Flashback Moment

I realized a few days ago that last month marked the 15th anniversary of my return from my mission. I got a little emotional when I started remembering favorite comps (Bryan shimai wa ichiban daisuki deshita). I decided to make a little video of the places and people that had an impact on my life. I hope you will indulge my sappiness, as I look back at some great memories.

Some things never change

I saw this on youtube the other day and it brought back a lot of memories. Takasaki was my 4th area. It was one of my favorite areas well, it became one of my favorite with my second comp in Takasaki. The inside of the train station looks about the same and the orange and green train hasn't changed. The music they play right before the lady says that the doors are going to shut is the same as it was when I was there. I thought I would share this to show everyone a little of Japan. We transferred to other areas, went to zone conferences as well as mission conferences, went to the temple once a month (if we lived within 2 hours of the Temple), and sometimes went to proselyte in neighboring towns by train. I preferred going by train than by bus. Trains were faster as a rule, besides you could people watch more if going by train than by bus.

Some times it's hard being a mom.

Kind of an update from yesterday. Emily was really good she didn't fight me once going into the doctor's office or in the exam room. The nurse pricked her finger to check her blood count (I didn't know how to spell the technical word for it) and she didn't cry once. She has a big wart on the third finger of her right hand and the doctor put liquid Nitrate on it and she didn't cry or anything. I was hoping when the time came for shots that she would do OK. She got all 5 of the shots needed for Kindergarten so she wouldn't have to have any more shots for 8 years. Anyway she got 2 shots in her right thigh, one in her left thigh, one in her right arm and one in her left arm. She started crying with the first two shots (two nurses double up, so the shots get over quicker). The third shot as she was now screaming she looked at me with big crocodile tears streaming down her face. Pain reflected on her face and a question of how I could let them do this to her in her eyes. It broke my heart and I about started crying along with her. She came through it like a trooper. After the nurse gave her a coupon for a free ice cream cone from the local drug store, she was still upset and calmed down when I asked if she wanted to talk to her Daddy. She told her Daddy everything that happened and after she talked to him she was fine. Never underestimate how talking to Daddy after a traumatic event can make things better for a little girl (especially a Daddy's Girl). She still has the band aids on her legs she says they hurt but she runs and jumps like she did before shots so I am certain they don't hurt any more.

What is up with BIG Brothers???

When we got my boys ready for Kindergarten, they had to have 4 or 5 shots. I thought that I would make it easier for Emily and get her caught up on shots so hopefully next year when she has her Kindergarten physical she won't have to have so many shots. Her appointment is today. I have been keeping it very low key because I didn't want her to be scared to see the doctor. Well, her BIG brothers found out and the first thing they said to her this morning is you get to get shots today! I was a little upset when I found out that they told her but, I thought that maybe she would forget or they wouldn't mention it again. I was wrong! They have brought it up again and again. I thought big brothers protected their little sisters not be the cause of their anxiety or pain. Maybe that comes later when they are older. I hope so anyway.

I am a big sister and a little sister. My big sister taught me how to ride a bike when I was 6 the same big sister helped me when I got my learners permit practice driving. We had a standard vehicle so it took me some time to figure out the whole clutch thing and she was really patient with me. I know big sisters aren't perfect and they all have their moments but I don't remember taunting my little sister or brother about shots.

From what I have seen Big brothers are nothing more than a pain! I hope all big brothers aren't like this. I married a big brother and his little brother isn't around to ask if he was mean when they were little. Duaine says he was perfect when he was little. I haven't been able to find anyone with big brothers to find out if this crazy behavior continues as they get older, or if it is just some obnoxious thing they do when they are young.

If We Could Talk To the Animals

This past Monday we went to a lady's house in Mapleton that has all sorts of animals. She is a client of Karlyn's. When Karlyn told us what we were doing for FHE she said we were going to the Mapleton Zoo. I had never heard of this before and I found out from everyone else they had never heard of it before as well. Come to find out that is what the lady calls it. Emily loved to look at the animals but she wouldn't touch any except for the bunnies. We really had to encourage her to touch the bunnies but after she petted one she really liked them. The goats and horses scared her. She wanted to feed the horses watermelon but they scared her to bad she said. The boys didn't want to touch any animals not even one of her three dogs. It was pretty humorous. I got some great shots. I turned them into a slide show for your viewing pleasure.

All I want is....

A little over a week ago Jared lost a tooth. I put off taking a picture until this past monday. He now has a toothless grin.

Still a super cute smile!

New Look

I saw Wendy's changes to her blog and it inspired me to change my blog look. What do you think? Change is good I like the lighter look. The image in the middle I took last year in Cancun, Mexico. It is of the Caribbean Sea near Tulum. Let me know what you think.

Welcome Henry!!!!!!

Raylyn and Mike (my sister and her husband) had their baby this morning! As you can see by the title they had a boy. His name is Henry Michael Poulson. (not him below) He was 7lbs 14 oz and 19 inches longThey have two little girls so a boy to them is like a girl was for us, an answer to prayer. I am so excited to see him! I will post pictures as soon I get some.

In Memoriam of Kelly Robb Call

Over 11 years ago I worked at Mity-Lite (as most of you know). My boss was Bob Call, he is a great man with a great sense of humor. It was shortly after I started working for Bob that I met his wife Kelly. A sweet woman with a good sense of humor. After I quit Mity-Lite she worked there for a while. I am not sure as to what her job consisted of. She went to a lot of the Mity-Lite Parties so I saw her quite a bit, and talked to her quite a few times.

On June 14th Kelly died unexpectedly after a 14 month battle with cancer. She had had a lung removed and she was doing really well. Everyone thought she was on the up swing. She and Bob were at the Macy's in Orem when she collapsed. Aparently she had a blood clot that broke free and killed her instantly. She was 49 years old. She was born May 24th, same birthday as Brenda (my sister-in-law). What adds to this tragedy is in 5 months her son was due to return home from his mission in South Carolina. He elected to stay in the mission field instead of coming home because he felt if he came home he wouldn't go back to finish his mission. His mission president gave him permission to attend the temple during the time of his mother's funeral. Duaine and I went to the viewing last night. I wanted to express my sympathy in person as well as in a card that Duaine and I sent to Bob and his family. Bob said that his wife was living to see her son come home from his mission. She almost made it. She will be missed!




My thoughts and prayers are with Bob and his family.

Family Cabin Trip May 26-29th 2008

This year my family went to the Heber Valley Campground for our annual Family Cabin Trip or Reunion I guess it is now being called. In the past we have always had a BBQ on Memorial Day but this year we decided that after meeting at the American Fork Cemetery we would combine our reunion with Memorial Day. After meeting at the Cemetery we went to a near by pavilion and had lunch (we were running late so we met everyone at the pavilion). We were going to go to a park but because of the cold rainy weather we just went to a pavilion and then let the kids run for awhile before loading them up to head to Heber.

Here is a video of the scenery around our camp.

A little back ground on the HVC. It is where most of the girls go for Girl's Camp, the camp is also available for family reunions and other activities you just have to reserve around Girl's camp. It is staffed by 103 senior missionaries who not only staff such activities as the Challenge courses (there are 4) and Legacy Lake (you can paddle around the lake or use canoes) but they also chop up dead trees to use as the bark around the campsites, cut down the dead trees, collect garbage twice a day, organize service projects (the girls participate in service projects like putting logs around flower bed like areas around trees in the campgrounds, or raking bark or anything else needed.) I know there is a lot more they do I just can't recall all of it right now.

When we arrived at our campsite on Monday, it was snowing and very cold we all made a mad dash to unload all of the vehicles and then set up our beds and get everything situated. After setting up the beds and such we made key chains out of fusible beads. Emily made a green, pink, purple, and white snail she named Gary. Karol (my older sister) and her husband Rich were in charge of the Reunion this year and they had a load of fun activities every night as well as during the day. Monday night was the Disgusting Derby. We were split into two teams. The first activity we did, half of each team put nylon stockings over their faces and the other half had to feed chocolate pudding to those with nylons on their faces. Then we had a burping contest. We stuck sucked on life savers to faces, ran a relay, where we ran to a table and had to do a face plant in various things, strawberry jam, ketchup, cottage cheese, chocolate pudding, and baked beans. We also did a relay where we had to pass cotton balls down the line with Vaseline on our hands. It was a gross but fun night.

Tuesday night was cowboy night we wore cowboy hats, bandannas, and mustaches. We wrangled cows (the kids), rode horses (pool noodles) the kids were chickens and had to peck for food (candy bars) in a pool, we also did a pinata. It was a rip snorting good time.

Wednesday was Star Gazing night. We split up into two teams and then each team chose a CD player. We had 15 minutes to choreograph a dance to the song we chose using glow sticks. My team randomly chose Good Vibrations we had the whole song choreographed. We had three adults and 5 kids. The other team randomly chose Living on a Prayer and they had two kids and four adults. They didn't get their whole song choreographed but the part they did was pretty good. They knew they could win because they used one of the judges sons to do a somersault and then if that didn't work they had my dad use a broom with his glow sticks tied onto it and he used it like an electric guitar. Needless to say they won. It would've been hard for my team to win against an electric guitar.

Thursday we had to clean up our campsite. We vacuumed the carpet in each cabin and then vacuumed off the bunk beds, wiped down the doors, tables and chairs, and then swept off the porches. We also had to clean the bathrooms and showers. Wasn't that hard of a cleaning list we didn't think. We left for home after clean up. All of us thinking that we should make it a tradition of going to the HVC for our family reunion. On the way home Emily said she wanted to go back to our cabin. A sure sign that the reunion was a big success.

Credit for the footage of the campground scenery goes to Duaine. I edited and added music. I also edited a larger movie file containing all of the activities we did. I didn't upload it because I didn't know if it would be of interest or if I would even be able to upload it or if it would be too large to upload.

Cayden's Birthday

Cayden's birthday was Monday May 5th he is now the big 10! He wanted a bicycle helmet so he can ride the bike that he has in the garage. He is also a big fan of Brandon Mull a local author that wrote the Fablehaven books. I couldn't find the second Fablehaven book so I got The candy shop war that was highly recommended by the Art City Elementary (school the boys attended last year) librarian. We had cake and ice cream with just our family as Karlyn had a party on Saturday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and then she also had a cake for Cayden to celebrate his birthday with the extended family. Emily had to have her picture taken with Cayden's bicycle helmet on, like her big brother.

The Birthday boy!!!

Cayden's Birthday Cake he wanted a Mexican things on his cake. There are sombreros and some maraca's as well.

The Candy Shop by Brandon Mull (Cayden's favorite author) he writes the Fablehaven

books.

Cayden in his new bicycle helmet

Me Too!!!

Who is that Bearded Man

We went out to dinner last night with (Shaun and Dawn) my brother and sister-in-law. We were talking about hair and then Dawn mentioned that she likes Shaun with a goatee and I told her that Duaine looks hot with a beard and Dawn had never seen Duaine with a beard. I told her I would look for a picture with Duaine in a beard so she could see what he looks like. I found this picture from Raylyn's (my sister) Seminary Graduation. I think Duaine looks so Handsome really Hot actually with a beard. He says it is hot that is why he will never grow one again. I would like to take a poll to see who thinks he looks handsome with a beard and thinks he should grow one again. I can't promise that he will grow one again but I wish he would. Of course I think he is always handsome but he has that rugged handsome look with a beard. I think he is dang hot in a beard!!!

Quilt Block Exchange

Tomorrow is the monthly quilt block exchange. This month the block is called This and That from Marsha McCloskey's Block Party. I used blues and white this month. Looks almost Asian. I actually have seen Yukattas (Bry does yukatta have two t's do you remember? ((summer Kimono)) made almost out of the same print as the white I used and the blue floral print could be one. The popular color for the Yukattas that I saw was white. Anyway this is the block below. I think it turned out pretty well.

Then & Now

Sunday April 6th was our 13th anniversary. We went to Ruby River for lunch so Duaine could attend the Priesthood Session of conference. As you can tell not much has changed, we still look basically the same. My hair style has changed but Duaine still is as handsome if not more so than he was 13 years ago. 13 years have gone by fast. He is the love of my life!





then: Engagement and Bridal Photos















Now: Early November 2007

Funny Story

I can't figure out how to put the pictures anywhere I want in my blog. If you know how please tell me. This picture goes with a story at the end of this blog.



Ok this is a funny story that may only be really funny to those who know or understand Japanese. Sorry I will try to explain so those that don't will get the humor as well. On Sunday during Relief Society the lesson is what distracts us from spending quality time with our children. One lady (about mid 40's) rose her hand and said that she loved those sedocow (sew dew cow) puzzles. It took me a few minutes to figure out that she was talking about Sudoku (sah dough coo). Granted I know that it shouldn't be that funny because not everyone understands Japanese ennunciation but Sudoku is a popular puzzle and the pronunciation is widely known. It still cracks me up.

We had a family egg hunt last Saturday. Each child had to find 6 eggs hidden outside mostly in the backyard. I was surprised at some of the eggs that Emily found, some were harder that were hidden with the boys in mind. Jared was really funny, we have a swing set that is currently on a hill of dirt we have by the back fence in our yard, we put it there early last summer when we were putting in our sprinkler system. Anyway we put a light orange egg on a yellow swing and Jared looked all around that swing set with in inches of that orange egg and didn't see the egg. Duaine and I tried hard not to laugh. They also had a beanie baby that was hidden for them to find. Emily found everyone else's before she found her own. Emily's is a pink flamingo named Pinkie (name on the tag seriously we didn't name it that). Jared's was a rhino named Spike and Cayden's was a chameleon named Rainbow again names we didn't chose.

Speaking of rainbows while I was at work on Tuesday a saw a teenage girl wearing a gray t-shirt with a rainbow on it and under the rainbow it said "Have a Gay day!" I didn't quite know what to think. I didn't know if I should comment to her about her shirt or not so I just pretended I hadn't seen it. Seriously I didn't know if it was a statement about her preferences or if she just thought it was a funny t-shirt. Since working I have seen and met some of the most interesting people. One girl has removed her eyebrows either by waxing them or by a laser, anyway she draws her eyebrows on and seriously the ones she draws on with a black eyebrow pencil are shaped like a clown eyebrows, just like the ones in the picture above. She doesn't use all of the rest of the clown make up and they aren't as thick as the ones pictured, they are a lot closer like 1/2 inch apart at above the bridge of her nose, the rest is about the same however. Don't want to stare when I see her but I can't help but think what she finds attractive about them. She kind of looks bizarre and maybe that is the intention. Just one more thing I won't be adding to my beauty regimen any time soon.

New Quilt Block

I got the material for my next block for the quilt exchange. It is going to be done in blues and whites, I think it has an Asian flair. Odd for me to go with an Asian flair huh. Anyway, I am hoping to go to my sister Raylyn's house next week to cut the material so I can start sewing the block together. When I get this block done I will post it like the last block I did.

This is the block I made for my family quilt block exchange we are doing tomorrow. I finished all 6 yesterday. It has been a busy week to finish the blocks but I did it. I have been watching two kids of a lady in my ward from 9-1. One is a 2 year old girl the other one is a 5 year old boy. I pick him up from the bus at 11:20 and then their mom picks them up at 1 or 1:30. Anyway the block looks a lot better than shown it got wrinkled and shifted some when scanning, also there is thread I just saw that I need to remove, but you will get the idea. I really like the way they turned out.

Quilts

My mom has set up a quilt block exchange or whatever among the women in our family. We meet once a month and can either make our block during that time or like quite a few of us are doing, making it before hand. We make one for each person, a total of 6. After I get a block finished I will post it for your viewing pleasure. The pattern I am using is called Cross-Country and I am doing it in greens and a splash of pink. I thought I wouldn't go with the color I am sure a lot of my family was expecting, my favorite color blue. Anyway keep checking back for that pic of my finished quilt block.

Birthday

I am sure most of you know Saturday was my birthday. As I get older I can't help but wonder what all of the excitement is about birthdays, maybe it is because I am becoming old.

Duaine and I had an activities committee meeting at 10:00. We have been on the activities committe since the first part of December. The chairman is PJ Maughan (for those of you from Monticello) so Duaine likes going to these meetings because something or someone from Monticello is brought up and they talk about it for a while. PJ has a son that is Jared's age named Peyton and they have become good friends. We took the kids with us to the meeting because PJ said that she had kids that our kids could play with. Emily played with her 9 year old daughter they played barbies and I am not sure what all else. Jared played with Peyton and Cayden played with her almost 13 year old son. They had such a good time that when the meeting was over. My kids didn't want to leave so PJ said they could stay and play for an hour.

While the kids played at the Maughan's Duaine and I went to Reams to get some bread because of a sale on Grandma Sycamore white bread. A friend of mine Mary was working (as a side note she is also the one I go to the gym with) as we came in the door she said "There is the birthday girl. Happy Birthday" and then another manager started singing Happy Birthday. Not super embarrassing by any means although I am one that hates stuff like that on my birthday I don't like big scenes. I thought that would be the end of it I was sorely mistaken. We had no sooner gotten to the meat department where we were talking to a former Primary President from a ward we lived in when we were first married when Mary made an announcement over the PA system "Attention all Reams customers today is the birthday of one of our employees her name is Rashele and she is wearing a yellow shirt so if you see her be sure to wish her a happy birthday." I about died. About a minute after her announcement the store manager said "Happy Birthday Rashele" on the PA system. I went up to the front of the store and pretended to throttle Mary.

Yesterday was the 19th birthday of one of my co-workers. To celebrate her birthday she came through my check stand and bought her first legal ciggaretts. I told her I wasn't going to sell them to her and she said check my ID I am legal. I just thought it was sad that she was so excited to buy ciggaretts. I thought what a waste.

Anyway Happy Birthday to my fellow March Birthday people! Wendy (16th) My Mom (18th) Leanne (10th) PJ (16th) Samie (31st) Hope your birthdays are Wonderful!

Tag!! Your'e It!

I got this from my sister-in-law Wendy's blog. Like Wendy I am tagging you all and would love to hear your stories


How long have you been together? We met November of 1991 but didn't start dating until August of 1994. Story in and of itself. Been together almost 13 years.

Where did you meet? At work we both worked at Wirthlin Group. Getting ready for missions.

What was your first date? We went to Bridal Veil Falls. The couple that got out of the tram just before we went up to the top of the falls had just gotten engaged so the Bridal Veil Falls employee asked if we were also going to get engaged. We both kind of nervously laughed and said no.

What first attracted you to him? His smile and then his eyes.

How long did you date? We were slower than Wendy. We dated close to 3 months before we got engaged. We were engaged for 5 months before we got married.


Who kissed who first? I think he did. After we had been dating for over a month. Pretty fast for someone who had only been home from his mission for a month.

Who said "I love you" first? I did, he was going to school at UVSC and he called me at work. Right before we said goodbye I said Te quiero. He got quiet so I asked him if he heard what I said. I think it kind of freaked him out.

Who proposed? A day after Thanksgiving, he asked me if I wanted to go visit his mission president in the LDS Hospital with him and get lunch. His mission president had just had hernia surgery. We went to Frontier Pie in Provo (no longer there) after he opened my door he looked around the parking lot and said that it looked like his friend was working. I thought it was odd but kind of blew it off. We were seated in a booth and then after ordering our lunch a guy came up carrying a tray and on the tray was a dozen red roses. He set the tray in front of me and on the tray was the dozen red roses ontop of a steering wheel. On the steering wheel he had his talented sister Wendy write "Wheel" you marry me? and then there was an engagement ring drawn behind the words. He then got down on one knee in the middle of the restaurant and asked me if I would marry him. I thought it was very unique and very romantic.

Where and when were you married? April 6, 1995, Salt Lake Temple


Who is smarter? I think he is. I can remember phone numbers and birthdays but he can figure out everything else.

Who does the laundry? I do

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Depends on how you face the bed if you are sitting on the bed facing the foot of the bed I do. If you are standing at the foot of the bed facing the top he does. I sleep on the same side as my mom does I found out.

Who does the bills? I do

Who mows the lawn? He does with help from the kids. He uses his dad's ridding lawn mower.

Who cooks dinner? I usually do. When he does cook it is always really good. I love it when he grills something or dutch ovens.

Who is more stubborn? I think he is but he would probably tell you that I am. I think it depends on the situation.

What is your favorite date? Any time we get to go out is probably my favorite date. I love the exotic trips he has taken me on. In the last 5 years he has taken me to Mexico twice and Puerto Rico once.


What do you like best about him now? He is still the man of my dreams. He is kind, caring and he has an amazing sense of humor. He can make almost anyone laugh. He has a really cute laugh. I still love his smile.

Snowblowers

Whenever it snows any mesurable amount like today, I have these two sometimes three cute men that come snowblow my driveway and sidewalks. In the picture the one in orange is my father-in-law the one in yellow is my neighbor. My brother-in-law Shaun usually helps snowblow my driveway and sidewalk but today he volunteered to take the boys to school because the roads were way slick! My father-in-law wanted me to take a picture of him snowblowing and wanted me to take a picture of the biggest rooster tail. I couldn't get all of the rooster tail in the picture but you get the idea. I think it kind of shows the amount of snow that we got last night.

Happy Valentines Day!!

This is what we woke up to this morning. That is right 12 new inches of snow! My father-in-law figures we got 15" with compacting. Crazy!

I have a tradition in my house and my sisters will confirm this. Ever since the first year I was married, on Valentines Day I make heart shaped sugar cookies with pink frosting. Over the years the size of some of the cookies have gotten bigger. I now make cookies the size of a medium box of chocolates for the boys and then a bunch of littler hearts. Duaine decided this year he would rather have a lot more smaller cookies instead of a large cookie. It is easier to eat. The boys still find the large cookies rather exciting and they eat it over a couple of days, that is if Emily doesn't get them first. She isn't old enough to have a large one yet. I only make sugar cookies once a year because they are rather time intensive. The recipe I use the cookie dough has to chill for an hour or two before you can cut the cookies. I usually plan on making a couple of batches on Valentines Day and then I end up making another couple of batches within a few days after Valentines Day because Duaine loves my sugar cookies and they get eaten way to fast for his liking.

Ok, Valentines Day is supposed to be one of the most romantic days of the year other than (hopefully) anniversaries. This year I failed on the romantic front as far as Valentines Day presents. I went practical, it was something Duaine has been talking about for a few weeks so I thought I would surprise him. I got him a membership to the local gym. He seemed excited when I told him about it. He gets to try it out for a few days to see if he likes it before being locked into the membership. He said it would make it easier for him to work out because it is too easy to lax off at home. He said his plan is to get up a little earlier in the morning and go to the gym and then shower and go to work.

President Hinckley's Funeral

We watched President Hinckley's funeral yesterday. I had a massive headache afterwards because I cried so much. I cried the most as the choir sang the clossing song and they showed video clips of different things he did during the past almost 13 years of his life. President Monson's talk was one of my favorite, filled with the humor that we came to know as President Hinckley, and at the end when he read the Hymn "God be with you till we meet again" and then said "God be with you till we meet again Gordon." I thought that was so sweet. At one point there was a close up of him waving to the crowd and Emily waved back. I thought that was a sweet gesture. We asked her if she knew who that was and she said President Hinckley. I doubt she knew that he had died but she knew who he was and what he was and that is why she waved to him. She felt he was waving specifically to her and that is what made it cute. I was touched at the end of the funeral as they were pushing President Hinckley's casket out of the Conference Center a few people waved white hankerchiefs. Along the route to the cemetery there were people waving white hankerchiefs and canes and it was really touching. It was definitely a beautiful service. He is definitely going to be missed!

President Hinckley

I like this photo of him. I like how kind and loving his eyes are in this photo. If his eyes weren't full of love they danced with humor.

There are three prophets to date that have meant a lot to me. First is President Kimball because he is the prophet of my youth. I have fond memories watching confrence and hearing him speak with his grovely voice.

The next one is President Benson. He was prophet when I was in High School. He also signed my mission call.

Third one of course is President Hinckley. He became prophet a month before I got married. He has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember. I love his sense of humor and his smile that brightened up the room. I have a picture of him when he renamed Cougar Stadium to the LaVell Edwards Stadium. In that picture he reminds me of my grandpa the way he is wearing his hat in that photo. He is one person I would have loved to have met.

I will definitely miss him!

Way to Go Cayden!!!

Last night was the Cub Scout Space Derby. We have worked on Cayden's rocket for the past week. I helped him paint it and then he painted NASA on one side. Duaine helped him put it together.

I wasn't scheduled to work yesterday but got called in to work for someone that was sick. When they called me they said I would be able to take a break during the time the Space Derby was at so I could watch Cayden race his rocket. Pack Meeting started late and so when I got there 15 minutes into Pack Meeting they were still handing out awards and hadn't started racing yet. Everyone was still tinkering with rockets when I had to leave so I wasn't able to see Cayden race his rocket. Cayden, Jared, and Duaine stopped by work after Pack Meeting to tell me how the derby went.

Cayden took first place in two heats and then second in two heats. His over all score was 14 so he won First Place. The picture above is of his rocket and his first place ribbon and certificate. The second place winner had an over all score of 13 and third place had an over all score of 12 so it was a close race. Cayden was rightfully so proud and very excited that he won. I am really glad he had a good time. I told him how proud and excited I am that he won.

This is cute

If you could see Emily's shirt you would be able to see that it says "Mommy's Little Sidekick", However as this picture shows she has become a Daddy's girl. If you ask her if she is a Daddy's girl she will either nod or say "yep, then I am your girl Mommy." When did this happen? If you asked her 6 months to a year ago she would say "No I'm Mommy's girl". Maybe this is a normal occurance. My mom says that all of her daughters are Daddy's girls.

Emily's 1st Talk

Emily gave her first talk in Primary yesterday. The topic was I am a child of God and he has a plan for me. I looked online to find out specifically what the theme was for the 4th Sunday and found out it was on the creation. Her talk was about how Heavenly Father loves us so much that he created different things like the sun to make day, beautiful flowers that smell so pretty, and animals. He gave her, her family that loves her. He gave us Jesus as an example. He gave her her body so she can learn to be like him. She did a really good job and as Grandpa Naylor said she said every word really clear and spoke up and was easy to understand. Both he and Grandma Naylor, along with her parents were really proud of her.

New Pets

We have had these two deer in our backyard everyday for over a month well, they haven't been in the yard this last week but other than that every morning before the boys go to school they would come back and lay down in the back yard and then eat the oranges Cayden cut up and put in the back yard for them. Our neighbors have jokingly called them our new pets because of how often they have been in the backyard. It became a daily ritual to check on the deer every morning to see if they were still there and if they liked the oranges Cayden left them. I kind of miss seeing them there this past week.



Having deer in our yard isn't an unusual thing. We had one in our yard a few years back that we nicknamed Spike because he had antlers that hadn't branched off. These are the first two deer that have almost taken up residency since Spike though.



In the picture the deer that is in front was asleep and didn't tuck it's head in like deer normally do when they sleep. It had it's head kind of like cats or dogs do when they sleep. The deer are a second year fawn and a doe.

Jared's Birthday

Jared had a birthday party. He invited a friend from school named Joel and a friend from the ward named Payton Maughan. Jared wanted to go play laser tag so we invited some of the aunts and uncles and played laser tag. Jared scored in the top 13. We had a lot of fun and decided we would go back and play laser tag again maybe as a group date night or something.

YAHOO!!!!!!!!

Emily has finally decided that diapers are only for babies and is potty trained!!!!!!! I am so excited that I don't have to buy diapers any more. I took her to the store to pick out panties and she picked out princess panties. Every morning she gets to pick out the panties she wants to wear for the day and I think this has helped her a lot. She potty trained a lot sooner than the boys did and like Jared she hasn't been that difficult.

A big scare!

We had a big scare last month with Jared. He had a urinary tract infection or UTI as the doctors call it. He had a lot of tests and they all came back normal except for his renal ultrasound, it showed an extra piece or part of his left kidney and the pediatrician was a little worried about it so he send us to Primary Children's Hospital to see one of the Pediatric Urologists to find out what we should do next. Any time a doctor refers you to PCH it isn't a good thing and it is cause for major stress. We met with Heidi White a nurse practitioner in the Urology department at PCH. She said that he has an anatomical anomaly but nothing to worry about he just has an extra little piece of kidney but that didn't make him more likely for more UTI's and chances were that he may never have another UTI. We were really relieved.