What a spring break!!

We had such a wonderful time this past week hanging out in Tahoe (thanks again Debbie & Craig!!!) and OH MY GOODNESS did we have fun!!! We went sledding, built a snow-woman named Lily, visited Circus Circus where the kids won a ton of stuffed animals, learned to ski (well, the four bigger kids did), and had some great family time. It is always so beautiful up there and we are all always sad to leave.

As with any event with our family, there were a few casualties...

#1 - upon our arrival, Paul bonked his melon on a cabinet corner and we found a great urgent care just down the street that stapled his forehead back together again - it looks like it is healing well now...hooray!

#2 - on our second night, Small Paul came down with the flu that I had suffered with the week prior. He went from being totally normal, to throwing up 8 times in an hour & a half. At that point I said a little prayer for him & when I handed him over to Paul so I could take a break, he said one too, and that was the end of the flu! He went to sleep and woke up several hours later hungry and acting as if nothing had ever happened! Yay!

#3 - the car was a two for one event - on the way to Tahoe the CD player died, which made things a bit more boring around the Mammoth area when we had no radio reception and Shelby made up wonderful rap songs with creative lyrics such as:

Pancakes, they're flat, they're round, they're awesome (repeat 3 times)
Pancakes, got smooshed by a car (repeat 3 times)
Fried on a griddle


We endured about 15 repetitions of the above song when I requested that we play the quiet game, which, by the way, doesn't work once your kids catch on to the real point of the game...

We also had a headlight burn out which wasn't a big deal, in fact the super nice Napa employee even changed the bulb for us! Paul has informed me that neither of these events count as a mechanical failure and therefore cannot be used in any future discussions debating the need for a new vehicle.

#4 - The most tragic of all... on the last day in Tahoe, as I was packing up the car & running last minute errands...my ipod touch dissapeared *SOB* I L.O.V.E.D. that ipod. It was my most favor-ist toy. I downloaded so many apps which I used ALL THE TIME but alas, there is not an app for a careless ipod owner. Maybe someone will find it, see that my last map gave directions to our house from Tahoe & they will deliver it to me?

Overall, not a bad trip for us - only one visit to urgent care (two if you count the staple removal), and now we know where to take the kids if we have a future event with the kids. The kids were all afraid of the ski lifts, but were willing to walk their skis up the beginner hill at Homewood over & over for hours, so we're encouraged. We will be watching craigslist & garage sales etc for skis so next year we won't have to rent them. Not sure where we will put them though, this was our first trip that involved a huge cargo pack on the top of the suburban - we probably looked a bit like the Griswolds, but at least there was not a dog being pulled behind us...

Family Home Evening at our house...

So we are doing really well this year at making sure we have FHE every week, and so far, we haven't missed once!! I'm really excited because the kids are really into it (who knew) and look forward to it, which is great! Shawn always asks what day it is when I pick the kids up from school in hopes that it is Tuesday (our FHE night)!

All of the older kids love it, and Paul & I have fun - I love finding fun lessons & trying to create a fun treat to match the lesson - i.e. the fruits of the spirit = fruit loop cake etc. Much to our surprise however, is that the person who seems to enjoy this the most is Small Paul. He loves sitting at the table and screaming as loud as he can. The rest of us can't help but laugh, which makes him do it again & again, smiling and shaking with excitement. Unfortunately this behavior has moved beyond the FHE table and out into the world. Any time he is sitting on anyone's lap at a table - in a restaurant, while I'm conducting sharing time, during a Primary Presidency meeting, the school office etc, he sees an audience & goes into his screaming routine. I am sure that this will only be cute for a short time & then I will try to figure out how to break him of this habit, but for now this is how we start FHE every week, and greet the world.

We always end with a treat, and this week Small Paul has decided that he too should be part of the treat eating...

Terror in the high desert...

As I have mentioned earlier, I hate birds. Yes, I know, hate is a strong word I don't allow the kids to use, but there just isn't any other word that can describe my level of dislike for the germy creatures. Imagine my surprise, when I looked out my kitchen window on a bright and sunny morning and saw THIS on the neighbor's roof!




This monster was so large that I had to call Paul over to make sure that it was real. He thought it was the greatest thing ever, and went outside to get a better look because he is crazy like that. Upon closer examination Paul decided that the creature was over two feet tall, which for some reason made the whole even more exciting for him. He even grabbed the California bird book & tried to figure out what it was - possible a great blue herring? Whatever - I would have thrown a rock or something, but the bird was watching me, I'm sure of it.

Eventually he flew away, much to Paul's dismay - he was hoping to keep it as a pet. My ever supporting children were thrilled to hear the story, and are all hopeful that this creature will return. Shawn insists that the bird is nearby still and is in fact "stalking" me. Thanks Shawn!

A more relaxing day...

The final word on Michael is in - he is OK! His heart is back to normal, he was discharged from the hospital & was able to spend the afternoon & night with us yesterday. Today he had to go to Walter Reed Medical Ctr in Washington, and they decided that he is ok too. He still has to see a neurologist, but that will be a bit further down the line.

We were also SO relieved & excited that Kathy's surgery went so well. We love Aunt Kathy so much and were praying hard for her all day - and once again, Heavenly Father heard us!

Paul, Small Paul & I headed down to Washington DC to check out some of the sights. It was a beautiful day, and although we ran out of time really quickly, we were able to see some fun things! The Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln Monuments were so impressive. The US Capital Bldg is just beautiful, and the White House is fantastic.

We only had time to run through one of the 19 Smithsonian museums, so we chose Air & Space, and it was very cool. We are already planning a return trip soon with the rest of the kids. We would love to take them to Gettysburg, Hershey PA, the Baltimore Harbor etc. There is just so much to see in this part of the country! It seems so odd when we are driving around - from where we are it's only about 60 miles to Philadelphia, less than that to Delaware, DC was about 70, and Virginia is right past the National Mall, in fact we made a wrong turn today & were in Virginia for a minute!

Michael will be with us tomorrow, so I'm off to start planning our day of sight seeing! What a fantastic turn to such a horrible event!

A HAPPY update from Maryland

Ok - well, the past few days have been a big blur...

Friday morning, while rushing to get kids to school & myself there for an awards assembly (yay Shelby & Reagan) I received a call from Michael's commanding officer. Michael was found in his bed that morning unresponsive, and the e.m.t.s took him to the hospital where he was in ICU hooked up to a ventilator. He told me that we needed to get out to Maryland within the next 24 hours so that I could make medical decisions because I am listed as his next of kin. He didn't have any other information but told me he would call me when he did. At this point it had been about 6 hours since they found him and he was still completely unresponsive and now they were saying it was an apparent overdose of one the MANY prescriptions the army docs have had him on.

I called Bishop Clark Everitt, who was able to get me the number for the Bishop out here, who was able to coordinate getting Michael a Priesthood blessing. Paul & I went into a crazy whirlwind of what to do with the kids, getting a flight, packing, getting winter wear etc...

What seemed like forever later we got some good news, Michael appeared to be trying to turn his head when they yelled his name & shook his arm. This was a good sign, but it was all very touch & go.

Saturday morning we were on our way to the airport when we got a call saying that Michael was breathing on his own & tried to speak a little, which was a great sign, although now there were even more questions as to what happened.

We saw Michael last night, but he was really out of it and had a babysitter in his room. It was great to see him, but he looked pretty beat up. They were able to tell us that his brain function appeared to be normal, but they were concerned because he had (and still has) a heart block. I kept asking questions that no one could answer for me - Michael has been doing really great for the past 6 months or so, has been totally positive about life, and has never done anything like this before, it just didn't make sense... an overdose?

When I went to the hospital this morning, Michael was awake, alert, hungry, and wanting to know why everyone thinks he wants to hurt himself... He was insisting to everyone that he loved his life, but he couldn't remember what happened.

The hospital psychiatrist finally came in and had a long talk with him and decided that it was not an attempt to hurt himself, but that he should have never been prescribed the meds that did this to him. More than likely, he took his meds twice Thursday night, which caused lots of problems including a seizure.

We're not done yet, still waiting to see how his heart recovers, but they think he is going to be ok. His commanding officer is opening a medical review to find out what went wrong and where, and who knows if we will ever find out ourselves, but we have learned that Michael cannot take TCA's anymore (a type of antidepressant they used to try to prevent his migraine headaches). The prescription wasn't helping his headaches, so they just kept telling him to take more & see what happened. Well, THIS is what happened. I'm sure I'll be angry later on, but for now I'm busy...

I need a nap ---- Thanks so much to everyone who was fasting, praying, and holding Michael & our family in our hearts. Once again Heavenly Father has taken care of my family - I am so blessed!!! Love to everyone!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Just for fun, after I picked up all of the kids from school, it started to SNOW!! We are all very hopeful that it will continue for awhile, it's so beautiful to watch, and they close the schools really quickly in our district... we will see what happens next!


Ok - I had to add this.....



The mailman just showed up bearing gifts from afar (Utah to be precise). How amazing are these shoes???? We L.O.V.E. them!!! Thanks so much to the amazing knitter Stacey!!! Small Paul is very happy to be keeping his toes warm inside of them on this chilly day for sure! (yes, that is his hair standing straight up in the midle of his head)

Aquarium of the Pacific

Even though it appears from first glance that we are attempting to establish residency at Disneyland, there are actually lots of other things we like to do too. One thing we like alot is going to Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. There is so much to do there - pet the rays, pet the sharks, touch all kinds of tide pool dwelling creatures like starfish, sea cucumbers, and other things with long names I cannot spell. A couple of years ago for Paul's birthday he and Savannah the were able to go "behind the scenes" and learn all about taking care of Sea Otters, which was really cool! They even got to feed them!





Another fun activity at the aquarium (for some of us at least) is the Lorikeet Forest, which is a huge enclosed area where you get to feed the lorikeets. This may sound exciting, and the kids & Paul really love it, but for anyone who does not know this about me... I am terrified of birds. Really hate them, I can't help it - they completely creep me out. I'm not really bothered by any of the normal things - reptiles, rodents, whatever, but birds - YIKES! So, in an effort to raise well rounded children I brave the forest ducking & bobbing to avoid the birds zooming past my head on a mission (I'm sure) to peck my eyes out. This time I had to add protecting the baby to the equation and it was quiet an exhausting event for me, but the kids all had fun...



Scary - you can't convince me otherwise.