December so far

December has been busy. Isn't it always? We started the month by attending a Living Nativity at the Provo Tabernacle. Jeff didn't want to go at all, but when we got there 30 minutes early (I thought the first showing was at 6:00, not 6:30), he was really happy. We sat on the front row and had plenty of time to take pictures of the kids as they attempted to mangle the set.

It ended up being a fun night, and the kids really enjoyed it. That's why we do these things, as I was quick to remind Jeff. I know he already knows the story of the Nativity.

We spent one night getting our tree and decorating it. This is the first year ever we are going to be in our own home for Christmas morning. The tree is a Noble Fir and it smells great. But, as you can see, it's not the best for ornaments. The branches are not very strong, so they are always falling off, and they get lost in its girth. Good thing I don't have many ornaments worth trying to show off.

We do have an ornament for every year we've been married, and it was fun for the kids to see which ones represent them. This is the one from last year. We took a trip to Arches in October, and it was one of the highlights of 2008.

The kids have been busy watching classic Christmas movies (Rudolph, Charlie Brown, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, etc.). It's fun to watch them experience things we have grown used to. Home Alone is set to record on Tuesday. They may be a bit young for that one, but we'll see...I love how the girls sit right next to each other on the couch, even though there is so much room.

As you may have heard if you are my Facebook friend, DAMON got a pink slip at school for using inappropriate language. He called a girl a "freaky mama." I had to make a big deal about it to him, telling him it's so important to be careful how he talks about girls, but Jeff and I couldn't stop laughing about it. Who knows where he came up with that.

Jeff's laptop from school finally died a couple of weeks ago, and Jeff was throwing it away. Ever the collector, Damon salvaged some of the pieces and created his own computer with a pizza box and an Ensign. I thought it was very creative.


ALLIE has been going through another period of being scared of everything. She had one bad dream about a giant, and now is scared to go into her room alone. It's not nearly as bad as the first time around, but she tries her best to coerce Kyla into getting things for her, or at least accompanying her to the scary bedroom.

She got to play in the snow one afternoon entertained herself for about 30 minutes before she bailed for the warmer environment next door.



Speaking of KYLA, she has gotten three haircuts in the past few weeks. One I gave her, to try to even up the front and back. It wasn't perfect, but I thought she looked cute. The second one was courtesy of Allie, who cut off half of her pigtail. It wasn't very noticeable, so I wasn't too upset. The third one, she gave herself. She cut right down the middle of her head while she had a pigtail in. It's really hard to see in the picture, but you can tell that part of her bangs are shorter, and there is a patch right in the middle of her head that is shorter, too. So much for evening out the front and back. It will be some time before it is all even again.


I have got to find a way to lock up the scissors. Or soon Kyla will be bald.

JEFF has been busy going to basketball games. He went to three last week ( all work related, because he was taking a dentist). He saw the Jazz beat the Magic and then the Lakers, and also saw BYU beat ASU. It's getting a little old for me not having him here at night, but it's fun to see him at the Jazz games (their tickets are right behind the visitor's bench, so he's pretty easy to spot). On his way to one of the games last week, he got a ticket for crossing over the double line into the carpool lane. So, he got to spend last night at traffic school, making 4 out of 8 nights that he was gone. I know I have no reason to complain, but we like having him around. To be fair, he was tired of it, too. This is the only picture I have of Jeff from this month. He's supervising as Damon plays the Wii.


Speaking of the Wii, we recently got it fixed after months of not playing it. I really should have waited until Christmas morning to break it out again, it would have been enough for the kids. They have been playing every day and it's a fun family activity.

Finally, there's me. I am looking forward to Christmas. I am excited to start making some memories here in our home. On Wednesday night, I am planning on doing a journey dinner. We'll eat things that Joseph and Mary might have eaten (dried meat, dates, cheese, flat bread, grape juice, etc) and talk about what happened in Bethlehem, with only the light from candles (and the Christmas lights) turned on. We'll see how it goes, but I want to make it a tradition that we do every year.

I sliced my thumb on Friday last week, and it was pretty deep. I probably needed stitches, but it started healing alright on its own. Monday night it got reopened and began throbbing. I had a terrible time sleeping and I had to get up and get some Tylenol and an ice pack just to be able to sleep. It was horrible. And also amazing how such a small injury like that can set you back in life. This is from today, after it is finally healing again. I wish I had a picture from when it was nasty, just so I can remember why I need to be more careful with sharp knives.

It's been busy, and I know the fun is just about to begin. Can't wait to see what the rest of the month brings!

Christmas card 2009

Dear friends,
I had to cut back on my Christmas cards this year. I only sent out 40, and very few to anyone who reads my blog or is my Facebook friend. That made me sad. I want to be able to send them to everyone, but financially, that just didn't make sense. So I'm very sorry if I didn't send you one in the mail. I hope you still want to be my friend. Here is our card and Christmas letter for 2009.

The Good News….and The Bad News 2009

2009 was full of good news for the Trapnell family. But, as always seems to be the case, often the good news was accompanied with a little bad news.

The Good News…after a year of searching, we bought our dream home and moved in in June. The Bad News…now we have once again joined the ranks of the mortgage payers everywhere. More Good News…the home we bought is large enough for our family to grow into over the next several years. More Bad News…the walls may be bare for the next several years as we find the money to “grow” into it.

The Good News…Jeff got to be in Dallas for the BYU/Oklahoma football game, where BYU pulled off an unbelievable upset. The Bad News…only weeks later, the Cougars got spanked by Florida State and Cougar fans everywhere returned to reality.

The Good News…Krystal found out in June that she was pregnant! The Bad News…the entire family suffered through her first trimester of sickness, pretending they liked “Hamburger Helper” for dinner every night. More Good News (for Jeff and Damon)…we found out in September that she was expecting another boy. More Bad News (for Krystal, Allie and Kyla)…after February, estrogen will no longer rule in our household.

The Good News…Damon turned seven and started second grade. The Bad News…he had to start over at his fourth school in the last three years, learn a brand new school system, and make all new friends. It didn’t take long for him to do just that.

The Good News…Allie turned four and started preschool for the first time. The Bad News…for the first time, she had to wake up early, regularly comb her hair, and was required to perform difficult tasks like holding a pencil to create letters. After six months, she seems to be getting the hang of it.

The Good News…Kyla turned two and instantly grew up before our eyes. The Bad News…she quickly realized that her outbursts and tantrums were no longer cute, and was expected to behave herself during church and other social events just like the older children.

The Good News…in October, after waiting in line for two hours, we all received the H1N1 vaccine. The Bad News…within days, Allie and Kyla got the disease anyway, and Kyla had to spend a night in the hospital to help with her breathing problems. Fortunately, we are now all healthy and hoping to avoid any further problems with the dreaded swine flu.

In all seriousness, 2009 was a great year for our family. We are healthy and happy and incredibly grateful for the opportunity we have to spend the holidays together, celebrating the birth of a baby boy who would grow up to be our Savior. And that’s the best news of all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Jeff, Krystal, Damon, Allie, Kyla and baby boy Trapnell

Pre-Thanksgiving

I'm 29 weeks now, which is well into third trimester, but have yet to post my thoughts about trimester #2. Everything that happened between mid August and mid November was positive. We found out that Baby Boy is growing well (measuring at 2 lbs 4 oz at my last ultrasound), and is developing on schedule. My AFP test and glucose tests were both normal (my odds of having a Downs Syndrome baby went from 1 in 170 to 1 in 10,000 after the test), and everything anyone could tell us was positive. My doctor told me that it is more common to have "cord accidents" when there are only two vessels, so I will start doing non stress tests at about 34 weeks. Also, near the end, sometimes the babies stop growing, and so the perinatologists are a lot more likely to recommend induction a couple weeks early. That sounds like good news to me--smaller baby, born earlier. He said he doesn't think I will be pregnant in February, so I'm kind of keeping that in the back of my mind.

I also gained close to 20 pounds (which I always seem to do in the second trimester) and truly became a fatty. Here are the shots to prove it, from 24 weeks and 28 weeks.

My sickness went away around week 14 and that's when I started to get hungry. I am mostly hungry in the afternoon and I could eat continuously for hours if I didn't force myself to stop. The foods that have defined this pregnancy have been turkey sandwiches and chips/queso. I have yet to get sick of either one. All other cravings seem to be under control and/or completely normal for me.

I have had heartburn earlier than my other pregnancies (all the queso maybe?), but not too bad yet. I know it's going to get a lot worse and am not anxious for that at all. My biggest complaint is the ligament pain below my belly. I have never been one of those women who could still go running late in pregnancy (even if I were a runner, which I'm not), but I can no longer carry Kyla around or I will be sore for days. Mopping the floor, vacuuming, and going up and down stairs are all relatively painful and I am not eager to find out what the end of this pregnancy is going to be like if I am already struggling. I have a belly band, but it was accidentally left in St. George, so I am hopeful when I get it back that it will help. It's too early for me to stop cleaning and living life! I also had to start wearing my compression stockings again (affectionately known as my "hoses"), so I am quite the fashionista. Fortunately, it's winter and no one has to know. :)

I can't chase this one around anymore, so I have to hope she will be cooperative and obedient. And stay out of the mascara.


We stayed in Provo for Thanksgiving this year, and decided to go out and have an adventure. On Wednesday, we drove out to the west desert to the Dugway Geode Beds to search for geodes. After an hour of digging in holes that looked promising, we had found nothing, and everyone was discouraged. Damon was ready to go home and Kyla and Allie were whining and crying. We wondered what we were doing there. But Jeff drove around a little and found the commercial digging site, where a backhoe had done all the hard work. We just had to pick through the rocks to find what could be geodes. Just like that, our search became more of an Easter Egg hunt, and we couldn't keep all the geodes we found. Here are the kids sitting by our stash. We need to get them cut open, but we are hopeful that we found some good ones (some of the ones we broke open were really pretty, which is great!).



We also drove to Topaz Mountain to try to find topaz, and came away with some small crystals. The kids were cold and it was a lot of work to find it, so we didn't stay long. No pictures of that, sorry. It was a fun day of treasure hunting, and we only saw 7 other people all day long. It was a bit eerie to be so far out (we took the old Pony Express Trail) and away from civilazation. Delta looked like an urban mecca when we made it there!

At the beginning of November, we brainstormed all the things we were grateful for, and came up with enough for one for each day of the month. Damon traced 26 hands and we cut them out, labeling each one with something we were grateful for. By Thanksgiving Day, we had created quite the tail for our tiny turkey! It was a fun activity, and I hope it helped the kids remember what we were really celebrating.


Jeff has the pictures from Thanksgiving on his phone, so I will finish this post later about our actual Thanksgiving dinner and the rest of the week.

Thirty, Fatty, and Thrifting

I never really understood why Jennifer Garner's character in the movie Thirteen Going on Thirty wanted to be thirty, anyway. I mean, as a 13 year old, I probably would have picked 21. But for some reason, she wanted to be "thirty, flirty and thriving." Instead, today, I feel "thirty, fatty and thrifting."

If I had had any control over when this baby was coming, I probably would have realized that being 6 months pregnant the day I turned 30 wasn't the best possible way to feel good about myself. I mean, yes, I do have boobs again, which is ever so fun, but it's not as fun to get big in other places (ie, my thighs and belly). But because this baby boy decided when he was ready to come to our family, I had no control over that. So on my 30th birthday, I was definitely a fatty.

As for the thrifting, I've been feeling a little stressed about Christmas this year. I am sure I'm not alone. We knew when we bought this house that things were going to be tight for a while, and we willingly decided it was worth it. And I know deep in my heart that we'll find a way to do everything we need to do to make this a great Christmas for the kids (despite Jeff's assertion that our Christmas budget is, "zero."). Still, I feel the stress. Which makes it a tad bit difficult to really enjoy any money spent on me for my birthday.

But it was a fun weekend, starting with a night out with Jeff's brothers, sister and their significant others (minus Noel, Brian and Susan, who were missed). Jeff talked me into going to see 2012, so at least it wasn't my idea. It was fun to be all together to laugh at some of the more ridiculous moments. And there were plenty of those. No, the movie really wasn't THAT bad, but it certainly wasn't my favorite.

Sunday, Jeff got up with the kids and made me a gourmet birthday cake. If you know Jeff, you are probably picking your jaw up off the floor right now, because he doesn't cook. Ever. So I appreciated the effort (and the cake was really yummy) more because I know he was doing it for me. We had dinner at my aunt's house last night, and the kids promptly blew my 8 candles out (4 on each cake) before I even had a chance to make a wish. I'm not sure how 8 candles equals 30 years either. Oh well.

On Thursday, I am heading to the New Moon preview with my aunt and cousins, and I am so excited. Am I now officially too old for that? The answer to that, of course, is no. You're never too old for Edward. He's immortal. :)

A celebration of 30

Tomorrow, I turn 30. But I'm not thinking about that today. Today I am remembering some of the great things that have happened in my life. I, in no way, believe this is a good idea, but I am posting 30 pictures of me through the years.

I'd have to guess maybe 2? Reminds me a little of my girls

3 or 4? Probably my birthday, when Heather and I both got presents. :)


4 or 5? Hard to tell. Mom, any input?

8, Baptism day

10th birthday. Lisha and I totally did the glasses before Twitch.

Don't know ages. Probably about 10 here as well. Notice the van in the garage. I drove that baby in high school. It was a power steering fluid leaking beast!

10 1/2, at the hospital when Jonny was born

15, at EFY. The boy who first held my hand, Rich Cook.

Sorry if you wanted to see more awkward photos from the 11-14 range. I don't seem to have any (not because there aren't any, I just probably left those at home when I was taking pictures).

I'm guessing 16. Proof that at one time I had boobs.

Almost 17, dyeing my hair (with Linzi Jolley) on a volleyball trip. I remember this clearly and how Linzi covered up with her pillow when she saw the camera. I, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind in the least. And I'm "getting out the guns."

17, Homecoming senior year with Mark Madsen. Our last date.

17, Senior year of volleyball

Just before I turned 18, fractured elbow from state volleyball tournament


18, All-state banquet for basketball with Coach Higgins

At a choir concert with Melissa Ricks, 17 or 18

18, at a softball tournament with my BF, Tyler Campbell

18, Pine View High graduation with Tyler

My 20th birthday, celebrating with 259 cds.

20, dating Jeff

20, our wedding

20, My wedding with my bff from college, Jenny Costley

21, at Jeff's graduation from BYU

21, at Jenny's wedding

22, at my graduation from BYU (6 months pregnant with Damon)

22, taking Damon home from the hospital

almost 24, family photo shoot

24, the night we said good-bye to Chance

26, Allie's birth

27, Jeff's graduation from Ohio State

28, Kyla's birth

The rest of October

These are the pictures from my phone for October, all jumbled together in one post so we don't lose them. Some of them are repeats for my Facebook friends, so sorry about that.

This is at Jeff's mom's house. Kyla came back inside without a diaper on and was sent back out to retrieve it. She was happy enough to stop and pose for a photo with the offending diaper.

From Allie's computer class that she attends on Mondays and Wednesdays. She loves the headphones with the microphone headset, and pretends to talk in it pilot-style, but it serves no purpose.

As a side note, I love this computer class. It's free, sponsored by Waterford Learning Center and is a study of 4 and 5 year olds. The games she plays are on her level and she does 20 minutes of reading and 20 minutes of math every time we're there. There is also an activity room with puzzles, games, books, etc. that Kyla loves, so it's basically a two for one, and it's all free! If you are in the Provo area and are interested (for next year maybe), let me know and I'll give you some more info.

Allie arranged her Barbies like this. On purpose? We'll never know.

I took Damon on a "Night Out" to see a play of Tom Sawyer at the library, and followed it up with a trip to Hello Yogurt. Damon's yogurt was strawberry topped with gummy worms, Skittles, sprinkles, raspberries, strawberry sauce and a few other things I am forgetting. He thought it was a great night.

Kyla got her hands on some chocolate covered fruit at Costco as we were about to check out one day. The guy helping at the checkout said, "You must like chocolate!" I turned around to see her like this. Yes, she loved it!


Jeff's birthday pie, Lemon Meringue, made by his mom. Jeff was in Arizona right before his birthday (and we were in Moab), so this was the only party he got. He wasn't disappointed. Happy 33rd, old man!

Kyla found some soap or shampoo and thought it would be a good idea to wash her own hair, sans water.

Another one from her night in the hospital.

And Kyla applies mascara, and is pleased with herself.

Phew, I think October is covered. On to November!