THE BAZIL BUNCH

Record Keeping

2012-01-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

I need your help!!!

Reasons for keeping a blog:

-I like to keep a blog for our extended family to see updates on what's going on in our own little family

-I also like to keep a blog for my own record keeping. I don't do so well at keeping a journal but find that most of what I post about is the same stuff I'd likely be writing about in a journal so...I print off my posts throughout the year and keep them in a binder in an effort to keep some sort of record of our lives and all the fun things the kids said or did that I know I want to remember but probably won't 30 years down the road.

I've heard of some company that you have print off your posts for the year and put them together in a book, bound and everything. This would save so much on my paper and print cartridges. I picture these books to be similar to the photo books you can order from most any photo company/store and because of how thin they turn out, I believe a book like this would take up less space on my bookshelves too, rather than these big binders I put my print outs in.

Does anyone know of a company that does this sort of thing?

Better Late Than Never Right?!

2012-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011

Santa visited our ward party a couple weeks before Christmas. The kids were so excited to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted. Once Cash's turn came around, he hurried up onto Santa's knee and gave him a big hug - the only kid to do that. Santa was so delighted with it - it really was darling! Cash asked Santa for a Nintendo and a remote control airplane.

Then Vanna Banana was next. She has such a sweet way about her and she sat there on Santa's knee rambling on and on about things. She told Santa she wanted a remote control airplane too, (Cash talked her into one of these I think by telling her that they could crash them and fight them if they both had an airplane :) along with a new baby doll.

On Christmas Eve we made cookies for Santa to enjoy when he made his stop at our house. The kids were thrilled to make cookies. I love the look on Vanna's face in the picture above - I just love the contagious enthusiasm and excitement kids have about Christmas.

The kids weren't satisfied with making only Christmas shaped cookies and simply had to include all the shapes they could muster up with our cookie cutters.

And of course, one of their favorite things to do - put sprinkles on the cookies. Vanna is taking her job pretty seriously here. After we finished with the cookies, we placed them, along with carrots for the reindeer, by our fireplace. Then we read the Christmas story and then each of us opened a gift - we always each open one gift on Christmas Eve night - something I remember always doing growing up too.

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year which I thought was special. What better place to go to remember the true meaning and importance behind the holiday. Our church starts at 9am though so we had already talked to the kids about being able to come out to see what Santa had left them but that we wouldn't start opening presents until we got home from church (since we barely make it to church on time as it is :)

I woke up early Christmas morning and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to just get up and start getting ready. Well, at 6:30, Vanna came walking into our bathroom to greet me. I told her that I thought Santa had come while she was asleep and asked her if she wanted to wake up her Dad and Cash so we could go see what he'd brought. She was so excited! We woke up Daddy and then went to wake up Cash. Cash is usually not a very early riser and can be a bit grumpy when he first wakes up but when Vanna said, "Cash wake up! It's Christmas! Let's see what Santa brought!" he was out of bed in a flash. As he was climbing down his bunk ladder he was saying, "Okay, come on, come on! What are you guys waiting for!?" So funny. The kids ran out to the Christmas tree and saw......

......this! Since we were up so early and had plenty of time, we decided to just open our presents before church and then worry about the mess and clean-up/put away after church. I always love to watch the kids tear open their gifts! And their faces, as they opened their gifts, displayed pure JOY!

Ty's loot - He got a new winter coat that he looks really good in, a new/bigger tackle box and case for his pole, wallet, web camera, saftey radio/flashlight, CD and candy. Ty teasingly said the only thing he didn't get for Christmas that he wanted was a baby. Well, he didn't have to wait too long - here I am on Christmas day (two days before we had little Rosalie) looking as big and ready as ever!

My loot - I got some much needed kitchen supplies like some new cookie sheets and measuring cups, etc. from Pampered Chef, DVD, a food processor (I'm very excited to try it out - thanks honey!), clothing, scrapbooking supplies and a beautiful blanket my mom made us.

Cash's loot - A booster seat, LeapPad, slippers, toy pocket knife, a remote control helicopter, cars, and a new outfit. His stocking stuffers included a new HexBug and some glow sticks that he'd been wanting since he saw them at Halloween. We got the kids some wonderful books and a sled together too. Now if only it will snow so we can use it! :)

Vanna's loot - A LeapPad, new outfit, a toy puppy, a baby and a stroller, playpen, carseat and blanket for her new baby. She also got her first Barbie (and it's horse that came with it). Her stocking was full of glow in the dark bracelets and girly/smelly chapsticks that she loves. It was so funny when she squealed to everyone she saw that day that, "Hey, I got a puppy!" they would look at us with a look of "Are you crazy - a new baby and a new puppy at the same time?" We would have to explain that it's a toy puppy that walks around and barks like a real one. :)

Baby Rosalie was spoiled too and she wasn't even here yet to enjoy it! :) We got her a highchair and a blessing dress for Christmas and she got some new outfits and blankets from loving grandparents too.

We just want to thank all the grandmas and grandpas who always play their part in spoiling us (probably half of what you see is given to us by them!) - we are so appreciative and hope you know of our love for you! We really had such a great holiday filled with MUCH excitement and MUCH to be grateful for! Hope your was filled with the same!

Rosalie's Birth Announcement

2012-01-12T20:45:00.001-08:00

Baby Girl Noir Birth Announcement

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Introducing... ... ... ...

2012-01-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

... ... ... ...Rosalie Kae Bazil. Rosie was born on December 27th at 2:09pm. She weighed in at 7lb. 7oz. and was 19 in. long. She is perfectly beautiful and healthy - what an amazing blessing!!!

Baby Rosie on her BIRTH day!

Pretty much from the time I had been taken off bedrest, I had been dialated to a three and then, for more than a week before Rosalie was born, I was dialated to a five. But still Rosie waited and because she was so good at it, after discussions with my Dr., we decided to schedule a C-section for Wednesday, Dec. 28th because we were afraid of Rosie being too big and me tearing to a 4th degree again. We found out that should that happen, it's likely we'd be dealing with several reconstructive surgeries to repair tissues and all that was destroyed in the tear. These would start about 4-5 months after delivery. Several "down" times and surgeries didn't sound pleasant, especially when I would have a new baby and two other little ones to take care of. We had also been told that recovery from a C-section is also easier than recovery from a bad tear (and I can testify now, that that is absolutely true!). And finally, after considering the fact that there is no additional risk to mother or baby in a regular/scheduled C-section than a vaginal delivery, we decided that the C-section is what we'd better do, to play it safe. Ironically, I was beginning to look forward to the idea that I wouldn't have to labor with a C-section - but read on and you'll see that is not what happened.

I was supposed to go into the Dr.'s office on Tuesday, December 27th, to do all the pre-op paperwork and then go to the hospital to do what paperwork needed to be done there to prepare for the C-section too. Well, that Monday night/Tuesday morning I didn't sleep well at all - I just didn't feel well. And Tuesday morning I especially didn't feel well. Apparently I was a bit grumpy too and this was made evident to even myself when Ty gave me a little "what's the matter with you?" pat on the bottom. I immediately turned to him and said sternly, "Don't." He just kind of looked at me with a bit of shock and I responded, "What? I don't feel well!" This isn't my usual demeanor and I noticed it right away but couldn't stop my reactions at the moment. Kind of funny.

Anyway, I got to the Dr.'s office where they drew my blood for lab work, I filled out some papers, the Dr. explained the C-section procedure (I had never had one before) and I simply told the Dr. that I wasn't feeling well that day and that I was having more contractions that morning than I had had in the past couple weeks. The Dr. simply explained that nausea can come back in the end of pregnancy but didn't really respond to my comments regarding contractions and the fact that I (half kidding) had said that I wondered if Rosie was trying to surprise us again and come that day rather the following day that we had scheduled.

By the time I left the Dr.'s office and made my way over to the hospital, my contractions had picked up and I called Ty from the hospital parking lot to let him know that I didn't think I was coming home and that I was just going to check myself into Labor & Delivery because I really wasn't feeling well and my contractions were coming very regularly. Ty said he'd find someone to leave the kids with and come meet me in Labor & Delivery. So, I went inside and went to fill out my admitance papers. While I was doing so and the lady helping me kept saying, "Tomorrow when you come in..." I finally said to her that I think I was actually going to just check myself in today to be safe because I really wasn't doing too hot. She jumped up and ran to get me a wheelchair explaining that she'd rather take me up to Labor & Delivery right away rather than finishing the paperwork. I got up to Labor & Delivery where one nurse checked me and found that I was dialated to an 8 and that my contractions were coming regularly - only a minute apart. The other nurses she explained my progress to didn't believe her so another nurse came in to check me. Sure enough, I was at an 8 and she announced that we had to get the Dr. there stat to find out if it was too late to still do the C-section we'd been planning. They were able to get a hold of the Dr. (who was surprised to hear I was in the hospital and in the condition I was, since I had literally just left his office) and he said we were still going to do a C-section. So arrangements for the C-section began to quickly get under way. When the Dr. arrived, he said to me, "Gosh I guess I should have taken you more seriously in the office but you still had a smile on your face and I thought things were fine - you must have a strong tolerance for pain." Then he made the comment that when he walked into my room, he knew things were serious because he could no longer see the smile on my face (no kidding!). So much for not laboring - I was able to enjoy both labor and a C-section (stated with a bit of sarcasm:).

Ty got to the hospital just in time to quickly change into scrubs before I was wheeled down to surgery. He had to stay behind until after they had all the prep work done (the spinal administered, the surgical sheet up, etc.), then they let him in to stand by my head - just in time to see me throw up. Minutes later, baby Rosie was delivered and made her first cry - oh what a relief it was to hear her! They quickly wrapped her up and brought her to my face to see her and touch her for a minute before she was whisked away to the next room to be cleaned up and checked out. Ty followed her and was able to capture many priceless pictures. So...I had arrived at Labor & Delivery after 1:00pm and Rosie was delivered at 2:09pm. It all seemed very quick and I felt a bit hammered and out of it when it was all said and done.

Proud Dad!

After being sewn up and taken to the recovery room, Ty was able to come in and he was just beaming - such a proud dad. He announced that Rosalie was just perfect, healthy as can be and I immediately became emotional as it all hit. How worried we had been over this little girl for so long, just hoping that she would pull through healthy and how wonderful it was for me to hear those words come from Ty. How grateful we were for the blessing of a beautiful and healthy little girl! Shortly after Ty's arrival into my room, the baby was brought in and I finally got to hold her. What tender moments those are when you first get to hold your newborn baby. Oh, she was (and still is of course) so precious!

Ty spent the day with me and then that night he went to pick up the kids and brought them to meet their new little sister. They were so excited and did so well to be careful with her and with me. After giving the baby a thorough check-over, Cash's repeated comment was, "I can't believe how soft her feet are!"

We were able to go home on Thursday and again, emotion washed over me as we buckled our little girl into her carseat to take her home. We weren't able to take Vanna home right away and again, to think we had so many worries over baby Rosie and we were able to just take her home without any concerns was wonderful.

I don't know what I expected, but my recover has gone very well I think. The worst part was getting out of the hospital bed, to stand, that first time after the surgery. Oooo, that killed but it has gotten so much better and I expect to do just fine. I can already get up and down pretty easily and even bend over to pick things up off the floor - that type of thing has surprised me considering how little you can do immediately following a C-section. Granted I am still on some medication and I'm sure things will be a bit of a bugger when those things run out but, I believe I've had much worse and think things will be fine.

We are so pleased with our little beauty. She is such a little angel baby - so good. She sleeps pretty well at night and is so content and sleepy/happy all through the day. She only fusses a bit when she's hungry. She eats well and latched right on the first time we tried to nurse.

I am just thoroughly enjoying Rosalie and trying to treasure up every moment. I love newborns. My favorite part about a newborn is their little grunts and sounds they make and the way they curl their feet up under themselves to stick out their bums when you lay them on your shoulder to burp them or on your chest while holding them - it is just the sweetest thing. Rosalie has lots of blonde hair and has a little dimple in the bottom of her left cheek. She still gets the hiccups all the time and she snorts a bit when she gets upset and cries hard :).

The kids are doing remarkable well too. They've been very patient with me and my inablility to do everything I once was. They are my little helpers too - to throw diapers away, to hand me things I need, etc. Vanna just loves to watch the baby and be right where the she is when she's being changed, getting dressed, etc. She likes to help pick out the clothes for baby Rosie too.

Ty took a week off work to help me out and I'm so grateful he did. He has really been incredible to deal with my occasional overflow of emotions or stress and has helped me immensely with everything around the house, with the kids, and to take care of me when I couldn't do things for myself. He's such a good guy!

We've had a couple visitors as well. My sister, Natalie, and her son, Roger, came to see us while we were at the hospital and stayed a couple nights to help out with the kids while we made our way home. We also had my mom and step-dad come stay a night with us to see our new bundle of joy and to bring us some food to help with dinners over the next couple days (that's my mom for you!). These visits were no small thing as the trip is a good 5 hours which seems long for such a short stay. I'm so grateful for their effort to do so though. We've received so many well wishes and beautiful gifts from other family and friends, it's been amazing - how loved we feel and how grateful we are that Rosalie, and all our kids for that matter, have family/friends that care so much for them.

Now we're all trying to get back into the swing of things. It's amazing how long it takes for us all to get ready in the morning and how much of a change it is to get back into a schedule with a new baby added to the mix. But we are doing so good and are so happy to have baby Rosalie in our family!

We're Still Here!

2011-12-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I never thought I'd be saying this, but we are now 38 weeks along and have STILL not had our little girl. We really might be having a Christmas baby!

Since my last post, we have had a couple more ultrasounds, just to keep an eye on our fluid levels, etc. and although they are still low, they have not decreased and so some of our concern over that has diminished. My cervix has pretty much thinned to nothing and the doctor says that can feel the baby's head, it's just right there when he checks me. She has been that way for a couple months hence so much pressure I think. In the ultrasounds I've been able to see my cervix and pushed right up against it is her little head of hair - impatiently (and now patiently) waiting to make it's debut.:)

I was taken off bedrest and all my medications last Thursday (36 1/2 weeks along) and we thought for sure we'd have had her within a couple days. Finally, last Monday night (37 weeks along) I began having regular contractions and coupled with the regular pelvic pressure that I've had throughout the pregnancy, we decided I had better go to the hospital. We got there about 10pm and found I was dialated to a 3 and having contractions every 3 minutes. We thought for sure this was it! And I was relieved, it seemed we'd have the baby at a perfect time. In my mind I kept thinking anywhere from 36-38 weeks would be perfect - if we could miraculously have her then I thought we'd be far enough along that baby should be healthy and fine but not too far along for baby to get too big. That might sound crazy but again, my body just has a hard time with pregnancy period - when the baby gets too big I tear terribly (and we're not even talking big - my biggest baby was only 6lb. 4oz. and I tore to a 4th degree) and I really want to avoid doing that again. Should we run into that again, we end up worrying about other complications and are even thinking about needing to do a c-section. I know, I'm a never ending basket of problems, but truly, we never thought we'd even have to worry about this side of things when we were so worried about the baby coming early!

Anyway, you can imagine my dissappointment when throughout the entire night, even though the contractions continued every three minutes, they never got things moving or advancing and by 10am they even started to spread out a bit more. We decided to just go home until either the contractions got completely miserable or my water broke or something. Really, I was totally bummed that the hospital wouldn't help things along a bit (like break my water for me or something, I mean we were there, ready to go, and again, we don't want the baby to get too big) but their policy is that they won't help in that way until a pregnancy is 39 weeks along. Ahhh!

When we came home and picked up the kids, (who had stayed the night with a friend of ours) I told Cash that this little baby must have a personality like his - always teasing us.

Since that night, I haven't hardly had any contractions, I've pretty much felt better, slept better, etc. since, gosh, I don't know when! Apparently our little girl has finally gotten comfortable and now that I've been taken off bedrest and all my meds, and CAN have her safely, she's decided to wait. :) It's just so funny - you feel like you should have an idea about the way things should work by baby number three but for me, each pregnancy has been so different it is still so up in the air.

All in all, we are very grateful our baby girl has made it as far as she has. She should make it through things healthy now and we couldn't be more relieved! The longer she waits the better - for her - for me not so much. I'll tell you what, my body has been through the ringer for this little girl, but that's what we mother's do right - we sacrifice much for our children, however, the rewards are great and I am truly grateful for the opportunity and blessing!

So...until next time...which will likely be a post about our baby girl...we wanted to throw out our well wishes to you and yours this holiday season:

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Name That...Baby

2011-11-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

Well, as we get closer to the delivery of our little girl, we find that we are not any closer to completely deciding on her name than we were several months ago - we've been at the same stand still since then. It seems like we have a harder time deciding with our little girls. Cash was named almost as soon as we found out we were having a boy, where Vanna Marie wasn't named until she was two days old. Is that the fate of our new little girl too? We think we have it narrowed down to three names and the whole family is pretty set on our first pick (as you'll see below) but we haven't committed completely to it yet so things are still a bit up in the air. Here's what we've come up with:

1st pick: Rosalie Kae or K. Bazil - We all really like Rosalie. I remember a little girl, Rosie, from my home town and I always thought she was so adorable, with a matching adorable name. Ty liked it right off and it fits his criteria which is that he doesn't want to give any of our children unisex names (such as Taylor or Payton, etc.) simply for the reason that he feels so bad when he refers to such a name as a girl and it turns out it's a boy (he runs into this a lot at work as he's talking to parents about medications for their kids and without seeing them, he hates having to guess if the name refers to a boy or girl). So our girls will be blessed with very feminine names that can't be mistaken for boy's names I guess, and Rosalie fits that description.

I've always wanted to name a little girl after my mother in some way who I love and respect as much as humanly possible. Her name is Karen and so Kae or K. will likely be our baby's middle name/initial.

This name is everyone's favorite and the kids have already kind of taken the name on as if it's set in stone. I just have to add that it's so darling to hear Vanna call the baby "baby wosie" (she's not real great with her "r's" yet). Our only hold up is if the baby is born with red hair, which could happen easily with the red hair in Ty's side of the family. Ty's not too sure about the whole combination of red hair - red rose name idea. But you never really know what hair color a baby will really have. Lots of times, their hair falls out and comes in a different color, or it lightens or darkens. I guess we'll see.

2nd pick: Lia Kae Bazil - Ty and I really like this name too because it encompasses both our mothers in the name. Ty's mom's name is Orillia and since I've always liked the name Leah, I thought, "Hey Ty, what if we used the name Leah but spelled it differently to take in the end of your mom's name?!" And then, of course, Kae is after my mom (as I described above). It would be kind of neat for her to be named after both her beloved grandmas I think. And we both think Lia would fit a little red-haired girl perfectly :).

3rd pick: Heather Kae or K. Bazil - Again, Heather is a very pretty and feminine name. It actually has a connection to my name as well which is a small part of the reason we're considering it (Heather means Erica in Latin - not that we speak Latin or anything :) And I like that although it's somewhat a common name among my generation, you don't really hear it much among our younger generation and I guess I like that it would be a bit uncommon.

So what's your vote? Not saying it will hold any weight in the long run (and who knows, maybe we'll decide on name that 's not even listed above) but I'm curious as to what my friends like. Or if you have any other great suggestions, I'm all ears. :)

Just a little update below on things for my own records (you're welcome to read, but I'm warning you - it's long!)

Our baby girl is very active and seems very strong (reminds me a lot of my pregnancy with Cash). I often just watch my stomach to see it just rolling and changing shapes as the baby moves around to change position/get comfortable. I first felt her hiccups (or "pickups" - as Vanna would say) when I was at 29 weeks and nearly feel them once evey day now. I love to sit/lay still the entire time she has them and feel their rythmic movements. I find them so fascinating - pregnancy in it's entirety is so fascinating. It's amazing all the changes a woman's body makes to accomadate a little one, and likewise, amazing the changes in development that take place as a little one grows. What a blessing to experience such a thing - such a miracle, again.

We're anxious to meet our baby girl and learn more of her personality. And apparently she is very anxious to meet us too the little stinker (perhaps she's inherited a bit of impatience from her mama - we're hoping she can be just patient enough to last a couple more weeks though at least :)

Speaking of our little girl's impatience, here's an update on what's happened in the pregnancy over the past few weeks.

My last update talked about when we first found out I was low on amniotic fluid (possibly as a result of being on Sulindac - a medication to help prevent contractions) so I was taken off that medication and put on Nifedipine which also helps prevent contractions - just not quite as effectively - but doesn't have the possible side effect of lowering amniotic fluid) ...so to start where I picked off...two weeks later, 32 weeks along, we went in for an ultrasound that showed my fluid levels had gone back up a bit (it was at 6.6 and went up to 10.8, again, normal is from 10-20) as a result of being taken off the Sulidac. Yay!!! BUT it did show that my cervix was still continuing to thin. At that point, it now measured at .99cm (again, regular at this point should be 3cm).

That same week, my dear sister brought our kids home for a quick hello over the weekend! Oh, it was sooooooooooooo good to see them! We had a great time. I just loved their company and they loved playing with Dad. Ty said afterwards how funny it is that you forget how much they wear you out. I think it really eased the kids' minds too, to realize that they will be home soon for good and that everything is still here and just waiting for them (their toys, their beds, etc.). They even left good too. I was a little worried that after coming home for a couple days, they wouldn't be willing to leave again to be with Grandmas and Grandpas for another couple weeks but they did really good when it came time to say good-bye. Such good kids!

I don't know if it was from having the kids home (which to me, was highly unlikely as I really didn't do anything more than usual) or what, but nearly as soon as the kids arrived, I began having contractions that were more noticeable than usual. They continued all through that Friday and early Saturday morning (about 4am) I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep as they became for painful and more frequent. So...a couple hours later, we headed into the hospital. They had to give me a couple shots to stop the contractions and boy do those things sting - ouch!. But they did the trick and my contractions stopped, thank goodness. My doctor wondered if the Nifedipine wasn't strong enough to help me with my contractions so he again put me on the Sulindac and asked that I come back into the office on Monday for another ultrasound. This ultrasound was supposed to just be to measure my fluid levels again to see where we were starting from at the time of starting the Sulindac - then we'd have another one in a week to see if the medication had had the same effect on me as before and was lowering my levels or not.

I went in for my ultrasound on Monday (33 weeks along in my pregnancy) and we found that after only taking the Sulidac for two days, my fluid levels had dropped way down to the start of being critical. My fluid level was down to 4.09. I was so disappointed because I felt so much better when I was on the Sulidac and it seemed to work for me so much better than the Nifedipine at preventing contractions, but when I'm on it, my levels dropped. After discussing things with my doctor, we decided I would take the Nifedipine throughout the day and take just one Sulidac in the evening (when my contractions usually picked up) and see if after a week, things had improved or not.

One week later (34 weeks now), the ultrasound showed that my fluid levels had risen back up to 6.6 which we were comfortable with AND my cervix length had not changed. What good news this time! So we are just going to keep doing what we're doing and check things out again in another week. At that point I'll be at 35 weeks which is a huge milestone for me. Even by hitting 34 weeks, I've found some of the weight of worry starting to dissipate and be replaced with excitment. We are making it pretty far really and with every week, even every day, our little girl has such a greater chance at being healthy when she's born. My goal is to get to 37 weeks, at which point my doctor said he'd take me off bed-rest. Yay! AND I'm almost to the end of my weekly hydroxyprogesterone shots (that help to strengthen my cervix) - after about 35 weeks they usually stop giving them, so I have just one more left. Yay again!

I've now been on bed-rest for just over 5 weeks - ahhh! Just a couple more weeks to go and if we make it that far, they'll take me off medications and bed-rest and I'm assuming we'll have her right away. Who knows though - she might trick me and after all this trouble, change her mind and decide to wait it out for the whole 40 weeks. Hahaha! Seriously, what a ride it's been!

Cash's Latest

2011-11-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

We are just so blessed to have this happy little guy in our family. Cash is now five and a half and is just growing up too fast. Although he's growing taller and stronger all the time, he is still the same little boy he's always been - with a love/passion for life and fun. He loves to play, play, play. We call him the energizer bunny sometimes, because he definitely has the happy energy to allow him to keep up that tough schedule of play, play, play too. We find it comical that one of the first things he asks his dad on his days off work is, "So...what do you want to play with me today dad?" His happiness and energy is contagious, he always has a big bright smile and bright attitude. We are so changed and often bored without his excitement and entertainment each day. We miss him so much and can't wait to have both the kids back home!

There's that big, happy smile we adore!

Speaking of growing, I have to add that Cash is such a good eater. He eats such a good variety and even asks me to make him things like stew. What kid asks for stew? And the reason...because it has carrots. He loves carrots and lately he tells us his favorite vegetable is broccoli (mac & cheese is his all time favorite meal though). We keep telling him all these healthy foods will make him big and strong like his dad (who he just idolizes) and he just can't get enough. He loves to go work out in the garage with Ty too and likes to show off that he can do pull-ups now, along with his sit-ups and push-ups.

I love these pictures because they show so much of Cash's personality. He is so silly and thinks he's so cool. He definitely has us laughing all the time. And they show his double-jointed fingers that we can't enough of.

Cash is cracking us up lately with all his new facial expressions. He has discovered a new found talent of raising his eyebrows and uses his talent as often as possible to add a bit of quirkiness to whatever he's saying. He also loves to crack us up by trying to tell us jokes. These usually don't make any sense - but it's just funny the effort he continues to put into them. For example: Cash - "Knock knock." Mom - "Who's there?" Cash - "A snake on your head". Ty told him a joke the other day that we now hear about ten times a day - Cash loves it. It goes: "What would you do if you got swallowed by an elephant?.....Run around until you get pooped out." Oh, how that makes Cash laugh.

Cash loves to go fishing. I'm sure he'll always be his dad's fishing buddy because they both just love being out doors, getting fresh air, relaxing, and hoping they'll hook a big one.

Cash is always happy to tease and trick us. Lately he's been playing a lot of jokes on us followed with an "I was just tricking you Dad." I'll have to read him the story of "the boy who cried wolf again" and see if it leaves any kind of impression :).

Cash loves to play in the water. He'd take three baths a day if he could and especially loved playing on the trampoline this summer with the sprinklers running under it.

I know you've seen this picture before, but is one of my all-time favorites of Cash. Again, just another example of the way he keeps us laughing.

Cash is still pretty competitive. He loves playing any kind of sport and loves to win. He has a hard time understanding that it's okay when we don't always win, not everyone is perfect all the time right? Wrong - according to Cash. We're working on that one.

Cash tells us he wants to be a missionary, a policeman, a fireman and lately, a sea lion feeder. I find it encouraging to see the way Cash truly wants to be good (unless we're talking about teasing his sister- ahhh). He genuinely feels bad when he makes mistakes and he suprises me with the things he is grasping in regard to the church and the things we're trying to teach him. I'm pretty proud of the fact that he always tells everyone that he wants to be a missionary when he grows up. I hope he sticks to his young guns and remains worthy to be just that.

I have to record an experience where Cash truly shined and was such an example to me: Our Stake was challenged to be better missionaries and we were asked to make a special effort to invite a friend to church on a particular Sunday. Then all of our meetings on that Sunday were especially designed to teach and encourage those that might be visiting us. So prior to that Sunday, in Primary, we really beefed up our effort to encourage our kids to make these invitations - who better to invite their friends to Church than such pure and sweet kids who seem fearless to do such things right? Well, that was exactly what Cash was. He came home from Church that day, we had lunch, and he took a nap. Just after he woke up from his nap, we went outside to play a bit and while I was sitting there watching the kids, he started walking over to our neighbor's house. I shouted out to him to come back and when he got closer, I asked him what he was doing. He responded by telling me he wanted to invite Kathy, our neighbor, to Church (and he even had our little paper invitation, that had been passed out in Primary that day, in his hand to give her). I thought he would have forgotten all about it but the message really sank in for him. So we went to our neighbor's and invited her to Church. But seriously, I thought - what a little missionary. Children truly can teach us so many things and I know I was taught by Cash's example that day. I was so proud of him.

Cash loves to go to Primary. As soon as Sacrament Meeting is over, he books it to his Primary class all by himself (and has since he first became a Sunbeam). He's usuallly very careful to remember to take his "scriptmures" to class and on the rare occasion that he forgets them, he will go to the Library by himself and ask for a copy to take to class. Since I'm in Primary, I get to witness his desire to participate and answer questions. He always has his hand up and is so proud of himself when he gets an answer correct. I love to see him learning and wanting/loving to learn about our Savior and His Church.

In addition to being a missionary, Cash tells us he wants to be a policeman and a firefighter. Yikes - some dangerous jobs - those will keep his mother worrying. And of course lately, (in relation to our Oregon Coast trip I think) he tells us he wants to be a sea lion feeder. And he doesn't just want to be one of these things, but all of them - at the same time :). He's such a hoot.

Cash loves to tell us bed-time stories. Cash has always pretty much stayed up until we go to bed (he thinks he's going to miss out on something if we try to put him to bed earlier and never ends us going to sleep until we do anyway...so...to compensate, he still usually takes naps) and it has kind of become tradition for us to tell eachother bed-time stories. Ty takes a shower right before bed and so while he's in the bathroom, Cash will climb into bed with me and we'll take turns telling eachother stories. He even occasionally gets to hear some from daddy when he's done in the shower (who always has such creative and scary stories that Cash loves) before we make him go get into his bed. Cash has some pretty creative ones himself too that he tells us. It's a lot of fun.

Cash loves to feel the baby kicking and will just randomly put his hands on my tummy to see if she'll kick him.

Cash is completely facsinated with money right now. He loves getting his quarter each day for doing all of his chores and is always telling us what he's going to buy with his money. His new favorite store is Kings (which has a pretty good selection of cheap toys and some quater machines that the kids love) and he always talks about going there with his money. We even regularly hear him in his bedroom at night, after we've gone to bed, clanking his coins around and counting them by flashlight.

Cash's first day of Pre-School, 2011. He just had to wear his sun glasses. He looks like such a stud-muffin. We often call him that and sometimes, when I'm finished with his hair in the morning, he'll ask, "Do I look like a stud-muffin?"

Hilarious story that I just have to record:

This summer we attended one of Ty's co-worker's weddings. It was followed by a BBQ-type reception and we enjoyed our meal with many of Ty's other co-workers - most of whom drink alcohol. We had just sat down with our food and Cash said he wanted apple juice to drink. We told him there wasn't any apple juice but that daddy would get him a pop in just a second. Cash was very disappointed and kept begging for apple juice. We couldn't figure out why he was making such a big deal out of it. While we got all settled with our food, Cash wandered back over to the food tables (where we figured he'd look for apple juice, find there wasn't any and return to our table). In that same instant, I happened to realize that our friends' plastic cups were filled with beer, but to a child it would perhaps appear that they were filled with apple juice. Upon realizing that this is probably why Cash was so adament about having apple juice and not believing us that there really wasn't any (when he could "plainly" see our friends with "apple juice"), I quickly explained this to Ty and told him he'd better go grab Cash. As we turned to look at the food tables, we could see Cash just starting to return to us with "apple juice" in hand - looking rather pleased with himself. Oh, how Ty's co-workers laughed and laughed as they saw Ty take the beer out of Cash's hand and lead him back to the tables to pick out a pop instead - they teased Ty and asked him how in the world he explained that one to his son. Cash was so upset which sadly only added to the hilarity of the situation. We had a good little follow-up talk about that one on the way home. :)

Some of the funny things Cash has said recently:

"Whatever!" and "Yeah right Mom." - I keep thinking he shouldn't be talking like this still for a few more years :)

The other night we went to Arctic Circle for ice cream and Cash asked why there were so many cars driving around. Before we could answer the question, he said, "I think some are just drivin' and some are out making girlfriends." We just laughed, thinking where does he come up with this stuff?

That same night while we're sitting there eating ice cream, I suddenly smelled a terrible stench and asked Cash if he farted. He just looked at me and admitted with a mischievious sneer, "Yep...twice." What a boy!

No matter how hard we try to correct him, Boise's football team, to Cash, is the Boise "Steak" Broncos.

One day, as we were driving in the car, Cash brought up the topic of what happens to us when we die. He said, "I don't want to turn into a skeleton." I thought it was so sweet the way his little mind works and tries to figure things out. I tried to put his mind at ease with the happier parts of what we know will happen to us after we die.

Later that week, Cash had caught yet another grasshopper in a jar, and we were trying to explain to him that he would want to release it later that day so that it didn't die (like the last couple he'd captured). He asked me, "Will my grasshopper be resurrected?" Another teaching moment presented.

Out of the blue one day, when I asked Cash to do something for me, he replied by putting his hands together in front him, bowing, and saying, "Yes, your magesty." I laughed so hard that of course he does it more often just because he knows I get a kick out of it. Vanna has caught on too and I often have both my kids responding to my requests with, "Yes, your magesty." Don't I have them trained well? :)

Cash likes to give us ultimatums (perhaps I do that too often myself and that's where he gets it from). He'll say "This is your two chances." But what he means is, "This is your two choices or options." and then he'll proceed to tell us what they are like he's in charge. So funny.

In Cash's prayers lately, he usually always includes the following phrase, "Thank you for this opportunity." He never states what that opportunity is, but its funny how grown up it sounds coming from him. It also reminds us that perhaps we're a little too repetitve in our own prayers when we say things like, "We are grateful for the opportunity...."

Wow - this kid keeps us hopping, smiling, laughing and completely worn out but oh we just love him so much. We are grateful for such a good boy and for the spirit he brings into our home. We can't wait to have him fill it up again with his energy. Love you buddy!!!

Thirty Weeks

2011-10-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we just keep plugging away and already two weeks has gone by since our last Dr.'s appointment. As soon as my mom heard our last news, she headed up here to stay for a week and boy did she keep busy in that week. She knows how I am - likes a clean house, always has projects to be done, etc. - probably because I'm so much like her. She did my windows, my base-boards, helped me better organize my garage, clean out my stove and above all the kitchen cabinets, cook meals to put in the freezer, play with/take care of the kids...I mean she's just amazing...and that's not even all of it! I hope she knows what a blessing it is to have her in my life. I'm so grateful for her help, her support, her undconditional love, her sacrifices for me - I don't know what I'd do without her.

And if that's not enough, she then took my kids home with her. After a lot of thought, Ty and I decided it would be best for our baby girl, if the kids went to spend some time with Grandmas and Grandpas to try to help prevent me from doing too much and to allow me to be on the bestrest that I need. We are so grateful my parents and Ty's were willing to go along with this plan and offer their help. The kids will actually be gone until Thanksgiving - spending one week with my parents, one week with Ty's parents, and back and forth for four weeks. Wow - what a long time! I've never been apart from them much - we're used to spending all day everyday together. It's been very emotional for me to have my kids gone. The day they left, I just sat in their bedroom staring out the window, for I don't know how long, at the place I last saw them pull out of the driveway with my mom and sobbed. It's still hard to talk about them being gone without breaking down and it's hard to hang up the phone each night after talking with them. What is especially hard is to hear the sadness in their voices in our phone conversations, as they occasionally struggle with a bit of homesickness and missing us. Oh how we miss them too - the time seems to pass so slowly and quietly by with them gone. I have to remember that this time will seem short one day, when we look back on all of this but for now it is hard.

Ty and the kids were able to go pick out pumpkins and we got some pumpkin carving in before the kids left. We won't have them for Halloween and wanted to share in this at least with them. We love hearing of their excitement for the holiday and can't wait to see pictures of them in their costumes!

Cash loves to do creepy ones so his is the scary/mean faced one. Vanna loves kitties so that's what she got. After gutting the pumpkins out and while Ty was working on Vanna's, he looked over at Cash who was "helping" and he was putting all the seeds back into his pumpkin. :) Ahh, kids. And Cash had to keep several pumpkin seeds cuz he hopes to plant them in our garden. He's fascinated with seeds right now. The other day we ate plums with our lunch adn he collected everyone's seeds and then ran out to the backyard. He returned a minute later to report that he'd planted the plum seeds and can't wait until we see a plum tree growing. :)

Although it's been difficult, I am glad to report good news and that is that our baby girl seems to be doing very well. She is healthy and growing wonderfully and we are just taking as many steps and precautions we can to help continue doing just that.

We had another ultrasound which showed my cervix had not thinned any further and the doctor is hopeful that with continued bedrest (the less gravity on my cervix, the better) we can prevent too much thinning too early and keep our baby girl in the best incubater possible - me :). The ultrasound did show I was low on amniotic fluid (not a critical low that can cause stress on the baby, but a low we need to keep an eye on and make changes for) most likely caused by some medication I was on to help prevent contractions and reduce pain/pressure - a possible side effect was that it could cause a decrease in fluid levels BUT fluids usually go right back up once you're taken off the medication, so I was taken off it, put on other medication (that is more for just helping with the contractions) and another ultrasound was ordered two weeks out where we'll hopefully find fluid levels back up and normal. I will continue my weekly shots for hydroxyprogesterone in an effort to help with my cervix and today I got my first steroid shot (which helps with aiding the development of the baby's lungs should she come early). Whew!

My mom with the kids just before they left. They each wanted to take their bears (and a lot of other toys too but we talked them into taking one thing and reminded them that their Grandmas and Grandpas have toys of their own they can play with :)

Our little heart-throb! Cash is SUCH a sweet boy and we miss his energy and vigor for life/play in our home. His smile brightens every day and we can't wait to have him home again soon.

What a sweetheart! When we call her sweetheart, or princess, pumpkin or any of her other nicknames, Vanna will respond, "I not a sweetheart, I Vanna". She is going to be a princess (a pumpkin princess in fact - perfect!) for Halloween so we'll have to remind her that she is indeed our little pumpkin and our little princess!

We continue to try and be prepared as best we can for whatever the future holds but we feel very blessed to have made it this far and really feel that things will work out and be fine. We are praying and so appreciate all your encouraging words, thoughts and prayers on our behalf as well!

Side Note: I just have to record this funny experience as well - When I went in for this last ultrasound, the woman performing it walked in and said, "So what's the deal with your kidney stones?" I responded, "I wasn't aware I had any." She just laughed and said, "There must be some mistake on my forms, cuz you'd know if you had them." It turns out that on the Dr.'s ultrasound request form, he had circled 'incompetent cervix' as the reason for the request but the receptionist setting up the appointment misread it and thought he's circled 'kindey stones' (which was right next to 'incompetent cervix'). Anyway, I was thinking, "Oh no, not something else!" I was glad to find out I don't have kidney stones too! :) Kind of funny I thought.

Pregnancy Update

2011-10-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I am now nearly 29 weeks along and due to some requests, I thought I'd post a couple belly pictures and record a little pregnancy update for my own records.

Pictures are courtesy of Cash. He did pretty good really - he cut my head off on the one below but what you really want to see is that big belly anyway right? :). I'm 27 weeks here.

We have had an interesting pregnancy so far...again. Early on (end of July/beginning of August) I began feeling pelvic/cervical pain and pressure and was told to try to take things easy (which isn't so easy to do with little ones around right?) as we kept a close eye on things throughout the pregnancy. At that time, I also started receiving weekly hydroxyprgesterone shots in hopes of helping reduce the likelyhood of pre-term cervical shortening and pre-term labor (we dealt with these issues in my pregnancy with Vanna).

As time continued, so did the pain and pressure but I was consistently surprised to find that ultrasounds showed no cervical shortening. However, come about the 25th week mark, I began to just feel different and really started looking forward to my next ultrasound where I was sure we'd find things had changed (but hoping we wouldn't).

Well, I had another ultrasound on Thursday and found that my intuition, in this regard, was dead on. I had thinned and my cervix measured half the size it's supposed to at this point in a normal pregnancy (at this point anything below 3 cm is too short and I measure at a 1.5 cm - with Vanna's pregnancy, we discovered problems when I was 30 weeks along and I measured in at 1.8).

From the beginning, we knew I was at a higher risk of this type of thing happening again, obviously for the simple reason that it had happened before but we kept hoping somehow that we might be able to avoid these problems. Now that is happening again, we are certain the diagnosis of an "incompetent cervix" is accurate. Up to this point, we just kept hoping we could prevent the same thing from happening and that perhaps our experience with Vanna was a one-time thing darn it.

I'm 28 weeks here. My mother-in-law gave me this fun shirt and I love it. Each time I put it on though, the kids always make a comment about my wearing a turtle shirt. I'm sure I'll look more and more like a turtle in it as my "shell" continus to grow. :)

Anyway, we are now on bedrest and trying to figure out what we are going to do over the next two months to help keep the kids happy and entertained, allow Ty to keep working the way he needs to, and keep me down with my feet up the way I need to. Even though we have no family around we are blessed with their willingness to come up here to help and to take the kids to stay with them for different time intervals. We are also blessed with amazing friends here who are always so willing to help as well. We are truly so grateful for such blessings!

So...we are hoping to make it at least to 37 weeks (eight weeks away from now) to give our little girl a healthy start and hope to be able to avoid additional problems or a stay in the NICU (again, like we did with Vanna, although it would be much more difficult to figure out here, as the closest NICU is in Boise where I'd want to stay with the baby but hate to be away from my family, especially so close to the holidays). I lay awake at night thinking and thinking about what may or may not happen, how to be best prepared, etc. but it's just a waiting and hoping game. We continue to hope and pray for the best and know that things will work out, we simply need to be faithful and accepting of the Lord's plan.

Wish us and our little girl luck in the coming weeks!

General Conference Fall 2011

2011-10-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (of which I am a member) held its regular semi-annual General Conference where we are taught and receive instruction (via television) from the leaders of our faith and ultimately from Jesus Christ himself, as these leaders serve as special witnesses of Him. As one can imagine, I want to be sure I hear as much of their instruction as possible, however, this can be a little trying with little ones in the home. So I prepared plenty in advance to keep my kids listening (while entertained) so that we might all be uplifted from the messages prepared and shared at this special event.

I came across this idea for General Conference and thought I'd share it with you, if you care to use the idea too, because it was such a success for us.

It included simply printing off a picture and a get-to-know-you description of each of the First Presidency and each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which I already had saved from a previous General Conference packet). I then stapled a picture/description to a bag containing either a treat or a quiet craft of some kind that the kids could do while sitting at their little table in the middle of the Living Room in front of the T.V. With each new speaker, the kids would look through our basket to find the coordinating picture of the speaker, and then they got to either snack on or put together the craft contained in that bag. I made several extra bags for times when other General Auxiliary leaders might speak as well.

I tried to do as much of the prep work as possible so that I wasn't disturbed or interrupted quite so much during Conference, perhaps selfishly hoping to glean some of the things taught in General Conference too. Most things I included were very simple, such as: pre-cut string and macaroni in one bag for macaroni necklaces; a toy magazine, paper, glue and scissors in another bag for them to cut pictures out of and make a picture Christmas wish-list; lots of stickers to make cards with; coloring; etc. I think the kids' favorite craft was making the below pictured masks.

It was so fun to take the kids to the craft store to pick out things and because I had the basket put together in advance and just sitting on my dresser, the kids would eye it and ask over and over, "How many more days 'til General Conference? I'm so excited!" Success right?!!

Of course, we also played Conference Bingo all the while too, which the kids enjoy doing and which I think is a great idea as the kids have to listen carefully for key words from speaker's messages in order to put an M&M on a square to earn a Bingo.

My goal was to keep my kids quiet enough (through a bit of entertainment) that words and even entire messages might reach their little ears and enter their hearts as they hear our leaders speak of the things we need to be taught today - and I believe it worked wonderfully. Let me share my example of why I believe so:

During President Thomas S. Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session of Conference, he talked a bit about prayer. He shared a story of a time as a young boy that he had put a hard-earned five dollar bill in the pocket of his jeans and forgotten to take it out before the jeans were sent out to be washed. He was certain his jeans would return without the five dollars but even as a young boy, he knew he could offer a prayer to our Father in Heaven asking for help, in this case for his jeans to return with his money. He was relieved to have his jeans returned in a couple days WITH the wet five dollars still in his pocket and offered yet another prayer to Heavenly Father in thanks. He then bore testimony of how important it is to pray everyday and develop a personal relationship with our Father in Heaven.

This story caught Cash's attention right away, as he is VERY obsessed/worried about/fascinated with money right now. He and Vanna both receive a quarter each day they've done ALL their chores. And of course, at their age, money simply burns a hole in their pocket (hopefully we'll get the idea of saving in their heads soon :) They collect their chore money and buy small treats and toys at the store as a reward for all their work around the house. Anyway, Cash is especially fascinated with money and of late, we'll often find that when we've gone to bed, Cash will lay in his bed with a flashlight counting his money over and over. We often go to sleep to the sound of his clanking money and hope that he'll tire soon and go to sleep himself.

SO - President Monson's story regarding his money intrigued Cash. After this portion of the Prophet's talk (for he continued on with his talk), Cash asked me if he could go into his room for a minute. I told him, "No, when the Prophet is done speaking, Conference will be ending and you can go into your room then - I want you to stay in the Living Room until Conference is over." He then asked if he could sit on another chair in our Living Room and I said, "Yes." He promptly went to that chair, sat down, folded his arms, bowed his head, closed his eyes and offered a sweet prayer. I immediately thought of the primary song Follow The Prophet (which is Cash's favorite primary song btw) and promised myself I'd remember Cash's example to so quickly, faithfully and obediently follow our prophet's teachings - in this instance - to pray as our Prophet counseled.

By this and other examples, I know my kids DID hear much of what was taught in Conference and I hope that as we continue to try our best to make Conference something to look forward to with anticipation and as we continue to make Conference a priority, the messages we are taught each Conference will enter into my kids' hearts and touch them - that they might remember and heed the words of our dear Prophet and all our church leaders.

I hope your Conference experience was a great one as well and hope you'll share any success stories or activity ideas in comments so that I might try them too. Anything and everything helps right!? And they really DO help, I feel like I learned so much from the messages prepared. I was truly touched and taught. How greatful I am for Conference, for a living Prophet and for the Gospel in it's entirety!!!

"Me fwee and a half!"

2011-09-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

It is high time I update the blog and past time as well, to write out updates of the kids so I'll hit two birds with one stone and start with the Little Miss who is now "fwee and a half" (as she informs everyone). It is so hard to believe she's grown up so quickly but we are enjoying her every stage.

Vanna has gotten into the same habit that I have allowed Cash to get into, and that is watching a few minutes of cartoons when she first wakes up (whether in the morning or in the afternoon after a nap). Cash has always needed a few minutes to wake up before he's ready to get moving, eat breakfast, etc. and although Vanna doesn't require the same time to get happy after awaking, she thinks she should receive the same treatment as Cash and that is a little cartoon time. So often the first words out of her mouth in the morning are, "Will you turn me on a cartoon?" To which I usually respond, "Sure pumpkin!" Go ahead say it, I'm a bad mom :).

But like I said before, Vanna wakes up chipper and happy as ever in the mornings. She usually starts to gab right away (and for some reason she talks so loud - on a regular basis we have to remind her that we're right next to her and that there's no reason to raise her voice to yelling all the time - it's quite comical actually) and she loves to sing in the morning as well - we call her our little songbird. Lately, when she joins us for breakfast, she'll request not to have milk in her cereal (this is usually our breakfast of choice when Daddy works but on his days off we enjoy nice, yummy breakfast food - so no, you can't say I'm a completely bad wife too :). She'll sit at the table and eat her dry cereal and then often fill up her bowl again and carry it around snacking on it later in the morning too. Of course, she still picks off any sweet parts first (marshmallows first, the 'frosting' off frosted Mini-Wheats, etc.).

What an easy-going morning eh? What could be better than that - Lucky Charms in your bowl and cartoon to watch, all while snuggling with a favorite blanket and pillow pet?

Vanna's sweet tooth carries over into snacks as well. Her favorites include: spoonfuls of peanut butter, gushers, wheat thins, any kind of fruit, and oreos...or rather, the frosting from oreos. I found this many "leftovers" when I dug into the oreos the other day. Apparently, Vanna's been sneaking into the pantry and swiping oreo frosting. :)

Vanna loves to play in the water. She usually begs for a bath and gets so excited to go swimming. For some reason we often find Vanna's little tongue sticking out when she's playing and usually when she's running - which scares us to death. We keep trying to tell her that she's going to accidently bite her tongue right off if she has an accident when she's playing but it doesn't matter what we say, we'll see it hanging out again. Maybe she really does think she's a puppy (she LOVES to play/pretend she's a puppy or a kitty, crawling around on her hands and knees saying woof woof or meow :)

Vanna also loves to pretend at being a mommy. She always goes up to Cash and points at his chest while saying "Cash you be daddy and I mommy". She really is such a good little mommy too. She takes her baby dolls (whom she has named Amy and Lisla - no that's not a typo, she insists the baby's name is LISLA!) for walks in her stroller, shopping in the grocery cart, feeds them whatever food she can stuff into their tiny mouth openings, drips water down their face while she gives them a bottle full of water, tucks them in at night with their blankets, and even tries putting diapers on them occasionally.

Today, she had at one time put her baby in the corner for being bad. Later in the day, she grabbed a pillow from the couch to carry into her bedroom at naptime, when I asked what she needed it for she explained that she was going to put it under her baby's legs because "baby's legs hurtin'!" - Vanna's legs often ache in the night (something she inherited from me I think) and she wakes up crying in pain. We always give her a touch of medicine, raise her legs up on a pillow and rub them for a little while to soothe her. Apparently she was taking care of her baby in the same way. I have no doubt she'll be a wonderfully big help with her new baby sister.

Vanna thoroughly enjoys helping me clean.

Vanna can not get enough of puppies and wants to pet every dog she sees. If she sees one in someone's car while we're passing it on the road, she'll say, "Oh, a puppy, so cute, I want a puppy like that."

Vanna loves to jump on the trampoline. She has mastered the tricks of jumping and landing on her knees and bouncing back up to her feet WITHOUT hands, as well as doing the same by but landing on her bottom (she thinks these are such accomplishments and says over and over "Mom, watch this!" while Cash remains very un-impressed). She loves to play "Dead-Man Dead Man" and "Keep Away" with Cash and Daddy on the trampoline too.

Love the static!

Even more than jumping - Vanna loves to swing and could do it ALL day! And quite frankly, Vanna just loves to do ANYTHING with her dad. He's so fun to play with! The minute he lays down, the kids consider him a jungle-gym and are immediately climbing all over him. She loves to sit on his lap while watching a movie, etc. She just loves him too much!

The kids with their dad in the back of our van for a late night "Drive-In" movie. We had a great time trying that out this summer.

And even though we still struggle with their bickering often, Cash and Vanna are inseperable (whether they realize they're driving each other crazy or not). They do everything together - one of my favorite things to see them doing is riding on Cash's four-wheeler together. Cash gives Vanna rides all over the place and she just hangs on for dear life - loving it all the while. Cash is really rubbing off on Vanna I think too as now, she can not resist teasing us.

Here they are wrapped up in our hand-towels.

The kids love to build "forks" or in other words, forts. This was our creation the other day.

Swimsuits...bike helmets...socks & shoes...mmm - can you see why I still pick out their clothes anytime we're leaving the house?

Vanna has turned into a bit of a pack-rat similar to her big brother as well. She always packs up her shopping cart full of toys (as you can see in the picture above) and parks it right next to her bed where she insists it stays throughout the night. And if you look at the above picture, you'll see how she sometimes hangs all her babies along the rails of her bed so she can sleep with all of them. Funny girl :)

As I've mentioned before, Vanna likes to sing. She likes music period. She loves to dance and prance around to music as well. And speaking of prancing - the other day Cash was running in place and we asked Vanna to try it - she absolutley can not do it. Mainly because rather than actually running she prances and it's hard to do that in one place. :)

Vanna loves to ring the doorbell AND knock at the front door. When we open the door for her, she'll pretend she's lost or that her family is dead (learned that from Cash - don't know why they're so morbid) and that she needs a place to live.

Vanna still loves to primp up - loves her nails painted, etc. She's so good to sit still and let me do her hair no matter how long it takes and has even started practicing hair-do's and primping up her rocking horse as well (she also brushes it's teeth with her own toothbrush - ahh :).

For as girly as Vanna is, we find it interesting (and not so lovely) that she finds it hilarious to make herself burp. She has mastered the technique and we are forever reminding her that burping is not very ladylike. Of course she always follows up a burp with a "scuse me", but still!

Vanna is just our little sweetheart. She has ALWAYS been so good to randomly say, "I love you Mom!" in just the sweetest, melt-your-heart kind of way - several times a day. Now she adds even more emphasis by saying, "I weally weally weally super love you Mom!" She does the same thing for her dad. Ahhh - it's just the best! She never goes to bed without giving us kisses goodnight and often uses it as an excuse to get out of bed to give us more kisses - which we simply just can't deny right!?

Vanna can't resist picking any and all dandelions (flowers to her) for her mommy - how sweet!

Vanna still always announces the fact that she needs to go potty. And sometimes she'll come to us with that "look" and practically ask for permission to go potty in the way she announces it. We always hurry her and say, "Just go honey - run to the bathroom!" Don't quite know why she does that. :)

She's great at correcting Cash when he's done something wrong and coming to me to tattle and let me know she thinks he should go in the corner. Or sometimes she'll even lecture/yell at him with her finger pointed at him when he's in trouble (yikes - do I do that?:) My favorite though is when she tells me about Cash saying a bad word (like stupid or something similar) and while she's telling me about his misbehavior, she repeats the same bad word about ten times.

Funny things Vanna has said recently:

-It almost seemed out of habit, Vanna would say, "Hey Mom, hey Mom, heeeeey Mooom," until I answered. Then it was sometimes followed by a bewildered look and a, "Can't talk about it." - meaning I don't remember what I was going to say. She was just so used to saying, "Hey Mom" that she didn't even know why half the time.

-I need a swack! - meaning I need a snack!

-Vanna will give me this big explanation of a particular thing she wants to do and when she wants to do it and follow it up with this phrase, "Okay, Mom, that's the problem." When she means, "Okay, Mom, that's the plan."

-If Vanna has something yummy and I ask her for one she'll say, "One muy (more) and that's it, okay Mom!"

-When Cash just sits at the table without eating, Vanna will try to persuade him to eat in the same manner that I do with something like, "You need to eat buddy." Or when he first wakes up, Vanna will ask Cash (again, just like we do), "Did you sleep good buddy?" I just think it's funny that she calls him 'buddy' like us.
-When Cash shares a toy with her she'll ask, "I have this forever?"

Vanna also went through a short couple month phase where she did a lot of baby talk (she'd kind of stick her tongue out a bit, just between her lips, and talk teh way she thought a baby would talk). I just kept hoping it would pass and sure enough, it did. It's just so funny what they decide to do isn't it?!

Just had to add this picture again because it is still one of my very absolute favorites of our silly girl!

Anyway, our little girl is still her very independent, beautiful self and we are enjoying her ever growing vocabulary and wit. She truly is such a very good girl (it's when we combine her with her brother that we sometimes run into misbehavior, etc. - imagine that? :) . She is so excited to have "fwee" girls in our family. She's a great sister to Cash - trying to stay caught up with him in every way possible - and will be a great big sister too, I have no doubt. What fun she is to have in our family!!!

What Was Your Guess?

2011-08-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well, if you guessed we were having another girl, you were right! We are SO excited! I have to admit though that anyone's guess was as good as my own as I was more inclined to believe we were having a boy for some reason (guess I'm not blessed with that motherly inclination).

We had our ultrasound on Thursday and were relieved to see all is going as well as can be expected with the pregnancy and that our baby girl seems to be as healthy as can be! When we told the kids, of course Vanna started squealing and saying, "Yay!" while Cash said, "Oh man, I wanted a boy, I like baby broders." Then he jumped right back into playing and we haven't heard a word of complaint since. The kids are both helping us out with little girl names and it's been interesting to see what they come up with. We were pretty set on a boy's name and a little undecided in the girls department. We were so undecided with Vanna (who wasn't named until day two after her arrival) and since I have a couple pretty good ideas this time around, I hope that won't be the case with this bundle of pink.

I already had Ty get all my saved baby girl stuff and am in the process of rummaging through it all. Only about half of our clothing will work (as Vanna was born in April and baby #3 is going to be a winter baby) but I figure if I buy some sweaters and leggings/leg warmers maybe I can make the other half work too. We'll see :).

We are very happy to welcome another princess to the family, so relieved she's doing well, and really just feel so overwhelmingly blessed! I have been strongly determined not to take such a blessing as a healthy baby for granted. We just had a dear friend of ours lose their beautiful baby girl due to a very pre-mature birth and our heart aches for them. In the short time their baby lived, Teagan Faith and her family-through her and her stuggles- have made a lasting impression on me and so many others. Our sincere prayers are with them and we hope for their strength and comfort during such a difficult time. I thought her name so fitting and have found so many thoughts, books, lessons experiences, etc. over the past few months touch my life in regard to faith. You know how you hear things repeated over and over until one day it clicks in such a personal way? I have really felt that in regard to the principle of faith recently. Perhaps I needed a lesson in faith or perhaps it was that I finally opened my heart to the true understanding of it. I have learned so much in my studies and thought maybe I'd share just a clip of what I began to feel in regard to faith and our pioneers as I recently had to speak on the topic:

OUR FAITHFUL PIONEERS

As I’ve studied and read through histories of our pioneer heritage and all the early Saints of the Church endured, I found myself asking “How?”

How could our pioneer Saints have worked so hard and under such harsh conditions?: James Bleak of the Martin Company recorded their experience as they crossed the North Platte for the last time in October of 1856: “The crossing of the North Platte was fraught with more fatalities than any other incident of the entire journey…Blocks of mushy snow and ice had to be dodged…Some of the men carried some of the women on their backs or in their arms, but others of the women tied up their skirts and waded through like the heroines they were.” Following that crossing Patience Loader recorded: “We had to travel in our wet clothes until we got to camp. Our clothing was nearly frozen on us. That night the ground was frozen so hard we were unable to drive any tent pins in and the tent was wet…We stretched [the tent] open and got under it until morning.”

I thought how could they have ate so little?: Rations were such that each adult received 10 oz. flour per day, 10 oz. pork per 20 days and short rations of tea, coffee, sugar, rice and apples. It was said that “any hearty man could eat his daily allowance for breakfast” alone. And later when times were severely despairing, it was recorded by one man (John Jaques) of the Martin Company, “you felt as if you could almost eat a rusty nail or gnaw a file”. Children chewed on bark, leaves, twigs and the tattered leather from the boots of those who had died.

How could our pioneer mothers have survived burying their children in shallow, unmarked graves for sake of the frozen ground – knowing that the wolves that tarried behind the companies would soon dig them up again?

How, even after finally arriving in the Salt Lake valley, could husbands and fathers so willingly leave their families for missions that were termed “generally not to be very long ones” it was announced that “probably from three to seven years will be as long as any man will be absent from his family” (The Willie and Martin Handcart Story)?

How could the pioneers have endured SO much? What carried these Saints through such struggle?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland answered this beautifully, so if you’ll bear with me I’d like to read a portion of his message found in this up-coming month’s Ensign called “Faith to Answer the Call”:

What are we seeing in these examples of faithful pioneers? It is what we have seen down through the dispensations of time and certainly down through this dispensation…What we saw then and what we see now among the blessed Saints the world over is faith in God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in the Prophet Joseph Smith, faith in the reality of this work and the truthfulness of its message.

Little wonder that faith always has been and always will be the first and abiding principle of the gospel and of our work. It is the heart of our conviction that the work not only should go forth but that it also can and will and must go forth.

…The fundamental driving force in these [pioneer] stories is faith—rock-ribbed, furnace-refined, event-filled, spiritually girded faith that this is the very Church and kingdom of God and that when you are called, you go.

Elder Holland goes on to issue a call for conviction, he says:

“ we all must have burning in our hearts that this is the work of God and that it requires the best we can give to the effort. My appeal is that you nurture your own physical and spiritual strength so that you have a deep reservoir of faith to call upon when tasks or challenges or demands of one kind or another come. Pray a little more, study a little more, shut out the noise and shut down the clamor, enjoy nature, call down personal revelation, search your soul, and search the heavens for the testimony that led our pioneer parents. Then, when you need to reach down inside a little deeper and a little farther to face life and do your work, you will be sure there is something down there to call upon.

We must have faith in this work—faith in what all believers are called to do, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in our Father in Heaven. We need to conform our will to Theirs and then make that will rock-ribbed and pioneer strong indeed. If we do that, I know we will be safe and secure in the inexorable onward movement of the Church and kingdom of God on earth.

I too know that we must have faith. We must have faith to sustain us in our future. We were taught by Elder Russell M. Nelson in our last General Conference:

We live in a time of turmoil. Earthquakes and tsunamis wreak devastation, governments collapse, economic stresses are severe, the family is under attack, and divorce rates are rising. We have great cause for concern. But we do not need to let our fears displace our faith. We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith.

He stated: Our faith now becomes part of our posterity’s faith later. Which I might just add – is a statement I believe the pioneers well understood – but Elder Nelson further taught:

Start with your children. You parents bear the primary responsibility to strengthen their faith. Let them feel your faith, even when sore trials come upon you. Let your faith be focused on our loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach that faith with deep conviction. Teach each precious boy or girl that he or she is a child of God, created in His image, with a sacred purpose and potential. Each is born with challenges to overcome and faith to be developed.

Teach of faith in God’s plan of salvation. Teach that our sojourn in mortality is a period of probation, a time of trial and testing to see if we will do whatever the Lord commands us to do.

Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God”… for in order for us …“to prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith.

Teach of faith to know that obedience to the commandments of God will provide physical and spiritual protection. And remember, God’s holy angels are ever on call to help us.

Elder Nelson asks:

Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested. The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow the Lord “shall suffer persecution.”¹² That very persecution can either crush you into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives.

Our beloved President Thomas S. Monson has given us his prophetic witness. He said: I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments.” He further encourages: “My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.”

I love that – The future is as bright as your faith. I do believe hard times are ahead, hard times are already here, but I gain much courage as I rely on our Prophet’s promises and hang on his encouraging words. I know that we must develop that rock-ribbed, furnace-refined, event-filled, spiritually girded faith that Elder Holland taught us about in order to endure and survive all that life here on Earth throws at us but I know with an absolute assurance that we can make it through, for it has been done before. How grateful I am for the examples of our pioneers who displayed powerful faith in their struggles – that we might learn from them how important the gospel is and should be in our lives – how important faith is to rely upon in trying times and how worthwhile our efforts in the Kingdom of God are. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

You Saw This One Coming Right?

2011-08-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we traded in our car and bought a ...

minivan! Neither me or Ty were too excited about getting a van. Ty would tease that minivan=miniman :) But three kids = need for larger vehicle, so we had to get something different that would fit our growing family.

So we looked a lot at the adorable third row cross-overs (that packed you in like sardines with no additional storage/trunk-type space) and SUV's (many of which felt like I was driving a bus - Ty didn't like the price on those monsters either) and, of course, vans. After looking at many, thinking a lot, and test driving a few, we decided the van was best for us. We ended up getting a 2008 Toyota Sienna that was in amazing condition with hardly any miles. We're pretty happy with our decision. The van is growing on us because gosh, they sure make those things convenient for families.

The kids were so excited to get a new vehicle. We've had it a couple weeks and they still act like it's an amusement park ride each time we load in. We've had to put rules and limits on the DVD player and the buttons for the sliding doors (the kids just can't seem to keep their little fingers off those things!) but still their fascination with these items is constant. I am really enjoying all the space and will really love it I'm sure when the baby comes.

Thought I'd throw in a belly picture too. It's the first we've taken and really was only taken because Cash got hold of the camera and said, "say cheese mom". So I quickly posed and there you go. He did pretty good and it was probably time to get a shot of my growing tummy to scrapbook. I definitely feel like I'm growing quicker and larger than with the previous two but I'm starting to feel better and things seem to be going pretty well so far - we have much to be grateful for and little room for complaining. :) I am now 18 weeks along and for some reason I can not wait to find out what we are having. I'm so ready to get things out and ready for the baby and re-decorate the kids' bedrooms that it's driving me crazy not knowing. Only two more weeks until my ultrasound and we'll let you all know! Yay!

It's the Summer of ... 2011

2011-07-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

Our summer has been a very busy one (which is one of the reasons I'm STILL behind in my blog posts) but we've managed to fit in some fun! Boy do I love summers - I love the bbq food, the late, cool nights, the water fun, etc. Hope yours has been filled with fun too!

Cash's 5th B-day started out our summer. This was the very first cake of the kids' that I haven't made..sniffle..sniffle. Cash's birthday was the day after we got back from our Oregon Coast vacation and between that, T-ball games the following day, etc., we had no time to make a cake. He was so pleased with his Cars cake that I don't think he cared a wit - just mom I guess...sniffle sniffle.

Of course, the kids' trampoline was their combined birthday present and then he got a camp chair, a remote control dune buggy and a scooter. He loves riding that thing! He picked up on it immediately and has come up with a few tricks already. He pops the front tire as he's riding and he also sits down on the thing while he's riding. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff - we were just surprised to see how good his balance was.

With proof of his good balance, Ty decided to take Cash's training wheels off his bike. He thought Cash would likely crash a couple times and want them back on but they were both excited to give it a try. Ty got him on and started and was holding his shirt until he realized he wasn't really doing anything for Cash and let go...and Cash just took off. He figured out how to turn and hop off his bike all by himself. His bike is rather tall for him so I didn't think Cash was quite ready for it. He had to practice getting on the bike by himself the next day. It's quite the process - he has to hop up onto the seat while starting to pedal at the same time (since it's a bit too tall) but he does so good now! Cash's so proud of himself and thinks he is so grown up. It's one of the first things out of his mouth when ever he comes across a friend or neighbor - "I can ride my bike without any training wheels!"

One of my favorite past times as a kid - playing on the trampoline with the sprinklers running under it:

Cash can do flips like crazy! Now we just have to teach him how to land them. He has a little buddy a couple years older than him and the kid can land a flip and almost land a back flip. Cash was just in awe as he watched him!

Cash played T-ball this summer (the month of June) and loved loved loved it! I guess it's his sport of choice at the moment. Any ball that was hit his direction he took off running at and dove to pick it up. He has quite an arm on him and would often catch the little 1st baseman off guard when he'd throw it all the way and directly to him.

Cash also has a mean swing and I always got a good chuckle at the comments of other parents when they saw such a little guy like him swing so hard at the ball. His coach was almost afraid to pitch the ball to him for fear of a hard line drive. He is quite the little slugger and even figured out that if he made himself be the last batter on his team, he got to run all the bases as if he had hit a home run. Then he'd always run over to me and announce, "Mom I got a home run!"

It was just such a blast to watch Cash play. He was so ready to do it and enjoyed it so much - I'm so glad! He put 110% into it, throwing hard, sprinting from base to base - running with all the speed he could muster, and swinging with all his might - it was such a hoot!

We haven't been fishing near as much as we did last summer but we have made it out once with the family and Vanna caught her first fish (end of June)! She has own pole now (Cash got a new one from Grandma and Grandpa Mendenall for Christmas and was kind enough to retire his old one for Vanna's use :) and likes to reel in the fish, and touch and hold them. She tries to throw them back into the water too but her arm isn't quite what Cash's is and we often have to help her. She'll get there though. The kids just love to get outside and explore and play in the great outdoors! We had a good time!

Cash is currently taking his first set of swimming lessons too. He goes each day for 1/2 hour for two weeks. While Cash is usually Mr. Athletic/Daredevil, and while he has always loved the water and swimming in a shallow pool or the tub, he is a little nervous in deep water. The fact that he can't touch the bottom of the pool throws him a little. So we made an effort to show how excited we were that he was going to be learning how to swim well (well enough even that he will someday be able to jump off the diving board and swim to the side of the pool all by himself - he is so ready to do that he thinks), etc. He is being very brave and has done well to listen to his instructor. He loves looking around under the water in his goggles and is very good and holding his breath. I'm so confident in him and know that he'll get over his little fears become a great swimmer. Vanna can't wait for her turn to take swimming lessons too - she's a little water baby for sure. I think next year we'll have them both taking them and I think that will only further push Cash (he loves to out-do his sister of course) and before we know it - we'll have two little swimmers on our hands!

Cash's first diving board jump (with a little help from his instructor - Alex)!

Like I've said before, it's been a busy yet fun-filled summer so far. Hopefully we still have time to fit a bit more in but, gosh, it seems like summer is just flying by! Hope yours has been great as well!!!

Wait...what was that?!

2011-07-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

These kids are just growing up so darn fast! It's hard to believe we have a five year old (who I can hardly pick up anymore) and a three year old (who thinks she's five and capable of doing whatever Cash is)!

Cash really is such a good big brother. He's original in the fact that he loves to tease and torment his little sister, however, at the same time, he is wonderful to play with her and make her laugh. Vanna will even choose Cash to tuck her in her bed at night sometimes. Cash likes trying to help her and show her new things. Of course he likes to out-do her with tricks that he thinks she's too clumsy to perform as well. Anyway, the kids truly wouldn't know what to do without one another.

Vanna is a great big sister as well.....

.....wait, what was that!?

Yes. Vanna is on her way to being big sister as well and she's great at it! We ARE expecting baby #3 this winter and are very excited. My actual due date is January 2nd but I'm planning on December (the closest to my due date I've ever been is three weeks early - now you understand :). We will find out in another month or so what we're having - Cash is pulling for a boy and Vanna is pulling for a girl - of course :).

Vanna always asks if the baby is still in my tummy and if it's doing good. Cash is very curious and bubbling over with excitement about the baby as well. Each morning he asks if the baby kicked me during the night and when I'm eating a meal, he'll ask if the food I'm eating is for the baby too. These guys are at such a fun age for this and I know they're going to be great little helpers. In fact, just after we told the kids our news, and Ty explained that this is why mommy has been sick so often and tired all the time, Cash ran to the bathroom and brought me the garbage and said, "here you go mom, just in case" (just in case I throw up, I guess :). Ty also gave Cash the assignment of making sure I drink plenty of water throughout the day (a habit I'm not good at and need reminding of) and boy is he on top of that.

I'm so grateful for such great kids and we are thrilled to pieces to be blessed with another. We will just keep praying all goes well and keep you all posted!

Oregon Coast Family Vacation

2011-07-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

The last week of May we took a family vacation and spent the entire week along the Oregon Coast. We're so glad we did and were amazed at the unique beauty the Oregon Coast holds.

We started out with our first night spent with wonderful friends in Eugene. We had such a good time catching up with them and are so grateful they let us stay with them. We hope to see more of them soon! From there, we headed toward Florence and on our way we spotted the ocean for the first time (this was literally the first time the kids and Ty had ever seen the ocean). The kids kept yelling "the ocean, the ocean!"
Some pix of the coast on our way to the Sea Lion Caves near Florence:

See the lighthouse behind us? They were so beautiful. Unfortunately we never got right up close to any on our trip because parks were closed, etc. but we got lots of pictures of them in our backgrounds.

Sea Lion Caves (Florence):

We saw tons of sea lions quite up close as they enjoyed the sun along the rocky beaches. During the winter though, the sea lions hang out in this huge sea lion cave that is just beautiful. the kids thought the sea lions and the cave was stinky and it was true - those sea lions reek. :)

This time of year there are babies out sun bathing too - do you see them? And look at some of those huge bulls!

After we left Florence we made our way to Newport where we went to an amazing Aquarium that we all loved. In fact, this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip!

Oregon Coast Aquarium (Newport):

See why this was one of my favorite places - I loved that the kids could actually touch live starfish, etc. in the touch tanks.

Look at the size of that otter - it's the size of Vanna! It was just sleeping on it's back, all curled up and cute, right by the window for the kids to get up close and personal!

Wow!

We were all quite fascinated and had to return to the touch tanks over and over!

Silly kids!

Ahh! The shark tank! This place was neat too. All around you were sharks and sting rays. Some were even pretty big!

For hating snakes so much Ty was pretty intrigued with this huge anaconda (even bigger than it normally is as it was pregnant and due to have her babies any day - it was said she was even agitated more than normal as she was having consistent labor pains). Yikes - that thing could swallow me whole and that of course, is less than comforting.

Wax Works Museum (Newport):

Can't really see the kids' faces (bad pix) but they were actually so scared, at first, to sit in front of this elephant because it would move and roar at them.

Ty thought this one was pretty cool of Johnny Depp - looked just like him!

This place kind of freaked out the kids. They hardly knew what what was real and what wasn't, and if that wasn't enough - Ty would further terrify them with tricks and pranks as we went through it. He really enjoyed the Museum. We went for a short walk along the bay which was literally right across the street from the Museum, and there we saw huge fishing rigs, more sea lions and even a boat unloading it's shrimp into a huge truck to be shipped out. It was just interesting to take a peek at this way of life - I felt like we were walking along in a movie similar to "The Perfect Storm" where everyone walks along in waders and raincoats, where everyone's occupation is that of a fisherman, etc. It was neat!

Newport Bay - with all the fishing rigs.

The beach:

While traveling near Neport we took some time to just enjoy the beach. Cash had the idea in his mind that the beach was going to be hot, with warm water and that we'd be watching surfers (too many movies I guess :) and was suprised when Ty told him how cold the water was and that he didn't see any surfers. He was thoroughly entertained with exploring the beach, however, in search of cool rocks and seashells. What a relaxing (and somewhat chilly :) afternoon!

On our way down a short trail to the beach - even the trail was beautiful!

Their first ocean experience!!!

It was an absolutely beautiful late afternoon to be walking, relaxing and exploring on the beach!

Ohhh - that's cold!

We came home with so many rocks and shells that the boys found so interesting! Caught another lighthouse in the background!

Whale Watching (Depoe Bay):

Or should I say the lack thereof. Unfortunately, we didn't see any whales when we went out in a charter boat to see those that spend their summers living right along the Oregon Coast. A couple people on our boat saw one whale's blow at one point on our trip out (because the boat's captain knew of two whales eating right where we were watching) but we weren't so lucky. It was a windy rainy day and the waves made it hard to see any blows. The waves made me and Ty so sick - luckily the kids didn't get sick but were rather rocked to sleep on the boat.

Our charter boat - the Morning Star.

On the boat, making our way out of the bay and into the great big ocean!

This is the beginning of the whale watching tour - hence the smiles. You would have seen green, sad faces if the picture would have been taken afterwards. :(

I was so disappointed we didn't see any whales - this was one of the things I was most excited to do. Instead we paid a good chunk just to get sick, darn it. BUT, this I think was the only disappointment of the trip so I think we were pretty fortunate really!

After Depoe Bay, we enjoyed Lincoln City (which is beautiful) and a little shopping at their huge outlet mall there. At least me and Vanna did - Ty and Cash did more exploring at the beach. They were actually caught in a down pour while out pretty far and had to run about a mile through the rain to get back to the car. They were soaked to the bone when they came to pick us up. The poor guys. Guess I'm glad I was shopping!

The above plants/flowers were everywhere and were so fragrant. One thing about that area is that everything is green and the flowers are beautiful - the people there never even have to water them!

Views on the way to Tillamook along some of the Capes. Simply beautiful!!!

After we got the boys changed and cleaned up we took a scenic drive along the Three Capes (also breathtaking) on our way to Tillamook.

Tillamook Cheese Factory:

We took a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory while we were in Tillamook. I thought it was neat and so did the kids. We learned all about the history behind the Tillamook industry as well as the process they go through in order to make/store/package their cheese.

My in-laws are dairy farmers and much of their milk goes toward making cheese so it was interesting for the kids to learn that this was the process that maybe Grandma and Grandpa's milk goes through.

We enjoyed samples of their cheese and topped the tour off with yummy Tillamook Ice Cream cones!

Then we were off to Cannon Beach where we stayed at a beautiful resort located right on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful and so relaxing. Of the whole trip, this was mine and Ty's favorite location. It held it's own beauty that is for sure and we just so enjoyed the laid back, small tourist town atmosphere (something I'm well accustomed to - felt like home :)!

This was practically our view from our resort patio - ahhh, the sounds, the view from our place - just heavenly! It was a beautifully secluded area that was so fun to be. And of course, the resort treated us like kings and queens - we loved it (and the kids loved all their free popcorn and cookies and sand bucket/kit:)!

Our best attempt at a sand castle.

Notice the kids are wearing their winter coats - it was chilly day!

The next morning we traveled up to Seaside and spent some time walking their boardwalk and seeing the sights. They have a huge beach between where the town and boardwalk end and the water begins. There were swing sets there the kids just couldn't resist trying. There were lots of people flying kites (because it's always a bit chilly and windy along Oregon's coast) and just taking it easy.

Just outside Seaside was this great place to walk and play along the beach - so we did!

Braving the cold water!

The kids loved following the tide out and then running from the incoming waves. At one point, Vanna and Cash were both out awaiting the incoming wave when she got distracted by watching Cash excitedly running from the wave and was suprised when the water hit her legs. She tried then to run away from the wave and got tripped up - she face planted it. The water was very very shallow so she was alright but was all wet adn a bit scared. Afterward she said, "ocean get me" and "me eat little bit ocean" because a little seawater got in her mouth when she first tripped. Although it was a bit comical we felt so bad for our little girl!:)

The kids were playing right by a ship-wreck that has dissinigrated (sp?) over time and I just thought it was so neat!

Then we made our way to Astoria which we liked even more than Seaside. It sits back a ways from the Coast and is actually located along the Columbia River. We went across the bridge from Astoria to Washington and realized that the River is approximately 3 miles wide. It is amazing. Our hotel was located right alongside the River so we had front row seats to see the tug boats, the Coast Guard boats and all the huge ships/barges that come in. That River really has a lot of traffic and it was just all so neat to see.

The walkway between our hotel and the river with the beautiful bridge behind it!

An example of all the barges/ships we saw coming up the river.

As we walked along the Astoria Riverwalk we came upon a small harbor where many sea lions hang out - they were so close and I couldn't help wondering what the fisherman do when they come upon the sea lions as they try to board their boats - I imagined they shoo them away like we would a cat or something.

We went to the Maritime Museum there in Astoria and that was such an interesting and educational place to visit. I absolutely loved it with all it's history it told of that area and all the information and hands on learning they had there. Another one of my favorite parts of the trip!

We spent our nights in Astoria (and at most every location we stayed) swimming in the hotel pools. I think the swimming pools and the hotel elevators were among the kids' most favorite things of the entire trip! So funny (yet classic right?)!

We ended our trip with a day and night in Portland where we took the kids to the Portland Zoo. It's a pretty big zoo where we saw lots of animals we wouldn't see in our more local zoos:

We all had a good time and were thoroughly worn out by the end of the day.

The next morning we drove all the way home and boy did it feel good to get home. Now we feel like we know everything there is to do from Oregon's central coast all the way north and what we would or wouldn't do again should we ever make our way back. We had such a great time and I felt especially spoiled where I didn't have to cook any meals, make beds, etc. but there truly is no place like home right? More than anything I just looked forward to spending time together with the family - doing something out of the usual and making plenty of memories. We certainly accomplished that and now I just can't wait to start scrapbooking it all!

Another Quote

2011-06-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

I was asked to speak in Church again (sure seems like I get that privilege often :) and of course found oodles of wonderful material but came across this quote that really struck me and thought I'd share:

Elder Richard G. Scott

God uses your faith to mold your character. Character is the manifestation of what you are becoming. Strong moral character results from consistent correct choices in the trials and testing of life. Your faith can guide you to those correct choices. Clearly, it is what you do and what you think about that determine what you are and what you will become. Therefore, the choices you make need to be inspired by the Lord. Others can encourage you to make the right decisions, but those choices must not be prescribed by them. You need to ponder, pray, and exercise faith to willingly make choices consistent with the teachings of the Master. Such choices are made with trust in things that are believed and when acted upon will be confirmed. Only enough guidance is given to lead you aright and not to weaken your growing character. That guidance will solidify your trust in Heavenly Father and the Savior.

Am I Missing Anything?!

2011-06-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

WARNING: long post - playing catch-up again!

Spring Soccer Clinic - 2011

Cash was so excited when we went in to sign him up for this soccer clinic (where they actually teach them the basics of soccer before next year when they would be placed on a team to play against another team) and T-ball. We walked into the Recreation Department Office and he waltzed straight up to the woman at the desk and announced, "I'm gonna play sports."

Our first go around of the clinic was great until the last 15 minutes where they actually got all the kids together for a scrimmage. After a minute or two, Cash came running off the field in tears because "I can't get the ball - everyone is pushing me" and "I didn't even make a single goal". He was so down and disappointed about it. I'm afraid he thinks he's always got to have the ball and be the star of the show (because at our house, quite frankly he is) so when he all the sudden wasn't - he had a hard time. We had to try to explain that everyone out there is just trying to learn how to play and all trying to get a chance to kick the ball - he just needed to get back in there and push your way toward the ball (all-be-it gently), just try hard and HAVE FUN! Well, he came off the field again still upset so we ended up leaving a few minutes early before we had a huge melt-down in front of everyone.

Week Two: We had worked Cash up to prepare him for the soccer clinic this week - trying to remind him that we're not there to win (nobody loses for not scoring a goal), we're there to learn how to play soccer so we can play games when we're older AND TO HAVE FUN! We told him that if he felt the same way about soccer as he did when he left the field last time, that maybe we just needed to wait another year when he's older before he's ready to try again - to which he exclaimed, "No mom, I want to play!" The clinic went great again but I was holding my breath for the scrimmage part at the end. And just our luck, right as the scrimmage started a little boy (who I think thought he was playing football the entire time rather than soccer :) came out of nowhere and tackled Cash and just held him on the ground in something similar to a choke hold. I thought surely this spelled disaster but Cash just kind of looked at the kid with that "what in the world are you doing" look and pushed him off and got back up to play. He did much better at getting in the cluster of kids all chasing after the ball and even scored a goal - as luck would have it. Success! So glad this week went better than the last. And so did the rest of the soccer clinic thank goodness.

PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAM - 2011

Cash had his little Pre-school End-of the Year Program at the end of May and it was darling. It was centered around a trip to the zoo and each kid had letter-parts about different animals (that started with different letters of the alphabet) they might see at the zoo, as well as lots of songs, etc. Cash's parts were:

I: I is for iguana, slim and sleek. The one in my hand made my mom go eeek!
J: J is for jaguar, with many a spot. If it wasn't for his growl, I would like him a lot!

And at the end of the program Cash closed it up with his last part: Now that we've been to the zoo what do we say? Good-bye, we'll be on our way.

He worked so hard on his parts and had them perfectly memorized and performed them magnificently at the program. When the program was finished the teacher had each kid come up to receive a certificate and for her to brag about each one. So when Cash's name was called he walked up onto the stage so cool-like (I think he thought he was mighty important - it was so cute) and the teacher proceeded to tell everyone how happy Cash was, how he always has a smile on his face, how he always wants to play and have fun and how he has lots of friends and makes friends easily. She nailed it! That is exactly the way to describe Cash. Anyway it was a lot of fun to see him perform, however, it's kind of sad to see him growing up so much!!

VISITS AND VISITORS

This spring has been so full of visits and visitors it's been amazing. We have definitely had our cups filled and hope that it will last us throughout the remainder of the year when I'm sure visits will slow down. Here's where we've been and who's been here:

March 10-13th - Family trip down to Bazil home - Rigby, ID!
March 25-27th - Wilcox Family came to see us over their Spring Break!

Our great friends, the Wilcox family, moved from Payette last December and although we've kept in touch,we have missed them sorely. We were so attached to eachother and our kids even more so than us as adults probably (so much so that Cash would pray for Rachel, Sammy, Lizzy in his daily prayers along with his actual family members :). So it was so good to have a visit from them. It seemed like the kids had never spent a day apart - they just picked up right where they'd left off. It was fun! A picture of our whole clan (Cash, Sam, Rachel, Vanna, Lizzy, and George in the back).

April 1-4th - Gunter Family came to see us over their Spring Break!

My sister and her boys came to see us over their Spring Break and it was a wonderful, laid back weekend. It was General Conference weekend so we didn't necessarily do too much rather than lounge around on the couch a bit and enjoy Conference (throw in a couple pedicures, and great conversation re: Conference and life is good!) but we had a great time. The kids all had such a good time playing together. It was so good to have them! Above - Dawson, Roger, Cash, Mitchell, and Vanna enjoying a movie night on Cash's bed.

April 9-10th - Uncle Josh came to visit! My brother Josh has started up his own painting business in Pocatello and came to Boise for a Training. It's always good to have him visit. And he's so passionate and determined with his ideas, quite frankly it's inspiring to hear him talk about it (or anything for that matter). We always have good conversation when he's around and it was just good to see him again!

April 22-26th - Family trip to Mendenall home for Easter- Lava Hot Springs, ID!

You already know all about our Easter from our previous post. We spent it with my side of the family but we got to see much of Ty's family on our way down to Lava - while we were in Pocatello. We also say my dad and his wife, and all my nieces and nephews and their families this trip - it was wonderful!

April 28-30th - Ussery Family came to visit!

Another of our favorite families moved from Payette last winter as well and we were so sad to see them go. We've been able to keep in close touch with them though and it's always from to hear from them. But this weekend was even better because they came to see us (on their way to Utah - what a long trip). We're so glad they did. It's different seeing how much their kids have grown in person rather than by picture. The Ussery's may have an opportunity to make their way back down here and we are hoping and praying they do!!! (Jackson, Cash, Kate, Vanna, Lucy)

May 6-8th - Uncle Josh and Aunt Amanda come for a visit! My brother Josh and his wife Amanda came back up to Boise for a concert and we were fortunate enough to have them stay with us. We even talked them into staying another day so they could watch our kids (thankfully because I was in such a bind and couldn't find anyone to watch them) while I went to a Trek Training. It was good to see them again and we're so grateful for their help whenever we need it. The kids just love to play with them and hardly leave them alone the entire time they're here. They climb all over Josh and are rather smitten with Amanda. It's always great to have them in our home!

May 13-15th - Miller Family came to visit us! Ty's sister, Marcy, and her family (husband Zak and kids Hallee, Blyss and Sicaly) came to visit for a couple days. It was their first time up and it was so fun to watch the cousins play, to catch up as adults and just enjoy the nice weather. Their visit just happened to fall on our town's Apple Blossom week where they hold tons of festivities. So we planned to go to the parade and the carnival over the weekend.

Just after they got there, my kids showed their cousins how fun the dirt/weed patch is (where our garden will be soon). Then mom showed the kids how fun it is to get sprayed off by the hose. :)

We went to the park to check out some of the town's festivities and the Car Show. Cash and Blyss held hands and ran ahead of us - so cute - as we made our way down the street to find a place for the parade!

The kids waiting with their bags, hoping to catch loads of candy when the parade starts.

I thought this was such a darling picture of Hallee and Blyss on the carasel. Even this ride made me sick to my stomach. You know, going to the carnival this year reminded me of many things I don't necessarily enjoy (circular or back and forth rides, crowds of crazies, and never-ending loud noise) but I did get my cotton candy and that makes it all worth it - almost :). The kids had a pretty good time until they got worn out and by that time we were all us ready to get out of there.

Vanna cracking a cheesy smile as here and Cash drove their little car around on one of the rides at the carnival. There was a horn button in the car that she would not lay off of. It was so funny!

May 23-30th - Bazil Family Vacation - Oregon Coast - more to come on that later! Had such a great time!

June 3-4th - Pre-Trek - Ty and I were called as a Ma and Pa for our Stake's Pioneer Trek Program where we basically re-inact, in a small way, the Pioneer's Trek across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. This has kept us very busy in preparation for the Trek coming up here in another week and a half. We've had trainings every month and lots to get ready and read in preparation. This Pre-Trek was an overnighter for all the adults involved where we practiced everything we're going to have to do (pitch tarp tents, cook dutch oven, pack a handcart, etc.). It should be a great experience and hopefully a very touching experinece for all the youth that are going. Wish us luck!!!

So - can you say biz-zzzeeee! We have so enjoyed all our visits and all that this spring has brought. We are also looking forward to July - with the dawn of that month we believe things will slow down just a tad and a slower pace would be very welcome. However, whenever any of you get the notion to stop by - feel free - you are truly welcome anytime and we would absolutely love it!!!

Easter 2011

2011-06-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

Talk about playing catch up - we're still at Easter around here! We had a great Easter this year and were lucky enough to have a five-day weekend (without having to use up any paid vacation time) and figured we had to take advantage of the opportunity so we went down to Lava to spend Easter with my family. And it just so happened that on the day we were coming down, Ty's Aunt Julie was getting married in Pocatello so we stopped there for that. It was so happy to see sweet Julie so happy - she deserves the best! Of course Ty's parents also attended the wedding and we were thrilled to be able to see them and spend a couple hours with them!

Lava has a pretty big Easter celebration at the park where the kids can have fun for hours so we went down a bit early to check out the festivities. Then we got ready for the hunt...

...waiting for their age group to be called...

...and they're off!

Vanna tried so hard but as soon as she'd come upon an egg to pick up - sure enough another kid snatched it right up from under her...

...here Vanna is pouting because she only got one egg. She was so disappointed!

Of course Cash had a basket that was overflowing with eggs so we asked him if he would share with his sister. He consented and gave all the purple ones to Vanna :).

We had gone to the Easter Egg Hunt with my sister, Natalie, and her boys. A picture of the bunch - already chowing on their goodies!

The next day was Easter and what a beautiful day it was! The kids woke up to an Easter trail leading them to their treasures. That Easter bunny sure is amazing - he doesn't miss anything - somehow he knew the kids were spending Easter with Grandma and Grandpa and delivered his goods to the kids there. How does he do that?!

The kids each got a Color Wonders Paint set (love those things - no mess!), a new church outfit and the movie Tangled (which I think is darling btw).

We then went to Church where they had wonderful meetings. Truly we have so much to be grateful for. The sacrifice and love our Savior has displayed for us over and over again is amazing and what an incredible blessing the Ressurection is in our lives - all it signifies and means leaves me speechless. I'm so grateful for the opportunity the resurrection provides in allowing me to be with my family forever!

After church, Easter dinner and good naps, we were ready to dye eggs. I think I overdid the kit this year and bought one that had sequines, beads, glitter, etc. for decorating - when the kids would have been completely content with the basic kit. Lesson learned I guess. Anyway - they had a great time. It's fun to see them get creative with their eggs. And I think Grandma had fun watching the kids - she had said, "We haven't done this in years" and I'm sure it was true.

Over the weekend we were able to attend a cousin's birthday party (it was so good to see my brother and his family - we don't get to too often and what a good time!), see my dad and his wife, several other siblings (Tonya and Niki and their families - it was so fun to play with them; of course Natalie and her boys - my kids are always so entertained by those guys!; and my brother Josh too), and my Grandma Marie and Aunt Annette. A couple days before we came down my Grandma had a bad fall and cracked her pelvis. So she wasn't feeling too well and my Mom was busy trying to take care of her. I'm sure it was overwhelming for my Mom to have visitors through the whole ordeal so I'm grateful she was still so willing to have us. BUT Grandma is doing much better now and we're happy to hear it! The whole weekend was filled with the things and people that matter and we're so glad we were able to make the trip!!!

Not Again!

2011-05-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

Not even a year ago Ty sprained his ankle badly playing church basketball (that looked similar to below)- well - it has happened AGAIN, only this time while playing softball (and it looks much worse). Ty started playing on a men's city league softball team a couple weeks ago - we were so excited to watch him! And at his first game, first at bat, as he ran to 2nd base he sprained his ankle. Of course he played on it the rest of the game without telling anyone what he'd done and when he got home - this is what his ankle looked like:

Looks pretty bad huh!? I thought surely something was broken but Ty didn't think so. Now two weeks later most of the bruising is gone except in his upper calf (just below his knee) and most of the swelling is gone.

And as I speak (or rather, type this post) Ty is at the store buying tape - he plans on taping his ankle and wearing his ankle braces for tomorrow's game. Ahhh - I don't know if he should play but what do you tell a 32 year old boy at heart who just can't resist playing ball!?

"Me This Many"

2011-04-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Vanna Banana is now THREE years old! It's hard to believe that much time has gone by since we had her. For weeks before her birthday she told most anyone who spoke to her that she was going to be "free". She'd first hold up two fingers and announce to them, "me two - an - me be this many". It was her way of saying, "right now I'm two and soon I'll be three". So her birthday finally came (Sunday) and I think she had such a good day:

Vanna's loot. She got many well wishes and cards from family, and grandparents even put money in their cards to her. She was so surprised to find that in them - thank you!

She got a new doll that came with it's own little diaper bag and accessories, change of clothes, etc. She plays such a good mother to that little baby - it's darling! She rocks it while singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" (just like we do to her), she tosses it in the air and catches it (just like we do to her), she gives it it's binkie when it's "cying", etc. She's so funny with it. Even Cash asked the other day, "Why does Vanna love her baby so much?!"

AND she got a trampoline! Actually this is the kids' combined birthday present and we opened it about a week early - we just couldn't resist when the days were so nice and the fact that Ty didn't have any other days off prior to Vanna's birthday (other than Sunday), in which to set it all up, played into it as well.

Can you see the gaping mouth and surprised look on Vanna's face when she first set eyes on it?! Cash was especially excited about the trampoline and was instantly doing tricks on it (he already lands on his knees and flips over, as well as doing a regular flip now - too crazy!). Vanna was a little more hesitant. At first, I had to be on the trampoline with her and she wouldn't bounce if Cash was at the same time. Then she was willing to hold on to the net and jump along with Cash. Now she has conquered her fear and is jumping all over with Cash, at the same time. They love it - and we knew they would!

It was funny though on Vanna's actual birthday, after opening her doll and chair, Cash said, "Where's the rest of Vanna's presents Mom, I'll go get them." I told him that this was all of Vanna's presents - to which he responded, "Just two?!" This immediately registered as a good indication that my kids are completely spoiled. :) I quickly reminded him of the huge trampoline they have outside and that it was part of Vanna's birthday as well as part of his own. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Oh."

The cake:

It's supposed to look like a present and whether or not it really looks like one is nearly irrelevant because I was so pleased with it simply for the reason that it ws so easy! And she blew out all three candles on the first try! Good job Vanna! May all your wishes come true!

Now whomever Vanna comes upon (friend or stranger), the person quickly learns she is three because she says, "me burpday an me this many" (while holding up her three dainty little fingers). And if ever I say something similar to, "because you're a little girl" Vanna is quick to remind me that, "No, me big girl, me free!" Yes, sweetheart you are a big girl now!

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

2011-04-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

The other day we had a little friend of Cash's over to play. Nearly as soon as the play-date began, Cash asked his friend why he wasn't coming to Church anymore (his friend is in his Primary class) - it must have been something on Cash's mind apparently.

We haven't seen the little boy for a while for numerous reasons (struggles with health and testimonies within the family to name a couple). I had to tell Cash that sometimes people have a hard time making it to Church for one reason or another but we have to just make sure that they know we always want them there with us because we care for them - hoping to smooth it out and move on perhaps to another topic of conversation.

But Cash didn't let it drop. He went on to tell his friend that he needed to come to his Primary class because that's what makes Jesus happy and so on and so on (he really did keep going on and on about it). I finally did get the conversation turned - after all I didn't want the little guy put on a guilt trip (and further it's more his parents' decisions as to whether or not he gets to come to Primary or not).

Our Little Future Missionary

But afterwards I talked with Cash about how proud I was of his willingness to show his concern for the well-being of another who he hadn't seen at Church. We talked about perhaps a little smoother way of going about the whole "Why aren't you going to Church?" approach - perhaps by turning the conversation into an invitation instead, but I really was happy to see Cash share his beliefs and concerns - even at such a young age. It reminded me of the Primary Children's song "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission" and further reminded me of the counsel given to become as a child, "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19). Not only should we be these things we're taught, but perhaps we should be a little more brave in our willingness to share our testimonies and beliefs of the things we know to be right and true - just as little children seem so fearless to do so -at least just as Cash is so fearless to do so :)!

Trip to Rigby-March 2011

2011-03-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we were able to make a trip to Rigby to visit Ty's family (it had been since Thanksgiving that we had seen them and a trip down was due)! It's so nice to get away and even nicer to do it while visiting with family.

We mixed it up with:

...fun in the SNOW (we can't believe they had enough still to pull us in a sled behind the four-wheeler; we don't have any snow and haven't had any for a long time where we live)...

...a trip to the Idaho Falls Museum where they had a BODIES exhibit that was so interesting. While it was difficult to keep our little ones entertained, we had a good time learning all about the body (by actually seeing each and every part of the body preserved; and before some of you get grossed out, I have to say this type of thing isn't usually down my ally but it was very neat). There was so much education available there. The experience futher confirmed to me that the intricate and beautiful bodies we own did not come about by mere happen-stance or evolution. They are truly too brilliant and amazing for me to believe anything but that they are a godly creation...

...and good hard labor (okay so maby not so hard:)). The kids particularly enjoyed helping Grandpa down at the barn. The weather turned out great one day while we were there and the kids nearly spent all day down at the barn helping grandpa feed the cows and scrape (put your imagination to work as to what that means :)). While they were down there at the barn we saw wild turkeys that like to come in close to steal grain from the calves' troughs AND they saw their dad's cousin skin a dead calf that had been smothered by it's mother. The cow had had twins but would only take one calf so Ty's cousin was bottle feeding the other. Well, when the cow smothered her calf, Ty's cousin decided to skin it and graft it's hide to the other twin calf. This gets the mother to accept the new calf (one that she identifies as the other/old calf). It seems so cruel, I know, but that is farm life. Talk about a learning experience for my kids - one I wasn't too sure about, it just sort of happened.

On our way down to the barn with Ty's grandma (who lives right just down the road from Ty's parents, and right next to the barn).

The kids both just love the out-of-doors, being around the animals, and being Grandpa's helpers. Of course, they don't see this as work but rather as an adventure - I mean feeding the cows their hay and grain, it apparently doesn't get any better than that!

While we were in Rigby we were also able to attend a banquet in which Jefferson County honored several different people and/or entities and we are proud to announce that Ty's parents were both honored there as the Jefferson County Farmer of the Year and Jefferson County Farm Woman of the Year. These awards for Ty's parents I'm sure seemed particularly special as they had a difficult year last year (Ty's dad had surgery on his shoulder and was laid up right at the busiest/hardest time of year when there was much cutting, feeding, milking, irrigating, etc. to do). So congrats again James and Orillia for all your hard work!

We even got to say a quick hello to my mom and step-dad and my younger brother and his wife in Pocatello on our way home. It was a great trip and we hope to make more soon!

A Journey

2011-03-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I felt I had finally come to the destination of a long and sometimes rough journey. But this destination or place I am now is where I felt my testimony has grown significantly - I am more at peace, life in general is better. I was asked to speak at our Stake Women's Conference this month and my 'journey" seemed to fit the topic perfectly so I thought I'd share with you, what I shared there. It is a long read, and I know that so many have greater struggles than I but I guess my reason for sharing is perhaps to bring hope to anyone who is struggling, that they might know there is great growth to be had in our trials and to further testify that I DO know our Father in Heaven is mindful of us all and does have a hand in directing/affecting our lives - of that I am sure! And I love the testimony of our Church leaders found in their quotes I have included in my talk - they are more of my favorite quotes!

A condensed version of my "journey" (I only had 5 minutes to share my thoughts at the Conference):

When I was asked to share my testimony of a specific time or event in my life that I felt the “hand of the Lord” powerfully direct or affect my life – I found my mind continually turning to the way the Lord has guided me through some of my most difficult times and trials. And in fact, it was made clear to me that this topic is exactly what I should speak on when, the very night after being asked to speak, as I laid awake in bed thinking about the topic, my husband shot out of bed and ran to the bathroom sick – throughout the night he become even more ill and began writhing in pain. So…after a hospital visit, it was discovered he had an acute appendicitis which had to be operated on. After we went through surgery, healing and all that an infection like that entails, I looked back and thought it was almost comical that I should be thinking of speaking on the very topic of trials on the exact night that we would be experiencing another.

I believe most of us feel that to others, our trials may seem trivial but to us, the way they affected or taught us, is significant. I know that is the way I feel. And so while the experiences and thoughts I have to share with you in regard to some of my struggles may seem trivial, I pray you’ll bear with me as I share why they have been so significant to me personally.

When I was a young girl, I remember my mom confiding in me, at a tender age, that not all things in her life and/or our family were as happy or right as they should be. While I was completely surprised, I instantly realized that things would not be working out between my parents. My eyes were opened early in life when I learned of the colorful life my dad led. I remember one rough night in particular, following an ugly divorce, that I spent sobbing - trying to understand why my dad had made some of the decisions he had - I felt he had thrown away the chance of our being an eternal family-and for what? Didn’t we matter? Didn’t he love us? Within this and other memories, were many inter-mixed feelings of love, betrayal, dishonesty, resentment, etc. Although it’s difficult to admit, until just recently I still struggled somewhat with those feelings.

I’d always known that such difficult feelings could not simply be buried. And many times I’d thought I had overcome them and that forgiveness had been reached. However, whenever my dad presented another disappointment, I would again bring all the old difficult feelings out of storage, so to speak, only to realize that I had gotten nowhere in my efforts to forgive.

I was forced to examine and re-examine my feelings and the depth of my testimony again this last Thanksgiving when my dad announced that he and his wife were going to be baptized. Many nights were spent pondering and praying and eventually I felt prompted to write all my feelings down – in a letter I would give to my dad. I believe that because I acted on that prompting, late, late, one night, and began writing that letter that I was blessed with an amazing outpouring of the Spirit and came to the realization that if my testimony of the principles of faith, repentance and forgiveness and of the blessing of the Atonement was as strong as I believed it was, I had to overcome any and all difficult feelings, I had to forget, forgive, and move forward. Without hardly even realizing what I was writing, I was able to tell my dad in that letter that I forgave him, that I was sorry I hadn’t been able to tell him so sooner, and that I was entirely thrilled with his decision to be baptized. I was amazed at how easy it was to write such things – and how sincere I was in my feelings.

The following day, and in further answer to my prayers, I received a phone call from my dad – he was calling to ask for my forgiveness before going through with the baptism he had scheduled for that weekend. I was so grateful I had gotten up the night before to write that deeply emotional letter – I knew exactly how to express my feelings and felt completely guided by the Lord as I explained to my dad the contents of that letter. Further, I was able to tell him – most sincerely, “Yes Dad, I forgive you!”

We were able to go to the baptism for my dad and his wife that weekend. Every one of my siblings and all their children – all of us were there. The Spirit was strong that night, it seemed that the hope of an eternal family was renewed for all of us. It was the icing on the cake to practically a life-long effort/journey to get right with myself, with my dad, and with the Lord in regard to this trial. I better understand and completely agree with President Harold B. Lee who once said: “Sometimes when [we] are going through the most severe tests, [we] will be nearer to God than [we] have any idea. "

I know that the future will still hold struggles for my family - that disappointments may still come, but I know better now that they don’t matter. That if I put my faith in the Lord - trusting that all can and will be made right through Him - relying on that promise, it is possible to move forward, to forget, and to forgive.

Truly, in hind sight, I am grateful for the trials that my family and I have been through, for I would not be the person I am today had I not suffered through them. My testimony of those important principles of faith, repentance, forgiveness and the Atonement would not be as strong as they are today.

I am reminded of a quote by the Apostle Orson F. Whitney who said: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”

I know that trials give us opportunities to show the Lord and ourselves that we will be faithful. I know that I can rely on the hand of the Lord in my life and trust in Him – to comfort me and guide me through my trials. For when we turn to Christ, we will not only find the comfort we seek, but in so doing we will also gain an increased testimony of the reality of the Savior and His Atonement, which can heal all suffering because we know that Christ suffered pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind so He could be filled with mercy and know how to succor His people according to their infirmities.

I know God loves us perfectly and “would not require [us] to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for [our] personal benefit or for that of those [we] love.”[Elder Richard G. Scott]. I am truly grateful for this and every trial I have experienced, for their refining process - I have truly gained strength and grown from them as I know we all can. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Take A Look

2011-03-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

You have to take a look at the new story I wrote up about Vanna in my "Kids Say/Do The Darnest Things" sidebar of my blog (under March 2011). It's gauranteed to either gross you out or crack you up. Either way it's a great story!

A New Favorite

2011-02-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

It might seem early (because I know that Mother's Day isn't for another couple months still and that is most often when we reflect upon such feelings) but I feel like I was just hit with another surge of respect/love/adoration for the role of mothers. I came across the following quote again in a recent study and thought I'd share (it has fast become a new favorite):

“To be a righteous woman during the winding-up scenes on this earth, before the Second Coming of our Savior, is an especially noble calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed here to help to enrich, to protect, and to guard the home—which is society’s basic and most noble institution. Other institutions in society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to save the home, which may be the last and only sanctuary some mortals know in the midst of storm and strife” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 326–27).

I love that! And if you want to read more like it, I encourage you to read "I Am A Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson. It is officially one of my favorite books of all time (and I've read it over and over)! It's uplifting, inspiring, encouraging, etc. Just as it claims, the book offers affirmation that mothers DO matter, and how important your calling is - so be proud of it!

I have to add that all you mothers are definitely inspiring to me. Your posts are likewise validating, comforting, encouraging, etc. and I'm so blessed to be associated with you! And above all, I'm so grateful for my own mother. She's taught me most everything I know (and we are so almost eerily similar because of it), I am who I am because of her, she is an amazing example, and I have the most love and respect possible for that great woman! Where would any of us be without our mothers?!

Our Sugar Baby

2011-02-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

Vanna has such a sweet tooth (much like her daddy). She is forever trying to sneak into the cupboard for marshmallows, or the pantry for any sweet treat she can find (we have even had to add a lock to our pantry door in an effort to keep her out of there more). From a very early age (before even a year), she knew to pick through cold cereal like Lucky Charms for the sweet marshmallows, and leave the rest. And of recent we have witnessed her biting off the 'frosting' of Frosted Mini Wheats and returning the remainder of each cereal piece to her milk. What are we going to do with her!?

Gotta' love that cheesy grin (that shows off her cross-bite brilliantly). Vanna rummaged through Cash's Preschool V-day Party candy stash and found blue Fun Dip. Her first experience - need I say more?!

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day (late) with a heart shaped sucker to boot!

And a couple tid-bits:

Last night I asked Cash to get his pajamas on and he came out like this. He said, " You told me to put on my pajamas, so I put them all on!" - of course accompanied with his silly giggles.

And Ty is feeling much better, thankfully. I think he recovered quickly actually, as he went back to work a week after having surgery. One thing about it, he won't have to go through this rig-a-ma-roll again. The only thing that seems to bother him now is the tugging at his stitches that occurs when he performs one of his big, manly sneezes. And he's not yet working out like he normally would but that will come before long. We are just grateful everything went so smoothly and well and that he's fine (and we so appreciate all of your concern and well-wishes).

Surprise!

2011-02-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

Well, this past week held a few surprises for us:

#1 - Ty had surgery! Yep. He woke up Tuesday night in terrible pain (he was the perfect depiction of a man "writhing in pain"-it wasn't pretty). It never let up so we headed to the hospital early Wednesday morning. Four hours, blood tests, and a CT-Scan later proved he had an enlarged appendix that the Dr.s were certain was infected - hopefully not ruptured yet. Since a team was immediately available for the surgery, Ty went in for an apendectomy that afternoon. Although these surgeries are very every day to hospital staff and perhaps not considered a big deal, it still shook me up a little. It's simply not natural at all to see Ty weak, miserable and in pain on a hospital bed. And I definitely didn't like the part where they gave me Ty's wedding ring before they wheeled him into the surgical room. I suddenly felt so detached from Ty at that moment. Very uncomfortable.

But, Ty pulled through magnificently and thankfully his appendix had not yet ruptured but it was very 'sick' (as the Dr termed it), so they were glad to have gone in and taken it out. After the surgery, I met him in the recovery room where I tried to feed him but he was so knocked out he keep falling asleep in-between bites. It was really almost comical (take away the reason he was under such heavy medication :). His healing has been slow but sure. He says he feels better every day and I have no doubt he'll be back to wrestling with the kids and lifting weights in no time.

Didn't think you'd really want to see pix of Ty's "sick" appendix that I got from the Dr. so I thought I'd throw in these recent and random pix of the kids dancing in the front room.

#2 Vanna threw up for the first time on Sunday. I think our poor little girl was scared (thinking "what is happening?"). I guess when it rains it pours! It wasn't enough to be taking care of a spouse just after surgery. Humor had to throw a child puking all over in her bed and my bed to the mix. :). Thankfully Vanna got over her illness quickly and we are all on the mend and doing well.

Wow - I love this picture and my little girl's get-up. She loves to pull on her swim suit and run around in it but today she pulled it over her other clothes, complete with slippers and goggles that I think make her look so silly! Love that girl!

It's funny - not more than a couple weeks ago Ty and I were talking about how fortunate we had been to have skidded through the winter with little illness (we all had a cold for a short while but beyond that -nothing) and then WHAM! I guess we spoke a bit too soon. Still, we feel very blessed by the way everything has turned out over the past week.

Pay It Forward 2011

2011-01-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Stole this one from a terribly creative friend:

I promise to send something hand-made to the first five peope who leave a comment here. You must in turn post this on your blog and send somthing YOU make to the first five people who comment on your post. The rules are: the item has to be HANDMADE and must be sent to the five people sometime in 2011. So do it! I can't wait - this could be so fun!

Also send me an e-mail with your address so I can mail it to you! There's nothing better than getting a surprise package in the mail right?! My e-mail is: bazity@q.com.

tHe FuNnIeS

2011-01-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

I had to record a couple things the kids did/said last Sunday that I thought were sweet. I did Vanna's hair all curly and adorable and when I finished I said, "Vanna, you look beautiful!" To which she responded, "No, me Pwicess!" Apparantly being beautiful isn' t the same or isn't as good as being a Princess.

That same day was the first day of our new schedule at Church (we go from 9-12 now which I'm thrilled about), as well as a new schedule in Primary. Of course, our Primary kids advanced to a new class and Cash was now in CTR 4 rather than in Sunbeams. He didn't realize the change that had taken place (seeing as his classmates and teacher were still the same) and when we dismissed the kids from Primary and he learned he wasn't a Sunbeam anymore he was heartbroken (he loves the song Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam and I think he thought that he couldn't be a Sunbeam for Jesus anymore). He came up to me with those big alligator tears, sobbing and said, "I not a Sunbeam anymore, I just want to be a Sunbeam." I had to explain that he can still be a Sunbeam inside and that really, we're all still Sunbeams for Jesus even if we aren't in Sunbeam class. And further that because he's getting so grown up he gets to be in a new class for bigger kids, and so on and so on.

In addition to these adorable memories, I have to add another comment Cash made when we went to the movie theater last. Before the movie started, there was a pre-view for the new Pirates of the Caribbean. The movie we were watching and the pre-view where in 3-D and there was this part in the pre-view where a sword came right out and almost touched you. Cash must have been impressed with the effects because at the conclusion of the pre-view he said, "That totally freaked me out!" Which I thought was hilarious coming out of his little 4 yr. old mouth.

These kids are just plain funny and darling, I might add!!!

Wowee!!!

2011-01-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Ty's grandma Melba always uses that term and I adore it. I can easily use it in describing our Christmas this year - wowee - Christmas 2010 was so good to us. It was such a full Christmas season, truly including:

fantastic goodies (divinity being my all time favorite),
entertaining parties,
new traditions,...

Gingerbread House

(a new holiday tradition we full intend on continuing)

Our little acrobat.

Of course as much ended up in the kids' bellies as did on the actual gingerbread house.

Cash was pretty serious about the whole thing.

The end result!

...lovely memories,
good food,
thoughtful gifts,...

Santa's set up.

Cash's loot. The kids were truly spoiled by grandparents. Cash's favorite gift from us was a tie between his very own digital camera and his remote-controlled gorilla. It does roughly 80 tricks and even laughs when he's being tickled. Cash was pretty "tickled" himself when he saw that Christmas morning!

Vanna's loot. Our main gift to Vanna this year was her rocking horse. But believe it or not, out of all that is pictured above, I think her loads of bubble gum, found in her stocking, won the prize of "favorite gift". It was short lived though (and all chewed up, swallowed, what have you) by the end of the day so thankfully she had other gifts that will keep her longer entertained.

BTW: don't mind my hairdo, or should I say, the lack of. We were going sleigh riding and who wants to spend time doin gyour hair only to smash it with a hat.

It was decided I was only going to get one gift (which was spendy and plenty enough) - a new digital camera - and look at all that I ended up with. Ty surprised me with a dehydrator (I'm so excited to make fruit leather), movie, etc. Among other things, I also got a blanket from Ty's parents that is my new favorite to cuddle up with - ooo it is amazingly soft! And my mom made us a beautiful new levi quilt and these adorable aprons. I love them!!!

Although Ty didn't want his picture taken with his loot, I have to include him still and share that he got a much needed update in his wardrobe - for both everyday and work. He also received fun things like a fishing pole, head lamp, books, etc.

...sweet family...

...and heartfelt worship of our dear Savior's birth. You see - an entirely FULL Christmas! Hope yours was as beautiful - and Happy New Year!

In The Spotlight

2010-12-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Enough time has passed that I need to update my records on Vanna - it's now her turn to be in the spotlight.

-Vanna is very independent. Her most common phrase is: "No me do it!" She wants to open all the doors and close them too, she wants to do up her own car-seat (although she can only do up the top portion of it), she wants to fill her own cup with water, brush her own teeth, get dressed and change her own clothes. She basically just wants to do EVERYTHING by herself and when you attempt to help her we are reprimanded with a vibrant "No me do it!". This is a bit different than Cash - he would still let me dress him and brush his teeth everyday if I let him. This shouldn't surprise me, however, because these kids are the opposite from one another in nearly every way. And while we're discussing her independence, I must mention that she is in the process of being potty-trained which, of course, was her idea and which, of course, she is pretty much tackling all by herself. I am beside myself with excitment - no more diapers!

-Vanna loves to swing, ride her bike (which she can now pedal all by herself of course), run around with little or no clothing on, chew gum, and snack rather than eat a decent meal (we're working on that!).

-We've converted Vanna's crib to a toddler bed (a few months ago actually) which is just another reminder of how "big girl" she is - as if her telling me several times a day isn't reminder enough :).

Talk about bling-bling!

-As you know, Vanna is all girl. Some of her favorite things include getting into ALL of Mommy's jewelry as well as getting into Mommy's expensive smell good lotions. The other day I found her lotion application to be about 1 inch thick on her face (which the picture can't accurately explain). What do you do?

-Vanna is even getting the jist of duck duck goose and hide and seek these days (although she always gives away Cash's secret hiding places away by pointing him out since she was peeking while I was counting).

-Vanna loves to copy whatever Cash is doing - which testifies to me that deep down she really does adore him (although their behavior toward each other doesn't always shout that out to you:)). In addition, I have to add that whenever she gets a treat or such thing she ALWAYS has to get an extra one to give to Cash. She's always thinking of her big brother. So sweet.

-Vanna loves reading stories and is usually found carrying books around or sleeping with them.

-Vanna thoroughly enjoys riding in the car. She is most commonly found singing to herself in the backseat (she loves to dance and sing, period) and shouts, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy (at least that many times:)-puppy" OR "Uck" whenever we pass a truck OR "ivr" for whenever we cross a river.

-We've discovered many similarities between Mother and Daughter that are almost scary. For example: when things aren't going just right or running in a smooth manner - she is easily flustered or upset, she loves to help Mommy clean, and enjoys reading, singing, and dancing-just to name a few.

-Vanna can pucker so largly that she will completely block off her nostrils. She has figured out how comical this trick is by sniffing in at the same time to cause a funny sucking sound. Weird, I know! But lo and behold we found this in an inherited ability as Ty is quite capable of the same thing :)!

-Vanna has a bed-time ritual that seems to be getting longer and longer which includes: a drink of water, a race to her bed, sitting on her chair to count to three before jumping into bed, kissing Mommy and Daddy to sleep (one on the lips, one on each cheek, one on each hand and elbow, one on the chin, the head, the neck....), piling four blankets on her and finally pushing her musical toy that sings her to sleep. Try explaining all that to the babysitter!!

-Vanna is actually starting to fill out a bit, at least in our book. However, often others still think she's only a year rather than her 2 1/2+years. We get comments like, "I can't believe how well she's running already" but when I explain how old she really is they're no longer surprised at her mobile skills but rather how tiny she is for her age. And while upon the subject of mobility, I jsut have to add that Vanna is a very happy little girl and loves to skip around all over. We call her "skippy" and in light of th holidays, lately we've been calling her "prancer". She's a hoot!

-Vanna is becomming quite the jabber box and is very vocal and loud at home but very soft-spoken around others. She will point to each member of the family and say, "Mommy", "Daddy", "Dash (for Cash)" and "me" for herself. We'll say, "No - you're Vanna and she'll respond with, "No, I me". She won't say her own name yet. She often says something while shaking her head in the negative to mean the opposite of what she's actually saying, such as "I cyin" while shaking her head which means -Look at me, I'm not crying. Some of our favorite new phrases are "big girl me", "beat you" (she likes to race) and finally, "la you" (for love you).

We love you too pumpkin!!!

A Winter Wonderland

2010-12-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

Well, we've been busy these past couple weeks - either visiting family or shoveling snow - whichever the case, the statement is true!

For Thanksgiving we headed down to Rigbyand ran into frightful weather. Cars were running off the road right behind us and right in front of us but thankfully (sometimes situations like that put in your mind all you're most grateful for) we made it to his family's safely. And we had such an enjoyable meal and holiday with them. The kids couldn't have been happier than to play with their cousins. And we had a great time visiting, watching movies, and playing games with everyone.

We went bowling with Ty's family. The kids mostly payed around the alley except for Vanna. She rather enjoyed barely tapping the ball enough to make it roll down the ramp and lane toward the pins.

Vanna with a cheesy smile wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

That same weekend my dad and his wife got baptized so we again braved the roads to Lava in order to be there for support. What a special occasion that was. I'm so glad we could be there - the roads were all cleared off which made me feel much better about making the extra trip there.

Dad and Jannie in their white outfits - looking happy as can be.

All the grandkids checking out the font. They were so excited to be all together and to be seeing baptisms too.

The grandkids singing primary songs as they waited for Dad and Jannie to change. Vanna was so cute mimicking the pianist and moving her dainty little fingers along the piano keys as if she was the one playing.

All of us kids were there with our families. It was wonderful! It's an occasion we've all been waiting for for a long time.

However, the roads on the return home were worse than ever. We saw 20-25 run-offs and a couple very serious accidents among them. OOO it was just terrifying (coming from someone who had a somewhat traumatic experience in totaling a car on icy roads). Yet again, our prayers were answered and we returned to our house safely, finding all well. Huge sigh of relief!

What is this picture of you say? My neighbor's car - buried in all the snow!

Within the next couple days following our return home, it began to snow. It seemed to just keep going and going and going. We figure we got 10-12 inches. What a lot of work to shovel all that away. One day I had been out shoveling for about 2 hours (only getting about 1/4 of the driveway done in that time) when our thoughtful neighbors asked if they could plow out the rest with their fourwheeler (as they were out doing the same to their own driveway while I plugged along). I could have sung praises to them and was very grateful.

The snow has made for lots of fun play-time for the kids though.

Cash "chillin" with his snowman - Daddy was helping him with the project and Frosty turned out to be even taller than Daddy!

A couple trouble makers if you ask me!

They love it when I have to shovel. They get all dressed up and have a ball making snow angles, throwing snowballs, etc. I love the snow for the holidays (however after that it certainly has my permission to leave) and am enjoying the winter wonderland it is here!

Going Dark

2010-11-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

So I thought I'd share my newest adventure and that is...

...going dark. The picture (which Cash took actually and I think he did a pretty good job) doesn't do it justice. I love the color. I've done it once before but it's been quite a while (since before Vanna was born) and I thought - what the heck. It's kind of fun to go darker in the winter and I needed a change. Ty is trying to get me to grow out my hair and it was currently in the icky "in-between" stage I can't stand, so I thought maybe a change of color might pacify me.

On a similar note (and yet not really), the time change has really thrown me for a look - now that it's going dark so early in the evening. I've gotten used to the idea that once it gets dark, it's time to slow down and relax a bit, put Vanna to bed, etc. But when it's going dark at 5:30, it's impossible to be lazy for 4 hours or so before climbing in bed. I'm having to re-train my mind/body into realizing that I still have lots of day time left, even if it is dark. Just another reason I love summer - such long, fun-filled days! Thank goodness there is at least the holidays to look forward to in the winter right?! The kids don't seem to mind, as long as those short days result in fun filled activity such as:

We got our first snow on Sunday and the kids enjoyed playing in it for a bit. Of course it was all gone by the next day so I'm glad they got the chance to have their fun. We're going back down to Southeast Idaho for Thanksgiving where I'm sure they'll find much more of that cold white stuff to play with. We can't wait to see family again. Wish us luck on the roads!

Fall/Halloween 2010

2010-11-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

Our traditional trip to the pumpkin patch. We got lots this year: some to decorate with, some to carve. Cash also went on a pumpkin patch field trip with his pre-school where both he and Vanna were able to pick one of their own size to carry out for free - so we had pumkins galore at our house this year.

Cash always likes to pick out the white ones. His dad helped him with his carving - Ty goes for the scary ones if you can't tell. I helped Vanna with her "kitty".

So I really wanted to find coordinating costumes for the kids this year for Halloween but Cash insisted on being a boxer and I was at a loss for finding an outfit to coordinate with that (I'm usually not very imaginative when it comes to things like that). So we got Cash the boxer outfit and I picked out an adorable bee costume for Vanna - just because I thought it would be darling on her. After receiving their costumes in the mail and watching them trapse around in them for several days (because one day of dress up in your Halloween costume just is NOT enough when you're a child of course)-I discovered a rather clever way of connecting the two:

Float like a butterfly...

Sting like a bee...

What do you think? Yeah, it was the best I could come up with. Anyway, we had a great Halloween holiday and can' t wait for the next ones coming up soon!

A Boy At Heart

2010-10-27T19:24:00.001-07:00

Ty had his 32nd birthday this week. But he's still such a boy at heart. To prove it:

-we went to a movie for his birthday and he chose Legend of the Guardians (this is an animated movie that really, he thought the kids would sit through best, but I kept telling him this was his birthday and his choice - this is what he stuck with)

-with a gift card he got for his birthday, he bought a remote control helicopter (after getting home and playing with it for a bit he said, and I quote, "This is like the very coolest toy I've ever had!")

It was all just too cute.

AND I actually threw Ty a surprise birthday party this year. Obviously it's not the big #30 or #40 or anything. It was just something I wanted to do and it worked out perfectly. Ty's birthday was on Monday (which is when we did all our fun family play - movie, dinner, presents) and then he went to work on Tuesday. I had it all planned for some of his friends to come over that night to watch the BSU game, for food and for just plain fun. He was taken completely off guard when he got home from work. I was so proud of myself for being able to keep the secret so well. And we had such a good time. I'm tempted to do it every year. But then it wouldn't be so surprising then would it?

Happy Birthday Ty!!!

Jumping On The Bandwagon

2010-10-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

The majority of folks up here are Broncos fans and upon moving to Payette, we quickly became converted. It's been so fun to watch them succeed, these past couple years, into a force to be reckoned with. My favorite kind of team is the under-dog, and that is what the Broncos were (and what many still consider them to be even though they're unstoppable right now). They rose up out of nowhere and now everyone knows who they are. That's the kind of team I like to cheer for.

Just before the team took the field. I think Ty was embarrassed by my

taking so many pictures but he eventually came around :)

So we decided to go cheer for them up close and personal this weekend. You never know when you'll get to see one of the best teams in the nation - and they're only an hour away! We went to their homecoming game against Toledo and it was a blast. My parents met us up there at the stadium and we had a party cheering for the Broncos - who ended up just crushing the Rockets (57-14 to be exact).

The mighty Broncos taking the field.

Although watching the game from the big screen is nice (expecially with the commentary and the re-plays), it's so fun to be there in person and "feel" the excitment in the air - to see everything so up close!

This is a pix of Coach Peterson entering the stadium after half-time. I had to get a picture of him mainly just because of the type of man I believe him to be. I continue to be impressed with him as he displays encouragable characteristics. He seems humble and is full of talent and sportsmanship (jsut to name a few). Again, that is the kind of guy/coach/team I like to cheer for.

The Broncos going in for yet another one of their many touchdowns that night. We were in what was considered the "cheap seats" although they didn't seem cheap to me. And besides, it was thrilling seeing the funnest of the action in the endzone.

This win put the Broncos back up to #3 in the nation. We are so excited for them. We keep hoping they'll bounce to #1 or #2 by the end of the season for a chance at the Chamionship game. We know they can do it! Go Broncos! Do I sound like a cheerleader yet?:)

Yep we officially consider ourselves a part of Bronco Nation!

FISH ON!

2010-10-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

One of Cash's favorite things to do is go fishing and it is becoming quite the family past time. When we have a few hours to ourselves you will often find us fishing along the Payette River where we've found a place that is good for the kids and fairly easy to hook a fish.

It's so fun to watch Cash fish. He is constantly saying his line is wiggling or that he thinks he's got somping and reels in often. We cast out for him over and over and over... But nothing beats the look on his face when he catches one. He reels the fighters in all by himself and holds his catch up so proud.

Then he throws them back into the water like you would a baseball

(and he's got quite an arm) - poor things. :)

This past week however, we went fishing with Grandma and Grandpa (who came up to visit for a few days and help me do some canning as well - more to post on that later) at Mann's Creek. About a week before they came up Cash was talking to Grandpa on the phone - making certain Grandpa was prepared to come fishing. He said, "You got a fishing pole Grandpa?" "You got hooks?" "You got worms Grandpa?" It was so funny!

Ty caught a wide mouthed bass nearly as soon as they got all set up at Mann's Creek - which is the one Cash is posing with below. After that though, no one caught a thing - at least they didn't get completely skunked.

The three fishermen calling it quits. I wish the picture was better but up close you can see they all have their poles in hand. It was cute to see these guys all talking about fishing and for them to actually get together sharing in one of their favorite activities. We had such a good visit with my parents - we always hate to see them go and look forward to seeing them again here soon.

My Words...And Cash

2010-09-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

I've heard many phrases similar to: "Your words will come back to haunt you" over the years and I am seeing proof of it more and more often. The most recent:

Cash always gets excited for pre-school and usually starts toting his back pack around at least a half hour before it's actually time to get in the car. One morning last week I was finishing up with Vanna's hair as Cash repeated his plea to go to school. He kept telling me "it's time to go", that "we're going to be late Mom", "we got to get going". I finally replied with, "Cash, for the last time, we are not going to be late. After I get done with Vanna's hair we can get in the car and go to pre-school - just not right now." To which he responded by stomping his foot to the ground, throwing fisted hands down his sides and exclaiming, "Ugggh, I'm tired of this. If you keep acting like this, I'll just ride my bike all by myself to my school." I just looked at him and laughed.

Too often I make comments such as: "I'm tired of the way you two are fighting...., my ears are tired of all that whining....etc. He often throws the same phrase back at me. But the new phrase in this situation was, "if you keep acting like this". Again, apparently too often words such as: "if you keep that act up then...." come out of my mouth and brilliant Cash has found a way to use them against me. :)

I just find it comical when these kind of things come up. It truly brings the realization home that you really have to be careful in the things you say and the way you say them around your children.

If the above isn't proof enough, it must be said that Cash is growing up way too fast. He's constantly saying, "You want to see how big I are?" And then he'll lay down on our large ottoman for us to measure him. It's been a while so I thought I'd better write down a few things things about our little man for my own records.

If you've ever read the Color Code book (if not, I highly recommend it), then you'll understand when I say that Cash is a definite YELLOW - through and through. A yellow is primarily motivated by fun - that's Cash. He will completely wear you out inviting you and demanding that you play with him all day long. Cash's favorite things to do include: fishing, playing Go Fish, Duck Duck Goose, Hide & Seek, and Tag; working out with dad; riding his bike; going to pre-school; swinging (which he can do all by himself now by pumping - yeah!); saying the prayer over the food; pestering the cat; the list goes on and on.

Other characteristics of a yellow are:

-that they are people oriented - Cash is not shy and makes friends very easily. Usually within five minutes of arriving at a park he is leading all the other children that were already there in games and laughter. Sometimes this doesn't always turn out to be a good thing, for example:

After we've done Sharing/Singing Time with the Jr. Primary, they go to their class rooms while the Sr. Primary comes into Primary for their Sharing/Singing Time. We eventually had to ask the Sr. Primary to wait at the other end of the hallway until the Jr. Primary (namely Cash) could get to their classes because they kept encouraging high fives and knuckle bumps from Cash as the little sunbeams would walk by them. And I find it a struggle to keep the kid reverent at the conclusion of Church because the Young Men of our ward are fighting over him and parading him around the halls. Ahhh. While there are things I definitely have to be cautious about in regard to this characteristic - it's somewhat comforting as well to see his natural ability to make friends quickly/easily shine through.

-they are pretty open and share their feelings - Cash is not embarrassed to always give his mom a hug and kiss - at any place or time of day. And in fact he demands it as part of his nightly routine to give both Mom and Dad hugs and kisses with an "I love you" each night. Love it Love it Love it !!

-they're pack rats and don't need to be neat - Someday this will start eating at me I'm sure because I like to be organized, neat and clean. Cash could care less. We are making progress though with Cash's ability to keep things picked up. I generally let him get whatever he wants out but before it gets too out of control (and before naps and bedtime) he is good to help me get it all picked back up. Although he places much of it on his bed and explains just how important it is that he sleeps with each item - along with his two favorite blankets. He is such a little pack rat.

-they are optimistic - In general Cash is a very happy-go-lucky kid. In fact, when he can see that I'm getting frustrated or if I'm upset about something, he'll grab my face and look into my eyes and say, "Mommy just be happy". Of course this melts my heart and I'm immediately in a much better place. Arent' kids great at putting things in perspective for us and bringing us perfect joy/love?!

-they can have trouble staying focused - This is yet another characteristic of yellows that hits the nail right on the head with Cash. I tried to keep him entertained with "school" at home but he usually lasted maybe two minutes before declaring he was bored and suggested we go play baseball or something else - more FUN right? I was hoping that pre-school away from home - where he knew that's just what they did there - would work and so far it has worked marvelously. I'm sure it helps that the teacher was simply much more creative than I was and could make learning much more FUN than I could. :)

Cash's favorite things to eat:

mac & cheese, popsicles, spaghetti, pizza, steak (and most any meat actually - both my kids are little carnivors), licorious & swedish fish (most anything sweet really, just like his dad) and most any fruit. He's especially loving cantaloupe and peaches right now.

Other funny things Cash says to me:

"Thank you breakfast Mommy. You the best cooker in the whode world."

"I got-for it". - for some reason he's switching the word forgot around and saying got-for instead as of late.

"Mommy, Jesus make cars? Mommy, Jesus make trees? Mommy, Jesus make.... - Everyday he asks me about the things that Jesus made. You can just see the wheels turning in his mind I swear.

"I go to Primary, and school and I'm super busy playing with my toys." - The other night when talking to Grandma and Grandpa on the phone they must have asked something like what he's been doing lately and this was his response. I love that he's so SUPER busy PLAYING.

I absolutley love to hear Cash sing and luckily he likes to do it. His favorites are Ba Ba Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, Popcorn Popping, Follow The Prophet and the ABC's.

Cash is a good little dancer and one of his favorite things to do is boogy to the songs that accompany the credits at the end of any given movie he's watched with us. He is so consistent with doing it and it's completely comical to watch him.

Boy, do we love the character that Cash is. He keeps us on our toes and running constantly but he is truly such a joy in our lives. We couldn't be happier in our family than we are with our little ones. What a blessing it is to have such sweet spirits in our home.

Pre-School

2010-09-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

Cash just keeps growing up without our permission and I don't know what to do about it. This week he started Pre-School! This is another first for us and we are left in awe at how fast time flies - it seems we just had the little man yesterday.

Cash age 4 - sporting his new "pack-pack" and ready to start school.

To say he's been excited for this day would be an understatement!

He seems to be loving it and I think it will work out so nicely for our little family. He will be going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30-12:30. Our local library does story-time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at pretty much the same time so we'll do school on Tues., story-time on Wed., and school again on Thurs. It will be nice to have a little consistency there and be on a nice schedule.

I think Cash will love having a little time to himself to play and learn away from his little tag-along sister. And I'm really looking forward to having some one on one time with Miss Vanna. It seems the three of us are ALWAYS together (even the kids' nap times are the same so I rarely have one on one time with either of them) and as a result the kids can get on eachother's nerves a touch (and when they're not getting along well, it wears on my nerves a touch too). It will be so nice to break their time together up a bit. I'm hoping the kids will enjoy one another's company a little more this way.

Although the two of them bicker sometimes, they truly are inseperable. Vanna wanted to be in each picture I took of Cash when we dropped him off at Pre-School. And when it came time to actually leave my baby boy there - Vanna cried her little heart out (all the way home - which is saying something because it's a good 15 minute drive to Fruitland where he goes to school - it ws a cheaper Pre-School there and taught by a friend I already knew and felt good about). She missed Cash immediately but I was able to entertain her with a trip to the park while he was at school and that seemed to pacify her.

Cash's class consists of two other little boys and two little girls. A class of 5 total including him and I love that it's a small, good group. In fact, two of the kids are some of our friends' kids so it will all work out real nice I think.

It's hard to believe we're at this stage with him but I'm thrilled for Cash. And he's extatic about this new experience. Go Cash!!!

Projects & Play

2010-08-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Over the past week or so we've had a good balance of work and play as we've worked in the...

... garden - reaping our harvests...further info. in a future post

...yard - typical mowing, weeding, spraying, etc. plus cutting out a corner of our yard to add another flower bed which included adding curbing there and around each of our trees, adding rock to those areas and planting new plants there in the corner

...and the garage. Our house doesn't have too much extra storage space so our garage quickly became over stuffed. We decided to put up some shelves for storing things that had piled up along the perimiter of the garage floor. It definitely helps the garage seem less cluttered. Ty worked so hard and did such a good job on them. Thanks Honey!!!

While Ty was hard at work in the garage, I worked on a fun project of my own. Cash has been growing like a week lately and I had nowhere to record his growth. I've been wanting to make a growth chart for each of the kids for some time and finally got to it. I just cut some boards (each a foot long) glued paper to them and spiffed them up with scrapbooking-type embelishments. I left blank paper to the left of each board though so that I could measure and record the kids' growth there. They turned out really cute. Vanna's growth chart colors are black, white, pink, and red. I tied the boards all together with red feathered rope and that was the perfect touch. Cash wanted his to be made with an airplane theme so that's what we did. I also left space on each board to add a pix of the kids when they were at the height that we record somewhere on that board (does that make sense?). Anyway, not always do my projects turn out the way I imagined them to be but these did so I was pretty pleased.

We've been playing too, to reward ourselves for our hard work lately (or rather for Ty's hard work). Okay, so we probably would have gone playing regardless - whether or not we'd been working hard - because it's so fun!

The kids absolutely love any kind of fair - to see all the animals and pet them. But this trip to the Payette County Fair also included the rodeo. Cash was so thrilled to wear his cowboy hat and pistol I thought he might pass out - of course he got tons of comments from on-lookers (kids and adults alike) over the pearl handled pistol he was toting around. I think Cash's favorite part was the turkeys at the fair and the clowns at the rodeo. I worried over whether the kids would sit still and actually enjoy the rodeo but they did - they loved it! I figured Cash might enjoy it. But Vanna was our big surprise. While we knew she'd love the animals at the fair, we were fairly certain our rodeo show would be cut short (as it was way passed our little princess' bed time). But she squealed with excitement every time something came running/bucking out of the shoot at the rodeo. She sat right next to us on the bench soaking it all in throughout the entire duration of the show. It might very well be possible she falls for the cowboy type when she grows up :).

We've been wanting to get to the zoo this summer too and decided this past week was a good time. The weather was perfect for us and of course the kids loved it. Again, they adore animals completely. It was fun to watch their excitement and reactions to the animals. Vanna is such an observer and loves to take everything in so to get her to keep moving was a real struggle. We could have been there ALL day if it was up to her and her slow-poke ways.

The penguins were eating right in front of us. It was fun to watch.

Vanna and the love of her life - checking out the zebras. She's such a Daddy's girl - whenever Ty's home she wants him to help her with anything/everything.

Near the end of our Zoo excersion, Cash came across a grasshopper that he caught. He wanted to take it home to put with his collection of grasshoppers (that he plans to take fishing with his dad, for yummy fish bait:)) so he packed it with him on his way out and into the car. He let it loose several times in the car however and I decided to let it out the window rather than fight that the entire way home from Boise. This just spurred a meltdown from the ever tired Cash, as you might have guessed. And in Ty's effort to distract Cash from how sad he was over losing his grasshopper, he asked, "Cash what was your favorite animal at the zoo?" To which Cash responded, "The grasshopper!" We just laughed - who knew he'd love it more than the giraffes or the lions or tigers or turtles, etc. Funny kid.

This That & The Other

2010-08-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

THIS...

We've been so busy these past few weeks. First the kids and I went to Lava to spend a few days with my family. I was nervous about making the long trip by myself but the kids faired pretty well in the car and I'm glad we made the effort because we had a great visit with family. While we were there we attended my mom's Wheatley Family Reunion. It was great to catch up with my grandma (who is over 90 years old) and with cousins. The kids had a ball with their cousins too.

We also went swimming there in Lava with my mom and sister and her family - Cash couldn't get enough! The kids played so hard they were plum tuckered out.

Vanna with my mom after playing all day at the reunion.

Cash and Grandpa's Sunday nap - after playing all weekend long.

THAT...

Then two weekends later we made another trip down to Rigby were we stayed with Ty's family for a great visit. We were busy while there as well. We attended Ty's Aunt Patti's funeral which was beautiful. We are sorry to see her go but know that she is in a better place now free of pain and suffering. We also made a trip to Palisades for a day to attend another family reunion of mine. It was my mom and Tab's first annual family reunion and we had a blast playing in the sun and water.

Grandma and Grandpa Mendenhall with 7 of their 14 grandchildren (with two on the way).

The kids experienced their first tube rides and loved it. I thought Vanna would be scared but she just kept saying, "weee". Of course Cash kept saying, "faster, faster Grandpa".

What a bunch of characters these little guys are.

We so enjoyed our visit with Ty's parents as well. Cash absolutely LOVES the farm and "helping" Grandpa Bazil milk the cows, change the water, etc. Grandpa even took Cash on a ride in the skid loader. We also went miniature golfing and believe it or not, Cash golfed the full 18 holes without getting bored and even got a whole in one on one of them! What a good time we had!

(Side Note: between our family visits we had a ward party for Pioneer Day and it included chasing chickens and a greased pig, horse rides, etc. - we heard over and over from our friends that we needed to break down and buy Cash a farm - he was in 7th Heaven with all the activities. In fact, he was the one to catch the chicken both times and was the only one willing to dive for the greased pig. It was such a hoot! Wish we would have had our recorder.)

THE OTHER...

Then two days after we got back from Rigby we enjoyed a visit from Ty's brother, Trevor, and his family for a few days. We went bowling, to the fair, to the movies, went on a few rides and walks, played in the sprinklers - you name it, we did it. The kids played their little hearts out and couldn't get enough of each other - hence the pile up in the bubble bath.

We watched some cowboys team rope for a while, then went to see and pet all kinds of farm animals at the fair: baby piglets, baby goats, sheep, cows, etc.

It seems our whole summer has kept us busy but I don't think we've been busier than these past couple weeks. But isn't that what summer is all about - some hard playing? I wouldn't have it any other way! We've had such a good time and loved visiting with all our family!

A Whole New Vanna

2010-07-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

We have officially entered the "terrible two's" phase of life with our pumpkin. Vanna is 2 years and 3 months old now and over the past few months, it seems she is undergoing a transformation of sorts. While she is normally a sweet, soft-spoken little thing, new characteristics that have developed within her are beginning to expose themselves. These include:

-the desire/ability to "fight back" - Before this transformation, Vanna would simply come to me crying when Cash had upset her but now she is more likely to stand her ground, shout, "No", and take a swipe at him. Where did this come from?

How did we go from here (picture above) to where we are now? :)

-the "I'm so angry I might explode" scream - Vanna was born with the "gift" of an exhuberant bloody murder scream but the scream has changed and/or transformed. :) Most often the scream shows its beautiful self during a meltdown that Vanna is learning the art of. While the scream itself is intimidating (she gets so loud and produces it so forcefully that her head shakes), it is most commonly accomanied by leg kicking, arm flailing activities that make it almost impossible to endure. My mom has commented that the girl should have larengitis (is that the right spelling) after a fit like that. Although I believe that some of this behavior comes naturally at this age, I am doing my best to find the source of such frustration and illiminate it before we have such outbursts. What perhaps bothers me even more than the outburst itself, is the reaction Cash has to it. He will come to me (because Cash is often the one being screamed at - at least in the beginning) and say, "Vanna not love me". I have to explain that she does love him - no matter how upset she might seem at him - she does love him. She is just exploring new emotions and have a hard time understanding what is and is not okay sometimes. I hate to have those feelings even cross his mind however, and try to create the opposite atmosphere (of love and caring) between them during our level headed moments so that when an outburst does arise, I can refer back to when they were playing so well together and tell him,"Remember when...and Vanna showed you how much she loves you?" Truly, the kids are hardly seperable.

I know this phase will pass (I remember Cash behaving much the same way at this age, although not quite to this extent) but for the time being, is there any advice you mothers have for me? How did you discipline your kids when they had meltdowns/outbursts?

-her sassy "it's my way or the highway" attitude that sometimes shines through - Vanna is very particular in the things she wants. For example, she loves shoes (so much that she would even wear them during her naps and at night until we decided we had to break that little habit before her feet stopped growing or something) and she knows what shoes she wants to wear most everyday. If she's upset and can't find her blanket, she's even more upset if Cash finds it and brings it to her rather than Mommy (or the opposite way around - depending on her mood). However, because of this characteristic, Vanna has learned to do many things for herself (as she demands to do it by herself without any help) which include: getting dressed, getting undressed, doing up and undoing buttons, buckling up carseat, twisting lids on and off, brushing her own teeth, etc. She's really quite an independent little girl.

Oh, you can imagine the fun we've been having at our house. We definitely feel like we have our hands full. However, outbursts seem somewhat few and far between (but you know how they can just consume your thoughts) and truly, it really is quite fun around here most of the time.

Some of Vanna's favorite things are to swing, and eat popsicles. Here she has put her popsicle in the grass (to save and finish off later) so as not to miss an opportunity to get pushed in the swing.

She also loves loves loves bubbles, lipgloss, lotion and changing her clothes often (typical girl right?). She is learning the art of duck, duck, goose and hide and seek. She loves to participate in action songs and adores our kitty (whom she's termed Hankee). She simply must have each and every "owey" kissed better and likes to kiss your every body part, from the neck up, before going to bed (it's quite the process and effort to delay bedtime). She is also quite the little helper - she's excellent at throwing things away, helping me unload the dishwasher (she likes picking up and putting things away - period) and likes to help pick peas in the garden.

Oh, how we love our little girl - and everything that comes with her (even if it is the sassy attitude :)).

Cookies & Brownies & Pies - Oh My!!!

2010-07-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

We've been playing in the kitchen of late. And the kids have loved it.

Wrapped in eachother's arms of love (and Mommy's aprons).

They make such a mess of the flour and themselves, and well, of just everything. But we've had a good time making lots of treats.

Gotta' love their adorable messy hands!

We've made so many cookies already this summer I probably couldn't count them - and brownies and rice krispie treats too. Daddy has quite the sweet tooth and we like to cater to it because it's so fun to bake (and eat cookie dough I might add- yum!).

But the crown jewel of our treats has been the strawberry rhubarb pie. It has become Ty's new favorite pie. And I have to agree that it is absolutley delicious!!!

Now... is anybody hungry?!

A New Addition To The Family...

2010-06-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

...and it's a boy!

...and his name will be Hank! We put all the names we could live with in a bowl and let the kids pull out a name so they thought they actually named him. And Hank it is (Ty was obviously thinking of his beloved baseball players - Hank Aaron for one).

...wait for it...

Please tell me my tricky title and intro caught SOMEONE off guard. I had to do it. Anyway, yes, we've finally decided to get our first family pet. We debated and debated over a puppy or a kitten and, well, now you know what we picked. Isn't he cute?! He's an all white fur ball and so much fun for the kids. I'm so glad we finally broke down and got them a pet.

Cash has loved Hank from the moment we got him. In fact the first few days we had him, you could almost always find Cash out in the garage, sitting in the kitten's little bed with him showering him with love and affection! Cash's face is the face of pure joy! Cash is always bringing in the kitten and proclaims his justification by saying, "but Mom, I like my Hank, he's my best friend" - to which I usually always give in.

At first, Vanna didn't know what to think about Hank and quite frankly I don't think Hank liked her at first because of all her darling squeals of excitement whenever she saw him. He's definitely warmed up to her though. And she has more than warmed up to Hank. All of the sudden I think she decided that she was Hank's little mother and totes him around everywhere. He's pretty good to accept the torment and isn't one to scratch at her or anything which I really appreciate. In fact, all in all, I'm very pleased with Hank. He's very good natured, super playful, and even litter trained himself!

Over the couple weeks that we've had Hank he's grown a bunch! You can see just how much in the difference between the first picture in this post and this last one. We still think he's pretty darn cute though.

This picture was taken to capture his limited time to himself. Between the two of the kids, this poor kitten hardly gets a non-cuddled moment but one thing is for certain - he is loved!

Happy Birthday Cash!

2010-06-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

We now have a four year old! Cash is growing up so fast - and in every way. He is getting easier all the time as he tends to listen better, help out more, do more for himself, etc. He is taking on the roll of big brother much better all the sudden as well - rather than simply teasing Vanna to her limit practically every minute of every day, he tries teaching her things, helping her more and "taking care of her". Even Cash seems to notice how he's changing (at least physically anyway). He's always asking us to measure him and reminding us that he's growing when he says each night, "I eat my dinner all gone and I get big and big and big and strong!"

All Cash wanted to do for his birthday was "go swimming". We were planning a trip to see my side of the family the weekend before his birthday and thought, there's no better place to go swimming than Lava Hot Springs right? So off we went for a few days over Memorial Day weekend. We had such a good visit with my parents and even saw my younger brother and his wife - who are some of Cash's favorite playmates I think. We also visited with my sister and her three boys. They are a riot of fun for my kids to be around. Cash just idolizes them and their abilities to shoot guns, hunt, etc. We got to see my dad as well. We haven't seen him in about a year so that was great. The kids were able to reconnect and loved playing with his new, fancy wheelchair. We also got to see great-grandparents too. The weather didn't quite cooperate with us so instead of the swimming pools, we went to the hot pools in Lava and I don't think Cash even noticed, he had such a good time. I'm afraid he's going to think we have to go swimming every time we go to Grandma and Grandpas.

Cash and Vanna with Grandpa Hall.

Cash and Vanna with Great-Grandparents Bob and Beth. Beth just made me some beautiful doilies for our bedroom furniture. She's so talented and such a doll. I love them!

Of course, we can't go to Grandma and Grandpa's without riding on the four-wheeler! If you're wondering about Cash's goggles - they are practically permanently attached to him. He loves the water, his bath and his GOGGLES! He totes them around everywhere and he insisted we take them on the trip since we were going swimming!

The kids playing at the park during our visit. We timed that activity perfectly when a large storm hit just as we pulled the wagon into the driveway and ended our walk.

We got back from our trip the day before Cash's birthday. We celebrated his big day simply - we went to his favorite place for dinner, opened presents and had cake. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he said, "a big and big and big and big cake" (you can picture him standing on his tippy toes with his arms stretched as tall as can be, while he says this). And this is the best I could do. I tried a couple different stacking styles and even ended up throwing out an entire cake before finally resorting to the stacked cupcakes.

Cash got a bike for his birthday and just can't get enough of it. He cruises on it with no fear. I wonder how long it will be before he wants us to take off the training wheels.

What is now Vanna's bike (Cash retired it). She couldn't be happier with her hand-me-down. Cash also got cowboy (hats and guns) and baseball (a cap and mitt and ball) gear for his birthday. And a much needed new and improved sword - all the better to harrass daddy with.

Doesn't his face say it all? What a cute little cowboy!

The day following Cash's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa came back up here to visit us! Granpa wanted to try salmon fishing and this year was supposed to be one of the best runs he'd ever heard of so he and Ty went to Riggins and got absolutely skunked! Darn it. Unfortunately, with all the rain we've been getting over the past couple weeks, the rivers were blown out and although there were tons of fish (the nursery there said that they usually expect something like 4,000 salmon in the run and this year they expect near to 30,000), they just couldn't get to them.

Well, we enjoyed their visit anyway. I think Cash thought his birthday was never going to end. We went to the park with them, ate like kings, etc. One of the highlights of their visit was their volunteering to watch the kids while Ty and I had a romantic night get-away for our anniversary. We've never spent a night away from the kids since we've had them so this was a real treat. We stayed at the Ameritel Inn in Boise and went to dinner. Then relaxed in the hotel's jacuzzi and watched a movie. What a much needed retreat and definitely an Anniversary I'll always remember! Thanks Mom and Tab!!!

I'm sure I missed something in my journaling (and that's what I get for trying to play catch up on the past couple weeks) but let it simply be remembered that we love our little guy and don't know what we'd do without him. Life is such a party with Cash around. He's all fun and games and has such a happy-go-lucky personality to him that you can't help but smile when you're around him. Love you buddy!

Apple Blossom - Take Two

2010-05-24T08:55:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was Apple Blossom here in Payette. Ty had the weekend off and was able to enjoy the town's festivities with us this year which was great! They have a fun parade where the kids loaded up on candy. Vanna was an absolute sticky mess by the end of the parade - she couldn't shove that taffy in her mouth fast enough.

After the parade, we received a sweet invite to a bbq with friends and enjoyed the entire afternoon with them. We thought for certain the kids would be monsters while we were there as we were already getting passed their nap times but they did great and couldn't have had more fun playing with all the kids that were there. When we finally loaded them in the car to go home, they fell asleep within what seemed like seconds. They enjoyed a late nap which we thought would be perfect because we still had the carnival and fireworks to go to.

Well, we should have known better than to plan that much fun into one day because the monsters DID come out as we left the carnival. :) Cash had a complete meltdown because as we were leaving, he came across a glow-in-the-dark sword he'd seen and NO amount of convincing (that he'd already had loads of candy, played with friends, rode rides at the carnival, etc.) could persuade him otherwise. Needless to say, we left the carnival frustrated and determined not to go back next year. We also figured we'd skip out on the fireworks (my favorite part of the festivities-tear) as we were approaching the kids' bed times and weren't about to encourage more meltdowns of the same magnitude. We defintely had over-exhausted kids by that time already. Oh, but it really was a fun day and a great time we had together as a family. I've often thought, "what would we do if we didn't have kids to entertain or kids to entertain us (yes, even meltdowns can be quite entertaining and comical)?" We definitely have a good time with them.

The Privilege Of Being A Mother

2010-05-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

I was asked to speak in our ward for Mother's Day, on the topic of "The Privilege Of Being A Mother". I truly felt rejuvinated after studying so many wonderful talks on the topic and thought I'd share some of the things I came across and the things that have occupied my mind over that same subject as of late. Warning: It will be a long read - I simply cut and pasted almost my entire talk.

In April we had the privilege of hearing from our Church leaders and as I listened to the speaker’s messages, I felt there was a connection between many of them in regard to the importance of strengthening our homes and families. Of particular interest to me, were the three talks regarding mothers. One of those was given by Elder Ballard where he encouraged young women to look to their faithful mothers for a pattern to follow. He said:
"Look to your mother. Model yourselves after them... Learn from her strengths, her courage, and her faithfulness. Love your mother, ...Respect her. Listen to her. Trust her. When it comes to matters of the heart and the things of the Lord, she has a wealth of knowledge."
He goes on to say:
"No other person on earth loves you in the same way or is willing to sacrifice as much to encourage you and help you find happiness— in this life and forever." (Mothers & Daughters - April 2010 General Conference)

I’ve studied that talk and as a result, have again looked to my mother and reflected upon our relationship, as I often do. My mother has been through more enormous trials than I ever desire to go through and I can say that she is strong, she is faithful, she is wise. I do respect my mother, I trust my mother, I love my mother. I can agree whole heartedly with the famous quote by Abraham Lincoln: "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

Elder Bradley D. Foster also spoke of mothers in our last General Conference. He spoke of herding cattle and yelling to lost calves in frustration,

"Just follow your mothers! They know where they’re going! They’ve been down this road before!"
In his talk he also quoted President Faust who said:
"There is no greater good in all the world than motherhood. The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation" ("Fathers, Mothers, Marriage," Liahona and Ensign, Aug. 2004, 3).

After hearing these talks, I felt a tremendous weight upon my shoulders as the Spirit whispered to me of the responsibility that is mine - to be the kind of mother my children can and should look to as an example, a teacher, a nurturer, and the many other titles you could give a mother. To be the kind of mother mine is to me.

In 1997, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave a wonderful talk entitled Because She Is a Mother. In it he spoke of one young mother that had written to him who I think felt the same inadequacy I do in regard to such a profound responsibility. Her letter said:
"...her anxiety tended to come on three fronts. One was that whenever she heard talks on LDS motherhood, she worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be equal to the task. Secondly, she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like "goo goo." Thirdly, she often felt people were sometimes patronizing, almost always without meaning to be, because the advice she got or even the compliments she received seemed to reflect nothing of the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.
"But one thing, she said, keeps her going: "Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that in my motherhood I am in an eternal partnership with Him. I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent...

"It is this realization," she says, "that I try to recall on those inevitably difficult days when all of this can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to our Heavenly Father and enhance His ability to reach back to us. Maybe He secretly hopes we will be anxious," she said, "and will plead for His help. Then, I believe, He can teach these children directly, through us, but with no resistance offered. I like that idea," she concludes. "It gives me hope. If I can be right before my Father in Heaven, perhaps His guidance to our children can be unimpeded. Maybe then it can be His work and His glory in a very literal sense."

Elder Holland uplifts us by saying:
"...In light of that kind of expression, it is clear that some of those ... [shadows under mother’s eyes] come not just from diapers and carpooling but from at least a few sleepless nights spent searching the soul, seeking earnestly for the capacity to raise these children to be what God wants them to be. Moved by that kind of devotion and determination, may I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent.
"We tell you there is nothing more important in this world than participating so directly in the work and glory of God, in bringing to pass the mortality and earthly life of His daughters and sons, so that immortality and eternal life can come in those celestial realms on high."

I took comfort in that talk for a number of reasons. First, it helped me to again realize that other mothers have the same thoughts, concerns, feelings, and struggles that I do. It’s easy for me to feel overwhelmed by all the little things that occupy a young mother’s time. I have to force myself to focus more on what I am to be, rather than what I am to do. But even more overwhelming to me than those many little things, is the responsibility that I have, to teach my children "to walk uprightly before the Lord" - to help them develop that strong testimony that is so essential. And the dear Sister that wrote to Elder Holland brought out a wonderful point - maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to our Heavenly Father and enhance His ability to reach back to us.

A couple months ago, I had a very real experience that I thought related to this idea perfectly:

One night when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed, I was kneeling beside my bed praying to my Heavenly Father with the question in my mind - of the so many important principles and things to be teaching my children - what was most important for them to be learning at that moment - what should I focus on? As I’m engrossed with this prayer and having, what I felt was a very spiritual experience, in wanders my almost 4 yr. old boy, Cash, who apparently hadn’t yet fallen asleep in his bed. He proceeded to kneel next to me and whisper into my ear the things he thought I should say in my prayer -much like we do with him as he says his own nightly prayers. Being that the Spirit quickly seemed to leave the room, I wrapped up my prayer, took him back to his bed and climbed into my own. As soon as I did so, however, I was immediately touched by the sweet assurance that my prayer was answered - for in that moment, I was doing the thing I needed to be doing most - I was setting an example for my children to observe and follow - the likes that Elders Ballard and Foster refer to in their talks. The entire experience was answer to my prayer in and of itself - had I not been kneeling, saying my prayer that night, Cash would not have witnessed his mother practicing the principle of personal prayer. Indeed, my inability and anxiousness urged me to reach out to my Heavenly Father for help and He did reach back to me.

Elder Holland’s talk and his reference to that letter he received brought me further comfort as it reminded me of the very sacred calling that is ours as mothers. Remember he says:
"We tell you there is nothing more important in this world than participating so directly in the work and glory of God, in bringing to pass the mortality and earthly life of His daughters and sons, so that immortality and eternal life can come in those celestial realms on high."

What an honor, what a privilege it is to be a mother, to work so closely with our Father in Heaven in such an important work!

Again, in his talk, Elder Holland encouraged us to:
"Remember, remember all the days of your motherhood: "Ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging." (Elder Holland - Because She Is a Mother, 1997)

Just as he said, I know that we can always rely on our Heavenly Father and turn to Him in prayer over matters concerning our children. I love what Elder M. Russell Ballard said in a talk a couple years ago. He said:
"By praying deeply about your children and about your role as a mother, you can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because you are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, "We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father, please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised." (Elder M. Russell Ballard -Daughters of God, May 2008)

When we go to the Savior in prayer and our burdens are shared with Him, they do become lighter as promised in Matthew, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28). And isn’t that the very definition of a mother? A person who labors and is sometimes heavy laden - and isn’t the only thing we sleep deprived women really want is a little more rest? No really, all laughs aside, I know that scripture to be true.

In fact when we were expecting my daughter, Vanna, we ran into some complications with the pregnancy and I was put on bed rest for the last trimester. A month before I was due, because of additional complications, the doctor called me in to start my labor before Vanna was put under too much stress. Well we had our beautiful, tiny girl and amazingly she seemed to be doing fine. But that night, she began struggling with her breathing and was admitted into the NICU.

The following day, I was to go home and we were unable to leave the hospital with our little girl. This seemed particularly hard for us I guess, as we had already experienced taking a baby home from the hospital following his birth and had enjoyed a perfectly healthy experience with him. I believe we have never had to rely on the Lord so much than at that time in our lives. And when we turned to him in tearful prayer, our burdens were made light. The service we received from others throughout those couple months surrounding Vanna’s birth came in unimaginable proportions-even with the knowledge that no service could be returned as we were moving here to Payette within the month. Such Christlike service. Truly it was a most humbling experience to be loved and served so thoroughly.

After 11 days we were able to take Vanna home and what a joy that was. Going through this trial helped me to remember never to take such a thing for granted and among other things, to cherish my calling as a mother to my beautiful children. I do count it a wonderful blessing and privilege to be a mother.

In conclusion I just wish to share some words of encouragement from Elder Holland that he gave in the same talk referenced earlier. To mothers he says:
"You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility [as a mother] is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. (Elder Holland - Because She Is a Mother, 1997)

It is my prayer that we can fully rejoice in our callings as mothers - and count it a wonderful blessing and privilege to serve the Lord in such a unique way. Even the First Presidency said over sixty years ago, that motherhood was "the highest, holiest service assumed by mankind". I know that a mother’s work is a profound and divine work as we walk side by side with our Father in Heaven in rearing His precious children.

Whether our concerns be small, as mine seemed in regard to be overwhelmed with knowing what to teach my children at this time in their lives, or larger such as our experience with Vanna , I know how important it is to turn to our Father in Heaven with our every concern in regard to our children, for they were His before they were ours. Like Elder Holland, I believe you are doing terrifically well! I wish you all a very happy Mother’s Day!

Not A Baby Anymore!

2010-04-19T12:54:00.001-07:00

My baby is not a baby anymore. She's TWO (as of two Saturdays ago - I'm getting behind again)! And we're feeling it. She is learning and growing so fast it's amazing. And of course we are beginning to experience tantrums which is a sure sign your baby is two right?

We didn't do anything too fancy or big for Vanna's birthday this year. We thought it would just be nice to have our own little family party for her, so we simply played for hours at our local park, ate out at Carl's Jr. (which has a huge indoor jungle-gym play area for the kids to play their hearts out), and did the presents and cake of couse, but just at our house. Sometimes simple is best - it truly was a great day!

Playing their hearts out (as aforementioned:)...

Opening presents...

(a jump-o-lene, the kids love jumping like crazy in this huge

inflatable tramp-o-lene type toy- good investment I think :)

Blowing out the candles...

Stuffing her face with cake...

For memory sake, I have to record that Cash had such a hard time understanding that his birthday would come, it just wasn't his birthday yet. He kept asking "when is it my burpday (funny how he says birthday huh?)?" and "when do I get a cake?" and "why don't I get to blow out the candles?". He was so upset about the candles that we gave him a turn at blowing out Vanna's candles too. I kept trying to explain that in a couple months he would have his very own special birthday when he gets presents and can have whatever cake he wanted and on and on. By the end of the day I thought he had a fair understanding of the concept but the following day proved I was wrong. The following day was Sunday, and in Primary we always sing to those who've had a birthday the previous week and then they get to choose a candybar. Well, Cash had a minor meltdown as he yet, again, realized that it wasn't his birthday yet and came up to me crying. Poor kid. He'll understand soon enough.

I guess I had my own hard time with Vanna's birthday as it really is kind of sad - my baby really isn't a baby anymore! But oh, she is so much fun and such a unique and important part of our family. We just love her to death - which is what keeps us going after her famous and dramatic tantrums :).

Playing Catch Up!

2010-04-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

Easter 2010:

How fitting that General Conference should fall on the weekend of Easter. What an uplifting and inspiring weekend. I loved to listen to Cash tell me throughout this past week about, "Jesus, him got owies (pointing to his hands and feet) and him died dead but free (three) days and him got resected (resurrected) and him all better a (for) us. The way he explains the Easter story is so sweet and touching. I feel a tiny success in the wya that he's really picking up on the things we're trying to teach him. Anyway - what a wonderful week it was.

Kids with Daddy - coloring Easter eggs. They were being silly and trying to stir the dye with their spoons in their mouths. Mommy quickly put a stop to that. :)

Me and a couple friends of mine put together a little Easter egg hunt for our kids. My friend lives more in the country and has lots of open space so we had it there. We filled oodles of eggs and had a blast watching the kids hunt for them.

The kids with their stash! Cash got so many eggs they started overflowing and I had to hold some so he could continue hunting. Vanna started digging into her candy even before the hunt was over. Each of my kids have such a bad sweet tooth!

Trip to Grandma & Grandpa Bazils last week:

We were able to take another trip down to Eastern Idaho to visit Ty's family this past week. We had such a good time. The kids are always thoroughly entertained there with all the space and animals there are around. We spent some time with Ty's sister and her family as they were down visiting for a couple days. Cash and Vanna have been so spoiled lately with all the cousin play-time they've had. It's been great! We went 'hunting' for turkeys but didn't come across any so instead we just got to enjoy a little ride in Grandpa's truck and go for a little nature walk. We went bowling and ate out at Big Judd's and with our sweet Grandma Great, rented movies, flew a kite, etc. What a full and fun few days!

Eating at Papa Kelsey's in Rigby - a Bazil family favorite. It was yummy! Thanks Grandma Great!

Cash did his best ever this time bowling. He stayed entertained the entire game and really enjoyed himself. Can't say the same for Vanna although she did have fun helping Cash push the ball down the ramp.

Cash ready to go 'help" his dad and Uncle Chase feed the cows - a man's job. Most every night at Grandma & Grandpa Bazil's we go down to the barn to see the calves and watch Grandpa milk. The kids are always so entertained.

Busy Bees...Bzzz

2010-03-30T19:37:00.001-07:00

We have been so busy the past couple weeks. But this busy is the best kind of busy you can be. Our time, over the past couple weeks, has been nearly completely filled with friends and family - so wonderful! First, we had my brother and his wife - Josh and Amanda - come stay several days with us (March 17th-22nd). This was their first visit up and so we spent time catching up and even went bowling and to a movie (that's about all there is to do around here as far as entertainment goes).

Cash couldn't get enough of Josh and Amanda - in fact, I think a little crush even developed for Amanda. It was quite cute!

Josh and Amanda quickly became the kids' playmates. And they were such good sports to entertain their demands. They were probably glad to head home to finally get some rest. We spent lots of time visiting and whether it was about eachother's goals/ideas/testimonies it was just good to catch up. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and have them again soon.

The day that Josh and Amanda headed home, we had our long lost friends come visit us for a couple days (March 22nd - March 23rd). By long lost, I mean, our close friends who lived here in Payette with us for a year and a half before recently moving back to Pocatello. My friend - Ann - was back to testify in Court regarding a young lady she had performed an exam on while working here at the hospital's ER. I got to watch her kids while she was at Court and boy was it good to see those kids playing together again. It was almost as if they never left, the kids just picked up where they left off. I was so happy to see their relationships had stuck even after not seeing eachother for months. After Ann finished up at Court, we made/ate dinner and had a little FHE with the whole clan. The following day we went to their Hotel to swim with them and soak in the hot tub - nice :). They left later that day. Again, it was so nice to catch up and revitalize friendships. Thanks for coming Wilcox family!

Vanna and Lizzy sporting sunglasses while going for a walk. We actually got caught in the rain while walking - great memory!

THEN, (you thought I was done didn't you?) the following day we headed down to spend several days with my family (March 24th - 28th). We actually met my mom and step-dad in Arco where we ate and then sent Ty and Tab off toward Salmon where they planned on spending a few days steelhead fishing, while my mom, myself, and the kids headed back to Lava. Our days were spent visiting my brother (same one as mentioned above - we just had to see his house that him and his wife bought), going to wrestling matches to watch cousin Dawson, stopping in Pocatello to see cousins Avery and Sophia, shopping in Pocatello, sewing, driving to Logan for more shopping and cousin visits (we even got to see the newest member of Ty's family - Sicaly).

Cash, Vanna, and Blyss while visiting Marcy and their family. Marcy just had a new baby the week prior - their third beautiful girl.

And on Saturday my oldest brother and my older sister and their families came to my mom's. The kids completely wore themselves out with more cousin play which included...

...duck, duck, goose (this is one of my kids' favorite games and they couldn't wait to play with ALL the cousins too)...

...cars (I thought this was a cute picture - all the boy cousins huddled around Grandma's toy cars ooing and ahhing)...

...movies (Vanna mimics much of what she sees so when she saw Jenna and Cash on their bellies watching a movie, she just had to join them)...

...puzzles (another thing my kids love - they're both getting quite good at them, even Vanna, especially with Jenna's help)...

...card games (it is so crazy that my little neices and nephews are all the sudden grown up enough to know and understand and play card games - it was so fun to see how big they're all getting)...

...and other things fun and crazy. It was such a good day.

Ty and Tab returned from their fishing trip Saturday evening with large fish in tow. They weren't skunked but as every fishing story goes - the big ones got away :). This was Ty's first steelhead experience and he really enjoyed it (when I get pictures, we'll have to post about it in more detail). He kept saying it was just so nice to get away (from work, stress, probably even us too:)) and enjoy the outdoors. Thanks to my step-dad for putting so much planning into it and taking Ty for the ride. We all enjoyed Sunday together and left soon after church and lunch to make it back home in good time - BUT not before stopping in Pocatello on our way home to visit our friends (same ones as mentioned before - we just had to see the house they moved into). That visit was short but swell.

Whew - I'm tired just jotting all this down. You can imagine, it might very well take all this week to get back into a routine and feel caught up physically. But what a wonderful time we had. We got to see so many family members - the kids got to see almost every single cousin they have - I just feel so fulfilled when we get to do that. I love being busy with family and friends and can't wait to do it again!