Fun in Pheonix

While we were in Arizona, we took in some sights.  We went to the Aquarium.  It was neat seeing al of the different kinds of fish and sea life.  Hope was thrilled by it all and thought that she should be able to touch the fish.

We spent a few hours at Castles and Coasters. It is like a mini Lagoon but had some great rides.  The roller coaster was the best.  Their weren't lines at most of the rides so we just went from ride to ride.  Parker would only ride the go carts, over and over.  I took Hope on the carousal. I couldn't tell if she liked it or not.  She didn't get upset, but she din't smile either.  We also played miniature golf. I think Hope had the most fun.  She would get 2 balls from people,so we were always sharing golf balls, find the holes and drop them in.  She loved running up and down the slopes.

It was fun to be able to play outside in December without a jacket and get some sun.

Snow and Christmas

We decided to spend Christmas in Arizona this year with Loren parents and siblings.  We left the WRONG  day.  We left Tuesday during the storm that turned into a night mare. The roads were snowy and icy.  After seeing 20 cars in the snow banks, diesels stuck in the middle of the high way blocking traffic and snow plows going no where we gave up for the day.  We had been on the road for 4 1/2 hours and only made it to Fillmore. In normal weather we would have made it that far in under 2 hours.  We found a motel and spent the rest of the day and night.  The power had been out there since 6 a.m. and didn't come back on until about 4 p.m..  The motel had back up power, enough to run the heater and stay warm. Loren decided to go find something for lunch, to find out most places where closed. He came back with lost of different kinds of food from a gas station.  The children called it random food and asked if we were going to have to have it again for dinner.  Thankfully, places where open again by 6 p.m..  We hit the road again Wednesday morning in dense fog that lifted after about 30 minutes.  The rest of the trip was smooth sailing.  All of the children did well for the long car ride.  Hope would get fussy and we would get out a a baby genius movie and put it on for her and she would settle down.
It was great to walk through the door and be welcomed by Loren's parent and his siblings and their kids.  It is always fun to get together with family and eat good food and just relax.

I went to pull my camera out to get some pictures and guess what, It was covered in children's liquid ibuprofen.  I saw it sitting on the counter the morning we left and hurriedly through it in the bag of med's I was holding.  What a big mistake!!! I washed it off wet a wet cloth, just to have to wipe it off again a few minutes later cause it was oozing out of the buttons and cracks.  The battery compartment was filled and I wondered if it would work.  Loren surprised me by buying me a new one when he went shopping.  Thanks for the early Christmas present.

Christmas was a blast!! Hope couldn't figure out what was going on, but loved opening present and playing with everything.  The 3 oldest kids got laptops and where very quiet and entertained the rest of the stay. Ethan got DS games and lego sets, Parker got a DS and games, and Hope got the Fisher Price doll house and a talking tea pot.  Santa brought Loren an I pad and myself some sizzix dies.
We kept Christmas small because it all had to make it the the car for the ride home.

Putting on the nativity.

The children and their cousins put on the Nativity story Christmas eve. It was fun and quick since their are still small children.

SIng, sing, sing

Braden performed in the Lehi Christmas concert. It sounded great.  I love that my children love to sing!!

I used my I phone so the picture isn't  great. The songs are!

Parker's surgery

Parker was the bravest kid I have every seen.  He was only a little nervous about getting his tonsils and adenoids out.
Maybe that is because we took him to a pre-op class where they walked the kids through what was going to happen and gave them cool things.  They gave him a hospital buddy that was dressed in a hospital gown and he got to draw the face on it.  He also got a mask just like the one they would use in surgery to practice with at home.

We didn't have a long wait before surgery which helped.  We were only in the waiting room about 15 minutes, then they took us back to get him ready.  All of the nurses and doctors were very cute with him.  The one that wheeled his bed into surgery drove crazy. And Parker says that Dr. Deny's new name is...crazy Dr. Deny's because he zig zags across the room when he walks.

The whole procedure was about 35 minutes long.  When they brought Parker to recovery, he woke up and told us," that was fun and painless"!  The nurse told him that he was the best patient that she had ever had.
He loved the 2 slushes that they gave him.  We watched t.v. and talked for about 1 hour and then they let us go home.

Surgery makes you look horrible and feel tired. 

I thought that Parker would come home and sleep. But, no!! He watched t.v. and played computer games, even while taking tylenol with codeine. 

 He feels good until the med's start to wear off.  I set my alarm clock so I could get up and give him the next dose before it wore off and he was in pain, so the night went well.

A scout made children's lounge pants for the hospital(eagle scout project) for the children that had surgery, so they could go home in something comfy. Parker got a pair. He also got a game and they let him bring his pressure cuff home.

Christmas tree

Okay, we really did have Thanksgiving at our house this year. The only problem is, I left my camera at my parent's house.  I heard that it made it to my sister's house that same day but it is still there. So I will write about it when I get my camera back.

Monday we decorated the Christmas tree for our FHE activity.  Hope had a great time emptying out all of the ornaments onto the floor. And then putting them back in so she could dump them out again. I let the kids put up whatever they wanted too this year.  So the tree looks like a kid tree.  I am usually pretty picky about what gets put on and where. However, with a one year old running around, it won't stay that way for long. I've already put about 15 back on.  I'm sure that having a kitten that plays with the tree doesn't help either.

So if you come to my house, it's okay to laugh at my tree.