Puerto Rico was a BLAST!

The kids' favorite part was swimming in the pool at the hotel. It was rather awesome. We did that every night before bed time, and most days too.

I don't think I had a favorite part. We swam, walked around Old San Juan, saw El Morro (a Spanish fort),

donned hard hats for a walk through a cave at Camuy,

walked around in El Junque and hiked up to a water fall (breath-taking, exhilarating, and heaven on earth),

laughed w/ my siblings (one just freshly home from his mission), and hung out w/ sisters at Hard Rock Cafe. Oh yeah, and huge, strange road kill. Good stuff!

After Puerto Rico, we spent five days in Georgia. We were all there (though we had to drive to Columbus, GA to include Spencer - He'll be a 2nd Lieutenant on Dec. 17th!) hanging out and chasing kids ;) It was great fun to be all together. I also learned how to make gum paste/fondant flowers. I didn't get pictures of the best ones, but I'll be working on some more soon. Thanks Alana!

Strictly Visual

What A Trip! (complete now)

We went to UT for a week over Poppy's birthday. We had a really wonderful time, strengthened our relationships, and got some wild memories from it all.

Friday I flew into SLC with the children. We intended to hang out at the airport for a few hours to wait for my mom who would be flying into SLC later that afternoon. Instead, my sisters decided to come to pick me up early. The kids and I got pizza, went to the potty, picked up our bags, and headed to the pick-up area. Perfect timing! Leah and Alissa (my cousin) came together to take us to Willard. We stopped off at Wal-Mart on the way home to pick up some necessities. I stayed in the car w/ all of the sleeping kids. While I was waiting my kidney (right) started to hurt. So I unbuttoned my pants (the pain was also in my abdomen) and tried to occupy myself. Soon the pain increased significantly and we started for home (Poppy's home that is). As soon as we parked I left the kids and ran into the house and threw up my guts and then some. My sisters and cousins all pitched in to make my kids feel comfortable. Thank You! I sat on the couch, lay on the floor, and called Brad. I needed to go to the ER. Again everyone pitched in with my kids, and Leah took me to the ER in Brigham City. A lady postponed her break so that I could sign in and then we went to the watiting room to wait. Excruciating! Leah helped them move their process up a bit to help me sooner. 2mm kidney stone was the diagnosis and I got Loratab to help me w/ the pain. I threw up two more times that night and again, more helping w/ my kids.

Saturday I was feeling better and we went to the Hislops house to hang. We got to see new chicks (Peanut Butter and Angel), lambs, ewes, chickens, turtles, and birds. We had a fun time there. Gram and Grandad showed up and brought dinner and a b.day cake for Frank. I went to Poppy's for dinner, but everyone offered to keep Frank (and the other kids too). I had a blast w/ my cousin Danny, my sisters, my mom, my aunts and uncle, my grandpa, and my other cousins who came by. Great few hours. Then I went back to the Hislop abode. Everything was wonderful and in order. Then Harper threw up. We played Pinochle (LOVE that game) and Chick was my partner agains Lance and Teresa. Great partner!! Fun game, more throw up, and then it was time to sleep (or so I thought). Bedtime came and Frank threw up. My wonderful sister Teresa tended to Frank for three or four hours while I tended to Harper. What a life saver! We didn't get much sleep, but we were well taken care of.

Sunday morning came slowly but surely. Eden woke up at 5 AM feeling like she needed to throw up. Harper felt like eating breakfast and so did Frank (Yay!) so Teresa made waffles. We got to eat them with her homemade cherry syrup. YUM! We painted nails, chewed gum, the kids played imaginative games and Leah and Alissa brought us our Sunday clothes. We went to church and settled down. Shortly after the sacrament was passed, Frank threw up. I barely made it outside. Tannah and Grace were heaven sent our whole time there. I'm so grateful for their help. Despite our sickness, we went back to Poppy's. It was his b.day that day and it was a good one. Eden finally threw up that evening and promptly ate some lasagna. She held it down along w/ some cake.

The cake was a tripple work of art. Alana made cup cake shaped cakes, and regular cup cakes too. One was german chocolate (poppy's fav) and the other two were spice and yellow cakes. We made them special to Poppy's life and the kids helped. Good memories!

Monday was a blur. The kids went swimming in a small pool in the yard, we pic-nicked in the same place, and generally enjoyed each other's company. Frank and I were sick all that night and the night before.

Tuesday was the first day that nobody threw up. I think. And Leah showed us some music that Grandma had written years ago. She's working to turn it into a book. She also showed us music that she arranged that we were planning on singing for Poppy. Timing wasn't right to sing, but I really enjoyed learning it and was excited about it. Well done Leah!

Wednesday, Alana and I planned to attend the Oquerrh Mountain Temple open house with Brad's parents. We got out of the house nice and late, but we still had a chance to make it to the temple on time. We met the Noels at the Hislop house and there discovered that all of those wonderful children were throwing up, AND Miles had pink eye, and all while Teresa was gone for the week. Ha Ha Ha right? :( So off we went. 20 minutes later Eden threw up all over herself. I crawled back, stripped her down, and wiped her off. I put her in Harper's spare jean shorts w/ no shirt. Five mins after climbing back into the front seat, Frank threw up all over himself. I had Alana pull over and took care of that mess.

Because we were going to a temple, we figured some clothes would be in order. We stopped at a Target and fixed them up. The Noels bought us some cups and Gatorade which was loving and good thinking. Aparently they've done this before :)

We arrived at the temple w/ time to spare. We dressed the kids and fixed ourselves up and headed in. It was a wonderful experience. Eden matched the rooms on the program sheet to the rooms that she saw. We were spiritually uplifted and impressed with the beauty of that building. Afterward we had cookies and took pictures. Then the Noels took us to Chick-Fil-A. mmmmmmm.

I got to spend that evening at the Noels house and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. We saw more animals, Eden got shocked by a low level (thank goodness) electric fence, Eden and Harper got to ride Dancer while Gram and Grandad led and steadied them. They couldn't get enough of that part. Frank threw up right after dinner. Oh, did I mention that it was probably the result of him falling down a flight of stairs? We had to say goodbye eventually and I was sad to go.

Thursday was another wonderful non-throwing-up day and I learned to make frosting roses. That part was a dream come true thanks to my sister Alana. She took the Wilton classes and now they want her as an instructor. Amen sister. Represent!

Friday my mom and I left Willard. I was sad to see it go and would have liked some more non-sick time there w/ Poppy. The drive was a good one. I really enjoyed spending that time w/ my mom. When we got to the airport, one of the guys gave us a luggage cart at no charge. Thank goodness for that thing. Mom pushed the cart w/ the two kids helping and our friends (the Flamms) let me borrow wheels for Frank's car seat. SUCH a wonderful thing. Thanks!! Mom helped us through security (holy many many grey bins of stuff). bought us Burger King (yummy thanks), and got us to our gate on time. Then she said goodbye. We were sad to see her go. And we did get to see her go too. We watched her plane back out and head for the runway.

We hunkered down for a while, took two trips to the bathroom (Chore), and nobody took a nap. Frank threw up on the plane so I gave him some Dramamene and he seemed fine. Lucky guess. Seeing Brad at the other end was a welcome and needed sight. Eden ran to him w/ her backpack bouncing the whole way. So cute to watch. And with a kiss and our luggage, we headed home.

The next morning Eden threw up...

Tadpoles

Yeah, our pond is nasty green (thanks to lugnut who decided one day to chew through the power cord to our pump). So naturally we have tons of tadpoles surfacing for air throughout the day. Well, we've discovered them! And for the record, buckets work better than shovels for catching. I'm excited to see them sprouting legs and all that jazz. We'll see if my kids are just as willing to catch and hold them at that point :) Until then it has become a daily ritual to go outside and enjoy nature.

Speaking of nature, eating outside ROCKS! Just ask Frank. He'll eat anything outside ;)

Catching Up

Boys are sleeping! Eden's happy! Sun is hiding and bring on the rain!

We have been walking on and off the last few months. We have a new dog named Lugnut. Actually, he was new in April, but it's been that long since I updated anything. He's six and cool. A mut if I ever saw one, and so he fits right in.

We went to Disney with Blaine and Cathy Noel and family. We got to camp with them for a few nights. It was pretty wet the whole time, and I didn't pack well. Luckily for me my family rocks, so I had some quarters to throw things into the dryer each night :) Thanks guys!

Brad was with us the first day, and then he had to go back to work. We got to see all kinds of people. And Anistasia Tremaine (from Cinderella) danced with Harper and kissed him on the forehead afterward. It was fun to see. The Buzz Lightyear ride rocked so much that we rode it Twice! and Harper wanted to ride it on the third day too. We had a lot of fun.

Then we got to go to GA to see more family. Such a good time. I enjoy watching my children play with their cousins. And I really like playing Rock Band. Life is good.

And now, a word from Eden. Life is good for her too :)

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Outside Much?

Oh boy do we love being outside! Trees, sprinklers, beaches, grass, bubbles, and all things dirty!

It's fun to see all of the fun children around here growing up, and it's crazy to see all the other children (via pictures and stories) not out here growing up. Wow. Talk about a generation of bright, fresh minds. They have the world at their fingertips and I think only lizards escape them (well, mine atleast).

Not much to report besides the general growing up. Frank is starting to take steps like he knows how to walk already. He doesn't, but I let him try. He's still in the 97th percentile for height (don't remember what that is just now), and he weighs a bit over 24 lbs. Sheesh! He just took a solid two hour nap. That hasn't happened for a long time. Go Frankie! Go!

It's time to cut the back yard again, and I will as soon as I get the rest of the bougainvillia branches cut and chucked. Our garden is still in milk jugs but should be all planted and settled this weekend. We're also about to make some more headway on our bathroom project. I need to find tile this week. Ack!

And to wrap it up, my NCAA Bracket was SOO off this year. I'm glad I wasn't risking anything on my picks. Yikes. And I even filled out a brand new bracket for the final four b/c I had no teams to cheer for by then. Again, Yikes. And...way to go Tar Heels! (No, that wasn't my final pick). I should have filled out another bracket for the championship game. *Shaking head* Sad. I know.

And so, life goes on.

Bring On The Sand

We went to the beach last week! I was worried about taking all of the kids. I went with my friend Krysta and her two youngest. It turned out so wonderfully. Frank has no issues whatsoever with being covered in sand, and he ate his share of it. Harper loved it, Eden loved it, and the other children loved it. What's not to love?

At one point all of the children were standing where the water meets the sand. You know how sometimes you feel disoriented when the water goes back out to sea and you're not moving? Well Harper was obviously effected by that b/c he walked crooked and slanted and drunk for a good 15 feet and then fell flat on his face. Oh, that was funny :) He stayed away from the waves mostly after that.

It got cold near the end of our time and I had to convince Eden to get out of the water. She really loved it. I think we'll go back again soon.

We've been outside a lot lately. Today was muggy. I'm trying to get back into the habit of walking...I was doing SO well until Sophie got nailed. So now she's doing fine and I'm back to being lazy. Ick. I'll figure it out.

Sprinklers In March

I know some of you guys have snow on the ground, but it's hard for us to believe. It's been practically HOT here. I've been running fans and opening all the windows to try to cool us down. Just the other day we busted out the bathing suits and sprinklers. The kids had a blast! They each had one in our sad, dried out grass covered lawn. The running around, screaming, and jumping were the highlight of my day.

Frank has a tooth on top now, and the other top one is working it's way out. I would love for that process to speed up a bit. He's healthy and happy otherwise though. Lots of laughing and touching things he shouldn't.

My new favorite thing to do is new.familysearch.org. Finally, I have found a place to start family history. It's quite addicting and I'm already excited to log on after the kids are in bed. Thank you Cathy Noel! And this will fulfil a personal progress requirement for the young women project that I'm working on. Woo Hoo! It doesn't get much better than that!

Ghetto Earings and Home School

Eden and I do "home school" together. We were going to do Joy School. In fact, Eden was very excited about me dropping her off by herself for school. Since I feel that I can't handle that right now we compromised. So we've been spending nap time learning new things. Her favorite part is experimenting with colors and anything else she can get her hands on. We put milk in a bowl, then added three drops of food coloring (three colors) and then added one drop of dish soap. The dish soap doesn't mix w/ the milk so it just took the food coloring and swirled it all over. Cool!

Harper can't get enough of Eden. They play together well. She even puts lip gloss and "earings" on him. She has plenty more star stickers where that came from. He's also healing just fine from his surgery and doesn't miss an opportunity to knock himself out. He pretends to write letters along w/ Eden, sings various songs to anyone who will listen, and asks to poop in the toilet right after pooping in his diaper. Alas.



Frank is standing more often and sleeping better through the night. He is starting to show another tooth on top that hasn't popped through yet. And I'm having to dress him in 12 mo. clothes now b/c the others are mostly too short for him. Some of the pants are also too small around the waist. He weighs about 23 lbs. I think. He'll be 9 months old in another week or so.

Brad played w/ the kids a TON yesterday. He smeared Harper's face w/ frosting, taught the kids to play duck duck goose (while adding things like zebra and hippo to the mix). We had a wonderful Sunday! This morning I saw Harper touching his head and saying, "Duck. Duck. Zebra." Good Times!

New Hobby

Eden and I have found a new fun thing to do. We got our inspiration from a clip that our friend Heather made for Eden's b.day last year. Now, we have our own PILE of flower clips! I've been using my new glue gun that I got for Christmas. Love it! And Eden is getting good at squeezing the trigger. We've made about 20 so far. And she's been really good about coming up with color combinations too. I'm having a ball!

Harper's Procedure

Harper has only had one testicle since he was born. Now that he's two, we've been refered to a specialist to resolve the issue.

We went to the hospital this morning for Harper's procedure. He was so excited to go that he cried last night when we told him he would have to go to sleep first. So he woke up at 5:00 AM and didn't go back to sleep until they gassed him. He went through a check list of all the things we packed in his bag on our trip up there.

In the waiting room he played with blocks and trucks and all went well. They moved us into a family room around 7:15 AM. There we played and read some more until the Dr. was ready. Then they brought us something akin to Valium. He was grabbing for things in the book we were reading like it was popping out. At one point Harper wanted to sit on Brad's lap and not mine. I wanted so badly to send Harper walking to Brad so we could watch him stagger, but I didn't want to scare him. I carried him instead. After a while they came in, put him on the rolling bed, and out they went. Without me.

They then gave him knock-out gas, and when he was "out" they put in his IV and felt around. They didn't have to use the scope in his belly button b/c they felt his testicle in his lower abdomen area. They cut (only about 1.5 inches) into him and removed the testicle. It was only the size of a small pea. So it was there, but undeveloped. They sent it off to be analyzed and we'll know the results of that when we go back for post-op in two weeks. His other testicle is perfectly fine and we are told that he'll not be affected by only having one. Hormones and the like are all in tact.

The Dr. came in and told us all of that and then told us that Harper would be awake in 15 mins and we'd see him soon. An hour later, Harper woke up :) Tired much? The nurse gave him a beany baby named "Rescue" and added juice to his cup of water. After a short time they took his IV out and sent us on our way.

The ride home was ok. I kept worrying that he was going to throw up his juice and fruit snacks. At one point, he sounded very upset and said he needed help. I asked him if he was going to throw up and he said no. Then I asked him, "What do you want me to do?" He replied, "Um, I want you to cuddle." How could I resist?

We got home and although he was supposed to keep it low key, he ended up running around and climbing on things anyway. Alas. Around 6:00 PM he fell asleep at the dinner table. It would have been in his soup if I hadn't moved the bowl.

Sunday Fun

So Brad likes to play around with the kids when he's home. Sometimes I get laughing so hard I can barely breathe!

Tonight we had some extra fun. Harper was in his room and Brad said, "Harper! Come here." In ran Harper. Brad looped his belt around him and captured him. Then he caught Eden along w/ Harper. Then the kids wanted him to keep trapping them so Brad said, "Put your hands up." They did. That was the easiest capture we've had I think.

Another time Eden was sitting on Brad's tummy and leaning up against his knees. Well, Brad opened his legs and Eden fell out backwards onto the floor with her legs and wootie in the air. Then Harper came and sat down where Eden used to be. Brad pushed him over on top of Eden. They were squirming, Eden was folded in half, and they both were saying, "Help. Help." So Eden says, "I'll help you Harper!" And pushes him up against the wall with her legs. Help much? Nope. He didn't seem to mind though.

Frank likes to join the fun occasionally too. Brad will grab him and lay down on his tummy. Since Eden and Harper help each other out, they feel very responsible for helping Frank even though he can't yet say, "Eden, Harper, Help me!" So Eden will grab an ankle or Harper will grab a wrist and just pull. Frank smiles all the while being dragged across the floor so an undisclosed location and suddenly abandoned for more exciting and wild daddy time. Cracks me UP!

I enjoyed being a mom especially tonight when my whole family was getting along and playing together without thinking twice. Good times.

Oh Yeah. Eden knows all about mohawks now. I put one on Frank and she immediatly started trying to do it with her own hair. She messed w/ it and said, "Can I get out and look in the mirror at my mohawk?" I helped her out a bit and gave her a mirror to use. She really hated to see that one go.

News

Frank is learning to sleep all by himself this week. it's been easy for me at night so far b/c i haven't been home to hear him cry much. it's much harder today when he has a slight fever and i want so badly to pick him up. i might still do that even though it might mess him up for tonight. it wouldn't be so bad except that he's now in the routine of waking up 15 mins after i put him down. i need him to stay asleep for both of our health!

Sophie's going to get her staples out of her rear-end tomorrow. two of the staples have been pulled out of one side though, so part of her wound is still not healed. sheesh.

Eden's going to the dentist tomorrow too! her first cleaning should be good. her biggest excitement is that she gets a "sticky hand" after it's all said and done. it won't last more than a few hours before it's in pieces, but at least she will have received it.

i'm working on cutting our extra large bougainvillia bushes into trees. i'm all scraped up and it reminds me of growing up and climbing trees. it seems i always had scrapes somewhere. in a silly way it's almost comforting to look down and see those scrapes again. good times.

Frank is winding down, so i'll go outside for a wihle and enjoy the breeze. sophie will most likely greet me with her toy. running and jumping even though she's only on three legs. i hope that soon she'll be on all four again. she's a good dog and i can't wait to start walking her again. especially b/c i've been lazy and haven't walked since she got hit. blugh.

The Last Few Months

I've been really bad about keeping up with people recently. Well, let's just be honest. It's been months since I've really written anyone at all. So, here goes everything I've been leaving out (that I can remember).

Eden is growing right on up. She loves to pose for pictures, write people letters and notes (yes, some of you have them in the works), eat tons of breakfast and no dinner, and just leave her hair "wild" instead of letting me fix it. She's recognizing letters and numbers and seems to be one of the most comforting girls I know when she's in the mood.

Harper turned two in December. He's finally turning in to a boy and has thrown off the crowns and high heals and taken on swords, knives, and guns (of all imagined shapes and sizes). He aparently loves the beach. We'll have to go more often I think. He sings all day long, and if you could only see him dance ;). Before bed, he needs a good tackling and fighter plane routine from Brad. Brad is a great sport.

And then there's Frank. He's seven months old now and I'm finding myself not so anxious for him to be moving around. He's always finding the things he can't have. So far his favorite thing is Brad's laptop. He schemes to get to it too. Last night he knocked something over. Brad set down his computer to fix it and Frank went for it. I think he did it two or three times. You can almost see him thinking, "Guys, check this out. I can get dad to put it down again." He's great though. Every time we pick him up he pats our back. Maybe it's just what we call, "slot-machine arm," but it's fun for us and cute.

Gram and Grandad came to see us around the new year and they stayed through my b.day. It was a wonderful visit. Grandad made bunk beds (with lots of help) and Gram introduced us to a new treat. The kids loved the visit and still talk about it. They use their bunk beds as toys, playing on them for hours at a time. We went to the beach before they headed off to UT. We miss them.

In other news, our dog Sophie got hit by a car. She has staples in her rear and a fractured pelvis, but she's recovering and getting better every day. I'm anxious for her to be fully recovered so we can get back to walking. In the mean time, she's getting spoiled! We love her though. Eden colored a picture for her today and Harper just wanted to be outside with her. Good stuff.