Christmas Newsletter 2011

Hello again! In case you feel like you’ve missed out on our annual newsletter, don’t worry. We haven’t sent one out for a few years. You are in luck this year though!
Our newest addition Megan was born this past January. Although the first several months she was colicky, she is very happy girl and likes to clap and “sing.” She is now walking everywhere! We are so glad she is here and feel like our family is complete.
Jonathan is now 3 years old. He is all boy and loves any kind of ball. He really enjoyed our trip to Montana this summer and caught his first fish with Uncle Tom (more about our trip here). Even though he is rough and likes to play hard, Jonny has a sweet side too and is always entertaining.
Katie just celebrated her sixth birthday. She started kindergarten this fall and is reading like a pro. She recently had a trip to the ER where she had to have stitches on two fingers (details here).
Breanna is 9 years old and in fourth grade this year. She enjoys tumbling class with Becca and is learning to play piano. She is a great helper with the younger kids or fixing things with dad.
Rebecca is 12 years old and in sixth grade. She is our babysitter extraordinaire! She plays the flute and piano and is doing great on both instruments. She really enjoyed going to science camp in April.
Carolyn doesn’t have much to say about herself. Her biggest achievement this year is having 5 kids and not going (completely) crazy.
Richard ran his second marathon in October (read more about it here). He is still working at Apollo but his position has slightly changed this year, giving him a bigger work load. He also fixed up our backyard and it looks great.
This year has had its share of trials, but we rejoice in our many blessings and are thankful for the lessons and strength our trials give us. We are so thankful for family and friends like you, and we are especially thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ. May we all keep Him at the center of our lives throughout the Christmas season and always.

Look Who's Walking!

So yeah....Megan is walking.  I haven't wanted to post this because I really don't want my last baby to be growing up so fast.  She has been walking for a couple of weeks now.  I thought maybe it was just a phase she was going through, but apparently not.  I forced myself to take some pictures of her this morning, even though she isn't all dolled up.  It is hard to take pictures of a constantly moving/getting-into-trouble target.

Jonny was trying to help Megan stay still for the picture.  Thanks bud.
She is now 11 months old.  I'm not sure how much she weighs, but she is not very chunky.  She is a climber too.  She works her way out of the high chair seat belt and, if we aren't watching closely, will stand on top of the tray.  She hates to be confined and already thinks she should be able to do all that her older siblings are doing.  Stop growing up now, I mean it!  (Anybody want a peanut?)

Katie turns 6!

Katie had a birthday earlier this month.  She has been so excited for her birthday and counting down the days for a few months now.  The day finally arrived and she got a few presents in the morning before school, such as her new birthday outfit and a new purse and wallet.  (Really, that's what she wanted.)  After a yummy breakfast, she was off to school.
 

Richard went to the school for lunch and brought Katie her order of a junior bacon cheeseburger, french fries, and a vanilla frosty with M&M's.  He was the most popular guy at school that day because he really likes to play.  Apparently he was jump roping, hula hooping, playing tag and kickball.  He said all the kids were flocking around him, trying to get his attention and wanting to play too.  Yeah, he's an awesome dad.
Later, I went into Katie's class, where she got to stand on a chair while they sang to her.

 

Then we all went outside where we had donuts!  And she got this awesome hat.

 

After school, Katie was able to invite 3 friends to go with us to Chuck E. Cheese.  Oh boy!  What a party!  (Actually, it is a great place on a weeknight.  Hardly anyone else was there!)  Katie wasn't too sure about this ride. 

 

She is a very competitive bowler though.  Don't mess up her concentration!

 

Here she is with her three friends she invited!  What a bunch of cute girls!  Blythe, Raquel, and Gemma had a great time too.

 

Katie loved all her presents. 

 

 

Happy Birthday Katie!  You are such a sweet girl and we are so glad you are in our family!

Katie's eventful week

Katie had a bit of a rough week a while ago. She was getting her second loose tooth, and Dad convinced her to try one of his methods for yanking it out. Tie a long piece of floss around it and the other end to a remote control car, and go for it! After several hours of coaxing and playing with the truck, the tooth was still not out. Katie was a very careful driver. (ignore the mess in the background)

 

The tooth came out on its own a few days later.

Here is Katie on Nerd Day at school. Isn't she cute (even with a mouthful of chocolate Cheerios)?

 

That night she got to go to a special family activity: ICE SKATING! This was her first time ever and she had a great time. She was doing really well...until she tripped and Dad could stop fast enough and stepped on her hand. Oh dear! Richard scooped her up and rushed to the first aid station, where they quickly determined she would need stitches. So Richard and Katie drove to an Urgent Care, and the older girls got a ride home where I was with the younger kids. After they got home, I met Richard and Katie at Urgent Care. Here is her hand after it was washed up (you should thank me for not posting the bloody one).

 

Unfortunately, we learned not to go to an Urgent Care for anything urgent. They told us that she would need to see a hand specialist, but because they had given her pain medication, she would have to be transferred by ambulance. Richard gave her a priesthood blessing that promised her that her hand would be fine with minimal treatment necessary. Katie was a little nervous about the ambulance, but the stuffed animal they gave her really helped. Really, she was kinda silly from the pain meds and didn't really care about anything at all.

 

Once at Cardon Children's ER, and another 2 hour wait, the doctor looked at her hand and said it was most likely broken but would see what the x-rays showed before calling in the specialist. The x-rays came back normal! No broken bones. No ripped tendons. She just needed a few stitches in each finger. What a miracle! So, although we didn't get home till 4:30 am, we are grateful that this was little more than a mild inconvenience.
She has since had the stitches removed and is doing great!

Rebecca's busy November

This month was full of fun stuff for Rebecca. Near the beginning of the month, she and two of her friends competed in the "Battle of the Books," where each team has to answer questions about 4 books that they have read. Their team won! Now on to reading the next 4 books.
Next, Becca had her first Young Women in Excellence, which is kinda like a Court of Honor. She had only been in YW a month but she was asked to accompany the opening song, something she has never done before. She played "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," and she did great.
The next night was mind-blowing for mom and dad. Becca got to participate in a Young Lions choir concert. Kids (mostly 6th graders) from all the elementary schools that feed into Red Mountain joined with the junior high and high school choirs. It was surreal to have one of our kids up on the stage that Richard and I sang on a few years ago (or so it seems). Here is the combined elementary choir.

Keeping her eyes on the conductor...good job!

Cousin Jenny was also there! What a fun surprise!

It was a great concert and we are so excited for many more choir concerts in our future. :)
The following week was the Young Lions Band concert. This was pretty fun too, although not quite as exciting as the event was not organized as well. Still it was great to hear a big band playing, and Becca was very impressed with the HS marching band.

Becca's final event this month was a piano composition recital. She worked really hard and wrote a beautiful song called "Megan's Lullaby." (If only Megan would sleep whenever she heard it!) She (and mom) got to perform it at a recital and she got a small trophy.

We are so proud of all of Rebecca's blossoming talents. But what I love most about her is her willingness to help, her kindness, her sensitivity to others, and her good nature. We are so glad to have Rebecca in our family and we love her so much!

Sick....

I am sick of being sick.

[insert picture of nasty looking sick woman here]

I have been battling a cough/head cold for nearly 4 weeks now. I have had 2 rounds of antibiotics and 1 of steriods, and more over-the-counter medicines than I care to count. I'm still not better. I'm tired and run-down and just plain grumpy. Ugh! I just want to be able to feel normal and get my house and life back in order. Oh and to top off the sickness, I had to stop nursing Megan as the meds would not be good for her, so that just adds to the fun. (She is 10 months old now, and was only nursing a little, so she is doing just fine.)

So, since no one really reads my blog anyway (which is fine), I figured here was as good of a place to vent as any. But now that I'm typing it, I feel so foolish for whining about a measly sickness. There are so many people that are going through much more difficult trials. I really do have so many reasons to be thankful and rejoice.

My kids are all alive, safe, and relatively healthy (just slight colds, thank goodness! I'd much rather be the sick one than have them be sick.).

I have a wonderful husband who works hard and has a great job.

An abundance of other blessings that I really should write down somewhere...

The knowledge of the gospel and that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me.

My Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sick, shmick.

October in review

After our trip to Utah, it was a month to catch up on stuff, and we stayed busy, and I got sick (for nearly 3 weeks now...but getting better). Here are a few highlights.

During October break, the kids and I went to a little farm. It was hot and dusty and smelled like cows. We didn't stay long but the kids like to pet the horse and goats.

Dad is awesome and fun. He slept out on the trampoline twice with the older kids. Apparently it gets kinda chilly at night. I love how they all end up in a heap in the middle.

Megan is cruising around everywhere. She is growing up too fast for me! She got her first tooth on our trip to Utah (September 30th to be exact) but that's it so far.

Speaking of teeth, Katie lost her first tooth! She was so excited!

The older girls and I went to the school fall festival. One highlight was the human hampster balls. Cuz everyone wants to be a hampster, right?

Katie can hula hoop 2 at a time. I had no idea. She is learning lots at school.

And Breanna can do 2 on her arms, while walking. AMAZING!

Becca and Breanna had a little piano recital in the mall. They did a great job!

Halloween was fun! Here are a few pictures of our 5 little pumpkins...

 

 

 

 

 

(Sorry that last one is so dark. Richard was trying to get cool shots of the jack-o-lanterns but Jonny wouldn't hold still!)

Here's our kids (minus Megan) and cousins Emily and Kacy before hitting up the neighborhood for candy. In case you can't tell (from left to right), Kacy is a rainbow fairy, Rebecca is Hermione from Harry Potter, Jonny is Thomas the train, Katie is Agent P from Phineas and Ferb (lots of comments on her costume!), Emily is Rapunzel, and Breanna is a fairy princess.

 

Here's a family picture from our ward party. :)

 

And we can't forget a shot of our cutie pie, Megan, who got lots of "Oh how cute" comments as a pretty flower.

 

Utah Trip

So, the day of Becca's birthday we left to go to Utah. It was a hectic day, to say the least. After the traditional birthday morning festivities (hot breakfast and presents) I drove the girls to school. The car (the Yukon that we bought in July) started acting funny and by the time I got home, it was flashing warning lights and misfiring. Richard could fix it but he had to go to work and it would take too long. Not really an option. So we still had the van. The fan was running continuously but we could stop it by disconecting the battery when we parked. Great. I used that to take lunch to Becca and the treat for her class. On my way back, I noticed that the fan turned off. Must have fixed itself, right? (HA!) I came home and packed for everyone. We decided to try the van for the trip. After I picked up Richard from work and we were headed onto the freeway for Utah, the van overheated. The fan was broken and we may have damaged the car seriously. So, we cranked up the heater and drove cautiously to the rental car place. We got a good deal on this great minivan. Nice to not have to worry about it breaking down too. But we didn't leave the valley until 8:30pm. It was a long night....

But we arrived safely in Cedar City around 5am. We tried to sleep as long as the kids would let us. We made a little stop at the beautiful Kolob Canyon.

Then we headed back to St. George to get Richard registered for the marathon! While he was doing that, I took the kids to a little park. It was so nice to be able to play outside and not be too hot! Sometimes I look at pictures like this and think, "Wow...I have 5 kids. How did that happen???"

We all met up at the convention center for a spaghetti dinner. Richard's parents, brothers Robert and Lynn, and sisters Annette and Cindy were all there. Cindy and Annette were running in the marathon too!

The day of the marathon was kinda crazy too. The runners left the hotel room around 4:30am. Many thanks to Robert for driving them, so I didn't have to. :) But I did have to get all of the kids ready and pack everything up and check out of the hotel before 8am so we could get to see Richard on the course. We made it just in time to see him at one of the first places we could get to. He looks way too good for running 17 miles. :)

The kids had a great time holding signs, giving high 5's, and cheering on all the runners. We waited for awhile to see Cindy and Annette, but had to move on to catch Richard down the course.

Here's Richard right before the finish line! We are so proud of him!

He finished in just over 5 hours. Can you imagine running for 5 hours straight??? Ugh. And this is his second marathon. Cuz once is not crazy enough. Cindy and Annette finished too and we are so proud of them! Way to go!

After the runners cleaned up, we all met up with Lynn's family at Chili's for dinner. What a fun bunch of people!

Then our family made the drive up to Salt Lake City, after a brief visit with friends in Beaver. It was another late night and early morning rush to get ready for conference. Richard and I took Rebecca and Breanna to the Conference Center to listen to our living prophet speak. It was a great experience. It is amazing to be there with so many other Latter-Day Saints. Many thanks to Richard's cousin, Genny, for babysitting the younger three kids for us!

After the first session, the girls and I spent some time on Temple Square while Richard picked up the other kids. These girls are sure growing into great young women!

After the second session and a little naptime at the hotel, we took a drive up the canyon to look at fall colors. (Fall? We aren't familiar with that concept in Mesa.) We had to stop to put our feet in a creek. Is it cold, Jonny??

Megan loves to swing!

After a good night's sleep, we headed for home the next day. Another long drive. But even though someone stepped on the portable tv and broke it, the kids did really well and no one went crazy.

We decided to drive through Zion National Park...mostly because of the really cool long tunnel (which we went through 3 times it was so cool). One last family picture on this trip on this weird rock formation. We are pros at taking pictures with the timer. Even Megan is smiling! :)

So that's all for this trip. Lots of memories in a short amount of time. Good to be home.

Now to get those cars fixed....