Mother's Day 2014

Sometimes life doesn't seem to be going your way.  Today started out that way.  However, now that the day is coming to a close I can say it was perfect.  I wouldn't want it any other way.
Jacob has a cold that has been making it hard for him to sleep.  Therefore, I don't get much sleep either.  Last night was one of those nights.  It was long with frequent interruptions to sleep.  Morning came and I got up and made us breakfast while Les came home from work and fell asleep instantly.  Breakfast was so good.  We had German pancakes with strawberries and cool whip on top (yes I am keeping to a low sugar diet).  The kids saw me making eggs and decided before I had even whisked the eggs together that breakfast was going to be yucky.  They all tried it and at least one of the kids finished a whole portion.  Another one at all that I gave her but would only allow half of one on her plate.  The other girl ate the toppings and then refused to eat anymore. 
Then it was time to get ready for church.  They all got into beautiful dresses while I called to talk to my mom.  I was given enough time to shower and get myself ready.  As soon as I was done the girls were going a little stir crazy so they went to Emma's room and held a "rememberance" party for our cat Midnight (I'll talk about Midnight at the end).  After they headed off Jacob came to me crying so I pulled him onto my lap.  He laid down as best as he could in my lap and within minutes was off to dreamland.  This never happens.  Ever.  So now I'm thinking this illness is really doing a number on him.  A short while later the girls come back to me telling me they are sick and they think they should stay home from church.  the bad mom I am thinks, "I don't want to stay home and be their entertainment all day.  Especially on Mother's Day!"  Emma must have been able to read my expression because she quickly changes her mind about staying home.  She tells me, "I want to go to church mom."  I tell her I can't let her go because if she is sick I can't let her spread it to all the other kids.  She so sweetly replies, "I promise not to get anyone sick."  If only it could be that easy.  So I tell the kids that if they are staying home to go change out of their dresses.  They argue with me for sometime about how they now will go to church anyway so I can go.  I finally tell them to keep themselves busy and I will think about what to do.  I finally decide that I will take at least Emma to church so she can give her Article of Faith in Primary and then we can go home.  I tell the girls this plan and all of them want to go.  Right before I go Santiago comes home early from church (he told me he would be so if I needed someone to watch sick kids he would be here) and then Jacob wakes up.  Let's just say that by the time I make it out the door church has started.  The girls were really quite good in Sacrament.  Then I take them to Primary.  Emma sits up front while we wait for it to start.  As I am looking around I remember that the music leader had asked me some questions for a surprise for the kids on Mother's Day.  I thought it would be a shame if they missed it.  So I sat and thought and thought.  The only one who had any signs of sickness was Samantha.  She had been sick but by this point she hasn't had a fever in more than 24 hours.  In theory, she shouldn't be contagious anymore.  After Emma finishes reading her Article of Faith I ask the girls how they feel.  Emma and Khloe say they are fine and I haven't observed them coughing or having snot run out of their noses.  So I send them to sit with their classes.  Sammi on the other hand says she is still feeling sick.  However, she keeps asking me about what she can eat for lunch when we get home and when are we going home to have lunch.  I think to myself this girl must not be too sick if she is hungry.  I decide to sit and watch music time to see my kids reaction when one of the mystery moms is me.  Just before they do the questions for me Sammi decides she wants to go to class.  I send her to sit with her class and then watch as Emma's eyes get larger and larger as the clues about me are given.  I thought it was quite fun.I got to sit in Relief Society and listen to the lesson with all the other women in the ward.
We went home and I warmed up lasagna for lunch.  Then Emma and Santiago (with a little help from the other two girls) made a sugar free cake for dessert.  I made dinner and Les even got up and spent some time with us for an hour or two before he had to head off to work.  Then it was dessert time and I was rather surprised at how good the cake turned out. 
The kids are in bed (even Jacob but I am afraid at how short lived that will turn out to be) and I am about ready to head to my own.  I will try to remember to get on tomorrow to tell the sad tell of the cat named Midnight.

New Year 2011

So New Years hasn't been this exciting all important holiday for me.  Ever.  During my single years I did enjoy going to the New Years Eve dance every year.  However, it was more about being with great people rather than ushering in the New Year.  Call me a party pooper; I just don't care.  Les asked me on New Years Eve this year what I did on New Years Eve before he came along.  I was honest.  I told him other than the dances during the single years that I would watch the news at 10 to celebrate the New Year coming to our country and then sometime before midnight I would go to sleep.  I rarely stayed up to usher in the New Year in my own time zone.  I think my answer surprised him.  At the same time he looked a little relieved.  He even told me, "So I guess marrying me didn't change that for you huh?"  Honestly no.  Les is very similar in that respect to me.  Since having kids I have found that it was more important to get the sleep while I could than feel like I had barely gone to sleep when my kids come bounding into our room so they can have breakfast.  Believe me if I could have kept them up late enough to make a difference I still wouldn't do it.  I enjoy my sleep and I feel a whole lot better about myself and the world in general when I get up earlier.  For my kids this is vital.  I am very sure that they would rather me be well rested and happy than tired and get mad over every little thing they do.  Yeah, so that is the reason.  I do it all for my kids. ;) 
After talking to Les about the lack of celebrating New Years in my life I had a terrible thought.  What am I going to do now that I am on the East Coast?  The only way to continue celebrating New Years when I comes to our country now that I live on the edge is to actually stay up until Midnight!  Oh the unfairness of it all.  So this year I gave it my best try.  After getting the kids in bed I sat on the couch to watch Les play a video game.  I knew the only way to keep Les awake until midnight was to let him do something that would absorb his attention so much that the passage of time would surprise him.  However, my tired brain needed more than that.  I was soon asleep.  I didn't sleep because I remember waking up a few times and asking Les what time it was.  Then I finally woke up to the sound of fireworks and knew that the New Year had come at last.  I wished Les a happy New Year and then quickly faded off to sleep.  I still woke up from time to time to see Les playing away.  At some point (I have no idea what time it was) Les lost his game and took me to bed.  The best part was we didn't have church until 1 so sleeping in was an option.  Sort of.  The kids woke up at their usual time.  I felt like I was dragging the whole day.  In fact, we barely managed to get ready for church in time dispite all the extra time.  By the time Sacrament Meeting ended I had a massive headache.  To make that so much more attractive I also started my new calling which is in the Nursery!  Yea for me and my head.  Oh boy did I ever pray that I would make it through the day!  My prayer was anwered and my headache went away.  However, it came back with a vengence after we got home.  I know! I forgot to pray that it would stay away.  Here is a lesson to be learned: being specific when praying is very important.  Make sure you include every contingency.  Before we left church we had heard that the Bishop had gone home early due to pain from a ruptured disc in his spine.  Emma was very upset.  She had me put her hair up in piggy tails and was hoping to get some remark from the Bishop (who calls her Bacon and she is a self proclaimed PIG).  Les told her it would be a very nice thing to bring something to the Bishop's house to aid him in getting better.  It was settled that we would take over a plate of cookies the girls and I had decorated the day before.  By the time we did this I had been lying down and felt much better.  So we all went thinking it would be a quick drop off and go type thing incase the headache came back.  Instead, we were hurded into the house and we talked with the family for over an hour.  By the time we left the Bishop didn't look good and needed to lie down.  I too was quickly fading and needed to get back into a horizontal postion. 
So how is that for a New Years Day.  Anyone with a better story?  Anyone with a worse day? 
Oh almost forgot.  I don't remember much about setting New Years Resolutions when I was younger.  As I got older I set a few.  Between failing at my own and hearing of many others who had failed as well I simply stopped setting resolutions.  I figured that I could change myself anytime of the year I had a strong enough desire to do so.  I didn't need to wait for the New Year.  Well for the first time in a long time I felt the strong feelings of change at the New Year. So I set a few New Year's Resolutions.  First off, I am getting myself back on track with doing FHE.  This last week I sat down and planned out 12 lessons.  I will continue planning them out for as long as I can.  I found that trying to come up with a lesson each week was my down fall.  So now that the lessons are planned I can almost garantee that I will do at least 11 more FHE nights.  That's right I have successfully done my first FHE of the year already.  I am counting on Les helping me to get through as well.  He is much better at making sure things get done.  I am also counting on his help with each lesson.  He has this amazing ability to explain concepts in a way others will understand.  I am hoping that he will help me convey the message of each lesson in a way that our children will readily understand. 
My second resolution is to say my personal prayers morning AND night.  I have failed at doing this for quite some time.  Before Christmas I was saying one of the two prayers and I noticed a big difference in the way that I approached life.  I was calmer.  I was more collected while dealing with the fighting and pouting that my kids do each day.  It was a great feeling!  So as I set out to say my prayers both morning and night I have great hope that I can be a better mother, wife, and member of the human family.  I have been successful everyday of this year so far.  Les has been very helpful in making sure I haven't forgotten my prayer each night as we get into bed.  The mornings have been easier since I haven't set a specific time by which to do it.  If I don't get out of bed and immediately pray I usually get it done while my kids are taking turns using the bathroom.  I find quite moments in which to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father.  Oh I also noticed that my prayers have become deeper and more meaningful.  I have been able to express myself fully to my Father in Heaven for the first time in a LONG time. 
So that is it for my resolutions.  I can't set too many at a time because I can quickly get overwhelmed and fail at all of them.  I have a plan to make these goals into a habit and then work on adding more things to it.  I feel that is the only way for me to accomplish any of my goals for this year.
May the New Year bring great things for all of us.

Half way there!

So I am 20 weeks along.  Well actually as of tomorrow I will be 21 weeks.  It is amazing to think I am so far along.  In fact, I had a lady at church who found out at our ward christmas party and she told me she couldn't tell that I was pregnant.  My thoughts were so I just look fat huh?  Good to know.  The next day at church she came over and told me that she could tell now and that it must be dependant on what I wear.  I'll admit that I am no where as big as I thought I would be at this point.  I shouldn't be so surprised.  I have carried all of my babies in toward my back.  Good news I don't look so front heavy that I could fall over at any second.  Bad news that gives the baby great access to my spine, stomach, lungs, and bladder.  Also, when I have trouble getting up I get these looks from people that clearly say, "Exercise! Then it won't be so hard for you to sit up." 
So I had thought about doing the weekly profile shots that others have done.  I really don't think I am much bigger than I was the last time I took a picture.  So there really isn't a point to the weekly ones.  I may do monthly ones though.  We will see if Les is willing to play photographer for me.  He really is a good sport when it comes to things he thinks will make me happy.  How could I ask for anything more?  I have a great man who loves to make me happy.  I am so blessed.  I know I went off on a tangent but he is such a good father to our kids.  When I run out of patience he steps and is ever so patient with the kids. 
Les is so excited about having another baby.  We are going to find out what we will be having.  I wondered if it mattered to him what we end up having.  He told me that he would of course love to have a boy.  On the other hand it would be so much easier to have a girl what with all the girls stuff scattered all over the place.  In either case this baby will be loved.  I couldn't agree more.
The other morning I rolled onto my back and partly removed my blanket.  I am use to the sight of my belly sticking up into the air.  So of course, I was confused when on this morning it wasn't.  I felt my tummy thinking that my eyes were deceiving me.  They weren't.  I felt around some more and there off to one side was this lump.  There was my little baby curled up into a ball snuggled almost literally into my side.  It was the cutest little lump ever.  I had slept so long on the one side that the baby followed gravity down to be wedged between the bed and I.  I gently massaged the lump until it was slowly swallowed up in the mass of the rest of my abdomen.  I love this evidence of the precious little life that is growing inside of me. 
So I need to tell of a few cute things the girls have said lately.  On December 3rd we had our ward Christmas party.  Emma sang a song with the rest of the primary as part of the program.  She was so nervous.  Then after the program we lined up to go to the Primary room to see "Santa."  My kids have little to no experience with Santa.  They do know who he is but I wasn't thinking so I didn't prepare them for "the" question.  Samantha went first.  When asked what she wanted for Christmas she said, "Jesus . . . to come for his birthday party."  Oh my little love.  I was prepared for her to be shy and not answer him at all.  Instead, I was in awe of her. 
On Sunday night we went to the bishop's home for family home evening.  He was calling Emma "Bacon."  Emma of course was thrilled and laughed hysterically each time.  Khloe on the other hand would yell back at him, "She not bacon.  Her Emma.  Bacon at home."  We still aren't sure what she meant by bacon at home but is sure was cute that she was trying to stick up for Emma.  I could tell that she was a little disturbed by the whole matter so I told her that Emma liked it and that the bishop was just teasing Emma.  She seemed to calm down over the whole thing after that.
Emma will often come whisper things in my ear.  At the end she tells me not to tell daddy cause it is a secret.  Yesterday, Emma came into my room early and crawled into bed with me.  After a while she whispered into my ear, "Mom I have a secret.  Don't let Daddy know that I am a Mommy's girl."  She knows how to melt my heart that is for sure.  Don't let her know but it hasn't been much of a secret for a while.
Last night we headed to the store as a family to pick up ingredients for some cookies I am making for a RS meeting.  While we were in the car Emma pipes up and starts talking about how she stayed at Aunt Jana's when I had gotten on an airplane (she was referring to the time I flew out here and looked at houses with Les).  Then she reminded me of how we stayed at Aunt Jana's again after we left Logan (before we flew across country to live with Les).  Finally she got around to her point and told us she wished she could stay the night at Aunt Jana's again.  I of course was feeling guilty that I couldn't give her what she wanted.  Les was a few steps ahead of me.  He told Emma that if she earned $500 we would stick her on a plane and she could have her sleepover.  Then he amended it with, "Better make that $550 so that you can pay tithing on it too."  Emma commented, "We sure do pay a lot of tithing." (Background: every few weeks Les sits the girls down to go over what they owe in tithing.  Then he asks if they would like to donate any money to any of the other church programs.  They usually donate to the Temple and the Book of Mormon.)  So Les asked her what tithing is for.  She thought about it for a little bit and then she said, "It is to buy Temples.  I bought one before cause I pay tithing."  I love how her mind works.  It makes me laugh everytime.  After posting it on facebook a friend asked us what temple we had bought and which one was next.  Les replied with, "The Brigham City Temple and we are hoping for a southern Maryland Temple."
I love my little family.

What we have been up to lately

There has been so much going on so hold on while I try to fit it all in.
August: 
I already covered the Family Reunion, Sealing Khloe in the Temple, and putting grass in mom and dad's front yard.

(08-11-2011)

 Emma and Khloe in Vernal as we waited to honor the life of Sgt. Daniel Gurr (the first casualty of war in the area in 40 some years). 

 Samantha waiting for Sgt. Daniel Gurr's body to pass through Vernal.

 The girls as Sgt. Gurr's body passes.

(08-25-2011)

 Another thing that happened in August is that I found out I am pregnant!

(08-27-2011)

We took the girls and one of our neighbors to the Willow Park Zoo here in Logan.  The kids love seeing all the animals.  Les and I jokingly call it an Avery rather than a zoo due to the fact that there are way more birds than anything else.

(08-30-2011)

Emma finally got to start preschool!  She was a bit jealous that Khloe had been able to start school before her.  Now it doesn't even matter because she is just so happy to go to school.  This is her first day.  She asked me to take pictures of her.

Emma getting into school as I walk away and leave her on her first day.  I worked really hard to not cry.  I didn't want to ruin the moment for her.

September:

(09-05-2011)

For Labor Day we went out to the Basin.  We went with most of my siblings to Starvation Reservoir.  Here is Khloe playing in the water and learning to cast with her fishing pole.

Here is Sammi playing in the sand.  She also practiced with her fishing pole.

Emma went fishing with Les.  They didn't catch anything but Emma loved the whole thing.  I wish I could say that it was the best day ever but so much drama put a damper on the whole day.  I have enough drama going on I really didn't need the extra drama.  So despite the fact that I love my family and spending time with them when all was said and done I really wished we hadn't gone.  Don't get me wrong it was fun and the kids had a great time.  I just felt that I could do without it. 

More of the kids playing in the sand.  The kids were in heaven between the water, sand, and rides in Uncle Ted's boat.

(09-20-2011)

 This is Les with his girls at the airport before he left for the east coast.  We sure do miss him.

My love and I at the airport. For all the crying I did leading up to this day I managed to hold it together as he actually left.  The girls are holding together well.  Occasionally, they ask when he will be back but over all they are happy with life.  I am sure that the longer he is gone the more pronounced his absence will be.  Yesterday he looked a some houses in southern Maryland.  Today he is in northern Virginia looking at houses.  Tomorrow he will look at more houses in Maryland that are a bit closer to his new job.  After he narrows down the list I will fly out and look at the leading contenders.  I'm hoping to be there within a month.

Here is a video I made of the girls receiving they going away presents from their Dad.  We forgot them in the car while we were at the airport.  So as soon as I remembered about them and Les could hear their response on the phone I gave them the presents.  They were so excited.  Emma's gift was something Les had promised her he would get for her when he had a job.  She has been waiting for this for a long time.

Just a few funny things that have been said by the kids.

(08-21-2011) Sammi was just telling us her name. Then she told us that we have names too. She pointed at us and had on her thinking face. She then blurted out, "It's NOT pain in the bum!"  

(08-22-2011) In the store Sammi starts singing, "Its the Mickey Mouse "Chub"house! Come inside it's *BIG PAUSE* hot outside!"  

(09-06-2011) E: Mommy there's a baby in your tummy, and when you eat, the food will drop on its eyes!
Mom: Why wouldn't the food drop in the baby's mouth?

E: It's like when my sisters shower, they try to drink the water, but it gets in their eyes!

5 Wonderful years!

Five years ago today Les Mounteer Jr. took me to the Vernal Temple and made me his wife for time and all eternity!  It has been a life changing experience.  In our five years of marriage we have had two beautiful baby girls, added another toddler girl to the mix, moved 3 times, lived in 6 different wards, put Les through college, and through it all we still love each other.  It is amazing that with all the things that have gone wrong I can't stand mad at Les for very long.  For whatever reason he can't stay mad at me either.  I feel that is important because it will get us through many hard times in our lives and keep us together. 
I want my love to know that I am grateful I get to be his wife.  I love our life together.  Happy Anniversary my love!

The Adoption

So now that we are private it is time to tell about the adoption.  We traveled out to Duchesne for it.  We went a few days early so we could spend some time with our families out there and make sure we missed any freak storms that would arise. 
I want to spin a tell about how we got up at the break of dawn and packed our drowsy children into the car for the long journey.  Since that wasn't the case I can't.  What did happen was that we got up fed and clothed the children.  We packed our stuff into the Yukon and there started our travels.  We drove almost all the way to Duchesne and stopped to visit with a long time friend.  Her name is Kim.  The kids were a little shy about going in but once they spied all the toys they forgot all about their nervousness.  Kim's daughter Ruby was excited to have visitors until they took her toys to play with.  Then she wasn't so sure this was a good thing.  Les and I sat with Kim and caught up on life.  One thing about Kim is that Les and I both became friends with her but we did know each other until right before we started to date.  I have known Kim since high school.  She first became friends with my sister Carolyn.   When I started hanging out with them I quickly came to like Kim.  She graduated and headed off to College.  A few years later she moved back and I moved off to College.  We kept in touch.  It was while I was away that she met Les.  So while we sat there we not only talked about what was going on in our lives but also reminised a little.  Then she fed us lunch.  It was super good. 
Then the time came where we had to go.  We made it to the courthouse with plenty of time to spare.  We chatted with our lawyer, Les' sister and her family, Les' dad, and Les' Aunt and Uncle.  The had all come to help us celebrate.  We had been told that there was going to be a review of Khole's case before the actual adoption.  Turns out the Judge was excited to get on with the adoption.  So we did.  Khloe came and sat up front with us.  She was all smiles and even giggled a little.  In that small span of time I saw our family at peace.  No one was fighting, pouting, or crying (well kind of).  Emma and Sammi were a little concerned that they were seperated from us.   In less than 20 minutes it was over and Khole went from our niece to our daughter.  We also had tthe spelling of her name changed.  It is now spelled Khloe.  Now people will stop calling her K Hole or Cole or even Cole with an e (held out) sound at the end.
So as of January 5th she is legally our daughter.  Some have asked us how it feels to have her offically ours.  Honestly, nothing has changed.  The only difference that I have felt is the weight on my shoulders from knowing that DCFS isn't constantly looking over my shoulder.  Have you ever noticed that when someone is constantly watching you to make sure you don't mess up that you end up being your worst?  That is how I have felt.  I should save those kind of changes in our family for another post.
After the adoption we planned to make the long trip home.  At the last minute Les' sister asked if we could help get a fish tank from Les' parents into the back of the truck.  So we put off the start of our journey to head in the opposite direction.  Turns out it we should have left from the courthouse.  Les' dad didn't know they were planning on taking right then so it was still full of water.  So that had to wait until later when it can be taken apart.  Also so the fish and coral could be transported safely.
That is when we turned around and headed home.  It has been nice to put it all behind us and to be home together. 
I know this post didn't have a whole lot about the actual adoption.  That is because we were asked questions and then the guardian ad lidum (sp?) was asked if he had any questions which he didn't.   Then the AG representing DCFS was asked if he had any questions (he didn't) and it was done.  We signed some documents and walked out of the room with a new (but not so new) family member.

We have offically gone private!

By now the invites I sent out should have been accepted.  We will see if I can come up with any good posts for the future.
The most resent news on our family . . . we have gotten even busier.  I think the only days that I don't have to drag the kids out of the house to go somewhere are Friday and Saturday.  Even then I still have people coming to see me on Fridays.  Monday and Wednesday Khloe is going to a "transition preschool" to help her learn to follow directions and learn to postively interact with her peers.  The bad part is that she can only be in it until she turns 3 at which time the early intervention program she is in will terminate services.  Hopefully she will get into the school district's preschool (we find out on the 24th).  Wednesdays are also the days that I take Khloe to Articulation Class (it is also through the Up to 3 program) but she won't be going to it after the end of this month.  Tuesdays the kids go to Respite Care to give me 2 hours of alone time.  That is if they aren't sick.  I haven't had that alone time to myself since before Christmas.  I can't wait to get it back.  Thursdays are usually the days that reserve for Doctor Appointments and food shopping.  I also have our Educator for Bear River Early Head Start who comes on Thursdays.  I would kick back and relax on Fridays but usually the Language Specialist or the Coordinator for the Up to 3 program comes to visit with us on those days.  That leaves Saturday and Sunday.  What can I say.  It is nice to have Les home but usually he wants to either sit around and play video games all day, go shopping, or go visit his relatives in Kaysville and/or Salt Lake.  Sound relaxing to anyone one else.  The last time we went down to SLC there was a bad snow storm.  Les had a VA appointment so we were up on the benches on the East side of the valley.  On our way out of there the roads were so slick that even out 4 wheel drive couldn't keep us going straight down the road.  We were lucky no one was near us cause we were all over the road.  What saved us?  It was the curb.  We eventually slid into it which caused us to straighten out and slowed us down.  The news that is worse than that is that hitting the curb took a chunk off our rim.  Turns out we were lucky we made it home without our tire blowing.  Les wouldn't let me drive the Yukon for several days while he tried to figure out what to do about it.  Eventually he had to put our spare tire on so we could get the kids where they needed to go.  He is still looking for a new rim. 
Les and I have been taking the Love and Logic class.  I am trying it out with the kids.  One of the things the class talks about is who the problem belongs to.  That kids should take responsiblity for their problems rather than the parents making the problem ours and then solving it for the kid.  So Les and I have been looking for ways to help our kids see that when they have a problem that it doeesn't do anything to us.  The problem only affects them.  One thing we found was that since early January Khloe stopped sitting on the potty.  She has gone back to doing everything in her diaper.  So instead of going over everything with Khloe (since we know she already knows it) we have decided to let her do that.  If she doesn't want to sit on the potty she doesn't have to.  The catch (yes there is one) is that since she learned how to take her diaper on and off when she was pottying regularly she gets to change her own diaper (unless she has #2 in the diaper) and we walk away and kind of ignore her.  That way she doesn't get the attention for it.  So now on the few times since we began this that she has used the potty we praise her endlessly.  We think she is starting to realize that if she wants us to pay attention to her she is going to have to do her business in the potty again.  We will see what happens in the next few weeks.
It has also worked a little bit with Emma.  Every night before bed we have the kids go get in their pajamas.  As soon as I tell them to go she gets this angry look on her face and she starts saying, "I don't want to get my pajamas on cause I'm NOT tired."  I always think, "Oh yeah!"  So because of things talked about in the class we are now telling her that she doesn't have to go to sleep but she does have to be on her bed.  The first few times she stayed up quite a while.  Then 7 in the morning I went in and got her up.  Oh she didn't want to get up.  I told her it wasn't my fault she didn't go to sleep at bedtime and that she still had to get up.  It hasn't quite worked the way I hoped it would.  She still tells me she isn't tired and sulks a whole lot but within 10 minutes of getting in bed she is sound asleep.  It is nice to have a little time to myself in the evenings before I head to bed.
I have run out of news and energy.  Good night all.

Crochet Dolls

A friend e-mailed this story to me.  I liked it enough to post it on here.

THE SHOEBOX
A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years.
They had shared everything. They had talked about everything.
They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little
Old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had
Cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.
 
For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but
One day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said
She would not recover.
In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took
Down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.
She agreed that it was time that he should know what was
In the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls
And a stack of money totaling $95,000.

He asked her about the contents.

'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me
The secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that
If I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.'
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two
Precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two
Times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.
'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?'
'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'
 
Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him; and Patience for his moods;

Because Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death,
Because I don't have time to crochet.

I thought that last part was pretty good.  Thankful I have never had to resist praying for strength.  I haven't gotten mad enough at Les to ever want to beat him to death (not that I could if I wanted to).  I love my little family. 

On a side note that is equally important.  Well at least it is to me.  Emma started Primary today.  She is a sunbeam!  I was a little concerned that she would be upset about not going to Nursery.  She was so calm about the whole thing.  She didn't cry after I walked out of the room.  That was when I started to worry that we had made too big a deal about primary and that she was going to be disappointed in it.  When we got her after Primary she was so excited.  I didn't catch everything she said but she did talk about an ice cream party that they haven't had yet.  So far so good.  I hope this good feeling will continue.

School time again!

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Mother's Day, Les' Birthday and Camping

First of all I don't know what blogger did but they changed the way you put pics on here. At first I liked it cause I can add more than one photo at a time. But then as I was trying to manipulate the pics I realized I lost that ability.  I would like that back.  So sorry things look weird on here cause I can't change it.  It bugs me so I am still messing with it.

Mother's Day was fantastic!  Mom and Dad where up here visiting because Daniel graduated with his Master's Degree that weekend.  Everyone came to church with us.  Then "The Men" cooked dinner.  They made deep fried shrimp, steamed broccoli, and eclairs.  It was nice.  The kids loved that they could go outside to eat.  It was great to spend Mother's day with my Mom.  I love you Mom.

After we ate Les and I loaded the kids in the car and headed to Myton for visitation and a Family Team Meeting.

I told Les a while back that if he didn't want me buying him a present he needed to come up with something for me to do for him on his birthday. His reply, "Make Lasagna for my birthday dinner." So that is what I did. I made two cake pans of my homemade Lasagna,  two large garlic breads (one with cheese melted on top), and a pasta salad.   Les added in his own touch by getting rainbow sherbet and sprite for the drink. We were in Myton on Les' birthday because Khole was visiting with her mom. So I invited over some family to share it with us. My sister Jen came with her family, my sister-in-law Julie came with her kids, and Les' parents where there (we had it at my parents' house so they were there).   After the kids played for a while I brought out the cakes (Yes I said CAKES, as in 2).  They were chocolate.  I cut them in half and put a raspberry filling in the middle.  One cake had chocolate frosting and the other one had coconut pecan (per Les' instructions).  It was served up with mint chocolate ice cream (another item from the Les' favorites list).  Sorry no pictures.  I had my hands busy what with the cooking and serving.  I was so tired by the time I went to bed.   It was a great day, good food, and great company.

Now for the Camping.  We took the girls camping Friday to Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.  Daniel and Jana invited us to go up with them.  It wasn't suppose to rain until after we went to bed.  It was raining when we got there.  It rained while we set up camp, and it rained while dinner was prepared, cooked, and eaten.  Then the sun came out.  It didn't last long.  It rained most of the night.  However the rain held off  until after we took down tents and got the cars packed.

The  food is what I like about camping.  We had Hobo dinners with peach cobbler.  For breakfast we had pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon.  We had sandwiches planned for lunch but it started to hail so we decided to go home to eat.

We were camped near the river.  The kids loved the "waterfalls" which were really rapids.  It was cute.

Enjoy the pictures of the kids.

Halloween 2009

We hope everyone had a wonderful halloween. It was pretty good here. We started out the day with the making of cookies and other goodies. Les wrapped each plateful in plastic wrap. We delivered one plate to each house on our street.

After our deliveries we got everything for our costumes together. Once Emma put the cloke on that Les had made for her last year she would not take it off. She loves it!

We ate dinner and and got the candy ready for trick or treaters. Our first ones came at 4 (our last came after 10 even though our light was off by then). Around 6 Daniel and Jana brought their kids over. We took Emma and Sammi around to the houses on our street and then met up with Daniel's family to go to other houses in the neighborhood. Les and Sammi headed back to our house to wait for trick or treaters.

Here are pics from our night.

We had a great time! Emma didn't want it to end.

Happy Halloween!

July 2009

First of all Les and I lost my hard drive so for now there are no pics. Another consequence of that is not remembering everything that happened or the order that it happened in. So if I forget you or an event or when it happened I am truly sorry.
I do remember that for the Fourth of July we were in Wyoming. Our nephew, Carson, turned 8 last month and was baptized on July 4th. We had so much fun. We drove up the day of the baptism and was given a tour of the house (even though they have lived in this house for a few years this was the first time we had been there). I know, sad huh. The worst part is that it is like an 1 1/2 hour to 2 hour drive. Salt Lake is an 1 1/2 hour drive too but we go there way more often. Back to the baptism. It was a very spirit filled event. The talks were great and Carson glowed. I know that he made a great choice and I know that Carson knows it too. We had a dinner in Carolyn's (my sister) backyard. It was so good! Before everyone could leave we did a quick family photo. Most of us were staying to go to church the next day. That evening we set off fireworks in the road. A few blew over the house and we had to check on it to make sure no fires were started. Expecially the tents that were set up in the backyard (yes we camped out). All the kids seemed to have a fantastic time. The were all running around playing together. The next morning I woke up to a lightly sunburned face. No not mine. Sammi had been kept in the shade the entire time and had sunblock but still ended up with a sunburn. I felt terrible. Despite that she was the well behaved child. While we were at church Emma had a major breakdown. I spent most of Sacrament meeting at the opposite side of the church while she screamed and cried. At one point I thought she was too loud (still) so I took her outside. It was quite a trial. After church we ate and packed up our tent. Then we started the journey home.
We bought a little blow up pool and Emma spent many days playing with her bath toys in it. Occasionally Tyler and Kailey would come over and join her or she would go play with them in their pool at their house. They had a lot of fun. I tried to use our pool to draw out the kids on our street. I wanted Emma to get to know some kids her age. It didn't work. Either there were no kids on our street or they didn't want to come play. That is just the opposite over at Daniel's house. Kids are always riding bikes up and down the street. when they pull out the pool even more kids come by. A lot of them would come by see the pool and head home. The next time we would see them the would have their swimming suits on. None seemed daring enough to actually ask it they could get in. Most were too big to get in anyway.
We traveled a lot to Salt Lake and Myton. We bought a Yukon XL. We love it. I drove the kids to Myton to drop the Jeep off to Les' parents. They needed another car so Laurie could get to work and Les Sr. would be able to go to any job interviews. My brother Bryan was coming up that weekend to stay with us so he could go to Ogden for tests for the classes he was taking. The kids and I hitched a ride back home with him.
Les worked his so hard all summer. He had a summer internship. He worked all week and then on weekends he was expected to go on "fieldtrips." So a few times Les would pack us up and take us with him. Emma loved it when we went to the Golden Spike National Historic Site because she got to see trains. Oh and also seeing the birds at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Brigham City.
I can't remember what else we did so I will leave it there.

Emma's Birthday Party (also potty training update)

Emma doesn't actually turn 2 until next Monday. However, starting Thursday Les is supposed to be gone for 6 days for conferences on his research. That means he won't be here for Emma's birthday or the weekend before. Also, I am due the weekend after Emma's birthday and I really didn't want to be hauled to the hospital right before or even in the middle of her party. So for those reasons we decided that we needed to throw her party before Les leaves. Yesterday was the day. The weather was great and we had a lot of people come to support us. We would like to thank all of those people for coming.

The party went great as far as I could tell. We ate dinner, opened presents, had dessert, and Les made crafts with the kids. Also because the weather was great the kids got to go outside and run around. There of course was still snow so they got into this big snow ball fight. Here are some pictures from the big day.

Here is Emma's cake!

I think I did a pretty good job on the decorating for my first real attempt.

Les' family

Melanie's family

Blowing out the candle!

Emma in her Cinderella Dress!

Potty Training Update: It is day 8 and I think we have made a lot of progress. Emma is going #1 in the potty more often than not. Even when we went to the store! We are working on #2 now. One tip I would give to parents yet to experience this "joyful" time is to find something that your child really likes or enjoys and then use it to help modivate your child. For Emma it is certain dresses. I was pulling out her 24 month clothing and she saw this cute dress with butterflies. From the moment her eyes spotted it she wanted it on and had no intention of taking it off. However, when she had an accident in it we had to take it off to clean it. She cried for over an hour. It did teach her that if she wants to wear the dress she needs to make sure she does not have an accident in it.

Emma and "the princess"

On Friday night we went to an open house for Les' cousin Meagan. I think we all had a good time. I forgot my camera at home so there are no pictures. The title of this post sums up the night. I truly think that Emma thought of Meagan as a real "princess." For a while she watched every move Meagan made. She even acted a little jealous when Meagan danced with her dad. Les tried to distract her by dancing with her during the song but she just pointed at Meagan the entire time. At one point Meagan got her make up touched up for some pictures. Emma sat right next to her to watch everything she did. So Meagan put some on her as well. She looked so pleased to be included. In fact, after she have some lipstick on she kissed Les on the cheek. He was so pleased that he refused to wipe the lipstick off.

When it was time for catching the bouquet Les' uncle Bob took Emma over to be with all the other single girls. I thought for sure that with her behind all the other girls that she wouldn't even come close to the bouquet. I was wrong. It sailed right over their heads and landed in front of Emma. She just reached out and picked them up. She held onto them as if they were a lifeline. I asked her this morning if Meagan gave her those flowers and she noded yes.

After seeing everyone else dance Emma pulled Les out to dance. Everytime he tried to come back to sit down she would pull him back out. One song that was played was So This Is Love from Cinderella. Once she heard it she knew what it was and asked for it over and over. She didn't care for any other song but that one.

So even though I didn't take any pictures while we were there I did take pictures this morning. I was trying to distract Emma from the fact that we were making her wear a dress. So I asked her if she would like me to take a picture of her with the bouquet. She told me yes and ran to stand where I told her to. She did a great job of posing for the picture. After a few she started to move around. She even would look off in a different direction. She is going to be good at getting her picture taken. Here is what we did.

Emma demonstrating how she held her hands to catch the bouquet

The look on Emma's face when she came up with the bouquet