Palmers' Post

Pear Pickin'

2011-10-26T02:11:00.001-07:00

Since my last post was Tessa-less I thought I better lead with her :) A couple week's ago we went to Smith Orchard to pick some pears. We paid $15 for 50 pounds so we ended up with 100 pounds (our friend shared some of hers too).

Lee loved it (maybe he just loved bossing Keaton around....just kidding).

Savannah kept picking them off the ground (which is a no no).

Keaton liked climbing the tall ladders. Conference weekend Lee and I did pear halves in apple juice, pear sauce, dried pears, pear butter, and pear syrup....yum, yum!

Central Washington Fair

2011-10-09T17:54:00.001-07:00

This picture is of my little boy Keaton (we will contrast this later). He LOVES tractor's still and can't pass up a chance to give a sit on them.
This was totally the highlight of the fair for us (please note I went on opening day alone with 3 kids....I ROCK :). Keaton and Savannah both played for a long time in this big pile of feed corn. They were FILTHY when I pulled them out but happy!
THIS Keaton is the new KINDERGARTEN Keaton. Where Mom has him do things that are not quite cool enough for him....sigh. I was really hoping it would be awhile before I saw this face. At least he still did it. By next year I am sure he will say NO WAY! It was a "School of Rock" display. They had all kinds of instruments the kids could try out and this wave made of records. Maybe I thought it was more cool then they did?
This was Savannah in the petting zoo. She really loves the animals. She pet them all. She was mostly smitten with the little Lamb's. I thought it was really quite a fun place. I really wish I had gotten pictures of the Horse Costume Contest. You would not believe what costumes they came up with!

Keaton starts school!

2011-09-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our little Keaton started Kindergarten this year. He was totally ready and counting down the days. The girls and I walked him to school on his first day. He was not nervous or scared at all until I turned to leave....the I saw a tiny tear. I hurried out before I broke down. Savannah had no shame she bawled like a baby :) Keaton is in Mrs. B's class. He really loves her.

He insisted on wearing his Lego Star Wars shirt and picked his friends by who commented on his shirt (except for the little girl he said liked it, "that was just awkward Mom"....oh boy's). Keaton love's school and is a good student. I was a little worried since most of the other kids had some kind of pre-school but Keaton is right up to snuff with all the other kids. I also thought he would be a head taller then all the kids....he is up there but there is even one boy that has a good couple inches and 15 pounds on Keaton. He is pretty tall for his age so that was surprising! Savannah cried the whole time he was gone. "MOOOOOMMMM we HAVE to go FIND Keaton!" She was pretty sure he was not coming back :) Of course we are all pretty excited to walk and pick him up....3 hours is a long time!

Boulder Cave

2011-09-15T06:36:00.001-07:00

We are really loving hiking up here. Everything is so lush, green, and shady it makes for a lovely FREE Saturday activity. We had heard about this Boulder Cave hike from a number of people so we figured we needed to go check it out. At the top of the hike there is a big "bat cave" that was made by the river. It goes straight through. In the middle it is pitch dark so trust me you need more then one little pencil flashlight for 5 people...sigh. I guess it wasn't too traumatic for the kids though because they wanted to go right back through again! Here is Lee and the kids at the end of the cave.

This is right before we went through the cave (sorry all the pics are in backwards order). You can see Tessa really enjoys hiking too!

There is a waterfall up here before the cave. There is a sign that says stay on trail we saw afterwards. I am sure the other 59 people hiking up to it didn't see the sign either :)
Savannah chose to ride after a little bit. Her little legs got tired.
This tree stump made the perfect chair. Please, please, note Annie has started to pick out her own clothes. I have given up fighting about it....sigh. Gotta choose my battles with this one. We can't wait to do it again. Maybe when Aunt Amara comes next month?

Silver Falls- Mt. Rainier

2011-09-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

Nope, I am not THAT far behind. We took these just a couple weeks ago on Mt Rainier they still had quite a bit of snow! We went on a hike our friends told us about and couldn't resist getting into the snow!

The far peak is Mt. Rainier. It is so lovely up there. It made me feel like the Swiss Alps, not that I have ever been to the Swiss Alps but it was what I thought of :)
The rest of the pictures were taken on our hike. We realize now that the friends that told us about this "easy, family friendly hike" were in much better shape then us. They also told us it was easier then Doughnut Falls. We are thinking they have never been to Doughnut Falls either :). We didn't get up there until 4. I didn't pack snacks or water. It was mostly up hill or down hill and 3 miles. It had to be the most BEAUTIFUL hike I have ever been on. It really made me fall in love with Washington even more.

This was Lee and Keaton on the trail. Savannah had to be carried a lot of the way down. She did pretty great on the way up though!

This is the river coming off the falls. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is really prettier then a postcard!

This is the falls. I should have taken a video! It was so LOUD and majestic!

Here are the kids and I at another falls along the trail..also, lovely!

This is how Annie rode most of the way. By the time we got to the bottom her bum was soaked in Lee's sweat....yuck.

Here is the kids and I at the start of the hike. It was all just breathtaking. Every 10 feet was a photo op!

Annie and Keaton at the visitors center at the base of the campground. There is also a LOVELY campground that we need to talk the Jonsson's into coming up to!

Pretty washed out but I LOVE the wild ferns growing all over. We are loving hiking as a family and exploring the Pacific Northwest!

Temples!

2011-09-07T02:33:00.000-07:00

7 Years ago Lee and I started our forever family at the Salt Lake Temple. Fast Forward and we have a 2 year old that is head over heels for Princesses (please note she doesn't like tv so it is not from movies but from a set of tiny princess books our friends gave her). When we started talking about Temples she picked up that it was Heavenly Fathers Castle. If any friend is missing from church or playgroup she tells me they went to the Temple to get married. She always wants to see the picture of Lee and I where I was a "princen" and married Daddy.

Imagine how excited she was when we took her there to see it close up. It was better then Disneyland for our little lady :)Lee and I decided that we would try to take a family picture when we were near a Temple.

Lee also wanted to go on top of the Church Office Building. What a view!

This was the spot Lee proposed to me. Savannah was interested in that too. Not too many years that we can get sentimental and blame Annie!

My cute guys together (best friends).

Draper Temple. Annie was mad about something. I am thankful for Temples. Not just because I got to be a "princen" and marry my prince all those years ago,but also because I get to be with these guys FOREVER!

Utah part 2

2011-09-07T02:12:00.000-07:00

Oh, there were so many fun things we did that we didn't get a picture of. From pure brain dead to a dead battery I didn't do so well. One thing I regret not getting a picture of was our time in Vernal. Lee's Mom played with the kids outside with squirt guns. Everyone came in soaked. What a great picture that would have been. This picture of Annie is sadly the only picture of our hike up to Doughnut Falls (not to mention our only picture of camping).
This is little Tessa sporting the new swim suit Aunt Meesh brought for her. If there is one thing my kids can't get enough of it is swimming!
This is at the Dino Museum in Lehi. Lee had never been. My Dad's neighbor gave us some tickets. Keaton and Lee loved it. Lee has since referred to things they learned there a number of times in teaching Keaton things.
Here is the kids and I at the Dino museum. As you can plainly see Tessa adored the Dino Museum :)
We also got to go to Hoggle Zoo with cousins. As you can see Keaton and Kai loved the Carosel. Savannah went on with Amara. She only loved it when it was over.
Keaton loved the Dinos they had displayed there. His cousins Katie and Maggie were not so sure.
Man, we did a lot of stuff :) Here is our evening at Wheeler Farm. My friend Dana was taking Meesha's kids pictures so we just hung out. Nothing better on the trip then my parents helping with Tessa and the kids ;)
Here is my Mama and the girls feeding the ducks. Annie and Brinlee are pretty good friends :)

Utah!

2011-08-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

This Utah post will have to be in sections :) The kids and I were down there for 25 days. Lee drove us down but flew back so it was me and the kids for almost 2 weeks.
Our first stop was to visit Lee's sweet Aunt. She lost her Husband and her daughter last year to Cancer. She is probably the most kind person you would ever meet. What I really loved her for this time was the fuss she made over Keaton. People usually fuss over the girls but she had Keaton come and sit on her chair by her. She then asked such thoughtful questions about what he thinks about things. I love people like that!

This is pretty much how I got through the week. Keaton is a pretty good big brother.

We went with Meesh and Amara's kids to this ropes course. It was 3 levels high and they were clipped into a zip line. I think it was like $8. Totally worth it! Keaton was scared for about a minute then he loved it!

Staycation day one! 7/2/11

2011-08-18T09:36:00.001-07:00

Here it is 5 weeks later and I am just blogging the rest of the Fourth weekend...sigh. We have had a run in with a VERY colicky baby and it has just about done me in (not to mention a 25 day vacation in Utah). The first day of our staycation we went to Rimrock Lake. I have never been to a more lovely spot in my life. It was so green and peaceful. We bought a little propane grill a bit ago and took it up there for a picnic!

Keaton was excited to get in some fishing. I just LOVE this picture. What this picture leaves out is the SWARMS of mosquito's! We ended up staying just about 15 minutes by the water. In that short time I got 40 bites! Next time we will need bug spray for sure!
Savannah trying to get in on the action! She had to move her "fishy" chair closer to the boys!
Pretty much this is what Tessa did the whole time. I am glad I put her in the baby carrier so I could keep her covered from the bugs!
Savannah wanted to wear Keatons sweater. It worked out well and kept her covered. She also had a HORRIBLE allergy attack while we were there. I have never had her get that bad.
Keaton waiting patiently for fishing. He is Lee's little buddy for sure!

Staycation day 2!

2011-07-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went to the lakes near our house. We walked around them and then had a great UNO championship afterwards (Keaton's favorite)!

Tessa was pretty happy just riding along!
These birds were in their nest waiting for their mama. They were pretty big hawks. We saw the mama shortly after with a fish in her talons to feed the babies!

Keaton loves to collect sticks. Much to Lee's dismay Annie decided she needed to give it a try...sigh.

Staycation day 3!

2011-07-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

We really wanted another boy....maybe this is why. I had them all so cute and coordinated. I think most of my pictures with Annie are like this. I am savin' them for sure. When we ask her to say "cheese" she thinks this is what we mean....sigh.

Day three Keaton and Lee went and saw Cars 2. I thought I would prefer to stay with the girls at home instead of the lobby. I had no regrets :)
We were invited to a pool party. We had such a good time. There was a great pool with a great slide and rock cliff. We all loved it. Luckily Tessa slept most of the time so we could all play in the pool.

Lee and Tessa had a great time hanging out in the shade after dinner. I know it LOOKS like Lee is mad but he sure is not.

Annie after she got out of the pool. She really loves the water (thank heaven)!

We really loved our staycation. We will definitely have to do this again!

Cherry U-pick

2011-07-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

We went last weekend to the Columbia River Temple. Lee and I tag teamed it with the kids. I went while he watched the kids then he went in. It felt so good to go to the Temple. It had been awhile and we were really thrilled we finally made it happen. I can't lie, part of it was just being alone and being able to think without interruption was probably a big part of the appeal :)

On our way home we stopped at Bill's Berry Farm. That is my new favorite place. They have a huge u-pick farm and we hit it just right for the Cherry Day's festival. They had Hot Cherry Doughnuts (I don't know how we resisted but we did), a FREE petting zoo, and a big play set. The highlight for my kids though honestly was getting to pick their own cherries and put them in their very own bucket.

Keaton liked the hay ride out to the Cherry Grove (please be sure to note the big old fry sauce stain on his shirt....SOMEDAY I will learn to pack an extra pair of clothes for my kids....sigh).
After a brief training they were off.

Lee showing Savannah how dark of cherry's she should look for.

Savannah picking the "pink" ones because they were "pretty"....sigh.

Savannah playing on the huge playset.

I have to admit they picked Van cherries, they were not my favorite. They had a 1/2 dozen other cherries to sample and buy for $1.75 a pound. My FAVORITE cherry was the Chelan Cherry. If you see them in the store you will need to get a pound or 4 :) The "pink" van cherries I mixed with Strawberries and made jam. The rest of the cherries we gorged ourselves on for days. Bill's Berry Farm ships to stores as far as China (can you imagine?!?!?). We loved our day on the farm and we think we are going to have to go back this weekend to pick our fill of Blueberries!

Dino Days!

2011-06-30T03:51:00.000-07:00

Well I am back...although not a single baby picture in this one (we were hanging out in the shade). We went to Prosser the week after Tessa was born for their Dino Days. They have these Dino statues all over the town. At Dino days you help build their new one for the year.

We missed all the festivities (although I am not sure how much we missed) but the kids loved climbing on the Dinos. I love this age we are at where my kids generally enjoy the journey. Lee and I thought it was a little lame (especially the part where the Dino park is next door to a horribly smelly sewage plant) but the kids had fun, we got out of the house, and we were together. Can't beat that!

Annie liked these little riding horses. She was pretty impressed that she could climb up herself!

Please note there is a big lake in the middle of this park that people were FISHING AT....remember the part about the sewage plant....YUCK!

Some kids never grow up :)

All in all a beautiful lovely day out. We got a little extra sunshine for the little one and by Monday we had cleared out the Jaundice...can't beat that!

Tessa comes home!

2011-06-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning we got to take our little lady home. You cannot imagine the glee from her older brother and sister when they got the news. It had been a long 5 days and we were all ready to begin some kind of new normal. Keaton has probably asked to hold her 18 times a day. Savannah seems smitten but has thrown about 18 fits a day....I guess normal is harder for some then others.
Savannah not so sure about this new baby. Although she did want to be close :)

Keaton was not ready to give her up anytime soon. She still is a bit yellow. We are hoping she can fight it off on her own and we will not have to do any more light treatments!

Savannah decided to get in on the action. She does like to hold the baby although she wants to do it alone. The baby seems to be almost as big as her :)We are thrilled with this little baby and we are all doing well! YAHOO!!!
P.S. Click here for a cute video of Keaton singing to her.

Sunbathing Beauty

2011-06-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Little Tessa graduated to a private room with her own sunbathing beach! She has all her tubes and monitors removed and is now just getting all those dang Billirubin's to get out. We were hoping with all the fluids she would get to bypass the whole jaundice thing but....no. She has been a champ and has taken it with little complaint. We are hoping she gets to go home tomorrow. We were also hoping for yesterday and the day before though...so....don't hold your breath.

If you are nursing sensitive you might want to quit reading now :) I wanted to record this experience though. If you know me very well you know I am passionate about breastfeeding. I nursed Keaton for a year while I worked 45 hours a week by pumping while at work. I nursed Savannah for 16 mos. I really believe in not only the health benefits but I can never get over paying for something that I can get better for free. NOW having said that I understand there are cases where it doesn't work out ; everyone need's to do what works and is right for them.
When Tessa was sent to the NICU one of my immediate worries was about nursing. I had a bit of time so I looked on the Internet and saw little hope of picking up nursing after her stomach was stretched with formula and her getting used to that "easy" source of food. I prayed and I prayed that it would work out but if not that I would be o.k. with it and I could figure out a way to pay for formula in an already tight budget. Each time I visited her I prayed while I sat there with my hand on her. I couldn't even hold her for a day and they didn't get me a pump for almost a day. I woke up Monday about 2 am (after about an hour of sleep) and began praying again to ease my worries. I felt like I should go down there RIGHT THEN and see her. I put on some slippers and headed down to the NICU. I sat by her bed and talked to her. Her nurse came and asked if I wanted to hold her. DID I EVER! I rocked her, kissed her little head, and sang quietly to her. She hummed softly and I finally felt PEACE. It would all be o.k. I climbed back in bed and finally slept. I knew my Heavenly Father knew I needed that....Tessa was fine. He was worried about ME.
The nurse said the next day I could try to nurse her. I then had the thought to contact 2 sisters I knew from my childhood. They both mentioned they had NICU babies. I e-mailed them asking about nursing. They gave me great hope! I know we are nowhere near out of the woods but so far it is looking great. She is a natural nurser and seems to prefer it to the bottle. Maybe this seems like a trivial thing to many. Once again though it makes me feel such comfort to know where I can find peace. To know that Heavenly Father KNOWS me and wants to answer my little prayers. He has answered many prayers for our little gal over the last few month's. It hardly seems like I should ask for more.....but I do...and he hears...and answers.

Nicu update...Tessa Grace

2011-05-30T20:01:00.001-07:00

Well, you can see here Lee finally got to hold this little baby girl. He is smitten. Tessa made a lot of progress today. We were actually able to hold her, I sang to her, and she even did pretty good nursing (although to get her out of her she needs TONS of food to maintain blood sugar so they are also having her take a bottle and she has a feeding tube down her nose). They said we are waiting for benchmarks not time so we should plan on her being here a week ( they hope that is the high end). She has to be able to eat an ounce bottle on her own (without the tube), and be off the the glucose IV (which they are thinking we can be done with tmo). We are hoping that she comes around quick....we can't wait to have her home with us!

Tessa Grace

2011-05-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

After a pretty rough and tumble pregnancy Tessa Grace came and joined us Sunday May 29th about 1:45 in the morning. She weighed a whopping 9lbs 10 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long. She is the giant of our babies. She was born 4 weeks early (with the treatments we had to get pregnant we are sure on the date).

Lee and I had gone to lunch Sat afternoon and during lunch I started feeling strong contractions. I knew I was already dilated to a 4, mostly effaced, and had "bulging waters" so we were thinking it may be the night. We got back dropped the babysitter off and the contractions got really strong. We dropped our kids off with our good friends in the ward the Dittos (they had her sisters 2 kids, their 6 kids, and were willing to take our 2) and headed to the hospital. When we got to the hospital I was REALLY not feeling well. They got us into a room and my BP was 197/107. They kinda freaked and put us right into a delivery room. The put a "lead" on the baby's head so they could monitor her stress and see if that would break my water slowly and speed things up a bit. My water gushed and we were off. My BP kept high so they put me on Magnesium (awful stuff that feels like you are on fire) and suggested an epidural so I could keep myself calm (if you know me very well you know that it didn't take much to convince me to have an epidural).

Things progressed relatively quickly on their own and by 1:20 I was ready to push. I was thinking of my last experience with my little tiny 6 pound Savannah where I pushed 2x and was done so I was a little freaked when this took a TON more work. The epidural either wore off or I have no idea what real pain is. I just kept pushing and pushing. Once I got her 14 cm head out of a 10 cm hole I was hoping I was done. No such luck the shoulder were the real hard part. She has shoulders like her Dad!

She finally came out and they put her on my stomach and tried to get her crying. She was pretty blue and not terribly good at crying. They let me hold her for just a minute and love on her before she was taken to the NICU.

I will keep updating here as I can to share her progress and hopefully some pictures that don't look like she fought in a cat fight :) We are thrilled she is here though and grateful that Mom is doing great and that she will be fine! Thank you for your prayers and love through this ordeal!

One Big Family

2011-05-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

Last week on Easter Night Lee sat the kids and I down for a quick family home evening. He was leaving the next morning for a business week in Phoenix and didn't want to miss our family home evening. With it being Easter he naturally picked an Easter topic. He began talking about the events of that first Easter. He mentioned how our Older Brother died for us. Keaton was all over that...."WAIT he is not my Brother! I don't HAVE a brother!". Lee explained that Christ was most defiantly his brother because they have the same Heavenly Father. "SOOOO....if Mom has a BOY I will have TWO brothers...COOOL" Keaton was excited. Our family home evening had taken a different turn (which they usually do) but I wanted to be sure he understood completely (while of course Savannah bussied herself by lifting her dress over her head 1800 times). "Keaton you actually have LOTS of brothers! AND more sisters!" I told him. I explained how the kids in his class were his brothers and sisters, we talked about how Mama's friends are her sisters, how the grumpy guy at Costco is actually another child of our same Heavenly Father SO...even though he bugs....he is our brother :) After I felt we covered it pretty well the kids went to bed and I didn't think about it again.
Lee left the next day. I had planned on going to Utah to stay with my family while he was gone. This pregnancy has been really rough on me and I thought I would need the support from my family during the week. A couple days before we were to fly out I started having strong regular contractions. I was forced to cancel my flight (luckily Delta has a medical cancellation policy and we can reuse the tickets). My BP spiked Easter night and I knew I was in trouble. I asked the girls from church if they would come and help me take my BP 2x a day to track it. The list went around in Relief Society (our churches Women's Organization) and within about 10 people all the slots were filled. I also mentioned that with me down Keaton would begin to go stir crazy so if anyone would like a playmate he would be THRILLED to play.
My BP didn't go down but up and I called the Doctor Monday morning. They wanted me to go to Labor and Delivery. I asked if I could come into the office first so they could see where I was at (BAD insurance stinks). I went to my appt and 4 hours later they told me to stay down as much as possible and gave me some anti contraction meds that would hopefully lower the BP as well. 2 days later the BP rose even more and I found myself back in the Doctors office. She told me to stop drinking so much water (it raises BP...go figure) and to not get up unless ABSOLUTELY necessary (I did mention once again that I was alone with 2 active kids :). My Doctor said one more bad BP and I would be hospitalized until the baby came or the BP was down. She said that the state can make arrangements for the kids until my Dad could come get them. As if that didn't raise the old BP :(
I went home pretty upset. I got on my knees once again and prayed and prayed (what else can you do?!?!?). I called my home teachers and asked for a priesthood blessing. I asked my family to pray. I had no second chances. My home teacher came and was worried that my BP clearly would not stabilize in the hospital and that the baby would be induced. We both felt that if I could make it to Friday when Lee came I would be o.k.
Here I was in a city where I did not know a single person 6 mos ago and was facing a medical nightmare. A thought came to me about Lee's lesson on Sunday. I DID have family here.....just ones I did not know as well. My "family" came through. Someone called almost everyday and took Keaton to play. Two days they were even able to coax old Sassy Savannah into coming with them (which was a miracle in itself). Most of the people that had signed up to take my BP are nurses. They sat and talked with me and supported me. One sweet sister even called me at 9:30 pm just because she was still worried about me. Another sweet sister I had never met before in my life. She stayed both times for over an hour as we talked about the Saviour and life. She had had a rough year with her marriage falling apart, raising 2 teenage boys on her own, and starting nursing school. She spoke of how she survived by prayer. We cried together and felt the bond of sisters in life's rough struggles. Other sisters showed up with meals (I didn't request any since I figured we could survive off rotisserie chicken and a bag of spinach) just because. My home teacher brought me an auto BP machine that I could test when I was rested.
My BP stayed right below the cut off line. I felt it was a miracle of prayer. Lee came home and my BP immediately dropped 20 points. I let Lee take over the worrying and I could finally rest. It has been a week and I have not had anymore BP issues.
The day after Lee got home I thought a lot about our family home evening almost a week before. I teared up as I thought about my brothers and sisters. People are good. People want to help. People have compassion. Here Lee and I have a combined 10 siblings 2 sets of great parents and they were powerless to help us (except a lot of praying). We had to rely on our bigger family. I was amazed at how they came through for us (beyond anything I would have asked for). I was also amazed at how my body ached for and needed Lee. I have comfort in knowing that we are separated here and there for a week but we have a marriage that can last for eternity. I can be with him forever. What a sweet comfort that is to me.

Farm Co-op

2011-05-05T07:15:00.001-07:00

While I was blog stalking a friend from the ward I ran across her post for the Farm Co-op. I had to ask her about it. It looked so cool. It really is just a farming warehouse. I was thrilled I got my tomato plants there for 30 cents each. Please, note there really is no room for a garden but the neighbor was tossing whiskey barrel planters and I HAVE to have some tomato's and basil growing.
In the back of the warehouse is a room they sell new baby animals. My kids were in heaven and would have stayed all day. The employee's don't care if you pick them up, or giggle so much they all hide in the corner so Keaton and Savannah were both in luck.

Savannah couldn't get over how cute they were with their peep, peep, peeping. She wanted me to kneel right by her and chuckle for a couple hours :)
While we were there there was a Hispanic couple that picked out about 50 of these little chickens. They didn't speak English when I tried to ask them what they were going to do....so of course being the "don't take no for an answer, nosey girl" that I am I asked the worker when they left. She said that they are "Meat Birds" (see the sign). They buy them and in about 8 weeks they are ready to eat. They are buying their food storage. I just am not thinking I could do the whole killing and plucking thing. ALTHOUGH, Keaton and I have decided when we find a house to own again instead of rent we ARE going to look into egg chickens (we have not broached the subject with Lee though :)).

Miss. Annie loved the Bunnies too. They were too fast for me to pick up but the clerk picked one up for Savannah to pet. Pretty cuddly.

My favorite were these tiny little ducks! SO cute. Their little webbed feet just cracked me up (pregnancy hormones I am sure :).

Earth Week

2011-04-28T12:21:00.001-07:00

If there is one thing I REALLY love about our new town it is the amazing number of free or super cheap things they offer kids. I think the best part is there is not 18 million kids crowding these events so it is actually fun for my kids. All these events took place in the last week or so. I thought I would lump them together.

The Saturday before Easter Lee took Keaton to the Kids Fish In. It was $7 and FOR that $7 they got a T-shirt, a fishing rod and reel (a nice one, I was thinking they would get a little plastic jobby, this is a full size one he can use for awhile), and a fishing lesson. The lake was stocked with 5K fish and if they caught a fish they would clean it and put it on ice for them. Lee called it, "combat fishing at it's finest". Keaton didn't catch anything (there were too many kids with rods in) but he LOVED it and Lee is going to take him again this weekend. They really need something they can do together so this is perfect.

Last Friday was the Farm Days. The entire event was free! They had tons of booths that taught the kids how to make ice cream (and let them eat it), a cow milking station where they got a carton of milk, a coloring station, horses they could pet, a bean bag throw, a bobbing for apples station and on and on. I passed on letting Annie bob for apples although they gave her a clean apple and this sheep sticker she was quite smitten with.

The Fire Dept was also there and they let the kids try on their gear and spray the hose. Keaton thought that was pretty cool.

Of course we had to poke our heads through this!

They had a petting zoo too. Savannah was TERRIFIED of the cows, seriously. She did not want to be anywhere near them. She did love the donkeys, pigs, goats, and bunnies though! This picture was at the other end far from the cows. She still couldn't take her eyes off them just in case they made any "sudden moves". You know how cows are sneaky like that :) They even gave the kids a free t-shirt. Pretty cool!

These pictures are of the Earth Day celebration at the Arboretum. Once again this even was completely FREEEEE! They let the kids plant a tree in a pot they got to take home. We were pretty late and apparently missed the blueberry bushes (I was bummed)but Keaton was thrilled he got a BIG spruce. He had to call his Grandpa Palmer to see if he would babysit it until we bought another house or moved back. Thank heavens Grandpa Palmer has a lot of land, a green thumb, and an inability to say no to his Grandson :)

They had a petting zoo there as well but of the "creepier" kind. Keaton held a couple snakes, he was in heaven.

Savannah enjoyed chasing the free roaming tortoise. She was so giddy about him she couldn't stand it! There were lots of other booth's there as well and they gave us tons of free stuff. Our only regret was arriving during the last hour so we couldn't spend more time! I am hoping all these little experiences are teaching my little guys some great hands on lessons!

Easter Fun!

2011-04-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

We survived another holiday without family :) The kids and I thought we were going to be on our way to Utah but this little baby in my belly had other ideas. We are already worrying about he/she coming early and this last week was the worst! SO....we stayed with Dad and enjoyed another perfectly lovely day here. I REALLY struggle to get a decent picture out of these 2. This was the best. Pretty sad, eh? I really miss my friend Dana. She could have snapped a great one for us!

This was our try in the front yard. Keaton would NOT take his hand off her face. "The SUN is in her EYES Mom!" you can see it in his face. He was NOT going to let it go so we abandoned that idea (although I still love this picture because it shows how very protective he is of this little lady).

Savannah hated the dress (which is actually why we HAVE the dress her cousin Brinlee is the same age and hated the dress too). About 10 times on the way to and through church she told me, "I want a DIFFERENT dress". Although, she was quite smitten with the shade of pink her nails were painted.

I was in a lot of pain so Lee took over the egg coloring. I think next year I will find some kind of "pain" so he can do it again. It was really nice to just see the finished product. Please note this is the DIFFERENT dress she wanted. She would wear this dress every hour of every day if I let her.

We had a small little egg hunt in our back yard. I only bought jelly beans (and put one Reese's egg in their basket). Keaton was a little annoyed. At Grandma Earley's the eggs have money and chocolate in them. Sorry, I just couldn't have a whole lot of chocolate around the house.

Annie was pleased with the Jelly Beans. Until she decided it was more fun to chew them up into gum then spit them out....sigh.

Ann was pleased with the books, and fake jewelry in her basket. She is still pretty easy to please.

Keaton was a jerk. He woke me up saying all the Easter Bunny brought him was "dumb art stuff". I went in the bathroom and cried for a minute. Rude kid, pregnant Mom...bad mix. Please note he had told me a week before he was really hoping for art stuff from the Easter Bunny. I knew I was in trouble when the day before he told me he was SURE the Easter Bunny was bringing him a DS. I tried to tell him the Easter Bunny doesn't have that kind of budget. He said he has his helpers MAKE them. I assured him only Santa had helpers. He is usually a really grateful un-rude kid. I think it was just unfulfilled expectations....sigh. I can't win.

We did Easter Bunny Saturday morning. I think it worked great. It really made for a nice Sabbath. I think we will do it again that way. After we did the Easter Bunny (and the rudeness) I took Keaton to his soccer game and Lee to Savannah to his works Easter Egg hunt. Keaton's team won (undefeated) and Savannah charmed the pants off Lee's co-workers. She got a big bag of little toys and a basket of eggs.

One more of the cute Easter kids. Love these little guys!

There is Beauty All Around

2011-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Lee called the other morning and had me take the kids in our jammies to the nearby apple orchard (we live in apple country....there are orchards surrounding us). I grumbled about how I didn't want to go anywhere that early, but he was insistent. He has been telling us for weeks about the "iced trees". When the temp drops the farmers turn on their sprinklers at night. It makes a nice "coat" of ice to protect the buds. I am glad we went it was so lovely with the morning sun and the beautiful trees. I think it is important to take the time to enjoy those simple little gifts of beauty. It made my day.

Seatle Fun

2011-04-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

This month we headed up to Seattle again. We had some aquarium passes we got on Groupon so we had to use them up before they expired. I went to the aquarium there when I was single. It was fun to take my kids there. Savannah has a thing for "fisha's" so she was especially fun to watch.

This is Keaton being attacked by a giant Octopus. Funny guy.

I like this picture because Annie looks like a little girl. I had spent some time on her hair and had it so cute. After the 2 hour drive it was in really good shape still. About a mile from the aquarium so pulled it all out and "fluffed" her hair...sigh. SO....this is what I could salvage. All of the pictures she has funky hair.

This was Keaton's favorite exhibit. He loved the tidal pools, not because of the sea life like Savannah but because every so often a wave would crash in. He thought that was pretty cool. I think he would have watched that for hours.

This is in a huge glass dome under the ocean. Annie was pretty impressed with all the fisha's. She especially liked the "dotty" ones.

This is the kids riding on the back of an Orca....just kidding. They believed though. They played for quite awhile on this guy.

After the aquarium we headed over to Ballard Locks. We had a friend recommend it. To get to it you pass through a lovely botanical garden (of course I didn't take any pictures of that). The locks take boats from one level to the next of the river. It is like a water elevator. The boats go into the lock and they fill it up with water to take the boat up. It is really pretty cool. We saw one trip with a group of smaller boats and one trip with a big tour boat. I was particularly smitten with this boat. Lee and I decided we probably couldn't afford even the gas for it if someone gave it to us. I can't imagine having that amount of money...sigh.

This is the water shooting out of the other side of the lock. They also showed us how the salmon get up the climb. They have a "ladder" which is levels of pools for them to jump up. There is also an underwater viewing area where you can see the salmon. It is pretty cool. We want to go back when there are more salmon later in the year.

There is also a bridge nearby that lifts to let large boats through. My kiddos thought that was neat too!

They had a bunch of these metal sculptures near the path to the underwater viewing area. Keaton liked to swing on them. All in all I think we thought the "locks" were more interesting then the Aquarium....and it is all FREEEEE (including the gardens)! We will defiantly have to go back! Thanks Lisa for the tip!

We love Kunko!

2011-04-18T08:39:00.001-07:00

When Keaton was just a little guy he started calling my brother Garret "Kunko". Keaton and I have always had a special place in our heart's for Kunko. Our birthday's are a week apart and my Mom called us "her twins" because we are pretty similar. When other people in our family couldn't "reach" me Garret could. I would like to think with him I have always been one he could talk to too. Must be the pregnancy hormones but even now I am in tears missing him. A couple weeks ago he took his family to Portland. We were so excited because Portland is only about 3 hours away so we were excited to meet up with him. My health went to the pits that week and we weren't able to go. We did meet him in The Dalles, OR for a Sat lunch and fun. I am so glad we did. My kids LOVE those cousins and it was just was I needed to recharge. These are most of the kids (although Savannah passed). I love how at least one of Garret's lovely daughters are always "striking a pose" :)

Savannah peeking :) It's takes her a bit to warm up (although now all she can talk about is Lexa, Lana, and Booboo).

Garret is one of Lee's favorite people too. They get along really well. This is a pier we walked out on the Columbia river.

Like I said....always striking a pose :)

Kunko saying goodbye to Ann...she LOVED it (can't you tell?).

We lived about a mile from Garret for one glorious year. I love them. I hope someday it works out we can at least live in the same state again!

Keaton the Soccer Player

2011-04-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled that Keaton gets to play soccer this year. We found a program at a church about 1/2 mile away. They have a HUGE program that teaches good values and soccer. Each week they have a practice, a game, a scripture they talk about, say a prayer, and talk about some life skill. They give them a uniform and a water bottle so Keaton's happy. Savannah LOVES to go to the Soccer BALL. She is as excited as Keaton when it is time. 5 year old soccer is a pretty funny thing to watch. This is where they finally started getting in the groove. Yep, Keaton is at least a head taller then everyone on his team :)

Keaton decided to take a little dance/ jump break. It reminded me of when I went to my brothers baseball game as a kid. He played outfield and he kept pretending to catch his head with his mitt :)

Keaton getting instruction from his coaches. He was a little nervous. His coaches are a very nice patient couple.

I can't say Keaton is the best on the team (that is for sure the coaches daughter) but what I can say is I have been impressed by how well he listen's and follows instructions. In a sea of 5 year old chaos Keaton can stop and listen and tries to do it exactly as they say. Lee told him last night THAT is how you get good at something. For me it has calmed my heart about him starting Kindergarten in the fall. He will be fine. He get's along really well with people and is good for grown ups. I love that little fella :)

Savannah turns TWO!!!

2011-04-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

Annie turned 2 this month. She was pretty excited about her "birfffday" :) We have loved having her these past 2 years. She has such a happy disposition it is fun to be around her. She has a few "true loves". Her Grandparents were right on it. She was pretty thrilled with her presents from them! Above you see her with a color tote bag from Grandma Palmer. There are slots on the front for a little note pad, a bunch of pencils, a lot of thick crayons, and inside was color wonder markers, and books. She was excited for her new "tools". You can see her book shelf in the background here. I gave up. We have to read all 50 books everyday. She puts them back...not neatly. You can also see her "untamed" hair here :)

Keaton helped her open some of her presents. She was excited.

Savannah got a screaming monkey from my parents, and a little Elmo from us. She loves "babies" and has to carry them all around together ALL THE TIME. My cousin Launie and her husband call it the P.A.C....perpetual armload of crap. Launies kids had the disorder.....so does Savannah!

This is Savannah checking out her newest member of her collection.

Annie loves songs, books, vegetables, bubbles,being outside, but MOSTLY KEATON!!!

The only thing she really doesn't like is going to nursery at church. She has yet to go for more then 20 minutes.

She was so excited to get a new "booka". She has quite the vocabulary ....I think it must be from all the "booka's". We also had a little party for her with friends from the ward. OF COURSE I didn't get any pictures of that, or their kind gifts. She also got a FABULOUS book from her great Aunt Dawn. I think she had a great birthday!

Here is one more SHORT video with how funny she thinks Keaton with the new "gunkey" (monkey).

White Pass Winter Carnival

2011-03-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

We could really get used to the weather here. We have not had any "real" snow since the first of the year. Most days are a perfect 50-60 degrees. What makes it even better is if we WANT snow it is only about 50 minutes away. We had heard that the local ski resort does a Winter Carnival every year for the kids and we put it on our "must do" list. It was really quite fun and....FREEE (you know how that is my favorite). Little Annie had to immediately "taste" the snow to be sure it was "good" (yuck). She decided she liked it :) We are pretty lucky that we have another kid that is pretty happy to just GO!

Here is one of the snow sculptures. It is a big bear surrounded by a "crystal" fence (broken icicles).

This was a really cool troll sculpture. There was a pretty dumb volunteer that on her shift decided to let the kids climb on the sculptures (that people were competing with and had spent days and days on). Keaton KNEW it was too good to last (and it was....she was corrected about 2 minutes later) lucky for him he had already scurried to the top.

This is Savannah and I in front of some kind of lizard thing?

There was a huge castle that you climbed to the top of and then you could slide down on tubes. There was also a cool tunnel going under it. I suggested Lee take Savannah down the tube hill. He reluctantly agreed.....

He shouldn't have......(luckily he kept her upright and she didn't freak)

Keaton was a pro and could have gone all day!!!

Here they are waiting in the line. You can see Annie peeking through the "teeth" of the castle.

This is Keaton in front of the dragon sculpture. He has a big hunk of the ice they used. It felt weird, like they treated it with something.

It was a pretty fun event. Next year if we are still around we will bring our own sled's so we can go down one of the other hills so we don't have to wait so long for the castle hill. Beautiful clear day....a pretty good day for the Palmers!

Loaves and Fishes

2011-03-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

(picture from crossroads initiative)

These last couple of weeks I have been caught up in a church assignment. I still don't have a calling so it was nice to be "needed" for a special project. It was kinda a crazy assignment though. They wanted me to make the dinner for a Relief Society party for 60 people. That wouldn't have been that bad until you add in the budget of $60 (without having anyone bring anything). I am about as frugal as they come so I took it on as a challenge. I looked at spaghetti but even if I thought a pound of hamburger could be stretched for 10 people 1/4 of my budget would be hamburger. I went through 100 scenarios like that and was getting pretty frustrated. A buck a head just isn't very much. We had a pretty good ad though and I got 5 pound bags of potato's for 75 cents and 2 pound blocks of cheese for $3 and so I did potato cheese soup with my strawberry salad (really toned down), homemade breadsticks, and pavlovas for dessert. The only way I was going to pull it off was if I hand made rolled and twisted all the breadsticks and put a tray of pavlovas every night in my oven to dry.

I poured myself into the whole thing and worked like crazy to pull it off. I had 3 ladies come over one morning to roll about 1/2 of the 130 breadsticks (which we individually froze then put together in a container) and I took 4 ladies "packs" for the soup so I didn't have to do that but otherwise I did the rest.

My health had started to turn on this pregnancy and so I was sure I paced myself to pull it off. Imagine my horror on Sunday evening when I took Savannah's ice cream cake out of our deep freeze in the garage and it was mush. Luckily the breadsticks and pavlovas were fine. Lee cleared the compressor area and we thought we had solved the problem. Monday I went out there for something and I realized that the breaker had flipped and we had no power to it. The breadticks were in a block of mush. I was hoping when they refroze the flour would let them be pulled apart. No luck...I went to check on them later and they were a solid block of breadstick mess. I started to panic. This drove my blood pressure even higher. It was getting to the critical stage where I would need to call the Doctor. I stayed up all night worrying about it (because if you are an Earley woman in your brain you think that helps).

The next morning my BP was even higher. I figured I would try my best to get them apart and then if I failed I would have Lee get Costco rolls (and blow my budget). I e-mailed my kind friend Sara who was over the event and told her what had happened. She immediately called and said she was on her way to Costco and to go lay down and not worry about the breadsticks. I cried over the loss... (seriously all the time and effort and ingredients) then took a 2 hour nap.

When I got up everything went perfect. I loaded the van quickly, and when I went to go through the 800 boxes in the garage to find stuff for the table I found what I was looking for in the FIRST box.

Everything went smoothly at the church. 3 of the 4 soups showed up and they were great. The 4th soup showed up about 1/2 hour before the event. It was all black and completely burned to the bottom (which she had scraped to get up). I panicked a little. Her soup was inedible. We decided to dump her soup and take the milk and cheese we were going to add to it to the others to "thin them down a bit". My portion sizes were a little small I thought (15 people for one lg crockpot) so I was worried. We boiled some water just in case we had to throw some powdered potato soup in. The ladies arrived and we put out our goods (the table looked great if I do say so myself). They ate, they made yummy noises, they asked for recipes, they ate some more. When all had eaten and were full we went into the kitchen and there were still 2 crockpots full. I kinda chocked up. I thought of the scripture story of the loaves and the fishes: And they did all eat and were filled: and they took up the fragments that remained twelve baskets full (Matthew 14:20).

When I got home my BP was back to normal, the job was over. I was reminded once again though that this is His church, He is in charge, He cares about me (and will send a dear sister to care for me), and He will make everything o.k. if we do our best. Miracles happen even today. He has not forgotten us. He will come in our hour of need. Even when he has such heartbreak and need in Japan He cared enough to help Kira...after all she could do.

Florida Part 2

2011-03-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

Lee and I are pretty bummed at ourselves. We really didn't get a great picture of our family at Disneyworld. I guess we will have to go back :) Here is a look at our Disney adventures.

This was taken at Downtown Disney. They have these ladies sprinkling "princess dust" on the kids. It makes them stop I think and look in the store. We had them do a dusting on Annie but Keaton wanted in on the action. Good thing the other lady had a "pirate duster" :).

This is the fountain at downtown Disney. You can't see the fountain well but this shows:
A. the great weather (at night even we were fine in short sleeves)
B. look at that girls hair! All I do is comb it and it comes out like that. I am just amazed at the convenience since I don't know that I have the patience to put a lot of time into kid hair :)
C. I forgot to flip some of the pictures...ugh.

This is the kids and I with the classic Epcot shot. I was surprised at how well we liked Epcot. We LOVED Soarin', and Keaton and Lee LOVED the Mission to Mars ride.

The back part of Epcot you go "around the world" and can stop at an attraction in each "country". Our favorite was Mexico. It had a fun Donald Duck ride that was fun for all of us.

Savannah has a great ability to sleep anywhere. That is what makes it possible to do so many fun things with her. It is a pretty convenient feature of this little lady!

This is Savannah and Keaton "testing" the Dumbo ride at Magic Kingdom. Savannah still thought it was "TOO SCARY"!

We really liked the Animal Kingdom! Keaton loved the Dinosaur fast ride (although Keaton loved EVERY fast and scary ride). They both loved to climb on these big statues!

This is waiting for the Kilimanjaro adventure ride. We got fast passes so we ate our lunch while we waited (we brought tons of lunch stuff and snacks in a cooler to keep from buying food there). The Kilimanjaro ride took by Jeep through Africa and showed many animals. Savannah was a big fan.

Our FAVORITE part of the Animal Kingdom was the Lion King Show. OH MY GOODNESS it was great! Keaton even got to be a part of it. Not so sure how "ready" for show biz he was though. He kept that one hand in his pocket the whole time with an "awkward" look on his face. He was glad he did it though.

The boys had to go on the fast Dino ride ONE MORE TIME so Annie and I waited for them. She was a pretty good sport with whatever and when worse came to worse a Dumdum sucker would buy her love again :)

P.S. We also LOVED the bug show at Disneyworld. It was 3-d and interactive. Pretty great!

This is Savannah and I on Small World. ABSOLUTELY her favorite ride. I think we went on like 6 times! I didn't really think about it but most of the rides (even the kids rides) have a "SCARY" element. She would whisper in my ear SCARY! She was a pretty good sport but Small World she couldn't get enough of.

She also loved this outside play area. I hated to spend a ton of time there because it was just a little park (that we could go to for FREE in any city).

We really loved our trip and mostly loved spending time as a family. We are thinking in 10 years or so we will have to go back....we HOPE we can wait that long!

Florida Part 1

2011-02-20T17:42:00.000-08:00

We went to Florida to do the Disneyworld thing and got back about a week ago. It has taken this long for me to get it together to get this on here....sorry. I am going to do it in a couple parts. This serves as our family journal as well so I want to cover all our fun!

We were bumped from a flight when we were looking for a house for Lee's new job. We took the $1,200 in vouchers and figured we had just partially financed our Spring family vacation. I looked for a great deal and found Florida in Feb was pretty darn cheap. Our flight was only $238 a piece (cheaper then Denver) so we can take another small trip in the summer. Above is a picture of the lovely trees. I LOVED all the moss growing on them. So pretty.

These pictures were taken at Fort Christmas (in Christmas, FL). To say Keaton wasn't disappointed when Santa wasn't there is an understatement :) They have a nice playground, the original fort, and then a whole homesteading village in the back. It was my favorite price (FREE) so we checked it out!

Savannah has a special little place in her heart for all animals. She loved these little chickens. Lee and I sat on a bench and watched her look at them for quite awhile. Lee and I really could see the benefit of this lifestyle. Can you imagine how much time you would have to teach your children, play with your children, and learn if you didn't have the Internet, tv, etc.? As we sat there Lee and I made a goal to "unplug" the first week of May (I think we chose May because it is a ways off :).

This is Savannah and I in front of the fort. Savannah is showing you "gunkey" (the monkey). She took Gunkey everywhere.

This is a lovely orange orchard. Lee and I joked that Orlando and Yakima are as different as apples and oranges. Yakima is just like this but the apple orchards in Yakima seem much cleaner but just like Orlando they are all over the place.

This is the Senator. It is a 3500 year old tree. It is 17 1/2' wide and 118' tall. Lee was horrified when I laid down on the boardwalk with my hands up and made Keaton and Lee line up with me. We figure the three of us end to end with our hands in the air is how wide it is. Savannah just stood back and pitied us :)
In the next couple of days I will post the Disney portion. What a nice week we had with fabulous weather. Great memories for sure!

A Nice Week!

2011-01-30T20:38:00.001-08:00

This week has been nice. I really feel like I am starting to get in my groove. I feel we have been sent here for some important lessons I need to learn. I am learning the importance of my little family. I am learning to rely on my wonderful hubby. I am also learning that I can ask other's for help and they are willing. I am also learning to keep a pretty clean house. Maybe this seems odd but I have always been "too busy" to care too much. I kept it O.K.ish but had so many other things going I didn't have any kind of a schedule. Here I have been able to slow down and keep my house clean, the beds made, and the toilets scrubbed. It is nice to know that anyone can drop by (not that they do) at any time and the house looks nice. It also makes me much happier.

As for events we had a pretty slow week. My health has not been great this week so I have had to take it a little slow. Here are some fun pictures of what the kids are up to though!

I don't really worry about my kids eating. I know most Mom's make their kids clear their plates, etc. but I don't. My kids are not picky eaters so I am pretty blessed. Savannah though defiantly has "eating days" and "not eating days". I try not to worry when the whole day she will only eat a couple pieces of lettuce, an orange section, and a slice of apple. TODAY was her "eating day". I guess I didn't put enough peas on her plate because when I went back to clear the table she had pulled the pea dish over and was shoveling it in with the serving spoon as fast as she could. I guess she liked them :)
Savannah has also decided she likes to use the computer....ugh. We tried turning off the monitor....she figured it out. We tried locking it....she can unlock it. No idea what we are going to do about this one.

One more Annie picture. I thought as her hair got longer it would straighten out a little. If anything the little curls are getting tighter and tighter. She is getting quite the head of hair!

Like I said I am really trying to keep the house clean. This week I mopped the kitchen floor on my hands and knees (the ONLY time I was grateful for a tiny kitchen). Keaton thought that was pretty cool and BEGGED me to let him do the bathrooms. Who am I not to give my child ALL of his hearts desires? :) After a quick lesson I turned him loose. I came back to check on him 5 minutes later. He had put on his swim suit and instead of squeezing it out in the bucket he decided it was better to squeeze it out on the floor. There was quite the flood. He cleaned it up and still wanted to do my bathroom (he promised he NOW knew how). I go and check on him there and he has ditched the sponge and was mopping my bathroom with his bare feet. "It works much better this way Mom" was his response. Whatever....cheap fun I guess!

Keaton also told me today he was skipping church. "What does that mean?" I asked. "You know...like rocks skip on water". Needless to say he went to church :)

Livin' for the Weekend!

2011-01-23T15:42:00.001-08:00

We are really into playing with Daddy on the weekend. There are so many places to explore and Lee doesn't want to miss out (and he makes a GREAT driver). The kids and I got out and about during the week again. People say there is nothing to do here in Yakima but I am surprised with how much there is to do and it is all FREEEE...(my favorite word). We have been to a lot of great places that didn't cost a dime. It seems in SLC everything has a price these days.
I think the coolest thing we did during the week (sorry no pics of this) is we headed over to the Arboretum. It is a 40 acre botanical garden. You guessed right...it is FREE! It has lovely trees and ponds (I am sure in the spring it will be spectacular). It also hooks up to a very lovely stretch of the Yakima River trail. When we went a bit on the trail we came to a large group of trees that had FIVE Bald Eagles. You don't see that everyday! Keaton would also like to say it had lots of small ponds that he could, "crack the ice" on. That is his favorite activity these days.
On Saturday we headed over to the Outlet Stores between here and Seatle. I got all of Keatons back to school shopping done and lots of great deals on "cute" stuff for the girl. This first picture is of a rest stop near Selah, WA (just barely outside of Yakima). It is pretty cool because from this bench you can see Mt. Adams and Mt. Ranier. I think what you will REALLY appreciate is that I didn't get EITHER mountain in this picture. I am just cool like that....sigh.

Right by the outlet stores is a "walking" train museum. You guessed it...FREE. It is spread out over about a mile. There are tons of old trains and info boards on them. It is on a nice walking path and except for the time when Keaton was OFF the path and slipped in a patch of mud it was pretty cool. We will defiantly need to head back though when we have more time. It was getting dark before we saw it all.

Lee and Savannah on a train platform.

We also went back to Snoqualmie Falls. They are really lovely falls but the thing I like most is that they are using nature to power their city. In the picture below you can see the break towards the top of the falls. They have wheels inserted in there to generate power. They say they generate enough power to take care of the area. I love clean renewable power like this.

Here is a sample of one of the wheels. Keaton thought it was cool to climb through. Savannah thought it was cool to not look at the camera...argh.

My little family. I can't believe they are ALL looking. I think I am usually just not patient enough.

These were taken when we came up looking for a house. They were taken when Savannah was actually dressed well (just to prove I SOMETIMES try).

1/2 asleep I guess.

Annie and her Daddy. She really does usually prefer him :)

Finding our groove!

2011-01-16T20:33:00.000-08:00

Things are going much better here in the Pacific Northwest! I am finding things to do to get out of the house and we even had a family from our ward over for dinner tonight! We are still exploring all the cool things there are to do around here. Yesterday we went to the Columbia River. It is a little over an hour away. Lee can't wait to go Steelehead fishing there! We went for a nice walk on the trail. It was over 50 degrees but raining like crazy. We didn't last too long.
This is a hollowed out tree along the river. Keaton and Annie needed to check it out (see how wet Keatons jacket is?)!
Lee contemplating all the time he is going to spend fishing this summer :)

This is a fun little duck pond on the Columbia river.

We also went to the museums story time. It is a free thing sponsored by the Catholic Church. They give the kids a free book, a snack, read them a couple books (in English and in Spanish), let them do a craft, and then they can play in the Children's part of the museum for free (granted it is no Discovery Gateway but my kids had a lot of fun). We went with my cousin Matt's sister-in-law and her kids. The kids had a great time.

Savannah has decided that she will only drink out of a bottle since we moved here. She really has no shame about it. This is my project in the next couple weeks...re-break her of the bottle. The REAL funny thing about this picture is Keaton. He is on this kick this week to become his Dad. He decided he needs to wear his church belt everyday like Dad (although Keatons pants are not really going anywhere), and he decided when he comes home he needs to put on shorts....:"Dad and I are warm-blooded Mom. We wear shorts at home". Each day he tries to do something a little bit more like Lee. I guess he is not too bad of a role model for my little guy :)

I think the thing that has helped me the most this last week or so is our walks. Keaton and I have been walking on the Yakima river almost everyday (one day it got up to 65!). Keaton rides his bike and I push Annie in the stroller. It is just about right pace wise (especially since he has to stop and check a lot of things out). It is a well maintained path with lots to see. We LOVE it! Doesn't it look like something out of a picture?

There are 3 parks along the path. This is an all wood one I find particularly cool (although I did NOT find the pit toilets particularly cool).

This day when we went the ice was starting to break up. Keaton and I were fascinated by the ice floes. Some were as big as our mini-van!

I thought it was pretty neat to see a bald eagle checking us out. When he took off in flight I nearly cried (to be honest that is not that big of a surprise....I used to always go to the bird show at Seaworld and ball my eyes out....birds in flight get me).

We also checked out the DairyGold Cheese plant tour. I am only including this to tell you it was the lamest thing we have ever gone to. IF you find yourself in our neck of the woods please don't waste your time. Clearly the chocolate ice cream was the best part if you ask my kids.

Keaton also had a Primary buddy over this week. We are finding our groove and making this a home. I am glad I am getting over the first couple month blues!

Christmas!

2011-01-09T17:21:00.000-08:00

Not sure why I started with this picture. Sure shows a need for future braces :) This shows Keaton's complete happiness with Christmas (not sure how much longer I will be able to afford his wish list). He got this Scooby Doo Wii game. He was so excited (and has now almost beat it). We had Christmas weekend with Lee's parents. It was nice. Lee's Mom is so over the top in spoiling us (well really the kids :), you can't help but have a nice time.

This pretty much shows Savannah's thoughts on Christmas. She was pretty bored. It took hours to get her to even care to open her presents. Here she is in the tent Lee's Mom gave her (really cool fold up easy, put up easy job). I think this was by far her favorite gift (although she did push around the baby and stroller Santa gave her for hours).

Vernal had a bit of snow. Keaton was thrilled by this mountain of snow. It took some real negotiating to get him down.

When he got down he died (he is into this lately....a little weird).

This is Savannah with Lee's oldest niece (Katie is in college at Utah State). We are so lucky to have great examples for our kids to look up to!

Like I said there was lots of snow in Vernal. Lee and Keaton were more then happy to help Grandpa use the tractor to clear snow off the root cellar. Savannah and her cousin Jackson were really into watching!

I hope my family is not too offended I don't have as many pictures of our time there (I know my sister Deja takes much better shots and I kept waiting for her to post them...sigh). Here is Savannah with my elegant Mom. My kids LOVE all their Grandparents. The separation didn't hurt their relationships (thank heaven).

We stayed with my Uncle Drew and Aunt Maryann (ALL of my 5 brother and sisters were in town so my Mom's was kinda full). Drew and Maryann are like a second set of parents to me. It was nice accommodations :) My cousin Travis and his wife rent their basement. They have kids the same age as ours so Savannah was able to get her hair done :) (sorry Jess this picture Cambrie looks drunk and the other one Vanna did...it's my blog so this won :).

We had 3 girls born in our family within a couple months. Here are the 3. It sure makes it fun for Savannah!

Keaton went sledding a couple times with his boy cousins and Dad. He LOVED it....to say the least :)

On our way back we wanted to see the falls in Twin Falls. They are really quite lovely. Keaton was not terribly into stopping. I am glad we did though. So pretty!

This is a bonus movie of Savannah. Lee's Mom said she was dancing to the alphabet toy. She of course wouldn't dance for the camera but she was pretty cute!

A better week!

2010-12-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

This week ended much better then last week. I am feeling a bit better today (sat through 3 hours of church even!). Lee's back is also still hurting but we think we will mend! We also found a new (to us) car on Friday night! We even didn't have to go to Seattle to find it! We got them to lower their price to trade-in value (car sales are pretty low right now here in Yakima) so we got a good deal! We also got out a little on Saturday so that heals us even a little more. We went to Leavenworth (Christmas city USA not the penitentiary :). The best part of Leavenworth was running into people we KNEW! I think that is the most exciting thing....when you start to know enough people to run into familiar faces!
Leavenworth is a Bavarian style town about an hour and a half from us. It has tons of German shops and does a huge Christmas lighting through Dec. They have huge stars that move through the crowds and when they pass each shop the shop lights up. It was quite beautiful (although not Temple square...still lovely).

This is miss twinkle toes on the way there (out of order I know).

This is the kids waiting for the lighting. They have 4 or 5 Santa's from around the world wandering around. If there wasn't a thousand million people in line to get pictures with them I would have shown you them (very cool!).

This is Lee enjoying his chestnuts from the open fire. He had not had chestnuts and rather liked them. We were also going to try the Sausages....until I noticed the Costco wrapper in their

trash :(

Here is a light picture of the shops. You really feel like you are in a German village (especially when you stop at the bakery and get a fresh pretzel with homemade mustard...yum). We will for sure have to go back in the summer when you can actually get INTO the shops!

This is the main area where the events are (I know it looks like something out of the movie Groundhog Day). Kids sled down the hill (Keaton didn't worry he didn't have a sled...he slid down on his belly). In the gazebo they had a men's choir singing Christmas carols. Nothing better then a men's choir. I think what I liked the most about it was they weren't afraid to keep Christ in Christmas. This was a community event and they said a prayer before they started. They also set off cannons, one for the Christ Child, one for his Mother Mary, one for Christmas, and one for a good new year. Then they had the whole crowd (all 8000 of us) sing silent night. They didn't worry about offending anyone. Just celebrating the real reason of the season. Now next time if we can park closer then a mile away we would be good to go!

This is Keaton. He told me he is the next Iron Chef. I thought that was funny :) He has a bunch of spoons, spatulas, etc in his pockets and down his pants (don't worry they were washed after).

O.K. so I don't take good pictures. Deal with it :) This is the kids in their Christmas outfits. This is after church when Keatons kind teacher gave a coloring book to Keaton AND Savannah NOW she is happy.

This is classic Savannah before church. Something always makes her MAD!

If you are still reading this is where I get deep. This Christmas has been like no other one. We moved here and when we finally were getting settled got in the accident. We didn't put up a tree, I didn't put up most of my decorations (although I did find a few including the nativity), we didn't have any parties to go to (we had Lee's aunt's funeral on the day of the ward party), we didn't give or get a single neighbor gift (I really tried...I dumped 4 batches of my classic caramels that always turn out in SLC), and the little Christmas shopping I did was online or in 2 hours at Target (none if has been wrapped yet). I was thinking this morning about the Grinch. Remember the line where he says, " It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!". This year ALL the glitz was gone. We even didn't have any family around (although we plan to remedy that this week). We spent time with our little family. We spent time talking about a celebrating the greatest gift ever given: the Christ Child. We went to a parade, and a train Christmas but everything else was Christ centered. The Leavenworth lighting had a good message, we drove through a live nativity put on by a near church (not LDS, although they DID have LIVE sheep and goats (pretty cool if you ask my kids)), we went to our stake's live nativity, and watched Mr. Kruger's (oh how I cried and cried as I related to that one!). I really have not missed the glitz. I have appreciated the simplicity. I have appreciated the calmness in my home. Next year I am sure we will add back in a little glitz. We will reignite some of those traditions. But for THIS year....I really appreciated the change :) Merry Christmas to you all...we LOVE YOU!

Waiting for 2010 to END!

2010-12-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

I thought about writing a Christmas letter I really did. I was worried it would turn out to be the most depressing Christmas letter in history though. Between 4 hospital stays, 2 surgeries (one emergency), Lee's job turning crummy, $2700 in repairs on our rental house in Dec (they just submitted another leak today), moving out of state and leaving our lovely home, family and friends, and capping it all by being hit by a semi and totalling the van we are thinking we can't wait for 2011! We can truly say though that we have been blessed through it all. Keaton's arm healed beautifully, Savannah is on a great maintenance medicine now that is keeping her out of the hospital, we had cash for the home repairs (although I could have thought of a better way to spend it), Lee got a great new job he loves, and we all walked away from a horrific accident (truly a gift from God).
SO....let's tell about our adventures for the week!

Lee's Aunt died on the 3rd. She had been battling cancer courageously for years and she was finally called home. She was an intelligent kind woman that we were thrilled to call family. We went to Boise this last Friday for the funeral. It was a great service (great speakers that gave great tributes to a deserving lady). That night Lee's Uncle graciously had a dinner for family and close friends at his private club. Most of the families with kids had to leave but Lee and I went with our kids (only one other kid was there out of 40 people). This was a lovely fine dining club that would have been a fabulous experience....had I been alone :) I knew we were in trouble when Keaton took all his silverware, Lee's and mine and started building log cabins. He loved the split pea soup and I stopped him right before he started licking his bowl. He kept dropping silverware and climbed under to get it...each time bumping the elegant table. Once dinner came I couldn't get Savannah enough of my rice pilaf so she started taking it off LEE'S UNCLES PLATE?!?!? He was gracious enough to feed her some of his rice....then she went for his salmon :( Keaton decided to lay down on the floor...he was tired. This is just the highlights. I think by the time dinner was over I was a shaking pile of nerves!

We did get to see lots of cousins though! This is Aspen. She is highly dedicated to getting Savannah to be her friend. Savannah complied after much effort. Yea Aspen!

Last week we went to the Toppenish Train Museum Christmas. It was pretty cool. They had about 30 miniature trains set up. Many of the trains the kids could operate.

Then you climbed on this old train to ride to the "North Pole" to see Santa on another train. I thought it was pretty funny that the "North Pole" was located in a junk yard....but whatever the kids had fun. We were the last family to see Santa. He had to use the restroom (doesn't Santa have magic for that?) so he was pretty short with the kids (which was all right by Savannah since she mostly just cared about the candy cane :).

The big highlight of our week though was Sat. night on our way home. The weather was bad and the roads were slick. Lee was in the "faster" lane and going about 30. All of the sudden the semi next to him started sliding over. Lee had nowhere to go. We hit the semi on my side and a tow truck on his side. I have never been so sure I had seen the end as when I saw that semi collide into me. According to the patrolman on the scene we should be dead or seriously injured. The tow truck driver said if we had hit just a bit more to the left his boom would have gone into the windshield killing Lee. If we were a bit ahead I would have been under the semi's tires. We all walked away. The kids were totally fine. We were blessed by God's grace. Our ward church family has also been so good to us. They sent someone to pick us up, when we got home there were guys taking care of our driveway and the 6 inches of snow, they brought us a treat and dinner for tonight. So, once again I have to say 2010 was the best of times...and the worst of times. Here is hoping for a better 2011!!!

A Christmassy sort of week!

2010-12-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

This has been a Christmassy sort of week. We found plenty of things to do to put us in the spirit. The kids I think have enjoyed actually getting out of the house after our hiatus. These are in not in chronological order but they are all from this week.

Last night we went to the Sunnyside Lighted Farm Implement parade. We got there last minute and got great parking and seats (although it is one of the largest Farm Implement Parades in the nation:). Lee REALLY loved it. I was cold. I don't know what my deal is but with Lee's HUGE gloves, my wool coat, a fleece jacket, and the wool hat Lee's Mom knitted me I still froze. The kids stayed pretty cozy....I guess that is what matters right?

This one is out of order but that morning Lee's work had a kid Christmas party. You can see that Anna thought Santa was really "coooool". The GE Santa even gave them BIG toys....still didn't soften her. Oh, Vanna sometimes you can be a hard nut to crack.

This was our favorite float of the implement parade. It pretty much was an hour of this. This is a lighted Combine. If you don't know what a combine is you are in good company :)

This is some documentation as to why we are not good renters. I was so pleased the other night when Anna was not under my feet while I was making dinner (someday I will have to post a pic of my TINY kitchen). About 5 minutes later I heard her screaming. I followed the ruined walls and found she had closed herself in Keatons room. You have to appreciate the time she spent on the artwork. You can see below that she had CLEARLY been locked in Keatons room for awhile before she realized she couldn't get out.....

P.S. Crayola marker doesn't come off wall.....

Our Stake had a live Nativity Thurs night. It was SO well done. We really enjoyed hearing the songs and the true store of Christmas. The kids even sat there pretty good and listened. I have to say I think it was my favorite thing we did this week.

We also went out with some friends on Weds. My cousin-in-law Taunzia's brother's family lives up here. They invited us to Kids Castle . Keaton, Vanna and I really had a great time. They really needed a day out with kids.

All in all we are getting more and more adjusted to living here. I still can't say I like it....I can say it is an adventure though!

Thanksgiving Weekend in Portland

2010-12-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving had all the ear marks of a big bummer. We had been REALLY looking forward to my brother and my Aunt coming for Turkey day and they both ended up not being able to come. Lee thought we should just bag the whole thing but I insisted we go through the motions. I am really glad we did. It was kinda nice to have Thanksgiving with just the 4 of us. I have never in my life done such a small holiday. We ate when we wanted, what we wanted, and how much we wanted (knowing we had all the leftovers to ourselves :). I did the whole thing, even homemade pie crusts for my first time. I think it all turned out great (of course because I only had Lee and Keaton to make the yummy noises). I asked Keaton about halfway through the dinner what his favorite part was. He said, "my family of course". You know he was right.

My mom suggested we do something that weekend so we didn't sit around and mope. I am glad she suggested that. We hopped in the car and went to Portland for the weekend (about 3 hours away). Lee and I decided you could take a week just traveling that road. There were so many cool things to look at!

Friday night we went to "The Kennedy School". My cousin and his wife lived in Portland and gave us all kinds of cool suggestions. It is an old school they have turned into a hotel (classrooms are the rooms), indoor pool, cigar shop (in the old detention room), theatre (in the gym full of overstuffed mismatched velvet loveseats not theatre seats), and a charming restaurant. We had a great dinner then went to the tree lighting in Pioneer Square. We didn't know until we got back to the hotel that the square was almost a victim of a terror attack (although it was a pretty good idea since it was wall to wall people). I don't know why you can't see the tree in the pic above....lame.

The next morning Keaton and Lee went on the sub tour (I don't do claustrophobia things and Annah was too little). Keaton and Lee LOVED it. Keaton favorite was when the tour guide told him he could "name a missile and take it home...if you can lift it". Keaton thought that was pretty funny.....Keaton is pretty funny.

Savannah and I didn't have a camera but we went to the Saturday open air market. We wandered the booths for an hour with a smile on our faces. Annah LOVES dogs and Portland has more dogs then any place I know. I love all the little vendor booths. After an hour and a half we were about done and ready for Lee and Keaton to get us so we got some popcorn and listened to a little band playing in their food garden.

Like I said there was so much to see on the road home. This is Multnomah Falls. It is the 2nd tallest falls in the nation. I think it was breathtaking. It was especially cool with the ice on the sides. We loved how everything was covered with moss. We hiked up to that bridge and got a closer look.

On the way up Keaton found a tree to hide in :)

The first bridge....look how mossy the trees were!

There was another water fall about a 1/4 mile away. Not quite as cool but still pretty. Annah wanted to play in the water.

P.S. Don't you LOVE the kids hats? Lee's Mom made them last year. I am so thrilled they still fit this year!

Moving!

2010-11-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

Well, we are here...move DONE. Now onto making some kind of normal here. Here is a picture with Keaton and our good neighbors and friends the Rennies. We left behind so many friends. It is hard for Keaton to get used to us knowing no one. As a matter of fact it has been really hard for ME to get used to the fact we know no one :)
On our way out here we stopped in Twin Falls for lunch (nothing better then a salad or hot dog from Costco, eh?). We were amazed by this lovely gorge. It was great for the kids to get out and stretch their legs!

Here is a better picture of the gorge. There is a golf course at the bottom. Wouldn't Lee love that?!?!

The bridge was pretty cool too. Although I am a sucker for a cool bridge (Yakima has PLENTY of those...let me tell you!). This is our mountain of moving paper. You would NOT BELIEVE what the movers wrapped. Every toy, every piece of garbage, every plastic cup was all wrapped. We made a big mountain and jumped in it. The kids LOVED it!

Seriously, no picture can represent this room FULL of paper!

We sure miss our friends but are grateful for this opportunity for our family! Please know we LOVE visitors (not that we have had any :)!

Camping take one!

2010-08-06T06:06:00.001-07:00

We went camping back to back weekends this year. The first time was for the Hansen family reunion and the next week was the Palmer family reunion. I actually really enjoyed both weeks....especially after I gave up keeping our little Savannah clean :) Here are a few of the highlights of the Hansen camp!

Look at the look of pure joy on that face. I fought and fought and fought her to stay in her stroller or in my arms. Life was much better once I gave in.

P.S. Oxy Spray pre-treater is a laundry miracle :)
Keaton is never one to miss out on dirt himself!

Everyone needs a cousin you can just be goofy with. Milo fits the bill nicely :)

My sisters and I believe in the "Love and Logic" concept of parenting. It lets kids experience their own consequences. This shot could be on the cover of their next book. Kai forgot tennis shoes after he was reminded. He was pretty good about even hiking in his sandals :)

These are all the cousin hikers that hiked doughnut falls. On the way up to the falls my sister Amara kept asking hikers what KIND of doughnuts were up there. Everyone gave her a blank stare but I thought it was rather funny :)

Keaton at the top of the falls. I know the hat is too big but it keeps the sun off his face and shoulders!

Tia wanted me to take a picture of her (what a teenager :). I took a couple and darnit this is the one Tia is not looking in but I love Ari's smile and Kai's...well whatever Kai is doing I like it!

This picture was taken from our tent pad. A little bit close for me!

Gotta love those Hansen's. Plenty of food folks and fun! Thanks for a great weekend!

Keaton Breaks his Arm...catching up

2010-06-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have been such a bad blogger as of late. We have had our share of drama though so...maybe? I use this as a journal for our family so I will need to catch up...bear with me.
If you know Keaton very well you know he is A: a great swimmer, and B: FEARLESS. The middle of April I started going to water aerobics. I loved going and I especially liked it when Keaton would come with me (the class is listed as good for ALL ages so I was testing their limits I know). We would do the class and then 10 minutes before the pool closed I would let him jump off the diving boards. The first time he went on the low dive I thought my heart would beat out of my chest. After he went off the low dive he wanted to try the high dive. I told him he needed to go off the low dive 5 more times first (I thought he would forget). He still wanted to try the high dive. I talked to the life guard and asked her if she thought I was insane for letting my 4 year old jump off the high dive. She said not too worry no 4 year old actually jumps. IF they have enough nerve to get to the top they turn around when they see how high it is. She didn't know my Keaton though. He climbed to the top, ran to the end, and JUMPED. When he surfaced from the water he said, "THAT. WAS. AWWWWESOME." We continued doing our routine for about a week.
Weds. night he was all ready to go up the ladder. About the 3rd or 4th rung he fell off the ladder and landed on his arm (I was standing right there but couldn't get to him in time). I have never seen him scream like that. They began treating him, and honestly me too for shock and called an ambulance. There was a good Samaritan there that was in med school. He held Keaton's arm in the air to relieve some of the pain until the ambulance came. When I realized that his bone had poked THROUGH his skin I knew there was real trouble.
They rushed us to the nearest hospital and within an hour he was in emergency surgery to pin his arm back together.

Keaton actually LOVED Lakeview Hospital. He was there for 24 hours for observation. They brought him movies, toys, and fixed him anything he wanted to eat. He still says he wants to go back to the hospital. I was so impressed with how kind they were to me as well. They brought me in my own bed to stay by him. They also brought in meals for me, just kind.

Keaton had a rough day or so adjusting.

We were pleased though within a week he was not going to let him hold him back. We even went to Seaworld and Disneyland!

A quick 4 weeks later (they originally though 6 or more) he got his pins pulled and his cast off. Last week went back to the pool. He is a trouper!

Vanna turn's ONE!

2010-04-14T06:26:00.001-07:00

Our little sweetie turned one last month. Right after she finished RSV. Keaton still call's her little one and constantly say's, "she's pretty special to us". Savannah is the sweetest girl we know....with a crazy bad temper :) She is starting to like people a little more. She even has begun letting a stranger here or there look at her :) She says, "mama, dada, Keaton, hi bubby (my brothers baby the same age), bye, and lub you". She has great crawling skills and see's no need to walk (although she pulls up on everything). She love's Keaton. One day Keaton took a nap and she cried the whole hour and a half. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I tried everything. Keaton woke up and she laughed and laughed.

She likes to swim (good thing if she is going to make it in this family). She likes to be outside and she still loves toys. She will eat most anything (except banana's...a girl after my own heart). Last night she ate lentil soup, and the night before tilapia, broccoli, and acorn squash (where did I get these kids?). All in all I guess Keaton is right...she's pretty special to us.
(this movie was taken 2 days after she got out of the hospital, note the nasal canula from her oxygen :) I guess she was feeling better).

Our tour of Primary's

2010-03-11T06:19:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday our little gal got real sick...real fast. In the morning she was fine. By 6 I was terrified. She had slept for 6 hours and we were having a hard time rousing her. She didn't want to eat and what she did eat she couldn't keep down. My Pediatrician said to bring her right in. They ran some tests but couldn't figure it out. They sent us home to wait for it to get worse...or better. Friday she was much worse. We were starting to worry about dehydration so we gave her 1/2 tsp (yes, tsp) of pedialyte every 5 min (yes 5 min). She continued to decline and her fever got worse (I could only get it to 100.5 with Tylenol). Kidscare had a 2 hour wait and we were so worried about how she would handle that and what she was spreading we decided with our Doc to wait and take her to Primary's if it got too bad. I had to work Monday so I went at 5am so I could relieve Lee. I called the Ped at 8 to tell her Vanna was having trouble breathing now too and her unmedicated temp was 105. They told me to bring her right in.
At the Ped's office her pulse ox was 84 so they freaked and called an ambulance (mind you our Ped office is IN a hospital). At that point I lost it and started sobbing. I asked if she was going to make it. They assured me she would be in the best hands at the Children's Hospital and would be fine. Savannah wouldn't let them put her on the gurney so I got on the gurney and held her while they strapped us both down (the things you will do as a Mom :).

At Primary's they admitted us as soon as they had a bed (after about 6 hours in a room in the ER). They did some more tests and came back with RSV the whole hospital is double and triple booked right now with this. It is an epidemic!

They hooked her up to all kinds of monitors. I didn't take any pictures of her dehydrated and at her worst. I am glad. She was so sad looking. All of these pics are about 24 hours after treatment. She turned around pretty quick with the oxygen, IV, and suctioning out the mucus. They were going to send her home the next day but right before she was going to leave her oxygen dropped so we stayed again. They were then going to send her home the next morning but right before we were going to leave she had a 1/2 hour coughing fit that that she lost oxygen on and was turning blue before the suctioned her. SO....finally the 3rd night we got to go home....on oxygen, and with going back to have her suctioned 2x a day at the hospital.
We are so happy to have our little gal back home and starting to get better. We have been so worried about her. We saw faith in action. We could FEEL the prayers of family and friends and knew she would be fine. We felt God's hand that right before she was going to go home she had her setbacks BEFORE we got home. We are thankful for kind family and friends that have helped us get through this!

Pinewood derby!

2010-03-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

The big new of the week is Keaton won the Ward's pinewood derby for his age group! Keaton picked out the design, painted it and decorated it. Lee had his doubts because it was nowhere near the weight it should have been. Imagine our surprise when not only did the "green goblin" not fall apart on the first race but it WON! It went on to win for his age group! He was so proud!

Our Savannah continues to light up our life. She is pretty serious but a pure joy to have in our family. Keaton is such a good brother to her. They play together pretty well :) We had Savannah's one year old pics done click here for a sneak peek!

Funny things

2010-02-16T08:11:00.001-08:00

This morning Keaton said, "Mom do you think we can look on the computer to find some better dance moves for me?"

Savannah's first word is Keaton....anyone surprised?

I cleaned out Keaton's closet the other day and found: My rotary cutter, half dozen corn end holders, my lotion, and an asst. of band aids. When I asked him about it he said, "Mom, that is just a collection of all the things I LOVE".

Last month Keaton tried to "help" by spraying off the stairs with the hose :(

I guess he was an only child TOO long :)

2010-02-02T09:28:00.003-08:00

I was really sick yesterday. I think poor little Keaton was going a little stir crazy. Lee was in class last night and Keaton started begging me to play hide n' go seek. It really wasn't a problem for me to play with him. He covered me in blankets and pillows and told me not to peek or he would know where I was. He then counted did a quick look around the house for me before he made his grand discovery....only to recover me and start again. Awesome no effort play for me!

Savannah is 9 mos!

2010-01-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

O.K. O.K. so she is actually pushing 11 mos. Life kinda got away from me. We are sleeping again though so I am catching up :) All the pictures are from the 9 mos period! Savannah is a joy to our family. She loves:
BROTHER, Mama, and Dad. She loves to play with toys and "figure them out". She is a serious baby that will take the time to figure out what things do. She loves cereal and most any other food we give her. When Keaton was a baby I read once that you have to give a baby a food 10 times before they like it. There have been a few things we have had to try 5-6 times for her to like the taste but she came around! :)
She is such a happy baby. We love to listen to her laugh and will do some pretty crazy things to make her laugh.

I am really enjoying having a little girl. It is so fun to dress her (although she HATES the actual process of getting her clothes changed). At Christmas time I blew my Christmas funds before I thought about a Christmas dress for her. I found this fun silver fabric on a dollar table. I made it the night before Christmas Sunday. I really enjoyed sewing for her!

For Christmas she took up crawling. It is really fun to watch her be independent! We can't imagine life without her!

My boy turns 4....sigh

2009-11-16T06:36:00.001-08:00

(With his booboo)

I really am sad to report my little Keaton turned 4 last week (he was not so sad). I can still remember when he was born like it was yesterday. I remember holding him scared of being his Mom (I still am a little scared to be his Mom....he deserves so much). Keaton has brought so much joy and laughter to our lives. He says the most funny things AND the most kind things. He is a kid that loves life. He loves to go and do (which works really well for us). Keaton is not afraid to try anything. He will jump right in and try it and keep at it until he has it down (especially with active things).

(Keaton "moving pipe" at Grandma Palmers)

Keaton has really excelled at swimming. He can swim the length of the pool at the rec center. That is really quite exceptional for a little guy like him. He starts lessons again today. I really want to encourage his swimming (genetics are against him for a healthy figure.....I need to help him where I can :). Keaton is a good eater (another reason the swimming is important :). He will try anything I put on his plate. He usually says "this is GOOOD". Then after a couple more bites he may say...."this is not so good". I am glad he goes in positive though :). He loves Kiwi, avocado, grapes, but his true love is SALSA! He puts it on EVERYTHING!

Keaton is such a good big brother. He loves that little Savannah more then I could have imagined. When I was pregnant I had the distinct impression that Savannah was so excited to come to Earth and be born to see Keaton (she also was excited to see Lee and I but mostly KEATON). I can see now it was a right on impression. These 2 have a special relationship. They love each other so much. He is such a good helper with her. I have to say this baby is so much easier having Keaton.

Keaton loves books! We love to cuddle in my bed (with Savannah who also loves books) and read and read. I have him pick out books and we always have a huge stack to get through. He likes to go to the library and pick out books so we can learn things. I never thought I would know so much about Sharks, Dolphins, Turtles, Jedi's, Star Wars ships, etc. I think he gets his great vocabulary from all the books.

Keaton is a tall kid. When we went to the Doctor this time he was 99% for height. The Doctor told him that means if she lined him up with all his friends he would be the tallest...she is right.

When Keaton was born he changed my life. He still is changing my life....it just gets better and better. Happy Birthday Keaton!

Halloween night!

2009-11-03T08:25:00.001-08:00

Halloween night we make scones for the neighborhood in our front yard. We make a fire in a fire pit and invite everyone to take a break and eat a scone. They were a hit, ESPECIALLY with Keaton. You will also notice his root beer in his chair. Our neighbor a couple houses down passes out root beer. Keaton loves that MUCH more then the candy and can't wait to get back to drink it. He would rather hang out with Lee so we pretty much only went down our street and were done.
Here are all his pumpkins. We had gotten enough from Lee's Dad for all of Keaton's buddies for his party. We ended up not having enough time to decorate them and I forgot to have the kids take them home. We ended up with a whole collection!

Savannah supervised the cleaning of the pumpkins!

Lee Let Keaton do his own pumpkins only if he cleaned them out too.

Keaton with the power drill drilling holes in his pumpkin...yes we are totally bad parents :)

Savannah the Elephant. She was supposed to be Princess Leah but I ran out of time. I thought she was a cute Elephant.

My Jedi knight. I made the costume the night before...don't look too close.

How Savannah spent most of the trunk or treat...and Halloween night.

Song in her heart

2009-10-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

On Sunday's I teach a group of about 50 kids songs of Christ as well as some fun and seasonal songs. I love it. I really like kids, and I like music...a perfect fit. The kids range from 3 to 12. Some are well behaved....some not so much. Some have good voices....some not so much. Some are from wealthy families...some not so much. Some can sit quietly and learn...some not so much. Regardless, I really love them all. Lately my favorite thing to do is to watch the littlest kids. Many times they can not sit still. Many times they don't remember the words. My favorite to watch is Charlotte though. Charlotte is a beautiful girl. She is always happy, and LOVES to sing. Can I tell you though... she doesn't know many of the words. That doesn't matter. Charlotte sings loud and strong. You can tell she feels it in her heart. I feel the spirit of Christ when Charlotte sings. I KNOW he loves her, I know he loves me through her. Does that make sense? I can see that we don't have to "know all the words". I believe Christ loves our intent, our passion. I think so many times we don't try since we can't do it just right. Why do we do that? I think for awhile I am going to try to care a little less about knowing the words and more about singing the songs in my heart....see how that goes :)

Short term memory

2009-10-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

With the whole recession I have found a lot of comfort lately in learning how to make as much as I can myself. It gives me comfort that if I needed to we could survive fairly well on my food storage. This week I am trying yogurt from scratch. I consulted with my friend Tiffany since I have gathered it is a pretty tricky process. Tiffany gave me some great tips. The best tip was on how to keep the temperature at 100 degrees while it "cures". She said that she found it best to put it in her oven and turn it on to 350 or whatever and let it pre-heat for exactly a minute then turn it off, she then repeated every hour. She commented that when she did this she had to set her timer since with her 4 kids her attention span sometimes isn't that long :) I smiled and decided I would do the same....just in case. Oh, how excited I was as I watched the yogurt thicken each hour. I carefully followed Tiffany's direction and was excited about the yogurt we were going to have for breakfast with my homemade granola. I would slice some kiwi's and mango's with it...yum. I followed the process for 7 hours it was looking almost perfect. I thought one more hour and I would have perfected it on my first try....sigh.....you know how this turns out. I turned the oven back on, set the timer and finished dinner. The timer went off. I thought....hmm....what was that timer for? I figured I had set it to motivate Keaton somehow. I set off to find Keaton. Of course he was into something so I got totally distracted. An hour later I remembered my yogurt.... boiling.... dead. SO I figure I will try it again sometime. This time I guess I will have to set the timer 2x for 30 seconds each :)

Savannah was not excited to "try" the yogurt :)

Misc pictures

2009-10-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is the Vanna we see most of the time. Little tongue sticking out. What a doll, eh?
Look at those cheeks. I LOVE kissing on them!

My wonderful Aunt Lynn got the kids these cute outfits when we went to see her last month. Keaton LOVES how cool they are in their matching Halloween gear.

Vanna's not quite up to posing all the time :) Thank you for your well wishes. She is sleeping much better. My Doctor also found a level way off that helped me too. We are doing MUCH better!

And the winner is....

2009-10-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

AMARA! Yes, ladies after all your thoughts and well wishes Amara (my bigger much older wiser sister) wins with EAR INFECTION! Apparently Savannah was not completely over the whole reflux thing and it has been festering causing her to sleep less and less. After the Doctor gave her 2 prescriptions for the ears (one is for numbing drops, did you even know that existed?), and 2 prescriptions for severe acid reflux my sweet girl has slept for 3 of the last 4 hours. Here is HOPING for finally a good nights sleep!

HELP!!!!

2009-10-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

I am seriously going crazy. I need some help. Please be nice. The issue is sleep....isn't it always with my kids? Keaton is almost 4 and still doesn't sleep through the night. Savannah has been our miracle sleeper though. At 2 weeks she slept through the night and up until 6 mos mostly slept through the night with maybe one wake up here or there. Can I tell you how wonderful that has been? Can I tell you the difference it makes in your life to have a baby that sleeps....especially when you are not a necessarily "young" mother? For Keatons whole first year he woke up 7 times a night (yes 7 not a typo). I was working 45 hours a week and was happy I could spend those nights with him. When I really got too tired he was a cuddly kid and we could sleep for quite a while in the recliner. Savannah has never been a cuddler. She cannot sleep well when someone is holding her. Luckily it has been fine since she sleeps. We are going on almost a month though where she has not been a good sleeper. For the first week she woke once or twice a night. Not too bad....a little annoying but not bad. The next week she woke every couple hours. I tried everything. No luck. The next week every hour, and this last week EVERY. HALF. HOUR. Last week we ended up in urgent care over the whole thing. They thought she was congested and couldn't sleep. They said to put her down in her car seat and give her benadryl and she would be fine. It worked for one night. Last night was the worse. Every TEN minutes. You think I am kidding. She wakes up SCREAMING. It takes me about 10 minutes to calm her down. She may be teething but Motrin, Tylenol, nor teething tablets make a difference. She may have gas but Gripe water, mylicon, nor Malox work. She certainly may have allergies but she doesn't seem congested and Benadryl isn't working. Please don't suggest she "cry it out". When she gets upset she swallows so much air it puts her in pain for hours. I do wait to get her until I am sure she cannot go back to sleep. As for me.... I may "cry it out". Any ideas?

Kira Cooks and Star Wars

2009-09-27T08:50:00.001-07:00

I caught Keaton and Savannah "playing" Star Wars the other day. At least he gave her her own sword :) Poor girl she is doomed.

Also, did you know I have a recipe blog?!? I have posted some good recipes there that we really like. You might want to check it out here . While you are there be sure you sign on as a follower... and be SURE to leave me a comment if you try or think you want to try one of the recipes :)

SIX months!

2009-09-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

We can hardly believe our little gal joined our family 6 mos. ago. We cannot imagine life without this little sprite.

Keaton prays every meal, every night and every morning that she will grow up to be "just like her brother". I think the prayers are working. She has personality just like Keaton. They both are high energy and happy kids.

Savannah suffers a little from stranger danger....or maybe she is just a mama's girl. She is almost 14 pounds now (15 percentile), 26 inches (60 percentile), and her huge head (more brains the Doctor said :) is 80% ( just like Keaton....prayers work :).

Camping with a baby?

2009-08-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

We went camping TWO times with our little lady this summer. The first one was the annual Palmer camp. It really didn't turn out great for us. Savannah had a horrible time which made ME have a horrible time. Good thing I go for Keaton and was committed or we would have bailed :) Not too many pictures of our family on that one due to Savannah being in tears most of it.

Why did we try it AGAIN 2 weeks later? I had put together a camp for my Mom's family. I really felt like I couldn't get out of it :) It was MUCH better on Savannah....SO better for all:)

Here is my Uncle Drew and his "adventure scouts". Have I told you about Drew before? He is a real live Peter Pan. Don't we all need one of those in our lives? He never wants to grow up. That makes him Grandpa/Uncle of the YEAR. He had our little collection of 3 year olds going. He took them on a tent stake rescue mission, had them imagining the twisty Aspen trees were snakes, and told them about "Monkshood" flowers to name a few topics. Keaton LOVED it. I {heart} Uncle Drew.

Here we are at Silver Lake, what a great little walk!

Keaton trying to fit in with the girls :)

Keaton and Savannah...best buds.

I had to laugh, on our walk with the girls my cousin Launie is working on letters in the dirt with her girls. Keaton...has scurried 1/2 way up this wall. The differences of gender!

Keaton and his buddies Katie and Maggie.

Oh Savannah oh don't you cry for me....

2009-08-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

We have a serious problem here. See this girl? She has decided she is not a fan of people (my Mom tells stories that I was the same way...I don't believe her). The problem is that she looks so dang cute in her ruffley socks, patent shoes, and bow and smiles... at a distance. People think they should hold her...but she thinks only her Mom should hold her. Then she turns into ANGRY baby and thinks she needs to yell until EVERYONE knows she is MAD. I think after this week they are sending around a petition to have us go inactive :)

The final straw.

2009-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

If you know our little Keaton very well you know he is adventurous...to put it mildly. He taught himself to swim by just jumping in the pool 100 times. He loves to climb on, jump off or wrestle ANYTHING. He has 30 first cousins and I don't think there is a one of them he hasn't wrestled. He really doesn't have any fear. We have been thrilled that we have kept him out of the ER and are pleased he has never broken anything or needed anything stitched up....until...

CHURCH!!!! Can you believe it? Sunday he ran into the counter at church. Our neighbor Haley is a nurse and came to check him out. Sure enough we had to take him to urgent care for 2 stitches (he also has a pretty good black eye that doesn't show up in the pics too well). They ended up putting a new sealer on his cheek to lessen scarring. He is pretty bummed that he can't swim of 10 days (and counting). He was thrilled though when his sweet Sunbeam teacher brought him by a bag of bravery goodies :)

Not REALLY Santa?

2009-07-28T04:38:00.001-07:00

Santa was in our local Costco today. He was in plaid shorts, a t-shirt and smelled slightly of beef sticks but Keaton and I were sure it was him. This is how we came to believe:)
We get right about to the deli area and Keaton decides to go into full blown tantrum mode. My normal, "Keaton if you can't calm down we are going to have to leave instead of staying and getting a drink to share" was not working. When we came to the lady who was passing out the free micro samples of ham we discovered she was O.U.T. The nerve. This put Keaton over the edge (can we say tired?). Santa seeing the issue comes on over. He gets right in Keatons face and says, "buddy this isn't gonna work. Be nice or you are off THE LIST". Keaton looked at me and spent the rest of the time saying, "are you o.k. my lady?/ what can I do for you my lady?" (where he got the my lady part I am not sure, he has a pretty funny vocabulary).
So Keaton and I left the Costco believing in and LOVING Santa :)

Itty Bitty Ball

2009-07-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

Keaton just finished up Itty Bitty Ball last week. I was so thrilled to get him in it this summer. Our city does this program for kids 3-5. They spend a week learning basketball, a week on baseball (his favorite was when they used water balloons to practice catching and wading pools for bases), and a week on soccer. Keaton loves to play so he couldn't pick a favorite. He loved them all. After the first week when I asked him what his favorite part was he said, "I love it when I make a basket and I can hear you say GO KEATON"....sweet. He had a lot of his good friends on his "team". His good friend Zach he met at swim lessons, Joshua (the rocket neighbor :), and Joshua from when he was in nursery (yep 2 Josh's). We will definitely have to sign up again next year (best spent $24 of the year). His only disappointment.....he was sure he was going to get a trophy at the end like his cousins (I really tried to clear that up at the beginning....he KNEW I was wrong :(.

Keaton and Zach with the HUGE ball they used the last day to play "crab soccer".

Keaton kicking Zach instead of the ball.....REALLY I am trying to teach him.

Had to include one of our little Vanny girl :)

3...well 4 mos!

2009-07-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Our little princess turned 3 mos.... a month ago. I really meant to get this picture up and a summary written, oh well ;) She is such a little blessing to us. Now she is 4 mos and is rolling around, easily entertained by Keaton and still is a good sleeper. She also talks to us CONSTANTLY. I think she must take after Keaton (who Lee says takes after me :). She just had her 4 mos appt. and is 17% for weight and 20% for height. That is not too shabby since she started out 3%. She weighs a whole 12 pounds now.
I have to tell you how much she adores Keaton (unless he has poked her for the umpteenth time). When I was pregnant with her I had the distinct feeling that she was excited to come down from Heaven to her family. She was excited to see Lee and I but she was MOST excited to see Keaton. That pretty much sums it up for most people we know, everyone seems most excited by Keaton :)

Lost....and FOUND

2009-07-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

I lost my little Keaton today. Just like that I turned around and he was gone. We had gone to the park with a few friends and I could see all of them...no Keaton. Can I say I lost it? I have never really misplaced a child. I couldn't imagine he would go off by himself without being a pied piper and taking some buddies with him. I was sure one of the lurking weirdos walked off with him. I called and called and called for him and went from one area of the play area to the other looking for him with tears in my eyes and panic in my chest. Poor Savannah could feel my panic and she started to fuss right along with me. My cousins wife jumped up and stared looking too. I just couldn't think straight about my options...call 911 (does that count as a life and death emergency?), organize a search party with the 200 other moms at the park that day, WHAT? Sure enough within 5 minutes Keaton wandered back over to his chips and salsa (I brought enough for everyone....he thought I only brought enough for him). When I asked him where he was: "I was in the castle, why did you not look in the castle?" Cleary HE was not concerned (although after he felt my concern he stayed pretty near the rest of the time).

I think every so often one of these terrifying moments are good for us mama's it helps us appreciate these precious moments even more. Keaton got extra hugs, extra kisses tonight, even 3 extra bed time songs....just in case :)

San Diego

2009-06-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last week we were in San Diego for my niece Brinlee's blessing. All of my family was there except Deja (she is in Europe) and Amaras husband. Here are some of the highlights:

The arm you see is Brinlees big brother Nate. Nate is like a second Mom to Brinlee. We wanted to get a picture of the girls together (Savannah is 2 mos older). Brinlee was just waking up. Meesha commented that someday Brin would be mad that Savannah was all dolled up and she was not even awake. The babies LOVE Nate. Here is Savanny trying to charm the pants off Nate. He was pretty loyal to his baby and wouldn't even look at her :)

This is at the Point Loma Cabrillo monument. We were not sure if this guy was worked there or was some strange guy hanging out to make some money. He was a little odd so Meeshas boys wanted a pic with him.

This is the only pic we took together....man I wish I had put on make-up.

This is my mama. It was nice for us to gave the help with the babies.

Keaton loved the beach. He got knocked down by a wave at the beach so he had just the right mixture of fear and love :)

Smashed Beans

2009-06-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

(does the pic help or hinder?)
It seems like the world is getting into being more prepared. The other day I bought a 25 pound bag of pinto beans for around $10 at Costco. I got home and wondered what I was thinking because I have never cooked beans from scratch. Guess what....EASY! I found this recipe at Sisters Dish. It is so easy! Once again this saves me a ton of time. I make a big crockpot of these the first of the week and they are great as a side for fish tacos, a quick dinner or lunch of bean burritos, or for the start of easy hearty bean soup (see below). I figure the whole pot is about $1 so it is a great deal (please note I always buy my seasonings at Smiths in bulk for pennies).
SMASHED BEANS

I rinse and soak 3 cups of beans for ~ an hour or longer(depending on how much time I have-I DO THEM OVERNIGHT). Then I rinse them again (IMPORTANT TO MAKE THEM NOT GASSY), put them in the crock pot with 3 T bacon grease ( I LEAVE THIS OUT)and cover them with 3 inches of water. If I need to add more water later in the day, I bring it to a boil in the microwave before adding it to the crock pot. I cook the beans on high for 5-6 hours (I DID THEM FOR 8-10), or until I can easily smash one of the beans between my finger and the countertop...make sense?:)
MY MOM'S TIP IS TO SCOOP OFF THE FOAM SEVERAL TIMES WHILE COOKING. THIS TIP MAKES THEM MUCH EASIER ON THE DIGESTION.When the beans have about 1/2 hour left to cook I add the following: 5 jalapeno rings(from the jar, you could use fresh jalapeno), 1/2 T seasoning salt, 1/2 T garlic salt, 1/2 t onion powder, 1/2 t cumin and 1 T chili powder. After that cooks for about 1/2 hour, I scoop out the beans with a slotted spoon to the food processor and puree with ~ 1 cup of cheese. I add liquid from the beans as I puree until I get my desired consistency.

Hearty Fiesta Bean Soup Ingredients:1 (15 oz) can chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken) 1 (16 oz) can fat-free refried beans 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 (15.25 oz) can corn, drained and rinsed 1 (10 oz) can tomatoes & chilies, like RO*TEL (I used the 15 oz generic brand petite diced tomatoes with green chilies)Directions: Put the broth and refried beans into a soup pot and heat, while whisking together, until the beans have incorporated fully into the broth.Add the rest of the ingredients and heat, while stirring until the soup is boiling.Serve with cilantro, cheese, sour cream and a couple dashes of Tabasco.

Chicken

2009-05-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

In my honey lime enchilada post I commented that I always pre-cook my chicken to have for recipes. I had a number of people ask me to explain what I do so I thought I would take a second and let you know.
I always buy my chicken when it goes on sale. I buy what I can get cheap. I love boneless skinless, especially if we are just grilling or something but sometimes you can find breasts with the bone for 99 cents. Those are good too. I save some out for when I need a whole breast. I then take and fill my crock pot with the rest. I stick it in there and let it cook 6 hours to 10 hours depending on time. I then have Lee shred it (that is the crucial part....he is usually pretty willing except the other night when I screwed up the time estimate and needed it shredded at 4 am). I then fill sandwich bags with it. I then stick the baggies in the freezer for a quick dinner like Honey Lime Enchiladas, chicken soup, chick and dumplings from Cooking Light Magazine, chicken chili, chicken and broccoli casserole, etc. (let me know if you NEED any of these recipes). I have found having that step done lets me get a good dinner (or top a quick salad for me) on the table in a jiffy.
I also do the same thing with ground beef. Half the trouble with ground beef is the browning. If I have that done I can have tacos on the table in 10 minutes, Shepard's pie with leftover mash potatoes with 10 minutes prep (a little more cooking time), or Cooking Lights' no chop chili in 10 minutes.
I also make up a big double batch of my favorite homemade BBQ sauce and will buy the big pack of chicken thighs at Costco for 99cents a pound (or this week there are boneless pork ribs for cheap at Associated). I then separate them out into Ziploc gallon bags with plenty of sauce. Then when I am stuck for dinner I can pull one of those out and I have a quick marinated grill item ready and all I need to do is put in some potatoes and a veggie.

Hope this helps!

2009-05-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

(This is RIGHT after labor. Of course I look torn up :)

I have thought a lot about new little babies these last few months. As Keaton and Savannah were placed in my arms for the first time I remember thinking, "shouldn't I recognize you?". Maybe I am alone but the first few days I feel like a lovely stranger has filled my space. I love them but I don't feel an immediate or terribly deep bond. As I nurse those babies and stay up night after night after night and care for their every need it doesn't take long to feel that amazing love you feel only for your children. It makes me think of the teaching, "you love those you serve". What a wise kind Heavenly Father that sends us these little helpless babies to care for and to learn to love completely. I am really glad he doesn't send them as a mouthy 3 year old :), or even more mouthy teenagers. What a marvelous time we live in that we can love and care for these little ones and get a small glimpse of how the Saviour has learned to love us in our inperfection.

A few things I LOVE...

2009-05-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was heartbroken when Wal-mart discontinued their White Cloud diapers. I used those all the time with Keaton and they worked great for about 1/2 the price of the "national brands". I thought diapers would be a budget breaker with this little miss. I was thrilled though to find Target has a store brand as well. I gave them a try. They are GREAT!!! At $5 for 56 diapers they are a wowza! I have used them 2 mos. and have only have them leak 2x. Granted both times were at baby showers so maybe she just wanted outta there? They work out to be 1/2 the price of buying diapers at Costco....so maybe worth a try?

The second thing is GRIPE WATER. Have you ever heard of this? It is a natural thing with ginger and fennel. It eases colic, upset stomach, gas, and reflux. My sister Meesh suggested it (Meesha has a new baby too). It is a miracle. Savannah can be crying bloody murder and within a minute she is asleep. It is a must have for anyone with a new baby to have in their arsenal.

Lastly is one that you may like even without a new baby :) My friend Lisa and I just joined Bountiful Baskets . It is a produce co-op. It really is a cool deal. You pay $15 on Weds. and then on Sat. you go pick up a laundry basket of produce. This week my $15 got:

2 HUGE heads of Romaine

1 honeydew

5 small mangos

6 oranges

3 apples

10 bananas

1 big spaghetti squash

2 red peppers

2 cucumbers

6 pears

8 red potatoes

6 big tomatoes

I think for me it makes us think of new ways to use the produce and will help us eat better. You don't have to commit you can stop or start anytime. Right now it is in Northern Utah but Lisa is trying to get them to come more central.

So blessed...

2009-05-14T17:59:00.001-07:00

We blessed our little girl in church on Sunday. It was a beautiful perfect Mothers Day. My Mother-In-Law made her dress.....all pintucks and smocking. It was seriously the dress of my dreams. We had most of our 10 (combined) brothers and sisters there so it was quite a crowd for dinner.

Family Picture....

Aunt Laralee made these darling little slippers for her, in like 2 days!

Head shot....

Thank you all who made the great effort to come to our special day!

TWO MONTHS!!!

2009-05-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

We took the little miss to her 2 mos. appt. yesterday. She is getting so big. She jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 21 percentile. Of couse she has the classic big nog that Keaton has and is in the 50 percentile for head...my Mom is sure it is to house extra brain power....I am not so sure :) She weighs 9 pounds 6 oz. now. Yes, that is the same weight that her brand new cousin Brinlee came OUT at last week (what a good pusher you are Meesh!). She is now 21 1/2 inches so she picked up an inch there. She smiles like crazy (although I could NOT get her to smile in the picture) and is such a joy to have around. She has been a "made for TV" baby for us :)

Life has a way....

2009-04-28T17:22:00.001-07:00

My sisters friend, the great Julianne said, "life has a way of knocking you down and dragging you around by the hair". Last week I was feeling almost bald. I was overwhelmed by the life I lead. For 15 years I was a manager. I trained other managers in efficiency. I started the day with a list and seldom went home without that list being done. The next day I would go to work and for the most part I could see the fruit of my labors. Motherhood is not like that. I have really struggled with the fact that many days all I get done is Savannah nursed and an hour or so of something fun for Keaton. The laundry never ends, the mess never ends, and the dinner just gets eaten then eliminated....which I am responsible for cleaning up after as well. I really think my kind Heavenly Father knew I was on the brink. Last Thursday I had lunch with some friends that were single and 30 with me. They both are married now. One of them has 2 kids and has survived a layoff, and now a decrease in pay from a husband that is paid on commission. The other one is well a saint :) She married a widower a year ago and went from a single 30 something to the full-time Mother of 4 boys under 8 (and is now pregnant). Can I tell you how good of a time I had? Keaton said, "Mom you look nice", as I did my hair and makeup to relive my "glory days". Can I tell you how nice it was to hear other people struggle too? That some days they wonder, what is the point? That some days they just want to burn the dirty clothes instead of washing them? That they wonder what it would be like to end the day without spit-up or some other bodily fluid on their clothes?

What is even better though is when we remember the good we do. When we sit in Sacrament and Keaton can tell me the whole story of the crucifixion. When I see Keaton share and be kind to others. When Savannah smiles (yes, once again I did name her after the movie) and shows some kind of recognition of who I am. When I take the time to talk to a neighbor in the driveway who is tears over the struggles of her life. When I get a moment to go to the Temple with Lee and hold his hand and remember our sacred commitment to each other. Come to think of it....maybe THESE are the glory days.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

2009-04-21T12:54:00.001-07:00

This recipe has been on a couple of recipe sites I follow. I finally tried it on Sunday and we had a two thumbs up all the way around. When I printed this out it took 2 pages. Don't freak it is really just an easy enchilada recipe that goes into TONS of detail. I always cook a big pot of chicken in the crock pot at the first of the month and shred it. I used that chicken. It is always tender juicy and good. You can use whatever you have. ENJOY!!!

Here's the info:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 large cloves of garlic, ﬁnely minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large breasts), cooked and shredded
12 corn tortillas
2 cups of Mexican cheese blend, shredded (1 small bag usually is 2 cups)/ I used cheddar
1 14-oz can of green enchilada sauce (mild or medium, to your taste)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of heavy cream (I forgot to buy this and I was worried about the fat. I used light sour cream and it was really good.)
nonstick cooking spray
1 Tablespoon of chopped cilantro, to garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Place the cooked and shredded chicken in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate while you prepare the tortillas, 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, in the refrigerator.Heat a large griddle till a drop of water skitters across (about 350 degrees F). Spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray or a oil it with a little bit of canola oil in between each round of tortillas. Heat tortillas about 20 seconds on each side till warm and ﬂexible and some golden brown spots have appeared. Remove the tortillas from the griddle and keep them between a couple of paper towels until ready to use.Spray the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish. Add a large spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada - it will be more of an over lap on the seam side that rolled tightly. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish starting at one end with the long edge parallel to the longest side of the pan so that you end up with two columns of six enchiladas each.Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the ﬁlling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada sauce and cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top. Serve with sour cream, black beans, and rice or a green salad for a great meal.Serves 4 to 6

Easter Finery.

2009-04-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

We were all ready for the big day here. Keaton has been telling everyone for weeks that Easter is coming. When asked what is good about Easter he quickly says eggs and bullets. He was sure he was going to get some new bullets for his nerf gun (he did). We took some extra time this morning to be sure he remembered the rest of the story. He is fascinated by the nails in the palm so he has shared it all day.

I do have to share a horrifying story though that will make you not only laugh but be glad you weren't me.

During Sacrament meeting I went out to nurse Savannah before I had to go to Primary. Keaton never wanting to miss the action had to come. He waited until we were all settled to tell me he needed to go potty. My friend was just finishing up so she offered to take him. When Keaton refused I knew it wasn't a pee situation. I decided to try to take him. I carefully fixed the blanket to be sure I could make it the hundred yards or so without exposing myself. I told Keaton I would help him with his belt while I was sitting. By then he was holding his bum (not sure that really works) so I knew we were in a hurry. I was a little preoccupied trying to keep myself covered... I guess. We get about 20 yards from the restroom and I look at Keaton pants and whitey tighties around his ankles holding his bum. Not sure how long he was like that or who saw.....sure we entertained someone for Easter! I just wish I knew why he thought that was a good idea.

2009-04-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Savannah got a new cousin on Tuesday. My cousin Travis had a little girl. Usually you go to the hospital and you think....she is so tiny. This little new born is bigger then Savannah though....looks like she hurt to get out. We had to put the pacy in her mouth because at one point she had "latched on" to Savannah's arm (now I think of it that would have been a better picture).

I love my cousin Travis. He is an amazing guy. He was born one pound over 21 years ago and survived (BEFORE so many advances in medicine). He survived again a major addiction years later. He has always had a heart as big as can be. He is an extra brother to me. I am excited for his growing family.

2009-03-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

We finally have seating besides a love sac in our downstairs family room. This week Keaton has begged us every night to go down and watch a show as a family. We have done it a couple times this week. It has been really nice. Keaton is all boy and at that age where he is begging to watch Iron Man, Spiderman, etc. I don't think my 3 year old really should be watching that :)

When Lee and I were first married we bought a ton of Disney classics on sale at Target. This week we watched Snowball Express, and last night Swiss Family Robinson. Keaton LOVED them. They are true classics. Why can't they make movies like that anymore? Robinson has EVERYTHING Keaton likes Pirates, animals, adventure...AND everything Mom likes a family that works together, kids that figure solutions to their problems, and a family that takes time to kneel and thank their Father for blessings. Snowball is just a fun family working together and supporting each other to work through problems. I am so glad my tiny guy can be easily swayed to a different show :)

Saving in a tough economy

2009-03-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

We have all had to cut back in these tough times. Here is Keaton doing his part. He told me he doesn't need a Superhero mask like the neighbors....he can make one (please ignore any stains :)

Lil' sister is officially off the billi lights. We couldn't be happier to get her dressed every day, and snuggle her to like crazy!

I wish I was better at taking pictures....she really is quite cute. I guess we will keep her!

More pictures

2009-03-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

My Mother-in-law is stuck in a care center instead of holding her new little princess. That gives me ample reason to post more pictures....YEA FOR YOU

Nothing can bring this 6'3" guy to his knees quicker then the cry of his baby. He is SMITTEN!

Well now you have her 2 looks, asleep or crying for food, I will spare you the other picture I can get of her nursing and awake :)

Keaton LOVES little sister! He cannot get enough of watching her every move. He says tomorrow he is going to teach her how to climb the rock wall at the rec center....yes I will get pictures of that!

William E. Rubin is back!

2009-03-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

I am not so sure why Mr. Bill E. Rubin thinks he needs to visit our children when they are born. It took us SIX weeks to get rid of Keaton's jaundice, now our poor little sister has it. She is such a good baby that she has been much more patient to lay on the bad hour after hour after hour. Seriously it is just hard to not clothe and hold your brand new baby. We are hopeful that she will be done this week (we are 1/2 full kind of people you know :). For now though we will just have the worlds biggest night light in our room!
P.S. Her level is headed in the right direction (17.7) although she has to be on lights 24/7 until at LEAST Thursday.

Tiny and Cute!

2009-03-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Well, she made it. I am sure I will post more soon. Here are the essentials:

Savannah Elizabeth

3/12/09

6:11 am

6lbs. 4 oz.

20" long

......cute as a button!

P.S. Mom and baby both home and doing well.

Learning?

2009-03-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

This year we have been trying to read the scriptures each night as a family. We have done really well this time with it thanks to Keaton. He really LOVES it. We all pile in our bed and read one chapter. Keaton reminds us each night to "read our scriptions". I thought we were making real progress and he was remembering the stories. The other day I rewarded his effort by getting him his own missionary pass out type copy to read from. It has pictures in front which CLEARLY make it better then Lee and my copies. I was THRILLED as he went through the pictures and he could name the pictures of Christ and Joseph Smith. When he got to this picture, he told me..."hey Mom, that is the guy on the boat after he cut that guys head off with the sword.... that was COOL!". I guess we all get different things out of our readings :)

How we met

2009-02-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

My darling sis-in-law asked for our "how we met" story to include in a paper she is doing for school. I thought I probably should record it somewhere for our records. Right now I have PLENTY of time so I thought I would write it out. Thanks for indulging me :) Lee and I met the Spring of '04. I had gone through another lonely Christmas (come to find out later Lee went looking due to a rough Christmas too). I had great fun, went to great parties, had a great job, traveled with my best friend Mindie but after everything I went home alone. Mindie and I decided that we would try LDSSO.com (an online dating site). We didn't have a whole lot of hope since it didn't necessarily work out great the last time we did it but we thought what the heck. For some reason this time I hit the jackpot. In January I went out with 15 guys. I really liked a lot of them and went out TONS. I was having a great time. I went to Seattle to meet a guy, met up with a guy in San Fran, and in Vegas (I took girlfriends with me, don't worry). I was at my brother Garrets house in CA after I went to Seattle. I was perusing the site and I saw Lee.....actually I really just saw his HUGE muscly arms :) I cyber-winked at him. He wrote me back right away. We wrote back and forth a couple of times and he asked me for my number. I gave it to him. He called while I was on a date cuddled up with some guy watching a movie. I saw the caller i.d. and really wanted to answer but waited till after the date. My Grandpa had died that day and I was feeling a little blue so I called Lee back that night to see if he would be interesting to cheer me up. Lee was charming and asked me out for that Sat. at 3pm. I thought the time was weird, but oh well. I gave Lee my address to pick me up (I had NEVER done that before, online dating rule #1). He came and I was immediately interested in this tall strong guy. He took me to Fridays to split a dessert. At the time I really liked the Dixie Chicks and he spent most of the date making fun of them. He also told me he was from Vernal, I was horrified. I had dated a guy from Vernal before and it was a DISASTER and had sworn off those "country folks". The VERY best part of our first date though was that the ENTIRE time he kept looking at his watch. I then knew why we were meeting at 3....he double booked! Me being the smarty that I am knew the score and called him on it. Lee being the all too honest type admitted to the other date and that he had a date the night before.

Lee dropped me off and gave me a hug. I thought I would never hear from him again until he said, "I really wish I did not have that other date and I could stay here with you". THEN he proceeded to tell me how he doesn't kiss girls until he dates them for MONTHS. HAHAHA I knew then he WANTED to kiss me. I snickered as I shut the door.

Lee called the next day. I knew how to get guys going so I asked him about growing up as a farmers son and particularly about the irrigation. He went on and on for 45 minutes about irrigation. He then asked me when he could see me again. I told him I had my Grandpas funeral the next 2 nights but I could see him Thurs. night. I had tickets to the Opera and I was upset with the guy I was seeing the most over his lack of sympathy about my Grandpa so I said Lee could come with me (on a side note Lee had called everyday to see how I was doing with my Grandpas death). The Opera was magical. He put his arm around me, I put my hand on his knee, he rubbed my shoulder, I kissed his finger tips.....pure magic. On the way home I offered him a heart shaped breath mint. He took that as a "sign" with the "kiss me eyes" he said I shot him and we kissed on the second date (which makes his "speech" on our first date hilarious). We were inseparable after that. I loved everything about Lee. It was not too many dates after that when we said "I love you". It wasn't that much after that that we set a Temple date (he said October, I thrilled him by saying NO August :). We have had trials in our marriage but our relationship has not been one of them. I really met the one for me. I couldn't imagine life without Lee.

P.S. Please take the time to record your "how we met" on your Blog. I would love to read them!

Update

2009-02-20T06:05:00.000-08:00

Just to let you know.... the contractions got much worse and we spent the day yesterday in the hospital. They were able to stop them by 2 i.v.'s to re-hydrate me. I was SO glad we didn't have to do the medication. I am trying to stay off my feet this weekend then I will go back on Monday. I am already dilated to about a 3 but we are just trying to hold off until next Thurs. Thank you for your prayers I know they helped!

2009-02-17T21:26:00.001-08:00

I would hope all of you know I have a strong faith in the power of God. I know of the power of prayer. I am a little worried tonight. This baby has dropped and I have had a lot of contractions today. The worst pain is in my back. If we can keep her in for one more week it will make a world of difference in how she will do. I am going on a modified bed rest and see if we can get all this action to stop. Please keep us and this little sister in your prayers, I know that is what will make the difference.

Trials?

2009-02-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

This week I have been thinking a lot about trials in our lives. When I was young my family went through a very serious financial disaster that ended up in us losing everything. As I look around at friends and family that are without work and worry about their future, I KNOW that stress. I know the worries, I know the reality.
As I got older and marriage didn't come at the classic Mormon marriage age of 20 and I waited another decade before I found "the one". Lee and I had both had some really low days as a "single saint". I don't think you can know the aching for a family of your own unless you have to wait for yours to come. A few weeks ago a lady in our ward gave a talk about her struggles with dating and I felt a bond to her. I KNEW her pain. I could still feel the hurt like it was yesterday.
Lee and I have had a wonderful life. We adore each other and our family. We have been extremely blessed to be Keaton's parents. Having said that we struggled for 2 years to get this little girl. They say 1 in 10 couples struggle with infertility. I don't think you can understand the pain that entails unless you have tasted it if only for a bit. To ache to have your arms filled with that righteous desire is rough.
The last couple of months I have really struggled with my health. I think this is the first time in my life I have even worried really about health. With all the trouble with this pregnancy they hoped to get me to 32 weeks. I passed that this last week (now we are shooting for 35 weeks although after next week they won't stop me if she comes). Many days I feel really rough. I don't feel like I can function. With Keaton I worked 45 hours a week up to the day I delivered. Keaton and I have spent the last 3 years running around this valley checking things out. We are not ones to sit still. I never really knew what it meant to "not feel well" as a constant state. My Father-in-law and Aunt have diabetes, I didn't know what a horrible disease that was. I was callous.
SO.... what is all this whining about? I am THANKFUL for my trials. Can you believe it? I am thankful for the compassion. I am thankful that when I hear about these pains in others lives I know how rough they have it. I can cry with them, and rejoice with them when they get through them. I am thankful to know that I have a Saviour that suffered all my pains. I can now understand that HE knows. HE has been there. Even when I think no one has ever known my pain, I am wrong. I am thankful that he makes "weak things strong" through our trials. I now know how to live on nothing from watching my Mother. I know how lucky I am to have Lee and how hard we work to make our marriage great because we value each other. I know how important health is and how hard I need to work to maintain it (as a side blessing....I have only gained 4 pounds with this little girl (est. at almost 5 pounds yesterday), I will walk out of that hospital smaller then I started!). I know when this little girl comes I need to value her just as much as we value Keaton, she is a miracle and gift from God. I am thankful for all these blessings born of trials. How about you?

Embrace the Bowl

2009-02-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

Lee and I met in March. We were married that August. One of my most shocking moments came at his Mom's shortly after our wedding. I remember it clear as day. His Mom and I were standing in the kitchen. Somehow we got onto football. I mentioned how pleased I was to find someone who didn't really care about football. She nearly chocked on her water. I heard chuckling coming from his brothers at Lee's naive new bride.
How could I have been so dumb? How come we discussed everything....money, kids, religion, but I failed to ask his feelings on football?
We met "off-season" and that first year I prayed for him to change :)
I grew up in a home where watching football was the same as shopping on Sunday. You were causing other people to break the Sabbath and it kept you from doing more Sabbath type things. The "Bowl" never played on our little 13" TV we had at home. We never watched any football. I think it was a good thing there were 3 girls first in our family to help pave the way. Lee grew up farming with 3 older brothers (and 2 great sisters)..
Over the years Lee has come a long way. That first year EVERY game was on our TV. He watched from the kickoff to the bitter end. I did not. Over the years he has changed his thinking a bit. He has tried to watch with moderation only those games that are really important to him. Over the years I have changed in that I let him have his little vice and thank God he is not out chasing women or booze :) I have even become a fan of the Super Bowl. While my brother Garret lived near us and even last year when he came to watch it with Lee we would have a nice little party. I loved to sit and visit with his wife and have horrible fattening food, all in the name of marriage harmony. This year Garret didn't come, we were a bit sad (when the Chargers fell out football became dead to Garret :). We also have all been sick. Lee watched the game anyway. I even made a dip for some chips for him and we had sugar free root beer floats. I din't feel any anger, in fact I am THRILLED to see the bowl here. It symbolizes the official end of football season :) It symbolizes extra time we can use to do stuff together and visit with family. It reminds me how Lee is so good to put up with all my vices 365 days a year. It reminds me how much I love his company. It reminds me as Lee and Keaton shout "DEFENSE" together how close they are. I guess it is all not too bad.

Opinions?

2009-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

We are stumped on a name for this little lady. We always thought we would have all boys so I never thought about girl names. We like Savanah and Abigail BUT with Keaton I KNEW that was his name at about 5 mos. This one I am not so sure. Have you heard any good girl names lately?

P.S. Yes, Savannah after the movie Savannah Smiles (didn't you LOVE that movie? Did you know you can get it on DVD for 7.99! Amazon.com....gotta love it!)

Childrens books

2009-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Keaton and I love to read. We would cuddle all day in bed and read if given the time. We read when we wake up for 15 minutes or so and then we read at nap time as well (yes, you heard me right for some reason the little fella decided he wanted to nap again.....3 weeks STRAIGHT, my Heavenly Father must have decided to bless me :). The problem is the last couple of times I have picked out DUDS. Usually we get two or three good ones we can read time and time again and only a couple of one timers. We love great funny, or interesting stories. He also loves to learn about stuff (right now we have 4 non-fiction shark books we have to read before we can move on). You guys really came through on the books for me. I am still using that list. What can you do for my little Keaton?
P.S. Roar of a Snore.....a GREAT kids book!

2009-01-19T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today as we were leaving Costco I decided to tell Keaton about Martin Luther King and why we celebrated him today. Growing up in San Diego MLK day was a much bigger deal. I went to a High School where I was the minority. My hair that in Utah is brown was blond among my peers. I sat at lunch with people of dozens of nationalities. I was exposed to many different cultures and my best friend of all time was black.

I started telling Keaton the battle that the black people went through for equal rights. I kept it very simple telling him that some people thought that if you had brown skin you shouldn't share the same drinking fountain, the same school, or the same church. I told him how King worked to change that. I started crying (I am sure partly prego hormones). It really felt that power of that great man that stood up for what was right and did it peacefully.

This week we will have our first black President (my MIL is quick to tell me he is only 1/2 black.... I don't think it makes much of a difference). I am AMAZED how far we have come as a country to judge by the content not by the color. I have to say I did not vote for him. Having said that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE what my Blog friend Michelle wrote about today. PLEASE check it out. You will love it too (regardless of political or religious persuasion). Here is the link . Leave her a comment and let her know if it touched you too.

May we all try this year as everyone we know is struggling through their own trials to judge less, and lift more.

Annual Spring Park City Trip!

2009-01-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

The last two months the "News" has been tempting us with all the great deals we will be able to find after Christmas with the poor retail sales this season. I was wondering if it was going to pan out.
Anyone who knows me knows I try to buy a majority of our kids clothes in Park City in September and January. This last October....kinda disappointing. This January.... AWESOME. Here are some deals you might want to head up for.
P.S. If you are going to go to Osh Kosh or Carters let me know I have some coupons.

I have been looking for some new boots for Keaton. He uses them like crazy so I wanted some good quality ones. I found these at Children's Place (as a note CP had the fewest bargains) for $12. I had to buy some sparkly stuff for our little lady too. The retail $48.62.....paid....22.28.
Old Navy had additional 1/2 off their clearance. I got Keatons coat for next year.... ELEVEN BUCKS!!!! The retail for my O.N. purchase $95.85.... PAID 22.28. Not too shabby!

This was my SECOND trip back to Carters. I had to go back for the snow suit. The lavender snow suit (size 2) has separate snow pants and a warm fur rimmed/ embroidered coat (please note I really wanted the pink.... out in the right size) that set alone retailed at $65. Total retail 165.13.... PAID 29.28.

Gap was not too shabby either. They had additional 30% off their clearance. I REALLY needed new brown shoes for Keaton and wanted something leather. The brown leather shoes were 40% off so they were only $11 and this season Gap. Total retail 96.58... PAID 35.72.

Osh Kosh had this big section of $1.99 little miss clothes. I got two pants, two zip up hoodies, two dressy shirts, and a DARLING corduroy jumper. The retail 167.87.... PAID 14.98. HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG?

The first Carters trip takes the next TWO pictures. My favs? Carters footie jammies, sparkly pink sweater, and a PETTI SKIRT!!!! Total retail 325.12... PAID 45.48.

I plan this out. I save my pennies for the deals. I find if I can get things off season I don't ever pay retail. When you are living on pennies this is crucial to really pinch them. I also really care about quality. I would much rather pay $12 for CP boots for next year then $18 for Wal-Mart ones next fall (my M.I.L. is always sure I am going to guess wrong on sizes, I have never had trouble with that, I always shoot high then I can get even more wear out of them). Hope this helps. Let me know if you get any great deals elsewhere!

P.S. Grand total retail 899.17.... paid 170.02 for over FIFTY pieces!!!!

We love sledding

2009-01-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

My sister Amara did a GREAT post on sledding with her kids. I think we all can relate with Kai and sympathize with Amara. Click here to check it out. Keaton is deprived in the virtual fun category but anytime with cousins he is good to go. Lee, my brother Garret and my Dad took the kids sledding. Me being the ever diligent pregnant girl settled on taking the pictures. All went well until my Dad totally wiped me out in a horrible steering accident. Luckily all is well AND I got some fun pictures :)

Tempted

2009-01-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

About a year and a half ago I stepped down from a very good career to be my kids Mom full-time. I have LOVED every moment of it. I made as much as Lee so we took a 50% pay cut to make it happen. Things have been tight. Many things we used to see as necessities are now not so much. Lee has worked hard racking up overtime to keep us afloat. I have still audited and ran the major office for my company about 10-15 hours a week (2 nights) to make ends meet. I have never had any regrets. I have been offered many positions to come back to full-time. I have always easily respectfully declined.

Tonight was different. Lee and I have had a rough couple of months. His company has cut off overtime until the end of January. I was on audit hiatus through the holidays. Things have been tight. Tonight my boss offered me my dream job at a salary that would more then DOUBLE our current annual income. I would also get my 5 weeks vacation back, and I would get disability pay when I have this baby. To say I didn't think about it would be a lie. I thought about the glamour of the position. I thought about the 4 potty accidents Keaton had yesterday. I thought about the travel we used to be able to do all the time. I thought about the never ending laundry and my horrible wardrobe. I thought about not robbing Peter to pay Paul. I thought about being able to get a years food storage. I thought about financial security in an unsure time.

I then had this picture pop up of Keaton taking a bath his favorite way (see above), nice and long with goggles so he can say "presenting Keaton Palmer, here I dive into the water!". I thought about eating breakfast at such a leisurely pace Keaton can entertain me with a story or two. I thought about the swimming lessons we are currently doing and the Kindermusik we just finished. I thought about our walks to the library where Keaton tells me about stuff. I thought about the PAIN I went through as I took Keaton to daycare for a year and a half. I thought about yesterday when we forgot to read our family scriptures and Keaton brought me the book and asked me to read. I thought about the naps I can occasionally steal cuddled up with Keaton. I then thought about all that times 2. I would miss it all with our little baby too.

I declined. Maybe you think me a fool, maybe for someone else that is not the right call. For me it is. I think Lee summed it up best when he said, "let it go Babe, that is not what you are called to do right now". What a wonderful life I live.

Bran Muffins (6 weeks)

2009-01-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

My Mother-in-law made these. This was the first time I got a good "sugars" reading for breakfast without meds. I ate it with a slice of ham and a Clementine. I think all the fiber balanced everything out. They are really good. This makes a huge batch. It is from a make a mix book she has she used when Lee was a kid. It makes 60 muffins. You make the mix and it actually gets better with time in the fridge. She then can make 1/2 doz for Sunday breakfast for 6 weeks (my own feeling is I wouldn't push it over a month but I am a little paranoid even though the book says they are fine for 6 weeks).
Combine:
1 C. oil
1 C. sugar

add:
4 eggs beaten
1 quart Buttermilk

Boil:
2 C. water
then add:
4 C. whole bran cold cereal (All-Bran)
Take off heat and let sit for 5 min.

Mix:
2 C. 40% bran flakes (Raisin bran is good, remove raisins)
1Tbsp Salt
5 tsp. baking soda
3 C flour
2 C Whole wheat flour (I am sure you could do all whole wheat although I would only do 4 1/2 C total since whole wheat absorbs more liquid).

You can add raisins each time you cook them (although they are great without).
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes at 400.

Christmas

2009-01-01T12:02:00.001-08:00

In case you were wondering Christmas DOES come without chocolate.... Amara was wrong. We had a nice Christmas. We have been so busy with family activities (you would never imagine how many) and trying to keep my blood sugar in line I haven't blogged in awhile. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. Here are our highlights:

On my Mom's side there are 25 of us cousins. We don't get together a ton since my Grandparents died but we have been close our whole lives before that. Last summer I planned a camp out for the group. I was thrilled at the attendance. This year we had a Christmas party. We had almost the whole group again. I think we all really miss the times we have had together, with most of us married and a nice starter crop of kids it was quite the group. I don't think I got any "great" pictures but here are some. Here are 3 of my Mom's 4 brothers and my Dad.

Here are the great grandkids that were there. I can hear my Grandma now, "aren't they all just wonderful!"

We had Christmas day at my Mom's. Here are our 3 one year olds right now, we sure love 'em (in case you were wondering the two are Garrets twins, the third one is Gavins little Maggie.... no they didn't know they were going to match).

This is from Christmas eve at my house. Kai refused to be Joseph so my elegant Mother stepped up. Keaton was a pretty fidgety Wise Man.

Santa came to our Ward Party. Who do you think was the first on Santas lap before they even finished the announcement? It is amazing, he has been telling me lately that he is 15. He disclosed his real age though to get up there with the 3 and younger group. He is certainly our Crazy K.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!

Funny Keaton

2008-12-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry you must indulge me. This blog also kinda serves as a journal so I just needed to record some of the funny things Keaton said. They are great one liners.
* (in a serious tone) "Mom, I can unwrap my own (string) cheese packets now, so I don't really need you anymore". Gotta love it.
* "Mom, when I was boring (born) I was tiny (shows about the size of an orange with his hands) and Heavenly Father sent me down on a tiny train to you". I guess he is learning PARTS of what I try to teach him. My sis-in-law said when I have this baby and he comes to see her in the hospital I need to put a tiny train in her bassinet :)
* This one is my favorite. Last night he came in coughing pretty hard and consistent. He said, "Mom I was thinking if you say a prayer to Heavenly Father Jesus will come down and make me not cough". HE IS LISTENING!!!!! By the way of course the prayer worked (my experience has been that a very loving Heavenly Father try's to always answer the simple prayers of children to help grow that faith they will need later on).

WARM!!!!

2008-12-13T01:54:00.000-08:00

The furnace was done yesterday. We were thrilled. I really wanted to kiss the three technicians that took 6 hours each when it was complete and there was finally warm air in my bathrooms. I can't tell you the difference it makes to have your whole house a nice cozy temp. I feel really blessed, especially that the originally 5K job was all covered by the home warranty.

Having said that I am awake at 3 am furious. Why? The repair man cracked open said furnace and let me look inside. There were cracks and pinhole throughout. He could not figure out how this furnace had not been fatal to my family (I only figure it is the drafty windows that defiantly need to be replaced). We all had had symptoms of carbon monoxide for the couple of weeks we ran it. My gripe is that the furnace had the all important GREEN sticker just last December. We had 2 separate companies come out and look at it before it was replaced. BOTH companies said there was no way that this furnace did not have this damage last winter. I guess I am angry my little family could have all slipped away in their sleep (although that may not have been a horrible way to go). I really want to do something and that is where you come in. I don't want any sort of restitution, I just want the company from last December that put that Green security blanket sticker on that furnace to know what their slacker practices are doing. There is no way they even looked in that furnace before slapping a green sticker on it. Should I just call and try to talk to the owner, maybe mention that he not only almost killed us but he also missed a 5K sale? Maybe "get Gephardt"? Just send angry mail? Just tell all my friends and have them tell their friends to NEVER use them? Is it illegal to publish their names so you can avoid them? OR should I just thank God that we are alive and well with a free new furnace and go back to bed? (now are you seeing why I have preeclampsia?)

P.S. Thank you for all your ideas and wishes on the preeclampsia/ diabetes thing. I wound up in the hospital the other day with high BP. Come to find out I wasn't great at taking them myself. Lee has taken over after a little training. With the new diet I have been able to bring my BP down to 115/62 (GREAT) and my blood sugar in the normal range. I am hoping to not only carry this baby to term but not have to resort to meds. Thank you for helping with my endeavor. I feel much better.

P.S.S. (does that exist?) The company that did the work on the furnace in the end was Rentmeister. We LOVE them and would totally recommend them as trusted HVAC people should a need arise.

2008-12-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

So remember when the Grinch said, " It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags."? Did anyone but me notice that he didn't say it came without CHOCOLATE? I asked my older, wiser sister that this morning. Can Christmas come without Chocolate?......what was her immediate answer....no, sorry.

THAT is why I had a total mental breakdown this week when they told me not only am I stricken with Preclampsia with this baby, but I also have gestational diabetes. I have to say Keaton never did this to me. I am SURE this little girl knows that will be how I show her how much I truly love her :)

So, here I am 2 weeks before Christmas trying to keep myself off of 3 mos of bed rest and trying to resist neighbor gifts. So, does anyone have any good recipes that do not contain....flour, salt, sugar, fruit, carbs, or fat? If you do.....please share (if you are thinking steamed broccoli, sans salt we already have thought of that) :)

P.S. Still no furnace :)

A few of my favorite things...

2008-11-30T15:41:00.000-08:00

In honor of Thanksgiving here are a few of my favorite things I am grateful for:

This is our neighbor Pam. We LOVE Pam. Pam and Steve are empty nesters that have made Lee and I feel so welcome. They treat Keaton like a grandchild and are always so kind to Lee and I. When Lee and I told them we were going to build a fire in the front yard Halloween night and Lee was going to do scones they did warm cider and Pam dressed up like a Mummy. In the darkness of Halloween it was FABULOUS. I think Keaton has a little bit of a crush on Pam :)

I think the second thing I am really grateful is family. I am always a tad bit sad when it is not the Earley year for Thanksgiving. Lees' family is really good at making a nice holiday so we had a great time (I think Keaton went on about 20 tractor rides... not enough in his mind). Keaton has 15 cousins on that side (here are just a few making silly faces, Keats caught right on without prompting, go figure). We are also terribly thankful for the Earley side of the fam. Keaton got to play with most of them yesterday too. We were so lucky to have Garret and his family here to celebrate the twins 1 year old birthday.

Maybe this one is weird but it is my list not yours :) I am thankful for this little timer. It seriously was one of the best wedding gifts we got. I have figured out that I have a little bit of a short attention span. I know I can do anything for 15 minutes. You can get a lot done in 15 minutes. When I clean I tell myself I only have to do each room for 15 minutes (this probably explains a lot to anyone who has been to my house). It is a great motivator to me to see that time click on and know I only have a few short minutes on any ugly task.

I am also thankful for "knuckles". Keaton never took a pacifier. I have often felt a little disappointed I did not have that crutch. When Keaton was about 9 mos old though he started doing "knuckles". Whenever he is sad, nervous, tired or bored he pinches my knuckles. He will do it for hours on end if he could. It kinda works out good. I always have my hand with me and it is not nearly as embarrassing as a 3 year old with a pacey.

I am also thankful for the modern miracle of furnaces. Here is the dreaded red sticker that shut us off 10 days ago. Does anyone have any idea how NICE having heat is? We came home the other night and it was 50 degrees in here....SERIOUSLY!!! I am here to say we have 5 space heaters in this house (2 don't work at all) and space heaters don't work. They just don't cut it. I am sad to say we are beginning to acclimate and when we get out in regular society where people use such crazy luxuries as heat we sweat... yuck I know. We are hoping in the next few days our furnace will show up and we can be snugly again.

I am thankful for warm fireplaces (see above). I am amazed at how much wood we have had to go through this week. We are glad we have Papa Palmer with the big wood pile in the back of his house.

I am thankful for a husband who risks life and limb to always get lights on our house (yes, they are pretty simple, just how we like 'em :). I didn't grow up with lights. It is nice my husband is into making us have some great traditions.

I had to laugh at a girl I work with. She was complaining that her boyfriend always made them go out into the cold to pick out a tree at a lot and then they had to light it and she had to vacuum too often. In the 5 years we have had Christmas together Lee has taken us up to the Uintahs (3.5 hours away) and we have hunted a tree. Keaton has LOVED it. It is quite an event. Usually we have some extra Palmers along and we always cut a tree for my Dad. This year we trekked over Flaming Gorge for 3 hours looking for this tree. We took a picnic and made a fun afternoon out of it. (yes, Lee is 6'4" tall, yes, this tree is next in line for the governors mansion).

This is just a few of my favorite things. What blessings are you grateful for?