EMPTY NEST

It is official as of August 19, 2011 we have joined the elite group of "EMPTY NESTERS!"  WOW don't know what else to say about it yet except my house stays cleaner, less laundry and I really don't cook that much now, we just go out to eat most of the time. Our two oldest are married, number 3 son Brady just left to attend Dixie College and the baby is on a mission. All four boys are doing good things and we are proud of them!

Cody's Rollercoaster Ride February 2010-2011

K Cody Hafen May 2010
Orem High Graduate

Cody has had a very up and down year starting in February of 2010 through February 2011. It has been filled with joy, sorrow and growth. It started out when he had his wisdom teeth removed in February 2010. I captured the following great picture just in case he really does become a dentist. He has always wanted to be a dentist; and now with his brother being a dentist the motivation and drive has continued. When Cody is on the medication they give to make one forget; Cody becomes very talkative; very opposite of what he really is. When he was in recovery from surgery he kept asking the Oral Surgeon when he could kiss his girlfriend! The assistant called me from the waiting room laughing - so I knew Cody had said something. When he had his arm set as a 9th grader they gave him the same drug and he was talkative and crazy.

So ignore the date on the camera - our camera puts random dates. This was taken February 2010. This was at the peak of his swelling.

So Cody starts running a fever a few days after the wisdom teeth surgery - not good - he also becomes a little crazy in the head. Back to the Oral Surgeons office - who by the way is my favorite Oral Surgeon; his patients always do well in recovery etc. He is so kind; his name is Dr. Burton in Orem. So he is very concerned about Cody - gives us his cell number. After several rounds of different antibiotics and days of healing we know it is a virus now that Cody has contacted following surgery. But mean while his body starts going into what is now called folliculitis; basically your hair follicles become infected, this can happen after fun events like surgery, sickness, stress etc.. which Cody had all the above. He had just finished swim which had ended not the way we expected; but he did swim at state and had personal best times so what more can you ask for! Cody earned some great swim awards over the years; Sophomore and Junior male swimmer of the year; and Coaches award his Senior year.

This is a great picture of his start. He had a beautiful start off the blocks! Loved the long pants - called them his "Magic Pants!" His Senior year they would not allow the long legs so we went with short ones.

Cody had some really bad skin condition now. The Dermatologist is working like crazy to help him out. He ends up scaring; so he is on every medication, doing every chemical peel and derm abrasion known to man. He plays High School Soccer and is nominated as one of the Captains - what a great time he had playing soccer with all of his buddies. He is the one son that has broken the most bones; the last break was in 9th grade until playing Provo, at Provo in May 2010 - another broken arm. At least this time it was not displaced and the Provo trainer sent us straight over to the Orthopedic Surgeons office even though we were right by the emergency room. It was our favorite Dr. Mortensen's office but he had already left for the day so we got our other favorite Dr. Rich. He was awesome and took care of Cody's broken arm and sent us on our way. Notice the orange cast he has on for his Senior Pictures. A way that we can document the break! Dr. Rich took the cast off one week early so that he wouldn't have to graduate with a cast on - he was so happy about that.

Orem High Soccer - His Favorite. Nominated as Captain.

Graduation day comes! He is very excited to be finished with High School. He has a new job doing landscaping and during the winter they will have him do snow removal. Well Monday was Memorial Day (Which it is Memorial Day today one year later) and Cody starts playing on a indoor soccer league with High School friends and one of the coaches from Orem High. Brad and I decide to go watch him. Five minutes into the game and Cody goes down in a heap on the field.

Some of Cody's great friends; Teya, Josh Miller, Cody and Cody's
girlfriend Heather Stratton.

Brad and I recognize it - we watched Jerame the oldest son do the same thing. Plant your foot, twist your hips, foot stays planted and the only thing that moves is your knee! ACL complete tear, partial tear of the MCL, 40% of the cartilage torn from the bone!!! Not Good - Dr. Mortensen's office once again. Dr. Mortensen laughs when he sees us - he has put the boys and Brad back together so many times. His nurse Shelly has casted the boys so many times - especially Cody. When Cody went down he let out a scream that stopped the entire indoor center. People came running out on the field from everywhere - including from the front desk. Brad and I were along with everyone else. That scream will forever be in my head! Needless to say Cody did not do landscaping or snow removal this past summer - he had ACL surgery and cartilage removal - they were not able to save the cartilage - it actually got caught in the joint so that he couldn't even bend his knee. He had surgery in June - Which also cancelled his Senior Lake Powell Trip we had planned to take all of his Senior friends down.

Cody's Graduation announcement!

Cody's knee when the bandage came off! Notice how it has YES
written on it - you have to write yes on the body part that is
having surgery.

The summer of 2010 put Cody healing from Surgery. He had lots of great friends come visit to help pass the time of day. Thanks Damon, Carly, Heather, Cassidy Cook and many others Cody is loved by many people. Cody spent time reading - reading the scriptures and watching TV. Of course he is a sports nut so he watched the sporting events. The Tour De France - Alberto Contador won from Spain - he loved it. Then he watched World Cup. Spain won the World Cup. Cody was so excited - he loves Spain.He kept telling us how much he loved Spain. Then he started in on - "Mom I'm going to Spain on my mission" - I told him; "Cody you are watching way too much TV!" Cody continued healing. He had a great physical therapist - Thanks Steve Orrock! By the end of July Cody was on the move again - but no jobs were available for him that he could do with his knee. His brother Jerame said he should come to Texas and be his dental assistant - that wouldn't hurt his knee. So once Cody was released from physical therapy - and we finally took him out to Lake Powell for his last time for two years he headed to Texas. It was so hard for us to let him go; he was leaving for a mission in just a few months. Cody worked in Texas August through  December. He worked full time and had classes through the Internet at UVU. It was a hard Fall for him; but I know it prepared him for his mission. We had all the mission papers filled out and all the interviews complete; but when he got to Texas the Church felt he needed to transfer his records and so he went back through the interviews.
Finally in October Cody got his mission call!

Cody's mission picture. This was of course
after his surgery - it was hard for him to bend
his knee!

Using Skype we were able to watch him open his call. His call arrived on a Thursday which around home we receive them on Wednesday. Cody called me on Wednesday upset because his friend from High School Sean Petersen received his call on Wednesday and it was to Spain. He kept telling me that Sean got his call. I reminded him that he could have know his call if he would have mailed them home - but he wanted the call mailed to Texas - and that Sean got his own call not Cody's. Thursday evening we are around the computer and Cody points up into the sky and says; "He knows me!"We all knew then that Cody had received the call to Spain. Not only to Spain but to the exact same mission of Sean Petersen, same day too!

Sean Petersen and Cody at Orem High Graduation.
Little did they know on this day that they would be
spending the MTC together and traveling to a
different country together!

My favorite temple!!! St. George Temple with SNOW!

We had a great opportunity as a family to finally get together for Thanksgiving. Grandma Hafen hadn't had all of her children and grandchildren together for seven years because of missions etc. So everyone gathered together for Thanksgiving. We made sure that we took our little dog Andie down to St. George because she is Cody's dog and they are very close. Well it had been four month since they had seen each other. I wish I would have filmed it - When Andie saw Cody she started crying and whining - it was so cute it made me cry too. It was the first time our family had been together for 3 years because of Brady's mission. We had family pictures taken and Cody decided to take out his endowments in the St. George Temple. What an awesome experience to have all your children in the temple together. Dusty and Julie were the witness couple and all the other boys were on the front row together. I took a mental Kodak picture! I know we are blessed to be able to have everyone in the temple - many great families do not get that opportunity. We also had about 20 other family members from both sides of the family and our bishop traveled down to be with Cody. Cody has been the 1st assistant for over a year to Bishop Bradshaw and then Bishop Saltzgiver - so they are very close to Cody and what a blessing they have been in his life. Having my family in the temple was like a completion feeling - like I did it! You can take me home now Heavenly Father - my boys were missionaries and are all temple worthy right now! Brad and I were sealed in the St. George Temple so we were able to show the boys our sealing room - the same room that Brad's parents and all his siblings have been sealed in as well.

Family Picture (Three years since family has been together due to Brady's mission and Jerame and Amy living out of state) Taken in St. George November 2010. Love my Family!!!

We had the opportunity as I blogged earlier for our Family Vacation of a Lifetime in January.

Family shot in Belize after our excursion of swimming with the sting rays and sharks!

We then we had Cody's farewell and He entered the MTC on February 23, 2011. Check out his mission blog at kcodyhafen.blogspot.com - Jerame has done a beautiful job on his blog - Thanks Jer!

Cody's invitation.

LOVE YOU ELDER K CODY HAFEN

What a ride he has taken this past year - A ride of spiritual growth, struggles and maturity.

 We're so proud of him!

VACATION OF A LIFETIME!

For years now Brad and I have wanted to take the entire family on a cruise vacation. In between boys missions we did "Bigger" family vacations such as Hawaii, so we decided before Cody, our baby, left on his mission we should do a "Bigger" vacation; the family cruise vacation; the once in a lifetime vacation! We have been saving for years, saving scrap metals that we use in our business to cash in on, saving pocket change in piggy banks, and those awesome frequent flier miles. We also decided that this vacation would be the family Christmas Present for 2010. We had to jump over a few stumbling blocks like: Did you know that babies must be 6 months old to cruise? Ships are not equipped medically for younger. So our Baby Zac had to be planned on - due date was June 28th, so we gave Amy 10 days over; and she still had to have the doctors start her. Zac was 6 months and 1 day old when we stepped on the ship. By far the youngest cruiser on that ship - (I'll bet 75% of the passengers were retired). The anticipated week: January 9-16, 2011! Our dream came true! It was a 7-day cruise to the Western Caribbean- Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel; setting sail out of Galveston, Texas. The whole family was there (9 people total), and this is last time we'll all be together for a couple of years because as I stated earlier our youngest Cody, is leaving for a mission next month.

We love cruises - it is such a nice way to take a relaxing and stress-free vacation break. People waiting on you; in fact I feel guilty and want to help. First cruises are actually the most amazing and magical because you do not know what to expect. This was Brady's first time, and I was a little jealous because there is nothing like the first. Brad and I went on our first cruise to celebrate our 25th Anniversary out of New Orleans. We sailed on The Grandeur of the Seas through Royal Caribbean. The ship was a smaller ship, the smallest we have ever sailed on, and it felt like the ship wasn't as crowded because the common areas are about the same size as they are on the larger ships. We flew into San Antonio, Texas and had a 12 passenger van rented to carry the entire family. We stayed at Jer and Ames place that first night, went out to eat and went shopping at the great factory outlet mall in San Antonio.

 

How every trip must start - The mess of Packing!

    

Waiting for the flight to San Antonio, Texas at the SLC Airport.


   





This is the 12 passenger van that we rented to drive from San Antonio to Galveston. We lovingly called it our "Retard Van," so Brad told us we all needed to wear our helmets. Jerame came out to get into the van with his bike helmet on - notice what he looks like in the front passenger seat.

  

This is Zac eating a French Fry - at the famous "Whatta Burger," or what Dusty called - What's in the burger?

 The first day out at sea was warm and beautiful. We exercised, ate, and ate some more. We loved sitting in the sun and did so for hours. Love being in the sun when you know home is in snow! The following pictures show us in the buffet eating at "The Windjammer"and sunning with the baby.



This picture shows the port at Galveston, Texas through the windows of the boat. They had dolphins out in the bay swimming and playing. Fun to watch!






Got to love the drool off the lip - makes for great kisses!




Love this picture - Jer is such a good dad! So tender with his little guy.



The second day at sea was also incredibly nice. We hung out with the family, watched the boys play soccer; Amy and Brady play volleyball and some rock wall climbing. Enjoyed sitting in the sun, and ate tons of  food. Got a lot of sun - good sun burns going on most of us.

Brady is in blue shirt standing in front of the goal



Cody is in the sleeveless shirt; you can see Jerame's back - he is in black T-shirt; Dusty in white with the ball. Julie asked me if anyone had ever kicked the soccer ball over the walls of the soccer field into the ocean. I told her I hadn't ever seen it happen. Just then Jerame launches the ball in the air-over the wall-into the ocean! I couldn't help but think about the movie castaway with Tom Hanks and the volleyball "Wilson" maybe some castaways will have it wash up on their shore line and give them happiness; or maybe some young Mexican child will find the treasured soccer ball!



Brady and Amy playing volleyball.

It was our first formal dinner; so fun to see everyone all dressed up. I think girls like this more than guys. The girls were beautiful and the boys very handsome! The following pictures are at the dining room table.

Wednesday was our first stop: Roatan, Honduras. Again, the weather was absolutely beautiful. We, the family, decided to take it easy that day. We took a taxi ride to the beach and rented a nice little area just for us. We spent the day relaxing and walking up and down the beach barefoot. Some of the kids attempted some snorkeling.

Sometimes on cruise ships you have to get creative, especially with space - like the tiny bathrooms. Jer and Ames were very creative with Zac a bathtub. A blow up tub! It was great - Grandma loved giving him his bath. Zac loves the tub and his toys!

Thursday we made it to Belize. It was cold and rainy that day, but we weren't going to let that get in our way. We booked an off-shore excursion to go snorkeling. The waves were huge that day, and the wind was blowing. The first area we tried to snorkel at had a huge living reef. The boat actually broke anchor and they had us hurry and return to the boat. When the tour guides realized that area was not going to work, they took us to another spot to see Sting Rays. One of the tour guides picked one out of the water so that we could all touch it. It was so gross and slimy, but kind of cool. Ya- totally touched it...so brave. There were so many sting rays at that spot. They would swim around our feet and all around us- they were not bugged at all. We even saw a shark- we were informed it was not dangerous, but not sure I believe that; he looked pretty lethal! Then to top it off while swimming back to the boat there was a lot of movement and commotion in the water; looked up and there was a bird (Seagull) with his head chopped off floating feet up and blood coming out all around it. The Tour guide said that a barracuda had gone after a sardine the same time the bird dove into the water to get the same sardine - well the barracuda won - bird head, beak and all! So blood in the water and the so called nice sharks - I was high tailing it out of their!!!! And not fast enough! The boys loved that adventure. When I hear the song "Barracuda" by Heart I have a different feeling now!



On the boat to go snorkeling





Notice there is a real creature inside the shell.





Sting Rays swimming around our legs!!!!!



Notice the shark!

After snorkeling, the tour guides took us to one of the little islands there. We ate some lunch and then walked around the little town for a bit. Let's just say that I am glad to live in America.

A little crab crossing the street

The craziest thing- some rich person made his own little island miles off shore and built his house on it. I hope he has flood insurance. I know a primary song about building a house on sand and rocks!
Friday we were in Cozumel. We didn't have any major off shore plans here, so we all did our own thing. Jerame and Amy did some swimming with dolphins which was way cool for them. The rest of us did some shopping and watching Zac. We had so much fun and enjoyed the family so much. We are blessed with wonderful children. Thanks Kids we love you!

While in Cozumel another Royal Caribbean ship pulled in side by side. They are so huge - felt so small standing in between them.