2010 at an end

Year in review: 2010

Highlights of each month:

January: Morgan & I went to New York to celebrate her 13th birthday.
February: We took the kids on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.
March: Logan was baptized
April: We went to the Mall of America with the kids, in Minnesota
May: Morgan's surgery, baseball and lacrosse.
June: Girls camp, potty training. :)
July: 4th of July activities, and lots of family time.
August: We went to Jackson Hole, and started school.
September: Volunteering at school, and Camden begins preschool
October: Matt took the boys to Legoland.
November: Dillon has surgery for kidney reflux
December: Morgan's play, Christmas, and a big birthday for Matt

Morgan's Party

For Morgan's birthday this year, she decided she wanted to have a party with friends in Salt Lake. We left around 1:00 and played Laser Tag, with Ashley, Elora, Hailee, Olivia, and Morgan. Afterwards we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. After dinner we went to the mall and shopped. Actually, the girls had more fun being stalked by a group of boys, than actually shopping. It was probably the highlight of their evening, when the cute 16 year old talked with them and admitted he had been following them around. :) After shopping, we went to the Little America, to stay the night. The girls had really wanted to have popcorn, and had brought tons of microwave popcorn from home. However, with no microwave, they decided they NEEDED popcorn, so we left yet again at 10:30 to buy popcorn from a nearby movie theatre. Once we got back to the hotel, they sprayed all of their smelly sprays, applied lotion, and laughed and giggled. A LOT. I think it was after 1:30 when they finally settled down. What a fun party for Morgan though. She would rather spend time with her friends, than just about anything else, so this was the perfect fun night for her. They are a good group of girls. Now, if I can only make it until 1:00 again tonight.

For some reason they were obsessed with buying pillow pets???

Happy 14th birthday Morgan

My beautiful daughter is 14. FOURTEEN! Wow- it's hard to believe she's been around that long, and yet I hardly remember a time without her. Fourteen years ago my dreams of becoming a mom came true. The most beautiful girl ever born was placed in my arms. She has made me so happy. I am proud of her values, her self confidence, and her growing testimony. I love her witty sense of humor, and her acceptance of others. I love how she sings in the shower, and is a great friend to others.


She is beautiful and kind and loving. I love hanging out with her, and talking and laughing with her. Happy Birthday my favorite 14 year old daughter! :)

Matt's Big 4-0

Today is my sweethearts birthday. I have been teasing him for the last 120 days or so. He has been receiving emails from me counting down the days until he is old. It's all in good fun, since I am 48 short weeks behind him. :) I wanted to list 40 things I love about Matt. I could list a lot more, but I will save those for when he's REALLY old. :)

1. thoughtful
2. generous
3. funny
4. ambitious
5. sweet
6. hard working
7. great dad
8. worthy priesthood holder
9. smart
10. kind
11. considerate
12. good at giving gifts
13. honest
14. trustworthy
15. spiritual
16. knowledgeable
17. not a picky eater
18. never talks bad about anyone
19. family oriented
20. gives great massages
21. helpful
22. strong
23. courteous
24. fun
25. good listener
26. creative
27. adventurous
28. flexible
29. not a baby when he's sick
30. tenderhearted
31. genuine
32. friendly
33. inclusive of everyone
34. clean
35. witty
36. humble
37. great teacher
38. gentle
39. non judgemental
40. perfect husband!


Not one of these qualities is embellished or made up. He is such a good man. I love him so much and am so grateful every day for him. Happy 40th Matt!

Matt's birthday "party"

Matt REALLY didn't want a birthday party. Believe me...I called venues, and caterers, etc. He begged me not to. So I told him we wouldn't have a party. However, I couldn't deny FAMILY members for coming over to our house to have dessert, right? We celebrated the night before his birthday, so we could go out to a family dinner on his actual birthday. We had lots of family over, and lots of treats. Cake, ice cream, cookies, and various candies in jars. The kids were in sugar heaven. My kids really wanted to decorate and make a big deal about it. So for our "get together"....it's not a party remember.... we decorated the yard a little. Morgan spray painted the snow, and we hung our signs. I am sure Matt was not real pleased with the attention he got, but he appeased us and was a good sport about it. Love you Matt!

Christmas

I probably say it every year, but it's hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone. It takes so long to prepare for the big day, and within such a short period of time, it's over. It seemed to be a much more laid back and relaxed Christmas this year.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the kids rooms, to make sure they were getting into bed and Dillon was crying. Matt asked what was wrong and he said he was singing "O Holy Night" to himself, and he had the most overwhelming feeling of the spirit that he's had, since the day he was baptized. He said after that, the presents just didn't seem as important to him, so he wasn't as excited for Christmas morning. It was so cute to see his sincerity, and something that brought a lot of peace and happiness to my heart.

Camden had a rough night. Not because of excitement, but a nauseous stomach. He seemed fine going to bed, but woke up in the night and threw up right on Morgan. She had wanted to sleep in Camden's room, so she could walk down with him in the morning. It didn't turn out so well for her, so we all had a lack of sleep that night.

The morning came, and the excitement had returned. They were sad to see our Elf, "Elfie" to leave, but excited to see that Santa had come.



Favorite gifts included a Kindle for Morgan, the AT-OT Lego Dropship for Dillon and Logan, and for Camden his tool bench.


We also got 2 new family members. A black guinea pig named Midnight, and a tan/white guinea pig name to be announced. (Possibly Cinnamon.) The kids were thrilled to have a pet, and Mom is trying to get over the fact that she has two rodents living in the house.

All in all it was a great Christmas!

Too many activities!

Things have been absolutely crazy lately. I know Christmas usually seems to be full of lots of different activities, and stress, however, I have been REALLY feeling it this year. I hate feeling like that! WIth the play, boys basketball practices, singing performances, Christmas parties, getting ready for Christmas and two birthdays, young womens, which has been extra busy this year, etc. I have been stressed out by some family members situations, too. I am so thankful for my sweet husband! He really is the best. I was so stressed out, and my house was a mess. I do not function well in a messy house. I get ornery and I hadn't had a chance to clean it up. Matt saw that I was stressed and first of all gave me a blessing- which I didn't think I needed, but it was the best thing I could have done. Then, he took some time off his busy work week to stay home and clean the house. I really don't deserve him. I have felt so much better since then, and have resolved to not get so crazy next year! (Remind me next year of that, please!)

Preschool

Camden loves Julianna, and he loves preschool, too. Look at the cute little reindeer :

With the sun shining in their eyes!)

Misc.

Just a little bit on what we've been up to lately. I was in charge of the combined young men's/young women's activity. We played "Where's Waldo" in the mall. We had different ward members dress up in disguises and the groups had to find the "Waldo's" and receive tickets in order to turn those in or a prize at the end. They loved this activity! It was nice to have the mall a little busier, because it made it a little more difficult to find ward members. I had made cake pops and put them in bags with some other treats and a quote for each person. It was kind of time consuming to make that many cake pops, but it was fun, too.

Morgan has also had several concerts this month as well. She was chosen for a solo in a couple of them, and did wonderful. I know I probably am a little biased....but I think she has a beautiful voice. I love her confidence and listening to her sing. It sure is a great way to celebrate this season, listening to choirs sing Christmas music. After the concerts, tradition has become to go to Yogotogo. For some reason, I end up taking a ton of teenagers there, and get to hang out while the rest of the Kaysville Junior High packs in for frozen yogurt and socializing. They really are a great bunch of kids though- so I won't complain!

Polar Express

Our ward had a Christmas party of the primary age children. They went all out, and the kids had a great time! The theme was the Polar Express. Of course, the kids wore their PJ's! They had a trolley (Polar Express) pick them up on the corner. (Each group had an assigned time and corner to meet.)
They had a conductor punching tickets, and when we arrived at the North Pole (Church) the kids were greeted by Santa's helpers. They were led into a room where Mrs. Claus read them a story.
Afterwards, they ate a sugar filled breakfast, then got to meet Santa, where he gave them a bell.

Afterwards, they had crafts, coloring and candy canes. The trolley then took them back to their assigned stop. It was darling, very organized, and well planned. The kids had tons of fun!

Guys and Dolls

Morgan was in her schools production of Guys and Dolls. She worked so hard at this, and I am so proud of her! It was extremely time consuming, but she loved every minute of it. She was in the mission band, a waitress, and a flamingo dancer. She was in tons of scenes, and had every line of that play memorized. She was born to act. When she tried out, she tried out for the lead. She was one of the only 8th graders who got a call back. They gave the part to someone else. However, the director ran into her and told her that she cast the other girl, since she was in 9th grade. She said she really had wanted to give it to her, and that she had better try out next year for the play. Of course that made her day!
Anyway, the play was a success and she was sad when the whole thing came to an end. The week was a long one, every night Monday-Saturday she was practicing, or performing until 10:00 p.m. She did great! The whole production went very well, and it was hard to believe it was a Junior High play. Now she wants to find an acting company to get her fill of acting, until the next school play. Great job Morgan!!

Busy

I have not had a minute to sit down lately, let alone write in my blog. So to catch up the first part of December: Morgan has play practice every day but Sunday. Dillon and Logan's basketball practices have started. We've had parties, sickness, doctor appointments, Christmas shopping, homework projects, and birthday planning. I will catch up on blogging when we get a minute to breathe around here! :)

Birthday celebrations

Matt always comes up with the most clever, creative and thoughtful gifts. I have always wanted to see the Rockettes, but have never seen them while in New York. They came to Salt Lake, so he surprised me with tickets to see them. He even went with me, which, if you know Matt is a sacrifice in itself. :) And it was during the Utah/BYU game so he must really love me. :) We went to Gateway and shopped, ate dinner at Biaggi's, and watched a movie, too. Then he had made reservations to stay at the Grand America hotel. It was so nice and pretty fancy. We had a great time, and really appreciated Christa staying overnight with the kids, so we could go. I had to teach on Sunday- so we came home that morning and went to church. It was such a nice weekend! The kids and Matt spoiled me with their gifts, cards, and their love. I have the best family ever!

On my birthday Monday, Matt had arranged for both sides of our family to come to dinner and meet at Red Robin. Holy cow. We have taken the commandment to multiply and replenish seriously. :) There were 50 people there (not everyone could come), but the majority in the state were there. It was fun, loud and chaotic! I am not loving getting older.... but it is fun to celebrate!

Misunderstandings

Camden told me today, " Mom- we don't talk to strange people." I tried to tease him and said, "Then I guess we'd better not go to Walmart." He then starts to get all excited- "We're going to Walmart? Who-hoo!" He was completely devastated that we weren't going. :) He says, "We don't talk to strange people at Walmart- only nice people huh?" I then had to explain more about strangers and I'm not sure he totally gets it, but I'm sure he stinks they're all at Walmart.

Logan's teacher also called today and said he had fallen in a snowbank and was completely soaked, and needed a change of clothes. I was gathering things to bring over and Camden asked why. I told him that Logan had fallen in a snowbank, and needed some dry clothes. He could not understand why he'd need clothes if he was at a snow bank. "He can just get some money at the snow bank and buy some more clothes." Funny kid. :)

Thanksgiving

We started out our Thanksgiving a little bit early this year. We went with family to the Jazz game in Salt Lake. We took all the kids, and all of them had a lot of fun! Camden has talked about it a lot since then. "When I went to the Salt Lake and saw the Jazz bear....." it was a fun start to the holiday.

We were at Matt's parent's for Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time! Laura and Emily played a beautiful song, then we had a yummy dinner, with too much food of course. Afterwards we played a funny and rousing game of "I never." I love spending time with family. They are so much fun to be around. Happy Thanksgiving! Unfortunately, I didn't even get pictures of people. Only some food that Morgan and I made. :)

Pilgrim Hats

Fruit turkey

And of course our annual "Thankful" tree.

Camden's ears

Okay this is funny and Camden will probably hate that I am writing this down, when he's older. We were in the house and a light was shining on the wall, so there was a shadow of Camden on the wall. He looked surprised and looked around, then looked back at the wall again. He points to the shadow and says, "Mom- that kid's shadow has big ears!" I told him that was his shadow, and he says, "Get out of here! I don't have big ears like that!" I told him to look in the mirror and he says, "See- my ears aren't as big as the kid on the wall!" It was so funny. He was convinced it was someone else's shadow, and couldn't possibly be his own. He even brought up that Peter Pan left his shadow behind, so maybe someone else did, too. Poor kid can't accept that he has adorable, but maybe slightly large ears. :)

Young Women's in excellence

We had young women's in excellence this week. It turned out very nice, and the girls all sang a beautiful song they had learned. Each girl had brought something that they'd worked on through the year, for their personal progress. They also recognized those who had received their medallions this year. I was so proud of Morgan, that she was able to stand as a new recipient of the medallion, and share some things she has learned through the personal progress program. I love being a part of this organization. It is truly inspired!

Update to the Update

Dillon was able to come home late Sat. night. He seems to have turned a corner, and is able to eat now, and doesn't have a fever. He is feeling so much better. He still has his catheter- but hopefully that will be removed on Tuesday. So many people have brought treats, balloons, cards, and visited. We appreciate it so much. Thanks for the love and concern!

Update

Well- a better day was not to be. Dillon woke up before 6:00 a.m. vomiting and in a lot of pain. He still hadn't been able to urinate since yesterday morning. He was irritable, tired, in pain and feeling pretty bad, so I called the Urologist. They said he needed to get to the ER- and only to Primary Children's. So we scrambled for a sitter, and off we went to PCMC again. Matt is at the temple on Friday mornings, so I wasn't able to get a hold of him. We spent 9 hours in the ER doing blood work, catheters, etc. We did a lot of waiting too. Dillon's temperature was 103, and his kidney function wasn't great, so they got us a bed to stay overnight. Dillon is just now closing his eyes, and hopefully sleep before they come in at midnight for more vitals. He will have to keep the catheter in until Tuesday at the earliest, but it may be even longer than that. Poor kid. He is worn out, exhausted and just plain old not feeling well. I hate not being able to do anything. I hope that we will get sent home tomorrow, and he can start this recovery process again.

Dillon's Surgery

Dillon had his vesicouretal re-implantation surgery yesterday. (Isn't it impressive that I know what that is?) :) We are so lucky to live near Primary Children's Hospital. They are fabulous with kids! They went out of their way to make sure Dillon was completely comfortable with everything. The had a child life specialist show him pictures, feel the tubes they'd be putting in him, try on the gas mask, etc. They even had probably 20 different "flavors" of gas to choose from, so when they put him to sleep, he could have a great smell. (He picked orange.) The anesthesiologist told him to make a bet with me on how long he could go before the "sleepy medicine" knocked him out. He wanted a big frozen yogurt from Yogotogo. He guessed he could last 10 seconds, and I said he could last 7. The anesthesiologist then whispers to Dillon, "I'm on your side- I will tell your mom you lasted at least 10 seconds, no matter what." Yea- that won him over. The surgery lasted about 2 hours and 45 minutes. They had to fuse his two ureters together, and then taper them, which is a little more invasive. However, he really did great in the surgery. We were supposed to stay overnight, but they ended up releasing him last night instead. While, I was thrilled to not have to stay in the hospital, I was a bit worried to take him home. Just in case... He also had a fever after coming out of anesthesia, but after some good I.V. drugs, which took his fever down, they released him.

He seemed to be doing tons better last night, than he has done today. He even said, "I don't even feel like I had surgery!" I think that was all the pain killers and anesthesia talking. Today has not been quite so good. He can take his painkillers every 4 hours, and by about 2 hours 45 minutes on the dot, he is counting down the hour and fifteen minutes until he can take them again. He is so uncomfortable- I can hardly stand to watch it. Unfortunately the painkillers make him nauseous, so that's not helping things either. Poor kid! He just wants me near him. Tonight he kept telling me, "Mom- will you encourage me again? Will you tell me I can do this- because I'm not sure I can. Will you remind me that I can do hard things?" I'm really praying that tomorrow is a better day.

He will go back in a month for a check up. And then back again in 3 months for the VCUG procedure to see if the problem is fixed. There is a chance that it won't correct the problem, but it's a pretty small chance, so they are just cautious. He will have to go back annually for that procedure to make sure everything is still working well. As we sat there in the hospital, I was thinking how lucky we are that this isn't something more serious. There were so many sick little kids there. It is truly heartbreaking. They go through so much, and so do their families. It sure helps me to appreciate my health, and my families health, when you see so many others, who have those heavy burdens. With that I'm off to administer some more meds.

Where did I come from?

I just had to write this, so I can remember this sweet conversation I had with Camden. I was folding laundry, and he was playing with his toys. He says, "Mom, come here." He puts his two little hands on the sides of my face, and looks me in the eyes and asks, "Where did I come from?" I asked him what he meant and he says, "Where did I come from? Where did you get me? Did you get me from somewhere? Did I live somewhere else before you got me?" It was so cute, because he was completely serious, and really seemed to want to know. I told him he came from heaven and Heavenly Father sent him to me. He says, "Okay- that's what I thought." And then went about playing with his toys. These cute moments sure make up for the not so cute moments!

Troublemakers

I watched my nephew Justin for a few hours this week. He is a month older than Camden. Holy cow! Two- three year olds does not equal a quiet afternoon. :) They are loud, and rough and tough, sweet and cute, all rolled into 2 little bodies. My sister called to tell me when she was coming to pick them up. During that time, they went to the basement and were really quiet. So I went down calling their names. Nothing. We don't have a walk out basement, so I knew they were down there. I look in all the rooms, and there is still silence. Then between the wall and a big chair, I see 4 little eyes staring at me. I said, "Camden- what are you doing? Come on out." Camden says, " Okay. Fine. But I did NOT color on my face." He comes out and before I can even see what he has done, he shouts, "Okay, okay I colored on my face. Sorry!" He and Justin must have decorated each other because the backs of their necks, their backs, their shirts, faces and hands all had marker on it. Little stinkers! At least it was semi-washable though. :)

This was after we had already started cleaning. I wish it showed the "whole picture."

Halloween 2010

I told Morgan that you can tell I've been a mom for a long time. I used to care if they had cute- coordinated costumes. Not any more! They can choose what they want and they don't have to match with each other. They trick or treated on the 30th, instead of the 31st- since it's a Sunday. The weather was overcast all day, but about 5 min. before they were going to leave to go trick or treating, or to parties, it started to pour. It rained and rained so everything got soaking wet. Lucky me, I got to stay home and pass out candy this year. :) Even with the weather, we still had lots of kids come, and of course the kids got a haul. Camden didn't want to stay out too long, which was great. Morgan went to a halloween party and had a fun time. I am always glad when halloween is over. It's not my favorite holiday, and that means it's perfectly acceptable now to decorate for Christmas, right?

Morgan's duct tape costume. Shoes, bracelet, headband, sash and dress all completely duct tape.

Camden the monkey. He loved his costume, but people kept thinking he was a bear.

He kept ducking his head like this: to prove he really was a monkey.

Dillon a Star Wars guy of course! (I think it's Arc-70, or something like that??)

Logan is a Star Wars guy too. Cad Bane from the Clone Wars.

Pumpkin Patch

The kids had the day off, since the term ended. It was a beautiful day, and we decided to go to the pumpkin patch, and play. It was so nice out! I love the sun! They went through the corn maze, slid down the huge tube slides, played in the corn box (instead of a sand box it's big kernels of corn.) rode the train, climbed bales of hay, jumped on the bouncy house, and ate kettle corn. They seemed to have a great time. There was so much to do there, and it was the perfect day to be outside.

Miscellaneous

We had a beehives party and I made some treats that were a hit. First off, we had witches hats. (So easy to make!)

Then the real hit were the cookie dough ball truffles. They are so naughty....but yummy, if I do say so myself. I have had several requests now to make them for other things. I had to give them away because I would just eat them if not.

I have wanted to decorate my lampshades for years. and finally got around to it this weekend.
They now match my bedding which I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Morgan says I take ruffles to an extreme. She is probably right, but what can I say? I have a house full of boys and need a little frilly to surround me. :)