Why Winter Is Wonderful

New Years day called for some sledding fun with a few of our good friends!

May and Sydney speeding down the hill...with eyes closed of course!

It is ok to smile now that you are safely at the bottom of the hill!

The Berretts, The boyds, The Kennedy's, The Yorgesen's, The Fulmers, & The Nash's

Carisa the human sled!

May May was fearless and cried when it was time to go (which wasn't fun for me especially since I was flying solo with five kids because Mike was working but I am glad that she enjoyed it so much!).

Down and then back up again...more than every one on that hill combined!


Winter is a blast when you have great friends to make lasting memories with you! What a way to bring in 2010!

Stitchy People

Yet another gifted woman who inspires me!

This is her lovely giveaway!

I want it!

Beautify

I have never been much of a decorator. I just don't have a knack for making things look aesthetically pleasing or the creativity. Being cheap does not help my situation either. I just can't ever justify spending money on paint or decor for my home. To make things worse, I look at my friends' blogs and all of their homes are decorated so beautifully (especially my Utah friends. There must be an unspoken law that says that you have to have a fabulously decorated house to live in Utah.) and then I start feeling sorry for myself. Well no more pity party for me, my friends! I am ready to unlock my inner/nonexistent decorator and start beautifying my drab dwelling. Now here is where the big BUT comes in! Where do I even begin?! Should I start with the living room where it will be appreciated and ooh at or should I start small like a bathroom or a closet or something small where I can make mistakes? I do know for sure that I want to do this project! I just have to find an old french door. It is right up my alley with the fabric panels though. So this is where you, my faithful readers come in (all two of you!) I need your prettifying expertise. Any and all advice on the ins and outs of decorating would make my day! I want to know what has worked for my friends and any volunteering of actual labor would make you my new best friend!

Eight Is So Great Part 2

In our family as well as many others, turning eight is a huge milestone. Turning eight means that you are baptised and confirmed a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. When you turn eight Grandma DeeLo gives you your very own set of scriptures. She has given them to me and her other grandchilderen and she is now continuing that tradition with her greats! Mikie had been anxiously awaiting this day since she was really young. She was beyond prepared to be baptized. She has a vast knowledge of the gospel and a thirst for learning from the scriptures. She is a sponge soaking up all the information up she can. I am so impressed with her decision to follow our Savior's example and be baptized.
The only weekend that Mike had off was Thanksgiving weekend and so many of our family traveled out after their Thanksgiving feasts to enjoy this special event with us. It means the world to us that our loved ones are willing to travel so far to support us and I am so fortunate to have a ward family and friends that I consider family that all came to support us. After cooking all day for turkey day and then preparing food for the luncheon, I didn't want to set foot in the kitchen for the rest of my life! Craziness!

Mikie had asked her aunt Rondee and her Grandma Betta to speak at her baptism. They both did such amazing jobs. Mikie picked For The Beauty Of The Earth and This Is My Beloved Son for the opening and closing songs and we played a little video while Mikie changed. I have posted the video for your veiwing pleasure.

Click The Camera

Praises!

I got my camera back from the Nikon repair center. It cost one hundred and fifty smackers to get it fixed but I think it was well worth it. I feel like my right arm was cut off there for awhile. Photo filled posts will soon ensue!

Eight Is So Great!

My little Mikie is now eight! She doesn't look eight. She is just a little pip squeak! She comes home from school and tells me that the kindergartners bend down to talk to her. I think it annoys her because they think they can boss her around since she is smaller than them but she doesn't stand for it, oh no she doesn't! She is quite the firecracker and has an enormous amount of attiTUDE! She has always been a tiny little thing. Eight years with Mikie has produced some pretty special memories and since I am without a camera (well that is not exactly true. I do have a camera that my darling little friend, Brinley lent me. She is twelve and heard that I wouldn't have a camera for Mikie's baptism so she just gave me hers to borrow. What twelve year old does that?! So thoughtful, that is what she is! I have photos but need to get them to the kiosk and develop them.) I am going to share some of my most favorite memories and photos of my Mikie.

During delivery, Mikie was coming so quickly that the doctor only had time toss his tie over his shoulder, kneel down, and catch her. The cord pressed down over her head and around her neck and then squeezing her little body, bruising her entire body and popping the blood vessels in her eyes . She was a deep purple for days!

If you need a hand or an errand ran or something found, Mikie is your gal! She is so eager to help and is quite the little mother. She is very nurturing and affectionate and sensitive to the needs of those around her. Sometimes she can be a bit TOO helpful!

Mikie lived in dress up clothes and dresses! She refused to wear pants! She is so girly and feminine. She loves make up and fashion and jewelry. She has a thing for the 80's style. Her first hairstyle she did herself was a side ponytail. When I would ask her how she wanted her hair done she would always request "Deb hair" from Napoleon Dynamite.

From birth, Mikie was Gramps' girl! When she started walking she would escape to his house. She was always content to sit on his lap and snuggle and suck her little thumb. As gramps aged he didn't have the strength to pick her up so she would just lean against him or situate herself right next to him just to be near him.

When Mikie was about a month old she got RSV and turned so blue. It was frightening. We rushed her to the ER. The RSV developed into something called reactive airway disease. So every winter for the first three years of her life she had to be quarantined and on oxygen because her oxygen levels were dangerously low. We took many trips to Primary Children's for testing and treatments. She was so fragile and gaunt from being sick all of the time. I really think she stopped growing there for awhile. She was such a little trooper though. I remember having a gigantic oxygen tank stationed in the living room with the longest tube attached so that she could go into any room in the house. She also had this humongous breathing machine in her room that we attached to her while she slept. It would sound an alarm when her oxygen levels got too low. That was such a difficult trial at the time and I am grateful that she grew out of sickness into a healthy little girl.

I am gonna take a minute to be Miss Braggy Pants, Mikie is a genius! She is participating in the gifted and talented program and is off the charts in testing and grades.

Mikie, I am blessed beyond belief to be your mother!

I love you like life!

Happy Birthday!

Electronics Hate Me!

I am beyond frustrated and devastated to the point of tears! My luck with expensive electronics has been HORRIBLE recently! This summer I had a mishap with my Canon. The LCD screen got stepped on during a fishing trip. It was totally my fault, it was one of those where you can turn the LCD screen around and close it and I didn't even after many warnings from Mike but I continued using it. It felt old school taking photos and not knowing what you were getting until you developed them.

My ipod too had a tragic accident that involved the toilet. It was low on battery and I put in my pocket so that I would remember to charge it up but my bladder had other plans and as my pants came down my precious ipod classic made a splash in the toilet water...prepee thank goodness! I was surprised at my lightning reflexes! My hand was in there after it before I knew it but the damage was done and it was fried!

The most recent tragedy was with my BRAND NEW Nikon. I JUST got it for my birthday last month!! I had already been traumatized severely so I was super careful. It was always in a case or on the counter top but I guess I wasn't careful enough. I have no clue how it could have happened but there is and impact mark on the LCD screen. Oh my goodness, it feels so crippling not having a camera to document family adventures and the precious things that only seem to happen once. There is no reenacting these memories and my memory is so fickle. I can't trust it to record these images for the future. Even my poor little blog has been suffering. Who wants to read a blog with no pictures!? Not me he he!

I will have to wait until after Christmas to see if I can get it repaired, gotta pay for Christmas first. (that means no photos of little surprised faces Christmas morning! Oh it's killing me to even think about it!). I would imagine that a camera should be able to handle normal use handling with out breaking so I am tempted to call Nikon customer service and complain.

Mike reminds me that it is just stuff. He is so patient with his clumsy and silly wife. I am not so patient with myself. It just makes me absolutley sick to my stomach! I will be kicking myself for these mistakes for a LONG time!