Update

Just thought I'd update so I'm not leaving all of my avid readers hanging out there... I flew to Utah last week to be with my dad and family after a call from my mom which went something like this, "Dad has taken a turn for the worse, and is in ICU." That was my answer, and I hopped on a plane a few hours later. My dad spent 4 days in ICU where he stabilized and got the medications out of his system that were causing him problems. When he came out of his fog, he realized that he was unable to feel his legs. A neurologist assessed him and diagnosed him with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is an auto-immune disorder in which antibodies that attach viruses start attacking the myelin sheath around your nerves. It is something that usually comes on after a stomach virus or a respiratory infection, both of which my dad has had in the weeks preceding his hospital stay. Most people with GBS make a full recovery, and we are praying that that will be the case with my dad. He has been moved to the rehab wing at the hospital and is doing rigorous Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy several times each day to regain his strength. He is sick of the hospital and is having a hard time sleeping, but considering last week the doctors were saying things like "possible stroke or brain tumor" we are all feeling very blessed to have this diagnosis. My dad is a fighter and will get strong and healthy again sooner than the average Joe, I just know it!

Thank you to all of my great friends who took care of my family in my absence. There were meals coming in and playdates being had every day. Jon was very relieved for the help. I was a little conflicted about that, since I secretly hoped he could see what life is really like when he travels and I tow the line, but my friends are too kind to share my vengeance.

I am home now, and putting the pieces all back together. And missing my dad and Utah family like crazy!

praying for him...

My dad's in the hospital. He's not been doing well. I am having such a hard time being away right now, and was just looking through pictures on my computer and came across this one that made me smile and wish he could be here now to read to my kids. I love you, Dad. The kids send all their love, Papa. And we are all praying for you.

The flour game

I thought there should be documentation somewhere of us playing "The Flour Game" (with powdered sugar). Here's how it works. We go around the table, clapping a rhythm and naming things in a chosen category (i.e. forest animals, cousins, Thomas Trains) and if someone messes up the rhythm, they have to cut the flour from top to bottom. As the tower gets smaller and smaller, you have to be really careful not to let the coin drop (or for Easter, the candy). If it drops on your watch you have to go in after it with your teeth. It all makes for great fun and lots of silly laughter!

Here is Jon showing Molly how to have a steady hand.

She goes it alone...

I force Max to get the dang jellybean.

Olivia gets it. (Ian wants to know WTH?)

Good times...

Easter-y stuff...

Easter was super fun and low-key this year. We colored eggs Saturday with friends, and woke up Sunday morning to filled Easter baskets and eggs hidden all over the house. The kids had a great time hunting for eggs, and playing with their little goodies. You might have thought it was Christmas by the ridiculous hour they woke us up at, but we were (mostly) good sports and let them have their fun. Max got a nerf gun, because what says Easter like shooting...

Funny Molly, she's always posing this way. Don't you love the way she wears Easter?

Olivia got The Princess and the Frog and was so excited, although she was a little miffed that the Easter Bunny brought her a boy chocolate bunny. That hare has some nerve.

And, here's my baby. I think this says it all. He ate two of these on Easter, and we finally found someone to pawn off all those darn jellybeans on...

After the morning festivities, we had cinnamon rolls and watched General Conference. (Ask Molly and she will tell you that the Prophet says we have to have cinnamon rolls for Conference.) It was a very uplifting, happy family day. Notice that I am not even mentioning the fact that it has been raining for 9 days straight.

Watch this lots of times!!!

My nephew, Jake, produced this commercial. Watch it lots of times, and feel free to pass it on! He is a doll, and is hopefully going to remember me when he is rich and famous!

hmmm.....what do you guys think?

I hate my fridge, but it functions fine, so what do you guys think about this fix? Most of my DIY projects fail miserably, so I am nervous to try it out on such a huge appliance, but maybe it would be awesome???

Chalkboard Fridge

In the MAY 2006 issue of COUNTRY HOME magazine, they featured my former home. I used to live in an old farmhouse on a 500-acre Christmas tree farm (idyllic, right?).

In the kitchen, an old fridge worked just fine, but it was a bit of an eyesore. So with a few coats of green chalkboard paint, I not only give it a facelift, but made it functional, too. You could write, with a piece of chalk, all over the fridge. Notes, grocery lists, tic-tac-toe…whatever your heart desires.

I just scanned this from the magazine and thought I’d share it. Sometimes the simplest idea can have the most dramatic effect. Don’t ya think? I love chalkboard paint.

Our spring break was, for the most part, really Springy!

We had an awesome Spring Break this year. I was really leery, because I had nothing spectacular planned, and many of Olivia's friends were going on really amazing vacations, but we stuck around, saw friends, and spent well-needed time together as a family (very little of which I captured on camera). We had gorgeous weather much of the week, and we took full advantage of it with picnics, park days, and trout fishing! And, on the soggy days, we hit the museum with friends, and went swimming at the community center indoor pool. I think we ended this week happy and well rested. Ready to conquer the last few months of school!

So, here are pics from the two times I took my camera along.

Trout fishing in Oregon City. Good times, fun friends, and yummy dinner!

Molly, Olivia and I each caught a fish. Mine was huge, not to brag, but it was 14 3/4 inches. For real. And, it was a real struggle to reel in, but worth the effort to say that "na, na, na, na, na, I caught the biggest fish of the day!"

Park days!

Sister love!

So, there is our Spring Break in a nutshell. What did you do???

Amelia

Olivia did an oral book report last week on Amelia Earhart, and Jon and I got to go watch. She did an AMAZING job. She read all about her in a biography, and presented it so well! She made an awesome poster (behind her) with a few of her own drawings (my girl is an artist) and she even painted a model of Amelia's first airplane, The Friendship. We are so proud of you, Olivia! Great work!

Happy half birthday all of you!

Ian's first haircut!

I couldn't take the mullet anymore, so I took the plunge, and kissed the curls good-bye (despite the many who begged me not to cut it!). Here he is getting his first haircut at "Cookie Cutters" in Bountiful.

Why do they think it's a good idea to give them a lollipop while they are getting their hair cut? Is it the fact that the cut hair then sticks to their face and hands and gets in their mouth? And then, Mom has to be the bad guy and take it away because her gag reflex can't take it anymore, and then deal with the ensuing crying that comes from throwing the sucker in the garbage? Seriously???

Drumroll....here is the handsome fella!

Trip to Utah

We took a trip to Utah last week to visit my grandma, aunt, and two cousins that flew in from North Carolina, along with all of our other fun family! It was good to see everyone. I am so mad at myself for not pulling out my camera and snapping more photos, especially of my grandma, if any of you who were there have any pics, please send them my way!

Aunt Cathi with my girlies! (this woman is amazing, going through chemo, and still beautiful and positive and such fun to be around!)

Meredith (my cousin) with my little man! She really won over my kids with her fun, bubbly personality and her easy way with children. It's like they'd known her their whole lives!

Cousins (some once-removed!)

While we were there we also celebrated Jon's birthday, along with my niece Hannah's. Again, I am lame and have no pictures of that, but Happy belated birthday, Jonny, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you and can't get enough of you!!!

since we couldn't make enough to send to each of you...

to: all of her many fans

from: Molly Jane

to: all of his Batman loving buddies

from: Maxwell David

to: all the cool kids

from: Olivia Ann

(cute! candy buttons!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

love is in the air...

oh how I tried to get happy Valentine's photos in their cute t-shirts! Better luck next year!

he is a builder...

This is a funny video that shows how much Max loves building and playing with the things he builds. He is so entertained, and super fun to watch. I love the part where he is playing and doesn't know he's being recorded. Sorry for the video quality, it's taken on my point and shoot camera.

I did it!

I just registered for the Newport Marathon. Crazy, huh?

Funny quote for the day...

Max and Molly, posing in the same way, Molly says, "look, Mom, it's like we're twins."

missed by an inch....

So, I was laying in bed last night, listening to the wind blow, and hoping that my big maple would not topple on my children sleeping soundly upstairs, when BAM, CRASH, RATTLE, I heard and felt a jolt. I immediately ran upstairs and saw that the kids were fine, and I proceeded to run crazy through the house looking for holes or damage. I was so afraid to look outside, but like the girls who follow the scary noises in horror films, I put my boots on and headed outside in my robe. Sure enough, the tree fell. Or half of the tree, to be more accurate. Since it was midnight, I just took a sleeping pill and headed back to bed. Of course, even then, my heart was racing so crazily that I couldn't sleep much. Of course, Jon was out of town, and I just kept worrying about the part of the tree that was still standing, you know, that whole waiting for the other shoe to drop thing. It never did, and when I awoke this morning, to a frantic call from Jon (maybe I was a wee bit dramatic in an email to him after the occurrence), and assessed the damage, it appears that we had a mighty strong angel who hefted said tree just a smidge to keep it from crunching our babies and losing our upper level. We are so grateful for a MIRACLE that kept our home and family safe. What a blessing!

Also, we have the BEST friends who all called concerned this morning and ran to our rescue. What would we do without all of these great people who bless our lives.

Comin' or goin' he's got his best side showin'!

This post is long past due. Ian is walking! He is so cute! He started walking on New Year's Eve, which is exactly 14 months, so he was right on track with his late walker siblings! It was worth the wait, though, because this little guy is loving every minute of his newfound skill! It's been a few weeks, and he still expects a little applause every time he starts walking. Of course, we are all happy to oblige. So, since I am lame, lame, lame, and can't figure out how to load video, here are some terrible, blurry pictures. I just couldn't wait any longer, or look at that old Christmas post another day! Soooo, enjoy the view!

(aren't those cheeks yummy!?)

Christmas leftovers

(Christmas morning on the stairs before they came down to see what Santa brought them!)

Our Christmas was simple, easy, casual, and laid back. A little different, but so nice. I felt like I really got to enjoy the kids and play with their toys with them. We really simplified things, and I felt like they got it more than in year's passed. We loved seeing their smiles and excitement over the toys, and enjoyed so many special traditions this year, new and old. We were especially grateful to have Parker with us, the last time for a while as he plans to serve a mission after his next semester at school. He is so fun to have around, and the kids just adore him, to say the least. Here are way too many pictures of some of our festivities:

Parker opening his Christmas Eve jammies (I

love how they act surprised year after year that their Christmas Eve gift is pjs)

Stud

Cookies for Santa (along with a really elaborate card from Olivia)

Wow, that is a cookie!

Parker is a great sport. Are his cookies a little too awesome?

Molly modeling her pjs. Yes, the top is backwards, but I have given up saying anything.

Softy jammies

Helping the kids open their Christmas pjs straight naked. I think holding my kids right out of the bath is my favorite.

These two boys are best buddies. They are 18 years apart!

Parker and Olivia read the annual 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

And then on Christmas morning everyone was very happy to see that Santa did, in fact, come!

Molly got a Leapster

Olivia got a Nintendo DS

Ian got Leapfrog toys (they are Santa and Mommy's favorite!)

Max got lots of "yegos" and we have been doing some major building over here. His favorite thing was his Batman helicopter.

Parker got a really warm winter coat and gloves. Logan is cold. He also got lots of I-tunes gift cards and some sweet Pumas.

All in all it was fun and everyone was very happy and grateful for what they received. We are so grateful for our family and Jen is especially grateful that Christmas is over. Here is to a new year and a new decade!