Update on the last couple of weeks

Wow, the time flies. Since my last post we have had some fun family events, but let me go back and recap everything chronologically. (warning, this is going to be pretty long as I am documenting the events for the family album in addition to reporting it all to all of you)

*Friday the 13th I was working my butt off to get ready for our trip when someone comes pounding on my front door. "Your yard is on FIRE!!!!" Sure enough someone (probably one of the delinquent high school kids walking by as school had just let out) had lit my 12 foot tall ornamental grass on fire as well as the grass in the yard, and my neighbors yard too. I hurried to hook up the hose and started spraying to extinguish the flames. I could not reach my neighbor's yard though and the fire department arrived quickly and put hers out too. I spent about 3 hours in the yard between that, talking to the fire dept and police, and then cleaning up my yard and cutting down the other ornamentals to avoid further temptation. So much for packing and cleaning. Fortunately, they tell me the fire will actually make the grass grow in greener this year. Here's looking for the silver lining. Here is a picture of the yard.

*On the 14th we headed out at about 8 am for our 12 hour drive to Las Vegas. The ride was long but the kids did pretty well. It was great to get to Vegas and spend some time with my dad and Kay and my 3 brothers, my sister in law, and my 5 nephews. For the most part we just hung out. On Sunday we joined Kevin and his family for cake and ice cream to celebrate my nephew's birthday. It was nice to visit and to see Deb and Tut (Cass' mom and step dad) again.

*On Monday, we went to the park, played some baseball(with Steve and Z) and then went to Red Rock Canyon(with Jeff and Z). We had a great time climbing on the rocks and hiking around.

*On Tuesday, we took the kids (Kayden and Jeff came too) to the strip to see some of the traditional things my kids love to see. For some reason they always want to go to Caesar's Palace and go to FAO Schwartz. There is just something about a 3 story toy store with a giant trojan horse in the entrance that gets them all excited. So we spent some time walking around and trying out some toys.

*Did I mention that Mike had to work on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday he spent the day checking on the projects he has going in Vegas and on Tuesday he drove 5 hours each way to go to a meeting in Yuma Arizona. We were so happy that he would be off work the rest of the week though.

*On Wednesday, we hopped in the car bright and early and headed off for Disney Land. We arrived at out hotel about 11:30 am grabbed some lunch and headed off for a day of fun. We had a great day and stayed in the park til 10:00(Mike, Tiff, Ryan, and Kyle) and 11:00 (Kaylee, Jacob and me) We even watched the fireworks which we have never done before. We had a full day and managed to ride a ton of rides. We rode Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Finding Nemo, Autopia, The Disney Railroad, Roger Rabbit, Gadget Go Coaster, Pooh Bear, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Carribbean, Haunted Mansion, Matterhorn, and Kaylee, Jake and I squeezed in Indiana Jones and Space Mountain in our last hour. The kids went right to sleep as soon as we got back to the hotel. It was great!
*On Thursday, we rose with the sun to make it for the Magical Morning at Disney. This allows early entry to the park (1 hour before it really opens) to some guests. After a wonderful continental breakfast in our hotel, we headed straight to Fantasy Land and rode Snow White, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio all with almost no wait. Then we headed to Space Mountain and Astro Orbitor. Next we decided to go over to California Adventures to catch some rides. We rode Soaring over California, the Golden Zephyr, Mulholland Madness, some rode the Orange Stinger and Kaylee rode the Maliboomer, Then some of us heade to Toy Story Mania, and Mike and Kaylee went to ride California Screamin'. Next we rode the Grizzly River run in turns since Kyle wasn't quite tall enough to ride and then we left the park to go to McDonalds for Lunch. Yes we did all of that before a semi late lunch. After lunch we went back to CA and rode Monster's Inc. and then Mike took the smaller kids to the Bugs Life kiddie area and Kaylee and I rode the Tower of Terror, twice! That ride is awesome!!! When we were done, Kaylee took Mike back to ride the T O T also while I stayed with the kids in Bug Land. While there they rode, the Heimlich Choo choo train, the bumper cars, and Flik's Flyers. Next we took turns riding Indiana Jones in groups since Kyle was also too short for that one. But while we waited we rode the Jungle cruise since the line was so short. This brought us to about 4:00 and we decided to take a break from Disney and go see the ocean. So we headed back to the hotel and got in the car and headed to the beach. We went to HUntington beach and by the time we got there the sun was already going down. But it was fun to walk in the sand and along the pier. We even got to watch some guys surfing. Too Cool!!!

*On Friday, Disney Land opened at 8 am so we headed out after our breakfast. The night before I had asked all the ids what they wanted to ride on Friday and so we made out way through that list. We rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, Storyland Canal Boats, Matterhorn, Finding Nemo, and Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear. Then we went over to California Adventures to watch the Aladdin Show. we followed that with a second trip to Soaring Over California while Kaylee and Mike rode California Screaming and Toy Story Mania. After riding our rides, we did some souvenier shopping and then it was time to say goodbye to Disney Land and head back to Vegas. We left around 3:00. That night we hung out with Jeff, Steve and Z.

*Saturday morning we got up and got ready to go. We headed off to Utah. Along the way we stopped in Provo to visit our Nephew who is at BYU. We had lunch at one of our favorite old hangouts, The Malt Shoppe, and had some of the biggest and best shakes ever. Next we were off to visit our friend Tina and her family. We had a nice visit, the kids played and Mike and I enjoyed the chance to get to know Joey (Tina's fiance) a bit. We are so excited to see their happiness. The kids had a blast. Our next stop was to see Mike's sister Teresa in Salt Lake. we enjoyed a brief visit there to catch up a bit then headed off to Ogden to stay with my grandparents. It was a nice evening and great to see Grandma and Grandpa again. My Aunt Tami and my cousin Monica(and her family) came to visit. Also while we were there we had a brief visit from my cousin Emilee and my other cousin Shandy. It was so good to see all of them again and to catch up a little on our lives.

*Sunday morning we took a more realxed approach and let ourselves sleep in a bit. But at 11:00 we were off on the road for home. It is amazing how quickly a weeklong vacation can pass.

I also want to mention a little bit about how great our family trip was overall. It is so much nicer traveling with kids that are a little bigger. Disney Land was so much more fun this time around because the kids were almost all willing to try everything. Kaylee rode them all. She is a thrill seeker through and through and can go all day and night just like her mother. She loves the biggest of roller coasters and enjoys the smaller rides too. Her favorite ride was California Screaming. Tiffany found that she actually kind of likes roller coasters. She never has before, but this time her favorite rides were Space Mountain and Matterhorn. I was so proud of her for trying some new rides this trip. There were a couple of rides that Ryan didn't ride, but he tried almost everything. I was very proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone and tring some new things this time too. His favorite ride this trip was Soaring Over California. Jacob loves it all. He couldn't get enough of the big rides. His favorite rides were Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones. Kyle tried everything. He may not have liked everything, but he tried anything he was big enough to ride. The Snow Monster on Matterhorn scared him, he didn't like Space Mountain because it was dark, and Splash Mountain made him come out of his seat. His favorite rides were Finding Nemo, Alice in Wonderland, and Toy Story Mania.

If you ask Mike, he will tell you that I ran the family ragged trying to get everything in, but if you ask the kids, even though they got tired by the end of the day, they loved that we got to do so much. Have I told you how much I LOVE DisneyLand!! I can't wait to go back.

I was so happy to spend some tim e with my dad and my brothers. It is always great to see them, but it also makes me miss my mom even more than I already do. By the way thank you to dad and Kay for putting us up for a few days and putting up with us.

I have put a few pictures here in this blog, but if you would like to see more of the pics from our trip just hop on over to my photo site.

Sad Day...

I just wanted to take a second and blog about yesterday. I wanted to do it yesterday, but just couldn't bring myself to. Yesterday marked the 3rd anniversary of my mother's passing. Again I wondered why the date on the calendar has such a dramatic impact on my feelings and emotions. I was near tears most of the day and shed many as well. I was blessed by the chance to have lunch with my Mother-in-Law and am so grateful for her sensitivity to my emotions yesterday. We had a nice visit and a yummy lunch. So Thanks so much Bjorg for that. It was wonderful.

Once again I tried to use yesterday to reflect on all the ownderful memories I have of my mother. She taught me so much and I will forever be grateful to her for that. She gave me many ocasions to laugh in in typical teenage style many reasons to cry or be upset, but she taught me well and raised me well.

I am so grateful for my knowledge and faith that families are forever; that I will one day be reunited with my mother and other loved ones in the glory of my Heavenly Father. it helps so much to provide comfort when I am missing her so much. I am thankful for a Savior who took upon him the sins and pains of this world. And I am grateful to know that he is always with me, that he helps to carry me when I am feeling low or unable to carry myself.

Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking

along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,

other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed

that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,that if I followed you,

you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life

there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,

“The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,

my child, is when I carried you.”
Mary Stevenson, 1936

This is one of my favorite poems of all time and it is what I think about on those low days. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ has carried me in his arms in some of my most trying times. and I know that it was Jesus who carried my mom through her most difficult days during her 3 year battle against cancer. I also know that she is with Him in heaven and that one day both of them will greet me with a smile, a hug and a "welcome home".

Face+slide=stitchesx10

I dropped the kids off at school this morning and before I even got home I had a phone call from the school asking me to come back because Jake had gotten hurt on the playground. I got to the school and this is what I saw

I said, "I guess that's going to need some stitches." and we were off to urgent care. I dropped Kyle off at preschool and asked his teacher to tell the board that I wouldn't be there for my meeting this morning.

Jake was really worried about needing sticthes so we said a little prayer in the car and that helped him feel a little bit better. We got to urgent care and they took us right in, put some topical numbing medication on the cut and cleaned him up. This is how it looked after cleaning.
Next the doctor gave him several shots into the wound to get it really numb for the stitches. Jake was nervous, but he stayed very still and held both my hands to be brave. Then the doctor checked out his brow bone to make sure there were no breaks. (Yes the cut was that deep) The bone looked good so he started stitching him up. Jake was a bit nervous again, but the doctor did an experiment to show Jake that he wouldn't be able to feel it. He showed him that it didn't hurt by pinching some if the skin around the cut with his tools. Then he did one stitch and asked Jake if he could feel it. Of course he couldn't so the doc went on. Jake helped him count the stitches. He got 10 total, 5 on the inside and 5 on the outside. He was so brave. Here is what he looks like now.

I think most of the scar will probably be hidden in his brow. Poor little guy. He is doing great though and was excited to get a shake after we were all done.

Wow, it's been a while...

It's been a while since my last post, so bare with me, this one may be long.

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I took the kids up to Estes Park to go sledding. Well, I just watched and took pictures, since it was my first real outing since having surgery. We met Pete and the kids up there and we had a blast. MIke rented a couple of tubes and a snowboard. No one in our family has ever been on a snowboard before, so we thought it would be fun to let the kids try it out on the small hills. Here are some pictures from our day.

Going back a bit farther, Ryan participated in his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. He did a great job on his car and came in about 4th place I think. Here are a couple of pics from that night as well.This last week was the Blue and Gold Banquet and Ryan also earned his Wolf Badge and 6 arrowpoints. Go Ryan. Here ia a picture of him pinning me with my wolf pin.
Ryan also had a birthday and his dad made his day by getting him a BB gun.

Enough about Ryan...everyone else is doing great. Kaylee finished out a session of volleyball and played in the YW basketball tournament where our team finally won a game. Tiffany is taking part in a jump rope class at school and enjoys that. She is also preparing for tryouts for a city wide talent show. She will be singing "Love Song" by Taylor Swift. She is rally good, I

hope she makes it into the show. The tryouts are this Saturday. Jake is doing great he is enjoying the warmer weather we have been experiencing and riding his bike. Kyle is loving preschool and enjoys taking walks inthe park or to Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Mike is still traveling 3-4 days a week he is working in Las Vegas, Phoenix, New Mexico and some in Colorado. He stays really busy even on the weekends when he is home, but still manages to find some time for all of us. We are all grateful for his devotion to his job and how hard he works for us.

As for me, my arm is healing from my surgery. I have had a bunch of success on my T-shirt shop and continue to sell an average of about 8 shirts per day. It has been fun to watch this happen. Who knew I could do something like that. In addition, I am very excited about my digital scrapbook design work because it is developing into more than just a hobby as I have been picked up to sell my kits in an online store. I will have more information about that soon.

Well, that should catch us up pretty well for now. Hopefully I will be back again soon.