Halloween and Ginny's Baptism

October 31st was both the day that Ginny was baptized and also the day the fun Trick-or-Treating hunt happened. There were many people who came for the special day. My parents came up from Henderson, Chris' parents flew up from Las Cruces, NM, and my brother KC and his family drove down from Ogden. Ginny had a wonderful baptism at 10:00am. That evening we did our fun door to door hunt for candy! Ginny was the Statue of Liberty for Halloween and even won an award at her school for one of the best "Home-made Costumes". Asher was a monkey and Lucy was Max from her favorite TV show, Max and Ruby. My older nephew, Zach was Superman and my younger nephew, Miles was Bob the Builder. I really don't think the day could have been more perfect. Thanks to all the family who came and all the friends who supported Ginny on her special day!

Asher (the monkey), Miles (Bob the Builder), Zach (Superman), Ginny (Statue of Liberty), and Lucy (Max from Max and Ruby).

Daddy and Ginny right before her Baptism.

Ginny with her pretty roses that Grandpa and Grandma Wood gave her.

Ginny with Gramp and Grandma Wilkins

Ginny with Grandpa and Grandma Wood

Ginny with her Family

A full year?......pathetic!!

It's hard to decide where to begin when so much has happened this past year. Hmmmm...... I guess I'll just choose a few of the most important events and go from there. You know, blogging is hard for me. I feel like everyone else just either have these amazing hunky-dorey lives or they are just more optimistic than I am. While I am happy, I need someone to rub off some of that silver-lining on me. I say this because this past year has been the hardest year of my life. Or should I say, the past few months. My bishop recently told me, "laughter is the best medicine". He is right. I need to laugh more. Anyway, I'll go more into that soon....

First off, I love my family. I really do. I feel so extremely blessed to have all that I have. I am also so grateful for the many material things that I have. While I don't live in a life of lavishness, on the contrary I live a great life which is a little more modest, but secure. Through this whole economical crisis, I'm grateful for my husband's job that has remained steady and secure so we can have the things we need with a little selfishness on the side.

We went to my favorite place just a few weeks ago. Disneyland!!!!! Everyone knows that I just love that place. Chris' amazing twin brother Charlie along with his amazing wife Carrie let us stay with them in their Irvine, CA condo. We had great trips to the beach with them and they even spent the day at Disneyland with us one day. They took care of our dog a lot of the trip. Unfortunately the little stinker decided that he needed to "mark" all over their house! Sorry guys!!!!! My sweet little nephew Isaac was also so good to share all of his toys with his rambunctious 3 cousins! It's hard to share at the age of 2 and he was amazing!!!

Cracker (Charlie and Carrie's dauchsund) and Oliver (our Cavachon).

Lucy giving her daddy a kiss while he's laying in the sun.

Ginny and Isaac checking out their seashell collection.

Isaac soaking in some of that lovely salt water air!

Chris and Charlie battling the waves. Too cold for me. No thank you!!

Of course the other great part of our journey was the fun trip to Disneyland. We went two days with my mom and dad, my brother KC, his wife Lynnette, and their two boys Zach and Miles. It was a fun group. We also went the third day with Charlie, Carrie, and Isaac. I just love this place. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The whole group getting ready to start a great Disney Adventure!!!

Asher on the Haunted Mansion ride with his Gramp. Asher absolutely LOVED Disneyland, but spent a lot of time plugging his ears because some things were a little too loud for him.

Chris and Lynnette took the younger kids to visit some Villans while the other adults and Ginny went on an adult ride. This is the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.

Asher on King Triton's Carousel. He loved the merry-go-rounds.

My dad, Miles, my mom, and Lucy on Winnie the Pooh.

We ate a delicious dinner where I had AMAZING crab cakes at a restaurant inside the Pirates of the Carribean ride. The restaurant is called Blue Bayou. KC, Lynnette, and their infamous Pirate son Zach!!!

Ginny liked her Fantasia Mickey Mouse hat!

Meeting Mickey Mouse!

Lucy loved meeting any character she could get a hold of, but Goofy and Pluto were the most exciting for her.... well, maybe they come in second after Mickey.

At the beginning of July, we had a Wood Family Reunion right here in Price. It was nice of everyone to be willing to come here for the occasion. We had people travel from Boston, Ogden, California, New Mexico, and even South Africa!!! It was Chris' parents, all of his brothers, spouses, children, and even a few pets! We went to a Lake, floated a canal, and mainly had a great time just lounging in the backyard catching up on life.

At the end of July we had the first official Keele Family Reunion. My Grandparents, their children and spouses, their grandchildren and spouses, and even great-grandchildren were there. Every single person was there!....except for my one cousin Jeremy who is faithfully serving his mission in Jamaica right now. Good excuse. Well, the second day into the reunion, we were up on the mountain and Asher tripped and fell. It didn't seem like anything too dramatic, but he was screaming hysterically and holding his arm. He has a high pain tolerance and I could tell that something was hurting really bad! Chris and I decided to take him off the mountain down to the Beaver, UT hospital. I knew there would probably be a crack. Boy, was I surprised when the PA comes back to us and says, "He needs emergency surgery right away!" He didn't crack a bone, he completely busted the bottom of his humorous completely off and it had shifted over! Here is a picture of the x-ray. You have to look closely, but you can see down by his elbow the problem.

This is in the hospital bed in Beaver. You can tell how much his left elbow hurt!

If you look at the humorous bone (big bone) at the tip by his elbow, you can see how the bottom broke off and shifted up a little bit. My poor Asher!

Here is Asher with his cute orange cast. His dad wanted orange so that he had some Phoenix Suns spirit!!! Go Suns! I took Asher up to a hospital in Provo where an Orthopedic Surgeon was waiting for him. Asher had a 1/2 hour surgery where they put the bone back into place and held it there with a couple of pins. 4 weeks later, they removed the pins and TA-DA!!! We now have a functioning elbow again. He was such a trooper through the whole ordeal.

In the middle of August, Chris went on another deep-sea fishing adventure in Alaska with his dad. They fished for Halibut and Salmon. Here was Chris' biggest catch of the trip. My sweet mother-in-law stayed with me while Chris was gone. She was a wonderful help!

Chris and his 77 lbs. halibut.

There are so many other fun things that have happened the past year. Ginny is now 8 and in the 2nd grade. She is getting baptized this Saturday. Asher will be 6 next month and is liking Kindergarten at his Special Needs school. Lucy is 3 and enjoying time home with mom. She has been completely potty trained for a long time now. We traveled to Las Cruces, NM in May to see Chris' parents for a week, I took my girls to see Annie at Tuachan in St. George, Chris' cousin Kinsey from Maine stayed with us for a week to spend time with us and get a taste of the western side of the US. We went to Goblin Valley, and also had a day at Lagoon with KC and Lynnette's family. A few fun adventures down to Beaver to see Grandparents as well. All and all, it was a fun filled summer.

Now, the reason why I mentioned earlier that this has been the hardest few months of my life is because I have entered into the world of Panic Attacks!!! Anyone else ever have this problem? Mine got to the point where my whole body would tremor. It looks like I'm having a seizure, but I'm completely coherent and aware. My stomach was so nervous and shook up that I couldn't eat for a few days and I lost 12 lbs. during my worst week. I even had a hard time sleeping because any little noise would scare me or make me nervous. My parents had to come up and stay with me for a week and just help me and my kids. For a long time, I just sat on my upstairs couch and staired out the window. Life in general just scared me. I still have issues with that on a daily basis, but not near as severe as last month. I do have to take medications now to keep me calm and relaxed. I went from being scared to death to even walk around the block to where I went with my family to Disneyland a few weeks ago. I was scared to go, but I did it! As much as I love my sweet little boy, a Psychiatrist and an Internal Medicine Doctor both think Asher was the underlying reason for this problem. I love my son so much, but he has been so much work mentally and physically that I think one day my body just snapped!!! I guess a lot of people have had this happen to them, but keep it very private. I have chosen not to keep it private. The reason? While I've gone through this, being able to talk with other people who have dealt with this has helped me so much. I want someone else who will later go through this think to contact me if they go through this because I'd love to help. I also go on a daily 3 mile walk with a friend to just get out of the house, have someone to talk to, and get some cardio in at the same time. I still don't feel normal and I HATE that. The doctor said it may be a few years before I feel completely like myself again. It's been the scariest and most emotionally draining experience of my life. It has caused me also a lot of depression.

We often question why Heavenly Father gives us different trials in our lives. For a long time I couldn't understand why I have to go through this. I've tried to find my own silver-linings in this and I have come up with some good lessons that I have learned from all of this. Mostly, I've learned that I just need to love my son for who he is and just love the many wonderful things about him and not sweat the things he may never do.....like speech. There are many other things I've learned, but I won't go into all of that. I have to give special thanks to my parents for all their love and support as I've gone through this. They have been AMAZING. Mostly, I have to let my husband know how much I love him. He's been a great supporter and he's been so patient with me.

Anyway, there is a year worth of blogs in one post. If any of you made it all the way through, I'm sorry. I probably bored you all to death, but thanks for reading anyway. I'll try to post more often in the future.

Potty Ups and Downs Update

So, I appreciated everyone's helpful advice on how to avoid my home being decorated in the colors YELLOW and BROWN. Well, I do have to admit that there was a little clean up involved...of course! I HATE having to clean up that disgusting fact of life. Well, I think that Sara's idea would've worked very well, but it's already so cold here and it's too expensive to keep my home warm enough here to let her run freely through the house in the buff. While that was a great idea, I had to count that one out. Mikal suggested I pour warm water on her "yaya" (I appreciate you remembering my funny nick-names of the past by the way). I had tried that many times and I also have heard that works. With her, it was just something fun. Didn't trigger anything. She finally just figured it out once and actually went on the potty and then was more interested in it. I was so thrilled when she finally went the first time! The first day, she had a few accidents, but not too bad. Day two, she had a poop accident and made a huge mess.....hate that!....on my friend's carpet no less. I was so embarrassed, but luckily I was able to clean it all up. After that, it was just one accident after the next and I kept getting more and more angry with her. I was hoping I'd scare her into not wanting to mess up. It totally back fired in my freakin' face! Today, I made a goal to just be very happy everytime she went and not push her or saying anything negetive if she did mess up. So far, we've only had one accident the whole day and it's almost 4pm. So, positiveness and happiness work way better than negetiveness and grumpiness. I think I just made her too nervous to go on the potty yesterday. She's already to the point today where she'll tell me if she has to go rather than me constantly asking her every 10 minutes. The last thing we need to work on is her being able to distinguish the difference of just having to pass gas or actually have to pass more than that. She hasn't figured that out yet so, we've made lots of trips to the potty just so she can sit down, do a nice echoing fart and then be done. I'm so happy to be this far into it. Potty Training is so HARD!!!! I'm going to wait until she really has the hang of it before I move onto her brother. The SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS!.........do I hear an "amen"?

Potty Training Help Please!!!

So.... I potty trained Ginny right before she turned 2. I tried to get her to go on the potty all day. She finally peed and liked the sound of it hitting the water so much....she was potty trained! So, I had her taken care of very quickly. Asher is about to be 5. He is still not potty trained, but it's common for it to take a very long time for autistic children. The average child with autism is 6 or 7. I hope it's sooner than that, but who knows. Anyway, here I am with Lucy who turned 2 in July. I have tried over and over about 10 different times in the past 4 months. So, she is finally understanding how to poop on the potty. The child will not pee! I have tried so many times. She'll even drink tons of pop, start to pee in her pants, I'll throw her on the potty. She does an incredible keegle and will hold it for a half hour. I finally let her off the potty and as soon as she's off, she'll walk down the hall a little bit and pee right on my floor! So, what am I doing wrong? Why will she go anywhere, but on the actual potty? I have yet to ever get her to pee on a potty! Anybody have any good tips on potty training? My first child was way too easy. This is my first real attempt at it. HELP!!!!!

And to be completely random, my friend Natalie did a 4th/4th on her blog. It's where you get into your picture file on your computer. You go to your 4th picture file you've ever put on your computer and then you go to your 4th picture in that file, post it, and then explain about it.

This is a picture of Ginny and I when she was 7 months old. We are on our way upto Bozeman, MT to live for two and a half years. On our South to North moving excursion, when we first got into some beautiful trees of Montana, we got out to walk around for a minute and admire the beautiful scenery. This is May, 2002. This picture makes me miss Montana a lot!!!

Sorry....Things are Boring

I haven't posted anything in a while.....maybe that has something to do with the fact that my life is very uneventful! In a good way, though. It seems like there is always so much going on that it's nice to feel like life is temporarily dull and boring. I love adventure, but for the sake of financial issues we can take a break now and then. We are even sticking around here for all of the upcoming holidays. We did cheat and headed away over night to Moab last week. Chris' work paid for the whole thing, so we couldn't complain. Chris reserved a motel that had a big slide that curves around in about 2 circles into a very warm pool. We then walked down the main road that night and went out to eat. Beautiful evenings there and I love tourist shops! It was a fun family outing.

Anywho, let's see. Well, my oldest child turned 7 on the 15th. Can you believe that I'm the mother of a 7 year old? My life is seriously flashing right before my eyes. Things are going so fast. Unfortunately the one thing that has slowed way down is my METABOLISM!!! I hate that it's not like my childhood anymore where you can eat everything and anything and be fine. Now, I take a bite of a candybar and my thighs grow two inches in circumference! Back to more important things. My daughter had a Hannah Montana birthday party. The girls all received "pop star make-overs". They all got there nails polished, make-up done, and pink hair streaks (all courtesy of me...hehe). I think she had a great birthday. Now, I have another birthday coming up on the 20th of November for my sweet Asher. He will be turning 5!

Blowing out her candles on her cake covered in Hannah Montana guitar suckers. After she blew them out, she panicked because she realized she had forgotten to make a wish. So, I just lit one up again so she could make her wish and blow it out again. She's so funny!

This is her whole clan that she invited to her birthday. They were quite the silly bunch and I think they all had a great time.

If you remember back a few entries ago when I mentioned how Lucy (my 2 year old) stuck a remote into the microwave and turned it on. Well, we had episode number 2! This time, she thought it would be a great experiment to see what happens when you put a CD into a toaster and cook it. We now know it makes a horrible smell and requires the whole toaster to be replaced. I wouldn't have ever known that had she not been so helpful in teaching me! (sarcasm)

OUR HAPPY CLAN

Here is a recent photo of our family taken about a month ago. I know I haven't posted pics in a while, but our computer is not being as stubborn all of a sudden.

Here is my silly Ginny posing cute in her slightly large glasses!

Asher and Lucy having fun on a tire swing with their cousins. Too bad you can only see the back of Lucy's head, but I love Asher's smile in this one!

My House is Still Standing!

Lately my 2 year old Lucy has been showing interest in the microwave. She usually just opens and closes the door over and over again. Well, I guess this was me not seeing the dramatic scene forth coming quick enough. I am in the next room and all of a sudden I hear the microwave turn on. Well, I am one to always think worse case scenario (ex: yesterday I was in the front yard talking to a friend for just a minute and the whole time I had in the back of my head that Lucy is choking on her quesadilla in the house and I'm not in there to rescue her and she's going to die. Then I run in the house to see that she's still eating her food). I think panicing just comes with the territory of motherhood. Not to get too far from my story. Anyway, I did the panic thing and started to think if she put something in the microwave that could possibly be hazerdous. I run into the kitchen as fast as I can to all of a sudden seeing through the microwave screen that something is zapping and flashing light. I hurry and turn off the microwave. Lucy had put two glitter pens AND A REMOTE into our microwave. Yes, the remote also had batteries in it. They only heated for about 5 seconds before I got to it. It filled my kitchen with smoke and the most disgusting smell. Yes, the remote and glitter pens are history. So, I guess it's okay to think worse case scenario sometimes because you never know what children are capable of or when they will put themselves in danger and if you're not there quick enough....! I don't know if she was in any real danger like getting electricuted or causing my house to catch fire, but like I said.... I THINK WORSE CASE SCENARIO ABOUT EVERYTHING!!!

Substitute Teaching

My interent was down for a few weeks so, I'm behind in my uneventful life. Well, Chris is a state employee and Governor Huntsman decided that all Utah State employees should do a test trial of working 4/10s a week instead of 5/8s a week to see if it will cut down on many costs in our incredibly expensive economy. It's a one year idea. Who's to say whether it becomes permanent or not. I would say not since I don't think our state will end up saving that much dinero. Anyway, Chris and I are both now usually home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As nice as it is to have so much time together after the first 4 exhausting days, I decided that I should get some kind of a job for Fridays since Chris can stay home with the kids. Waitressing came to mind and then I decided that I'd rather punch out all my teeth with a power drill rather than waitress again! I've done that for 4 years of our 8 1/2 year marriage. I decided to look into substitute teaching. I went down to apply and found out that the training they have just once a year was going to be held just 2 days after I applied. It gave a $5 per work day bonus if you attend. Well, I am all certified now and I had my first teaching experience today. I guess you can't really call it "teaching". I was called in for just one hour today to watch a Senior Class Sports Medicine course while they took a test. They were able to study an additional 1/2 hour at the beginning of class and then had a 1/2 hour to take their test. It was actually quite humorous. I decided that during the test, instead of sitting down behind the desk, I would stay standing in front of the class the whole time just watching the students. I could see a few eyes just dying to creep over to their neighbors, but then they'd look up and see me and their eyes would get big, followed by them focused back down on their own paper. Kinda funny, but all and all it was a great bunch of kids. I had to remind them to be quiet numerous times during study time, but that's not too bad. The real challenge will be this Friday when I take care of a 4th grade class from 8:15-1:30. There are two Elementary schools here in Price. Unfortunately, I will not be at the same school as my daughter. One of these times I'm sure. I'm a little nervous so, wish me luck!

A Few Stories....

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately.....my computer is ancient and having a hard time down loading any pictures. It's over 8 years old. I know, I'm due for a new one. I guess I'll have to wait for Uncle Sam to give us some tax money back next year and then maybe. They're so expensive, but a necessity!

Ginny started 1st grade a week ago and is loving it so far. She loves her teacher and thinks it's way cool that they both have the same first name. She comes home everyday with a new best friend. I guess that's how kids that young are. They recycle eachother over and over so quickly. Asher will start his 3rd year of preschool at the Castle Valley Center for children with special needs again. He'll have the same teacher he had last year and she is fantastic. I hope we see great things from Asher this year. A little speech would be the best! Everyone pray for him that he will one day be able to speak. Watching my almost 5 year old unable to communicate with the world is the most awful thing in the world. It's so scary. Anyway, on to other things...

Lucy is the SCREAMIEST child I have ever encountered and she's mine! Isn't that crazy? I didn't know how ridiculous it was until yesterday. I was trying to talk to my parents on the phone while my kids were playing in the backyard. She would scream over every little thing at the top of her lungs. I was getting extremely angry, but holding my composure because I'm on the phone. Finally she lets out about the 15th blood-curdling scream and it happened. My head all of a sudden just ached and blood started pouring out my nose. That's right....my daughter screamed so loud it made my nose bleed. I now know that if anyone could be capable of actually shattering glass with their voice, it's my sweet Lucy because she can make a nose bleed. Don't get me wrong, I love the stinker, but boy can she scream!!!!

Lastly EEEEewwwww! If any of you can top this for grossest thing ever to be done, please share because this one is hard to top! We took our kids to KFC/A&W for lunch on Friday afternoon. We then ran a few other errands. Chris realizes that he can't find his new work phone....A BLACKBERRY AND WORTH $300!!!!! We back trace our steps and finally come to the conclusion that the last possible place would be in the garbage can at the fast food. OF COURSE someone had taken all the garbage out and put it in the dumpster....just our luck! We got some gloves and then Chris jumped into the dumpster. This is no exaggeration! My poor husband is in a fastfood dumpster! It smells awful!!!! He starts throwing out garbage bags and we start digging. At the bottom of the second bag we had dug through, we found it!!! Halle-freakin'-lujiah! All that nastyness had to have benefited us somehow. To conclude this story, we went straight home and I had a shower. Yuck! Anyone that can top that?

Lastly, I am for sure NOT going to the class reunion. I am sad, but it was my own personal choice. I would love to see everyone, but I already have a trip on Sept. 4th with family that's been planned since last December and I don't want to take my kids on a long journey again just two weeks later. I will be thinking of you all that night and probably tearing up, but once you have kids, you all know how it works...your wants and needs never come first again.

Wow, I just realized how depressing my blog today seems. Seriously, everything is just fine.

Pics from Henderson

My sister Kari is really into photography and thank goodness! She took care of taking some pictures of my kids and I while we were in Henderson back in July since I didn't even get my camera out of my bag....not even ONCE!!!

Asher and I being silly in my parent's pool together. He's always happy around water.

Ginny having a blast hosing people down at the Mission Hills Water Park. What a crack up!

To be honest, this is about 10 minutes after I'd put her clothes on her. My kids can never keep their clothes clean for more than 5 minutes! Oh well. She's still cute.

Ginny posing for my sister one last time before we got in the car to head back to Price.

Sara was the good one here to bring a camera to our girl's night out. Again, I had so much fun with Holly and Sara!

They Drive Me Crazy.....Yet I Love Them!

Let me just give you a preview of what I mean by the title:


GINNY First off, my daughter Ginny absolutely LOVED our trip to Lagoon back at the beginning of the month. She talks about it constantly. The rides, the fun, the food, etc... I guess she was running out of things to talk about relating to it.



This morning: "Mom, how many times did I go to the bathroom while we were at Lagoon?" Why would I remember that?!!!

ASHER Later in the day, I catch Asher in the fridge eating mini M&Ms. I pull him out and shut the fridge door. A few minutes later I catch him in the pantry eating rainbow sprinkles. So, I try to be a good mom and decide to make some caramel apples for him and put those things on them for him. I get out the caramel and start melting it. He can't keep his hands off the caramel. Loves eating it. I get out the different candies he likes for rolling the apples in once they are caramel dipped. He can't keep his hands off the candy. I dip the apples and roll them in the M&Ms and sprinkles. I then let them set for a while. You think he would be thrilled. After it sets, I cut one apple up into slices for him to eat them. What does he do? HE EATS THE APPLE PART AND LEAVES THE CANDY-COATED SKIN!!!!!!!

LUCY Lastly, I don't read very often and this is why... My friend gave me a book to read today called, "A Long Way From Chicago" for book club this month. I was on page 1. Lucy came in the room saying, "book! book!" over and over until I read her "Good Night Moon". I read it once and she wanted me to read it two more times. After that, she said "done". I think, "okay, now back to my book". I then started reading page 2. Lucy came running in the room once again saying, "book! book!" I then had to read "Happy Baby Colors" to her. After we finished that one, I put her down and tried to start reading my book again. She again takes off to where all the books are again. It was then I threw my hands in the air and decided that reading was a bad idea.

If you are wondering, all 3 of these pictures are when they were each 9 months old. That's when they all looked the most alike before they each got older and took on more of their own identities. All crazy kids, but I love 'em!!

Procrastinator

Yep, that would be me! I am a terrible person I feel sometimes. I have done so much since my last entry, but did I take a camera with me on my family's many excursions? Of course!! Does that mean that I actually used it? NO!!!!! Entries are always funner when there are pictures to go with it, but unfortunately, this will be a pictureless update. Sorry! Well, since my last posting, we have been on a few great adventures. First, on July 1, Chris and I and our three children went on a fun family trip to Lagoon in Farmington, UT. We had such a great time! Chris and I loved it and the kids did too. There was something there for everyone. It was one stinken' hot day. Luckily they have a few water rides to accomodate the heat. It's hard walking around an amusement park wearing socks and shoes that are sloshy though. Ginny is becoming quite adventurous and was willing to do more thrilling things. Her favorite ride is a roller coaster called "Spider". It's actually fun and quite crazy! It's a wild roller coaster that is spinning in any which direction while you are on a crazy track. Two thrills in one and Ginny couldn't get enough of it. Anyway, that was fun. Asher and Lucy loved the kid area and especially loved the merry-go-round. It was fun to see those two giggle so much through the day.

Then, the kids and I were off on a Henderson trip from July 7-13. That was a lot of fun because we stayed with my parents and met my sister from Elko, NV there with her 6 children. We spent the whole week in the pool......LITERALLY! It was so hot that water was the only thing constantly on all our minds. My project goal for the week was to get my oldest Ginny to where she could swim on her own. My sister had the same agenda for her daughter that is the same age and by the end of the week, I guess you could say that we had a few little Mermaids (as the girls liked to be called) swimming acrossed that pool. Asher also loved the water, but liked to either pace on the steps or hold onto a float ring while spinning in circles. Lucy liked the water a little. She's such a priss. She likes to dip her feet a bit and then walk around the outside of the pool. She feels she's very brave if she gets her upper legs wet. I can't leave out that I had one girl's night out with my dear highschool friends Holly Hutchings (Bidwell) and Sara Russell (Frehner). We had so much fun munching at Macayos and then after getting kicked out of there for being there too late, we talked for atleast another hour in the parking lot. I guess the city danger was worth our jabber. It was fabulous and I had so much fun. By the end of the week, my brother KC, wife Lynnette and their two boys came up from Flagstaff, AZ and spent the weekend with us. I love being with family. I just wish it could happen more often. We missed Kip, Pamela, and their four children. Of course, I missed my hubbie! He spent that whole week working his tail off driving all over Utah state to different habitat project sights. Thanks for letting me go hun!

Since we've been home, Chris' parents have come to visit, and even his brother Tyler and wife Maren came to Price for a while during their trip to the US from their home in S. Africa! Chris' oldest brother also flew over from Boston, MA. Everyone is so spread out, but I appreciate everyone making the time to see one another. It was fun to see everyone's slides from their big trips. Chris' parents just got back from China and showed us all their slides from that big adventure. They brought me and my girls back some beautiful pearls as well. Nothing to complain about that.

Tomorrow, we are on our way to Ogden, UT to wish Chris' youngest brother Kelly a "Bon Voyage" as he gets ready to prepare for a month in Washington DC with the AF before heading over to do 6 months service in Afghanistan. We are so proud of him and his willingness to serve and also think his newly wife Cassi (as of March) is an amazing supporter as she sees him off and awaits his safe return. So, lots has been going on. Hopefully I'll be better about pictures in the future. Mental note to self....."Take the dang camera and actually use it!"

Summer Fun

Asher's school for people with disabilities have summer programs. They don't do them for preschool age children, but our Ward Bishop is also the Principal at the school and invited Asher and I to go with the school to Hoggle Zoo in Salt Lake City on the bus last week. I also thought Asher deserved a big treat after having to be put to sleep the day before to get 8 cavities in his mouth filled! It's not often that Asher and I have our time together with just the two of us. We had a great time and I learned there that Asher LOVES Apes!


Poor, Poor Zach! May he rest in peace. Ginny wanted to raise tadpoles into frogs. Well, we ordered 3 tadpoles and the first 2 died the first few weeks we had them, but this one (whom Ginny named "Zach") died right before he had completed the entire cycle of becoming a frog. We don't know what happened. He was swimming and crawling around in the morning and by the afternoon he was floating around lifeless. We burried him in the backyard a few days ago.

We spend a lot of time in the backyard this summer. The kids LOVE to sit in their little pool, do slip and slide, jump on a wet trampoline while I spray them, or run through sprinklers. I guess you could say they find water to be very refreshing in this summer heat!

Here is my 1/2 time terror 1/2 time sweetie! Lucy loves to be outside. All day long she'll chase me around the house holding her sandals saying, "outside". If I say "ok", she gets very excited. If I say "no", then she protests as loudly as possible and our day is ruined. You have to love her determination and drive. Even if it hurts my ears sometimes.

Asher, my little fish!! I'm not kidding. There is nothing in this world he loves more than water. I don't know how he survives during the fall and winter because cold water showering him in the summer heat just makes his life complete! A weird twist.... he HATES showers in the house. He only likes to bathe in the home. It's so fun to watch how giggly this kid gets.

My little curly Princess Ginny! Lately she has wanted me to put sponge curlers in her hair after her evening bath. She wakes up with the tightest curls you've ever seen. Luckily they loosen throughout the day, but she just thinks that the curlier her hair is, the prettier. What a cute priss! Her main passion for the summer is riding her big lady bug bike. She truly has mastered riding without training wheels.

Lucy's First Joke

So, I was getting Lucy ready for bed last night. She is just over 22 months old. The routine is to change her diaper, put on her pjs, get her a sippy cup full of water, brush her teeth, and then go into her room to tuck her into bed. Well, right after I brushed her teeth, I reminded her that it was time for bed. She crouched down to the floor of the bathroom and then laid her head on the step stool we keep in there and then she said, "bed". She had the most proud grin on her face. I could just imagine what was going through her head, "Wow! How clever and hillarious I am!" So, her joke was that the step stool was her bed. It was fun to see that there is a little jokester in her.

A late conclusion to Paradise

Here are a few more pictures from our excursion to Kauai, Hawaii. They are all kind of random, but just a few last pictures and experiences to share.

I finally have a picture to post as proof that I jumped from that high cliff. If you look closely, you can see me waving my arms up high from mid-air. What a rush!!!!!

Here I am getting ready to do some snorkeling at Tunnels. It's the hot spot of Kauai for snorkeling. Did I mention that I snorkeled with an octopus my last day in Kauai? Awesome! My favorite fish was the Hawaii's state fish called the "humuhumunukunuku apu a'a" . Too bad I'm not having any more children because that would have been a great name. Just Kidding!!

Here is a way cool picture I took of my husband snorkeling. Okay, I admit it was a bit posed, but it still makes for a great photo! Snorkeling was by far Chris' favorite hobbie on the island.

Here is my sweet Lucy taking a snooze on the beach. Actually, she was quite opposite of sweet the last few days. She was ready to go home and she did not hesitate a bit in expressing her anger. Lucy has by far the fairest skin of our whole family. I actually had a lady approach me the first day on the island telling me that I needed to keep her in a shirt and pants the whole trip because the sun would be too intense for her skin. Well, I wish I could see her now to prove her wrong! My daughter was able to lounge in her swimsuits the entire trip. Yes, the sun was intense, but I greased her up quite a bit everyday with SPF 70 and kept her big brimmed hats on and she was fine. No sunburns!!!!

AloooooooooHA!!!!!

Are you sick of all my FAB posts yet?! Sorry, but I can't get over bragging that I am in paradise and have so many awesome things to share. Hope you enjoy a few more pictures of my time in Kauai. Oh, and a future warning...these probably STILL won't be the last that I am going to share. Aloha!!

Chris and I went on a romantic date last night while my gracious brother-in-law and sister-in-law watched Lucy for us. We did a bit of shopping and then went to an amazing restaurant called "Keokis". My husband bought me this pretty Lei to wear for our date. I love how tan we look here! Why can't I have a beach in my backyard? Anyone have a spare $10,000,000 they want to give me? HAHA Anyway, the food was amazing, but more than anything I LOVED the atmosphere. I'm all about the surroundings.

There are chickens and roosters all over the entire island. No exaggeration! I guess there was a Hurricane in the early 90s or something and all the chickens from a big farm escaped and ran wild. Well, the rest is history and now they are everywhere. It's quite funny actually. All over the streets, beaches, golf courses, etc...

This is Charlie, Carrie, and baby Isaac that are enjoying this wonderful vacation with us. It's been fun to hang-out with them and we've all had a great time.

Here we are at a beautiful water fall. Pictures truly do not do it justice. Awesome!!

And the winner is..... No, seriously this was suprisingly my most favorite place on the entire island. I felt like I was on a jungle safari. It was pouring rain while we were walking there and we were literally going through a jungle. So lush it was like being in a rainforrest. All of a sudden we find this fresh water hole with a beautiful waterfall that has great cliffs to jump from. I just loved the whole Oasis feel about it. We jumped from these cliffs a few times. Probably the farthest vertical distance I have ever dared to jump from. If you look closely, you can see Chris and Charlie jumping off together.
Loved, loved, LOVED this place!!!