Christmas Dinner

Mom's serving a ham and I've decided to bring fruit salad and ginger cookies. Maybe you can post here what you want to bring to help everyone decide. Can't wait to see you all.

Merry Christmas.

more sesame street clips

I'm sure those of us with kids are quite familiar with these, but I still get a kick out of 'em. (They're a little long.)





Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Nikki!

Welcome Back Kotter

I know! Its taken me a while to get another posting on here. Its cuz I'm retarded and its taken me this long to figure out my hsubands computer to get my pictures downloaded from my camera. So, I have updated my personal blog if you want an update on what we've been doing lately. (Hint, I'll save you the time and just say...'not much'.) But it took me two hours to figure out the stinkin photo download. But I think I actually have it figured out. So heres a photo of my kids at the dentist office today. The smiles were 'before' they saw the dentist. (We were not in a smiling mood after!) Life can be so cruel.

Christmas Caroling

My house. Sunday the 14th, 6:00 pm. Bring a dessert. Need I say more?

Another of Adam's finds

He kept giggling in his office so I insisted that he send this to me. SOOO CUTE!

Pure pwnage

Breanne told me I should start posting some junk up on the family blog. So here's my first attempt.

By way of explanation, to be "owned" is to be totally defeated and humiliated. And in l33tsp@3k (pronounced 'leetspeak', the common internet shorthand), it becomes "pwned". So here's a video tribute to some great pwnage.

http://www.pwnplease.com/page/Pure+Pwns?t=anon
http://www.break.com/index/how-not-to-roll-cable-up-stairs.html

Warning, there's some mild language and extreme pwnage.

Matti's Musical

Hey Everyone,

Lauren wanted me to tell you that she got tickets for Matti's play on Christmas Eve at 1:00. It might be fun to go all together. But she said there were only 100 tickets left when she got hers, so get on it if you want to go! =)

Adam has his own office

This is Breanne posting for Adam.

Our company moved offices this last week, and only the important guys got their own office. Yep, he's moving on up.



Not shown is one wall of his office which is entirely RED, which I think is a torture technique in some countries. He's agreed to let me decorate... I'm thinking some soothing bunny pictures or stuffed animals? When I saw his office I said, "Hey, we can put up a picture of your favorite little sister."
and he said, "Why would I put up a picture of Jacque?"

Curses! I so left myself wide open for that one.

Coincidentally, my desk is right outside his door, so annoying him is only a few steps away. Ahh, payback.

Barney Halloween and Jack's birthday

Jack's birthday party was yesterday and we had a lot of fun! We started with a game of musical chairs, and then did a spider ring toss. Then we decorated pumpkins (Jack calls them 'punkmans.') Then we opened presents and had cake and ice-cream. Afterwards, we went trick-or-treating. We were all completely spent at the end of the day!

Family reunion next summer

Lynne has been doing a lot of searching on the internet for cabins and accomodations for our large group to be able to do a vacation again next year. She found one that looks awesome called the Pinewoods Resort, here is a link: http://www.bryce-zion-duckcreekvillage-lodging-utah.com/. They have lots of small cabins on the site but only one large one. That one is called the Mountain Home and it is only available for one week during the time we were looking at next summer. Those days are July 28-August 3. We'd like to get it booked before we lose the opportunity. So, I know it's early, but does anyone have any major conflict with that week? I think it is a Tuesday through Monday. Also, that cabin sleeps 20 people in 5 bedrooms--15 in beds and 5 on the floor. For the additional people (there are 26 in our group) we have two choices: a family suite that sleeps 10 in four bedrooms, or a couple of Inn suites that sleep four in each. We also might be able to do the family suite for 10, and several of the Inn suites for private families if we thought more "quiet time" was needed. Please let me know quickly if you have any preferences. Here are some of the activities on site: ping-pong, pool (the table kind), and foosball in a recreation room, volleyball, badminton, horseshoes, an archery range, basketball court, large fire pit and mountain bikes for rent. It also has a small restaurant on site. I think it will be awesome. Plus, it is not far from Bryce Canyon, Zions, Cedar City, etc., for fun day trips. Please post your comments soon.

Matti made it!

Matti tried out for the Children's Theater of Salt Lake's production of "Babes in Toyland" this weekend and we just found out today that she made it! This play is a musical, so she had to sing as well as perform a monologue for the director on Saturday. Then she made the call back list and last night had to go to a second audition where she had to play-act a bunch of strange things. For example, when we left, she told me she had to run around like a sheep and then snort like a pig. She said, "I can't snort at all!" But, she must be quite a proficient snorter because when we called today they told her she was on the list and she would play the part of one of the three little pigs! We are so excited. She performs this play about 15 times over three weeks in December and I thought it would be great if some of her Aunties and Uncles and cousins and Grandma could come see her! Here is the schedule: Babes in Toyland
December 5, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 6, 2008 at 1:00 PM
December 6, 2008 at 4:30 PM
December 8, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 11, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 12, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 13, 2008 at 1:00 PM
December 13, 2008 at 4:30 PM
December 15, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 18, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 20, 2008 at 1:00 PM
December 20, 2008 at 4:30 PM
December 22, 2008 at 7:00 PM
December 24, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Anyhow, the price is $9 a ticket. The recommended age is 4 years old and up. The phone # is (801) 532-6000. Hope some of you can make it!!!

movie recommendation

For all of you movie-goers out there, Doug and I saw Ghosttown on Saturday and I loved it. Very funny. Hope you have a chance to see it!

happenings at the barney's

Doug started back at work this week. He hates sitting around, so he opted out of light duty and returned full time. He's doing o.k., just a bit tired. But glad to be back. Also, we're planning Jack's birthday party, I hope to get invitations in the mail soon, but in case I don't--it's going to be Halloween day, 3:00-4:30, for anyone who's interested.

Heroes cont.

Ok it took me all day to think of mine. My 10th birthday. I had been looking forward to it all week, and for some reason I really wanted someone to sing me happy birthday. So I woke up in the morning when Jacque ran into the room and jumped on my bed and said, "It's your birthday, It's your birthday!!" Which was so funny, but she didn't sing =(. So I thought, "Dad'll sing for me." So I went downstairs and Dad wished me a great big huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY, which made me happy, but no song. So I was getting a little exasperated... if someone didn't sing to me soon, I might go crazy. So I called Mom in San Diego, and she said, "Happy Birthday!!" when she answered the phone, but no song. But Mom's not really one to do that anyway. So I just gave up and settled down to have a conversation with Mom, when suddenly there was the call waiting noise... so I asked Mom to hold on and I switched over, and there was Erika, Singing Me the Happy Birthday Song, From INDIA!!!!

I don't know if you know, but happy birthday songs are 50 times as potent when they're from halfway across the world. It was sooo cool. She was so far away but totally fulfilled my birthday wish!

Heroes

Alright, this blog is getting boring (not really Boring, just slow). So, I thought I'd start an activity. Think of one time when someone in our family was our hero and post it! I'll start.

I remember one time when I was little and I was wearing those really squishy flip-flops. I don't think they make them anymore, but they were thick and greyish and really floppy. I think they criss-crossed over the top of the foot. Anyway, I believe this was around the time that Dad was building the half pipe. I was outside over by the playhouse and stepped right onto a board with a nail sticking straight up. It went right through the shoe into the middle of my foot. I was literally nailed to a board. So, Nikki came right over and said, "We need to pull it out." She promptly lifted up the board, asked if I was ready, and pulled the board and nail right out of my foot. I remember it felt just like it might have sounded like something being sucked out. Anyway, I don't really remember it bleeding, or even the tetanus shot that I'm sure followed (I think I needed one anyway). But I do remember my sister being my hero at that moment when I got a nail stuck in my foot.

Okay, somebody else can go!

Nikki's Sinus Surgery Update #3

Here I am again! I guess I have been emailing everyone when I could just be using the 'blog'...duh! I am doing much better than I was even a week ago, and I am glad to have the first 2 weeks after surgery behind me. Albeit, weird things come out of your body after surgery, and mine are coming out my nose! ...still! I find myself apologizing to my husband in the middle of the night for all my snorting, coughing, and sputtering. 'Its a sticky business.' But I can already feel it is so much better. The worst part has been the headaches the last 2 weeks. (And that's not much to complain about - I know!) But I can feel a turn around since just yesterday, and my good friend Esther said its only for the first month. So I am hoping to pain free - headache free - and illness free really soon! (But lets be honest - I have toddlers - I may not be headache free for a while still!) So about those toddlers... last Wednesday I thought I felt good enough to run a bunch of errands for 5+ hours. Turns out Thursday morning I could not get out of bed and was in and out of sleep for 2 hours after my children woke up. I finally got enough strength to get out of bed to find my 3 year old found my scissors and decided to make herself look like her brother! (That's what she said when I asked her why she cut her hair!) One whole half of her head of hair - gone! Down to the scalp! I was stunned, in shock, and finally broke down crying to the relief of my husband calling...just in time to hear all my glorious blubbering! (Our poor husbands.) I didn't touch Keala's hair for 6 hours when I finally felt enough strength to remedy the situation by cutting off the rest of her hair and making her look..."like her brother"! Kasey came home from high school and asked me "Is this too delicate of a time to ask what happened to Keala's hair?!" I turned to her and said "Yes!" And then we both laughed and I explained what happened. In all honestly, I hate to say it today, but I like it better! It just suites her sassy, insubordinate, head-strong, bossy, ornery personality! And it actually brings out her cute little dimples and beautiful blue eyes...the little turkey! Anyhow, we are still having a ton of fun being a part of our new family. Kasey and Austin love to play, rough-house, and tease with the kids. I help Austin with his Spanish homework, and Kasey and I love to eat 'white cake - birthday cake' at least once a week! Our new fun tradition... of having an un-birthday party, just for the fun of it! But Brent says that's gonna have to stop soon because he keeps eating all the cake! I am starting to get used to the routine of shopping once a week, laundry everyday, cleaning, cooking, straightening up, keeping after the kids, (keeping them alive!), reading books to, singing with, and putting my kids to bed 'almost' every day. (And yes, Brent has been a bunch of help already (when I can't take it anymore!) - thank you honey!) It still feels surreal being 'happily' married, living in a home, and not being bossed around by my 8 - 5 job. Holy cow! Life is so weird. But I feel such an outpouring of blessings, that I can hardly believe it. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"... still feels like the worst of times is still close enough to feel and remember the last 3 scary years of being a single mom. But so much is so good right now I can't imagine my life being any different. Brent and I are celebrating our first 6 months of knowing each other this weekend, General Conference weekend. That's the first time, 6 months ago, when we started emailing and the whirlwind of dating and falling in love started. Have I mentioned how great it is being in love! All dad has said to me the last 3 years is that "all the hard times, and loneliness, and pain and suffering, will all seem worth it when the 'Right One Comes Along'! ...I was SO hoping he was right! AND HE'S RIGHT! And all the snorting, and coughing, and blubbering, and putting up with ornery toddlers, (and all the other trivial 'hard times') seem worth it when your honey comes home and smiles at you right in your eyes! Thank you honey!

-pictures of Keala to be posted soon!

changes

I just wanted to let you guys know that I changed Will's school. I got a call last week that there was an opening at a charter school. I didn't feel great about it, but realized that it might be the best decision for him in the long run. He will be in Kindergarten for now. The curriculum is a step harder than public schools, so I'm not sure if I'll move him up to first grade. I'm hoping that it will be the best way for him to learn at his level. It was a really hard decision, and it's a big transition for us, but I think we'll be used to it soon. (He looks very cute in his uniform clothes!) Anyways, I know more of you have news to post on this blog, so get posting!

Doug really is feeling better

I think Doug's post 2 weeks ago may have been a little premature. For example, the next day we spent the entire night in the ER. And, he wasn't really out of pain at all for another 10 days. And, altogether he wound up not being able to eat anything for about 3 straight weeks. But, as of this Wednesday, he started eating!! And he didn't sleep through the day in a narcotic-induced stupor. Then, Thursday, he ran a couple of errands. Yesterday he went to lunch and saw a movie with one of his really good dispatcher friends. Today he went with me to RCWilley (a new washer--huge capacity--for those who are interested!) and now he's puttin' around the yard. I've slowly felt the stress drip off of me over the last four days. It really is hard watching someone be in pain. But, we're in the clear now. He's planning on going back to work, light duty, in about 2 weeks. Yeah, normal life again. We're ready for it.

Christmas Family Party

At the library we only get Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off of work, and lots of people are already starting to request more time off during that week.

I know we usually have our party on Christmas Eve, but just in case we're going to have a family party on a day other than the 24th or 25th, I need to know asap so I can ask for it off. Has anyone thought about this yet?

These are the days I have to work that week:
Tuesday (the 23rd) from 5pm-9pm
Saturday (the 27th) from 9am-6pm

You can add a comment to this post saying if you've got any other ideas.

Thanks,
Breanne

Josh Groban at the Emmy's

Did you guys know the Emmy's were on last night? Well, I didn't. But I heard there was a pretty fun medley sung by Josh Groban, so I checked it out. Here's the link if you want to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G6Vf-eKgPU&feature=related

What's Nikki Been Doing???

Doug is getting better

Well it is truly me. I am actually sitting up enough to type. Does not sound like a big feat but is huge for me. Looks like Erika has kept you very well up to date. I will just update you on last night and this morning.
Well I did not sleep barely at all last night (maybe 2 total hours). I went downstairs to try and let poor Erika get some sleep while I writhed around on the floor. Just like Monday I was unable to drink much and now my left kidney was killing me. I did not want to have to make Erika take me to the hospital again in the middle of the night so I tried to stick it out. I don't believe I have ever been in as much pain during any other ten day period in my life. Well I woke Erika up really early this morning and told her I might need to go to the hospital again. I told her I was barely holding down any food and my kidney felt like it would burst. I also could not urinate. So along with being constipated for roughly 9 days I also could not pee. It was terrible. I honestly thought I might die.
Well Erika immediately went to work on me and got me some good laxitives she had found from one of my surgeries several months ago. She also ran out to walmart and got me that really nasty tasting stuff (magnesium something or other) and made me drink it. The little relief I had all morning came when I was either in the shower or bath and had scalding hot water on my stomach and left kidney. Erika also called the doctor for me but I was not encouraged. They just wanted to bring me in and start an IV and IV drugs. If I never see a hospital again it will be too soon. They told me to keep trying to soak in the tub and call them in a few hours.
After sometime in the tub I started to push out massive amounts of flesh (clots) out my urinary tract. It hurt like crazy but It felt like I was making progress. As of about 3pm I am feeling so much better. Number one and two are starting to work better and I have not even needed to take a pain pill for several hours. I am really hoping this is the turning point and it gets easier from here.
Thanks for much for all your kind words of encouragement and all the prayers that were sent my and my family's way. I don't know if I would have been able to make it without them. The meals were also great and thanks for coming all the way up here to drop them off. I am hoping to eat some as leftovers in a couple days when I can have solids. It all smelled so good when Erika cooked them up. Thanks again everyone.

Doug's surgery, Part II

Poor Doug. This has been one of the hardest weeks we've ever had. Doug was in so much pain on his right side since the surgery last week, that on Monday we went into his Dr. and asked him to pull out the stint on that side. (That was the side he had successfully looked at last week.) After several tests, the Doctor pulled it out, and we thought that the pain would ease up dramatically. But, that was not the case. By Monday night he was throwing up so much that he got really dehydrated and wasn't able to keep any pain meds down and his right kidney was killing him. So we went up to the ER around 6:00 a.m. and they got him hooked up to an I.V. and some pain meds in him. But they weren't able to ease the nausea all the way and he couldn't keep any juice down, so they knew if they sent him home it wouldn't be long before he was dehydrated and in pain again. He stayed over through the night and then had his surgery around 8:00 this morning. The surgery went well and he still has a stint in his left side, but we can go to the Dr.'s office tomorrow morning and have that one pulled out. (He said I could do it at home, but I declined!) We're home now and he actually looks much better than he did last Wednesday. I hope he will stay well as the hospital meds wear off and we switch to pills. But he just ate for the first time since Monday and it looks like it's staying down o.k. (We'll keep our fingers crossed.) And the good news is that the Dr. was able to get into his left kidney this time and he said that it looks good. So, no more worries about his kidneys. The Dr. also said he's planning on leaving Doug's bladder alone for a while so he can heal up. He is planning on giving Doug cancer treatments a few times a year now as just a preventative measure. But he'll give us 3 months from now before doing any treatments so Doug can recoup and get his energy levels back up again.

Erika & Doug

Hey, I just wanted our family to know that Doug went into the hospital this morning in severe pain. He isn't keeping anything down (including pain meds) so they have him in observation right now. He's scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. I don't know if Erika even wants everyone to know this, but I just thought if you could all send some more prayers, karma, hope/happy thoughts their way it wouldn't hurt. Also, mom, Nikki, and I have made some dinner for them, I don't know if they could use more, but it might not hurt to offer. =)

Thanks!

Ross & Kathys Big Adventure

OK, so Wednesday we left Orem and drove to Payson where we drove through the "Nebo Scenic Byway". At Payson Lake we took the walk around the lake. Perfect weather. Later we stopped at "Hells Kitchen". Very cool rock formations. We stopped many times to look at cool stuff, especially Mt. Nebo. I think Lauren and Ryan should climb it. We stopped in Ephraim for lunch and also shopped at an arts and crafts store; Kathy bought some treasures and Ross bought Chocolate. So, about 5pm we arrived at Fish Lake and checked into our "modern" cabin - as apposed to the 'rustic' ones available - without running water. I have to say that after stayed at the Hampton Inn in Orem, the 'modern' cabin seemed pretty rustic to us. That's about as close to camping as we want to get. On the brighter side, Fish Lake and everything else we saw in central Utah is beautiful. I can't understand why anyone would want to move to Montana when such beauty is right around the corner. We had fun eating dinner and breakfast at a little cafe at Fish Lake - very homey.
Thursday we headed for Escalante and the Petrified Forest Park. Lots of fantastic scenery along the way. The Petrified Forest was pretty cool too; but we didn't expect the one hour hike to see the petrified wood laying around. So on we went to Bryce Canyon. We were late getting there and the sun works against you in the afternoon so we limited our visit to the "Angels Landing" view, which is really beautiful in the afternoon. Then we headed for Cedar City. It's a pretty drive, but a little tough driving into the sun. At Cedar City we had a wonderful dinner at the "Garden House" restaurant - we've been there before - if you're anywhere near there at dinner time it's great (reasonable too). We stayed at a brand new "Holiday Express". It was great too.
Friday we went all the way to St. George via Kolob Canyon; very nice, but Kathy was coming down with a cold. In St. George we visited the Art Museum where they were featuring art of "Zions Park". We also visited several art galleries in down town and ended up at the Ice Cream shop next to "Green Gate B&B". Excellent Chocolate Moose Tracks. We visited the new "Heritage Park". Lots of water fountains for kids to pay in. It was so hot I was tempted to jump in - Kathy said, "go for it"; but I chickened out. So, at 6pm we arrived at Tuacahn for dinner and show. Dinner was fun and so was the show; but the show was a little long - three hours to too much for my butt - I mean my attention.
Saturday we were heading home; but not before going to a 'Farmers Market' there in town. It was interesting but Kathy was feeling poorly so we didn't stay long. We figured that if we drove pretty much straight through we could be home by 4pm. We just got through the Virgin River Gorge and we flying across the desert when I noticed a red light on my dashboard looking very much like a battery - NOT GOOD. What to do? I decided to turn of the AC, XM Radio, Cruise Control and make a run for Vegas. Kathy called ahead and found a Nissan Dealership that was open for service all day. We swetted it out and made it to the dealership. They said we needed a new alternator and belt. What can a person do? So 4.5 hours and $780 later we were back on the road again.
There's no place like home. We were so happy to get home and in our own bed. It was a great trip. We really enjoyed the reception; meeting Brent, a terrific guy with a wonderful family. We enjoy visiting everyone - even Adam - at work - at 8pm (what a guy).

Hi Everybody!

Just wanted to add a few words, as you are probably all wondering where I am... other than "wonderland'. Yes, this "Alice" has fallen down the big hole into Love Bliss.. just don't wake me for a few more years! Brent keeps saying how much he loves us 'playing house'. I don't know if we are adults or big kids playing 'dress up', but give me a little while to figure out this 'blog' thing and get the photos back from our wedding and I will post a few of them. Thanks everyone for all your love and support these past few years and even these past few months and weeks, helping me get ready for this new pathway in my life. Love you all!

Doug's Surgery

We just got back from the hospital and Doug seems to be recovering o.k.--except for the pain that he feels when he pees. The stints in his kidneys cause him a lot of pain then. So, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Dr. couldn't get up into one of Doug's kidneys, the uriter was too narrow. So, he said that the stint should cause that uriter to dilate somewhat by next week--and so he wants to do the surgery again then. That's the really bad news. Doug will go through this all again in a week. But, the good news is that the right kidney looked really good. At his last surgery, in July, the test that put the kidneys into question (called a cytology) showed abnormal cells coming from both of them. The fact that the right kidney looks really good I think is a good sign that the left one will be fine, too. So, maybe all of this will wind down after next week...Thanks for all your happy thoughts and prayers and fasts, too.

Adam found this link today

http://www.arborpellet.com/

Matti and Merri's birthday party--Aug. 26, 2008

This party started out with Matti's "spa" theme. We had tables decked out with sweet treats, mirrors, make-up, nail polish, feather boas, and tiaras for each girl. After they finished getting made up, Doug surprised everyone by barging out dressed as a PIRATE (which was the theme that Merri wanted) and "kidnapped" all of the princesses. (You have to watch the video!!) They played pirate games outside until reaching the pirate's treasure, and then we opened gifts, had pizza and watched a movie. It was a rockin' good time!!