James got Glasses

James had to get glasses. It really is amazing that a doctor can assess a 9-month old and determine that there is a vision problem. It seems like almost from birth we noticed his right eye turned in. I kept thinking that it was fine and that all babies go cross-eyed at times. Well his never went away so at his 6-month check up I told the doctor about it and he referred us to a Dr. Larsen up at Primary Children’s Medical Center. We had our appointment with Dr. Larsen this week and James was diagnosed with astigmatism only in his right eye. Because of this everything, both near and far, are blurry to him. If we let this go his brain will start to shut that eye down because it has to strain too hard to see out of it. This is what happened to Camryn, who got glasses at age 4. Thankfully we caught it so early that we don’t have to patch his eye like we did with Camryn. I think that we are in for a challenging little while as James gets used to wearing glasses. I have mixed feelings as I am so grateful that we caught it so early, but sad that he will have to wear glasses for the rest of his life. He looks so different with them on, but so cute too!

Field trip with Bryce

I got to go on a field trip with Bryce and his class on Thursday. We got to go to the Salem Pond Wetlands. He has been learning about ecosystems and habitat. It was a great was to explore a pond and a marsh and compare the differences between the two. They got to take samples of the pond and marsh as well as clean up garbage and observe the surface, edge, open, and bottom of the marsh. I love going on field trips with my kids as well as going into their classrooms. I volunteer in both of their classrooms once a week and love getting to know the teachers as well as the students in the class.

Creative Camryn

I am constantly amazed at Camryn’s creativity. On the days that she walks home she always has something for me that she has created with rocks, weeds, sunflowers, or leaves. She really has an artistic mind, very opposite of me. She created this out of the magnetic rods and marbles and said it was her dad.

Heber Valley Camp

For three years in a row, the Friday of Labor Day weekend, my family (parents, sibling and families) have gone up to the Heber Valley Camp. It is an amazing place owned and run by the church. I have four siblings and each of us invite our in-law families to come up with us. We enjoy one night talking, playing, singing, and eating. It is something that we all look forward to and hope to continue doing it each year.

Terrible accident

My friend, Emily, and her two kids, Melissa and Cameron, came with us to the Heber Valley Camp for the second year. We all had gone to bed and had been asleep for a couple of hours when we heard the loudest, most awful, sound. I cannot describe how is sounded other than saying that it sounded like something smacking the cement really hard. It was then followed by a horrifying wailing scream. The three of us adults, Monte, Emily and I jumped out of bed with flashlights to see who it was and what was going on. We looked at where Emily’s son, Cameron, was sleeping and his bed was empty. I then noticed Cameron laying on the ground. I also noticed some blood on the ground by him. What followed next was a long, emotional night. Cameron had somehow fallen off the top bunk bed onto the cement floor. There was a good railing on the bed, but he still made it over and fell. He has no idea how he fell off or what happened. We picked him up and placed him on a bed to access what was wrong. He had a huge goose egg on his forehead and blood coming our of his month and nose. We decided that we had better take him down the hospital. I went and got my brother to some and help Monte give him a blessing. I didn’t remember this at the time but later Monte told me that he felt strongly to bless him that the swelling on his brain would go away. After the blessing we got Cameron into the car and I drove he and Emily down the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital his eye was swollen and purple and he had a fat lip. He kept complaining that his neck hut so they put a neck brace on him. I have to be honest in saying that he looked horrible, especially after they put the brace on his neck. He was taken to have a CAT scan done on his neck, head and face. The results came back that he had a fracture in the Orbit bone and extending to the frontal bone. His neck and brain were fine. There was no swelling on the brain at all. He also had a gash on the inside of his upper lip needing stitches. There was nothing that could be done to the fracture. It just needed to heal on its own. He was told that he could not do anything active, including recess at school, for eight weeks. He was so brave through the whole thing. Even after he threw up he teased me that it was because of my bad cooking. He even gave a few smiles.

After three hours in the ER he was cleaned and stitched up and feeling a lot better after getting some strong medicine in him. We had to go back up to camp as we needed to get Monte and the kids as well as Emily’s daughter, Melissa, as we all came up in one car. We got back to camp about 4:30 morning and found that Monte, Melissa, and my mom hadn’t slept much while we were gone. We made Cameron a bed on the floor and tried to go back to sleep for a little bit. I never went back to sleep as every little sound made me jump. We decided to just let Cameron sleep as long as he wanted to and then leave as soon as he woke up. Well he slept and slept. We didn’t end up leaving until after lunch.

I can’t believe that there wasn’t anything more serious wrong with Cameron. He is a lucky little boy who was looked after. One of the missionaries who works at the camp said that he was the recipient of a “tender mercy” from the Lord. I am grateful that nothing major was wrong and that he is healing well. I am also grateful to have a husband that honors his priesthood.

Missing two front teeth

Camryn lost her second tooth and it quite excited that she is missing two teeth just like her older brother! He doesn't think it is too fair that she lost her teeth at age 6 and he was 8.

First lost tooth.

Camryn has been working on getting her tooth out for days. I thought for sure she was going to pull it out at church, but she waited until right after. What an exciting time for her.

Matching Outfits

I love Children’s Place because you can get matching clothes for all the kids. I love that Bryce at age 8 can wear the same thing that his baby brother can wear. And then to have Camryn’s dress match as well, bonus!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day at our house always means a green dinner. I am amazed that my family always eats the green food and never complains. Let me just say that I buy my food coloring in the bigger individual bottles rather than the small box of four.

This year was fun as Camryn was very into the whole leprechaun thing. She kept saying that leprechauns weren’t real, but then she would set a trap for them and kept trying to see one. She made a leprechaun trap in the back of Monte’s truck with ropes. As you can see in the pictures she even had the ropes going in and out of the hubcaps preventing him from driving. She was convinced she would catch one. Just as she went to bed she decided to put her red shiny shoe on the porch with five pennies in it because leprechauns like shiny things and money. When she woke up in the morning she ran out to check her trap and her shoe. She found her trap empty but her shoe filled with shiny pennies. Now more than ever she is convinced leprechauns are real.

Monte's Birthday

The kids and I decided to do a scavenger hunt for Monte for his birthday. We did a little twist to it. We hid 13 different food items all starting with a different letter spelling “Happy Birthday.” It was so fun to first take the kids to the grocery store to choose the items and then let them come home and hide them. I like to try and find creative and fun ways to celebrate birthdays.

Girls Camp Slideshow

Piano Recital Slide Show

Camryn's Dance Recital Slideshow

Ward Camp Out

We had a great time at our ward camp out. We went up Hobble Creek Canyon to some property that our neighbors boss' owned. It was a great big grassy area with plenty of room for everyone and plenty of space for kids to play. Bryce loved playing in the tress while Camryn loved running from tent to tent with her friends.

Camryn's Dance

Camryn has the best dance teacher, Miss Melanie. She is amazing. It is a creative movement type class where they learn how to move their bodies. She takes the dance class with two friends, Kaydenz and Hallee. They have a lot of fun going to dance together.

Bryce's School Water Party

The 2nd grade had a Beach Water Party the last week of school. I came and helped with the water games. The kids all had a great time and got plenty wet. Camryn was able to come with me and really enjoyed getting wet as well. Bryce has had such a great year this year.

Big News!

I realize that not everyone that checks my blog is on facebook and has heard that we have some big, exciting news at our house. Something, for several years, we have hoped and prayed for. Yes, we are expecting!!! I am 11 weeks along and really have been doing well, after getting over the shock. I really didn't believe it until we went to my first appointment and got to see our little one and hear the heart beat. I am due around the 15th of December. The crazy thing is that we actually had just about completed our adoptoin papers. I know that people hear about these stories, but I am just grateful it is us as part of the story.

Why now versus years ago? I have no idea. All I know is what a blessing I feel that it is and how grateful I am. We have learned a lot the past few years and have grown a lot spiritually. We have had neat experiences that I am grateful for as they have pulled me through some hard times.

How fun it has been to share this news with our family and friends. I sure feel loved as people have expressed their happiness for us. One of the best things was telling our kids. They both are so excited. When we asked how they felt about it Camryn responded that she was excited and wanted to help change the diapers. We will see how long that lasts! Bryce's response will be one that will stay with me forever. A big tear welled up in his eye and got emotional. He said how excited he was to have a baby in our house. He said that he loves babies and has prayed to Heavenly Father to give us a baby. What a tender moment that was and how much I want to be able to share with our new baby how much he/she will be loved. Loved by not only us but by so many others!

Goblin Valley

We decided to take a day trip down to Goblin Valley for Memorial Day. Goblin Valley has got to be one of our favorite places to go. This time it was especially fun because the kids were old enough to hike and climb on their own. I wish we had worn our GPS watch to calcualte how many miles we hiked. We played hide-and-go-seek and sardines for quite a while. We then explored the different valleys as we have never done that before. The weather was perfect. Not too hot and sunny. At one point a small rain storm came in. We found a little cave to rest in while the storm passed. There were many puddles after the storm came thorugh that I knew Camryn would not be able to resist. Knowing be brought pajamas in the car to change into I decided just to let Camryn have fun in the puddles. The first big puddle we saw I watched her eye the puddle and try to decided it she should jump in it. I knew she would end up there. It was fun to watch her splash in the puddles. I don't think you are ever too old to enjoy splashing in puddles. The rain also created mud. I still love playing in the mud. I think the kids both thought I was crazy for starting a mud fight, but they loved it. We all ended up quite dirty, but thanks to the wet wipes I had in the car we were able to clean up enough to change clothes and head home. What a great time we had together!

Camryn's Preschool Graduation

Camryn has been attending "Shining Stars" preschool this year. It is taught by a lady in our ward, Miss Alison. She is a fantastic teacher. Camryn loves going to preschool three times a week. She has learned a lot and is very excited to go to Kindergarten next year.

Ogden Marathon

Monte and I decided a few months ago to run the Ogden Marathon. We decided this after hearing that my brother (Toby), sister (Tina) and her husband (Kurt), and our friend (April) were all going to run it. I also had three cousins that ran it. I never thought that would do another marathon but I got the bug and decided to give it a try. I didn't get to run it because of two reasons, my knee has been giving me problems and I am pregnant. The rest of them all ran the marathon though. It was hard for me to be watching and cheering instead of running. I took the kids and we were able to see them all at three different spots along the race course. I had posters that we held up at each spot. My favorite was one written by April's sister and friend that said, "Remember this was your idea!" That brought a lot of laughs to the runners as they read it. I think Monte learned, again, that training really does help when running that far. Let's just say he didn't finish looking like he had been training. I was very proud of all of them all! Next time I want to join them.

Bryce and Camryn also ran in a race. They both ran the 1 mile race. At the starting line they had a fire truck that was spraying water from the top of a ladder. It was a really fun atmosphere for the kids. Camryn was pretty nervous and kept making sure I was going to run with her. Bryce is turning into a good runner. Camryn had a side ache the whole race so she didn't enjoy it quite as much. I was very proud of both of them and they did a great job.