Happy Valentine's Day!

Photo Challenge

My cousin is having a photo challenge on her blog so I decided that I would also take part of the challenge. Since today is February 5, I looked in the 2 folder in my pictures and the 5th picture and this is what I came up with.

This picture is taken just above the Laie Temple on Oahu, Hawaii. We had been to the Polynesian Cultural Center and it was SOO hot so we hopped on a bus and came over to the temple. It is SOOO gorgeous. In 2006, Sean, Brooklyn, and I, my mom, my sister, my cousin Janalee, and our friend Karen went to Hawaii. My cousin Jessica was getting married in Maui and we decided that it would be great if we could go and support her. We spent some time on Oahu and then flew over to Maui. It was the best of both worlds because we had Brooklyn with us and we also had people there to help us with her. If you ever get the chance to go to Hawaii- DO IT!! It is so gorgeous. We had a blast on Oahu and saw the touristy places- the PPC, Pearl Harbor, we stayed in an AWESOME house on the North Shore, Waikiki, lots and lots of snorkeling, and saw the most breathtaking sunsets. Maui was more laid back and more restful for us- not as much running around. I have never in my life seen as much beauty as I did on our drive of the Road to Hana, more snorkeling, we went on a snorkeling cruise, and I went Parasailing with Nat. Geez- writing this post makes me want to be there right now.

Our little family in front of the Temple- isn't it something? I crave to go back to Hawaii it was such a fun time. (This was a fun thing to do- if you don't know what to do for your next blog post- pick a random picture.)

Miss Abigail

We are so excited around here! My sister had her baby on tuesday and they came home today! Brooklyn could hardly contain herself with the excitement of seeing her new little cousin. As of now, they are naming her Abigail and are going to call her Abby. She is a precious little thing and her and Nat are doing great! The gals were thrilled with seeing her and given the chance I think they would have eaten her up. I think I will fighting Brooklyn over who gets to hold her! :) I was a little worried about how Gracie would feel about her- she LOVES well both the gals love Nat. I thought Gracie might be a little jealous- but she loved her! I don't know if there is anything better than the happiness a new baby brings into your life!

Ice Skating

Brooklyn has a little friend from school that takes ice skating lessons and so for weeks she has been BEGGING us to take her ice skating. We decided we would go for family home evening this week- tonight was the night. We went to the Eccles Ice Arena. We all got skates- they even had them small enough for Gracie- they were so cute. They also had little walkers that the gals could hold onto. Sean thought they needed the helmets- so they wore those too. Gracie lasted 2 laps- she actually enjoyed the 2 she did and then her and Sean watched Brooklyn and I the rest of the time. Brooklyn was really unsure when she first got on the ice. I think that she thought she would be able to go out there and skate like a pro. She wanted to give up, but we wouldn't let her- she finally got the hang of it (holding onto the walker thing) and had a BLAST!! (The lighting in there was really wierd and our camera didn't take the best pictures)

Gracie is all ready to go- cute little skates

Brooklyn is all ready- I made her take the helmet off for this picture

She is such a goof-ball sometimes

At the end she was really enjoying herself and having a lot of fun

We had a fun time skating together. She got to the point she wanted to go do spins on all the circle she saw.

Bring it On!

So we thought Brooklyn having strep was bad- although- she never did have a sore throat so that was lucky. We put Gracie to bed last night and Sean and I sat down to enjoy part 2 of the season opener of 24. (On a side note- Gracie has had a cough for the past 4 weeks off and on. And this girl has the most sensitive gag reflexes. Two days ago she was coughing so hard she threw-up 3 different times.) Back to the story- we are about through the first hour and Gracie wakes up coughing. I went in and got her and was shocked to hear awful she sounded from the hour and half earlier when she had gone to bed. She was coughing terribly and sounded like a seal. She fell asleep on Sean and I decided that I would just sleep on the couch with her- I got her all propped up and about an hour later she wakes up coughing and throwing up. This time her breathing sounded horrible. Brooklyn had Croup when she was around this same age and it was the worst illness she had- as far as scaring me. I figured Gracie must have it too. I bundled her up and went and stood outside with her (because the cold air is good for the airways.) I decided that maybe we should take her to the ER because she might need a breathing treatment. But she fell asleep in my arms. She was able to sleep off and on through the night. I think we watched "Shek" (Shrek- she is obsessed!) 2 times. About 6 I realized that she was burning up and decided that I would take her to Instacare when they opened at 8. She woke up at 7:30 coughing, bawling, and was just plain miserable. So I loaded her up and headed to Instacare. I really wanted to see a Pediatrician and ours is out in Tuesdays (of course)- I called the office and I was able to get into another one. Let me just tell you that Gracie is NOT of fan of the doctors office. As soon as we walked in the door she was bawling. She had a fever of 102.7 and it was determined that she does have Croup. She got a dose of a steroid, had her oxygen level tested (it was 97%- Good), got our prescription, and headed home. Her and I laid down and had a nice 4 hour nap. She is currently sleeping- but Croup is worse at night- so please wish me luck! On a good note- I saw BLUE skies today- it was pretty exciting! I hope the inversion stays away!

She has What?

We were going to go to Moab or St. George this weekend, but it just didn't feel like we should. Yesterday Brooklyn woke up and her asthma was terrible and then at noon she got a bowl and said she felt like she was going to throw-up. She then held the bowl the rest of the day- just not feeling well at all. Everyone in my house fell asleep and I headed to my sister's to help paint. I had been there about an hour when Sean calls and tells me that I need to come home and we need to take Brooklyn to Instacare. When she woke up she was in SO pain in her stomach and was holding it and moaning in pain. We got to Instacare about 15 minutes before they closed- I bet they were thrilled to see us! The doctor looked her over and felt her stomach- then he looked at her throat and said it was REALLY red. He asked her it it was sore and she said no. The doctor told me they would do a strep test and if it came back negative then they would do on X-Ray and blood work. I was thinking to myself- let's just start that now- because strep tests hardly ever come back positive. You can imagine the shock I had when he came back in a couple minutes later and said it was positive. I took her in there thinking that maybe something was wrong with her appendix or something and found out she has strep. It was crazy! Now I know why it didn't feel good to go on vacation!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!! I couldn't get our Christmas card to upload, but here are some of the pictures we used- my sister-in-law Chelsea did a great job.

We had an eventful week leading up to Christmas. On monday Brooklyn had her sing-a-long at school. She was so excited for this. She had a speaking part in it and nailed it!! They were all wearing headbands to look like Rudolph. She took this very seriously!

On Christmas Eve day we had planned to go to Sean's grandparents house in Stone, ID. But due to Brooklyn and I waking up in the middle of the night sick- we decided to stay at home and rest for our big party that night. Luckily, it passed quickly and we were able to have a great time. On my mom's side of the family, every Christmas Eve we get together with my Great-Aunt Venice's family and have a party. For the last several years, it is held at the Wellsville Tabernacle. We have a delicious meal, a program (Brooklyn sang "Tap, Tap" a song from her sing-a-long), the Nativity scene is acted act- costumes and all, we sing the "12 Days of Christmas" song, and conclude with a gift exchange. I have to say that this was one of the better parties I can remember having. When I was little we were the ones acting out the Nativity and this year it was so fun to see the "second generation" acting it out. Brooklyn was Mary and Gracie was an Angel. (I am sad because we didn't get a picture of the whole group.) My Grandma Ila and Aunt Venice would have been so happy to see those cute great-grandkids up there!!

All along when we asked Brooklyn what she wanted for Christmas she would say she wanted Santa to surprise her. So I decided what we were going to get her and was going to get it. That morning she wakes up and tells me that she has decided what she wants Santa to bring her- a doll house and a couple of dolls. This was 2 weeks before Christmas. So I started looking around and decided that I didn't want a cheap plastic one and I didn't love the ones I saw in stores. I had seen on KSL the one that I wanted. I decided that we could make it- no problem. Sean kept reminding me that neither he or I had the craftsmanship it would take to build it. However, my amazingly talented brother-in-law Derk does. He said he would help me and we started it the Friday night before Christmas. We didn't work on it on Saturday or Sunday and started back up on Monday- working I think 6 hours that night. Tuesday we had a good 10 hour day. And Wednesday a good 12 hours. I had to finish it that night because we were to be going to Stone early Thursday morning. With the help of my dad and Nat were we able to get it done! It turned out just as I hoped it would. The sad thing is is that Brooklyn will never know (or at least for a long time) she won't know all th time that Derk, Sean, my dad, Nat, and I put into it. (Also my mom for watching the gals.)

The finished product

This picture is classic- and of course my camcorder wasn't working to capture her reaction, but Sean got this picture

We had a great Christmas morning at home. Gracie really got into opening the presents and was so excited. Then we headed to my parents house for a delicious breakfast and then went to Sean's parents for a yummy dinner.

The gals were excited when we finally got home and they got to enjoy their toys. The next day Grammie and Pops came down to play Barbies and the gals had a blast. Then we made on unexpected trip to Stone to visit with Sean's Grandparents and his aunt and uncle. We had a great time out there.

On Monday, we got together with my cousins Tara and Ashleigh and their kids. My cousin Tara recently adopted a little girl and this was the first time we got to see her. Brooklyn was in Heaven and could have held her all night. She is even more excited for Nat's baby to get here. She is going to be a big help!

To top our Christmas week off- on Sunday night when we were driving home from my parents house we hit a deer! Yes that is fur still in the car- I am not going to touch it. We are lucky this is all the damage that was done. On our car we have a thermometer on the rear-view mirror and Brooklyn had said it is 4 degrees and Sean points to it and says that it is actually -4 degrees. At this point, I look up from the mirror and see 2 deer in the middle of the road about 5 feet in front of us. I yell, "SEAN!!!" He looks up and sees them- we missed the one and clipped the other. We weren't sure what we were supposed to do about getting the deer off the road so I called my parents and they got in their car to come and help us. So we turn around and see that the deer is laying at the side of the road alive. We sat watching it waiting for my dad to get there. After 5 minutes the deer hopped up and hopped into the field. So I guess it is ok. My parents got there and then 7 other deer crossed the road. So if you drive to Newton by way of Wellsville, be careful coming up right after the bridge- that is where they were.

I just love this time of year!! I am always sad when it is over. I love the music, the sounds, the food, everything about it. I especially love that for those few weeks, more people are turned to the Savior. The real reason for the season. What a miracle his birth was- I remember 2 years ago at Christmastime when I was 9 months pregnant and miserable. I thought of poor Mary and how daunting it must have been to have to leave home and get upon a donkey and travel. And then to get close and know the baby was coming and hoping that they would make it to the town. And to get to the town and find that there is no place for them to stay. How would it have been to know that you are about to deliver the Son of God. And then in the most humble of circumstances to have him in a barn. I love my Savior and am so thankful for him. Let's keep him in our hearts and be more like him this whole year to come and not just these weeks in December!