Toothless Alissa

For the past few months Alissa's front teeth have been super loose.  She is one of those kids who wiggles and wiggles in hopes it will just plop right out without much tugging.

And this is evidence on how patient I was with the situation.

Holy cow!  Finally when it's to the point that she is nonstop saying, "ok you can pull it.  no never mind"  I just sit on her for a second and pluck it right out.  Takes a whole 1 small tug.  Although she doesn't want me to, she is always happy afterward.  And her mom is too.

But now look at that toothless smile!  How can she be big enough for that?  I'm pretty sure she was just being fussy because she was growing those little teeth.   

David Archuleta

My parents surprised the adult kids with tickets to David Archuleta a few weeks ago and I was sure 1 week after surgery I would be up for seeing David Archuleta sing.  

It was beautiful!  Filled my spiritual bucket that felt a little empty that night.  

Here we all are. :)

I watched David Archuleta on American Idol and cried through the finale and almost every time he sang in the end of the contest because I had come to love what a genuine young boy he was.  He was an LDS boy who had worked so hard to build his talent God blessed him with.  He was shy and timid and yet able to sing with confidence.  After the concert Dustin decided he was a fan too which made me SO happy!  Heidi used to make fun of me crying while I watched him and guess what.. I think she may be a bit of a crier now too.  :)

Thanks mom & dad!  What a fun time!

Princesses & Pirates at the Zoo

My good sister and husband Kenny took the kids to the zoo for our dentists customer appreciation day there.  Dustin and I slept the entire time they were gone and they had a great time as you can see by the pictures.  What amazing people in our lives!

Walking the plank & the magic mirror.

Eastern Idaho State Fair

Saturday presented us with an opportunity to do whatever it was we wanted with a free day.  That doesn't happen much these days so we decided to take the kids out to the fair in Blackfoot.  

The kids thought it was AMAZING!  They got to choose a couple rides to go on.

Dad snacked while he watched them laughing their heads off. 

I got to ride a "scary" ride with Alissa because none of the other kids wanted to and she was too short to go alone.  We had fun laughing... well I did.  She said she was too scared to scream or laugh so she was quiet however she did say it was fun.  ha ha

Their favorite was the kid swings.  Ella especially thought it was fun which cracks me up a little.  She is just a mild child and that's just great. 

The girls all had big smiles the whole time.

Dad got to ride the big fun slide with the kids. 

We walked through booths and just had a good time being together.  There is always 1,000,000 people at the fair so we decided it might be better and cheaper to go eat at a restaurant where we don't have to worry about somebody taking off with a kid or trying to eat while standing and holding a paper plate because there is pretty much no where to sit with a family of 6.

We decided on Texas Roadhouse because the kids had earned free meals with the library reading this summer.  When we got there we had about a 30 minute wait and Dustin was upset about it.  After probably 10 minutes he decided we needed to go so I walked up to the counter to see how much time we had left and a table for us came open.  When I turned around to tell Dustin I realized he had taken Lincoln and went to the car.  I had to convince the girls to stand still against the wall and I ran out to get him.  We got seated and Ella decided she needed to use the bathroom.  A few minutes later but not before Ella got back Molly decided she also needed to use the bathroom so Dustin took her and told her to stay with Ella in the bathroom and come back to the table.  They came back and Ella told us she felt sick.  She sat down for only a second and decided she needed to go outside because she needed some air.   After returning and feeling frustrated by the 3+ times somebody has left our table and the other monkeys who won't stay seated I asked the waitress if she can just bag our foot to go.  I took the kids and sat in the car and waited for Dustin to come out with our now to go order.  Of course now Ella is feeling much better and nobody is really hungry because the massive amount of rolls and honey butter and water we ate while sitting at the table for the 10 minutes we sat there.  :)  ha ha!!  Wow.. I think maybe next time we should order a pizza.  This is becoming our normal life with a family of 6.

Canning, Canning & More Canning

This has certainly been the year of canning!  I have canned tons of jam, peaches, pears, apple sauce, grape juice, spaghetti sauce, green beans & pickles.  I have pretty much kept the camp chef set up in the garage for the past month because it seems that every few days I have new produce to can.  What a blessing!  The peaches and pears were the only thing I had to buy and they were at as super great price.  I feel happy to see all my cans being used downstairs and my shelves filled with healthy food.

Miss Molly helped me pull the skins off the peaches after school.  She thought it was pretty great.  The other girls would have too however we were done before they got home.  

Love my little helper! 

Pre Surgery Feelings

I was able to have a blessing a few weeks ago given by Dustin and because it was a Sunday afternoon my brothers, brother in law and dad were all able to stand in.  All the kids and wives were in the living room and I could feel a real sense of unity within my family.  It's interesting as their laid their hands on my head a sense of safety overcame me too.  I won't share too many personal things about the blessing here, they are in my other journal but I did want to share some other feelings I have had.

On Sunday the family had a special focused fast for myself and Lisa and we also included Carol who is having her parathyroid removed the week after me.  My brother in law Kenny encouraged me to share some feelings I had from this focused fast.

First of all it is humbling to have a fast specific for yourself and especially when my sweet kiddos (10 and 6) skip a meal on behalf of their mom, aunt and grandma.  

As we sang the hymn "I Will Go Where You Want Me To Go" today during sacrament meeting I realized I have never thought that cancer would be a place the Lord would ask me to go.  Maybe another country, state or somebody's house but not a medical condition.  However, I asked myself, "Is it any different?"  If I truly submit my will - I will go WHEREVER He asks me to go.

In Relief Society we talked about being genuine and out of inspiration I am sure the teacher shared a story from a book she was reading.  These people were captive in barracks and were surrounded by swarms of fleas which made their lives absolutley miserable.  One night as they were praying the younger sister expressed gratitude for the fleas.  Her older sister did not understand why.  A few weeks later they overheard the guards say they never went inside those barracks becuase of all the fleas.  And because they enver went in they were able to read their Bible and pray  Although they were miserable the fleas now became a blessing.  I realize this is the same with trials like this.  They seem like an unfortunate event or an inconvenience however what one etrial have we left without growth and more understanding?  I realize I am BLESSED with this trial because of Gods great love for me and all His children.  I am anxious to see how it unfolds and the many lessons I can learn from it.

I realize the weight of things like this are too heavy to carry on our own so we hand it over to the Lord.  There are occasions I decide to hold it for a minute and let m tell you I cannot do it!!  I am thankful for the Atonement and my older brother Jesus Christ for helping me carry this load.

I want to be sure I live my life everyday that my family all knows how important they are to me.  They are what gives my life value and joy.  I hope they always know how much the gospel means to me and my testimony of the Atonement and the Resurrection.  

First Day of School

As with every year, Dustin gave all the kids a back to school blessing.  It's always the youngest who is sucking a binki to help from wiggling so much that we get a kick out of and have to take a photo of to remember how stinking sweet it is.  He did not sit still for much longer than 20 seconds, but he still did get a blessing.  :)

This year school starts at 7:55!  Bright and early for these little ones.  We didn't get individual pictures of them on the first day this year because it was a particularly stressful one.  Dustin stayed home to take me to an appointment to meet with the Ear Nose & Throat doctor about having my thyroid removed so we got there a little early and were still in a little bit of a hurry. 

Ella is in 5th Grade with Mrs. Stillman, Alissa in 1st with Mrs. McLaren and Molly is in Kindergarten with Mrs. Moeller. 

We ran in to get a picture of Molly in the classroom.  Just like last year they got to play with play dough on the first day of school.  Molly had no issues saying a big goodbye to her mom.  Something about school starting makes me feel like my kids just got so big!   

Love these kids so much and I miss them so much when they are gone!

While it's warm the Hansen kids ride over and go to school with mine.

Check out this look on Lincoln's face.  He's pretty sure he's part of the clan. 

When I go to help Molly get home I just get excited.  I'm so glad she isn't in full day yet.  She just has the biggest, hugest smile on her face as though she won a prize.  She is the first one ready for school, the first one to get out of bed and get going and just happy to be alive.  I love it!!

Middle Teton

My amazing husband made sure he had his yearly challenge of climbing up a mountain.  This year he went with some friends from our ward and did a quick day trip.  He had a glorious time.  It was certainly something bred into this boy to love hiking and the mountains this much.  LOVE HIM!