ANSWERED PRAYERS

Yesterday started out basicly like most days. Get the big boys off to school. Ryan is sleeping since he has to work tonight. AJ and Levi are vying for my attention and I'm trying to get things done. Thankfully Wednesday is playgroup which gives all of us something to look forward to. We went to playgroup and came home and Levi was still crabby but I figured it was due to a bad nights sleep the night before and we were both due for a nap. I put him down and went to lay down with Ryan but he awoke screaming and grabbing his stomach only 30 minutes later. That kept up the rest of the day with him playing one minute and crying and grabbing his stomach the next. Long story short after deciding to take him in to Good Night Pediatrics, LOVE THEM, we ended up at children's hospital in the ER. Here is where the Lord's hand became more obvious. The first Dr. who saw us at GNP was sending us home when while we were waiting for his insurance to be verified, he had another fit. The dr was standing around the corner and saw and heard and decided we should go to the hospital immediately. We did. Once at Children's he was immediately triaged and put into a room, immediately seen by a nurse and Dr and an ultrasound was ordered to check to see if he had intussusception. I've never seen everything go so smoothly. He was getting his ultrasound immediately AND immediately the radiologist was in the ultrasound room giving me the results. Immediately after that he was in a different room in xray getting it reduced with an air enema. Again the Lord's hand is clear, it worked, no surgery needed. Levi was not happy about the enema but since he doesn't understand the alternative, oh well. He woke up this am screaming don't and no and kicking and punching me poor guy but other than that, you'd never know that last night he was in the worst pain of his short life and only a short while from bowel surgery. I'm so thankful for the Lord's watchful care. It couldn't have gone any smoother, no delay anywhere. No waiting for Dr.'s to be called in. No waiting for tests, no waiting for a room, no waiting for anything and best of all... NO SURGERY! Today he is running around and causing problems and eating again! I was so relieved that I couldn't avert the tears last night as we went back to his er room after it was over. I'm so thankful for answered prayers especially the short and quiet ones last night.

Our 2009 Family Christmas Photo

Alright I waited and waited for a good time to take a REAL family picture. It never came. I gave up and asked Ryan if he minded if I just took one of the kids and sent it off for our Christmas card. He didn't so here it is. I actually didn't intend to include the dogs but they kept getting in the picture so we decided to let them. This is the one I ended up picking. These are my favorites but I decided they probably shouldn't be sent out.
I love AJ hugging his dog and who couldn't love that look on Levi's face! And Caleb hugging him! Too bad Jake looked away just as I snapped the pic. BUMMER!!! I was completely set to send out Levi's nose picker pic but alas... How about Jake's face. My mom thinks he looks like someone is poking him. I love Caleb's smile! I'm sure Ryan would have killed me.

Sinking in

As I'm sitting here posting my last post my boys are building a fort in the front room with cushions and blankets. As always there are some heated "discussions" about how it should be done and from there I hear Jake say " No fighting on Sunday!" I'm choosing to be happy about the fact that he is in some form observing the Sabbath and trying to be a peacemaker. I did think it was funny the implied you can fight on the other 6 days of the week just not Sunday. I love my boys!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEVI

My sweet Levi turned 2 this past week. We had a small birthday party for him yesterday and it was fun. It was very laid back but the boys seemed to have a good time. They definitely enjoyed the cupcakes. I made an "Elmo" pull apart cake with cupcakes that I was very pleased with. It turned out a lot better than I was afraid it would. Anyhow the boys shoved the cupcakes in their mouths and I heard Reed say more words than he's ever said in nursery the whole time I've known him when he said, "I want more cupcake" after he licked the paper and picked up every crumb he dropped. It was definitely one of the highlights. I hope that Tiffany doesn't hate me forever for giving it to him. Myron shoved his into his mouth pretending to be Cookie Monster but Levi wanted to make sure he didn't lose sight of his truck he got before he would eat his.

All in all it was fun to watch and I'm glad I didn't let Levi's birthday get swallowed up in all the Christmas celebrations which is basicly why I really wanted to have the party in the first place. I know, I'm really paranoid about it. It was worth it. Sorry Tiffany about the cupcake, I hope you forgive me!

Belated Halloween

Ok, I know I'm almost 2 whole months late but I uploaded the camera today before Levi's b-day party(a seperate post to follow hopefully before I'm two months late) and I found these pics. Halloween was a marathon event. First we had the ward Trunk or Treat. The next night was actually Halloween and we had friends over and went trick or treating in our neighborhood and then in the next neighborhood since ours was pretty sparse. The boys had a great time and got way too much candy which we donated to Nana's work. As you can see even Jazz and Neptune got into the Halloween spirit and enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood.

Plum tuckered out!

Don't ya just know when yer wore out yer wore out. My sweet cowboy was too tired to take off his boots and hat or even put down his gun.

TROUBLE WITH A CAPITAL T

If you ever hear laughing from the kitchen... run don't walk into the kitchen! I didn't. I knew it was going to be bad and I just didn't have the energy to face it. When I did...my floor was covered with water which Levi and Caleb both went skidding in and just to make it interesting I guess, there is alot of ice mixed in too. ALOT of ice. The picture is from after they, not me, they started cleaning it up. WOW. That's all I can say about that. I could have gotten a wider shot but it covered most of the kitchen and into the front room. Does this fall into the category of boys will be boys? Now it falls into the category of things they don't want to do again. It took a long time to clean up and I didn't do any of it except wring out the towels into the sink so they could reuse them. To be honest, I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen, it was bound to sooner or later with the ice/water dispenser right on the front of the fridge calling to them. It could have been worse, I know that from past experience.

Our Adventure

We had a grand adventure this week. Our power went out with the storm Monday night, what a storm. Check out the display sheds at Lowe's. It's hard to see but the bigger shed was moved into the light pole and it was blown so far that there were sheds behind it also. The other one was missing panels. I love the weather and when it's fantastic I get so excited. Monday was so exciting!!! Our power flickered several times throughout the day and evening. Monday night it went out and stayed out. Thankfully we were up so we bundled up the kids with extra blankets and went to bed wondering if it would come back on by morning. It didn't. Levi came into bed with us freezing in the middle of the night. The rest of them were good until 5:30 when Caleb and AJ woke up and couldn't get the lights to come on. AJ came into our bed, I got up to light the candle I had left next to my bed and Caleb went to wake up Jake. My favorite part of the morning came when they all got back to my room and Caleb and Jake were starting to panic. Caleb, " MOM, THERE IS NO ELECTRICITY IN THE WHOLE HOUSE". Me, " I know. The storm knocked out the power." Jake, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Me, " We get to have an adventure! We get to use candles and pretend we are pioneers for the morning." This was followed by a long pause and then a chorus of "COOL!" Normally I'm not that creative so I know the Lord was helping me that very cold and dark morning. My kids had a great time. Even my awesome husband who isn't a morning person, out of necessity, got up cheerfully and took us all to breakfast so we could have a hot breakfast. On our way to the restaurant we could see that some neighborhoods had power while others didn't. Caleb lamented that it wasn't fair. I agreed and said, "You're right, they don't get to have an adventure and use candles and go to the restaurant for breakfast on a school day." That stuck with him all day and when I picked them up after school they were disappointed the power was back on and asked if we could pretend the next morning. I love my family!! I love the adventure we are living!!! I'm thankful we had so many candles since the batteries were dead in all of our flashlights because AJ likes to play with them. I'm thankful we have a warm home to protect us from what were amazing winds and a very cold bunch of nights lately. I'm thankful we aren't really pioneers living like that everyday, I'm thankful that there are and were others who were willing to make the necessary sacrifices to make our comfortable and blessed way of life possible. I'm thankful we got to have that adventure to remind me again.

My new body

I have recently discovered muscles I forgot I had and apparently haven't used, for a long time. I started an aerobics/weights class on Wednesday. It was great and I sweat like a... well I sweat alot. My physical therapist told me last year that when you sweat you sweat out fat too. I hope he was right. Today I worked out again, I used the tape Chantil loaned me saying it's her favorite. She must be significantly more coordinated than I am. I looked more like a seizure I'm sure. By the end, yes I actually finished, I was again sweating and soaked, more fat out I hope. I could barely lift my legs, running was not an option anymore, and my previously sore muscles were screaming. Right now as I sit and crave chocolate and ache I'm questioning my sanity. It's worth it right? I want smaller jeans for Christmas. It'll be worth it. I want to look better than I do in this picture!

I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!!

I know that I'm a Christmas junkie but it's not the gifts although I do love giving and to be honest, getting is fun too. I love the entire season! Most years there are so many people who are completely engrossed in themselves and what they have to get done that going to the store is even worse than usual but this year people have been different. I see a lot more kind people, more courtesy, more smiles, more merry wishes basically more of what Christmas really means! It makes it so much easier to keep in mind the REAL reason we celebrate. Maybe it's just that I actually have been reading my scriptures DAILY even when I'm too tired. Maybe it's just that I'm closer to the spirit because I actually get on my knees to pray instead in bed where it's warm and soft. Maybe it's because the longer I'm married to my fabulous husband the more I love and appreciate him and enjoy doing things with and for him. I don't know but I do know that I'm happier this year and able to feel the spirit easier and more often and that makes me appreciate the holidays even more. We always decorate the day after Thanksgiving, this year I enjoyed it more. I can't wait until Christmas but I'm enjoying the season more than ever. I'm so grateful for this time of year and for our Savior and his life and mission. I'm thankful for my family and friends and the gospel in my life. It truly is a wonderful life!