Injured Children

So I knew that life with kids was always eventful but holy cow! Yesterday, I decided that it was time for me to take a quick shower and the boys were out of school so I asked Braeden and Brinton if they would please keep an eye on Anna and Sara until I got out. I barely got out of the shower when the kids came screaming up the stairs with blood dripping all down Anna's hand. Apparantly the boys were fighting and Brinton went to shut Braeden out of the house and Anna's finger was in the crossfire. Her finger was so mangled and I could see the bone so I thought for sure we were in for a long night with a broken bone or surgery. I met Dave at the ER and checked her in and the man who checked us in said "weren't you here just a couple of months ago with your other daughter?" (Sara had hit her head and cut it open) It didn't help that Anna had taken a tumble on Thursday and had a huge bruise covering the left side of her face. I am sure that they think I am an abusive mother. Anyway, we had x-rays and thank heavens it wasn't broken but she did need two layers of stitches that totaled 20. Her fingernail was shoved into her finger and they had to pry it out and reset it so that her new cuticel could grow correctly. I'm sitting holding Anna while she's crying and Dave is over in the chair about to pass out. The nurse was little and she said she wasn't sure she could lift him up off the ground so he should just sit. I thought it was fascinating. Needless to say, the boys are being punished until further notice and they've been sucking up to me all day. I think I will make the most out of it. I gave Anna her pain medicine and it makes her so funny. She acts like she's drunk and starts singing. It's hilarious. As for the excitement, I am ready to have a little less of it.

New Changes!

So I figure that it's time I write again on our blog. January was a fun but busy month. The big news in our girls life was that their Aunt Jenn and Uncle Rex gave them bunkbeds. No more crib for Anna! I was hopeful that she was ready and we definately needed space in their room. So, we took down the crib and put up the beds. They were so excited, especially Anna, until nightime came and she realized that she had someone above her. I think it made her uncomfortable because she didn't sleep the entire night. It was not fun for mom. But, each night became easier and easier. There are still some nights when I will hear something and go into her room to find her trying on her sister's shoes. She is so cute that you can't get mad at her, you just give her a hug and hope you don't have to go in her room again and trip on a pair of boots. As you can tell from the photos, she thinks that she can do everything that her brothers and sister can do. I was cleaning up milk for 5 minutes. Oh well! I think Sara feels all grown up. Which she is definately getting bigger. I can't believe how time flies. I also took a leap this month and decided to 'chop the locks' so to speak. I know that Dave isn't fond of short hair but I figured that it was time for a change. I needed to feel like I could look okay throughout the day. It took me only 10 minutes to do my hair this morning. Yeah!!!!!! I love it and hope it grows on Dave. In the meantime, I told him he would feel like he was living with another woman. What guy doesn't want that?

Holiday Catch Up

Happy late Christmas and New Years. I thought I would get caught up on all of the events of our Christmas. We had such a great holiday season this year. We were able to go to Temple Square with Grandma and Grandpa and it just happened to be the coldest night of the year. Woohoo!! I was freezing but we had such a great time. The kids decided to go to Chuck a Rama for dinner which is my favorite place. (Not!) The kids were happy though which made it all worth it. Christmas Eve we had a chance to go to Dave's sister's house where we had dinner and exchanged gifts including our White Elephant gift. We received the best white elephant gift we have ever gotten. Dave's sister had made slippers out of industrial strength maxi pads and they were decorated and she had included the instructions for making them. I thought I was going to laugh my way into a stomach ache. We had a wonderful night.
The kids were obviously excited about Christmas morning because at 2:00am Braeden came in to our room to inform us that he was ready. Dave basically told him that if he wanted to live he would go back to his room. It apparantly didn't work because every hour on the hour they were in our room. Finally at 7:00am Dave agreed to get up. We have a tradition that before we go see the gifts. We read Luke 2 together and say a family prayer. This year was a really tight one like many other people. We felt like we hadn't gotten the kids a lot but our kids were so grateful for what they have. We are blessed for sure. The kids got a WII and their uncle Tim sent us Rock band and about 8 other games for them. I got a memory foam mattress topper which is awesome. My shoulder has felt so awesome since Christmas. Dave got a sweater, CD and watch and some shoes. He also got Tiger woods golf which he loves. The girls got dolls, stuffed animals, clothes and really fun movies. My mom and Dad came over for breakfast and gave us some 72 hour kit stuff which we really needed. It was awesome watching my mom play guitar hero. Well worth having Santa bring the WII.
That afternoon, we went to Dave's sister's house to talk to Taylor who is serving in Mexico right now. It was so much fun to hear him. He's doing awesome and we are so impressed with him. That night we went to my brother's house for dinner and games. The only bummer of the day was driving home in a blizzard past the point of the mountain. We made it home though and were able to sleep in the next day. Yeah!!!!!!
It seems that the year went by so fast. We have had a difficult year but the blessings far outweigh the trials.

A picture perfect weekend!

Gotta love my girls! I had so much fun on Friday. The girls and I went to Gardiner Village to take some pictures. I was trying out our new camera that we needed to get because our other one was stolen. I like it a lot! Anna was so busy though and it was difficult to take her picture but Sara was loving the attention. According to my mom, she is exactly like I was at that age. Oh joy!

Today, we went to our ward christmas brunch at the ward building. We at croissants, ham, hash browns and fruit. Not to mention lots of goodies. I am going to gain 10 pounds if I eat this kind of stuff a lot. We had such a great day!

Thanksgiving

I just realized that it has been a long time since I have written so this entry will probably be a long one. It has been an eventful couple of weeks. We all had the chance to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving. We left on the Tuesday before and stayed until the next Monday. Dave has a lot of family in and around the Phoenix area. So, we headed off... We drove to Page, Arizona and spent the night there and hooked up with Dave's brothers and sisters to drive the rest of the way to Arizona. We all stayed close to each other either at a hotel or at family's. On Thanksgiving Day, we spent the day with Dave's mom side of the family at Grandma Stapley's church. The last time we had seen a lot of family was for Laurel's funeral so it was nice to have a fun occasion to get together at. I ate alot!!!!! Grandma is getting older and it seemed that she was struggling to keep her strength to associate with everyone but I am so glad we saw her. Who knows how long she might be around. On Friday, we decided to just hang out and spend time swimming, yes swimming in November, and eating at In n Out burger. Yummmm!!!!! Saturday morning was really eventful. The reason I don't have pictures posted on this page is because our car was broken into on Saturday morning and someone stole our digital camera. Braeden ran in to inform us that our diaper bag along with our camera was taken. We had a huge family reunion that day and needless to say, we were late. We had to replace the passenger side window and call the cops. I had to admit that I cried. We didn't have a lot of pictures on our memory card but enough of Thanksgiving Day that I wish I had. I was so sad until we arrived at the Gooch Family Circus Reunion 2008! Our family was in matching red T-Shirts that said the previous line and the other families were in other colors that matched. We had such an awesome time. I know Bill would have loved to be there with his brothers and families. We went to a beautiful park in Fountain Hills Arizona. Such a beautiful place. Even though we didn't have a camera, Dave's cousins were all nice enough to send us their pictures that they took. We played games, ate, did activities, launched rockets, had relay races and watched our little family win at football. It was awesome to see all that red runnin' around.
I was so sad to leave on Sunday. We spent some more time with Grandma and then Dave's brother gave us a parting gift. An entire cooler full of elk meat. Today we actually ate it for Sunday dinner. It was good!
We decided to stay in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Dave said that we should let the kids look at all the cool lights and buildings. So we drove down Las Vegas boulevard. It was not a great idea on our part. We proceeded to hit every red light where a truck with not so clothed women were on the side. Brinton was laughing in the back seat while Sara was telling us that those girls aren't modest. Braeden was semi-closing his eyes trying really hard not to look. Yeah right. We got down to the Treasure Island hotel and the pirate show was going on. We thought , alright, something that the kids will enjoy. Oh my gosh! No longer are there mean looking pirates blowing each other up, that would have been awesome. Again, there were scantily clad women who were singing and yelling to the druling men on the boat across the way. We are terrible parents! We finally arrived at our destination. The Stratasphere hotel and it was a little more family friendly. We decided that we better stick to Disneyland. Minnie Mouse might wear a little skirt but she has bloomers on underneath!
As we were coming home, we got to stop off in St. George and spend some time with our good friends Josh and Meg. We went to dinner and hung out at their home. I had such a great time. All I hope is that she gets through her trials and can move on. We love them!
If all these adventures weren't enough, on Dec. 4th, I had my 5th surgery on my shoulder. I hope it works as well as it has in the past. I woke up that morning with a major migraine from not eating the night before so the nurse at the hospital decided to give me Zophran for nausea and Demeral for the pain. Oh my gosh, it hit me like a truck. I threw up four times and passed out all within thirty seconds. I came through it all in one piece so far. Anyway, I will cut this entry so I don't bore anyone. I will have more info soon I am sure.

In need of a miracle

Today, I called my dear friend Megan who is in St. George. She and her husband Josh were in Salt Lake this past weekend for a wedding and to have new sets of tests done in conjunction with her cancer treatment. I called her today to see if she received her results and the news was not good. Her tumors have grown and are now on her spine. I sat and listened to her tell me that her Oncologist gave her two options. 1-try another chemo that would probably not touch the tumors or 2-don't do anything and be medicated for comfort. She said she didn't like either option. I was really impressed that in the entire conversation, she never said that she should give up and she spoke of her faith the entire time. Today was the first time since she told me she had cancer that I was actually mad. It was a surprise. I love Meg and want so badly for a miracle to come quickly. The first time I met Meg, she and I seemed to connect immediatly and I found an instant friend. That had never happened to me before then and I have cherished our friendship ever since. Megan and I are convinced that Dave and Josh served a mission together just so we could meet and become friends. The Lord placed her in my life for a reason. She has seen me through some difficult times and I am hoping that I can help her through this horrible ordeal. I intend to wear out my knees in prayer for Meg and her family.

Halloween Party Weekend

This weekend was a fun one! Friday night, we went to my mom and dad's house to decorate cookies and carve pumpkins. We had pizza from the Pie, yum, and watched Iron Man. It was so much fun to hang out. My mom worked so hard to bake cookies and my kids had so much fun. Sara said that Grandma is the best baker in the world. On Saturday, we went to our annual ward chili cook off and Halloween party. There were so many people there and we had such a great time! Braeden decided that for Halloween he was going to dress up as a punk rocker. He had fake piercings, spiked hair, and makeup. He ended up looking like the lead singer of Green Day. I told him that if he ever dressed like that when he's older, he is in big trouble. Brinton dressed up like a hippie. He has the personality for that particular costume. He had a huge afro and fun glasses. Sara dressed up like a witch. She had a green face and a black wig. She thought it was awesome that no one knew who she was. Anna was the tooth fairy. She will have her signs on her for Halloween Night that say 'cash 4 molars' and 'put the tooth down and no one will get hurt'. She had really curly hair and a crown and wand. It was such a fun night. We had a fishing pond, donuts on the string and dancing all night. It was awesome and I made new friends. I love our ward. We have such a wonderful group of families and our Bishop is amazing.
Yesterday was our Primary Program. It was so cute. It was Sara's first primary program and I was so worried that she wouldn't do her part because she was covering her eyes through the entire first song. She somehow found the courage and said her part. Her part was 'when I see Jesus I will give him a big hug'. She memorized her part and so did the boys. My dad came to see them and Anna loved having him there. She rarely goes to anyone else when I'm around but she went to him. It was also nice being able to sit with Dave. He asked if Anna was always this busy and I just laughed. It was nice having him help out in Sacrament meeting. I ended the weekend with my weekly Music Festival practice. It was a particularly spiritual practice and I am so excited to sing in November. I wish I had the talent to write songs like some of these composers. I have also made some new friends through this experience. I didn't think I would have any more time to give but I am glad that I have added this to my schedule. What a great weekend!

Fun Week

So Sunday began normally this week. The kids were running around the house getting ready while they fight about who knows what. I think Sundays are the days that we are lucky to get out of the house. We somehow make it out of the house every week. Not always in one piece though. We had ward conference and Jake Trent, Merilee Boyce (the stake president's wife) and our sweet Bishop spoke. We also heard from the ward choir. It was such a great Sacrament Meeting and I actually heard most of it. Dave told me that I needed to be in the combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting. I wasn't really worried about why until he hinted that the Stake Presidency was going to spotlight the Bishopric wives. I have already been spotlighted twice before and I was so embarrassed. Dave just laughed and watched me blush. That afternoon we went to my parent's house for dinner and I came back for the music festival practice. I am looking forward to performing in November for the Relief Society Music Festival. Our choir director is awesome. She is the choir teacher at Taylorsville High and has such a cute personality. It was a great day!
Last night we had our normal Family Home Evening lesson taught by Braeden. When we had a chance to hang out together, Dave said he had a DVD to show. It was a DVD that they all made for me with pictures and music. Apparantly they had been working on it for a long time. It was so awesome. It was such a sweet thing to do. It was also fun looking back on photos from a long time ago. I have a beautiful family!

Weekend Events

This weekend was such a busy one but a fun one. Dave was off work from Wednesday on. We had so much fun just hanging out with the kids. We went and saw Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda in the theaters on Friday and went out to dinner at Wingers which is Brinton's favorite restaurant. Anything spicy and it is his favorite. Today, Braeden had to be at a soccer tournament in Orem at 7:15am. Yes, I said am. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a morning person at all. It was so early and so cold! As soon as Braeden's game was done, Brinton had his game at 11:30 back in Salt Lake. It went from freezing in the morning to really hot in the afternoon. We had fun though. My mom and dad came to the game and we went to Gardiner Village that afternoon to see the witches. It was so crowded but fun. Sara decided that she was going to be a witch for Halloween because they had cute hats there. So, we gave in and bought her a hat and cape for Halloween. What a fun day. It was so fun to actually see Dave. I know he got a kick out of spending time with the kids. He misses being at home but knows that schooling will be worth it.

A Day in the Life

I'm adding some information on this weekend. Sunday we went over to Brad and Stacy's house for Sunday conference. We had three different kinds of soup and other food that was so perfect for the cold weather that came on. Conference was so awesome. It was nice to hear the talks. My Sundays are usually chasing after my own kids in sacrament meeting and running after other people's kids in Nursery that I rarely feel like I'm inspired. It always seems that the brethren of the church are speaking just to me.
So right now, I'm sitting here with Brinton, Sara and Anna watching Spongebob and doing laundry. Yeah!!! What a wonderful life. Today was such a normal day. Sara had dance and thank heavens she didn't want to wear the ugly princess polka dotted tights! She just wanted to wear her fairy skirt over her leotard. We really need to work on her fashion sense. Dave is at school and is taking his midterms this week. He is taking a really difficult Accounting class but still is getting an A. I would've given everything for the grade point he keeps.