SUPER DAD

I'm so grateful for an amazing husband willing to go above and beyond all expectations. He is Super Dad (and Super Hubby)! These are a few of the things he did while I took my week long jaunt to camp and to Missouri!

• Went to work
• Made sure the kids were at school and all activities on time
• Watched Becky's 4 kids along with ours so she and Alex could stay at camp
• Cleaned my mom's house
• Cleaned our house
• Washed and changed our sheets!
• Did our laundry (yay!)
• Loved the kiddos when they were missing their mom
• Arranged all the travel plans while I was too emotional to make decisions
• Had an impromptu birthday celebration for my nephew while his parents were gone on his birthday
• Gave me no expectations or demands for us to get back quickly! (HUGE ONE!)
• Bought new tires for my van
• Helped a co-worker move
• Went to Spokane for mortgage licensing training – thank you to great parents that were willing to watch the kids!

I did not include the normal daily stuff like feeding the kids (sometimes is an adventure in itself), getting them to bed and keeping their room clean! If anybody has been home with their kids, you know these can be enough to do in one day!

I knew the kids were in good hands while I was gone. He is fantastic!

I love you Doug!

Road Trip!

One summer in college, my roommates and I decided to take a road trip to North Carolina. We were young, crazy and full of energy that I can't even imagine now. We left Utah at 6 pm and drove through the night straight to Charlotte. After a few near death experiences with a herd of deer in Eastern Colorado, another when my roommate was driving drowsy in Tennessee and after repairing a flat tire in Kansas, we finally made it back in a week or so... unharmed, happy and ready for another trip!

Oh how my traveling stamina has changed since then!

Last week I was enjoying camp with the 90+ 5th graders. We had beautiful weather and fun times until Tuesday night when we received sad news. My Grandma Holsten in Missouri had passed away. I hadn't seen her in 10 years. She turned 99 last November and we all had big plans to go visit her and the rest of our relatives in Missouri this summer. Of course, all of us felt guilt for not having gone there sooner. Grandma was a strong little lady, amazingly healthy and happy for being nearly a century old!

Doug was awesome. He was already being Super Dad by watching the kids all week while I was at camp. After I talked to him, he took charge. He checked airline flights, called my brothers, my sisters and talked with my

parents. He called me back and had arranged me to ride with Allie and Tom the next morning. We would make the marathon trip to Missouri in 2 days, stay for a few days, then come back.

I knew it would mean so much to my dad for us to be there, but being 7 months pregnant, I wasn't sure I wanted to drive there! I had a selfish hour when I didn't want to leave camp early (I'd been so excited for camp week all year!). I shed tears, mostly out of frustration in myself for my refusal to make a decision! I didn't want to drive, but knew that if I ended up paying the large amount for a flight that Allie and Tom may not be able to go... but in

the end I decided I had to ride with them. By the time I had packed and got back on the road to go home Wednesday night I was looking forward to the road trip ahead.

And we had a great time. I hadn't seen many of my cousins for 14 years. But we all had an instant camaraderie. We hugged, laughed, cried and shared many stories about our crazy visits to see them in the summers of our youth. The funeral was very nice. We spent the day in Stover where my Dad grew up and where my grandma lived until this last year when she finally sold her house and moved to Kansas City with my Dad's sisters. It brought back many memories!

We dragged our feet when it was time to leave. We were having such a great time with our family. But with

promises that my cousins were going to come visit us in Washington, we finally left Kansas City Sunday night around 6:30 pm. We drove 6 hours Sioux Falls SD, stayed the night then drove the entire next day to Cheney WA. Allie and I finished our drive to the Tri-Cities Tuesday morning. Wow! Somehow I'm not as tired as I should be. But I know I'm not quite ready to get back in the car!

Here is a map of our journey to the Midwest. According to Google, it would have taken us 26 days to walk this far! (That is without stopping to sleep or eat). I am thankful for a big backseat in a vehicle. :)

Camp is coming!

It's that time of year... spring is in the air, the days are getting warmer, the heat is turned off, the AC isn't on yet, we can leave the windows and doors open for the fresh air, the daffodils are blooming... and yes, the highlight of it all, we are getting ready for Camp Wooten. :)

Some of you may think I am crazy. I actually look forward to this week long "camping" trip with ninety 10 and 11 year olds. I normally don't like this age group, but I've learned a bit of patience.

Two years ago my sister asked me if I wanted to come to camp to help be a teacher because they were short that year. I ended up making a great friend, the Jason Lee librarian, Shirley. I was her assistant teacher for the fire-building class. We had a great time. I've never seen myself as a pro fire builder - that's Doug's expertise - and frankly, I'm the cheater type that likes to pile the big logs on, douse it with lighter fluid, use one match and watch it burn! In any case, my second year at camp, they decided I was teaching my own class. Shirley moved on to her love... "owl pellets" and they made me in charge of the fire building class. All went well... I had a great time teaching the kids how to build fires (But don't do this at home kids!).

So this year will be my third year at camp. This year I am teaching fire building again, and the powers that be also asked me to come up with a curriculum for the survival class, which goes hand in hand with my fire building class. So I also found myself teaching survival to the kids on their "pre camp day" at the park last week. How did I become this involved so quickly? And why am I still excited about going?

Last weekend I went to Camp Wooten for the cleanup day. I enjoyed the sunny skies and the deer staring at me in the middle of the night when I was walking to the bathroom. It was nice quiet weekend away in the mountains even though we worked hard cleaning and getting the camp ready. It was a gorgeous weekend.

Can't wait to get back there in 5 days! Camp Wooten has become something that I look forward to now. It's wedged itself into my little heart (even in spite of all those 10 year olds that are there as well!)

BLESSINGS (It's a long one!)

I apologize in advance... its going to be a long blog... and not as funny and lighthearted as I like to spend life in general. I guess I am throwing my fairytale life out the door for a few minutes while I type this out.

Its been a crazy few months! I feel like so many things have happened, they've really helped me to put things into perspective. I'm really just in the mood to hide in a corner and read a book since the kids are in bed and the men are watching a movie that I have no interest in. But I will do my best to quickly tell our story! 2010 started out quite interesting!

So here is the condensed version! (Very condensed... leaving out many of the roller coaster emotions in between.)

BLESSINGS PART 1:
In January the doc said the baby had a hole in her heart. We went to the specialist and they said "No, she is fine!" In February, the doc said the baby is too small and that she is being starved. He gave me a series of steroid shots to develop her lungs because we possibly might have to deliver her at 28 weeks and put her in the NICU for 3 months. I had to set up biweekly non-stress tests at the office, weekly doc apts and weekly ultrasounds to monitor her closely. If she started to get too weak, we would have to immediately induce. Wow! Stressed out! But guess what... they sent me to the specialist and they said "No, she is fine! She is not too small and she is growing." I'm losing my trust in the ultrasound tech at my doctor's office!

So I go back to my regular doc... he decides he still wants one more ultrasound to make sure everything is ok. He says my previous ultrasound at their office also showed very low levels of fluid. The doc is flustered, but quite patient with me while I break down in his office. I'm frustrated about the constant good and bad reports back and forth each week. I call Doug and he is the sweet hubby who allows me to rant on the phone. He offers to let us live in Utah for the next two months so my old doc can deliver this baby too! I was seriously thinking about it. So after another week of stressing about it, I get another ultrasound. This time a different person does it. He seems to be much more experienced... and the results ... "the fluids are just fine!"

So my doc finally agrees nothing is wrong and that I don't have to have all the extra tests, ultrasounds and weekly doc appointments. So life is back to normal! Yay! Baby is growing, has a healthy heart, moves around all the time... and I've actually started showing! I keep telling people if they just get fat before they get pregnant they can hide it for a long time! Plus, they are already used to carrying the extra weight. Life is good! :)

So the baby stress seems to be old news... and now we can actually start thinking about names. We have no idea, but this is not normal for us. Its usually a decision made in the 4th quarter anyway.

Wow, that wasn't quite as condensed as I wanted, but I digress... here are the other things we were dealing with!

BLESSINGS PART 2:
My mom found a lump on her lower eyelid in December. She went in, had a biopsy and found out it was cancerous. They had her come back in and they did surgery to remove the cancerous area. Her last check up last week verified that they did get all the cancer out and the cancer is not a type that travels through the blood stream. So it did not and would not spread anywhere. But meanwhile... there was some stress and worries between January and now!

BLESSINGS PART 3:
Great Grandma has not been feeling so hot. Doug and I visited her at the end of February and she was having dizzy spells and muscle spasms that were causing her to fall to the floor while she was walking or even sitting on the couch. Her arms and legs would just start flailing everywhere. She didn't know if she was having a seizure, if she had brain cancer, or what. She had a nasty bump and split her skin open on her head just before we got there. She had a really bad cut 5 inches long up her shin from one of her falls earlier that week. She had been talking to her doctor, but didn't know what to do. She went into the hospital and her pulse and blood pressure were really low. They realized that she needed a pace maker! They flew her up to Spokane to do her surgery as soon as possible. Everything went well and she is now as spunky as ever! I haven't seen her this energetic for a while... and she is still recuperating from the surgery. Amazing!

BLESSINGS PART 4:
We've known for a while that Doug was possibly going to lose his job. When I say a while... I mean over a year! He has the lowest seniority in his office, so when the state was laying off, he was naturally at the bottom of the totem pole. But here it was and they were getting memos from the DOC administration saying all the layoffs are over... oh, but wait, just kidding! They just hadn't finished in the Kennewick office where he was working! So they offered Doug a job in Yakima (sorry, we are NOT moving there) or he could be on the layoff list. We chose the layoff list. His last day at work was March 5th. We were scared and excited for a new step in life... until on March 2nd, Doug also got a letter from the state saying "Just Kidding, you still have your job." Please show up to work as normal! It was frustrating, but it's a blessing to not have to worry about that too!

CONCLUSION:
So within a month, we were dealing with some of the most stressful incidents anyone can have in their life... well almost anyway! We didn't have to change jobs, didn't lose a child or a loved one, and didn't have any major issues from my mom's cancer. It all seems so silly now, but at the time I remember thinking... "I can't take anything else! Why is everything happening at once?" I guess it's because Heavenly Father knew I could handle it and I needed it to learn to rely on Him.

I am so blessed to have such a patient and loving husband. I have not been the most patient or loving wife the last few months and he has really put up with me. I am so thankful for my kids. Somehow through all of the stress, I love and appreciate my kids more now than ever. What a blessing it is to know that Heavenly Father is there for us. He gives us peace and strength all at once. For one of the darkest months in my life, it's amazing how everything has turned out just fine. What great blessings!

We Will Rock You "Part II"

Sunday at church, Cannon is getting a little squirrely on my lap. We are nearly done with sacrament meeting. All that is left is the closing song. I told him "OK, we are going to sing a song, say the prayer, then it will be time to go to class." I was hoping this would calm him down a little.

The organist begins playing the closing hymn and he says out loud "Do they have We Will Rock You? I want to sing We Will Rock You!"

Disneyland Slide Show

We've already established that I'm a lazy blogger... that's why I am so grateful for my Bro-in-Law, Jon. Thanks for doing all the work! Check out their blog and the most fun slideshow ever! I am biased, but hey, those kids are all pretty darn cute! We had the best time and each time I see those photos I can't stop smiling.

Click here to watch the most amazing slideshow ever!

From Shoulders to Butts

It's a good thing I don't embarrass too easily... or that when I am embarrassed I can usually handle it well by laughing it off. Its become a very important coping tool since being married to Doug. (Going on 10 years this year... wow!)

So after 10 years of marriage with my sweet, kind, and sensitive hubby, and 16 years since we first started dating way back when... this story shouldn't come as a surprise.

I am in charge of an activity we are having for the youth in the church tonight. We are doing our own version of the mock Olympics with different relays and competitions that really bring shame to the real Winter Olympics, but will be fun for the kids in our ward. One of the competitions is called a balloon train, where the kids line up like in a Conga line and hold big balloons between their stomach and the back of the person in front of them. Our idea is to have them not be able to touch the balloon with their hands and their team has to walk through some sort of obstacle course without dropping the balloons from between them.

A month ago I was typing up the outline for our YW leaders, explaining the whole process of each event. For this balloon train, I wrote that each kid should place their hands on the person's shoulders in front of them so they can't use their hands to hold the balloon. When I was done with the outline, I ask Doug to proofread it and help me iron out a few wrinkles in our plan. When we had it all done, I emailed it to the other YW leaders.

So a few weeks go by and we are at our meeting last week to discuss our plans for the activity. One of the leaders, Katee, timidly asks "Can I make a suggestion for the balloon train? Can we have the kids put their hands on the person's shoulders or waist in front of them?"

I said "Sure! That was the plan to put them on their shoulders"

"Oh!" Katee says, "Because on your outline you wrote to put their hands on the butt of the person in front of them."

I laughed. "Really?"

Then everybody started making comments - "Yeah, I read that too..." "I saw that and forgot to ask you..." "I think shoulders is a better idea..." "Well, we know what you were thinking about when you typed this up..."

I check my copy of the outline that I brought with me. And sure enough, there it is in black and white for the kids to "Put their hands on the butt of the person in front of them."

By this point, I am sure I am bright red, but I am laughing hysterically. I apologized profusely, still laughing... and wondering how in the world did I possible type that? It was pretty funny. (Good thing I can laugh at myself eh?)

So we move on with the meeting. About 30 minutes later we are discussing a different activity and I have an epiphany... DOUG PROOFREAD MY OUTLINE BEFORE I MAILED IT OUT! I knew at that very moment, that without a doubt, he had changed my outline from "shoulders" to "butt" and allowed me to send it out without telling me.

Of course, I stopped the meeting and announced my enlightenment to everyone. I swore that this is totally something Doug would do. They all giggled and looked at me like I was kidding, but I knew for certain this is what had happened.

When I came home, I started to ask Doug "Soooo, remember when I was typing my outline and I had you proofread it...." And he started to giggle...

I gave him the evil eye and continued "Did you change the word shoulders to butt?"

He is laughing now. "You didn't notice that? Did you email it out to all the young women?"

"No, not the Young Women, but to all the leaders. And nobody said anything until tonight!"

More laughing by both of us. I told him what happened at the meeting, feigned shock that he would do such a thing, then punched him in the arm. He laughed some more.

So like I said... I shouldn't be surprised, but he did catch me off guard. Good one. I hope he remembers paybacks are a "#%@!" Just you wait Doug!

We Will Rock You

A favorite moment today.

We are driving in the car and Queen's "We Will Rock You" is playing. Cannon and Zane are rockin' out, trying to perform the obligatory stomp stomp clap, but are just a little off beat.

Cannon (3 yrs old) says:

"Mom, this is an awesome song!"

Yes... yes it is.

The Lazy Blogger

So I decided I should change the title of my blog to the Lazy Blogger... Because that describes me to the T.

I've wanted to post pictures from our trip to LA for Christmas. But honestly, we have nearly 2,000 pictures thanks to everyone being shutter happy (I love digital cameras!) and there are so many to choose from! So rather than spend my time posting... I'm deferring you to my sister-in-laws blogs so you can enjoy our pictures there! Aren't I pathetic? :)

We had an amazing time. Doug and I flew down with the kids a few days before everybody else and we vegged with Deanna, Jon and the boys for 2 days. It was really great. We knew when everyone else arrived that we'd be busy, so we made no plans and the kids just enjoyed the 60 degree weather. Doors open, windows open, kids playing in the yard with no shoes. It felt like late springtime... not the week before Christmas!

We had a great three days at Disneyland. In the end, we were exhausted, my feet hurt really bad, but we were in good spirits and it was totally worth it! Zane talks about the Tower of Terror every time he plays with Legos. Its his favorite thing to build.

Christmas was awesome. We talked about going to the beach, but staying in pajamas all day and playing with all the new toys sounded better. The kids did act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. It was fun, spiritual, but a little irreverent. That pretty much sums up our family. :) The dog (sheep) was on a leash and kept pulling the shepherd (Cannon) around the room. The kids were all going crazy and the only person who remembered their line was Mary (Kyah). Who ever knew that when the innkeeper answered the door - it was Mary, not Joseph who said "Do you have a place where I can have this baby?" It turned out great.

So to my 2 dear blog readers that are not Amanda, Jon or Deanna, check out their blogs for some of the great pictures! Thanks for your hard work! And come on Jon - I told you to make a slide show with music! Where is it? I'd like to share many more pictures with my 2 other readers!

Jon & Deanna's Blog

Amanda's Blog

You guys rock!

3 Years Old... Too Much Fun!

It is hard to believe... 3 years ago I was 2 weeks away from my due date when we went in for my regular Dr apt. We found out the baby had turned into a transverse position. So they scheduled an apt the next day at the hospital to have him turned, and to deliver the baby. Crazy! Talk about getting ready for the baby in 1 day! Well, by the time we went to the hospital the next day Cannon had turned back head down again. This told me 2 things... 1-that there is still plenty of room in my belly for a big baby to be doing sommersaults and 2-I was not going to wait another couple weeks for this kiddo to grow even bigger. Just because I have the room for him, doesn't mean he needs to take up ALL the space in there!

In the end we were able to wait one more week until our scheduled induction date. He came out awfully cute! I can't believe its been 3 years... already!

Here are a few pics from the last few years...

The famous sister smother... closely related to the brother smother.

Here is the proud (and slightly bewildered) older brother holding his new baby bro.

1 Year Old

2 Years Old

And now 3 years old waiting for his cake...

Excited for his cake! (He loves Mickey Mouse)After many tries... he finally blew out all 3 candles A picture afterwards... Talk about happy kids!

What a blessing!