Crazy Busy Halloween

Let's start out the crazy busy day with the Halloween Parade. It seemed to go on forever...but the kids were all so dang cute!!! Then after that, I stayed for Abbi's 4th grade program. I had to sneak out in the middle to get Kali from Kindergarten.








Then mom tried to cook a "fun" meal thanks to all the fun recipe blogs. We made rootbeer, and Monster Mouths (the mouths didn't quite turn out right...) and Mummy Dogs.





We began our trick or treating around the neighborhood. Abbi's daddy Brad came along. He comes every year. We all go around together until the little kids get tired, and then he takes the bigger kids around, until they are too tired to go anymore.

Some of the trick or treating "crew"!!!


Then Kaisey and I handed out treats. She's doing a good job isn't she?



Kaisey and her friend Sammy. So dang cute!!!

At the end of the night, it all seems worth it. Kids are happy (and tired) and just look at the 'pot o gold' for mom!!!

Why We Love Primary Childrens Hospital

It's the beginning of RSV season again. Which reminds me of my two greatest trials, and my two greatest blessings.

Kalyssa was almost 2 years old. They say that once children turn 2, their risk of getting RSV is very slim. She just wasn't feeling right. We'd been back and forth to Dr. Balog's office for about 10 days. She just wasn't feeling any better. Dr. Balog told me that if she started to have trouble breathing, to take her immediately to Primary Children's. I of course asked, "How will I know if she's having trouble breathing?" Sounds stupid, but sometimes you "think" they are having trouble breathing, and they aren't. Trust me, you WILL know.

So instead of just taking her to Primary's, I took her back in to see Dr. Balog. But I KNEW their was something not right. So before I left to the Dr.'s I called my mom and asked her to meet me there. When I arrived at the Dr.'s they did a couple breathing treatments, which didn't help her at all. So Dr. Balog says, "We'll need to get her to Primary's." I tell her we'll get going. She proceeds to tell me that she needs to go by ambulance. "By AMBULANCE? We don't have insurance. Can't I just drive her there?" The next sentence will NEVER be erased from my mind. "We don't want her to 'expire' on the way." I say, "Ok, call the ambulance."

We spent the next 5 days in the hospital with Kalyssa. When we were able to come home, we still had to have the oxygen on her when she slept. If she stopped breathing correctly, the dang machine would beep, and we'd haul our lazy butts out of bed (at lightening speed) to check on her. It was so scary, and we are so lucky to still have our Kali.



Our next trial was with our Kaleb. This happened 2 years ago. The children get to go on an annual camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa Barney. They go to Red Rock (in southern Utah). They take their bikes and get to go to a hot air Balloon Festival. They have so much fun.

The kids were riding on their bikes, and Kaleb and his cousin crashed. Kaleb didn't really complain too much, but Grandpa and Grandma knew something was wrong. They took him to the hospital just to get him checked out. The first call we got was from Grandpa, asking for medical information. Yeah...still no health insurance at that time. So their wasn't much to give. The second call was from the Doctor. They needed to get permission to get him to Primary's.
He had broken his femur (the bone from the knee to the hip) and the way it was broken, they felt he should be in a specialty hospital. So by ambulance, by LIFE FLIGHT...yes life flight...by amublance again, he would get to Primary's. It was agonizing to drive to primary and just sit and wait until he arrived.

Finally he arrived it was at like 2 in the morning. He was in so much pain. They had an IV in his arm, that wasn't in properly, so he wasn't getting pain meds the entire time. His arm was swollen, and at that point I was very thankful that they didn't treat him down in Panguitch.

So they had to put a new IV in, and the guy doing it, just couldn't get it in. Kaleb was crying, "NO, NO, ow, ow. Ow, Mommy! Ow Daddy! Help me!" I about passed out in pain for him. I had to leave the room, I was getting so angry at the guy, and then I was getting sick with worry. I about passed out.

The doctors assessed that he wouldn't need any surgery, but that they would body cast him. So they gave him this halucinagenic drug. He would be totally awake, but unaware. It was horrible. He was grunting, and making noises, and looking right through you while they were casting him. When he finally started coming to, he looked (through me) and said, "I want my mommy." I said, "It's ok buddy, I'm right here." He looked through me again, and said, "No, I want my REAL mommy." It totally crushed me.

We would have to carry him everywhere. It was extremely hard. After about 3 weeks, he began to try to do things himself. I had to call Dr. Holmes, and ask her if it was ok that he was "walking." They really didn't quite know how to answer that. She kept saying, "Walking? Really?". As long as he wasn't in any pain, they didn't seem to think it was a problem.

He's gone to see Dr. Holmes once a year. At the last checkup, she mentioned that the bone hasn't quite caught up on growth yet. I'm not sure what that will mean for the future, but she said she'd assess it again in 2 more years. But thank goodness he is a happy healthy boy.


So, to my point. Why we love Primary Children's Hospital. They really worked well with our financial situation. We are still paying on the 2 bills right now, but without the hospital's write offs (thanks to Pennies by the Inch and the donations they receive) we would probably be paying on these bills for the rest of our lives!

Thanks to Trent rejoining the National Guard, we are now able to have good health insurance. We were active just in time to have Kaisey, and they paid for EVERYTHING! We have been so very BLESSED!!!!

The Smile before the Pain!

Kaisey finally broke her fever over the weekend. So we went this morning to get her flu shot. Luckily she only cried for a minute!!

I am in a crafting group with 4 other SUPER fun women. This month's project was for November. Isn't it cute? We get our projects from The Wood Connection.


Here is my latest "trick". Gorilla Glue. Available at your fine retailers everywhere...ok so it's available at Home Depot or Lowe's. But it works wonders. Take back your glue guns, get rid of your nail glue. I wonder why it's called Gorilla Glue?

Crazy 8's or Niner Niner?

Ok. I have been tagged 3 times now. I was tagged once on the 8 favorites and once on 9 favorites. HMMMM...I'll just have to go with the 8. (Thanks to Holli and to Shontell...ok I do still luv ya both) The following answers are in no particular order:

8 TV Shows
Grey's Anatomy
The Closer
Lost
Design Star
Project Runway
The Hills (oh now I'm getting embarrased)
Paranormal State
As The World Turns (crap...you've caught me now)

8 Restaurants
Bajio
Cafe Rio
Olive Garden
Kneaders
Subway
Wingers
Tepanyaki
Chili's


8 Things I did Yesterday
Got kids off to school
My girlfriends and I did a Thanksgiving craft
Made lunch for Kali
Took care of Kaisey
Haircut clients
Waited for the Dell repairman
Homework with kids
Laundry

8 Things I'm looking Forward To
Twilight baby!
Halloween
The weekend
Recipe Swap
Bonko
That day that I get a "rockin' body" ha!
Thanksgiving with the family
Christmas

8 Things On My Wish List
The last bit of the basement to be finished
A piano
To have my family sealed in the temple
To have that "rockin' body"
Redo my office
Backyard to be fully landscaped (with a garden/trees/flowers/curbing/firepit)
New couches
For my kids to pick up after themselves...oh that was funny even to me!!!

8 Things I'm Afraid Of
Drowning
Spiders
Sharks
Lakes (I'm working on that one.)
The Ocean for sure.
Something happening to my kids.
Did I mention:
Sharks
and spiders?

8 People I Tag
I don't tag anyone. If you want to do it, go ahead.



Ok...now for my second tag. (luv you too, Jenn N.)
1. What is your husbands name? Trent
2. How long have you been married? 8 years now.
3. How long did you date before you were married? A year
4. How old is your husband? He's 34
5. Who is taller? Trent is.
6. Who can sing better? Oh that's me for sure.
7. Who is smarter? I guess I'd have to say Trent.
8. Who does the laundry? me
9. Who pays the bills? me
10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed (if looking at the bed)? me
11. Who mows the lawn? If I can't get to it, Trent does
12. Who cooks dinner? We both do.
13. Who's the first to admit when they are wrong? Why would I admit that?
14. Who kissed who first? Trent kissed me first.
15. Who wears the pants in the family? Me..but I also wear skirts, and sweats.

More visits from ????

We went to visit my Grams. She told me that she had another dream. She told me that she was in a field, and she noticed this cloth hanging there. She said she felt it, and she realized that it was the veil. When she woke from this dream, she CLEARLY saw two babies being held for only a moment, and then they were gone. A couple of days later, she awoke from a nap, and saw two more people walking around her bed. Again this was only for a moment, and then they were gone. As she was telling me her story, I could FEEL...it's indescribable. I just felt such love, and a presence. It was so peaceful. I'm sure that it was Gramps. He's there and he's watching over her.

How incredible is that???

Trunk or Treat?

We went to Trunk or Treat at the Draper Army Headquarters. That was a lot of fun for the kids. There was the doughnut on a string. Nice job buddy!


Decorating your own cookie, and miniature golfing for their candy. There were 'junior leaders' handing out mardigras beads. Kaisey loved those.

AND finally there were balloon makers. There were 2 to choose from. One that was a clown (boo!) and the other one looked like Santa Clause (yeah!!!) So Santa made the kids both a dog, and a bear holding a heart, or a smiley balloon. So cute! They had a great time until.......


Oh yes....it happened. The dreaded balloon popped, and the tears just kept coming.

Then we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. Chad is a super funny man in my ward (awesome family!) Chad came dressed as Frankenstein. He is a tall man anyhow (around 6 feet tall). He wore a pair of stilts (he's a painter), and that made him around 9 feet tall. All of the children are very frightened of him in his costume. Anywho...Kali lost track of him for a minute.
Kali "Dad, where'd the tall guy go?"
Trent "I don't know, maybe he went into the hall."
Kali "How'd he get out there? He's too tall?"
Trent "I think he must have ducked."

This is Chad with his son Bret.

Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!

We did yard work over the weekend. I had to keep putting kids into the garbage cans to stuff down all the dead flowers. The kids would jump up and down until it was all smushed in there. We filled BOTH garbage cans! What should I do with the rest of the garbage until Friday?

I`m an Addict

My computer crashed this weekend. I will now admit it....I am addicted to blogging. I am having withdrawls. So here I am blogging on my Sidekick (pathetic, I know) because we don't YET own a laptop. (Soon I hope.)

What an awesome weekend we had and I can't wait to blog about it! I have been "promised" that it will be fixed tomorrow.

Technology. You can't live with it and you can't live without it (especially when your an addict)!!!!!

HSM3

My friend Melanie and her daughter Emma (she's so cute) invited Abbi, Kalyssa and I to go with them to see HSM3. I really don't care for crowds, but it sounded fun. It was even a bigger deal than I imagined. There was traffic from Bangerter, all the way to the parking lot. There were girls in matching HSM3 t-shirts. Heck, I even saw a mom in her red t-shirt WITH her face painted. Oh no she-di-unt!!! (snapping my fingers in a z formation)

The movie began. There was cheering and clapping. After every song in the movie, there was cheering and clapping. When the movie was over, there was cheering and clapping. These little girls were so very excited for the movie. I must admit that I was actually excited to see it as well. However, I was slightly distracted due to the fact that Abbi's dance teacher Chaz, is actually in the movie. He's been in all of them. He's not a main actor/dancer or anything. So I kept asking Abbi, "Is that him?" Of course she wasn't looking for him, so she would say, "I don't know maybe." I'd ask again, and again. She finally said, "Just watch the movie mom."

Happiness Is....

We just got back from Kaleb's first grade program. Happiness Is..Being Me. Kaleb did a fantastic job at singing. He knew all the words, and sang really loud. Kaisey was screaming as loud as she could too.

A couple of weeks ago Kaleb came home from school, and asked me if I knew the song "I'm proud to be an American"? I told him that I did. Kaleb in his little choked up voice, "Mom, it almost made me cry at school!"

Can you believe that first picture is just the first grade?There are 12 first grade teachers!!

Happiness is.....ICE CREAM!!! (stupid diet!!)

Say Hello To My Little Friend

This is Binx. Binx is now almost 3 years old. Binx goes every 2 weeks to get a trim or bath from the groomer (Terri Gaylord....hehe, it's fun to say). Anywho! We all love how yummy they make him smell. Yes...he really does smell yummy. "Oooh let me smell him!" Kaleb will have his face in his fur (ok..technically it's hair) smelling him for like 10 minutes.

Ok, back to my subject. Pets. Binx is such a good dog. He plays really well with Kaisey, and he tolerates Kaleb. So when I got Binx home today in all his "freshness" I started thinking about all the pets I've had...cats,parakeets, hamsters, guinea pigs, a rabbit, a chinchilla (loved him..he was cool). We "tried out" a couple dogs in this marriage. (Here comes my stories)

I had Meeko when Trent and I got married. Meeko was a freakishly large cat. This cat would scare the crap out of all of the babysitters. He 'd claw his way onto the deck then he'd walk around the railing, and stare with those flourescent eyes and claw at the window. SCREEECH!!!!

Second there was Jedi. Now Jedi was a dog, who hated Trent. Anytime Trent would get near him, he would cry at the top of his lungs, and he wouldn't stop until he felt "out of danger"...it was either Trent or the dog.....uhhh?!!

Then there was the hamsters that we thought were a good idea for Abbi. The first set, we went out of town and came home to their frail little bodies. To stop the crying, we just bought 2 more. This time, we made sure that they had PLENTY of food and water when we went out of town. HOWEVER, when we came back, there was 8 instead of 2.

So, we have a good dog, and we're just gonna stick with that. (UNLESS, I can talk Trent into one of those hairless cats!!!)

TIP OF THE DAY:
(I'm sure everyone already knows about this, but it's new to me.)
If you add 1/2 cup of water when you are browning hamburger, it actually pulls the grease away from the meat!!

Visit from Gramps

My Grams told my mom about a dream that she had the other night. (My Grams is SO very spiritual) Grams told of my Gramps coming to visit her in her dream. She said that he was all dressed in white. She said she couldn't see his face, but that he told her that it was time for her to come with him. So my Grams is very peaceful, and she's ready to go. (She'd probably be packed if there was anything to take!!!)

I am of course in tears, but Grams is ready to go. She really misses Gramps, and so do I. What a joyous reunion it will be for them to be together again holding hands like always.

It's times like this that I am thankful for being a member of the church. To know without any uncertainty that life does go on after this one.

Happy Halloween 2008

Flu Time !

We went in yesterday for flu shots, and to get Kaisey checked out by Dr. Daynes (love him). Kaisey had a fever of 102. So, she didn't get her flu shot. Gotta love when it's "just a virus". I was sure it was an ear infection.

I didn't tell the kids we were going to get the shots, until we got there. The lady at the desk spilled it to Abbi. She started FREAKING! The rest of the kids didn't find out until we were in the room, and the nurse comes in with all the needles, and asked, "Who's first?".

Kaleb says, "Abbi's first."
Abbi freaks. I told her to not panic until she got the shot.
Abbi gets her shot, and says, "Ow."

Kaleb's turn. Not even a flinch, but I know he was scared.

At this point, Kali is now hiding as far behind the chair in the corner of the TINY room as possible. I had to pull her out. She's screaming, "No, No, No!!"
The nurse says, "Do you want it in the leg or the arm."
Kali, "The leg. NO, no, no!" and a great big scream.

My turn. I'm actually really nervous, but I can't show the kids my fear. The nurse stuck the needle in, and I didn't feel a thing. Whew!!!

Gotta love the flu season!

We're back on track!

The kids went back on track today. It's bittersweet right? No more helping hands, but no more fighting!
Abbi is such a good big sister. She makes sure that Kaleb and Kali get where they need to be in the morning. And BRRRRR! It's getting cold out there! (Abbi's cute friend/neighbor Katie)

Crystal Hot Springs

We just got back from Crystal Hot Springs. The springs are natural and can range in temperature; from bathwater hot, to "holy crap that's hot" and the water was super salty. There was a cold water slide that the kids would go down several times, and then come warm up in the Springs. They had so much fun!

50's

For Activity Days, they had a 50's Daddy-Daughter night. That would OBVIOUSLY mean that I didn't get to go. Putting that aside....they had an awesome time! Aren't those decorations cute? Speaking of cute...check out the leaders? And the handsome daddy's!!!

We have a fantastic ward, and are lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. Talk about magnifying your callings! I feel so very blessed.

I have been serving in the Primary as the Valiant B (9 year old) teacher for almost 2 years now. I began to get a little "tired" of my calling until this beautiful little girl Morghan started coming to church. It was then that I remembered that my Heavenly Father KNOWS what calling I should have, and he KNOWS where I'm needed. No amount of begging for mercy, or (on my knees) please Bishop please! will help. Morghan has such a sweet little spirit. I feel so blessed that she came into my life.

Lions Tigers and Kali-bow-asaurus?

Abbi and Kali came into my office as I was reading some blogs, and Abbi says, "Mom, look at Kali. She's a Kali-bow-asaurus." She certainly was. They counted the bows as they took them out, and there was 38 in her hair. I believe I must have a set in every color, and every style. Even better part was that Abbi told me that they only used half of her bows. Kali's my little bow queen!

Happy 8

Trent and I have been married for 8 years today.

We've never really attempted to celebrate. We started out with 2 ex's and 2 children both 2 years old (they are only 3 months apart). So that was all pretty new and crazy!For our first Anniversary we had brand new baby. The next 5 we were always in Beaver for the National Guard. We'd usually remember on the way home. (LAME-O) Last year we were camping in Lava Hot Springs. (Trent arranged for me to get a massage in Lava...thanks babe). This year I decided to surprise him with a night away from the kids. Trent is always spoiling my surprises. I thought I had him this year. Then he checked his Google work calendar two weeks ago, and questioned me about his "day off". Foiled once again!

As nice as a night away will be, it'll be the first time that we've been away from Kaisey. I know she'll be in good hands, they just won't be mine!

Love you babe! Happy 8 years!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch last night. I can't believe how long it takes to find the "perfect" pumpkin! It was dark and pretty cold, so I sat with Kaisey in the car after picking pumpkins while Trent took the kids through the corn maze. Kaleb came back crying. Trent hid in the maze and jumped out and scared Kaleb. Kaleb was so scared he fell down (and most likely peed himself) Trent had meant to scare Abbi. On the way home we had a discussion about Haunted Houses (which I MUST go to this year). Abbi is SO sure that she wants to go. I told her about the last time that I went to one. The chainsaw guy chased me through the parking lot to my car. I'm afraid that I might sacrifice Abbi to get away.

Fall

We got our fall pictures done in Butterfield Canyon. My favorite photographer Julie does an amazing job doesn't she? (Header Picture)My entire house is filled with her photography. She captures some of the most beautiful moments of my kids. I shall NEVER stray!

www.juliewilliamsphotography.com

While we were taking pictures, here comes an ambulance followed by a fire truck. Shortly after that, came a police car...after police car...after police car. There ended up being like 9 of em. I never searched that out...but I was certainly curious to what was going on. Anyone?

In the Army now!

These are my two favorite boys in their uniforms.

Kaleb decided that he wanted to be an army guy for Halloween. We went to the General Army Navy store, and we looked at everything. But he knew he wanted to be EXACTLY like daddy. Boots and all! We even were able to get a dog tag for him while we were there.
The next morning by the time I woke up, Kaleb was COMPLETELY in uniform
That following weekend Trent had guard. He had mentioned that the two of them ought to have their pictures taken together. He then left to take Baylee back to the airport. A few minutes after Trent left, here comes Kaleb in his costume ready for some pictures!