We're not dead yet....

Since its been more than a year I thought I'd better post something. I am working on a year in review to cover some of whats been happening since last June; like all our hikes, our snow shoeing, our holidays and our nothing days. Until then, in the words of George Michael "...You gotta to have faith..."

Wass' happenin'

Lets see, my last post was May 12 and I am sure things have happened since then that I have been meaning to post, but at the moment I can't think just what.

However, school got out on May 29--Talmage is happy and sad (and so is the rest of the family).

We went to Salt Lake before that to attend a Temple Sealing of Marks best friend Jason Davis and his wife Erin and their two girls--this was great fun and we need to do it more often, for more days and to be better organized. We did manage to stop by the old neighborhood and see the Bytheways (I can't believe how big Natalie is, but since she is the same age as Talmage then it would just make sense that she would be growing up), not to mention the 3 more bambinos that have been added to the mix. Talmage and Bethany LOVED it and want to go back (Bethany kept saying she wanted to go back to the"playhouse").

One of Talmage's friends moved to Vernal lately but came to Monroe for his little sisters birthday party (lots of friends and family still here) so we went to that--it was so much fun and so good to see everyone again.

Yesterday we went to my sister's house (Jody), as her daughter Katie had put in papers for a Mission and she is going to Arcadia, CA (the same place her brother Andy went, except for the language), Spanish speaking.

Today, my mom tripped and tumbled down the front steps--a bit of trauma for the kids who were there and saw it (mine were in the house), and she doesn't look to good. I took some pictures at the urging of my father, but as a courtesy to my mother I won't post them; however, I did tell her she would look at place in a haunted house. She said its too bad its not Halloween 'cause she could answer the door "Trick or Treat" -- scare the kids to death. Bethany didn't like what she saw when my mom got home and was very worried about her for a while and the "gross" blood--she also wanted to wash the blood off of my dads shoes..."that bad blood shouldn't be there"

I guess thats it for now. Maybe someday I will actually post something on time--probably not!

Bethany's teeth

Bethany had quite a few cavaties--Talmage did too, but he was so good and sat so still that the Dentist just did his in his office, but Bethany had to go to the hospital to be put out and have hers fixed.

So, today was the day. She told me last night she didn't want to go see the Doctor today and she didn't want to go see the Dentist. When we go to Richfield she wasn't happy that we had passed the Doctor's office--that's where she wanted to go.

She didn't want to do a lot of the stuff they kept asking her to do--she didn't want to sit on the bed, she didn't want to change her clothes--she would just say "No, I don't want to" very calmly and that was it.

We were able to get her to change her clothes, then gave her the verced and then took her to the bathroom and on the way back she started getting silly (the meds), then we got her on the bed and got her to lay down so that she didn't fall--we turned the tv on for her and let her watch that as she got sillier and the nurse said that she might start seeing things on the walls. She did get silly and had a hard time talking, but she definitely wanted "Handy Manny" back on after the nurse turned off the tv. She was also looking at the light and doing funny things and got upset any time her dads hands got in the way. After is was over, before she woke up; the anesthesiologist stopped in to tell us she was really cute and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" before she went under the gas (she always tells me that is her favorite song).

She was a little sad and miserable for the first little while after waking up, but she never did throw up. The minute Talmage got home--everything was all better. She sure loves her brother and he made everything better for her. She was also up and going 100 miles an hour, except she would stop everyonce in a while to cuddle. She also resisted going to sleep until she couldn't handle it any longer--I think she was a little nervous.

The Great Outdoors

On Saturday May 9 we went out and about in the hills. We usually go up in Monroe Canyon but decided to do something a little different this time so we just headed south out towards Live Oak, but just kept going a little beyond it and then pulled off. The kids wanted to do another Easter Egg Hunt so I had bought some goodies to hide and let them look for. I should have brought what was left of their eggs and let them roll then and throw them as they are no longer any good for anything.

We had parked near a small wash and so Mark started up it and then went on up over the hill while the kids and I stayed and played in the wash. We had discovered a caterpillar on this pine tree, then when the kids were showing Mark we started finding them all over the tree--it was pretty neat!

While Mark was hiking, the kids were making a slide down into the wash and loving it.

All in all, a good day,

"Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" May 03, 2009

Oh what a terrible mommy I am.

I saw on another friends blog (Katie) where she told all about the day her "baby" was born and I thought what a good idea, I will do that for Bethany. Well, the day came and went and I never even got on the computer--maybe next year for her 5th birthday (fingers crossed).

We actually celebrated her birthday on the 2nd since the 3rd was a Sunday. We had planned to go up the Canyon for a hike and a picnic but it looked ugly outside; so we went to Home Depot to do their Kid Projects, but there were so many people there that we took it with us and went to the park to play before it got too bad. We then cam home and the kids put their projects together and then painted them. We then went to Bullies to eat. A few days early I had asked her what her favorite food was and she said "um, French Fries!" What else? "Hangaber". Needless to say she was very disapointed when we went to Bullies--she thought I had meant we were going 'bowling'. We had gone to a couple of birthday parties for Talmage's friends at the bowling alley and now she has been asking about that for days.

We also opened her presents and did her cake before Bullies--Mark and Talmage were outside getting things done and she was on the computer so I was just fiddling around frosting the cake, wrapping the presents and putting them on Talmage's desk--then I was trying to watch the Kentucky Derby while waiting for the boys to come back and she looked up and saw the presents "ah--my birthday is on!" We then had to find the boys and we got stuck trying to stay out of the rain before we could get back (on a selfish side note, I did still get to see the Derby run).

All in all she had a good birthday and it lasted for days as on Sunday she got to stand up in front of the Primary as they sang to her and gave her a candy bar; Grandma and Grandpa gave her a card with money in it n Sunday; on Monday or Tuesday Katie (her cousin) gave her a bag of barbies (that she loves); and then yesterday she got a bear and extra from Jody. She has also had me set up candles a few more days this week just so she can blow them out and then yesterday she also had me sing to her and tell her to make a wish.

Up the Creek

There used to be a restaurant up Monroe Canyon called "Up the Creek" and that is where we went today--not to the restaurant but up the canyon.

It was a little overcast and gloomy to begin with, but all in all not bad. We hiked for a bit, then let the kids play in a spot in the creek. Talmage trying to decide if he wanted to build a bridge or make a dam; Bethany alternating between helping Talmage and just throwing rocks in the water. We then continued on further up the trail. After we had gotten up there a ways we happened upon an ugly mess--the trail had been made wider and it was just yucky, sticky mud and I was so afraid that they were making it wider for 4-wheelers. Now 4-wheelers are fine and all and have their place, but I don't think they need to be everywhere (they are very noisey, etc) and its nice to be able to walk and not have to worry about looking out for them (its bad enough looking out for the dog poop every where!!! Mark says I'm obsessed about dog poop--I'm just obsessed about not stepping in it as it seems to be EVERYWHERE these days!!). Ok, back to hiking. It appears that all the mess and the tearing up of some of the trail was to get some equipment up and do some work on the water equipment, so thats ok. Today our hike took us farther than we have ever gone and now our next hike is to fix a way to cross the creek and go even farther.

Today we walked 2 1/2 miles total (me carrying a 3 year old for at least a 1/2 a mile of that--more I'd bet). Bethany loves to hike, but then she starts getting whiney and wants to go home (NOW) and wants to be carried, so I carry her a bit, then we have a break and let them have a snack and play around, then she walks for a bit before demaning that I carry her again. Lots of butterlies today and also got to see a squirrel digging in the ground under a small bush and eating something--kids loved it. I'm worn out--but thats what I get for being fat and old :)

"Hoppy Easter"

(No, its not a typo)...Well, we have just about eastered out (the commercialization side of it anyway); although the kids don't think so.

We did an Easter Egg Hunt in Joseph, one in Monroe, one at Walmart and one at home. Mark thinks we should cut it down to just 2 next year--Joseph (they did fun craft things too like bingo, egg races, coloring eggs) and the home one. I still want to keep Walmart because they also did face painting, coloring pages, cake walks and handed out cupcakes as the kids left. Of course their is the family one that they do with the family picnic if we go next year which all depends on the weather.

We opted out of the "big" family picnic and just chose to do just the immediate family this year. The weather was iffy and icky and kind of muddy. They said it wasn't muddy or too muddy where they went, but Mark likes to hike and once you get off the beaten path (or road) then its not as nice, and with the occasional wind and the dark clouds circling along with the 90% chance of rain forecast we just did some bunny stuff at home and then went to Richfield and did some window shopping and a little lunch and 20 minutes at the park before the weather turned.

We've decided we kind of like the splitting of easter on the weekend because it lets you do some of the fun stuff on Saturday and then concentrate on Sunday for what this weekend really is about (although we did keep reminding the kids of the true meaning even on Saturday when they would tend to start sounding a little gimmee). Good program in church today with two great talks on Jesus and his gift(s) to us and us "coming unto Christ" as well as some beautiful music. I tell you, its not just the kids who need a reminder, its good for us all and I do believe I am at the top of that list.