Dance Recital

The girls dance recital was last week and it was so much fun to see everything they have been doing all year. I think Eve had the most fun she wants to go back and dance on the stage again. I was worried because they have missed a lot of class this semester but they looked about like the other kids.

Eve did a ballet dance.

Hannah did Ballet, voice cheer and played the piano.

Emma did voice, cheer and played the piano.

They were busy kids this semester! We are all excited for a few weeks with nothing to do.

My kids wanted to borrow the new camera so I let them take pictures of Sariah and I. I'm not sure what they were looking at.

I am happily sleep deprived. Sariah Lilly was born April 25th at 3 am. She is a sweetheart and loves to be snuggled. Her sisters have been a big help and love to hold her. I hope she learns to sleep with out someone holding her soon.

Austin's Wedding

On Monday August 24th my brother Austin got married! He and his girlfriend wanted to elope or go to the courthouse and not have anyone go so I was so excited when they called and invited my family and I to the courthouse to watch them get married.

We got to the courthouse at 4 and Kami Austin and Reese were already there waiting. Kami had a simple white dress for the occasion and she looked beautiful. Her dark hair against the white dress was stunning. My parents brought a bouquet and boutonniere for the couple to finish the look.

The judge was great. He did a really good job on the wedding. He walked in and joked with us he “ordered” Austin to wear his boutonniere and had me stand behind him, the judge, so I could take pictures. He then said how happy he was to perform the marriage. He said that in his court he could only sentence people for up to 2 years but when he performed a marriage he sentenced people for life. He then talked about how important and special marriage is and performed a beautiful ceremony.

After the wedding we went to Golden Corral to eat. Everyone was so happy and glad to be able to share Austin and Kami’s special day

On Sat July 25th Eve fractured her skull. I’m so grateful she is OK it could have been so much worse. I can’t even think about all the things that could have gone wrong. Instead I have to focus on what went right.

She fell from the loft in my mothers barn. It’s about a 7 ft fall onto concert. There is a lot of metal stuff around on the ground where she fell. I thought she was in the loft with my brother and her sisters but everyone was gone and she and her 3 year old cousin were alone up there.

My sister in law heard someone crying and went and found her and then brought her to Brady and he called me so I was last on the scene.I was so scared something in Brady’s voice told me it was serious from across the yard so I ran. When I got to them she had cuts on her head and face and was crying a little. Her mouth was bleeding and I knew right away that something serious was wrong. She told me she wanted to go to sleep and that’s when I knew something was really wrong with her. As soon as I realized that I wanted her to have a blessing.

By that time everyone was in the house with me and it was a bit chaotic. Everyone wanted to know what happened and no one knew so they were asking one another what they saw and telling me we needed to take her into the ER. I just kept saying that she needed to have a blessing every time someone asked me if she was OK. Everyone was very upset and scared. My dad had to go in the other room and ask my mom Eve’s name. Brady anointed her and my dad blessed her. I can’t remember everything that he said but I do remember the peace that I felt during the blessing. I knew we needed to get her seen by a doctor and I also knew whatever happened it would turn out all right. I am so glad we had 2 priesthood holders right there and that my dad keeps anointing oil on hand.

After the blessing we went to the urgent care by my house. They sent us straight to the hospital emergency room so she could have a cat scan. They said she would need one after falling from that high. The doctor at the urgent care looked her over and said she would be fine to ride in the car over so we just drove. Brady held her in his arms for both the trip to the urgent care and to the emergency room. The urgent care called and so they were waiting for us at the emergency room and took us right back.

The emergency room doctor was wonderful he was so calm and reassuring. He checked her out told us she looked good and this it was a miracle that she wasn’t hurt worse than she was. He said it was a good day for him because she was in such good shape. She was very lethargic and just slept in our arms. I was worried and kept tying to wake her but the doctor said to let her rest he wasn’t to worried about her sleeping because her eyes were responsive and it was bedtime. He then sent us down to radiology for a CAT scan. He said we might have to sedate her for the scan but she never woke up. She opened her eyes for a second when I laid her down and then fell right back asleep. I had gotten her ears pierced earlier that afternoon and was really sad we had to hurt her more by taking her new earrings out for the scan. (She is still showing people her new earrings because she doesn't remember we took them out).

The emergency room doctor and the person who did the cat scan looked at it and said her brain looked good from what they could see but that we would have to wait for the radiologist to look at the CAT scan. So we waited and held our little Eve. The Doctor came in and told us that her brain looked really good but she had fractured her skull. He was quick to reassure us and said if it were his kid he would be happy it wasn’t worse because if the bone had depressed into the brain we would be in a helicopter on our way to SLC to see a neurosurgeon or worse. Then he asked me if I wanted to hear all the ways it could have gone worse. I declined. His calmness was contagious he seemed genuinely happy to treat Eve-Lyn. He also seemed convinced that it was a miracle that she came away from her fall with only a skull fracture. The ER doctor told us Eve would have to be admitted to hospital and stay for 24 hours for observation. It was a long night.

The nurses in the PEDS unit were awesome! They took such good care of Eve and were kind to Brady and I also. Our pediatrician came to see Eve around midnight and checked her out really well. She slept on and off but hadn’t been fully awake until he came. He chatted with her and checked her eyes. So many people had checked eyes by this point that when yet another person asked her where their nose was she poked his nose with her finger and said “right there”. No one had looked at anything but her head up until then because they didn’t want to upset her so he did a thorough look over and said she was fine, but for the fracture, and needed a bath to clean up the cuts.

Eve did not want a bath. The nurse had to do some sweet talking to get her to the bathtub. She finally convinced eve to go by showing her the wagon she got to ride to the bathtub in and promising her she could wear a sleeping beauty dress (aka hospital gown) when she was clean. After her bath on the way back to her room the nurses and cleaning lady came out to see her and waived to her like she was in a parade. The first thing she asked for when she got back into bed was her sleeping beauty dress. After the gown we put antibiotic cream on her scrapes. One is on her eye so we told her it was makeup and put a little on her lips also. She loves lipstick. It was really sweet to see my banged up little baby thinking she was a beautiful princess.

The next morning Eve woke up and was ready to go. She was still uncomfortable but didn’t want to rest anymore. I got dressed and asked her if she wanted to see the toys but she didn’t so I asked her if she wanted another wagon ride she said no to that also. Finally we went on a walk. We walked back and forth along the PEADS floor until she got tired. Once she was to tired to walk she still didn’t want to go back to her room so I put her into the wagon and pulled her up and down the hall until breakfast came.

After breakfast Eve went and played with the toys in the playroom, we watched the life-flight helicopter take off and I cried. I was so grateful that we were in the Pocatello hospital playroom playing and didn’t have to ride on the helicopter to SLC. The Dr came in at 10:00 in the morning and Eve was doing so well he let us take her home.

Eve slept most of Sunday and Monday and was feeling so much better by Tuesday you would never have guessed she had a fractured skull. She should be able to do everything she wants by her birthday so were going to make it a special one!

Holy Crap!!?!!

A couple of days ago Brady asked me if I wanted to try to have another baby!  I was/am shocked.  I honestly thought he was kidding he hasn't wanted any of our children (he loves them when they get here though).  I am scared to death I feel like I am barley hanging on taking care of three kids.  I'm just starting to be able to sleep all night and I can go places and leave my kids.  I was sick in the winter and am just starting feel better I don't even know if my body can handle being pregnant again.

That said Brady is so sure an so excited I said yes.  I know I'm crazy but it must be important to him.  I'm going out to buy prenatal vitamins today.  Trying to get pregnant is always fun so I'm just going to focus on that and let the chips fall where they may.  Even though it's completely crazy I'm a bit excited!

The End Is In Sight

I am so busy with all of the end of year stuff I find myself waking up in the mornings and asking "do we really have to go to school?"  Just think of how my children feel!  I can't wait for June.   I'm sure it will only take a week for us to get bored but I am not signing up for any summer programs until I have had a few days of not running around.  Good luck to all you other school-age moms we're in the home stretch.

It's been so long

I can't believe how fast time flies by!  Thanks Bonnie for the kick in the butt, here are the updates.

This summer Emma auditioned for the community production of "Oliver!" I am involved at the theater and was doing promotions for the play.  At one of the production meeting I told the producer that I thought it would be fun to walk across the stage during the big street scene.  She was excited and said that the theater always needed adult extras so I talked to Brady and he, reluctantly, said he would do the play with us.

In hindsight I truly think that the producer and director were inspired when they casted us in the play.  Neither had herd us sing and we didn't audition so I was surprised when I went to check the cast list and Brady and I had real parts.  Emma was in the children's chorus which wasn't a surprise I knew they were going to cast all the children that auditioned.  My emotions went from surprise to shock when I went home and researched our parts.  Both of us had small solos!  Singing by myself in front of people is one of my worst fears and my part was the high soprano part.  Brady and I were also in all the chorus numbers so we ended up having a lot of stage time which involved a lot of rehearsals.  All the the time we put in paid off our songs came together and it ended up being really fun.

The reason I think doing "Oliver!" was inspired was that during this same time Brady was at the end of his rope with his job.  I have never seen his so miserable.  In one of our conversations about his job I suggested that he refocus.  He was giving everything to his job and didn't have anything of his own.   When "Oliver!" came up he committed to being there but neither of us realised the extent to which we would have to be at the theater.  It did help us both refocus though we were at rehearsal every night and Brady couldn't work late because he had to be to rehearsal.

Brady sent applications everywhere.  He applied to a few inspecting companies in Wyoming along with every place here he could think of around Pocatello.  We also prayed a lot.  In late August Brady got a call from an inspecting company in the gas fields in Wyoming.  They had a job for him but they didn't know how long it would last, could be three weeks or six months.  The pay was fantastic but how could we quit his job of seven years for a job that might last three weeks?  We both wondered how much our family would pay for him working in Wyoming and us only seeing him on the weekends.  In the end Brady and I decided to see if he could take all of his vacation (3 weeks) to go out to Wyoming and do the job.  We kept praying a lot.  The next day, when Brady asked for the time off, his boss decided that Brady wasn't committed to the company and let him go.  We were obviously shocked and hurt how could they do that after all the years Brady had been there?  Brady was excited though he felt like it was an answer to his prayers, it was time to cut ties with ELM.

Brady started his new job the week after "Oliver!" closed.  I am so grateful for the summer we got to spend singing together.  It helped us grow closer and it eased him away from work so that when it was time for him to go it was a lot less painful.  

Brady's new job lasted longer than we expected he didn't get laid off until right before Christmas.  He is home with the family full time and we are working on a few home improvement projects, but mostly he holds Eve and plays with Hannah and Emma.  Right now it looks like he will  be back out in Wyoming in April but he has applied at a few more places in town.  I don't know what the future holds for us but I do know life has a way of working out.

3:00 AM

Yes it's 3 in the morning and I am up holding a sick baby.  I honestly don't know how I am going to make it through tomorrow.

Baby has been sick for a week and now I am sick as a result I have had a lot of time on my hands.  What else would one do with extra time but scrapbook while holding baby on her lap?  Here are a few pages I have done.  For my next set I would like to do a more formal series for a picture book, kind of like an art book featuring my family.  It's not my usual style I like to journal a lot and organize by event and date.  But I think these new pages will just have one picture per page and a theme like seasons or colors with no journaling.  We'll see how it goes.  I am also working on a calender for my loved ones for Christmas so I have a lot of projects running through my head.

The French Open

This really is a random thought but I had to post it.  I was watching the women's final of the french open yesterday.  It was a close match with two women who were basically unknown and had never won a Grand Slam.  One of the women had never been to a final in the French before but was having a phenomenal couple of weeks, the other had been to the Final before but not won.  Toward the end of the match one of the women was down and serving to try to come back, a baby started to cry.  She turned around and shushed the crowd, I loved it because the commentators said if only it were that easy to quiet a crying baby.  So the baby gets quiet and the girl goes to serve, right when she throws the ball up the baby starts to cry again.  they stopped the game to take the baby out!

  Can you imagine being that mother?  That had to be so embarrassing to be singled out and having to take your baby out on international TV.  To me this was a moment that tied all mothers together.  No matter what country you are from, how much money you have if you are at church or a prestigious sporting event it could happen to you.

My sweet husband......

is at the grocery store with all three of our kids right now.  He's a keeper.

Memorial Day Musings

This picture is of the "last rose of the season" given to be by Woody Longhurst.  I'd like to take a moment on this memorial day to remember him.

I met April and Woody Longhurst when Brady  and I first moved into our house in Pocatello.  We didn't have much money so I had packed up all our food and brought it with us from Utah.  The problem was that we had to move out of our apartment before we closed on our house.  This left me with a bunch of food rotting in my hotel room.  Someone in the ward suggested I call April because she had an extra fridge so I did and even though she was so much older than me we clicked immediately and became friends.

I met Woody later and we quickly became friends because we both loved to garden.  He had a Greenhouse and let me start some of my plants in there.  I started 2 flats of flowers and 1 of veggies.  He laughed at me for wanting flowers but helped me get them growing anyway.  We had a nice spring growing our little plants and visiting about life.  Woody had an amazing life and loved to tell stories, and he always seemed to have time for me.  I grew to love him quickly.

During this time I was struggling with severs depression caused by my bi-polar disorder.  I really believed that I could be healed if I met a general 

authority.  I know now how silly this is because the priesthood is the same no matter who holds it but never the less I really wanted to meet one.  I got the chance to meet President Faust later that summer and while the spirit testified to me that he was a great man of God  I was not healed.  I did get my miracle though.  Just not in the way I wanted.  

I went back home and visited Woody later that week.  He showed be a bag of tomato seeds I had carelessly discarded at the end of the last summer.  The little seeds had sprouted and started to grow in the package.  He took each seed (that I would have thrown out) and lovingly planted them.  Watching Woody care for those little tomato seeds so lovingly gave me incite to how much the Savior must care for me.  It was a small simple lesson but one I will never forget.  Just like my friend loved those little seeds the Savior loves all of us.

This realisation was the catalyst that started me on the road to recovery from my depression.  April, Woody's wife, was a retired social worker and so I started going to counseling with her and she helped me find a great team of doctors who specialize in bi-polar.  It was a long hard fight but well worth it, and I am proud to say I haven't had 

a sever mania or depression for 4 years.

Woody passed on a little over a year ago and I am proud to have been counted as one of his friends.  I hope through our friendsh

ip I was able to give some of the love he gave me back.  I know every time I garden I think of him, especially when I eat the first big red tomato of the season.  

The girls

This picture is from last summer and obviously it was a good one!  We are going to make this one even better. Emma and Hannah both are going to do junior rodeo and help with the garden.  Both are researching how to grow a giant pumpkin and are learning to ride a horse and goat tie.  The goat tying is going slowly because the goat had a bit of diarrhea and no one wanted to touch him.   Billy, the goat, is doing much better now so the goat tying lessons will continue.  I wonder if he got sick on purpose so no one would tie him up for a while?  

We are all trying our best to keep Eve from getting hurt this summer.  She loves the animals so when everyone is learning to ride I spend my time chasing her so she doesn't get kicked by a horse.  The other day she was trying really hard to feed the goat his pellets, the ones that came out of the back end. 

Mom is going to help all three girls complete the summer reading program at the library.  With all this planed hopefully there won't be time to get bored or into trouble.

Random thoughts on Gardening

My goal for the summer is to get the most out of the garden that I can.  I'll admit that I have gone a bit green with the whole thing.  It all started with a small bucket of worms...  not just any worms mind you but red worms.  They were a gift from my mother (maybe she was paying me back for all the kittens I brought home as a child).  As it turns out red worms are quite handy to have around.  They can live quite happily in a plastic bin in the kitchen and they eat about a 1/2 lb of food waste a day.   Even better than the tiny amount of water I save from not running that food through the garbage disposal is that red worm by product is great fertilizer.  I didn't plan on going green or on having worms for pets however it has turned into a fun project.  

I had so much fun growing worms and making good dirt I decided to go a step further and buy buy heirloom seeds for the garden this year.  Heirloom seeds can be  harvested and used the next year so, in theory, I won't have to buy seeds again.  Don't try this with corn.  Heirloom corn does really funny things, it grows this gross stuff called smut and it cross pollinates so you get a random mix of corn on each Cob.  This can be fun because you never know what you will get, however I plant some good quality sweet corn to eat and a little bit of heirloom seeds to experiment with.  Heirloom squash also does really funny things.  You can get some unique looking squash especially if you plant gourds in the mix.  I have a lot of fun with it all.  The other great thing is that plants just come up the next year.  I already have lots of little sunflowers and squash that are coming up volunteer.  These will be my earliest and best plants if if they don't freeze.

I hope next year I will have all the fertilizer and seeds I need and some to share.