Thanksgiving Was a **BALL**

Thanksgiving weekend was exciting in lots of ways. We headed down to my grandparent's house, which we all love!! There is always a lot to do. The kids get to spend time at the farm and help with the morning chores (when else do they really get an opportunity to slop hogs and find eggs). Bryce and Parker got to play paintball and Josh and Bryce shot shotguns in the desert (I was petrified Bryce would manage to get shot, but he came back in one piece...Josh says I worry too much...I'm a mom, that's what I do). Josh also got to shoot a couple of handguns and some sort of fancy machine gun like thing (I am not a gun connoisseur). He was in heaven.

We spent lots of time with family remembering the past and celebrating time together and it was fabulous.

Then we came home. We sat down to watch the BYU/Utah game (GO COUGARS!!!). Just starting into the second quarter (could the BYU offense look more limp?) Logan came scooting down the stairs with a bouncy ball in his hand. He popped it in his mouth so I called him over to me to get it out and throw the thing away...but no...he swallowed it! He started choking and sputtering and my first aid training kicked in, I scooped him up and turned him over, but the ball went all the way down. It was not a tiny ball, and we were concerned. Now it was Josh's turn to panic. He has some minimal medical training (just enough to make him nervous about just about every thing that could possibly go wrong), so he called our doctor's answering service. The on call doctor told him this could be a big deal and said to hurry up to Primary Children's ER to have it checked out (alright, maybe I was under reacting this time...I thought let it pass through the kid).

We loaded into the car, dropped the five other kidlets at my Mom's house, and trucked up to the U of U campus (during the BYU/Utah game which we were not longer paying attention to, such irony). We were immediately taken to a room where the nurses were much more interested in the black eye that Logan had from falling down the stairs and smashing into a wall than the ball somewhere in his system (we would end up in the ER the one time he has a black eye). Eventually the doctor came in, made sure Logan could drink without throwing up, and said, "Go home and let it pass through the kid." The nurse that checked us out was adorable, but made sure to tell me to keep Logan away from batteries and scared me with stories of kids who have holes burned in their esophaguses (thanks Dad for the editing) from swallowing batteries.

We got home just in time to see BYU score the game winning touchdown in overtime. Hooray!

So you see, Thanksgiving weekend, was a **BALL**...in more ways than one. (Beware of small rubber bouncing items).

The next day, we put up the Christmas tree and decorated the house, and now we feel all festive.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Smile!!

Ellie is a very happy baby, and she has a gorgeous smile that just lights up her face. We have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a picture of that smile for over a month. It hasn't worked out yet. Below are some pics of the closest we have come.

So, we decided to try to make a movie to capture her happiness, and that went a lot better.

I Am Slowly Going Crazy...Or Am I???

Yesterday, I was making lunch for the kids when I lost my mind...sort of. We were having chicken nuggets, a rare treat at our house, so I was trying to put together actual nutritious elements to go with it. Let's see, applesauce, cheese, a cup of milk, and, oh, great, a slice of buttered bread. Got the bread out and debated whether to give everyone a whole slice, or cut them in half (you just never know if the kids are going to be starving and wolf down everything in front of them or if they will pick at it like birds and leave half the food on their plate). I thought I decided on whole slices and set them on the counter top, then suddenly someone started screaming, so I went to solve the problem. I returned to find I had only gotten three pieces of bread out instead of five. I shook my head at myself, and thought, "I must be going nuts, I would swear I got out five bread slices." I think to myself that someday I am going to forget something really important and be in real trouble. I wonder if I am too young for Alzheimer's or something like it, and wonder if brain loss has to be diagnosed by a physician or if this is the kind of thing you just keep to yourself. Oh well.

Then, two minutes later, Gavin appears in the kitchen doorway looking a bit guilty.
Gavin (looking guilty): "Hi, Mom."
Me (looking suspicious): "Hi, Gavin."
Gavin (still standing there looking suspicious): "Hi."
Me (Now I know for sure something is up): "Is there something you want to tell me?"
Gavin (biting his lip and swaying side to side): "Uuuummmmm."
Me (putting that "Mom" look on my face): "Gavin, what is going on?"
Gavin (suddenly smiling and trying to be nonchalant): "Logan and I are just eating bread in the bathtub!!"
Me (Wow, I'm not crazy after all): "Oh."

Sure enough, I find Logan lounging in the tub, covered in bread crumbs. I brush off the children, clean up the crumbs and smile to myself. Lunch may be spoiled for these two, but I'm not nuts and that's what really counts. YIPPEE!!!

Some Say Tak, Others Merci...I Just Say Thanks

It isn't quite Thanksgiving yet, but today I am feeling exceptionally grateful. No real reason (that I know of anyway), but I feel very blessed. I have a house full of incredible children (sometimes I am not as grateful for that as I ought to be, but most of the time I love it), an amazing husband who takes prodigious care of me (who doesn't love being fawned over), fabulous extended family on both sides (I always kind of wanted a quirky, annoying mother-in-law, but I didn't get one...and I am awfully glad to have the one I've got),a home that fits our family perfectly, and a ward/neighborhood full of people I hope to be like when I grow up (do I really have to grow up?).

Our family has been blessed in a myriad of ways. For example,we have a new baby girl that we weren't sure how we would clothe before she was born (it has been seven years since our last girl and bit by bit the clothes we had have found their way to other homes) and we didn't have money for a whole new wardrobe. However, amazingly, oodles of adorable clothes found their way to our home through what (to me) are miraculous means. Also, through the sweet care of others, we now have a plethora of adorable headbands, bows, and other accessories that are super cute and more than we would have asked for (you know they are cute when your rough and tumble husband insists that his baby daughter have a flower or bow in her hair every day).




Funny how the Lord takes care of you, usually through the kindness of other people. From much needed bunk beds, to volunteer babysitters we have been blessed with the things that we need, and often, the things that we wish for. We are surrounded by people who often say just the thing we need to hear or call just when we need a lift. I often get caught up in MY life and MY family, but I hope to become the kind of person who sees and takes time for the needs of others. How else can I repay my incredible Father in Heaven for all that he has given me. He blesses us with the things we need, many times before we even realize we need them.


And so, I want to say thanks to all of you out there, amazing friends and family, who make my life a joy and who make me want to be better than I am. Thanks for caring and taking an interest in my family (my favorite people in the world) and for helping us have the kind of relationships we want to continue for eternity. We love you all!!!

East Canyon (Or "Easy Canyon" to Gavin)

This past weekend, our family go to spend three nights at East Canyon Resort. My parents have a time share in a condo there and we go almost every year. It is one of the kids favorite things to do. Unfortunately, for the first time ever, they had closed down mini golf course, tennis courts, shuffle board and volleyball, (and the pool but it is always closed later in the year). So, we had to be a little more creative than usual coming up with things to do. Still, we had a really great time, Bryce even got to go paint balling for his first time. Thanks for a fabulous trip Mom and Dad.

This is how you get kids to have fun and then stay hyper for twenty seven and a half hours straight. It was all kinds of exciting.

Not exactly what I had in mind when Logan asked me to take him on the slide.



What could be funner than hanging out with family in the canyon. We LOVE the outdoors!!! We LOVE our family!!! It's a perfect combination.

As a bonus, we got to see/nearly smash into several deer while driving to the resort. Gavin told me that seeing the deer was his favorite part of the entire weekend. Next time maybe I'll forgo the packing and planning and just go straight for the deer sightings...easy and free.

A Little Service

I love this idea for something service oriented to do with the kids. They get to help other kids and be creative at the same time. Family home evening here we come!!

Click Here for Service Project Idea