tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64120829978180657472024-03-12T19:41:04.545-07:00Amber and the BoysAmber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.comBlogger356125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-64124349646472167322015-10-31T11:48:00.001-07:002015-10-31T11:48:15.760-07:00Halloween 2015Did I scare anyone by blogging? It's been a long time! Here's a few fun Halloween pictures for this year:<div>
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Adam the cutest cowboy around. He posed like this for every picture! </div>
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And the craziest:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_uBt6rN-ChE/VjUMCw6lXJI/AAAAAAAAAoE/XFOJSY1xthc/s1600/CrazyCowboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_uBt6rN-ChE/VjUMCw6lXJI/AAAAAAAAAoE/XFOJSY1xthc/s640/CrazyCowboy.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
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Bet you can't tell what this one is! He's Wesley from The Princess Bride. He's even got a little pony tail in the back.<br />
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Kylo Ren from the new Star Wars:</div>
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He IS in costume. He's Zach Mitchell from Jurassic World. </div>
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Comparison:</div>
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And my whole wonderful gang:</div>
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Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00721565646178868107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-27563749422623754732014-12-24T08:15:00.003-08:002014-12-24T08:18:38.315-08:00Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to everyone! Here is our card and letter for 2014:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oVIZAEUwTCE/VJrmFArVPOI/AAAAAAAAGN4/h7G8hT9ktHI/s1600/PriceFamilyChristmasCard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oVIZAEUwTCE/VJrmFArVPOI/AAAAAAAAGN4/h7G8hT9ktHI/s1600/PriceFamilyChristmasCard.jpg" height="522" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: underline;">Price Family 2014 Year-End Statistical Report</span></div>
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With the year quickly coming to an end, we thought we’d share the following vital statistics about the state of our family in 2014.</div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Medals for tumbling, trampoline, and double-mini: 15</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">State championships: 1</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Maximum number of sequential handsprings performed by Dallen: 6</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">New gray hairs: 3</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Inside Calvin-and-Hobbes jokes that Amber doesn’t get: 174</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Studio C sketches watched on You Tube during “reading time”: 327</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Studio C sketches Amber laughs at: 0</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Minecraft bricks laid: 700 billion</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Legos used in Jack’s closet castle masterpiece: 1,723 ± 350</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Arguments over who damaged the closet castle masterpiece: 75</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Additional gray hairs: 8</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Nate’s realistic portraits of crocodiles, penguins, mars rovers, Mel Gibson’s eyes, and a somewhat creepy composite portrait of a small face resembling a doll from a horror movie: 5</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Average number of jokes and puns per hour from Nate: 14</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Sixth-grade class projects: 19</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Times Adam asked “What I’m doing today, Mom?”: 365</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Potty “accidents”: 217</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Additional gray hairs: 13</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Consecutive days Adam spent in character as “Nobi Kenobi”: 17</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Times Josh has answered to the name “Darth Vader”: 57</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Star Wars movies watched: 5</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Questions beginning with the words “Hey Mom…”: 5,098,987,456,321</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Plates of Nachos consumed: 573</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Friendly reminders to clean room: 2,571</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Times Josh remembered to start dishwasher after loading it: 1</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Trips to Primary Children’s hospital: 1</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Additional gray hairs: 37</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Jumps off Lava Hot Springs 10 m platform: 3</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Episodes of Daniel Tiger’s neighborhood watched: 40, 3 times each</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Sundays when Josh didn’t play the organ in sacrament meeting: 2</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals: 3</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Crazy Little Projects page views in November: 1.9 million</li>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'KG Part of Me'; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">Text messages sent to Danetta: 743,591</li>
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We can't wait to see what 2015 brings! Merry Christmas to all!Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-46773759946266592522014-10-03T15:37:00.001-07:002014-10-03T15:39:02.470-07:00A Week in the Life of Viral MeningitisIt's been a loooong week and one filled with a lot of learning, nerves, prayer, love, sadness, happiness and gratitude. I am writing this really for myself-as a chance to journal our experiences this week-but I will let you peek into our world and see what's going on too.<br />
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Last Friday morning I woke up ready to hit the ground running for a long day ahead. I was in charge of the school carnival that evening (along with my friend), and we had a lot of work to do. But when Adam woke up, I felt like something was off with him. He told me first thing that his neck hurt and my mind always goes first to meningitis when I hear that, but with a three year old you never know. He might have slept funny or it might be the tag in his shirt.<br />
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I tried to feed him breakfast. He ate nothing. That's fairly normal though. He did drink all of his chocolate milk and wasn't saying his tummy hurt or anything, but still, something felt off. I was worried because I had this huge day ahead of me. I gave him some ibuprofen and when that kicked in, he perked up and I stopped worrying so much.<br />
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We headed to lunch to gear up for the carnival and on the way there he fell asleep. That seemed really weird because he had slept in a lot that morning already too. And he ate very little lunch again. Still, he had no real complaints about how he was feeling, just seemed off. He never mentioned his neck again. I still had a weird and yucky feeling inside but I thought maybe it was carnival nerves.<br />
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I took him to my mother in law's house so that she could babysit him while I set up for the carnival. He ran inside, excited to see her. I told her he seemed off and I hoped he was ok, but then I left for the carnival.<br />
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The carnival went wonderfully. But during it Josh called his mom and she agreed that Adam seemed like he was getting sick and said he was asleep. He slept at her house through the whole carnival and when he woke up he had a fever. She gave him ibuprofen and when we picked him up that night he had perked up and seemed fine.<br />
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Saturday morning he was not fine. By now we were fully realizing that he was sick. So we just did the regular taking care of a sick kid. Movies on the couch, medicine, snuggles. By Saturday afternoon he started throwing up. This seemed a little odd to me because if it was a stomach bug the throwing up probably would have started sooner. I kept wondering-is it strep? Hand Foot and Mouth? He told us his "bubble" hurt but we couldn't figure out what he meant.<br />
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Sunday he was still sick. Still threw up some and was just generally not feeling good. Fevers really started on this day. He was also a little shaky.<br />
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Monday is when things got scary. He woke up scared. He was very shaky and couldn't control his body well. Josh took him downstairs to get him breakfast because we thought the shakiness was likely due to lack of food for 4 days. He didn't eat much.<br />
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When it was time to take the boys to school I took him out to the car and realized that his car seat wasn't in because of when he was at Grammy's on Friday. I set him in the van and turned to get the car seat and he started to crying and sort of screaming and I realized he couldn't stand up. By the time I got around the far side of the van he had fallen to the floor and was shaking and scared and I could tell he was dizzy and his eyes were shaking in his head and he was just not right. I could tell something was very wrong at this point. I struggled to get the car seat into the car while he clung to me. Even with me holding him he felt like he was falling and he was dizzy.<br />
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I drove the others to school and came home and called the doctor right away. (Just on a side note-our regular pediatrician had to change insurance due to Obama Care and I hadn't found us a new one yet, so I had to just call a Dr. that a friend recommended. Only he isn't taking new patients, so I had to just take the Dr. that was. One that we had never met.)<br />
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I took him to the Dr. about an hour later. My guesses were either that he was very dehydrated and maybe needed an iv (he hadn't successfully had anything to eat or drink in days!) or that he had a severe ear infection that was affecting his inner ear. I did have a premonition that we would be at the hospital that day but I thought just maybe for an IV for rehydration or something.<br />
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The Dr. examined him and was very concerned. He started throwing out all sorts of possibilities like a brain tumor or other horrible diseases. He did mention meningitis but said his neck didn't feel stiff.<br />
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He wanted me to go to the hospital-to Primary Children's up in Salt Lake City because they have all of the specialists. I waited in his office forever while he filled out paperwork and called ahead and things. Then I headed up. I called Josh and he left work and was shortly behind me driving up.<br />
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I got to the hospital with him about 12:30 and took him to the ER. The took us to a room and began all kinds of diagnostic tests. They started with an IV and blood work thinking that maybe the throwing up had thrown off his sodium or glucose or something. That was a negative. They did x-rays to see if his bowel was blocked. Also negative. They did a CT scan of his brain. We just sat in the ER with him this whole time on 2 hard chairs and took turns holding him. He was miserable:<br />
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He laid in the bed a little but mostly we just held him and he slept off and on:</div>
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This was a long afternoon with a lot of waiting. Things move very slowly in the ER, so we would sit and wait for hours sometimes between tests. I have to say that while I was nervous and hated seeing my baby so sick, I had a deep feeling of peace throughout all of this. Josh said that he did too.<br />
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Finally they did a lumbar puncture (or spinal tap). I left for this. No way was I watching them stick a large needle into my baby's back. The spinal tap was done about 6:30 pm. And we waited some more. The good news was that the fluid was clear.<br />
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They had to give him some medication to calm him for the lumbar puncture so he was pretty out of it after that. I felt like this was a blessing because he desperately needed to sleep:<br />
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They came in a while after the lumbar puncture and told us what they found-elevated white blood cells in his spinal fluid which meant Viral Meningitis. Now, Meningitis has always been a disease that scares me. A girl at my high school died of it and then a friend from high school died during college of it. So these were scary words. But they quickly explained that there is a difference between viral and bacterial meningitis. Bacterial is the really bad kind. There did not appear to be any bacteria in his fluid, so they weren't super worried, but put him immediately on antibiotics just to be safe. </div>
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They told us he would need to be admitted to the hospital while they waited for the final results to guarantee that there was no bacteria. They said that would take 24-48 hours. They also wanted to monitor him. </div>
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And so we waited for a room. For 3 more hours. </div>
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Let me pause though to say that the doctors, residents and nurses in the ER were absolutely fantastic. They were kind and loving and concerned and competent. We felt like we were in very good care. </div>
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Adam got to eat a slushy while we waited for our room. Finally about 9:30 or 10 we got to go to our room upstairs. (Before this they swabbed his nose to check for other viruses. They didn't tell us this at the time, but they were checking for Enterovirus which has been going around and causing some of the same symptoms Adam was showing. Viral meningitis means that a virus has gone to the spine. They don't usually know which virus and don't really care unless it's something like Enterovirus or Varicella. The treatment doesn't change and there is nothing they can do-so it doesn't really matter what the virus is, just that he has one and it's in his spine.) Because he was a risk for Enterovirus, he was on isolation in his room at the hospital. He couldn't leave the room and the nurses and doctors all wore masks and protective coverings. </div>
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Once we were in our room a flood of Drs. and nurses started. Nothing that we had done downstairs counted for anything now. They asked us the same questions, came to see him try to sit and walk, poked him, prodded him and made him miserable. I will say that at this point I was getting frustrated. He was miserable. Absolutely miserable and they wanted him to walk across the room to them. It's 11:00 at night, he's sick, he's had a horrible day and now you want him to try to walk, which he really can't do thanks to the disease and he's scared to do because of the falling experience that morning. And not just one doctor but two came in and went through this whole thing with him. I understood that they were just being thorough and I appreciated that but when I say he was miserable that doesn't really even begin to describe it. </div>
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His face does though:</div>
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During this time Uncle Tim came to visit and help give him a blessing with Josh. That was the one time all day that I saw him perk up. As soon as Tim walked through the door he yelled "Tim" and sort of smiled. Then Tim gave him a stuffed frog and he smiled at that too. </div>
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Finally they left us at about 11:30 or a little later and we began the process of trying to sleep. The next three hours were the most awful that we spent at the hospital. Adam was exhausted but couldn't sleep. He kept twitching and thrashing and waking up screaming "I don't want to!" He was having nightmares about the things that he had been through that day-particularly the lumbar puncture. It was heart breaking. We took turns holding him and trying to sleep with him in his bed and in the rocking chair. </div>
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Finally about 2:30 am he fell into a pretty good sleep and slept for about 6 hours. Josh and I each got about 2 hours of sleep. Everytime a doctor or nurse came in after this he was MAD! Josh joked that if Adam knew what flipping people off was, he would have been giving all the doctors the bird. He was so mad at them. </div>
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The next morning we waited for the MRI that they wanted to do to see if there was anything else going on with his brain. He wasn't allowed to eat or drink beginning at 6:00 am and that was awful for him. He asked over and over and over for food and water and I kept having to tell him no. Josh was gone for the morning to take care of some things at work and home. </div>
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We were scheduled for an MRI at 2:00 that afternoon but at 12:00 they came in and said they were ready for him! They wheeled him down on his bed and I waited with him while they ordered his sedatives. At this point when he again told me he was hungry I told him right after this he could eat and asked him what he wanted to have. He said "a cookie and chocolate milk! Two cookies and chocolate milk" I laughed (and knew that I have raised him well) and told him it was a done deal.<br />
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I held him while they put the medication into his IV (I didn't mention this earlier but he HATED having that IV in his hand. That also kept him up in the night.) He fell asleep on me and then I put him onto the bed for the MRI. That wasn't my favorite to see my little guy sedated and pale and still on a bed.<br />
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I left for the MRI (because you aren't allowed to stay) and waited upstairs in his room. I sat on the window sill and looked out at this pretty view:<br />
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Josh came back at this point and our sweet Bishop and his wife came to visit. It was nice to have visitors and distraction while he was away.<br />
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After about an hour they wheeled him back upstairs. He slept with the sedatives for a while (again-to me this was a blessing because he so desperately needed sleep). When he woke up we gave him a new toy:<br />
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He loves Daniel Tiger (and I bet we've watched like 50 episodes since this all started) and he loved this toy. </div>
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Grammy came to visit while he was still groggy so he had a hard time enjoying her visit but at least got to say hi. </div>
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Then he got to eat! We had a graham cracker for him and as soon as he saw it he reached out and yelled "cracker!" excitedly and stuffed it into his mouth:</div>
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At this point things started to go uphill at least a little. They took out his IV which thrilled him. We tried to feed him a little here and there. And just hung out and waited. Uncle Tim came to visit again and this time Adam really perked up and played for about an hour happily in his bed with Tim by him. </div>
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Tim brought him a Darth Vader mask and book:</div>
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Late that afternoon the head neurologist came in to show us the results of the MRI. They found swelling in the corpus collosum but that was to be expected and they didn't find any swelling any where else. This was good news. The neurologist said that we didn't need to stay at the hospital any longer in his opinion. This was also very good news. </div>
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I knew they wouldn't send us home that night, but to know we should be going home the next day was great. We just tried to keep him comfortable that night. He ate dinner happily (he got his cookie). He threw up dinner unhappily. But he slept very well that night. </div>
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Josh had to leave the hospital very early Wednesday morning to go to a Dr. appt of his own and then teach his class, so Adam and I hung out in his room. When the doctors and nurses mentioned going home he told them he didn't want to! </div>
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I ordered us both French Toast and I sat at the end of his bed and fed him and myself. I told him we were having a date. I asked him why he didn't smile for this picture and he said "I did." (I should mention that you can see that one of his eyes was droopy in these pictures. That seems to have been an effect of the brain swelling. His whole face was droopy but it's getting better.)</div>
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Then he barfed up his breakfast. I was just getting him undressed and was going to give him a bath across the hall for the first time (boy did he smell bad!) when I came across the team of Drs. in the hall coming to see him. </div>
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They had me go into the room and wait and then had me help him walk to them. He did it! He could walk a little (this was progress) although it scared him to death and maybe hurt him? I stood in the hall talking to the Drs. who were telling me we could go home soon. He didn't know the good news though, just that he had thrown up and was half naked on the way to the bath and now the Drs. were making him walk and he was sad, with his head on my shoulder.</div>
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Then down the hall came a nice lady carrying balloons from Adam's friend Zac!!! Oh how this cheered him up. I can't tell you how much a simple gesture like this from friends means. Look how sad and miserable he looks in this picture, but the balloons made him happy. (He was mostly very sleepy in this picture).</div>
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And then we sat and waited for them to give us the all clear to go home. Someone got playful while we waited:</div>
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Do you see that? He was smiling! For the first time all week! </div>
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The only problem with going home was that he had barfed on his last outfit and I had nothing to take him home in, so Josh had to drive back up (it's about an hour drive to this hospital) with new clothes. Right after Josh got there they let us go. </div>
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I thought he would fall asleep right after we got in the car but instead he grinned and talked to me half the way home. It was just so nice to see him happy. Then he fell asleep and we moved him to his bed once we were home and he slept all afternoon. </div>
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At that point I took a shower (hallelujah!) and a nap. Josh went to run the kids to various after school activities and then he was going to take a nap while I took over. But instead, while he was driving down the freeway his back tire blew out. Luckily he was able to put the spare on quickly and then headed straight to Big O for a new tire. </div>
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In the meantime, Josh's mom came over and stayed with sleeping Adam while I took her car to pick up Adam's prescription and Nathan from his art class...and I got rear ended. Seriously. Luckily it did no damage. </div>
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He's been home for two days and we can tell this is going to be a long road of recovery. He is on Zofran for nauseau and it helps and he is eating well. He naps a lot and sleeps about 13 hours at night. My two goals each day are for him to eat a lot and sleep a lot. I can't tell you how happy it makes my hear to see him smile: </div>
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He looks good there and is doing pretty well, but it really is going to be a long road. He can't sit up and certainly can't walk. He's very weak and still somewhat dizzy and his neck and heard hurt from the swelling. So while he's content and happy on the couch, he's got to be on the couch. And it's going to be a while before that changes I think. </div>
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I love him so much and I am so grateful that he is ok! The past week of caring for him has actually been very fulfilling. I feel like I am doing what I was born to do-to love and nurture and care for my child. It feels very right to slow down the pace of life and focus on him. This isn't a luxury that we can have all the time. At some point we have to see to errands and laundry and making dinner and paying bills and things, but for now I get to worry about those things less and about my sweetie more and I love it. (Remind me of that after I have been home bound for weeks) </div>
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Sunday night, when Adam was sick but we didn't know what was going on yet, I was talking to my parents on the phone and mentioned that I love my life-that I have everything I could ever want. My mom told me to knock on wood-that I shouldn't say that out loud or a trial would be coming. I told her I think the Lord wants us to recognize our blessings and be grateful. But the trial came anyway. </div>
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I will say it again, even now at the end of this week, I love my life. As always, this trial has only brought that into more clarity. The amount of love and support we have felt this week is amazing. I have a mother in law who took care of the kids for several days while we were in the hospital and has been helping out the rest of this week too. (And her husband was out of town too so she did this alone which is no easy task.) I have a best friend who checked in with me through calls and texts the whole week and let me know she cared and got me groceries and picked up kids from school and all that jazz. I have parents who prayed and checked in each day (of course!) and brothers who have come to visit and care for Adam. We have a Bishop and wife who drove a long drive to come visit us. We have friends who have brought presents and meals and have called and check in. A Relief Society present (friend from church) who has called and visited and made sure we are ok. The list could go on. I love my family, friends, neighborhood and my life. Thank you to everyone who has cared. And thank you to the Lord for taking care of my little one. </div>
Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-65724578267627806962014-08-31T20:59:00.000-07:002014-08-31T20:59:10.811-07:00A Week in Paradise<br />
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This post should have been posted 6 months ago. But, I couldn't get any of the pictures to upload to my blog for some reason and it's been driving me nuts. So nuts that I basically stopped blogging here. But I got it to work now so we are back in business!!<br />
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Last August when Josh mentioned that he had a conference that he needed to attend in Southern California at the end of February, it took me less than 2 seconds to announce that the whole family would be coming along! The thing about Josh's job is that he can't really take time off during the school year for vacation...but this was FOR his job AND it was during the awful month of February (cold!), so we were thrilled to come along!<br />
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We started the trip by heading to Las Vegas on Friday night and then on to San Diego Saturday. We remembered that San Diego was paradise, I just don't think we remembered QUITE how paradise like it is. Plus, it was really, really fun to see friends there. We love that place!<br />
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We were only in San Diego for 2 and a half days (and Josh was only there for 1 day before he had to head to his conference), but we packed them SO full of fun it was amazing! On Monday, the day that we did the most fun things, Dal announced that it was the best day of his life! (That changed later in the week...)<br />
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Here are some of the fun things we did in San Diego. (Most of these pictures are off my phone so the quality is a little lacking.)<br />
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We went out to dinner with some of our very best San Diego friends! Here I am with my really good friends Karen and Tala:<br />
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Tala always loved Dallen! He doesn't remember her but he still let her snuggle him!<br />
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We went to our very favorite spot in San Diego, La Jolla Cove and explored the tide pools and played on the beach. We could have stayed here forever. Love that place!<br />
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We found this really great crab shell. It was as big as my hand:<br />
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We went to the Mormon Battalion visitor's center-another of our very favorite places:<br />
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We met more friends at a park after school and then went and got ice cream. This is Jack with some of his old best friends Nithilan and Andrew:<br />
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And here's Adam enjoying his ice cream:<br />
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And we met my cousins and went to Balboa park. Love that place and love my cousins! Here's the boys in front of a fountain:<br />
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And we (and by we I mean they) went swimming at the hotel pool:<br />
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Here's what I did while they swam:<br />
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I should mention that almost all of this was done without Josh because he was off at his conference. We also met another group of friends at a park and ate out a bunch, went to church in our old ward, checked out some of our old favorite parks. In short, in the 72 hours or so we really packed it in in San Diego.<br />
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Then we drove up to meet daddy in Ventura, where his conference was. He took a day off so we could go to Disneyland! This is when Dal's best day ever had some competition!<br />
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Here they are on the tram-so excited! </div>
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Here are the boys ready for the Toy Story ride: (I guess that was actually on Friday in California Adventure)<br />
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Each of the boys got to build their own light saber. This one is fierce:<br />
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Adam was very serious about his driving on Autopia: (sorry, these are just cell phone pics-so some got a little blurry)</div>
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The merry go round is a huge hit with all of them!<br />
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We also spent a day on the beach in Ventura. Nathan found these rocks and made a rainbow. So cool!<br />
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Adam was so tired at this point that he was pretty grumpy. The other boys would have played for hours!<br />
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Then, we spent one more day at Disney, this time in California Adventure.<br />
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Cars Land had long waits-like reeeeaaaally long-so to entertain ourselves we had a grumpy face contest:<br />
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But we did love Cars Land:<br />
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And the Merry Go Round:</div>
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It was such a fun vacation and such a perfect time to go to California! Just writing about it makes me want to do it again!</div>
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We headed up to Victor, ID (which is about 25 minutes outside of Jackson) on Thursday. On our way we stopped in Lava Hot Springs to swim in the big waterpark there and then stopped at Pizza Pie Cafe in Pocatello, so we didn't get into our condo until late that night.<br />
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We stayed in Idaho for about 5 days.<br />
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Friday we hiked around Jenny Lake. It's really beautiful. And big. Seven miles didn't seem like that much when we started out. It was. We reached a point when we realized that the kids weren't going to make it all the way, so we sent the women and Jonah-our friends 12 year old-ahead to get the cars and come back for everyone. It was a long hike and we were exhausted when it was done, but it was still a great experience.<br />
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Here we are at the waterfall that we hiked to early on in the journey:<br />
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See if you can guess one of the reasons we fit so well with these friends:<br />
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That's a lot of boys. No girls anywhere to be seen. (Well other than us moms of course.)<br />
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Most of the pictures from this trip are from that hike.<br />
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More of the boys (guess the moms should get in the shot sometime):<br />
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Here's some pictures of our picnic lunch pre-hike:<br />
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During the hike. Someone's a weirdo... and someone's grumpy I guess:<br />
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After hiking Friday we went to dinner at a fun sports bar in Jackson. After we finished eating we were surprised when the TVs on the wall got really loud all of a sudden and the food network came on and it was featuring that very restaurant! (It was called Sidewinders Grill.) There was a big party, the owner was there and everyone was cheering as we all watched Food Network feature this restaurant. It was a lot of fun to be caught in the middle of that. One of the highlights of the trip really.<br />
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On Saturday we rode the alpine slide but I didn't get any pictures and we went to a local candy store.<br />
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Sunday we just drove through Teton National Park and Yellowstone a little. Such a pretty area. And we saw moose and bison.<br />
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Monday we went swimming at the Grand Targhee resort in Driggs. That was fun. The pool is just steps away from a ski lift. It was an unusual setting for a swimming pool-which made it even more fun.<br />
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That night we went to the Bar J Wranglers show-a Western show with a chuck wagon dinner before it and the lots of cowboy singing. The kids loved it...until they fell asleep. Here's just a few pictures from before the show:<br />
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Here's our friends the Thurmans: (dang-someone took a nice picture of them!)<br />
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We didn't get a good picture of us at that point because we had grumpy kids who were being disciplined.<br />
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Tuesday we drove home. In the middle of all of this fun we had movie nights and game nights and lots of treats and laughing and fun-both from the kids and the adults. So much fun!<br />
<span id="goog_226959815"></span>Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-11567276257697586072014-06-17T11:41:00.003-07:002014-06-17T11:41:48.143-07:00Kindergarten Grad<div style="text-align: left;">
I think it's a little funny how kids "graduate" all the time now, not just at the end of high school or college. So here's hoping that these two little best friends still feel the same about each other at high school graduation as they did at the end of kindergarten graduation: </div>
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(Dal and his best friend Logan.) </div>
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Dallen's teacher did a very cute little graduation ceremony at the end of the school year for his class:<br />
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I helped in his class a lot this year so I love to see all those cute little people. Dal's other best friend, Carson, is sitting to the left of him in this picture. <br />
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Here's the big guy getting his diploma:<br />
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And throwing his cap at the end of the ceremony:<br />
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This kid's a ham! He had the best experience in Kindergarten. His teacher, Mrs. Brown, was fantastic and he had a great group of friends in his class. He learned to read really well and so far has spent a lot of the summer buried in a book. Love it!<br />
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<br />Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-63041970599670144682014-02-02T20:35:00.004-08:002014-02-02T20:35:44.029-08:00The Day I Thought I Would DieThere are a number of things that, had you asked me in early November if I would ever do in my life, I would have said no. Wear skinny jeans? Nope. Earrings? Nada-the holes have closed. Put on a pair of trendy boots? Who are you kidding? Run a half marathon? You've got to be kidding me! <br />
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I don't know what happened?! By mid January I had done ALL OF THOSE THINGS. It's like something possessed me. Weird.<br />
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The weirdest though was definitely running the half. Before November I'd never run more than 4 miles at one time in my whole life. And I had only done that once (and it was a year before). Typically I ran 2-3 miles several times a week and felt good about life. (I should say though that just a short year and a half ago I swore I would never be a runner, so even the running thing is a little weird.)<br />
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Then one Saturday morning I went out for a run with a few of my friends. When they announced that they were running 4 I said-that's great! I'll run my 3 and see you at the finish line. But when I hit the 3 mile mark I felt fine so I decided to go a little farther until I had run 4 and a quarter. And you know what? It felt GOOD!<br />
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Same thing happened at 5 miles. I started to think maybe I liked running a little farther. Then they wanted me to do 7 miles. I did. That was the day after I had a stomach bug, so it didn't go well and I wanted to die. But somehow they convinced me to keep going.<br />
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Anyway, I ended up training up to 9.5 miles and then bowed out of any further training because of a foot injury that I didn't want to exacerbate.<br />
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Over Martin Luther King weekend we headed down to St. George and I did it. I ran a half marathon. My first and last. Seriously. That was HARD! I was cruising along feeling GREAT up until about mile 9 or 10 and then I hit a WALL. This course was very hilly and we had trained on a track (ie. flat). It was just hard.<br />
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But I did it and I feel great about it.<br />
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I ran the whole thing with this lady. We got each other through and truthfully, she's the reason I did it. (Why am I friends with her?!) There's a sweet deal in it for me though. She's now not allowed to ever move away from the town we live in. Which means I will have a good rest of my life. Which was worth 2 and a half hours of pain. (I look a little like a goon but hey-I just ran 13.1 miles!) <br />
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Here are the other half marathon runners that I went down with:<br />
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And the whole group that went down. (Three smart ones didn't run.)<br />
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And can I just say that I LOVE these ladies and I am so glad to be friends with them. They are neat people and we had a ton of fun. It was 65 that day so after the race we hot tubbed, ate, laid in the sunshine, talked, played games and just had a blast. I am so happy to have found such great friends so soon after moving here. </div>
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Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-49764905877579906652013-11-12T21:13:00.000-08:002013-11-12T21:13:58.630-08:004 Wheeling DreamsLast Saturday our friends from the ward/neighborhood took us 4 wheeling. This is not something we have ever done before. I've gone 4 wheeling and so has Josh, but we've never done it as a family, so this was a step out for us.<br />
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If you know Dallen, you can imagine that he was in heaven. He got to ride on the back of a 4 Wheeler with our 15 year old friend Whitney for a longer ride that we all went on and she went faster and higher than the rest of us and he loved it. Every time they passed us he stuck out one hand with a big thumbs up.<br />
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Jack loved driving the kid sized 4 wheeler himself:<br />
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Adam got in on the action too! Don't worry, he's strapped on! <br />
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All of the boys had fun. I should have gotten pictures of Nathan and Dallen driving too, but suffice it to say, it was a hit all around! <br />
<br />Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-32030264998190359812013-11-10T20:20:00.000-08:002013-11-10T20:20:23.714-08:00A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch We went to Denver to visit back in October and while we were there we hit up a really fun pumpkin patch! I really love going to pumpkin patches. It reminds me of my Wisconsin days. I took a whole bunch of pictures, so here they are in no particular order:<br />
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Adam posing with Uncle Scott:</div>
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Dal being cute:</div>
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And brave. (Always climbing to the top of something-most recently it's the door frames of our house):</div>
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And swinging! He always does that pointing thing when he thinks he's being cool. I love it:</div>
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Here's Jack swinging:</div>
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Here's cousin James driving the tractor:</div>
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Nathan riding the kiddie train. He barely fits!</div>
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We also met up with my cousins. Here's my cousin Rachel's little boy Noah:<br />
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And Noah again: (frankly I would like to take him home with me)</div>
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OK, loved this moment. Adam discovered his pockets and walked around with both hands in them:</div>
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Here's my cousin Sarah with her daughter Jade:</div>
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Adam in the train:</div>
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And the whole gang of boys on the tractor out front: </div>
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Right after that Adam fell under the tractor and whacked his head and got a massive goose egg! Poor guy! Fun trip! Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-55534707920547788042013-10-31T19:59:00.003-07:002013-10-31T19:59:43.394-07:00Happy Halloween! It's a Halloween miracle! I'm adding something to my blog. I have more to add...lots more, but for now I will just get these pictures up with the promise of more to come.<br />
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We've had a crazy busy Halloween-I helped in 2 class parties, did the parade thing, and all the rest. Trick or treating tonight was about as good as it gets, the boys had a blast, and now that they are in bed...I can eat their candy.<br />
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Here's the 4 in their costumes:<br />
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We've got Crazy Horse the Indian chief:<br />
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The world's CUTEST Elmo: <br />
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Jay from Ninjago (a Ninja): <br />
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And Donatello, the Ninja Turtle: <br />
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Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-54953595125605185582013-07-24T16:33:00.001-07:002013-07-24T16:36:13.677-07:00The Beast Turns 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The final birthday in the month of June-just four short days after his dad's birthday (which I didn't blog about-sorry Josh)-Adam turned 2. In our home Adam is also known as Beast. I can't remember where this nickname came from and really it's only fitting some of the time. Most of the time he's a dream. Sometimes he's a beast. Either way we ADORE this kid!</div>
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It was an extra fun birthday because Grandma happened to be in town for it. We did a few of Adam's favorite things to celebrate the day. We went to see ducks (he LOVES ducks) and feed them at the park, we also swung on the swings (another of his favorite things) and we went to get "kinks" (drinks) at Sonic because they kid is always in need of a drink. </div>
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That evening we had the uncles over for cupcakes and hotdogs. Of course we had to have duck cupcakes (a little bit goofy looking but I figured Adam didn't care too much):</div>
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The thing about being the 4th boy in a family is that you HAVE to do everything just like your big brothers. Adam loves to sing happy birthday and throw in some Cha cha chas because that's what his brothers do. He was SO excited!!!</div>
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Here's a video of him being sung to:</div>
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There's just no denying it, this kid is loveable! At book club last night my friends all got talking about Adam and how in love with him they are and they just want to squeeze him. He's sitting right next to me right now all excited about watching that video of himself, singing, clapping and just being adorable in every way. I think I might eat him he's so cute. And squeezy. And loveable.<br />
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A few things about Adam.<br />
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He loves drinks. Do not leave home without a drink or you will pay dearly.<br />
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He adores his big brothers Nani, Kack and DalDal and wants to do everything like them. He MUST sit in a chair at the table, not a high chair. He MUST have the same things they have. He MUST be part of the gang.<br />
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He loves pop music. His favorite song is You Don't Know You're Beautiful by One Direction. He goes crazy when it comes on the radio and sings along and dances. He can sing along with a lot of me and his brother's favorite songs. Today he even sang along with the jingle on the radio-"80s, 90s, NOW!" Cracked me up! <br />
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He is at the 3% for height (hey we hit the charts!!!), 50% for weight and, wait for it....99% for head! No wonder he took so long to walk! His big old noggin' made it hard!<br />
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He has started saying a few funny phrases. "I don't care" and "No fair" are cracking me up. He says them all the time lately but completely out of context. It's so funny.<br />
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He's got an opinion, but what 2 year old doesn't.<br />
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He loves to hug. Whenever I tell him someone is coming over or that we are going to go see someone he informs me he's going to hug them. For example-"Adam, guess who's coming over tonight? Uncle Jas!" and Adam instantly says "hhhhhhuuuuuggggg."<br />
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He's got all the kids that we are friends with in love with him too. When we go to the park or the pool I have tons of babysitters because everyone wants to play with Adam. <br />
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We absolutely adore this addition to our family. Who wouldn't?!Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-69644354359158534932013-07-21T21:25:00.002-07:002013-07-21T21:30:24.497-07:00It's Great to be 8! Part 2My handsome Jack was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on July 6th and it was a wonderful day! The baptism included 3 other kids from our ward at church, so it was a big one-in the chapel with lots of people.<br />
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The main thing Jack will probably remember from his baptism day? The water in the font was cold because the heater was broken and he had to be dunked 3 times! Makes for memories.<br />
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He was so excited and giddy through the whole baptism service. After his confirmation as he walked back to his seat he was just glowing with happiness. I loved seeing it and knowing he was feeling the Spirit. <br />
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Here are some pictures from the big day.<br />
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So excited before the baptism:</div>
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Baptism boy sporting his new suit: </div>
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With the family:<br />
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The brothers: (love this picture!)</div>
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With Daddy:</div>
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And the proud Mama:</div>
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He had both sets of grandparents there:</div>
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One set of Great Grandparents:</div>
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His Aunt Natalie, Uncle Alex, and cousins Daniel and Zachary:</div>
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And the Allen uncles:</div>
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Who get a little crazy: </div>
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After the baptism we had a little party back at our house with family. Here he is with the cake he picked out:</div>
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It was a wonderful day and he's a wonderful kid. </div>
<br />Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-40507243033106861032013-07-14T21:30:00.002-07:002013-07-14T21:30:51.051-07:00It's Great to be 8! Part 1Birthday number 2 for the month of June. I'll admit, I always feel a little sad for Jack that his birthday is right after Nathan's. Often he gets the same presents so there aren't too many surprises and often I am a little exhausted by Jack's bday and don't put as much effort into it as I might otherwise.<br />
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Still, I think the kiddo had a great day!<br />
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We started the day out with his birthday party, then went and played with a bunch of friends for a while and then had a party with Josh's family that night. Jack chose Nachos and Tostadas for his dinner and a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake for dessert.<br />
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Jack's birthday party was Lego Star War themed. He invited 9 kids I think and only 3 showed up which was disappointing! I think that we underestimated how many people would be out of town the very first week of summer. But the kids that came had fun.<br />
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We started the party by making Light Sabers and then I like them have a light saber duel. This was only moderately successful. There was a lot of complaining over broken light sabers...<br />
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Here's the guys (Jack, Kaden, Trey and Lars):<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9MUgKTIjcJA/UeN4BQZXBzI/AAAAAAAADtY/Puv66guj0JU/s1600/Lighsabers.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9MUgKTIjcJA/UeN4BQZXBzI/AAAAAAAADtY/Puv66guj0JU/s640/Lighsabers.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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They also did an obstacle course with their Light Sabers that Jack and his friend Trey put together. Then we had pizza and did a pinata. They had to whack Darth Maul with a Light Saber stick to break him open: <br />
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Here they are preparing to whack him. <br />
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Here's the birthday cake. It's the Death Star:</div>
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Here's the kids eating cake:</div>
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Like I said, later that night we had a family party. Here's his cake from that:<br />
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Jack is a great kid. Again, like I said with Nathan, I feel like I write the same things every year, but that's ok because it's who Jack is. </div>
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Jack is our tender kid. He love snuggles and baby animals. Of course those things aren't quite as apparent as when he was little, but he still loves a good snuggle and if he's mad all you have to do is scratch his back and he snaps out of it. </div>
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Jack is a hard worker. I ALWAYS know which kid is going to have his chores done first in the morning-it's Jack. He is responsible and I can count on him.</div>
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He's getting good at soccer. He scored in just about every soccer game this year. </div>
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He's an amazing reader! He's read lots and lots of chapter books that are on probably about a 5th grade level and just loves them. </div>
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He doesn't eat much. Nachos and cheese and maybe the inside of rolls. </div>
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One thing I have learned about Jack in the last year is that it is very effective to parent him by leaving choices in his hands. He says he's not going to do something that he is supposed to and all I have to do is say "that's fine, it's your choice" and he inevitably makes the right choice. This is much more effective than forcing him. I am hoping this carries us through his teenage years but I realize the stakes will be much higher then and it will be riskier to leave choices up to him. But I hope we are laying the ground work for that now while the consequences don't matter nearly as much. </div>
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I love this kid so much. He was baptized last week and that's the next post you'll see on this blog. It was a very special day. </div>
<br />Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-88681906318100661962013-06-16T22:44:00.000-07:002013-06-16T22:44:18.507-07:00Nathan's the Big 1-0!It's birthday month in our house and the second string of birthdays is about to start...so, I figured I better blog about the first two before the next two hit.<br />
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Nathan's big 1-0 hit just a couple of days after school got
out...unfortunately on a Sunday. Not too much fun to have a birthday on a
Sunday but we did our best to make it fun. He of course opened presents
and he chose to have pizza poppers (like mini calzones) for dinner and
cookie dough eggrolls for his birthday treat. (That's my boy!) We had the uncles over to celebrate:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OhkwCxGUGeQ/Ub6at20-A3I/AAAAAAAADqw/4lmc6F85KhQ/s1600/Nathansbday.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OhkwCxGUGeQ/Ub6at20-A3I/AAAAAAAADqw/4lmc6F85KhQ/s640/Nathansbday.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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But the real fun started the next day...when we had his birthday party! He invited a crew of boys over for a Plants vs. Zombies (it's an ipad game) Party!<br />
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Here's the crazy bunch:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-__IR6mNAqv4/Ub6avIUvzqI/AAAAAAAADrA/08U26cuu_bw/s1600/Pizza%21.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-__IR6mNAqv4/Ub6avIUvzqI/AAAAAAAADrA/08U26cuu_bw/s640/Pizza%21.png" width="640" /></a></div>
We had pizza and cake and ice cream and did a bunch of wild games involving zombies trying to attack and plants fighting them off (weird I know-who makes up this stuff?. <br />
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Here they are chucking large marshmallows at each other:<br />
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And we did a pinata-painted by dad (we just used a box we had on hand and dad painted it up with characters from Plants vs. Zombies):<br />
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Here's Nathan with one of his best friends Sam: <br />
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And another best friend Blake:<br />
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Nathan has a good group of kids in the neighborhood to hang out with and I love it. These are good kids that he had at his party.<br />
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And here's the pretty awesome zombie cake. It took me all of 10 minutes to decorate and the kiddos all LOVED it. Nice. <br />
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It's funny. A friend drove past the house when the parties were going on (Jack's was the next day-more on that later) and commented that with all those little boys running around having a ball it looked like a perfect ad for happy family life. Funny she said that. We had tears at both parties, grouchiness, meanness, the works. But in the end I think we had a good time. (Just didn't want anyone to think these parties were perfect. No blog facade here.)<br />
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I love this picture of Nathan. <br />
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It's so him. Such a sweet joy and innocence in that face.<br />
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I feel like every year I list the things I love about my boys and every year it's the same because I still love the same things. This is true with Nathan. I say it every year, but the thing I think I love most about him is the way that he is so unassuming when he interacts with people. He doesn't care if you are rich or poor, smart or dumb, tall or short, or growing three legs. Fact is he probably wouldn't notice (observation would not be listed among his strengths). He's just going to be nice to you and treat you the same as anyone else. The kids at school have caught on to this and they are all his friends. I've sat at lunch at school with him and was surprised how many kids stopped to say "hi Nathan!" Now, in true Nathan form he didn't actually notice most of them saying hi because he was in his own world, but I could tell that they liked him.<br />
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Nathan is happiest when left to his own schedule. It's hard during the school year because he hates to be rushed SO much. Summer is perfect for him because he can take things more at his own pace. I toyed with the idea of putting him on a swim team this summer but just couldn't bring myself to do it because it's at 9 every morning and he would hate being rushed out the door for it. He just likes to be able to move slowly and do things when he is ready to do them. He is very much like his dad and his dad's dad in this way and in many other ways.<br />
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Nathan is PERFECTLY content to be by himself drawing, writing or reading. He is becoming a talented little artist and can draw and draw for hours. He loves to read (love that about him) and he loves to learn. I'm sometimes surprised at how long he can entertain himself quietly in a corner. <br />
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He still dresses up in costumes all the time. All the time. He's been this way since he was little.<br />
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It's fun to have him getting older and to be able to see more clearly his strengths and his weaknesses and just who he really is. And to figure out ways to parent him and what he needs in life. And to just really get to know and understand him. As he grows I can see his strengths-kindness, intelligence, a desire to do good-so clearly and I can understand the things he struggles with-keeping a cheerful attitude and recognizing the good in his life and being responsible-more clearly and I can better help him grow to be the man I want him to be. I love it. I love watching him grow and progress.<br />
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Nathan's a good kid. I love him and I can't believe he's been in my life for 10 years now! Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-42216106800578115852013-05-26T22:06:00.002-07:002013-05-26T22:08:03.981-07:00NYCA week ago right now I was in a hotel room in the middle of Manhattan all by myself and I was nervous. Well, I was actually asleep at this point, but if I had been awake I would have been nervous.<br />
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My blog (not this one, the Crazy Little Projects one) actually sent me on a trip to NYC. Well, not my blog, but a company I work with through my blog. Amazing! I never dreamed blogging would take me there, especially not this early on in my blogging career. I was so excited but also a little nervous.<br />
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I was nervous to navigate the streets of Manhattan entirely alone, a little worried about safety and pretty worried about the trade show event that I was attending for my blog. It wasn't a blogging event and I knew that I would be a little bit out of my element and I was a little worried about it.<br />
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A week later I can say that I had success in all areas. The trip was fantastic, I navigated Manhattan easily and the blogging event went great!<br />
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Here are some details from my trip, mostly because I want to remember them. It really was a great trip. And also a few lessons I learned.<br />
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Lesson #1: Lane lines are completely optional in NYC. I had heard that driving in Manhattan was nutty and that taxi drivers are the worst. This trip gave new meaning to the line in Elf about watching out for the yellow ones, they don't stop. That's serious. My ride from the airport to my hotel was astonishing. The guy driving couldn't have been a worse driver. I'm talking skipping past long lines of cars waiting to pay tolls and forcing his way in at the front of the line, coming inches from running pedestrians down and the likes. Welcome to NYC.<br />
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I had hoped to go to Central Park and wander around that evening but it was very rainy and very cold. So I got dinner and then went to my hotel. People watching from the diner on a corner was a nice intro to NYC though:<br />
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Monday I headed to the trade show. It was pretty great except that the part that I was really there for was much, much smaller than I expected. I made some great contacts and did what I came to do, but I am not going to go into details about all of that. Just know that it went well and it was good to push myself a little and make the good contacts there. </div>
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Later that evening I began to wander NYC a little. </div>
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Lesson #2: I am not good at recognizing major landmarks in NYC. </div>
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As I left the convention center and walked to the subway station I saw a neat building up ahead. So neat that I took a picture. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOzN1f1AuAs/UaLjnoi-zOI/AAAAAAAADpU/Rzdvyo4ksA8/s1600/NYC2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOzN1f1AuAs/UaLjnoi-zOI/AAAAAAAADpU/Rzdvyo4ksA8/s640/NYC2.jpg" width="480" /></a> </div>
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And thought to myself 'that's a big building. I wonder what building that is.' </div>
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Fast forward 2 days when I was about to leave NYC I decided I needed to take a quick trip to see the Empire State Building before leaving town. And as I walked up to where it stands....I realized I had seen it two days earlier. And not realized it. Smart, smart girl. </div>
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Anyway, back to my first day. I took my first subway ride:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_rFr6FvZnLM/UaLjnuLzYOI/AAAAAAAADpQ/iZqcq-8RKI8/s1600/NYC3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_rFr6FvZnLM/UaLjnuLzYOI/AAAAAAAADpQ/iZqcq-8RKI8/s640/NYC3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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And then did some walking to see the Statue of Liberty:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ameJ-OvWZaA/UaLjn7yidbI/AAAAAAAADpc/jLGg-I4uK1Q/s1600/NYC4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ameJ-OvWZaA/UaLjn7yidbI/AAAAAAAADpc/jLGg-I4uK1Q/s640/NYC4.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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And the World Trade Center Memorial. This is a pond that is where the South tower used to stand. They also have one where the North tower stood:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vFk_sGTQ9Gg/UaLjoMJb7uI/AAAAAAAADpk/6x5WMAj3UOo/s1600/NYC5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vFk_sGTQ9Gg/UaLjoMJb7uI/AAAAAAAADpk/6x5WMAj3UOo/s640/NYC5.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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And all around the ponds they have the names of everyone who died. These are first response fire fighters.<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQqMVPKXO1A/UaLjoF0s0bI/AAAAAAAADpo/TYUbjg7yB9U/s1600/NYC6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQqMVPKXO1A/UaLjoF0s0bI/AAAAAAAADpo/TYUbjg7yB9U/s640/NYC6.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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I also hit the Shake Shack that day because it had been recommended by so many people. It was pretty great. </div>
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After day 1 I was no longer nervous about negotiating NYC streets. That part was easy. </div>
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The next day I had time to hit the Manhattan LDS temple. I had heard people say this, but I was floored by this temple. You are walking down the busy, crowded streets of Manhattan and out of the blue, there's the temple. You wouldn't even recognize it if I didn't have Angel Moroni on top. </div>
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And then to walk through the doors. The contrast from that busy, noisy, dirty, crowded city to the peace and quiet of that temple is so powerful. Such a strong symbolism in leaving the world behind. The temple itself is so tiny and quiet. When I left that session and walked back out into Manhattan it was almost like walking into a wall, I was that taken aback by the contrast. (And by the way, this was just about a 5 minute walk from my hotel. Loved that!)</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xUOreqbWCEs/UaLjmc3wI0I/AAAAAAAADoo/VRpBLWA5cho/s1600/NYC11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xUOreqbWCEs/UaLjmc3wI0I/AAAAAAAADoo/VRpBLWA5cho/s640/NYC11.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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I also hit Time's Square and got a great price on a ticket to Cinder<u>e</u>lla! </div>
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Cinderella was AMAZING!!! LOVED it! My favorite part were the mind blowing moments when Cinderella's dress changes as she spins in a circle on stage. This was the #1 highlight of my trip. </div>
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Other highlights:</div>
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On the roof if my hotel I discovered a beautiful sitting area. I laid on a lounge chair out there and read for about an hour 1 evening and watched the sun set. It was gorgeous. This was probably my next favorite part of my trip. </div>
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Here are some views from up there. This is looking South over Manhattan: </div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdk1ji2TFN8/UaLjomBCPII/AAAAAAAADp0/86tWy3yYIiM/s1600/NYC8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdk1ji2TFN8/UaLjomBCPII/AAAAAAAADp0/86tWy3yYIiM/s640/NYC8.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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And this is looking West over the Hudson as the sun set. </div>
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And here it is a night fall:</div>
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I ate lunch in Central park one day and walked around a little. But I admit that it was very hot and very humid that day and I was just worn out and happy to go back to my hotel room. <br />
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This is the entrance to Central park about 1 block from my hotel. </div>
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And last I've got to show you my crazy hotel room. I found the cheapest one available in Manhattan and it was still $300 a night. So when I walked in to this I was floored. It was about 10 feet square and that was it. And there was just a window and a sheer curtain dividing the bathroom shower from the bed. Glad I wasn't sharing this room with anyone! <br />
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Anyway, it was a fantastic trip, I learned a lot, grew as a person and had a ball! But I was SO happy to come home. And my boys were so sweet saying things like "I really missed you while you were gone!"Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-41233147797630748652013-04-07T21:15:00.000-07:002013-04-07T21:15:02.279-07:00Easter For Easter this year we had my parents in town. A true Easter miracle. They live 8 hours away driving (1 hour flying) but somehow we can't ever seem to get them to come visit. But this time they did! Hooray!!!<br />
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Then, in the first couple days when we had sick and grouchy kids I understood. I wouldn't want to visit us either.<br />
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No, really, we had fun. Here's just a couple of pictures for Easter Sunday. <br />
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Me and the boys decorated cupcakes. <br />
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Lots of cupcakes. <br />
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We tried a new technique for dying eggs this year which the boys loved. Here's Dal doing it: <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wKG4WNUkqQ/UWJDLCkUYLI/AAAAAAAADeg/KqgVPacL-jQ/s1600/Egg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wKG4WNUkqQ/UWJDLCkUYLI/AAAAAAAADeg/KqgVPacL-jQ/s1600/Egg.png" /></a> </div>
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Here's a couple of sillies: <br />
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<br />And one sick baby. <br />
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Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-67060983358470857602013-03-12T21:56:00.000-07:002013-03-12T21:56:20.823-07:00Home of a BoB Champion!Time for a little mom brag. We now house a champion under our roof. A Battle of the Books Champion.<br />
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Each year at our elementary school the PTA hosts a Battle of the Books. The 3-6th graders have a list of 20 books to read throughout the year and then in March they have a competition with trivia questions.<br />
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Last year Nathan's team made it to the finals but ended up losing there (in other words they got 2nd place overall).<br />
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This year Nathan's team made it to the finals. Here they are. The Reading Machines:<br />
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They compete in front of the whole school in an assembly. They turn out the lights, put on some strobes and all the contestants run into the room (so much fun!) and there was a special guest:<br />
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Who posed with all of the finalists:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ErhqJ5IaEF8/UUAF4wtMzII/AAAAAAAADdo/hdxTnLZenUc/s1600/Withcosmo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ErhqJ5IaEF8/UUAF4wtMzII/AAAAAAAADdo/hdxTnLZenUc/s640/Withcosmo.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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So much fun!<br />
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Here they are, set to go into the competition. It's 3rd and 4th graders and these are the top 2 teams:<br />
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And guess who won?!!? My Nathan. I was so proud of him. He read all 20 books (only about 20 kids in the school did that) and totally carried his team (mom brag).<br />
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Here he is getting his trophy:<br />
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Here he is with Grammy who came to watch:<br />
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So proud of my Snood!Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-72434722616279483662013-01-27T21:10:00.004-08:002013-01-27T21:10:58.453-08:00Top 10 Reasons Why Dallen is RadDal's birthday was about 2 weeks ago (so sad because he was sick on the big day. Totally lame when you've been counting down to your birthday for like 7 months). So today, in honor of him turning 5, let me share with you the Top Ten Reasons Why Dallen is Totally and Completely Rad.<br />
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10. He's happy like 95% of them time.</div>
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9. He's silly and goofy and a total blast to hang out with.<br />
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8. He likes meat. Favorite meal? Ribs. Followed by steak, ham, bacon and pork.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKF41Jj_awA/UQYFkScMMEI/AAAAAAAADbY/EWR_h2Bc0AU/s1600/Silly.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gKF41Jj_awA/UQYFkScMMEI/AAAAAAAADbY/EWR_h2Bc0AU/s640/Silly.jpg" width="428" /></a> </div>
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7. He loves pop music-favorite song: We Are Never Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift. But he can sing better than her. Just ask him to demonstrate sometime. You won't be sorry.<br />
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6. He has a ton of enthusiasm for everything and isn't afraid to try anything.<br />
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5. When he gets mad about something, he fights a good battle. Like 2 hours on the toilet refusing to wipe himself even though I told him I most definitely would not be doing it (since he is fully trained in that area).<br />
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4. He can do a headstand for hours. (And with completely straight legs now.)<br />
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3. Yes, that's a back flip and yes, he can land it. </div>
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2.He can do this.</div>
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1. He's just fantastic. I love him a million. Wouldn't you?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ip9XBkeBzmg/UQYFfizEycI/AAAAAAAADbQ/vUVcPhvH8XI/s1600/Dallen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ip9XBkeBzmg/UQYFfizEycI/AAAAAAAADbQ/vUVcPhvH8XI/s640/Dallen.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-10111789990667525152013-01-13T21:15:00.002-08:002013-01-13T21:15:53.922-08:00Best Christmas EverSometimes in the past me and Josh have professed to love the Christmas season but not love the actual day all that much. It seems like in years past we have sometimes had grumpy, overstimulated kids or boredom by the end of the day. Not our favorite.<br />
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This year, somehow, was just about perfect.All morning Josh and I kept looking at each other sort of in disbelief-what's going on? This is amazing! The kids were so good, so happy and it was just so much fun.<br />
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Looking back through these pictures just made me happy all over again. Perfect Christmas.<br />
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These pictures of my 4 boys in their Christmas jammies on Christmas morning make me soooo happy. They look like total goofballs and that's great, because that's what they are. (I made the jammie bottoms. Nathan's split right up the bum later that morning. Bummer!)<br />
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Adam has a thing for ducks, so he got a of ducks for Christmas. Every time he opened one, he kissed it on the beak. It was fantastic! <br />
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Exhibit A:<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LFBiWCc4BRQ/UPOSPacl6dI/AAAAAAAADZg/284oEgO4kGA/s1600/Kiss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LFBiWCc4BRQ/UPOSPacl6dI/AAAAAAAADZg/284oEgO4kGA/s640/Kiss.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />Exhibit B:<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ie7ucIk1DoY/UPOSPL_v9OI/AAAAAAAADZY/0zTzLv2ahQY/s1600/Duckkiss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ie7ucIk1DoY/UPOSPL_v9OI/AAAAAAAADZY/0zTzLv2ahQY/s640/Duckkiss.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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He did it with the one from Grandma and Grandpa too but I didn't catch that on camera. He loves his ducks!<br />
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I love this picture of Adam enjoying his new Christmas book from Santa. <br />
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Jack got the Destroyer Dome that he was hoping for! Good old Santa. </div>
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Dal was happy to be the recipient of the big mystery package under the tree. It's great to be the little guy but have the biggest present. <br />
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(It was a snowboard.)<br />
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Here's Nathan when he opened his Monster Jam ticket:<br />
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And I love the sheer joy on his face in this one. It's so Nathanish. It's just a box of markers but he's so thrilled! <br />
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Jack has been begging me for long time to make him a stuffed leopard to match his pillow. He got it for Christmas. (On a side note, Jack had counted all the presents under the tree and discovered that he had 1 less than his brothers. He informed me that I hated him and that he was the least favorite child. I was still working on the leopard. He took his words back when he saw it.) He named him Snuggle Buddy:<br />
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Adam, fat and happy with his Goldfish from his stocking:<br />
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I feel so happy. What a great Christmas. Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-59097730799886761822012-12-25T22:03:00.002-08:002012-12-25T22:03:11.474-08:00Merry Christmas to All! For a long time I have mourned the passing of a timeless tradition...the sending of Christmas cards. Each year I notice fewer and fewer cards stuffed into my mailbox and it's made me sad. I love getting those cards in the mail, especially after moving so many times and missing old friends.<br />
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In spite of those sentiments, this year I made a conscious decision...not to send Christmas cards. I don't know why it happened. Something was different about me this year at Christmas. I took it slightly slower and I enjoyed it a lot more. And Christmas cards were just one of those things I cut out.<br />
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But I knew that I could post a virtual "Christmas card" on my blog for all to see. It's sweet, it's simple and it does not include the yearly Christmas poem written by Josh. I asked him to do one, but I guess he is cutting back on his Christmas activities too. So we'll just stick to a simple update.<br />
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<b>Adam:</b><br />
He's 18 months old now. He is *almost* walking finally (as in he'll walk halfway across a room if you are holding an M&M for him but he's not so sure if he is interested otherwise.) He's had some digestive issues for the last month or more that are finally getting cleared up and it's honestly like we have a new kid on our hands. He is so happy and so sweet (when he's feeling good). He *talks* quite a bit though he doesn't articulate super well so me and Josh are probably the only ones who can understand most of what he says. He is still obsessed with Ducks and he got a lot of them for Christmas. As he opened each one he gasped, then kissed it on the beak and sang "duck duck duck" while rocking back and forth. (This is his attempt at singing "Do the Rubber Duck" from Sesame Street.)<br />
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<b>Dallen:</b><br />
Dallen still spends most of his time upside down...and he's getting even better at it. We've got him enrolled in a tumbling class and, I'm going to brag a little here, they made a very rare exception for him to go up to the beginning class instead of the preschool class because he is so good. He's learning back bends and hand stands and pike jumps. But when he is left to his own devices on a trampoline he can now land a back flip. He'll be 5 in three weeks. He is WAY too much fun to hang out with everyday. Other than the battles over what to wear each morning and which person should wipe him after he goes potty (me or him?), he's an easy to take care of little guy. Some words of wisdom from Dal before bedtime recently..."go to the bathroom once, pee the bed. Go to the bathroom twice, pee the bed. Go to the bathroom three times, don't pee the bed."<br />
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<b>Jack:</b><br />
This has been a great year for Jack. He is in second grade and has a whole crew of friends who live in the neighborhood, go to school with him and go to church with him and he has a fantastic teacher at school. He is in the middle of reading the Percy Jackson series and absolutely loves it. He's already worried about what he's going to do when he is done reading it. He's still my snuggle bug although his idea of "snuggles" lately usually involves me giving him a back rub or a leg rub or something. His big thing right now is Bey Blades-they're little spinning top things that battle each other and are all the rage with second grade boys. Jack got so good at soccer this year-scored a goal in almost every game-and also likes to do handstands with Dallen.<br />
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<b>Nathan:</b><br />
Nathan's also in the middle (or should I say near the end) of the Percy Jackson series and is so worried about finishing it that he only reads it a little each day instead of racing through it. He loves to draw his own comic strips all the time and got a magic set for Christmas so he's spent the day learning now to do magic tricks. He also is loving having good friends in the neighborhood who are also at school and church. He and one of his friends have a very similar sense of humor and start laughing the minute they are together. Nathan is very "punny" He likes to find plays on words and make them into jokes and he's really pretty good at it! Our ward split in August and it took a while for Cub Scouts to get up and running again but it is now and he loves that!<br />
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Josh:<br />
Josh just finished his second semester teaching Organic Chemistry and went a little easier on his students this time. The average on his final was in the 70's instead of the 50's this time. Still, he's breaking a few hearts of students with dreams of med school. He got a HUGE telescope for Christmas and will be learning to use it in the coming weeks, so if you ever want to have a gander at the night sky, he's your man. He's also completely obsessed with root beer. If you want to win his heart over, must buy him some root beer.<br />
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Me:<br />
Other than being a mommy to 4 wonderful little boys I keep myself busy with my business (which I am completely sick of and ready to sell this year) and my craft blog-http://www.crazylittleprojects.com (which I just started in March and completely love and spend way too much time on. I also do all the typical busy mom things like volunteering at the school, helping with homework, getting to know all the new people in our neighborhood and all that jazz. I have a great life.<br />
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And with that I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-45034572828986391162012-12-14T14:07:00.000-08:002012-12-14T14:07:00.545-08:00Mean Old MomDo you see what a mean mom I am? Dressed him up all fancy for church.<br />
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Oh the devastation:</div>
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Complete travesty:</div>
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Huge frustration: </div>
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I told you. I'm just plain mean.Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-91541404400177946282012-11-11T22:17:00.000-08:002012-11-11T22:17:01.073-08:00Feed the DucksAdam has a new obsession. Ducks. He was first introduced to live ducks about 1 month ago and hasn't stopped thinking about them and loving them since. He loves ducks. (And loves to say "duck.")<br />
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So, being the wonderful mother that I am, I took him and Dallen on a beautiful Fall afternoon to a nearby park that has a great duck pond and we fed the ducks. We had so much fun, in fact, that we did it two days in a row.<br />
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Here are some pictures to document our trip:<br />
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Adam checking out the ducks (and pointing at them and saying "duck") <br />
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Did you know ducks like popcorn? My grandpa taught me that. Here's Dal mid throw:<br />
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Dallen was very worried that Adam was going to fall in. So he held on tight:<br />
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We throw a little, we eat a little:<br />
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Can you believe how pretty this park is? My very favorite park in the area and it was a perfect Fall day:<br />
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Then we played on the playground. We did the swings:<br />
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Slid with big brother for our first time:<br />
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And of course had to spend some time upside down:<br />
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<br />Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-33877410426529543362012-10-28T19:48:00.000-07:002012-10-28T19:48:11.083-07:00Adam's WoesAdam is a pacifier baby. He LOVES his pacifier. For some reason he calls it his "Ba."<br />
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We have a new favorite activity with him and the ba though. If we pull out his ba, his response is always "uh oh!" Cracks me up. I pull it out all the time just to hear him say "uh oh."Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-29652557564003680312012-10-21T21:35:00.005-07:002012-10-21T21:36:20.360-07:00Monsters and Big Cats and Greek Gods, Oh My!I'm feeling pretty great that I got all 4 boys costumes done by the middle of October this year and took pictures of them so when it comes time for parties and trick or treating I am not frazzled.<br />
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Want to see them?<br />
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How about a darling little monster??<br />
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<a href="http://crazylittleprojects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Littlemonster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="How to make a monster costume for baby" class="aligncenter wp-image-783" height="623" src="http://crazylittleprojects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Littlemonster-685x1024.jpg" title="Crazy Little Projects: Monster Costume" width="418" /></a></div>
So cute and so snuggly! That's the softest fabric in the world. I am going to be squeezing him constantly. Plus, he'll be nice and warm. I plan to use that as his snow suit this year too. <br />
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They're fierce. And they haven't taken those costumes off since I finished them about 10 days ago. I love that. The cheetah even wore his to a college football game last Saturday. Definitely a hit with the coeds.<br />
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<a href="http://crazylittleprojects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Poseidoncostume.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="How to make a poseidon costume" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-785" height="702" src="http://crazylittleprojects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Poseidoncostume-685x1024.jpg" title="Crazy Little Projects: Poseidon Costume" width="470" /></a></div>
I love that Nathan wanted to be Poseidon. So cool! And easy to do. I sewed a simple toga type thing, bought a crown and glued seashells on it and bought a devil's pitchfork and spray painted it gold and Viola! Poseidon. Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412082997818065747.post-1375649224727781282012-10-15T17:00:00.000-07:002012-10-15T17:00:05.473-07:00Miniature Fire FightersThis past week we had a preschool field trip to the local fire station where they were having an open house. The kid got fire hats, free popcorn and cotton candy, saw a helicopter land, watched them put out a fire, went inside an ambulance and saw other demonstrations. It was so much fun that I took my two littles in the morning with the preschool group and then headed back after school with all 4 in tow.<br />
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Here's the preschool group. This is actually 3 groups worth of Joy School kids. We meet for field trips on Friday. Dal is on the far right:<br />
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And here's my little fire fighter who I caught playing with the hose to put out fire's that afternoon:<br />
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And the world's smallest Fire Chief:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mPhNeqfRM_A/UHuUglmKBcI/AAAAAAAADTg/NuEitp7M-5E/s1600/Firechief.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mPhNeqfRM_A/UHuUglmKBcI/AAAAAAAADTg/NuEitp7M-5E/s640/Firechief.jpg" width="640" /></a>Amber and The Boyshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05340696536678526622noreply@blogger.com1