WARNING!!!! gross pictures ahead

So you know when you have those days. Those days that just keep getting worse and worse. Well starting friday at 12:00 p.m I had a pretty rough 24 hours. I was on my way to watch some kids as a favor for one of my friends and I pulled out of our driveway not noticing that Cortney was kinda parked behind me. I scraped his car pretty bad on the way out. Dang I was so mad.
So this first picture looks pretty bad. Cortney INSISTED that I put these on my blog. I personally like this second picture because it makes it look like a little dent. I hate cars. I am so glad we don't have really sweet vehicles.

So after that it seemed like my luck was going to improve because my parents and brother Mike and my sister Sam and her twinies, were coming to town for a visit. I headed over to Cali's to see them at 4:00 and we had a YUMMY dinner from Kneaders, Justin brought a huge sandwich platter and soup. A couple of hours later Oli landed on Jack's foot and he was crying so hard for a long time. They ended up taking him to instacare because we all thought it was broken. It wasn't though so they came home and wrapped it in a ace bandage. Then on Saturday on our way to see the family we decided to go in Cortney's Suzuki....
About 2 blocks from our house we were pulled over and got a ticket because we still have Idaho Liscence plates. ARGGHHH. I was so mad. I hate stuff like that. We had a great day talking to family and just hanging out when Oli went to get a sippy cup out of one of Cali's kitchen drawers. Usually the drawers don't come out but for some reason it came all the way out and SMOOSHED his big toe. It was horrible so much blood and crying. I hate seeing my baby in pain. And of course our kids are in between insurance right now and they won't have coverage again until July so I didn't know what to do. We decided to go into instacare and what happened there was amazing. When they heard he wasn't insured they had a nurse come look at it and clean it and bandage it all up for FREE. I couldn't believe it. She said it was probably broken but even if it was there isn't anything they do. So here is a picture of his toe this morning. It looks WAY better than yesterday. It is going to take a long time to heal and it is going to be a huge pain trying to keep it clean. Man...right in time for summer. Well that is my horrible 24 hours. Here is to the next 24.

Workin on cars

Today was a good day. We went to KaeLynn's this morning and had a good visit. She has been Young Women's president for like 9 years and she is just so full of wisdom. So I went over and got all I could out of her about going to girls camp. Her ward goes the same place as ours so she had a lot of helpful advice. She babysits a couple of kids a couple of times a week. One of the kids is 1 year old as of March and I would say he is a full baby's head shorter than Rob. As I have written before Rob has a major problem with biting. Today though I think he maybe learned a lesson. I heard him crying down stairs in KaeLynn's basement. I ran down there and sure enough he was some how hurt. I took him upstairs and he was hysterical. Usually this kid cannot get hurt. He never cries it doesn't matter how bad he and Oli wrestle he usually is the one that hurts Oli. So anyways I surveyed his body and I could tell right away that he was bleeding from his mouth. All of the older kids that were down there were telling us that the little baby had bit Rob. Then I found a wet circle on his shirt, which is ofcourse an obvious sign he was bit on the back. Then I found he was also scraped up on top of his hand. So the little kid bit him on his upper lip, on the inside and outside of his upper lip. I am surprised a big chunck didn't come off. He had little teeth sized cuts on the inside of his lip. Also on the back and badly on the hand a whole bunch of times. KaeLynn felt so bad. I didn't. I wasn't mad at the kid at all. He is tinsy. Plus I know what it is like having a kid that bites and it is horrible to have your kid bite someone. All day Rob kept opening his mouth really big and saying "ohhhhhh ouch" I explained to him that biting really hurts and so he should never bite. We will see if this has scared him out of biting. I doubt it...wishful thinking.

We came home from KaeLynn's and had a nice peaceful day. Rob took a 4 1/2 hour nap. I dozed off (only for a second) and woke up with a start. I knew that Cortney was driving up to SLC at 2:00 to pick up a back seat for his suzuki. And it was already past 5:30. Where was he? He should have been back already. I was so worried that something was wrong. Everyday (okay so not everyday but...) I see news stories of people dying in car accidents between here and SLC. I just kept thinking he should be back by now. I tried to call him three times in a row, no answer. I was freaking myself out. I told myself I will try to call the police or something by 6:30. I don't know why I thought that I was trying to get a plan in place I guess. About 10 minutes after I started freaking out Cortney walked in the door. He couldn't answer his phone because Brian (his superentedent) and he were talking about grass or something like that. Phew what a relief.


When Cortney got home he and the boys stayed outside and worked on his jeep. I love the boys helping Cortney working on the car. Cortney has a family legacy of love for cars. I wonder if it will continue on to our kids. Notice how dirty their hands are. You can also kinda see where Rob was bit on his lip. Cortney's favorite candy are those disgusting circus peanuts so the boys are all eating them (of course before dinner...Cortney doesn't quite get the concept of why they shouldn't eat candy peanuts before dinner). Oli (yes I am trying out Oli...feels weird. But I think I will come around to it.) is wearing a sweatshirt on backwards in preparation for the season premier of "so you think you can dance". Last year a couple did a dance wearing all their clothes backwards with masks. Oliver remembered that they had hoddies over their faces. He was pretty dissapointed when they didn't have people doing that exact same dance this year but he was always ready to tell me if the people were good dancers or bad dancers. Hahaha he is so cute.
I had to include this picture because Oliver is always making this face to me. Anytime I tell him something he doesn't want to hear he shakes his head back and forth while making this face. Plus just look at those mountains. I try to tell my kids all the time how lucky they are to live somewhere so beautiful.

My little hillbilly

Here Rob is with you know those gag teeth in his mouth. It was really hard to get a good picture of him but it was so funny. I love that boy

gone so long

I haven't had anything to post. Cortney has been sick for three weeks but it feels as it it were three years. He is non functioning when he is even just the tiniest bit sick (no offense Cort, he knows it as well as I do). I kept telling him...Cortney go to the doctor. He just I guess has been so used to not having insurance that he doesn't know what to do now that we do. So finally today he went (I called and made the appointment). And PRAISE BE he has a sinus infection. I thought he would go and they would say...yup you have a cold. But no he left there with 3 prescriptions and already the antibiotic is kicking in. He felt better even after his first dose. YEAH for all of us. It has been hard because he just has been sleeping and sleeping. I could already see good old Cortney thought tonight. Antibiotics are amazing.

I am headed to girls camp two weeks from tomorrow. I am starting to get scared. It is going to be crazy. I have no idea what it is going to be like and I think that is why I am scared. So all day today I have been trying to think of something cute and clever to do when I am in charge of "night time scripture study/story time" at camp. Any ideas??

That is all. Nothing new here. I have to go watch Bachelor season finale (yeah).

Goodbye my friend...

I am so sad. One of my favorite shows Gilmore Girls is now over. Tonight was the series finale. I feel like I can't breath. I was so sad the whole episode. I was on the verge of crying the whole time. I have watched faithfully since episode 1. I never and I mean never miss it. I can't believe it is over. It is crazy how attached I feel to this show...I know that. It was a really good show. Now my Tuesdays will have a gaping hole. Reminding me of what used to be. Sigh.

On a lighter note tonight was book club night with my dear friends. We read..."A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Libba Bray
It was my turn to chose the book and this was recommended to me by one of my Young Women. It is the first book in a trilogy so it definatly was building up to lead to the second book. It was good though. I definatly like the sequel better though. I have been reading like a mad woman. A new book every other day. I have never been much of a reader...thanks to being A.D.D. But now that Cali and I have so many kids together I am pretty homebound so I have been reading. Book club was so fun. We met at TGI Friday's and had a great old time. It is one of the things I look forward to the most in my month. We decided tonight that we are going to start taking a picture at everybook club meeting so we can remember this time in our lives when we were so fortunate to live close to each other. I also read "East" by Edith Pattou this month. It was recommended to my friend Laura by her friend marlies. It was very good. I mostly read books that have been recommended to me. So if anyone has something the LOVED let me know.

Oli vs. Ollie

So Oliver has always been Ollie. I felt strongly that OLLIE was the spelling. I don't like it when things aren't spelled the way they are supposed to. But.....I have been thinking a lot about changing the way his nickname is spelled to OLI. For starters it is the first three letters of his name, my sister CALIsta was Cali, my brother ZAChary, was Zac. It makes sense to me to just drop the ver in his name. Plus on top of all that he can write OLI and has been for a while. Ohh...every journal entry and baby book entry I have ever written I put OLLIE. What do you all think??? Can I suddenly change the spelling of his nickname???

Mother's Day

So I have been meaning to post for the last couple of days. I don't know why I haven't lazy I guess. I have been having the worst allergies and it just makes me feel...icky. I don't know how else to describe it. SO anyways back to mother's day. It started off nice, sleeping in. Then Cortney and the kids brought me fried eggs and toast with bacon. I was really sleeping hard when they came in so I swear it took me like 2 minutes before I could get my eyes all the way open. Cortney had pre ordered a book for me that I have been WAITING to read (it comes out in August), he also got me a huge symphony bar (my fav) and some sun ripened raspberry lotion. It was a cute gift. I had finished a book on friday and really liked it so he memorized the name and tried to find another by the author. Borders didn't have any other books by that author though. I thought that was really cute especially since he knows I don't need a gifts. The fact that he still tries is really sweet. He did a great job. We got ready for church and once there it was crazy. We had to go early because Oliver was a reverence child. No one was there to tell us what that even meant though. I said the sacrament opening prayer...then Oliver had to go up to sing with the primary (well, STAND with the primary), then I sang a musical number with the Young Women...and Cortney said the closing prayer. Everytime we went up there ROB freaked out. He just kept going up there, I followed him onto the stand probably four times. Everytime he thought it was so funny. Ahhh...perfect for mother's day. Cortney took him home after sacrament because he had the greenest runny nose and needed a nap. I got to sit in Sunday school with no distractions and the lesson was sooo good. YEAH. I taught the YW lesson on Journaling...I had alot to say since I have always kept a journal. Then I had to hurry over to help Oliver with his first prayer in primary. HE ACTUALLY GAVE THE PRAYER. I about died. I thought he would be up there just too shy to do anything. It must have been his mother's day gift to me. All in all it was a BUSY Sunday. We came home and headed over to Cali's for SURVIVOR finale and shane made us the most delicious Mexican dinner. It was a great mother's day. WIth an added bonus of Tyler and Nicole (brother and sis in law) coming to stay the night at our house. They were only here a couple of hours because they were headed to salt lake city for a doctor's appointment. I had a great mother's day. I always of course think of my MOTHERS. I love them both, so much. It is crazy how much I have come to realize how much my parents did for me, since I have become a parent. I am so lucky.

Just a note...

Conversation between me and Oliver;

Oliver: "mom, I have a crush on Princess Leia"
Me: "how do you know what a crush is?"
Oliver: "Jack told me...he has a crush on R2-D2"

Another great mother's day gift from Oliver...He learned to take a shower all by himself!!!!! Yeah. He has always hated taking a bath and honestly it is torture for me to just sit in the bathroom. I usually clean the bathroom while he is bathing. My attention span is just too short for baths. He loves showering. YEAH. Special thanks to Cali's kids Tyson and Jack for helping him learn that showers are "cool".

good mommy

So today was a "good mommy" day. I woke up early (okay okay EARLIER than usuall) even before Oliver woke up. He slept in untill 9:00. I got showered dressed. Fed Robbie...Emptied the dishwasher. I even put all the dishes in the dishwasher as I used them. I had straightened the house the night before so I only had to keep it clean. By 10:00 I was already bored so we loaded up and headed to the library for story time. After the library we came home for lunch and I put Rob down for a nap. I straightened the house again. Sat down and ate a salad. Then Cali came over to play for a while. At 3:00 it was time to pick up the kids (by that I mean cali's kids) from school so we all got in the car and picked them up then we went to the park. After an hour at the park we loaded up and headed down to the soccer fields to watch Tyson (cali's oldest) play in his last game. So that day sounds so perfect and fun. But...my kids fought at the park, and in the car. At the soccer game Rob got his head stuck in the goal NET, and I spent the ENTIRE game chasing him. And my kids hated the library. They didn't want to sit and listen, they didn't want to sing old mc donald, they didn't want mommy to find a book, or go to the bathroom, they definataly didn't want to wait in line while I checked out the books and then Ollie didn't want to put his shoes back on before we went out to the car. I don't know who decided that the library is a fun place to go with kids. It isn't. Just the fact that you are supposed to be quiet in the library should be enough reason why. So "good mommy" will just have to go back to being "mommy". I even think she is just as fun. I think my kids fought and whined way more today then they do in their normal life. Maybe it was a little too much "good mommy" for them to handle in one day. I don't know. I think I like it better when we are hanging out...talking about star wars. Or reading a book while Oliver plays Darth Vader. It was a crazy day.

Sunday Best

Today was Rob's first day of nursery. YEAH for me. I sat all through Sunday school, so happy. Being spiritually fed. I even commented once. That never happens. Usually I am chasing ROB up on to the stand while everyone laughs and then I leave the room with him in my arms kicking and screaming. They joy was short lived when I went to pick him up and his face was all puffy from crying. When Rob cries he breaks out in hives. His whole face! I always tell him that he better never cry in front of his girlfriends when he is older or he will be a mess. It is crazy even if he cries for one second he has hives. So after a lot of crying his face was really puffy. Poor baby. Why are my kids so shy??? Why is this always so hard? I thought for sure it would be different with my second child. Why do I see some kids playing with not a care in the world on their first Sunday in Nursery? Our nursery has little peep holes to look in and I could see some guy holding him almost the whole time. I did look in once and he was chasing bubbles. Ahhh. Maybe next week will be better when he realizes that we are coming back for him. I think that is a problem my kids have. They never have babysitters unless it is Çali and they KNOW her. I need to start leaving them with some Young Women.
Here we are getting ready to go to church. He is wearing the cutest Grandpa outfit (handme down of Ollies) I love him so much in this. :) I say grandpa outfit because my grandpa Earl had a blue and white striped suit just like this. I was once with him walking into church and he took out his pocket Knife and cut off a yellow rose and put it in the lapel of his blue and white striped suit. It takes quite a man to pull that off. I think of him every time my kids where this outfit. (oh don't you just love the real looking gun in the picture...I promised myself no guns...this was a gift. I am way more relaxed on this rule now but I still think it is my only gun. Swords on the other hand I have probably 1/2 a dozen. Am I ever going to have girls??)


After church we went to my brother in law Cameron's house. I love going there. He is quite the cook. He always has a delicious spread for us. His daughter Leah (8) and Ollie play so great. He lives right by this awesome pond/park so we took a long walk (long for me). It was a wonderful Sunday. Everytime we go up there I feel "that is how Sunday's should be".

funny husband

Last night when I got in bed Cortney was fast asleep. He yelled out "get away you...dumb...stupid stealer person!" I started laughing so hard but at the same time I kinda was scared he would try to fight me thinking I was the "stealer person" he was dreaming about. I never ever hear him talk in his sleep, so I thought this was really funny. I have only heard him one other time and he was saying something about sprinklers.

why???

Why oh why do I stay up so late??? It drives me nuts. I am such a night owl. Especially in the summers because Cortney works SUPER early so he is always in bed by 10 (at the latest). Because of that I have no one to make me go to bed. So I just stay up. I always pay for it when Oliver wakes up around 7:30. Tonight it especially sucks (sorry for the work suck, mom) because I didn't get anything done. I didn't watch any great shows...or clean the house (which I usually do), I didn't do anything. Except sit her on the internet and some how the night just passed on by. 1:30 in the morning. Oh well at least it isn't 2 yet. I need to make a goal to go to bed earlier. I just love the peace and quiet. No one is whining at me...no one is hanging on me. Oh well I have always stayed up late my whole life. I remember being 8 or 9 and reading little house on the prarie in secret until the very late hours of the night. Goodnight.

Wednesday

So Wednesday is my Mutual day....except they don't call it mutual anymore it is Young Women's now. I grew up with Mutual on Wednesdays and here I am again. I don't feel old. But I am. Wednesdays are the day of the week that make me feel the oldest. I go along all week feeling around 21 then bam Wednesday comes and I am 40 again (I just figure everyone that reads this knows I am 27, you all do right?). I don't know why the young women make me feel old. They do. I have to accept the fact that we are all getting older. Everyday...just getting older. I always just wanted to GROW UP. I just always wanted to be older. I was in such a hurry. This is what I get....to be older.
Here we all are tonight for Young women's we had Cortney come and take pictures of us. It was like you know taking senior pictures...except the girls are 14 and 15. It took them a while to break them out of their shell. Man I used to love posing for a picture. You couldn't get me out from in front of the camera.
Here I am in my old glory....hahaa. I NEVER like pictures of me but hey I decided to post it anyway. It is my blog. I always look at pictures of me say from a year ago and say to Cort..."man I looked so good then. I don't know why I wouldn't let you take pictures of me" So I know that a year from now OR 10 years from now I will think, "I looked good then".


Cali got the flu (so sad for her) right before mutual started. She was going to watch the kids for me and was still willing even though she was sick. I told her no way though I would take them with me. The last thing she needed was 6 kids standing around her while she threw up. So we took the kids. I had to dress them fast in pj's...because Cortney and I have Scouts right before mutual. And since I didn't know they were coming with me I thought they were just going to bed, they had to come to mutual dressed like orphans...with no shoes on. No offense to orphans. I just realized that isn't very nice. I don't know how else to describe how they looked. Like they didn't have anyone watching out for them...is that more politically correct? They loved that we went to the park though. I think they really like the Young Women too.

Cute Ollie. He tries to do so many faces in pictures now that it is hard to get one with just a normal sweet look on his face. When we do get one it is worth it, he is sooo cute. (biased I know) Oh....Oliver said "my bum's nervous" when I was swinging him real high. I don't know what that means, exactly. But I know he was trying to explain that feeling you get when you are scared of heights.
I love this kid. I am obsessed with him. He always has a serious expression on his face so to see him smiling...ohhh I love it.
What can I say even dressed like he is he is still adorable.

One last story for the day. Oliver said in the dinner prayer last night "thank you so much for Target and Costco and that we can go there" . He is growing up and starting to be so curious about the gosple. He learned about the Holy Ghost on Sunday and ever since he has been pretend playing with the Holy Ghost. He just keeps say "over here Holy Ghost" and stuff like that. They are fighting storm troopers together! I tried to tell him that he wasn't really a ghost (I didn't want him to be scared of the Holy Ghost) He said to me..."yes mom he is like a ghost...He's everywhere...I can feel him right now." What do you say to that. I am so overwhelmed by the thought of being a mom. I am the person that will effect my children the most in their lives (whether they know it or not). Well that is all.

Summer in the city...

Today was the hottest April day Salt Lake City has ever had...at 88 degrees. Oh what a beautiful weekend it was. I love warm weather...I don't love hot weather but I love warm weather. I sat out on our grass with a blanket and a book and oh it was the best feeling. There is something about the smell in the air on a warm evening that reminds me so much of my teenage years. It makes me want to do something mischievous. The smell tonight was hamburgers grilling somewhere in the distance...grass...dust...and a faint smell of cigarettes (our neighbor around the corner must smoke). I am not someone that likes the smell of cigarettes but they do smell delicious to me if it is faint and far away. Oh it also has to be hot outside. It reminds me of the Grant County Fair. I love the Fair. I don't know if any of that makes sense. But the smell and feel of the air tonight reminded me of yester years. Of nights spent driving past the bowling alley...or through the church and school parking lots...seeing what people were up too. And of course ending the night either at Safeway hoping to run into someone or at Sherie's for some cheese fries and a shake. I instead watched my children play inside my husbands truck...having so much fun, while a read a book. It was a pretty perfect evening and I didn't even have to get all dolled up and change my outfit five times like I used to have to do on a night like tonight. It is almost 1:30 in the morning right now (I just finished the book I started today) so I realize a lot of this won't make sense. It was just such a nice weekend.

Escape artist

So yesterday R.O.B. hit a milestone...a sad milestone. He can now get out of his pack n' play...yes my baby sleeps in a porta crib. I have moved like 7 times since we've had kids though, and I can't imagine moving a real crib that many times. Plus I think pack n' plays are way cozier. My kids always wake up with mesh marks on their whole face. We also travel a lot so they are always in THEIR own bed no matter where we are. So anyways back to yesterday....He just came down from his nap so happy and proud. I was in shock. We were still staying at Cali's house, from the flood (I will write about that next). I went up to his bedroom and there was a stack of blankets next to his bed so I figured he was able to get out because he could just land on the blankets. When it was time for him to go to bed for night time...I moved all of the blankets so he wouldn't get out. 15 minutes later he was downstairs again running around. I put him in a couple more times and he just kept getting out. The last time I didn't hear him fall out (he just goes out head over the side and lands with a loud thud). But I heard him crying in there so loud. I felt like I should go in...and sure enough he was stuck up sidedown in between the wall and the side of the pack and play. That crazy kid. I don't know what to do now. I have never rocked him to bed since he was probably 3 months old. Because of that he won't let me. Infact I never see him asleep unless he falls asleep in the car which is a rare occasion. He hasn't even EVER slept in our bed or accidently fallen asleep somewhere. Cortney got the water working last night so we all came back over here and Rob stayed in his crib here. So maybe he will only try to get out at Cali's. He doesn't know how to open his door either (Cali has those lever door knobs where we just have the good old fashioned knobs). So wish me luck. I am not ready to have 2 boys in real beds. Ahhhh. It just makes me so scared because he isn't safe in there anymore. Before I could be like...."he can't get out...he is safe". Now he can just get out and do whatever he wants.

Now back to our house being flooded...We are back in our house which means I have tons of work to do. I hate having to organize things. Well actually I think I would like it if I didn't have kids around putting their tummies on my piles and trying to lay on them to knock them over (does that make sense). I have done so much laundry since I have been back. We will most likely be refinishing our basement (yeah me!). So that is exciting except it also means alot of work. I am glad to be back. It was fun to be at my sister's but our kids spent a week together at grandma's and 4 days with the flood...they were getting sick of eachother. Robbie bit his cousing Carolina 3 times in ten minutes yesterday morning. He bit her a total of 6 times we were there. Breaking the skin (through shirts) 3 times. Aye...I don't know what to do with him. He is also covered in scratches from her...don't get me wrong though she was definatley was defending her self. I'd do the same thing if someone were biting me. So it is fun for me to live there but it is too much for the kids...constant playing all the time. I finally had to see if Rob was okay this morning at 11:00 because he hadn't woken up yet. He was just so tired from so much playing. If anyone has any ideas about what to do with biters I am all ears. He goes to nursery in two weeks. So...it could be a real nightmare.

My brother-in-law Tyler is doing much better. I am so sad this flood thing happened I feel like we should be focusing everything on him and visiting and such. He is out of the hospital and they are saying that it was most likely a stroke he suffered from. They only problem with that news is we don't know why a 26 year old would have a stroke. And they still don't know what the masses are in his brain. We get more test results in 2 weeks I think. It really shows you what can happen through the power of prayer. We have been so blessed.

Typical Monday

Monday morning I was sleeping so sound. So cozy. Cortney came in at 6:00 a.m. and told me "the basement's flooded". Just like that. I said "oh...okay, is Robbie okay??" I just pictured his crib floating away. I got dressed and sure enough there was a couple of inches of water in our basement. Talk about stress. I hate stuff like this. I just want to be a kid forever. I don't ever want to have to deal with adult stuff like this. Cali came over and brought a shop vac (man, shop vacs rule) and we started the process of cleaning things up. It was stressful and I kept thinking..."this is the worst", immediately after my mind thought that it would reply back "no this isn't the worst...your brother is in the hospital, this doesn't matter". Yes, my mind has conversations with itself all the time. It really is true too...a basement flooding doesn't matter. It is inconvenient, and stressful but in the grand scheme of things, it isn't the "worst". I had a huge cardboard box filled with every picture we have and thankfully it was on top of another box, so my pictures were left unharmed. I am not really sure what happens next. We can't turn our water on for now so we spent the night at Cali's. A plumber comes today and hopefully it will be a quick fix. When I called my dad he said..."ash, call your insurance company they will take care of this" I hadn't even thought of that. Thank goodness for dads.

Home sweet home

So yesterday we left Moses Lake at 9:30 am. We usually leave really early when we drive but we just decided the night before to leave on Friday and didn't have enough time to pack up. We thought oh it won't be too bad. WRONG! Man we pulled into Orem at 1:00 in the morning. It was a looooong day. On the way to Washington I think we had a good 40 minutes where all of the kids slept at the same time. They are always good on the way to Washington too. But the way back they are sad, tired from a week of playing and tired of driving. It was pretty crazy. Robbie finally fell asleep at the point of the mountain (15 minutes from home) at 12:30 in the morning. It was actually a pretty fun drive it is just way too many hours. We laughed a lot. And the kids were actually good. They just got so tired after 10 pm. I will write more when I get the pictures loaded.

So finally some pictures...here we are in Burley Idaho at Kaelynn's sister's house. We had been in the car 10 hours already! Here are all the kids and moms that went on our trip. Notice again our matching outfits (my mom went and got KaeLynn and Sammy the same track outfit after our last trip).
What's a group shot without a crazy pose? I can't believe that everyone actually did a crazy face!
Just a picture of us on the road.

Tyler update....We don't know what is wrong with Tyler. He got in at the LDS hospital here and after two days with a million specialist they don't know what is wrong with him. They don't think the things in his brain are tumors. I think that is good news but it is really hard to know since they just don't know what is wrong with him. Maybe it was all of our fasting and prayer and putting him on a million temples prayer lists. I just wish we knew what was going on.

Update...

So Samantha is home from the hospital now. She isn't feeling too good but better than yesterday. She is going to be just fine and has a sister in law there helping her hold those little babies. We found out that my brother Tyler has a brain tumor. I am really having a hard time trying to come to terms with that. My husband drove up to Rexburg yesterday to be with his family. He needed to lay his eyes on Tyler...and to be with his mom. He will also be helping the other brothers keep up Tyler's lawn mowing company. For me one of the hardest things is not knowing what is going to happen, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. That is for sure. If we could just know what to expect I think it would be easier. He will be having surgery to remove it sometime within the next 7 days. They are trying to get him in down in Salt Lake instead of Idaho falls. I will post more as I know more.

So as I write this I keep thinking...maybe this is too personal to write on my blog. Maybe it isn't meant for other people to read. This is however, my journal. I have always been someone that has kept a diary. For my 12th birthday my friends Amber and Laura gave me a pink diary and since then I have always written about what is going on in my life and the feelings associated with them. I wrote every single day while I was in college. Since I have had children I have written happenings on a monthly calander. Now this is my Journal. Every year I am going to have it printed through blurb.com. So if this is going to be my journal...it has to be just that. My journal the good and the bad. Today, I woke up to find out that my little sister Sam was in the hospital. Her and her husband went with their two twin newborns at 1:00 am because she was having really intense back pain. It turns out that she needs to have her gallbladder removed. I guess sometimes after you have a baby you can have gallbladder problems. I don't really know what is going on with that even though we have called her a bunch of times today. I do know that she is in surgery as I type and that Kyle is missing two finals today so he can babysit two, two week old twin babies. I was really worried for her today and she was in my thoughts. I want to take care of my little sister and if I were in Utah I would be down there taking care of her. Then, today around 1 or 2 (everything since then has been a blur) Cortney called me. He told me that he had some bad news for me and it seemed like he was playing around with me and was acting too afraid to tell me. I of course thought he was going to tell me that he bought yet ANOTHER project car to work on. I kept telling him to tell me what he did. Then he told me that my brother in law Tyler was really sick and that he was really worried for him. I have been so sad today. So flooded with emotions and memories. Tyler is my BROTHER. I love him. He is one year younger than me. I have been in the Boice family for eight years now. I really feel like they are my blood...my people. Whenever someone is sick...it is so hard to know what to do. How can you let someone know exactly what they mean to you when words don't exactly describe it. I wish we could all be together right now. I feel so sad for my Cortney...all alone in Orem. No one to be with him right now. I wish I were there. Even now I don't know what to type. I don't know what to think or say or do. I love Tyler...I love his wife nicole. I am so blessed by knowing both of them. When I was engaged to Cortney, Cortney left to Moab for a month for a class. I was in Rexburg all alone. No friends. Tyler would call me up and ask me if I wanted to do something or if I wanted to hang out. That is just the kind of person he is. He takes care of people. He didn't barely know me but he knew I needed someone so there he was. Here is a picture from my wedding...(eight years ago we all look much older) L-R Tyler, Cortney, Me, Samantha, and Cali. I hope that both Samantha and Tyler will be okay. Both of their names are in the temple today. I love them.

On the road AGAIN...

So I must be crazy because tomorrow, at 4:00 a.m. I am going to Moses Lake, again. It is spring break here so my sister Cali and Sister in law Kaelynn and I are driving to ML. There will be 9 grankids there. I am crazy. I am not looking forward to the drive but I think it will be better than last time. Cali and I are becoming pro's. We know what works and what doesn't. We know which towns have McDonalds with play places and which ones are best for both little and big kids. We know which rest areas have family bathrooms and which ones are clean. So it should be better than last time. I hope it is. I will post when I get there.

Growing up...

Rob is starting to say sooo many words. Oliver spoke from 10 months on, new words every day. Rob up untill a couple of weeks ago could say ball, mom, bite, uhoh. That was about it. He refused to call Cortney dada. Everytime he saw him he would say "mama!". About two weeks ago he started saying dada, after that he is saying new words everyday. The best is on Sunday I gave him something I don't know what it was a poptart or something but he said "thank you" I couldn't believe it. I haven't even been working on him saying thank you. With oliver I would always say..."say thank you". I never do that with Rob, he just learned it on his own. Then today I told him that a kitty says "meow" and he said it plain as day, then we went over duck and he could say "quack quack" so good. He of course already knew what a dog says from being at his Grandma Berta's who has tons of dogs (well she has two put she has seven kids, and each one has at least one dog :) ). I was so proud of my little baby. When Cortney got home probably 3 hours later I said, "tell daddy what a cat says" and he answered "meow". SO CUTE. He has also been getting into the toilet. AHHHHH. I clean our toilet probably every other day or so (I only have one bathroom so hey it isn't too hard to keep clean). Anyways the toilet is always relatively clean but I also have a three year old and so, sometimes every once in a while it is NOT at all a clean place for him to be playing around in. So today I heard him in there so I went running and sure enough he had put a bunch of toilet paper in...a brush, and a CD. I told him a stern "NO" and looked him straight in the eyes. When he gets sad his bottom lip sticks out and quivers for ever...he is on the brink of crying, corners of his lips keep going further and further down. It is hard to explain but he does it when ever he gets his feelings hurt. He was trying so hard not to cry and wouldn't look at me. I gave him a hug and he just held me which he never does...he hates hugging unless he is in trouble and his feelings are hurt. Hahaa it is so cute...I love him hugging me too and needing me. So I told him he was a good boy but that he can't get in the toilet. He of course got into Cali's a couple of hours later. Man...I try to keep the door closed but Oliver always has to go potty and never shuts the door when he is done. I don't know what to do. I guess in the meantime I will get lots of love from Rob when he gets in trouble and gets sad.

Book Club

So tonight was my monthly book club with my sister Cali and Celeste Merrell Parks and Tiffany Merrell Davis (Tiffany and Celeste are sisters they have been my friends since birth...their family is MY FAMILY I love them, all five of the sisters...I heart them). We met at Macaroni Grill. Oh my gosh it was so fun. Cali and I were excited all day to go and have a girls night out which we NEVER EVER do. We had such a great time. Two minutes into the book club they made me laugh with a mouthful of Mango lemonade....I have never had such a pain in my nose or throat ever. I was choking so bad...I was just trying so hard to not let it come out of my nose or mouth. It was horrible. I had to go to the bathroom because I was dry heaving it was so bad. The whole night we were throwing our heads back and laughing as hard and as loud as we could. It is so great to be with people that know the very core of you. They know everything about me. I don't have to wonder if they like me...or if I said anything dumb. I don't have to analyze anything with them. We really need to do the girls night more often. I came home totally refreshed, and it was so nice to not have had to put the kids down. When I was in High school every day of my life I laughed so hard I would cry. I would laugh so hard that my stomach muscles would ache and I would beg whoever it was to stop making me laugh. I think...at least for me you don't laugh as much when you are an adult (I mean...my kids are funny but not pee your pants funny). It felt good to laugh REALLY HARD again. I almost threw my neck out from laughing. Hahaa. We finished the night off with dessert. It is my turn to pick a book for next month. We loved the book this time so much that it is really going to be hard to compete with this one. I am lucky to have so many good friends in my life...not just these ladies of course but all of my good friends. Yeah for me. Hahaha.

Easter

Easter Sunday. Yesterday it was so nice out. The whole day it was so sunny. And today we wake up to RAIN. Yuck. We still had a great day though. Yesterday we went as a family to Nathan Knowles baptism. We used to live in their basement, we are like family. My boys love him. It was so great to get to see him baptized. I was so proud of him. Afterwards was a luncheon and it was sooo YUMMY. I love food so much. If I wrote the things that made me the most happy everyday on my blog would just be lists and lists of what I ate. I will spare you the boring details but the food was sooo good. Afterwards we went with Cali & Joey to a Easter Carnival at the Orem Owlz stadium. It was really crowded and funny that we were there but the kids got to search for eggs (there weren't actually hidden just laying on the ground). There were hundreds of kids there just running and grabbing eggs. It was a funny thing to do. But we were down at UVSC already and we saw a whole bunch of people getting in a line so we did too. The kids thought it was awesome though and I guess that is what counts. After the kids were asleep I went to FOUR stores looking for easter eggs. First Walmart not an egg or chocolate candy to be found. I couldn't believe it. Plus everyone that was there was in such a panic that it was a mad house. Then to Walgreens, then to Macey's, Jackpot....I found some random bean shaped eggs, and a sparce assortment of candy. No mini eggs but definately better than nothing. Every year this happens to me. The night before easter I think...well I guess I better pick something up for the kids. It sucks....not again though (yeah I say that every year too). Then on to kmart, I wanted to grab a star wars (of course) action figure for Oliver. After I got home we got a surprise visit from my bro-in-law Griffin and some of his friends. It was so fun to have them here. So good of him to stop by too. We love him (of course). It was good because I got to fill all of those boys up with Easter candy.
This morning Oliver came running in wondering if the Easter bunny had come. I was trying to sleep in a little so I told him that I would show him his Easter basket in a little while, as soon as Robbie woke up. He wasn't having that though and he started searching for his stuff. He found it, which was fine. He said, "I'm SOOOO lucky!!!" When he opened an egg with some smarties in it. Rob loved Easter...He couldn't believe he had all of that candy to eat. Oh of course let me explain the pink girl Pajamas...well...a lot of the time my kids go to bed at Cali's house and sometimes I don't have pajamas. So he has to wear Carolina's. So here he is pretty as a peach in girly clothes. Poor kid. I should never take pictures of him in Carolina's stuff but I couldn't help it Easter Morning. It does make me want a daughter so bad. And man my kids look good in pink.
He seriously put like 8 candies in his mouth he just kept putting more and more and wouldn't chew or swallow. I knew it was going to turn into a mess...
He finally got so much candy in there that it gagged him. I tried to edit the gross parts out of the picture but the candy started coming out, and he was so sad.
Here are our STAR WARS eggs. Cute huh?? I couldn't pass these up. Oliver thought they were awesome.
After Church all my family that lives here got together and we had sourdough pancakes. My brother makes them and they are so dang good. Here all all of the cousins L-R: Eliza, Brooklyn, Robbie, Jack, Carolina, Oliver, Zac, Tyson.
Easter egg hunting, Rob thought it was so great, he just wanted to open them up right then and eat the candy.


So that there was our Easter weekend. One funny thing...I fell down the stairs from the top step to the bottom and I landed flat on my face. OUCH. My whole right side is one HUGE black bruise. Oliver just sat there at the top of the stairs. He didn't say anything just went right back to watching T.V. I guess I can't count on him to save me. He said he didn't know I needed help. He is so funny. He kept saying... " I did care" , after he heard me say "Oliver didn't even care, he just kept watching TV". I love my boys. Oh...Rob bit me TWICE during church. Once on my finger and once on my collar bone. He hates any sort of confinement and I don't want him just out walking the halls. I guess that is what I get.

Good Day

So today was...a...good day. Cali's kids have been sick with strep this last week. Which means I haven't seen her for a while. Actually it has been since last Friday since I have done anything with her and her kids. I am used to spending a lot of time with her. I never go to the store alone. Any errands we have to do we do together. So it was a long week. I have to stay healthy right now too because we are going back to Moses Lake on April 14th and I don't want to be sick for that. I especially don't want to have sick kids while I am there, too. So today YEAHHH they were all better and they came over and hung out all day. We went to costco while the older kids were in school. And then we just hung out. PLUS it was so warm today that the kids were able to play in my back yard all afternoon. YAHOO. I was so glad they were feeling better. After such a great day my wonderful in-laws came for a couple of hours to visit. It was so great to see them. Both of my kids just love them so much. Not only that but we went to my favorite restaurant kneaders and we all got yummy sandwiches and we ordered 6 desserts (they are small so it wasn't TOO much ). SIGH...I wish every day could be like today. After my in laws left we watched survivor, the Office, and 30 rock with Cali and Joey and Shane. SOOO Funny tonight. What a great day. Good for me.

Star Wars

My husband and I are less into Star Wars than I think almost any other adult we know. We have never waited in line to see a new episode. Cortney never really even watched the first episodes when he was little. So how did it get to be what our lives revolve around? My kids are obsessed with everything Star Wars. All I hear all day is Qui-gon this Mace Windu that...Mom does Boba Fett and General Grievous blah blah blah. I never even know what he is talking about. I HAVE to get all of the movies so I can get caught up. I don't think 10 minutes go by in our house with out some mention of Star Wars. We are decorating Star Wars easter eggs that come with a little Darth Vader hat for the eggs. It is crazy having only sons. I don't know what I am doing here. My sister's kids are of course equally obsessed and when her daughter who is almost 2 sees any of the disney princesses she says "princess leia" they have even gotten to her. In the meantime I am trying to sew 3 jedi robes and looking at light sabers online. Sheesh.
Rob and Oliver love to battle. Of course Oliver is just mostly blocking and hitting slow. While Rob on the other hand is hitting as hard as he can and as fast as he can. He is crazy around Oliver...always trying to get him. (I hope he will grow out of that)

I love robs little foot coming up here...I don't know why...it shouldn't warm my heart so much to see my one year old fighting with a light saber. Sigh....I never let Oliver have a sword untill know....Oh well...I had good intentions.
Rob loves his saber...of course he always wants Oliver's...I am getting to the point where I have to buy TWO of the EXACT same toy. They always want Rob to be Darth Maul when they play Star Wars...Poor kid. Don't you worry though he can take care of himself.
He goes everywhere with this light saber. We were at Costco and I heard two different little boys say "mom....his mom let him bring HIS light saber". Of course father like son...he has to have the purple light saber (that is the color Mace Windu has mom). Cortney's favorite color has been purple for probably the last 20 years.
So I know this looks bad...but Oliver is actually really good not hurting Rob...he is just holding the saber at his neck.

6 months

So I went to the doctor on Thursday...it has been six months. Six months since my miraculous healing. Six months since I started a study at the University of Utah. The T.E.A.R trial. The Treatment of Early Agressive Rhuematoid Arthritis. I was so crippled before. More than anyone knew. Anyone but Cali, or Cortney but even they couldn't understand. I couldn't hold my children...I couldn't dress them. I couldn't be who I wanted and it seemed so overwhelming to picture my life the way it was. I could barely drive. I slept deeply maybe 3 or 4 hours a night. Every time I have a doctors appointment which is every six weeks, I dread it. I don't like the drive up and back thats two hours, I don't like going alone, and I usually have to get a babysitter for 5 hours (thanks Cali), oh plus I have tons of blood drawn. But as I get there I always get an overwhelming sense of gratituted. I am always almost giddy. I don't know quite how to explain it but I go from dreading it to being so happy. I am doing so well...they take a blood test at every appointment to check the activity of the disease the rate at which my immune system is destroying my joints. It is always almost no activity. How amazing is that. Six months I have felt awesome. Now I get start tapering off the steroids that are making my face chubby and in two months I will be off of them comepletly. I love my doctor and my study coordinator. I am so thankful every day (every hour) to my Heavenly father for allowing this miracle to come in to our lives. I know Cortney feels that way to. I told Oliver that I was going to the Doctor on Thursday...the doctor that helps me with my hands. He couldn't remember my hands hurting. I couldn't believe that. I thought it was going to be a huge thing he had to deal with in his life (taking care of me and picking up the slack on things I couldn't do before) but maybe it won't be that way at all. I am so greatful for medicine. Well I just wanted to write down mostly for my self how I felt at my 6 month appointment. I am so blessed.

Fishin'

So on Thursday I heard Cortney talking to one of his friends on the phone and he said..."well you will be able to see it on our blog" I thought it was really funny. I didn't even know Cortney knew "our" blog exisisted. Well I guess he does and he has some things he wants me to write about and he wants me to post this picture. He was able to go fishing on Thursday...He has a place down at the golf course that only they have access to. He caught so many fish...2 24" carp, an 18 inch walleye, croppie (sp), tons of white bass...maybe 4 or 5, 2 large mouth bass, and an huge catfish (below). So that is what he caught word for word out of his mouth. When he starts telling me these things I usually tune him right out but he was thrilled. Here is a picture he took with his phone...look at his face...I've never seen him happier...well maybe once when he was caller #9 on X96. This catfish he says was 28 or 30 inches long "OVER" 15 lbs. He and his friends grilled it up for lunch the next day at work. He is so funny...and hasn't caught much down there before this. He kept telling me it wasn't the right time of year, but I was starting to think that he just wasn't much of a fisherman. I guess he proved me wrong.

my come lo todo

Come lo todo means glutton is spanish...translated word for word it says he who eats everything. That is my little or should I say big R.o.b. Every morning I make that little boy a hot breakfast yesterday it was two scrambled egg omlet with toast. Today he had a huge bowl of old fashioned oatmeal (adult serving size, I couldn't eat that much) a bannana, and a bowl of lucky charms. I hadn't planned on giving him the lucky charms but after he finished his food I got myself some lucky charms. He wouldn't even let me eat them he would yell at me every time I took a bite and kept looking frantically at how much cereal was left in the bowl. Some times he amazes me.
Here he is watching the tube, he likes to watch Teletubbies when he wakes up from a nap grumpy. It usually cheers him right up. (note he is getting his hair, I guess that is how he soothes himself.)
I love when my kids sit nicely by eachother...it hardly ever happens so I thought I HAD to get a camera out and document it.
Just the side view and ofcourse it isn't in focus. Cortney's camera is too fancy for me.
The weather here is starting to get nice and our grass is starting to come in. This is a picture of ROB running in our front yard. He cries all day by the door to go out to play.
Oliver jumping down our front steps. I CANNOT wait for summer. oh...and for our back yard to be done.

TWINS!

So they are here!!! Sammy had her babies delivered by c-section yesterday (sunday)at 7:53 & 7:56 am. I don't know the exact details and I will post them as I get them.

I do know the girl KATE (named after kyles mother) was born first and is 4 pounds something. She was actually 4 lbs 7 oz. 18 inches long.

Owen came second at 5 lbs something. Okay my mom just called me Owen weighed 5 lbs 9 oz 18 1/2 inches long. His full name is Owen Kyle Miller he is O.K Miller just like my grandpa Owen Ken Earl was O.K. Earl
Sorry the pictures are so small they are from Kyles cell phone. Better than nothing. I am so happy for them.
Both babies are healthy and it sounded as if Owen will get to go home when Kyle and Sam do, it might take Kate a couple more days after that. Amazing to have such healthy twins.

like mother like sons....

So we are all border line sick over here. Noses running and a bunch of grumpy boys. Cort included. Cortney had to work today because they let the water in the sprinkler system at the course in too fast and busted 12 sprinkler heads. Cortney had told them not to do it and that it was something that should be done over the course of a couple of days, little by little. But did they listen, no. So he had to go down and try to fix exactly what he had told them would happen. I in the meanwhile was sitting around not feeling too good, and feeling sad that he was working. I decided I would make myself a YUMMY sandwich. I love to cook for myself. I know that sounds weird but I love food and I love to make something just so. I piled on the sprouts, and tomato a little cracked sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. The bread was a delish sunflower honey bread and of course I had the most delish mustard assortment to choose in the making of said sandwich. When it was finally made I took my blanket and curled up in our recliner that is right in the sun so it was cozy and warm. As I sat down my children must have smelt my heavenly sandwich because there they were at my side. Both of them were begging for bites. I didn't think they would like it but I was wrong. It makes me so happy to see two little boys scarfing down a sprout sandwich. Oliver kept calling it a grass sandwich. I love that they will try most foods and they think almost everything is yummy. I know that someday they will insist that they only like a peanut butter sandwich with the crust cut off so I am writing this down as proof that at one point in their lives they would try things...and they would like them.

Busy Day

So today was a crazy day. Not like my usual days. I slept in this morning...long trips are hard on me I come home sooo tired. I finally woke up and started reading a book. I was only going to read until Rob woke up and then I was going to start my day. A couple of hours later I heard Rob stiring around in his room. He woke up at NOON....and I only had a couple of pages left in my book. It was a nice start to the day. We then all got dressed, fed and ready. We jumped in the car and I called Evans Hairstyling College to see if they had any appointments for my two boys. It was awesome they said they could get me in at 1:30 (it was 1:21 when I called). We went straight over there and my two boys got their hair cut. Either Cali or I have been cutting their hair since they were born. They always cry and freak out and it isn't worth it. This place was awesome. I didn't tell them untill we were there and I had two girls cut their hair right next to each other. It was so great. Oliver was doing a little silent crying at first (the lady was using someone elses clippers and they were pulling his hair). She switched clippers and he was fine after that. The whole thing was over in 15 minutes. I then took the boys to pick out a dessert at Kneaders. YUMMY. The best food around. I love that place. We had a fruit tart, a key lime pie tart, and a german chocalate brownie. We went and ate them in the park. It was fun. I never go anywhere without my sister and I see why. It was lonely sitting there at the park by myself. I actually went down the slide with Robert. It was such a nice day! We went home because Robbie was trying to get some kids toys and wouldn't leave him alone. Once home I put Robbie down and Ollie and I continued to play...
I tried to take a picture of Robbie's new hair before his nap. He wouldn't hold still...he just wanted to see his picture on the back of the camera. His hair cut is REAL cute though.
Here is Olivers hair cut. He posed himself on the ball. Funny what a kid learns when his parents take a million pictures. He thinks he is so handsome. All day he kept saying "thanks mom for letting me get my haircut, I am going to do whatever you say on this day"
As we were playing and taking pictures outside the sprinklers went on....he was not amused.
It was so funny seeing him try to get off the yard and getting sprayed in the head. I know that makes me sound mean...but it really was funny.
When did I get old enough to have a kid that can jump over the fence? When did my little baby get old enough to jump over the fence? The worst part of it is that my little Rob trys to copy him and he can get about halfway up the fence...his little feet are the perfect size to go in the chain links.

After getting home I called Amber and Laura and had a little mommy time while I talked to two of my Bestest Friends. After that I had a class presidency meeting for young womens at 5:00....we had stuff to prepare for tomorrows mutual. At 5:30 I ran to the church to help set up tables and stuff for the RS birthday dinner at 6:00. Now it is 9:30...I barely got my kids in bed and the house really needs a once over. But I am TOO tired. It is tiring having stuff to do all day. I love my unschedualed life. It really is the best. Cortney is over at my brother and sister's house putting a water line from their sink to their fridge. Who knows when he will be home...but I bet he would appreciate it if the house was clean...I know I would. I better get working. GOODNIGHT

Home again, home again jiggity jig

So we are home...it took 12 and a half hours. Real good time. I knew it was going to be a long day because all of the kids were crying that they didn't want to leave as we were loading the car. We left at 5:30 or so. The kids were crazy. Still good considering but worse then on the way to Washington. They knew there was nothing to look forward to. Oh well it was ALOT of good memories and I know it is making us better people.
Cali and I in our matching outfits. I know this isn't a great picture of us but after 13 hours with 6 kids in a small space how good are we supposed to look...right?
All the kids in their glory. I gave my kids a bath after the long day and the bath water was dark brown. They were covered from head to toe in treats.
It was really fun wearing matching outfits. We already got tons of people looking at us in disbelief for just having 6 kids but it was even more unbelievable being two ladies...matching outfits...6 kids. Yeah...I loved it.

Here we go again...

So in the morning we leave home to Utah...at 5:00 in the morning. We are all packed up and ready to go. So sad. I love it here...I love everything about it. Tonight I was outside and the smell reminded me of my childhood so much. I loved growing up here. Moses Lake is a funny town, it took me coming back to realize it. But...it was a great place to grow up. Sometimes I want to move back so my kids can have the same opportunity I did. Cali and I got matching sweat suits for our road trip back. YEAH. I will post some pictures after I get home. It is going to be awesome.

Robert Owen Boice

So last night Rob got his hands on a couple of marbles. I didn't want him to have them but he was SOOOO tired and sad I let him keep them. As we got ready to start eating dinner my dad sat him up on the couch and gave him a bite of pear. He was kinda laying down when he was eating the pear. I looked over and his face was getting red and his eyes were watering. I picked him up whacked him on the back and swept his mouth with my finger to clear his passage way. Some pear came out but I screamed "he is not breathing!" My mother, father and sister were all right there and I handed him to Cali, and pleaded with her to help him. My father cleared his mouth once again while Cali continued to hit him on the back. I ran to the laundry room and said a prayer...I didn't want to see him die. I ran back out to the kitchen and asked if I needed to get an ambulance coming. They continued to try and get him breathing but at this point my poor little baby was turning bright blue. I have never seen anyone like that before. Cali gave him the Heimlich maneuver while my dad kept trying to hit him on the back. Out came a marble and then another...and then another...three marbles. Immediately his color returned and he coughed in air. He looked SOOO relieved. He didn't even cry for a while he was just so happy to be breathing again. I ran to him and of course I lost it. He lost it. We rocked with each other for a couple of minutes. I have never seen real chocking. I have seen chocking were the person is gasping or coughing but never where there is nothing from them. We all just kept waiting for him to gasp...or cry...or anything. It was the scariest thing ever. After he was fine we all just sat there in silence. We offered up a family prayer of gratitude and we just sat there...horrified...greatful and speechless which is really saying something in the Earl family. WOW. Having lost a brother at a really young age...I understand death. I know that it happens and that it is Heavenly Father's plan. I know that when my brother died it was because he was done here on Earth and that he is in Heaven and that we will see him again. I have always had a strong testimony of that. I just didn't want him to die in my arms. Even if it was my sister's arms I knew she would do everything she had to do to try and save him. I couldn't do it. So today...as I listened to his sweet little voice waking up over the monitor...saying so quietly and politely mom...mom...Ollie...Mom? I was so grateful for him and the time I have been able to spend with him so far. Grateful that I will be able to see him grow. He is a good boy.

13 Hours

So we did it...my sister Cali and I drove from Orem, UT to Moses Lake Washington with six kids, in one van. I kept having panic attacks all weekend just thinking about how awful the drive would be...but in true Earl fashion, our kids our great travelers. We had no problems. We woke up at 4:00 and were on the freeway before 5:00 a.m. All of the kids had their blankets and treats. We had tons of movies to watch and even hooked up our Xbox so the kids could play Lego Star Wars on the way here. We stopped in Baker Oregon for a 30 minute lunch/play session at a McDonalds playland which was a life saver because our kids loved it and ran around like they had never seen a play land before. Really the only stressfull thing was Rob only slept 27 minutes in the entire 13 hour drive. Towards the end he finally lost it and cried for about 20 minutes. He really was so good especially for only 27 minutes of sleep. We were so happy when we pulled on to Easy Street and so happy to be home sweet home. I love it here. I found some pictures that I thought I would post...
This first picture is my huge family at Disneyland. This was one the happiest days of my life. I loved it. Sam and Kyle were also on this trip...just not this day. Notice how great I look...I delivered Rob 4 weeks from this picture.

Me...Cali...Sam. My two sisters...my best friends. Here we are young and oh so cute. I had never seen this picture before. Can you believe I used to be blonde. Oh those were the days...I think blonds do have more fun...or so it appears. I love this picture. I had the best childhood. I hope my children can be so lucky.

Happy Sumo=Happy Ashley

We went to Happy Sumo for my birthday which is my favorite restaurant tasty japaneese food and sushi. It was so much fun. Cortney and I went alone and we sat at a table with no light above it it was the darkest table at a restaurant I have ever sat at. I couldn't even tell what I was eating.

This morning we were driving and Oliver said to me out of nowhere "Daddy always eats the food that Tyler gives me and I don't want him to." I couldn't understand what he was talking about mostly because he has an imaginary friend named Tyler and also a beloved uncle Tyler. I asked him which Tyler and he said "the real one....Tyler gave me some food and put it on the counter and daddy ate it" It is amazing what little kids are thinking sometimes. Maybe not amazing to you all but I thought it was so cute. He was being so pensive in the back seat thinking about life and Tyler and the food his dad ate.