Updates...

Hello everyone. I know I have been horrible at keeping up with the blog. I will try to do better. We have been so busy with soccer and school lately. I have three kids playing soccer this year. Connor Colin and Hayley. Connor and Colin are on the same team this year, Desert Hawks, and Jon is the assistant coach for their team. Hayley's team name is Arctic Heat and for not playing in 5 years she is doing pretty good. I took pictures of her last game but, I have not be able to upload them yet. My laptop crashed and all my stuff is stored on there. Luckily, my computer savvy husband has been able to retrieve everything so far.

Connor had his 6 month scoliosis check last week, and unfortunately the digression in his spine is a little more than what we had hoped for...ok a lot more. He has had an 18 percent increase in his curvature within the past 6 months. The normal for scoliosis patients is 10% in one year. Connor is going to be starting physical therapy and he is also going to have an MRI done for his back. The doctor wants to make sure that there is no other underlying cause for the rapid digression in Connor's scoliosis.

Please keep Connor in your prayers, while he is having to go through this ordeal.

Building our Testimonies

“Personal, sincere involvement in the scriptures produces faith, hope, and solutions to our daily challenges. Frequently reading, pondering, and applying the lessons of the scriptures, combined with prayer, become an irreplaceable part of gaining and sustaining a strong, vibrant testimony.”

Elder Donald L. Staheli, formerly of the Seventy, “Securing Our Testimonies,” Ensign, Nov. 2004, 39.

Another Priesthood Holder

Well, Colin has finally turned his 12. My parents came for a few days last week, to help celebrate his birthday and be there for his priesthood ordination. We have quite a large Deacons quorum and I was a little taken aback as they all stood up for my mom and I as we walked into the room. The leaders are really teaching these young men how to be polite and courteous. It was very sweet.

Jon was able to perform the ordination and my dad was able to be included in the circle. Connor was also present, since he will still be a deacon for two more months. The spirit was so strong there. It brought tears to my eyes. We now have three priesthood holders in our home. It is such a wonderful feeling. I hope that I can be the kind of mother to my sons that the Stripling Warriors mothers were to them.

I hope that Colin and Connor know how much I love them and am proud of the choices they have made this far in their lives to become worthy priesthood holders...and I look forward to seeing Colin passing the sacrament for the first time next week along side his brother. They are such good examples to their little brothers. I am very blessed to have them as part of our family.

I was trying to find a recent picture of Colin and stumbled across these, which were taken when we went to Tombstone this spring. I thought since after all the talking of Colin's good choices and example, these were a little humorous. I will post a picture soon of Colin in his new Sunday clothes he got for his birthday. :)

Homeschooling

For those of you who don't know yet...I have decided to try homeschooling my kids this year. It's not that they were in horrible schools and the original plan was just to homeschool my two middle school age kids; but the other two decided that they wanted to be as well. I couldn't say no.

So, this past week was the first week of our new adventure. I wish I had pictures to share but, I/m sure all you would see is complete chaos. I think this will be a good thing for our family, it will just take a few weeks until we get a good schedule down that is best for our family.

I am using the k12 curriculum. It is available in several states. K12 is considered a home-based charter school, so the state pays for the materials and even a computer. You also have a teacher assigned to your children, so that should you need help, they are there. One of the best things that I like about it, is that since it is considered "public" school at home, Connor does not lose his special education services. That was a big hold up for me in deciding to take him out if school...he has wanted to be homeschooled for years and now I have found a way that he can without messing up his IEP.

The kids can also work at their own pace. They move move forward as fast as they want or take a little time on something and not feel so rushed. Whenever, they complete a subject early, the school will send next years materials and they can get started early.

Other than the initial craziness, we are all excited to have this opportunity. I'm looking forward to keeping everyone updated on our adventures in schooling.

Butterflies...

I was working outside in the yard today and happened to see a beautiful butterfly fly by. I watched as it flew up to the top of one the trees in our yard. It was not alone...there were tons of butterflies flying and landing on the leaves of the tree. We have so many nasty little bugs here in AZ...it's nice to see some of the beautiful creatures that we have too.

Arizona Sunsets

My friend took this picture a couple of weeks ago at a park in town that we frequently go to. Arizona sunsets are absolutely beautiful. I have never seen sunsets like theses anywhere else. Now imagine it's night-time, completely pitch black, no street likes except for the natural light of the moon. You stare up into the sky to see millions of stars as close to the earth as you have ever seen them. I wish I could show a picture of that. I love Arizona skies!

Tea Party

Hayley's cute hat!

Our Tea Party Hats. Hayley's is on the left and mine is on the right.


Ready for a party!

The Activity Day Girls had a recognition night a couple of weeks ago. They invited all the moms and girls (ages 8-11) to a Tea Party (lemonade). The girls and moms were to wear tea party hats that they had decorated themselves. We really didn't have a tea party hats to decorate and didn't want to spend a lot of money on hats, so Hayley and I bought some paper plates and bowls and made our hats using them. It was a lot of fun and everyone thought that they were sooo cute and creative. Each mom and girl were to get up and share with the group what made them special. Hayley really wanted to do it, but was too shy, so I got up for her. It was a still a wonderful night for the both of us to spend together. Hayley is growing up so fast. I can't believe she is already 10 years old. She has sooo many gifts and talents and I hope that one day she will feel confident enough to share them with others. She is such a joy to have in our family.

Kindergarten Graduation

I have not posted any pictures in awhile. I've gotten a little lazy I guess. But, we have had a lot of activities going on, so I will spend the next few days catching up. Our Andrew just had his Kindergarten graduation a couple of weeks ago. He was soooo excited and as soon as it was over informed us that he was now in the first grade. The class had a little program and he dutifully said his part. We all enjoyed pizza and cake afterwards.

MRI Update

The MRI came back normal, which is good...but, it still does not explain the symptoms that I am having. So, they are going to be doing a spinal tap. I am not sure when that will be happening yet.

To All of My Wonderful Family and Friends...

I haven't been keeping up on the blog very well lately. I apologize for that. This has been a crazy past couple of weeks and does not seem to be over yet. A couple of weeks ago, I went in for my yearly eye exam. Much to my surprise it came up abnormal. My eye doctor didn't think it was serious, but just wanted to be sure so he scheduled me to go up to a specialty clinic in Tucson.

I wasn't supposed to go up for a couple of weeks, but started having some abnormal symptoms in my right eye and a lot of pressure in my head on the right side. I called and they moved up my appointment immediately. They .did some tests and basically confirmed what the other eye doctor had said. Plus, they discovered that I am experiencing some peripheral vision loss in my right eye. They want to send me to get a brain scan next week. I don't know the exact date yet. They are supposed to call me. I already called them today to bug them about it. I do not want to waste time. This is a really scary thing for not just me, but my whole family.

I did get a blessing from Jon and it said that as long as I act on it and don't delay, I will be able to overcome whatever it is. I have been trying set my own anxieties aside and just go for it. I know Heavenly Father is helping me. Even though this is the biggest trial I have ever had to face in my life, I have faith that I can get through this. I hope you all will keep me and my family in your prayers.

I will keep everyone posted whenever I get more information.

Another William-ism

Just thought I share this. This morning when William woke up I asked him if he would like some breakfast. He told me no, that he had dreamed of popsicles and that had made him full, so no he did not need breakfast. :)

What kids hear

We were having family prayer tonight and my 4 year old William was asked to say it. We have been helping William think of things to say in his prayers, because otherwise his prayers pretty much consist of "Thank you for this day" and that's it. So, anyway...in helping him with the family prayer, I whispered to him, to say "Please help us to get out of debt" (something we are working on as a family). He then proceeded to say, "Please help us get to a bed." That did it for trying to keep the reverence. I think everyone just cracked up. It doesn't help either when your toddler gets up during the middle of the prayer and starts singing her ABC's at the top of her lungs and dances. Guess we need to keep working on the reverence.

Mary Had A Little Lamb...or somebody does

This is kind of silly, but I thought I would share it anyway. I stopped at the movie store today to rent some movies for Hayley. (Poor thing, she has a fever, sore throat and ear infection) On my way out, I kept hearing a sound like a sheep bleating. I was like, what the heck is that? As I got closer to my car, I happened to notice that a lamb was sitting in the passenger side of someone's truck. They had the window rolled down slightly, just like you would a dog. Every time someone would walk by, the sheep would start bleating. I guess your pet doesn't have to be a dog to take it on a trip with you. It was the funniest thing.

Update

We spent the day in Tucson yesterday because we finally got Connor in to Orthopedic's for his scoliosis consultation. It took weeks for us to get an appointment and when we did, they had to double book us, which means we were pretty much had to be treated like a walk in. It was such a loooonnnnnggggg wait.

The Dr. took a look at Connor's X-rays and told us that it wasn't severe right now. But because of the amount of progression Connor has already for his age, the Doctor said that he was pretty much sitting on the fence about whether or not to be concerned about it at this point. He said that Connor will still be growing for the next 4-5 years and scoliosis depends entirely on growth. It's a growth thing.

Connor's spine forms an S shape with a 35 degree curve on the top and a 24 degree curve on the bottom. The Doc said that they start to get concerned when the angles start to go over 3o degrees. At 45 degrees they start considering surgery and 50 degrees or more they will do surgery.

So, for now all they can do is monitor it. We have to go back every 6 months to determine the rate of progression. The Doc said the best thing to do to try and stop the progression was some kind of physical therapy. He said he could write a referral for it but, also said doing things like Yoga and Pilates would be just as good. Jon has an inversion table and the doc said that would be great for Connor too. Anything to increase his flexibility will help slow down progression and hopefully stop it altogether.

Fun at the Rodeo

Friday night we went to Fort Huachuca with some friends
to see the Cochise College Rodeo. The kids had gotten
coupons for it at school ans were soooooo excited to go.
We had been having wonderful weather all week, we
thought that we could handle this adventure. A cold
front came in earlier that day bringing with it cold and
gusty canyon winds, but we braved it. The kids had a
great time. Connor was especially fastinated by the
bucking bronco's. We ended up leaving before it was over,
because it just got too cold for the kids. So, we missed the
goat tying and the bull riding. We made up for it by stopping
off to get some hot chocolate to thaw our bodies out piece by
piece. I did take some pictures. Some of them are not
so great because of the glare from the lights but,
I did the best I could.
I hope you enjoy them.

Hayley's Birthday

We had a small family party for Hayley's 10th birthday this year. As you can probably tell from her pictures, she was very satisfied with all of the goodies she got this year. I let each child pick out what they want for their birthday dinner. Hayley chose to have shrimp and sushi for her birthday dinner. So, we decided to try grilling the shrimp. I think they turned out pretty well. Hayley also does not like birthday cake, so every year I bake a giant chocolate chip cookie and decorate it. She loves it and looks forward to it every year. Our Hayley is growing up. Kids sure don't stay little for very long. We are so happy to have Hayley in our family. We love you Hayley!

Jon's 40th Birthday

Jon's 40th birthday was on February 19th,
so we decided to have a birthday BBQ to celebrate
this milestone in his life. We had a great turn out
and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially
Jon. Oh, and yes people are wearing shorts in February.
It's Arizona!

New Years Resolutions...in February!

I know, I know it's a little late for New year's resolutions. But it is never too late to make a commitment to improve upon ourselves. I keep thinking about the scripture verse in D&C 109:8

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"

Every year that seems to be our family's motto. We are constantly striving to to these things and raise our kids in a righteous home. This year I want to make that scripture a little more personal and apply it specifically to me. This is the year that I want to work on myself. I want to organize myself more spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. If I can better myself, then I can be a better wife, mother, leader and teacher.

Now, finding a place to begin. That's a challenge! But I am willing to take it on!

The Mom Song

My friend Becky sent this to me via email. I thought it was hilarious and just had to share it with all of you moms out there. Enjoy. I hope you get a good laugh out of it.

New Years Hiking

Some friends of ours invited us to go hiking on New Years Day this year over at the Coronado National Park. It is about a twenty minute drive from our house. We hiked up to the Coronado cave and went exploring. http://www.nps.gov/coro/planyourvisit/caving.htm We had to climb down about 20 feet to get into the mouth of the cave. The kids had an absolute blast, even Alison. We thought she would be scared because the cave is quite dark, even with flashlights. But, she is our fearless one. Nothing scares her. She was so dirty from playing on the rocks and in the dirt, but she had fun. I think we will need to invest in a child back carrier for future hikes. Alison rode on Jon's shoulders most of the way up to the cave, but she almost jumped off. Scary! The kids want to go back again, so next time we go I will take the camera in the cave with me. I didn't take it inside this time, because I wasn't sure how the conditions were.

After the cave, we drove up to the overlook and Jon took some of the kids on a trail up to the top of the mountain. You can see the US/Mexican border from the overlook. There is a very distinct black line. We only live about 15 to 20 miles from the border.

To top the day off, we all went to the Diner, a fifties style restaurant, to have dinner and milkshakes.

There are so many places to explore here. This area has so much history. I'm hope that we can take advantage of that while we are here.

Family Night Fun

Alison is such a ham. Whenever we tell her to "smile" she says "cheeeeeeeeese" and scrunches her face up. It's so funny.

For treats on Family Night Hayley had made homemade popsicles. The kids had so much fun eating them and laughing at Alison's reaction. Everytime someone would get ready to take a bite, she would run up with her tongue hanging out, hoping they would share with her. Most of the time they did.

Andrew's Birthday

Andrew's Birthday

Andrew turned 6 years old on January 6 but, we had a little family party for him tonight. We were babysitting, so those kids got in on the fun too. It made Andrew all the more excited. He wanted a Star Wars cake this year, so I made the attempt. I didn't do too bad. A few cake decorating lessons and who knows, maybe I'll actually learn how to make straight lines. I guess what really counts is that Andrew loved it and had a great time. It was perfect to him. Happy Birthday Andrew! And as Andrew now says, "Only two more years until I'm 8." (He can get baptized)