Happy Birthday to Me!

On Sunday 6/8/08 I was sitting in Church (where the good girls should be) and a neighbor came up to wish me a happy birthday (tomorrow). She asked me how old I was going to be. I told her 29 (which is the truth), she said "No! Really!" I told her really 29, she said that I was too young to be worring about my real age. It then dawned on me that she thought I was older than I was and being like all those people who always say they are 29 instead of their real age. Look how fun I can have with people this year. By the way - how old do I look? I thought I was right where I should be but I guess I look older. Just Curious!For my birthday JayDee surprised me with a day away from the kids. We had a friend in the ward (Janalee) take all five of the kids while we went and hiked around God's beautiful land here close by. We have found that we are so blessed to have these beautiful trails and views so close to us we wanted to take advantage of them. We went to Swett Ranch (Just below the Junction) and walked around. I found that it reminded me of Grandpa Nelson quite a bit. He didn't have all the buildings that were on this ranch but I think he would have loved all the different buildings. There was a pig and chicken pen, a bull pen, a tractor shed (which still had tractors that had been hooked up to horses), a grainery, blacksmith shop, wood shed, out-house (who wouldn't love that!), a root-cellar that was dug into the hill, and a place to hang all the days killings (animals of course). This Swett family lived there from around 1905 to 1970. They started out in a one room log cabin (they had three children in there), then they built a two bedroom log cabin (six children here), and finally built a three bedroom house (nine children all together - two boys and seven girls). The father felt that having a bathroom in the house was gross but because of his wife and all the girls complaining about having to go clear out to the out house he built a bathroom attached to the house but you still had to go outside. All the houses are still standing on the ranch today. We heard a funny story about the father as well. When tractors got engines this man still enjoyed doing the work the old fashioned way. The neighbors kept telling him he ought to get a tractor so he went out and bought a new horse and named him "tractor"
Check out this deer! I found it was very cute. Its ears are sticking out to the side instead of straight up. Like most deer. A side note - A little while ago I was going up to the resort and past a deer that had been slaughtered (seriously) on the road. On the way back down to home I was coming upon the same area and the dead deer was cleaned up and now there were six deer forming a circle around this spot. It was as if they were paying their respects to this dead deer. I had to come to a complete stop because a car was coming the opposite way and the deer weren't moving.
We are not sure what this is. It looks like a bunch of caterpillars. If anyone knows what they are please let us know. JayDee was fascinated with them (which is the only reason I kept this picture).
Not only did I get a way from the kids but I also got to have a nice picnic up near the canyon rim. That is where we went and hiked after going to Swett Ranch. It is a very gorgeous hike. Mom and Dad maybe this year when you come out to go camping we can go there on a hike. I am sure the kids would do alright on this hike. Any time anyone wants to come and go hiking please feel free. We love it here and would love to show you our favorite places.
This is a picture of a butterfly (for those who couldn't tell). Let's see. We saw deer, squirels, more deer, squirels, and oh I almost forgot - we saw a coyote. He was 40 feet away from us. He stood there watching us until JayDee whistled for it to come closer but instead it ran away. We love it out here and again are so blessed to have all this apart of our lives on a daily basis if we wanted.

VRROOMM!!

The kids all got to go play with the Collett cousins while JayDee and I went hiking for my birthday. This is what Jayden found right off. I think it looks fun. If there was ever a toy that I would want it would be a four wheeler. Or a "Ranger" like Nana and Papa have at the cabin. Maybe I can get Santa to bring me one this year for Christmas. I better start being Good!!!

I LOVE THIS!!!

I love it when we can get the girls to get along with each other. It is usually one on one and the other gets left out. JayDee went in to check on them one night and found all three of them crammed onto the Dora couch (Mom and Dad it is the one you gave Cora a year ago for her b-day). You can't see it but Jayden is on Anna's big girl bed. He says he likes having Emmalee in his room but because she doesn't go to bed until later he would rather sleep with the older girls. JayDee ended up moving Cora and Anna to Cora's bed and left Brooke on the floor. She is too big to move to the top bunk when she is fast asleep.

Sticker Artist

Look what I found! Anna loves everything about Emmalee. She loves her so much that she will not leave her alone. I find Anna where ever Emmalee is. I can't leave her alone for a minute unless Anna is asleep or something like this happens. The kids all got new books at the store and in one of them there was stickers. Anna decided that it was funner to put them on Emmalee than it is to put them on a boring piece of paper. I think she did a good job though. Atleast they aren't in her eyes and in her hair. Is it fair of me to ask now that they will be great friends in the future too. It might be fair but might not be likely.

Looks like Trouble!

I got tired of the kids jumping on the furniture and their beds so JayDee and I decided to go ahead and buy a trampoline for the kids. They absolutely love it. There is not a day where they are not jumping outside. The kids are so excited for summer because they want to sleep outside. Getting the tramp is so fun for that reason. But the rule is that they can only sleep outside when Dad wants to. I know that they wouldn't make it outside alone yet. Even Anna slept outside until about 2 in the am when she decided that it was still too cold.
Anna and her best friend Josie Kelly. A year ago Josie was scared of Anna because Anna was always wanting to be in her face but this year they get along so great. Amber and I love to sit and watch the two of them play. Anna is always asking for Josie to come and play. This was a rare occasion - the two little ones don't get much of a chance to jump by themselves because the big kids are always wanting to jump.

Happy Birthday Cora!!

Yes!! Cora is four years old. This year she had nearly a week of birthdays. It started on Monday the 2nd. I thought it was the 3rd so that would make it her b-day so we had a bbq with some of our friends here in town. They pointed out that it was only the 2nd so we let her open only one of her presents. Then on the 3rd (her actual b-day) she got the rest of her presents. She four horses to go along with all the "My Little Ponies" she got for Christmas last year. Plus other things but if you ask her those are the important things.



Check out this way cute cake. I wish I could tell you that I did it but I can't. My friend Amber Kelly made it for Cora. Her and her family came to the BBQ with us on Monday.

Anna's Big Girl Bed

For FHE we all helped paint Anna's new bed. She loves it! It is the perfect size for her. She got to pick out her own bed sheets and blanket. And can you believe it she chose the princesses. Cora didn't ever get excited about princesses. She has always loved horses and puppies. But my little Anna loves her princesses.

What is she thinking?

The kids were outside riding their bikes. I came out to check on them and this is what I found! No the dog is not ours. Our neighbor says that "Whippy" sits in the window and begs to come out any time the kids are out there playing. So they came over and asked if we would dog sit for an hour. I think the kids want one of their own. Too bad Dad is allergic!




I asked Anna what she was doing and she said that she had a baby in her tummy like mommy. She is two! I can't believe that she has figured that out already. I watch Brooke and her friends play house but never would have guessed that Anna would have learned this so young.

My Little Actors

Sorry about the color of this picture. I have never been able to get a good picture in the gym at the school. Any suggestions Amy? Each year the kids at the elementary get to put on a play. This year it was "How does your Garden grow?" But not Mary's garden because the farmer was a boy. This play was about Herb and his garden.
Brooke got to be the little bunny and Jayden and the other preschoolers were the crows. They other crows here are Kaytlin Mosley and Olivia Clegg. Jayden loved being apart of the play this year.

Our Wonderful Home Teachers

Brent has been our home teacher since we moved here and Marty (his wife) became my visiting teacher about a year ago. JayDee is their home teacher so a year ago we started doing FHE with them instead of home and visiting teaching. We alternate homes each month and share supper and then have a lesson of sorts. We love these two so much. Since being married this is the first time that we have had home and visiting teachers as faithful as these two have been. No one can take the place of Grandma's and Grandpa's but the kids sure do love to be around them. Even little Anna can say "Brother and Sister Feltch" I won't try to type it the way she says it, you will have to ask her about it one day.

I Did It!!!

One morning I woke up and decided that this would be the day! For several days I had thought about having Brooke's hair cut but the problem is that I have to take her to Vernal and then they never do what I want. So when I woke up that morning I decided that I would just do it myself. Oh!! What a rush I had that morning. It didn't look as bad as I would have thought it to especially since this was my first time cutting any hair other than JayDee's and Jaydens. I think I ended up cutting atleast 4 inches. And Brooke didn't even cry!! I didn't expect her to unless it looked bad since she had to go to school that day. I just might start up my own business in a few years. I think it will take that long since I have to wait for all of my girls hair to grow long enough for me to cut. (Unless you guys want to come be my guinea pigs!!)

See what I mean?

Jayden can be a GREAT big helper when he wants to. I think he is starting to really care for Emmalee. He couldn't wait for her to be big enough to sleep in his room. Now it could be two things. Either he really loves her or he was just tired of sharing a room with Anna. I think it could be a little of both.








One day the two of them took a nap on the couch together. Brooke was actually the one who captured these on the camera. Thank goodness for my big helpers. You can bet that if I don't have the camera Brooke of Jayden will have it. Good thing for the digital camera's since almost half of them we can't tell what the pictures are.

Beautiful Baby!

May 4, 2008 Emmalee Jean Guymon was blessed by her dad. If you want to see more professional pictures of her go to Amy's blog (If you haven't already). I am really slow at updating our blog. Our email is so slow that I have a hard time doing this every day. So as you can see I have a lot to show off now!
We had a lot of fun with those who were able to make it out. The next time that we will have a gathering like that will be for Brooke's baptism in a year. So those of you who need to get off work start thinking about it. It will be the first Sunday in September 2009!! If you start thinking now there should be no excuse next year why you can't come and have fun with us!

Where is his baby?

Andrew Collett loves babies. The first day that I had him back after having Emmalee his mom told him to leave the baby alone but the first thing he did when he came in was ask where the baby was and sat and held her hand. And after that he could be found holding and feeding Emmalee for me. For a long time I couldn't get Jayden to help me like that. He said that he didn't like her because she wasn't a boy. I think he had his heart set on a brother. He is getting a lot better though. I still think he would take care of her if he needed to.

"Look at me!"

Brooke got tired of waiting for JayDee and I to help her learn how to ride her bike. So she taught herself. It really helped that her new best friend here in town knew how to ride and always wanted to ride bikes. Brooke came in one day and said that Morlie wanted to ride bikes and asked if she could. I asked her if she knew how. She said no but she would learn. I looked out the window and there she went. And now we can't get her off her bike.
Good thing that around here the drivers are always told that the kids rule the roads so to keep their eyes open because for some reason that is where my kids would rather ride their bikes. Even little Anna. She tries so hard to keep up with the older kids!

Best Buddies

On Tuesdays Jayden had Andrew come and play
with him. He and Andrew get along very well. They are in the same class in both school and church. I guess that doesn't mean much here since the primary classes have a mixture of ages. So far this summer has been difficult for Jayden because we no longer have Andrew over every week.

Look what we can do!

As soon as we had enough snow melt the kids pulled the blankets out and hung them on the clothes line so they could "hide from the sun." If it were me I would have just put them on the grass and lay out and bask in the sun. We didn't see much of it during the winter. Brooke was so happy she could hang the blankets all by her self. She better watch out. I think I might put her to work hanging the clothes out to dry!

Flaming Gorge Icicles

This is at the base of the Flaming Gorge Dam after many many days of cold weather. This was created due to seepage around the dam and then the water freezing, making these huge icicles. Beware when the icicles start to melt. Amy, this picture was put on just for you.

Winter Fun!

These pictures were taken the first part of March 2008.







JayDee and Jayden have put some wood to good use. JayDee is trying to snowboard down our hill with Jayden waiting for his turn. Not only do I have to worry about JayDee and his inventions but also about what Jayden is watching and learning.



Cora doesn't need the sled in fact she says it goes too fast so she would rather slide down on her bum.








Anna is ready and waiting for good weather and grass so she can go on her picnic.











The kids showing off the big snow drifts in front of our house.

Which one should I use?

This is Emmalee's BEAUTIFUL blessing dress. I can't show you the full thing yet. But would like to know which bow she should wear with her dress.
Here we have the pretty big pink bow.
Or we have the little white bow. Let me know which one looks better.

Prince and Princesses

Aunt Christy bought tickets for all the kids to go to see Disney Princesses on Ice in Salt Lake. They had a blast. Because Emmalee was so little she and I stayed home that weekend. I got so bored with the quietness around the house but it was such a nice weekend because I only had one little one to take care of. I would like to have a break more often. But I don't know if I could handle it. I realized that I love the noises that the kids all make (maybe not as loud though).
Brooke, Jayden and Cora all trying to see what is going on down on the ice.
Here we have five of the seven dwarfs. Can't really tell who is who! Thank You so much Aunt Christy! They had a blast!!

"HELP ME MOMMY!"

I woke up one morning to Anna crying "Help me Mommy!" I got out of bed and went to find her. I went through the whole house. I couldn't find her. I told her to keep crying so I could follow the sound. I eventually found her under her bed. She had crawled under the bed to get her sippy cup and then I think got scared and couldn't get out. I asked her if I could get the camera (typical of a scrapbooker!) and she said yes. Afterward she wouldn't let me get her out until I showed her the picture. But I did get her out eventually.

Talk about crazy!!

I had Emmalee wanting me to hold her and Anna wanting to hold Emmalee so we just figured a way for it all to work out. Anna better not get too used to this because it wasn't as easy as it might look. Plus when it was time for her to get down she thought she would try and take "her" baby with her. I will have to keep my eyes on Anna at all times!! It is a good thing that Anna loves her baby sister as much as she does though!

Any Doctors in the House?

Dr. Brooke holding her little Emmy! Because of colds going around the family we came home from the hospital stocked with masks for the kids to wear to protect our little Emmalee. Dr. Jayden is such a PROFESSIONAL when it comes to loving sisters!!

Dr. Cora is not afraid of holding this baby as she was with Anna!! She makes such a GREAT big sister!!

Thank You!!!

Mom and Dad,
Thank you so much for making such a long drive to come and see our beautiful Emmalee. It means so much to me that you would do that. I am only sorry that you couldn't stay longer. I miss you so much! I love where we live so now I guess I get to convince you to move out here so we can see you more. Just think Dad, you could have all the fish you want and Mom, there is so many roads that you could go for walks or bike rides and never get in the same routine. Plus Dad, I would eat the fish if you caught and cooked it and Mom, I would love it if I could have a partner to get out and walk with each day. It would make it a lot easier for me to get out and go. I love you both so much and can't wait to see you and show off Emmalee!!

"Kings of the Yard"

Jayden playing on the side of the house with his friend Andrew Collett. I was out cleaning the van and saw them on this snow drift and had to grab the camera. We definately didn't get as much snow as you guys on the Wasatch Front but we did get good snow drifts. This is the most snow that we have seen since we have been here in Dutch John so far. But each year it seems to get worse. I hate to think about what could be coming next year. I am so ready for green grass for the kids to play on. I am so sick of the mud and grass being tracked in the house!! I know we need the water so I should be more grateful but it is hard to be grateful when I am constantly cleaning!!

The best time of the day!

I am so amazed that Emmalee loves the bath as much as she does. One thing we learned at the hospital was that she loves to lay without her clothes on. I guess the cold doesn't bother her. After her bath I put her on the bed to rub her down with lotion and she is as content as can be.
With all of the others I hated bath time because all they would do is scream but Emmalee will lay there as long as we will let her just as happy as can be. She has out grown this bucket and is in her own bath in our bath and that has made it even better!!

The best gift so far!

I have the BEST Husband ever! This was my surprise when I got home from the hospital with Emmalee. I have wanted a piano for so long and I finally got one. And not a hand-me-down one but a brand new one. In Vernal there was a piano sale the same weekend I was in the hospital. I asked JayDee to go look to see if there were any good deals but knew in my mind that it was a huge possibility that I wouldn't be getting one. JayDee came back to the hospital with the camera. He had taken pictures of the piano there and told me the price. I couldn't believe the price of it but he never said that we could get it so I didn't get my hopes up. In fact the Sunday we came home from the hospital it was the last thing on my mind. The weather was so horrible that we had several white out spots and slid off the road (but we were being watched over and made it okay). When I walked in I saw somethings on our computer desk that should have been on our organ so when I looked over to where the organ was you can probably guess what happened next. Of course I started crying like a baby (those darn pregnancy hormones!!!) because instead of the organ there was my BEAUTIFUL new Piano!!! I absolutely love it!! It is a great stress reliever. Anytime I start getting worked up about the kids or anything I get to go and let it all go in the songs I play. Watch out Mom, I am going to start begging for your red books (atleast the first one).

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Monica and I have decided to make the easter tradition a saturday thing and not confuse the children on the real meaning of Easter Sunday. So this morning the kids saw their baskets out on the couch with some toys and stuff in them. They were surprized! It is fun to surprize the kids :)

Jayden and Anna were the first to wake up and came into bed with us. I think they might have heard Emmalee crying at 6 am. So then Cora wakes up at twenty after six and we tell the kids to go find some Saturday morning cartoons. After about ten minutes Cora comes back and says "The Easter Bunny brought us presents!" Just then Brooke comes out of her bedroom and they all go and get their baskets and start unwrapping the toys.

At 9 a.m. we had the Easter Egg hunt put on by the Flaming Gorge Dam Employees Association. The kids did not get near as much candy as they have in years past, but they had fun! The easter egg hunt was over in about 4 or 5 minutes. Which I think is a record.

Just to let everyone know. Monica is doing great, since I am not as busy at work anymore. She likes me home and I like to be home, especially with the baby. Babies are miracles and I can not get over how amazing it is.

Brooke is doing very well in school and learning the scripture stories so well. Jayden wants to do everything better than the person next to him. I see his competativeness in him that I had when I was young. He is a little JayDee and I love him. Cora is so sweet and loving. She is learning to go to the potty and it is an uphill battle with her, but we will get her trained eventually. Anna is growing so much. She tries to carry on conversations and talk as much as she can. And she can talk! She will be the one that is on the phone for hours and not even get tired :) She is a fun little munchkin. Emmalee is a wonder to me.

I have thought about how much money it will cost to get these girls married, but I have not thought about the prom dresses. Hmmm..... maybe the girls can buy their own prom dresses :) We do have a savings account for all the kids and so I hope that will help them out someday.

We will post pictures of their new easter outfits someday soon!

Big Sister Anna taking care of "her" baby.

Snuggley Princess.

Emmalee sleeping.

Emmalee on the monitors the day she was born.

Minutes after the baby was born.

A New Arrival! (JayDee's version)

Emmalee Jean Guymon

was born on February 29, 2008 and is officially considered as a "leapyear" baby. We are so happy to have her in our home. Sure it is hard to get use to waking up 5 times in the middle of the night and I don't even feed her. Monica, on the other hand, has been so tired. Some nights Emmalee would rather stay up all night and not go back to bed. Monica is a walking zombie some days. But if you were to ask Monica or I, we would say it is such a blessing to have this gift from our Heavenly Father, that is of infinite worth and has so much potential.


Let me tell you the story from JayDee's perspective on how Emmalee came into this world. First of all Vernal's Ashley Regional Medical Center averages about 30 births per month. So when we went in to get started, there were 8 other babies in the Labor & Delivery section. So we had a lot of babies there! Therefore, Monica's nurse was from the surgery section and new to Labor & Delivery. We also had another newbie from anesthesiology that was making sure the epidural was working.


So the doctor came in at 12:30 p.m. and broke the water. He then said that he would be back in probably 5 hours and left us in the able hands of the newbies :) During the next hour the labor had progressed tremendously. The nurse said she had dilated to a 7 and said that it might help if her bladder was drained to see if that would help move things along. Guess what? It did move the labor along. It was so quick that the nurse checked again and said "You are a 7." And the next thing we see is the head come out. It was amazing!


All the while, Monica was feeling all the pain because the epidural was not working. So the anesthesiologist (in training) and the nurse (in training) were learning how to deliver a baby, whether they liked it or not. But help was on it's way!


Monica was screaming when the head came out and so all the nurses came to see what was happening. Then just a minute later Monica had another contraction and said "I feel like I've gotta push!!!" and the next thing I saw was Emmalee come flying out onto the hospital bed.


It was amazing!


The doctor missed the delivery and all the excitement. We feel so blessed to have a healthy baby girl. She is so precious and beautiful. Maybe Monica will add to the blog and put in here two cents :)


Emmalee was 6 lbs. 11 oz., 20 inches, and born at 1:46 pm with a full head of hair!

Our Beautiful New Baby (Monica's version)

Emmalee Jean Guymon came leaping into our lives Friday February 29, 2008 at 1:46 pm. She weighed 6lb 11oz and is 20 inches long. She decided that since she was going to be born on Leap Day than she better make a grand entrance. I had been in true labor for only an hour and 15 minutes when she came. The Doctor had left the hospital because he didn't think she would come as fast as she did so he missed the entire birth. I delivered at Ashley Regional Medical Center in Vernal. They average about 30 babies a month and this particular weekend they had 9 babies so all the nurses were busy so I didn't have an OB Nurse but a MedSurge Nurse. Between her and the Anesthesiologist they delivered Emmalee. I got to experience the whole thing natural because the epidural that was supposed to be working wasn't. But I wouldn't change it for the world. It is the neatest experience! I don't think I would be sane if I did natural deliveries for all five kids but one was great! She gave us a scare the first night. She stopped breathing twice. A whole bunch of tests were run and they think it is because of the rapid delivery all the mucus and amniotic fluid wasn't all out of her body and she was chocking on it. They kept her on monitors that first night and reported that she had a good night and that she hadn't had any other episodes. We brought her home Sunday March 2, 2008 and she is doing just fine. All the kids love her but I don't think as much as little Anna. She has informed us that Emmy is hers and not ours. We have to be careful when we let her hold her because then she won't let us have her back. We know that Anna will be her protector.