over some food and some snacks and treats for us. It was nice to be able to visit with them after being gone in Utah for so long and Chris in Georgia. We told Grandma the news about me being pregnant and she was so excited! Christmas morning we work up early and opened presents together. Then Grandma made us breakfast. It was so yummy! Here are a few pics of us Christmas morning...

Our Christmas Jammies

No, they are not Lincoln Logs Honey...Just an empty box I used.

Chris wanted 35 lb weights, but they were way to heavy for me to wrap up, so I bought two little 1 lb weights and wrapped them up. A first he was a little confused, but when I told him the real ones were hiding in my mom's closet he was excited.

Since I was not about to attempt an entire Christmas dinner myself, we decided to go with Grandparents to to Sean and Ann's for dinner. My aunt and uncle and cousin Chris were there too. It was a great dinner and so fun to share our baby news with them too!

This is a picture of us all dressed up before we went to dinner.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Our Christmas Surprise

Christmas Eve morning I woke up snuggling in bed with Chris, enjoying the fact that neither of us had to get up to go to work. All the sudden it hit me...I hadn't bought anything for his stocking!!! What kind of Santa's lil helper would I be with no stocking for my love? Of course, I couldn't admit it to him, so I told a little white lie and said that I needed to go pick something up for dinner that I forgot. I ran to Rite Aid to get some candy and a few other things for him. When I was at the store, I walked pasted the pregnancy test isle...it got me thinking...when was my last period? I realized that I was 4 days late. My periods are so irregular I figured it would just come in the next day or two, but I thought to myself "I'll just pick up a test and if it doesn't come in the next few days, I'll take it!" So chocolate and pregnancy test in hand I checked out and headed home. When I got home curiosity got the best of me and I just had to know. I didn't want to tell Chris and get his hopes up if it was negative, so I snuck into the bathroom and took the test...waiting...waiting...waiting...POSITIVE!!! Totally not what I was expecting. I was so excited and I wanted to run upstairs and tell Chris, but I thought "What if its wrong?" I decided to wait an hour or so and take the second test. Sure enough...POSITIVE!

Now, how to tell my husband...hmmm??? It was Christmas Eve, so I thought about waiting until Christmas morning to tell him, but then I thought, I can't keep it a secret that long! We have a tradition of opening Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve, so I decided to wrap up both pregnancy test and give him them with his pj's. Sitting in our bed, I opened my new Christmas jammies and gave him his. He opened the jammies and then I handed him another present with a huge grin on my face! I could not stop smiling! He looked at me kinda funny and said "What's this?" I said it's a present just open it. With a confused look on his face he opened the present and sorted through the never ending pile of tissue paper I stuck in there. Finally he pulled out a small Ziploc with two little pregnancy tests in it. Still confused, he picked them up and took a closer look to see what they said. He looked up at me with the sweetest look on his face and tears starting to swell in his eyes and said with a little chuckle "Are you serious?" Still grinning I said YEP!

We called my sister's house and Chris wanted to tell my mom. It was so cute, because he was so excited and couldn't stop smiling. Then we called his mom and sister and told them too. It was the best Christmas present ever!

It's almost Christmas!

With all the packing and unpacking after the big move, I am glad Christmas finally came. When we got here from Utah, Mom already had the Christmas tree up and decorated. She always sets it up the day after Thanksgiving (a lil family tradition). Dad and Chris hung lights outside, helping to make the house look all sorts of festive! Mom and Dad went to Utah to spend Christmas with everyone. Monica, Ash and the kids--Brandon, Kamara, and the kids--Cassi and Gavin. They were all together. Since Chris and I had basically been apart since January, we decided to stay here and have Christmas together, just me and him!

We only had one car here, because I left mine in Utah when we moved, so shopping for gifts was kind of hard. Chris would take the car to work and I would be at home working all day. So when night time came around, we would either go to the mall together and just shop separate or one of us would take the car and go alone. I shopped with mom a lot while he was away at work. Somehow we got it all done and with all the presents wrapped, we were ready for Christmas!

It's Snowing

It snowed today! We were so excited, we went out to play in the snow. There wasn't very much, but it made for a few cute pictures. If we are lucky, it might just keep snowing for us to have a white Christmas, but probably not!

Our Dity Move--Part 2

Monday morning came and it was time to start the long drive to WA, but we still had to pick up Chris' 4-wheeler. When we got to Cycle House, his entire engine was in a million pieces and sitting in cardboard box on the floor next to it. They said they didn't have time to get it finished...??? 4+ months and they didn't have time to do it! Completely pissed off, Chris loaded it up into the truck and we took off.

The weather started out fine, but then it started raining and the wind was blowing like crazy. Being the last week in November, we were lucky it was just rain and wind instead or snow. The U-Haul was swaying side to side pulling the truck all over the road. Chris was holding the steering wheel tight trying to keep us from an accident. As we continued to drive and the wind and rain stopped, but the trailer kept swaying all over the place. We pulled over to get gas and saw a sign on the side of the trailer that we hadn't noticed before. It showed you how to load the U-Haul. It said to put all of the heavy stuff in first and then everything else after. So basically putting the mattresses and table in first will all the heavy stuff in last was totally wrong. That is what was causing it to sway all over the road, the weight was not balanced right. At that point, there was nothing we could do. It's not like we were going to unload our trailer on the side of the road and re-load it, so we kept driving. To top it off, Chris noticed that his 4-wheeler gas tank cover was not properly secured and was flapping in the wind. Just as we were about to stop to fix it, it flew off bouncing down the highway! We were driving too fast to stop and get it, so we drove to the next exit and turned around to go back for it. Driving back towards where we lost it, we saw it up ahead in the middle of the freeway still in one piece. Just as we drove past it to turn around at the next exit...a truck flew by and blasted it! It went flying again. By the time we got the plastic cover, it was pretty mangled!

After hours of poor reception, bad radio stations, and a couple dozen curse words (directed at the swaying trailer)...We made it to Washington, U-Haul trailer, 4-wheeler and all! Phew!!!

Our Dity Move--Part 1

The time is finally here! We are moving to Washington. Chris was released to come get me and all of our stuff. I set up the U-Haul rental and finished packing. Luckily most of our stuff was already packed in a storage unit since I was living with Monica and Ash and only needed clothes.

The Army pays for us to move, based on weight and distance, so when Chris got to Utah, we had to drive to Heber to a certified weigh station to get the truck weighed empty. Then we could get the U-Haul and start loading our stuff. We had our king size mattresses and table stored in Monica's garage, because it wouldn't fit in the storage unit, so we decided to load it first. We put the table in then the mattresses on top and loaded my clothes and stuff from the house under the table and around the mattresses. After all of that was loaded, Chris went to the storage unit to load up the rest. We also had to pick up Chris' 4-wheeler from Salt Lake that had been in the shop for the last 4+ months that he was gone. When we called, they told us it still wasn't ready. Chris and I were pisses...they had it for months and basically sat on it and did nothing! They told us to give them another day or two, but we had to get a final moving weight from the weigh station, so we borrowed my sisters 4 wheeler. We loaded it up and hooked up the U-Haul. We thought we could go back to the same weigh station in Heber, but they were closed. We called pretty much every weigh station in Utah and none of them were going to be open because it was a Saturday. We had to hit the road on Monday to make it back on time, so we didn't have time to wait. Finally we found one in Evanston, Wyoming that was going to be open. We loaded up 4 of Chris' cousins for a fun road trip (and added weight...hehehe) to Wyoming at like 4pm. It was such a long drive! We didn’t' end up getting back to the house until almost 11pm. We now had both our weigh in tickets and were good to go!

No Fair!

Chris obviously made it to Washington...
because he is enjoying a chocolate dip cone with Dad. I'm so jealous! Dairy Queen dip cones are like a Fields family tradition. As kids dad and mom used to take us there after family home evenings or for a special family date night. It was such a treat for us as kids. I don't think Chris understands how special he should feel that dad and mom took him there. I can't wait for him to come to Utah and get me, so I can have a chocolate dipped cone too!

It's Official...

Chris is a Ranger! He finally graduated RIP and we were so excited when we found out he was going to be stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA rather than Georgia. Since he had his truck there, he was given a week to drive to WA to report on base. Knowing that it would not take him an entire week to get there, he decided to stop in Utah to see me for a few day. Chris and his friend Josh from RIP headed out west! He sent me his picture from the road to let me know he was almost here.
They got here on Thursday and were able to stay until Sunday morning. It was so nice to see him after so long. We mosting just hung out and spent time together. We went to Provo to see his aunt and cousins. It was fun to see them and they really enjoyed seeing Chris and listening to all his stories. Sunday came too fast and it was hard to say good-bye AGAIN. At least this time I know he will be back in a few weeks to get me. He has to report to base in WA and check in, then they allow him to leave to move his family (ME). I can't wait to see him again...I better get to packing!

Boo at the Zoo

Believe it or not, I have never been to Hogle Zoo. I have lived in Utah over 3 years and just never seemed to make my way over there. So today when Monica said she was taking the kids to “Boo at the Zoo”, I decided to tag along. There were different stations throughout the Zoo where you could trick or treat while enjoying the zoo animals. I was like a kid in a candy shop, snapping picture of everything. I was so interested in all of the animals that I had never seen close up. We didn't make it through the entire zoo, because the kids were tired of walking and were done trick or treating, but I would love to come back and see the rest of the zoo. Here are just a few of the bazillion pictures I took.

Black Bear taking a little drink

Pregnant Elephant

Tiger with huge paws!

Sleeping Rhino

Cute Little Penguins

Sucks for them!!!

Driving home today, traffic starting to slow down and there was a huge cloud of smoke off in the distance. As I got closer to the smoke, I realized it was a car on fire!
You know, I have actually seen this 2-3 times before, but today it was a little different. In the past, the police and fire trucks block traffic so that no one can drive past the inflamed vehicle and they attempt to put out the fire. Today, as I drove by, there were 3 police cars parked off in the distance with the driver just watching it burn while tons of cars drove on the free way right along side it. Maybe they were waiting for the fire truck, but still. I known cars don't really explode like in the movies, but I also don't think that is necessarily that safe either. Oh, well, I was on the opposite side of the the freeway and I made it home safe, so I guess I have nothing to worry about. It just sucks for the car owner, because their car is toast...burnt toast!

It's the final countdown...

Monday Chris had to do his final PT test and re-take his Ranger History test. He was sick all night and barely got any sleep. He said he barely remembers running the 2 miles or doing his sit ups and he said he felt himself start to pass out during the push ups and even blacked out, but some how made it through. Then he had to go straight to the classroom for the written test. He ended up passing both tests...WOO HOO!!!

Tuesday he had to fast rope from the helicopters and tore something in his elbow. He says it didn't hurt at the time because of the adrenaline rush, but it sure hurts now.

Wednesday he had to wake up at 3am and do a 12 mile ruck march (full gear, ruck sack, gun, etc.) in less than 3 hours. He was able to do it in 2 hours and 26 minutes, only throwing up a few times along the way. After passing the final ruck march, he was cleared to graduate. Before graduation he had to go buy his brown beret and patches. Look how cute he is in his new lil hat.

When I got this picture I said to him "Wow, you look so serious!" and he replied "It's a serious job Shell." I thought that was so cute of him to say, it make me laugh. After buying all his patches and hat and new PT clothes, he needed to get a hair cut. Can you tell?
Look at all that fuzzy scruffy hair! This text was titled..."hair".
I am so bummed I cannot go to his graduation on Friday, but hopefully he will find sweet lil old lady to take pictures of him for me. I am just so glad he made it through and will be permanently stationed somewhere soon.

Dehydration Scare

As part of Chris' training, he has to pass a written test about the History of Rangers. The test is not multiple choice or fill in the blank, it is just questions and you write your own answer. Last Monday when he took the test, he failed. They don't tell you what you got wrong or how close you came to passing, its just simply a pass/fail. Luckily he gets 1 more chance before they make him re-start the training course. Tomorrow is the re-take and Chris is really nervous. He says he was never any good at taking tests in school and hates that he is having to take them now in the Army. I asked him today if he was studying for tomorrow and he sent me this picture with the caption "Uh YEAH!"

Knowing my husband too well, I said "Can I see you?" and this is what I got...

Just as I thought...listening to music!!! I highly doubt he is using his head phones as ear plugs, so I hope his crazy rock music helps him study and retain information. Doesn't he look so excited to be learning all about Rangers? I know he has been studying so hard all week trying to prepare for the big day, but yesterday morning he started feeling really sick. With horrible diarrhea and vomiting, he quickly became dehydrated. He has been passing out and so lethargic all weekend. He told me that he fell asleep in his bunk and woke up on the floor in the hallway. Scary!!! I keep telling him dehydration is a serious serious illness and it can kill you, but he just says "I can't go to the doctor, they can't even know I'm sick!" I lovingly remind him that I think they will figure it out when he is passing out and vomiting during his PT test in the morning! He just gets irritated with me and tells me he has to go, so I sweetly inform him that irritability is another sign of severe dehydration. Considering a kid in his last platoon passed out and almost died from dehydration, it really worries me. I know I all I can do is pray for him and have faith that everything will be ok. I guess there is no sense in losing sleep over something I can't control, I just hope everything goes well tomorrow!

Happy Saturday!!!

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" Half awake I pick up my phone, flip it open, press OK to receive my message, and up pops this picture and text message.

"Good Morning my Love"

Usually I would get a little cranky on a Saturday morning if someone woke me up at 4:50am, but not today. Waking up to my hubby's face was so nice for a change. I know it is totally different than waking up next to him, but hey...I'll take what I can get. He is so sweet to send me cute little messages like this, I think I'll just remind him of the 2 hour time difference so I can sleep in tomorrow.

A Bugs Dinner

Chris was apparently dinner for all of the spiders and bugs in Georgia. This is a picture of the back of his leg where he had nearly been eatin' alive. He said both of his legs looked like that front and back, just covered in bites. It was itching him so bad, he finally had to go to the store and buy some anti-itch cortisone cream and then put on long pants so he couldn't itch it anymore!

My visit with the Gavinator!

Yesterday I drove to meet Cassi in Malad to pick up my mom. Mom was in Idaho helping move Cassi and Gavin into their new place and then needed to get to SLC to fly home. It was a long stressful drive, since we got our first snow here in Utah. On the way up, there were tons of accidents with a bunch of cars that had slid off the road. Luckily I made it to Malad safely and was able to visit with Cassi and Gavin for a few minutes. Gavin and I shared a moment eating laffy taffy in my car. He is getting so big and is so cute and talkative.

It was so nice to get to see him and Cassi again, it had been a few months since our last visit. It was also really nice to get to see mom again, even if it were for less than 24 hours. Every visit with her is nice, no matter how short. Thanks for a fun time Gavin, Cassi, and Mom!

1st snow of the year!

I heard on the radio that it was supposed to snow on Saturday and Sunday. After no snow on Saturday and no signs of snow coming, I gave up on the thought of it. Then sure enough, Sunday morning when I woke up and looked out my window, this is what I saw...


I love when it snows, especially here in Utah, becuase the mountains are so beasutiful coverd in snow. My nephews were so excited, they quickly got on their snow gear and headed outside. Dallin started making a snow man and wanted to make an entire snow family, but ran out of snow after the first one.

Dallin and his Snow Man

Is that self tanner???

Today, Chris went to Barnes and Noble to relax and read a good book. I asked him to send me a picture so I could see his handsomeness. This is what I got...
Don't get me wrong, he is a total stud muffin and I love him, but I couldn't help but notice how extremely ORANGE his face was looking. So, I asked him, "Did you put on self tanner?" He said no it was just the lighting, but I don't know if I believe him. Ha Ha Ha!!! I love you Christopher!

NASTY!!!

So, today I learned about immersion foot, or trench foot. Why did I learn about it...well, because after receiving these photos from my hubby, I became a little curious.

You can see his feet starting to mold!!!

He said he almost ripped his sole off when he took his boots off...OUCH!!! Chris was told to go with out shoes for the weekend, so his feet could heal. After a day his feet started to dry out, which made then crack and bleed and hurt even more. Two days later he had to do a 5 mile run on his poor lil feet.

Now, that you have seen these nasty photos...here is what I learned. It is a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions above freezing point. Immersion foot occurs when feet are cold and damp while wearing constricting footwear. The condition can occur with as little as twelve hours' exposure. The symptoms are: Affected feet become numb and then turn red or blue. As the condition worsens, they may swell. Advanced immersion foot often involves blisters and open sores, which lead to fungal infections; this is sometimes called jungle rot. If left untreated, immersion foot usually results in gangrene, which can require amputation. If immersion foot is treated properly, complete recovery is normal, though it is marked by severe short-term pain when feeling is returning. Like other cold injuries, immersion foot leaves sufferers more susceptible to it in the future.

I'm glad there was no amputation necessary here!!!

The Giant Zucchini

Last week my boss brought me two zucchini from his garden. He knows that we have a not so successful garden at our house and since his produces more than he and his wife can eat, he thought he would share! They were not huge, but they were much larger than the ones you buy at the store. One Zucchini made 4-6 loaves of bread. When I brought them home, Cole was shocked at how big they were compared to the tiny zucchini from his garden. So, the next day I mentioned to my boss that my nephew was so shocked that the zucchini were so big. He told me that he could grow them much much bigger than that! He said that they had 1 more zucchini left and that he was going to leave it for another week and then bring it to me to give my nephew. Today he brought it in to work for me and it was ginormous!!! He said if he let if grow any longer it may not fit in my car. When I got home from work, I brought it in the house to surprise Cole. As soon as he saw it he freaked out! He thought it was the coolest thing ever. He was so excited, he tried to carry it to show his mom and dad, but it was a little too heavy. I wish I could have captured his initial reaction on camera, but the grin on his face shows how excited he still is about it.
The thing is almost 3 feet long and about 8-10" diameter. I am not really sure what we are going to do with it, but maybe we will have to try a few dozen new recipes to try to use it all up!

Let the Anxiety Begin

Now that Chris has started the actual Ranger Indoctrinate Program, he is not allowed phone privileges. I rarely hear from him and when I do, it is a text her or a text there, but when I reply, he is gone! Today I got these very disturbing pictures from him with the following texts...

"I'm so sad!"

"My Leg"

"Can you see it?"

"Hamburger Feet"

Not knowing what the heck he was talking about and what happened, the anxiety attack began, I started to panic, worry, stress, and CRY! I tried to text back to say "Why are you sad? What happened? Are you OK? What wrong with you chest?" but he obviously had to shut his phone off and could not text back. Waiting in suspense, having major anxiety, I finally get a text back that said "Jujitsu 3 against me, broken rib, hurts to breathe, messed up knee". Again, I tried to text back to ask for details, but no response. All night I couldn't help but think about him and all the pain he must be experiencing. I can tell in the picture of his face that his head is swollen and bruised. The picture of his leg tells me that its his left leg, yeah the one that had $40k surgery. The one of his chest makes me nauseous to look at cuz you can totally see his rib sticking out. I can handle the "Hamburger feet" picture, because those are just really bad blisters that I am sure hurt him, but they won't kill him. He refuses to go to the doctor, because they will restart him and he doesn't want that. I know that all I can do is pray for him and have faith the Lord will bless him to be healed. Maybe this is why they say the less you know the better, because the more I know, the more I worry! And the more I worry, the less sleep I get!!!

Auntie Mom

Today my brother in law was speaking at a Word Press Conference and my sister wanted to attend, so she asked if I would help out with the kids.

My day began at 8:45am with Cole and Dallin screaming as if there were a fire or some other emergency..."WAKE UP! Shell Shell...WAKE UP!!!" So, awake I was! I mosey on down the stairs to get my schedule for the day from my sister and out the door she went.

I ate breakfast, took a shower and got ready. Since it was Cole's day for 1/2 time snacks and treats for his soccer game, I had to finish baking and frosting cupcakes, and get the snacks and water loaded in my car.
Green sprinkles for the "Green Dragons"

I helped Cole get dressed for soccer and then helped Sadie make a card and wrap a gift for a baby shower. We dropped the gift and off we went to pick Dallin up from his Cartooning Class in Orem at 11:30am.
After picking up Dallin, we had to race back to Cedar Hills to have Cole and the treats to the soccer field by 12pm. Arriving only 5 or so minutes late, I told Cole to run out there and find his coach while I gather the treats.
Cole running for the ball, but the girl is kinda blocking him out of the picture.

The game was a ton of fun until Cole is kicked in the face and got a bloody nose all over. Trying to calm him down and keep myself from passing out I cleaned him up and shoved a tissue up his lil nostril. It finally stopped bleeding and being a tough guy, he was right back in the game.

After the game, I dropped Sadie off at the baby shower late and head home to get the boys some lunch. Feeling all motivated, I decided to clean my car inside and out.
Look how pretty, all shiny and clean!

Not realizing what time it was and that I was supposed to have a pasta salad made and delivered to the church building for Women's Conference by 4:45pm, I ran to Walmart, bought what I needed and raced home to get started. I threw it together super fast, delivered it to the church and hurried home to get myself changed and ready to attend Women's Conference. Monica got home just after 5pm, changed her clothes and off we went to be spiritually edified while Sadie watched the boys.

Over all it was a great day! I really enjoyed spending time with the kids and I am glad I was able to help my sister out to allow her to go support her hubby! I think I got just a glimpse of what being a mom is all about...running kids all over the place, juggling a million things at once, baking, soccer mom, etc. It was extremely chaotic and I am pretty sure I bit ALL of my nails off! I don't know how you moms do it everyday. I am just glad at the end of the day I was able to relax and enjoy conference with my sister.

Say WHAT???

Today, while at work, I received this text message and picture

"You Ready?"

Chris is so cute. He was out shopping with some Army buddies, who knows where, and he stops to take a picture of a stroller to tell me he wants a baby! Typical guy...he picked out the JEEP stroller, the closest thing to a pimp car for his lil' one. He has been telling me for a while now that he wants to start having kids, but it is next to impossible to conceive a baby right now, with him in the Army. I know he wants one sooo bad and so do I, but it is hard for me, knowing that he will hardly ever be home to be a daddy! I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens, see what God has in store for us.

Mail Day!

Chris and I have had over a dozen mailing addresses here in Utah in the past 3 1/2 years. I got sick of filling out 'change of address' forms, so I decided to set up a post office box. I did this about 2 years ago and it's great because I never have to worry if my mail is being forwarded properly or if mail is being returned to sender and I can check it whenever I want. When we were living in Salt Lake and the post office was only a few minutes away, we would check the mail every 2-3 days. It sort of became our date night...checking the mail...how romantic! Now that I am living in Cedar Hills and Chris is gone, I rarely check the mail. I know what is in there...BILLS, retail ads, BILLS, credit card offers, BILLS, grocery ads, and more BILLS!!! I could care less about all the junk mail and I am in no hurry to go pick up my heaps of bills, so I only check the box once a week. The last 2 week I apparently have been really busy, too busy to check my mail. So I went today and could barely yank it out of the box because it was crammed in there so tight. After much force and tearing a few pieces of mail, I finally got it all out. Sure enough, nothing but BILLS and junk mail.


Would you believe that all of that mail came out of an itty bitty post office box. I think the box itself is only 3" wide by 5" tall. Maybe I'll have to set myself a weekly reminder to avoid this in the future. Now I get to spend the next hour opening mail!

A day in the life of Private Petty

Since my day was pretty boring and Chris obviously had an eventful day, I'll blog about his fun day instead of my lame day. He must have had a ton of fun, because these are just some of the many many pictures I received today. It first started off with shoe shopping...

"Can I buy these?"

He even got them on sale for $54.99, what a bargain shopper!

Showing me how good they look on his feet!

Trying on a matching Puma jacket...lookin' all tuff!

Time for a snack at Atlanta Bread Co.
He said it's not as good as Great Harvest Bread Co. here in Utah

Then a visit to the local Petco to check out the reptiles.

Oh, I hate snakes...and this one is looking at me!!!

Chillin' at some hotel waiting for his friend.


Dinner at Chili's on the way back to base.
(Chicken, Fries, and Corn--Yum!)
I accidentally deleted the real picture of his dinner, but this is what he ate.


Retired to his bunk for the night!

I am so glad Chris keeps in touch with me and sends me a photographic tour of his day. He is so sweet to do this, because he knows that I love getting pictures from him. It makes me feel like I am a part of his day, even though I am thousands of miles away.

Thank goodness for cell phones with Text & Picture Messaging.