Thing 1 and Thing 2

The twins' birthday was a few months ago and I had so much fun putting this party together. The theme of Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat was a perfect fit. The twins' are everywhere and do the opposite of everything that I say! I made them each a small cake and then we did cupcakes for everyone else.

Travis (Chad's brother) is helping Livy unwrap presents.

The big hit of the night was their tricycles. All of the kids loved them!

Livy was too busy playing, so I thought I would try to feed Bridger his cake. Well, you can see how well that went!

It was such a great night. I'm so grateful to have so much wonderful family close by.

We had a ton of balloons left over at the end of the party. So, we went outside and let them go. I think we may start that tradition each birthday, but I haven't decided.

A moment on my soap box . . .

I just had a very nice lunch with my insurance agent. He wanted to get together to ask me some questions about my experience surrounding Chad's passing. He will use our interview in a new letter to help sell life insurance. I was more than happy to pass along anything I may have learned. I soon realized that I would like all my family and friends to get the same information. So, this is me on my soap box about life insurance and maybe a few other things:).

When Chad started working at ARUP ~ 6 year ago, we had the world at our feet. We both had 4 year degrees, careers in excellent companies, and our only care about the future was that we wanted to create it. So, Chad signed up for a life insurance policy of $100,000. That seemed like a large sum of money, so we went with it. Three years after getting this policy, Chad is diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of 33. Wow, we were not prepared for that news. About 18 months after Chad's diagnosis, ARUP changes life insurance companies. The new company offers a no questions asked $50,000 boost to your current policy, so we jump at the opportunity and increase Chad's policy. Then, 6 months later, I give birth to twins. We now have 4 mouths to feed, a new mortgage (oh, yeah, we moved a few times, too!), and pharmaceutical and medical bills coming out the wazoo! Turns out, the only chemo that was even hopeful for us was $4600/mo! Insurance helped to lower it to $750 a month, but we still couldn't afford that, so we applied for assistance through the manufacturer of the chemo and had it taken to $250/mo. Still a lot for us since I cut my hours back to 10-15 hrs/wk. At this point, we are still hanging on, but so much for that extra money in savings, or paying down any bills. During the summer of 2009, Chad's health continues to decline and the chemo is no longer keeping the cancer at bay. Chad passed away on September 21, 2009. It may seem odd, but it came as a surprise to me. I still had hope that Chad would make it a few more years.

Okay, so the point of all this rambling is to get you to realize that we didn't see any of this coming before Chad was sick, when we could have done anything about a life insurance policy. I want all of you to take a moment and think about all of your bills, debt, and hopes for your family: mortgage, student loans, cars, credit cards, heat, electricity, insurance (health, home, car), phone, medical expenses, trips, new car needed down the road, home repairs, music/dance/sports, retirement, etc. Now that you have thought about it, how much life insurance is enough? Don't forget that if you cash out the policy, it will be because of a death, so you will need to pay for a funeral and most likely some medical bills.

All I know is, my work just changed life insurance companies, and they capped the allowable amount at $180,000. Let's just say you purchased this policy and this is how it was spent: $15,000 funeral; $1,500 medical; $10,000 car; $15,000 student loans; $20,000 credit card debt; that leaves ~$118,500 for you to refinance your house or buy a place. Not much in today's market, and there is also nothing left for savings for emergencies or college funds. I was able to sign up for a policy that is more than double what we had for Chad for ~$35/mo. All it took was a call to my agent (who also sells me my car and home insurance), a medical exam (they came to my house, so convenient), and my signature on a few papers.

Please, please, please look at your policies and make sure that they are enough. If you don't have one, then get one!

Trip to Idaho

My Uncle Rick flew over from Colorado and we headed up to Idaho over New Year's for my cousin, Katie's, wedding. It was sooooo much fun! The Willford's house is always the place to be. We definitely missed Jenn, Josh and the boys, though. :o(

We did some "sledding" in the back yard. It was really Jimmy pulling us on a sled using the 4-wheeler! It was still fun.

Bridger liked it. Livy, not so much. But she did enjoy watching from the sidelines with Tom!

I didn't get a picture of the best part. After all of us had gone inside, we heard the 4-wheeler. We looked out and saw Jim on the sled and Wesley (Jim's 7 year old son) driving the 4-wheeler! Good parenting Jim!

Chad's grave

The kids and I went to Chad's grave the day after Christmas. It was a beautiful day and very peaceful. The kids loved playing in the snow. I'm sure Chad enjoyed the visit as much as we did!

Christmas fun!

When we put up our Christmas decorations, I always put on Christmas music. This is a picture of the twins dancing to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".

The kids love to play with sunglasses, so I gave them each a pair of Chad's and they wanted to pose for a picture. Can you see how far down my decorations are on the tree? Just out of reach for two very curious sets of hands!

Christmas Morning!!!! Bridger is my thinker. He wants to know how everything works and loves to build. This was his favorite toy from Santa (Mega Bloks)!

Livy is my rock 'n roll girl! She loves this toy guitar from Santa!

Olivia's new talent

Many parents are proud of the new things that their children learn. I'm not sure what to think of Olivia's new favorite pass time. Here's a picture, can you guess what it is?

That's right, she is a master at escaping her clothes! This is how I found her one morning. She hasn't figured out how to undo the snaps yet, but it's only a matter of time. Her favorite thing to do is to strip down and try on her doll clothes, or mommy's clothes, or her friends clothes. And of course, once she gets naked, Bridger can't stay clothed! Oh, no, that would be too easy for mom!

Well, it's been very cold here at night and Livy's room is the coldest in the house. So, I came up with a contraption to keep her clothed all night.


Yep, it's duct tape! I hope this isn't considered child cruelty! I tried a safety pin and she figured out how to undo that and then I was worried that she had swallowed it! So far, the duct tape has worked, but she does hate it when she gets into bed and realizes what the duct tape is for!

Thanks, Aunt Ellyse!

If my kids have any artistic ability, it will all be due to the encouragement that they receive from their Aunt Ellyse. Art and shop were the only two classes that I have ever failed!