November through New Years Eve 2012

November started out with a bang. Or, I should say, a leak. We were getting ready to head for Idaho the next day when Jakob came running upstairs to let us know that he found a leak in the ceiling. Our immediate thought was that there was a leak from the fridge pipe because of mice but when Steve went downstairs, he figured out it was coming from our sink. The food disposal had rusted through and water went from the faucet straight down to the ceiling below. We put buckets and containers underneath the leak and Steve cut a line through the drywall. Water came rushing out—thankfully into the containers.

Steve ran to Home Depot to get a new disposal while I got kids ready for bed and attempted to behave myself. I finally decided to call a member of our bishopric who works for a disaster relief company and he headed right over. Within minutes we had fans going and part of the floor ripped out so the ground could air out. We were told it would be 3-4 weeks before the kitchen was done—which meant no sink and no dishwasher for that long. Awesome. 

I'd had worse. We'd lived with mold and many other problems for four and a half months. I could handle this right? Yep. I helped pack things up (big no-no since I was still recovering) and then told myself it was just a makeover. When I hurt because I had to bend over to wash dishes in the bathroom sink, I told myself it was all worth it if I could just make it to Thanksgiving.

We survived and headed off to Idaho for Thanksgiving. The dinner was great and we all enjoyed our time together until the stomach bug hit. While we were in Idaho, only one person had it but once we got home, Steve got it—just in time for a wedding and then to leave for Florida for a week. That meant I got to take care of sick kids while he was gone. Yippee...

Everyone got it and got over it quickly and I was thankful because we were finishing up the last of the kitchen. It's gorgeous!! I love my new wood floors.

Poor ceiling!

My new (but slightly dusty in this photo) floors!

Because they had to take the countertops off to get the sink out, we got new countertops. I love them! They're much easier to keep clean.

Writing Group

Throughout this time, I was invited to be part of a critique group. I was thrilled to death and I dragged Steve along with me. The first time or two it was torture to my poor, sensitive ego. That only lasted for a short time and now I look forward to having my book shredded so that I can get it better each time. I have amazing partners to work with.

Christmas 

Steve had to travel for a lot of December which was hard but it gave us a lot of frequent flyer miles. See? Looking at the positive side. The ironic part was when he had to be gone on the same weekend we were going to go for a work party but decided not to for finance sake. Fine...

I was partly in charge of helping get the ward breakfast Christmas party shindig thing put together. I had great people to help out and it turned out very nice. And I was thrilled to death to have it DONE. 

We had fun learning to make new candies and adding them to our collection of goodies we put together each Christmas. The kids had fun delivering them, even with it cold outside. I added one last batch of chocolate chip cookies just as it was time for us to head off to Idaho. But you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?

More Surgery

I won't get into the gory details but I'd been needing to get my gall bladder removed for years and since my deductible was dead and gone from not one, but two trips to the hospital, I decided to go for it. Of course the horrible attack I'd had a week before might have had something to do with it as well. Anyway, I went to a surgeon and he found out that I also had gotten a hernia (possibly from the surgery in October) so he was going to fix that. I asked how soon I could travel afterwards and he told me I'd be uncomfortable no matter what so it was up to me. Ha.

Friday the 22nd—yes, the end of the world—I went in for surgery. It was an outpatient surgery so after I was able to stand without wanting to lose my lunch, I was ready to go. The trip home was used as the experiment to see if I would be uncomfortable in the car. I was actually very comfortable in the car and decided I could make the trip home. I got home to sink down in my couch and realized that it only caused me agony. I had everyone pack the car while Jakob helped me walk where I needed to go (I don't like medicine) and then we were ready to head off to Idaho.

By about Bountiful, my medicine finally wore off and I was actually hungry. I'd had to drink a lot of water because of the percocet, which meant we had to stop several times on the way. I was actually glad because I needed to get up and move around anyway. Gotta stay away from those blood clots!

When we reached Idaho, my mom was shocked by the paleness of my skin. She sent me straight to the couch and I tried to get comfortable. I slept in the recliner that night and it helped a lot with the pain. I decided to go with only ibuprofen because everything else made me so sick.

Christmas Festivities

Last year we started a tradition where each of the grandchildren would have a chance to participate in the talent show. Each child took turns and then a few adults did too. It was a wonderful experience. Having my nephew perform his sister's recital dance was probably the highlight but I loved them all!

I stayed home from church the next day to rest while everyone else went. Heidi was excited during Sacrament Meeting and yelled "Go Melissa!" when all the cousins went up to sing Christmas songs. I think I'm glad I wasn't there...

Christmas Eve is one of my all-time favorite holidays because it so full of traditions. They all start around 5:00 that night and go until bedtime. First we start with bean dip and chips, which was the first actual meal I'd had since I had surgery. I was being careful just in case because I didn't know how my stomach would react. It was heaven.

Next we moved on to the nativity. My sister made puppets several years ago and as my dad read the story from Luke chapter 2, the grandkids acted out the story. I loved it! After that came our egg nog milkshakes that my mom does an amazing job with. 

We turned Mickey's Christmas Carol (My mom's favorite) and then we watched Disney's Small One. I didn't realize Steve had never seen it but he told me that night how much it had touched him.

It was time for bed so we made sure the stockings were out and the kids were off to bed. It took a while to get them to sleep before we could finally go to bed. 

Christmas morning came way too early for Steve, and just the right time for the rest of us. It's the one day a year I'm a morning person and he is not. 

We all gathered in the toy room for a family picture before heading up to see what Santa brought us.

Next we got in line youngest to oldest and headed up the stairs. Everyone was chattering.

It was a great Christmas morning. The kids loved their gifts and I loved watching them open each one. My mom got one from my niece that took about half an hour to open because she'd gone through several rolls of tape and wrapping paper. 

We left for Utah after dinner, knowing there was a nasty storm coming and we still had to drive to St George the next morning. We needed a small break in between so we wouldn't have to ride in a car for eight hours. Everyone begged us to stay but I'm very glad that we left when we did.

By the next morning, snow was covering the ground and we were worried about the next trip. We decided to take a chance and go anyway, figuring we could always turn around if we needed to. We got to Provo and decided the roads weren't too bad and continued on to Steve's parents house.

We stayed there that night and then found our rental the next day. It was a rather old, retro styled apartment but it was a good size for our family. It easily fit all of us and we were able to host a few meals there for the rest of Steve's family. 

The kids enjoyed time with their cousins and I tried to get as comfortable as possible while enjoying time with his family. It was great to visit with everyone. They all left our house around 9:30 on New Year's Eve so we watched TV and hung out as a family until midnight. It was a great way to say goodbye to 2012 and ring in 2013. I must say, I was not sad to see 2012 slip away!!

August through Halloween 2012

I have gotten into writing my leprechaun book enough that I've neglected writing my blogs. Now, it's suddenly April 1st, which means that we're one quarter through 2013 already. Awesome.

I could pretty much sum up the rest of my 2012 year in a few words. Soccer, baseball, scouts, and surgery. Oh, let's not forget mice, flooding, and more surgery.

Let's start with soccer. Ethan, Ashley and Gavin got to participate in British Soccer Camp in August. It was a lot of fun for them and their skills were greatly improved. On top of that, though, we had the opportunity to have one of the coaches come and stay with us. It was fun to have him come and the kids loved that he was willing to play soccer or give them airplane rides constantly. Poor Liam was worn out by them but never complained once.

We spent as much time as we could at Seven Peaks for the rest of the season. The first part of the summer we weren't able to go so we wanted to make up for it. By the time the season ended, I had three stronger swimmers, one beginning swimmer, and two that would put their faces in. I was thrilled! We're all looking forward to the opening this year.

School started, and along with that came soccer season. We had five kids playing soccer, on four different teams. 

Steve coached Ethan's team and had a lot of fun with it. It was hectic at times but everyone came away loving the season. Ethan even scored a goal with the help of his friend, Ethan, on his team! Ashley and Gavin played together and Ashley's goal was to score five times each game. She made that goal a few times and others she scored one or two. Gavin did awesome. He never scored but he came close many times. Andy's team did very well and he loved playing. His best friend was on his team and they played very well together.  Jakob's team was very fun to watch. There were players that could some awesome tricks as they passed the ball and I was in awe. I decided this last year that I'd become a full-fledged soccer mom and I never expected to be. I got more into the games than I thought I would and Steve enjoyed watching me. 

Jakob and Andy were also doing scouts and Steve went on a couple of campouts with Jakob's scout troop. One camping trip was staying at his leader's dad's house but it worked out for everyone involved. They had lots of fun. My other kids enjoyed it because we went to McDonalds and then watched a movie that night.

Around that time, I was still having health problems and we decided it was time to have surgery. I wasn't looking forward to it because I knew that it would be hard to do my calling during that time. We decided it was worth it though because I was feeling crummy enough that I wasn't able to get a lot done around the house anyway so we scheduled a hysterectomy for October 22nd.

Oktoberfest

That meant that our Oktoberfest that we had planned was moved up to October 20th. It. Was. Packed. We couldn't walk through the house because there were people jammed into every corner of the house. I loved it! The food was amazing and we had fun talking to friends and family. A lot of people from Steve's mission came as well. I was exhausted when the day was done but it was well worth it.

Surgery for Jaclyn

Surgery went well for me. I had my mom in town to help with the kids and it was a huge blessing. She took the kids everywhere they needed to be and had my house spotless on top of that.

I stayed in the hospital for one night and I was happy to go home. The painkillers they gave me made me very sick and I made them change what they were giving me. I couldn't sleep so I caught up on a lot of reading and several video games. I had Rachelle and the Ellises come and visit me and it was great to see them all.

I was ready to go home to my own bed by the time I got out of the hospital. I slept better that night than I had in months and by the next morning I felt amazing. The painkillers were still making me sick so from about day 2, I went to only ibuprofen and I was fine most of the time—as long as I was behaving.

I'll wait a second while you stop laughing and wipe the tears from your eyes.

I actually did very well with behaving for the most part. I had amazing neighbors that took my kids for the school hours for the first two weeks. It was wonderful to be able to sleep when I needed to - which was most of the time. :)  The meals that were brought were also amazing. I was in awe with the help I received when I needed it the most. However...

Mean little visitors

The Sunday after I had surgery, Steve and the kids had left for church and I was laying in bed. I started hearing running around in my room and I looked up to find a mouse running from under my bed to the closet, and back again. Ugh, darn mice!

There went behaving. I jumped the floor and crawled into the closet, determined to find the stupid little mice. I pulled everything out that I could and then waited for Steve to do the rest (See? I mostly behaved). As soon as he got home, I sent him into the closet to clean and I went to talk to the YM president who had brought me the sacrament. He brought us some mousetraps and another neighbor let us borrow their cat. 

I spent the day getting everything up off the floor that they could hide in and soon they were caught and I was able to live in peace—until they got to our storage room but that's another story (which has ended and thankfully they're gone).  The next day I was very, VERY sore from sitting on the ground and it took a few days to get feeling better.

A Great Night of Friends 

The next Saturday I was feeling well enough that I decided I wanted to have company over. We had two families come for dinner and we had a lot of fun together. It was a great night. I may or not have overdone it but it was totally worth it!

Halloween

Halloween came the next week and I had to be creative without sewing anything (a bummer because I do it every year). The great thing was that everyone came up with easy costumes that turned out great (or at least I think so). 

Heidi wanted to be Captain America and there was no changing her mind. I decided to make the tutu to give it some flare and she was thrilled.

Ethan has one love and that's Angry Birds. For his birthday, Christmas, and, of course, Halloween that's all he wants (or wants to be).

Here's my little clown, Gavin. If you know his smile and mischievous spark in his eye, you'll know this fits him well.

Ashley wanted to be Wasp (from Avengers) for Halloween and I had no great ideas to do quickly for her. So I painted her into her costume. No joke. The shirt, skirt and leggings all took two and a half bottles of acrylic paint. 

Andy changed his mind several times but finally came up with Thor. The hammer was fun to make and his shirt... stank. Note to self: Don't spray paint a shirt anymore! But he was thrilled, I loved it, and it all worked out just fine. Plus, the shirt spent all night outside so it could air out a little...

Jakob was Hawkeye and but did it turn out fun. He helped make everything and it was probably one of my favorites we've come up with.

Steve was the Flying Spaghetti Monster and I was in a robe and nightgown, handing out the candy. Steve took the kids out to get candy and it went very well. Heidi was very sad when it was time to come home—even when all of her siblings were ready to go home! Jakob went with his friends for the first time and I survived.

In Honor of Alex...

In 1993, we had the opportunity to have an exchange student from Russia. We were all excited and looked through the profiles of different students and chose Alex. He was from what he called a small town in Russia. It was called Glasov and had a population of 300,000.  We laughed because our tiny town had 600 people.  The decision fell most heavily onto Ben because it was his senior year and he would be the one with Alex the most.

I was especially excited because he was only eleven days older than me and hoped we could be the best friends. So yes, Alex was my age, but doing schoolwork for students two years older...

We anxiously awaited his arrival and we were thrilled the day we were told he would be flying into Twin Falls. We piled into the car and waited for him to show up. The plane landed and a tall, very thin teenager with a mustache left the plane. I didn't know what to think but I was still happy.

He watched everything with fascination as we drove past stores on our way home. He saw a sign for pioneers and he jumped in excitement because that's the scouts were called in Russia. He told us a joke about communism and we didn't get it because it was pro-communism. He saw it as something that took care of all the countries and united. We obviously did not.

It was rough getting used to him. His forty minute showers, his lack of love for... deodorant (hey, I was 15 - cut me some slack), and his goofiness.  He received money through the exchange student program so I would get jealous watching my mom buy clothes, glasses, and a few other things for him—it didn't matter that the came from somewhere else to me. Jealousy became a constant for me.

Not that I didn't enjoy having him there. He was funny. He was sweet and refused to say anything mean to me—and believe me, I gave him plenty of reason too. I will never forget the smoldering look in his eyes as he stared at me, before spinning on his heel and leaving the room instead of saying something back.

That infuriated me even more. I didn't like that he wouldn't fight back. One day asked him why he never fought back. He simply said "You already know what you are." Wow. Punch to the gut.

About that time he started getting interested in the church. I would knock on his door to have him come upstairs for dinner and find him reading the Book of Mormon while listening to Megadeth. It made me smile. Another time I walked in and caught him drawing something that he quickly covered. I'll show you what he was drawing at the end of this post.

School was fine with him around. He was in classes like Physics and Calculus and I was busy with Driver's Ed and my Sophomore classes. He had plenty of friends. He was very sweet and let's face it—his accent was pretty amazing.

Along with some of those friends, there was another exchange student, Timur. He was from Turkmenistan and he was a charmer. He was a year younger than me but still taking Junior classes. We met at a football game and as he reached out to shake my hand, Alex swatted his hand away and said something to him in Russian. I've never figured out what it was or why Alex swatted away his hand...

They were pretty inseparable until Tim went home early. I felt like they were talking about me when they sat speaking Russian on the couch but hey, I was a teenager. Everyone talks about you, right?

One day I needed help with my math because it was late so I begged Alex to help me. He quickly finished it and handed it back. I had to ask my math teacher what the funny symbol was on my paper - it was infinity and he got a great laugh out of the fact that I'd had help from Alex. Busted.

Alex's mustache is well remembered. It was part of him. I don't remember making any remarks about it but one day during school he turned to look at me and I stopped in shock. It was gone! He'd shaved it off. He said it was because I wanted him to but I really don't remember anything. I was sad it was gone because it was him.

He had some awesome mistakes in speaking English. A buffalo became boofallo. I told him I was going to eat his cheesecake and he said "Even don't think about it!"

And my favorite: I was sitting in the chapel waiting for everyone to come in for Sacrament Meeting and Alex said "Jaclyn, you're a nerd."
"You don't know what a nerd is."
"Yes I do."
Fast forward an hour and at home he came walking out of his room, dicitionary in hand. "How do you spell nerd?"  Man, I wanted to hug the guy even though he was trying to insult me.

Jealousy started to wear off and friendship started to form. He had squishy ears and squishy cheeks and yes, I loved to squish them. Drove him crazy but he let me do it anyway. We teased each other incessantly.

In March, he was asked to speak in church and I wondered how it would go. After all, Megadeth and the Book of Mormon didn't mix well.  I was blown away. I don't remember everything he said but it hit me like a brick. I'd treated him so poorly in the past and missed a great chance to be friends with a great guy.

He ended his talk with this: Before I came here, I was rated 'R'. Now I'm rated 'PG-13'." That was Alex.

Since we both missed turning sixteen before Prom, my mom let us go together. We didn't dance together and never got pictures but at least we went.

As the time came closer when he would leave, I started panicking. So much time to make up for and so little time. He was baptized by Ben which was an awesome experience.

I was sad to see him leave, knowing we would probably never see each other again. Letters were exchanged a few times and then everything went digital so we as family would contact him on birthdays and as often as possible.

 I got a letter one day saying that he hoped I found someone to marry that had squishy ears and cheeks. Steve has the squishy cheeks at least. ;)

A few weeks ago we found out that he'd been battling cancer for a year. By the time we'd heard, it was already into his spine. My mom immediately looked into how to get a missionary to his home so he could have a blessing. They were able to show up on Sunday and his wife said that it brought him peace. He passed away on Monday.

I will miss him. I realized today it has been almost 20 years since he was here but I still remember like it was yesterday. One friend mentioned stories of getting pulled over and as the police officer walked away he yelled out "Bye bye Mr Policeman!" I told my mom that and she said "Sounds like Alex."

We miss you Alex. Here is the portrait that Alex drew and gave me on my sixteenth birthday. Sorry for that T on the one side. Glare from the sun behind the curtains...

A Turkey Family's Thanksgiving

In honor of Thanksgiving, Gavin was assigned to write a story about a turkey family. My favorite was when he tried to say they cooked up a big turkey... I told him that probably wasn't the best idea...  Anyway, here it is!

A Turkey Family’s Thanksgiving.

Once upon a time there was a family who had a turkey Thanksgiving. The little girl’s name was Heidi. The big boy’s name was Bob. The mom’s name was Susie and the dad’s name was Billy. They set up for Thanksgiving and had a big table full of foods like gummy worms, potatoes, and their drink was apple juice.

The boy, Bob, said he was going to make a turkey with apples, sticks for the legs, and toothpicks for the tail feathers. And for the beak he used popcorn.

They all went outside to play in the leaves. All of them went inside to go to bed. 

The End

The "B" Word

Growing up on a farm, I learned that you had better be doing something during the day, or you'd have a job found for you. I'm glad I was raised that way because it taught me hard work. And there are days when I sit down on my couch, all ready to hang out on the computer and I get that nagging feeling that my house should probably get cleaned, my kids should probably get dressed, and maybe I should brush my hair... Most of the time I'll get up and get things done so I can feel like I have accomplished something and earned a chance to rest.

However, one day in June, I made a huge mistake. I was laying on my couch, knowing I had a lot of stuff I needed to do but I didn't want to do any of it. I popped onto Facebook and posted "I'm bored". Immediately my sister commented that she had plenty of weeds that needed pulled and trees that needed trimmed. My other sister warned me that I should never say something like that because it could come back and bite me. I knew I was tempting fate - I just didn't know how much.

That night as we were headed to writing group, we got a phone call to meet with the Bishop. Now, rewind a week here for a second. My stake was given the opportunity to have a plot of land that they split up into ward plots so that we could have a garden to use for the ward. Our ward chose to give people chance to have a small plot of their own, and then we had a larger one for the ward. I was excited for it - but then I got called to be the ward garden specialist with Steve. I was ECSTATIC. Here was my chance to prove to myself and my parents that I had learned a little about gardening from them. I looked up the correct distance between vegetables rows, etc and we were all ready to go.

Ok, so fast forward back to where we were, the day I said the "b" word. I figured that the Bishop just wanted to talk to me about the ward garden. I had a few things I wanted to talk about for the garden as well, so after we enjoyed our writing group, we headed off to the church.

All was going well with the interview - and then the Bishop turned to me. Uh oh. I knew this was serious. What I didn't expect - and wouldn't have expected in a million years - was that he called me to be RELIEF SOCIETY PRESIDENT. I felt like I'd taken a baseball to the face. I felt it was right but it was not what I expected. I wanted to drop to the floor and laugh - and cry. The only thing that kept coming to mind was what my sister had warned me about this morning. Be careful with that word. It will come back to you. I accepted the calling knowing I would never be bored and hoped that would make up for what I'd said. But no, life wasn't done with me quite yet.

That week was spent in a daze. I had to come up with counselors and come to terms that life was about to change. A lot. Later in the week I was starting to have health issues. Hot flashes like you wouldn't believe and I just felt miserable. Saturday night I realized that something hadn't come yet (won't get into more than that) and asked Steve to get me two pregnancy tests - just to make sure.

The next morning I woke and used a test - it was positive. I stared in shock. I wasn't ready. I was DONE. Heidi was supposed to be my last. I decided to brush it off and go to church. I was sustained to my calling- while in a daze - and later set apart.

My family left shortly after that and headed off to St George. We'd been planning to leave Friday but my new calling threw that off. We had a wonderful time in St. George. Steve's brother was in town and we enjoyed visiting with everyone. The pregnancy and my calling were on my mind constantly. Tuesday morning, I started having problems. I called and made an appointment with a doctor to check and make sure everything was okay.  We enjoyed the last day with Steve's family and then it was time to get home.

I went to my appointment, expecting to find out I'd had a miscarriage. The ultrasound technician informed me that things actually looked great and that my due date would be Valentine's Day.  I stared in shock. I still wasn't ready. I wanted to keep my Pilot. I wanted to move onto the next phase of being a mom. But I was willing to be a mom again. I love children and everything would work great.

I went home and showed pictures to the kids. They were thrilled. So thrilled that the excitement spread to me. We started looking at bigger cars and ways to make baby #7 fit into our house. Names flew for what we would call baby and the excitement was infectious.

That week I got to learn how to use the calling tree for our ward. A sewer pipe broke and I had to call and let everyone in the ward know that they couldn't use any water in their house for up to 4 hours. By the time I hit send for the last text, I got another text informing me that everything was fine. I laughed and went back through letting everyone know they were okay. I figured that at least I knew how to use it - not that I would need it for a long time. Wrong.

The next week Steve headed off to Florida. I was okay with that. We'd done it a few times before. However, while he was gone, a fire started on the mountain next to us, thanks to people who had gone shooting and weren't careful. 200 fires had started in Utah through the summer - most human caused. Nice. Can you see the smoke? We watched it closely.

This was the view as I driving home from dropping Jakob off at a friend's house. I was getting a little more nervous as the day wore on.

This was taken up behind our house.

Thursday night I heard the wind blowing hard. I walked outside and felt the wind coming straight for us. Great. The flames were huge but since it was dark, I couldn't see how close they actually were to my house. I went back in the house and mentioned to friends of mine on a writer's chat site that I should probably start packing. They began telling me things I should grab. I wish I'd listened. I did grab our important papers but nothing else.

 I went out a few minutes later and the air was suddenly calm. It was crazy. The flames had died down. I still felt I should pack but again I didn't listen. The flame is tiny in this photo.

The next morning, Jakob called from his friend's house, asking if we were being evacuated. I ran to the window and saw smoke. And lots of it. It was heading east so I wasn't sure if we were okay. I got off the phone and ran to my computer to see if anyone had anything posted. The internet was down. Great! I ran outside to see if I could find anyone that might know. Steve called from Florida telling me that it had been announced on Facebook that there were evacuations. He wasn't sure if it was us yet but I let my neighbors know so they'd start getting ready.  Steve called back shortly afterwards to confirm that it was for sure us. For the second time in a week, I pulled out my list to start the calling tree. 

The kids quickly started packing and I made phone call after phone call letting everyone know to get out asap. The kids loaded up the Pilot with dolls, stuffed animals, random clothes, and random foods from the kitchen. I pulled my stuff together and waited for friend to get there to help get us out. We  shoved all the guinea pigs into boxes and put them in my car. The kids with my friend in her car and we were off. My sister had come up to help out and she left at the same time. I had to turn back around just before leaving the neighborhood to grab my radio so we could keep in contact with the stake and then we were off - only to find out that I had an empty gas tank. Way to be prepared. After filling up, we headed across the valley (picking Jakob up on the way) and stayed with our friends. Steve was picked up from the airport and I was happy to have him home so I could let myself cry for just a few minutes. 

Staying in Pleasant Grove had it's advantages and disadvantages. We were able to spend time with friend so it mostly kept the kids preoccupied.  I say 'mostly' because we had views like this from their yard:

See those darks spots on the mountains in the picture below? They were hot spots and they were coming ever closer to my house. I didn't sleep much that night. Partly because of worry, partly because I was pregnant and mostly because of the mattress. Blow up mattresses and pregnant bellies don't work. I finally went to sleep on the couch and was able to get rest.

Morning came and everything looked great. The mountain was black but our valley was still okay! I was thrilled. We hoped we'd be able to get home soon.

Later that afternoon we were worried. The smoked picked back up again and I stared as the smoke got closer to our valley again.

That night around 6 PM we were given the ok to go home. Steve had wanted to go fishing with our friends but I just wanted my home. I wanted to see what damage there had been and I was worried about our yard. We packed everything up and headed home.

I wanted to cry as we pulled into our valley. There were blackened mountains around us but our valley was still green. There was no smoke smell in the air. We would have ash fall down here and there but everything was great. We pulled weeds, watered flowers and just relished the fact that we had that chance.  I joked that this had been my "trial by fire" as Relief Society President. It was only partly funny.

Was that "b" word done with me? Nope, in July I started having problems with my pregnancy again. I was sick and things didn't look good. I went into the doctor and found out that I'd miscarried. I didn't know how to feel but I knew I just wanted out of that office NOW. I allowed myself to break down once I got to the car. My first thought was "well, I guess I get to keep my Pilot" And immediately felt guilty and worried about my kids.

When I came home and let them know we wouldn't have another baby, Ashley cheered and yelled "WE GET TO KEEP THE PILOT!" Ok, so I guess they'd be fine. I had surgery later that week and while I had a hard time staying down and resting, I was able to recover and move on.

So the moral of this story? NEVER EVER under any circumstances say you're bored. EVER.

It's May??? Part two

Spring Break had just gotten over in my last post. So here we go with the next one.

Oh, except the "I went on an awesome date with Steve to Chef's Table, was caught staring at Dave Rose while trying to figure out who he was (I nodded at him to make me not look quite so psycho - maybe), then to Mirror Mirror which is my new favorite movie, and then went with my sister to go save my other sister from her broken down car in Salina" evening. It ended at 3:30 in the morning... But I'm glad I could help!

Monday morning, Gavin stayed home with Steve (and was not happy), Heidi went to her Aunt Charlotte's (and boy was she thrilled!!), and Ethan went to the dentist.  The poor boy's tooth had met his brother's leg over a month before and instead of having the color of the tooth improve, it had gotten a little darker.  I'd been worried about taking him but since he'd done so well with the eye doctor, I had hope this one would go well.

Gavin tried to be happy to stay home, but when it was time for me to leave, this is how I found him...

Poor tooth!! This was in March

I was thrilled with the appointment. Dr Hansen is an amazing dentist. He is great with kids (and we like him for ourselves) and makes sure they're at ease. His office has TV's in the ceiling so while Ethan was poked and prodded, he got to watch Toy Story. The only time he got upset was when they took his headphones off to get an x-ray...

He sat this way the ENTIRE time.

They'll have to take out the tooth (it's darker now) and they found a cavity. Poor boy! So he goes back in June and will get the cavity fixed. We'll see if he gets the other tooth taken out at the same time.

The next night we went to Hope of America. It was amazing. Jakob and several 5th graders in Utah County performed at the Marriott Center. It was great to hear the patriotic music. I got a little teary eyed a few times. I love my country.

Jakob was in the upper yellow part - somewhere in the middle.

The next weekend was our actual anniversary. Twelve years. Crazy! Anyway, Steve and I went to the Desert Star with some good friends and then out to dinner.  We also spent time with them in the mountains that weekend. It consisted of Steve watching the chicken cook while I chased Heidi from one side of the campsite to the other - over and over and over and over and over. The kids had a blast and we had great company. In between me running after Heidi...

That Monday, we got into full baseball mode. On Wednesdays we have four kids practicing all at once. Luckily three of them are on one field. The other practice is further away but we get to drive on unpaved roads to get there so that's pretty cool. I sit in the car with Ethan and Heidi while Jakob practices (Steve is with the others). They watch Netflix on my phone and I read a book. I'd get out to play but I'm usually afraid they'll blow away... Darn wind!

Anyway, that Saturday was busy busy. There were three baseball games that morning and I had to rush home to decorate a cake and finish decorating. I had an awesome friend that bought a pinata for me. I have no picture of it because I was the one holding the broomstick with the pinata on it and no one else was there to take photos.

Ashley's friends arrived and they had a great time. They played Snow White's poison apple (Like hot potato but with an apple), Jasmine's musical magic carpets (Like musical chairs), the pinata, and then they watched Barbie's Charm School. They ate yummy cake and opened presents. It turned out to be a lot of fun. The best was when my two older boys and their friends tried to crash the party and play the princess games.

This was supposed to be a castle cake...

While I was doing that, Steve went off to learn how to make Malaysian food. He made egg rolls and curry puffs that were A-MAZING.  He had a great time and he can't wait to go and learn more.

After the party girls left and Steve got home, our friends came to have dinner and play games. Their twin girls were at the party already so the rest of the family came over.  The tacos were yummy and the game was fun. Pirate's Cove is a favorite of my older boys and I enjoyed learning to play it. And getting throttled. We had to leave shortly after they left to grab a few groceries for the next day.

The next day was my birthday! And Ashley's. I love sharing with my girl. I curled her hair and my hair and then we opened presents. Ashley got a few things to decorate her room in Hello Kitty style along with a few other things and I got skates and books. The skates I've wanted since my other ones got stolen in 6th grade...

Ashley asked for a jewelry maker. 

Look at that adorable toothless smile. 

Both Beyonders (Brandon Mull) books and Target in Ties by Tristi Pinkston. YAY!

I was so excited for these! I even used them to pick Gavin up from school one day.

We went and enjoyed church before coming home to start on pizza. We made four pizzas, two pans of breadsticks, and my German Chocolate cake. My sister brought salad and my friends brought two more pizzas. And everything was GONE by the end of the night. One pizza went back with the Ellises but otherwise we ate everything. It was a lot of fun. Such a perfect birthday. :)

The next week went fast. I didn't expect it to because I was so excited for the following weekend but it really did fly. I had to take Ashley and Jakob to a well-child appointment (Jakob had other issues but he's fine), before getting home for Family Home Evening. Baseball practices went well and then it was time for me to go to LDS Storymakers. Which I'll blog about later.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier, was that we were able to get a Honda Pilot in March. I have been very much in love with this car since we got it!! We still use the van when we need a second car but otherwise I enjoy my Pilot.

Its May already?!

I had put off writing anything on my blog because I wanted to get it in print. But since it's now May and I have yet to print, I figured it's time to catch everything up. In a shortened version.

2012 has been a year full of making and keeping goals. And if you know me well, that doesn't happen often.  These last few years have been crazy for me, so rather than taking a break, I wanted to find a way to keep it going. Okay, so I'm done with disastrous moves to other countries, but you know what I mean. What is my goal, you ask? Too bad, you have to wait. Unless you scroll down. But that wouldn't be fair.

January came and went with a schedule filled with basketball. Jakob, Andy and Ashley were all in Jr Jazz basketball and it was a lot of fun to watch. Jakob kicked it up several notches and flew all over the court. He did awesome. Except his shots. But those will come. Andy did great ball handling but he needs to do some pushups and weights so he can get the ball to hit the basket... And Ashley was a joy to watch. She wants to be the best at everything she does and basketball wasn't an exception. She has a ways to go because she had never played before but she's getting the hang of it. They all worked very hard on improving and I was a very proud mommy.

Oh, and I played as well. We had a lot of fun. I even stopped wheezing after the first game or two. Oh, and the best part? I'm not sure if it was the 12 points scored in one game, or if the was three pointer I made in another one. Either way, it was awesome.  I was sad when the season ended.

I almost forgot. Ashley joined the Girl Scouts. She's a Daisy at this point and she loves it. She threw herself into it and even sold 60 boxes of girl scout cookies. Its not a ton but she was thrilled with it. I was too since that meant I didn't have to deliver more. :)

February was spent with more basketball, Valentine's Day, and the rest is a blur because I was sick a lot. With colds. Colds are dumb.

I wish I could say we had a massive party for Heidi because she had such a lame birthday last year (she got her present three days later and her cake was leftovers... good thing she was one), but that wasn't the case. I was so sick. Why? I don't know. But it wasn't fun. So she got us and no cake for several days. She didn't care. She got awesome gifts.

March also brought more basketball, more scouts and more band. But what it also brought was the first part of my goal. This year I was determined to do more with writing. I've had a children's book I wrote in high school that I've wanted to publish for years, and now I have two others I want to get published. So this year's resolution was to go to conferences and actually submit my stories.  I went to Writing for Charity and LOVED it. I learned a lot, talked to authors that had come to my store, and gained more of a desire to get writing and submitting.

I also started taking art.  Jakob was very upset that he couldn't come with me. He loves drawing. I want him in classes as soon as I can get him there. But this was my turn. We worked with pastels. Here is the picture I wanted to use. My mom posted a picture of her tree in a snow storm and I knew it was "the one":

And here is my version. This was my process over the 5 classes:

I was hooked. I love pastels! I think I'm going to ask for some this Christmas. My next project is a crocus.

Next comes April. We went to St. George for conference and we enjoyed our time there as we always do. We love spending time with Steve's family! We watched conference with Steve's parents and then the kids and I played with Steve's mom while he went to the Priesthood session with his dad, brother-in-law, and nephews. We left earlier than we'd planned on Sunday because winter wasn't about to give up.  The snow was bad through Cedar City but we made it home safe and sound.

We were home for a few days before heading off to Oakley for Easter and Spring Break. It was supposed to be cold while we were there but it warmed up and the kids got loved their time outside. They jumped on the trampoline, ran around the yard, climbed trees, and slept well at night. Easter was wonderful.

We had to leave on Tuesday so we could drop Steve off at the airport for a two day trip to Indiana. The kids had hoped to do all kinds of fun things for Spring Break - but we stayed home for most of it. It was cold and windy. So after eye appointments (where we found that Ashley's are perfect and Jakob no longer needed glasses except for reading!) we went home and cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned some more. Then it was play time. The kids have a show in Australia that they loved called Mr Maker. You learn all kinds of crafts. So that's what we did. My house is still full of their art projects. Heidi painted herself (So glad she's her own canvas) while the others painted magnets and sun catchers.

Friday we took Gavin and Ethan to the eye doctor as well. Ethan's are perfect (he was sad - he wanted glasses!) and Gavin is far-sighted. They won't do anything with them unless it causes problems. They're hoping it will correct on its own. I hope so!

I  think I will stop here. Its becoming a novel and I have so much more to tell you! Check back and I promise the next one will be much more exciting.