Christmas Shopping...

About two months ago, I asked Taylor to go clean her room.....SEVERAL times. And after asking and asking and asking, I let it go. But that night I went into her room while she and Jared were sleeping and cleaned up her room. Barbie's, Pet Shop Toys, baby dolls, the baby stroller, and baby carrier....the bulk of her toys. It was about two garbage sacks worth. I put them into hiding. She didn't know and hasn't seen them since. Well the next morning, her room looked so much better. She NEVER said a word about anything that was missing. Today was the first mention of it. She wanted to know where her Pet Shop's were...and even then, she was quickly distracted and probably didn't think about it for even 5 minutes during the last 2 months.
Therein lies my dilemma. Why in the dear sweet world would I want Santa to bring her more things that she doesn't need, let alone want. True, I could bring out the two garbage sacks of toys and give that back to her for Christmas. But if she didn't want it in the first place, why would I want her to have it back?
So now I am left to trying to figure out what to get her for Christmas this year. She wrote a page of 'stuff' in a letter to Santa. When asked what was on that page, she cannot remember anything. I walked up and down the toy aisle with her, hoping for a hint. But I walked out with no more that I walked in with. I'm not sure what to do. She is hoping for something great from Santa.....but what is unforgettable to a soft-hearted 7 year old???

Family Home Evening

At FHE tonite, talking about how there was no room in the inn...
Dylan:"In where?"
Taylor:"No...The Inn"
Dylan:"What's The Inn"
Taylor:"It was like a hotel, but without the pool......or the elevator"
...
Dylan:"Oh....okay"

Quotes of the week:

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:


Frm Jared (my 4 yr old):As I was talking about vitamins, "OH, THAT'S REMARKABLE!!"


Frm Taylor (my 7 yr old):As we were working on her reading homework, she didn't yell she SCREAMED "WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO RUIN MY FREAKIN LIFE!!!"


Frm Dylan (who will be 9 in 3 weeks): This morning while I was trying to help him clean his room..."Mom, if I were you, I'd hate myself..." Yeah, did NOT help him finish.

Pumpkin Pickin'

We went to the U-Pick Red Barn pumpkin patch in Idaho Falls. I was just off of Rollandet, just across the street from the camels at Tautphaus Park. They had a family special where you could get 3 regularly sized pumpkins and 2 jumbo sized pumpkins for $20. They also had train rides for $2 each.
Yep, that's my finger in the way.

(The sun was glaring on my camera and I couldn't see this at all.)

On the mountain of pumpkins, front and center.

Summer 2010 --- Part 2

The first part of August, we went to Salt Lake for Dylan's annual visit to Primary Children's. (To read about, click here)

What I haven't blogged about yet, was all the fun stuff we tried to squeeze in while we were doing the yucky stuff.

We got out back to school shopping done at the outlet malls in Park City.

We found a water park called Cowabunga Bay. Its just off I-15 in Draper.

This place was a hit with the kids. It was (and is still) one of the most talked about events of the summer.

I am surprised that I got as many pictures as I did for all the fun (and keeping track of kids) I was having.

There were a ton of water slides. The vote were unanimous. The favorite was the one was the one that was pitch black until the very end.

Another favorite was the lazy river. You could just float on a tube and the water would just guide you around.

We also braved the TIDAL WAVE...

Cool...huh?

Drying out...

I'm sure we'll be back!!

And of course the kids spent some time with their dad. There is a great park not far from where he lives that I'm sure will be a big hit and become a tradition for us. We bought lunch at Burger King and ate it at the park before the kids began to play.

Its just like an Old West town.

Jared....pretending he is in jail.

Dylan making friends...

Taylor 'hangin' with her dad.

Summer 2010 --- Part 1

Just like we knew it would, the summer of 2010 flew by. We had a lot of great times and hopefully we made some great memories.

We went to the spray park several times...

Although we rarely stayed very long because the kids got cooled off rather quickly...

The 4th of July Parade with our favorites, the chocolate milk truck and the Ray's Car Wash drill team, which again had my brother, Matt, in it.
We DID NOT plan on seeing the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration fireworks show, but we ended up in the middle of a median (being so illegal) watching the best fireworks I think I've ever seen.

Jared trying to look anyway he could.

Awe...the fascination.

Then we went home. We slept out in our tent in the yard (a tradition we've started) for the 4th of July. We weathered it pretty well, until 2AM when the winds were threatening to carry us away to Montana.

Jared was the first one asleep, in record time.

We had out pillows and blankets and ate chips and watched movies on the laptop.

My brother Blake invited us to ride his horse a couple of times during the summer.
If any of my kids want to be cowboys, it would be Dylan. He's always telling us that the horse is his favorite animal. Although he was thrown from J-J (the horse) once, he got right back upon him and kept riding...

Riding the wave

This is the wallpaper picture that has been on my laptop since earlier this summer. Its a picture taken by a surfer in Hawaii (Clark Little), with a high speed camera. His wife wanted some unique pictures for a mural in their home. I put it up because I love the majesty of the water, the power of the wave, how blue the water and the sky are, and besides...who doesn't like a tropical picture. But a few days ago, (after getting my laptop from the factory, because it was under warranty and broke) I looked at it from an angle, I never had before. Notice the person who is about to be drowned in the magnificence of such power. Unless that person has the knowledge of how to swim, how to navigate around such conditions....its pretty much over for them. If they panic....its pretty much over for them. If they give up....its pretty much over for them. They need to know how to ride the wave. When something so big and overwhelming is coming our way, do we know how to ride it out???

What a parallel to life. The last time I checked, NOT ONE PERSON on this earth is immune from pain (physical or emotional), heartache, grief, disappointment, loss, confusion, despair or any other challenging mortal experience. Whether we see it coming or not, we each need to know how to 'swim'. We need to make sure that we do not panic, that we do not give up. I would hope that it would be alright to occasionally swallow that bitter-tasting pride we all collect and store from time to time, and yell for a life-jacket or have someone toss us a lifesaver, and reel us in.

I suppose it is no accident that the gospel of Jesus Christ is deemed as 'living water'....or that hope is like an anchor of the soul. The regal blue tang fish in 'Little Nemo' named Dory sang a simple song with a influential meaning...just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming, what do we do we swim swim swim...

My precious peeps...

These are my precious peeps. These were all taken earlier this month. A quick shout out to Amber Redd Photography. Amber, THANK YOU again, you did a great job!!!

Everyone probably thinks their kids should be models...huh?

A year ago...

A year ago, he moved out. It's soo strange to thing that its been a year now. For those of you who don't know, I am divorced (Its still too strange for me to say). My divorce was finalized in March, 5 months ago, but we were separated for a time before that.
And as taboo as it may be for someone to blog about their separation and divorce, I see this as means to try to explain and journal that I've not yet been able to put into words. So here goes my attempt.
Ask yourself what stereotypes you have and what they are made up of. For me, my stereotypical ideal of a recently divorced women was one who appeared needy (looking to others for most things) one who frequently talked about her ex-husband (also a strange term for me to use) and talked down about him, amongst other things.
Now thinking of these negative labels and looking now I would stereotypically fall into them, but desperately not wanting to, I vehemently decided not to be like "one of them." As a result, I hardly talk about him at all. I do not speak ill of him in front of the kids. I also try soo hard not to appear needy. I feel such a drive to be independent and self-reliant. Granted I have three kids, am a student, and work full-time...I cannot do it alone. My parents help tremendously with the kids. But I so strongly desire and try so hard to do as much as I can with as little help as I can...(so I don't appear needy)...
I remember talking with a friend about their divorce. I can now relate. Like them, I to have gotten to the point of questioning most everything that I previously assumed or believed to be true. I do have a different perspective now.
To say that this last year has been excruciating, painful, difficult....where I have reached new lows would be a major understatement. However, I have had many assurances that things are now as they should be. I have a great family, fantastic friends, great neighbors, and am by far in the very best ward with the most amazing bishopric. I cannot imagine these past few years without my bishop, Bart Lynn.
I feel as though I owe so much to so many people. So as you read this, please accept my most sincere, heartfelt and deepest gratitude for your help, prayers, smiles, waves, hugs and words of encouragement. They all have meant so much!!!

Where we stand...

I'll try to make this quick, because I REALLY want to go to bed. We just got home from SLC, playing, back to school shopping, giving the kids a chance to see their dad, and of course the annual Primary Childrens visits.
We went in Monday morning for his MRI. Then we went to see his neurosurgeon, Dr. Kestle. He said that things looked good. We expressed some of our concerns. He expressed understanding although he was not sure if he could help. He made sure that we were following up with neurology, and we were the next day.
Tuesday came and we went back to the neurology clinic. We started by seeing the PA, Lynn Fuller. We gave Dylans history from square one, then continued to express our concern that things were getting worse for Dylan, that we were concerned about his seizure activity. She left just briefly and in that time we (Jeff & I)saw what seems to be occurring more frequently. He forgot a fairly common word. He described it by the box that warms or cooks food, you push the buttons, "beep beep beep, then start", that it was black at the hotel but white at home. The word was 'microwave'. It causes him frustration and us concern. The neurologist thought that his loss of memory was not due to seizure activity. His sleep is not the best...so perhaps that could be a cause. He did have his amygdala (memory & retention part of the brain) removed when he was 3, but we were taught that the brain re-wired itself with in 2 years. The neurologist agreed, but explained that because of the additional information he is learning, the more complex things his brain is doing, could be the cause of this regression...(as if the say that the memory in his hard drive cannot take much more.) Will meds help? We don't know, but we are going to try Depakote. Dr. Sakonju also ordered more tests and studies, none of which I am a fan of, but she's not going to make us do the 7 day EEG again (yet), so I think I can handle anything else. We have to follow up with her just days before Thanksgiving.
So that's what I thought about for hours on the way home. Will he get better? I don't know. Will he get worse? I don't know. Were these last 2 years as good as what it will be for Dylan? I don't know. That is where we stand, now its time to kneel...

Photo Journal

Here is a photo journal of our recent trip to Salt Lake. We went the first weekend in June. I took the kids to see their dad. We tried to play and I think that the kids had a good time.

One of our first stops was at the "This is the Place" Heritage Park.


Of course we had to go the gift shop, and of course Taylor enjoyed looking things over as she shopped...a girl after my own heart.

And they each had to try the silly hats on...

Taylor, of course all cheese, although I'm not sure why she brought the baby doll with her.

Jared, also super cheese.

The patient kids posed next to everything their mother asked them to.

The plan was to then go to see Jeff and his mom and have lunch all together. We ended up going to McDonald's. The kids ate quickly and had a great time with the 'Playland' there.

Yes, that's Dylan waving 'HI' from the beak of the bird at 'Playland'

Taylor hiding under the stairs...

Jared laughing too hard as he came down the slide.

After McDonald's, we drove around for a little bit, and ended up at the

Veterans Memorial Park in West Jordan.

Jared...thinking he is spider man.

Dylan...also thinking he is spider man.

After the park, we drove around to see the 'sights' of West/South Jordan. Then we went to eat at Sizzler. That is one of the things that Taylor wanted as a part of her birthday, to eat at Sizzler together as a family...after which, we went back to our hotel.

The next day, we started by going for a train ride. It is called the 'Frontrunner' and it is a train operated by Utah Transit Authority. It is a straight shot from Salt Lake to Ogden, and back. Some of the cars are double-deckers...and that is of course where we rode, on the top.

I'm not sure Jared knows how to give a partial smile.

See what I mean!?!

I later found out that Taylor REALLY didn't enjoy the whole train experience. But she was a trooper to let her brothers enjoy it.

During our stop in Ogden, Dylan wanted his picture taken with the 'old train with a hook'. Jared just happened to walk in the way.

On the way back to Salt Lake from Ogden.

They all wanted their picture with daddy...

Jared watching another train pass us.

Dylan LOVED this experience.

Taylor...not so much.

After the train ride, we went to the Gateway Plaza food court for lunch. Dylan and Taylor each had their own $5 footlong, and thought that it was sooo cool!!!

Jared got Sbarro Pizza (& lookin a little tired)

We then meandered to the Clarke Planetarium.

Jeff and the kids on 'Mars.'

The time for us to come home was quickly approaching and so we went to a park just behind where Jeff lives, and let the kids play for an hour.

I hope everyone had a good, memorable time!!

Don't worry, Dylan's MRI is scheduled at Primary Children's in August.

"We'll be back!!"