Girl's Night at Primary Medical Center

We had a little hiccup in our life the past few days. Lily had an infection in her upper eyelid, (orbital cellulitis). We had her on anti-biotics, but the infection was still progressing and her eye was closed shut on Thursday. I was glad to find this morning that the IV anti-biotics had made some progress and the swelling has gone down. One more dose of the IV anti-biotics and they are sending us home. Yay!

Lily has enjoyed her stay here. She has felt fine (minus the swollen eye) and has thoroughly enjoyed the play room and all of the prizes that she has gotten. She did amazing for the CT-scan. They normally have to sedate children her age to get a clear image, but she did great! Right now she is sitting in the bed eating m&m's (happy's) and watching Little Mermaid. We painted pictures and decorated t-shirts in the playroom this morning. She is in hog heaven.

I was glad that Pete's sister Paige was working at Primary's yesterday and today. She was able to find some good prizes for Lily, got her to take a nap, and made this a four-star hospital stay! Thanks Paige!!

Well, it looks like she is on the mend! I'm glad that we were able to treat the infection and get it under control. Lily you are a trooper!

We may be crazy, but he is REALLY cute!

So, if you saw my sister's picture of our new puppies on Facebook, you must be wondering... Wahhh? they got a dog? A puppy?!

Well, I was down in St. George with my sister. Pete and Paul went on errands. When they got back, Pete came back with a surprise. A 8 week old Shitzu! He is SO cute! Becca and Paul went back and bought the sister. The kids were in love with the puppies. The puppies did pretty good down in St. George because they had each other.

We decided to name our puppy Rhino. We were inspired by his little waddle in his walk AND fearless personality. (He jumped in the pool down in St. George). He reminded us of the hamster on the movie Bolt named Rhino. "THIS IS MY DESTINY!!" His full name is "Rhino the Killer. " We may have to get "Beware of Dog" signs. ha!

Below are some cute pictures of the puppy. He has taken a liking to Amelia. He loves to cuddle next to her. They were both laying asleep on the couch and Pete saw that Rhino had cuddled up to Amelia. I was getting the kids out the door this morning and saw that he had cuddled up next to her in her car seat. She likes him as long as he doesn't lick her too much. None of the pictures are staged. (Except for the one with the puppy in the exersaucer). Phillip and Lily love him. I need to get a picture of Lily holding him like a baby. It took only a day or so and she now is FEARLESS around the puppy. Phillip calls Rhino his buddy and brother dog.

A Mother's Day Tribute - Mother with Style

Whenever I get frustrated with my looks, my tired eyes, my dry hair … my wardrobe .. I think of this quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley, wife of the late President Gordon B. Hinckley:

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

When I think about ‘living life’ I can’t think of anyone but my mom. She raised 17 kids and helped us with everything. So here is a tribute to my mom. As a background here are some stories that I reference in the poem:

• My mom insisted that my dad dig up some good horse manure compost for her vegetable garden and flower beds!
• My mom was at a charity benefit and they had oysters on the hard shell. She felt so bad that my dad couldn’t come and eat it, she wrapped them up in a napkin and put them in her purse! Her purse smelled like a rotten fish for weeks!
• My mom was a church leader and one of my friends came straight from her caddying job to an activity at a skating rink. She had been walking in puddles and mud. My mom felt bad that her feet would get cold so she made my friend put her wet muddy shoes in her purse!

Mother with Style

I know an old women

Who lived in a shoe

She had so many kids

She didn’t know what to do …

… but for real …

I know a great women

Who lived in a house.

She raised 17 kids

While wearing a jean blouse.

French toast, oatmeal,

eggs, and pancakes to share.

Mom took us to school

With curlers in her hair.

Dark pants, turtleneck

A jean button-down shirt.

Her outfits were ready for anything

Even manure-filled dirt.

Schools, sports, church,

Errands and more.

Heals, shoes and socks

Were more of a chore

Bobby Socks, squashed heals,

No time to waste.

My mom had class,

She had great taste!

Working, cleaning, helping

Sharing.

Instead of pampering her self

She was always caring.

No time for salons,

She permed her own hair.

Although life was crazy,

She always made time for prayer.

Lipstick at a stoplight,

For lips and rouge.

Her mouth was always kind,

She never was rude.

A women’s purse,

Full of treasures to choose.

My mom shared her purse

With fresh oysters and muddy shoes!

She may be Silly.

She may be Tired.

But when I think of my mom

I feel Inspired.

I know a great women

Who lived in Style.

She raised 17 kids

While wearing a Smile!

Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thank you for all that you have done! We love you!

A Spring Time Update!

It's been a busy few weeks. Pete and I have been working a lot in the yard to get it spruced up this year. It's nice to be outside and enjoy the sun! The mature trees are great for landscaping, but the winter clean up takes forever. We got a LOT of compost and wood chips to spruce up the beds. We've cut down branches and probably will have gone to the dump at least 7 times (to drop off garbage and to pick up mulch). When I say 'we' I mean Pete. Yard work is so easy when I don't do that much work! ha!

The pictures I took were the week after easter. I didn't get the kids dressed up for Easter because it was General Conference. So above is the "Fake Easter" pictures. Amelia was asleep in her car seat, so I didn't get any pictures of her. Another time! I like the 'surprised' look on Phillip's picture. I also like the portrait I got of Lily. It was hard to get her to look at the camera because she kept looking at her "pretty shoes" and "pretty dress." If you have either the nikon or Canon digital camera, the larger lens is great for portraits, you just have to stand back further and hope for your kids cooperate and look at you.

Phillip is keeps saying funny things. We've gone over and over about 'but' and 'butt.' If I said 'but' in a sentence, he would say, "mommy that is a naughty word, we don't say butt." I have tried to explain to him that one 'but' is a transition word and the other 'butt' is the name for your behind. Yesterday he said, "Sit on your But! ... Mommy I said 'but'. It's o.k. because it was a transition 'but'."

I took a picture of one of his latest creations. He is starting to write his letters pretty good. Is it because of the iTouch letter trace program? Or from pre-school? We'll never know, but he loves to write "BYU" on almost everything.

What else have we been up to? Phillip has been selling the chicken eggs. When I say Phillip, he at least comes with me to deliver them. We are still doing most of the work. We have 5 more baby chicks. Two black chickens with feathers on their feet - "Darth Maul" and "Darth Vader". Two Buff Ophingtons "Ginger" and "Maryanne" (Giligans Island) and a Road Island Red "Sabre." I was glad that Becca joined the chicken club. I have to say they are great pets. We did have an unfortunate event and two of our chickens got killed by a dog. Ah well, it's the circle of life. Pete kept making jokes about making a chicken dinner. Maybe sometime. I just don't know if it's worth it to boil the chicken, remove the feathers, brine, and then roast the chicken when I can get a rotisserie chicken at Costco for 5.99! Plus it's kind of weird as they are our only pets.

We have gone to garage sales and made trips to DI as usual. I was pretty excited for the hamburger cookie jar that Pete found for me! Pete did get his parents the banana to pull behind their boat. (There's a link for those who don't know what I'm talking about) What a great DI special!