July Fun

July is usually our busiest month of the summer.  This year was no exception.  Between summer programs in Utah, trips to CA and school starting, we just never seemed to have a break.  I love staying busy so July is always fun for me. 

Visiting Uncle Dave in St. George:

We like to break up our trips to Utah by stopping on the way up and visiting Chad's brother Dave in St. George.  Their kids are the same ages as most of our kids and so it is always a lot of fun.  This time we decided to go on a hike before finishing our drive to Sandy.  Dave took us to a place called slot canyon.  It was incredibly beautiful.  The hike wasn't bad and my kids all liked it because they got to hike through the river. 

 The river was cold, so it helped us all stay cool in the hot summer sun. 

 I didn't realize how much of our hike was going to be in the water.  My kids didn't realize it either so everyone started out trying not to get too wet.  

 Even Carlee enjoyed putting her toes in the water.  She was the least wet of us all by the end of the hike.  I guess you stay a lot dryer when mom or dad carries you everywhere.

Retreat for Girls:

 This is the second year Rebecca has attended a program called Retreat for Girls at Utah State University.  The program itself is awesome.  The girls stay with a counselor in groups of 10-12 and they listen to speakers, participate in service projects and do crafts.  This year Rebecca went up with 3 of her friends from AZ.  Unfortunately 2 of them were moving shortly after the program ended, but it was a great way for them to spend time together before the moves.  

 I used to go to a summer program with my best friend Paige Johnston when I was Rebecca's age.  When Rebecca showed up at registration my friend Paige was there with her daughter Payton.  Payton ended up in Rebecca's group.  We couldn't believe the coincidence. 

Cute kids at the end of a great week.  

Dad starts his new job training in CA and has a birthday:

 After a fun week in Utah, Chad had to start training for his new job in CA on his birthday.  Needless to say, when you are near my mom you get spoiled.  I kept saying things like, "I can make his cake."  But she already had everything planned and prepared.  His gift from me was an IOU, but he definitely scored with gifts from my family.  The week ended up being a lot of fun with Chad having a little bit of time off to go to the beach and us spending a few more days at Disney.  Thank goodness for season passes. 

Back to School at GEA

 The way our vacation worked out, we arrived back home and started school the following Wednesday.  Not much time to get ready, but the kids were excited.  Joey was placed in Mrs. Puckett's class.  She is Rebecca's good friend's mom.  I love Rachelle and was so happy Joey ended up in her class. 

 Jake and his cousin Blaine were both placed in Mrs. Cruse's class.  She is tough, but good.  I think 3rd grade is a turning point in Elementary Ed and having a good teacher who prepares you for the upper grades is important.  So far things have worked out.  We look forward to another great year at GEA. 

May/ June Re-cap

I am behind on my posts, but in the past few months we have had a few birthdays, summer trips, a new house that has been built and that we've moved into, the start of a new school year, and fun activities that I have failed to document.  The main reason that I have failed to blog anything is because well. . . "Life has been crazy busy!"  We will see how many pictures I can download and then I will briefly fill in the gaps.

End of the year stuff:

 Jake and his guitar teacher are playing at the talent show

 Sara on drums

  Rebecca is playing her trumpet here and then keyboard in Jazz band later. 

Joey was promoted to 1st grade. 

They don't call it a graduation, but they sing some songs to the parents and the kids are awarded a promotion certificate.  Then we eat treats that all the parents brought in.  The entire thing took about 20 minutes.  My kind of ceremony.  

 Sara's Birthday:

 Sara wanted cupcakes for her birthday, so we went to the local cupcake store and bought a few of her favorites.  I have to admit, I really wasn't sad about buying her treat. 

Sara wanted a Nintendo DSi for her birthday.  We told her that if she used all of her allowance, the money we were planning to spend on her presents and the money grandma wanted to spend, then she would have enough.  She was super excited.  After we opened gifts, we went to the gaslight theater with some of her friends.  If you ever come to Tucson it is definitely worth visiting.

Disneyland Trip with the Robinsons and the Billings:

I am really sad that I didn't think to take pictures while on this trip to Disney.  We decided to caravan to CA with my sister and some good friends of ours (the Billings).  While in CA we celebrated my dad's 60th Birthday and went to Disneyland.  We had a lot of fun walking through the park with friends.  My friend Amy had planned their trip so well that even in the early summer months they didn't wait more then 30 minutes to go on a ride.  She is definitely the fast pass queen.  We are already planning to do it again next year.  Disney is so much more fun with friends.

Josh's Birthday:

We ended up in the hospital with Carlee on what would have been Josh's 2nd Birthday, so when we got out we spent some time remembering him.

We made a cake and let the kids blow out the candles.  

We went to visit Josh's graveside and sang "I am a child of God."  I can't wait to one day hold him in my arms again and sing to him.  Knowing he will always be our baby helps us get through tough days when we just wish he was here with us.  

I love you!

Jake:  Mom, I love you.

Mom:  I love you even more.

Jake:  I know. 

Joey:  Mom, I love you as much as you love me

Mom:  No, I think I love you even more. 

Joey:  No, I love you just as much as you love me. 

Jake:  No you don't Joey.  Mom always loves you more.  It's like she get's 60 extra points. 

(Don't you love the way gaming analogies help to explain the love triangle between Mother and her two sons.  )

Family

Today I was sitting outside with Carlee in the grass.  She was clapping at the cars as they drove past.  For a few moments I could forget that she had been throwing up on and off since the night before and stop worrying about what she ate that she was allergic to and just feel happy.  I enjoy basking in the moments that don't require me to fix anything or worry about something.  I used to think that life would get easier as I became more accustom to it's challenges, but I am learning that challenges change and intensify, they don't just go away.  

Today we read as a family about Alma, a prophet from the Book of Mormon.  In the section we read Alma and his people were slaves and forced to suffer burdens that were "grievous to be bourne."  The people prayed to God that he would deliver them but instead of taking away their burdens he first made them light so that they could bare them.  Then after they learned to cheerfully attend to their challenges, he delivered them from their enemies.  

I think this chapter is what life is all about.  Learning to cheerfully bare our burdens, humbling ourselves as we call upon the Lord, and then when we have accomplished all our Father intends for us to do, we will be delivered from the challenges of this life and returned to our Heavenly home. 

I hope that I can learn to smile like my sweet little Carlee through all of life's challenges and appreciate the moments when life truly is perfect. 

Carlee is home again

 After a stressful few days of tests and surgery, the doctors have finally come to the conclusion that Carlee has a severe protein allergy.  About 5 weeks ago my endocrinologist had me start taking thyroid medicine again.  After three weeks on the medicine, I felt like it was giving Carlee an upset stomach so I stopped nursing her and put her on formula.  One week after she started the formula, she began vomiting.  For a week as we switched formulas and tried different things she would stop vomiting and then start again.  By June 12th, she was dehydrated and we couldn't keep anything in her except Pedialyte.  Her x-rays showed an enlarged colon and an abnormal shape to her intestines but after the surgeon took a look around, he decided there was nothing to fix.



The doctors decided to take a break for a day.  They continued giving her IV fluids and when they tested her blood on Thursday her electrolytes were back to normal.  A new x-ray showed that her colon had shrunk back down and so her GI doc decided to put her on a hypoallergenic formula.



So the good news is that we were able to come home on Friday and things seem to be going well.  The bad news is that we really don't know what foods Carlee is allergic to aside from Dairy.  The formula she needs can only be ordered and is really expensive, but it is worth it if she is able to stay healthy.  For someone who hasn't always enjoyed breastfeeding or had a lot of luck with it, I am grateful that I was able to nurse Carlee for as long as I did.  From here on out it will be trial and error discovering what foods Carlee can eat.  Thanks for all of your prayers.  We are soooooo  happy to be home. 

Carlee in the Hospital

I've been a bit behind on my posts and I plan to catch up soon, but things have been a little bit crazy. Right now I am sitting in the pediatric unit at TMC with Carlee. She had been sick for a little over a week before we came here. Ironically she was admitted two years to the day that Joshua was born. After a series of X-rays, tests, and one minor surgery we are still without a lot of answers. we met with the GI doc this morning and he has a few ideas on what could be the problem, but more tests are still needed. As for right now she has an enlarged colon and they are retesting her blood. Possible symptoms range from an allergy or infection to Hirschprung's disease. When we have a few more answers we will let you know. As for now, prayers are greatly appreciated. We will try and keep you posted. Carlee is as smily and happy as ever. When I figure out how to add a picture from the iPad I will.

Maturity

 I think that as a parent you go through days were you start to wonder how many times you are going to have to remind your child to brush their teeth before they start doing it on their own.  You also wonder if and when they will begin to internalize the truly important things you've been trying to teach them.  2 weeks ago I challenged my kids to read their scriptures and write down their thoughts every day.  They only had to read for 10 minutes but if they did then they would get a pack of gum.

Jake was the only one who did it and did not miss a day.  This Sunday in church he got up and bore his testimony for the first time.  I was so impressed by not only his diligence in studying the scriptures but that he felt impressed to share that experience with everyone at church.  (That he knew the scriptures were true.)

Jake has grown up a lot in the last year.   As I was finishing up some baking today he helped entertain Carlee with her toys and then afterwords asked me when I would teach him how to change a diaper.  I said "Are you wanting to learn?" His response was that if he had to take care of Carlee and I wasn't there, he wanted to know how. 

Babies have an incredible impact on their older siblings.  At times I am sad that Carlee won't have a sibling close to her in age, but then I look at all the love and attention she receives from her older brothers and sisters and I don't feel to sorry for her.   She has truly been a light and a blessing in our home.   I love my family. 

Things I want to remember

There is something so sweet about looking over and watching big, strong, tall dad feeding his tiny, little baby girl.  It's moments like these I hope to always remember.

 

I love that no matter how hard you try, you can't help but mimic the feeding pattern you are trying to teach your child

 

Happy Baby!

Kindergarten Day at the Zoo

I love Kindergarten day at the zoo.  Two years ago when Jake went, I spent the entire time just running to keep up with the kinders.  Joey's class was a lot more low key.  Their teacher had to tell them it was time to move on.  Cindy and I came and brought the babies so we ended up spending part of the day with the Kinders and the rest of the time walking around with the little ones. 

Ty was fascinated with all of the animals.  Carlee wasn't so sure of what she was looking at. 

Joey and Conner both thought the tigers were really cool.

Ty did not want to pet the snake.  I can't say that I blame him.  I was quite a ways back when I took this picture

By the end of the day we had two cute, tired kiddos.

Easter Festivities

Our Easter traditions changed this year as we celebrated the holidays with lots of family. My sister Cindy found this cute 12 days til Easter countdown that taught the Easter story and had activities that went along with it. Each night we would open an egg and learn about Christ.

One week before Easter our church had an Easter egg hunt at the park. The activity was originally put together so that an elderly sister could help stuff eggs. Little did we know she had wanted to hard boil and decorate eggs to hide. Could you imagine hard boiling and decorating 500 eggs? I don't think she realized how many kids we have in our ward. Oh well!

On Easter eve, Sara's dance team performed at another local park right before their Easter egg hunt. Sara is really getting good at ballroom. It is fun to watch her dance.

In traditional Prior fashion, we had a family Easter egg hunt with cousins and decorated eggs. After we were done, Grandma talked to the kids about the meaning of Easter and the importance of family history work.

Easter morning we make the kids wait until 6:30 before they can go down and find their Easter baskets. I love listening to them as they sit in the hallway watching the clock and talking about how excited they are to go downstairs.