Bump on a Blog

CRAZY weather

2012-03-08T13:07:00.004-08:00

These photos were taken 2 days apart.

2012-02-22T18:41:00.001-08:00

The family who plays together, stays together.

2012-02-22T18:39:00.001-08:00

Researching DisneyWorld rides.

2012-02-22T18:33:00.002-08:00

No matter where I hide them, he still finds them. We are adding Pop Tarts to our small list of items to never buy again...my kids have no self control when it comes to POP TARTS. They are evil.

Photo-a-day Challenge

2012-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

My blog has been in serious funk lately. It needs some spice in its life. The blog has been too much "I'm a good Mom, look what I do with my kids." To help me with spicing things up just a notch (hey, I'm a busy person with other priorities, you get what you get)I found a photo-a-day challenge on pinterest that I did during the month of January and some of February. Enjoy...

1. You

Not a picture of me, yet you can visualize me when you see these things. I must look so funny to people who see me working out at the gym. I look like an ICU patient and I'm sure they wonder why I'm at the gym instead of some hospital dying. I have my huge oxygen tank because I can't er, WON'T fork up an extra $100 a month for the better looking smaller one. This huge tank only costs around $30 a month, so I just deal with the awkwardness of it all. I also have a canula in my nose, an ipod with ear buds in my ears and an oximeter (pictured) which measures my oxygen stats and heart rate. I have so much stuff on me that I get pretty self conscious at the gym.
2. Breakfast

Sullivan requests pancakes every morning. I save myself some time and have some in the freezer. The girls tend to get more bored with the same old stuff for breakfast. So besides for the usual cereal/milk, they also enjoy smoothies, hard boiled eggs and bagels/cream cheese. In fact, we love breakfast so much that we sometimes have it for dinner...usually only on nights that I've neglected to go grocery shopping and I don't have anything else in the house. ;)
3. Something you Adore

4. Letterbox

I wasn't really sure what was meant by "letterbox" so I just went with what was easiest. Here is Sullivan getting our mail.

5. Something you wore

A gift from my husband, new earrings.
6. Makes you smile

My kids!

7. Favorite

Their is nothing better after a long day of motherhood than slipping in the jetted tub with the hottest of water and a lush bath product. Seriously it makes all problems go away.
More to the picture...

Obviously the kids like my jetted tub as well.
8. Your sky

Jeff taking the kids on a 2 miler.
9. Daily Routine

My daily routine is probably pretty boring to most people. To satisfy this category enjoy a picture of my chapstick. I use it daily, it is routine. ;)
10. Childhood

I don't remember much of my childhood other than it was GREAT. I had/have fantastic parents.
11. Where you sleep

I think it is kind of weird to put a photo of my bed on my blog, but I'm sure I'll appreciate it in the future.
12. Close-up

13. In your bag

Here is a list of what was in my bag...
Debit card, license, credit card, check book.
Lotion, bobby pins, gum and eye liner (the girls put it there after the b-ball game).
Dental Appointment reminder, package of fruit snacks and 1 half eaten lollypop.
Coupons and a list of books to check out at the library.
14. Something you're reading

Poison Study by Maria Snyder on my Nook, cute cover was a gift from my hubby.
15. Happiness

Happiness=Life in general, our home is where the things I love most are.
16. Morning

I really don't know if this qualifies under the "morning" category, but it was taken on the morning of his first day as a Sunbeam...that counts, right?!
17. Water

My relationship with water isn't what it should be, but I'm working on it.
18. Something you bought

The ONLY thing I buy is food for the family, unless I really, really, really want/need something. I do enjoy an occasional couponing grocery shopping trip though, as evidence by this photo. Our cabinets/pantry are stocked.

19. Sweet

K made this at Activity Days and we've enjoyed writing love messages back and forth. Just when I thought she couldn't possibly beat what I had just written, she came back with this message. It melted my heart.
20. Someone you love

21. Reflection

22. Your shoes

Well used!
23. Something old

My parents recently downsized and gave away basically everything they owned. Besides for scoring a new washer and dryer (Thank you Mom!) I was able to snag this photo album that was put together by my Grandma (my Dad's Mom). We saw photos of when he was a kid, when he served in Vietnam and when he dated my Mom. It also had a few pictures of me and my siblings when we were younger. It is priceless and I love it!
24. Guilty pleasure

Playing on the computer is such a fun waste of my time. I do feel guilty when I'm on it for too long though.
25. Something you made

I love to sew, I do. I love to craft too. I just haven't had the time or desire to make anything lately. So enjoy a picture of my greatest creation, a project I worked on for 33 weeks with a little help from Jeff. ;)
26. Color

27. Lunch

PB & J straight up! I tend to do more with dinner and breakfast, but lunch I like to make it cheap and fast.
28. Light

Sullivan playing with the flashlight again.
29. Inside your fridge

WHY?! I don't really understand why anyone would want to take a picture of the inside of their fridge. I thought that needing to take this photo would motivate me to clean out the fridge, but nope. Here you go, in all its glory.
30. Nature

Not sure if this is quite what I was looking for with the category of Nature, but it works. We have tons of branches and leftover wood to chop up for our firepit this summer. I'm very much looking forward to making smores.
31. You, again.

2012-01-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Playing Guess Who...this version is so much better than the older version!

2012-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

My Mom bought the girls a sewing machine for Christmas and we didn't waste anytime in using it.

2012-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

This stresses me out...

Not the cute boy hiding, but the disaster of a room. I'm not a clean freak by any means, but when it is so messy that they shelves are cleared off and their is no room to walk, well I go crazy! So, out with the old and in with the new! We bought some new Tupperware to help keep Sullivan's toys a little bit more organized and put all of the baby toys downstairs, I can't part with them just yet. It put an immediate smile on my face when I finished!

2012-01-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Sullivan called a meeting between all of his friends.

At closer look, Sullivan knows who is in charge...the Jedi Master himself.

We aren't really that geeky. Yoda came from a Happy Meal.

Cool picture

2012-01-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

2012-01-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

London was so proud of the birthday present that she found for her friend. I do admit it was the perfect gift! She wrapped it herself and even made a homemade birthday card to go with it. There was a lot of love put into that gift!!

Scrapbook

2012-01-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Kamryn got some scrapbooking supplies. We've been putting them to good use lately.

Nail Art

2012-01-21T20:30:00.001-08:00

I don't know why my girls love having their nails painted because they never keep it on longer than 10 minutes or so. I do love making them happy though.

Sick Day

2012-01-21T20:26:00.001-08:00

London came home from school sick. She took a little nap on the couch and when she woke up she had pillows and blankets piled on her that came from a concerned little brother.

B-ball

2012-01-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

Went to watch some high school basketball. Girls HAD to make posters and HAD to draw paw prints on their cheeks, that's the spirit!

Advent

2011-12-26T16:23:00.000-08:00

This Christmas season I accomplished all that I wanted to. It was a Christmas that left no regrets, no "I wish I would have done or had time for that" and plenty of family memories that I'll cherish forever!! We had a good mix of fun, learning and serving others.

Our advent calendar that contained activities to be completed. Not all of the things we did are represented in these photos. And, my nice camera has completely stopped working. I've been using K's camera...boo. Sorry for the terrible photos.

We started off with a night away in Boise for some Christmas shopping. We treated it as "celebrating Jeff's 33rd birthday." We had a lot of fun. The kids especially loved spending a decent amount of time in the pool. Love this shot of Sullivan flying from one bed to another. DISCLAIMER...London had accident on the drive to Boise (we left promptly after they got out of school) and I only packed her 1 outfit. So we HAD to go buy the kids a new outfit (when buying for one, we usually end up buying for all). All of these photos were taken on different days but the kids seemed to wear these new outfits A LOT!! My apologies!

The BEST breakfast.

We started the Elf on a Shelf tradition. Our Elf is named Buddy, original hu ;) Buddy was quite naughty most of the time. Here he painted Sullivan's nose while he was asleep.

Window markers for Christmas decor...what a mess!!

We read all the snowmen books we own followed by making our own puffy paint snowmen.

I think we own EVERY Christmas movie. Practically every night was a movie night at our home!

We made a long paper chain.

Today we wrote Grandma and Grandpa letters and made them these cute little foam Snowmen.

Today we did a photo scavenger hunt. If they completed they'd get a prize (the cheap medal).

Most things were found around the house...

For the items that we didn't have around the house they just drew pictures.

Then they just resorted to looking up items on google and taking a picture of it, pretty smart if you ask me...well lazy, but smart!

We've heard a lot about this place that has a ton of Christmas lights so we took the kids to see it. Wow! It was incredible! So many lights, so many people and even a camel to feed carrots too, those pictures didn't turn out though.

The ward Christmas party.
K was an angel, London was a star and my cute little sunbeam class were donkeys.

After the presentation, a group of toddlers gathered round Jesus.

Sullivan asked Santa for a "motor-Physch-Err." It was way cute. Santa happened to be really impressed that he wanted one.

Assembled this nativity set using toilet paper rolls, can't get a more "$FREE$" activity than that!

Built a foam gingerbread house.

We made snowflakes out of craft sticks to decorate our house with. Leave it to my creative London to create a doll with the left over craft sticks.

Tavaci concert. Buddy was completely right when he said "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." I love watching my girls perform in the Christmas Tavaci concert. They are adorable. And, it was so nice to have Jeff's parents, sister, sis-in-law and her kids come to watch as well.

We read Christmas books galore.

I was trying to avoid making real gingerbread houses this year, but they weren't very satisfied with the foam gingerbread house that we made so I broke down and did the real thing for an activity.

K's school Christmas concert

London's school Christmas concert.

We spent a few days assembling and delivering goodie plates, teacher gifts and rootbeer reindeer similar to these. Wow...every year our list gets bigger. We definitely didn't give out as many as I would have liked though.

For the last 7 days of our advent we took each individual piece of the nativity and studied them and talked about them. Then we did an activity according to that person. For example, we talked about Mary and how her heart was so pure and faithful and we made these heart ornaments afterwards.

When we talked about Joseph, we learned that he was such a faithful servant and was the one that was not in the spotlight as much, but still a major part in the birth of Jesus. We went and did some secret service after this. And, we ended with the baby Jesus. We basically did everything that was suggested in this book...(definitely worthy of your purchase!).

This last week before Christmas spent studying each individual person/animal/angel that played a part in the Christmas story definitely made for a great experience with my children. I got the opportunity to share with them my testimony which usually ended with me getting teary eyed. I hope they know how much the Savior means to me.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day

2011-12-26T14:30:00.000-08:00

Santa pancakes for breakfast.

All children go through this phase and it is a phase that has made Jeff create the rule "NO MARKERS in the house." It doesn't matter though, no matter what, a marker will be found and drawing on furniture and walls happens to be an activity all 3 of my kids have participated in. Sullivan happened to find a marker and drew EVERYWHERE right before Grandma and Grandpa were to arrive.

Decorating sugar cookies for Santa. Obviously more ended up in Sullivan's stomach than on his cookies.

While waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive, we had a dunk contest in Sullivan's room. He was being such a ham.

After we ate dinner er, a bunch of appetizers for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, we played Minute to Win It, Christmas style. Basically everything they did here

The reading of Luke 2, combined threats to the kids that we wouldn't do the gift exchange if they didn't behave...luckily they were angels!

We exchanged little gifts with each other that night. My Dad had my name and tried to pull a gag gift on me, unfortunately I lost my sense of humor and thought that it was an awesome and thoughtful gift...I'm too nice sometimes. Then he pulled out my real gift and gave it to me. So, if you want to be funny and get a laugh, do it to someone else because chances are I won't get it and the joke will be on you ;) Sorry I'm so lame Dad!

We ended the evening by watching Sullivan's favorite movie, The Polar Express. He ended up falling asleep during the first 20 minutes though.

Bright and early on Christmas morning (5 am), wearing their PJ's that they opened on Christmas Eve.

Sullivan got a train table. He did the same thing as he did the year before...he played with the table and didn't care much about the other presents under the tree. He loved everything, but the train table kept his attention for quite a long time.

London's new doll. I think she gets a new one every year. I wonder when her love of dolls will be a thing of the past??

Jeff LOVES his new Ipad 2. He makes Christmas shopping so easy for me!

Kamryn modeling her new scarf, thanks Ash!!

What does a guy get a girl who has everything she has ever wanted and couldn't even think of anything to ask for Christmas??? Oh yeah!! My man knows me well! I can't wait to put my new Soda Stream to use.

Off to church, there is no better place to be on Christmas day! I kinda wish Christmas fell on a Sunday every year.

Tavaci Concert

2011-12-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

The girls had another successful Tavaci concert last night. Kamryn has been in Tavaci now for 4 years, ever since it started here. And, London has been in Tavaci for 3 1/2 years now. They both love it and I love it!! The following pictures were taken by a friend, we had terrible seats and I had a terrible camera!

Kamryn sang Tiny Little Baby in a quartet. She sounded amazing!!

London (far right on top) really got into all of her songs this year! She was fun to watch.

And one final picture, my favorite song of the evening...the munk song contained no singing, just a recorded version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas with which they held up signs with the words written on them. I think I laughed through the whole song.

3rd B-day

2011-12-05T13:52:00.000-08:00

Sullivan turned 3 years old recently. He's like a little man now, growing up so much.

Sullivan has grown leaps and bounds with his communicating. He is still working on pronunciation, but it is so cute that I almost find myself using the following words in place of the correct words...

Ah La= Ice cream
Rawry= Sorry
Oten= Open
Wee Ooo= Any ambulance, firetruck or police car
Chalk-it-milk= Chocolate Milk
Nute Naks= Fruit Snacks
Nanny= Kammi
Nun Nun= London

He recognizes when he does wrong and corrects himself all the time, it is quite cute. He's put himself in time out for hitting. And, goes through out the day saying "I no say poopy pants, I no say What the."

We encourage him to be polite by saying "Say it nicely." Now he says "nicely" in place of please and thank you..."I want Nute naks nicely."

He's extremely independent too. I swear I hear "me do it" or "by myself," at least a dozen times a day.

His sense of direction is amazing for a 3 year old, or maybe we just live in a small enough town. We play games in the car together, he tells me when a stop sign/light is coming and when I should stop and when I can go. Tells me when to turn, where Daddy's office is, where the church is etc.,. He goes to his cousins house 3x a week in the morning so that I can go work out and we play another game called "Is this Bear Bear's (nickname he calls his cousin Sarah)house?" And then we both say "No" and then he keeps asking at each house we pass until we come to Bear Bear's house and we both say "Yes." Sounds silly, but I'll cherish this game because it is ours!!!

His most favorite food has probably got to be popcorn, he asks for it nightly. I think he just likes throwing it on the ground and making me vacuum daily.

He will be a sunbeam in the new year!! CRAZY!!

He has a tinge of shyness to him, especially when meeting new people.

He does NOT like change. A new coat, new shoes, rearranging his room and not letting him watch TV at his regular time have all caused tantrums. He is a creature of habit and when things are slightly different than what he is used to, he definitely lets me know.

With the above statement said, potty training has been extremely difficult!! But, we are almost there now.

Poor kid has asthma. I've been in denial about it and I doubted that the doctor was right, but the same symptoms keep happening. This last attack was so bad his little heart was pounding so fast that it scared me and I was on the verge of rushing him to the ER. It was a long night for me monitoring him and checking his stats to make sure he was getting enough O2 and that his heart rate didn't rise to high while sneaking in some of his albuterol treatments. By the morning, he was back to normal. Are asthma attacks like this (lasts 8 hrs or so, runs a fever, heart beats fast, sucking in air/breathing hard)? I've never been around this before. The doc thinks it might be something in the air that is causing him to have these attacks, but I can't figure out what it might be. If anything, I think that when he's running a lot and physically active that I can hear him wheeze a bit. But, nothing that would cause these asthma attacks.

He is the most kind hearted kid and such a gentleman!! Whenever Jeff is on a business trip Sullivan takes on the "man of the house" very seriously. He mimics Jeff by trying to use the fly swatter to kill flies, waters the tree, sits on the lawn mower, sleeps on Jeff's side of the bed (my fault) etc.,. This isn't something that he's told to do, he just does it...so cute.

So, one day while Jeff was on a business trip, I took Sullivan to the bank with me to deposit a check. It was raining pretty hard outside. I was holding his hand as we were fast walking into the bank when I said "Lets hurry, mama is cold." Sullivan replied "Mama want my B" which is his blanket that he has at home. I looked down at my sweet boy who happened to let go of my hand as I said "Aww, you are such a sweet boy" and noticed he was unzipping his jacket and took it off and gave it to me. My heart melted. Of course I threw it over my shoulders so that he could see that I was grateful for his sweet gesture and I let him know how much it helped keep me warm... when really his kindness warmed my soul through and through already.

The next story...

We were all sitting down to a family dinner. I usually don't place drinks out because the kids have a drink setting on the counter most days that they just grab and bring with them. Jeff and I were deep in a discussion about...hmm, don't remember. Then we hear London ask for a drink, but I don't think it registered or we were too lazy to do anything about it. She can climb on the counter and grab a glass and get a drink herself pretty easily, though she's the only one of my kids who doesn't like to do things herself. I think we tell her she can do it or something. I see her go over and try to hop on the counter, grab a stool to climb up etc.,. For some reason, she can't grab a glass. Then we hear a chair being scooted across the hard wood floor, from the table by Sullivan. Jeff immediately tells Sullivan "What are you doing, go put it back." This is a common occurrence in our house, he's pretty independent and gets what he wants, therefore we ALWAYS have to put these chairs back and tell him that he needs to ask for things before he goes to get them. Then his sweet little voice responded with a "I help Nun Nun, get Nun Nun a glass." My sweet little boy saw a need and went right ahead and did it himself.

Now for the birthday festivities...

First thing in the morning he got to open his gifts...

He was so busy playing with his new toys that he didn't eat any of his birthday pancakes. An hour or so after breakfast, he went searching for some food on his own.

Testing out his new boat in the bathtub. Every time Sullivan saw this boat on a commercial he'd say "I want that," "Buy me that," or "For my birthday," so Jeff and I got it for him despite the package saying for 8 years or older. Luckily he has a couple of great sisters that are willing to help him put it together and take it apart.
(Picture was here)
He's very much into planes, trains and automobiles.

Buzz defeating Zurg

Sullivan and his cousin have birthdays during the same week in November, so we did a combined birthday get together. Malorie made this cute treasure chest cake and we provided the ice cream (can't mess that up!) They each got to blow out their half of the candles.

2011-11-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

Jeff risked his life and put up Christmas lights on our home. We are all glad that he is okay and his feet are safely planted on the ground. Our home does look beautiful though!!

Door Bell Ditchin

2011-11-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

I HAD to get rid of some of our Halloween candy! I'm trying to get healthier. So, for Faychee (FHE) we made some cute Turkeys and loaded them with our left over Halloween candy and went door bell ditchin. The kids had so much fun that they didn't care we were giving away all of our candy!

2011-11-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

We were feeding the missionaries right after church on Sunday. I cooked the cornbread right before church so that I'd have 1 less thing to do before they came. I only had enough eggs to double the batch. After I pulled them from the oven, I went to shower and get ready for church. This is what I found when I got out. Sullivan climbed up and grabbed scoopfuls of cornbread to eat.

I managed to save a few pieces of cornbread and ended up throwing together another salad to compensate for the lost cornbread. I could have gotten frustrated by the whole thing, but instead I just took it as a compliment...I must make REALLY good cornbread!

A flapper, skeleton and ninja

2011-11-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

*Side note...I bought these costumes after Halloween the year before on major clearance. I honestly thought a flapper was just a dancer from the 20's/30's. Thanks to Wikipedia for helping me realize that a flapper is not just a dancer, but a prostitute. By the time we realized my error, it was too late and K had to use this as her costume. I apologize for this and the next time I will make sure to pick out appropriate costumes no matter how much money I save! ;)

Bad Kitty

2011-11-27T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is the pumpkin that London decorated for her schools book character pumpkin carving contest. She had free reign to do whatever she wanted. She picked a book, I picked up some black paint and she did the rest. I think it looks adorable (especially the little details like the 3D paper whiskers)! I was pretty proud of her creativity.

2011-11-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

Riding with Grandpa!

Corn Maze

2011-11-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

We did a corn maze again this year. They did things a little different than the year before. Instead of having a map with the locations of the punches, this year their was no map and you had to wander around till you found the 5 punches. I much preferred the year before. I can navigate with a map, but without one I just get frustrated! Still, we had a lot of fun and ended up finding all 5 punches and each of the kids got a free bag of cotton candy as a reward.

Found the tower, now where to find more punches!

The corn maze is connected to a park that has homemade slides...they are huge and both girls are pretty scared to go down them. Jeff talked London into it though.

Kamryn and Sullivan watching Jeff and London go down the big slide.

Foodcraft

2011-11-27T15:16:00.000-08:00

When Ash is near, we always get to do fun stuff with food.

2011-11-27T14:53:00.000-08:00

This knife weilding auntie came for a visit before Halloween. So, Jamie and Mal and kids came over and we all carved pumpkins, decorated Haunted House sugar cookies and ended the evening outside by the firepit roasting smores.

London dressed up for the occasion, church dress and all.

Sullivan had a lot of fun digging inside the pumpkin. He'd keep his hand in there for quite sometime, guess he liked feeling the sliminess of the guts.

K made Sam his very own vampire pumpkin since he was too little to carve one for himself.

This family photo kind of cracks me up. We all look like deers caught in headlights. My camera is kind of tempermental due to excessive use and for some reason it likes to act up every once in a while. I think this had to have been the only clear photo out of the 10 that were taken.

2011-11-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

All Boy

2011-11-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

We have this drain off area on our driveway where puddles of water collect. Sullivan LOVES to play and get dirty in them. I usually put him in play clothes and let him go at it. I'm all for Sullivan acting like a boy. See how much fun he's having...

But, when it gets to this point I have to step in...

Eww!

Last days of summer

2011-11-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

First day

2011-11-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

London started 2nd grade.

Kamryn started 4th grade, in a new school.

2011-11-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Every year I am to check in with my pulmonologist who LOVES to torture me and run pulmonary function tests and any other array of torture he can think of. Nah, it isn't that bad. It usually makes for a long day and I really hate the doom and gloom speeches and looks I get when everyone sees how bad my lungs really are. Other than that, I'm grateful that I can schedule everything in one day and get it over with.

I have a new pulmonologist...YAY!! The last one had a personality like Eeyore. So...we have an appointment before we schedule all the tests. He notices how much phlem I am coughing up and asks if this is normal. I tell him I'm coughing phlem (sorry this is kinda gross) about every 10 minutes. He is a little concerned, says that my pulmonary fibrosis is a dry lung disease and this shouldn't be happening and schedules a CT scan of my lungs to see what is happening.

The day of the tests arrive. I'm so grateful that Jeff works for a company that is willing to let him work from home so that he can keep an eye on Sullivan while I am away. My Mom had a bad reaction to the Iodine that is injected before a CT scan a few years ago and has had some problems since then. I'm kind of nervous about the CT scan, never had one before.

The nurse instructs me that she needs me to take a pregnancy test before the CT scan...weird, but okay. It never fails either...as she takes those little droplets of my urine and slowly drops them on the test and sets the timer for 3 of the longest minutes ever, I'm secretly hoping that she says "You're Pregnant." I know, of course, that I am not, but I still secretly hope and then I start day dreaming of the phone call I'd get to make to Jeff. And yes, my heart was a little sad when she said I wasn't pregnant.

She inserts the IV into the crook of my arm with the longest needle ever. I was afraid that if I bent my arm that it'd poke right through my skin. Stiff arm...I look like a complete robot idiot. CT scan only takes 10 minutes and the iodine made me feel so warm and tingly that I liked it. No side effects, yay!

Onto the pulmonary functions tests which is hard work for a person who has yuck lungs.

Then I get to see the Dr. and discuss all these results. From my CT scan he immediately notices that I've developed what is called Acquired Bronchiectasis which are these little pockets in my lungs that fill with phlem...a lot of cystic fibrosis patients have this. Since I don't have a problem coughing this stuff up then I don't need the medication yet. This will more likely get worse as I get older, but for now it isn't that big of a problem...just gross for people who are around me a lot.

Ultimately, my lung function has declined. The biggest decline was in the size/volume of my lungs which affects my ability to get oxygen. I've noticed more as I've monitored myself that my stats drop more sitting than exercising. When I"m more relaxed, my breathing isn't as deep and therefore my stats drop. Which is good and bad at the same time. Exercise should still be possible and I've just got to remember to breath deeper all the time. He's assuming (and I agree) that fat is making it harder for my diaphragm to expand and that is why my lung size has decreased. He's hoping that if I were to lose some weight that my lungs would expand more. That's pretty motivating to lose some weight!!

I started pulmonary rehabilitation 2 months ago. They taught me some breathing techniques and different things I could do to help keep my stats above 90% while I work out. Currently I am using the things I've learned and applying them as I work out at our local rec center (BIG THANK YOU to my sis-in-law Malorie for watching Sullivan). I have a long way to go but support, love, and any encouragement would help along the way. Really though...anything to just feel better and breathe better will be worth it!!

If this post seems depressing, please know that it isn't. This is the norm for me, probably sounds worse than it actually is. In fact I am doing completely awesome. I remember seeing a pulmonologist a year or so after my accident and he gave me 10 years to live. Can you imagine how I felt after hearing that??

London's 7th Birthday

2011-10-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

My birthday kids get to pick out what to eat for every meal on their birthdays. For breakfast, London wanted anything that Kamryn would make for her. So, Kamryns specialty are pancakes/waffles and that is what London got. However, these pancakes were found on pinterest and they are birthday cake pancakes. WOW...I don't really recommend making these though. They were loaded with sugar, sugar, sugar. Not a great way to start a day. But, London loved them and that's what matters.

She decorated herself. ;)

Don't look too closely at her cupcakes. The top one was actually a butterfly, but the white chocolate wings broke. Then Sullivan kept stealing off a marshmallow here and there and sticking his fingers in the frosting. Actually, I consider the cupcake art attempt a complete fail. I even attempted to put a cute pink heart inside the cupcake (as seen on pinterest) and it was a complete fail...looked like a pink blob. Oh well...I tried and a lotta love went into these even if they don't look it.

Opening presents...

Not that great of a picture, but you can see the kids had fun throwing confetti everywhere.

Me and my girl! Please excuse my messy shirt, it was obviously a long day. ;)

I love my London girl!

Unstoppable

2011-10-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

2011-10-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

These kids definitely have fort making skills!

Lagoon

2011-10-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

We attended our nephews baptism in Utah over the weekend and ended up spending a day at Lagoon with the kids and Aunt Ashley.

Jeff won the kids each a fish...too bad it costs $5 per fish.

Trapped

2011-10-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

He likes to spray the hose at me. I patiently wait inside watching from the windows. I tease him by opening the door and then he starts spraying the water again. It was all fun and games until it was time to turn off the water.

2011-10-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

My poor second child, she's never owned a bike of her own. She's had some hand me down bikes, one of which I ran over a couple of years ago. She was 6 years old, almost 7 and didn't know how to ride a two wheeler. So, we went out and bought a brand new bike. London asked her Dad to help teach her how to ride and he said he would but he had to go inside to do something really quick. By the time he returned (5 min.), she had taught herself how to ride. I guess when you are that old you just pick it up easier. She's loved it though, loves to exercise and this is a great way to do it.

Cousins Week

2011-09-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

So, my sister and I started a cousins week swap last summer and the kids loved it. It is a new tradition, I suppose. Though, this year, I felt the need to invite other cousins along so that they didn't feel left out. It was a crazy, busy, fun week. Here are some of our outings...

Cousins Week part 2

2011-09-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Home made lava lamps were a huge success.

More Cousins Week

2011-09-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

Smores

Can I just say how much I love all my nieces and nephews! And, if it was possible, I would have taken all 21 (now 22) of them for the week.

Cousins Week part 3

2011-09-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Cousins Week part 4

2011-09-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

We attempted to make rock candy.

Cousins Week part 5

2011-09-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

The kids decided to ambush Jeff when he got home from work.

Ash wanted to stay dry.

She tried helping Jeff out a little bit and the kids turned on her and she ended up the most drenched out of everyone!

He's all business when it comes to water fights!

Cousins Week part 6

2011-09-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

A big thank you goes to Aunt Ashley. She definitely helped out where needed and made things so much easier and smoother for me!

S family reunion

2011-09-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

We had a family reunion at our place again. Luckily, we had a lot of help and things went a lot smoother than the last time.

The brothers, when together, have golf tournaments and even pass a trophy between each other depending on who won. So, while the guys golfed, the women entertained the kids. I can't put up even a little bit of the photos I took because we spent most of the day doing water activities and it is not my place to put pics of other kids on my blog, especially in swim suits. We had a water slide, swimming pool, water balloon games and fights. It was a fun afternoon.

The BEST part of having the family reunion at my own house is that I had my own comfortable bed to sleep in every night. The others got...

Girls played dress up.

I think we used the fire pit every night for smores or dutch oven.

The kids got to decorate bags with puffy paints and then they had a scavenger hunt and got several fun prizes.

Bleach pen t-shirt designs.

We went canoeing.

Malorie ALWAYS had fun things for the kids to do!!

Friday morning we woke up and got ready and went to Shoshone falls for family pictures. Luckily I wasn't the photographer...

For some reason, it is really stressful to get such a large family photo. She did a great job, but took a lot of crap for it. It was hot, we were tired, kids were not listening (at least mine weren't). It was a difficult morning. Ash was only able to take 1 shot and I've seen it...it is beautiful and we are lucky that it worked out! Good job Ash!

Years and years ago (2001, I think), we had our very first family reunion...before kids came along and um, changed things. We were each in charge of providing a meal. And since I never do things like I'm supposed to, I decided to go all out for my meal and provide some entertainment during the meal itself. We did our very first murder mystery party. It was interesting to say the least. Everyone dressed the part and read their parts well...at the time I didn't think it was very successful, but we still talk about it to this day and for that reason it was a huge success. Jeff and I were supposed to be gypsies, love his fro!

Fast forward 10 years and we "attempted" the murder mystery again.
Spencer as The Count, a very pregnant Melanie as Alice in Wonderland, Dave as Prince Charming, Gloria as Snow White, Malorie as Little Red Riding Hood, Jamie as Robin Hood, Callie as Juliet, Justin as Hamlet, Jeff as Sherlock Holmes, Ash as John Silver and me as Rapunzel.

We gathered and played a break the ice type game with a beach ball that had several questions written all over it. When you caught the ball, wherever your left thumb landed, that was the question you answered in character. I think it definitely set the mood more and I was so grateful everyone was trying to have fun with it. Then we played the game. I'd say it was a lot of fun, but it did kinda stress me out too. Kids kept coming in because they were curious as to what we were doing. I had "basic" instructions because I didn't want to ruin the game for myself. Then we went outside to take a picture, wonder what my neighbors think of me now. Still, it was a lot of fun and I hope everyone had fun and that we will talk about these murder mystery parties for years to come.

A new thing we did this year that I hope continues on in other family reunions was the talent show. We went to our local ward building, which set the perfect tone. I was slightly nervous how everything would go and if people would even participate, but it went off wonderfully.

Jeff had a busy night, he was not only the MC, but he performed a duet with Ashley and another duet with Kamryn (A Child's Prayer). London performed a song with her cousin Kimberley, Kamryn also performed a clapping game with her cousin Emily, Kamryn also sang a solo, Praise to the Man...it brought tears to my eyes. So happy my little family represented. I always feel so dumb at talent shows, I don't have a performance talent to showcase so it tends to "get to me," but I'm so so so happy that my kids are fearless and that they can sing! ;)

Other talents that were notable: Brendan's Cars 2 song, which was quite impressive since he did it on the fly. Becky's art work, Kimberley sang Castle on a Cloud, both Emily and Maryn danced, Justin and Callie performed a duet of a song in Spamalot (not sure of the song name)...talk about a funny performance, Both Melanie and Spencer helped out with piano playing the whole time and Catherine even jumped in with her rendition of Castle on a Cloud (which she wrote herself ;). Jamie also sang a solo, brave man. (Hope I didn't miss anyone)

Yep, I married into a talented family.

On our last day together, everyone packed up and helped clean up and then we rented out our local swimming pool and went swimming. I have a million photos of this, but again, not my kids and not my right to put them on my public blog. So, hope these few photos do it justice for how much fun was had. They had life jackets for most of the kids which made it a lot more fun for them and more relaxing for the adults. After swimming, some took off and went home and some went to eat lunch at Mcdonalds while the kids played some more.

4th of July

2011-09-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Day 5k

2011-09-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Popcorn Popping

2011-08-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is why I'm a nervous Mom!!!

Kitties

2011-08-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Either that cat is fat, or pregnant...

I felt so bad for that cat, she waddled around looking so miserable and hot. I only let her in our house a couple of times to cool off and relax. And then, that last time that I let her inside, I forgot about her and left her there while running some errands. When we got home we couldn't find her anywhere. We finally found her behind Jeff's clothes that were hanging in his closet (gross, but so thankful it wasn't on my side of the closet). We thought she was done having the kitties and we were happy that she only had 3 of them. But, as we checked on her through out the day we'd find more kitties. She ended up having 3 gray and 3 orange tabbies. They are super cute.

They are a lot older now and ready to be given away to whomever wants one (free).

First Play Date

2011-08-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Sullivan has a friend and they have matching hair color. ;) It is so cute to see them together. We invited his friend over and after about 15 minutes of playing with toys, they were bored. Sullivan really had no clue what to do while his friend was there. So, I made a quick batch of sidewalk paint and let them go to town. The most fun they had was squirting the vinegar on the paint and watching it foam. Unfortunately, I sent friend home with green fingers ;).

Cars 2

2011-08-08T14:05:00.001-07:00

Summer School

2011-08-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Summer School started out strong, but has fizzles since our last family reunion. Wish I had my mojo back, it was going really well for awhile.

Scooter Track

2011-08-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

The girls really enjoy riding their scooters downstairs, especially since it is so hot outside. So, I taped a track design around the whole unfinished basement downstairs. I ran out of tape before I took this picture, but the track has been a lot of fun for the girls.

Family Reunion

2011-07-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm a blog slacker!! Summer is so busy for us, I rarely have time to blog. Forgive me. The summer started out with a bang and hasn't stopped. We first had Kammi's birthday, then Jeff and I took a trip to Minnesota and then the very next weekend we went to a family reunion in Washington. We always look forward to these reunions, especially now that we get to see Sullivan's birth family.

First we had a hay ride. I sent Sullivan with just Kammi and London so I became "nervous" mom the whole time. Of course when they got back he was still on my very responsible 9 year olds lap. She'll make the best babysitter someday!!

At the reunion, Sullivan acted as if he'd never been outside a day in his life. He wouldn't stay in the lodge and when he did, he was so busy running from one place to another. It was stressful to me because I had a hard time keeping an eye on him and I admit I am a nervous Mom. The place was surrounded by a highway and lakes. Jeff pretty much did most of it, followed him everywhere. We were both exhausted!!

This was on one of our many walks we had to have. Jeff taught Sullivan how to skip rocks, it was a sweet moment that made my heart swell with love for my 2 guys!

This is Kam participating in the comedy show.

Siblings. Hal, Favell, My Mom, Penny and Sid were all at the reunion.

Marshmallow Wars...

Cousin Alyssa...such a big help with Sullivan.

My Uncle Bob made himself a "gold" marshmallow gun and even painted his marshmallow ammunition gold.

I think Sullivan enjoyed eating them more than shooting them.

Flowers for me...nope, they were for Grandma. I was informed by London who picks me flowers quite often that I just end up throwing them away...broke my heart. I explained myself, apologized and then she gave me 1 of the flowers, Grandma got the rest.

K went rock climbing. I missed it because of an auction my family was doing, but I heard she did awesome!!

The kids still went on this huge waterslide despite it being rainy and cold outside.

One (of several) fun Uncle!

First off, can you tell which one is Kylee...ha ha?? I love their matching hair color. She took Sullivan on a canoe ride.

Then we went.

The family chain with everyone's name on it literally hung across the whole lodge, it was a beautiful site. Sid's family had the most, but I was pretty impressed with our small family. With Monte and Danielle's help, our family is pretty decent sized now.;)

Home improvements

2011-07-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

We had HUGE plans to accomplish this summer. They included...

Rock around the house.

Shrubberies were bought and planted.

Our garden was planted really late due to the wacky weather, but seems to have caught up to where it should be at this time of year.

Gutters were installed.

Rocks finished around the house. Jeff planted 2 trees. We still hope to plant some more this summer.

And, the BIG finale...

We had a patio installed.
The kids loved watching!

It was a big project!

Future hot tub area.

Fire pit area.

They aren't completely done yet, but it is looking amazing. We've used the fire pit 3 nights in a row and I'm in LOVE with it. I'm sure we'll have many family nights around that thing.

2011-07-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

We'd been hearing that the falls were beautiful this year because of all the water. We went and took a look ourselves. Then we had a picnic, played in a little creek and had a family baseball game.

9th Birthday

2011-07-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Kamryn's birthday was celebrated over 2 days since her actual birth day was on a Sunday. On Saturday we went out to eat at Tomatoes as per her request. Twas yummy! My kids do have manners, when they want.

Then Cold Stone for desert.

A rainbow cake which she decorated herself. She's getting good at this baking stuff!

Yes, she wanted fish for her birthday and they were dead 2 weeks later. No more fish for us!

Dough Beads for necklaces

2011-07-16T14:33:00.001-07:00

I've been hearing a little too much "I'm bored Mom." Thank goodness for google!

Ball

2011-07-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

The girls had a successful baseball season. London was in t-ball this year with her cousin Jamison. They had a lot of fun together. Kamryn was in her first season of coach pitch and she did excellent as well. They both hit the ball well, but still need to work on not being scared of catching the ball. Sorry for the sideways pictures, not sure how to fix it right now.

And while they played, he played...

Tavaci Spring 2011

2011-07-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

London sang her first duet and did a great job!

Tree of Life

2011-07-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

Jeff was asked to play the part of Lehi and teach the children in our primary about the Tree of Life during a primary activity.

To read the whole story go here.

I knew that wig we bought Jeff for Halloween a couple of years ago would come in handy again someday!

Holding on to the iron rod...

The Tree of Life, the ultimate goal.

London eating the most desirable fruit.

I'm a very visual/hands-on learner and though I've read Lehi's vision several times, I felt like I learned so much more seeing my children and husband act out the parts. The tree of life truly teaches us the importance of the choices that we make and the importance of continuing down the correct path, though the things around us may distract us. And, as a Mother, I'm more motivated than ever to learn and progress and teach my children to do the same. Mortality seems so much more important now that I have children to raise and teach!!

Minnesota

2011-06-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

I packed Kamryn's little camera because I didn't want to worry about my nice camera traveling. But, I didn't even end up pulling out her camera once and I have absolutely no pictures to show for our little week away sans kids. Boo!

Here are my pictures in words...

-On Monday, I met my parents half way and dropped the kids off with them for the week.

-We had no kids on Monday evening, so we decided to sneak in a date and went and watched the new X-men movie.

-We wake super early, drive to our destination which is an hour and a half away. Then we catch a flight. Most of the day was spent traveling, which is exhausting if you ask me.

-I'm not a fan of flying, especially without my kids. You don't recover from a plane crash, you die. I'm not sure if I'd be as scared if I had my kids with me, we'd at least all die together. So, Jeff and I had a total of 4 take-off's, 4 landings and 1 case of terrible turbulence when landing in Colorado (thinner air, I think). I squeezed the life out of Jeff's hand.

-To me actions speak louder than words... My hubby carried every piece of carry-on/luggage for me and even gave up the window seat for me each time, even when he had to sit by the cleavage baring grandma! ;)

-On our flights we read books, watched movies and competed in sudoku. It was so nice just to be with him.

-Jeff is a pro at traveling and when the car rental tried selling us on some upgrades, he asked the price difference which they said was only like $8, he turned them down and when we got the receipt we saw that they tried to sneak one by us or they can't do math worth beans because the price difference was more like $25 (a day). So, I was happy to have saved his company money but we ended up driving a dinky little Prius the whole time!

-They have 2 exits at the car rental place. One door, you wait in an air conditioned room, get a free beverage, have the car brought to you, luggage loaded and door opened and waiting for you. Since we declined the upgrades, we got the other door...

-We get on the road which has multiple arrows and exits and freeway/highway numbers and Jeff tells me I need to navigate. He's printed off like 50 different pages with directions to everywhere we need to go and needless to say...I lost my navigational privileges temporarily.

-Car rentals do have upgrades like GPS.

-We get to the Hay Expo and it is 106 degrees with the wind blowing like crazy!!! They needed us to set up our booth, but yeah right...it'd just melt or blow over. So, we set some things up and leave the rest for the next day. The show looks so small compared to the last one I went to.

-Subway for dinner.

-Check into hotel #1.

-Then we went to the Mall of America and walked around the mile long levels. It was HUGE! But, kind of disappointing...

-I've wanted to go to an H&M store for quite the long time. I built up this excitement for it and when I entered it was like my dream shattered. All the clothes were to small and not very modest. Dang it...I was going to buy my birthday there.

-My husband was so patient while I shopped. And, I did end up finding me a couple of things.

-Hot tub with hubby without worrying about kids drowning...awesome!!

-Sleeping in a king sized bed without kids makes me feel so alone, doubt I'll ever own one.

-Showering without hearing A. Pounding on the door. B. Screaming. C. Tattling. It's a luxury I miss.

-We get to the show early and set everything up...it is caked in dirt. Jeff hangs around for a bit, but as soon as the show starts he's off.

-He see's me off and on through out the day, but mostly he's out taking pictures of the demonstrations and contacting clients. Leaves me to the fun stuff...sitting and waiting for people to pass by and talk to.

-Had one dude that lingered longer and his topic of choice was Dr. Kevorkian and different ways people die while farming. He suggests we have a column in the magazine about farm deaths...

-Day 1 of the show is done. I did my best, but only ended up with a dozen or so referrals...boo!

-Ran errands to Walmart (can I not escape that place!) for a card reader so Jeff can do more work.

-I'm not complaining, but my hubby does not quit working!!! Even when we were away from the show he's talking about needing to contact this client, needing to respond to this email etc., I'm just grateful he's so driven!

-Day 2 of the show which happens to be my 35th birthday. Man, I feel so old. Jeff comments that I look miserable. I kinda want to strike up conversations with these old farmers that leads to me saying "oh yeah, today's my birthday" just so I can hear it and feel like it's actually my birthday, but I resist, suck it up and remind myself of how blessed I am.

-Rib sandwiches at the show=AWESOME!

-Got a call from my parents to inform me that London has potty trained Sullivan. It's a miracle. (side note...he likes using potties everywhere else but home, so we are still working on it)

-That night, birthday dinner is at Culver's. I've been hearing Jeff talk about this place for years and had to try it out myself. I liked it a lot, but nothing beats Jeff's BBQ!!!

-That concludes the Hay Expo and birthday celebrations.

-On Friday we wake early, head to the airport for the flight home. Again...4 take-off's and 4 landings, a sore hand on Jeff's part, 3 hour lay over in Denver, hour and a half drive home and then we hoped into bed and slept off everything.

-On Saturday morning we travel the 2 hours to go pick up the kids. I look forward to that sweet reunion...kids jumping in my arms and crying because they missed me sooo much.

-London is very excited to see me. Kamryn could care less, she's taking advantage of playing with her cousins because she knows it is going to end soon. Sullivan, my baby boy, jumped up into his Daddy's arms and wouldn't be passed to me, wouldn't be set down, just held on to his Dad until he fell asleep. It was sweet, broke my heart that he didn't want me, but so good to see how much of a Daddy's boy he really is. 1 out of 3...I'll take it.

-We end the day with a celebration of my Mom's 60th birthday. Their was much laughter, lots of tears (on my part especially) and good conversation all around. My Mom is one amazing person!

11 years

2011-05-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I just won wife of the year...

We are *trying* to be super strict with our money and save for something I'll blog about at a later time...it's awesome, you'll see. Anyway, since it was my turn to plan our anniversary and we were on a budget, I decided to just take Jeff golfing since it is the other love in his life. I had visions of hanging a "Just Married...11 years ago" sign on the back of the cart with some cans hanging from strings that dragged behind us, but I don't think Jeff would have been too excited for that to happen so I scrapped that idea. It would have made a super cute picture though. I haven't been golfing for such a long time that I didn't realize how spendy it was, especially with a cart...yikes, so much for being on a budget for our anniversary. Still, it was soooooo much fun! It makes me want my own clubs and membership, but seriously when would I ever have time to go. I for see a lot of golfing after we are retired though.

And, I could go on about how much I love my husband but I'll save that for his ears only! Happy 11 years to us!

Field Day

2011-05-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

The kids look forward to this every year! They get to sign up for different events and compete against other kids in their grade.

L participated in the ball toss, soccer kick and turtle relay.

K participated in the soccer kick, ball toss, jump rope, relay race and tug-o-war.

Note worthy

2011-05-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures, but thought that these were important for me to record on my blog for memory sake.

Jeff took Sullivan on his first overnight father and sons camp out. We weren't sure that Sullivan would handle it since he's been having difficulties staying asleep at night. Jeff took him anyway and pitched his tent away from everyone so that if Sullivan woke up crying he wouldn't wake anyone up. Jeff said he did great though, woke up once but went right back to sleep.

The girls and I went to a friends house for a spa night while the boys were away. We soaked our feet and then did glitter toes. It was so nice to get out of the house and do something with friends. Funny thing happened though...We put on face masks that were like grayish black in color, even put on white stuff around our lips (sorry, I rarely have spa days so I am not sure what this stuff is even called). We all had these masks on our face the whole night. I started getting sleepy, so I left around 11pm. A friend asked if I wanted to wash my face mask off before I went and I declined, I was only like 2 minutes from home. Then they said not to get pulled over and we all laughed. Well, guess what...I got pulled over on the way home. You should have seen the cops face when he saw me. Basically he just raised his eyebrows and then told me I was going 58 in a 50 mph (come on!). I was quite embarrassed though.

Jeff and I were able to attend our very first showing of Wicked. Jeff's youngest sister Ashley went with us as well. She's a huge fan and I think I am now too! The music was amazing! We saw a matinee showing so we had 2 understudies for the main characters. They were so good though!!

Easter Activities

2011-05-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year, just like every year actually.

A friend organized an Easter egg hunt. It was so nice to be able to have my kids do an actual hunt with other kids and not just at home like we've been doing. Sullivan learned quickly that these eggs held candy and their was no stopping him.

Coloring Easter eggs this year was quite fun! I had to leave my controlling, wanna be perfectionista side of my personality behind and just let the kids do what ever they wanted. And, because of that I think it was the most fun that we've ever had as a family dying Easter eggs.

Easter baskets.

A friend invited us over to make easter egg nest cookies.

Easter outfits.

Mother's Day

2011-05-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

The achievement day girls put on a wonderful lunch for us Mom's. The best part for me was when Kamryn took the opportunity to tell everyone why I am special(as did all the other girls)..."because she plays board games with me."

2011-05-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful barrier of trees that blocked the front of our home. I loved those trees, they not only blocked the canal off providing the extra comfort I needed to even let my kids go play outside, but they also semi blocked the road so our house wasn't all that visible for passerby's. They were mostly all dead though, so they had to go. A member of our church came and chopped them all down and provided much needed firewood to several families. I'm starting to warm up to the new view.

After the process was finished, we invited Jeff's brother and his family who just moved to our little town over for a night of fun. We enjoyed a quick weeny roast while they were burning the leftover trees.

Then we set the kids up in our un-finished downstairs with a movie and popcorn while the adults stayed upstairs and watched the new Harry Potter movie. It was a great night!!

Donuts for Dad

2011-05-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

The girls got to take Dad to a special breakfast at school.

Just Practicing...

2011-05-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

Jeff got me a new scanner for Mother's Day. I'm just playing around and trying to figure things out and had to post this cute picture that I just scanned of my favorite 2 men! Sullivan was about 5 months old.

Brain Freeze

2011-05-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

All about Kamryn

2011-04-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

My eight year old daughter is growing up, soon to be nine years old. She doesn't make my blog nearly enough and for that reason this post is ALL about her...

This post will melt your heart, I promise!!

One morning while Jeff and I slept in, she not only took care of Sullivan and London, but she logged on to allrecipes.com and collected a pancake recipe and proceeded to make pancakes for the family. Scratch that...she made flower, heart and mickey mouse shaped pancakes for the family.

It amazes me that she took the initiative to not only go online and find what she wanted to make, but that she followed the recipe to a tee (even knew what a whisk was) and made the family a fantastic breakfast, set the table and presented it in the best manner she could...all without so much as a "Can you help me Mom?" Or even a "May I Mom." This makes me one proud Momma! It is so true that children learn by the examples they see around them and their is no doubt in my mind that her Daddy (who makes breakfast for the family quite often) helped spark this idea in her mind that she followed through on!

I think this photo will make some future boyfriend a very happy guy.

She bore her testimony today for the very first time. She's been wanting to for awhile, but has been too scared to do it. I was shocked when she scooted right by me and headed for the stand. It was a proud mama moment!

K's been working on her Faith in God booklet and I suggested she learn to sew since that is something I enjoy and feel that it is an important talent to learn, plus she bugs me about sewing together on a daily basis. She chose to make a pillow case, easy straight line to start out on. We went to the fabric store and I thought for sure it would take us all afternoon for her to decide on a fabric for her pillowcare. Nope, not the case...she went right to the boy section and picked out a Thomas the train fabric so she could make her brother a pillowcase. I thought it was so sweet and selfless of her. Here she is after she made it...

Here is the boy enjoying his new pillowcase.

In K's Tavaci class they have a spotlight time where one kid is picked and they bring something they love to class with them to tell everyone all about it, a show and tell basically. One kid brought her horse and had everyone take turns sitting on it, another child brought in some bracelets that she makes. Well, guess what Kam brought in...

Here she is telling everyone about him and why she loves him so much...

He came bearing candy, even shared.

That's my Kammi, she's a good one!

This is the Place

2011-04-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

After the Hogle Zoo, we quickly ran across the street to the "This is the Place" monument. We'd heard from our family friend (Stephen Neal, the one who created the statue in our living room) earlier this summer that he had put new statues up in this park and I've been wanting to go since then.

They depict the Mormon Battalion.

I loaded them in the wrong order, but here is Duty Triumphs.

Duty Calls

They were amazing!

Hogle Zoo

2011-04-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

After Jeff finished with the show, we loaded the car up and headed to Hogle Zoo. This would be Sullivan's first experience at a zoo, so I was excited. It is always fun to witness your child seeing things for the first time that they normally don't see. He loved it! It was such a fun day, no crowds to fight and the kids pretty much went where they wanted and Jeff and I just followed. Sorry for all the photos!

Kamryn brought her camera and so London had to bring her DS because it takes pictures. It was cute to see them take pictures of everything though, just like me!;)

2011-04-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken the first night in our hotel. They were out so quickly! I guess driving to Utah, helping Dad set up for his show, going to Temple Square and the Church History Museum, going to Build-a-Bear and swimming in the hotel can make kids tired...who knew!

When my kids are sleeping so peacefully, I can't help but peak in on them and feel this unimaginable love for them. I always tend to feel a bit guilty when they fall asleep, did I do enough today, did I tell them I love them enough, did I hug them enough, did I get frustrated with them too much. When they are sleeping, I realize how fast time is going and how quickly they are growing up and it just motivates me to be an even better mom to them tomorrow. I'm so blessed to have these 3 wonderful kids in my care!

I saw this on a friends status on facebook and it opened my eyes..."Hilary Weeks said that we have most of our lives and all of eternity to spend with our adult children, but only a very short amount of time to enjoy them as young children."

What a unique and special time this is that I have with my children. I am trying to become a mother that enjoys the journey, one that enjoys every small fleeting moment.

Hotel Swimming

2011-04-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

We spent most of our time in the pool while Jeff was at the show. Good thing my kids are such great swimmers because after the first night of swimming, I didn't have the desire to ever go back in...the water was way too cold!

He's having fun, can't ya tell. Girls kept splashing him while doing cannonballs. He's easily entertained.

Sullivan has the cutest "Peez" in the world I melt every time I hear him say please. I think he knows this because he uses it on me all the time. He started begging Jeff to get in the pool with him (water was FREEZING) and when he interlocked his fingers and used his cute little "peez", it was the final straw...Jeff ended up in the pool with Sullivan.

Not related in anyway, but had to record so that I don't forget...Sullivan likes to practice words that we try to teach him. Once while I was driving and listening to him try to form words, I hear..."Say Peez, Say Peez, I say Peez, Say Peez, Say Peez, I say Peez." It was too cute! He's sure made leaps and bounds with his speech lately!

Big bum...we forgot the swim diapers at home. I should have just let him go without, doesn't look like this diaper helped at all.

These aren't the greatest pictures, but I had to post them anyway. My little man spent most of his time on the steps and doing chin-ups. He's such a stud, already workin on his guns!

2011-04-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah, we decided to surprise the girls with a trip to Build-a-Bear. They've been bugging us for years to do this and on a whim we decided to do it. We had them close their eyes and we stood them outside of the store and then let the see. I thought that they'd freak out, but this was the reaction...

They are excited and happy, but kinda confused. Finally, we point to the store and then they seem to understand what they get to do and then the freak out happened. We had 3 very happy kids, who would think that a stuffed animal could bring so much joy.

Stuffing the animal.

Sullivan picked out Sport Pj's for his bear. Here Jeff is trying to get it dressed.

Rubbing the hearts on their head so that their animal will be smart just like them.

Taking a break

2011-03-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Jeff happened to have a business trip that was in Utah and I decided I wanted to go with him even if it meant hanging out in the hotel with the kids and swimming all day (rough, I know). We took the kids out of school for three days (yikes!), but it was oh so worth it. Plus, I don't think they've missed but one or two days all school year anyway. For some reason when I justify it like that, it makes me feel better.

Here we are waiting on Jeff to grab some things from the office before we hit the road. I think this picture is so funny. For some reason, London had to wear this hat from an old Tavaci concert and you'll see it on her through out these pictures. It reminds me so much of Jeff's younger sister Melanie. Every time we watch slides of his family, or look through their pictures it seemed to me that Melanie always wore these goofy hats as well.

We noticed they had several of these new signs out. If you knew anything about me, you would know how happy I was to see them.

Sullivan loves hide and go seek. The girls play with him often when we are at home. He usually hides right before Jeff goes to work and Jeff has to find him to say good-bye before he leaves and he find the most hilarious spots...mostly under blankets, curtains and dirty clothes in the laundry room. We were getting ready to leave the hotel room and so he hid again. Funny kid!

After we checked in and after Jeff set up for the show, we took the kids to the church history museum where they have a new exhibit of art work from kids across the world. I'm a sucker for things like this! It was our first stop!

Here are my favorite ones that were displayed...

They have a little computer area for children to make their own art work to be displayed on a big screen and my kids were loving playing with it.

London was the only one to finish one though. It is a picture of her reading the Book of Mormon.

I tried to get a picture of her standing in front of the big screen when her picture rotated through, but this was the best I could get with the lighting. At least you know it is her because of that orange hat!

Jeff and Sullivan riding the escalators...or "alligators" as London would say. I think this was Sullivan's favorite part of the museum.

Have you seen the new one by Walter Rane...I LOVE IT! Hands down, he's one of my favorite artists.

After we were done with the museum, we quickly ran across the street to Temple Square...my old mission stomping ground. So much has changed! I think this is the point where Jeff was ready to go...too many activities that were "best behavior" places for a 2 year old.

I'll post more of our Utah trip later...I've got some things that need to get done ASAP!

Surgery

2011-03-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

We stayed the night in a suite the night before and got some major swimming in. My goal was to wear Sullivan out as much as possible so that he wouldn't realize that he was fasting. He's also learned to say "whim" (swim) and "ool" (pool). I love when he learns new words and tries them out.

Here are some before pictures.

They had a nice waiting room with toys, so again he was distracted and didn't ask for food or water (yay!). They called us back and asked a bunch of questions and then told us that a quick good-bye was best. Immediately, I start getting nervous...this is what I didn't want to happen. I thought they'd give him some sleepy juice or something before they ripped him from my arms. Well, the Doctor came in and made some marks on his neck (see pic below) and then tells me that he doesn't want him to have a waddle and that he is going to have to leave some of the tract, but that it'd be very small. Okay...I'm thinking that this is something he should have told me before I put my family up in a suite for the night, make my kid fast, pay for gas and food. Weird that he'd never mention it before. But, I figure he knows what he's doing and just hope that he does his job right and that everything will be okay. So, after he leaves, two very sweet nurses come in and Sullivan goes right to them...what!? Not what I was expecting, but I'm so grateful because it would have been the longest 2 hours of my life if he went away from me crying. Anyway, these two nurses are lovin on him and he waves good-bye to us just like that and we leave. I thought I'd hear him cry, but nope.

Towards the 1 1/2 hour mark, I start to get antsy. Before I know it, they call us back and the surgery is over. They have Jeff and the girls go to a small room while I go get Sullivan. The first thing I see when I see him is that he's got his hands behind his neck just relaxing and though he's a bit pale and not smiling, I could tell he was happy with his medication and enjoying the attention from the nurses. They transfer him to me and it doesn't even phase him what he just went through and that it was all over. No crying at all! He did get really irritated and grumpy after awhile of waiting though, he kept attacking his bandage and wanted it off.

The doctor came to see us, told us he had to leave a little bit of the stripe. Told us to take the bandage off in two days and then he was off. Seriously, this doctor does not like to talk, he's all business! Here is Sullivan on our way out the door.

It has been 4 days since his surgery. It has been a long 4 days. They have codeine and an antibiotic for him, but the taste really nasty and he won't take them. We've tried mixing them with bananas and yogurt, but after one taste he knows what we've done and won't eat the rest. Poor kid is in pain, keeps saying "owie mama." Jeff has been very helpful with getting him to take his medicine. I don't know what it is, but Sullivan likes to please him and will basically do anything Jeff says (Not fair!). So, we've had to "force" medicine a few times and the other times Jeff convinces him to do it.
(Though he is wearing the same outfit, I promise that it was washed between wearings...he likes them that much!)
This morning Sullivan pulled off the steri-strips over his neck. It looks okay though, I'm wondering if their are some internal stitches or something. Anyway, here is the end result...

I'm biting my tongue right now. I just didn't expect that much of his tract leftover. Basically it looks like he got rid of the nub and that's it. I'm hoping he doesn't have to have more surgery. I'm kinda frustrated though because I was led to believe that this surgery was "easy" and that everything would be taken care of.
I look forward to chatting with the doctor next Tuesday though and hopefully I'll be able to ask the right questions so that I can get some answers.

Life

2011-03-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

What I've been up to lately...

My old PC died finally. It had been croaking for a very long time and conveniently died a few days after we got our tax return money. Ha ha! I'm now the proud owner of a new Mac. Wow, what a difference and I like it! With the new computer I've been able to get back into digital scrapbooking which I've missed dearly!!

I decided in the new year that I need to be more constructive with the time I have with Sullivan while the girls are at school. I could be doing so much to help him communicate better. I've been having a mini toddler school time with him while the girls are at school and it has been a lot of fun. The resources online are ridiculous! I'm so blessed to live in this time where I can just copy other Moms who actually know what they are doing.

Here are a few activities that we've done recently.
Practicing tracing circles with a mason jar lid.

Practicing his lines. Soon those lines will turn into S's...I hope.

I gave him some blue water to squirt into a yellow cup, which made the water look green from the outside of the cup. I think teaching colors will definitely take some time.

Then I let him go to town and do what he wanted to do. Of course it ended up in a huge mess, but we had a lot of fun.

We are still working on consistency with toddler school. I'm sure once I get more organized it will be easier.

As if everything I mentioned above doesn't keep me busy enough, here is a taste of what I go through on a daily basis.

Ketchup on the windowsill. I just don't understand this one. He tries this multiple times a day.

I don't know if you can see this very well, I was trying to take a modest picture of it. He pulled my newly laundered and folded towels in the bath tub with him.

Helping me with the dishes.

Lately I've learned how different each of my children really are. If they were to want something they'd each go about getting what they want differently...

Kamryn can talk her way into getting anything. She's skilled with manipulation, logic and a memory that is almost as good as President Monsons.

London is my crier/whiner. It does not matter where we are at, she will not hesitate to throw a temper tantrum to get what she wants.

And, finally Sullivan...if he wants something, he just goes and gets it by himself.

Some examples...

Pours his own milk on his cereal.

When he is thirsty, he likes to drink from the bathroom sink. I do provide plenty of beverage in sippy cups through out the day, but he prefers it straight from the tap. ;)
So, as I walked by the bathroom with him looking like this I thought nothing of it. He's very polite, turns off the water when he's done usually.

Then I went by again and saw this...

Ugh, not again. He unrolled a brand new toilet paper roll and got it all wet in the sink and then flung it on the walls and ground. What a mess!

Orbeez! Have you heard of them yet? Kamryn LOVES her Orbeez. They are these tiny balls that when you soak them in water they grow to the size of a marble. She collects them in jars/vases and bowls and loves digging her hands into the slimy balls. I've been very clear that she is to keep them up high on a shelf in her room because I have this fear of needing to perform the himleck on Sullivan. Well, somehow Sullivan found a container and dumped it all over. Doesn't sound that bad, but their were literally hundreds of Orbeez squished everywhere. It was quite the mess! Looks like we'll need to put them somewhere else from now on.

We've learned to NEVER, EVER leave anything on our kitchen counters. It definitely helps us to clean up after ourselves. Still, we manage to leave something out that he gets into...The cinnamon/sugar mixture left over from morning breakfast and a block of cheese that I was going to shred and freeze. Look away for a second and he's a wild man with anything on the kitchen counters.

That's what I've been up to lately, hope you enjoyed!

2011-03-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to go visit Jeff's family over a weekend in February and while we were there we stopped by for a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Brown. Honestly, I was worried that my kids would be too hyper in front of Grandma and Grandpa Brown, especially after being buckled in the car for the hour and a half drive before. But, we went and the kids did exceptionally well. Grandpa Brown had a lot of fun with Sullivan, it was so cute watching them together. I remember my girls being scared of his mustache when they were Sullivan's age, but Sullivan warmed up to them so quickly. It does my heart so good!

School Concerts

2011-03-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Kids had their school music concerts and I must admit that I enjoyed them a lot more than I have in the past...the music teacher must have been less stressed out or something.

Kamryn was involved in a little mini play. I'm amazed at how well she does, the confidence that she exhibits and definitely how well she speaks loudly and clearly.

All of the first grade classes got a chance to perform on the xylophone during a song.

2011-03-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

All lined up and paired in colors. He loves to (though it is becoming rarer) line up his toys whenever he's playing with them.

V-day

2011-02-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's day this year we decided to not spend money on each other. We can show our love to each other through acts of service, kind words and lots of hugs and kisses.

Jeff started our V-day off right, with heart shaped pink pancakes. And they were perfect, of course.

You know how you "imagine" a perfect evening, everything planned from the menu to the decor, love put into everything you do...and then it fails miserably!!? Yeah, I think this would sum up my Valentine's Day to the tee!

I started writing everything I did to make it a special V-day for my family and how plans failed miserably, but decided to delete it. All that matters was that I tried and just because it didn't live up to my expectations, doesn't mean I failed or my plan failed. My family knows that I love them and that's ALL that matters!

It was such a gorgeous day that Jeff took the kids outside to golf while I worked on dinner. I can see this becoming a habit with Sullivan, he seems to grab his plastic golf club every time we go outside now.

Here we are getting ready to start a fabulous dinner...

We had fondue, unfortunately one bite of steak per fondue stick took about 15 min. to cook. The kids hated waiting and we ended up doing our V-day FHE Olympics while our food cooked. And by that time, they didn't want dinner anymore. Still, it was yummy. And, the FHE Olympics was fun for a few games and then the kids just kept playing and wouldn't listen so I gave up. But, they had fun and that is all that I care about.

All in All, our Valentine's was nice. And though we are a very loving family most of the time, it was nice to do just a little more on this holiday.

Fasting

2011-02-14T12:20:00.001-08:00

I only post this because I don't want to forget it, not to brag, not to seem like we are a perfect family cause we aren't. The concept of fasting has been very difficult for Kamryn, which I can completely understand. Food is like one of her most favorite things and to give that up for 24 hrs. seems just plain crazy to her.

Well, her cousin Mayzi (age 5) was just recently referred to an oncologist after visiting two different doctors. She's been having major health issues so when I heard that she had been referred to a Cancer doctor, my heart just broke. Danielle and Jason called a family fast before she went to the oncologist, this would be a perfect time to have Kamryn complete her first fast (she's tried before). She agreed, she loves Mayzi and would do anything that she could to help her feel better.

We started Saturday night and by the next morning Kamryn was still going strong. She kept commenting that it was hard. London didn't help much when she took big gulps of ice water in front of us and then saying "have a good time fasting guys." By mid morning, Kammi was in tears. I just held my baby girl and told her she could do this, I knew she could. She kept crying for quite awhile, broke my heart. I did mention to her that this is her choice, she could stop at anytime. She was more worried about Mayzi and wanted to do all that she could for her little cousin.

I distracted her as much as possible and told her as soon as church started it would be easier. We (FINALLY!) went to church and then it was over, she had succeeded, almost. We have a guy in our ward that hands out smarties to the little kids in primary and she got one. She watched Sullivan and London eat theirs in front of her. She asked if we could break our fast before we drove home and I said that she had to wait. I was worried that she would sneak some while we drove home, but the smarties package was in tact when I helped her out of the car.

We went to my bedroom, got on our knees, and prayed our hearts out for Mayzi. When we were done, I asked her how she felt and she said "Fasting feels like being grounded from food." Ha ha!! She's such a funny kid. She tells me that she felt proud, but very hungry and then went and ate whatever she wanted to eat...which surprisingly was an orange, cheese stick and a yogurt. If I was a kid and got to eat whatever I wanted, it wouldn't have been those choices!! Fasting brought me such comfort. I had absolutely no worries about Mayzi after that. Mayzi has since gone to the oncologist, and guess what...NO CANCER!!! Phew, what a relief. She's still a sick little girl, was referred to a doc in Boise that deals with allergies. Hopefully they will find out something soon so that she can start tolerating food again.

Anyway, I'm so proud of my K. And, I hope that she will always remember that she does have control over her body and the feelings that she had after she completed her fast.

2011-02-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

This is the season where Jeff travels the most frequently. I try to go visit my family during one of his trips, so we did just that. It was so nice to relax and visit with my parents/siblings and all of their kids.

On Saturday, all the cousins were home from school so we met up at a local place that has an arcade/jungle gym and also serves the yummiest taco pizza I've had since I was younger. It was so busy, at least a dozen birthday parties going on. I felt a little out of control because I had no idea where Sullivan was most of the time. He's still so young to be wandering around by himself. Luckily, he found an area that he liked and mostly hung out there. Every time I had to go check on the girls or go eat and I'd come back he'd mostly be in the same spot. Still...I hate that feeling of "Where is he?" when he isn't where he's supposed to be, you know. The kids had a blast and wore themselves out!

Jason, Danielle's husband, offered to watch my kids so that I could go have fun with just my sister. It was so nice of him and I pounced on the opportunity, it is rare that I get to be with my sister without kids and she's been going through so much lately that we really just needed peace and quiet and some time to talk. We walked through the mall and then we went out to the movies. It was so needed and I appreciate Jason for taking that task on!

London and Mayzi eating Taco Pizza.

Kienzli and Sullivan on a ride. Actually, Sullivan invited himself on Kienzli's ride. I tried to get him off, but Misty said it was okay.

Cashing in on their arcade tickets

2011-02-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy morning already...

Don't be fooled by his cuteness, his innocent face that could never do any wrong.
He loves flour and loves making messes! But, he also happens to be my cleanest child, especially if I break out the "Clean Up" song that they sing in nursery. I think it is kind of ironic that he's wearing his "I make dirt look good" shirt...it's true, he's ADORABLE even covered from head to toe in flour. Even last night, Jeff and I left the kids with a babysitter to go on a date and he climbed up on the counters and dumped the peas from their dinner out and squished them all over his clothing. I'd love to just get in his mind to see what in the world he thinks about as he's making these messes!

Wish we could give these to you in person...

2011-02-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday goes out to our Sullivan's birthmom, Kylee. Hope you had a great day/weekend!

Toddler bed woes

2011-01-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a hard transition for him and a hard transition for me. It took about 2 weeks with several tears shed (on both our parts), but Sullivan is finally sleeping continuously in his new toddler bed (though, he still doesn't like it).

His reaction to seeing his new bed for the first time, he's shaking his head "no". Not the happy reaction I wanted, but still cute.

Very supportive and encouraging sisters...they LOVE their brother so much!

Success!

Christmas Recap

2011-01-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

-Jeff and I spoke on the Sunday before Christmas. We basically were given a choice of what to speak on, but Jeff wanted me to share the Christmas story so that could lead into his talk. Of course, the week before that, a lady had just shared the Christmas story. I went ahead with it though, you can always learn something new from the same old story when it is told through someone else's perspective. I think our talks were awesome (said most humbly), we were definitely lead by the spirit as to what to say. And, when our talks were over, we felt we could relax and enjoy our Christmas break.

-Having most of our Christmas bought early or online. Made for nice relaxing weekends at home and not out fighting the crowds in the stores.

-Feeling so blessed, so grateful makes for one happy Mama. And, when Mom's happy, everyone is happy.

-Starting the new tradition of caroling to those that we drop neighbor gifts off to. I was nervous about it, but now that we have kids that can sing with us it made it so much easier. I can't tell you how exciting it was for us and the kids to have that door opened by one person and as our rendition of "We wish you a Merry Christmas" was heard, the rest of the family came running to the door to hear us and receive their gift.

-Jeff ran to Walmart early Christmas Eve and grabbed these cute pink wii remotes so that we could all play together. And, that's what we did for almost all of Christmas Eve.

-Cooking my family goodies...fudge, chewy sweet chex mix, gingersnaps, candy cane cookies, caramel, peanut brittle and much more that I can't even think of and wish not to think of at this moment.

-Christmas Eve we had a smorgasbord of snacks for dinner, twas easy.

-The one thing that I had saved and looked forward to eating on Christmas Eve was my favorite Famous Dave's Pickles. I'd been saving those since this summer and every time I saw them in the pantry staring at me, I drooled just a little bit. They are so yummy!

-We had some carolers on Christmas Eve.

-We read a couple of Christmas books and also Luke 2.

-Opened gifts to each other. The girls had been earning an allowance for chores to be used only on gifts for each other. Then we took them shopping the week before Christmas to pick out gifts for everyone in the family.

-Opened PJ's...I hate character clothes, but I'm okay with having character PJ's especially if they are super cheap!! So, yes, the pajamas aren't all that cute but the kids love them.

-Watched the Polar Express. This was the first time for Sullivan and to say he was engrossed in it/captivated by it is an understatement. The sweet part about this is when the train was on the cracking ice, Sullivan started crying because he was so worried about the "choo-choo." He's such a loving kid!

-Kids got so worn out from so much fun that they were ready for bed by 7:30.

-We put Sullivan to bed and then the girls were tasked with putting cookies and milk out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Santa ate everything and even left a note telling the kids how proud he was of them.

-Jeff and I were quite prepared, wrapping gifts as we bought them. All we had to do was set them out and let Santa do the rest. We went to bed at a good time but were almost like little kids ourselves, just so excited for the morning to come.

-5 AM, ready to open gifts. Jeff was of course the first one up.

-Santa left this train set out for Sullivan and he played with it the whole time we opened gifts. We had to pull him away to get him to open his other gifts and even then we couldn't keep him from it. The girls ended up opening the rest of his gifts and showing him what he got.

-Pretty nice camera for an 8 year old!

-London's Go-Go Pup that she HAD to have.

-I wonder what Jeff got for Christmas...a new set of golf clubs.

-Sullivan got a new Braves hat, which will be perfect for our trips this summer to watch some games. Immediately after opening his new hat, he placed it on his head backwards...my lil'thug.

-Sullivan playing with his new "choo-choo."

-Jeff checking out his new golf clubs.

-Opening gifts.

-He's a funny kid, he always holds up things when I take his picture. Here he is showing me his new golf clubs. I foresee a summer of golfing with his Dad!

-Dunking already! His presents this year, besides the train, pretty much revolved around sports. And, I'm sure that will continue through out his life.

-London with her spoils.

-K with her goods, excited to load some songs on her mini ipod shuffle.

-Just because he's cute.

-London playing with her new DSi, thank you Santa!

-Though I'm not in any of these photos, I was spoiled for Christmas as well. Jeff pulled a few surprises out of his sleeve, ones that he knows I wouldn't normally accept/want/ask for. I guess he understands that that is the only way to spoil me, to do it behind my back. ;)

-Christmas Day was spent playing, cleaning up boxes and wrapping paper, eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast and the whole ham she-bang for dinner and enjoying time as a family.

-We are so grateful and humble as we remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas, a time when we remember the Savior's birth, whose birth would have been insignificant had it not been for his life.