Christmas 2014

 Christmas 2014 has come and gone all too quickly.  With thanksgiving being late this year and Mat and I being gone the first week of December we had to pack a lot of things into a short amount of time. It's ok though, it's not like we needed to have time for sickness or emergency surgeries or anything...

 Once Mat and I were back home from our trip I was excited to get some Christmas fun going!  I decided to attempt making gingerbread houses from scratch again...  The kids said the house smelled great!  I didn't notice as I spent 4 hours mixing the houses and baking them.  

 The kids had a blast putting them together.  I didn't notice as by the time we got 6 house built and the frosting workable I was exhausted and snuck away to the relief society party.

 I did get to see the finished products and they were pretty great.  I'm not sure if they were great enough not to come from a pre made kit next year but they were pretty great.

 As mentioned in my previous post we went to Salt Lake.  We watched Bailey rock it at her cheer comp competing on two teams.  We played with cousins and had an impromptu Christmas party.  We went on the Heber Creeper with first class tickets and enjoyed hot cocoa, cookies, and singing as the train literally crept along the mountainside.  

 I made fudge one Sunday and caramel another.  We hosted an ugly sweater party for friends.  I had a quick activity days party as well as put together a crazy teacher's Christmas lunch.

 We read multiple stories before bed. 

 Mat, Caleb and I all got sick.  Bailey had surgery.  Before we knew it, Christmas was here. 

Santa found us and the kids rejoiced.

Every gift anticipated for months had indeed arrived and smiles were seen all around. 

 Mat and my hearts melted to see our kids happiness.

 We were all truly blessed.  

With decorations, gifts, yuletide celebrations all around, we celebrated the birth of our Savior as we spent time loving and caring for one another and feeling peace as Mat read out of Luke Christmas Eve night.  Pretty incredible.

Bailey's Christmas...

When you go from one moment of doing jumps, tumbles, and stunts, and then a few hours later your lying in a hospital bed it's never fun.  Extra bummer when it's the week before Christmas.

Bailey competed for her first time as a level 4 with her team on the 14th.  They did incredible given that it was their first comp of the season AND that they've never had a level 4 team before.  They had a couple of slight imperfections in their routine and didn't end up placing but it was a very close division against very large gyms with seasoned teams. We were extremely proud of our baby girl. We enjoyed the weekend in Salt Lake.  We took our kids on the "Polar Express" aka the Heber Creeper and spent time playing with cousins.  Monday came and went as usual. The kids went to school and Bailey and Peyton went to cheer after.  Other than I had caught a cold and wasn't functioning that well all seemed normal.  About 3:00am Bailey came in saying that she hadn't slept and her stomach was hurting.  I was sick and didn't respond.  Mat told her to drink some sprite and get to bed.  When morning came Bailey said she didn't think she should go to school as she hadn't slept at all and the sprite didn't help.  Reluctantly we told her she could stay home.  Caleb had already been in our room earlier saying he was sick and was back in bed as well.  I just thought we were all coming down with a Christmas bug.  When Bailey finally emerged that morning again she looked very pale.  She had been vomiting quite a bit and her symptoms weren't similar at all to mine and Caleb's.  Then I happened to see her texts to her friends saying she had sharp pains in her stomach and thought "oh oh".  I calmly asked her where her pain was coming from and decided she needed to see the family doctor.  They were able to see us 45 minutes later.  

 The appointment began like any other visit.  We waited in the waiting room until her name was called. they measured her height and weighed her.  Took her blood pressure and everything seemed normal.  She gave her symptoms to the nurse and the nurse said "well, that sounds like the flu and it's going around".  I told the nurse that she didn't say that she had sharp pains in her right side and the appointment quickly changed.  The nurse said we should have came directly back and we saw the doctor pretty quick.  He said since Bailey wasn't running a fever that they wanted to run a few quick labs on her to decide if she needed to see a surgeon but keep her out of the ER.  The tests came back and they notified a surgeon.  We were told the surgeon wanted to make sure that Bailey was suffering from appendicitis and not a cyst which wouldn't be surgical.  We were sent to the hospital imaging center.  They gave Bailey an ultrasound.  The tech said she found Bailey's appendix which meant something was wrong as she typically can't seem them on ultrasounds so we headed up to surgery.

 A few hours later our little girl was appendix free.  Her pain was at a 10 as we arrived at the hospital.  I felt horrible that I had let her go all day in pain like that.  She's such a champ and never told us how much she was hurting.  After the surgery she was groggy but said she felt much better.  She asked for my phone to instagram a pic as soon as we saw her in recovery.  A little over an hour after the surgery was over we were able to take her home!  

 It was such a long crazy day.  I was incredibly grateful for modern medicine that easily relieved my little girl of a painful and serious infection.  I was grateful that our other kids were home and watched over.  I was grateful that she was able to come home with us that night and sleep in her own bed.  I'm grateful that she is recovering quickly!  A little too quickly as a few days post surgery she was caught back flipping on the trampoline...

Thanksgiving?

 Those couples that ditch their kids on holiday weekends to jet off to the Caribbean...YUP we are them!  We DID celebrate Thanksgiving traditionally on the 4th Thursday of November eating Turkey and playing kickball with our kids.  The day after however, we DID watch a couple of Easton's soccer games in the traditional Thanksgiving tournament, but shortly after caught a flight to Fort Lauderdale and snuck away for a week on a cruise.

 Of course the last vacation that was just Mat and I was when Peyton was less than a year old.  We were due for our own time together as well as it being MUCH needed time together.

 We visited Princess Cays in the Bahamas as well as the islands of Curacao and Aruba.  Not too shabby to be in the Caribbean during the first week of December.  When we finally were back in Port Everglades we began receiving all of our missed texts as well as new texts with many pics attached of SNOW!

Apparently it snowed not once but twice while we were away in good ol' Southern Utah and was snowing quite heavily as we were beginning our route home.  I had looked at temps for St. George after a quick stop at a wifi stop in Curacao and thought my phone and switched to Celsius readings because the temps were significantly less than when we left in fact I'd never seen temps that low in St. George.  We had a brief stop in Dallas on our way to Florida and Mat questioned me with concern as we were eating lunch in our shorts and t-shirts about having a stop on our way home.  Dallas had cancelled 2,500 flights!  Luckily we did in fact have a direct flight.

After hearing various reports of the gorge being unsafe to travel and finally hearing that it was closed we were thinking we would need to stay the night in Vegas.  We decided to fill the car up with gas and try our luck going over Utah Mountain.  It took us over 3 hours to finally get home to our kids and we came home to a complete winter wonderland!  I was shocked at how incredibly cold it was and that the snow stayed for weeks!  I felt guilty that we didn't get to watch Easton's team take the championship that weekend and that we didn't get to take the kids Christmas tree hunting.  I felt guilty that I didn't get to watch my kids delight as they watched the snow fall.  I felt guilty until I actually returned home and felt the frigid cold.  Then I couldn't figure why we didn't just have the kids flown to Florida to join us. :)

Caleb's First Geckathon

 Following in the footsteps of his big sister Caleb participated in the Lava Ridge Geckathon.  It's a mini triathlon for the students at the 6th and 7th grade center.  40 boys and 40 girls swim 300 meters, bike 4 miles, and run two miles.  It's such a fun event that the school hosts. 

 Caleb didn't exactly burst at the seams with excitement to compete in it but DID want a GoPro for Christmas and a hint or two that IF he wanted one he MAY want to compete...

He didn't beat his big sister's time but he did amazing!  He passed one of his super fast buddies on the bike portion and endured the race very well.  Both Mat and I are extremely grateful for Caleb as our son.  He is kind, giving, and thoughtful.  Caleb impresses us constantly with his talents in so many areas.  He will make an amazing husband and father someday.  Hopefully to someone who likes to bake....

Gratitude

Mixed in with the holiday season, the hustle and bustle of shopping, holiday parties, cheer comps, and more, gratitude seems to quietly grow overlooked more and more these days.  I am grateful however.  With EVERYTHING the past year has brought, despite hoping 2013 would be easier than 2012 and finding out that it may never get easier, I'm grateful.

 I have 4 healthy kids!  Sure they get scraped, bruised and sometimes broken, but they are healthy!  They are happy!  Their smiles light up my days.  

 As a parent it's difficult to watch your child struggle in any way.  Kids can be mean, siblings fight, some kids get things others don't.  My kids have been extremely blessed and I'm grateful.

 I'm grateful for transportation to take them to the many activities they are involved in.  I'm grateful they are able to participate in the activities they love.  I'm grateful for their abilities, their talents, and their desire.

 I'm grateful when they open our fridge there is food in it. I'm grateful that when they rest their heads at night they don't have to worry about the changing seasons outside their windows or worry that their home isn't safe.

 I'm grateful for the example they have in a father who has a strong work ethic and teaches them valuable life skills on a daily basis.

 I'm grateful that my kids get incredible education from amazing teachers and that their schools are close, clean, well maintained, and safe.

 I'm grateful I'm privileged to be their mom.

I'm grateful.

Halloween 2013

 October 31st has come and gone once more.  The kids were extra excited to go trick or treating since they were on a cruise ship last year for Halloween.  I personally preferred the cruise ship.  Halloween is always full of running around to get the kids class parties ready and costumes on and completed.  I kinda dropped the ball this year and made the older kids figure out their own costumes... Easton was an old man at school but decided to switch to the morph suit from last year to go trick or treating. Caleb was some sort of a zombie.  He had been looking up online how to make scars and such look real with makeup and did a pretty awesome job!

 Of course Peyton was easy to persuade to be what her mommy wanted.  Since I LOVE red.... Seriously so cute as little red riding hood and truthfully I feel like I get bonus points for being able to convince her she doesn't need to be a Disney princess EVERY year. ;)

Bailey was a zombie football player with apparently super long eye lashes.  She looked darling but refused to smile.  

The kids were all too cool to hang around for everyone to get a picture together much to my dismay.  For the first part of the night it was just Mat and I handing out candy to kids because even our youngest kids went with friends.  Are we really THAT old already???

Bailey's First Marathon....CHECK

It seems that every time we watch a race and cheer for runners at the finish line at least one of our kids thinks they want to run the next time.  Last fall when Bailey watched her dad run the St. George Marathon she asked if she could run it the following year.  Mat and I had decided a while ago that if our kids wanted to run the marathon when they turned fourteen that we would let them.  We asked Bailey if she would commit herself to training and commit to completing it. She said yes. Bailey said she also wanted to beat the course record for her age group.  After the first few attempts at getting her out to train she decided she didn't care about breaking any records.  After a few more attempts at getting her to train long distances she decided she didn't care if she even placed in her division.  After MANY attempts at getting her to train as the race grew nearer she flat out said she didn't want to run.

 We reminded her of her previous commitment and expressed that we had paid for both the entrance into the race as well as expensive running gear in preparation and that we expected her to keep her commitment.  She grudgingly agreed to run it.  Then, Mat got sick....

 Coughing and wheezing, sleeping all day, sick.  Of course Bailey wasn't going to run to train without her dad so everything came to a standstill.  As the week of the marathon approached we were trying everything (aside from antibiotics because apparently we are idiots and didn't think of that) to get Mat better.  We kept thinking it was just a cold and would go away.  He kept saying that he felt better but was clearly getting worse.  He considered trying to run two days before the race and couldn't get out of bed.  So....race day came...

I stayed up until 1:00 trying to make sure the runners had good treats, a good breakfast, all their gear in order, and good music for the run.  At 4:00 the runners awoke.  I sent them with various food and they went on their way.  At 6:00 I was able to calm myself back to sleep. At 7:00 I received a text update saying that the two runners had begun the race.  Excited I was able to get back to sleep shortly after receiving the update. When I received the update at 6 miles into the race less than an hour later I got excited! They were on pace to finish under four hours (which was crazy to me considering how little training they had done). I got dressed and told the kids that we would be going to watch them as soon as I go the next update at 13 miles.  I NEVER got that update.  So much worry weighed me down from not receiving the update I couldn't move.  I sat on the couch and stared straight ahead.  After 30 minutes I finally decided to see if runners were being recorded at the halfway mark or not.  I finally figured out that the sensor was recording!!! Soon after that I heard that they were spotted in Winchester so we made our way to the finish line. We decided we couldn't wait at the finish line that we needed to see them sooner.  We went to Diagonal and I can't fully express how incredible it was to see my little girl...smiling...looking strong...and beautiful!  Mat looked like he felt great.  In previous races he tends to look a tad sea sick at Diagonal so I was thrilled.  The two ended up crossing the finish line in 4:31!  Definitely a proud mommy moment.  It was then that Mat told me how sick he really was.  He wanted to get in the car and get home to rest.  He slept most of the day and really struggled to even walk.  Apparently he put on a happy face to keep Bailey going but later said it was the most difficult race he has ever done.  I'm so impressed by my sweet little family.  Now Caleb has been asking to run it next year...