Play Day!

We finally had a day to go and play! I haven't seen my friend Liz in a while, we've both been busy and its just harder to get together when we live farther a part. Monday was the first day in a long time we didn't have a ton going on. We've had a pretty mild winter and so we planned a day to go out and visit. Literally as we were packing up, it started to snow. Normally, it wouldn't bother me but we need new tires on our car and I really didn't feel like getting stuck or sliding off the road. We almost didn't go, but I knew it might be a while before we could go out again. So, I said what the heck and got in the car. I'm so glad we did because the kids had such a good time and I got to visit with Liz. She's been such a great and much needed friend this past year.  The kids got to ride horses and play in the snow, which they haven't done much of this winter because there hasn't been much snow to play in. As you can tell the kids loved riding the horses. Sometimes I think my kids were made for country life, that is until the work begins. haha Despite the wind and snow, I'm so glad we got to go out and have a play day!

Rachel (It's hard to tell with all the snow clothes on)

Jared

Ellie and Rachel

Paislie and Jared

Rachel and Ellie playing with Liz's dog

Ellie trying to get Purdy to pull her on the sled.

Look deep into my eye...

I wish I could deny this but it's SO true!

Valentines Day

 It's no secret that I am not a fan of Valentines Day. I love making Valentines Day special for my kids, helping them make cards and treats but I don't happen to enjoy the forced "romance" part of it. Last year was pretty fun with the dinner at the Firestation. But to have two Valentine's in a row that I didn't cringe at, I thought was impossible! But my husband pulled it off. He spent all day decorating our basement, made dinner (chicken cordon bleu), and made a fun little video of pictures of us and music from dating until present day. Kyle and Alysa came over for the evening. We had fun dancing to music and playing a dating game.

The kids helped make Valentines fun by dressing all up and being our servers for dinner.

 Ellie being cute

This is the area that Bill set up for dancing, playing games, and watching the video.

Bizarre Dreams

I usually put on a movie, TV show, or listen to devotional to fall asleep to. Last night I started watching the new series Alcatraz on Hulu. I fell asleep during one of the episodes and Hulu kept playing random TV shows similar to Alcatraz. I kept having crazy scary dreams about 3 o'clock I woke up and realized it was playing an episode of The River (A TV show based on American paranormal/adventure/horror/found-footage) I'm pretty sure I was dreaming about the stuff I was hearing from the show in my sleep. I think that will be the first and last time falling asleep to something on Hulu.

Class Market

Today Jared's class had a fun activity. They all had to make something by hand and "sell" it in class. They were each given $20 of play money to buy other classmates homemade items. They could also spend the money they made on other goodies.The kids also got to set their own prices for their products. Jared made paper swords and ninja stars to take to his class market to sell. Jared came home with cupcakes, lollipops, homemade stress ball, paper hat,and half a dozen cookies. I can't imagine what else the students brought that Jared didn't manage to bring home. It was just a great activity for the kids to understand the concept of money, supply and demand, and simple math. What a fun day at school! Makes me want to be a kid again.:)

When is enough, enough?

This past Wednesday, I met with a fertility specialist from Salt Lake City. It was a small answer to prayers. I knew my next step was to see a specialist but I knew it was going to cost money we really didn't have. The cost to travel to Salt Lake, the hotel, and the insurance copay, if they covered it. I got a call a couple weeks ago from my OBGYN's office saying that they had a specialist coming up to Rexburg and was offering free consulations. What a tender mercy. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I really want answers. Answers to what is causing my miscarriages, why am I loosing them in the second trimester, and is there anything else I can do to improve my chances of carrying a pregnancy to full term? Many of you don't know that I lost another pregnancy in October of last year at 16 weeks, which made my 4th miscarriage in 3 years. I just want to know that I've done everything I could to bring another spirit into this world. I've pretty much dumbfounded the OBGYN doctors here, so they recommended me to a specialist. I didn't really know how much he could help me. My problem isn't getting pregnant it's keeping the pregnancy. He went over all the tests that he would recommend. Thrombophilia Panel (Already done- came back normal), Thyroid (Already done- came back normal), Diabetes (Already done-came back normal), Hysterosalpingography (Already done - came back normal) He said I've already been tested for most of the tests that we would recommend. That made me feel good that the doctors up here have been on top of things. The specialist did recommend a couple of other tests but I just don't know if they will bring me any closer to finding the cause. I just don't know. Well, at least you know what keeps me up at night. I know that I need to trust in Heavenly Father's plan and if we are meant to have more children, it will happen. If we are done having more children, than I am incredibly blessed for the children I have to fill my home with love and laughter. Overall, I'm glad I was able to talk the fertility specialist. He gave us a few options to think about. Are we any closer to finding answers, probably not. I'm I closer to making a decision...maybe.

My Brother in law was helping out the Romney Campaign in Nevada and actually was interviewed. Check it out.

Payday!

Thursday was a particularly busy day, but what day isn't these days. It's been struggle balancing being a mom, wife, student and intern. Thursday was all about the kids. I scheduled a dentist appointment for all three kids not realizing it was the same day as parent teacher conferences. The dentist office fit all 3 kids in a the same time. We were in and out in a little over an hour.

Ellie did the best. She was all smiles. She didn't complain or whine the entire time. She loves having sparkling teeth. Jared did really good too. He just wanted a prize and a new toothbrush. He's all about the extrinsic rewards. Rachel on the other hand, HATES the dentist. She got all teary eyed. She made the RDA and Dentist feel bad. I don't know why she hates the dentist so bad, she's never had a bad experience. She was still a trooper. I am pleased to report that nobody had cavities!!! Rachel's teeth are growing in pretty good, just a little crowding, so we can avoid the orthodontist for a little bit longer. Jared has to get sealants on his molars. And Ellie, well, her teeth are sparkly!

We got home, had lunch, then I headed out to Ellie's parent teacher conference. She is doing great, I am so pleased because at the beginning of the year she was a little slow with keeping up with everyone. But she is on track. It is so exciting to see her begin to read. It's a whole new exciting world.

I had about an hour between Ellie's and Rachel's parent teacher conferences. I laid on my bed with Ellie to watch Go Diego Go, and I fell asleep for about 20 minutes. I woke up and had about 5 minutes to get ready. I looked in the mirror and I had lines from  my sweater on my face. AWESOME! Showing up to meet with your kids teacher with sleep lines leaves a  great impression. Luckily her teacher was running behind, hopefully they were gone by the time I got in there. Rachel is doing great. She is the model student. She is doing great on her tests and even coming out of her shell a little bit. Jared's parent teacher conference went well, the teacher had a power point slide projected on the wall with a picture of Jared and a note from him. It was SO cute. Jared is doing fantastic in reading. I am so happy that is a strong area for him.

Overall it was a pretty great day to be a mom. It's a day that makes you feel like everything you do for your kids as a mom is worth it. It's what a call a mommy payday!! I am so lucky to have such great kids!

My Nephew Turns 1!

 I just couldn't resist posting these pictures of my nephews 1st birthday...

 He had a Mickey Mouse theme for his party. Sonja asked if I would make his personal cake and cupcakes. I almost didn't get them done because I was running late getting home from my internship. We whipped the cake and cupcakes up in about an hour. I had Bill and Rachel helping in an assembly line.

Gratton was a little hesitant at first but then he figured it out and really dug into the cake. I LOVE his face!

 Rachel was trying to get Gratton to smear the cake on his head. My brother Colin used to do that to my kids when they were little.

 Such a Happy Baby!!

Happy Birthday Gratton! 

It's about time!

This is the longest I've gone without blogging. It was one of my new years resolutions to post at least once a week on my blog. So, I've already broken my New Years Resolution. haha I finally had some spare time, the kids were in bed, Bill was helping my brother move something. It's just me and my blog tonight. I really want to get better about keeping up my blog, mostly because it's an easy way to keep a family journal. I have a million excuses as to why I haven't made a single post in the last seven almost eight months, I even thought of making a post about all my excuses but I decide to just move forward. Enjoy!

Celebrity Sighting!

I always thought I was the person that if I ran into a celebrity on the street I would walk right past them and not even realize it. When we were at Disneyland I actually spotted Timothy Omundson, AKA Carilton Lassiter "Lassie" from one of my favorite shows Psych. I actually made eye contact with him in the line at Peter Pan and he got a panicked look on his face, which kind of startled me. Then as I sat in line, I couldn't help but think he looked familiar,  I wracked my brain for a good 5 minutes before it dawned on me. I turned to my husband and said, "Hey, doesn't that guy over there look like Lassie from Psych?" Timonthy Omundson was looking pretty shaggy compared to his squeaky clean character he portrays  on Psych. But we both agreed and even got a little excited...okay, I got a little giddy. My husband tried to talk me into talking to him or taking a picture with him but I just couldn't bring myself to bug him when he was trying to enjoy his day at Disneyland. I did take a picture though...its hard to see, but it's definitely him.

This is his character "Lassie" on Psych

This is the picture I took, I was trying not to be obvious, that's why its so blurry, plus it was  getting dark.

This is a picture that look more like he did at Disneyland!

 

 

 

I still get excited to think about it, I NEVER thought I would be star struck. Dang, I should have listened to my husband and taken a picture with him. haha

Christmas 2011 in California!

  It's had been an entire year since we had been back to California. I know, hard to believe! We were able to go for almost 2 weeks. We tried to fit everything and everybody in but we still fell short. I have to say that I loved every minute of being in California. As much as I love living in Idaho, my home will always be California. There are a TON of PICTURES

Here are some of the highlights

We spent Christmas Eve with my family and here we are at our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Grandma & Ellie.

Christmas Day was spent with Bill's Family. The kids had to be woken up to open presents or else we were going to be late for church. haha

We made it to the beach! It was in the high 70's low 80's the entire time we were in California. I just love these pictures that were taken right as the sun was  going down.

 

Jared and Bill walking along the beach looking for shells and crabs. What a great pictures of Daddy and Son.

Jared found a couple of hermit crabs but this was his BIG  find of the day!

 WE MADE IT TO DISNEYLAND!!!

This was the kids Christmas present this year!

Ellie trying to navigate around Disneyland. Which  ride to go on first???

Rachel, Auntie Mame, and Jared

Bill's parents Ron and Julie...getting ready for the Matterhorn!

Auntie Mame, Bill,  Jared, & Rachel on the Matterhorn.

The kids walking along with Auntie Mame

Standing in line...we did a lot of that. It was one of the busiest days of the year, but we made the most of it!

Thunder Mountain Railroad

Daddy, Ellie, and Mommy!

Tea Cups!

Amy, Julie, and Ron-Thanks for a great day at Disneyland!!

Bill and I  got to go to the San Diego Temple. My parents work in the temple on Thursday nights, so we tagged along. We got to meet a lot of the people they work with.  It was a great and much needed night out to the temple. Thanks Colin for watching the kids!

And we went to the beach again! This is David, Sonja and Gratton (his first time at the beach)

Grandma Mayfield with all her grand kids!

What a fun night. S mores, hot dogs, sand, and Grandma time!!

Eating some smores...I think she had about 4.

Grandma and Jared

Gratton, I think you have a little something on your face. I hope you  liked your fist adventure at the beach!

There were so many things we got to do that I didn't get a picture of or write about.

Bill Graduates!

Bill graduated December 16, 2011. It was one of the happiest moments of our marriage. For most of you, I don't have to explain what a long and challenging road this had been. He's had a lot of obstacles to overcome, especially with his health. I'm so grateful for the decision we made to come up to BYU-I. We are so blessed that Bill's Crohn's disease has been in remission for the past four years.

Bill also passed all of his testing to become a Paramedic. I think that was harder than getting his Bachelor's degree. He loves being a paramedic and his goal is to get on with a fire department. 

 Congrats!

 The kids were pretty happy to celebrate with their daddy!

Bill's family came up from California to his graduation. We loved having them up here. It meant a lot to Bill to have them there sharing this moment with him.