The Marvell Family

JOHN CURTIS

2009-11-03T07:31:00.001-08:00

Vote for John Curtis!

PLEASE PLEASE...READ UP ON PROVO CITY CANDIDATES!

2009-09-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

WE'RE VOTING FOR.............

JOHN CURTIS - MAYOR

LAURA CABINILLA - CITYWIDE COUNCIL

STERLING BECK - DISTRICT 5 COUNCIL

WE WILL BE HOSTING A COTTAGE MEETING AT OUR HOME FOR STERING BECK AND LAURA CABINILLA IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME TO OUR HOME TO MEET THEM AND ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR CAMPAIGN.

http://www.provo.org/index.php?module=ibcms&fxn=elections.listofcandidates

The Dove Hunt 2009

2009-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

This morning at 4 AM at Gpa & Gma's house.... Zack slept over in full anticipation of the upcoming events of today. I think he looks more awake than the others.. what do you think? Maybe he should drive......

Mckay Jedediah Marvell.... 3 Months Old!

2009-08-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a while....

2009-03-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

You have to cut me a little slack, I'm not a very good 'pregnant person' and it takes all my energy to make it through the normal routine of the day, so blogging kinda came to a complete halt in December. BUT, I'm back (at least for now!) Hope Brittanie and Kaia don't mind, but I'm posting the grandkid picture that GMA Polly wanted taken last week. As you can see, Emmy was confused, Zack smiled just so he could hurry and be done, Kate is always smiling, Tyler didn't know what the crap was going on, Allyssa was sick of smiling and Carson was in the middle of his escape when she snapped the picture. All in all, I like it! :)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

2008-12-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

Guess you can't really tell from this picture of the arm......I'll give you a little hint... IT'S ANOTHER BOY!

The Deer Hunt

2008-11-27T06:26:00.001-08:00

I have to make a conscious effort to remind myself to update my blog periodically; pathetic, I know. Here is a picture of Zack's very first deer hunt. Grandpa Bruce leased some private land so far North it was almost on the Idaho border. It was so fun. Just Zack and I went from our little family. Dave, Brayden, Brody, Kaylyn & Jonny were there too. We got royal treatment (Zack and I) and got to sleep in the queen size bed in the camper. Needless to say, we woke up early, hiked the mountain and watched for deer. The weather was perfect, there were times I caught myself just sitting in a camp chair, reading a book and basking in the sun. Jed didn't understand why I would want to go deer hunting pregnant; I don't know what it is, but there is nothing more relaxing to me than being outdoors and camping... love it.

Dad & Me (almost) 26 years ago!

2008-11-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

Dad looks pretty buff.... age sure does a lot to the body huh? HA HA HA! jk

Hear Ye , Hear Ye

2008-11-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday, November 12th we are having a SHOE PARTY open house (at my house). EVERYONE is invited! Please come. The open house will be from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM. (No obligation to buy) They will have a trailer full of all sizes of shoes which allows for everyone to be able to try on their size right then and there. AND YOU CAN TAKE THEM HOME WITH YOU THAT NIGHT! They sell sizes 5 1/2 - 10 in womens and also have toddler and youth sizes too. Most shoes are $19.99 or under. You can check out their website before coming to see if you like any of the shoes. http://www.shoeparty.com/ Click on shoe parties, then shoe party calendar, find Kaia Billings' name, then you will find a link to the shoe selection. Hope to see you there!! :)

Halloween

2008-11-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

I'm always a 'little' slow on my posts... here's Halloween: The Marvell cousins just before they went trick-or-treating around Gma's neighborhood. Zack loves his cousins!!

Trick -or-treating on Center Street...
Mrs. Williams.. the sweetest, nicest lady ever. Zack loves her for his teacher. (She was the tooth fairy)

Carson, the flag, and Jed at our ward Halloween carnival. Zack and the girls helped me make and decorate 4 dozen cupcakes for the cake walk. It was fun.

The Flag Boy and The Motocross boy.

One more thing

2008-10-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question: Am I excited for this baby... WELL, it came a shock, that's for sure. BUT, since I feel it was obviously meant to be... I can't be mad about it. I can only be happy because I know He's watching out for me and helping guide my life in the way it should go. :)

Baby

2008-10-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

So, here is a little more information on the "baby issue": To make a really long story short, Doctors said my body was mimicking menopause and if I wanted to have more kids I would have to start fertility pills. He didn't know the chances of me getting pregnant even on fertility; he said, "We'll see". He asked if I wanted more kids right now, I said no. So, I continued to have problems and I went in for an ultrasound to see if I had any reprocussions from my last miscarriage. It went something like this, (Ultrastenographer) "The heart rate looks great, good and fast" (Jed) "What heart rate? Jess's"? (Ultrastenographer) "No the baby's heart rate" (Jess) "What Baby? There's still parts of a baby in there!?" (Ultrastenographer) "No (thinking we are totally weird at this point) There is a REAL baby in there, alive". (Jess) "How the heck did that get in there"?? Needless to say our conversation went on and it got funnier. I left sorta comatosed and so did Jed. We are going to have another baby. Crap. Not ready for that one; but I guess I will never be really ready. Mom pointed out that I have been saying for a while that I could probably get pregnant again when I knew what was wrong with Carson. The funny thing is that two days before the ultrasound was when we found out that Carson was probably going to go undiagnosed and the tests would cease from here on out. It was a huge relief to me, traveling to Primary Children's and back was a strain. I felt bad that he had to be poked and proded all the time. (Therapies are all I can handle right now) Another weird thing is that all during the two weeks prior to the ultrasound, I had had almost 16 viles of blood drawn on 4 different occasions to see what was up with my body and why it was doing the things it was.... NO PREGNANCY REPORTED. Guess they weren't looking for it. Fooled us all. Is there someone upstairs that has a plan for us? I'd say so! :) Oh yea, one more thing... I was on birth control during all of this too.

2008-10-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here it is.... pictures of our annual gardner village trip to witch-a-palooza. LOVED IT this year. It was by far the best it's ever been. Here we are posing with the main actor from the show. He was hilarious and the music selection was great this year. Brittanie totally had a crush on him.... ha ha. jk.

All of us at one big table. So glad I have a good mom who is always wanting to have fun with us. I'm so grateful that she treats us to events like this. I love the opportunity to go places with the girls and leave behind the kids for a couple hours. It's always a good excuse to take a shower and blow dry my hair... pathetic that it takes that for me to blow dry my hair, I know. Thanks mom.. you're the best mommy ever! lol.

Britt, Me, Kaylyn & Kaia. Two of us are pregnant. The other two are losers. LOL.

"The Red Barn" Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Carson doing his typical "hooray" when he's excited.

Britt & I took the kids to the pumpkin patch / hayride. The "deal" was they could pick any pumpkin they wanted IF they could carry it all the way back to the car. Britt was carrying Emmy in her arms and I had Carson, so neither of us were much help with the pumpkin carrying. It was probably for the best anyway because Zack was picking some real honkers which would've cost a fortune! :)

SIGH

2008-10-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

BABY #3 IN MAY.................

(sigh)

The Results Are In

2008-10-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

The results have come back from the last lab test we had to do for Carson (it was a long fatty acid chain sequence test...whatever that is...) and the results were normal!! Somehow I already knew; but it's good to have it officially ruled out. He has officially been tested for all Mitochondrial disorders, all genetic disorders and now all metabolic storage disorders and the Neurologist said that his brain is 'deformed' and he will be mentally and slightly physically handicap for the rest of his life. WE'LL TAKE IT!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) Can I breathe now?

Grandpa & Grandma's New Cabin Property

2008-10-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Taking a walk... checking out the future site of our family cabin! :)

We had a big family picnic (Kentucky Fried Chicken Style) at the new property.

It even came with two springs and an old camper. Grandpa couldn't resist spraying Zack with the freezing cold spring water!

Jed & Britt's Birthday Dinner at Gma & Gpa's House

2008-10-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

The FAMOUS ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SNOW CRAB DINNER MADE BY BRUCE HIMSELF!! YUMMMMMMMMY. Mom & Dad bought 60 lbs of snow crab for this glorious event! (They weren't kidding when they said it was "all-you-can-eat". The sad thing is that Jed doesn't like crab, actually, it's not too sad because there's more for me to eat. Dad made him a steak instead. Notice the huge stainless pot on the table.. that's the one holding the steamed crab, the other stainless bowls are for the shells. Yes, the entire house reaked of crab. YUM.

Allyssa trying to hurry and steal a bite of pie before her mom sees. LOL

It's funny how the kids always disappear during dinner and somehow show up for cake and ice cream.

One of the many bowls of crab shells.

Kaia's Shower

2008-10-24T08:18:00.001-07:00

WENT WELL! She had lots of friends come and tons of loot! :) We're excited for this baby to come..... hurry and come!

Carson thought it was pretty cool to pull off the tablecloth a thousand times.

Jed's present to Jon & Kaia was a mini pair of Nike Shox.

Tag-- 6th Picture in my 6th Folder....

2008-10-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here it is...the 6th picture in my 6th folder on my external hard drive! :) This was Jed's birthday last year. Gma Polly set up his present on the doorstep. It included almost 20 boxes of his favorite cereal and the big wrapped present was a gas powered blower for the lawn clippings :) He loved it. Oh, and she brought donuts too. Donuts are her trademark. Carson gets so excited whenever Gma Polly shows up with "the big brown box", in fact, he gets SO excited he starts shaking... literally. Did you know that cereal is the 'staple' at our house?

Carson and Primary Children's Hospital

2008-10-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of some guy's brain off the internet.. just thought you'd like to see that :) ACTUALLY, it is a representation of what we got to see at the Neurologist's office on Tuesday. Carson had another MRI at Primary Children's Hospital and shortly after his 'recovery time' we met with the doctor to read the results. We were hoping for an explanation and maybe even go as far as having a diagnosis; but we fell short of such things and that's ok. We got some more insight about Carson's brain and left more knowledgeable than going into it. First and foremost, there are parts of his brain that continue to progress since the last MRI (one year ago) and there are also parts of the brain that haven't progressed at all. One of the areas that haven't progressed is the part responsible for muscles in his arms and legs and mouth; typically the kids affected in this way are not able to walk.. Carson can walk. Doctor thought that was "odd". Carson stumps modern day technology. We were told that he has developed a cyst on his brain.. also told that it wasn't something to worry about.. (not sure how I feel about that). Without explaining all of the findings, it sufficieth to say that all signs still point to 'Metabolic Storage Disorders' There are three blood tests they can do to be completely sure. We have already completed two of the three.. and they came back normal (we did this last year). One more left. We drew blood for it, but it has to be sent somewhere across the country to be analyzed. It will take at least one month to know. Dr. thinks it will come back ok. We think so too...or should I say, we HOPE so too. If, by chance, it comes back positive, Dr. bluntly informed us that we can expect Carson to live until age 8 or 10. Ok, I guess that's something I needed to know, but maybe a little more tactfully. If NOT positive, then we are officially at the end of our journey of testing. We have completely exhausted all testing for him and the conclusion is simply this: Carson has a mental handicap and will be slow for the rest of his life. I CAN HANDLE THAT! I actually embrace that! Do you know how nice it is to have a 2 1/2 year old baby sometimes? You know that age when kids just start to cuddle up with you and then all of a sudden they grow up and get old?? Well, Carson has never hit that "grow up and get old" part... and I actually love it. When the tests come back I will post the results, but in my heart, I feel they are negative. I've known all along that Carson is just who he is, that's how he was made, that's how he chose to come to Earth and because of it he WILL make it back.. How lucky is that?

Baby Shower for Kaia & Baby Tyler!!

2008-09-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

This Thursday we are having a baby shower for Kaia and baby Tyler. (She's due on November 22nd) We'd love to have you come! It's an open house and we'll have yummy food. Come celebrate with us.

Pony Ride @ Gma's

2008-09-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

Allyssa let Kate & Carson take a turn on her pony, "Mistie" last week. Carson loved it, Kate was upset that Carson was on it and Allyssa was so patiently sitting on the bum... no saddle for her! Good times. OH and, YES, Carson is still in his Pajama's from the night before. I'm such a good mom.

Garage Scrubbing & Flag Twirling

2008-09-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

Have I ever told you that Carson is OBSESSED with the American Flag? He can 'spot' a flag a mile away.. :) Seriously though, he points out every single flag while we are driving down the road; I think I can honestly say that I have seen every flag in the entire city. We have parked in Macey's parking lot numerous times to watch the flag and also in the hospital. The kid is obsessed. He has at least two in his hands at all times and cannot go without it. He sleeps with one (no rod attached) and wakes up wanting more. Grandma & Grandpa Marvell gave him a flag shirt that he absolutely loves. They call him "Flag Boy" or FB for short. I have no idea where the obsession came from; but it's alright with me.. I know there are some out there who are probably disgusted how he drags them around and probably think it's a disgrace to the flag, but for a little boy who is obsessed, I think it's ok :)

Zack loves to "squeegee".. in fact, tonight we were at a restaurant and in the middle of eating (clearly, we weren't ready to leave yet) he said, "I just want to go home so I can squeegee something. Can we leave yet?" He helped Jed clean the floors at the kitchen a few days ago and loved it. He's pretty OCD when it comes right down to it; he does a pretty good job... he gets all the water out. The garage floor was nasty.. melted otter pops that were thrown from the car window, broken toys, grass clippings, dirt, tire tracks.. you name it, it was there.. smashed all over the floor. Now it looks so much better :)

Labor Day Dove Hunting

2008-09-02T12:17:00.001-07:00

Traditions, traditions as G-pa Fife would say...
Grandpa Bruce and Uncle Brody took Zack dove hunting yesterday at 4 AM. Needless to say, Zack was jumping out of his boots excited! They went South somewhere and didn't come home until 9PM. As soon as they got back to Gpa's house Zack and Brody started cleaning the birds . Zack proceeded to tell me all about the day, how he shot a bird directly between the eyes and blew his head off. He also told me that there were bears trying to get the doves, but he was so fast with his gun that he shot them first. All pretty amazing stories huh? The kid has an imagination as well as a pure love of the outdoors... especially hunting with Gpa. And at home...... we went to a movie and Carrabba's for lunch/dinner. Fried zucchini, chicken marsala fifteen loaves of bread (seemed like it anyway) and a John Cole dessert... oh, it was the best meal of my life. Sorry Marvellous Catering.. :)

First Day of School

2008-08-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Zack had his first day of school a few days ago (I'm a little slow on the post) He was so excited; he packed his backpack about one hundred times and sharpened a pack of 120 pencils in one sitting! (now that's some serious dedication!) We took advantage of all the school supply sales and bought a bunch of 'on hand' supplies. So, the morning of... I walked him into the building all the while he was telling me, "Mom, ok, I know what I'm doing, you can leave now" I just laughed and told him that I wanted to come in to see his classroom and teacher. He kept insisting that I leave because he didn't want everyone "to see me". LOL. The kid is already embarrassed of his mom and he's only 5! I remember being so proud of my mom whenever she came to school or when I saw her at the book fair.. guess it's different with boys. Jed claims that he never wanted his mom to come around either. Anyway, I continued to walk him in, much to his dismay, and as soon as we got in he whispered, "Mom, where do I put my backpack?" I said, "I don't know, let's ask your teacher" He said, "Mom, be quiet, she can hear you.." He was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do. Pride at such an early age. He then proceeded to lift his backpack off his shoulder, all the while proclaiming (in a loud voice) "Oh man, this is soooo heavy" I couldn't help it, I started laughing.. he was trying to impress everyone. Well, that's my experience with my first kid entering kindergarten.. no tears, just shear embarrassment on his part and complete enthusiasm on mine. I was so excited to see him go... ALL DAY!! Now it's just Carson and I at home for those 6 1/2 hours every day!

What's with everyone getting hurt??

2008-08-22T21:51:00.001-07:00

It seems like there has been a lot of catastrophies lately... my father-in-law had a heart attack today (on one of the biggest catering days of the year, might I add). He admitted himself to the E.R. and didn't tell anyone except his 'driver' whom he swore to secrecy. He didn't want anyone to worry about him and he wanted the jobs to get done on time. In Jack's world, there is no time to waste. Needless to say, it was a long day of anticipation as the results unfolded; the cardiovascular surgeon said, "It's amazing that he's even alive". His heart arteries were 99% blocked and that's what was causing the heart attacks. After emergency surgery and a lot of stints later we are so relieved that he's ok. There is definitely someone up above who wants him to be here a while longer; and I know Jack will make the most of it.

Christian & Stephanie

2008-08-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

I felt it appropriate to add their 'donation icon' to my blog... it's on the left side. Most of you have probably already heard about Stephanie (Clark) and her husband Christian.... they were in a terrible airplane accident one week ago. They are both in critical condition with burns consuming most of their bodies. Their four kids are being taken care of by family in Utah. For more information, you can read Stephanie's sister's blog at: cjanerun.com. She updates it almost everyday.

Baby Emmy

2008-08-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty crazy around here, I haven't had much time to blog, BUT I was excited to share with everyone that I got to babysit baby Emmy today (and Kate, but she's old news - ha ha) for a little while so Britt could take Allyssa to the doctor. Carson doesn't like her much, he must feel a little 'threatened' when I hold her. Zack is surprisingly really good with her; he loves her. Kate likes her for only a few minutes then she's done. Zack starts school soon.. the big kindergarten and he's GOING ALL DAY!! 8:45 AM - 3:30 PM. YEE HAW! I'm so excited! I might actually be able to accomplish something during the day. I'll have more time to work and take care of church stuff and MAYBE (if I'm lucky) I can even exercise ;)

OOPS..

2008-07-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Pretty cool that I posted the same picture twice!! lol.. oops

July 24th Rodeo

2008-07-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

I loved the rodeo this year; and we even got to see some fireworks at the end. Surprisingly, no one even got a mosquito bite; miracle. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE mosquitoes? Literally, hate them. Anyway, the rodeo was fun. Kaylyn and Gma were on bathroom duty! They were the ones that volunteered to take the kids to the bathroom from our very top row bleacher seats... it gets a little tricky, trudging through tons of people on squished bleachers! Thanks to them for doing that, wouldn't have done it myself! Zack was bound and determined to wear his full "cowboy attire" even though it meant, jeans, shirt and leather vest... wow... he was a trooper, it was pretty hot. We had good seats though, thanks to Britt for ordering them and Mom for buying them. We had mock taco just before the rodeo .. yummy. Oh yea, can't forget the rootbeer floats.. I think I ate three. Oops :) Tomorrow Britt is having her baby! Hooray! Can't wait to see what she (Emmy) looks like.. Kate or Allyssa, because they both look so different. I'm excited because I love visiting people at the hospital (especially if its for a baby) I like eating in the cafeteria, they make good sandwiches! :)

Summer Sickness

2008-07-25T07:58:00.001-07:00

Why do we get sick in the Summer? Aren't illnesses reserved for the nasty Winter? I'm not ready for Summer to be over.....

More 4th of July

2008-07-08T18:22:00.001-07:00

Check out Carson's feet after swimming in Chris & Randy's pool for a few hours. Chris & Randy are the best for letting us use their pool. The rule was: everyone under 3 and over 30 had to wear a swim diaper! ha ha

Zack lit his own fireworks this year... great.... he's already a pyro.

4th of July

2008-07-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our festivities started off with the annual Marvell Party on the night of the 3rd. Here's a pic of Zack and Jed, dancing as usual... Zack is getting ready to shake his booty. Carson loved the bubbles (courtesy of the D.J.). Next thing was the parade. Thanks to Britt & Dustin, Jon & Kaia for the work they had to do to secure a good spot on University Avenue. Every year Zack likes to get his picture with the missionaries. Of course, the missionaries were more than thrilled to oblige him.

Next... to Gma & Gpa's house for a BBQ and swimming! Look at Gpa's new toy..I think Jed found his true love!

Jon & Kaia's Wedding

2008-06-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Days Rodeo

2008-06-30T14:55:00.001-07:00

I LOVE rodeos; especially the Strawberry Days rodeo.. have you ever had the strawberries with cream? Yummy. Zack was mad in this picture because he wanted to get a picture with the cowboys, but I said this was as close as it got. Jed's favorite part were the motocross bikes. Carson's favorite part was the American Flag waving over our heads.. he was mesmorized.

Hooray for Hearing Aids!

2008-06-30T14:31:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is... the only source of hearing for Carson for the next four years. It's pretty amazing. It actually works. Gpa Jack says it should be able to launch someone into space for how much it cost! ha ha. You can't really see the box in this picture, but it attaches to the headband he's wearing and vibrates his skull, which in turn creates sound waves that go straight to the brain. No ears needed! Pretty awesome. He actually leaves it on his head, I think he has already made the connection that it helps him to hear, so he likes it. I think it gives him a headache, so we try to limit the amount of time he wears it. Now the only trick is teaching Zack not to play with it. If I lose this thing I will DIE!

Carson's New Chair

2008-06-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in a while... life has been out of control crazy lately... BUT, Carson got a new chair... that's cool.. thought I would share :) By the way, it's been a long process, but we're finally going to get his hearing aids on Friday. Tomorrow is Jonny's wedding and I need to figure out how to alter the bridesmaid dress I am wearing! I guess I better get on that, huh?!

Very Thoughtful...

2008-06-17T21:11:00.001-07:00

Krissy Miller brought over one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received tonight. Twelve women in my ward contributed to making this quilt. It started with a square from my sister, Brittanie, then passed along to other women who added their own border to it. It ended up looking darling and I'm so excited to have it. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful, thoughtful people living around me. Thank you to everyone who did this! I feel on top of the world, knowing that they did all of that for me.

Quick Update about Carson

2008-06-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

After many hours of entertaining Carson in the doctor's waiting room, we finally got to see the doctor and he shed a little light on the subject of Carson's ears. Turns out that Carson never developed ear drums, his ear canals are completely collapsed and his inner ear bones are deformed. I guess it's no wonder he can't hear, right? OPTIONS?.... well, our best option is to undergo reconstructive surgery. That would include: removing the deformed bones and replacing them with prosthesis. Then they would drill a new hole behind his ear to make a new ear canal. Then graft skin from his hip to line the newly formed canal. Then also graft skin to make new eardrums. After all of this is done he should be able to hear normally. Hopefully. The only set back is that he has to be five years old before they will attempt the surgery. Until then, he will be fitted with a BAHA hearing aid that isn't anchored into the skull. Most BAHA aids are anchored, but he will be able to wear the "box" on a headband and have it sit just on top of his ear bone. The picture shows what a BAHA looks like implanted. It's pretty amazing that they have so many options to help these little guys hear. The BAHA was only recently approved in 2002. We're lucky to have options to help him. Another set back....? Insurance won't cover any of it. Should've known. Well, we'll just take it one day at a time.....

Grandma & Grandpa Marvell

2008-06-01T08:34:00.001-07:00

Grandma & Grandpa Marvell, and Todd & his entire family bravely made the 3 hour drive on Sunday to Goblin Valley to celebrate Zack's birthday with us and.... Wherever Jack goes, he brings food.. and LOTS OF IT. He brought short ribs ..coq ou vin style with polenta, salad and bread. It was a grand feast, indeed. We shot guns, rode bikes, played catch and ran around the goblins. Milo even caught a lizard (which shortly later, lost its tail) . Thanks for driving all the way out there to bring us food and celebrate, you guys are so thoughtful and truly awesome and you surely made a little boy happy!!

Wanna See Something Gross?!

2008-05-30T22:01:00.001-07:00

I had my ingrown toenails cut out yesterday... LOL.. I know, I know, it's totally gross, but it's too awesome not to share! :)

Thank you, Mom and Dad

2008-05-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom and Dad for making this trip possible! I loved every second of it! I'm glad we have the family we do; I love it when we get together. It's always fun to go to Green River and see how much we can rack up in "employee meals" . LOL. Love ya.. P.S. Don't get mad about this picture, you look good, and besides, you were camping!

And Then There is the Birthday Cake....

2008-05-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Pretty Self-Explanatory, I guess. Zack turns 5!

Jonny & Kaia

2008-05-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jonny & Kaia who are getting married on June 26th! I'm so glad they came camping it was fun to have them there; Jonny likes to entertain us with his dumb fire tricks and Kaia likes to play cards with me! They were the outcasts this year and had to sleep in a tent! ha ha.. maybe next year you guys can be cool like us and sleep in the camper!

Shooting With Grandpa

2008-05-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

I can safely say that hanging out with Grandpa is one of Zack's favorite things to do. Zack has been trying to "earn his bullets" for a few months now by being "respectful" and good at school. He has to do his chores and obey mom and dad and Grandpa promised him if he did all of those things that he could earn his bullets to shoot when we went camping. Originally he was suppose to shoot a BB gun, but that wasn't very cool once he saw the 22. The picture is of Gpa Bruce, Zack, Hunter and Gunner....the dogs love to jump on Zack and knock him over!

Goblin Valley

2008-05-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

This year, instead of our usual camping spot, we took a detour to Goblin Valley and I have to say that it was one of the best weekends of my life! It started a little rough when my niece, Allyssa, tipped her four-wheeler and broke her cute little arm. Mom, Britt, Kaia and I drove her to Green River in hopes of finding a clinic, of course there wasn't anything on a Saturday SO after treating for shock, Britt took Allyssa home to Provo where the dr. confirmed it was broken in two places. She is still in a splint and is having a same-day surgery tomorrow to set the bones. OUCH... Zack took a spill, cried and got back on... bikes used to scare me, but the kids are pretty good at riding and of course they have ALL the gear.. compliments of Gpa Bruce. One of my favorite parts was playing cards and eating oreos. Doesn't get better than that. I just love not having an agenda, nowhere to go, nothing to do, but relax! This picture was taken at the beginning of a 60 mile ride, compliments of Jonny and Kaia.. they were the trail guides and led us on a wild goose chase!

CAMPING HERE WE COME!

2008-05-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here are Zack and Allyssa in their gear for riding. Gma and Gpa LOVE their grandkids! Allyssa & Zack have their own four-wheelers and all the "fixins". There is nothing that Zack would rather do than go to Polly's house. I bet he asks me a hundred times a day if we can go see "Gpa Bruce and Polly" Note: He has always called them by their first names. Where's the respect, I dunno. We are so excited to go camping with them this weekend!! Gpa makes some pretty killer food and I think everyone's favorite part is when Zack wakes up at 5 AM and starts bouncing off the walls. Nothing like sleeping in on vacation... at least not with Zack and since we all sleep in Gpa's huge trailer, we all get an early start on the day!! My favorite part is playing games and making smores. Yum, maybe I better start exercising now for all the smores I plan on eating !

Carson Update

2008-05-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't uploaded any of the most recent pictures of Carson at the hospital, so I decided to post my favorite picture of the back of his head... I love his curly hair! Between two days at the hospital and probably thousands of dollars later... we now know that we have to go to yet another specialist...(MORE specialized) at the U. This part of his diagnosis is only concerning his ears... (the other stuff will resume its testing in August). As for now, the E.N.T. determined that his inner ear hearing bones are severely deformed. He wasn't sure what could be done to help him hear as there aren't very many options to help when it's in the bone, so that's why we were referred to yet another Doctor. The appointment is in late June. I'm sure they will do more tests and then maybe we'll find out if they can help him hear. As of right now, Carson can hear about 20% out of both ears. He doesn't have complete hearing loss, but does have quite a bit. We kinda had a hunch that he had troubles hearing ever since he was born and are happy to finally have an answer. We hope this will aid the neurologist and geneticists in determining his overall diagnosis. As for now, we will keep watching signing time everyday and hope that we can pick up some of it!! :)

Zack's Turning 5 !!

2008-05-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the "almost birthday boy" last year on his b-day making his own breakfast. Quesadillas are a staple at our house. The boys learned to love them by daddy's example. He's excited to take donuts to his friends at school and then have a family party on Sunday while we are away camping. We are usually camping every year during Zack's b-day .. it's so close to Memorial Day. Can't believe he's already 5!

2008-05-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

Back to life; My computer blew up so the lag in posts has been because we've been computer-less for a couple of weeks. All I can say is that life is pretty crappy without a computer!! Zack has been on field trips galore these past couple of weeks. They went to the Bean Museum and got to see live snakes and reptiles first hand. The first thing Zack said when we walked into the building was, "Mom, it really stinks in here". lol. The school also went to Thanksgiving point for a personalized tour of the animals and some fun crafts. They had their spring play at the Covey Center for the Arts... Jungle Book.. it was darling. Yesterday was water day, and the pictures above were on Cowboy Day. Gma Polly took Zack to Reams and bought the entire works! He was pretty excited about all of it. He is still begging me to go to Gma's house to ride horses in his cowboy outfit. Maybe when it stops raining. Zack's teacher, Mrs. Llewellyn is the best teacher ever! We're really going to miss her next year :(

Zackary

2008-04-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is Zack.... the Zack who, when reading Hansel & Gretel with Grandma Polly today, said " That's just not right. If the dad didn't have enough money then he should go to work". (Further explanation) Polly was explaining why the dad was going to send his kids into the woods to get lost (because he didn't have enough money to feed them) and that's when Zack chimed in and said the above. Another funny story: Zack told me that "Carson had a diaper rash and that I needed to take off his diaper so it could get some air". How the heck does he know this stuff? He's a sponge. I must have said it somewhere, sometime and he remembered it. I think someone hit it on the head when they said that Zack isn't only smart, he's intelligent.

Carson

2008-04-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

This is our little Carson who likes to keep us guessing as to why exactly he's not growing. He turned two in February and is slowly achieving his milestones. Of course we've been to a million doctors and have yet to find out what is wrong. MRI results and other various lab tests show that something is abnormal; however, Carson is the happiest, cuddliest, funnest "baby" there is. What more could I ask for? We've heard everything from muscular dystrophy to hyperglycinemia (a terminal metabolic storage disorder) and I've decided that until someone knows for SURE, I'm not going to listen anymore. Ok, so I'll listen, but I'm not going to take to heart any other suggestions as to a diagnosis, until it's for sure. Too many emotions. The ENT is going to do a same day surgery next week to see if he can better tell what is causing Carson's "deafness"... I'm excited to find out. If he's deaf, great.. we can help him and if he's not.. great.. we can help him start talking. I'm excited to hopefully one day find out what is "wrong", but I'm excited that he's been a 'baby' for so long! It's like having a ten month old baby for two years! :)

Salt Lake City

2008-04-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Jed had a day off work so we took the kids (plus one, Cousin Tams) to the zoo. Despite the fact that there were a million people there, it was still fun. The boys loved the alligator best. We also stopped by the "This is the Place" monument park. It's pretty neat, I've never been there before. They said to come back in May when they will have activities for the kids. It's only $5 per person and it sounds like there are a lot of fun activities! As we drove past the temple, I pointed it out to Zack and he got all excited and said, "Hey Mom, that's where you and daddy got married and President Hinckley died!" He thinks that's where President Hinckley died, not sure why, maybe because we stood in line at the Conference Center so long while attending the viewing.. he just put it all together in his little mind. Funny.

Chef Zackary

2008-04-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Zack loves to cook with me ... we usually try to bake some kind of "goody" on Sundays, but the problem is that I always end up eating my entire day's worth of calories in ONE SITTING. Oh well, it's memories, right?

Carnival

2008-04-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

My mom, Britt and I took the kids to the carnival at the mall a week ago. It was $5 for 5 hrs... unlimited rides, if it wasn't I wouldn't have gone.. carnivals are way too expensive for my liking. They had fun, even though we were mean and wouldn't let them play the games that "cost money".

2008-04-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Not So Sure About This....

2008-04-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

People have been trying to get me to blog for months now... not so sure how I feel about it. It's sorta creepy letting the entire world know about my life; However, I promised myself I would at least TRY IT. Here goes nothing... my very first post. SIGH

Merry Christmas

2007-12-13T12:46:00.001-08:00

Carsons New Pajamas!!

2007-12-13T12:30:00.001-08:00

Carson's friend Jocelyn lent him some pajamas cause he had an accident. What do you think about his new look?