Merry Christmas!

I know I have been a huge slacker when it comes to blogging and I will try to be better next year. We hope you are all doing well. I will even try to post some Christmas pictures. (maybe)

Silverlake

With so many things going on all the time, good quality family time is hard to get. It is always rushed between work, meals, bedtime, preschool, church meetings and so many other things that when you finally get a beautiful day and nothing planned... you decide spur, of the moment to escape to the mountains. We went up to Silverlake with the girls and walked around. It was beautiful. Then we went to dinner and came home and watched a movie. It wasn't anything extraordinary, but it was so nice to just be together and not worry about everything else. I hope we can have more days like that.

Carpe Diem

I hope you'll be inspired today by these words from Erma Bombeck (written while she was battling cancer):

"If I had to live my life over, I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room, worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace...and burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle. I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it...live it...and never give it back."

More Summer Highlights

We had all of Damon's family here from New York, Georgia and Southern Utah! It was so fun to get together and there are way too many pictures to post them all.

Highlights from this Summer

My brother, Ali, got married to Shae!

Emma turned ONE!

Miya Started Preschool

Bear Lake

Wow, it has been a while since I have blogged here are a few of the many things we have done this summer.

Sorry for the bogus email

Hey everyone,

If you received a random email with an obscure link in it please disregard/delete. Apparently my gmail account has compromised. Seems to be going around. Just make sure you don't click any strange links.

Thanks,
Damon

Dunns River Falls, Jamaica

Caribbean Cruise Part 3

There are three parts to this post and for some reason I always get them in backwards order, so start down at post one.

We had so much fun! Here are some of the crazy things we did with the family. All the girls decided to participate in the BIG HAIR CONTEST. Tiva won the grand prize and I got a prize but only because of my amazing moon walking skills and mostly because of my cute baby that waved at everyone (oh and did I mention we were pretty much the only ones that entered). We also played a game of red rover on the deck one night that turned into a big game of tickle tag. It was so fun to just laugh each night after dinner until our bellies hurt so much we thought we might puke. I love my family and it was so fun to spend time with them on this fun filled vacation!

Caribbean Cruise Part 2

Stop #1: Cozumel Continued
We also played on this beautiful playground under the palm trees. Then my mom and sister took the girls back to the ship for naps and Damon and I had some time to wander the shops and relax on the shore. I felt like I was in a Corona commercial.


Stop #2: Grand Cayman
Damon went snorkling with my sisters and my brother in law where they saw some pretty amazing fish and even a few stingrays. While my parents and I took Miya and Emma to the turtle farm and to see the dolphins. We got to hold any of the turtles we could catch. Some of those bigger ones can be HEAVY.

Here is Miya and I shaking hands with the dolphin.

Stop #3: Jamaica
We spent the morning shopping around the little shops while my family did their shore excursions. Then they watched Miya and Emma for us in the afternoon while Damon and I hiked the Dunn's River Falls. It was beautiful. I couldn't get over how amazing it was. We actually hiked through the water falls. They cascaded down like a staircase. We couldn't take our camera because it would have gotten ruined in the water but Damon took some really cool pics with his iphone that he can upload later. It was an amazing trip! I wish it hadn't ended so soon.

Caribbean Cruise

Last week we went on a cruise with my family to the Caribbean. It was so fun! We boarded the Carnival Liberty on Saturday, May 8. And came home Saturday May 15. It goes by way too fast. There was so much to do on and off the ship.

We spent some time almost every day in the pool. On days when the ocean was a little choppy it would rock the boat just enough to create a wave pool.

I got to spend Mother's day/my birthday on the cruise. It was so nice to be with all my family in such a beautiful place for my double special day!

Our first stop was in Cozumel, Mexico. We spent most of the day on the beach. It was amazing how clear the water was. We played in the sand, the canoes, pedal boats, floating mats, water trampolines, and the giant "iceberg" that Damon and I climbed up and jumped off.

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Sugar Eggs

This week we decided to make sugar eggs to ring in spring (and something to break up the monotony of staying home while recovering from colds.) I used to make these with my students when I was teaching and since I have stayed home, Miya and I have picked up the Easter project every year. Emma even helped mix the sugar. It was fun to see how creative Miya got with her egg. She gets that from Damon. She is really getting to the age where she enjoys these kinds of things.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

A Fun-Filled Weekend (NOT!)

Sorry for the long post, but here is the story of how we ended up in the hospital...

So this week has been crazy and this weekend turned out to be even crazier! I have taken my girls to the doctor so much in the past couple weeks and this week Emma started to get sick again and I took her in on Tuesday. We found out she had RSV, double ear infections and double eye infections. We started her on antibiotics and eye drops. I thought things might start getting better. Boy, was I wrong. Miya started coughing and running a fever later that day. I kept an eye on it and gave her some Tylenol. Over the next few days, things progressively got worse for her. She started running fevers of 104-105. I had talked to the doctor on the phone and he told me she most likely has RSV as well and that these fevers were typical. I started this week hoping that Emma wouldn't end up being hospitalized with RSV and to my surprise it ended up being Miya I should have been worried about.

On Friday, Miya stopped getting up to play in between fevers and laid on the couch all day and watched movies and slept. She wasn't eating or drinking so I took her to the night clinic at our doctor's office. He said that she probably had pneumonia as a secondary infection to the RSV and he prescribed some antibiotics and told us to keep a close eye on her breathing and fevers. Later that night her breathing became very rapid and medicine was not bringing down her fever. I called the doctor at 1 a.m. and he had me get her in the bathtub to reduce her fever and try to slow her breathing. By 3 a.m. things hadn't changed much and so I loaded her in the car and took her up to Primary Children's. They monitered her closely, did a chest x-ray and admitted her to the hospital. They put her on an IV because she was partially dehydrated. They had to put her on oxygen because she had pnuemonia and wasn't getting enough oxygen into her blood. They also had to do an antibiotic in her IV to try to fight the pnuemonia quickly to start bringing down her fevers.

She was really sick and it broke my heart to see her poked, prodded, and suctioned. But after a couple days in the hospital she has drastically improved. Here are some pictures of our time at the hospital. It was cute to see Emma so concerned about Miya.

She finally started eating. They room service is so cute. They let the kids order whatever they want. Miya had some pretty interesting combinations. My favorite was when she ordered mashed potatoes, a breadstick, cereal and a rainbow cupcake with sprinkles for dinner.

It was a crazy Valentine's day spent in the hospital. We came home this evening and Miya is doing so much better. It is amazing how quickly things change, the power of prayers is awesome and I am so grateful for the little things in life and being able to have a my loved ones healthy. I am grateful for my wonderful husband who was an amazing support for me and for my wonderful mother who drops everything to help us out with whatever we need. And my dad for bringing us dinner tonight. Thank you to everyone else for your concerns and prayers.

Valentine Cookies

We actually made these valentine cookies a week and a half ago with Chelsea, Raegan and Wyatt. They sure were yummy. I ate more than I should have.

Why did I even bother?

Here was our conversation this evening:
Miya: Mommy, I'm really hungry.
Mommy: I am making dinner right now.
Miya: What are you making?
Mommy: Spaghetti and meatballs and some salad.
Miya: Yeah! Hooray! I love spaghetti.

Next we sit down to dinner
Miya: Mommy, I didn't want meatballs.
Mommy: I thought you liked meatballs. Just try one.
Miya: No. I don't want meatballs take them off. (pushes her plate away)
Mommy is in a good mood so she just eats the meatballs and pushes the plate back to Miya.
Miya: I didn't want sauce! Just noodles.
Mommy: Sorry, but I already put the sauce on so you will just have to eat it and I will try to remember no sauce next time.
Miya starts whining and won't eat her dinner. Mommy must be in a good mood because she takes the plate and dumps it all in a strainer and rinses off all the sauce.
Miya: Mommy, I want some of your dinner.
Mommy: Nope, sorry. Eat your dinner, you said you didn't want sauce so I washed it off. Now eat it.
Miya: I want sauce. This time I will eat it. Please have some sauce?
Mommy: (through gritted teeth) fine!
Mommy gets some sauce and puts in on. Miya takes one bite.
Miya: I want some of that on my noodles.
Mommy: That is salad dressing and it won't be good on your spaghetti. It goes on salad. Do you want some salad?
Miya: sure.
Mommy gets some salad and dressing.
Miya: Mommy, I want too much dressing.
Mommy: eat what you've got and then I will get you more.
Miya: I am done. I want to watch a movie...

Who knew a hat could be so fun?

PS-She is 6 months old already! Where does the time go?