Random Moments

I wanted to remember some of these random things, so this post is mostly for me, mostly for journaling.

I have loved so many of your posts about dear President Hinckley. This was on Chantri's blog. I loved it and hope she doesn't mind if I include it on mine. I love President Hinckley and it was such a comfort to me to see him during each General Conference. We will dearly miss him but can imagine how happy he is now and what a sweet reunion he had with his wife. I'm so thankful for the leadership of our Church and know it is always in the Lord's hands. We love you President Hinckley!

Last weekend I was able to see my cute friends Heather and Mary and their darling kids. It was so fun to chat with them! They are two of the cutest people ever. Heather, Jimmy and their kids were up for the Temple Open House. Thanks, Mary, for taking the picture - wish you were in it too! It was so fun to see both of you. Wish we could do it again.

Mmmm! Kix with chocolate milk. (They got their own breakfast on Saturday morning.) Porter ate all of his, but the other 2 dumped theirs down the sink.

Dave and I took the kids swimming Saturday afternoon to work off some of their energy. Swimming is the best for wearing kids right out. I didn't much want to get in a swimming suit with my pregnant belly and monster-thighs so I sat on the side and they attacked Dave for two hours. He is a great dad and went down the slide with them I don't know how many times! (We also saw Aaron and Shawn Galbraith and their wives and kids. Fun to bump into random people from high school! They have cute kids too. I love seeing everyone's kids.)

This is pretty much how all the photos turned out of their time in the pool. Eyes closed, looking away, or underwater. Wish I could have gotten a cute one of all three of them smiling, because that's how they all looked the whole time: huge smiles of glee.

I have been so grateful for my kids' self-sufficiency the older they get. It's so nice! I let them get their own clothes to change into after swimming. I should have checked what they were bringing. Porter forgot his pants so he looked like this walking to the car. Brrr! And Lexi forgot a shirt, but at least she had her coat to cover up. Silly kids!

We saw 2 moose in the river on the way home. Not a sight you see everyday!

Making cookies yesterday afternoon. Those fabulous Andes Mint cookies (recipe is on back of Andes Mint chips bag.) Holy cow! I can't stop eating them. And the baby kicks every time I eat one, he must like them too.

(I also have a question - for those of you who blog for your journals, how do you save them? Do you print them out?)

TTA... Photo Op

"This weeks challenge is to sum up your day, week, or month, with one photo and give an explanation."

Like many of you this has been our day, week, and month: SNOW.
This photo is earlier today when I got stuck driving into our driveway! Thankfully we have kind neighbors that saved the day and plowed me out (it took a backhoe to plow our driveway!). It's still snowing and blowing - I think it may just be the perfect night for pizza and a movie snuggled with the kids.

GIRL or BOY?

We had our ultrasound this morning and we are having a BOY!

I am so surprised! I was SURE it was a girl. I was so in shock. Dave just started laughing when the ultrasound tech showed us his little part on the screen (and it was quite discernable I must say! no doubt he is definitely a boy) because from day one I've been telling him how I just know it will be a girl. I am still in shock.

When we told the kids Kyler and Porter cheered and Lexi burst into tears. She wanted a sister so bad. She kept asking the last few days, "It's a girl right? Because I pray so hard for a sister that Heavenly Father will make it a girl, right mom?"

But I trust Heavenly Father and that right now we need this little boy (even though it really threw me for a loop!). And he does have a cute little profile doesn't he? I'm so thankful for his 10 fingers and toes, his 4-chambered heart that is beating strong, and seeing all his body parts that are formed perfectly. What an amazing thing. He weighs 1 lb. 2 oz and I am 4 days ahead of schedule (I'm sure from all the ice cream I've been eating). I love ultrasounds and seeing that tiny baby moving around. It's one of my favorite things of life.

Now to think of a boy name... All I've been thinking of for months are girl names. I am at a loss! I guess it's good we still have 4 months to think of one!

Family Home Evening Packets

There is a Primary Yahoo Group that is awesome if any of you are ever called to be Primary Chorister. Every one shares such great ideas and since I am so uncreative it has been a lifesaver for me!

Anyway, a wonderful lady put together Monthly FHE Packets for the 2008 Primary Theme "I Am A Child Of God". I just printed them all out, and thought I would share the address if any of you would like a copy.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/primusic/files/2008%20Primary%20Theme%20FHE%20Packets/

(Sorry for the long address - I don't know how to include a link in the text like so many of you do. But hopefully it will work to copy and paste this in. If it doesn't work please let me know!)

So nice to have fun FHE lessons all ready that reinforce what they're learning in Primary!

Nesting? or Crazy?

I had a "nesting" attack last week, but instead of sorting closets I made cards. (For a card club where we make 12 cards and then everyone shares so we come away with 12 different cards each month.) So I thought it would be great to get some made in advance. I ended up making 130 cards. My kids were so tired of this project. When one of them would ask, "Where's Mom?" the others would roll their eyes and say in a monotonous voice, "Making cards." And we have one room in our house that is a DISASTER AREA (paper scraps, eyelets, brads, ribbon everywhere, etc). It is my goal to get that cleaned up today.

I just had to share because I'm so glad it's done. Next time I get the nesting bug hopefully I'll clean closets instead of creating a bigger mess!

My favorites were the Baby Cards. (Everything BABY is always the cutest!)
I also made these blocks for a friend's new baby. It was fun to do. I love modge-podge!

Halfway, Baby!

I am 21 weeks this week, so we're past the halfway mark. I know my belly looks like I could seriously be due anyday. I promise this is the last time I will post a belly-picture until the very end, and I'll do that only so you can all marvel at how one stomach can actually stretch so far.

I just have a few questions:

1. Why does my nose look so pudgy when I am pregnant? As far as I know your nose has nothing to do with the growing baby, does it?

2. Why do other people look so cute when they are pregnant, but I feel like such a whale?

3. Why do I get gas pains in my shoulders when I am pregnant? Ouch! And it doesn't move. It just stays stuck and causes pain in my whole abdominal cavity.

4. Why do I crave chocolate ice cream every minute of the day, but trying to swallow broccoli gives me the shudders?

(A little sidenote: I ate 3 heaping bowls of ice cream the other day while watching 'The Biggest Loser'. I figured watching their workouts might help equal out my huge caloric intake.)

5. Why does pregnancy bring on such crazy dreams? Have any of you ever dreamed your husband is having an affair? This only happens when I'm pregnant and I always wake up with such a broken heart. So glad it's just a dream! It must have something to do with subconsciously feeling big and unattractive.


Aside from all these things and the migraines I've gotten this pregnancy, I am so thankful for the amazing experience of feeling a new life inside me. I am overwhelmed with gratitude every time I feel it's little movements and I whisper a quick "I love you" to this little baby each time it moves.

I love this quote:

"Instead of wishing away 9 months of pregnancy I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was my only chance in this life to assist God in a miracle." ~Erma Bombeck

What an amazing miracle. I would love to hear your favorite things about being pregnant!

TTA... No Regrets, Just Lessons Learned

I wish I would have....

...Kept taking piano lessons so I could play hymns and stuff for my kids. I want to start again when all my kids are in school, but will I ever have time to practice?!!

...Picked a major and stuck with it in college instead of switching back and forth every semester between Elementary Ed and Nursing. I finally picked Nursing, finished the pre-reqs and had just gotten accepted into the Nursing program at BYU and then Dave and I got married. I stopped going to school to work full-time to help him get through school. That will be the biggest piece of advice I give to my kids as they start the college adventure - just make a decision and stick with it!

...Married Dave sooner! I wish we would have gotten married the summer before we actually did.

...Had a little more faith that our kids would come. I had such hearthache during those years wondering if I would ever be a mother. Now I would love to have a little more one-on-one time with Dave like we used to. I guess it makes the times you are able to sneak away on a date all the more glorious! :)

...Climbed Table Rock last summer before I got pregnant.
..................................................................................
I'm so glad I.....

...Was raised in my family by such kind and loving parents. I want to be more like them.

...Went to Ricks College and BYU.

...Got to be an EFY Counselor for a summer. I met such amazing people, am grateful there are such outstanding youth in the world today (it gives me hope for the future), and grew a testimony of the wonderful programs in the church for every age.

...Was able to study abroad at BYU Jerusalem, make life-long friends and have such amazing experiences in places like the Garden Tomb, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Galilee, Jordan, the Pyramids and ancient Egyptian temples, etc.

...Received an answer to my prayers not to go on a mission or else I wouldn't have had a chance to get to know Dave.

...Married Dave! Even though I wish I would've married him a few months sooner I actually love having an anniversary in December. And we had some fun times during our loooong courtship.

...Listened to the promptings of the Spirit, and the good advice of our parents, so we got our three miracle babies here.

...Have the blessings of the gospel and the temple in my life!

Temple Open House

We were able to go to the Rexburg Temple Open House last night. It is so beautiful! We have been looking forward to this for a long time. What a neat experience to be able to take your children into a holy temple and hold their hands as they see it for the first time.

We've been talking to them about what a special privilege it is to be able to go inside the temple. We've had Family Home Evenings about it, talked about it around the dinner table, etc. Afterward we asked the kids what their favorite thing about the temple was and I imagined all the profound answers they would give. Two of them answered without hesitation, "The cookies and pink punch!"

I have to give credit to Kyler for mentioning the beautiful chandeliers. At least one child remembered something inside. There are tented sidewalks that get you from the Stake Center to the temple. After having our time in the temple we walked back through the tents and ate cookies and punch in the Stake Center. Once outside we pointed at the temple and Lexi said, "Hey, why didn't we get to go in that one?" The whole time she thought we were in the Stake Center. So we showed her the tent tunnel we walked through that went up to the temple and showed them all that we went up even to the third story windows.

One more thing that made me laugh was the night before we went Lexi asked, "Will Angel Moroni have his big whistle?" Yes, I told her he would have his trumpet.I'm so glad this temple is finished. It's been so neat to watch it's progress everytime we are in Rexburg. It's one of our kids' favorite things to spot it shining up on the hill.

Porter, Our Miracle #3

Thanks to those of you who have stuck with me through these long historical posts. It's been fun remembering. I guess that's the purpose of a blog, to remember and document moments of our lives. Here's part 3 of the saga of our childbirth stories, our miracle #3... (it's a long one!)

I found out right before Christmas that I was pregnant. What a wonderful Christmas present! Kyler was just over a year old, Lexi was 7 months old, and it was such a HUGE surprise! Because we had been through so much to get Kyler and Lexi we thought we would have to go through the same things to ever have another baby. I had been hungering for another baby, and felt guilty because I was so grateful to have these two little angels. But it was such a huge sense of relief to me to be pregnant again and I knew, I just knew, he was a boy.

He was due the first of August, but one morning the end of May I woke up and felt a big warm gush as I lay in bed. My first thought was hoping my water hadn't broken. And then I sat up and saw it was blood. Panic!

We were so blessed through all of this. After the initial shock I felt peace. We rushed to the hospital an hour away and I could still feel him moving as we drove. They were waiting for me at the emergency doors and hurried me back in a wheelchair where I had an ultrasound. I was having contractions every minute and was already dilated to a 5. They were going to try and stop labor until they saw the placenta in the ultrasound and called for an emergency C-section. It all happened so fast. They gave us a minute alone and Dave, his dad, and brother Brett gave me a blessing. Then reality set in and I started to cry. It was too early for this baby to be born and I hoped he would be alright.

The anesthesiologist tried twice to get the spinal in and it wouldn't go in. The doctor rushed in and said there was no time to keep trying and told him to put me all the way out quickly. But I'm so thankful he tried one more time and got it in so I could be awake for it. The doctor started cutting before Dave had time to suit up. Dave came rushing in and saw them pull Porter out. We heard him give a little cry, they weighed him and told us he was 3 lbs 12 oz. We were so glad he was that big for being so early. Then they rushed him away to the ICU without me being able to see him.

After they sewed me back up and had me in a room for an hour or so they wheeled my big bed in to the ICU so I could see Porter. It broke my heart. I was so glad to see him, but it is hard to see your baby so tiny and attached to so many machines. They told us not to touch him because his nerves weren't developed yet and it would feel like sandpaper to him. But we could hold his tiny hands.

He did amazingly well and grew well. The very next day he was off the ventilators, which I think is amazing - I've heard that if your body knows that labor is coming that some hormone helps the baby's lungs develop faster. I had been having labor pains for a couple days but thought they must be Braxton-Hicks contractions. But I feel like my body was helping him get ready to face life early, so his lungs did really well for being only 30 weeks.

I left the hospital after 3 days and what a heartbreaking thing to have to leave him there. I stayed with my parents so I was close to the hospital and I went up several times a day to sit with him. I couldn't hold him every day at first, but would sit and talk to him and hold his little hand.

I was able to hold him for the first time when he was 4 days old. It scared me to death with all the wires and tubes everywhere. I didn't want to hurt him. But the nurse was insistant that it would be good for him and for me. And it was wonderful to finally be able to hold my baby. He was so tiny and so light, but it helped my heart to be able to hold him. (Can you see him in the mass of tubes and wires?)

He didn't have the sucking reflex for a few more weeks so he was fed through a tube in his nose. He also had a heart murmur caused by a small hole in his heart, which is common for preemies. It healed on it's own after a couple months.

Lots of babies came and went during Porter's stay in the ICU. When a 6-7 lb. baby was brought in they looked so BIG to me! I was used to looking at Porter and those extra couple pounds make a big difference! (But now when I see a newborn baby that is 6 or 7 lbs. they look so TINY!) Porter around 4 lbs:After a few weeks they started bottle feeding with this tiny little bottle that seemed so huge next to him. He would open his eyes and look at Dave and I when we were there. But mostly he slept. I got to give him a bath one morning and he was so tiny and slippery. But the nurse was right there and helped me, and Dave got it on video. That was one of my favorite memories of him being in the ICU, being able to be a mother and do something for him.

After 5 weeks he was ready to come home. He was 5 lbs. 5 oz. and still hooked up to oxygen and several monitors. It was a nerve racking night the first night because his alarms kept going off.

A few days later we took him to Primary Children's in Salt Lake so they could check his heart, etc. and the doctor there said there was no need for him to be on oxygen and have all those monitors. It was scary to take them off because I trusted them to tell me he was ok. But we did, and it was so wonderful to be able to hold him, just him, and not all the wires. He did amazingly well after that and grew just like a normal newborn.

My three beautiful miracles a couple weeks after Porter came home from the hospital. 3 babies under 2 years old. (Kyler didn't turn two for another month.) We had 3 babies in diapers and 3 babies in cribs. We were so glad to have them all home together.

Now Porter is a rowdy rambunctious 3 year old. We're so thankful for him! He has such a fun personality and keeps us laughing. He's always running, I wish I had some of his never-ending energy!

What happened that morning was a placental abruption. 50% of the time this happens the placenta detaches where the baby is getting it's oxygen and nutrients and the baby dies within a couple minutes. We were so lucky this didn't happen with Porter. But the placenta came floating out as soon as they cut my uterus open. The doctors later said we only had moments to spare. I'm so thankful for them and their life-saving and inspired decisions. Porter wouldn't be with us today if they had waited a few more minutes. My doctor went out of town the next day but called me at the hospital to see how things were going. He said he knew Someone was really watching out for our little boy. This makes me cry. We feel that way too, that Heavenly Father's guidance and care were with us from the first moments we woke up that morning and through everything that happened over the next few days and weeks. We know Porter is supposed to be here with us and that he has a special purpose. I'm so thankful he's here with us! He adds so much to our family.

Porter's Blessing Day:

Each and every child is such a miracle. I've learned that through our experiences and know that each life is such a treasure. Our Father in Heaven is watching over each of us and is aware of our needs and what is happening in each moment of our lives. I'm thankful to know this and for His loving care for each of His children everywhere.

Colored Snow

My sister-in-law Kara had a fun idea to let the kids spray the snow with colored water. So we did that today while Kyler was at Kindergarten. It was refreshing to be out in the subzero temperatures. The kids didn't last too long but thought it was great fun.

TTA... One Place, One Person

I can think of a million places I would love to go, but only person I would love to go with the most. Of course my one and only Dave. He's so fun to go anywhere and do everything with. What fun to wish for a vacation!

Today we are snowed in. All the roads out of our beautiful valley are closed so Dave is home (yay!) and Kyler's Kindergarten and Lexi's Preschool were cancelled. So I'm wishing to be somewhere warm, and we've never been to Hawaii. That has been my next ultimate dream destination for awhile now and we haven't made it yet. I told Dave it would be the perfect time and excuse for us to go this December for our 10th anniversary. There's always hope!

For our next vacation I really want to take the kids to Disneyland. It probably won't be for awhile, but I want to take them while they're young and it's still magical. Dave thinks we should wait until the kids are old enough to go on all the exciting rides. So I think we should go more than once. :) The kids really want to go now. I appreciated Stelene's advice to wait until your kids are 40 inches tall so they can go on the rides. So hopefully as soon as Porter hits 40 inches we'll head to see Mickey and Minnie.

And I know this is supposed to be about just one place, but Dave and I have both always wanted to go back to Europe and visit Italy. My brother and his wife just got back from Rome in December, and we wished we could have tagged along!

Have any of you been to Hawaii or Italy? I would love to hear what you thought about them! And what are your experiences with kids in Disneyland?

Lexi, Our Miracle #2

Writing about Kyler has gotten me in the memory mode, it has been fun for me to think back and remember and document these times. It makes me so grateful all over again for my kids. Thanks for humoring me and enduring these long posts. :)

Here's Lexi's story...

She is our IVF miracle. Thank heavens for modern medicine, technology and doctors that help us. It was an adventure of medications, shots everyday, daily blood draws, trips to Salt Lake for ultrasounds... with little miracles all along the way. It's quite the process, but we wanted a baby more than anything. We felt willing to go through whatever it took to try.

It was an up and down roller-coaster. Our doctor said I was one of his trickiest patients. He was great and monitored me really closely. It was devastating to find out after all we had done that it wasn't looking good. As mentioned before one adoption had already fallen through. Now this wasn't working and I was overwhelmed with heartache. We called our parents and told them and unknown to us they had a family fast for us the next day. And then the miracles started to happen.

On the way home we received the call about Kyler. Then the doctor called and said my hormone levels were back up and we might have a chance. What a turn of events! This is a picture of our two embryos (I think most people get 10-20), one of which grew into Lexi. Isn't that amazing? Most people don't get their first picture when only a few cells big! We were so lucky to have it work on the first try, especially not having the best odds. When the doctor called us to give us the news Dave answered the phone and as I heard him say "Oh good!" I dropped to my knees in tears. Sometimes all you can do in moments like that is cry. I was so thankful!

A month later we had an ultrasound and saw that little tiny baby, only an inch long, with it's little heart beating away. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I just remember feeling so happy to see it and know it was really there, really growing. I was really pregnant! Another dream come true.

It was a good pregnancy and so fun to have Kyler at the same time growing and learning to crawl and walk, etc. Then our sweet little Lexi was born. She is so much fun and we are so thankful for her sweet, happy spirit every day. We've heard lots of stories where IVF doesn't work and we feel very blessed. Lexi is a joy in our family and we love her very much! I loved doing her hair and getting her dressed in all the fun girl baby stuff. It was so fun for me to have 2 babies so quickly when I had wondered if we would ever have any at all. (And a few months later came Porter, such a surprise! I'll post his story next. He was born 3 weeks after the picture to the right, where Lexi and I are both in pink.)

I wouldn't change a thing about how they all came to be and how close together they are. I truly feel like the luckiest mother in the world! We love you Lexi!

Kyler, Our Miracle

Our friends just adopted a sweet baby girl last week and it has brought to the surface familiar sweet emotions of 5 years ago. There is never a day that goes by that I'm not so thankful to have Kyler in our family. There is nothing that brings tears to the surface faster than to think of the special way he joined our family and how much it means to me for him to be here and be ours. I love adoption stories, they are so close to my heart because five years ago we brought home this sweet baby boy and welcomed him with such joy into our hearts and home.

What got me thinking about this was this wonderful book from my mother-in-law, "From God's Arms To My Arms To Yours." I cried through every page. If you know anyone who has experienced adoption then this would be a wonderful gift, and I would also love to hear if you know someone who has been through adoption.

I'll share our story real quick. We wanted to have kids soon after we were married and were devastated that I was unable to get pregnant. We went through everything, all the doctors, fertility, etc. for almost 4 years. Every time I learned someone was pregnant my heart would break all over again. I cried probably every day. It's hard to describe the anguish we felt.

We got adoption papers but no matter how many days we sat and worked on them we could not finish them. It seemed they were endless. Time dragged on, almost a year, without any more progress. And then I felt such a strong desire to get them out and get them done. So I began again with this monumental task, but this time there was one major difference (although I didn't know it then). This time it was the right time. I know heaven was near as we got all the paperwork and everything else (background check, letters of recommendation, home study, etc.) done in record time. I was astounded we were able to finish so fast. Within weeks we were chosen to adopt a baby girl. We met the birth mother who was due in 2 months, the birth father was no where to be found. Then a few weeks later he came back and would not give up his rights to the baby. There was nothing we could do. Again we were devastated.

We went forward with IVF (in vitro fertilization) which is a long process of medications and shots, etc. One way or another I wanted a baby! We were in Salt Lake for one of my final doctor appointments and all went wrong. It wasn't working. It looked like we would have to start over and try again in a few months. I can't even describe the heartache and pain I felt that night. Dave held me while I cried and cried and cried. Were we never meant to have children? And why? Why?

The next day on the way home from Salt Lake we got a call from LDS Family Services. They had a baby boy for us that was 2 days old. They told us to come and get him the next day! We were beyond belief! Could this really be happening? (This is our first family picture as we held him for the first time.)

Our very own miracle! He was such a sweet baby, always so good with such big beautiful eyes and happy smile. He was our dream come true! Kyler, I love you with all my heart! Whenever I think of how he came into our family I always cry. It makes my heart just overflow with gratitude, happiness, with joy. I'm so thankful for our Heavenly Father who knows all things and has a plan for each of us. I'm so thankful for the temple and that we were able to have Kyler sealed to us so we can be an eternal family. That was such an unforgettable day, one of my most treasured experiences in my life. (I love this picture of Dave and Kyler.)

And I am so thankful for his birth parents and grandparents, that we were able to meet. I love them beyond measure for their sacrifice for us. How could we ever repay such an unparalleled gift? They made us, a husband and wife into a family of three, which was the greatest desire of our hearts. One quote from the book above, "...One family's unselfish choice will open the door for another family's sweetest blessing..."

I also love the song, "From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours" and the lines, "...Could you kiss him once for me the first time that he ties his shoes or falls and skins his knee. And could you hold him twice as long when he makes his mistakes..." That makes me cry and I humbly want to fulfill the hope and trust they were placing in me by letting me be his mother.

Now I'll end with the words to a song I'd never heard that I love, by Michael McClean. It moves me to tears because it's so close to my heart.

"You didn't give me your eyes
or the color of your hair
I've climbed the family tree and found
There's no one like me there
Sometimes I've felt like an alien
That came from foreign shores
But look inside my heart you'll see
I'M YOURS.
You didn't give me these feet
But you placed them on the right path
You didn't give me my voice
But you taught it how to laugh
You didn't give me these hands
But you taught them to open doors
Look at all I am you'll see
I'm Yours.
Do you think the ones who gave me life
Will ever know
The gift they gave to me by letting go
I hope somehow that heaven will reveal
The depth of gratitude I'll always feel

You didn't give me these arms
But you gave them a family to hold
You didn't give me my body
But you truly shaped its soul

Your love has given me wings
And how my spirit soars
Knowing that I always will be yours
Forever and for always
I am yours."

The Longest Day EVER

Okay, so now we have 9:00 am church. I was really looking forward to it because we haven't been on this schedule since 2004. I thought it would be great to have the whole afternoon to have some quality family time. Boy, did we ever! And it lasted and lasted and lasted.... It was the longest afternoon ever. After church was done at 12:00 I felt like we had been through a marathon (Dave has 7:30 meetings every Sunday so I got up at 5:30 to finish Primary and then get us all ready by myself so we could be on time to Sacrament meeting, which we were! Yay!). But by the time church was done it felt like it should be 7:00 pm and almost time for bed. Not so. Time for lunch.

So... we made lunch, ate lunch, tried taking naps, Dave and the kids made cookies that were so yummy, the kids and I sat on the couch and I read them the entire FRIEND from cover to cover (I was surprised they all sat still for every single story - they must have been feeling the lag in the afternoon too), we played games, cleaned the kitchen, made dinner, made a giant geo-trax train track and raced trains for awhile, wrote in our journals (the kids have the cutest journals that they draw a picture in and we write what they tell us - I LOVE it), read 1 MILLION stories, sat and looked at each other for awhile, Dave and the kids wrestled, then FINALLY finally it was bedtime. Whew!

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and children dearly and it was nice to have time together. I'm sure we'll get used to it. It was just a LONG time to be indoors together (I think it would be different if we weren't buried under 2 feet of snow) and I was thinking of anything and everything to keep us all occupied and not fighting for 8 hours straight. I think we might try inviting people over for dinner every couple Sundays. That might be a fun diversion. :)

What do you all do on Sunday afternoons to have meaningful, quality family time?


P.S. I want to Thank You all for your wonderful ideas on digital scrapbooking! You are all fabulous and I'm excited to go forward. I appreciate all your ideas more than you know!!!

Happy New Year's

We had an uneventful New Years. We've all been sick at different times this week. On New Year's Eve Kyler had a fever all day and then about 6pm Porter threw up. So much for party-ing it up! We had root beer floats and cinnamon rolls (for those who felt well enough) and went to bed early. This picture of Kyler pretty much sums up our week of everyone laying around the house trying to get better. Poor little dude.But this morning everyone is doing great, Kyler's back at school and we're all feeling good and happy. Whew!

I missed the Tuesday's Tell All which was to pick one word for 2008. Mine is to SIMPLIFY. I want to slow down, stress less, and enjoy each moment a little more, especially each moment with my family. That's my goal. SIMPLIFY.

And, one more thing, I've been trying to learn how to digital scrapbook. I made a couple pages. I'm having a hard time figuring it out. It sounds like Photoshop Elements is the way to go? I might try to find that somewhere (is it sold at stores like Porters or Roberts?) to help me out. Anyway, and for those of you who do digital scrapbooking, where do you print them? Do you have a company do it and if so which one? I would love to hear how you all do this and any tips you might have. Thanks!