Summer Break: Day 2

Day two of summer break started out like this:

Lots of shoveling, and more wheelbarrows of rocks and dirt than I can even count! But it was totally worth it! The end result is just the beginning to an awesome summer break spent in the sun at our house....

I bought the ginormous pool at Target two years ago. It was on clearance and I just had to have it for the kids...and then I was too scared to set it up. Now, two years later we are ready to party! It is going to be a lot of work keeping it up and our water bill this month...well lets just say the kids will NOT be running in the sprinklers at all this summer! We are so excited to have a pool--we have to learn the ropes on keeping it clean but we have "pool friends" who are experts so we'll be hitting them up for advice!

Bring on the summer fun!

MRI check up + a vacation

Dylan had an MRI scheduled this month. We always have them on Monday mornings--like 6:30 in the morning. He has to fast for so many hours before and so it's just easier to go in first thing. Since he had his appointment on a Monday AND it's summer, we decided to make a mini vacation out of the whole thing.

We left the Thursday before and stayed at my parents house in Annabella. We got up Friday and headed to Salt Lake to let the fun really begin. We got to stay in a hotel. This was also the night I ditched the crew and went to dinner with my college roomies. Don't worry, I brought Paul back a slice of Oreo Cheesecake! I seriously had so much fun just laughing and catching up with my girls.

Saturday we got up early and headed up to Lagoon. Paul and I haven't been since Connor was a tiny baby. We were super excited to take the kids. As we pulled up I pointed out the big white roller coaster and explained to the boys that Phineas and Ferb ride a roller coaster like that on the cartoon. That was all it took for Connor to be convinced that he should ride it. That was the very first ride he went on at Lagoon (a proud mom moment for me!) There was no line, and I let him pick which ever seat he wanted. He picked the middle of the train and before he knew it the bar came down and we were off. He was all smiles until we started the big climb. It was then that I had to do some serious convincing that it was more fun than scary. When the ride ended Connor could not get out of his seat fast enough--and he was white as a ghost! He says it was scary and a little fun! I was so happy he went on it with me. I love roller coasters! Connor was pretty brave, Dylan was pretty scared, and Samantha was pretty excited to just be there. Paul took the boys on the Tidal Wave and they both absolutely hated it--like, Dylan was crying when they got off! Connor's favorite rides included Red Rock Rally, the water tubes, log ride, sky ride, and the Lady Bug Bop. Dylan's favorite rides included Red Rock Rally, sky ride, and the bumper cars. Samantha loved the little boats, riding the helicopter with Connor, driving with Dylan, and Puff the Dragon roller coaster. She was way more brave than Dylan.

Funniest ride was the Log Ride. I took Connor and Dylan while Paul sat with Sam.  I just told them the basics-- there's a log that has been cut out with seats in it and you ride in the water like the little boat ride in the kiddie area. Easy as that. Dylan decided he was going to be in the front, Connor sat in the middle and I took up the rear. All was well until we started going up the hill. Dylan turned around and asked what he should do because he was scared. I
told him to duck his head and hold on tight--and then down the hill we went! It was completely awesome. We got out and the first words out of Dylan's mouth were "I'm so mad at you!" I just gave him a big hug and told him that I was so proud of him.

After our fun day at Lagoon we headed up to Logan to stay the night with Paul's brother and his family. It was so fun to drive around Utah State Campus, our old apartments, and Logan in general. We miss that place like crazy but we aren't sure we could ever handle the cold again! Mark and Sheila were so good to us.

Sunday afternoon we headed to South Jordan to have dinner with my cousins and Aunt. We love to stay at Cindy and Rondo's house. It was so fun to catch up with cousins that I haven't seen in a long time. My grandpa was admitted to the hospital that day and so I got to spend a few minutes with him. He is 92 and hasn't been doing so well. It was so nice to be able to see him and hug him and tell him just how much I love him and have missed having him in St. George.

Monday morning Paul got up really early with Dylan and headed up to Primary Children's for Dylan's MRI. Everything went really well and they returned quickly back to my cousins house. Later that afternoon I took Dylan back up to meet with his oncologist, Dr. Bruggars. Dylan was talkative and very cooperative--usually he is still so dazed from the sedation that he won't talk to anybody. This time he was a little more awake and lot more friendly! Dr. Bruggars said everything still looks great--no growth, movement, shifts, or changes. The best news is that Dylan is now on the yearly schedule for his MRI's. I was not expecting her to tell me this but was so excited. She reminded me again that Dylan is a miracle and to keep living and enjoying life and that is exactly what we plan to do!

 After the MRI we headed back to my parents house and I stayed with the kids for the rest of the week and Paul had to come home so he could go to work. My kids loved being at my mom's house. They got to hang with cousins (Ericka's kids), go to the bowling alley for lunch and games, sleep over at Ericka's, see my brother Chad's new house that he is renting, check out Chad's new monster truck, and play, play, play. I spent a day sewing a blanket for Samantha! I bought the material a few years ago and have not done anything with it so while I was up there my mom helped me get it put together. I love how it turned out and so does Sam!

Thanks mom for basically forcing me to get this thing done! Can't wait to make another one!

gimmie a break

i was watching her.
that's a lie.
i was not actually watching her.

i knew she had climbed up the bunk bed ladder. I was right there, literally three feet away from her. i could hear her laughing and babbling away at the boys. she was fine.

and then she wasn't.

i heard her little body hit the floor. lucky for me her, she landed on the rug on the carpet. two layers of padding. but then she wasn't crying. no, she couldn't cry. she was white as a ghost and not crying.

and then she was sleeping.

no joke, ten minutes after she fell, she was sleeping. panic set in immediately. all of my "stay calm...she's fine...you've dealt with way worse....she is fine damnit" ya, all of that gone. i am no medical professional but i do know that her wanting to sleep after a face plant from the top bunk of a bunkbed was no bueno.

i kept moving her around trying to see something, anything to tell me she was okay.

or not.

every time i moved her body she winced and her torso went tight. she would hold her breath when i moved her arms around. i just tried to keep my cool even though i was certain something was wrong. just not sure exactly what.

so i texted my nurse friend. in choppy text i told her what happened. the guilt sunk in as soon as i hit send. my baby fell off the top of the bunk bed ladder. she called me right away and told me a few things to check and then reminded me: do not let her go to sleep.

i managed to get a hold of Paul at work, and my mom and sister (who were on their way down to my house to surprise my kids). i set up an appointment with the doctor but i had a two hour wait. two hours? at least that gave me time to get in the shower, paul to get off work, and my mom and sister to get here to watch my boys so my kids could spend the entire day playing with them.

the doctor visit was quick and easy. he checked her out, sent us for x rays, and within two hours we were back getting a soft cast for what he thought was a sprain but turned out to be a fractured elbow.

how nice.

that all happened friday morning. she wore the soft cast all weekend. this morning we took her back in to the doc. for the the hard, pink, weapon of a cast!

she will wear it for 3 weeks.
wish us luck!

Girls Camp

This year I was blessed to be able to attend girls camp with our awesome young women. I was planning on just going for one night but with my blister situation I wasn't able to run my 1/2 marathon and so I decided to stay up at camp the entire week. I know, without a doubt, I was supposed to be at girls camp this year. The young women taught me so much and it was so fun to hang out with them for a few days. Being away from the real world allowed all of us to Arise and Shine Forth {the theme of our camp this year}. We headed up Cedar Canyon on Wednesday (July 11), the weather was beautiful. It was extremely hot actually. That didn't last long though. After being up there for only a few hours it started pouring rain. We got rain off and on everyday of camp. Saturday we were soaked so we got up early, packed up as fast as we could and headed down the mountain. Some of the fun things we did included:
     * Nephite/Lamanite War
     *marshmallow guns
     *personality color coding
     *yummy food--and lots of it!
     *Tangled skit/musical
     *snipe patrol
     *singing rafters

Spending three nights in the mountains with the young women and other fearless leaders was just what I needed to get my life in check. The young women of our ward let their lights shine and changed my outlook on life. They gave me a little taste of what it feels like to be carefree and I am a better person for that. They make me want to be a better wife, mom, leader, and friend. So thank you girls, your friendship means so much to me.

We were also able to have a girl from another ward join us this year. She is best friends with one of our young women and so we got permission for her to come with us. She was so fun and had a spirit about her that drew me in immediately. After meeting her, it was brought to my attention that she was going to be baptized Sunday (today!). I was able to go to her baptism and witness again, her sweet spirit. She was glowing and was so happy. Her dad was able to baptize her. He was so full of emotion and she just clung onto his arm. It was a very tender experience and I am so grateful I was able to be a part of it.

summer so far

{does this post have pictures of my adorable kids? no. is it full of "fun stuff we did this summer?" yes. 
ok so I added a few pics of the kids!}

We have been having so much fun this summer. The boys were both in soccer this year. Connor was on an iddy biddy soccer team. It was 30 minutes of soccer camp and then a 30 minute game. It was so fun watching the kids run like a little huddled up ball to get the ball. The last few weeks of soccer he was not feeling well so he didn't run too much--little did i know he had double ear infections. He ended the season getting his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Good thing we did that surgery before the real summer fun started. He is currently in his last week of iddy biddy baseball. It is basically the same thing as soccer. They practice for a bit and then play a game. We have so much fun watching him swing the bat, hit the ball, and then take off running--while watching his shadow! He is starting to understand the game though, so that is fun. He has two more games this week and then baseball is over. It's getting super hot! We are glad to be finishing up. Connor also did swimming lessons. My neighbor told us about a lady in our neighborhood who does swimming lessons and she is awesome! Connor went from sort of floating to actually moving his arms and learning to swim and move in the water. He is no longer afraid of the water so that makes me so happy!

Dylan was in baseball camp this year. To say he loved it would be an understatement. Every Saturday morning he couldn't wait for his turn to play. He was always so excited to tell his coach something new. His cousin Brayden taught him how to pitch and he gets his whole body--and face-- into it when he pitches the ball. It is so fun to watch him. He is pretty good too. He always tells me he learned how to play baseball from the Wii. Great! {Just hand me that Mother of the Year award right now!} Dylan also did swimming lessons with Connor. I put them in the same class which was so nice for Dylan. He was able to watch Connor do stuff and then he was brave enough to do it too. He is still a little hesitant in the water but at least he will get in wearing a life jacket so I don't have to hold him the whole time. We took the kids swimming last weekend and he wanted to take off the life jacket and practice swimming. It was awesome. I am so proud of him!

Samantha is just turning into my big girl. She LOVES the water. She wants to play in the sprinkler, hose, pool, slip-n-slide....whatever involves water, she is in! She loves to blow bubbles in the water and lay on her back. She loves the boys and wants to do everything they are doing. Some days the boys think she is a bully because she teases them, pokes them, and takes their toys! She reminds me a lot of how Connor was at this age. She has her world and everything is hers and don't make her mad! We just put her in her own room this week. {yes, mother her crib has been in my room for almost 17 months!} She loves playing in her own room, and I am trying to convince her that sleeping in there is awesome too!

Paul is super busy with work. He has been out of the office and "on site" for jobs this summer. He is getting quite the tan...think farmers tan! haha. I am so thankful that he is staying busy and working hard. He loves his job and loves getting out of the office a little bit so things are good. He is staying busy with his church calling in elders quorum and so that adds to the craziness of our lives.

I am training for my first 1/2 marathon. It is July 14th. I have always been able to run but this is my first 1/2 and I am totally excited to do it. I have NEVER ran 13 miles so we will see how it all goes. Other than that, I am just busy with taking care of kids, trying to stay motivated to clean the house, and playing! I also have my church calling in the young women's so that keeps me busy as well.

So there you have it, our summer in a nutshell...or rather a really long entry. oops! The boys will do another set of swimming lessons after the 4th of July. I will have girls camp and then my 1/2 marathon. After that, we hope to get in a few trips to see family and then school starts the middle of August! what? We are so blessed. Our kids are healthy, Paul is working, and the kids are staying busy. What more could we ask for?

Swimming at the townsquare

Sam's hair is long enough for piggy-tails!

 Connor riding Thomas the Train

Dylan, being Dylan!

ps...I don't think I blogged about Dylan's MRI scan. It was clear. He is good. That blasted tumor is stable and he is doing awesome. As we were getting ready to leave the oncology clinic his oncologist {Dr. Bruggers} said, "Did you think three years ago that you would be where you are today?" I was so overcome with emotion and the reality of what a blessing and miracle Dylan is that I just smiled and shook my head. I LOVE Primary Children's and the doctors there!