Yes he's 10!

I officially have a 10 year old... wow, that makes me feel old!!  Last night we had a family party to celebrate Thomas' birthday.  He had so much fun... We all had so much fun!  I had a friend from work make him a most awesome Tank cake and I made him Spaghetti which was his dinner of choice.  After dinner we opened presents and than we took everyone to a trampoline park... what a cool place!  We jumped for an hour and I can definitely say that an hour was plenty long enough for me (I am a bit sore today). Trampoline jumping is by far the best work out I have ever had and you combine that with following around a very excited 2 year old who thinks she is one of the big kids and all I can say is  I'm tired!!  Anyway, after we got back we sang the loudest rendition of "Happy Birthday" we could sing and we ate the tasty cake.  After the grandma's left, Thomas and Andrew began playing with the new toys... i.e the air soft gun and the new fancy scooter with ramp.  At 10:30 I finally had to go outside and remind the boys that we still had to get up early and go to work and camp tomorrow so they begrudgingly put the new toys away.  I could see Andy drooling over the air soft gun and had to smile a little as I have already purchased one for him for Father's Day...  While putting Thomas to bed he thanked me many times for such a fun birthday.  What a sweet kid.  I am so proud of his accomplishments and am very happy he is a part of our family!

Times are a changin...

There it is... this is the hew house we will be building in Daybreak, Utah over the next several months.  Very excited to move out of my tiny little townhouses into something we can be in for a very long time.  Yay!!  Anyway, it will be 6 bedrooms, having a place for my parents if and when my dad is able to come home from the care center.  For him to be able to come home, my mom needed to have a place with no stairs and main level living - which this will definitely have.  It will also have pretty wood floors and a nice double oven  - which really were my only requirements...but the rest of the house will be really nice as well.  We decided to go for Daybreak, because we really liked the feel of the community out there.  Lots of activities and things to do which I feel is important, especially for my kids.  Anyway, I will keep you posted as things progress.  Right now, we are waiting for plans to get approved so that they can actually dig the hole.   Lots of fun, and really exciting!!

As for other news, my dad has been in and out of the hospital since his knee surgery in late January.  His  latest trip was due to a blood clot that went basically the entire length of his leg.  He was only there for a night because they were able to stabilize everything and send him back to the care center.  Poor guy, it seems to be one things after the other.  He is doing OK though, and things are stable for the time being.

Thomas and Kate finished school this last week - and all I can say is YAY!!!! This was a hard year with Thomas in fourth grade.  We had some significant issues with his ADHD and it created quite a stressful year.  However, he pulled through it and ended the year with a bang!  Kate did well this year and won the fastest addition award for finishing more levels in math than anyone else in her class.  We were very proud of this great accomplishment.  I am so excited for summer to be here - the kids love summer camp and when we come home, they are so exhausted that bedtime because a breeze for the next three months - love it!

What an experience...

Our little Ella had quite the experience this last week.  She fell at her babysitters and hit her head so hard that she fractured her skull as well as had a hematoma inside her head.  When we went to pick her up at the babysitter - she didn't see her fall but heard her and had thought she had only hit her mouth because Ella was holding the front of her face when she picked her up. She gave her some Tylenol and Ella was acting as crazy as usual - in a good mood and just having fun.  We took her home and she wasn't acting any different at home either.  The next morning when I went to get her out of bed, she kept pointing to her head and saying "owie" - Andrew felt her head and there was a giant squishy spot on her left side.  At that point panic set in and I told Andrew to get her to the ER - ASAP and I would meet him there when I dropped all the other kids off.  When he got her to the hospital they tried to do a CAT scan - you can imagine how fun that was for a 20month old - it took two tries and 4 different techs to finally get the job done.  When the results came back - they said we would need to go up to PCMC for observation because she had a bleed.  They wouldn't allow us to drive her, so Andrew and Ella got to take a fabulous ambulance ride up to the children's hospital.  Below is a picture of her strapped in her car seat on the gurney.  She was so mad because they had just put an IV in and she was pretty sick of being poked and prodded by everyone by the time we left the first ER. Anyway, we got up to Primary's and talked with a Neurosurgeon or two and they decided that they would keep her the night just to make sure everything was OK.  They said that it looked pretty good because she was so active and talkative but they just wanted to make sure.  Have you ever tried to keep a "supposed to be hurt but doesn't think she is hurt" baby still  and resting??  Yeah, she wasn't having any of it.  We took lots of walks around the halls and many trips to the playroom because she couldn't stand to be in the hospital room. She quickly one the hearts of the staff up there because she is just so darn cute!  She was talking and waving and laughing which is something I don't think the staff on the trauma floor see much of with their usual patients.  All in all - it was a scary experience but a good one.  We were treated so well and Ella was taken care of by some of the best doctors around.  We were able to have the kids come up on Saturday and spend the day with us while we waited to be discharged and they had so much fun in the big playroom.  We did go back yesterday for a follow-up and they said that the bleed spot is getting much smaller and that they expect her to make a full recovery - good news!! 

 Not happy camper heading up to primary children's hospital

She looked so darn cute in the hospital gown and pants - love that they make these things this size.  She was mad here because we had to come back to the room to meet with the doctors.

They had all sorts of toys we could "check out" at the nurses station - these little dolls were her favorite!

Her jail crib - this is her finally taking a nap after a very long day in Emergency.

Only Mattie.....

So Jen was telling me that Mattie asked her if babies come with anything when they are born. Jennifer, of course said no, they didn't-that they are born naked.  Mattie being concerned then asked, well how do the stay warm in your belly without any blankets?

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It's Christmas Time...

Wow - I can't believe it is Christmas time already.  This year seems to have flown by.  I was looking at my inventory of Christmas gifts and realized that I am not yet finished buying gifts yet - ahhhh!!!  Guess I know what I will be doing tonight.  Despite all the stress of package purchasing, I know I have said this before but I love this time of year.  I love the family time and the break we get from the everydayness of work and school.  I love piling everyone in the car for a drive to look at Christmas lights around the city.  I enjoy having my sweet neighbors bringing our family tasty treats and I enjoy giving to my neighbors.  I love all the decorations in my office and the kind gestures from my coworkers.  I love the fact that my husband put lights on our house this year and even though we don't have a very big tree - we still have a tree that has been decorated (and redecorated several times) by my sweet children.  I love the cold weather and the snow. I even love the fact that my husband cleaned the garage for my monstrous car which means I do not have to scrape ice in the morning.  It seems at Christmas time people are more generous and kind to one another and I love that.  Our lives our so busy - I know I say that all the time but it is true.  I feel that at least at Christmas, it gives us chance to take a step back and be grateful for all the wonderful blessings we have been given.  And I am truly blessed.  I have a wonderful little family... that is not so little anymore.  My children are happy and active and love to be with their parents.  I have a sweet husband that is wonderful with our children and tries hard to make our life better.  There is nothing more important than to feel loved and I know I am loved.  We have been trying to really talk about the meaning behind Christmas with our children this year.  I know they get tired of me asking why we celebrate and what Santa represents... but focusing on Christ and the importance of giving is so important and I want my children to understand that.  Again, I don't know what else to say except I love Christmas.  And to all those in blog land - family and friends and even the random viewers - I want to wish you a wonderful Christmas/Holiday season.  I hope you have the chance to be with your loved ones and to really feel the magic of this season.  Merry Christmas everyone - I love you all!

Kid Pictures

Yay - we were finally able to get some pictures done of the kids.  The photographer told us of this really cool antique shop called Nook and Cranny in Lehi which allows people to use their grounds for pictures.  We had a great time and came back with some pretty sweet pictures!

Randomness

 Here are some random pictures over the last several months... I have more but it takes an awfully long time to post them!

 First day of school for Tom and Kate.  Thomas is in 4th grade this year and is doing really well.  Kate is in 1st and loves every minute of it!

Oh Miss Mattie... Every time the camera is out she wants her picture taken... she's silly but pretty cute!

 Hehehe

Thomas had his 9th birthday at home this year and got his first Skateboard...

pretty excited!

A little heavy heavy hangover...

Sweet and very tanned Kate.  Thomas and Kate participated in a summer long camp where they went swimming several times a week and went on several field trips all over Salt Lake.  They had so much fun and are excited for next year.

Yep - She gets it from her big sister Mattie... anytime there is a camera, she poses and smiles!  Love this picture!

Only picture I could get from Thomas - not exactly sure what is going on with the face but the pizza looks tasty!