Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always full of joy.

~ Mother Teresa

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Tagged Again... :)

10 Years Ago: I had a 1 year old. We lived in a little home in AF, I was busy with working 3 full days a week at the bank and being a SAHMom the other days. Jess was finishing up schooling and preparing to take his Journeyman's Test.

5 Years Ago: Were some of the hardest years we have ever faced. Jess was repeatedly laid off (post 9-11 economy) and we were living off our food storage. Jess' only steady income was teaching at the college. We had the 3 older kids in and out of the hospital for extended stays with lung problems...not knowing it was our home that was making them sick. I had Mono and could barely function. Emma was 6, Cody was 4 and Cam was 18 months. Buying a new home or starting a new business weren't even part of our plan or future...

5 Months Ago: I was waiting to have heart surgery...and so many wonderful people were helping me to care for my family where I couldn't. I was really looking forward to the Charity Auction that was being planned on my behalf... and I was suffering with major cabin fever and couldn't wait to get out! Jess was busy with work and the kids were learning to take care of themselves. Cam just turned 6.

5 Weeks Ago: We had one week left of school... Cam just graduated from Kindergarten...and I was feeling better than I had in years! And we all were anxiously awaiting summer and the fun it held in it's promise! :) We celebrated our 12th Wedding Anniversary at the start of the month.

5 Days Ago: I was getting my oldest little man ready to go to Lake Powell with his Gram and Papa. My daughter was preparing for a birthday party sleepover and Cam was feeling all sorts of left out. We were feeling sad about a ward split ready to happen this weekend.

In 5 Days: The suspense will be over...and we will be getting into the swing of new routines. My baby will be home from Lake Powell. We will be looking forward to the 4th and the celebration of Cody's birthday!

In 5 Weeks: It will be hot. We will be in Idaho visiting my Grandpa and seeing my brother from Washington. My kids will get to see the Park we loved to go to with my Grandparents, we will eat at the drive-in there and we will go to the Twin Falls Temple open house. Jess will have had his eye surgery and his diabetes will be under better control.

In 5 Months: Yikes! It will be Christmas time!! I need to start thinkin'! LOL! It will be a lovely time... we will make memories... eat cookies... drink cocoa and we will go to the Trans Siberian Concert again! YEA!

In 5 Years: I will have a child with a learner's permit...dreading November when she can drive and date. We will be in the throws of teenagedom with half of my crew. Jess will hopefully have multiple employees, we will have health insurance and our home will be half paid off.

In 10 Years: I could be a grandma! *gulp* Emma will be 21...hopefully happily going to college, dating someone nice and maybe thinking about a mission if not...instead of like me married with a baby already. Cody will be preping for a mission, I hope :) . Cam will be just newly able to date and drive and my sweet baby boy will be our last to have reached teenagedom a few months before! Our home will be paid off and we will have gone to Hawaii twice! *wink*

What fun! I now tag anyone who reads this! I love to learn more about you all! ((hugs))
~~heather

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Food Storage

How Long Could You Survive Trapped In Your Own Home?
OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

My friend Nicole did this quiz...and it was interesting to think about... I must be on a disater preparedness kick or something! LOL! Fun quiz... interesting side note...even if I was starving...I would not eat my dog! Bwahahahaha!!!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Are you ready??

Take this quiz... are you ready if there was an earthquake? Post your score in the comments section. I only got 50%! *blush* Guess I am not as prepared as I thought! LOL!

Take the Earth Quake Preparedness Test:

http://www.nwcn.com/sharedcontent/features/flash/quake/during.html

This is great info!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Relay For Life

We were able to attend part of Relay for Life again this year.
It was rough on my heart, but really fun!

G'pa E. was honored as our Survior/Reason for walking. They had the Surviors and their caregivers take the first lap...following bag pipes playing. (very cool! gives you chills!) We just love G'pa and G'ma so much!! It is always so fun to honor them! We hope next year the rest of the family want to do our own team together for him...


The next lap the teams can join their honories and so the kids ran and joined them...

We wore tye dye shirts as a team...it was a Wizard of Oz theme...and our team's mantra was "Kick Cancer Over the Rainbow"

They had tons of fun activities to do, booths to buy things and a real party spirit.

Once it got dark they did a short video presentation of last years Relay...G'pa was in like 3 of the pictures and the kids were in a few too! They were tickled! They then lit the luminaries and there was a silent walk in honor of those whose names are listed on each bag...be they surviors, fighters or those who have lost the fight to cancer...

We honored my friend Maria's sweet young sister-in-law who is fighting her second battle now (YOU ARE IN OUR PRAYERS!!)

And of course G'pa E. I didn't remember until later that I didn't get one done for my G'pa M, but I remembered him in my heart...

It was a lovely night! The kids LOVED the cotton candy, playing in the dark, wearing glowing jewlery, playing with the little flashlights G'ma bought them and bouncing in the inflateble houses. We loved spending time with G'pa and G'ma... and being able to be a part of something so worthy!
The next day we were up early and did our yard sale for Relay... THANKYOU to all who donated items for it... we raised over $400 for the American Cancer Society at the yard sale alone! WAHOO!! It was AWESOME!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Summer Tradition







We had a blast at the BYU Carillon Bells Concert this week. We celebrated birthdays in my family (Ma & Dad & then Sister Jenny's was the day of) We brought our neighbors/friends and ate pizza and laughed at all the lame songs they tried to play this year. (you'd think if it was part of the "Freedom Festival" it would be patriotic...oh no.) We enjoyed Cumbaya and other obscure delights (not) LOL!! It was enjoyable solely due to the cool grass, shade and great company... oh! and the Papa John's Pizza! Mmmmmmmmmm!

My 1st Photo Shoot

These are just a few of the couple hundred photos I took at my first hired gig. I left out my favorites with kids in them because, well, they aren't my kids...LOL! These kids were AMAZING though! I kept getting drawn into the music and distrated from taking photos! *grin* It was fun! And for not *really* knowing all the ins and outs of my camera or ever taken a class... I was pleased with most of them.




Wednesday, June 18, 2008

God works in mysterious ways...

Today I am feeling VERY thankful in a very profound way for all the help in covering the costs for my heart surgery. I won't go into much detail because I think he is still processing it, but we learned yesterday that there are some things with my sweetheart (diabetes) that medically need taken care of ASAP. It CAN NOT wait. And it is scary. And here I think about the thought of facing this without having my surgery etc paid off. I think of the crushing burden it could have been. I think of the financial black hole we could have been in, and I am in awe. Heavenly Father knew this was coming. He knew we could not do this all. And He certainly knew we would not be ABLE to meet this need while still trying to meet all the previous. Now we can. It will not be nearly as expensive, but it will be long term medical needs...some extra each month that now we can handle because we dont have huge payments from me. I feel like I am going to burst with joy at the path we have been lead on. I feel like without all of you NONE of this would be possible. I am in tears as we face this next whirlwind... Heavenly Father loves me. He loves Jess. And He loves each of you... and so do I!! Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Another small miracle in our lives has been given. ((((HUGS))) And I am utterly in debt to you all for this peace I feel.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Neighborhood Camp Out


We had SUCH a great weekend! SO great in fact I barely took any photos! der! Here is the "dog" (as Caleb called it) on the way up the canyon...
We left just us thursday and claimed a large field for the gathering. It was 49 degrees when we got there at 2pm. We were a little nervous about those that were bringing tents the next night, and at the same time THRILLED that we had a nice warm trailer to hunker down in (Thank you JWD Electric! LOL!) We took the kids fishing and roasted hotdogs and brats for dinner. We slept well...all of us dead asleep until 10am! :0 But by the time it we got up it was warmer outside than it was in the trailer. Wahoo!! It was plenty warm enough for the rest of the weekend.

About 2pm on friday the neighborhood started rolling in... Caleb was in HEAVEN to have his bestest buddy in the whole world there! They were only seperable when they got tired and wanted their mommies...other than that... they played hard and were joined at the hip!
Sophie LOVED camping! She even liked hanging out around the fire pit...couldn't have been the left over tid bits from the kids! No. Not so. *grin*
Cody had a hard time not wanting to play his DS, but he survived. It was good learning lesson for Dad and Mom to how much he really plays it! It won't be going on the next trip! *wink*
Emmalee hooked up with her friends and we bearly saw her most of the time. She had a blast!
And then there was Cam. He struggles with the whole time thing. "when are we going to do s'mores?", "When are we going fishing?", "when are we going to bed?". It was all I could do to get the boy to relax and fly by the seat of his pants! LOL! He had a full tummy and a messy face the entire time though... he was a happy boy.
Jess took groups of kids fishing both days. Cody was the only one to catch a fish... and Jess untangled many a line out of trees...but the kids have made memories not soon to be forgotten!


Here are two of some of my favorite people! :) We had about 12 families from the neighborhood come up! It was a RIOTous good time! Some stayed in tents, some in trailers, some in the back of trucks and some came for dinner and s'mores only. It was awesome! We all have agreed we are going again, in a large group, anyone who wants to please come, Aug 15th! So mark your calendars! There is suppose to be a meteor shower that weekend.... should be a ball!

The bishop helping erect a tent....

And then the princess one! The guys were great! Whoever needed to get a tent up...off they went! It was a slick process! Many hands make for a GREAT camping trip! As do many adult eyes on large groups of little people! Tee hee!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

An ABC's Tag

A: Attached or Single: Happily Attached :)
B: Best Friends: Jestin, Maria, Amy, Sister Jenny, Cousin Nikki
C: Cake or Pie: Cake - yellow w/chocolate frosting (homemade from a box & can - hail Ms. Betty Crocker!), Ma's Salmon Pie for dinner - Pumpkin Pie for dessert
D: Day: Sunday - I get to go to church with my family, have dinner with family or friends or just snuggle down with the kids and Jess with no pressures of things I "should" be doing.
E: Essential Item: Medications...darn it! Also: Chapstick, toothbrush & my Pepcid AC
F: Favorite Color: Blue, Pink, Brown, Green...can't pick just one
G: Gummie bears or worms: Worms...they are MUCH more fun to eat!
H: Hometown: If it looked the same...I grew up in Orem, I loved American Fork, but our hometown is now where we live...falling in love with Spanish... and we are having a balst finding all the "treats" in our new stompin' ground
I: Indulgences: Cold Stone's Cookie Don't you Want Some - Made with Cake batter icecream, no extra chocolate chips, in a plain waffle bowl. It makes me happy ANYtime! LOL!
J: January or July: Either! Two of my babes b-days are those months...so they are fun!
K: Kids: 5 - 1 Girl 3 Boys 1 Princess Puppy
L: Life is incomplete without: Jestin. Chocolate. Avacados. My Scriptures. Prayer. My Faith.
M: Marriage Date: May 4th
N: Number of Siblings: 4 - 2 older brothers, 1 little sister. I "raised" them all quite well! Bwahahaha!
O: Oranges or Apples: Apples...oranges leave you sticky! I'll take orange juice though! :)
P: Phobias or fears: Snakes, Scorpions; not being able to protect my kids from harm, losing Jess too soon and being alone.
Q: Quote: "God gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it in it's nest"
R: Reason to Smile: I am a Child of a Heavenly Father who loves me, my kids are healthy as am I, we are leaving to go camping today! YEA!
S: Season: Holiday Season
T: Tag: Tynelle, Jenny, Tammy & Diana & JoAnne
U: Unknown Fact about me: I can't have someone else do my nails (preemie sensory issues again) so I taught myself how to do my own...and I have 4 broken ones today that I can't wait to be up camping and fix them tommrow because I won't "stink up the house" as Jess puts it! *Grin*
V: Very Favorite Store: Home Depot with Jess, IKEA with friends, Walmart by myself, DI for "treasures"
W: Worse Habit: I chew on the sides of my nails until I bleed (That is why I wear fake ones...*Wink*)
X: X-rays or Unltrasounds: No broken bones for X-rays ((Knock on Wood)), but lots of ultrasounds for various reasons
Y: Your Favorite Food: Stuffed Chicken Marsala from Olive Garden, Steak and All you can eat Shrimp from Sizzler, and Jestin's Homemade BBQ ribs w/baked Sweet Potatoes
Z: Zodiac Sign: Aries

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Tractor Surfing...

Jestin and the neighbor were having WAY too much fun yesterday! (THANK YOU Brett!!) He got the ground all broken up in our backyard so the weeds are more manageble and we can get it leveled out better! The men with the fence posts come tommorow!! SO excited!! Thank heavens for tax relief! We are thrilled to get our fence... maybe I can train the princess to start going potty outside... instead of being pad trained inside! (One can hope!) *grin*




Yeehaw!! See my garden in the back ground? The garden and the fruit trees survived the "waves"...
YEEHAW!! Jess had a blast! The boys kept beggin' to go join him! LOL!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Caleb sneezed while facing mom...

Mom - Thanks for the shower little man!

Caleb (after a moment of thought) - Oh! I sorry! (insert little laugh) I showered you wif my bwess you!

*giggle*

Speeding...hoping a cop would find me...

Yesterday was scary. I mean really scary for me. Soo... Cam is allergic to peanut butter. He has eaten peanut M&M's with no problems, but PB makes him itchy. Ok...so I made these divine 7 layer bars...my absolute fav...and I used cashews...like always. Cam has eaten them before, as well as cashews plain before. We had them for a treat after lunch. Almost immediately he complained that his tounge was itchy. I sent him upstairs to brush his teeth and rinse him mouth out. He did and then came back down in tears saying it didn't help. I gave him a dose of benedryl and told him we had to give it some time to work. About 10 minutes later he complained that his tummy hurt and within less than 30 seconds was VIOLENTLY projectile vomiting It was SO sad!!

He cried and cried. I called the Dr to see how much more benedryl I could give him (since I know it absorbs completely in 30 minutes, but it had only been 10) and she told me half a dose, but to watch him closely, that if he couldnt breathe well to get him to the ER asap. She tried to talk me into just going anyway since it was his first reaction. We got the meds in him and within a coulpe of minutes he said it was hard to breathe. I loaded him up and off we went...

I was driving 70-80 down the 40mph road to the hospital passing all the cars through the middle lane with my flashers going, praying no one needed to make a left handed turn in front of me, and deep down hoping an officer would try to stop me so that everyone would pull over to let us pass as I just let him chase me! Cam was in the back seat taking very deep breaths every 2-3 breaths... and I have never been so scared! Even with their bad asthma in the past...I dont know why...but I was not as nervous as this was making me...maybe it was how fast it took over his body? His lips were fat and swollen, and he was blotchy all over his lower half of his face.

We arrived and I just left my car by the door and ran him in. They got him back and started taking his vitals/info etc and as we were doing all of this, you could SEE his lips start to go down (they started to look like raisins because they had been so swollen). His O2 levels leveled out quickly and by the time the Dr came in he looked much better. He even commented on how different he looked from when I whizzed past him to now (less than 10-15 minutes) but now the whites of his eyes were turning red and swollen. They put him on a steriod for 5 days, a heavy duty anti-inflamatory/antihistamine for 3-5 days (every 6 hours without fail) and he now must keep an Epi-pen near him. No more nuts of any kind...and man alive I wouldn't want them! The Dr said that each reaction doubles in serverity...and though he commended me for quick thinking this time...he said it may not work as well next. *gulp*

We came home and it had barely been 2 hours when he broke out in a mean bright red rash in all his bends (elbows, knees, corners of his eyes, neck, behind his ears etc). We called the ER and they said to jump start the next dose that was not due for another 4 more hours and give it to him now. POOR THING!! The rash cleared up within 20 minutes. They said it could take up to 3-5 days for any residual nut to work it's way out of his system. What a nightmare! My poor boy!

We are SO thankful for modern medicine!! And for the CHIP program we supported this week... my baby is ok & we could get him the help he needed without batting an eyelash (not that I would have...but the post stress of an ER cost is not something I need to stress about now)! I feel so lucky! Cam is ok. He has some residual wheezing...and a tummy ache...but he has the meds he needs and he will be ok. THANK HEAVENS for the place in which we live!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Another Link or two....

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=200&sid=3460909

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

What a wonderful day!


FIELD TRIP!!!!!!!




BUT WITH PURPOSE...

They invited me to speak at the CHIP Event at the State Capitol Building today. Our family was featured in the booklet they created to give to local, state and federal officials.


It was marvelous! It felt so great to do something to help bless other families!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Advice from a Wise Old Mountain Man

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Keep skunks, bankers, and lawyers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumblebee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered. . . Not yelled.

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel, or unkind word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their kin.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest up to God.