Bertha

We've decided to adopt! Meet Bertha! She is a resident at the Grace Assisted Living Facility and she is our new adopted Grandma. We have grandma's and grandpa's in Utah, but thought it would be good for our family to adopt someone who just might like some company. It was such a rewarding experience. . .I highly recommend it. Word of caution, maybe go over a few ground rules with your kids before entering an assisted living facility. Zach asked Bertha where her teeth were, and when she told him they were in the sink Zach said, "oh good, I was afraid you always looked like the wicked witch of the west!" Leave it to Zach to make a great first impression! Other then that, I think Bertha enjoyed our company almost as much as we enjoyed her's and we hope to make it a monthly tradition.

VoMiT, BaRf, PuKe

Does my title grab your attention? Dan and I have been wondering (out loud) why we just can't catch a break! One kid after another always has some sort of health issue. I feel like we are constantly at some kind of doctor's office. This week we have the good old fashion 24 hour flu thing going around, which wouldn't seem too bad if Jackson hadn't lost 6 lbs two weeks earlier due to a bowl impaction. I am sick and tired of my children being sick and tired!!

Now for a bit of humor. . .Zach peed and barfed at the same time! It was hilarious and disgusting at the same time. At least he had perfect aim!!!

On a different note, poor Dr. Payne's dental hygienist had to hear 25 minutes of constant screaming while she tried to clean Zach's teeth. When I say "screaming" it was like full on screaming. The kind you do to the opposing team if the ref makes a bad call, kind of screaming. Ryan and his hygienist were awesome about the whole thing, but I was sweating by the time we got to go home! At least Ryan has to endure it only twice a year!

I love my kids, but sometimes parenthood bites!!

Someone To Blame

One of my New Year's resolutions was to make Sunday a bit more special than other days of the week. I try to do that by limiting the outside noises of the world. For the past few weeks I have encouraged the kids to read, play games with each other, make a treat as a family, and limit the electronics. I am not against a good family movie, or a bowling tournament on the Wii, but I just have tried to make an extra effort on Sunday to keep it feeling special. Until today, I had no idea Zach was not fond of this new resolution:

Today, I had Pandora on and had it synced to church/religious music. The Tabernacle Choir was singing and I was busy getting dinner ready, and breakfast dishes cleaned up. Zach came down stairs and asked why I always listen to boring music on Sunday. I tried to explain that we have been asked to make Sundays special, and I thought listing to this type of music was a good start. His response was priceless: "Mom, I know who we can blame for this-I think it was the Jews!"

Growing Up

Maddie is one tough little lady!

I look into her eyes and wonder how this girl could have such a positive attitude towards the trials she has faced in her life.

She is my social butterfly who loves friends. . .of all ages.

She must have a hollow leg because she eats a ton and still looks like a supermodel.

She loves to read, but loves, loves, loves quiz books and joke books the most.

She claims she is allergic to gross food.

She would own a cat if her mother wasn't afraid of them.

She secretly plays Barbies, but is afraid her friends would make fun of her if they found out.

She may have two left feet, but it doesn't keep her from learning the latest dance moves.

She keeps her head held high, even though she hates that she still limps. . .the limp won't be permanent. . .we hope!!

She grows like a weed. . . and is two feet taller than her best friend.

She actually wears the same size pants and shoes as her mother!!

She loves being a "tweenager" and her mom thinks having a shopping buddy is pretty awesome.

Today we celebrated Maddie's "awesomeness" with a lunch date and shopping. She claims after having a piece of cheesecake from the "Cheesecake Factory" she can die a happy woman. I agree.

A year in Review

To end this year I thought a video slide show would capture the most important events of this year. It feels as though major life changing events have taken place in this crazy year: Maddie was in a body cast and lived in a wheel chair for a third of the year, Dan has been working on the biggest trial of his career, I went back to work after 10 years, Zach got baptised, and Jackers started elementry school. Life has been anything but boring at our house, and yet . . .we survived. I can't help but be thankful for that!

I Did It!

I am a 33 year old Mormon housewife who just learned to can yesterday!!! Seriously, I can't believe it has taken me this long to get over my fear of canning. It was fun, easy, and almost painless. Just keep your fingers crossed that we don't die of botulism!!!!

What's next you ask? Pears. . . .Wednesday. Wish me luck!!

First Day of School

My baby started Kindergarten today! Jackson was so excited. He was the first one dressed, the first to eat breakfast, and the first one out the door to the bus stop. I asked him if he was nervous and he said "why would I be nervous mom, this is the best day of my life." Zach and Jack seem to be best friends at school; Zach took Jackson under his wing and showed him the ropes. (I could not be more proud of both of them!)

Zach is excited to be back in school, although his best friend is in another class this year, making Zach a little more nervous than usual. He is always making sure Jackson is okay at recess, and has had fun making new friends of his own.

Maddie was excited to get back to school to show everyone that her legs are as good as new with no wheel chair!! This year fifth graders are in the middle section of the school. She gets her own locker this year, and gets to sit by her best friend Hannah. Life is good. I went to kiss her goodbye on the first day of school and she freaked out and told me to never to that in public again. I had a good laugh, but deep down it made me a little sad that my sweet little girl doesn't publicly idolize her mom anymore. . .although secretly I think she still does.

I love school too! I have time to take long jogs every morning, do my hair, clean my house, oh and read a book in peace and quiet. I love it!! Is it weird that I am ready for apple pies, carved pumpkins, and falling leaves? Fall is in the air, but I am happy summer is here for few more weeks. I'm not quite ready for winter. . .who am I kidding. . .I'm never ready for winter.

McCall to the Wild

Two weeks ago my parents rented a cabin near McCall for a fun, long weekend. I have to say, McCall is the prefect substitute for any beach vacation, and only takes a little over two hours to get there. My kids could have played in the sand the entire trip!

One of the best parts of the whole trip was that my sister flew out from Texas to join us. It was so fun to hang out with her all week. She even watched my kids so Dan and I could go to the Tim McGraw/Lady Antebellum concert the night before we left for McCall. (I owe her big!!)
The Pancake House and Christmas Store are always a must if you ever make it out there. I think we are planning one more trip before school starts if anyone wants to come for a day trip. Thanks mom and dad!

Order in the Court

Most of you know my husband is amazing, but now the entire state of Idaho gets to witness my husband's greatness!! This is the case he will be spending the rest of the year working on. (If you want to watch this video be sure to pause my music player at the bottom of this blog!)

Locks of Love

Every morning poor Maddie's head is traumatized as we try to brush through it. Her gorgeous curly red hair is a blessing and a curse that needed to be dealt with! We had heard about Locks of Love through some friends (thanks Andrea!) and decided that since it was for a good cause we would go shorter than planned by cutting off the required 10 inches. She looks adorable, as usual, and is so excited that someone else will get to have beautiful red hair like hers.

Before: (Just to show you how long it was last week)

After: (we have since styled it really curly and will post pictures later)

The Value of Service

Today I took my children to Grace Assisted Living. We have become very close with the residents there and they look forward to us coming. I had a permanent lump in my throat all afternoon as I watched my kids interact with all of the amazing people who live there. Zach is full of hugs no matter who the person is. Jackson is my entertainer and "boogied" upon request, and Maddie is all smiles, and easily chit-chats with everyone. We passed out crossword puzzles (large print, of course) and Sudoku booklets to any resident who came buy and offered them cookies and lemonade. After 10 minutes we had over half of the residents sitting around the tables chatting about the "good old days." My kids were fascinated! It was a great summer activity that got my kids out of the house away from TV and video games! Teaching my kids the value of service ROCKS!!

Great News!

Magic Prayers

Monday, after Jack's baseball game I realized my keys were not in my camera bag. I had been taking pictures most of the game and remembered putting my keys in a little pocket of the camera bag. It was 7:00pm and my kids and my mom were waiting dinner for us. Dan began searching the vast baseball field looking for my keys. Jackson and I went to the lost and found but still no luck. After 25 minutes I began to think it was a lost cause. I called home telling my mom the situation and instructed her to feed my kids. She asked me if I had prayed for help. . . which I had, but at that moment we both thought to ask Maddie to say her own prayer--for some reason Maddie has such huge faith that everything she asks for she gets. Within 30 seconds I saw a little sparkle in the grass and without hesitation knew it was my keys.

When we got home, both Maddie and Zach were happy that their prayers were answered so quickly. Once again their testimonies in prayer were strengthened, as well as mine.

Surgery, Red Sox, Busy Husband, and Manifests

Yikes!! It has been a crazy month and a lot happening, so let me catch you up on the latest adventures of our lives!!

Maddie had surgery Monday, May 17 th. The doctor cut her femur just under the hip and twisted it 30 degrees. She has always had a funny walk, with one foot twisting inward causing lots of trips and falls. The surgery took 2 hours and the doctor put her in a body cast (leaving an open area for her to use the bathroom). The surgery seemed to be a success, and Maddie has had very little pain. She has been absolutely amazing with very little complaint!! She is in a wheelchair for six weeks with extensive physical therapy for another six weeks. It may be a long and boring summer for Maddie, but she seems to have a really positive attitude about the entire thing.

Jackson and Zach's baseball season is officially underway. They were excited to see that both of them were assigned to play as the Boston Red Sox. Zachary has really improved over last year and Jackson seems to really enjoy getting some of his own attention this year for baseball. Dan is an assistant coach for both teams and enjoys helping his boys develop an appreciation for the sport. We don't expect champion athletes, but we are proud of the progress they are making.

I don't often write about Dan and his adventures at work. As many of you know he is busy preparing for his murder case which is expected to be in court some time in October. It will be a busy summer as he preps for the "biggest case of the decade" (according to one of his bosses). I am hoping to post local news stories of Dan once the case takes off later in the fall and will keep you posted on the trial.

As for Me I am officially licensed as an Idaho certified teacher!!! I do not have a job yet, and my future is uncertain as to if I will be a working woman next year, but I was just told last week that my name is now on the Meridian School District's teacher manifest for possible teacher applicants. . .which basically means that if there is an opening for a history teacher, I might get some job interviews in the next few months. I am really excited, because I thought I thoroughly messed up during the interview process and would be rejected.

It has been a very busy month, but we are so glad the worst is over. Thanks again for all of your prayers and concern. So many of you have sent cards and gifts for Maddie helping her feel loved!

Handicapped Parking

People who don't think this sign applies to them really, really annoy me!!!

I will update my blog about this past week in the next few days, but Maddie is doing great!!!

A Lesson in Fasting

As most of you know Maddie is having surgery May 17th. It is a really big deal because she will be in a wheel chair for 3 months! Today we told Maddie that all of her relatives (on both sides) were fasting for her. She was totally shocked and honored to have so many people care about her. We asked Maddie if she wanted to be a part of the family fast and she loved the idea. Zach wanted in too. When we got home from church we told Maddie to go upstairs and break her fast so we could eat dinner. Five minutes later Maddie came down stairs with tears streaming down her cheeks. She admitted that she really was scared for the surgery, and that fasting made her feel something good but scared inside. A few hours later when Maddie and I were alone, she expressed deep concern for her surgery. I asked her how she felt as she was praying to end her fast. She expressed that as she was telling Heavenly Father how scared she was she got a really funny feeling in her heart that felt really good, but still scared her. We had a special moment today when I got to share my testimony with Maddie about the great power of her fast. I could tell that she was beginning to understand Heavenly Father's love for her and that he would watch our for her during this scary time. Her faith made me feel better about the surgery too. It is moments like these where I know my daughter is growing up to be a righteous young lady who is such an example to me.

Piano Recital

Maddie had a piano recital last week and did an awesome job. She played "Ten Second Song" which was literally 10 seconds long. . .we timed it, and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." She was really proud of herself. It was a perfect recital because it was only 20 minutes long!! Maddie's piano teacher is a young girl down the street that teaches only a few kids, we love her. Maddie's piano skills have grown so much since she started last year and I hope she keeps it up!!

Special Olympics

“Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
(Special Olympics' motto)

Saturday was FREEZING!!!

But our hearts were touched as we met families from all over the valley who were just like us!

Each day I realize how blessed our family is!!!

They don't let words like "Autism" limit the things they can accomplish in life!!

The best thing that came out of today, was my realization that my children are amazing. They care for others and treat everyone the same no matter what disability others may have; they are friendly too all.

My kids came home Saturday feeling like winners!! It was a great feeling.

Houston! We Have a Problem.

(Me and G on the Bike)

Girl weekend has officially begun, and Houston is awesome. It is so much fun hanging out with my sister and mom.

Day one: Enjoyed my first TexMex. It was awesome, after a long day of travel!!

Day two: NASA and the Space Museum, visited the small city of Galveston to see the Gulf Coast, tasted my first Blue Bell ice cream and wanted more, and last but not least . . .(drum roll please) . . .rode my first motorcycle and lived to tell about it!! (No, Dan you can still not get one).

(me at NASA)
(Historical Mission Control)

(Mom and Meg on the beach)

Day three: Went to the zoo in Houston and saw the infamous baby elephant named Tucker (he appeared on Scrubs!), visited Hermann Park, and toured the Holocaust Museum.



(a railroad car at the holocaust museum, this is how they would have transported the Jewish people to the concentration camps)

(Hermann Park)
Day four: Went to church and took a nice long nap (we really needed a day of rest!!)


Tomorrow: Shopping and home!


The best part of this trip has been the constant laughter of three crazy women!!

Book Worm Confessional

As a young mother I had no time for books. I read every parenting magazine I could find, but when it came time to read a good book, I was too busy changing diapers and playing peek-a-boo. Now that my kids are older I have a little bit more "me" time. Despite what you may think . . .I don't sit around reading all day while my kids are at school (there's no time), in fact, I usually read while my kids are in therapy, or once they are in bed . . .I am still a full time mom with a house to clean and errands to run during the day! But I have discovered that I love to read. I love a good book. However, Dan and I have differing opinions on what a good book actually is. We both agree that Harry Potter books are amazing, but I have discovered that Dan appreciates the classics: To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Lord of the Rings, things from Charles Dickens. I've tried reading them so I look smart, but I just end up yawning through most of it, and either never finish it, or read it over the course of the entire year, hoping to lose it along the way. I prefer historical fiction, romance, or just a good story. Being a history major you would think I know a lot of historical facts, which I do, but I am more into history for the good story and happy endings.
My all time favorite book is "The Year of Wonders" by Geraldine Brooks. The story of a young woman in the 17th century who lives in a town where everyone is dieing from some plague. She tries to care for the towns people as best she can, and falls in love too. It has everything I could ask for in a book: love, heroism, a good plot, and a little bit of history all in one. I encourage all to read it, I don't think you will be disappointed!

This past February I read five or six books and couldn't get enough. I must admit, I do love a good Nicholas Sparks book (I read two last month!!). But now I am in a book rut! I'm not sure what to read, and have read so many holocaust books these past few months that it is affecting my rational thoughts. I need some good recommendations and I need them quick!! Any ideas??