Time of Your life

Leaves, Leaves and more Leaves

2011-12-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

We had so many Leaves in our yard this year it was crazy. I counted the bags when we were done and it was 40 big lawn bags full of leaves. But I had some great help. My kids worked hard.

Carson hiding in the middle of the bags of leaves. He thought it was a great fort.

Wind storm

2011-12-30T20:23:00.001-08:00

My neighbor took these pictures of houses in our neighborhood. The whole town looked this way.

We had a really bad wind storm in our neck of the woods. It was crazy. It started on Thurday Morning. We had winds as fast as 95MPH. I was really nervous to take the kids to school. The power was out at the High School and at the Elementary school but not at the Junior High School. As I drove the younger kids to school trees were falling right and left right in front of our van. A huge dirt clot hit the side of my car and scared us half to death. I pulled up to the school and when we got inside they told us they were still planning on holding school. I couldn't believe it. So I left the kids and made my way back home. Brook let us know that the High School was in lock down because large sheets of metal where coming off the top of the school so it was not safe for the kids to go home. They had to get away from all the windows and stay in the middle of the school. I finally around 1:00 went to get Madison and London. I just wanted them home. There were only a few kids left at the school. They said it was a fun day at school without power. Brook came home about the same time. And my neighbor picked up Preston. I felt better having everyone home.
Preston had a concert that night so I went with him to a school that still had power to do his concert. Our town was like a war zone. So many trees were down, We also had tons of power lines down. Houses had half of there shingles ripped off. We knew we would not have power until at least the next day so we all slept up in the living room where the fire place is and kept a fire going all night. The next morning we heard that it we were going to be without power until Monday. We decided at that point to go and stay with my mom. She had power. So we stayed with her until Sunday when our power finally came back on. The power company worked day and night to restore power it was amazing. On Sunday they reported that another wind storm was on it's way. They cancelled church and everyone worked together to clean up the town so that the derby that was already on the side of the roads could get cleaned up. It was an awesome sight to see so many people out and about helping each other cut apart trees fill up trucks and take them to the land fields. The town was cleaned up so fast. People from other cities came to help. It was awesome. the second wind storm was not as bad as the first thank goodness.
We were so blessed we only lost one little tree. So many others lost so much more. People had holes in there roof from trees falling on them. When you drive around you can see people trying to get there roof fixed before the winter storms start.

Advent

2011-12-30T19:11:00.000-08:00

I think I have explained Advent before in earlier years so I won't go into the details. On our first Advent we talk about the Candy Cane and how it was made and then we have candy cane hot chocolate together I found these cool spoons for the kids. It was so funny to watch the spoons melt in the hot chocolate.

For our third advent we give the kids something made of wood. Last year we were pretty lame and gave the kids a pencil that smelled. They were less than thrilled with the pencils so this year we got on the ball early and we found these homemade wooden boxes with a lucky mushroom on top. We ordered them in October so we felt pretty proud of ourselves. They came and we just love them. The kids were thrilled. The person that made them even sent the kids some free wooden tops. They had a blast playing with them.

Making a memory

2011-12-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

This year I decided that I what I wanted to do for Christmas was spend some time with each of my kids on a date. I wanted them to have a memory with me. I have been so busy the last few months with school and everything else that needs to be done that it felt like I had not done anything fun with my kids in a long time. So I set up a day with each of the kids and we figured out what we wanted to do together and we went and had a great time.
First I went with Brook. We decided to go to the Dickens Festival. We had a great time checking out all of the things they had for sell. I bought Brook some really pretty scarfs and we had some roasted chestnuts. I have never had them before they were pretty good. We also got to ride in a carriage from that time period. It was really cool. Then we went out to dinner. I took a picture of Brook in the carriage but it didn't turn out so no pictures of our date. But the memory will last forever.
Second I took London to "This is the Place Park" to what they call a candle light christmas. It is a taste of what the pioneer christmas was like. We had a great time. We got to do crafts, ride on a train, learn how to dance, pick out candy sticks for all the kids at home and have hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies. We went to dinner after we left the park to "Golden Coral" It was a fun time with London.

Next I went with Preston to a play at the "Desert Star Playhouse" It was the play "It's a Wonderful Life" Of course it was done with the villain and hero style of play. We had so much fun booing the bad guy and cheering on the good guy. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time. It was a really clever play. We got to eat pizza while watching the play. Preston and I had a blast.

Preston is a good sport and while we were waiting for the play to start they have a "outhouse"prop that you can sit in. So I told Preston to sit there so I could take his picture. He did. He is so great.

Best seat in the house.
Next I took Carson to the Elf Village in the park. It was so fun. He loved looking in the little houses and seeing all the cute christmas scenes. Every time he saw one with Santa he would say"Santa do you have a DS in your bag for me". It was really cute. And every few minutes he would say to me"Thanks mom for bringing me here, I am having so much fun". It did my heart good to see him having such a good time. We went to Red Robin for dinner and he loved that. We colored the placemat together and played tic tac toe. He loved having all my attention just on him.

Madison had to wait a long time to go on her date. Things got kind of crazy getting ready for christmas so we waited until the day after Christmas to go on our date. We decided to go ice skating and to a movie. We had fun ice skating. She caught on really fast and did a great job. I was a little nervous at first but did just fine. Then we warmed up watching a Chipmunk movie. We had a great time together.

Lex and Lisa's wedding

2011-12-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

My nephew Lex was able to get married in September. We are so happy for him and Lisa. They are another great example to my kids. Such a cute couple. Carson has a crush on Lisa. When ever he is around her he just stares at her and smiles. It is so funny and cute. Jared was very sick the day they got married to the point that I didn't dare leave him home alone so we didn't get to go to the wedding. The kids went to the reception that night and got to enjoy some time with there cousins. I feel bad we missed it. But her is a picture that my niece Heather put up on her blog of the highlights of the wedding.

Heather and Jeff's wedding

2011-12-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Our Family with the happy couple

All the cousins together

My Niece Heather got married to a great guy named Jeff. It was a really beautiful day for them. Heather looked perfect in her dress. She is a great example to my kids and they sure love Jeff. Madison said to me after the wedding "I love Jeff, he is so great." They got married in the temple and at the reception they did a ring ceremony because a lot of Jeff's family are not members on the church. Morgan got to hand them Heathers ring. She did a great job. The only thing she kept doing was wanting to put the ring in her mouth while she was waiting. I had to keep telling her not to do it. I was worried by the time the bishop was ready for her she would be throwing a temper tantrum about it but she didn't. Thank goodness.

I love this picture of Carson staying with grandpa at the reception. He takes good care of his grandpa.

Halloween 2011

2011-12-30T11:26:00.000-08:00

Carving pumpkins

The kids in there costumes

A few days before Halloween we had a party at my moms house. We played games, made a spooky tree and had tons of good food. It was such a fun party. It brought back memories of when I would go to my grandmas house for her Halloween parties every year. I loved it. Time with cousins and grandparents is the best. One of the games we played was were we wrapped each other up as mummies with toilet paper. The kids had a great time doing this.

Morgan's Birthday

2011-12-30T11:06:00.000-08:00

Morgan's new bike

Morgan turned three years old on October 27th. She is such a cutie pie. She is a very self assured little girl. She is the boss of the house. She likes to watch "Dora The Explorer" more than anything else. She sings the song really cute. She loves her curly hair. She is always telling me "mom I love my curly hair" she loves to play with baby dolls and she plays with Carson really cute. She is kind of a bossy little girl to her siblings. She tells them what to do and how to do it. We all just adore her. One of the really cute things that Morgan does is she says to us"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Then you tell her yes and she says "Awesome". I love it. It makes me smile. Morgan is also a daddy girl. She loves her dad. She would pick him over anybody. I know that Jared loves that she likes him so much. I think she has been a blessing for Jared to keep him happy while he is sick.
For Morgans birthday we had my mom and dad over and had dinner. Morgan wanted to have mac and cheese for her birthday dinner. So we got some KFC and mac and cheese. Then we opened presents an had cake and ice cream. A funny story about Morgan's cake when I bought it home from the store I left it on the counter. Morgan had one of her little friends over to play. I went downstairs to get some laundry done and when I went back upstairs Morgan and her little friend had eaten some of the frosting off of the cake. they had also pored water on the cake. I had to soak up the water the best I could and try and fix the cake. The little turkeys. I learned my lesson never leave two three year olds alone with a birthday cake.
We love you Morgan. Happy Birthday.
I wanted to add a cute picture of Morgan with her Dora backpack.

Carson's Birthday

2011-12-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

Carson had his 5th birthday on October 24th. I know I say this with every birthday but I can't believe my little guy is five years old. He is getting to big way to fast. I love this little man. He is such a great kid. He loves to play super heros and he likes to drive his older sisters crazy. Carson is shy outside of our home he doesn't like to be without Madison. Whenever we go anywhere he stays right with her. Carson is a great big brother to Morgan. They play really good together. Morgan calls Carson her buddy. It is really fun to watch them together. Fore Carson's birthday we went bowling. He really wanted to try out bowling so we took him for his birthday. My mom and dad came to watch and we had a great time. (I'm glad they came because Jared was to sick to come and it was nice to have there support) Carson had a great time learning how to bowl. We then came back to the house and had Chinese food(All my kids love chinese food) and cake and ice cream and presents. Happy Birthday Carson. Love you!

Lagoon

2011-12-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

Because of a friend we were able to go to Lagoon this year. He got us discount tickets. We had such a great time. Morgan thought it was great. She loved riding the little boats the very best. When we got to the park Madison, London and Brook all went together to the big rides and I went with the little guys to the kiddie land. Well Brook took Madison and London on about five really intense rides one right after the other and poor Madison on the last ride threw up. She just couldn't take it. So she ended up going home for a few hours to get her stomach under control. We had a great day and enjoyed playing at Lagoon.
Another funny thing is for weeks after going to Lagoon you could hear Morgan walking around saying "hold on tight and have a great day here at Lagoon"

Preston's Birthday

2011-12-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

2011
Preston turned 14 on July 29th we were up at the Condo on his birthday which made it really fun for him. We brought up some cupcakes and we made homemade ice cream. He wanted Legos for his birthday so we gave him a set. He had fun putting them together and playing with them with Carson at the condo. Preston is really starting to grow up. He is so great to help me around the house and with the kids. He has a great sense of humor and he is just fun to be around. Happy Birthday Preston. We love you!

Condo

2011-12-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

Our neighbors and friends offered us use of there Condo again this year. We were so excited to get to go again and enjoy a week of getting away and having some fun with the kids. Some of the highlights this year was going on a hike to Hidden Lake and swinging on the rope they have there. Also making home made pizza, playing games with each other, and watching all of the Spiderman movies. We had treats and popcorn every night with our movie. The kids loved it. We also had a great time swimming every day.

Madison's Birthday

2011-12-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

2011
Madison had a great Birthday. She turned 11 on July 5th. We went and got her favorite soup from a Chinese restaurant. Then we made home made ham fried rice to go with it. She had a couple of her friends come over and they had ice cream and cake with us and we let off some fireworks. They had a good time. Madison is a sweetheart. She has such a tender little heart. She is so kind to everyone. She loves to hang out with her friends and listen to music so we gave her a ipod for her birthday. Happy Birthday Madison. Love you!

Platt Family Campout

2011-12-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

We had another great campout with my family at Downata Hot Springs. Carson even went down the big Dragon water slide. He loved it. We had a hard time getting him to stop. Jared was able to come this year. That made it extra fun. We didn't stay in a tent we stayed in one of the yurts. It was nice. It had eight beds and a T.V. it also had a little fridge. It worked out good so Jared could have a comfortable place to sleep. Morgan liked it too. She could go and take a nap or watch Dora when she got tired of swimming. Can't wait for next year.

Medallion

2011-12-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

2011
Brooklynn got her Young Women Medallion. We are so proud of her. She worked really hard to earn it and learned a lot along the way. Congratulations Brook!

A hike with Preston

2011-12-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law was planning on going on a hike with some of his friends when some of the guys couldn't go any more so he asked Preston if he would like to go. Now this was not just any hike it was a back packing trip on the teton crest it takes five days to complete the hike. 32 miles in all. Preston said he would like to go so we started getting him ready for the hike. The day before he was going to leave we heard that they still had a few spots that could be filled so I thought to myself you should go. I called my sister Treva and said lets go with them. She thought I was crazy at first but then realized I was serious. So we got ready and we got to go along. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I have never walked so much in my life the nights were really long but I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. I loved spending this time with Preston and my sister. Sam her husband was so patient with us all. I know we slowed him down quit a bit but he never made us feel that way. I am so happy I got to go. It made me realize that no mater how hard things are I can keep on walking. I can keep going.
We even had a bear come into our camp the last day. It was crazy to be so close to a bear. He was little and just walked by and left. I have to admit it was a little scary.

The Bear

The Group

Me, Preston,Treva and Sam

July 4th

2011-12-29T20:33:00.001-08:00

This fourth of July was a blast. We got to go to the parade with my family and do the water fight like always with Jared's family. Jared's brother Mark was here for his daughter Heathers wedding so we got to spend some time with them. In between the water fight and fireworks we had a talent show with Jared's family. It was fun to see all the talents everyone has in the family. We also got to congratulate my Nephew Lex. He proposed to his girlfriend Lisa while watching fireworks. By the end of the day we were tired but happy.

This year at the water fight they played a game where you put a bucket on your head and a duck on the bucket then everybody tried to shoot the duck off of the bucket with there squirt gun. This is Carson when it was his turn. He thought it was great.
Fourth of July 2011

A Wicked Weekend

2011-12-29T19:55:00.001-08:00

For Brooks birthday we gave her a trip to Boise to go and see the musical "Wicked" Jared, Brook and I left on Friday and came home on Sunday. We saw "Wicked" on Saturday. It was an amazing show. We loved it. We had such a good time. We went out to eat at some really fun places. We also got to enjoy a farmers market while we were there. We just kind of bummed around and enjoyed time with just Brook. We decided we would do some kind of trip with each of our kids when they turn 16 we had so much fun!
We went to "The Melting Pot after the show. They gave Brook this cute plate wishing her a happy birthday. It made it so much fun.

Brooklynn's 16th Birthday

2011-12-29T19:39:00.001-08:00

Brook turned 16 on March 9th. We decided to throw her a surprise party. It was crazy hard to keep it a secret. I think she kind of thought we were up to something but didn't know for sure. We did a chocolate fountain and played a murder mystery game. We also got her The Glee sing a long game for the Wii. Everyone seemed to enjoy the party. Brook is an awesome girl. She has been very busy since school started with stage crew. She has made a lot of good friends doing stage crew and that is mostly who came to her party. It has been weird having her gone so much this year but we can see how much she is growing and how much she loves this time in her life. Happy Birthday Brook we love you so much and are so excited that you get to date and drive!

When Brook walked through the door. (she looks nervous that everyone is there)

We also surprise Brook on her birthday with pizza and cupcakes being delivered at lunch for her and her friends. It was a fun day.

London's 9th birthday

2011-12-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

London turned nine years old on Feb. 2nd. I can't believe she is nine. She had a fun birthday. We went out to eat. She wanted Chinese food. She loves chinese food. It was fun to go out. Then we came back to our house to have cake and ice cream, and open presents. It was a nice day. London is a very sweet girl. She is the one I can ask to do something and she just does it without complaining. She gives the best hugs and loves to play with her little brother and sister. I love you London! Happy Birthday.

Carson's snowman

2011-12-29T15:54:00.001-08:00

Carson built this snowman all by himself. And I love it!

Christmas

2011-05-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2010
Christmas this year was amazing. We had so many people show love for our family. From the fist Saturday in December until Christmas eve we had things showing up every night. We felt so blessed and loved. My mom bought fabric so that we could make some quilts for all the kids for Christmas. Well with me going to school and everything else that was going on I thought we would have to put the quilts off and not get them done by Christmas but my ward did the most wonderful thing. They took a day and set up all the quilts and ladies came and tied them all. It was so kind of them to do. On christmas morning when the kids opened the quilts I told them that they where tied with love and how the ladies of the ward spent there day tying there quilts. It was so cool because they all cried and said they could feel the love of our ward. It was a really neat thing for our family.

Jared and I saw marshmallow guns at the store and thought wouldn't it be fun to get everyone in our family a gun. We could have a huge marshmallow war Christmas morning. So we did it. We bought the guns. It was messy but soooooooo fun. The kids loved it. Jared and I got guns that shot the big marshmallows.

We also go all the kids bean bags for Christmas. They loved that also.
We always give our kids PJS for Christmas. This year my niece Kaylee asked if she could make everyones PJS so she did. It was so fun. She did a great job.
Madison and London got this cute doll house and love it. And I loved this picture of them so I added it in.

Morgans Hat

2011-05-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

I bought this hat for Morgan and from the minute it was paid for until she went to bed that night she had it on. Then the next morning the first thing she wanted on was her new hat. She wore it all day. I thought it was so cute and was glad she liked her new hat.

Gingerbread Houses

2011-05-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2010
I got some gingerbread kits this year and thought it would be fun to make some houses. We had such a good time. We had teams for the houses and the kids were so creative. Brook and London worked together, Preston and Madison worked together and Jared, me, Carson and Morgan did a house together. I think we will make this a new tradition at our house we had so much fun.

We had fun making our house. One of the kits didn't come with a few of the walls. So Jared and I just wipped up some ginger bread and copied the pattern of the other kits. We made some dogs, trees, and we decided to make a big rock to put in front of our house. I think it was a nice touch.

Brook and London decided to do a "Phineas and Ferb" house so the animal you see on the chimney is Perry and the backside of the house is showing "Phineas and Ferb"doing something fun and crazy for the summer. I loved there creativity. They did a really good job.

Preston and Madison decided to do a rock band house. They made a van and then they had the gingerbread band playing in the front yard. I thought it turned out so cute.

The only picture I got of Jared during this fun was him goofing off with the frosting. He is showing us his big frosting horn.
I

Halloween

2011-05-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2010
We had a fun Halloween. Carson really wanted to be Micky Mouse for Halloween this year put not just Micky Mouse but sorcerer Micky from "Fantasia" We already had the hat and so it was just finding a costume for him to were. That was the hard part. We could not find anything so Jared decided he could make Carson's costume. He did such a good job. He had so much fun making Carson's costume that he decided he could do London's and Morgan's too. We thought it would be fun to have Morgan be Minnie Mouse so Jared made her a Minnie Mouse witch costume. Madison has been way into Harry Potter this year so she decided to be Genie from that book. And London for about three years now has wanted to be a candy corn witch so Jared worked his magic and I loved the way her costume turned out.Preston really wanted to go trick or treating and get some free candy so he went around as a younger version of Jared. (He could pull this off because he looks a lot like Jared did when Jared was his age) around our neighborhood everyone thought it was great. We got to go to my moms for a couple of hours on Halloween and have donuts and hot chocolate and trick or treat around her neighborhood for awhile. It was fun.

Minnie and Micky

Genie(from Harry Potter)

Candy Corn Witch

Jared when he was 13

For one of Madison and London's activity day activities they had a Father and Daughter halloween party. Jared was really sick the day they had the activity so my dad was nice enough to come and take the girls. My dad looked great all dressed up. They had such a good time with grandpa.

Morgan's Birthday

2010-12-19T14:47:00.000-08:00

Morgan turned two on October 27th. She loves Minnie Mouse so we got here a Minnie Mouse birthday cake. She loved it! She is our little sweetheart. She likes to play with her brothers and sisters. She talks so good. We always say were is Morgan and she yells out "I right here" it is so cute. Morgan is also a daddy girl. She loves to sit on Jared's lap and watch her favorite t.v. show "Caillou" She will pick to be with Jared more than anyone else if she has the choice. We love having this little princess in our family. Happy Birthday Morgan we love you!

My mom took this great picture of Morgan with her grandpa Meldrum. I just wanted to add it because we live with grandpa and Morgan loves to go visit grandpa in his room. She loves him so much. When ever I can't find Morgan I know she is probably in grandpas room having a cookie and snuggling with grandpa.

Carson's Birthday

2010-12-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

Carson turned four years old on October 24th. He had a fun birthday. He really wanted a turtle cake for his birthday so we ordered a cake and put some cool turttles on it. Carson is full of fun. We always ask him why he is so cute and he tells us that it is his super power. We totally agree with him. Happy Birthday Carson we sure love you!

First day of school

2010-09-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Well it is that time again school time. Brooklynn started High School this year. Preston is in 8th grade,Madison in 5th grade,London in 3rd grade and Carson in Pre-school. Carson is way excited to be going to the "Lucky Ducks" preschool. He really is a lucky duck because it is a preschool in my sisters neighborhood where every mom takes a turn and they invited Carson to join them. I am so grateful. I also started going to school this year. I am a freshmen at Weber State University. I am also very lucky to be in school right now. This will be a good school year for all of us.

A blessing

2010-09-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

We were given a wonderful blessing from a neighbor of ours. They let us use there condo up at Powder mountain for a whole week for free. It was so nice to get away and spend time as a family. We played games,went swimming in the pool they had there, put together puzzles, watched movies,played with play dough, and enjoyed the fresh mountain air. Jared got to come with us he still laid on the couch and didn't feel well but at least got a change of scenery. It was a nice thing to get to do right before school started. Pictures coming soon.

Preston's Birtday

2010-09-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

It's official Preston is a teenager! Wow how did this happen. My little man can't be 13 years old. Preston is a great kid. He has a great sense of humor(like his dad) and he is always helping me without me even having to ask. He loves hanging out with his friends,playing video games(of course),singing,acting,and scouts. He got to go to scout camp this year and had a great time. He is growing up so fast. Happy birthday Preston. We love you! My camra wasn't working on Preston's birthday and my back up hasn't sent me the pictures she took so when she does I will add them.

Platt family campout.

2010-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things we got to do this summer was go on a camping trip with my family. We had such a great time. The camp ground had a water park with some water slides. I had as much fun and the kids going down those slides. I don't think I have laughed that hard for a long time. The only down side was that Jared was to sick to join us. We missed him and hope he can be well enough to come with us next year.
Group picture. This was taken just before everyone went home on the last day. My mom and dad left the night before. That is why they are not in the picture.

Cute Brook

Preston and Cindy(See how happy Preston is that I am hugging him)

Tired Morgan

Cute Carson

chilling around the fire

Morgan eating a banana with grandpa John

Happy Birthday Madison

2010-09-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Maddie Moo Face turned ten on the 5th of July. She had a good birthday. She has grown up a lot this last year. She is such a big help with her little brother and sister. She is going to be a great babysitter. She has a heart of gold. Always so sweet to everyone. Madison enjoys playing with her friends,ballet,and going to activity days. She also loves to cook. She cooks Romman noodles and eggs like a pro. Happy Birthday Madison we love you.

Forth of July Fun

2010-07-11T00:50:00.000-07:00

Atlantis(my niece)Madison, London, and Carson

Something you may not know about me is that I love the 4th of July. It is my favorite holiday. We did the same old things as always parade, Water fight with Jared's family,bbq and fireworks. That is just the way I like it. The kids had a good time too. I don't think I have talked about it in my blog but Jared is not feeling real good right now. He has a lot of pain in his bones and really bad headaches. He had a really bad day on the 4th so while he stayed home in bed we went and had fun. It was hard to leave him and we missed him being with us. We are hoping next year he will be feeling much better and can have fun with us. We missed you Jared and we love you!

Catching up

2010-06-14T05:13:00.000-07:00

I always think I wont get behind on my blog but I do. So this is a huge catch up of what has been going on the last few months. I really want to add it because I am making this blog into a book at the end of the year for our family history. So this first set of pictures is of Jared playing pirates with the kids one day. It was so cute and the kids had so much fun playing.

This was at Easter and to be honest with you the only pictures I took at Easter time. We got a great surprise one day from Jared's work. They sent us these beautiful bunny cookies with our names on them. I truly made our day and the kids enjoyed every bite of the cookies.

Jared showing off his bunny ears

We have been having a really cold spring and one day in May it snowed again so Carson talked me into going out and helping him build a snowman. He was pretty proud of that snowman. It was sad that it only lasted a few hours it was gone by the end of the day.

Jazz Game

2010-04-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

We got such a treat this last week. One of Jared's vendors treated our family to a Jazz game. We also got treated to dinner in the sponsor room before the game. The food was so good and the game was so fun. Jared has been sick so he couldn't go with us so I let Preston bring a friend because he has been working hard helping his grandpa every day prune the trees in the back yard. He decided to bring his cousin Nick. We had a great time. We left the babies home because I'll admit it I needed a night without them hanging on me. So I offered there tickets to my mom and dad. My dad is a huge Jazz fan and I knew he would love coming to the game. And he did! So here are some pictures my mom took at the game.
Riding frontrunner

The Jazz Bear sent a big balloon up into the audience and it got bounced around for awhile and then he came up and popped it right above Madison and London. and confetti fell all over there heads. They loved it.

Enjoying dinner

Brook's Birthday

2010-04-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on this blog but wanted to catch up a little bit. Brooklynn turned 15 years old on March 9th. That's right 15. One year until she drives. I can't believe it. We went out to dinner at a new soup and salad place called "Zupas" It was very good. Brooks choice of course then we went back to the house and had ice cream cake from "Cold Stone" it was yummy. Brooklynn has grown up a lot this year. She is a huge help around here and she is a ray of sunshine to everyone she knows. She always has a smile on her face and always has a great attitude. She is one of those sweet and fun people you just love to be around. She works hard in every area of her life. We love you Brook so very much. Happy Birthday!!!!!

Great to be Eight

2010-02-20T19:47:00.001-08:00

London turned eight years old on February 2nd. She had a good birthday. She was able to get her ears pierced and she got to have a party with her friends. They had pizza, played some games and watched a movie. She also was baptized on the Saturday after her birthday. That was a nice time for her. London is full of energy. She is always wanting to be busy doing something. She loves to be outside or off playing with her friends. She has a great style that is all her own. She is such a fun girl. Happy Birthday London We love you!

London got heeleys for her birthday. She has had a good time skating around on them.

Sledding

2010-01-04T12:24:00.001-08:00

We had a blast! (Thanks Treva for taking such great pictures.)

Christmas day

2009-12-31T05:50:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Christmas. The kids were told they couldn't wake us up until 8:00 and they didn't. But you can bet they were in there at 8:00 sharp. We told them that since Morgan wasn't awake yet they had to wait. Next thing I hear is them in the next room saying so who is going to wake up Morgan. She didn't sleep much longer and by 8:30 we were all awake getting ready to go upstairs and see if Santa came. Jared and I were trying to climb out of bed when we hear little foot steps running across the floor upstairs. We look at each other and jump out of bed. Carson had already upstairs and was running back down to let us know that Santa had come. He kept yelling"Santa came, Santa came and he brought me a DS." It was so funny. He won't get away with that next year but this year it was funny. We have a tradition in our family. We have the kids line up youngest to oldest and then they go in to see what Santa brought. Here is a picture of them lined up. I thought it turned out so cute. My mom and dad came over in the morning and watched the kids open some of there presents. I love having them here on Christmas morning it was fun. And then Jared's family came over at about 5:00 to have dinner and visit. We also went to the cemetery and left a Christmas wreath on Jennet's grave. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and that they can carry the light of Christ with them throughout the year.

Nutcracker

2009-12-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

We had a new experience this Christmas. Madison and London are both taking ballet from Clytie Adams School of ballet. They both love it very much. Every year Clytie puts on a production of the Nutcracker. Madison decided that she would like to try out to be in it.(London couldn't try out because you have to be eight years old to try out) I was nervous because this is her first year of ballet and I heard that it is hard to get into Clytie's nutcracker but I like my kids to try out just if only for the experience. Well Madison made it. She was given the part of a cookie. We were very excited for her. It was amazing for her to be able to be in this production. They perform at the Weber State University Browning Center on this huge stage with a live orchestra. Jared and I just kept saying to each other what nine year old get this kind of opportunity. We were so grateful she got to be a part of it. I took my camera with me when we went to see the performance but Madison was back getting in her costume and getting ready to be on stage and they wouldn't let us back to take any pictures so I only got pictures of the kids. Then on the night I was helping back stage I forgot my camera. I was so mad. I asked on of the other moms to take a picture of me and send it to me but I think she forgot:( So I don't have any pictures of Madison to post. But she looked really cute in her cookie costume. And she loved being in the Nutcracker. She said she is going to try out again next year.

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-27T08:38:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to catch up what we did this Christmas season so it is not in any order but I want to have it on here so that he have a record of it. So I hope you don't mind me going back to the first part of December and catching up a little bit.
One thing I love about Christmas is cookies. We always seem to run out of time for making cookies. So this year I made sure that we made them on the first Sunday of December. I love pulling out the cookie cutters and making a huge mess and letting the kids have a wonderful time creating cute little snowmen, and gingerbread men. They love to cut out the cookies and decorate them. They are always so proud of what they have done. It makes all the work worth it. Jared of course thinks that sugar cookies are not true cookies so he made some kiss cookies, some mint truffle cookies, and some pretzel cookies to go along with the sugar cookies. Our house sure smelled good. I wish I had gotten a picture of some of the other cookies but I didn't.

A visit with Santa

2009-12-26T05:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

I wanted to update Christmas Eve on Christmas Eve. We started off today with having breakfast with my mom and dad at Mimi's Cafe. It was a great way to start our day. It was cool because when our waiter brought our check he asked if there was anything else he could do and Jared said sure you could bring me some muffins to go. Then he said he was kidding. Well in a few minutes the waiter came back with four muffins and told us Merry Christmas. That was so nice and cool. We went from breakfast to run some gifts to some of our friends, did some last minute shopping, and then we came home and spent some time with Jared's sister and her family playing games and eating treats. We then did the same tradition as always and made home made pizza.Yum! Jared has been doing this since he was a little kid. We shed some tears because Jared's mom wasn't here. It has been hard having her gone. And then we always read the story of Jesus' birth out of the scriptures. Then we opened our P.J'S. This year we did all sponge bob P.J'S. Everyone looked so cute in yellow. Now we are waiting for the kids to settle down. It is fun for me to hear them all so excited in there room(they are all sleeping in the same room) They are laughing with each other and having fun. This is the kind of thing that does my heart good. I love my family and I love Christmas. I can't wait for tomorrow to see how they all like what Santa brought for them. I hope everyone has a great Christmas.
Love,
Cindy

Riding Frontrunner

2009-12-23T02:40:00.000-08:00

We have had Front Runner here for awhile now and we have never taken it. So we decide that we would give it a try. Brook was singing in a concert at Temple Square so we went with my mom and dad and Treva and Sam. I have to say that it was one of the most pleasant rides to Salt Lake I have had in a long time. The kids thought it was great. We will for sure do it again. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the train. (Brook isn't here because she went with her choir group down there and Preston isn't here because he went down with his primary class.)

Waiting for the train to come

My cute mom and dad(I love this picture!)

Carson and my niece Sarah(They are so cute together)

My sister Treva and I holding our adorable babies.

So the night didn't go as planned. Once we got to Salt Lake we got a call from the hospital that Jared's mom had gone into code blue(Respiratory distress)and that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. So Jared and I caught a ride with his brother who lives close to temple square and left all our kids with my mom and dad and Treva and Sam. Then Treva and Sam had a little emergency with there baby. She feel and hurt her arm. They thought it might be broken so they had to take off. That left my poor mom and dad alone with my six kids to bring home on the train by themselves. It was a crazy night. I am so thankful to my parents,and my sister and brother-in-law for there willingness to take care of things for us so we could go be with Jared's dad.

Waiting for Brook to sing.

Sam and the two babies

Brook with her choir group

Carson enjoying the concert:)

2009-12-17T05:08:00.000-08:00

Jared's mom passed away on Monday. We miss her already. Love you mom!

Sara Jennet Meldrum
Sara Jennet Meldrum, age 71, passed away peacefully on December 14th, 2009, surrounded by her family.

Jennet was born January 6, 1938, in Ogden, Utah, to Shand S. and Elva W. Cunningham. She was the youngest of four siblings, Lorraine Nichols (Malcom), Stanley (Jane), and Rex. She graduated from Davis High School, where she met her sweetheart, David Gurr Meldrum.

On October 26, 1956, she and David were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Married at the age of 18, David and Jennet raised each other while raising their six children, Kevin (Cathy), Mark (Debbie), Shawn (Teresa), Julie Simmons (Jason), Jared (Cindy), and Matthew (Nicole).

They traveled to many parts of the world with their young family before settling in Kaysville, Utah. Throughout their 53 years of marriage, she dedicated herself to her family as a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother to her husband, six children and twenty grandchildren. She was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and especially loved the time she spent serving in the Primary.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Rex. She is survived by her sister Lorraine and her brother Stan, her husband David, her children and grandchildren.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-12-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Thanksgiving. We worked hard the few days before but it was worth it. We spent Thanksgiving with Jared's family this year. The kids loved spending time with cousins and we enjoyed getting to visit with everyone.
I just want to say that I am so thankful for my many blessings. For Jared and my six healthy and wonderful kids. I am thankful for my parents and for jared's parents. We both are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends. We have had such a great year.
The Table

Morgan waiting for some food!

Next three pictures Carson, Madison and London showing off there turkey's that they helped make for everyone.

Brook and Preston at the table.

Morgan with Heather's(my niece)boyfriend Jeff. She loved him and snuggled with him for hours. I thought it was cute when she fell asleep on his lap.

On Friday Night we braved the cold and went to the light parade. It was fun. We got to sit with my Sister and Jared's sister. The kids loved seeing there cousins and they liked the parade too. It isn't a bad little parade for a little town. The also got to see Santa. Carson went crazy when he saw Santa. He loves Santa.
One of the floats

Morgan

Brook and her cousin kaylee(this picture didn't turn out great but I didn't want anyone to think I skiped getting a picture of Brook)

Preston

Carson and his cousin Sarah

Madison and London and cousins Shandra and Michael

On Saturday morning we had the pleasure of spending some time with my mom and all of my sister-in-laws and my nieces for a girls only Christmas breakfast. My mom has done this for three years now and it is so nice. She spoiles us with breakfast of creps and homemade cinnamon rolls and she always gives us a nice gift also. It is something I look forward to. It is fun to be pampered by my mom. Thanks mom.

Brooks play

2009-11-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

Brook in her dress for the ball.

Brook was in a play for school. They did the play Cinderalla Jr. It was really cute. She did such a good job. She was one of the towns people in the play. She had a great time being in the play and we are grateful she was able to be in it. About a week before the play she was really sick with swine flu. And we didn't think she would be better in time.

Halloween fun

2009-11-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween season. Here are my little spooks. The kids went to so many fun things this year. I think they dressed up like five times before Halloween. They went to two birthday parties, A friend Halloween party,and to there school carnaval. We also took two kids at a time out on a mom and dad date to the corn maze. We had such a good time getting lost in the maze and riding the cow train! It was dark at the corn maze so I didn't get any pictures. We also got free pumpkins from Jared's work so we had a good time carving pumpkins. Carson didn't want to touch the inside of the pumpkin but Morgan loved it. She played forever with the pumpkin guts and loved getting it all over all of us.

Preston is someone from the Lord of the Rings

Madison is a Goth ballet dancer

Spider Man

Hannah Montana

My little witch

The Princess of darkness.

We have been going to the Halloween carnival at the kids school every year since Brook was is in kindergarten. It is a fun time for the kids. Brook and Preston Decided to dog out on us this year and go to a corn maze instead.(sniff, sniff) But we had a good time with the younger kids.

Happy Birthday Morgan

2009-10-30T06:42:00.001-07:00

Can it be true? My baby is already one. I decided to go with cupcakes for Morgan's birthday. I found this lady that makes these cute cupcake t-shirts and couldn't resist getting Morgan one. And then Jennet made her a skirt to go with it. I also found this cute cupcake clip. She was ready for her big day.
Morgan has been a fun baby. She was a little fussy at first but she is so fun now. She loves to play with Carson. She loves to play patti cake, She loves her daddy. When ever he is around she wants him to hold her. It makes it hard for Jared to go to work sometimes because she just wants him to hold her. She also loves Brooklynn. She will settle for Brook more than she will for me sometimes. She started walking just a few weeks ago but still likes to crawl to get around more than walk. She is one of those babies that just goes with the flow. We love having Morgan in our family. Happy birthday little one. We love you so very much.
Morgan in her Birthday outfit.

Checking out her cupcakes( Now Jared thought this was a mean picture because I put her up there than told her no when she wanted to touch the cupcakes)

Looking at her statue from Grandma Shauna.

Eating her cupcake. She wasn't to sure at first so just kind of picked at it. But then she really got into it and enjoyed it.

Slide show of Morgans first year

2009-10-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Morgan's first year

Happy Birthday Carson

2009-10-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

Carson had his third birthday yesterday. He had such a fun day. We always take the kids to "Build A Bear" on there third birthday. And of course I forgot my camera. So I didn't get any pics of him at "Build A Bear" but he loved it! He wanted a frog cake for his birthday so Jared worked his magic and made him such a cute frog cake. Carson is such a fun little guy. He says the funniest things and is always making us smile and laugh. He loves to sing. He sings all the time. He also loves the "Imagination Movers" And he likes to pretend he is a mover. He is a light in our life and we love having him in our family. Happy Birthday Carson. We love you!
Grandma Meldrum made Carson a little house tent. It turned out so cute.
Carson with his new bear(Carson Jr.)

This is a video of Carson helping Jared with his cake the night before his birthday.

2009-10-08T09:36:00.001-07:00

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Catching up on a few things.

2009-09-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

So last year got so crazy sometimes I didn't get the chance to put some things on the blog that I really wanted to put on here. So I decided today that when things are quiet like this month I would share some of the things I missed last year.
This was an activity that Madison did with the activity day girls in our ward. They had a box car race. We made a car out of a cardboard box and then she raced the other girls around the gym at our church. It was cute because we were her pit crew and the first time she came around she had to sit in a chair and we had to spray her face with water and wipe it off.(kind of like washing her windshield. The next time around we had to take off her shoes and then put them back on.(changing her tires) and then the last time she had to drink a whole bottle of water.(fuel). She had a hard time with the last one. So I ended up pouring the water down the front of her. She had a good time and so did we. We painted her car pink and covered it with purple flowers and then we made T-shirts with purple flowers on them and called our team flower power. GO FLOWER POWER!

Team Flower Power

Drinking the water.

Go Maddie!

Wiping her face

Back to School!

2009-08-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school. The summer went so fast. I'm excited for the kids to have another great school year.

Brook 9th grade

Preston 7th grade(to cool to smile for a picture)

Madison 4th grade

London 2nd grade

Giving Carson a kiss goodbye. He will miss having them home to play with.

Pioneer Brook

2009-08-11T05:09:00.000-07:00

Last week Brooklynn got the chance to go on Pioneer trek with our stake. She had a good time. But if you know Brook she has a good time anywhere she always has such a good attitude. You could just see that she was filled with the spirit. She loved her family that she was put with. She also said she just loved the time she got to spend on her own writing in her journal and reading her scriptures. She said the women's pull was so hard. But a great experience. She said the first day was the hardest they walked 12 miles that day. She spent about an hour telling us all about it and then she crashed. I don't think I have ever seen her so tired. She went to bed at 7:00 and said that it felt so good to be in her own bed. She won the biggest blister award for her camp. And when she took of her shoes her feet were duct taped up. Poor girl. I had to take a few pictures of her feet of course.

This blister is as big as her toe.

All aboard the choo choo train.

2009-08-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I know I have blogged about this before but I am going to do it again. Carson is so cute with Morgan. They adore each other. She follows him around wherever he goes and he plays with her so cute. Today when he saw her after she woke up he said "Good morning Morgan. How is the cutest baby sister in the whole world" it just melts my heart. So today when I went to put in some laundry Carson was riding his little green car bike and he backed up and hit Morgan with it. She was following him without him knowing about it. He felt bad and kissed her and said he was sorry. Then he went and got her bumbo and had his sisters tie his bike to the bumbo and wanted to give Morgan a ride behind his bike. Of course the bumbo wont move at all but it was so cute and so sweet. I thought I would share.

Happy Birthday Preston!

2009-08-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

Preston turned 12 years old on the 29th. I can't believe it! Where does the time go? I know I always say this but my little boy can't be going into junior high school. If you know Preston you know that he is a great kid. He loves telling jokes and is really good at it. He has the best laugh. It always puts a smile on my face. He is always willing to help us out when we need it. He has kept himself busy this last year by spending time with his friends, swimming on the swim team, scouting and of course at this age he loves his video games. He loves kicking back with Jared and playing World of Warcraft. Preston we love you! Happy Birthday!

Fun at the zoo

2009-07-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we decided it would be fun to take the kids to the zoo.(The extra kid you see is my nephew) Carson has been wanting to go and see the monkey's. He also really wanted to see the snakes. But after seeing them he said that he thinks snakes are freaky. We had a fun time and we will be going more because we bought a year pass.

Looking at the monkeys

Happy Birthday Madison

2009-07-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

Madison turned nine years old on the 5th of July. So we got to have two fun days in a row. She knew just what she wanted to do for her cake. So Jared worked his magic and made it just the way she wanted it. She was really excited.
I just wanted to say that Madison is such a cute girl. We love her so much she makes us laugh and is such a good student in school. She is kind to everyone. The word that most people use when they talk to me about Madison is sweetheart. That is what she is. She is still our little chatter box but we love that about her too. Happy birthday Madison. We love you!

Grandma Shauna gives the girls a Precious Moments statue every year.

Grandma Meldrum was busy making Madison a sleeping bag and some shoes for her American Girl doll. They turned out so cute. And of course she had to surprise London and give her one too. Lucky girls.

Every year we save our home fireworks for Madison's birthday.

4th of July

2009-07-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July!

Waiting for the parade to start

Morgan showing off the necklace she got. (Thanks Toco Time)

Morgan and Carson asleep after the fun. Carson is in the basket of the stroller.

A closer look of Carson.

Every year we have a water fight at my brother and siter in laws house.
Good Times!

Swim Meet

2009-07-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Preston is doing something new this summer He decided that he wanted to join a swim team. He loves it and he is doing really well. He had his first swim meet yesterday. He did a good job placing 9th out of 13 on the 100 meter free style swim.And he also did a 50 meter free style race. He really did well for his first meet and he loved competing. We had fun watching. Can't wait for the next one.
This is a video of the 50 meter race.

And one more picture of Morgan after the meet. I just set her down on the chair to pick up a few things and she went right to sleep. She was worn out!

Can you say cute?

2009-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

Carson is at the cutest age.I was out mowing the lawn and he wanted to get up on a tree stump that we have in the yard. So I put him on it and he started to sing. It was so cute I had to run in and get my camera. Isn't he a cutie pie?

Carson's in the tub or I mean the sink

2009-05-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Thought this was tooooooo cute. Carson watched me give Morgan a bath in the sink so of course he wanted to take a bath in the sink too. He is to big for it but had a good time. I thought it was so cute I took a pic enjoy!

Matt's Wedding

2009-05-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Jared's brother Matt got married last Tuesday. It was a really nice wedding and a fun time for our family. The kids loved getting dressed up for the big event and they had such a fun time spending time with there cousins. They had a dinner the night before with a pinata. The kids loved that. Except London she wouldn't even try to hit the pinata. But she got a new pair of flip flops so she was happy.

Easter

2009-04-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

Well like always I am behind on my blogging. But at least I am doing better this year than last year right.

We had a great Easter. The kids got spoiled rotten. My mom really out did herself this year for the Easter egg hunt at her house. The kids had a wonderful time picking out prizes and they even got a dollar. Does life get any better?
Here are some pics of the kids coloring Easter eggs.

Brook's an Oompa Loompa

2009-03-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

Brooklynn was in the play at the Junior High. They did the play Willy Wonka Jr. She was one of the Oompa Loompas. She did a great job and had a lot of fun being in the play.

Brook and her two cousins

Happy Birthday Brook

2009-03-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well believe it or not My little Brookie Cookie is not so little anymore. She turned fourteen on March 9th. How did this happen? I can't believe it! She is such a sweetheart and so much fun. We love you Brooklynn Happy Birthday!

Brook in here new dress we got her for her Birthday.

Showing off here Precious Moments statue from grandma Shauna and grandpa John.

A day in the life of Carson

2009-03-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

I have been part of a message board ever since I was pregnant with Carson. On the board we did a fun thing. We all took pictures of our little ones throughout the whole day and then shared it with each other. It was fun to see what all the other kids Carson's age are up to every day. So this is the slide show I shared on the board for Carson.

Fun with Morgan

2009-03-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Morgan was being so happy and cute. The kids were singing to her and she thought it was so funny. I thought I would share a short clip of it. Enjoy

Four Months old already

2009-02-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

Morgan is four months old already. She is such a sweetheart. I took her into the doctor and she is doing great.Here are her stats
Height 24" that is the 57%
Weight 13lbs 15oz that is 73%
Head 15.50" that is the 19%
She has a little head.

When Morgan was born Carson was sick so that is why there isn't a picture of him holding her in the hospital.So I wanted to add a few of him holding her now. He wants to hold her all the time.It's so sweet.

Carson's first haircut

2009-02-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

We took Carson in to get his first haircut at a salon. He was such a good boy. He just sat there watching himself in the mirror. The girl cutting his hair was even impressed at how well he did.

Carson's hair before the haircut. (Christmas Eve)

All done(what a handsome boy)

My little groundhog is seven!

2009-02-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

London turned seven years old on February 2nd.(groundhogs day)She had a great birthday. She got an American girl doll for Christmas so for her birthday she wanted some things to go with her doll. Well she got some fun things. Grandma Meldrum even surprised her with a bed that she and grandpa made. It is so cute. Madison was just as excited as London because she got a doll for Christmas too and she could not wait to play with London's new things. And of course grandma and grandpa had to give Madison a bed for her doll too.I don't think London minded her sister getting a present also. London was just as excited for Madison as she was for herself.
Happy Birthday London
We love you!

Looking at this picture you would think it was Carson's birthday. He loved helping London blow out her candles.
Showing off the new clothes London got for her doll

Showing off there new beds

A visit with Santa

2008-12-24T02:59:00.000-08:00

We had a family Christmas party on Saturday. The highlight was when Santa came.
I'm not sure what Carson thought of the whole thing. But when he saw that Santa was giving out presents he was more than willing to sit on his lap. The kids each told the big guy what they wanted and to my surprise some of them said things that I had not heard they even wanted. Good thing Santa has not packed his sled yet!

Morgan's Blessing

2008-12-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Morgan in her blessing dress.(Isn't she beautiful)

Yesterday we blessed Morgan. It was such a nice day. We had so much support from family and friends and loved spending time and visiting with all of them after the blessing. I can't believe she is already six weeks old!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

2008-10-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

MORGAN KELLY MELDRUM
8 lbs 2oz and 20and1/2 inches long
She is doing great. We are so happy to have her here!
Welcome to our family Morgan.

So much going on

2008-10-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

We have a lot going on in our little family. Carson turned two on October 24th. he had a fun birthday. He loved opening his presents! He also really loved his cake. He is such a fun little guy. Happy Birthday Carson we love you!
We also carved our pumpkins today and the kids really had a fun time doing that. I wanted to get it done before the baby was born. We are planning to have our baby tomorrow Monday the 27th. I am so ready to see this new little one and find out if it is a girl or a boy. So here are some pictures of Carson's birthday and the kids carving pumpkins and a last belly shot of me.

Arrow of Light

2008-09-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

After a lot of hard work Preston earned his arrow of light. He also moved on from the cub scout program to the scouting program. He is wearing brown now instead of blue. Good job Preston we are so happy for you.

Camping Fun!

2008-08-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

We just got back from our camping trip. We had such a good time. The weather was perfect. We went with Jared's sister Julie and her husband Jason and there kids. My kids loved spending time with there cousins and Jared and I loved spending time with Julie and Jason. We went down the river again and to the lake and we also went for a hike and found a cave. The cave was really fun for the kids to go in. We also went to a balloon festival and saw many hot air balloons. Carson loved that!
It was a great week. Here are some pics.

It's great to be eight!

2008-08-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

On July 5th Madison turned eight. And she was baptised on the same day. It turned out to be a wonderful day for us all. Madison was lucky because she was born the same day as her cousin Tabby so they got to do there baptism together. They were both so excited. The service went so well and I just want Madison to know how much we love her and how wonderful we think it is that she made this important choice in her life.
Now for some pics!
Madison and Tabby

Blowing out candles at luncheon afterward

Madison with her dad.

Wow I have so much to catch up on!

2008-07-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

So I have been such a slacker when it comes to my little blog. I have to apologize and repent and hope that you will forgive me for not keeping up with it. I am going to try to do better.
Now I want to share a few things that have gone on just in the last couple of weeks.
CARSON HAS KAWASAKI DISEASE
What is Kawasaki Disease? Well that is what I would have said last week but it is funny how fast you learn about something when you have to deal with it. If you want to read about it here is a link http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/kawasaki.html
My poor baby has this disease and just got home from the hospital because of it.
It all started on July 9th, with Carson waking up with a fever and not feeling well. Of course, I thought he was just coming down with another ear infection and started the Tylenol. Good thing he was getting tubes put in his ears on Friday. I called the doctor and told them that I was sure he had another infection and asked if they still thought we could do the surgery. The nurse said it would be fine that the surgery would let all the infection out and he would be fine.
Thursday July 10th
Carson and I went to his pre-operation appointment. He was still running a pretty good fever of 101 degrees and not feeling real great. The nurse still said he would be fine for the surgery but I had my doubts. I asked her if the doctor needed to see him and she said no it would be fine and that they would see us in the morning.
I spent the rest of the day trying to keep Carson happy he was cranky and sick.
Friday July 11th
We got Carson up at 6:00a.m. to get to the hospital for surgery. It was scheduled for 7:00a.m. Carson's woke up really hot. When we got to the hospital they finally called us back and the doctor took one look at Carson and told us that he could not do the surgery. He had a fever of 102.7 degrees. They sent us home with a prescription for the ear infection. I filled it and gave Carson his first dose. He was not a happy boy all day, and I could not get the fever to come down. He also seemed to be holding his neck like it hurt He would not even turn his head. And he was just getting worse and worse. By 2:00p.m. I decided that he needed to go see his pediatrician something was really wrong with my baby. They told me to come in at 4:00p.m. Carson's doctor after looking at him found that his lymph nodes on his neck were enlarged and that they were very painful. He also was concerned about the fever not coming down. He told us that he thought we should put him in the hospital to get some tests done, so we headed to the hospital. There they did some blood work, started Carson on an I.V. and did a catheter to get a sterile urine sample.
The doctor came at about 7:00p.m. and told us that the blood work showed that his liver enzymes were high. He said he wanted to get a C.T. scan done on Carson's neck and also do a spinal tap, but he said he would feel better sending Carson to the local Children's hospital to have it done rather than having it done at the hospital we were currently at. Jared and I felt good about the transfer, so Carson got to ride in an ambulance to get to the other hospital. He loved the ambulance ride. He had a big smile on his face and kept pointing at everything around him. We made it to the other hospital and they put us in the E.R. We talked with the doctors there and they did the C.T. scan on Carson's neck. Then they did an X-ray of his chest and of his stomach. We spent all night in the E.R. Finally, Saturday morning they decided to keep Carson for some more testing and put us in a room up on the third floor.
Saturday July 12th
Saturday after we got to our room they talked to us about what they thought might be going on with Carson. They thought he might have mono, or hepatitis, they had decided it was not spinal meningitis. Or Lymphydis because of his C.T. scan it was swollen but there was no infection in the lymph nodes. They told us that we would be there for a few days because the tests for mono and hepatitis take a few days to come back. So we settled in with Carson and just tried to make the poor little guy comfortable. He was still running a high fever and his eyes were really red and he just acted like every time he moved he was in tons of pain. Saturday night in the middle of the night they ended up having to do another I.V., because his one in his foot was not working anymore, so they did one in his hand. It is so hard to watch your child suffer and have them look at you like, "why don't you stop this person from hurting me?" It broke my heart.

I.V. in arm and leg

Sunday July 13th
We were still dealing with a very sick little boy and had no answers as to what was wrong. Carson's blood work showed that his liver was doing a little bit better. That was good news. They decided to start I.V. antibiotics so that if it was a bacterial infection we could start getting rid of it. The other kids came to see Carson, and it was the first time I had seen him smile for days. They all felt really bad for Carson and started to cry. The nurse sent up a person whose job is to talk to the kids about what is going on with Carson and answer all of their questions, I think this made them feel better. They made Carson some really cute signs and gave him loves and went home. Carson was still having the same problems. He also would not eat at all, and when he did he would throw it up. I was so worried about him. His I.V. went out on him again so we had to put it in the other hand so he was on his forth I.V. Poor baby.

Monday July 14th
Some of the tests came back but they were negative. We still had a few more to wait for. We spent the day trying to help Carson feel better and keep his fever from getting too high. He also started breaking out in a really bad rash. It would come and go.

Trying to keep the fever down.

They told us that they thought Carson had Kawasaki Disease or that it was Mono his symptoms matched both. They told us that they wanted to do an echo-cardiogram on his heart. In order to do this they would have to sedate him. We said that was fine and so they went ahead with the test. They also wanted to put in a feeding tube so that Carson would be getting some nutrition. The echo-cardiogram came back normal to which we are very grateful. We also found out that his test for mono came back normal so the doctor said he was sure it was Kawasaki Disease, and he wanted to treat Carson for it.

Tuesday July 15th
We started the treatment for the Kawasaki Disease they do I.V. gamma globulin. It took all day to give it to him, they didn't want him to have any reactions to it. They also gave him his first dose of aspirin. I think the aspirin is what made me the most nervous about the treatment, I just had to hope it would not cause Reye Syndrome, and that it would help him get better from the Kawasaki, and keep his heart healthy and strong.

Carson hanging out with a tired mom and dad.

Wednesday July 16th
Carson seemed to be feeling so much better. He still was not eating but his fever was coming down and he was getting cranky because he was bored not because he felt so sick. I could not believe how fast the treatment was working. They told us it would be alright to let Carson go to the play room, since what he had was not contagious. He loved the play room, we had a hard time getting him to leave. The other kids came up for a few hours, and played with him too. He had such a better day. That night we took him for a wagon ride to calm him down for night time. He loved that, we went all over the hospital. It was nice to have him feeling a little bit better.

Carson playing with his feeding tube

Thursday July 17th
Carson had not had a fever for at least twenty four hours it was gone and he was doing really well. You could tell he still hurt in his joints but he was feeling tons better. They took out his feeding tube, and told us that if he ate and drank all day that they would let us go home at 4:00p.m. We were so happy that we would get to go home. Well Carson was still not to thrilled about eating or drinking anything. We gave him popsicles, slushes, juice, water, chocolate milk anything we could think of. We even got him ice cream. He would take little bits here and there but not much. We started to get used to the fact that we would probably be there one more night. I was ready to come home but wanted to do what was best for Carson. At 4:00p.m. they said he had barely made it to where he was hydrated enough for the day but not to make it through the night, but they left it up to us whether or not to take him home. They said if we thought we could keep him hydrated through the night they would let us go. We felt like he would eat better at home so we decided to take him home. We went home at about 8:00p.m. He was so happy to be home and the kids were so happy to have us home. Now we will just watch him and he will have to take aspirin for six weeks and we go back in August for another echo-cardiogram.
We just want to thank everyone who helped with he kids and to those who are praying for our little man. We could feel the prayers and we know that they were answered.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-11-05T08:03:00.001-08:00

Carson turns one

2007-11-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast Carson is growing up. He had his first birthday and we had a great time watching him enjoy his cake. He is such a fun baby and we love him so much. I made a montage of his first year I hope you enjoy it.

Carson's first year.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-08-26T20:19:00.001-07:00

Summer fun

2007-08-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

We have had such a fun summer. We had Cherry hill passes so we got to go swiming almost every day and we had fun going camping as a family twice. Once with my family and once with Jared's. We also enjoyed a Rush concert. Brook spent a week at girls camp and Preston spent a day at day camp. Above is a slide show of our last camping trip.

2007-07-18T07:47:00.001-07:00

Preschool Graduation

2007-05-23T13:24:00.001-07:00

London graduated from preschool today. It was so cute. She sang some songs and got her ABC graduation book. It was a fun time. I can't believe how big she is getting.

Poor Baby

2007-05-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

This week has been crazy. Madison was playing outside on the swing set when one of the neighbor kids shot a stick into her eye. Her eye was bleeding pretty good so we had to run her to the ER. She had two good scratches on her cornea and her eye ball is bruised. Yesterday we went to the eye doc and he said she has some fluid and blood behind her eye so she needs to be careful until Monday when we have it checked again. So she can't ride her bike, jump on the tramp, or run around too much. I really hate it when my kids get hurt. You feel so bad because it is out of your control. But Maddie is a trooper. She has taken it all really well.
Here is a pic of her with her granny glasses on.

2007-04-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the park. It was so fun. I love it when the weather gets warm. I am always ready for the change of season when it happens.

County Fair

2007-04-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Preston had his county report due yesterday and we all went to the school to his County fair. He did his report on Washington County. It was fun to go and see all of the projects. Here are some pics.

2007-04-25T21:55:00.001-07:00

five years post transplant

2007-04-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well I decided to start a blog today. What better day then when Jared is five years post transplant. I can't believe it has been five years. This is what he looked like five years ago today.

We have come a long way baby.

I wanted to name this sight time of our life because I want us to remember that things can change so fast and we need to make sure we are having a good time right now, today.
Five years ago we didn't know if you would live or die. And it was so scary. Now we have a new baby and you are back to work and doing great. I'm so grateful for the many miracles in our life.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!!
I love you!!!!
Sinner