Back to the Fourth...

I am not going to give you all the scoop of what has gone on this summer in one swoop. But I figure that if I do one thing each day I should be caught up by the time school starts (yea right but we can hope!) in 5 days. I think the kids have been counting down since the end of July. I can tell they don't want to hurt my feelings because they phrase it like this, "Mom, it is kind of getting boring riding bikes, swimming and playing with friends, but I do like being with you!" You know they are bored when the kids are bored of the things they LOVE to do the most!! But I must admit that I have gotten tired of planning activities and chasing them so for the last month we have just been! And I have LOVED it!!

So back to the fourth of July. Well, actually the third since that is when we celebrate it here! We were finally home long enough to get our pool up. I forced JayDee to do it since his Dad was here to celebrate with us and he would be able to give a second pair of hands! Emmalee loved it except for the fact that our water here is ice cold. The kids kept pleading for me to cook some water to make it warmer. I told them to forget it since the sun was a natural warmer, but I should admit that it is too cold for me to want to get in. It has since warmed up quite a bit and the kids love it!!


Emmy is throwing a temper tantrum since I made her get out and warm her little piggies!!


This is Blake Walker, one of JayDee's nephew's. Blake and Lenore are here for the summer and got to come out to play with us!


Beth decided that we all needed to be able to spot each other in our HUGE crowds here so she bought each of us this matching shirt (yes, even the adults!!)


We played so hard that my Brooke fell asleep, she never takes a nap!!


What a great pretender!!


I ABSOLUTELY love these last two!! I think they speak for themselves!! :)




But what a great weekend we had! Our display of Fireworks is incredible. I am amazed each year that such a small community can put on let alone afford such a great show. We don't even have to go anywhere since we can see them from our house. Next year with the kids a bit older I think we will be starting the old tradition of sitting on the roof to watch!!

An Update that really isn't an Update!!

So let's see....we left off with my Birthday. I now have a lot to catch you all up on. So as many of you know this month has been a lot of ups and downs, literally. We have made how many trips down to Ogden and back up to Dutch John. Oh Yeah!! Four (so far)!!! It started on the 8th of June I had to go down to meet with a G.I. Doctor (well, actually his NP) since I have been having problems with my tummy since January. NP Earley gave me three options that it could be and trust me none of them sounded good. I refuse to even write them down until I have an answer for fear of jinxing myself. She scheduled me for an upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy for the 18th of June. But before that could happen we made the trek back home so that JayDee and I could go to the Opthamologist on the 9th of June (yes, that's is right, my birthday!). And I must say that so far that has been the best thing about MY summer. I LOVE my new glasses. The kids all say I look pretty (what did I look like before the glasses?) and JayDee says I look very studious! Well, I must say....you will all have to look for yourself!! They even came in my favorite color - green!!! If you use your imagination please be kind!! :) Well, on June 11th we headed down to Salt Lake and partied with DD and HH. The next day we got up early and headed to the Dentist! Yep, I have MORE cavities along with Cora (poor girl has my teeth) and Brooke! We were told that we should schedule Brooke and Jayden for braces sometime this summer! Yes, they are only 7 and 9 but I guess they are starting early! We headed home after that visit and got to rest for a few days before we headed down to Ogden again on the 17th of June. We opted to stay at the new Best Western at the mouth of the Weber Canyon. We wanted to give the kids a fun, different place to sleep and SWIM! Plus, I had to drink the HORRIBLE drink to clean me out COMPLETELY before my procedures the next morning. This way, we knew that the toilet would work just fine!! I survived both the drink and the procedures and when I woke up I was told that they had found a cut out a few polyps but found that along with everything else they were normal. As much as I am grateful nothing bad was found I was and am so TIRED of hearing everything is normal because if this is normal than I don't want to be normal anymore. I just want to live my day without wondering if I will be sick all day or if today will be a good day and I will only be sick a little! JayDee has the pictures for those of you who want to see them. He says he is going to scrapbook them for me since I won't! It is neat that we have the technology today to be able to look inside our bodies with just a small tube. I waked out of that appointment with a new appointment for the following Friday to have a Breath test done. Trust me, I know how silly that sounds, but that is exactly what it was. I had to go on a specific diet Thursday and then fast for the 12 hours prior to the testing. I had to drink a solution and then I sat in a tiny exam room for three hours with a timer set for 20 minutes. After each timer I had a bag that I had to breath into. I am still waiting for the results for that test. It is supposed to tell me if I am allergic to glutton or not. Do any of you realize that flour (wheat or white) is EVERYWHERE!!? I have started paying attention since that might be my life sentence and I can not believe how often I see it. JayDee has always said that we couldn't have pets because of his allergy. So if this happens to be my allergy, I guess it will become the families allergy as well! I might just get me that dog I have wanted for the last few years, just so he can have some of the foods he wants to keep eating!!

My summer may not be going as I had planned, but the kids seem to be enjoying themselves anyhow! I will leave you with some of our summer fun pictures!!

This started out as "Dancing in the Rain" and ended up with "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair!!"And the rest of these are of the kids on the Slip and Slide! Thanks Grandma!!Anna wouldn't come close to getting on the slide, heck, she wouldn't even get wet!! She says it was too cold! I don't blame her one bit! The water is COLD!!

Happy Birthday Monica!

Since Monica would never in a million years brag about her birthday, I will!


If you haven't guessed who is writing this blog, well it is no other than JayDee. I want to let my wife know how much I love and adore her. She stands as a beacon for Mothers everywhere and I am so grateful that she would be my wife and walk this adventurous journey with me!

Honey, I know you are not one for being showered with kisses, but I sure love doing it. First of all, it is a good way to tease you. Second, it is the best way I know how to show you that I love your beautiful face. And third, you have blessed me with so many things since you came into my life that it is a way to show my adoration and love for you.

I hope you will have a wonderful birthday!

Love, Jade

What was I doing...

6 Years ago right now? I was watching the dreaded star wars (I never did let JayDee choose what we watched while I was in labor!) waiting to see what was going to happen with the little bump in my tummy. After a long couple of weeks of having ultrasounds atleast once a week and testing 2 times a week, I was finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. On June 3, 2004 I was induced due to a lack of amniotic fluid. After the Dr. broke my water (what very little there was) he said he was going to, go home and get some sleep and advised me to do the same since I probably wouldn't be ready until the early hours of the next morning. I kind of chuckled thinking "Yeah right, how can you say that!?" But I figured that since he was the Dr. he just HAD to be right! But little did we BOTH know! Just under 4 hours since I started I had gone from a zero (I was 3 1/2 weeks early) to a ten and was ready to push. The nurse became frantic because the on call Dr. was already delivering and my Dr. was about 10-15 minutes away. She called him and told him he didn't have time to get dressed. He walked in in his pj's and his slippers and literally caught Cora! I think her post delivery has got to be my favorite. My Dr. placed her immediatly on my chest and let us bond. They didn't worry about any of the measurements and let me just love my new baby. I love my little C.C. She is so smart and can't wait to be in 1st grade because then she will be just like the big kids! She loves to help anyone who will let her. She is such a great friend and such a sweet daughter. We love her so much and are having so much fun watching her grow into such a beautiful young lady. Happy Birthday to my sweet Cora

Is it summer yet?

This has been the question of the day. Really they have been asking all weekend if it was summer but the weekend was pretty rainy and cold so the answer "No" was easy to give. Well, today still wasn't very warm infact the sun didn't poke its head out of the clouds until about 5:oo pm. I was out watering our flower bed and the kids just kept begging me to spray them with the water so I obliged!! Boy, was it fun, and who knows maybe the coldness of the water and the not so warm sun will keep them from asking to get wet again for a while! I doubt it, but I can hope right!?

Being the first REAL day of summer vacation, I am already bored and want the kids back in school. Not really but I do want to know what to do with them for the next 3 months. I am already tired of them asking if they can play with friends (anyone will work), and those of you who know our town know that it consists of the school (which is really our only park), but really, how many times can I send them to the park before they realize it really isn't that cool! We have plenty of roads where they can ride their bikes, but the kids have already pointed out that they all lead back to the house, so once again they are bored already. We have beaches to take them to but not till it warms up quite a bit, hiking trails to go on but not until I figure out what is wrong with my tummy. So needless to say, it looks like we might be in for a long (and hopefully not boring) summer vacation. Too bad, Dad isn't the Mom and Mom is the Dad so that the kids would have more to do!! Anyone who wants to come and play PLEASE do so SOON!!!

I leave you with some pictures of our Memorial Day fun! We had a picnic lunch over at the school (Dad did all the work so I got to enjoy it even more!), and afterwards we turned our plates into bases and played kick ball with the kids. Even Anna got in on the fun. She would stop the ball before she kicked it but she kicked it anyhow! Emmy took pictures for us. Unfortunately none of them passed the "Mommy Test". They were all of the grey clouds above and even some of her nostrils (they looked much bigger than they really are so I think she may have hit the zoom)! Good thing for Dad and his ideas to get us out of the house and the yard we usually use for our picnics!!

"There is Beauty All Around....

Atleast we have the beauty part and hopefully as the day goes on we will have the Love part as well. This morning didn't start off as well as we wanted...

Woke up this morning to Anna screaming because she needed to go to the bathroom but as long as Dad is around she won't get on the toilet by herself. She THINKS she has to have Dad help her. Well I am getting tired of it and getting a little worried that, seeing how he has been home all day since Friday, she just might be getting into a habit. So this morning I told JayDee to not get out of bed so I could see if she would get to the point where she just had to get herself on the toilet or what. Well, now I have more laundry to do and had to mop up the mess in the bathroom (at least it was in the bathroom and not somewhere on the carpet!). But with a threat of a spanking the next time she does it, I am hoping that she is cured of this bad habit. Anyway, I was going somewhere with this story...Being woke up by a screaming child sure does put a damper on such a sunny day. With not being able to go back to sleep I sure do hope the morning gets better and we are able to enjoy each other today!

So I am wondering how the amazing technology of computers can still be such a pain in the neck. I had so many good things to post yesterday but since I couldn't get into the blog to post it I am not sure if it will be the same. Yesterday, being the 5th Sunday, we had Priesthood and Relief Society together and our lesson was given by our Bishop. He taught us about the building up of the New Jerusalem and how we can be working for that right now. He asked us to think about whether we were converted to the Gospel or if we only had a testimony of the Gospel. Believe me, there is a difference. I sat listening to Bishop Allred thinking "Wow, I thought I was doing good but Boy, do I have a lot of work still to do!" We were told that it doesn't matter who gets called to work on the "Temple" as much as it does matter what we are doing right now to build Zion right here in our own Families, Wards and Stakes. That is the most important thing we can be doing. If everyone were to take care of their own families don't you think the world would be much better off and we wouldn't have to worry about our future and the future of our kids. Whenever I think about the future I get a little (ok, more than a little) afraid of what is still to come. But I was reminded of something Elder L. Tom Perry said in this last Conference. The talk is called "Mothers Teaching Children in the Home," and he says: "Parents must bring light and truth into their homes by one family prayer, one scripture study session, one family home evening, one book read aloud, one song, and one family meal at a time....The health of any society, the happiness of its people, their prosperity, and their peace all find common roots in the teaching of children in the home." Sounds so easy right? Well, guess what it is!! How many of you can be angry or upset at a child if you are holding them on your lap reading them an Elmo book, or singing them a song to help calm them down? I know I can't! It just takes me a minute or more to get to the point of remembering how nice it is to be singing instead of screaming!! As members of the Church we are blessed to be taught these simple principles and ways to help us on this road we are all on! I know I am glad to have any help I can get!

Here is to all of you. Hoping you have a fun and safe Memorial Day!

Supposedly there are many of you who think I have been slacking on this blog...well, you just might be right. I find myself so many times reading everyone else's blog and get down on myself because I don't have the words to say or the pictures to show off so I just don't do it. Don't get me wrong, there are so many things I could share with you all but I think sometimes as Mom's what we think is so neat and cool really isn't too others. But I have come to look at this blog as a way to keep a journal for pulling from later so you will all have to put up with my posts whether or not they are neat and cool!!

I won't even begin to try to update you all on what has gone on. I will just tell you the most recent events for our family. Beginning with the youngest - Emmalee is MOST DEFINATELY in the TERRIBLE TWO stage. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be in the last of this dreadful stage (those of you who haven't experienced it yet, I should really tell you HOW WONDERFUL IT IS!! But I can't!) I still think she is super cute and she really is a joy to be around (as long as she is getting her way). She LOVES to be outside and that is where we can usually be found lately! I have found out the hard way that she is not scared of things that the older ones mjost definately were, such as mice. One beautiful, sunny day Anna, Emmy and I were out back playing. Anna told me that she could see a mouse under the trampoline. I was on the phone with one of my friends trying to help her get an email address and really did think I was okay in getting the address for her and getting the mouse when I was done. But, I now know better, Emmy came into the house carrying the dead mouse in her hand and tried handing it to me. I learned from Grammy Nelson's experience and will never hold out my hand when the kids are trying to give me something. I tried to convince Emmy that it was gross and that she needed to throw it away. I don't know what made her more sad, me freaking out or me making her throw it away.

Anna has also given us one of our firsts...The day after Emmy's mouse adventure JayDee found a tick on Anna's head. It wasn't in her head yet but it was pinched on ready to go in. I learned that you can get ticks even though we had only been in our backyard. Anna turned 4 in April and we are looking forward to her going to Preschool in the fall. She had her pre-preschool screening last week and we were told that she scored lower than they would like to see on her vision but we all think it was due to her being shy. So, who knows, she may just have to stay home with me for another year. You would think that with all the older kids getting to go to school she would be looking forward to it but I guess I am just SOOOO much fun she wants to stay with me!!

Cora turns 6 next week and just graduated from Kindergarten. She loves school and has really proven to us just how smart she is. She loves to read and on many nights, when Brooke and Jayden will fight the 20 -30 min reading, she can be found reading for 30 -60 minutes at a time. She was very excited to be included in on so many fun field trips this year. For the very first time she has begged to have her hair grow long so she can cut it and give it to other kids (locks of love). It seems to be the big thing out here lately. Those of you who knew Cora when she was younger, know that she HATED to have her hair combed because of the snarles so we always kept it short to lessen the snarles. I know that she is serious about wanting to do this because everyday when SHE combes out her hair she makes a point to show me just how long it is getting and how much more she has to grow it to!

Jayden is 7 1/2 and is very much looking forward to being baptized next March. He really has grown up a lot this year. We have gone through TOO many clothes of his this year. But his height isn't the only difference in him. He has become such a handsome, carring, and amazing young boy. He is happy and so much fun to be around (not that he wasn't before, just more so now!) He is loosing teeth like you wouldn't believe. I think he sits in school and just pushes back and forth on his teeth to make them loose. I would bet that he has lost the same amount as his older sister!

Brooke will be 9 in August. One more year closer to teenage years (not sure how I feel about that!). She is the best big sister. She fills in when I am not feeling well but isn't overbearing. She loves to help in any way she can. Even if EVERYONE else is being lazy she feels like she has to be doing something and will ALWAYS come and tell me she wants to do something for me and what can she do. She will put the laudry from the washer to the dryer and start it, she will empty the dishwasher (even if it isn't her turn) and will snuggle with anyone who will let her (I haven't seen Jayden snuggling with her but Cora, Anna and Emmy can often be found laying right next to Brooke as she reads to them or just watches a movie. As much as it pains me that they are snuggling with her and not me I LOVE to see it. It makes me so happy that the young ones have such a great example and a great big sister who loves them and wants to be with them. About a month ago, I was getting "bots" on Brooke and happened to notice that her ear looked swollen. I soon found that she was having a reaction to the metal earrings (just like me). But luckily she had in hoop earrings and not studs. When I was 12 my skin grew over my earring and the Dr. had to pull it out through the back of my ear (OUCH! makes my ears hurt just remembering!) Everything is better now. She will just have to wear the more expensive earrings just like her Mom!!

As for me, I am very much looking forward to this summer. I am hoping to get many weekends of camping in seeing how for the first time I don't have a baby!! Emmy is old enough to enjoy being out camping with us and even though I will worry about the fire and her (any of the kids for that matter) we can still go and enjoy it! Any of you up for camping with us just let us know! We would love to have people come and play with us!

JayDee and I were called and set apart as Stake Indexers a couple months ago. We both have enjoyed doing this important work. We also found an incredible show on NBC that we loved watching - "Who Do You Think You Are" It took celebreties and showed them their ancestors. Each week, I would turn to JayDee and tell him how incredible it would be to do something like that. So that is my new goal, seeing how we have the tools at our fingertips thanks to the internet. I will let you know how it goes.

JayDee is still loving his job and I am loving him not being in the Bishopric although he is just as busy with his new assignment. His GREAT love is back again for the summer! He has pet hummingbirds and loves playing with them and making sure they have enough to eat. I say this with sarcasm but I am also serious! I have the pictures to prove it! He has taken a normal feeder and upgraded it so that it has more seating. A normal feeder can feed 4 at a time but he has doubled it. So far we have seen as many as 15 hummingbirds at one time swarming the feeder. And just today we had the most gorgeous flourescent yellow/orange bird (about the size of a robin) pirched on one of the stands trying to feed. We have the feeder right out the kitchen window so we get to sit and watch them play all day long.So, there you have it! I have updated you on what has been going on! I hope that does the trick.

Advice from Elder Busche

Last Sunday we had a wonderful Ward Conference. We were lucky to have President Batty in Relief Society with us and he introduced this clip to us. I walked away feeling so uplifted and ready to take on a new week that I wanted to share this with you.

Silly Emmy

With only Anna and Emmy at home during the day these two munchkins have become good buddies. Anna has even become a pro at getting Emmy to fall asleep (and is proud of it!!) anywhere! During the summer vacation the kids would make a bed in one of our many laundry baskets and then tie one of their housecoat ropes onto it so they could pull her around the house. I happened to be doing laundry this day so those baskets were not available so Anna improvised! I think she did a great job!!

Can you say....IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

Yes I am finally posting the pictures of the first day of school.... Life has been just a LITTLE crazy here lately. But someone told me it is better late than never!!
Brookey the Wookey is 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. She loves to read and I find that I love that she reads. She reads to Cora every day (and any of the others that will listen) without having to be asked plus she then reads her books for school. Her favorite subjects would HAVE to be Math and Science (I think someone is taking after her Dad!).
Jayden is 6 years old and in the 1st grade. Something we realized with him is that he will not be in a class all by himself until he is in 6th grade over in Manilla. Here in DJ we only have 2 teachers, one teaches K-2nd and the other teaches 3rd-5th. When he was in K he had to share class with Brooke and when he is in 1st and 2nd he will share with Cora then to start it all over again in 3rd grade with Brooke again. Unless by some MIRACLE we get a lot of kids and we have to get more teachers. Right now our WHOLE school is 23 kids in most schools that would be ONE class!! But we wouldn't change it for the world!! But back to Jayden...He loves school and loves art and recess. He is working really hard on his reading and we think he is doing great!!
My little CC is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. I miss having her help with the other two left at home but I am so happy that she gets to experience school. She LOVES everything about school except that she doesn't get to eat lunch at school yet. ALL IN DUE TIME!!!! She can't grow up THAT fast! She can't wait until she can read all by herself. She has come home with little books that they have made at home and has been SOOO proud that she can read it to us!!! Come January she will be reading full on!!

So there you have it! I have 3 of my 5 kids in school and have started to worry about what I will do with MYSELF when they are all in school. I might just get ALL caught up on scrapbooking and I CAN'T wait to have the house remain clean for more than 10 minutes!!

"Puppy Love!!"

We puppy sat Sammy the neighbor dog for a week while the parents were gone. We tried to get the dog over only occasionally because the kids would wear her out. This particular day Sammy fell in love with Anna 'cuz she didn't want to do anything but sit in the stroller and hold her.You can't see it but her shirt that she is wearing actually has a puppy on it and above it says "Puppy Love," nope I didn't plan this outfit for the pictures. If I had I hopefully would have done something with the mismatched socks and her hair... Gotta love summer days when you have nowhere to go and no one to impress so the kids get to get away with wearing whatever they want and I, as Mom, get to get away without having to comb hair every day!!

"There is Beauty All Around...."

How does that hymn end? Oh yeah...When there's Love at Home!!! We'll there hasn't been too much of that in our home lately! With sick kids and sick parents we have been a little bit on the snippy side! Emmy got sick first a week and a half ago for only a day (or so we thought, it all goes around and around and around in our family!!), followed by Brooke the very next day who was sick for two days but lapsed with both Cora and Anna but the last two girls were both sick for five days (yes, poor Cora had to miss a whole week of school!), JayDee got sick last Monday and is still gurgling apple cider vinegar to help clear his throat. Me, I started getting sick Friday night but by Saturday it was full blown, and then Jayden, bless his little heart, (thanks Kirsten) was trying to be so brave but finally admitted today that he didn't feel so good. Let's just say that this has not been a productive week for us Dutch John Guymon's by any means. Last night as a full week of lows started catching up with me I started playing the poor me, poor us game and started making bargains with the Lord. Yes, I did repent later because I do know that that is not the way He works. I forget all to fast that everything has a time and a purpose. Maybe with us all getting sick now with prevent us from getting hit with the BIG flu later this year!! Who knows!! I do know that last night I went to bed with a prayer in my heart that my eyes would be reopened to how blessed and lucky I am. And you know what - I did learn somethings today...

First I woke up with my husband next to me, we did have ONE little three year old who was frozen who had found her way in but the thing I realized is that we are blessed to have a warm place to sleep. Helps to have the same incredible husband sew by hand cuz' his wife doesn't have a sewing machine, I guess maybe that is what I could get him for Christmas!! :)

Next, Brooke had gotten up and fixed her own lunch and Jayden's (even though he didn't go to school today!) helped Cora with her snack, got breakfast for the kids that would accept it (not Anna, nothing works except for when Dad does it), all without being asked. I noticed this morning that even though my babies are growing up they are growing up into people that I can be proud of! Thank goodness they aren't perfect or they would be taken away from me but you know what - for the oldest being only 8 years old I would say we are doing alright! No big head here, just the knowledge that we are all given the same tools to teach these special children and we happen to use that knowledge!

As we start into the colder days the first thing we like to do is check our thermometer gage outside and compare it to average according to the news or even just to compare it to what the weather was like yesterday. Well, today it read a WHOPPING 43* a WHOLE 13 degrees above freezing! So yes, I even learned from that. We should all be greatful for those extra 13 degrees of warmth or the rain we got very easily could have been SNOW!!! When Jayden told us that he was sick we decided that now we could go to Vernal and all be treated if need be so off I went with the kids (yes, JayDee had to go to work!), as we got to the summit we had hit snow. There was snow on the ground on the side of the road and still snow flurries falling on my car!! As I got a little bit lower toward Vernal Mr. Sun came back through shinning down on ALL of the beautiful fall colors that we have being in the mountains!!

I want you to know that it was on the way back home that I realized that my eyes were open and I was seeing things as clear as I ever have. I sat fighting tears the entire way home, good thing cuz I so wanted to just go to sleep - I felt so GREAT :( But I would do it again just to see all the beauty we have but take for granted so often, and to be reminded of some of the many blessings that my family and I enjoy!! I love that I know about our wonderful, loving, and forgiving Heavenly Father who did forgive me for my grips and groans and just loved me by opening my eyes and heart - let's not forget about that very vital organ!!

Like Mother Like Children...

If you notice all these pictures they are ALL sleeping on their tummies. No better way to sleep. Although how many of them are going to have TMJ (locked jaw) problems later on. My chiropractic Uncle says that is the best way to get it started!! But don't they all look so sweet and innocent!? Too bad it doesn't last during the day!! :)

Bird Healer...

JayDee saved this poor little hummingbird from our garage. Now that it is enclosed we find that the hummingbirds will fly in and then they can't figure out how to get out. As JayDee was letting it go Jayden thought it would be so cool to hold it himself so here you go....

My BB turns EIGHT!!

I know that is is a month late but I wanted to wait for her birthday party pictures to add to this but then of course there turns out being toooooo many pictures to choose from so here we are a month late and going to have to take two posts!!Our sweet Brookie turned eight years old on August 12, 2009. She is our oldest child and for sure JayDee and I have probably made the most mistakes on her over the years compared to her siblings. I think that comes with any parent with their first child. Who can say they know instantly what to do and how to do it so that their child grows up perfect? The thing I have learned over the years is that they are NOT perfect but then neither am I and I will never be (in this life anyway!). I have made a lot of compromises over the years but I wouldn't have it any other way. I really hate it when you get parents who say that things are their way or the highway!! Who gave them the power and the knowledge? God did, and he sure as heck didn't make any of us perfect so there should always be some learning and changing...to keep things interesting right!?
Anyway...back to Brooke...She is the BEST first child we could have ever been blessed with. She is absolutely beautiful and she loves to be loved. In this picture all I did was ask her to stand and smile so we could get a picture of her new outfit...and here you go...Brooke to the "T" she loves to pose and be pretty!! If only we could figure out these bangs...hers and mine!!! When I was in Reno and had my hair cut the lady told me that the "IN THING" was bangs over the eyes. What? How can you see past them unless you are always pushing them off to the side and then even that I don't think looks great but I have been trying to get used to it. Brooke wants to grow out her bangs and if you look at most of the pictures of her lately the bangs are swept to the side but still in her eyes!! A couple more months and they just might be long enough to tuck them behind the ears so not so much in her eyes!! :) But she is still beautiful to me!!
JayDee and I did a lot of talking about this subject and decided that she was the right age to get her ears pierced!! My parents had us wait until we were twelve but I think that was too long to wait. I KNOW I pestered my parents over and over and over and probably over again to have them let me just do it. They stuck to their guns (which is good but I am not good when it comes to pestering questions...I usually just give in to the kids...don't let them know that cuz I don't think they have learned that secret yet!!) and I remember being overly excited to have my ears pierced so it didn't matter how long I had waited!!! So Brooke and I had a Mother Daughter day in Vernal (thanks Becky and Ali for the idea!) and went and had her ears pierced. Because of our GREAT selection of stores in Vernal we ended up going to Vernal where Brooke had to pick 4 different earrings before we found one that they had in stock!! The lady behind the counter asked Brooke for her ID. Brooke looking confused looked to me. I told the lady that she didn't have ID. How old did she think my little girl was? Do they ask the younger girls for ID as well or did she really think Brooke was 16? Not a good start...then the lady put the little dots on her ears and had me look at them. I told her that one of the dots was too close to her head when the other was not. The lady told me it was because Brooke had different length ear lobes. Oh my goodness have I really made a mistake!? I asked the lady to move the dot to make the two even and against her judgment I am sure she did and we proceeded. Trust me they look so much better then if we had gone with the way the lady wanted to!!

That evening we had some neighbors over to help us celebrate Brooke. The Coombs and the Kellys are always great to put up with us and our many kids birthdays!! Because of it being Brooke's eighth birthday we went all out (the only year that gets the GREAT BIG FUSS!). JayDee hung the Hannah Montana Pinata and Carson helped with the spinning of the kids and then watching out for the swinging stick!! And of course it was great to be able to capture him on camera playing with the Hannah Montana guitar!!!!! He is so positive that he won't have to have any of "that GIRL" stuff!! I have proof that he does play with girlie stuff!! Go ahead and print the picture if you need blackmail Casandra!! :)

And of course you can't have a GREAT party without cake and ice cream!! Brooke picked cupcakes instead of a normal cake and Emmy went to the extremes of helping me eat. I have been doing really well staying away from stuff like that but she felt it important to see that I got some along with everyone else!!

We LOVE you Brooke and can't wait for the next big day with you which is coming up in less than a month. The day you have chosen to be baptized! This is a "Great and Marvelous Day" and I can't wait to see you take this next big step in your life. You are so special to me and I am SOOO happy that you are apart of our family!!

Oh So Sweet!!

I love MY little Emmy!! She has such a funny personality. These pictures were taken on August 9th, 2009. It was my Mom's birthday and we had just tried to call and wish her a happy birthday. Oh my goodness if there is ANY phone in her sight she will be on it talking. A lot like most kids right!! I couldn't just pick one cute one to post so enjoy all these photos of Emmalee!!

How do I get out of the mess I have created?

Are you serious? Why? Are you crazy? Are they all yours? Do you know what protection is and why not use it!? Are you going to have anymore?

Just a few of the questions I get asked a little too frequent. Some more often than others. Up until Emmalee was born I always thought that maybe, just maybe, the ones asking the questions were really paying me a compliment somewhere in their questions. I know now that I was just delusional. In the last two years I have been seeing Doctors about my depression. Even after hearing that others in my family suffer with depression as well, as soon as they hear that I have 5 kids under 8 they ALL have told me the same thing. "Well, there you go. That is your problem!" Wait a sec. If this is true why oh why was I not told about this before I had five kids. Oh and where does it say in the scriptures or from any of our prophets that we should have children (seeing how that is something told to us by God through these great men) but only so many other wise you will suffer!

Let me back up just a few years here! After we had Brooke while JayDee was still in school he and I had discussed that it wouldn't be wise to have anymore until he was through or even NEARLY through with school so I went on birth control. Well guess what? Either this stuff that was supposed to work didn't or I was meant to have another child cuz even on birth control I got pregnant with Jayden. We decided that it wasn't that bad and that having Brooke and Jayden 18 months apart was definitely close but we would handle it and we did! Well again here came the birth control and yet here came Cora 15 months after Jayden. At this point should I have turned the blame on the Doctors who prescribed the birth control and yet it didn't work? Well I didn't. In fact I looked at it as God was in control of all and He always knows best and JayDee and I both were okay with the fact that we had three under 3 years. But let me tell you the looks and the questions all started there. So for 5 years I have put up with them and yet not really cuz look at me now! I feel like the worst mom in the world all because I don't have enough patience with the kids and their NEVER ending messes!!

But here I sit wondering how do I get out of the mess I have created!? I love each one of my kids and could NEVER ever say that I could live without one of them. Doesn't that mean that I was meant to have all that I have? Well then how do I get past this feeling of doom?

My family has been given a great chance to get away for the weekend and go hang out with my parents and siblings and their kids and I have been super excited about going until now. Having to see the looks and hear the question today I know that I am a mother that gets judged and can't help but wonder if my family and friends feel the same way. Having the fear of being judged makes all of this so much harder since we are all human doesn't that just happen? I am sure that I will be judged for blogging this. And maybe that is what I need to do more of...voice my feelings or whatever I want without the fear of being judged and HOPEFULLY that courage will run over to everything that I worry about. Who knows!?