Just getting it off my chest

     I'm not excited about my new primary calling-nursery.  It isn't that I don't like the nursery, I've had this calling 4 times before.  My biggest problem is that in the 20+ years I've had callings, I've been in primary most of the time.  I can count on one hand the callings that I've had outside of primary. All of my calling-except for primary chorister,cubs and activity days- have been with the 18 month to 4 year olds. I pretty much have most of the lessons memorized.  It would be nice to have something new.  I loved activity days with the older girls and was sad when I was released from it.
    When Loren found out I was going back into nursery, he was upset.  He said ,"I just don't get it. I sit in Sunday School year after year by myself and wonder how these other couples get so lucky to be together. Why do they always put you right back in primary?"  Honestly, I wish I had a good answer for him besides the fact that it's hard to fill primary callings and they know I'll do it.
   I'm sure that my feelings will change once I've been there for a while. Right now, though, I'm not jumping for joy!!!
    Alright, I'm done.

December is here

And I am way behind on posting.  I will start from the present and go back...

Paige and Braden preformed in a Christmas Choir performance last night. They both did great.
Zach performed for choir last week and did great as well. Zach also has a band performance this week.
We have a very busy schedule this December between, work, school and church parties.

Hope had a doctors appointment on Monday because of a cold that just won't leave.  45 minutes before the appointment she swallowed a dime and got got in her throat.  She turned red, i hit her on the back she started to breathe, threw up a little, went red again, repeated process about 4 times.  Thank goodness Loren had the day off and was there to help. We put her in the car to head to the ER and decided to stop at the doctors office instead because she was breathing okay by then.  The doctor checked her out and gave her an antibiotic to clear up a sinus infection and ordered us to the hospital for x-rays to make sure the dime was in her stomach and not stuck in her throat. The dime showed up nice and bright on the x-ray-in her stomach.
I don't think she will eat money again.

I am trying to get caught up on house work and Christmas shopping, after having a horrible sinus infection for more than 7 weeks.  I was on 2 kinds of antibiotics and then on a weeks worth of  oral steroids.  Each helped some but didn't clear it up altogether.  So the doctor ordered a CT scan.  Infection is gone but my sinuses are very swollen.  They don't want to give me more steroids, I just have to wait it out.  I feel a little better every day.

We hosted Thanksgiving this year.  Mom told me that no one was coming to her house because they all had other plans.  So we invited her and Dad, Rob and Chris to our house.  It was a fun,small get together.
We didn't have as much food as when we all get together but between mom and me, we had plenty. No one starved.

Halloween was fun.  Paige threw a party for her friends and dressed as a Diva Angel.  Both Ethan and Parker dressed as ninja's.  Hope was a cute little witch.  Paige took Hope out trick or treating. Hope thought it was the greatest thing ever.  She started taking candy out of our candy bowl and putting it in her bag.  You can't have to much, you know.

Hope is 2! We had a family party for her and ate corn dogs and fries. We then went to Trafalga for games and rides. Hope loves the carousal and plane ride.  She also likes to miniature golf.  I can't believe how fast time has gone by.  It seems only a short time a go that we brought her home.

I will post picture's later.

Eight is Great!

Just ask Parker, he will tell you. He loved to have a party with some friends on Friday. Although, he was very excited about being baptized on Saturday.

Braden was able to baptize Parker.  Loren had mixed emotions about letting him do it. He then decide that it would be a good experience for both boys.

Loren confirmed him.  It was a small service because Parker was the only one in the ward being baptized.  We were able to choose who spoke, played the piano, songs and prayers. 

I'm sure parker will remember this day for years to come.

Thanks to all who came to support us.

Hurray! Hope is potty trained (mostly)

Okay, so we started potty training a few months ago and it only lasted about 1 1/2 weeks.  She was doing pretty well and then I guess the excitement wore off and she didn't care.
So I decided to wait for all of the vacations and camping to get over before I tried again.
We started Tuesday when the kids went back to school.  She made it to the potty about as many times as she had accidents.  Wednesday, she only had 1 accident. She even told me when she needed to go.
Today, she woke up, told me potty-she went- and then asked for panties.  She doesn't like pull ups. I don't know why. I make her sleep in them just in case she doesn' t. make it through the night.  She usually makes it through  the night but I don't want to take chances.
She hasn't had any accidents and even went number two.
She has been the easiest of all of my children.

Way to go Hope!!!

Paige made it through girls camp

This is a long time in coming. Girls camp was in June!!
Paige is a fourth year and they went on a 10 mile back pack hike. We tried to make her pack as light as possible but still have all of the essentials.They ran into snow where they were supposed to set up camp and so they had to hike farther to get out of it.  She said that she didn't think that she would make it, she was exhausted. She made it through. And I'm sure it will be a great memory for her in the future.
She loved the rest of girls camp and was glad to be home after a long 5 days.

Hope rides a trike

We pulled the trike out of the shed and shoed Hope how to make it work.  Of course she doesn't pedal yet, just pushes with her feet.  She learned how to steer quicker than I thought she would. She love riding down the street but coming back up is hard.  She will go about 200 feet and them climb off, point to the bike and say,"mom" and head back to the house to wait for me and the bike to catch up so she can do it again.

Summer fun

These are fun drinks that I make for the 24th of July

 We got together with family for a BBQ and fire works---in the rain.  But it was still a blast.

 Hope actually held a sparkler.

 My niece Kristi, sitting on the ground, just got into Allen. The guy sitting next to her.

 Grandma, trying to stay dry.

We spent 3 days camping at Strawberry reservoir. The kids were so excited to go fishing that they couldn't wait, so we rented a boat in the heat of the day and went fishing. Loren caught one.
We watched squirrels, chipmunks, and ground squirrels play around our camp ground. Hope feed them crackers.
One night we fished from shore and Parker and Ethan found that if they just dropped the end of their pole into the water, crawfish would climb on to them.  We caught dozens of those. However, we don't eat them so they went right back into the lake.

Summer catch up

We celebrated my parents 50th Anniversary at Mill Hollow.  My father worked there during the summer for many years.  I believe that all of my siblings including myself spent a week or more there while growing up.

                                                  The grand and great grand kids.

                                                            Deer in the meadows

                                                          Party for Mom and Dad

                                               The stream that is normally low and shallow

                                                                 Mom and Dad

                                                                         Hiking

                                            Dad telling us about the trees and how the grow

                                                       Me, Braden and Chris

It was fun getting together with the whole family. We hiked, played games, roasted marsh mellows, had had a party for the happy couple.

Adventures in the rain

Wednesday we decided to hit Raging Waters.  We left after lunch. It was bright and sunny on our side of the mountain but as we rounded the point of the mountain there where all kinds of rain clouds.  It wasn't raining yet, so we keep on driving.  The whole time I was praying that it would just be cloudy so we could swim when we got there.
We were about 3 minutes from where we needed to be when we encountered a train stopped on the train tracks and no where for us to go.  We finally turned around to find another route to our destination.  It start to pour on us, not little drops, huge drops blowing sideways, hard enough that it was difficult to see. Then it started to Hail, yes hail, and then came the lightening. I asked how many wanted to still go swimming. Most replied, "ME". So on we went.
When we finally arrived an Raging Waters, the were kicking everyone out, I went to the desk to find out if they were closing. Yup, for 20 to 30 minutes to see if the lighting would leave.  We decided to hag around and see what happened. The sun came out and we were able to swim.  The wind would pick up every now and again but it was warm.  After 2 1/2 of play it started raining again so we decided it was time to make our way home.  We were all worn out and had a great time.
No pictures because aI didn't want to rent a locker just for my camera or phone.

Wacky Wednesday

Our ward has what they call Wacky Wednesday during the summer. Every Wednesday they get together at 10 a.m. and go somewhere fun.
We finally made it to one this summer.  It was at Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove. We have never been there before. Perhaps it's because we have many fun parks nearer to us.
We got there late because Zach doesn't get out of summer school until 11:00. Sadly we only ran into 2 other families from the ward.  I later found out the because the numbers were so small at the caravan meet, that they decided to go somewhere else.  Oh well, we still had a blast.