The 2009 Christmas Tree

As is tradition at our house, we put up the Christmas Tree on the first Family Home Evening after Thanksgiving. This year was the easiest year yet. We had bought a tree for 50% off in a post-Christmas sale last year. So this was our first year putting it up. Its prelit (YAY!!!) and that was DEVINE ! ! ! ! ! It was the one thing that received the most water damage when our water pipes burst a couple of weeks ago. So as I got it out and it was still so molded and wet, I was afraid that it wouldn't work. But we put it together and plugged it in and it worked like a charm. It does still smell a little moldy, but I have a 'Pine' scented candle that takes care of that.

Jared was so excited about his Christmas Tree. He just kept repeating that over and over, "Look at my Twismas Twee."

He was quite annoyed by the fur on the santa hat.
Every picture I took with Taylor was like this. A beaming smile and little bit of a pose. She is such a doll ! ! ! ! !
All Dylan wants for Christmas is his two front teeth, although I'm pretty sure he'll have most of one of them by that big day. His birthday is Dec. 22 and he is trying to make sure that I know what he wants for Christmas and what he wants for his birthday and that I better not get it mixed up. Thanks Dylan...I'll try to keep it straight ! ! ! !

Name them one by one...

Anyone who knows me even a little knows about the crazy life I've been leading for the last little while. Funny how things seem to grow more crazy without you even realizing it. I lost my planner about a 10 days ago. And anyone who knows me even a little knows that I call that inexpensive piece of leather 'My Brain' only because it is. It holds EVERYTHING. On top of the basics of where I should be and when, phone numbers and addresses of most all my extended family and long-time friends, it also holds my debit, & credit cards, check book, drivers license, temple recommend and business card for most every doctor Dylan has ever been to. All that...gone.

My computer died. The sound disappeared one day and I just thought the sound card had become loose. I opened it up and it was out. So I put it back in and after everything was all put back together, no picture. I thought it was the video card, which I tried and tired and tried again. And...dead.
Last nite I went down into the crawl space of our house which holds much of our storage. The traditional baby stuff and clothes from Dylan I hope Jared will grow into, cd's from teen-age years, scrap booking goods, food storage, journals of life until now and all things Christmas, and of course the big box of Halloween goods. I began to crawl down there when Dylan said 'Mom, I hear something, what does zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, mean?' I looked about and found not one but two high pressure sprays coming from two different parts of pipe making a considerable mess. Not only with the water destroying the cardboard boxes that our belongings were in, but also the mold that was collecting on everything else that was not made of cardboard.

And even as I type this...it all doesn't not sound that bad. But I guess all this in conjunction with not being able to sleep well, children who've been very defiant during the last week, and mourning the end of my marriage had taken its toll. I have felt hurt, alone, and confused. I have had my times of wallowing in self-pity, overwhelmed with feelings of not being worthy, and coming to terms of my sense of guilt, feeling as though I've not been deserving or worthy of any blessing let alone being loved. It has been a trying week.

In the last couple of days I've started putting my planner together. I've gotten new debit and credit cards, new planner and I'm taking those steps to make it okay again. But no one has tried to do anything with the sensitive information in 'My Brain.'

I got my computer back today. I understand that the problem was some infected memory, that didn't really take that much time to clean up. He gave it back to me free of charge. (THANK YOU TRENT!!!)

My bishop and Tom Salas, came over took care of my pipes, finding that I didn't really have two holes, I had three holes in my pipes, and fixed all three. What it a blessing that they fixed them, Yes and also a blessing they found the third while they were at it. The charge....nothing, but it was noted that if I made cookies, they wouldn't be turned down either.

I had MULTIPLE phone calls today, wanting to make sure that the water would be back on soon, could they please bring dinner, what did I need, and could they please help.

I had another neighbor mow down the back half of my acre to keep things in check as winter moves in.

The young women stained my deck for me while I was in class.

My parents care for my 3 (at times TRYING) peeps, 3 nights a week while I am at work.

I have a friend that takes me out to lunch, (her treat) while she thinks she is getting the better end of the deal, (which is NOT true by the way!!!)

A simple e-mail from a friend in Belgium is enough to lift my spirits any day.

And the list goes on and on....And as it does, how can I not feel loved. So many who individually do small and simple things that as a whole in my life, I see great things come to pass.

Know that it is thru YOU that I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. And right now in my life, that knowledge is truly priceless.

Thank You

The Pumkin Patch...

Just before spud harvest, I joined in on going on a field trip with Jared's pre-school class. We started with a pumpkin patch.

Jared giving his bashful look.

Showing off the pumpkin he chose...

He wasn't really concerned about taking a pumpkin home, he just wanted to line them all up...

Kent Sutton. He always saves part of his field to planting a breed of pumpkin called 'Baby Pam' from a seed company in Denver, Colorado. He says that that is his favorite type because they will grow until the freeze comes. Then no matter what, within a few days, they will still turn orange. He then sells his pumpkins to local grocers.

A perfect example of the flowering blossom beginning to turn into a pumpkin.

We then went to Kent Sutton's house. Here is Jared with the sheep...

and playing on the tire swing...

and sliding down the slide...

and Jared checking on Yaks, who are native to the Himalaya's. Their meat have absolutely no fat. So he sells that to local markets as well, including Big Jud's in Archer.

My Three Little Peeps

Well...summer was great while it lasted, but like everything else, 'All good things must come to an end'. We are back into the swing of things with school, trying to achieve routine amidst the chaos of life.

A couple of weeks ago, (8-17-09) at my mom's request, I took the kids up to a wheat field (where they also happened to be cutting at the time) and grabbed a couple of pictures of my three little peeps. Its really interesting to look at their pictures of them now and of a year ago and see how much they have changed and grown.

Dylan is 7 years old and just started 2nd grade. His teacher is Mrs. Cureton and his full-time personal aide is Miss Deicy (YEAAAA...this is an answer to prayer!!!!) Dylan had Miss Deicy for an aide in kindergarten. I'm so thankful to have her as his aide again. His week-long EEG in SLC turned out to be rather pointless. The report states that where was no significant findings, other than there were abnormal waves in the part of his brain for which there is a surgical history. He still attends speech therapy twice a week, and gets caught up on single ideas for weeks at a time. I really CANNOT believe that he will be 8 in December...YIKES!!!

Taylor is 6 years old and just started 1st grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Olsen and she is loving going to school all day. She is counting and reading like a champ, much better than what she gives herself credit for, (at least she doesn't say she CAN'T do it anymore). She of course is a very motherly figure to both of her brothers, and really catches on to more than what I give her credit for.

Jared is 3 years old and is the most interesting character of a three year old that I remember having. All of them have had their moments of being trying, but I don't remember them being anything like him. Jared is in the pre-school at the elementary school with Miss JoAnn as his teacher. He goes on the bus in the morning with the big kids, and rides home on the bus with the kindergarten kids. He goes two days a week and loves it.

They are all adjusting well despite the changing dynamics in our home. I love them all dearly and I learn so much from each of them. May it all continue!!!

STAYCATION

Dylan wearing the "Davey Crockett" cap.

Taylor's turn

Isn't he so cute?

So with the first day of school racing towards us, and no plans for any sort of vacation in sight.... I decided to plan a 'Staycation' for my kiddos. A staycation is a vacation except you don't go anywhere, you just stay. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday night. So with Thursday and Friday being the last two consecutive days that I had open til school started, I decided to go for it. We started with the splash park.

Jared (in the foreground) and Taylor concentrating on the waters at hand

Dylan, Taylor & Jared all coming down at the same time.

They all played at the splash park til they froze. Then they got dressed and went next door to the horsey, merry-go-round. (and rode two times as Dylan would explain.)

Go Dylan Go!!!
Each horse has a engraved logo on the back of the saddle saying the name of the horse and who took care of it. Sharon Orme is a lady in our ward who painted the horse that Taylor rode.
What innocent eyes.
Taylor on the horse done by Sharon Orme.

After the horsey rides, we got cotton candy. It was their first taste. Taylor loved it. Dylan almost threw up, I guess he didn't like the texture.


After that we went to McDonalds for lunch and they played there. We took Dylan to speech then headed to I.F. and started out back to school shopping. They wanted McDonalds for dinner so we did that, then tried to each on the greenbelt next to the river. That didn't work (thanks to the tornado-like winds) so we just went to our hotel. We checked into the Shilo Inn where we finished dinner. The kids jumped back and forth from bed to bed and played tag for awhile. We watched some TV, (which we don't have at home) then we watched movies til we fell asleep.

When we woke up in the morning we went downstairs for breakfast then went back to our room and watched cartoons til check out time. As we headed back to resume our back to school shopping, we drove past an awesome turn about and stopped to take some pictures.

At Taylor's Crossing

Speaking of Taylor's (She wouldn't let me take a picture of her unless it was with my sunglasses)

My three peeps...

Me and Taylor

Dylan holdin' on!!!

Jared just making me happy

I think we got all of our back to school shopping done, we played at center court in the mall (which Dylan calls broccoli) had Preztlemaker (YUM) for a snack and Burger King for dinner on our way home. When we got home, we put our P.J's on, popped some popcorn, got some treats and wrapped up our staycation with an outing to the drive-in movie theatre. We watched G-Force (a Disney movie with gerbils or hamsters being secret agents) and Aliens in the Attic (a teeny-bopper show having to do with aliens).

Dylan got the whole back seat to himself. Good thing too, he fell asleep half way thru the first movie.

Jared hanging out the window....crazy dude!!!

Me (no makeup) & Taylor (I guess the flash was a bit too bright)

Jeff and Jared (the only part of our staycation Jeff came for)

It was my brothers (Daniel) reception in Boise at this same time. I decided as opposed to driving 5 hours one way by myself with three kids, that I would just have fun with them here at home instead. I didn't have the fiances or emotional energy to do a trip to Boise. I've had some say that I'm such a great mom for doing this. I really don't agree with that. I hope that I've made great memories with my kids that will help make up for all the times I'm gone to work or gone for school. I hope they will remember that their mom tried to spend time with them and I love them very so much. I feel as though I am so lacking in so many areas, that my kids deserve so much more. I hope when they look back, that they will remember good memories like our little staycation......