BEWARE OF THESE SPIDERS

The day after Christmas we noticed Zach had a small bump on his arm. It kind of looked like a little zit but we decided to leave it alone and watch it. By Sunday morning it was a deep angry red about the size of a nickle with the white blister and a black dot in the middle. His poor little arm was all swollen and he was not a happy boy. Christian took him to the doctor (I love our Doctor, the only day they aren't open is Christmas day) that day and its a good thing. When the doctor drained it there was a big pea size ball of black/grey poison along with a bunch of pus and liquid that came out. Nasty right? Anyway now he is on anti-biotics and we have to watch and make sure he doesn't get a staff infection from it. We discovered that the spiders in our place are called Yellow Sac Spiders and are one of the 4 poisonous spiders found here in Utah. They only bite when they feel threatened so we think he must have rolled on it in his sleep. Keep your eyes open for them!

Christmas!!!

Wow what a month this has been. I can't believe everything we have done. Lets see, on my last post I ended with the Hope Kids party so I'll start from there. Saturday night we drove out to Tooele to visit Christians best friend. We always have a good time getting the 2 families together. We had dinner and played games while the kids went through every toy they owned! On Sunday we went over to Terry's house for a visit from Santa Claus. He was so cute with the kids and we were very excited to have our friend Erin and her family come as well. The kids were all so excited to see Santa and he even teased Josh about being good!

Monday and Tuesday were spent getting ready for the big day. On Christmas Eve we spent the morning cleaning up and getting food ready for that night. Then in the early afternoon we went over to my parents so the boys could open their presents and visit for awhile. That night we were off to Christians families for dinner and songs. We had a good time visiting with everyone and singing silly songs but then it was home to get ready for Santa. Josh was so excited to put out the reindeer glitter (oats and glitter) so they could find our place and to hang Santas magic key on the door (since we don't have a fireplace). He was even willing to go to bed so that Santa could come. Zach wasn't so willing and stayed up until midnight. Christmas morning was a whirlwind as Josh ripped open presents as fast as could and then wanted to help Zach open his. We had to open every box and scramble to get batteries in toys for the boys to play with.

Later in the morning we headed back to my parents for Christmas breakfast with all my sisters and their families. The kids were all so excited that they talked more than anything. We had a really good time and then went back to Christians parents for the kids to open their presents there.

All in all it has been a crazy, busy, holiday season but we've really enjoyed all them time spent with family and friends!

Busy week!

The holiday is definitely getting busier! This week we have had one thing after another. Wednesday was Josh's preschool program and party. It was cute and he actually sang the songs unlike last year. Then we had to tour his class to see everything hes been working on. Friday was Zachary's party at school. I had put together a DVD of pictures of all the kids and had it to their music so they played that and then we had treats there and looked around. That night we ditched the kids with my parents and went to the Neil Diamond concert. This was part of Christians Christmas/promotion and I think he really enjoyed it. Today we woke up early for the Hope Kids party! They took us to Bolt 3D and then over to the Mayan for lunch, activities and Santa. Josh had a blast (Zach slept through it!). I'm a dope though and completely forgot to take my camera. Hope everyone else is having a fun holiday season!

Happy Holidays!

The holidays are definitely a crazy time of year. There is so much going on that you hardly have time to stop and take it all in. This past week is no exception. Friday night we went with Christians family to Zoo lights. It was so cold with the storm coming in but we bundled the kids up nice and warm and had a blast. I wasn't sure it would be worth it but the zoo actually did a really good job. Some of the light scenes were really incredible. Sweet Aunt Shannon bought each kid a light toy that they carried through with them. They were all so excited and not one of us thought to take a picture! Today we woke up to a blizzard! It was the Angel Hands Christmas party so we braved the roads. This is an incredible group that has welcomed Zach in. Its actually a group for children with rare diseases but they have luckily let us be among those. They took us to Hollywood Connection (there are little rides, roller skating, mini golf, laser tag, and an arcade) and gave a a card for all the rides and attractions we wanted. They also provided lunch and had Santa come for the kids. At the end they gave everyone a pass to the connecting Ritz 15 theater so the kids and I went and saw Delgo. Zach really liked the movie, Josh was more interested in the treats. A very busy but fun time.

Tonight was our annual night of gingerbread house decorating with my family. We always get together and have dinner first and then get set on the decorating. Zach was more into un-decorating out house and shoving the candy in his mouth as fast as he could. Josh ended up doing most of the work and decorating a cookie for himself. All in all, it was a lot of fun. Its always fun to get together with family and find out what everyone else has been up to.

November!

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. Between family visits, Thanksgiving, and birthdays I haven't had a minute to blog anything. So, here we go playing catch up.

Christians brother and his family came down from Washington to visit for a week. This meant a lot of fun family get togethers. Their first night here (Saturday) we celebrated Zacharys and Aunt Shannons birthdays, and decorated gingerbread houses. On Sunday we went to my familys to celebrate my dads and Zacharys birthday. Zach had a great time smearing himself with chocolate cake. Then we had a day off before it was back to the Terry family house for our first Thanksgiving dinner. The kids made turkey headbands and then promptly destroyed them with playing so hard. After dinner Grandma gave all the kids their first Christmas present, matching jammies! The next day we Zach got to have a birthday party at school! We took in a pull-string pinata filled with sensory toys and a balloon for each kid. The teachers let the kids spray everyone and everything with silly string and they all had a lot of fun! On Thanksgiving we went back to my families for a big dinner. The kids all had fun playing games and just hanging out with each other. It was nice to have an earlier dinner though so we weren't so stuffed at bed time. Friday we spent the day putting up the tree and hanging our outside Christmas lights. On Saturday we headed back to Terrys for the gangs last night in town. Earlier in the day I had fallen down the stairs and hurt my leg so I got to be there on crutches. Neil and Annie went to go see Body Worlds and since all the kids wanted to keep playing we took them back to Kangaroo Zoo. We hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes when poor Shannon fell off one of the boucers and dislocated (and fractured as we later found out) her shoulder. I hobbled around watching the kids while everyone else helped Shannon to the car so they could take her to the ER. We ended up staying for awhile and then piled back in the cars to head back to the house for dinner and to wait for everyone else to come home.

Finally everything has settled down a bit though with all the Christmas parties coming up, I don't think it will be long before everything gets crazy again! Just a note, my leg is still sore but I have been off the crutches for a couple of days and I am doing good! Hope everyone else had a great holiday!

Halloween 2008

Okay, so I'm really slow about posting this. These pictures are from our wards halloween party, going to see the witches at Gardner Villiage, Josh's school parade (Zach was sick for his), and trick-or-treating.

Favorites

8 favorite T.V. Shows
1- Greys Anatomy
2- House
3- Chuck
4- Heroes
5- Fringe
6- Amazing Race
7- ER
8- My Own Worst Enemy

8 Favorite Restaurants
1- Market Street Grill
2- Olive Garden
3- Red Lobster
4- Wendy's
5- East Sea
6- Chilis
7- Bambara
8- The Pie

8 Things that happened yesterday
1- Got kids dressed
2- took Josh to school
3- wrapped Christmas presents
4- watched a movie
5- worked on my afgan
6- gave kids a bath
7- put away clothes
8- fell asleep watching Scrubs

8 Things I look Forward to
1- Zachs soccer games
2- fun activities with the kids
3- Christmas
4- movie popcorn
5- A good book to read
6- lunch with my Cancer Moms group
7- Date night with Christian
8- Vacations!

8 Things I LOVE about Fall
1- The colors
2- nice and cool
3- Halloween
4- Fun things to see around town. Witches at Gardner Village, Corn mazes etc
6- trick or treating with the kids
7- Snow! except on the roads
8- Time with family

8 Things on my Wishlist
1- Travel with my family
2- get completely out of debt
3- Get the kids through school and missions
6- Getting to go back and visit Italy
7- Cure cancer (especially childhood cancers)
8- Write a novel

8 people I tag
I don't know who to tag so if you are reading this, consider it done!

Tagged!

I promise I will update more current events later but for now I have been tagged. You take your 4th picture file and the 4th picture in it and post it. This is of Zach (when he was still going through chemo) and one of Shaunas girls. Shauna, please comment and tell me if you know which it is. Also, if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Pumpkin Fun

Friday was our family pumpkin day! Every year we get together with my family, have dinner, and carve pumpkins. While the adults to most of the work and the kids run around screaming, its still always a lot of fun. I started by taking my kiddos to the Maybe Family farm and pumpkin patch. Its a cute little farm and they sell their HUGE pumpkins for what everyone else charges for small ones. They had fun climbing on the hay bales, walking through the rows and rows up pumpkins, looking at the old tractor, and of course picking out the best pumpkins to bring home.

That night we went to Grandmas with everyone else to carve. I don't let my kids actually carve their pumpkins. Since Josh would most likely stab me and Zach can't really control a knife we use the Fright Lights. Its kinda like LiteBrites. They hammer in the pegs and you put an LED light in the pumpkin and they light up just like regular ones. Both boys had a blast hammering their pegs and Zach didn't want to give up the hammer when he was done.

Camping in October?

Well, Christian has been begging to go camping all year and so we finally went over UEA weekend. It was a lot of fun, but such an ordeal!

We got everything packed and ready to go on Thursday night so we could leave early on Friday. We were taking Christians parents tailer so that we would have some warmth and electricity for Zachs pump. We left home at 10am and got went to pick up the trailer (we could only drive it during the day). When we got there, there was a problem with the electrical hookup and we didn't end up leaving until noon. Then we got stuck in traffic for over an hour near Provo. We finally got to our campground in Snow Canyon (by St. George) at about 7. By the time we got everything set up and ready to go, we decided we were going to drive into St. George and get some dinner. About this time Zach thought it would be a good idea to get sick. He spent the next 3 hours throwing up and having a horrible time. Now we were so frustated that we decided we were going to come home first thing in the morning. Luckily Zach slept well and woke up bright eyed and ready to play. We decided to give it a shot and took off for Zions. We stopped at a litte petting zoo/picture stop along the way and the boys had a blast feeding carrots to the goat, llamas, deer, and burros. There was a bunch of old time buildings that you could take pictures in front of as well. After we left there we had a quick picnic at the park and then headed into Zions to hike. We spent most of our time on the Riverside Walk (a paved trail thats not to steep for the wheelchair). Josh insisted we stop and take pictures almost every 5 feet. When we had had enough hiking we drove back into St. George for dinner then went back to camp and roasted marshmallows. On Sunday we got up early and headed out by about 10. We finally got to Christians parents (to drop off the trailer) at around 6. It was a lot of fun, but way to long to be stuck in a car with kids!

99 Things

99 Things...
I thought this was a fun one... I copied it from Shannon-

Here is a list of "99 things..." the ones that I have done are in Blue.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Italy
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (does half way count?)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34.Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language- (Do I have to be fluent?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Received flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Which ones have you done?...

A quiz for Josh

My sister had this on her blog so I decided to see what Josh would say. Some of the answers are pretty typical of a four year old and some of them made me laugh!


1. What is something mom always says to you? No
2. What makes mom happy? Being good
3. What makes mom sad? stepping on her foot
4. How does your mom make you laugh? tell me funny jokes
5. What was your mom like as a child? play
6. How old is your mom? 2
7. How tall is your mom? 9inches
8. What is her favorite thing to do? making necklaces
09. What does your mom do when you're not around? I don’t know
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Rock star
11. What is your mom really good at? scrapbooking
12. What is your mom not very good at? spanking my butt
13. What does your mom do for her job? cleans
14. What is your mom's favorite food? rice krispies and spaghetti
15. What makes you proud of your mom? makes me happy
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Roger
17. What do you and your mom do together? go on rides
18. How are you and your mom the same? freckles
19. How are you and your mom different? "Jesus makes us different"
20. How do you know your mom loves you? because she gives me kisses

Farewell Chocolate

Our sweet Chocolate passed away today, September 29. She was a good pet and we will definately miss her. Both her babies are pretty upset that she isn't in the cage with them anymore and Josh doesn't quite understand. We tried to explain when Sweat Pea died and tried again tonight, with the theory of a hand in a glove, the spirit living on even though the body is gone but he came back by telling me (Christian was talking to him about it) "Mommy, Chocolates hands are dead but her fingers are still alive." I little morbid but he was so sincere that I just couldn't help but laugh!