Blog slump

It has been a while, again, since I've updated...for me at least. Not sure why it's been hard for me to update our family news. Maybe there's just not enough or too much so I feel over whelmed about what exactly to tell about.

The things that I have particularly enjoyed lately don't so much have to do with my immediate family but with my extended family.

I am ecstatic that I made it into the St George Marathon and that my sister and bro-in-law are running it also. This is one of my "bucket list" things to do and the fact that they are doing it too just makes it sweeter. Wendy, my sis, will not see me except at the start because she's run it a few times and is trying to qualify for Boston...I am just hoping to finish with in the 6 hour limit before they pack everything up and go...leaving me to stumble into St George with just my little family watching for me. I am confident I can do it in 5 hours at the most, but we'll see.

I have also really enjoyed talking to my cousins on Face Book this past year. My sister and I are the oldest cousins on my Mom's side and we only have a few cousins our age on my Dad's. We used to see them and play with them when we were little but since life happened and I moved far away I just lost touch with them. Not that I didn't know where they were, just that we no longer had a relationship because we never talked and were just busy with our lives. Now that we've been in touch we have rekindled our friendship and I have learned to adore them all over again. They have grown into amazing women and I'm glad to know them. We have even planed a visit to Oregon this summer, partially because it's been years since we have been there...I think we only had Jeremy and Gage at the time...and I miss the green and trees and beach, etc...and partially because I want to see my cousins and their families. Family is great!

The usual things have also been going on...school field trips, jazz band concerts, girl scouts, boy scouts, ward picnic, lots of baby showers...just too much. I will eventually get around to updating on all of that, but I think this is as good as it's going to get for a little while.

Tabernacle Choir video

This is a video from the Tabernacle Choir...I didn't know they made videos, obviously they do...but it's sweet so I thought I'd share. You'll have to pause our blog music first. Enjoy!

Swine Flu and Jack's Baptism

I have not been too concerned about the Swine Flu "pandemic". There have been cases about 45 miles from us and goodness knows we have plenty of kids at school who probably went to Mexico over Spring Break but still....not so worried.

Last Thursday Jack woke up at 2:30am saying his head hurt really bad and he felt warm...temp 102, so I gave him Tylenol, sent him back to bed and figured he wouldn't go to school. He came down stairs in the morning with no appetite, still the headache and fever, and no energy, but no cough, no congestion. He sat on the couch for most of the day not moving, not really eating, and just taking the medicine every 4 hours. Around 3:00 I gave him more medicine but he felt hotter so I took his temp again...104. Since I have 5 kids and have been through the fever roller coaster many times this usually wouldn't worry me but because of the whole flu scare I figured I'd be cautious and call his doctor. The doctor was out so I talked with his nurse. She sounded alarmed and told me to take him to the ER immediately... not Urgent Care... the ER. That did make me nervous so we rushed him down to St Mary's Medical Center. We checked in and they gave us hand sanitizer and a mask for Jack.
He was pretty patient about it but he didn't like it much. We were sequestered in another room with 3 other people with similar symptoms. I was thinking at that point that if Jack didn't have the Swine Flu he may get it now...and so would we.

After an hour there we were led to another smaller room by ourselves for another wait. A Physician's Assistant finally came in and said Jack was fine....he didn't even have the symptoms they get concerned about with the Swine Flu...the coughing and congestion which turns into Pneumonia quickly. I felt dumb. I told her the nurse had sent us in and I guess they had been dealing with that all day, people being sent there without really needing to be.

Yea! My little Jackson just had the regular sick stuff, nothing scary! Now we were just hoping he'd feel better by Saturday for his Baptism...and he did.

For any of you who aren't familiar with how things work in the LDS Church, kids are baptized at the age of 8, the "age of accountability" where they are capable of making the decision and are responsible for their choices. We baptize by immersion as Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, one having authority, setting the example for us.

I was excited about Jack's baptism because my youngest little guy was taking this big step and because Jeremy turned 16 a few weeks ago and was ordained to the office of a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood so he had the authority to baptize Jack. It was sweet that Jackson wanted his big brother to baptize him and sweet that Jeremy's first baptism was his little brother. Gage will have the same opportunity when he turns 16 with Ally since she turns 8 just a few weeks before. The problem with that plan at this point is that Ally says she wants Jeremy to baptize her because she likes him better. That means Gage has two years to win her over! I'm sure he will.
Jeremy did a great job. I was so proud of them both! Gage gave a talk on Baptism and did well with that too. I feel so blessed that I have been given such good kids! After the baptism we all went to Janet's for a little get together...with food of course. It was getting dark by then but all the kids were determined to swim, so they did! Julia didn't even wait to get her suit on. She jumped in to the spa with her dress on so I had to pull her out and change her. The kids had a good time swimming until it got too cold while the adults had a good time visiting which was a nice end to a good day.

Utah

This post has been long past due, I know. You see the problem was that we took our big fun trip to Utah and got everything all ready to go the night before we left. Everything was packed in the car, the camera batteries were in the charger, the trip snacks and movies were all in their place in the car, etc. We got up and left by 5:30 am but after we were well on our way we realized that we had the camera but we forgot the battery which was still in the charger at home. A new battery was around $70.00 so we opted for $7.99 for two disposable cameras. Not the same quality, but
hey they are pictures! The delay has been remembering to take the film to be developed and waiting for Rich to put the pictures on the computer from the CD, something I have no clue how to do. I know I should learn, I'm sure it's easy, but that is Rich's area and I like him to do it. So finally I am able to post something!

We planed this trip to Utah because we had tickets the General Conference on Saturday morning, the 4th, and Jeremy had a doctor appointment at Primary Children's Medical Center on the 14th. It would be a long time to take advantage of the hospitality of my sister and her family but we love being with them and the three little ones live to see "the cousins" any chance they get.

We got up to Lehi Friday afternoon and the kids were so excited to play. We also had a special treat and got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa (my Dad and Step-Mom) who were there watching Wendy and Matt's (my sis and her husband) kids while they were on a cruise. (Lucky!)

Saturday morning Rich, the biggest two boys and I went to the morning session of General Conference. It was amazing! The Conference Center is huge and so beautiful. We went back Tuesday with all of the kids to tour it which is what these first two pictures are from. They don't do it justice. But back to Saturday... General Conference, for those of you who don't know, is when the Prophet, President Monson, the Apostles and other General Authorities in our church speak to the church as a whole. The Conference Center itself holds something like 21,000 people and

then it is also broadcast to the rest of the world on satellite stations and to church buildings so everyone can see it. All of the talks were wonderful and it was so neat to know that we were in the same room, a very big room, but still the same room as the Prophet of God. My favorite part was just before it starts and everyone is visiting so there's a low hum of 21,000 people quietly talking while the General Authorities and others find their seats. Then as the Prophet walks in a hush falls over the room and everyone stands while he walks in to take his seat. There is such a strong feeling of the Spirit there it brings a tear to your eye. Yes, even to Rich's eye.

Sunday we watched the other sessions of Conference on TV at Wendy's then we got to see Jeff and Sarah (Step-bro and his wife) that afternoon. Matt and Wendy got home that night from an amazing trip and Dad and Renetta left Monday morning to fly home. Whew, a busy weekend!

(Our family in front of the Salt Lake Temple)

The trip was full of visits to people we haven't seen for a long time and playing tourist. We toured Welfare Square in Salt Lake which is where the church makes all of the food and emergency supplies to aid people all over the world in poverty and in the case of natural disasters. We toured the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and Temple Square.

(My cute Jeremy)

It was pretty chilly but everyone enjoyed it. There were flowers all over Temple Square so it looked very "springy".



We visited many old friends, some who we haven't seen for 15 years. We saw Ted Jiminez, Trisha McQueen and her cute family, the Hickens, and the Gutkes who were our next store neighbors and great friends for years when we lived in Orem. Their oldest son, Nathan, is a year younger than Gage and although they were buddies when they were 3 and 4 it's been a long time...but they hit it off again and exchanged email addresses which was cute to see them renew their friendship. The next Sunday was Easter so Saturday Wendy and I helped all the kids color eggs. The next morning before church they did their little hunt to find all the goodies the Easter bunny brought. We went to church with Wendy's family then we headed down to Provo to have Easter dinner with my Aunt Jody and her family. My cousin Rachel and her husband Tim were there. Tim is the cool cousin. He's in a rock band and Jackson thought his car was pretty cool too.

(Tim and Ally with Ally's egg stash)

We had another Easter Egg hunt at Jody's, ate a yummy dinner and enjoyed a night hike up Rock Canyon which was so beautiful with all of the stars out! We enjoyed our Easter. The next day was Jackson's 8th birthday so we all hiked to the Y on the mountain above BYU as a birthday adventure. Rich stayed below with Julia and Gage (he was tired) but the rest of the kids made it! Later that night we went to Rachel and Tim's for a BBQ which was sweet of them to do since they were leaving early the next morning to go to France.

(Ally and Jack at the Y)

(Jack, Brinley, Katie and Jeremy on top of the Y)

Tuesday we said goodbye to the cousins which the little ones were so sad about and took Jeremy to his doctor's appointment. It's the first time Jeremy has been up to Primary Children's Hospital, which is on the University of Utah campus, since he's decided to be a doctor. He loved seeing the U of U campus and all of their medical buildings. He realized his doctor ,who is one of the best Orthopedic Surgeons in the country, is a professor at the U so now that's where he'd like to go to Medical School. I would be happy about that if it works out. Anyway, after 9 years of follow up visits since his back surgery we were told he's finally out of the woods and we're done...no more visits to Utah because of a doctor visit!

Right after his appointment we drove straight home because the kids had to get back to school. Again we made good time and got home about 11:30pm. The kids were a little tired but they made it to school okay and we all enjoyed our trip.

The Mystery of the Missing Clothes

For the last week and a half Ally and Julia have been missing several pairs of pj's, pants and shirts. If I can't find something it usually means it's in the laundry so I washed, folded and put away everything that was in their hampers. The missing clothes still did not show up. I looked under their bed, under my bed, in Jack's room, etc. and I couldn't find them anywhere. Yesterday while I was helping Ally pick up her room she opened her little rolling Dora suitcase that she usually packs with stuffed animals and books. Lo and behold there were all of the missing clothes, hangers and all! I asked her why she put all of the clothes in her suitcase and she said that last week she had packed for the trip we are taking to Utah...which is in about two weeks from now. I guess she's so excited to see her cousins that she wants to be prepared!

February in review...

February's highlight for Ally was her date with her Daddy. Ally is a Daisy in Girl Scouts and last weekend they had a Daddy Daughter Ball. She wore her favorite nice dress which is one she inherited from her cousin Jordan. Daddy got all dressed up and came to the door with flowers for Ally. She was so excited about that. I thought it was so sweet that her first bouquet of flowers was from her Dad. They had a great time at the ball although Rich said he had to tone down her crazy dancing a little bit. She thinks she's a super star dancer since she won a dance contest at a ward party a year ago. She gets a bit hyper kicking her feet everywhere but she didn't kick anyone so they were good.

Julia's baby yarn hair is finally getting longer so I can put it in ponytails or clips now. Usually she takes anything out with in the first hour after I do her hair but on this day Cari, my friend who works in our office, did her hair and she put big flower clips in it and Julia left them in almost ALL day!
Ally and Jack came home from school with lots of Valentines from their parties at school. They were very good about sharing their stash with Julia. Ally insisted I take a picture of her with the heart chocolate...so here it is. Beautiful, I know.


Sometime during the month we went down to Ontario Mills so Gage could get some drum stuff at Sam Ash Music. We had to stop and get doughnuts at Krispy Kreme since their "hot now" light was on. The kids like to go in because they can watch them make the doughnuts and they get these awesome hats.






Julia's didn't last long.





What a fun month!

Not for the faint of heart...or stomach!

Warning: If you are squeamish at all you may want to skip this post.

Let me tell you a story. Last week Rich and I were going to go to lunch with Janet, my mother-in-law. All the kids were in school except for Julia, of course. Janet came with us in our car but we needed to stop first to get gas. We pulled into a Shell gas station, the same one Rich and a friend had just been to before we went to lunch. I went in to pay while Rich waited by the car. While I was paying I noticed little boxes on the counter for sale. They were dried and flavored larva and crickets. Ewwwww! After paying I walked out the door and up to the car and started to tell Rich about this disgusting thing that they were selling and I was going to say that I couldn't imagine anyone buying those except stupid boys who were drunk when I saw this...
I screamed, which I usually don't do in public unless something terrible has happened. There was my sweet, innocent little baby girl with nacho flavored LARVA in her mouth! I told her to spit it out and she refused, she liked it she said. Rich bought a box of the Larva when he was at the gas station earlier. He didn't tell me about it, he just waited until I was gone to give it to Julia. I gave Rich strict orders to NEVER give her anything so disgusting again, which he thought was funny. He's famous for paying the kids to try stuff like a spoonful of Horseradish or Tabasco sauce. He learned it from his Grandpa. Poor Julia didn't even get paid for this.
When the little kids got home from school Rich gave some to Ally without me knowing. She thought they were yummy until I showed her the box. She asked if they were bugs, I said yes, and she said she didn't like to eat bugs so she didn't want any more. A very calm reaction I thought. All of the boys were smart enough to decline trying them. Hopefully soon the girls will figure out they need to be very skeptical when Daddy offers them something for a snack!