Are We There Yet?!

The day after our little ER adventure we were headed to Utah to visit Brian's brother Chris and Wendi and family. We did not leave quite as early as we had planned since Mom and Dad needed a little sleep. So we packed up the van loaded up the kids and were on our way. We needed to stop at Walmart to pick up some windshield washer fluid. Brian ran in and then came back out started the van and the van started and then died, and would not start again. We thought maybe the battery was dead so one of the guys from Walmarts auto department came out with his handy little battery checker thing and informed us that the battery was fine, great...just means something more expensive is wrong and he thought it was the fuel pump. So the van had to be towed and 5 crying kids were loaded into Grandpa Robles' car and sent home. Spirits were not high to say the least. Monday morning the auto shop looked at the van and informed us it would be $1500 plus to put a new fuel pump in the van (which we have already replaced once) and we were also informed that the transmission would be the next thing to go. We had already fixed the van twice in the past month so this was the last straw. Brian and I spent the morning looking for a new van and then spent the afternoon picking up this little number. So, the Condie family has a new Chevy Uplander which makes us all very happy. And the little boys one request for the new van, that it had a DVD player. I am happy to say that their wish was granted and we left for Utah that afternoon with a stack of DVD's and 5 happy boys!!!!

The Lesson Here Cut Your Steak and Chew Your Food And Oh yeah Happy Anniversary!!!

Brian and I celebrated our twelve year anniversary this year. December 27th is our anniversary so we decided to go to the Trail Dust for dinner and then we were going to leave for Utah at 5am the next morning. So we left the boys with my mom and headed to the Trail Dust. Brian was very excited to eat his steak and the first bite he took went down the wrong way. Just how wrong we did not know. Brian tried to drink a bunch of water to get the bite to go down but he ended up throwing up the water all over his plate...lovely. So Brian got up and went to the bathroom. I covered his plate up with napkins and kept eating my steak (can't let a good steak go to waste:)....anyway, Brian could still breath and I thought he would just throw it up in the bathroom and be done with it, but after 20 minutes or so in the bathroom I sent the waiter in to make sure he was still alive. Brian finally came out of the bathroom and informed me that the steak was still stuck in his throat and we would need to make a trip to the emergency room. So we headed to Centennial Medical Plaza, about 15 minutes down the street. Brian threw up out the window once and got throw up all over the side of the van. Once we got the emergency room they asked Brian if he was having trouble breathing or chest pain and when he answered yes to both questions yes they rushed him right back to the ER. When he told them the story of what happened I could not control my laughter and the nurses joined in. I also called my sister-in-law in Utah to let her know what was going on we had a good little laugh ourselves:) Then Brian asked me to call his Mom and I told him that I could not do that because I would laugh and she would think that I was terrible. At the ER they tried giving Brain cola because that supposedly breaks up the steak and helps it go down. That did not work so they gave him a muscle relaxer to see if they could get the steak to go up or down. The first muscle relaxer did not work so they gave him nitro glycerin which is another muscle relaxer to see if that would work. When nothing worked they decided to transfer Brain to Aurora Medical Center so a gastro specialist could do a scope on his throat and see exactly where the steak was stuck. All I could think was are you serious you can't just throw the piece of meat up and save us a little time and money. But no, so it was off the the second ER of the night. So we drove to Aurora Medical Center and waited a couple of hours for the gastro DR to get there. Luckily Brian and I kept our sense of humor and were laughing the whole time. The nurses and Dr's were getting a good little chuckle out of the whole situation too:) The gastro Dr finally got there and they knocked Brain out and scoped him. They doctor came and got me when they were done and told me that they pulled the piece of steak out of Brian's throat. He said that it did not look like he chewed it very much. While they were in there they saw that Brian's esophagus was narrowed at the base where it connected to his stomach so he has to go back in 4 to 6 weeks and have his esophagus stretched. Lovely!!! When Brian woke up he was so out of it and it was hilarious, he was telling all the nurses that he was going to go work out because all the ladies like to see him with his shirt off. Finally at 2am we headed home. An anniversary to remember!!! Here's to another 12 wonderful years (I really mean that) it has been great and I can't wait to see what the next 12 years bring.

Merry Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas 2008!!

Santa was very good to the Condie boys this year. Everyone got their need, read, wear, and want gift and I think everyone was happy. Santa also brought a fire station and fire truck for everyone to share.
The little boys excited to open their presents. We told them that they could not come and get us until 7am so they spent some time playing with the fire station because Santa did not wrap it.
Austin opening his Legos, that was what he wanted the most.
Preston with his "read" gifts.
Carter trying to focus on his "wear" gift because the gift he really wanted to open was his new bike.

Carter practicing on his new bike!

Aidan opening his animal block train. But this was Aidan favorite gift, it is a little tower with wooden balls on the top that you bang with a hammer until the go through the holes. Aidan loves being able to bang on something with a hammer and not get in trouble.

Logan was so fun to watch open presents. He is so curious and was just watching and taking it all in.

Logan with his new pull horse.Logan playing with the fire station while his brothers were distracted.

Our Christmas dinner table. It is nice to spend Christmas with just our family and make our own traditions.

Waiting to eat the yummy ham!!

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending time together and playing with our new toys and watching Kung Fu Panda a couple of times.

Quotes by Carter

This boy........ is a source of constant entertainment in my life

Carter- Mom can I have a fruit snack?

Mom- Yes, Carter.

Carter- Will you get it for me?

Mom- You can get it yourself today(I know, I'm mean).

Carter- (with hands up in the air) Oh you don't want to serve your precious son?!!!!

Mom- You can serve yourself today Carter.



Today when Carter came home from school:

Carter-Dad can you play with me?

Dad- Carter, I am working right now.

Carter- Oh, so you don't want to plan your precious children when they come home?!!!





Carter- I have a little problem.

Mom- What is your problem Carter

Carter- I have a little problem with toots/

Mom- What?!

Cater-I have a little problem with farts, I do it too much, you can just call me the fart machine.

Mom- Sounds like a personal problem Carter.



These are just a few conversations from the last day, the boy cracks be up!!

Christmas Eve 2008

We spend Christmas eve with my family. All of my siblings and their families converge on my parents house and we eat dinner and open presents. The boys always look forward to this night and we all love spending time together. We tried to get a picture with all the cousins together, this is always a challenge. My favorite pictures of the night are when Carter called his cousin Athena a wierdo in this picture .....and then this is the next picture, priceless. Everyone got to open their gifts from each other and then play, play, play!! And of course the angle baby's first Christmas Eve, he is at such a fun age and loved playing with all the new things.

I am so grateful for my family and I am grateful that we are all here in Colorado and get to spend time together. I am grateful for the love that my children feel from their family and that they get to spend time with their Grandparents and uncles, and aunts. We all had a wonderful time!

Christmas Craft Day

We had a Christmas craft day the Monday before Christmas. My mom, sister Cristina, and sisters-in-law Brynn and Melissa came over and we made Christmas treats. Lots of chocolate, candy, pretzels, and cookies. The kids all decorated sugar cookies it was fun to just set them free with all the sugar their little hearts desired. We ended up with some pretty loaded cookies. The cookie with 8 chocolate kisses in the front was made especially for Brynn by my niece Athena :)!!! Yummy!!! Then we all enjoyed some delicious Tortilla Cheese soup!

I am still finding cookie sprinkles in my kitchen:) We all had a good time and it was nice to spend some relaxing family time together.

Breathless!!

The little boys are back to school and I am trying to salvage the routine of my life and get the house back in shape. We had a crazy, wonderful, happy, busy two weeks. A brief recap:
*Christmas Craft/Treat Day with Mom, sister, sister-in-laws, and 7 kids
*Christmas Eve with Robles family
*Christmas day at our house
*Jenny Mitchell wedding/reception
*12 year wedding anniversary
*Late night trip to the emergency room to remove un-chewed piece of steak from Brian's throat
(this happened the night before we were supposed to leave for Utah at 5 am)
*Late start to Utah trip because of 2am return from ER
*Quick stop at Walmart to pick up windshield washer fluid before starting long drive to UT
*Van dying in Walmart parking lot and being towed to van DR
*Van Dr declaring mini-van is dead
*Postponing UT trip to buy new van (yeah!!)
*Finally leaving for UT and driving through night to arrive at 2am
*Playing, playing, playing with family in UT for 5 days (so needed)
*Arriving home exhausted but happy
So we are happy and tired and glad that we survived 2008 and are looking forward to a calm, boring 2009. I can always hope!!:)