WE ARE VICTORIOUS!!!!!

It is very disgusting when this little treasure is your friend for a week!

We were SO happy when we could do this!!!

This is the story.......last Wednesday, I came home from being at the church and Todd started out with "Don't get upset, but....." I do not like that~~

Brynn had been lying in bed, with her fingers in her mouth~which I have asked her a million times to stop doing~and Todd heard her screaming. He ran upstairs to find out why. He was told, "I just SWALLOWED my CTR ring." After we called the doctor to find out what to do, we have been on constant STRAINING duty. Only one toilet in the house has been used for this lovely procedure, and it was not pretty.

Yesterday, I finally call the doctor again(Todd called Friday while I was at my race and he suggested giving her Miralax..which we have been doing). Still no ring.
Off to X-ray this morning. DEFINITELY a very visible CTR ring in her lower pelvic area. The tech said, "This is fun, should be out soon. Girls just like to hold on to things!!"

SO, I am thinking what I can give her to help this process along, Dunkin Donuts. We made a run. An hour later......

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It all came out in the end!!!

It has been a long week of duty! Glad it is over!

1. insurance(we seem to have a lot of xrays here)

2. garbage can(to throw away the strainer)

3. CLOROX! It has been my friend

Brynn's First Day of Preschool

The day FINALLY came for Brynn!!!!

She was SO excited to go to school.

Fortunately, I didn't get the "When is it time to go to school" question all morning, but she did ask if she was going after lunch or before.

I am definitely glad that I had her put into the class of her teacher from last year, as there were no other girls in the afternoon but the one we knew about. There are only 3 girls in her class and right now there are 7 boys, so a few have been added, but still a 2 to 1 ratio.

I didn't like having to stop in the middle of my day to get her to school, but other than that, it wasn't bad. A little chaos with pickup schedules, but otherwise not a bad day!!

1. preschool

2. no tears~again!

3. having 2 hours of quiet!

After school report

The 3 older kids all had good reports after school. Everyone had homework, but we broke from homework tradition(which is homework as soon as they get home from school) and I copied a friend and took them to the West End Creamery for ice cream. A new tradition that we will definitely continue!!!

1. ice cream on a hot day

2. successful school day

3. new outfits

First Day of School

Most years I am not excited for school to start. This year I have had mixed emotions. The kids did a bit more bickering this summer and that gets old, but Braden is starting High School and that is scary. Nothing a mom can do, except home school, which there is no way on this planet I could do, so OFF TO SCHOOL they went.

Braden was first, he is a freshman in high school.
Brandon came next. He is in 7th grade.

Last, but not least for the day, Marissa is in her last year of elementary school~4th grade!

Hope they have a GREAT day!

1. school

2. no tears (from me or the kids)

3. quiet

The Decision

on preschool has been made!

I am going to buck up and do afternoon preschool.

It is not my first choice, but I feel it will be the best for Brynn(of my choices, that is)

I talked to her teacher from last year to ask for her suggestions and she didn't love the other program that I was looking at, I did research on a lot of options, and at this point, feel that leaving her at the school where she knows people is going to be the best for her.

I will have to adjust my schedule a bit, but, it has to be done!!

1. decision being made

2. only 7 kids, including Brynn in the afternoon class

3. good teachers

4 Kids

4 appointments

4 mouths

LOTS of teeth

NO CAVITIES!!!! EVER!!!!

1. no cavities

2. all the kids going to the dentist at the same time

3. INSURANCE

FHE

Last night for Family Home Evening, Brynn was on the lesson and it was about Adam and Eve. She was showing the picture out of the Gospel Art Kit and she was very proud of herself. We were talking about who built the earth and someone said Jesus. I said it was Jesus and Michael. One of the kids asked who Michael was and we told them it was Adam. The younger ones were quite confused, so I told them that Michael was Adam's name before he came to earth.

All of a sudden, Brandon says "I wonder what my name was in heaven?"

Interesting question.....We will have to get back to him on that!!!

1. FHE
2. great questions
3. singing Christmas songs in August!

Happy Birthday

To TODD!!!

Just a little shout out! We just got home from a rainy and wet weekend at Camp Joseph!

But I had to get it in! Will do a better post after I dry out!!

Not Happy

I am not a happy mother right now.

The reason is: SCHOOL.

Preschool that is.

In the spring, the school sent home a letter asking if the kids were planning on attending next year and if they would prefer morning or afternoon. I wanted morning. On the letter, it had a spot asking if we would take an afternoon class if there were no morning classes available. I checked that yes, I would take afternoon, thinking I would lose my spot otherwise.

Big mistake. Come to find out, had I not marked that spot, they would have put me in the morning. Since I did, we are now in afternoon. I called this morning, and there are no spots available in the morning because noone dropped out over the summer.

What to do?? Don't know. Am looking into another school, but she will have to go back to this school next year for kindergarten and I would prefer to keep her there. Also, we are ready for quiet time in the afternoon before all the other kids get home from school. We do all our errands, exercising, everything in the morning.

Frustrating, that is all I have to say!

1. being able to vent frustrations

2. sunshine

3. camping

This

is how many miles I put on my van yesterday. ONE day!

The sad part is that the only thing that was fun was Brandon getting to go to a birthday party. The rest was errands. Ridiculous!!

1. car to run the errands in

2. most school supplies bought

3. sleep

Pictures By........

The picture taking queen at our house!

This one is cool, I am not exactly sure how she did it, but I like it!
She takes a lot of herself!

Thankfully her nose is clean!

1. finding random pictures

2. cameras

3. my picture queen

How we spent

our Sunday afternoon while Brian was here........

What a good sport!

Brian is moving out to Providence from Houston and needed to stay with us for a while. He was here for about a month, most of which we were gone. He left on Wednesday for training in Georgia until November, then he will be back and will be living in the Providence area! Now I have 2 cousins from the same family living within an hour of me!! Now all I need is their mom and dad and one more brother to move up here!!!

1. family

2. fingernail polish

3. Sunday afternoons

Another Priesthood Holder

I know from this first picture you have to wonder, but yes, Brandon received the Priesthood. Now all 3 males in our house are faithful priesthood holders.

I honestly can't believe that Brandon is old enough to be 12. He passed the Sacrament for the first time this past Sunday, a whole month later, because we were gone on vacation and in Utah they don't need anyone extra to help out! He did a good job, but he is so little he has a hard time seeing over the Sacrament table. His time will come! He will grow!

1. Priesthood

2. worthy males

3. cute boys

Brandon's Skills

Brandon has a new skill.......

1. Brandon

2. being outside

3. great skills~gosh

Vacation

We left for Utah on July 7th. We had a little bit of flight trouble with the thunderstorms and rain that New England has had, and we almost missed our connecting flight, but we made it and we were only a little late.

Todd ended up staying home for the first 10 days. He had a work meeting he needed to attend, so the kids and I were on our own.

Grandma made pancakes for breakfast, she is good like that!
Brandon was very worn out from the trip and slept until 11 o'clock. He decided the floor between the air mattresses was more comfortable than the mattress itself.

Brynn loves to take pictures and this is one I found on my camera. This is a sign I had made for my parents and Todd's parents before we moved from Utah.

It says the truth:

Grandchildren Welcome~parents by appointment.

We did some visiting, Todd's sister had a baby we hadn't seen, so that was one of our first stops.

Tim and Marissa doing a little coloring!

Some of the grandkids on Todd's side. Ok, only half.

On Thursday, my aunt was kind enough to invite us all up to her cabin in Heber. I found a cool water toy and took it with us. You put a water balloon in the ball and pass the ball around. Whoever has the ball when the timer goes off gets wet.

This is one of a few nests at the cabin. The momma bird is feeding her babies.

We had a few rides on the four wheelers and a couple of the girls fell asleep on the ride.

Brandon was in absolute HEAVEN. This bike was his size and he had a blast. He rode it round and round the driveway for a long time.

Braden got to drive too, and loved it. I have a picture of him too, but I just lost it.

The cabin also had a hot tub that was not ready when we got there, but the little girls have their uncle a little wrapped and he got it ready so they could use it before we left!!

Thanks Harry and Vickie for letting us use your cabin!

Next on our agenda was one of my FAVORITE wt activities.

THE DEMOLITION DERBY

The derby was probably one of the things I was most excited to do.

Brynn was a little scared at first, but by the end, she was cheering loud!

We did some more visiting.
(Todd's parents and sister)

Uncle Tom

Grandpa Bucky(Black)

We also went to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple

It is really beautiful and I loved the fabrics they used on the furniture.

I also love that we have the knowledge that Families can be together forever!

Brandon went with my dad on his run to Idaho overnight. He had a great time, but didn't think he would want to do that as a job!

The kids had a great time with silly string!

They each had it all over them

Even in their hair!

Then we were off to Seven Peaks Waterpark!

See that orange slide in the front? We all went down that~except the little girls~I was scared! I kept my eyes closed and only peaked for a second and could only see the sky! I kept my eyes closed for the rest of the ride!

We went to Classic Skating, the kids played in the bouncehouses

and rollerbladed off some 'sweet jumps'

We did some more visiting. This was a funny picture of our nephew and I had to throw it in. His brother was getting ready to take swimming lessons and needed goggles, but the younger brother had a bit more interest in wearing the goggles!

We went to downtown Salt Lake to get pizza with some friends. We went frequently to get pizza with these friends when we lived there, because we could get gluten free pizza downtown.

Then, it was Braden's turn to go with my dad. He thought it was fun too, but I don't think either of the boys will want long haul truck driving as their profession!

On our next adventure we went with our pizza friends to the family ranch that is outside of Coalville. There was a pond and some rafts,

John was rowing the boats the longest. He has the patience of, I don't know what, but he has a lot of patience.

The water was very cold, but that didn't stop the boys from getting in.

A pretty plant at the ranch.

A deer at the ranch

A few games of Red Rover

Brynn, Kylie and Danika hanging out and waiting for their lunch

Saying goodbye to Denise and her girls~they thought they needed to go on a vacation while I was there! They had enough of us!

Next came the rodeo. It was a great opening. All the men in the boot has just returned from service in Iraq!

One of the best parts of the rodeo was this little sheep herding monkey. He sat on the back of this dog and herded these sheep to a few different locations.

We took Todd's parents with us for Paul's birthday. I was a little worried Paul wouldn't like that because the last time he went to the Days of 47 Rodeo he said the music was headbanging and he wouldn't go again! He seemed to enjoy it!

The best part~ The BULLS

The morning of the 24th, I ran a 10k race! It was a fun race and I finished in a time I was happy with! Then we did a bit of resting and then we were off to a BBQ with Todd's parents and his sister Pam!

After the BBQ, we went back to my parents house and the kids wanted to do some fireworks. These were probably the best we had and it was so windy, we couldn't keep them lit!

Continuing on with our adventures, we went with some friends to see the Bees game. The girls goet bored, but fortunately Jenn came prepared. She had toys, snacks and ipods with TV shows on them. Thankfully!!

The seats we had were not all together, so the boys sat in one set and the girls sat in another. Luckily, the people in front of us went down to the field for the fireworks, so the boys joined us!

Fireworks~in my opinion, you've seen one, you've seen them all. They came with the game ticket, so we stayed!

Brynn always enjoys when treats are made!

Sadly, for me, I got sick Saturday night. We missed church, but Todd was a great dad and took the kids to see everyone for the last time before we left!

The cousins

This picture says a thousand words. I did not feel well.

Again, Todd being the dad that he is took the boys to the temple. It was Brandon's first time to do baptisms and I was sad to miss that.

Paul, being the grandpa he is, came out, despite my germs, to say goodbye to us the night before we left.

We had a great time, did many more things, and got very tired. It was a great 3 weeks!

Thanks to everyone for the Funtertainment!!

We are glad to be home!

1. vacation

2. family

3. home