Happy holiday's!!

Timothy and Dad playing with the new race track!!

Family at Temple square for a cousins wedding reception.

Tired Santa baby!!

The official reading of the night before Christmas!!

Christmas jammies!!

This year was a wonderful Christmas!! The kids weren't angels but they were still good enough that Santa came!! Samuel was of course the first one up at 6 am. Nothing can keep that kid in bed, no matter what time he goes to sleep he always wakes up early!! The rest of the family got up about 7. Bella was pretty grumpy until she got to finally open up gifts!! She got 6 teeth this past month and has not been happy. We were able to see most of Guys family on Christmas which was fun. We sure do miss the rest of the family!!

do believe everyone got what they wanted, except me. I wanted my throat better, it is 3 weeks since I got my tonsills out and I still have a sore throat. Oh well. I am thankful for all the blessings we have received this year. We have great neighbors, family and a wonderful ward. We have so much to be thankful for. Now on to a new a better year!!

Happy...mmmmmmm maybe!

Is it me or do the holidays get a bit overwhelming? It seemed the week of thanksgiving started the "busy" season. I try to remind myself that it is a "happy" time of year and I shouldn't be stressed so much. I worry that the kids won't have enough presents, then when I buy something I worry about money. I worry about getting the right gifts for family and getting them to their destinations on time. Now to put a kink in the process I am getting my tonsil's out on the 9th. Oh well, what is a little more drama.

This thanksgiving was wonderful. My brother and his wonderful wife put up with my family for a couple days. It is nice to get away and be with family. I am thankful to have family close and will make more of an effort to get together because it is so much fun. I am thankful that my husband has a job and I can stay home with the kids. (I know I actually said it, I am happy to stay at home:) I am thankful that the kids are well, that our cars run, and that we have a warm home. I guess when I get stressed I should just blog because already I fell calmer.

Just a funny note to end on, yesterday we had lunch with our insurance lady. I had to bring Tim and Bella and thought things were going to be fine, I told Tim he had to be very quiet and color so Guy and I could go through paperwork. He was doing great until he stood up in the booth and states that his pee pee sure itches. He then starts itching. We tried to ignore it but when the booth next to you is laughing it gets hard. Next time he is going to his cousins house!!! Happy holidays!!!

Bella's surgery!!

Bella after surgery, finally fresh air!!

The talking french Dora toy, and her favorite...kleenex's!

Bella after surgery. Those are no no's or arm splints so she doesn't' pull our her tubes:(

As you all know, Bella has had tummy issues since Jan 09. Finally this past Oct. a feeding therapist suggested to her pediatric GI Dr. that Bella had something physically wrong and it was preventing her from getting enough volume when she ate. So after me crying to the GI doctor that something was really wrong with my daughter, they finally ordered a MRI which showed possible malrotation because they could see a artery in the wrong spot. So the next day Bella had her 3rd upper GI and confirmed malrotation of the gut, meaning her bowels were not in the right place. Same thing Mitchial had when he was 2 1/2. We were scheduled for surgery on the 27th of Oct. No one could believe that there was 2 in the same family with this problem.

I had mixed feelings for the surgery, I wanted her fixed badly but didn't want to see her suffer and recover from surgery.

The surgery went well. Bella came out with not only a 2 1/2 inch incision on her tummy, but with two tubes in her nose, one for draining her gut and another placed through the bowels to hold it in place till scar tissue could form. They put arm splints on before we even got to see her because she immediately started pulling at the tubes(I can't blame her). Well we tried giving her arms a break from the restraints and she did great for 3 1/2 days. Early morning on the 4th day I woke up to her NJ tube half way out. Aaaggghhh All the nurse could say was "oh this isn't good". Not only was that tube in place for holding her insides where they should be, but it was going to be used to feed her. Hopefully scar tissue formed enough that her insides don't move out of position again.

Anyway after they placed a picc line(a "iv" that runs from her arm vein to the top of her heart)
they started giving her "liquid" nutrition. After many many long days we were finally able to feed her and she did great. So the end to a all too long story, sorry, we are home and she is eating like crazy. It is amazing what unkinking your bowels does. So far she has had a night where she slept for 6 hours, that has never happened in all her 13 months:) Thanks for all your prayers.

Scaredy pants and Happy 39th Birthday Guy!

Trying to look happy at this age is hard:)
Doing what Grandma's do best, Grandma Debbie spoiling Bella with cake!
Dad celebrating 70 years with his brother, Happy day Uncle Terry!
And last but not least our little princess showing off her piano skills (can you say child genius:)

I hate when I go too long without posting; things get a bit overwhelming trying to catch up on all that has been going on. But here I am going to give it a go:) We will start picture #1 Guys birthday! What a great day. He had a few days off so we spent the long weekend going on bike rides and refinishing the swing set from Guy's childhood. Our bike ride started with Timothy teasing Bella in the bike trailer and Samuel crying that he was dying of thirst. I would have believed him but we hadn't even made it to the end of the block! I should have known if the trip starts with whining the trip will be filled with each child taking his or her turn to cry. Seriously the whole bike ride. I tried to make the most of it so I put in my headphones and cranked the Neil Diamond:) As I was trying to play catch up, peddling in my one gear that works, up a huge hill ;) I triumphantly make it to the top and start my descent only to find my brakes barely work. I immediately start yelling for the small children to get out of my way only to find Samuel swerving hogging up both lanes of the trail. I also find, after hitting Samuel's pedal with the trailer tire, that some idiot put a small dip at the bottom of the hill. Here I am going way over the speed limit allowed for bikes, especially ones with trailers attached, and am trying with all my might to slow down (I even tried putting a foot down and dragging it) nothing slows me down in time and I hit the dip just in time to look back and see the trailer take flight. Guy says it came at least a foot off the ground. I had just got the kids to stop crying only for them to start again upon landing. What a bike ride. On the ride home Guy hooked the trailer up to his bike (for safety purposes:)
Guy had a great birthday with the family. I am so thankful for him. I still can't believe he is almost 40! I love him so much!! I remember my Dad turning 40! Speaking of Dad, we were able to caravan with Dad and Debbie to my Uncle Terry's 70th birthday party. It was great to spend time with them and see some of my cousins and their families.
Now I am sure all of you know how I hate snakes, I dread them. I look forward to winter for the sole purpose of saying goooood bye to snake season. I thought it was already too cold for the stinkin things to be out, but last Thursday cousin Terrin made the worst mistake of his life......he let a snake go in my house! I should have known that trouble was brewing when Nikki and I were leaving to go to my first ever craft night at the church, and Mitchial and Terrin stopped us to surprise us with what they had in their pockets....snakes. I hollered at Mitchial and thought I scared Terrin enough he would never touch a snake again....but no!!! When I came home Mitch was still up and tried to hide and scare me but I saw him and foiled his plan. To get even he tells me "well if that didn't scare you I know what will" He then proceeds to tell me that Terrin came in to play and somehow his snake got out of his hoodie pocket. WHAT!!!! @#^$^&%&%&%^ I quickly look to Guy and see it in his eyes.....right away he starts telling me they have looked everywhere and think that maybe it might be outside. After I stop yelling I start to cry. I hate snakes that much. I had visions of stepping on a snake in the middle of the night or find one in my room. I prayed that night that I we would find it if it was in our house and prayed even more that it was not in our house. Well after 2 fearful days Mitchial yells to Guy that he found the dang thing curled up on his shoe by the front door. I don't know what is worse seeing the snake or wondering were it has been for 2 days. I am thankful that my prayer was answered, but it is going to be a long time before Terrin is welcome in my house:)

Happy 1st birthday Isabella!!

My first time holding her in the NICU!!
Forcing her to eat her cake!!
Daddy made the little "lady" birthday cake!!
Wow! It is hard to believe my baby girl is one!! Somedays I never thought it would come, now I have that post Christmas feeling, let down because my baby is no longer a baby.
She is truley the joy of our lives. I will never forget the day we found out IT'S A GIRL!! Guy and I both were crying and asking to please make sure it's really a girl. Our boys were so happy. I remember calling to tell my mom, talking all about the blessing dress we would get and so on. I also remember in the OR seeing my mom walk out after they took Bella to the NICU. Joy filled my heart knowing Grandma was seeing over my baby when I couldn't:) We are so thankful for this first year with Bella June bug and can't wait for the years to come! Love you Bella June!!

Summer fun!!

My Dad and his new wife, Debbie!
Fun at South Ogden water park!
Almost every night we have deer pass by our back yard!! This was on Sam's bday, he thought they came to say Happy birthday to him! Look how close they are to our back fence!
Cute Bella June bug!!
The neighborhood kids put on Phantom of the opera, singing, dancing and costumes! We even painted Mitchials face:) Very cute program they did all by themselves!

Back to school, back to fun, back to mischief!!

Dad let Bella play with mashed potato's!
Timothy and his preschool buddy Sarah!!
Mitchial 1st day of 3rd grade, Samuel 1st day of 1st grade!
Bella's favorite thing lately has been to eat the plant dirt!! Almost everyday I find her with a dirt ring around her cute little mouth! I feed her I promise!! I have noticed since she has started eating dirt her hair has grown longer.....mmmmmm makes you wonder what is really in the dirt:)

Important things for Important people!

Some days I search for meaning, meaning in the tasks I am doing, meaning in what I am teaching my children and some days just to find meaning in myself. I know this might seem silly to some, but some days I feel I am doing the same meaningless things over and over. I am thankful that I can stay home with my kids everyday but sometimes the outside world seems so "important" and interesting. So to lay my despairing thoughts aside I prayed to find "meaning" in my daily tasks. These are a few of the things I found important in my life.
I noticed how kind Timothy is when he first wakes up. I noticed that Samuel is defiantly a morning person and loves to be the first awake. He loves to be in control of the house that first 30 minutes he has all to himself. He is commander of the tv, has food all to himself, and is ruler over the toys!! That made me happy to see him so happy in the simple things.
I noticed that Mitchial is a young man when he goes to bed. He just seems so "big" on the top bunk. He can read books for hours and is so excited if you sit down and listen to his latest adventure. This is his alone time. I saw how kind he was when he called to Timothy to come lay in his bed if he was scared. All those times of teaching to love his brothers, he did it. I didn't even have to tell him to be nice, he did it all on his own.
I noticed that Timothy loves to hold hands to go to sleep. I know that seems like a simple thing, but it is heart warming when he asks "please hold my hand". If you think he has fallen asleep and try to move your hand... he will look up and find your hand again and hold it. So cute. I found I had many answered prayers and so much meaning in my day. So before I knelt down to say my bedtime prayers I thought I would go switch the laundry out really quick...this is what I found at the bottom of my washer.... a plastic snake, a gi joe guy, rocks, shells, a paper clip, I love Pedro wrist band, a lid to a marker,half of a used smoke bomb, water balloons, 2 nickles, a used Popsicle stick,3 beans from some tree, and a big mystery to where this was found, a used mary kay makeup container! Most days I would be annoyed or frustrated with myself for not searching pockets well, but today I found my kids treasures and found joy in the simplicity of their lives.
Ok, a little off the subject but we have had a ant problem for the past couple weeks. Guy put bug killer outside the back door and along the side of the house where they seemed to be coming in from. For days I kept checking and found bits of food, it all came together when I caught Timothy feeding the ants...right by the traps(notice the animal cracker) And all along I thought we just had trouble some ants....not a ant feeder!!

Happy 6th Samuel!!

Samuel was our third boy and by far our biggest baby coming in at a whopping 8lbs. From day one he has been our baby pterodactyl, screaching when he is hungry(and he is ALWAYS hungry). We are so thankful to have our Samuel in our family. He a source of strength and already has a testimony of what is right and wrong. Samuel is our best listener and usually is the first to do what is asked. He loves to wear jammies and would all day if I let him! He is Bella's babysitter and once asked if he could marry her because he loves her so much! Oh the innocence of a child. Thanks Samuel for coming to our family...We love you soooo much!
(his toothless smile)

Stones Indian Warriors!

Now don't get me wrong, they are cute, but when you see them one minute with shirts on and clean faces, the warriors are a little alarming. Our great new neighbors "the girls" decided to paint the boys. What is funny, and a little sad, they didn't put on sunscreen so see the pink shoulders? Everywhere there wasn't paint; there was sunburn! In the tub as we were scrubbing black ears, eyes and belly buttons we were surprised to see white skin everywhere the paint was. Mitchial got the worse of it and has regretted not using sunscreen!! The thing I keep thinking is ....we still have over a month of summer left! Uuuugggghhhhh! Do I dare ask what's next?

Muddy Buddies!!

So summer has brought to our house the usual summertime things; bugs, rocks, more bugs, more rocks, water, dirt, and with our wonderful wet June......MUD! I have been trying to be a more relaxed mom; letting the kids get a bit dirtier, letting them stay up 30 minutes later, buying otter pops, not serving veggies at every meal, pretty good huh. Well I thought my boys would reward me for being so great....Not. For a week I missed this on my garage door only because each time I went out the door was open. Then the fateful day I went out to get the mail and to my surprise little muddy hand prints from one side of the house, around the front, and up to the front door. My question, why didn't Guy notice, or even my neighbors? What's really bad is they are still there! :)

In the next video you will see Mitchial's great idea of finding how far down you have to dig to find the water table. He also made sure his brothers were there to teach them all he knows about mud!! The bad thing is Guy seemed pleased with how smart his boys are!

Never say never...I've now been tagged!

Remember the 8 balloon? Well some crazy person thought I could tell 8 wonderful things about myself. I was doing fine until the 8 turned into 32!! Oh well, here is goes....
8 Things I am looking forward to:

Timothy pooping on the toilet!
Bella eating food!
I always look forward to bedtime!
Guy coming home from work early!
School starting!
Bella getting everything working right!
De junking my basement!
I know I said this already but I really want it....Timothy totally potty trained!

8 things I did yesterday:

The usual...laundry, dish's, cooking
Yelled at the boys to get the snakes out of the house...again!
Yelled at the boys to get out of the mud!
Planted and weeded my flower beds.
Sat in the bathroom for a hour waiting for Tim to poop* nothing happened*
Started watching Hello Dolly!
Read more of Sacajawea
Lured the neighbors dog back home with bacon

8 things I wish I could do:

Be skinny:)
Keep my house clean!
Sleep more!
Finish my basement!
Have more money!
Go on a "fun" vacation!
Get a new van!*one that we can all fit in comfortably*
Get Bella Better!

This one is going to be hard because we don't have cable
8 shows I watch:

KSL news
The biggest loser
ER when it was on
sometimes the office
the Celeb apprentice
the baby story if we had cable
the discovery channel if we had cable
and of course the Tonight Show

See I am boring and you will never tag me again:)

Isabella the pirate!!

Her brothers taught her how to sword fight just before bed! Of course she was giggling and chopping the boys with the sword.... until the camera came out. It's the jinx of the camera.

Bear Lake Luau!!

The Bear Lake monster tractor!!
Raise your hand if your excited to go to Bear Lake (really they were happy)
Playing chicken with the cousins to see who can go the furthest!
And to top it off the Big Momma in her mu mu driving to our family luau! I chose to drive to help prevent motion sickness (sorry Mitchial in the backseat). It was funny as we were driving through Logan Canyon we were stuck following a big semi, every sharp turn you would hear Timothy yelling from the back...."hold on we are going to tip over!!" Every turn I heard him telling me to slow down because we were tipping. From his view it did look like the truck was going over.
I have always hating driving over bridges and in canyons. I believe I have passed the fear on. :}
Through the years I have found that if I am the one driving it isn't' so bad, I did have to laugh when Guy finally told me to slow down because hearing the squealing of tires going around turn isn't comforting. I reassured him it happens when he drives too.
We loved getting together with my sister and her family and 2 of my brothers and their families.
The food was awesome: pulled sweet pork, terriyaki chicken, rice, coconut rolls, macaroni salad, lava cake, ice cream ect.... What a wonderful luau. It rained just as dinner was being served, but it rains in Hawaii too, right?
Thanks family for the get together even if we came home with 3 frogs and a ton of shells (found in the bottom of my washer:0

Can chairs get chicken pox?

Can you see the green marker chicken pox on the chair?
Believe me they are there. Our dear "tornado Tim" Told me
he didn't draw on the chair, it has chicken pox. Mmmmmm,
what do you say to that......

This next picture is what he looked like running
down the street. Mitchial brought home a new book
from school, Aliens love underpants. I wondered
about the title but after quickly skimming through
the pages it looked fine. Well as I walked to my neighbor
who just moved in a month ago, I noticed underwear in the driveway.
I made a funny comment to her about we keep our personals in our
house. She just looked at me for a minute then starts laughing, "those
are YOUR personals". Apparently Tim read the book and thought
it would be funny to wear alien underwear to his friends house.
Nice.....one for the neighborhood newsletter!

Bella's 1st and hopefully last surgery!!

Good morning sunshine!
Good thing you don't know what's happening later!!






Our sweet Bella had a colonoscopy with biopsy and enzyme studies and a endoscopy with biopsy's and studies all at the same time. Poor thing went under ok but had a terrible time coming out of anesthesia. She screamed for about a hour:( The nurses kept asking me what to do because her blood pressure was out of control, her pulse was too high and she couldn't keep her O2 levels high enough. I felt like telling them it was their job, I don't know how to help her. I felt so helpless. I warned them that anytime her bowels get stimulated or bothered she freaks out. Luckily after much walking and bouncing and praying, they let us come home.

So what did we find out after all that.... she is one of those rare babies that is "allergic" to breast milk (or the lactose in it). So we are going to try lactase drops and pray that helps her gut!!! Cross your fingers and hope it works or this momma is going to get even crazier!!

*AFTER* (not smiling)
*BEFORE*(smiling)

Gator Country Pictures.....

Bella and Daddy at the kids outdoor salt water pool!!



I was able to travel with Guy to Florida a couple weeks ago, just me, Guy, sunshine and....Bella. Oh well it was still a trip away from cleaning, cooking and crying ( just kidding that came with us). Our wonderful trip turned out to be me stuck in the hotel while Guy worked 14 hour days:( But the hotel was cool. This is the view from our balcony! All of this is indoors, the atrium was filled with footpaths, streams, gator springs and even a few small waterfalls. It was amazing!!

I think next time we go we will make sure Guy doesn't have to work!!

Mother dear I love you so......

It's funny, I still cry every time I see this picture. I don't know why. There isn't a certain memory that comes to mind. I guess it is that I just miss her.
I really thought this mother's day was going to be difficult, but it was a beautiful day of remembering. I was just coming off of a week long trip away from my boys and as happy as I was leaving them, I was even happier coming home. As I sat on the plane some lady next to me wished me a happy mother's day. I hadn't thought about the day for me I was just thinking how grateful I am for all my mom did for me. Not a day goes by that I don't do something that she taught me. I think I pass on part of her as I fold laundry with my kids, make banana bread with her recipe, rock one of my kids in the rocking chair and especially watch Jay Leno:)
As I was going through a box of her things, I had prepped myself into keeping only things that would be useful. So as I opened the box, suddenly everything became useful....her old hair brush, her pin cushion, her toe nail clippers and even some old talcum powder and makeup. I looked at my garbage pile and my keep pile and it seemed I needed everything. I needed her hairbrush to remember her hair color, her scented powder to remember her smell, her makeup to remember her face color. I know it seems silly because those were only temporal things, but they were hers and I was not ready to give them up.
I decided to take a break and look through a book she gave me "I never meant to become a witch" When she first gave it to me it made no sense, why was this woman calling herself a witch. But now that I have become one I know. I know what it is like to tell a child no they can't play, or tell them to practice their piano, and the meanest....clean your room!! All things witch's do.
She knew long ago the things I would need to be a strong and good woman. She knew that by making me cook dinner I would learn to feed my family. She always knew what I needed. So this mother's day I am thankful for my mom, my friend, and now my guardian angel. I love you mom and miss you so much. Happy Mother's day!!

Super mom fights nature AND the sock monster!!

The room of mismatched socks!!
2 birds = 5 eggs!!

This week I have discovered yet another weakness in my super powers, I can't fight the ways of wild birds and I can't get rid of the sock monster that lives somewhere in my house. For the past couple of years we have had some pesky starling birds that thought our BBQ is the best place for a nest. Last year I kept taking out the nest making materials hoping the birds would just give up, and they eventually did. This year I have not been on top of my game and 5 little eggs are the result. I do have to admit it is fun to see the nest grow and see a new egg every morning. But so much for barbecuing this spring!
About this sock monster....the top picture is my front room covered with mismatched socks. I spent 2 days trying to find mates and make all the socks happy. As you can see supermom failed. How does this happen? Where do they go? I thought black holes were only in space. If anyone can solve this mystery or knows how to get rid of the sock monster, please let me in on the secret. As you can see we have way too many "spinster" socks:)