Happy New Year

Here's to a new year, new opportunities, and a new you. Or me, as it were. Today is New Years Eve. The day when most of the country will get so sloshed they won't even remember ringing the new one in. The day when parties and gatherings abound, and much simultaneous kissing will happen at 12:01 am. Tonight, we are having a few close friends over to celebrate the passing of 2006. We are going to play games, eat food, and enjoy one anothers company. And yes, at 12:01 am, I'm sure there will be some kissing. Today is also my last day as a primary teacher. Although I had expressed a half-formed desire to be released when approached by the primary president, I am struck with some very mixed feelings today. These children that I have nurtured throughout the past year, today are going to be moving on without me. We have been through a lot, our little class. I started teaching them on the very first Sunday of the year, and have since then seen one of my students lose a mother to death, another go completely inactive, and still others grow and blossom in ways I didn't think possible when we started down this path. I am going to miss these children, our weekly confidences and giggles as we learn the gospel together. I'm going to miss their little faces so happy to see me after sacrament meeting, and their eager voices telling their parents what we had learned in class that day. I comfort myself with knowing that I've done the best I can with these children. I have tried to guide them and teach them the things that they need to know. When I get sad about leaving primary, I remind myself that it is the kids I am going to miss, and these children are leaving my class whether I stay in primary or not. Anyway, I hope this evening finds each of you in good company, warm and secure in the love in your life. Welcome, 2007!

Reminiscing

All is quiet at my house. I mean, completely silent. The two elder boys are snuggling on the sofa in the living room, and my baby is sleeping soundly in his bedroom. I'm feeling that slow, comfortable kind of tired that you get after a long rest. I've been sitting here in front of the computer for a while, going back into the archives of this blog and re-reading old posts. It's been quiet a journey that we've been on, readers! You have all been with me through some fairly exciting things, and I'm really grateful that I've kept up with this blog. It's a really great resource on my life, and the things I have been doing. I hope that everybody out in the world is enjoying my ramblings as much as I've enjoyed posting them. It seems like this winter is dragging on, even though it is barely beginning, and I've enjoyed this outlet. I am lucky enough to be blessed with a really fantastic family. My two boys are smart, healthy (mostly), and full of life. My husband is thoughtful, kind, and loving. My life is truly a joy, even though I find it easy to get caught up in the small inconveniences that we experience. We have been given opportunities at every juncture to make the most of our difficulties, and we always seem to come out on top. I can't deny that the Lord has had a hand in everything that we do, and I keep telling myself that there is a eternal plan for our little family. I'm glad I took the time to go through the archives today, it's served as a reality check for me, and today I'm going to go out with a smile, and spend time with these wonderful people that I've been given for a family. In case I don't get around to posting tomorrow, I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year. I hope that 2007 finds each of you happy, healthy, and making the most of your life.

Merry Christmas

Okay, okay. I know I'm really late in posting some Christmas pictures, but I've been really busy this week. I'm sure I was doing really important things every day during the time that I am usually blogging. Okay, so that's a flimsy excuse at best, but here I am, belatedly posting some photos. This one is Kadon discovering his stocking bright and early, at 6:45 in the morning. In his stocking he received a new hooded towel that looked like a dog, a Mr. PotatoHead accessory kit, and the usual assortment of goodies. He immediately dived into the apple-cinnamon rice cakes that I had added.

Pajama Time

This is a fairly good photo of the pajama bottoms that I made everybody for Christmas. I was very brave this year, and decided that I am going to teach myself to sew. After being forced to purchase pre-made Halloween costumes, I vowed that by next autumn I would be comfortable enough with a sewing machine to make my kids costumes. The pajama pants, which I made for the entire family, was one of my first ventures, and I have to say they turned out really well. They're just the right size for everybody, and I think we all look adorable. I wish I had been smart enough to take a picture of everybody in them on Christmas morning, but c'est la vie.

Grand Finale

The grand finale of the morning was definetely the large Castle and Knight set that my sister found online for the kids. If some of you regular readers remember me posting earlier, Jeremy had very specifically requested a castle and knight set from Santa, who promised that it would appear on Christmas morning. Luckily, as Ammon and I had long since finished our shopping and exhausted our funds, my sister stepped in and saved the day. The kids haven't stopped playing with the castle yet!

Super Messy

See that picture? Take a good look at it. This is a graphic image of what super glue will do to a poor, defenseless hand. A hand innocently squeezing a tube of glue, trying to perform a simple home repair. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a hand assaulted. The attack occurred at approximately 8pm MST when the victim was attempting to repair a knob that had broken off of an entertainment center. She retrieved a small tube of Elmer's brand super glue from the utility bin, and settled down in front of the entertainment center with said tube and said knob. The idea was to squeeze a little bit of the super glue into the hole of the knob where the screw holding the knob on the cupboard is supposed to go. Thus, the glue would hold the screw inside the knob, and hold the knob onto the front of the cupboard. Unfortunately, the tube of glue had other ideas. The glue wouldn't come out of the tube easily, and the victim assumed that the glue was simply stuck in the tip. See, the tube had been sitting unused for several months, and the whole 'glue dried in tip theory' seemed like a good one at the time. However, when the tube was rolled from the end and squeezed again, the glue decided to make it's assault. The glue sprayed from the end of the tube like a fire hose, coating the victims hand in the sticky, fast drying substance. The victim immediately ran to the sink, attempting to scrub the glue off with a vigorous hand washing, while the victims significant other laughed uproariously in the background. As the evidence (ie: photo) plainly shows, this attempt failed. If any of you have any tips for removing vicious, attacking glue from skin, they would be greatly appreciated.

New Ticker

As most of you know, Ammon and I have been trying to eat more healthy and be more active for the past several months. With the holidays coming, I'm feeling some of my resolve slipping, so I posted this ticker as an effort to motivate myself. I'm going to set a goal of 50 pounds, and cheer myself on by being able to watch that ticker slide all the way across the bar. Hopefully knowing that everybody that reads this blog is also keeping track of my weight loss will keep me on the straight and narrow through the difficult winter months!

Performance

Okay, Mary. It is ten o'clock at night here, and Ammon and I are both exhausted and headed to bed, but I'm posting this just for you, so you can read it first thing when you get up in Lithuania, instead of waiting until morning our time, which is all day for you! Just wanted you to know what kind of daughter in law I am!
Anyway, the performance tonight at the assisted living center went pretty well. We opened with one of our more difficult songs, and it was a little bit rocky early in the performance. The second song we had to completely restart, since the accompanist skipped a line in the music and got ahead of the voices. I missed notes that I hadn't ever missed before, and it was the first time we were trying to sing in front of a microphone, so getting close enough together to get all the voices in the mic was a challenge. That being said, I think the performance went quite well. The audience seemed to really enjoy it, laughed with us, and was moved at the appropriate places. Several of the residences came up to us after the performance and asked that we come back soon, so we're already talking about putting together an 'oldies' springtime show just for them. We did manage to capture the entire 40 minute performance on videotape, so we have it for our posterity.
In a way, I'm actually kind of sad that this program is over. I've really enjoyed singing the Christmas songs that we do, and I've gotten attached to several of the non-Christmas pieces as well. I guess discarding music and moving on to something else is part of being a member in this type of group, but I'm going to miss the feeling of getting ready for a show, and feeling the press and anxiety of it. I'm sure that we'll set up other shows, and we're already planning to come back here, but I'm really glad that our first performance as a group, and my very first real performance in general went well.

Sing, sing, sing!

Well, today was our very last practice before we perform at the Assisted Living Center tomorrow night. We did a final run-through of our program, including an introduction for all of us, and the poems that are being read in between some of the songs. Our little program should run about 30-35 minutes, and is really beautiful. I think it's a lovely mix of Christmas music, and enough non-Christmas music to keep it interesting. I hope the old folks are as pleased with it as we are. If they're not, we still had a good time putting it together, and that's all that counts! Today we also agreed on the clothing we're to wear, got folders to arrange our music, and set up a warm-up time for tomorrow evening. I'm going to try and remember to have Ammon take some pictures, and possibly even videotape the show so we have something to show for our hard work. I won't post the entire show, but maybe if we have a particularly good bit tomorrow night I will post that part. Keep us all in your prayers tomorrow night, as three of the four of us are either sick or recovering, and hopefully nobody else will be struck down for at least 36 hours!

Family Pictures

We got our family photos done early last week, just in time for Christmas. Everybody in the family is giving my grandmother framed family portraits for Christmas this year, so we got in just under the wire to have them back by Friday in time to frame it and have it ready when we see her on Christmas Eve. I didn't want to buy any new clothes for these photos, so we rummaged around the house and decided we all had black shirts. I like the matching pictures much better, but I wish Jeremy had something to wear other than a black t-shirt. Anyway, I thought you guys out in cyber-space would enjoy these, so here they are! Below, I'll post a couple other pictures from our sitting, so be sure to check those out as well.

Ammon and Kids

This is my favorite picture out of the ones we ordered. Jeremy is making kind of a funny face, but we did this one toward the end of the photos, so getting a natural smile was getting a little bit difficult. I think my little boy crew looks wonderful together, and I'm glad we decided to get this picture taken on a whim.

Victoria and Kids

Ammon made me order prints of this picture, I think it was retaliation for me ordering the prints of him with the kids. I really am not a fan of this picture, and will probably avoid actually hanging it up in my home, but at least we have it and Ammon can feel vindicated.

Caroling we go

Last night for Family Home Evening a group of us went out caroling. It was a lot of fun, and we made it to several houses in the ward. We only sang for about 40 minutes, as it was bitterly cold, and also my voice was starting to give out. I was trying my best to sing gingerly, but I have missed songs so much, I couldn't help but really try to do my best. It didn't sound very good, I was able to sing my part but it sounds very gravelly and not much like myself, but I enjoyed it all the same. After our trek around the neighborhood, we all ventured back to our house where we had hot chocolate and donuts, and sat around and talked for about an hour. All in all, it was a very pleasant, if very COLD evening. The temperature is supposed to plummet again today, and when I looked at the weather report, the temperature is currently 10 degrees, and we have a lovely high of 29 today! Looks like we got out caroling done just in time.

Medical Miracle!

I've been posting about how nasty this cold is, and today I finally went in to the doctor to get it taken care of. Apparently the cold that is going around requires an antibiotic in order to kick it for good, and I didn't want to wait around anymore. Also, since my voice isn't improving at all and I really want to be able to perform on Friday, I was hoping he could give me some tips to help restore my brutalized vocal chords. Well, not only did he give me a beefy antibiotic, but he also took my whimpering to heart and gave me 5 days worth of a steroid that will reduce the inflammation in my chords, and get my voice back to normal! Yea! Within a couple hours of taking the medication, my voice sounds almost normal. A little bit weaker and trembly, for sure, and I haven't tried to sing yet, but at least I can speak, and that's a bonus! I'm going to be careful for the next few days, so I don't injure them after not using them for so long, but it looks like the show will go on, after all!

Date Night

Last night Ammon and I went out on a date. It's the only time all month that we've been able to coordinate getting a sitter, and had a little bit of funds to be able to go out. We went back to our favorite Indian place, and then saw a movie at the cheap theatre. We had discussed going somewhere where we could interact a little bit more, but we have both been struck down by this nasty cold, so the idea of planting ourselves in front of a movie screen was pretty appealing. I've been whispering for about two days in order to conserve my voice, so the idea of not having to keep up my end of the conversation was really nice. Today we are planning to get some grocery shopping done and generally take it easy for the weekend. Ammon's been working extra hard trying to make extra money this month, so we're excited to spend a day mostly at home and not doing much!

Kadon's Specialist

Yesterday we took Kadon down to Primary Children's Medical Center and had him checked out by an asthma specialist. The doctor agreed that all of his symptoms combined sound like asthma, and gave us a detailed action plan to follow, along with about 5 new prescriptions for new medication. We're hopeful that with all this new information and the new treatments, we won't have any more major problems. We were very comfortable with the doctor, and feel really great about the treatment options that he presented to us. Kadon also seems to be getting over his latest ear infection, so hopefully we'll all be healthy for a while, that is if I ever get over this cold, right? Hope things are going well for all of you, and the blessed end of the week finds you well!

Sickly

It's a good thing I don't get sick very often. I have come down with a particularly nasty cold the last two days, and I feel like my head is going to explode and my nose is going to fall off. Last night I was smart enough to take some NyQuil before I went to bed, and I slept like an angel....until about 2:00 am when the drugs wore off. If I were a smart woman, I would have gotten up and taken more medicine, but since I was warm and comfortable in bed, I stayed there and suffered. Ammon was nice enough to stick around this morning and make us a hot breakfast and put away the clean dishes for me, and suggested that I put in a movie for myself and relax today. I might do that, but I really should be getting the laundry done and unearthing my newborn clothing for my friend who is having a baby next month. I think I'll just take it easy for a little while, and then hopefully tackle my chores after a movie.

Candy Making

Today we are going to my grandmothers for our annual Christmas candy making. I have missed it for the last couple of years, and I'm really excited to be able to go today. We always make toffee, fudge, cherry no-bakes, and the grand finale is peanut brittle! We use my great grandmothers recipe, and it is a huge celebration when the peanut brittle is correct. Usually we call my great grandma at least once to ask her a question (which we don't really need the answer too) just to make her feel included. I've really missed being part of this tradition the last couple of years, so hopefully today is great, and hopefully my children behave so I actually get to cook instead of just chasing them around.

Visiting Santa

Today we visited the mall to have pictures of my kids taken with Santa. I was impressed with how well both of my kids did. Jeremy was so animated all the way to the mall, telling me that he was going to ask Santa for toys, and asking me where his sled would be. He wanted to know where Santa lived, what kind of house he lived in, and even how his sleigh traveled because there isn't any snow. It was really cute, even if it was a little bit annoying to be answer his questions at rapid fire pace for the entire 25 minute drive. When we arrived at the mall, we found Santa's Toy Shop to be reasonably busy, but the wait was only a few minutes. When it was his turn, Jeremy gingerly climbed up in Santa's lap, and proceeded to keep his eyes downcast for most of the interview. He told Santa that he had been a good boy, that he has been keeping his room clean. Now, when it came time for Santa to ask what Jeremy wanted for Christmas, it was time for my little boy to really light up! He asked for a brave castle with knights, like the one he played with over at his friends house the other day. Santa asked if Jeremy liked knights, to which Jeremy incredulously replied "Yes!" Shouldn't Santa know that EVERY little boy likes knights?! Anyway, it was really cute. When I put Kadon on his lap, I barely had time to snap a picture before I was afraid he was going to burst into tears. Kadon at his best is merely wary of strangers, and at his worst he buries his face in whatever body part of mine that he can reach when they speak to him. I had very low hopes for his visit to Santa, so the fact that we got out of there without any waterworks was pleasing to me. All in all, I would say it was a successful afternoon except for one small detail: the big guy promised my little boy his castle and knight set. I guess he didn't get the memo that our Christmas shopping is already done, and he won't be finding one of those under the tree! I guess it's off to DI I go, in search of a 'brave castle with knights' for my fearless little boy!

Tampa Bound

My husband left for a business trip on Wednesday, which is already not any fun, but to add insult to injury, he traveled to sunny Tampa, Florida! He called me last night when his flight got in to report that it was a balmy 80 degrees. Oh, and he's also less than ten minutes from the beach. Big dumb jerk. When I talked to him this morning he was telling me the high was supposed to be in the 80's, but in an effort to make me feel better, he added 'But it's cloudy." Like that's supposed to make me feel better when we're here freezing our tails off?! I was not pleased. Anyway, just wanted to vent my very COLD emotions toward my husband right now. All I can say is that he better bring me back a great souvenir from this trip!

Grateful

I'm feeling really grateful today for my husband. Not that I'm not grateful for him every day, but I'm feeling especially grateful for him this day. We had some bad financial news yesterday. The kind of bad news that turns your entire world upside down, and has far-reaching, catastrophic implications. As I was sobbing and wondering where we would go from there, my dear husband marched out, with sword and shield drawn, and fought for us. He managed to make the situation not nearly as terrible as it could have been, and did it all with a smile on his face. Now, during the month that he is meant to be taking some time off, he is going to be forced to work full time and take at least 1 business trip to make up some extra money to pay these unexpected and large expenses. Instead of getting angry, and being depressed, my husband is taking care of the situation and in the process, making me feel so secured and loved that I think we might make it through this trial after all! I'm grateful that he has the kind of job that he can just 'put in more hours' and get some extra money, but I'm mostly grateful for his dedication to our family that he is willing to do what it takes. So many other men would simply throw their hands in the air and give up, but not my husband. For me, it's just another affirmation of why it is I married this wonderful man.

Jeremy Roboto

I had left a whole pile of recycling on our kitchen counter the other day. Jeremy, in all of his creativity, decided that it would make a great robot costume. He put all of the boxes on his various body parts, and walked around the house for the better part of an hour. It was really cute, and he had a lot of fun with it. He also tried to take the soda boxes and make wings out of them, but that one didn't work as well. With very little help from me, he spent almost an entire day making different wearable art out of these boxes. I am constantly amazed at the things my almost 4 year old's brain can come up with!

Groovy Santa

On Thanksgiving I dragged out all of our Christmas decorations and started putting them up, much to Ammon's dismay. He would be please if I held off on holiday decorations until the week before Christmas, but I couldn't wait any longer this year! I had been feeling the decorating urge for a while, it was all I could do to hold off until Thanksgiving. Anyway, as I was pulling out all of my bins and trinkets, Jeremy unearthed the Santa hat that Mary made for him his very first Christmas when he was almost 1 year old. He squeezed the hat onto his head, and started to dance. I'm not sure what music he was dancing too, but it was pretty groovy, whatever it was. Ammon snapped a picture, and I think it turned out pretty cute so I'm sharing it with all of you in cyber-space. We finally got some snow here this week, so it's actually starting to look like winter. We also are having a major cold snap, which isn't helping Kadon's asthma any. Hopefully the specialist I'm taking him too in a couple of weeks will have some good advice for us, and we can get out off of this sick/well/sick merry go round we've been on since September.

Marshmallow Heaven

I wanted to share this picture of my dad feeding Kadon marshmallows. I thought it was really cute. My dad kept trying to get Kadon to eat them one at a time, and Kadon kept grabbing handfuls and shoving them into his mouth. I didn't catch how many he actually ate, but in the spirit of the holiday, I was allowing it to continue. I'm glad my kids are close to their grandparents, and love spending time with them, and it's really funny to see how besotted my father is with his grandsons!

Family Picture

I wanted to post this picture because this is the first family photo that has been taken in about 3 years. It is so seldom that my whole family is gathered together, that we have to jump at the opportunity to snap pictures whenever we can. I was glad that my sister made the trip from Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. It couldn't have been easy for her, with her two broken ankles, to make the drive to Utah and the subsequent flight home last night, but I'm glad that she was there at our Thanksgiving celebration.
Looking at this picture, I can't help but think about what's missing. It's times like Thursday that I miss my older brother with an ache that is almost tangible. He loved large family gatherings, and would probably have been doing bunny ears behind sombody's head in this photo. It is a comfort to know that I will see him someday what all things are made clear, but on this day, I will miss him. I can't believe sometimes that it's been almost 7 years since he died. Somedays it seems like he just left, and then other days, it seems like he was just a figment of my imagination. It seems like I imagined that I had this great brother, and that he loved me and looked out for me. It's strange how a death affects the dynamics of your family, it makes everybody realign their position, even unconciously, to fill the void that this person has created. You all feel obliged to fill the spot that has been vacated, the roles that are now available. I think the loss still reverberates throughout our family as we struggle to know how we fit together without him. I count my blessings that I was able to be a part of the life he led, and that he counted me among those closest to him. He truly was, and still is, one of the great.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving tomorrow, I'm trying to be more grateful for my children. For some reason, probably related to the pain I've been in from my tooth and my PMS this week, I've been really cranky for the last few days. Everybody seems to be getting on my nerves, especially my family, which is truly a shame, since they're the ones I love the most and most want to spend my time with. I keep trying to talk myself out of whatever funk I'm in, but so far, it's not working, and the cranky wife/mother keeps coming around and rearing her ugly head. I'm hoping now that my root canal is finally over with, and the worst of the pain is subsiding that she will pack her bags and leave. I feel bad for my poor children and husband when I'm such a bear to deal with! Anyway, wanted to wish you all out in cyber land a very happy turkey day, whether you're staying at home and celebrating with family, having four thousand missionaries over for dinner, or traveling over the river and through the woods. This year, I'm grateful for my health, my family, and a warm comfortable home to live in. This year hasn't been without it's trials, to be sure, but we have come through them whole and intact, and still loving each other, which is an accomplishment, I think. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Singing Along

Today Emily, Cindy, Laura and I had our first semi-performance. We have been singing together since the beginning of September, simply for the sheer joy of singing. We all love to sing, and all different ranges, making us a pretty good combination for a group. Cindy sings a lovely soprano, while Laura switches between singing 2nd soprano and soprano, and Emily sings 2nd soprano or Alto, depending on our needs, and depending on how loud I can sing. I sing the alto part, and I have really been enjoying myself. We also have a accompanist who is quite talented.
Anyway, one of the first pieces that we started practicing was a beautiful arrangement of 'Beautiful Savior' by Sally Deford. She has a website that you can print free music arrangements from, and somebody found this piece the morning of our first practice. It's the only piece that we sing that is 'sacrament' appropriate, so that is where we performed it today. We were all feeling really confident about the performance, as we have been singing this piece for months, along with several other pieces, and are very familiar with each other's voices. When we showed up to rehearse before sacrament meeting on Sunday morning, it wasn't going well at all. We were all singing the wrong parts, coming in at the wrong places, and missing notes that had never been missed before. Nerves had finally set in! I spent the first half of sacrament meeting staring at the clock and willing the speaker to go over on time so that we wouldn't have to perform.
Fortunately, our piece went well, and the many hours spent rehearsing together paid off. I'm proud that I have been a part of something so good and, as one woman put it, completely inspiring. Hopefully our show at the assisted living center next month will go as well!

Again!

Again, the week is slipping by, and I have hardly noticed. Okay, to be truthful, I have noticed, but I certainly haven't been up to posting about it on here. I have been down most of this week with a particularly vicious infection in my mouth. I know, I know, it could have been avoided by going to the dentist on a regular basis, but I don't have dental insurance, and going to the dentist requires finding both the time, but finding and securing a babysitter, as most dentists only see patients during the day when my husband is busy. Plus, I also have to take into my account my mortal fear of all things dental. For some reason the idea of going to the dentist strikes such fear into my heart that I will let a cavity go to the point that I am in far more pain than the dentist ever would have put me through to fix it originally. Hence, my suffering this week. I probably could have gotten a simple filling several months ago, but at this point I am going to have to get a root canal, buildup, and crown in order to save my tooth. I have also been in excruciating pain for almost a week now, the kind of pain that put me in the ER on Sunday night because I hadn't slept in at least a week and Ammon couldn't watch me suffer anymore.

Anyway, that's why I haven't posted. And I'm not going to post any more now, because quite frankly, I've been trying to catch up on a weeks worth of housework today, and my mouth hurts. I'm going to go lie down.

Slipping Away

Wow, I can't believe it's been Monday since I posted on here. This week has slipped right away! Kadon is slowly getting over his cold. The early part of this week was pretty hectic, I took him to the doctor on Monday afternoon and we got some different asthma medications for him, along with a steroid shot in the leg to help him get over the asthma symptoms that his yucky cold brought on. I'm hoping that we don't have to go through this every time he gets a cold this year, but there's no way to tell. This one wasn't too bad, the biggest complaint for us was his disrupted sleep pattern. For several days the latest he slept was about 6:10 am, and the longest nap he took during the day was about 40 minutes. His illness happened to coincide with a business trip for Ammon, so it made for a very tired and frustrated Mommy by the middle of the week! Luckily, he took a two hour nap yesterday which was wonderful, and slept until just after 6:30 this morning, so hopefully he's turning the corner and will continue to improve from here on out.
Ammon is continuing to do well in school, he is preparing to take a major certification test at the first part of next week. He took the class final last Friday, and got an 80%, so we have high hopes that he'll do well and receive his certificate. I forget the name of the certification he's trying to get, but it's a very important one in the scheme of his schooling, and will take us one major step closer to being done with those whole schooling process, so we're very excited! I'll post later next week when we hear what his results are, but please keep him in your prayers.
Jeremy is his normal cheerful, busy self. He's onto his last week of preschool next week, and I think he's really going to miss it. Every day when he comes home he has a very large smile on his face, and is full of lots of stories about what they did that day in 'school'. It's been really good for him, and I'm looking into options as far as keeping him in some kind of schooling when this is over. I'm not sure what we can afford, but I think it will be good for him if I can get him in something at least a couple of days a week (and I wouldn't cry for the break, either :)
Anyway, sorry it's been so long since I posted, I'll try to be better about it next week. Hope all is well with everyone, we send you our love from our little town in Utah!

Toddler Bed Success

We made the decision a couple of days ago to move Kadon from his own bedroom, into Jeremy's bedroom. The room that Kadon had been occupying is in the corner of the building that we live in, and has two windows in it. None of the windows in our apartment are very high quality, but the windows in Kadon's bedroom are particularly poor. We have a work order in to have one of the windows replaced, but the other window is still a problem, and his bedroom is significantly cooler than the rest of our apartment. Since his trigger for his asthma seems to be cold air, we made the decision on Sunday that he needed to be moved into his brothers room where it stays much warmer at night. In preperation for the move, we borrowed a toddler bed from a friend, and set it up in a corner of Jeremy's bedroom. We had decided to try to put Kadon into a toddler bed to save the hassle of taking the crib apart, moving it into the other bedroom, and putting it back together again, only to take it apart again in a few months to put Kadon into a large bed when he turns two. We were worried that he wouldn't take to the toddler bed, as he is still a little bit young to be 'free' at night, but he has done pretty well. He also seems to be sleeping well at night, other than the severe cold that he has and is causing his asthma to act up. We were grateful last night that he was already in Jeremy's room, because his asthma attack would probably have been far worse than what he experienced being in the warm air of his brothers room. I'll post a picture of Kadon in his bed tomorrow.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I discovered a website that helps you make video montages using photos you upload from you computer. I am already addicted, and created this video last night. This song is one of my very favorite songs of all time, and when coupled with pictures of my adorable kids, it's a real tear jerker. Hope you enjoy!

Show and Tell

I've been told that I need to share this funny story with you all. I didn't find it very funny at the time, in fact, I was rather irritated. However, as the days pass, it is proving a little bit chuckle-worthy, so I decided that I could share it with you guys without blushing TOO much. When I picked up Jeremy from preschool the other day, I was informed that there was a show and tell the other day, I was told by his preschool teacher that they had a show and tell incident that day. Not the entire class, just Jeremy. Apparently the trouble all started when he asked to go to the bathroom during class. Everything was fine, one of the high school students took him to the bathroom, he did his duty, and went back to class. Apparently he didn't get help wiping his bum while he was in the bathroom, because one he got back in the classroom, he decided that we wasn't quite clean. You know the not-quite-clean itchy feeling? Well, Jeremy isn't a fan of this feeling at all. As his mother, I know this, and always wipe him very carefully. His poor unsuspecting preschool teacher, on the other hand...
The show and tell occurred when Jeremy dropped his pants in the middle of class and announced that his bum hurt, and that it was itchy. From the reports that I have heard, he was rather hysterical in his insistence that somebody help him. They were at a loss as to how to assist him, but luckily it was almost time for me to come pick him up. The adult teacher in the class helped him get his pants back up, and attempted to keep him reasonably calm until I got there, at which point I explained the problem, and escorted him back to the bathroom where I wet down a paper towel and took care of his problem.
I felt bad for the poor child being unable to explain what was bothering him, but I was mortified that it was my son that bared himself in front of all the other children and the high school students! I'm told that these are the stories that live on, and will make him cringe in front of his future prom date. I guess only time will tell.

Portraits

On the spur on the moment, my friend Emily and I took our kids to JC Penney to get their portraits taken. We just barely squeaked in to get an appointment, but they turned out so cute, it was completely worth it! I almost didn't get their matching shirts, I thought it would look silly to have them in the same shirts for pictures. However, I think it turned out adorable, and it's perfect for the season! We still need to get family pictures done sometime before christmas, as we usually give those out for at least part of our christmas presents, but I'm glad that we did pictures of the boys a seperate day. It makes it a little bit easier on everybody, and now we get to enjoy these for longer!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everybody! Jeremy was so excited to be able to wear his costume to pre-school this morning. His first day was yesterday, and he goes every morning for about two and a half hours, so it's a nice break for his mom! There's a lot of kids in our ward in his class, so it's a great situation for him, and he's had a lot of fun. Tonight we're going to a trunk or treat in our church parking lot, which is actually kind of a bummer, as I was looking forward to taking my kids door to door this year. I think we'll probably see everyone we can at the trunk or treat, and then take or kids door to door to the people that didn't come out to the church. Anyway, I'll post again later when I have a picture of all of us in our costumes, I just wanted to post a picture of Jeremy before he left for school this morning!

Autumn Cleaning?

Well, over the weekend, I decided to clean out the photo file on my computer. I have discovered that somehow there have been a lot of duplicate pictures saved into my file, and when my slide show comes on for my screen saver, the pictures that I have duplicates of show far more frequently than my other pictures. Petty, I know, but these are the things that I spend my time being concerned about. Anyway, on Saturday night I decided that I was going to clean out this file, and delete all of the extra photos. Ammon showed me how to open up the file and arrange the photo images by name, which would show me all of the duplicate photos side by side, making it easier for me to simply delete one of each. Simple, right? Well, somehow, in the midst of all this deleting, I managed to delete nearly every photo that I have collected over the last year. All of those cute memories....down the tube. I was devastated. After whimpering at my dear, darling husband for a few minutes, he did restore all of the photo files from the recycle bin back to the picture file. The only problem with that, is that I have NEVER emptied the recycle bin in the entire time we have owned this computer. Every photo that has ever been deleted has gone into that bin, and when he did that, it went back into my picture file. So the whole problem I was trying to fix in the first place? Yeah, totally multiplied. Tons more duplicates, and lots of pictures that I didn't want at all. Oh well, at some point I will tackle the task of cleaning it out yet again, but hopefully this time I will successfully only delete some of the photos, not all of them! In the meantime, I'm going to try not to pay too much attention to the slide show on my computer, lest I be irritated at the unwanted pictures that are going to be flashing on my screen. It's times like this that I think it would be a lot easier not to be neurotic...

Daylight Savings Time

So, I completely forgot about daylight savings time. I mean, I didn't actually forget about it, it's on the news, and it had been mentioned a couple of times during the week, but when it came right down to it, last night, during those crucial bedtime hours, I forgot about daylight savings time. This morning, my children woke up a little bit early, about 6:30, which is earlier than I like to get up, but hey, it's better than 6:00, right? We spent about ten or fifteen minutes trying to get Kadon to go back to sleep so that he wouldn't be cranky today at church, but it wasn't immediately effective, so we let him get up. When Jeremy got up, a few minutes later, I was still pretty unconcerned. I came out in the living room, a little bleary-eyed since Ammon and I had stayed up late last night watching a movie, and turned on a movie for the kids. I went potty, grabbed my bathrobe, and turned on the computer to check my e-mail, and glanced down at the taskbar where the clock on my computer is. 6:06?!?!?!? I was aghast. I admit, some unkind, not sabbath-appropriate words ran through my head. I can't believe we forgot about daylight savings time, and my kids got up at 5:30 in the morning. I don't know how we're going to make it through this day. Of course, it's also a Sunday and we have afternoon church, which means that neither one of them will get a decent nap unless Ammon stays home with them during church today. Ah, the cost of forgetfulness. Hopefully we will survive this day, and get back on our sleep/wake schedule by tomorrow!

Story Time

This morning, while I was having my usual quality time with the computer, the children were entertaining themselves by reading books. I don't know how it happened, but Kadon somehow convinced Jeremy to read books to him. I quickly got out my camera, and switched the function to video, and we have this wonderful clip to share with you guys! My kids are really adorable, and when Jeremy is of a mind, he can be really great with his brother. We don't have much going on today, other than FINALLY getting our couch back from the repair shop, and I'm planning to attend the temple with a relief society group tomorrow, but other than that it should be a relaxing weekend for us. Hope the weekend treats everybody else as nicely! Love to all!

Extremely Finished

Thought you'd like to see the picture of the finished home! Remember to tune in on November 26th!

Bridgerland Band Invitational

On Saturday evening, Jeremy and I attended the Bridgerland Band Invitational, which was held at the spectrum on USU campus. My alma mater, Sky View, was performing, and is being headed this year by an old friend of mine, so I wanted to take the change to see them in action. After much discussion, Ammon and I decided that it wasn't a good idea to have Kadon out in the cold air, hence Jeremy and I attending the competition on our own. We had a great time at the show, we watched about five bands perform, and then stayed for the award ceremony afterwards. Unfortunately Sky View didn't win, but they did take top honors in the music category, and took second overall. I was glad that we had not decided to bring Kadon, by the time Jeremy and I left just after seven o'clock, we were snuggled together and sharing the three blankets that I had brought. We were also wearing our winter coats, hats, and gloves. It definitely would have been too much for my youngest sons poor asthma, ridden lungs! Also, it was really great to enjoy some special time alone with my eldest, who has now gone to several of these events with me. He's become quite a band buddy, and I hope to keep the tradition going!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Click on the white space above to view the video!

The hit ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which I'm sure many of you have seen, hit our quiet little 'burgh this week. We heard whispers several weeks ago that the show had narrowed it down to five families in the northern Utah region, and then about three weeks ago, it was reported more seriously that it would be a family in Cache Valley. Last Sunday the design team showed up at the home of a wonderful Tongan family in our community. There are nine children in the family, and the husband died about two years from a heart attack. They run a catering business, and sponser a Luau every year at the aquatic center, which we have been lucky enough to attend in the past. It's a lot of fun, and they are a really great family. They were sent on a fabulous vacation, a cruise I'm told, while the team demolished their home and built them a 5700 square foot home in the space of six days. We were finally able to make it to the site as spectators on Saturday morning, and it was mayhem. They had the entire street cordoned off for several blocks, and both the police force and the fire department have been working extra shifts for the last week to cover security, along with the security the show brings along for the celebrities. They cordoned off the sidewalk across the street and allowed the public to line up there as spectators, and if you were willing to brave the cold, you could stand and watch the various points of demolition and then rebuilding. By the time we got there on Saturday they had the house mainly done, including the landscaping. In fact, they were doing a lot of preperation for the family's return this afternoon. We stood by while the fire department took one of their hoses and cleaned off the streets, then they used a vacuum truck to suck up the debris. Not a twig or spec or dirt would be found when the family returned home today! We were lucky enough to see one of the design team, and he even came over to address the crowd, standing very close to where I was. I was able to capture his speech to us with the video function on my camera, and I posted it on here for your enjoyment! For some reason the video is posted sideways on the site I used, but you get the general idea anyway. Anyway, having the crew here and the hub-bub was great, but having your town taken over for a whole week is also very inconvenient! We ended up avoiding town a lot this week, as it was easier to stay out of the way of everything! The episode featuring the family in our town should be airing on November 26th, which is the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so try and catch it, and maybe you can even catch a glimpse of us in the crowds! Hope you all had a great week!

Keeping Busy

Well, time marches on, as always. We've been keeping busy here with the usual. We're looking forward to Jeremy starting pre-school in about a week and a half. The high school that we live near is running a three week pre-school program, and we were able to enroll Jeremy. It goes for about 2 1/2 hours every morning during the week, and they have a lot of activities planned for the kids. It should be a great experience both for the children and for the high school kids that are teaching it, so we're excited for it. We also were able to pick up a webcam last night after Ammon got off work, so now we are able to talk to Mary and Russ in Lithuania much more easily, which is always great! Anyway, we've got lots going on today, and now the kids are screaming for breakfast, so I'm going to cut this short today, but I wanted to at least pop in and let y'all know what was going on in our corner of the world! Hope all is well with the rest of you!

Playgroup Fun

I'm going to miss our weekly playgroup when it finally gets too cold to have it anymore! This last week it was almost too chilly to sit out there for an hour. It was a good thing that we bundled all the children up, but the poor mothers, sitting on the concrete basketball court chatting were all shivering! I guess next week we'll learn our lesson, and be sure to bundle up the mothers as well! This week we tried a new playground, it's a neighborhood playground, it sits behind a bunch of houses on a street in our neighborhood. It's much closer than the playground that we've been going to all summer, but there aren't any trees to speak of, and no picnic tables either, so during the hottest days of the summer the equipment is scorching, and those poor mothers that I spoke of earlier didn't have any shade to sit in while they gossiped. Now that it is a little (a lot!) cooler, this park is much nicer! Anyway, Kadon, our little climber extraordinaire, discovered the ladder up to this slide, and while I didn't think he would be brave enough to venture to the top, he quickly proved me wrong. He made my heart stop every time he started to climb up there. The rungs of the ladder were somewhat slippery, as it was still morning while we were there and there had been a frost the night before. I was constantly afraid that he was going to slip and split open his head. He did, however, have a fabulous time going down the highest slide he's ever been on. I let him go down it about four times before I told him to stay away. He was pretty good about staying on more appropriate playground equipment after that, and it wasn't long before the half-frozen mothers pried themselves off the ground to make the trek home.

Seriously?!

Well, now I know that it's just the four of us, I guess we can get really intimate on here! C'mon, I know there are more of you out here than that! I said this was for my own overdeveloped sense of ego! I like seeing these things in print, right? Alright, today we are planning to spend some time with some friends just hanging out and playing games together and then tonight we are getting together with my parents to have dinner. I'm going to mope about how unpopular my blog is. If any of you wayward readers want to redeem yourselves, you could still leave a comment on this post.....otherwise, I might be bitter about it for a whole five minutes or something!

New Template

Well, I made the switch. Cindy was bragging all about the new blogger in beta, and all the great new features, so this afternoon I got sucked in and found myself redesigning my entire blog. I hope everyone enjoys the new look, I think it's a lot of fun and I enjoyed designing it. I'm still figuring out how to navigate around the new features, so you'll have to be patient with me for a while, but it looks like you guys have some new features to explore too, so feel free to try out my links and let me know how they work! Also, I have been wondering lately how many of you are actually still reading this blog, so if you could leave a quick comment and let me know, I would appreciate it. You should be able to leave an anonymous comment if you don't have a username, that way you don't have to sign in and go to all of that trouble. You simply click on the comment link at the bottom of this post, and it should take you to a window with a box where you can type in whatever you want. Just let me know who you are and wether you're enjoying this madness at all, I just want to know who my audience for my own overdeveloped sense of ego. Anyway, my boys are tearing my house apart, so I should get going. Hope to hear from all of you readers out there!

Cutie!

Dang, my kids are cute. Just had to share that with y'all. Can't remember if I posted any of these pics already or not, but when Mary and Russ were here, Jeremy and Kadon discovered Mary's curlers and wanted to try them out. They were pretty cute about the whole thing, really. Happy monday everybody, we're spending the day doing laundry and cleaning the house, then going mini golfing tonight at a haunted golf course (spooky, right?!). We're hoping the weather holds out so that we can really enjoy it, it's been raining a lot lately.

Popcorn and Ice Cream

I took this picture when we had popcorn and ice cream last week. After everybody else had finished, Ammon took Jeremy back to his bedroom to play, and I got up to clean the kitchen, Kadon decided that there was far too much popcorn still to be eaten on the dining room table. He took it upon himself to crawl on top of the table and dive right in. He quickly took to dropping the kernels of popcorn into the green glass in front of him, then 'drinking' the popcorn out of the glass. I know I should have gotten him off of the table quickly, because he's not allowed up there, but it was so cute that I couldn't resist taking a few pictures first. Enjoy your Sunday, everybody!

Up and Running

Thank goodness for informed salesman. When I called to shut off our Comcast internet service on Thursday night, in order to set up our installation for Qwest on Friday, the gentleman on the other end of the phone line informed me that I was probably unaware that I was signing myself on for a two-year contract with Qwest. The penalty for early withdrawal from this contract was a hefty $200 penalty, he so helpfully informed me. I was skeptical, to say the least, as Comcast obviously wanted to keep me from switching to their competitor. I immediately went to the Qwest website, where they offer a online chat feature with representatives, where I was able to clarify that they do indeed sign unsuspecting customers on for a two year contract, the penalty for withdrawing from is indeed the hefty fee. I immediately cancelled my order, and have decided to stick with Comcast for the long term. Now that our promotional period is over, the price more than doubled, but at least we're not going to get hit with hundreds of dollars worth of fees if we decide to change our service. Ah, the price of being connected.

Internet Shut-off

Wanted to write a quick note to let you all know that we're switching out internet service from cable to DSL in order to get a better deal and save a little bit of money. The cable is being shut off tonight, and the DSL should be up and running by tomorrow night, but just in case something goes wrong, I just wanted to let you all know that I might be out of touch for a while and that I haven't forgotten about all of you. I will post when everything is up and running again!!

Ammon's Pumpkin

This is a picture of Ammon's pumpkin. He is very proud of his craftiness, and to be totally honest, so am I. Anyway, thought you'd all enjoy taking a peek at his wonderful skills! I'm glad that we're going to be able to enjoy having this around around apartment for the next few weeks. It's kind of funny, everyone else has their pumpkins outside our door, but Ammon insisted that his pumpkin go on top of the bookcase. I guess he's allowed to fel a little protective, since he did spend several hours working on it.

Pumpkin Painting

This weekend, after the hectic schedules we have all kept for the last month, we decided we owed ourselves a little hibernation. So, on Friday afternoon after Ammon got home from work, we fixed ourselves some leftovers for dinner, then we settled down afterwards for our annual pumpkin painting festivities. Last year Kadon was too young to participate, but this year he had a great time eating my non-toxic craft paint. He kept putting his fingers in the paint and then sticking his fingers in his mouth, and then making this adorable face and saying 'yucky'. Very cute. Hence, his pumpkin didn't end up being very painted, and he ended up in the bath very first. Jeremy, on the other hand, followed true to form and spent the evening asking for every color in my arsenal, and then mixing them together on his plate before applying them to his pumpkin in kind of a brownish/blackish mess. He also had a great time, and only smeared a little bit of paint on the chair he was sitting in. Ammon took his pumpkin very seriously, and drew a great design of an eagle clutching an American flag on the side. He even painted it all by himself, which I was very impressed with. All in all, the painting took us several hours, but it was great to spend the time together as a family. We then spent the rest of the weekend holed up in our apartment watching conference and sitting around in our pajamas. When we emerged on Monday morning we all felt so refreshed that we might make it through this week after all!

Tickers

Thought I'd post to explain the tickers I've added at the top of my page. My friend Emily introduced me to them, and I thought they were a lot of fun. You can set them up to do any number of things, I think once it gets closer to the holidays I'll set one up to do a countdown for christmas, you can count them down for a pregnancy, you can use tickers to help you keep track of when you're ovulating if you're trying to conceive, you can use them to count down a major event like a vacation or the number of pounds you've lost (hey, maybe I should put one of those up!) Anyway, they're a lot of fun, so they're up for now, but I might get tired of them and switch them around or take them down altogether after a while. Hope everyone enjoyed conference this weekend!

E-Bay Trivia

I found an interesting bit of trivia in my surfing today and thought I would share it with y'all. Prepare to be grateful. Ready? Alright. Did you know that the first item sold on e-bay was actually a broken laser pointer? Yep, that's right. In late 1995, the found of e-bay, Pierre Omidyar, had originally purchased the device as a toy for his feline companion, and when it went kaput, he decided to post it on the world wide web to see if anyone wanted to purchase it. The going price for the broken pointer was an astonishing $14.00. Apparently the bargain hunters hadn't caught onto the trend yet. Soon afer this, e-bay as we know it know exploded onto the scene. I'm not sure where the pointer that began it all actually ended up, but many satisfied buyers all over the world owe the buyer a debt of gratitude. Ah, the call of commerce.

Haircut

Before I could secure Ammon's permission to buzz Jeremy's hair during the hottest part of the summer, I had to promise to let it grow out as soon as the colder air of the winter set in. Well, I let Jeremy's hair grow as long as I could stand, but once the hair around his ears had grown about an inch past the tops of his ears. He had started to look rather shaggy, so while his father was at work on Wednesday, we ventured to the beauty college where Emily's sister works and had her trim Jeremy's hair. He looks so handsome and grown up, and I managed to snap this picture, and even caught him by surprise a little bit, as you can tell by the look on his face. I was really proud of how good he acted, and that he sat all by himself. I asked him at the beginning of the haircut if he wanted me to stay with him and stand by him, or if he wanted me to go over to the waiting area and sit down, and he said 'I can do it all by myself, mommy'. He's such a big boy, that little son of mine.

Asthma

Well, I promised I would post after our doctor visit on Friday, and as most of you have already heard what the doctor had to say about our dear Kadon, I'll simply do a quick recap on here. Kadon does in fact have a form of asthma, although at his young age, the doctor doesn't want to be too hasty and actually diagnosis him with asthma for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is that puttting the big red 'A' in his chart at the ripe old age of 18 months will haunt him for the rest of his life, but also that there is a large chance that as he grows and matures, his lungs will also grow and mature, and hopefully he will grow out of his troubles. It appears as though Kadon's trigger for his asthma, which mostly manifests itself in coughing fits during the night, is the cold air that comes around this time of year. Kadon has been waking up several times a night for the past several weeks, usually following a fit of coughing, and has also been coughing whenever he is exposed to cold air during the day. While we have yet to decide how we are going to avoid exposing him to the cold air his poor lungs apparently don't handle very well, we have started doing breathing treatments with him twice a day, which is what you see in the photo. We hook the mask you can see up to a compressor, which turns albuterol, the liquid medicine he has been prescribed to help open up his airways, into a gas, which he then breathes deeply into his lungs. It then forces his entire respitory system to sort of 'unclog', which makes it so that he can breathe much easier. So far we haven't noticed him actually wheezing or rasping at all, and he doesn't seem to have any trouble running or playing like a normal toddler, so we feel blessed. Hopefully we will be able to keep this contained with a simple cough syrup before he goes to bed, and eventually a single breathing treatment before he goes to bed at night. Although he isn't a fan of the breathing treatments at this point (an 18 month old being forced to hold perfectly still with a mask over his face for 8 minutes isn't a pretty picture) the doctor assures us that with time he will grow used to the procedure and stop fighting it. We have noticed an improvement in his attitude even in the short time that we have been doing it, and we have noticed a DRASTIC improvement in his sleeping schedule, so for now we will definetely stay the course. More than likely, we will continue to do the breathing treatments once a day through the winter for the next several years in order to keep him comfortable through the cold months. The doctor is hoping that by the time he is 4 or 5 he will outgrow this unfortunate disease!

September Snowfall

Ammon and I awoke early this morning to a somewhat startling and unexpected sight. We looked out our bedroom window and saw the field behind our building completely covered in snow! It's the 22nd of September, for crying out loud! I mean, it has been slightly cold for the season, and rain was expected for the next couple of days, but when the rumor of snow was circulated last week it was laughed off with disbelief! When Jeremy got up this morning he was very excited to see the covering of white on the ground, and Kadon kept looking at the ground and attempting to say 'snow'. It was really cute, so this morning, as I was cleaning after breakfast I let the kids go outside on the patio to play in the years first snowfall. Kadon thought the snow was a lot of fun until he realized how cold his hands were going to get. I went to the storage closet and fished out our bag of winter hats and gloves (it's so early in the year I hadn't even gotten it out yet! Luckily it has been cold enough that I had gotten out our winter coats last week!) and he was a little bit happier after that, but then we had the inevitable problem of not being able to efficiently being able to pick up the snow with a layer of fleece covering his fingers. Ah well, here's to a season of snow, even if it is two months early! Hopefully it will melt soon, and we'll at least get a reprieve before it sets in for good!

The Time is Today!

September 21st. I have been waiting for September 21st for four long months. Tonight my favorite show, the only show that I actually watch on a regular basis, is returning after the summer hiatus. I am planning to put my kids to bed early and plant myself in front of the television from 8 until 9 pm, and I will allow no interruptions! We also have some pretty serious inspections going on tomorrow, so I have been doing a lot of cleaning for that, and have managed to plan accordingly so that I don't have any cleaning to do tonight and I can veg out guilt free in front of my show. It has been a long and busy week, and I am really glad that today is Thursday and it is almost over. I will be even more glad when tomorrow is Friday and Ammon and I get to go out for a date and we don't have anything planned all weekend long. It feels like we haven't seen each other in at least a couple of weeks! With Ammon's parents being here, and the hectic weeks we've had since they left, we feel like we've barely had time to breathe! It will be nice this weekend to sit back and relax. In fact, I was invited to attend the relief society conference in Salt Lake this weekend, and I turned it down in favor of staying home and spending some much needed time with my family. Anyway, Kadon is sick (again!) and screaming at me, so I'm going to cut this short today, but I'll try and do more tomorrow after we take him back to the doctor. I'm worried about asthma, and am going to get him checked out, so I'll post what we find out hopefully some time this weekend.

Mario Kart

I haven't been diligent about posting lately, it's been a really busy week between all my many obligations, so I thought I'd put up this cute picture of my two oldest boys playing nintendo together. We had let Jeremy stay up late one night while Mary and Russ were here because Ammon wanted to spend some 'quality time' with him, and this is what they ended up doing. I think they spent about fifteen minutes playing Mario Kart together, and never even made it around the track once. They had a great time together, and I enjoyed sitting back and watching them giggle together.

Pretty Pedicure

Last week, to belatedly celebrate my birthday, my father had the brilliant idea that my mother and I should go get tandem pedicures. Never having had a pedicure before, and always eager to take advantage of my father's generosity, I was anxious to oblige his goodwill gesture. Hence, last Thursday morning my mother and I ended up in side by side pedicure chairs getting our feet pampered. I have to say, it was one of the most divine, relaxing experiences of my lifetime, and I wish that we would strike it rich soon so that I could justify the megabucks to get it doe on a regular basis. Plus, the girly pink I chose to adorn my toes makes me feel all warm and fuzzy every time I look down too!
I know it's been a while since I posted, and it seems like all the sudden my life has gotten really busy! Ever since Mary and Russ left earlier this week I have been kept running with various activities during the day. On Tuesday I started a new Institute Class on the Doctrine and Covenants that is being taught at the stake center out in Hyrum. I didn't think it would be very crowded, and several of the ladies in our ward, including a couple of close friends signed up to take it. Well, apparently your breathe the word 'nursery provided' within earshot of relief society, and the stampede begins. The poor nursery leaders were inundated with the 'children of Israel' and I believe the final count for the first week was 35 children. Even Kadon stayed in the nursery most of the time, and I have high hopes for the next 9 weeks. I'm really excited about the class, and am hoping to learn a lot about the book that I am the last familiar with. Ammon also took a business trip this week, and our women's ensemble got together this morning to practice, and I'm watching my friends little boys tonight so she and her husband can get out for a hot date. The chaos never ends for the weary, apparently!

To Sleep....

Just wanted to post and let you know we're all still alive. I'm hoping today is going to be a good day, because even though Kadon got up at the far too early hour of 6:15, he went back to sleep and none of us got up until about ten minutes to eight. I'm glad that Kadon finally got a good night's sleep, he was getting more and more cranky as the days went on. Now if only I can get him to take a good nap this afternoon....
This morning Mary and I are going over to my good friend Laura's house and we're going to sing in a quartet that we started up. Our first sopranon is out today, so Mary is being kind enough to fill in. We're working on a beautiful piece that at some point we should be able to perform it in sacrament meeting. Then Mary and Russ are heading to the temple to do a session, and we are all going out on a double date tonight. We're going to see the movie Invincible. It is a sports movie, which Ammon is really excited about, but it's one of those feel-good sports movie that the rest of us should like. Anyway, have a great day/weekend everybody!

Labor Day BBQ

On Monday, labor day, we had a BBQ that we invited my parents too. We were able to borrow a grill from one of my neighbors, and we grilled Cornell chicken. My parents were planning to be there at 5 o'clock, and at 4 o'clock, we were all sitting in the living room, and Mary and Ammon decided that the coffee table needed to be refinished to match the dining room table. They hauled the table downstairs, and while I chased the kids, chatted with my mother and tried to generally control the chaos; Russ entertained us all with his singing between turning and basting the chicken; and Ammon and Mary sweated over the coffee table. They were even able to get the neighborhood kids involved! It is now Wednesday, and the coffee table is still sitting out on my patio. Mary is going to put one more coat of varnish on the table this afternoon, and we'll let is it sit outside and cure until tomorrow night, and should be able to use it my Friday morning. I'm glad that they decided to get it done, because it looks really great, and I know it will give us many more years of use. When we get some photos of it completed, I'll post those too. Hope you all can forgive me for not being more updated on here!

Mayan

On Saturday we drove down to Sandy, just south of Salt Lake City, and visited a really interesting restaurant named 'The Mayan'. It's done in a jungle theme, and the tables are meant to look like they're amongst this forest of trees. In the front of the restaurant, they have a huge diving pool, and some cliffs about 30 feet high that they stage a diving show from about every 30 minutes. We got a table about halfway up the height to the diving platforms, so we had a great view of the divers on their way down. They serve Mexican food, which is actually really reasonably priced, considering the show that is provided with dinner. Kadon liked the diving so much that between shows he would clap his hands and point at the pool, hoping that another diver would come out. Luckily for us, in between two of the shows, a diver and a coach used the time to practice a new dive. This poor man dived for at least 25 minutes straight, but at least it provided entertainment for my one year old! All in all, it was a very long drive for a meal, but it was still a lot of fun!

Playground and Picnic

I know I haven't been updating normally, so I will attempt to provide a synopsis of what we have been up to. Since Mary and Russ have been here, Ammon was able to take an extra couple of days off around the labor day holiday. On Friday we took a picnic lunch and Russ's RC plane to a park and played fora few hours. The plan was to let the kids watch the plane fly, but it wasn't working properly, and only flew for about five minutes. The kids had a great time at the playground, though. It was a little bit different playground than what we're used to. Mary surmised that it must have been a playground meant to be accessible to handicapped children. They had some really interesting toys, and my kids had a really great time playing with the different things.

Table Refinishing

With the help of his parents, Ammon refinished our table yesterday. Mary started out sanding the original finish off the table, and then helped Ammon finish the job. After that was finally
completed, Ammon fine-sanded the table again, and then added a lovely stain that Russ was able to find at the local hardware store. Russ was able to locate a stain that was nearly an exact match to the one that Ammon and Mary sanded off. After the stain was applied, and had dried sufficiently, Mary instructed Ammon on how to apply the first coat of varnish. With Russ and I standing by as sentinels of imperfections, the first coat turned out beautifully. Mary applied a second coat about an hour later, and just before dinner, Russ went outside and applied the third and final coat of varnish. The table turned out beautifully,and I am thrilled that I can actually wipe food off of it without having the sponge stick to the surface of the table!! We are really appreciative for the help they have given us, and will cherish this table for many more years to come.

The Recovery

I know, I know. My posts have been somewhat lacking lately. I took to posting short blurbs about pictures because I have been keeping very busy this week. Ammon's parents arrived at our house on Saturday morning, and since then we have been in a whirlwind of activity, trying to fit in all the things that we had planned to do while they were here. On Sunday, I spoke in Sacrament meeting and taught my primary lesson, after which we went home and enjoyed popcorn and ice cream for our regular Sunday night dinner. On Monday, Mary and Russ stayed busy running errands in Logan, while the kids and I also stayed busy doing a little bit of shopping, and even meeting Ammon for lunch. For family home evening we all went miniature golfing, and played a rowdy game of Pit after the kids went to bed. We didn't even wake the children up, which I view as a serious accomplishment. On Tuesday, we got a lot of sewing done, and finished a Christmas project for a member of my family. Wednesday we all stayed busy separately again, the kids and I went to our regular playgroup and stayed busy around the house. Today is Thursday, and Mary and Ammon have tackled re-finishing the dining room table. In fact, as I write this Ammon is outside doing the final sand before the stain, and Mary and Russ have met some friends in town for lunch. Tonight we plan to have a pizza and movie night, and tomorrow the plan is to take a picnic to a park somewhere and spend a good portion of the day outdoors. It's been really great having people around to do things with, and we are looking forward to the next week and a half of more companionship before Mary and Russ leave again until mid-winter!

Bike Safety

Thought you guys might enjoy this picture. Apparently, Jeremy is concerned about the fact that he doesn't yet possess a bike helmet, so he liberated his father of his motorcycle helmet. Jeremy could barely keep his head up, the helmet is so heavy! Luckily my neighbor had her camera, so we could capture the moment for posterity.

Limbo!

First you spread your limbo feet
Then you move to limbo beat
Limbo ankolimbonee,
Bend back like a limbo tree
Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock!

Making the Bed

Well, the time has finally arrived. Mary and Russ are arriving early tomorrow morning (in time for breakfast, even!). We weren't going to tell Jeremy that they were coming until the last minute in order to preserve the surprise, but yesterday when we started rearranging furniture to make a guest room, Jeremy got really upset. He's one of those children that doesn't handle change well, and moving his little brother, along with all the accompanying toys, was unnerving him more than a little bit. In an effort to help him understand the need for all the upheaval, I told him early about the impending arrivals. Last night when we finally made it home from my mom's with the borrowed queen bed and the borrowed bedding, Jeremy was so excited that Grandpa and Grandma Fellows were coming that he insisted on making the bed himself. He methodically unfolded the blanket, and through sheer force and perseverance managed to pull it on to the bed and straighten out all of the wrinkles. If you've never seen a three year old try to make a queen size bed, you really ought to take the next opportunity. It made me tired just watching him! He kept running from side to side, and then getting on top and pulling the covers up. He painstakingly, bit by bit, managed to pull the blanket all the way to the head of the bed. He actually did a great job! Unfortunately, I had to pull them off this morning and put on the sheets, but I managed to do it when he wasn't around so that he didn't see me disturb his masterpiece.