Tonsilectomy and Adenoidectomy

Due to obstructed sleep apnea, Jaylee needed her tonsils and adenoids removed. We went to the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist on Monday the 11th and her tonsils were so big there was no question that they had to come out. So we scheduled surgery for just 3 days later. She went into surgery on July 14th. The picture above is leaving for the hospital at 7:45 in the morning. She knew she was getting her tonsils out and was really excited to not snore anymore but she definitely didn't realize the extent of what was going on!

The nurses at the hospital were awesome. They all spoke to her, on her level. They explained to her that most kids get scared when they are out of surgery because of the big bandaid on their arm that covers the IV. So they gave her an ace bandage to play with and practice wrapping on herself and everyone else. It was entertaining to her.

Jaylee is a daddy girl. She loves her dad! I love the picture! 2 people that I love so much!

Out of surgery. Jaylee was guzzling apple juice right away, which surprised me but it also caused her to get a stomach ache and she threw up quite a bit. It was sad. She did pretty good post op though. She was so brave and strong. We had to stay a little longer than most because her oxygen levels were a little low, but not for long. She's a tough little girl!
After getting a little anti-nausea medicine she was out cold. She looks so sweet in this picture cuddled up to her daddy!
Grandma Oliver came in town the night before to help with the older kids while we were at the hospital. When we got home Jaylee was showered with gifts from Grandma including this cute table and chairs that she made dad put together immediately. Jaylee loves this table. She didn't leave this room for 2 days straight. We played play-do on it, painted, colored...it was great!

Grandma also made us spaghetti and a roast and then took the 2 older kids home with her to Orem. It was awesome to pay 100% attention to Jaylee for several days and not have to cook! Thanks mom! You are awesome!

Jaylee is doing so well, in fact, the first day she ate spaghetti and has continued to eat pretty solid foods since. The mornings have been quite hard because her throat is dry and sore but other than that, she has been an awesome little trooper! We love you Jaylee, you are going to sleep so good now and be a perfect little angel :), right!!!

Parties, Parties and more Parties!

Cinco De Mayo Party
We had a fun party of Saturday with a bunch of friends...Cinco De Mayo on the 7th! We had a great time with lots of Mexican food, lots of laughing, and lots of GREAT weather!
Birthday lunch!
We had a fun birthday lunch for my friend Julie last week. Ironically, with Mexican food (Cafe Rio take out...YUMMY!) I love getting together with lots of girls through the week. So much fun! GIRL POWER!
Luke is getting OLD!
Luke recently celebrated his 34th birthday. Seriously, we never thought we would get this old...and yes. he is older than me!

He put 3 of his clothes presents on top of the clothes he was already wearing. It looked funny. He has 3 shirts on! Our funniest present though was nose hair clippers! He does sometimes get longer nose hairs...comes with old age, so we thought that it would be a funny gift. LOVE IT!
Cousin Party!
We got all the cousins on my families side and had a little party after my brother's graduation then we took them all to a 3-D movie. The kids looked so cute with their glasses on. GOOD TIMES!
Tyson's Graduation!
My little brother Tyson graduated from UVU! I'm so proud of him! College is sooooo much work. Anyway, he graduated in Aviation Science, Professional Pilot. He has all of his pilot's licenses including his commercial license. Now he just gets to fly all summer long and get enough flying hours to get hired with an airline! He's a smart kid that has worked really hard for several years. Way to go Tyson! Isn't he CUTE!

One of my favorite Easters

We had such a great Easter! We always do the Easter Bunny stuff on Saturday so we can focus more on Christ on Sunday so our Easter Egg painting and festivities started on Friday. It was our ward temple night on Friday so we were going to paint eggs on Thursday but thought that Skylar and Maben might have fun painting eggs with the kids while they babysat on Friday. Sure enough, they wanted to paint eggs so we left it for the babysitters. The kids had a great time with them! They had pizza for dinner and that sneaky bunny ate a piece of pizza and left a note!

I wanted the egg painting to be a little extra special since we weren't coloring eggs with them so I got a bunch of different candies for them to snack on while they painted. Apparently the candy is really exciting...maybe more so than the eggs!

I love this picture of Ollie. You can tell he is really concentrating and his tongue is out a little bit. This is what Luke does when he is concentrating too.

This is Skylar with the kids. Skylar and her husband Maben are going to school here at USU. We've had them over a couple times for dinner and stuff. They are from Fillmore area though. It was really fun to have them over to babysit.

And now the hunt begins...all the kids needed new bikes so mom and dad bought new bikes...not the bunny!

This picture was taken at about 7:15 a.m. but Jaylee had been up since about 2:00 a.m. She was up all night so sick with a horrible sore throat. We got through the Easter Egg hunt and called our doctor (luckily they have Saturday office hours). She ended up with Strep. Aside from the doctor visit, Easter was great and it didn't take long before she was feeling fine...just had to get some medicine in her.

Late that afternoon we had a barbeque and Easter Egg hunt with some friends. I have never seen a better egg hunt in my life. My friend Kristi loves egg hunts...it's almost like Christmas to her so she put the hunt together with so much stuff! The kids filled 2 baskets of candy, eggs and toys. We had so much fun with our friends! It really made it a fun, memorable day...Thanks guys!

And finally, my favorite part...After the temple I was talking to some friends that told me the best idea. You make rolls that represent the Resurrection. Here's what you do...you buy the creseant rolls and fill each roll with a large marshmallow that has been covered in melted butter then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Then you seal the roll over the marshmallow and sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar. You bake the rolls as directed on the can. When the rolls come out the marshmallow appears to still be inside but it has melted, of course. The roll represents the tomb and the marshmallow represents Christ.

So the kids assembled the rolls, which was fun for them. Then we had a really spiritual talk about Christs purpose on this earth. We talked in detail about the Garden of Gethsemane and the crucifixion. Then right as the rolls were finished we talked about the Resurrection. We were able to open the roll and see that the marshmallow was gone. Just as Christs body was gone after 3 days. It was a really neat object lesson for the kids. Jaylee and Oliver were shocked that the marshmallow was gone. That, along with the gospel art pictures really made the story come to life for them. It was a really great experience.

I'm so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It brings so much peace, happiness and hope into my life. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ and the atonement that he provided for all of us. Most importantly, I am grateful for the Resurrection and the assurance that we will all be ressurected someday and live together forever with our families, friends, and loved ones as perfected beings because of the atonement of Christ. We are all so blessed to live in this dispensation with all of the knowledge of the gospel.

Newport Beach, California

We drove to California on last Friday and went straight to the beach. Right when we pulled in the parking lot we saw dolphins jumping in the water. It was so awesome and a great start to a fun trip. We walked the pier and saw sea lions also. The kids were in heaven! Of course, we walked in the sand also and the kids ran from waves and got wet! Then we watched the sunset...and that's just the first day!

This picture is Jaylee running from the waves. She was so cute, she would put her arms in the air and giggle as she ran away.

I thought this picture was precious. Jaylee stood watching the ocean, with her hands in her pockets for quite a while.

Jaylee spent most of her time digging in the sand.

One of the days at the beach there were dozens of sail boats. It was so fun and picturesque to watch them.

The last few times we have gone to California we have spent most of our time at one particular beach in Newport Beach. It's beautiful, has great waves, and also has a park for the kids to play at. It's such a fun place!

Our sand sea turtle. Ollie even decorated it with sea shells.

Sand dolphin! These were really fun to create.

The kids LOVE Conference!

Every conference weekend we print the awesome conference packets and we make edible peanut butter play-do. Between the packets and the play-do the kids have the best time. They sit in front of the TV and listen to conference while they are having fun. Here are some of their peanut butter creations!

The rest of France!

These are some pictures from the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is so much more impressive in real life. Pictures never do it justice. Mom and Dad at the middle of the Eiffel Tower.

One of my favorite things to see in Paris was The Catacombs. It holds the remains of about 6 million people and fills a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris' stone mines.

Paris, France - Day 3

Well, my camera battery died, and of course I forgot my charger. I was unable to get the pictures off of my mom's camera too so I will have to post pictures later but I wanted to log what we did for the day.

We started out at the Notre Dame. We went to the chapel yesterday but the tower was closed. Today we got to climb 400 stairs to the top! We saw the 3 ton bell and took lots of pictures from the top.

Next we went to Saint Chapell. Of course, the chapel had a lot of incredible detail. It was built in the 1700's. It had incredible stain glass windows.

We went to the Pantheon. The basement was a crypt. One of the many tombs there was Joan of Arc. It was pretty amazing and of course massive!!! Next we headed to a museum that had a lot of amazing paintings and a lot of weird paintings, and a lot of naked paintings! I don't understand their obsession with fat naked ladies. If only the world still loved fat ladies (not naked though)!!! Anyway, many of the paintings were by Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, and Dennon. I hate to sound like I don't appreciate art, but seriously, some of those paintings I can't understand. I do not know how they are worth millions of dollars...call me CRAZY! Still a neat experience.

Next we saw the Arc of Triumph and went to the top. This time we opted for the elevator! The Arc of Triumph is a monument dedicated to the unknown soldiers. It almost seems like the middle of the town. There are about 10 streets that start (or end) at the Arc. It's really neat.

We accomplished a lot today and tried to see a lot more but there were several museums that were closed today or closed early. It must be because of FHE!!! Anyway, we'll hit a lot more tomorrow!

Oh, I caught a pick pocketer opening my moms backpack. It all happened so fast so I didn't have time to beat him up. You have to be really careful here!

I love and miss all of my friends and family! Thanks Luke for being such an awesome husband!