Jon and Mackenzie Kasper

Sick baby!

2012-01-15T21:34:00.001-07:00

So after Dr. visits (yes, pleural) Catie Bug has croup and then now is showing signs of Pneumonia. My poor sweetie is so sick. Along with Gracie who got sick because of Catie now Daddy is sick too. and my mom is now showing symptoms.
I hope she gets feeling
better soon. As well as my loved ones too! Darn sickness!

In Memory of Auntie M!

2012-01-07T02:51:00.000-07:00

At my wedding in 2008, this was one month before her last chemo treatment.

On Wednesday, December 14 I had gotten called off of work that day. It was around 3pm and my mom and Catherine and Grace and myself were headed to do some Christmas shopping in Layton. Headed on the freeway my mom got a phone call from my brother. The dreaded phone call that you don't want to get. My brother said that my Aunt Marilee was dead. We thought it was a joke, and quickly he assured us it was reality. She was gone.

My Aunt Marilee is my mom's only sister. They have always had a troubled relationship, it was tough, but they worked through things as hard as things were because they were family. Marilee was diagnosed with paranoid schizopherenia almost two decades ago, I think. But she denied all diagnoses. She led a hard life, a single mom, raising a son and a sickness only those who go through it can understand. She was medicated, and was doing well. A couple years ago she had breast cancer, and fought it. We think she got started on some pain meds and anti-anxiety meds and that's what started this downward spiral toward the end.

The last time I saw her was at Thanksgiving. She seemed not herself. It was as if she had a cloud over her personality. She seemed to be in some sort of haze. After dinner, I wanted to take a picture of she and Catherine. I did, and she gave me a hug after I took it and she told me that now Catherine will always have that to remember her by. A thought came in my head, was this the last picture Catie will have with her Aunt Marilee? I didn't think too much of it, but it turned out to be true.

When I said goodbye to her I told her how much I loved her. And that was it.

There are a lot of family members who have regret, and guilt towards her death. Why did she do what she did. Why are we left here on this earth to mourn her and how it happened.

The only thought that keeps me going is that she is in heaven now and free from pain. I think that God, Heavenly Father, Allah, whoever you may believe in will judge her with the utmost loving care and compassion. May you rest forever in our hearts Auntie M!

For you are loved.

Family Pics

2011-12-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here are our annual family pictures for our Christmas card. My sister took these and she did a great job. Thanks Mer!

Awesome day with Catherine...NOT!

2011-11-22T17:16:00.001-07:00

Everyone meet Cranky Catie. We've been on a no nap schedule for the past week and I think it's catching up with her.

Nana and Bob!

2011-11-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Catherine loves her Nana and Bob. Last Tuesday my Mom and Dad got to watch her while I was up at Weber State taking pictures. She feels right at home there. Catherine loves to look at the moon. When sweet Isabella was the same age as Catie, she was too fascinated with the moon. So, we always say, "Bob, where's the Moon?" My dad has taught us to appreciate the beauty around us and is now teaching his grandkids the same. Here's a little video of Bob showing Catherine the moon. Nana also got her picture taken with Catie as we left.

This is Damian Lillard, AKA D-Lill in our house. He is amazing to watch play. I love college basketball, I am blessed to be on the court with these talented student athletes. I thought I'd share these since this is what I do as a side job. And some of my fave's from that night.

Day at the Kasper's

2011-11-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday the Kasper's of Logan came to O-Town and we got to hang out and have dinner and Grandma and Grandpa's. It's always so fun to see Josh and Nee and Kaleb and Kiley and of course beagle Kirby. Greg made pot roast and we all enjoyed. These moments are so few lately I had to share these cute cousins hanging out at the kid table, also at the kid table, the beagles.
Thanks Josh and Auntie Nee Nee for coming to O-Town! We sure love you guys!

Begging Beagles, and good little eaters.

Aunite Kaitlyn joined the party too! It was awesome to see her, we love you Kate!

Kiley and Catherine gave each other a hug goodbye. It was so darling! They love each other!

Cute cousins!

2011-11-17T01:46:00.001-07:00

Went to Home Depot today. Grace and Catie wanted to get into the big cart and they were so cute when they got in. The only person missing is sweet Kiley Dawn. She is here in spirit though.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

So, I have decided to FINALLY update the good ol' blog once and for all. And instead of trying to play catch up, I am just going to start where we've been lately. A now 21 month old makes it hard to keep it updated and working a full-time job and a couple side jobs makes it near impossible for me to be a wife and mom let alone, a person who updates the blog regularly.

Halloween this year was Catie's first actually going to the door and taking candy, it was sure darling. She has been in this Elmo obsession for the last few months so we saw it fitting to have her be none other than Elmo for Halloween. She was the cutest Elmo on the earth, possibly cuter than that little red guy himself.

We started off the night going to see Granny Pam and Gpa Scott. She just woke up from her nap so she was a little crabby. She got the best Treat from Granny Pam. Then we went out to my sisters to go trick-or-treating with Grace and had a blast. She thought it was the coolest thing that she could take some candy from strangers and then run off. I guess we have a lot to teach her in the next few years, but for now she loved it.

This was at Nana's Halloween party the day before. Her very own Halloween house.

Daddy and Elmo!

Granny Pam, Crabby Catie and GPa Scott! (She loved her treat, thank you!)

This is right before we went out to trick or treat. Grace is Michael Jackson (my very talented sis made this jacket) and of course Elmo.

Mommy and Elmo!

Mer and a very tired MJ

Catherine had to come show off her treats to Nana first thing.
Can I have the whole bag of candy instead?

This is a video of Catherine at her first trick or treat door, so cute.

Easter Mass, holla!

2011-04-24T23:12:00.000-06:00

Today, The Kasper's of the WT went to Easter Mass. It was a full house. But of course Catherine had to be the star of the show in her cute dress that Granny Pam got for her.

She's a doll, here's a few pictures I got today.

Awe, such a cute family, had to stop for a family pic.

This is Grandma Judy and Papa Gregg. She really wanted those eggs, not another picture mom.

Getting ready to cruise. She had a little help from daddy because she's not walking yet, almost.

At the Easter egg hunt after mass. She liked the plastic egg more than what was inside it.

Her Nana Rula came to mass today, Nana had the magic touch of getting her to take a nap. It made it more special that she could share the beautiful mass with us.

Annie and the Catherine "Ham" Kasper, such a cheeser.

We went in front of our neighbor's house, Elizabeth and took some cute pictures by her flowers.

Easter Egg Hunt...AKA the Bob Hunt!

2011-04-24T22:15:00.000-06:00

This is Max, such a stud!

Queen Princess Grace herself, such a sweetie.

Family picture, not cooperating Catie. Oh well, eggs are more fun.

Yes, it's been a while.

And I figured I better start somewhere than trying to play catch up with life that has been crazy lately.

Catie had her second Easter egg hunt last night, the first was last year, but couldn't really do much except be held. So we'll consider this her first.

We had the festive night at my sister's house, and we had the egg hunt or as Grandpa-Bob likes to put it the, "Bob" Hunt, right before the sun went down. It was so pretty, and the lighting was so pretty, I had to put some pictures up.

I apologize to the readers out there for not being more prompt on the blog posting, but hopefully my life and Jon's life can slow down a little bit now so we can share our sweet Angel with you.

Enjoy and Happy Easter!

PS I am going to post some pics of Catie and Annie opening their Easter baskets tomorrow. I had to work on Easter so the Easter bunny comes in the morning.

Uncle Steve teasing Catherine.

Look, an egg!

Bella looking for the big money!

No, this is not an egg, it's a sword. Egg hunt or sword, Cormick chose his sword.

Sweet shot of our little angel.

Mommy and baby.

This was inside one of the eggs, pay up Steve,

Cormick loves to dress up. He was Lucy from Narnia.

Pretty fun stuff folks! And Nana came through again. Thanks Easter Bunny!

Catie's first Christmas 2010

2011-02-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a chip off of the old blog posts that are being attempted to be caught up. Life is so busy lately, and I decided post a few pictures of Christmas and work towards current time.

Catherine had a super Christmas, she mostly enjoyed colorful wrapping paper and ripping it to shreds. Oh and a few toys too. Here are some fun pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day spent with both families this year since I didn't have to work.

Christmas Eve the Kasper's went to the annual Christmas Eve mass and of course Catie had to look darling in her Christmas dress, and so did cousin Kiley. They did so good.
We enjoyed Papa Greggs cooking as always and enjoyed unwrapping gifts that Judy and Gregg so generously gave Catherine and us.

Next, Jon spent all morning taking care of an awake baby who seemed to want to stay awake for Santa but then finally gave up and went to bed with daddy until 4am. So did Daddy.

When they awoke, Santa came and brought special presents for Catherine and Annie.
We went to Nana's and got spoiled a second time. Catie got a pillow pet and a princess car. It was sure a great Christmas!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

2010-12-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

On Dec. 6th every year, St. Nick comes and visits kids. If you leave your shoes out, by the door, he will leave them full of candy and goodies.

Well, since this was Catherine's first St. Nicholas Day, he visited her. Here are a few pictures of her reaction to the filling of her shoes in the morning.

Day at Willow Park in good company!

2010-11-30T01:53:00.007-07:00

The Kasper's of Washington Terrace and the famous Grapes Berry Melon decided to venture to Logan a couple weeks ago to go spend some time with the Ki-Meister and Nee. Oh and the Kirbster too.

Here are a few pictures from our day at Willow Park Zoo.

And Bob has his own day!

2010-11-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official, my Dad, Catherine's grandpa (I mean Bob) has his own day now. November 16, 2010 in Ogden, UT is Robert A. Hunter Day.

Jon, Catie and I went to the City Council meeting last night to see him 'sworn' in as honorary Mayor for Christmas Village and they also ended up giving him a plaque that announced the big news. It was a surprise and pretty awesome, he is so deserving of it and has given so much time. Pretty weird that the man who signed the declaration was the same man who won the Mayoral race against my dad back in 1999. Needless to say it was pretty neat, and well deserving for such a selfless man.

Much love for my father, and I am so proud to have named our daughter after him, Catherine-Bob.

In his acceptance speech he mentioned his granchildren, (who will be accompanying him in the Christmas parade float) his four other GrandBobs are uniquely named after him as well, Isabella-Bob, Maxwell-Bob, Grace-Bob and Cormick-Bob.

WE LOVE OUR BOB!

Family pictures Fall 2010

2010-11-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a few photos from our family picture session this year. One of my AWESOME sistah's (which includes the Sistah Nee in spirit), took some rearrrry...rearry cute pictures of our established family. They were taken at the Riverdale parkway behind Tony Divino Toyota in Riverdale, UT. They turned out SUPER!!! Thanks Mer-Bear!

Gotta have the cute Christmas card pic and Catherine made it 'extra cute' this year because she is soooooooooooo darling. If ya'll want a homemade Christmas card from the Kasper's of the Washington Terrace, UT this year, Holla back your comment. It is going to be the best Christmas card you get this year by far! With the combo of Catherine and Annie, it's sure to make your holiday season worthwhile.

PS...Happy early Christmas...music already on 100.3? Non-stop, wow, Tis-the season!

Jon is on TV...in Montana!

2010-11-06T17:29:00.000-06:00

Jon went with Brad Larsen to Montana State game in Bozeman, MT today and they were playing Weber State. He got to be interviewed by the Montana news station at halftime. Lucky enough Annie, Catherine and I got to watch him on the internet through BigSkyTV.

We are so proud of him, he did great. ESPN, here he comes!

I swallowed a baseball in my sleep...must be because the Yankees won today.

2010-10-20T21:06:00.000-06:00

Before

After

Yes folks, yesterday I was in the most absolutely worst pain of my life, I have had two root canals on two teeth within the past 2 months and one of the root canals went super bad, super fast. Nothing helped, I went to the dentist got an anti-biotic and some special pain meds and nothing would work. I got to the point that I was considering pulling my own tooth like they do in the movies, tie a string at the end your tooth and then to the door and then slam the door.

I didn't get to bed until 4am because I couldn't sleep with that much pain. I woke up and had this on the side of my cheek. A baseball size infection on the right side of my face. And it feels great :) (Not really!) I called my dentist and got put on a heavier anti-biotic, and the pain is a little less today.

I guess why I am posting this on my blog is that I have a Halloween photo shoot this friday for my friends and family and I am going to have to post-pone it until next Friday, October 29th. I have a dentist appointment that morning and am not going to be up to much that day. I might even have to go to an oral surgeon to figure out what is going on.

So I apologize to everyone, but I can make arrangements if people want me to. Call me and let me know what works best. Thanks!

Mackenzie

801-391-5402

Disneyland trip, 9/27/10 Day 2!!!

2010-10-19T22:23:00.003-06:00

This is Catherine's first time in the ocean, it was a little cold for her.

Ahh, out of the water, much better smile.

She loves her daddy, her daddy shows her new things all the time.

Cute little family picture!

Catherine and mommy. So cute! This picture is kind of PG-13 rated, it's hard to find a swimsuit that doesn't enhance the clevage. My apologies.

Catie wrote her name in the sand! She is growing up so fast.

Thanks to her cousin Max, she had to hold onto a sword. Thanks Max for letting her play with your sword.

This was dinner, the night that daddy left. Catherine really missed her daddy, so Bob was comforting her.

Happy fam-damily! (minus Jon, who flew home that night very sad to leave his family, but before leaving he couldn't leave without leaving a memory behind. So while leaving for the airport that afternoon, Jon was pulling out of the parking garage and somehow managed to run my mom's car into the pole it was parked next to. Awesome!)

Nana is holding up pretty well after just finding out that Jon ran her car into a pole.

Yes, this is the aftermath. Her car. Jon still is a part of the family so that's a good sign. Jon, pole's, and pulling out next to them don't mix. If you know what I mean.

Anybody want some cute Halloween pictures of their kids?

2010-10-18T03:34:00.001-06:00

Disneyland, 9/26/10 Day 1!!!

2010-10-15T22:54:00.000-06:00

Our first day at Disneyland. This includes Jon. It started at Oceanside, CA 9/26/10 at 9am, my brother's 31st birthday.

Pretty adventurous day to say the least. Only 105 degrees. And Catie's first time and Jon's first time at Disneyland. It was a pretty fun day that was fun and hOTTTTT!

And ended at 10pm with myself, Mackenzie protesting Catherine's tiredness and wanting to go back to the hotel. But, with all the fun and tiredness it was a pretty fun day. Some video's will follow. Enjoy!

Look who's six months old???...???

2010-08-22T23:10:00.001-06:00

Catherine!!! I apologize for the lack of posts, and I am in the middle of catching up summer. I thought summer was supposed to be relaxing and full of sleeping in and lounging around. Well, you add a baby to the picture and sleep takes priority over updating your blog. But Catherine did turn six months old this past weekend, and we can't believe she is this old already. I swear, we will wake up one day and she'll be saying she wants to start to date.
Here are a few pictures of her this past week.
Keep checking back in the next few days as a large "throw-up" number of posts will hit the Kasper blog. Kind of like me exactly a year ago with a permanent view of the toilet. Food for thought, literally.

Thanks Linlee for the cute Minnie mouse outfit.

PS Catherine gets her shots tomorrow, not fun. Wish her luck! Disclaimer-Sorry no pictures will be included with this fun filled day.

Twinners bday...27!

2010-07-18T22:59:00.000-06:00

We played board games for the festivities.

Uncle Steve holding the baby of the year, Catherine.

Nana and Bella, so much fun together.

Cormick, age 1 1/2. Soooo cute!

Does anyone notice my birthday present from my sister? Let's just say Vickie's was involved. :)

Here's a few pictures from our birthday. Yes, it was over one month ago but I am trying to update multiple posts. Life gets in the way of blogging, so I apologize.

My bday and my sis's bday turned out to be great. We spent the night at my brother's and his wife's house. We played board games and had such a great time, despite the weather.

Baby Giggles by Catherine

2010-07-02T11:16:00.000-06:00

Gma and Gpa are here...first off, Kaleb's baseball game!

2010-06-23T22:18:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-06-02T22:20:00.004-06:00

Catherine and Mommy made daddy two birthday shirts. And of course along came a photo shoot. So here are a few pictures that I took of her modeling her birthday wishes.

She has started to smile a lot, so I'm finally getting pictures of her smiling.

Meredith and a marathon...way to go sistaH!

2010-06-02T22:08:00.003-06:00

My sister Mer ran the Ogden Half Marathon this year, I am so proud of her. She ran the whole thing...the whole thing! She is awesome, I wish I could do that and plan on doing it sometime soon. I love running, I used to do it all the time until I hurt my ankle. But enough of that, here are some pictures of the festivities.

PS Notice the last picture of the sexy couple hold each others cheeks, yeah, Jon and I do that all the time in public. We LOVE to wear spandex, spray tan, and cheek grab all...day...long!

ENJOY!

I (HEART) summer sausage!

2010-06-02T21:51:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago Grandma Beatrice sent us a box from her homemade caramel roll heart. I think I cried when I saw two things of summer sausage in the box (thank you Cloverdale Farms!) It was awesome and soooo thoughtful of Grandma and Grandpa to send us a care package. Grandma also sent Catherine her first doll. I was more excited than she was, and Gracie wanted to open it and play with it, but I told her we have to save it for baby Catie.

Thanks so much Grandma Beaty! We see you in one week!

OMG...Catie rolls over for the first time!

2010-05-16T20:19:00.004-06:00

Catherine, Mom, Dad and Annie were just hanging out one Sunday night...tonight and Mommy decided to have Catherine do a little tummy time. Just because Mommy is soooo awesome and spontaneous she decided to film the tummy time, and during the awesome time while Catherine was on her tummy Catherine decided to surprise us with a roll over on her back!!!

OMG! I was so surprised, and excited. It was pretty cool. She may have had a little help from her tummy mat, but still she seems to amaze me daily! Yes folks, she is 3 months old now and rolling over. Pretty awesome!

Catie's blessing dress pictures

2010-05-14T23:22:00.002-06:00

Who's who mommy...1 or 2?

2010-05-14T22:57:00.004-06:00

Catherine's smiles...part 2!

2010-05-02T21:14:00.003-06:00

So we have an angel among us. Her name is Catherine, she is so amazing. Everyday she does something that amazes me. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl. She loves her daddy. He will come in a room and she just lights up, she also loves her mommy. Here is a video of her smile and talking back to me this morning.

Annie is 4!

2010-04-28T15:06:00.002-06:00

HAPPY to you ANNIEKANS!!! We love you. Yesterday April 27, 2010 was the day our sweet floppy eared beagle was born. She is the runt of six, her mommy Ramsey and douche-dad Copper were neighbors to Jon's parents house in S. Ogden. Their owners wanted to have a litter of puppies and give them away (free) to friends and family. Jon was allergic to animals, and was out of the question at the time. I still persisted and he finally gave in to my nagging and we tested it out.
We went to see the puppies and immediately I saw the puppy to make us a family. She had a diamond on the back of her neck and I fell in love right away. When they were finally ready to come home, Josh and Jenn (Jon's brother and his wife) took one. His name is Kirby after Kirby Puckett. I was so envious, but Jon sacrificed his health to test it out. So we did. She came to our house June 9, 2006. We had a rough first week adjusting but she molded into our family. And molded her way into her daddy's heart. In fact we went up to his parents house the other day and we agreed to have her stay at home, as I was getting the baby ready and headed out to the car, there was Annie ready to go to Gma and Gpa's house. He's a sucker for her sad puppy face. It is sooo sweet.
Thanks Annie for letting us understand how to love unconditionally!

Catherine is Nine 1/2 weeks (not like the movie)!

2010-04-28T14:42:00.003-06:00

Little Catherine had her two month shots last friday. She was not a happy girl. She hasn't really been a happy girl for the past two weeks. When she is not held, she cries, when she's hungry she cries. When she's tired she fights sleep so much she cries. I thought having little Grace in my life would teach me a little bit about mommyhood, and it did, but she has never slept over. This is now a permanent sleepover, and a NO-Sleep-over for mommy and daddy.

Don't get me wrong. I love her with all my heart, but nothing can prepare you for all the little things that go along with it. It's a HUGE adjustment, to say the least. I love her smile and I'm beginning to love her tears because that gives me a chance to make it better for her. This is a huge learning experience. My family has been an amazing help. Jon was out of town a week ago, and I stayed with my mom, to keep my sanity my mom ordered me to let her watch the baby and me go to the movie with my sister. It was exactly what I needed. But then I came home and my poor mom cuddled with the baby all night. It was rough for her. :)
She has been a little colicky, and it seems that we have been getting over it. Everyday is a new day, a gets a little better. And having re-occurring post-partum depression hasn't helped. But it was hard to ask for help, and seek out help but it was the best thing I could have done. It's nice to know that I am not the only one out there with this, and that every day gets a little better. It's sure does.

Thanks to the help of my amazing husband and being my sounding board. I am surely lucky to have him. He even gets to have the puke and pee moments that Catherine gives him. He sacrifices his clean clothes for the betterment of mommy. Thanks honey!
So I decided this past week to change things up a bit and do pics of Catie in her Dallas Cowboys outfit Shelley Harper (fellow Cowboy fan) from Altitude sent us. They turned out too cute.

We are truly blessed and this is what keeps me going everyday. It does take a village to raise a child.

Guess who's 8 weeks old???

2010-04-19T21:14:00.003-06:00

So Catherine's 8 week photo shoot took place, Saturday, at 11am. Exactly eight weeks from her birthday.
Happy eight weeks sweet diva Catie!!!

Smiles from a baby named Catherine

2010-04-15T22:16:00.004-06:00

So little Baby C has started to smile. The only time is in the morning, on her changing table. She LOVES to look around and look at the lights. And also stare at whoever is changing her, which is probably me, (sorry Jon). But she loves her daddy's voice. She love to look at him, and also talk back to him. So I captured a few smiles on camera, she is too cute.

Catherine's baby blessing day

2010-04-15T22:01:00.003-06:00

We got a blessed baby now! Here's a few pictures from the day. It was a beautiful day, and my dad said such powerful great things.
Sorry about the lack of posts, I'm still getting used to the mommy thing. The post-partum blues continue to haunt me, but life is doing better today. Talking really helps, imagine that. And little Catie knows how to cheer me up, she's just starting to recognize me and Jon's voice, and she gets really really mad when she has to sleep because she doesn't want to miss a thing. So, day by day, it will get better.

Catherine's baby blessing

2010-04-09T22:22:00.006-06:00

In the LDS church, when a baby is born the parents have the opportunity to have their baby blessed in the church. Since I was raised LDS, we felt that we should do this. So, we are going to be blessing her this Sunday, April 11. This is an open invitation to anyone who would like to come.

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T21:59:00.002-06:00

Baby C's first Easter. We are fortunate to have both of our immediate family live in Ogden and what that means for holidays is Sharing the day with both. Which is great, but it makes for a busy day, and sometimes you just can't enjoy it like you would like too. We started off going to church, Holy Family Catholic Church in S. Ogden, which is Jon's parish. It was packed, and little Catherine got to wear her Easter dress. Then we headed to my mom and dad's house where these pictures were taken. We had an easter-egg hunt that Catherine participated in.
We ended the day at the Kasper's. I started to feel a little sick, so that makes baby and daddy sick too. But it was a good day. The Easter bunny visited Annie and Catherine though. I'm thinking she won't remember a lot from this Easter, but it was her first! The year of firsts! We are glad your here sweetie.

One week old photo shoot

2010-03-23T17:40:00.003-06:00

So, you thought there wouldn't be any pictures of Catherine. Well you thought wrong, there's going to be a few. Here's what she looked like one week old. Had to do the duckie theme. It was too cute not to.

My Baby Shower...after the baby's born!

2010-03-23T15:50:00.004-06:00

So my friend baby shower was supposed to be the 20th of Feb. And, Catherine decided to come on that day. It was planned by Jenn Kasper, my dear friend and sis-in-law, so I felt so bad that instead of having a shower I was having a baby. She was great about it, and we decided to have the friend shower combined with my family shower that my sister was hosting that following week. Unfortunately Jenn couldn't come because she had to work, but she was there in spirit.
Here are a few pictures from the day.

Our hospital stay!

2010-03-23T15:12:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our stay at the hospital. Working in the NICU I am in contact with the Labor and Delivery staff and the postpartum staff. I got wonderful care. I was very lucky to have such great care. I got many visitors from the NICU which was so awesome. You get a little cabin fever in that dark room, and miss the outside. So it was nice to see people, and let little Catherine stay in the nursery a few nights so I could get some sleep.
My sister came up one night to stay with me and the baby. It was so neat. My sister felt that it would be a good idea to stay so that Jon could go home with Annie, and get some rest too. She brought a movie up to watch, and even got to feed Catherine at 5am.
The visitation policy at the hospital was only people over 14 yrs old could come and visit, which meant no Kiley, Kaleb, Bella, Max, Cormick and even Grace. But they could come if they were siblings of the baby. So, with a few connections, Grace got to come visit me though. She is technically my half-daughter, so I consider her my daughter. So she got to hold Catherine. It was awesome, she was so excited to see her sister.

Catherine's first week...movie style!

2010-03-21T22:24:00.003-06:00

Here is a video I made for my baby shower that took place on Feb. 27 one week after I delivered. Since Catherine was already here, I had to make a choice whether I should bring her or not. I decided to leave her with her daddy at home, and instead made a video slide show of the pictures taken during the first week and the video from the actual delivery. Pretty awesome to have video of the actual delivery and her first cry and her daddy and mommy's excitement. Thanks to Jan, a friend of mine that works in L and D at McKay-Dee who took video of the delivery. Something I will cherish forever.

My delivery of an Angel!

2010-03-21T22:23:00.000-06:00

So, it's about time that I tell the story of my sweet little girl, and how she entered into this world. Yesterday marked one month since her birthday, to the day. It was quite an experience. But I am so happy for a healthy beautiful girl.
So here it is, it was the week of February 14. That Tuesday, I went in for my 37 week appointment, and did the regular weigh in and BP check. I noticed that since the last check up which was 1 week and a half before that I had gained 15 lbs. I was checked out and the baby looked great, but my Dr. was concerned about my drastic increase in weight, and how swollen I was. I looked like a cherry basically. So with bloodwork ordered, and my Dr. advising me to go on bedrest, I was told to come back in on Friday that same week to get another PIH panel to observe my new diagnosis of PIH and preeclampsia.
I went in Friday, after bedrest and taking work off that week, I did nothing but watch VH1 reruns, and movies on demand. I did the usual UA, and then went to the lab for my blood to be drawn. Next thing I knew I was in being on the contraction monitor and what I was told was going to be 20 minutes on the monitor, was almost two hours and my Dr. coming in to tell me that I was going to have a baby. She said that the variability looked bad and that my baby wasn't very active and needed to head straight to the hospital to be put on the monitor and possibly have a baby.
With my stress level, at it's peak, Jon and I ran home to grab a bag for me and the baby. We headed to Labor and Delivery and after being put on the monitor it wasn't as bad as they thought. But with the weight gain and the scare in the Dr.'s office, they decided to keep me and induce me into labor.
So, we were having a baby, but not until 16 hours later. With various tries to help thin my cervix and have the baby come down further, there was no change. I only got to a 4 centimeters and 90 percent. With no progression, I was going under the knife for a C-Section. Baby C's heart rate was rising, and that was the only option. Within a matter of 40 minutes, she was out. I heard my little angel cry the first time at 11:00 am, February 20, 2010.
Everything worked out for the best, and I do believe that the hand of God was in place, helping me and Baby C's health. I am very grateful for the strength of the Dr.'s and nurses and their knowledge to act quickly and give great care.
So here she is, her first picture.

So welcome to the world sweet Catherine. We love you! Keep reading, I have a lot of posting pictures to post!

Introducing the newest Kasper...

2010-03-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here she is ladies and gentlemen.

Catherine Rula Jean Kasper

February 20, 2010

11:00 am

7 lb 10 oz 20 in

More details and pictures to come. Check back like tomorrow sometime. I am making a novel of how she arrived into this world, it will be worth it.

Dear sweet Catherine,

2010-02-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

So here we are. Together, you and me, 37 weeks to the day. Today your daddy and I got a great picture of your sweet face. And you have your daddy's chin. This whole thing is just so exciting. We can't wait for you to get here so we can look at you everyday, moment, all the time. Today the Dr. said I was gaining weight rapidly and are in the beginning stages of PIH. (I will tell you later in life what that means.) She thinks it would be a good idea to put me on bedrest, but I told her I would take it easy over the next few days and see if the swelling goes down. But whatever I need to do, I will, because I love you and always will. You are worth every moment of back pain, sciatica pain, weight gain and every stretch mark I now have on every inch of my belly.
Your daddy has sure been wonderful. I come home from a long night at work, and the first thing he does is put his hand on my belly and tells you how much he loves you and how he can't wait to see you and hold you. He even bought us a new video camera to remember your sweet beginnings in life. Thanks so much dad, you're the best.
Your little puppy, Annie, is aware that something is about to change. She sleeps right by you every night, she feels your kicks and sometimes she gets frustrated that you won't just let her sleep. I think that you two will be the best of friends. She is a great dog, and a very concerned one too. She will protect you from that mean mailman that comes everyday. And, she probably will wake you up in the meantime.
Well, I get the best part. To feel your every move. To have this bond with you is something I will always have. You have already given me so much happiness and joy, and pain, but that's ok. Right now, we are one, you go where I go, you get to listen to me at good times and bad, and I get to feel your little body move and respond in ways only a mother can experience. I feel so blessed and lucky to have this experience with you, because a lot of women wanting to be mom's can't have this chance. So I thank God everyday for your health and strength, and mine as well. And you are getting so strong, my ribs are feeling it right now.
I just wanted to let everyone know how excited I am and can't wait to experience motherhood.
Your Nana, lets me know that it won't be easy, but it will be the best thing in my life. Oh, and your Nana, she is an amazing woman. That is why we are naming her after you. I hope that you inherit her strength and love for others. She will bring so many smiles to you, I can't wait to see your face light up when you see her. I can't wait for you to meet her, as she can't wait either.
So many people love you already, so there will be a lot of loves and hugs for you for your lifetime. But from your mommy and daddy, there will be many, many more of loves and hugs for an eternity.
Some day I will share this with you, and you can look back on this and know how your life started. Until then, give our loved ones hugs and kisses up in heaven for us. Your Grandma Cathy is probably telling you stories of your daddy, and your Grandma and Grandpa Waite, I'm sure are singing you a sweet song, like "When the Moon comes over the mountain", or "Fuzzy Catepillar."

We love you! Can't wait to meet you and hold you and love you forever!

Always,
Mom

Week 35...almost there!

2010-02-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

So we had the start of our weekly Dr. visits today. This is where we start going in every week to be checked for dilation, and other fun stuff. Today though, we got to test out their new Ultrasound machine. It was so crisp and clear, and we even got to see her hair. And it shows a lot of it too. Catherine had her hand over her face, again, so we didn't get a good 3D picture, but it's still amazing that we get to see so many details every visit. I am so blessed. I am so happy and grateful that everything looks good. She is doing great, and she is measuring about 1 week and a half ahead of schedule and my Dr. thinks that she is going to be well over 8 lbs. Yeah for me, and episiotomy here I come! :)
I haven't been able to sleep, at all. But as long as she is healthy, that's all I care about. I think this is getting you ready for the months to come with the sleepless nights.
She is continually moving in my belly and the bond has already started. It's getting real for the both of us, Jon and myself. Even Annie suspects something is going to change.
Just a few more weeks. I will keep you posted!!!

Catherine's nursery revealed...

2010-01-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Catherine's own room. Looks like Annie's making her self right at home already. She's getting ready!

Annie new sleeping spot.

Corner view, still have to do a little organizing, and finish the frames for her name above the crib.

When we found out we were pregnant I imediatley thought that I wanted a moon and star themed nursery. My sister Mer found this crib set and room set and I fell right in love. So the painting and everything in the room is based around this pattern. Thanks Mer!

With the crib set, we got matching shelves. So cute. I think it makes the room cozier.

A couple weeks ago, during the Christmas break. Jon and I decided to get the nursery started. A million thanks to our family, for coming down to help. Josh, Jenn, Kaleb and Kirby came down from Logan, on their week off to come and help paint. Thanks so much Kasper's of Logan.

It was awesome, we got it done so fast with many hands. My sister and Grace also came over to help as well. My Mom has been awesome, even though she can't do a lot of hard labor, she and my sister came over the other day to put finishing touches on the room and decorate it.

Thanks to everyone for helping, we are so lucky to have such good family to come and help in time of need.

Grace and Jonnie at the Basketball game

2010-01-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last night Jon and I had the priviledge of babysitting Grace. It was Meredith and Rex's 6 year anniversary (CONGRATS!!!) so they went out and had a nice night to celebrate. Weber State Men's basketball team had a home game last night so we decided to take Grace with us. She got a front row seat with Jon on the court while I got to take pictures for his website. He was so great with her. She sat on his lap the whole game and she was such a good girl. I hope that our little girl is as half as good as Grace is.

Jon and Grace eating popcorn. Brad "You Know What?" Larsen looks on.

Jon and Grace look at the exciting game.

Sweet action shot of Weber State and Eastern Washington.

Don't even think of it Jon!

2010-01-03T13:58:00.001-07:00

Jon was web surfing the other night, (aka updating the website) and came across this hysterical article/mailbag answer reading thing. He's frequent on the website, deadspin.com and came across this couple who found out they are having a boy and like the Kasper family of W T, are Brewer fans, obviously die hard Brewer fans. So I thought I would share this with everyone. It uses profanity, but if you don't mind it, it is still an enjoyable read.
Enjoy!!!

I posted this when we found out we were pregnant. Pretty weird! The couple did the same thing to their sonogram as well. Those Brewer fans baby; great minds do think alike.

http://deadspin.com/5436578/the-mailbag-demands-you-name-the-brewer-baby

Liz:

My husband and I are expecting our first child, which we found out last week is a boy. Now that we know the gender, our attention has focused on picking a name. My husband is a huge, die-hard Milwaukee Brewers fan. I screwed myself royally by casually mentioning one day that Brewer would be a decent boy's name possibility and now he has locked in on it to the exclusion of all else.
He has paired it with Wynn for the middle name to create Brewer Wynn (Win!) LastName, edited down from his original choice of course - Brewer Wynn Molitor Yount 1982 LastName. I have mixed feelings...I think this is heading down a dangerous Pilot Inspektor (Jason Lee) type road that will induce eye rolling from all. Also, the first thing he did with our first sonogram picture, is the attached. (above)

Even if you weren't naming him after a sports team, Brewer is a fucking stupid name. According to the Baby Name Wizard, it belongs squarely in the category of trendy, workman-style names that so many stupid white people are giving their children these days: Porter, Cooper, Ranger, Banker, Magic-User, Taxidermist, and so on. And why Brewer Wynn? The Brewers don't win. If anything, the child should be named Brewer Sheetdebed Jones, or something like that.
If your hubby likes the Brewers so much, and you don't want the kid to grow up getting pinned down in the schoolyard and drooled on, you should name the kid Paul. Or name him Prince and feed him nothing but scrapple and corn dog batter. Don't name him Brewer. He'll end up playing lacrosse and fisting passed out sorority girls. Just last week, I found out a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend named their son Hedges. Fucvking Hedges. And the kid doesn't even have a brother named Benson. It's an epidemic of dipshit white person baby names. Kwinsee Pittsnogle weeps for the future.
However, if you insist on having one of those "standout" names for your kid, you can surely do better than Brewer. Commenters, help poor Liz NAME THIS BREWER BABY.

O Christmas Tree!

2009-12-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from Christmas. Pretty nifty!

Jon and Annie sport their new Christmas presents...

2009-12-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

Jon's new tradition sweatshirt, from his Alma-Mater Charles M. Russell High School in Great Falls, Montana. I spent hours on this for him, and check out the back of it.

That's his old football number. CMR won the state Championship this year. So it seemed fitting for my 'super senior' hubby to have one this year. (Just kidding about the super senior thing. I think it's awesome to come from a winning football team in high school. I am jealous.)

Annie's new bed, her favorite Christmas present by far.

I never thought he would wear these, but they were a good deal online this year, so I guess crocs can be cool only if they have the Dallas Cowboy logo on them.

Christmas Day with the Kaspers fam

2009-12-27T01:06:00.000-07:00

Sweet Kiley Dawn, in her santa outfit. The cutest santa I've ever seen.

Annie's new Christmas Candy cane sweater. She wore it all night.

Kirby and Annie, bro and sis hanging out, at the front door window the whole night. Must be rough being a beagle.

So at dinner time Papa Gregg made prime rib. Some little girl name Kiley enjoyed it a lot. So much even, she didn't want to use a fork. It was so cute.

Cute mommy and Kiley.

Uncle Jon and Aunt Kenzie, got Kaleb a new baseball bat for Christmas. He loved it. To bad he can't play baseball when it's freezing outside.

Christmas Day with the Hunter family!!!

2009-12-27T00:46:00.000-07:00

Annie starts her morning off next to the heater in the bathroom. During the winter time this is by far her favorite spot in the house.

Annie's stocking opening. It was filled with all sorts of Dingo's. Her favorite treat!

Max and Cormick, jingling to their jingle bells, and anticipating what Santa left for them at Nana and Bob's house.

Oh the blessed present opening, and the annual popper hat wearing, a tradition that Steve and Steph brought back from Australia.

Cute Bella, such a big girl now.

Jon opening a present from Nana and Bob to our sweet little Catherine.

Grace loves her new 'Straberrie Shotcake' doll from Jon and Kenz.

So for my mom's present this year, I replaced the couple year old pictures of her grandkids that hang next to her piano. And of course, I win the medal for making her cry. She cried, a lot. The pictures I gave her, I had the privilege of taking them, and they are pictured below.

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

Our Christmas Eve picture, 2009. Thanks for the jammies Nana, and Jon's got some sweet slippers on. Who doesn't like plaid slippers? You're not awesome if you don't.

Lights in SLC

2009-12-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

This past week my family and I went to the lights at Temple Square, and it seemed everyone else in Utah had the same idea. It was fun, cold and dark. Here are a few pictures from the experience of a lifetime!

Rex trying to keep Grace warm while watching the Nativity.

Mer, Rex and Grace pose for a family pic. Is that me, no that's my sistah!

Bella and Nana dancing in the snow. She is the best Nana ever!

Yes, Jon me and Baby Catherine. I think I had like five layers underneath, not including the layers of skin protecting our sweet little one.

The pretty lights at the Temple.

Bob, and Cormick-Bob. Cormck doesn't like anyone to hold him but his Bob. Cute little boy.

Uncle Jon and of course, Grace. We have to have a pic with Grace. She's technically my half-daughter.

Show me cute pink cheeks, Steve.

Sister and Sistah. We were like this for hours trying to stay warm and also trying to remember how we stayed warm for nine months.

Nana, Bob and the Grandkids. I think this is darling. They change so fast, it's nice that we are able to document their lives photographically.

Thanks for checking out my blog! Wish I had more Christmas stuff to share, but I am thinking of starting a new business. Since my hubby has been gone for 4 straight weekends this month, I should start a "Rent a Hubby" business. Basically does what the title means, renting a husband so when yours returns you can return him by mail, or return your real husband by mail when he's on your S-list. I will let you know when I get it started up, but for now, at least there's pictures to help me remember what he looks like.

Breakfast with Santa 2009

2009-12-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Every year we get to have Breakfast with Santa. This year it was just baby and me, while Jon was in Missoula, MT for another football game. It was this past Saturday, and it was a lot of fun that Jon missed out on.

With various sponsors, including the United Way of Northern Utah, we got to go hang out with Santa this year and have breakfast with him. We had a show done by a family this year instead of Polar Express story (which is awesome). So here are a few pictures from that day.

Nana and Bella eating their Breakfast.

Kenz and Grace pose for a picture. Yes, I wore my jammies too.

The kids looking at Santa and what he has to give them.

Me and Bella, so cute!!!

Kaspers of the W T show off their Christmas spirit (that's Washington Terrace)

2009-11-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

Tons of thanks to my sister and mom, and also the help of sweet Grace for decorating my house for Christmas. Thanks to them, they have the decorative eye which I lack. They always make it look so nice, so thanks! So here's a few pictures of our tree and house outside. They spent all day yesterday helping me get my house festive for a few weeks anyway. Being pregnant and not very mobile already, I was rethinking putting up Christmas, but with their help, we did it.

For our outside decorations, we have a penguin theme this year, inspired by Grace, she loves penguins, and calls them 'feet', after Happy Feet.
Thanks for looking!

On the front of our house, our little beagle Annie always keeps a watchful eye on us. If you look closely, you can see her little head from the bottom right corner of our main window. So cute!

Community Champion for Children Award!!!

2009-11-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

I received this phone call from one of my favorite people I work with, Lisa. She is a Social Worker here at McKay-Dee in the NICU, and called me about a week ago notifying me that she and her co-workers are going to give me an award for the hospital Community Champion for Children. I even got to give an acceptance speech.

I was nominated by them for my service with the non-profit organization I volunteer for called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, where we go into the hospital and provide Infant Bereavement Photography for families who have lost a baby due to different anomalies or anything that can happen. It's a volunteer service, so I come up at all hours of the day to come provide this service for the families in need. And even though it is one of the hardest things I do, it is the most rewarding. I have moments with these little Angels, a piece of Heaven on this Earth. I am so blessed to be able to share these precious moments with the parents, and their baby.

So because of this, Lisa and her collegues have given me this great honor of becoming a Community Champion. So thank you Lisa! And many thanks to the families for letting me be a part of their memories. Being pregnant, makes this so real and puts life into perspective and how precious things are, and how grateful I am to have a healthy baby, and a great family.

Here's a few pictures of the award and ceremony. Jon took these, so bear with him.

Trip to Minot!

2009-11-10T17:43:00.007-07:00

So the Kasper family had a loss in the family two weeks ago. Sweet dear Grandma Cathy returned to heaven Tuesday October 27, 2009. Fortunately, Jon had many memories with his Grandma. Since he is the first grand baby on both sides, he got to be extra spoiled by a lot of people. With the passing of his sweet Grandma we got to go back to Minot, North Dakota for the funeral. It was a bittersweet visit. It's never easy with a funeral with someone close to you, but his Dad's parents and two of his uncles live in Minot still. So we got to see family, and celebrate Catherine's life surrounded by our loved ones. Josh and Jenn, also went, the whole family was there, even Kaleb. It was nice to be with family. I am sharing a few pictures from our trip.

It's a girl!!!

2009-11-06T21:48:00.001-07:00

So Jon and I went to the Dr. yesterday, and we had our big ultrasound where they check for various conditions, like heart defects and cleft palates, and kidney issues etc. The Dr. said everything looked great, but our baby turned out to be a girl. She thinks that we were told to early, and that it's easier to tell around 22-24 weeks, which I am now 22 weeks. So pretty weird, his man parts fell off, and we are now having a little girl. It's kind of mind changing, instead of worrying about stuff that little boys go through, I have to worry about her dating, and Barbie's. It will be fun though, Jon is pretty excited. He was very emotional especially with this last weeks events. I am emailing you a few pictures from the Ultrasound.

Grace-Bob's birthday!

2009-11-06T20:55:00.003-07:00

It was Grace-Bob's Birthday last week on October 28. Grace turned 3 and Bob, well he turned a year older. We went to Astro-Boy during the day and had a Princess party at her house that night. We had fun, and she is sure loved.

My greeter at 3:30am...who could it be?

2009-10-15T02:28:00.003-06:00

Here is a little video I made of me coming home from work the other night. It's pretty special, not the best quality, but I want to share it with people so they can experience what I get to feel like when I come home from a long 12 hours shift.

Cutest nieces and nephew...ever!*

2009-10-11T00:55:00.005-06:00

*(Not including the cutest niece and nephews, but including in thought is...Bella, Max and Cormick Hunter!)

This is Grace running around the 'mountain' with Jon. Mountain = small hill in Grace's eyes!

No her mom did not feed her drugs,
any face she pulls, she is soo cute!

Little Kiley, staying warm for her fans!

This is Kaleb playing tough for the game!!!

Jon and I had the chance, this past Thursday to hang out with our nieces and nephew. I think that is the best part, hanging out and then going home to an empty kid-free house. Not for long though, (we are enjoying it while it lasts, and we love you baby and can't wait to have you in our quiet house!)
Kaleb, had a football game, and Josh and Jenn came down with Kiley to watch it. So of course, I took some pictures. Uncle Jon got to cheer Kaleb on while he was quarterback, and got to hold Kiley has found her strength in life right now, schreeching at the top of her lungs in an echo filled mall food court. It was so cute though, she loved talking and voicing her opinion. They are such good, cute kids, we are so lucky!
We also got to take Grace for the day, my regular Thursday mommy #2 babysitting, and took her to the Weber State girls soccer game. Uncle Jon took a half day off and we went to the game. Grace sure had fun, I think her favorite part was having her "Jonnie" chase her up the mountain. She loves him, and he loves her.

Baby It...

2009-10-11T00:46:00.003-06:00

Jon and I went to the Dr. this last week. Last time we got a 95% chance of a boy, now, the little baby decided to keep his ankles crossed and would not cooperate. So our Dr. didn't rule out the chances of being a boy, we just couldn't see anything. Obviously, he's already got an attitude. So that's ok if we are back to square one, kind of. Most mom's don't find out till later on. So I feel pretty lucky to have a chance to see him grow every time. Jon and I still think it's a boy though, how can you not from the shot we got at 14 weeks? Time will tell. I think I've been feeling a little movement, I've ruled it out to gas or the baby. And then, I rule it out that it's the baby and not gas if I haven't had any beans that day. Joys of pregnancy, a wonderful experience though!

Annie the Beagle!

2009-10-08T02:17:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures of our sweet angel puppy now dog, Annie. She is such a joy to our lives, you really don't know how much you love someone until an animal enters your life. I hear the same about children, but as for now, it's our beagle Annie.

I was doing a photo session at my house the other day, and she loves the camera, she also loves to sit in front of the families I am taking pictures of and think she is a part of it as well. I took a few of her in her posing attitude. Here they are.

The first one is of she and her brother Kirby (holla to Kasper's of Logan). I made a trip up there a week and a half ago and got to watch sweet baby Kiley. The beagles, used to play, and used to be rambuxious but now, it's sleep and eat dingos all day long.
Tough life.

Kaleb and Bella hanging out, finally!

2009-09-22T22:58:00.003-06:00

This is Kaleb and I at the WSU game this past Sat. We are wearing our matching VIP passes.

For Jon's dad's bday we celebrated at Boccia's in N. Ogden. It was delicious, Josh and Jen came down and we got to pick up Kaleb and meet them there, Jon and I also got to take Bella with us. They had a fun time. I thought that they wouldn't have anything to talk about, but in fact they couldn't stop talking the whole time. They are so grown up. Thanks Nee for bringing you camera and taking some way cute pics of the two 'Love-Birds'.

Jon and Grace, reading a book!

2009-09-22T22:53:00.002-06:00

I have to show you, Jon got to have some major Grace time last Thursday, and I got her some books from a yard sale, so she loves to read books with her Jon and it so cute. I can't wait till our little one gets to have Daddy reading time, he's going to be the best dad.

And the verdict is...

2009-09-08T17:32:00.004-06:00

We went to our Dr.'s appointment today. Last time we were there she said that she could give us a direction on what our baby was, boy, girl or it.
And so today, she gave us a 95% chance our large plum growing inside my belly is a BOY!

Jon heard this, and he asked the Dr. to repeat what she said. He was pretty happy. He is way excited, although he doesn't show it, but the many football lessons ahead, golf trips with his dad, Jon couldn't be happier, and neither could I.

I put a picture of our sonogram to show ya'll that no it's not a third leg, it's a boy, you get the picture. They say that boy's make you more sick, so if that is true, then I knew it was a boy all along, but he's worth it.

A new pillowcase

2009-09-05T21:58:00.002-06:00

My husband, Jon has been such a sweetheart lately. Since I've been pregnant, he has been so helpful with everything around the house. He's kept up with the laundry, and offers to help with whatever I need done to make me feel better. Hopefully the days of being sick are soon to be over, but in the meantime I have to share this with you all.

The other night while crawling into bed, I noticed that he changed the sheets. I also noticed that he found a pillowcase that had been MIA. Though it looked a little different, I examined it a little closer, he used one of my shirts to put on the pillow. I showed it to him, he didn't understand until I had to explain it to him, that it was a shirt he draped over and not a pillowcase.
We had a fun laugh that night before we went to bed. Of course there has to be a picture or two.

Smiley Kiley!

2009-08-30T20:16:00.008-06:00

Jon and I (and Annie the Beagle) had the priveledge of going up to Logan yesterday and babysit our neice Kiley. She is so adorable, I snapped a few pictures of she and her Uncle Jon watching BigSkyTV.com she liked Volleyball, hopefully she'll like football, of course the Dallas Cowboys, not some Viking women football players.

Kiley waiting for Jon to get out of the bathroom so Annie and Kirby can go on a walk.

Before we left we aired out the smell of Kasper left behind so the Kasper's of Logan could get some sleep last night.

A night in the mud...at the fair!

2009-08-11T20:56:00.004-06:00

My brother-in-law Rex and his friend Tyler were in a polo derby this past weekend at the fair. The ride on a ATV and try and knock the balloon off the head of other riders. It's pretty entertaining. They also did the "Ride through the mud while on a tarp". The picture explains it all. Pretty funny. Rex got pulled through a muddy river and got covered. Jon and I went to support and I got some cute pictures of Grace and Jon hanging out. She loves her Jonnie.

And baby makes four- Kaspers!

2009-07-23T13:28:00.002-06:00

Well, we've announced the big life changing event on Facebook and my sister-in-law has been bugging me to post something on our blog. So here it is, our newest Kasper, growing in the uterus of yours truly.

I went to the Dr. last week and she couldn't find a heartbeat, she said that the baby only measured to be 5 weeks, which I thought I was further along, so after tests this last weekend, and another visit to the Dr. this past Monday, there was the little flutter called a heartbeat. It's a miracle. I had no reason to be worried. So here is a little glimpse at my uterus, and the little embryo growing inside.

A weekend at the Drive-In!

2009-07-17T00:44:00.004-06:00

Here is the family (everyone) enjoying the new movie Ice Age 3. It was a great movie. I have to share pics and show you how cute and snuggly the grandkids were. Someday our little baby (whenever that will be) will be apart of these memories. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the night.

Also this past weekend, Jon and I got to Dog-sit my sisters dog Mickey. Slightly bigger than Annie, it was an adjustment. Especially to our third dog, Butters, he's become like family now since he basically does everything over at our house anyway.

Grace's photo shoot, 2 1/2 already!

2009-07-09T22:49:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures that I had to take in Grace's darling Easter dress. She was too cute, I have to share them.

Princess party for Grace and friends!

2009-07-02T23:01:00.002-06:00

Night at South Ogden days, and the carnival!

2009-07-02T22:55:00.003-06:00

Jon and I at the Alamo in San Antonio.

The Kasper's of Logan came down last saturday and we went to our annual S Ogden Fays carnival. It hasn't changed much, it is still the same.

Couple pics from San Antonio!!!

2009-07-02T22:45:00.005-06:00

These are from monday night, June 22nd at the CoSida Dance at a local dance club in San Antonio. We had a good time as you can see!

One year! Here we are, still!

2009-06-22T15:58:00.006-06:00

Our riverwalk boat ride. Jon in thought.

A late night picture in front of the Alamo.

Our Anniversary picture. Awwww!

This is a 'Texas" size margarita, 32 oz. It was a fishbowl.

Jon at the Dallas Cowboy shop, he was in love.

Happy Anniversary to us! We are celebrating here in San Antonio, Texas. Jon has a conference down here and it is a way for us to get away for a while, luckily I am fortunate to have a husband let me tag along with him and enjoy this trip together. We had an anniversary dinner on the riverwalk at Rita's. It was way good mexican food. But we soom found out that our stomach's weren't used to the spicy side. So even though it was good, we had to hurry back to the hotel room. But recovered well. We are having a great time down here. It is a beautiful city. So we had a picture taken of us down by the riverwalk. It was Pam's idea that everyyear we take a picture of us in that day and put it into the great frame that she gave me for my bday.

Thanks for supporting us this year. We are still making it and still very much in love. I am so lucky to have a great man, husband, friend in my life. Thank you sweetie for letting me be a part of your life. To many more years to come.

My debut movie, Sundance here we come!!!

2009-06-17T11:01:00.008-06:00

Butters and the Polar Bear*
filmed and edited by Mackenzie Kasper

*This is a funny video, if you can't appreciate the funny things that dogs do, then don't watch. But I highly recommend it, it is quite entertaining.

Aunt Kay's family gathering.

2009-06-14T22:20:00.006-06:00

This is my dad and his two sisters, Kay (left) and Joy (right). They were teasing him about something, they couldn't stop laughing, it's like it was trying to take a picture of kids.

Today was our annual gathering with the Hunter side of my family. My dad has 2 sisters and 3 brother's. My Grandma Grace (which Grace Bailey is named after) is my dad's mother that passed away over 30 years ago, and my Grandpa passed away about 10 years ago. It seems that after you lose the Grandparents they were the glue that kept us together, after they move on from this life. So getting together seems to be very few times a year.
My Aunt Kay hosted the party at her house in N. Ogden. Her daughter Megan, who lives in N. Carolina (I think) had twin girls this past year. She named them, Katie and Grace. Beautiful girls, it was fun to see them. Grace Bailey was pretty excited to find out that a little girl also shared her name.
The whole family was there, so I took a few pictures of the festivities. These are just random pictures.
It was also Max's third birthday this last week, I couldn't go to his birthday party, so I brought his present to the gathering today. It was two 'pirate' swords, for Capt. Max. He and Grace played swords together, they had a gay ol' time.
Nee sent me a DARLING picture of Kiley tonight, I had to share it with everyone.

Dad and Beagle, playing ball.

2009-06-14T14:54:00.006-06:00

Here is our sweet Annie and my hubby playing tennis ball together. Jon has started to tease her now, usually its a throw down the yard, but now he is bouncing it off our house and then throwing it when he wants. This actually wears her out more so she can sleep better.
Jon and I also play tennis ball together, a different kind though. He is very good at teasing me as well. This is how the Kasper's from O-Town waste away their weekend, and watch baseball...GO BREWER'S!!!

Weekend pictures, and 100th post!!!

2009-06-07T22:13:00.006-06:00

Jon and Kylie hanging out at our house before her long trip back to Logan, only an hour, but she wanted a warm bottle. Gall Nee, warm it up, Gosh! We got to see them again last night though, so it was worth it for us.

This weekend we celebrated my birthday with the Kasper's, in South Ogden, well kind of. The Air Show was going on, so Jenn (so thoughtful of bringing a cake) made a delicious Oreo cake, and we celebrated me turning 26. It was fun, she, Josh, Kiley, Kirby, Kaleb and Josh gave me some very needed gardening tools, gloves and an awesome tool bucket. I love it and have wanted some nice tools to use for my garden to replace the ones I got from the dollar store which were held together by duct tape. Thanks you guys for making me feel extra special. I also got some silicone pans from Gregg and Judy, even though I got the same silicone pans two Christmases before. So if anyone wants to try out some really good baking gear, let me know, I have two sets of them now.
I have learned that gifts aren't what matter anymore, it's the relationships I have made with my families. I really appreciate the thought in celebrating me.

I also have included some pics of yesterday. My favorite is definitely when "Nee" (Jenn) and Kaleb took some pictures on my camera. I am always surprised at the pictures I find, and very happy to see their faces they pull every time.

Also, I had to beg Grandma K. to have a turn with sweet little Kiley. Here are a few pics as well of her, I also have a video of her smiling for Auntie Kenz. I swear, she gets cuter every time I see her. And Kaleb, well he is growing up so fast, he's like a little Josh, he is so fun to be around, I am so lucky to have such a great family. Thanks Nee for making me so great about everything.

Nee's cute self portrait of herself on my little point and shoot camera. Kaleb enjoying the Thunderbirds Saturday.

Jon and Annie-Kenz watching the Air Show in the neighbors backyard. Annie was more interested in what the dog next door was doing.

My birthday! And mer's!!!

2009-06-05T00:11:00.004-06:00

This is my favorite birthday present, I woke up my bday morning to my hubby leaving a rose on my pillow. It was such a great morning. Thank you so much for making my day honey!
We went and saw 'UP' with our family tonight, our final pic of us for the night. We are now 26!!!

We went to Tony's pizza for dinner before the movie. As always, it was great to be with our family....and not stressfull...not! But that's why we all love family!

Bella made Mer and I crowns for our BDay's thanks Izzy for thinking of us!

Our other Mother Pam gave us some gardening tips for our Birthday, it was fun. We went to the Sister's of St. Benedict Monestary in S Ogden and checked out their Utah Food Bank garden. It was awesome, I already signed up for watering duty.

Grace and Kenz at lunch today.
Even though Grace is only two, she was ready to fill out her Driver's liscence application. They denied her, but gave her a permit to drive Power Wheels. Way to go Grace!!!

Also, to top the rest of the day off, we went and saw UP with the family. It was a great movie and a good one to lift up the spirit. All in all it turned out to be a great Birthday.

All dogs, including Harrison go to heaven, sweet dreams!

2009-06-03T13:13:00.003-06:00

Harrison Hunter

March 2, 1992-June 2, 2009

You gave us joy,

And gave us pain.

Your face melted hearts,

and always kept Nana sane. (sometimes)

You loved the Christmas wrapping paper,

And sang a beautiful tune.

You could always hit those high notes,

Oh how we will miss you.

You cheered us up,

When we were sad.

And put Bob through hell!

And Bob still let you cuddle with your ‘human dad’.

Your shoulder rides we’ll remember,

The many baseball trips for sure,

Many of Steve’s friends ankles,

You were really good at chasing them out the door.

So sweet Harrison, remember your sweet brother,

He will always have love for you.

I know you guys will be together always,

There could be no more loyal friends than you two.

So goodnight sweet Harrison,

Watch over us from above.

Someday we will meet again,

And be surrounded by joy, comfort, and your love.

Love always,

Your family!

Harrison's favorite resting spot, Dad's tummy, and a maroon pillow.

This past day has been a hard one, our sweet family dog that we grew up with, Harrison has now gone to doggy heaven. He was 17 years old, he was with us through everything tough times and all. Now, he is out of his pain and with 'Ceesus', as Grace said. He left behind his true companion his brother, Ali and a family full of loved ones. This is the first dog to leave us so it was hard to say good-bye. I wrote a little poem, about him and our memories with him. We love you sweet Harrison, if there is a Doggy Heaven Idol, you would so be the next Carrie Underdog, or Taylor Hick-hound. We will miss you!

Week in review with pictures!

2009-06-01T21:31:00.005-06:00

Just in case some of you were just sitting on the edge of your seat with how we are doing, I am finally updating our status in pictures. (I've never done that!)

Josh, Jenn, Kiley, Kaleb and Kirbster came down from Logan yesterday and we had some of Greg's (Jon's dad) famous ribs. I took a few pictures of Kiley hanging out underneath her big brother's old light play thing.

Also, on Saturday my sister and I were able to do our first show for a our business. We recently did photography and video for one of my friends Quinceanera, and we really had a lot of fun doing it. The Standard had a Quinceanera expo at Javier's in S Ogden, off of Harrison, so we were one of two photographers, hoping to get some business from that, but we will have to see.

Also, one last thing. My sister's and our BDays are coming up this week, after we went and saw the Kasper's, Jon, Annie and I went to my mom's for an informal dinner celebrating five birthdays. It is always fun to get together with both families. LOVE IT!!!!

ENJOY!

PS My sister, Meredith if you remember her, she F-I-N-A-L-L-Y made a post on her blog. Thanks for letting us into your life again, and thanks for letting our friends and fam know that you are still living and that you still do hair but not your daughter's, I get to do it.

PPS Jenn if you are reading this I want you to know that Celine Dion is not one of my favorite singers. I was just kidding about that.

Jon, Kenzie and Grace at the pool

2009-05-28T22:49:00.007-06:00

Our sweet Annie waited for us to get home from the pool. Kirby is Annie's Brother in Logan, UT. Click the link to see more of our family, and Annie's blood brother, Kirby Kasper.
Grace and Jr-manion, she loved the water. It took her a few dunks, but it worked. She loved swimming in the pool with Jon.

Just to let everyone know, Jon and Grace have fun in the water. ALSO NOTE*** How great will Jon be a daddy. He loves Grace A LOTTTTTTT! Honestly, he will be an amazing Daddy, and he will be such a great example to our child, no matter what religion, color, or how he talks. I love how he treats our sweet little Gracie and I can't wait to have him be a dad.

Grace and 'Rella slippers?

2009-05-28T22:36:00.003-06:00

These are Grace's "Rella" shoes, she puts them on, and she is magically "Rella"!

Jon and I got to watch Grace this past Tuesday. She took an OD of cuteness, so I decided to take a few pictures of her and Jonny.

My garden is green!

2009-05-24T02:07:00.004-06:00

Also, this picture is one my favorites. Sorry sweetheart and Grace. Grace has been so tired this past week, she usually fights when she has to go down for a nap, but this time, she begged to go down for a nap, and she slept for 2 and a half hours. (So did Jon, obvious by the hair)! Uncle Jon loves his Grace, I could not pass this up, the two sleepyheads.

Ok, so I have found a new love for gardening. I have been able to plant tomatoes for the past couple years and that was it. This year I wanted to be adventurous and try new things. Along with tomatoes, I have planted corn, cucumbers, cantaloupe, eggplant and cherry tomatoes. Hopefully it will be a success. You never know though, I'm really good at screwing things up sometimes.

Uncle Jon's Birthday!!!

2009-05-19T11:15:00.007-06:00

This is a cake that Mer made for Jon. There are 34 cans of diet Coke for every year he is now. I have a very creative sister.

We also had a soccer game going on in the backyard, it was me and Bella against the birthday and Kaleb. The girls won, so eat it boys!

Cormick-Bob and Bob. My favorite picture!
Grace and Nana, this is how she enjoyed the party last night. Max, playing with 'Ba-Yooons'.

Grace and Butters, I think she watched 30 Little Einstein episodes, which is her favorite. This is Butters the neighbor dog, his family is ok to let him come over, which he loves to do, Grace loves Butters so that made her feel a little bit better.

Well, it's official, he is now 34 and still rollin'. We had a BBQ at the Casa of Kasper last night. It was pretty fun to have the families show up and support my husband. He is such an awesome guy, and even though Grace was a little under the weather, she still wanted her "Jonnie". Here's a few pictures from the event and the day.
Also, Josh, Jenn, Kirby, Kiley and Kaleb all made the trip to Ogden to celebrate with Jon. It was very thoughtful of them to make Kiley's first trip the Jon and Kenzie's house for Uncle Jonnie. Thanks to them. Kaleb also had a baseball game last night and he had a homerun to win the game! (I made up the winning of the game part but he really did hit a homer!) Way to go Kaleb!!!

Long trip home!

2009-05-17T21:58:00.005-06:00

This is the Mo Club located downtown. They have the best burgers, ever! They are very greasy, and full of fat but it is very worth it.

We went to eat last night at Mackenzie River pizza. I asked the server if my name is Mackenzie do we get a discount, he responded kind of taken back and obviously couldn't take a joke, but it was fun. Then we asked if my husband's name is Jon does he get a discount, he didn't laugh at all, it was funny though.

Jon and I at the track meet, the final hours, thankfully!

These two darling kids are our friends, Tyler and Brian who live in Missoula, we've vacationed together and have some great memories. We have to go say hi when we travel to Missoula. Conner is 5 and Zach (Right) is 7. We wish we lived closer so we could hang out more.
Goodbye Missoula, welcome back to Ogden. Jon and I went downtown last night and had a last hangout down there. I decided to bring my camera along to do some pictures of our hangout last night. We had fun, and it was time to come back home.

In Montana...MONTANA!

2009-05-16T18:48:00.005-06:00

Well, this past week Jon, myself and Tanner, Jon's Intern/Marketing Director/fellow Montanan took a road trip to the Big Sky Conference Track and Field Championship in Missoula, MT. Jon's old stomping ground for 10 years. For him it's his home away from home. And, being his wife I love to come back here as well. It is so beautiful up here and peaceful. We have been at the Track and Field meet for the past two days, which is the conference championship, in which Jon oversees all nine universities in the conference and their media, championship's etc. You name it, he's there. So for me, that puts me as the conference photographer, so if possible I get the great priviledge to travel with him. Here are a few pictures of our trip up here. Also if you want you can check out the full photo gallery of the Big Sky Conference website at... http://www.bigskyconf.com/News/motrack/2009/5/16/outdoor517.asp?path=motrack
or you can click the link above.

Kiley Kasper 1st photo shoot!

2009-05-14T10:14:00.006-06:00

This is my favorite one! This is Kirby, Annie's brother, how cute it this! He loves his new sister.

Here are some pictures I took of sweet little Kiley the other day. My sister, Grace and I went to Logan and did some pictures of her. It was fun, but oh my, Kiley really is a Kasper. I won't go into explicit detail, because I don't want to her feminine quality to be ruined, but let's just say, the Kasper's are known for their "Olfactory war zones" aka gas, fart, toot, etc. We all have it, just some people are more gifted than others.
I also got to change Kiley's poopy diaper, it was a treat, I am so glad I got to change it. It smelled of Roses and Lavender in the spring. (Just kidding, babies are beautiful and innocent in all aspect)
Enjoy some pictures I took. Thanks Kiley for letting me spill a few beans about you (no pun intended).

Hunter Grandkids...picture time!

2009-05-10T22:10:00.006-06:00

This was my mom's mother's day present. More pictures of her grandkids. Thought I would share them with you all.

Finally, an update...kind of!

2009-05-10T21:40:00.005-06:00

Happy Mother's Day out there to all of you mother's and to my fellow mother's of Beagle's. (Shout out to NEE!) Yes, I woke this morning to the best gift of all. A spoon with my furried friend, and a lot of puppy licks from my sweet Annie. I couldn't ask for a better gift, well maybe if Jon licked me, that would be better, I would make him brush his teeth first.

Anywho, Jon and I had the priviledge of traveling North last week to the city of Logan, where our new little niece, Kiley lives. She gave us a pretty boring visit though. She slept, ate, pooped, and then slept some more, but I swear I could stare at her for hours! So we took sweet Kaleb up with us so his dad and nee could save a trip to Brigham. We went to a park and played some Baseball! It was awesome fun. Jon wore his Robin Yount jersey and almost threw his back out, litterally. The pictures below will explain.

Annie is Freeeee, I mean Threeeee!

2009-04-28T22:41:00.003-06:00

Annie Kasper, born three years ago in South Ogden from the mom and dad, Copper and Ramsey. She is now three. Wow how the times pass by. It was around my birthday that year that we got Annie. We just tested out how she would do with us at Jon and my house. Although Jon is allergic to animals, including dogs, when I met him, even though I love animals I was willing to sacrifice my love of getting a dog, and raising it.
She was born at the house of Jon's mom and dads neighbor across the street. At that time, the neighborhood was surrounded with beagles. So we had been around their personalities etc for a while. When the neighbor, Kevin and his family informed us of their female beagle was pregnant we started talking about it. I was for sure it was a dream that we would take one of those puppies home. Jon's brother and his wife took home a male full bred beagle and agreed to take care of him. I was so jealous. Even though they got a brother I was so happy for them, but was so sad, I remember it was around my birthday that year and I told Jon the perfect Bday present w0uld be a puppy. I got golf balls, and golf lessons instead.
I was dissapointed but a few days passed by and he agreed that we test it out seeing if we could adopt a puppy. All it took was the first night for the both of us to fall in love, and here we are, three years later, with the light of our life.
All things turn out for the best, and I am so grateful to have a husband sacrifice his health (which I would never comprimise) and test out a dog. His allergies are great and thankfully he hasn't had to be on any shots or medication to help control his asthma or allergies. So thanks to my hubby for testing out our sweet Annie, she basically filled in the rest; love, friendship and great memories.
She is three years old in human years, but 21 in dog years. Now she is legal. We let her go out late lastnight so she could celebrate her legalness. She came back home in a taxi and was sluurrring her barks a little bit. But she's recovering well. We love you Anniekans Kasper! But keep your collar on, nobody wants to look at a bare furry neck.

Sunny weather for a moment...and I forgot a major thing on the way home.

2009-04-24T16:27:00.009-06:00

Jon and the Big Sky Conference had their Women's Golf Championship for 2009 this past week in Chandler, AZ. We came from 6 months of cold weather to 100 degree weather. I was fortunate enough to be the Championship photographer and got to be on a beautiful golf course and doing what I love, and to top it off, I got to spend it with my hubby. Here are a few pictures from the trip. We also got to go to a Diamondbacks game this past week. We love baseball and it was fun other than we were so tired.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures I took from the tournament. All of them can be seen at bigskyconf.com in the image galleries.

To top the trip off, being in the sun and having to get up at 5am and suffer through the weather, we were getting ready to go through security and Jon asked me where my camera was, and we had been there for about 45 minutes already, and I was blank. I had lost my camera and equipment bag. My heart sank and I was just sick. We had about 40 minutes until we had to board the plane. I retraced back to the last time I had it and I had left it on the airport shuttle bus. We ran to the information booth and they sent out a PA message to all of the buses about a missing black camera bag, and no repsonse. They said the bast thing to do is go home and call in the morning, because they get a lot of lost and found items overnight. So we got home, I was so disappointed in myself, and mad, but my husband couldn't have been more sweet. He didn't get mad at me he said that we are going to find it and everything will be ok. I realized that even though all of my equipment was lost and/or stolen, I realized my health was good and my husband was so understanding, and I had life. We could get a new camera but we couldn't replace a life. Even though how hard it was, you put the real things that matter into perspective.

After constant prayer from my family and me and my husband and I, I woke up to a phonecall from the Sky Harbor airport asking me to describe what was inside so I did and then he said, well we found it. A huge sigh of relief and happiness. I thought I was never going to see my stuff ever again, I was prepared for the worst, but someone was watching out for me up above and make it all work for the best. They sent it overnight and I received everything and all of it's contents this afternoon.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed my learning lesson to make sure you always have your stuff with you, but if it happens, pray and have faith and God will bless you.