hunter christmas 003

Here is the gymnastic show off of the program. I didnt realize how much of a ham Hunter is. SUrprised?!? I was.

Hunter's preschool Christmas Lalapalooza

Hunter had a preschool Christmas program and they sang and showed us their gymnastics. Watch for Hunter's bow at the end.

Hunter re enacting Old Yeller

Hunter was fascinated with the movie 'old yellar' and pretended to have rabies for a week.

Halloween 2011

Moving!!!

After many prayers we founf a bigger home!! And we started moving in yesterday. Brad is working graveyard shifts and has had 6 hours if sleep in 3 days. He tried to take a nap but apparently has a cavity and the pain was keeping him from sleeping. So he took the only thing we had which.was a tylenol PM!! We are not completely moved and I pulled a back muscle yesterday.and am worthless. So right now the kiddos are playing downstairs, Brad is dead in bed and my nephew and good friend and bringing more over mote boxes from the old house. Soo grateful of them. Kiddos'' beds need to be put.together and a dresser pulled into their room and i can start unpacking clothes.

I have had about 5 episdoes of tears in thiz moving process. Thankful to Memaw who took the kiddos and our friend Camille.who had them today. My parents drove in a blizzard to come today to help clean and my nephew and kiece and friend helped today. Its just been hard and we are tired. I have had sleep and feel like a walking zombie, i dont know how Brad has been doing it!! We did throw soo much away and the unpacking doesnt seem as daunting. However we still have to get everything out of the old place and finish cleaning as well.

Camping!!

4th of July

We celebrated this year by going to the big celebration in Driggs. It was a great time, HOT, but fun. Glenn BEck spoke so BRad was in heaven and then the fireworks were awesome!!

Sand Dunes with cousins (pictures finally!)

Family Reunion etc

Last weekend was our family reunion and it was so fun to all be together. The kiddos played outside every waking moment! And it was so nice to have their older cousins help out. After the reunion those that were still here went to Rexburg Rapids and that was so much fun. Then I took Kaitlyn and Hollie shopping and they got some really cute things. My brother and his family stayed with us until wednesday and now my kiddos are lost without their cousins to play with.

We said goodbye to some dear friends as they left to go home for New York. We will really miss them as they have been family to us and sisters to me especially! But we are planning for them to come out in the spring! So I hold onto that!

I have had a cold and then two nights ago it hurt to breathe and it felt like someone was standing on my chest, I went into the dr yesterday and lo and behold I have PNEUMONIA!!! So crazy, he said that if I had waited 1 day later I would be in the hospital! So i have a pill to take everyday and an inhaler. It feels a bit better to breathe today but I cant believe how much I weeze. The kiddos both have colds and I am hoping thats all they have. Gookie had some pretty miserable nights and was up until 3 am last night. So i am hoping tonight is MUCH better.

pics to come soon!

We're alive!

Greetings and saluations! I havent been posting anything because our computers both have died on us and therefore I cant post any pictures. Lame, I know.
But here's what's been going on. I have had 2 iron infusions and feel and MILLION times better! I dont have to take a nap 3 times a day! It truly is wonderful. Brad has 3 weeks of paid vacation off and I wonder somedays if he would rather be working than being home with a 4 and 2 year old.
Hunter and Brooke continue to grow right before our eyes and they are so much fun.

We just got back from camping with Brad's family and it was a great time. As soon as we got home I promptly put the kiddos in the bath and the water was brown!! They had so much fun!

This weekend it is my family reunion in Driggs, it's the first reunion we are having of my parents and their 7 kids and 29 grandkids!! We havent been together since the Christmas of 2008!! I just dont think 3 days is long enough! But i am so looking forward to it! This has been such a fun summer!

Prayers are answered!

I got a blessing last night. I felt like I was just fading from my body. This morning I called my dr. office. My dr. wasnt in but I talked to a nurse who said they called insurance thursday and friday and my dr. even re-wrote a letter to them. She said they were hoping to hear back from insurance today. She said it was frustrating because Blue Cross has denied EVERY iron infusion this year and that I was the WORST CASE with such severe symptoms they have had and I was still denied last week. I asked what I do in the meantime, should I go to the er? She said they actually talked about that and if the insurance would cover it then. She said maybe if we called the insurance that might help. So brad called insurance and they gave him an authorization number. I called the nurse back and she called the hospital and I was in as fast as we made arrangements for the kiddos.

When I got to the hospital the nurse said "are you the one who has been passing out?!?" They were so worried about me and really all you have to do is look at me and know things are bad. They eventually found a vein and put two little tubes of iron through. I could taste metal in my mouth. At one point they did put oxygen on me because i started getting light headed. Oh man did that help!!!! And i got the warm blankets too! They watched me for an hour to make sure i didnt have allergic reaction. And they insisted i take the wheel chair out. I dont feel physically better, as I just woke up from a 3 hour nap and feel like i never slept, but I have hope!! And that makes a HUGE difference. I go back for the second dose next monday and then i guess my iron levels will be checked again.

I am so grateful for a great dr and his nurses. I feel like they really fighted for me and that is a great feeling. I am grateful for my husband who has had to be the mom the last week and has done amazing. And I am thankful for friends and my parents who have taken the kiddos or helped out in other ways. Prayers are answered!!

How I've been

I have been feeling so lame because I cant do anything without getting lightheaded and the room spinning. So yesterday I was determined to try and be "normal". It really get's to me that I cant do ANYTHING. So i woke up and cleaned the kiddos' room and it totally wiped me out. As I was getting Gookie out of the bath and walking down the hall I guess I passed out with her in my arms Brad said. I took a 3 hour nap, totally just crashed and was wiped out. My dear friend Bethany came by to give me some papers from work and she took the kiddos for nearly 3 hours. I didnt get a call from my dr's office about the iron infusion so we are still waiting to hear about that.

In the meantime my dr. gave me a prescription that is supposed to stop the dizziness. Today is the third day I have taken it and the first day in a week where I feel like a human being again!! I went to the bank, winco and target and we are home now and i can feel my body crashing, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. I am so realieved and feel like I can atleast function again!!
Thank you for the prayers, even if I havent heard from insurance yet, I feel so lifted and better today.

Greetings and Salutations

So yeah, I haven't gotten around to going private yet. But here is what has been going on...

Brad finished working his graveyard shift, he had 7 days of them! And now he is on day 4 of 5 days off. For Mother's Day I got a new phone and we made our first major purchase as a married couple, we bought a new huge sectional couch!! It is so comfy and I am OCD when it comes to dirty feet and food around it. I plan to make pillows (I already have the fabric) and I want to re-decorate. We hope we can put in new nice tile and carpet and it would be like a completely different place!

Last week we had some beutiful days and we took advantage of them for sure! I am glad because this week our hi's are back in the 50's! BOO!!

We are praying that our insurance will re evaluate my case so I can get an iron infusion. They said no and last week I passed out 3 times, I am always tired and feel lightheaded and dizzy. It is no way to live life! I went back to the dr. Friday and he personally called and talked to my insurance right then and there. He wrote and faxed them a letter even!! They said we should know on Friday. We pray I can get it!! My body just does NOT store iron and he said I am probably getting 1% of iron supplements. I am a freak of nature I suppose. But it does explain my migraines!

Well I am waiting to go to work while Gookie is in bed and Hunter is watching Zaboomafoo and Brad is asleep on the couch. I got to sleep in this morning until 10 Am!! And yet I am still tired. I took a 4 hour nap yesterday and was still tired. And No, I am not pregnant, just severely anemic and living on dr. Pepper, trying to get some "pep" to go to work. Oh... i'm hillarious!

Going Private

Well the time has unfortunately come. There are too many places on my map of visits that I for sure know I dont know anyone from there. So if you would like to keep reading our blog please leave your email address. Thanks.

Kiddos Birthday Party!

We celebrated both birthdays with one party. It was a Candyland party since that's Hunter's favorite game. We had alot of friends and some family come and the kiddos were so happy to play with them all! Thank you everyone who came, it was a great time together with all of you and we truly appreciate your love and the love you have for our kiddos!

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The kiddos had so much fun playing with their cousins and Hallie!






"Happy Birthday Dear Hunter and Gookie"




Presents!









The Aftermath:
Both kiddos were overly tired. Hunter cried over everything and would just NOT go to sleep until 10:30.
While that was happening Gookie kept escaping out of the room and found Brad's cake and ice cream he set on the table so he could go talk to Hunter, and made herself comfortable with it.
She didnt go to sleep until 11:00 PM!! and today has been full of tears.

Hunter is 4 today!!

Today is HUnter's birthday and this video is from 2 yrs ago. It is the epitome of who my boy is. A very imaginitive, smart, fun, funny, problem solving boy. He made my dreams of being a Momma come true and Gookie doubled it. I am so blessed. I love everything about Hunter. He is good, kind, funny etc etc. Truly, he is AWESOME!!
This morning we were all snuggling in our bed and Brad tooted and it was awful. I said to him "that was a broccoli toot!! ugh!" and Hunter made a toot noise and said "mom that was a chicken and rice toot!" He is funny. We went to Arctic circle today and then the $1 store and he picked out a red and blue star balloon. He gave one to Gookie to share. We will be doing a joint Partay on Saturday. Happy Birthday my Hunter Boy!! I love you so much!!

Blast Off

On Monday the kiddos I work with didnt have school so I was able to get them all done during the day. It helped that Brad had that day off too. SO i was home by 4pm and my kiddos needed out of the house! So we went to blast off in Idaho Falls and they were able to run and play and play and run! Gookie found the dress up clothes and you would have thought it was the end of the world when it was time to take the "pretties" off. It was a good time. Then we went to ROSS and I got some summer dresses and my growing boy some shirts and Gookie some sandals all for the price of 1 dress anywhere else! SAWEET!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. I was asked to do sharing time for primary and I was given an outline that suggested having the kids or people from the ward dress up like Jesus' friends to tell their story of the Easter story. Well I wanted it to be REAL to the kids rather than "oh there's brother/sister so and so dressed up.." SO I asked my WONDERFUL friends if they would do it and the did and they were AMAZING!!! The all did such a great job. Jill was Mary Magdelene and she told how she went to the tomb and how she felt when Jesus' body wasnt there and that she then saw the Savior and her feelings and then her testimony and that by learning more of the Savior in the scriptures and through prayer, we can try to be more like Him. Then Joseph was Peter and he looked great and was great and talked about how Jesus came to the apostles and then Mike was John and talked about his feelings and his testimony. Then Bethany and her sister Julie were dressed up and they were the Nephites from the Book of Mormon and talked about their experiences there and how Jesus came to the Americas and blessed the children and they were able to touch his hands and feet. The Spirit was there and it just made it so real. Even Hunter didnt know it was really them which we all thought for sure he would be calling out their names. But instead the kids were like "Mary!" and "the nephites!" It was just a great experience because these dear friends were willing to do it and truly share their testimonies of the ressurection of Jesus Christ.

Then in the afternoon we went to Driggs and had a easter egg hunt and dinner which was DELICIOUS!! It was a good time to be together with family and friends that ARE family to us.

It was truly a great Easter.