One special lady!

I just saw this picture on my cousin Sarah's facebook page, and I had to steal it!! My grandma Jessie Smith in her kitchen slicing up her favorite lemon cake...It seems like just yesterday that I was at her house having our usual visits and going to run errands with her downtown in Beaver.  I learned so much from her and she truly is one special lady to me that I will never forget.  I wish my kids could have all had the chance to know her.  She has been gone just a few weeks shy of 6 years, and I think about her almost daily as I have rocked 3 kids in her rocking chair since she passed away.  On her birthday, I always have a Wendy's chocolate frosty and some lemon cake, those were her favorite treats!  Love you Grandma :)

"Shut-up! your totally kidding me...."

You wonder why the title?  Well, that's exactly what I said to Troy on the phone yesterday when  he called saying he'd just gotten a call from his friend Cyndi Gilbert owner of Diamond G Rodeo asking if we wanted a few tickets to round 7 of the NFR in Vegas.....YES WE DO!!!! We love the NFR and have been 4 out of the last 6 years, we were also excited to take  Braxton with us this year.  We had awesome 3rd row stock contractor seats and Braxton laughed when he  got hit by a few small chunks of what he hopes was just dirt! We also appreciated the close  Gold Buckle parking pass, cause it was actually a pretty chilly night for Vegas.   I forgot my phone and camera so Troy got this shot of the Grand Entry for me.

I told Braxton he could go when he was 8 and not have to make 20 trips to the bathroom....he only went once :)

We love saddle bronc riding and cheering for our Beaver County boys, brothers Cody and Jesse Wright from Milford.  Cody had a great 82 point ride, but didn't place.

Jesse scored 84 points and finished 4th for the go-round.

Thanks Diamond G for another round of great seats and a fun, fun night!

Literacy night

Sunset held a literacy night last month which was a lot of fun.  Braxton's 2nd grade class put on a short play called "Click clak moo."  Braxton was a red hen and did a great job.  It was a cute, catchey little play, and we've been singing the little chant the animals sang ever since!

We went around to the different classrooms to listen to stories, and play math and reading games.  Tanner and Camrie even had fun getting into the action! Afterwards we had pizza in the cafeteria.  What a super fun night!

More fun art...

Braxton's salt dough topography map of the continents and oceans

Braxton's baptism -



Braxton was baptized November 5, 2011 at the Green Valley Stake Center, St. George Utah.   He had to be baptized 2 times because his wrist poked out of the water just a little.  We love you Braxton and are so proud of you!

Lunch time - it was too cold for the park, so we ate at our house

Grandma/Grandpa Smith & Grandma/Grandpa Webb

Grandma Smith makes her grandkids their own porcelain doll dressed like something they like for their 8th birthday.  Braxton was super surprised and excited that Gma made him a doll dressed as Carl Edwards, Braxton's favorite NASCAR driver.  Gma and Gpa Smith also gave Braxton a Baptism book and a new set of scriptures with a case.  Gma and Gpa Webb also gave Braxton a special Baptism book. Gma has her eyes closed again!!

Halloween Carnival Pics 2011



Minnie standing on one foot




Buzz has some BIG muscles!



Cute lil duck!

Professional pictures taken by 98 east photography at the DRMC Child Development Center Halloween carnival.

Our spunky 9 month old!

Kason turned 9 months the day before Halloween:

~ He's up 1.4 lbs in the past 2 months...now a whopping 15.9 lbs! Dr. Nygaard is ok with him still lingering in the 1 % since he is so active, and crawling up the stairs, happy and healthy, and eating well despite what the scales say.

~ 4 teeth and the 5th is on the way.

~ Will eat little pieces of bread, baby puffs, and Cherrios, although most of it goes in his chair or the floor.  Mom shared some strawberry jello with him last night and he liked it.

~ Giggles so hard when mom plays and sings "I'm a little teapot" with him.

~ Tanner can make him laugh so hard, that I bet he pees his pants every time!! :)

~ Hair is getting darker so you can actually tell he has some.  Enough hair on the back and sides of his head to comb with your fingers.

~ Makes sounds that almost sound like 'mama'
~ Has a bit of a temper, especially in the middle of the night, when he's not getting what he wants...to play!

~ Dramatically gags when eating peas, but has learned to tolerate green beans.
~ Has apparently made known where he stands in Coke vs Pepsi.  Maybe when he turns 1, he can graduate with mom back up to the good stuff - caffeine induced Diet Coke! That's my boy!! :)

October....Birthday, Carnivals, parties, Halloween.....

 The last couple weeks of October was crazy busy, I'm glad we made it through!  It began with Braxton's 8th birthday party, (see a few posts below) then on to Josh's 2nd fun birthday bash.  Next up began all the Halloween fun....This year Braxton chose to be a baseball player and wore his baseball uniform, Tanner was Buzz lighter, Camrie was Minnie Mouse, and Kason was a cute little duck.  Mom & Dad seem to wear the same costumes every year...they dress up as a nurse and an X-ray tech! (they don't get points for originality!) The kids started off with a super fun carnival at DRMC's child development center.  They all played games, won prizes, had their pictures taken, ate treats, got their faces painted, and had a great time seeing all their friends and teachers in their costumes. Mom was working, but had time to run over and join in the fun. While our amazing Dad was wrangling 3 little kids and trying to reason with a hysterically screaming Camrie over a barking dog across the street from the Center, Kason wiggled right out of  Dad's arms and toppled right  down onto Flood Street.  Thankfully, he was ok thanks to the extra padding of his cute little yellow duck costume.  A couple days later we went to Braxton's carnival out to Country Kid's Daycare.  Again, more games, more treats, and lots of fun.  Then it was time for our Ward Trunk or Treat down to the church.  Mom was gone with her sisters and Gma for the weekend in SLC, so once again Dad managed to feed the hungry tribe of children, hand out candy, and make sure the kids made it to every trunk....(we are so lucky to have our dad!) Finally, it was HALLOWEEN!!!  Dad ended up having to work in Hurricane until 9 pm, so it was mom's turn to have all 4 kids for the evening.  We went up to our ward neighborhood and joined in the swarm of kids flooding the streets and doorsteps.  We approached one very ominous looking house with adults with painted faces making cackling noises, I watched Camrie thinking there's no way she's going to go, but she followed her brothers in and came out screaming that she was going home!  I assured her she was fine and that we had lots more houses to visit.  The next house was very calm and Camrie came back to me saying, "Mom, look I was sooo brave!" and from that house on, Camrie was 'so brave Mom!'  She even went up to a house and yelled "Trick or treat, now give me some treats!" so we had to have a little reminder that we still have to be polite.  The night was great and we even got a couple trick or treaters at our house house which I was not prepared for because we never get them on our street other than Josh,  so I just shared some of the kids' treats out of their pumpkins!  I better mention our Halloween dinner, we ate again with just candles, and had 'Ratloaf.'  Meatloaf shaped to look like a rat with carrot and apple slices shaped like ears and eyes, pieces of broken raw spaghetti noodles for whiskers, and a 1/2 cooked spaghetti for a tail.  He actually turned out pretty cute for a rat, and tasted good too.  The kids loved the whole Halloween thing this year, and I can say we got our money's worth out of the costumes! Pics from the DRMC carnival are on dad's camera but I did get Tanner & Camrie's faces with my phone. The rest of the pics are from the Country Kids carnival:

Tanner & Camrie refused to wash their faces after the carnival at the DRMC C.D.  Center

Donut eating contest at Country Kids

Kason had fun playing in the infant room while the older 3 decorated their treat bags at Country Kids

Halloween twister

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY BRAXTON!!



present time!

Monkey in the middle...football style

Can you throw the football through the hoop?

Hmmmm...I wonder what he's wishing for?

This year Braxton wanted a football cake, so we went with the football theme, and had a fun party with about 9 of his friends from school at the 'spinning park'. Last week Troy saw the mom of a little girl who was Braxton's very best friend in Kindergarten at the InstaCare, and invited Haley to come to Braxton's party and we were so glad to see her.  Braxton asks about her a lot and has missed her.  Braxton also had his first missionary opportunity to invite a couple boys who are just starting to come to church and are in his primary class to his party, they were so excited to come and also brought their 9 year old sister.  We played some sports themed games had cake and ice cream and opened presents.   Boys...I tell you this 'boy' thing is all new to me since I grew up in an all-girl family.  Funny how a simple game of 'monkey in the middle' with a football turns into an all out game of dodge ball and somehow morphs into a game of tackle football!   I always imagine a nice calm party where mom is in control and the kids just flow from one game to the next....well I have a lot to learn and get used to from here on out! Really, the kids were great and they all had a fun time, a little rough...but that just goes without saying.  Braxton loved it and had an awesome day. I bought an Ipod classic off eBay and downloaded his playlist off my Ipods.  He has been using mine and an old Ipod of Troy's that the battery only lasted 30 sec and it had to be plugged in all the time, so he was way excited to get a new one. He also got a couple new footballs, some transformer things, and a cockroach looking thing that walks around (why would anyone make a toy to look like a roach??) I so can't believe he is 8! Where has the past 5 years gone? He grown up so fast the past couple years, and his such a great helper to me.

Braxton will be baptized the first Saturday of November, and unfortunately we've had some drama to deal with which has caused him more stress than excitement,  but now that it has settled down, he is getting very excited and has been preparing for his little interview with the Bishop.  I do have to add that I'm very proud of how Braxton handled and dealt with the "drama," he really is a sweet boy who just wants to make everyone happy, but most of all he realizes that this is HIS special day and he is getting old enough to think for himself and make some of HIS own choices.  It's high time someone else grew up a little bit too! just sayin...  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAXTON...We love you!

Fun at the park

I love October in St. George! On the way home from work and picking the kids up, I decided we needed a little park time so we stopped at the park down the street from home and enjoyed the weather for an hour.  The kids had a great time, and so did I ( and I'm usually not one of those 'park mom's either) Usually Camrie won't even play and cries if you make her go down the slide, so why even bother when I have a baby in one arm, and Camrie in the other...it's kinda hard to like to go to the park! But before I even realized it, she was going down the slide by herself, and not just the little slide, but the tall twisty one! and then climbing up the rails and loving it.  This time, she cried when it was time to go home!

"Dad, who is that in our tub?"

I went back to work today and am completely exhausted beyond belief, so I came home a little early tonight and took advantage of our jetted tub to ease my tired aching body.  I thought it's been awhile since I used one of my most favorite chocolate facial mud masks and that it would help me relax even more.  I dolloped the chocolate on, turned on the jets,  threw in a bath bomb, closed my eyes, and sunk down into the hot water.  I may or may not have even dozed for just a few minutes, and thought I'd heard little feet pitter-patter on the tile floor a few times, but nobody was ever there.  Tanner and Camrie were in bed, and Troy was finishing watching the baseball game while rocking Kason to sleep. The rest of the story is from Troy: he says he came up to put Kason in bed and check on the other 2, but noticed that Tanner wasn't in his bed, so he walked into Camrie's room and she was gone too.  All of a sudden behind him, he hears Camrie's very serious and concerned voice ask, "Dad I don't think that is our mom in the tub asleep...." Tanner then says "Dad why does Mom have brown paint all over her face?"  I heard Troy bust up laughing and it took quite a bit of coaxing to get Camrie to come into the bathroom to see that it really was me sleeping in the tub with my face all painted brown.  The look on her's and Tanner's face was priceless! Troy says the best part was the look on Camrie's face when she first told him about the other momma in the tub, too bad we didn't have a picture of it!  Camrie kept asking me "is that you mom? why are you hiding and sleeping in the tub, I couldn't find you?" All the while, Troy is laughing hysterically and saying, "you've got to get out of the tub and blog this right now!"  So when I washed off the mask, Camrie happily exclaimed,  "our mom is back, our mom is back... where've you been hiding mom?"  Oh man, the things our kids do and say....next time I need a little escape time from kids, I'll just put on my mud mask, and be completely oblivious to them all!!

Welcome to Beaver Valley Hospital....oh and get comfy...your staying the night!

Here is the whole story, sorry in advance for the length, but I'm quite a detailed person!!  Last Saturday I left work early to head to Beaver for my niece's baptism.  Troy and the kids were in head of me in the truck since we were planning to bring our trailer home.  About the time I got to Leeds, I had a nasty pain in my chest, in my L. shoulder, up into my neck, and down my arm.  I also had some sharp pains when trying to take a deep breath.  I chalked it up to bad gas ( I'd just eaten some cantaloupe at work before I left) that sometimes goes up into the shoulder, yet I didn't feel bloated.  I could get out some granddaddy burps, but that didn't seem to help the pain any.  I texted Troy but neither one of us really worried about it.  We got to Beaver and I put on my game face and made it through the baptism which was super nice, mom gave me some gas pills, but that didn't help either. The one thing that really bothered me  was that to bring my left arm across my chest or to hold Kason in that arm really hurt, and the pain had gone up into my neck.   At my sister's, I asked my dad and Troy for a blessing to help feel better since I was going to have to drive home later because I was supposed to be on call at midnight for work. They wanted me to go to the hospital and I know I was a bit mouthy and said "I'm not going, just give me a blessing and I'll be fine!" Well, it got worse until it was hard to even talk, & bc I'm a boob, & was teary during the blessing, my nose was runny and I couldn't even sniff or blow it  because it hurt my chest so bad.  Troy & I  snuck out leaving the kids with our family and checked in at the ER.
As it goes at any ER, the magic words of "chest pain" bring on a flurry of people, tests, machines, and questions.  No, I had not been sick, lifted anything heavy, no recent surgery, no history of heart problems, blood clots, and no I have not been running/exercising hard lately resulting in the unfortunate post baby muffin top.
I had an EKG, blood draws, poked 3 times for an IV (i even offered to let Troy try after the 2nd miss) and had the Respiratory Therapist, who is also my sister (sorry that they dragged her away from her daughter's dinner..) draw an arterial blood gas on me ( I can now cross that off my list of medical procedures I have never ever wanted...OUCH!), and a  portable chest xray...etc. They gave me a Nitro tablet to dissolve under my tongue and yes it gives an awful headach, and a GI cocktail ( at DRMC we call them Lido Lizards - yes they are as icky as they sound!) Everything cardiac related came back normal, which I figured it would.  By this time the pain was so intense I was in tears and although I had turned down pain meds before, I didn't have a choice when they brought in the first dose of Morphine which didn't help. The PA that was on call, was really nervous about a PE (pulmonary embolism) and wanted me to have a CT chest, the only thing was that their PACS line was down and wouldn't be able to send the images to Cedar for the Radiologist to read, so that meant a trip to Cedar in the ambulance just for a CT.  At his time, the very nice PA named Travis,  called in Dr. Smith, who is also my cousin, to have him come in and check me out. Honestly, at this point I thought if anyone else asks me to take another deep breath and listens to my lungs, I'm going to wrap the stethascope around their neck and wack them in the head with it just so they know how much it hurts to take another dang deep breath!!!  He had more questions and decided to run a D-dimer on my blood and he was the one who called my sister Valerie in to draw the ABG. I should mention here that as she walked into the room,  I apologized for ever biting her on the knee and making her bleed when I was 3, and anything else I'd ever done! I wasn't sure how to take her comment right before she poked me saying, "tonight you're just another patient..." it seriously hurt and she's right, my wrist is a pretty shade of green! But I'm truly glad it was her that drew it! Both the ABG and D-dimer were normal, so that pretty much ruled out any labs that would raise suspicion of a PE without actually doing a chest CT ( whew! that saved us a few thousand dollars ambulance bills) Dr. Smith then started pushing on my sternum and left side rib cage, then squeezed both sides of my rib cage,  pushed down on my left shoulder and each time it would send serious pain into my back and chest, making my breathing even more painful.  We talked about Pleurisy which had crossed my mind, but I thought it was a result of a bad virus, and I hadnt been sick.  Well you don't always have to be "sick" to get it, and also the possibility of Costochondritis which is inflammation of the cartilage where the ribs attach to the sterum usually on the left side causing severe pain which mimics heart attack symptoms.  He figured with everything else ruled out,  it was one or the other, or a combination of both diagnosis.  I got another dose of morphine, & Toradol, and when he asked if it was ok to keep me for the night, I was so loopy,  I could hardley even talk to protest! I kept trying to eat ice and my arms were so heavy, and the spoon seemed to weigh 5 lbs, so the ice would land in my lap & then I couldn't pick it up. They moved me to another room, and I could hardley get in the chair.  Valerie stayed until they moved me and helped get me settled, they also let Troy stay in the other bed in my room. Troy called to check on the kids, I was really worried about them, but they were fine and all asleep at gma and gpa's.  Dr. Smith also gave me an Ambien to help me sleep...hello, I'm already snowed as it is! I've heard lots of stories about people doing crazy things on Ambien, so I was a little nervous about it, the nurses just told Troy not to let me do anything to out of control!! I needed to pump, and had mine with me, so they had me do that first before the Ambien so I wouldn't fall asleep while pumping, well, I do that about every night without drugs!  I made Troy set his phone to wake me up to pump again about 2 am, and he couldn't get me to wake up!!!  Obviously I slept good, and the pain was better in the morning.  Dr Smith came and said we could stay for breakfast and go whenever we were ready since my vitals looked good.  He gave me a couple scripts for pain meds and a good dose of prednisone.  Knowing that I'm nursing, he didn't really try to push the prednisone very hard but when I asked how long I'd have to take it, and told him that I have 7 grocery bags full of frozen milk bags stored in my freezer, & Kason has more than enough to get through 7 days of me pumping and dumping, he was very relieved and said prednisone was what I really needed to kick this.  I know Troy was eager to go, but I was really hesitant.  The pain in my arm and neck wasn't as bad, but my breathing was still sharper than I thought it ought to be.  We ate and rested for about an hour and headed back up to my parent's house.  The kids were so happy to see us, and I had missed and worried about them.  Camrie ran to me and said, "Mom, you came back to me!" that made me a little teary-eyed! and Kason couldn't get to me fast enough. Troy had a couple little snoozes and I crashed for a couple hours. Troy, Braxton, & my dad went over and got our trailer, emptied the tanks and we were on our way home.  My dad insisted that they were driving me home, so mom drove my car and he followed us down which I felt bad about, yet was so glad they did.  Paige and Sheri Condie had a yummy dinner ready for us when we got home...another blessing!  Thanks girlies!
I've taken Monday - Wed. off and I'm feeling better.  Today my chest feels heavy, like Braxton is sitting on me!  I've learned just don't cough, or sneeze, and don't sleep on my left side- it all hurts!.  Troy has been fabulous as usual and stayed home with me Monday, and the kids have said some pretty sweet prayers for me at night. Hopefully this is as close as I ever come to having this kind of pain again, or for that matter a heart attack!  I thought about having Troy take a pic, for blogging sake,  but I'd really rather not even see it, and the nurses said I looked pretty rough at times, at least their truthful! Everyone at the hospital was amazing! and it was nice to know just about everyone there!
 So that's my story, I'm sticking to it, and we're told it most likey won't happen again....at least if it does, just put me out and do it fast!  Thanks everyone for your phone calls, concerns and texts.  Especially my awesome family for taking care of my kids when we left the party. Dad for coming out to the hospital to sit with me and Troy for awhile helping me to take my mind off everything going on, and also helping Troy with my blessing. Mom for getting the kids settled and being up in the night with Kason, taking care of Tanner when he threw up, & driving me home. Brent & Caroline for hauling our trailer off the mtn before it snowed 16 inches last week, and yes Valerie I still love you even after the blood gas draw!  Steph you missed it all! :)
Whew that's all for now, I love you all!

Kason - 8 months!!

I know, I know, it's said everytime I blog that another month has gone by way to fast, but seriously I wish I could keep time at a stand still and keep all my kids at the age they are at!! they are ALL so full of life, energy, and FUN!  That being said, here's what Kason is up to lately:

~ Still 1 % for weight, but he's a toughie!
~ 28 inches tall
~ STILL waking up in the night to eat, anywhere between 1-3 am (ok this I'd love to change!)
~ Can pull himself up and stand in his crib, against the couch, etc...
~ Dad taught him how to stick out his tongue and spit really good
~ Eats most baby food really well, except those darn green veggies ( this is where the spitting isn't so fun!)
~ Still wearing size 2 diapers
~ 3-6 month clothes are fitting just right.  His 3 month summer clothes are ready to be put away as soon as colder weather hits
~ Has learned to venture around the house, tries to crawl in the pike position on the tile
~ Can crawl up on the tile step by the front door, hasn't tried to go upstairs just yet
~ Drinks about 6 oz, still nursing.....
~ 7 grocery bags full of frozen milk bags out in the big freezer  ( GO MOM!!)
~ 2 sharp bottom teeth and probably another on the way - lots of boogers and drooling going on now
~ Very mischievious, likes to unplug mom's pump while she's using it, and not looking, then giggles
~ Loves to takes Tanner's train tracks apart & chew on them after Tanner gets them all set up

 

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday....

Yesterday we were so lucky to have both sets of grandparents spend the day with us.  It was the Primary program and both the boys had parts and I played the piano.  Braxton and Tanner worked so hard to memorize their parts and did a great job.  Tanner was so excited to go sit up on the stand and could hardly wait.  His part was "If we follow the Prophet's example we can live with Heavenly Father again." He said his part perfectly without hesitation and was so very proud of himself, and even brought on a chucle from the crowd.  Braxton's part was to recite the 4th Article of Faith.
The main highlight of the day was Troy being ordained as a HIgh Priest by Gmpa Webb.  The McFadden's also met us at the church after Sacrament meeting,  and Brent was able to be in the prayer circle for Troy.  Troy's new calling is the 2nd assistant to the High Priest group leader who is Troy Forsberg.  Troy is excited for his new calling, and it couldn't come at a better time, he was ready to get out of the nursery and challenge himself to be a bit better.  Everyone came home to a yumny dinner after, and dessert.  This was my first attempt at my Gma Fern's fresh peach dessert and it tasted just as good as her's!! YUM, YUM! After we had ate too much and everyone went home, we took a nice walk down to the park and let the kids get some energy out, I kept waiting for a nice cool breeze to hit us, but it was just a bit on the muggy side and warm. The boys loved riding their bikes down, and I borrowed (ok so rather broke in and stole) Josh's stroller so Troy could push Camrie down and we all had a ton of fun.

Fun in SLC Sept 9-10, 2011

I was able to attend an ultrasound conference a couple weeks ago with 2 other co-workers in SLC.  We rotate working in Maternal Fetal Medicine and they were so very nice to send us to this conference to learn more about imaging fetal hearts, with an emphasis on hypoplastic left heart syndrome.  It was really interesting and my favorite part was putting on the gloves and looking at the cadavar baby hearts - it's amazing at how tiny they are! Since the conference just happened to land on mine & Troy's 5th wedding anniversary, and we both had the weekend off, we decided to suprise the kids and take them to Lagoon the following day (aren't we so nice!!)  I went up on Thursday, & after the conference on Friday, Becca and Holly dropped me off at our hotel, they headed for home, and I enjoyed the peace and quiet before Troy and the kids arrived.  The Marshall's also drove up late that night and went to Lagoon with us.  Braxton had been bugging me to go to Lagoon since we were going to SLC, and I kept telling him that it's super expensive and we'd find other things to do...he was bummed but willing to go along with whatever we had planned.  I loved his face as we pulled into the parking lot at Lagoon!! 
Now, my family went to Lagoon alot, and I love me a good rollercoaster!  My favorite ride buddy was my dad, he made even the boring rides an absolute blast.  I want my kids to have the same experiences so, kids with weak tummys just plain aren't allowed!!  So what better way than to test out my kids spinning ability that to just put them on and see how they go...

We had so much fun and the kids were so good.  Tanner and Camrie weren't so willing to go on some of the bigger kid rides and Camrie wasn't even happy to go on the teeny tiny easy rides after a few of the first rides I made them go on!  I turned into one of those mom's who force their kids to ride on the rides and hold everyone else up as they are trying to coax their out of control screaming child to sit down....yeah, I got a few 'looks' and eyes rolled at, but c'mon Camrie, it's the little boats that have been there for years, that I rode on when I was her age...she reached up hysterically crying and slapped me, my instant reaction was to give her a good flick on the cheek, and walk away while cute little Josh just chilled in the boat behind Tanner and Camrie waiting to get going.  After that she was ok to just watch, and really it was ok with me.  I'm sure she's scarred for life!  We rode Wicked for the first time and it really was awesome.  I've always said that I could quit my job and be a professional rollercoaster tester. I love them! Anyone else game? The night ended (yes, we left around 9 pm...) and headed for Beaver.  Nick and Paige were plannin on staying in Logan that night, but had a quick change of plans after Nick discovered he'd lost their car keys on a ride.  We checked everywhere, even shut a ride down, but no keys.  They were rescued for the night by Mike and Summer and their extra keys were sent up on the St. George shuttle the next day.  We got to Beaver by 2 am barely awake and crashed at my parents.  A long, but fun, fun day!!



Holding an older child's heart and lungs



Infant heart and lungs

Tanner loving the boat - Camrie screaming her lungs out.  Guess we should've done this ride first.....

Grilled Pizza

I've been on this kick of trying out new recipes, which really isn't anything new for me, but the past 2 weeks, every night we have eaten something new.  I saw grilled pizza on a recipe blog and thought it would be fun to try, so on the hottest day in August, Troy and I are standing outside over a raging hot grill experimenting and laughing at our poor pizza trying to keep it from falling through the grill.  I wish I would've had pictures of it, but believe me it was so very very tasty!! We devoured it, and decided to hurry and make another one since it wasn't very big.  This time we let the kids make it, and put it on tinfoil to contain it a bit better.  It turned out just as yummy.  I think it was a hit!!  We topped it off by sharing a new key lime dessert with the Marshall's and went home stuffed!!  Thanks to my very brave family for trying out my recipes, not all were keepers but some we will try again.

Help me Betty Crocker!!

Back in high school and college, I worked at the Quality Inn hotel in Beaver.  We did a small complimentary breakfast and one of the items that I loved (obviously I sampled a few when I was hungry and putting breakfast away!!!) was these homemade bran muffins that my boss made.  Over the years I have craved these muffins and wished I had the recipe.  I found what I figured was the recipe since it made a ton and would keep in the fridge. I was so excited to try it out, but the end result was not what I expected, I even found the same recipe in my gma Fern's recipe book and I did everything right.  Needless to say, for some reason the muffins didn't rise and the recipe makes almost 5 dozen!!! I hated to throw it all out, so I baked most of the batter and we took them to feed the ducks.  I put about 13 in a bread bag and I swear they weighed at least 10 lbs. The ducks seemed to like them, and Troy had a great time skipping them in water (now you know just how hard they were!)   I had my mom call Colleen Dotson to get the original recipe ( why I didn't I just do that 10 years ago??) and with a few substitutions because one cereal is out of production, they turned out perfect.  Who would've known that liquid buttermilk in the carton VS. powdered buttermilk that you mix would make a difference, but it does.  So if you happened to drive past Bloomington golf course a few weeks ago,  and the ducks were moving slow and partially under water.....now you know why!!! 

Happy Birthday Tanner!!!

Tanner chose Pizza Factory for his birthday dinner

Birthday cinnamon roll for breakfast

The birthday boy!

a few of Tanner's Dragonfly friends

 

I thought for sure I had posted about Tanner's 4th Birthday, but apparently I posted it on our family blog.  So even tho I'm a week and 1/2 late........Happy Birthday Tanner, we love you and hope that you have a great year, 4 is awesome!!!
These are a few pictures from Tanner's little party in his Dragonfly class at the daycare.  He chose to take Oreo cookies and Capri Suns.  He loved his crown and wore it the rest of the day.  I will post pictures from his family party later.
Fun things to remember about Tanner on his 4th Birthday:
~He LOVES Thomas the Train, and all his friends.  He can't go anywhere without at least 2 trains.  Could play with Thomas and his tracks all day EVERYDAY!
~Loves to sing! Many times I hear Tanner playing with this trains, and quietly singing I Am A Child Of God. 
~Loves to play Name That Tune with w/ Mom in the car with her IPod
~Cheese sandwhiches, Goldfish, and any kind of meat are fav. foods
~Loves to eat 'Mom's cereal' for breakfast (Special K, or Bran Flakes)
~Has the funniest laugh
~Hasn't completely grown out of his baby 'Kankles'
~ Loves his new preschool class and being a Butterfly
~Thomas movies, Little Einsteins, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Alvin & the Chipmunks are favorite shows/movies
~Loves Baseball!! sleeps with his mitt, takes it in the car, tries to sleep in baseball hat, can hit and catch well for a 4 year old.  Loves his bike too.
~Either loves Camrie and plays well with her, or terrorizes her! Typical big brother!
~Has gotten over an extreme fear of cockroaches this summer
~Knows all the alphabet and their sounds
~Is really good at ignoring mom and dad!! :)
~Is a very good helper with Kason, & also vaccums the floor after dinner
~Nicknames are:  Tanner Man, Tanner T, Tanneruesky
~Loves mom to lay down at night with him and discuss our day (Mom's fav. too)