Just an update

These are just a few things that have been going on lately-
Car situation:

Andy's back is doing much better now. He still is going to the Chiropractor about once a week, but he's feeling back to normal. We received our money for the cash out of his truck. It was more then we expected, but still not quite enough to buy a new vehicle.

We've been looking at used SUV's, but have come to realize that if we want to avoid having a car payment and still get a vehicle that has less then 100,000 miles on it we need to look at vans. Andy of course hates this idea and I would prefer something else, but this is what we can afford. We're trying very hard to be practical, but it's hard to go look in the car lots and see all these wonderful new SUV's and have to drive past them to the back where the used minivans are. Someday we'll get to pick out just what we want, but for now we will try and find something that is best for our family. So far we prefer the Dodge Grand Caravans out of all the minivans.

Garen:

Garen is still throwing up, I'm not quite sure what to do with him. He goes a day or two and then just throws up again. He is having a horrible time with these last 4 teeth, but I can't imagine them making him throw up like that.

Garen has been going to nursery for a couple weeks now. He will enjoy himself in there only if either Andy or I am next to him. He would probably do better if there wasn't a big scary lady with a loud voice that's in there, but oh well.

Another hair cut. Man, this kids hair grows like crazy!

I promise Andy was not hurting him, Garen was just sick of sitting there. Hey Mandy, I think Joren taught him that "ooww" thing. :)

Church:

On Sunday the primary president saw me and said, let me get you your new manual. So I thought oh, they must have come out with new updated manuals. When she hands it to me I notice it says Sunbeams. She looked at me and said, "I guess nobody has called and talked to you." So long story short they take all the primary teachers and switch them around, so instead of the 11/12 year olds we now have the Sunbeams next week. Which is fine with me; I like all the ages. When I told Andy he said, 'oh we get to have Maddie.' I had to remind him that our little girl is growing up and is now a CTR 5!

My Little Construction Workers

CHRISTMAS

What a wonderfully crazy Christmas!

Starting last Sunday night, Garen woke up and threw up everywhere! It was 2AM before we got it cleaned up and Garen back to sleep.

On Monday (Christmas Eve Day) he seemed to be feeling better. Andy worked the whole day while I prepared for Christmas Eve dinner and tried to clean the house while Garen followed me around whining. We had Andy's parents over for dinner, dessert and a Christmas Eve lesson. The food was all out and we were just about to pray when Garen started crying, I picked him up and he hid his face against my chest-Then it happened. A days worth of pedialyte and crackers down my shirt, all over the couch and all over the carpet; and it just kept on coming! Of course the food was cold by the time I got Garen bathed, me showered, the laundry started and the floors cleaned up. The food was still good, but throw-up can put a damper on a meal. Andy's parents were so nice and still held Garen even though they ran the risk of getting sick themselves. But we went on and read the Nativity in the scriptures and had an enjoyable evening. The kids weren't asleep until about 10PM and then Santa's work began.

Christmas morning, Maddie was soooo excited! Garen enjoyed his presents, but wasn't feeling very well. It was nice to be home together, just our little family and enjoy playing with all our fun new things. After all the presents were open we made waffles and just hung out.
Garen took a long morning nap and once again was acting like he felt better. So about 1pm we headed to Andy's house in Clarkston. Out there, Maddie enjoyed her 4 grandmas and 3 grandpas, her aunt, uncle, and baby cousin. Maddie made sure to sit by each grandma at different times throughout the afternoon.

We had a wonderful Christmas lunch followed by opening more wonderful gifts. The highlight was Andy's dad opening his Foosball table we all chipped in to get. He was very surprised. Andy and Zeb put it together and we all played Foosball as well as other games. Garen was good and happy the whole day, but we were careful not to feed him more then toast and Gatorade, just in case.

We returned home at 11pm, as I walked in the door cuddling Garen, it happened again. Throw up all over the front me! So it was another late night once I got everything disinfected and Garen to bed.
I can't believe how quickly Christmas came and went, but I truly enjoyed every minute (except the minutes I got thrown-up on :))
Wednesday, I had Avery starting at 7:30AM and Garen was still not feeling well. Maddie woke up not feeling well-she never throw up thank goodness. But it was quite the day. The house was covered with presents and boxes that needed to be put away, but Garen refused to let me put him down. He throw up 2 more times! He has now had this flu for 4 days! Help! Things relaxed a little when Andy got home about 5 and Avery's mom picked her up about the same time. Andy help me get things put away and cleaned up. Once the kids were in bed we watched one of our new movies and folded laundry! What a great husband I have, now if only he could be home for more then a couple hours a week.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas-with no throwing up! :)

Since we weren't with you when the kids opened your presents, I thought you might like these Mom and Dad. Garen loved his gifts and he kept say 'puppy' because of the Clifford paper, but I didn't get a good vidoe of him on this camera.

Weekend in Burley

On Friday the kids and I went to Burley. It was fun to spend time with my parents and to go to Carrol's house after I put my kids to bed. It was like we were kids again-laughing and talking. ( I miss you already Carrol!). On Saturday, Carrol was nice enough to take time out of her schedule to cut Maddie's hair. I've wanted to cut it for awhile but wasn't sure what to do. Thanks Carrol, it looks super cute and Maddie loves it!!!
Maddie and Carrol's baby Emi-

Carrol cutting Maddie's hair-

New Dew-


Saturday afternoon I went to Chanc's baby shower. It was so fun to see all you girls and get caught up on your lives, and children, and pregnant bellies!

Saturday night I took the kids to my grandma and grandpa's house. They are so fun to be around and talk to. Unfortunately, Garen doesn't do well in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people so he screamed a lot. But Maddie enjoyed her time with her great grandma!
I went to church with my parents on Sunday (I didn't see you there Carrol). I was pleasantly surprised to find out my dad was talking in Sacrament meeting-he gave a beautiful talk about Christ. Right after church I headed home to beat the up coming bad weather.
It was a wonderful weekend and well worth the trip! Thanks for being pregnant Chanc so we could all get together! :)

Grandma Sue, Garen, and Maddie. Garen didn't appreciate us trying to get a nice Christmas shot-

Merry Christmas from my lovely kids-


At Grandma Sue's house Maddie spends a lot of her time on the piano. She loves to turn the primary book pages, sing what song she thinks it is, and play the made up tune. Even more than playing herself she loves it when grandpa Paul plays her favorite primary songs. She tries to help by playing some of her own notes and she likes to sing along. Maddie's other favorite thing about grandpa Paul is the fact that he speaks Spanish. Maddie makes up words all the time and tells me it's Spanish for ____. Thanks Mom and Dad for being so kind and teaching Maddie new things!

In good company

Tonight we had my dear friend, Brenda and her family over for dinner and games. It's kind of crazy fitting 4 kids and 4 adults in my tiny dinning area, but it was sure fun to have them over. After dinner the kids made gingerbread houses-okay they stacked graham crackers on top of each other with lots of frosting and candy, but they had fun!
Maddie and Jacob working on their beautiful creations

Garen eating his creation

Doesn't Maddie's house look great!

"Don't take the candy away!"

The kids were both wearing red the other day and I wanted to get a picture of them together, but this is all I got-


Maddie singing 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer'
She sings beautifully and the little burps in the middle just add so much more to the song :)

Merry Christmas

Nothing can get you more in the mood for Chirtmas, then turning yourself into an elf. Enjoy:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1498968807

Little Angel

Tonight was our ward Christmas party and Maddie got to be an angel in the Nativity.


Of course Santa came. Garen loved it when Santa came in and he kept pointing and saying 'Santa', but as soon as he went to sit on Santa's lap-he changed his mind about liking Santa. So there is no picture of him. Maddie on the other hand was sooooo excited! She told Santa she wanted a farm and a Hannah Montana doll. :)
When the angels came on stage they were suppose to go behind Mary and Joseph, but Maddie picked a nice spot right in front of baby Jesus with her back to everyone-

We finally convinced her to scoot to the side. It was fun to watch her be part of the Nativity. I remember being in it not much older then her-I was a sheep, not an angel ;)

A big day for Madelyn...

Maddie had quite the busy day today. I was feeling bad because I thought it was to much, but Maddie took it all in and enjoyed every minute.
Friday morning when Maddie woke up we had about 20 minutes for breakfast and changing clothes before we left to gymnastics. She worked so hard for 1 hour with her one-on-one coach:

From gymnastics she went to her friend, Jacob's house for a couple hours and then they went to preschool together. We got home about 4:00 and Maddie had an hour and a half to eat, shower, and get her hair and makeup done.

At 5:30 we headed to her dance recital. She was so excited and she did so good in her dance. Right before she went on stage she made up her mind that her hair thing would look better hanging out the side of her skirt. So during the dance it looked like she had a tail. :) Here are some pictures from the recital:

Maddie and some of her class- (yes, I know she is the shortest one and they are all the same age)

Maddie loving her daddy after the show-

Maddie and her teacher Katie-

Maddie was so excited that grandma and grandpa came to watch:

Mommy and Maddie-

After the show Maddie got to go with her grandparents to Clarkston for a sleepover. She enjoyed her one-on-one time with grandma. They got to read stories, build towers without Garen knocking them down, stay up late talking, and make sugar cookies.

And Andy got to spend some alone time with Garen while I went to my friends 'girls night out Christmas party.' My friend, Brenda has this party every year. We have tons of good food, a gift exchange and just stay up talking. I got home about 2:30AM. I was pretty tired this morning when Garen woke up, but I had so much fun last night that it was worth it!

Christmas Dance Rehearsal

Tomorrow if Maddie's Dance recital, but here are some pictures and videos I got tonight at her rehearsal. I will be video taping tomorrow and I don't know how to hook my video camera to the computer, so I took a short video of her dance with my camera. I didn't get Maddie all spruced up with curls and makeup for tonight, so I will post a picture of her all dolled up tomorrow and the recital.
Maddie and some of her dancing friends-



Here is there dance. This recital is just a small one to show parents what the kids have been learning. The big recital is in May.

If you can't tell, they are trying to do the grand finale. Maddie likes to try and be in charge and keep the girls in order. Watch her at the end as she makes the girls line up in the right order and hold hands and then she's the one to let go and run just to make sure she is the first one out. Silly girl.-

Garen is 18 months old!!!

This is my little tribute to Garen who is now 18 months old. He is so much fun and is always making us laugh. He has started to say all kinds of things. His new favorite is "knock knock who"-He's trying to copy his sister's knock knock jokes. This Sunday will be his first time in nursery, I can't wait. We had a bit of a rough start with Garen, but I wouldn't trade my little boy for anything!

Guardian Angels

Andy was being such a wonderful husband and was willing to take Maddie to preschool for me even though he would be a little late for work. Garen was still napping and I was running behind on the things I needed to get done.

They left and about 5 minutes later I got a call. Andy and Maddie had been in an accident!

A semi truck that was in front of Andy had pulled into the median so he could make a wide right turn onto a small side road. The man did not put his right blinker on and Andy had no idea he was turning right. Andy moved to the slow traffic lane, furthest from the semi and kept driving just as the Semi turned. They both slammed on their brakes and then smashed right into each other.

Andy's truck is completely totalled and the semi wasn't in very good shape either. The accident wasn't far from my house, I grabbed Garen and drove over there. And you can imagine my fear as I drive up to 6 police officers, an ambulance, a fire truck and a semi truck taking up two of the highway lanes. Then Andy's poor truck almost in the ditch and totally smashed up!

I drove around the backed up traffic and told the police officer who I was. He pointed me to the ambulance where my dear husband and sweet baby were.

I got in the ambulance and Maddie was snuggled up close to Andy holding a teddy bear they gave her. They were taking her vitals. Thanks to their guardian angels they were both unharmed. Maddie had a small kind of burn line across her stomach were the seat belt had held her, but she didn't hurt anywhere else. (but we are suppose to watch for signs of whiplash in the next couple days). Andy had hurt is back playing basketball about a week ago, so that injury was now more severe.

But after the tow trucks came (they had to tow the semi too) and Andy filled out all the police reports and things we headed home. Andy got right into the chiropractor and decided against going to work today and Maddie was a little upset about missing preschool.

I am just glad I got to take them both home instead of head to the hospital! Later, Andy went to get his things out of his truck and the car guy was very surprised to hear no one was seriously injured after seeing both vehicles.

The accident made me realize how fast things can change. I realized how quickly I sent Maddie out the door because they were going to be late, instead of giving her the usual hug and kiss. What if I didn't get that chance again!? Like Andy's dad said, "Cars are replaceable, these important people that mean so much to us are not."

It felt weird moving on with the rest of the evening- going visiting teaching, and making dinner- when it could have so easily been a day that would have changed my whole life. I realize now how much I take life and each day's experiences for granted.

Well, we are now a one car family, so if anyone out there has an extra vehicle lying around, you know where to send it :) j/k

I hope everyone has a great night and enjoy your families!

Andy's truck damage-

The Semi-

Brian's Wedding

Today my dad picked me and my sister, Sara up on his way to Salt Lake City to go to my old friend Brian Wayment's wedding luncheon. It was at the Joseph Smith Memorial building and it was beautiful. The food was delicious and his wife, Madelyn sang a song-she has a wonderful voice. It was fun to see Brian, especially with his new wife. It was also fun and interesting to see all the old guy friends walking around, all grown up with their wives, and babies.
The weather wasn't very good, but I'm glad I went! We got to sit by Jenny (Brian's sister) and her beautiful twins. I also felt I needed to be on my best behavior (not really) at our table since we had old bishop Garth Williams, Bishop Filmore, and my dad, plus bishop Wayment wasn't to far off.
It was just a fun afternoon with my dad and sister and a break from the kids (Thanks to Jann for babysitting for me.)

Just some random pictures:
Garen's bath time-


We got home from preschool and errands and thought I'd get a shot of the beginning of the new snow storm-