Memorial Day

We had a great day with family today.  We started the day out by going to a neighborhood breakfast.  They served blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, cheesey potatoes, and juice.  The kids ran all around and played with one another.  Then we drove down to Benjamin.  We had a family reunion at a park and visited with cousins.  It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining so bright.  The kids had fun on the swings, playing on the jungle gym, playing in the mud.  Brynlee was covered with mud.  The boys had fun playing baseball and football with Dan and their uncles. 
Then we went to Bountiful and visited with Dan's family.  They had a get together at Marvin and Loni house.  The cousins were all there and they had so much fun. 
We are truly blessed to live in an area and enjoy such beautiful surroundings.  We have family all around us.  We have the beautiful mountains and the blue skies.  Today was a good day.


Brynlee was so funny in the car today.  She would yell, "are we their yet?"  And then she would answer herself, "we'll get their when we get their."  And then almost immediately after she would say, "How you doin honey,"  and she would answer again, "do I have to hanswer."  She says the funniest things.

Today

Today was such a fun day.  It was my dad's birthday.  We got together and had a dinner at mom and dad's house.  The kids got to play and had a lot of fun playing football with the dad's and playing upstairs in the fun playroom.  We played ROOK.  We love rook and always laugh and laugh and laugh some more.  I love hanging out with my brothers and sisters.  We always get along and enjoy just spending time together. 
The kids are doing great.
Britton dressed as Elvis last week for school and did an oral report on his life.  He also dressed as a german immigant coming to Ellis Island in the late 1800's.  He is trying out for Strikers this week.
Bryson has earned a class party for good behavior and he is excited to have finally earned a party.  He is looking forward to school being out.
Parker got to go on a field trip to Fresh Market Grocery Store, The Library, The Heritage Museum in Layton and the Park with the entire 1st grade.  He had a lot of fun and was so excited to finally go on a trip with school.
Abby had her last day of school.  She had a barbie party and dressed as a barbie and got to bring a barbie with her to school.  She is excited to be done with pre-school and is looking forward to going to Kindergarten in th fall. 
Brynlee is as sweet and cute as ever.  She says so of the funniest things.  She can replay the swiper the fox and the Dora Show.  She has learned our address and our phone number.  She is so smart and loves to sing and learn new things.

FUN FUN FUN

Summer has been so much fun. We have had a lot to do. We have enjoyed swimming lessons, slip n slides, water balloons, kangaroo zoo, play dates with cousins, camp fires with lots of roasting of the marshmallows, Britton's birthday, Abby's birthday, hiking, homemade drive in, sprinkler fun on the trampoline, visits to the park, fishing, playing in the sand, card games, board games, wii, movies, treats, indoor hide and go seek, baking, and lots more fun. I love the summer and I love playing with my kids.

Parker's Life Jacket

On Saturday June 11th @ 4:30pm, we were invited to go to a surprise party for Ben. We were excited to get to have a fun time with family and swim for the first time this season. So the kids were excited to start to swim. The pool was heated and was 86 degrees, it was perfect. The kids were having a great time. Jumping off the diving board and playing with cousins. We decided it was time for dinner so we asked the kids to get out of the pool. We took our kids over to the grass and asked them to sit there while we made there plates. My sister told me she would watch the girls so we went to make some plates of food. We got in line I handed Dan five plates and started to place hot dog buns on the plates. When all of a sudden there was a some commotion in the water. People were saying that that little boy didn't look right. The next thing I saw was a boy being lifted out of the water. He wasn't responding and his eyes were rolled back, his lips were blue and was extremely pale. I started to yell call 911 and said give him to Dan he knows CPR. They handed him to Dan, as Dan turned him over we both realized for the first time that this child was Parker. Dan said his first thought was what is Parker doing in the water. Dan realized that Parker wasn't breathing but that he moved an arm slightly so rolled him over again and hit his back a few times and Parker coughed and them started to cry. Then he threw up twice and was more alert. We then took him to the emergency room and they listened to his lungs and did an x-ray. His lungs looked good and he was feeling a lot better. But we had to stay at the hospital for at least eight hours because after a lung injury, eight hours later the lungs can get inflamed and the child will stop breathing. Parker's lungs were great he had a good night and we were able to come home the next day. We asked Parker what happened and how he ended up in the pool. He said when he had sat down for dinner he decided to take off his life jacket because it wasn't his and he didn't want to get food on it. Britton and Bryson decided to jump in the pool one last time and Parker saw and said I want to jump in to. He said I forgot I took off my life jacket. Now Parker has had three years of swimming lessons but he just panicked. We realized that we are very blessed and that the Lord has a hand in our lives. We have had an amazing response from family, friends, ward members and neighbors. We realize that Parker is loved by so many. We are so grateful that Bruce, the man that noticed something wasn't quite right with Parker and Nick and Brandon for pulling him out of the water. There are angels among us.

School is out

I am so excited that school is out. I love the summertime fun. I love the sound of splashing water, and the giggling that immediately follows. I love the trips to the park. I love to go camping and sit by a fire snuggled with a kid on my lap. I love the time we spend with cousins. I love to work in the yard and enjoy the out doors. I love to play with the kids and create something new. I love summertime and everything about it.

NORMAL

Well Abby went to the doctor with week and all of her labs were in normal range. I am so grateful for Abby's team that she has been working with and for the consistencey they have had during this time. She doesn't have to go back to the doctor for three months now and we are so grateful for that. I feel that the Lord had his hand in this and I am grateful for the power of the priesthood and prayer. Thanks for all the prayers and calls. I think that it is amazing to run into people who I haven't seen in years and for someone to say how is your little girl and I ask how did you hear and usually the reply is I read your blog. Anyway life is good.

Family update

Britton - 9 yrs. old loves sports especially soccer, basketball and football. He loves to read. Loves being outside. He is gaining a huge knowledge of the scriptures. And is a big teaser.
Bryson - 7 yrs. old loves any video games, fighting cartoons, riding his bike and scooter. He loves math and reads awesome. He loves to be in his p.j.'s and wakes up before 7 every morning.
Parker - 5 yrs. old he is learning to ride a bike. Loves to play anything outside with Britton and Bryson. He is learning to read and doing great. He is taking speech at school and learning to say his sounds so much better. He is such a peace maker and tries so hard to do the right thing.
Abby - 3 yrs. old loves movies, playing dolls, coloring, doing stickers, play play doh, helping cook anything in the kitchen, playing dressup, going to dance with Miss Shaundee, play super heros and taking care of Brynlee.
Brynlee - 18 months loves playing with Strawberry shortcake(which she calls cake cake), playing with dolls, playing kitchen, singing, reading stories, pulling all the dvds out of the entertainment center, climbing on the chairs and table, taking baths and playing with her brothers and sisters.
Dan - still is the DARE officer, working a second job, taking extra sifts, playing dad, scouts, teaching elders quorum, working out, trying to fix problems at home and being my best friend.
Me - being a mom, wife, primary teacher, exercising, counting calories, cleaning house, organizing priorities. Trying to balance life in the right way. What is important and what isn't?