Lori's LDS journal

Make-A-Wish Monday the Gorge

2011-11-05T08:12:00.001-07:00

This whole week has been leading up to the main fundraiser this Monday, November 7th from 5-7 p.m. called "The Gorge". Meaning you "gorge" yourself with food. It costs $5 per person or $20 per family, and the SBOs will give you a meal ticket with a list of all the food available. Each club at the school puts out a table of samples that represent their club or that they just want to serve. You walk up and down the halls and get one little sample from each table. We have taken our family to this event the last couple of years, and it's crazy good. They also have performances in the auditorium going on. We have really enjoyed this event in the past.

I was inspired last year as I watched the Wolfgram family who sponsored their own table of Polynesian food. I told Siale then that I wanted to do a food table this year. I just could have never imagined that it would be for us. What a turn life takes us on:)

Make-A-Wish Friday

2011-11-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Friday was super-hero day. Kira dressed up as wonder woman:) They didn't have an activity because the volleyball team was playing at the state competition. They took an activity bus to the games, and I went for the second game that day. Siale is a middle blocker/hitter on the team. The students were great, and the team won both games that day. I was so happy for them. They will be playing in the semi-final match today at 12:30.

Make-A-Wish Thursday

2011-11-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

Thursday, students at Barnett and the high school dressed up in green, Q's favorite color. The activity for this day was the "ManHawk" at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. Six or seven teams of boys performed dance routines under the direction of their coaches (whichever girls wanted to coach them). Almost all the boys from our ward danced on one team or another. A big thanks and congratulations to Weston Rowley, Darren Brackner, Michael Redhouse, and Kyle Tarter. Their dances were hilarious. Some groups had glow sticks, one group had Q-U-I-N-T-O-N written on their under shirts, one group made a Q out of pom-poms, and one group had a heart and Q on their boxers.....My cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

They pretty much packed the house. It was the biggest ManHawk event ever. Over a thousand people were there. They sold out of T-Shirts. They sold out of dog tags. They had a line running out the building and around the corner. We were so touched.

At the end of the competition, they asked the teams to go up on stage; they announced that they had a special guest to present the awards. The teams all started chanting, Q, Q, Q, Q. Quinton came out on stage, and the place erupted. He announced the winners (he did a great job) and the winning team had their pictures taken pointing to Q. Here again, I can't even describe how great it was. What a gift they have given our family. It's like the "wish" is just second prize to all this love and support and confidence boosting the students are doing. The wonderful thing about this event is that it is all driven by the students. The advisor is doing a wonderful job, but she is only backing this service-oriented project that the students are all excited about. I can't say enough wonderful things about the students at SHHS!

Make-A-Wish Wednesday

2011-11-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday of Make-A-Wish week included "winter day" because Q's favorite season is winter and his favorite animal is a penguin. Kids at the high school and Barnett both dressed in their winter gear. The activity for that day included a lego building competition at lunch at the high school. Quinton and Jeff went over to that. The students were really great, and the winning lego design was a castle. We have pictures on some device, but I don't know where they are!!

Salem Hills High School Make-a-Wish

2011-11-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

We are so excited! This week has been the best ever. I can't describe it. Not even a little bit, but I will try. Every year SHHS student body officers put on a "make-a-wish" week. Our neighbor, Siale Vaitohi, happens to be a student body officer. Whoever they were going to use as their "make-a-wish" kid for this year decided not to participate. Siale suggested to her advisor that she read this very blog. Then, the student council read my blog. They all wanted Quinton to be the "make-a-wish" kid.

I referred Q to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I didn't really think he'd qualify, but he did! The student council invited Quinton up to their school, so they could find out some important facts about him. He came home from that meeting and said, "they're going to make a movie about me!" He was still chill about it, like he is everything else, but he said it with enough bravado to make Jeff and me laugh a little.

Tuesday, November 1st they introduced Quinton to the school in an assembly, which all the students dressed up for. It was the most amazing assembly I've ever been to. They showed his "movie", which portrayed pictures of him, him showing off all his lego ships, his super-hero infused room, him doing some of the exercises he does, him playing guitar, him showing off his scar, and Jeff and I telling parts of his story. They had one girl speak (I can't remember her name!!) who was so awesome who had a wish granted when she was little. Then, they introduced our family to come on stage. YES I was crying because the whole place was standing and cheering. I spoke and told more in depth about Quinton's story. The students were so respectful.

They also had Eric Merkley tell his story, which was really touching. He was a basketball player who thought he had torn a calf muscle. It turned out he had a leg tumor that was going to require amputation. It was when Uintah, the team my brother coaches, came to play Salem that they honored him last year (I just happened to be there -- maybe not a coincidence). He called Q up on stage and had a gift bag that contained a SHHS hat. He told Q that they were inducting him into the "SkyHawk Nest" and gave him the hat. We were sitting on the front row, trying to get Q's attention to tell him to put the hat on because he was just kind of holding it. Finally, he saw us and kind of shook the hat open and put it on his head, and let me tell you, that place erupted into cheers. It was the neatest thing ever!

The SBO President, Becca Newman, called Q on stage. She had a surprise for him. She had contacted Brad Paisley's agent and had gotten a picture and an album cover signed and some guitar pics. What a great girl! That was fantastic.

The student body officers ended the assembly by singing that song from Shrek, "Halelujah, halelujah." Yes, I cried through the whole thing. It was beautiful.

We also did a similar assembly at Barnett in the afternoon. I was scared about changing my talk to fit elementary students, but it was easier than I thought. It went really well too. The kids at Barnett were really receptive and ready to participate in "make a wish" week too.

Q's T-shirts and dog tags went on sale this day also. The T-shirts, inspired by Siale, depict a green Q turned into the green lantern sign, since green is his favorite color.

That night, they showed Thor, Q's favorite movie, at an event at the school. Quinton and Jeff went, and Jeff was so touched that complete strangers were walking around in Q's shirt and dog tags. We just couldn't believe what this meant for us.

Off the Hook

2011-09-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been a long day waiting for news on Quinton's treatment plan. The tumor meeting was early this morning, but communication woes abounded, and we didn't get any info till about 5 p.m. I'm pretty tired!!

Apparently, all the doctors on the tumor board felt like it was best to wait and re-scan in 3 months. I guess we're off the hook -- at least until Christmas time or so! Some doctors expressed the feeling that the growth was so minimal that it could almost be read as a mistake. I'm pretty surprised. Dr. Riva-Cambrin was pretty sure that the plan would include treatment, but maybe he was jumping the gun a little. Maybe just knowing Q personally he was a little smoke-screened by how cute he is! Ha ha!!

We're pretty happy and relieved for the moment. Normal life will proceed for another length of time! We again express gratitude for all the kindnesses and support sent our way!

The next step in the road to recovery

2011-09-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Thank you for all your love and support! You've all been so concerned and supportive. We have some new news in Quinton's recovery. On Tuesday, he had an MRI -- his regular 3-month check. Jeff took him to this appointment, so I didn't have to take a day off work. I had been feeling pretty positive about Quinton's case, and I had blocked out the thought of the two little pieces of tumor that had to be left in.

On Wednesday, we met with Dr. Riva-Cambrin to review the results of the films. We got into the office right away, but we waited quite a while before some interns came in. They did some routine strength tests and asked a few questions. They said Dr. Riva-Cambrin would come into see us soon, but he was reviewing the films with a radiologist. Jeff said he knew then that something wasn't good.

The doctor came in and showed us the films. He said that the two little bits of tumor, the pieces he had to leave in the spinal chord because of the fear of paralyzation, had grown. It was a small growth, only a couple of millimeters, but some growth had occurred. He said that usually with tumors he often recommends doing another scan in a month or so, but in Quinton's case he felt it would be best to attack while the bits are small. He said that radiation or chemotherapy would be necessary.

Dr. Riva-Cambrin is going to a meeting on Tuesday morning where doctors from other fields meet to discuss tumors. He will get some input from that team on the best course for Quinton's case and call us on Tuesday. He said he was leaning towards a gentle chemo (how gentle is gentle??). Radiation could possibly weaken the bones in his spine and make his curve worse.

I was pretty shocked; however, it makes sense. We knew there were little bits left in there, but by comparison to the whole tumor, they were tiny.

Anyway, I will post again on Tuesday, but it looks like our road to recovery is lengthened a bit! It's like thinking you're almost to grandma's house when you're actually another hour or two away! Ha ha!

Update

2011-09-09T16:40:00.001-07:00

Hello! I've had a few requests to provide a quick update on Quinton and the family and how we are doing.

Quinton is back in school, and he's doing great. He is walking really well, they've kicked him out of Physical Therapy, and he's even mowing the lawn (he charges quite a bit for this service though:0) He makes it through the day without getting too tired, and he gets along really well. He does enjoy coming home and mostly taking it easy, which is good for him.

His spine curvature has been changing since the surgery. Where before the operation, his spine was curved to the right, now there is more curving to the front. This type of curve is called kyphosis, and isn't as treatable with a brace. He may or may not need further treatment for this spine curve in the future. He also has had trouble gaining weight (Ha! I wish that was my problem!). He left the hospital at 65 pounds, and he weighs 64 pounds today. Tiny little guy!

In other Quinton news, we're starting his science project on which exterior coating provides the most insulation! Ha! I wonder if it will be stucco?

I'm also back in double-duty school, teaching at Juab and taking master's classes at UVU (I graduate in April!!) This school year is going well, and I'm really liking it!

Jacey began pre-school this year, and she loves it. She has to give me a hassle about getting ready because she never wants to go, but she likes it when she gets there. That's just Jacey for us!

Kira got baptized over Labor Day Weekend, and it was a great day. She looked DARLING and was just a sweet girl. She is loving her class at school, and she is doing great. For a while, Quinton's illness seemed to impact her the most. She went through a funk where she cried a lot and had some emotional issues, but she is doing much better now.

Jeff is traveling quite a bit this fall for work, so we miss him when he goes off all over the West! We have been so blessed and recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives. We know that Quinton's story is miraculous, and we want to recognize the blessings he has been given. We don't know all the reasons the Lord had for this trial in our lives, but we know we have been blessed!

Grateful for Miracles

2011-07-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

This post is slow in coming, but it's really good and worth the wait. The story begins on Wednesday. Quinton was flying through therapy and making tremendous progress in walking and moving. We were looking forward to him coming home Friday. They had moved the lung biopsy from Thursday to Wednesday. Q had gone to therapy and then his nurse took him down to his CT scan which was scheduled to mark the lung tumors prior to the biopsy. We were surprised to find that he had to be sedated for the marking and CT scan, so they gave him some medicine through his IV, and he drifted off. I went to the waiting room for an approximately 45 minute wait while they marked the lung.

After 10 minutes, they came back and wanted us to go back with them. I knew it wasn't bad because the guy they sent was kind of smiling and had kind of a spring in his step. In this last month, I've become expert in reading the body language of medical personnel. I was in shock for a full 5 minutes when they told us that the lungs were clear. There weren't any more tumors or nodules on them any more. I kept thinking they just weren't looking in the right place or something, but they showed us on the screen the "ghost" of the nodule that had been there. Jeff and I just looked at each other in disbelief and sheer joy.

Quinton was slowly coming out of his sedation. He woke up, and we said, "Hey, guess what. You don't have to have the biopsy. Your lungs are clear." He smiled and nodded and drifted off again. I cried tears of joy. The nurses and doctors were saying, "This is the best thing we've had happen all year," and "This never happens." They were so happy for us. Then, Quinton woke up again and said, "Was I dreaming? I still have to do the operation right?" I said, "No, you weren't dreaming! It's true. No biopsy. No chemo. No radiation. You just get to come home." He smiled again and drifted off. We went through that drill a few more times, took him to his room, and made the plans to come home early. It was awesome that he was coming out of his sedation, so I got to tell him 3 or 4 times the good news:)

We know it was the Lord's will for this time. We are grateful; however, we recognize that others who have had just as much faith and prayer and fasting haven't turned out this way. We know it isn't because of anything we do or are, it is just what the Lord's will is for us. The Lord loves each of us and has a unique plan for everyone. One of the reasons for this outcome is for me to testify that prayers are answered and priesthood and faith have real power. The next day Q's surgeon came to the room and said, "Do you have a direct line to the Guy Upstairs or something?" We said yes...yes he does. And it was through all the people who have prayed and fasted for him that it was possible, so thank you all so much!

Updates

2011-06-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Here are a few updates on Quinton's progress. The final pathology for the spinal tumor is as follows: Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma -- a fast growing but fairly benign tumor. On a scale of 1-4, it's a 2. The spinal tumor was completely taken out, so the treatment for it would be to re-scan in 3 months -- probably no chemo or radiation. The doctors are really happy with this. Quinton is the 7th person in the world to have this type of tumor originating from his spine. Lots of people have had these in their brains and a few lesions leaking to the spine, but it's very rare to have the "mother tumor" be in the spine.

The baffling thing is what is in his lungs. The plan is to do the biopsy a week from Thursday, so exactly 2 weeks after the first surgery. All the doctors will be really anxious to find out what it is. We can't determine a treatment until we have a biopsy back.

In the meantime, we have to work with Quinton on learning to walk again. The therapist, in his initial assessment, thinks it will take a couple weeks as an inpatient here to be able to walk and perform daily tasks independently. He is eating from his elaborate "room service menu" which he can order from anytime (Q's friend Rhys was really jealous of this feature). He is doing much better now that he's off his IV medication. He joked around like our real Q today, so we were really pleased to see that.

While we may not be able to take him home for a couple weeks yet, we are really grateful for how well he is doing. Thank you a million times over for all the gifts and well wishes and prayers. We have a deep appreciation for all the support and love which have been poured out. We know your prayers on his behalf have strengthened him and comforted us in this difficult time. We know the Savior's atonement included this emotional and physical pain and acknowledge his gift in our behalf.

Successful surgery!

2011-06-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

Do we still have a long road ahead? Yes. But, we took a big chunk out of the load yesterday; in fact, they took a big chunk of tumor out of Quinton's spinal cord. Dr. Riva-Cambrin is a gifted surgeon.

Was it a long day? Yes. But, when it was over it didn't seem so bad. Kind of like how we forget how horrible pregnancy is when it's over. We arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. and the surgery got over about 5 p.m. We got a phone update every hour and a half, and every time, the word was that he was doing really well.

Were we relieved? Yes. But, we do have a ways to go yet. We felt a lot of relief when Dr. Riva-Cambrin walked into the waiting room. We felt even more relief when he seemed pleased. He was excited that the tumor appeared slightly less cancerous than he thought. He also explained that we can't start jumping up and down for another few days when the full pathology comes back.
Did he get it all? We think so, and Q retained function. Dr. R-C explained that at the very end, one low part of the tumor removal reduced function to 50%, but he was confident that since it never went to Zero, everything should be fine, which it appears to be. Q will have another MRI today to double check everything.
Are we grateful for all the love and support that has been poured out to us? You bet. But, we are humbled by it. It's been said we don't even know all the people who are praying for Q because his story just spreads, and that's pretty awesome. Thank you to those of you who fasted and prayed even when it was difficult for you:)
Is Q doing well now? Yes. But, he is in pain and a little overwhelmed.
Is Q a hero? Yes. He's a champion:) I'm a proud Momma.

Amazing!

2011-06-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

We've had an amazing time and have felt so much support. I've been remembering something I heard in conference and just barely found it and was amazed at the similarity of the situation and wanted to share:

Kent F. Richards, in the April 2011 General Conference

Thirteen-year-old Sherrie underwent a 14-hour operation for a tumor on her spinal cord. As she regained consciousness in the intensive care unit, she said: “Daddy, Aunt Cheryl is here, … and … Grandpa Norman … and Grandma Brown … are here. And Daddy, who is that standing beside you? … He looks like you, only taller. … He says he’s your brother, Jimmy.” Her uncle Jimmy had died at age 13 of cystic fibrosis.

“For nearly an hour, Sherrie … described her visitors, all deceased family members. Exhausted, she then fell asleep.”

Later she told her father, “Daddy, all of the children here in the intensive care unit have angels helping them.”²⁰

To all of us the Savior said:

“Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

“Fear not, little children, for you are mine. …

“Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd.”²¹

A big thanks to everyone

2011-06-10T21:22:00.001-07:00

Thank you to all those who have helped and participated with Quinton's bucket list. It's been a lot of good memory-making. We started off with bowling, and a big thanks to Tori who rounded up some of Q's friends from school and reserved lanes. Thanks to the Bracks and the Hoovas for coming. Next came Tucanos, and the Vaitohis, my parents, Lisa, Annie, & DJ. The dinner was superb, and I left feeling more than uncomfortably full:) Then, today was 7 Peaks. Thanks to Tori who snagged us a reservation for a cabana, which was a life-saver. My brother Kent and sister Michelle came with their families and the Petersons and Hoovers came to help us enjoy it!
The weather was to die for, and we got a few sunburns but had a really great day.

Thank Heavens!

2011-06-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

Thank heavens...the brain scan came out clean.
Thank heavens...Q has such a great support system of loving wonderful people ready and willing to give service and thoughtful gifts.
Thank heavens...two oncologists are ready to do whatever it takes to treat this rare and scary disease.
Thank heavens...a whole team of skilled doctors, nurses, and surgeons are fighting this battle with us.
Thank heavens...Q doesn't realize all of what's ahead of him.
Thank heavens...Q is such a strong and loving spirit who was sent to humble parents.
Nothing else changed too much yesterday. The surgery is still on, and the plan is still to treat the spinal tumor first. Love ya!

Quinton's Bucket List

2011-06-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Q and Kira in the buggy at Thanksgiving Point last Friday.

Today we have an MRI of Q's brain. Dr. Riva-Cambrin wanted to make sure he wasn't missing something. Then at 2, we meet with an Oncologist, Dr. Bergers, and Dr. Riva-Cambrin together. It looks like radiation after the spinal surgery is a pretty good bet.

We've had an outpouring of love and kind offers from people who want to help and do something. We prodded Q to come up with a list of things he'd like to do before his surgery, and maybe people can help us with ideas on how to make these cool or easy. And maybe friends or family can plan to come on some of these outings.

Bowling -- Thursday afternoon

Eating at Tucanos -- Thursday evening

7 Peaks Waterpark -- Friday ( I had to laugh because going down a slide on his back doesn't sound too great, but they have a lot of innertube rides)

Hiking -- Saturday (Maybe Bridal Veil Falls)

Biking -- Saturday (Maybe we could just keep going out the canyon and ride out in Midway or something?)

Golfing -- Monday

Shooting -- Monday

Fishing -- Tuesday (Maybe at Payson Lakes?)

If you're in the mood for more...

2011-06-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

This morning, June 6th, we woke up early and went to our appointment at Primary Children's. He had a CT scan first, which was difficult because he had to drink the barium stuff for an hour. Then, he went to the scan part which wasn't too difficult (especially compared to the MRI). Then, we went to meet with Dr. Riva-Cambrin the neurosurgeon.
He did a lot of tests to determine how well Quinton's brain was talking to his muscles. He tested reflex-type things and the feeling in his feet. He asked a lot of medical history questions including if we had been anywhere tropical or out of the country. I felt like Q was on an episode of House! Ha ha. Then he talked to us for about 45 heart-wrenching minutes about Q's condition. First, he has a tumor inside his spinal cord. They have to cut the spine and roll it back to get to the tumor. Most tumors of this type measure 2-4 vertebrae, but Q's spans 8 of the middle vertebrae in his spine. These types are usually termed malignant, but they always stay inside the spinal cord and don't spread. The surgury will be booked for 12 hours but may take less. Q's tumor appears to be kind of 'slick' or something without a lot of finger-type things on there. The tumor is making his spinal cord 3 times as large as it should be and the break down of communication between the brain and the muscles is causing the lump on one side of his back.
Second, he has 6 small tumors on his lung. This really is the part that baffles the doctors. If the spinal cord ones don't spread, then why does he have this going on in the lung?
Long story short, the plan is to treat the spinal tumor first. It has to come out no matter what; however, there is a 'tumor meeting' at the hospital tomorrow first thing where radiologists, pathologists, oncologists, and surgeons meet together to discuss tumor patients. Dr.Riva-Cambrin (who happens to be from Edmonton, Alberta!) will bring up Q in that meeting to see if anyone has any brilliant ideas. He's also putting his information out on the Doctor Web to see if anyone knows why these two are happening at once or how to treat the two of them together in an efficient manner.
The spinal surgery is set for a week from Thursday -- June 16th. Again, we feel the love and support from our friends and family and pray that all is well with you.

More Details of Quinton's Story

2011-06-06T16:09:00.001-07:00

So, to start at the beginning...

I was out to the movie one night when Quinton had an itchy back. He asked Jeff to scratch it. Jeff pulled up his shirt and scratched but was amazed to see a huge curve in his spine and lump on one side of the back. I called and made an appointment with Dr. Miller, our pediatrician, for Monday, May 2nd. Dr. Miller confirmed that it was scoliosis and referred us to Dr. Smith at Primary Children's.

We went to that appointment on May 17th, the day after he turned 11, and an X-Ray confirmed that he had a pretty major curve in his spine -- 43 degrees. Dr. Smith said that a few things about Quinton's scenario indicated concern for him, so he wanted to do an MRI to rule out other causes of the scoliosis. The concerns were the shape of his curve, his younger than normal age, and the quickness with which the curve progressed.

We weren't super concerned about his MRI (I was even making small talk with the technician about finding tumors on kids, never thinking this would happen to Q.) He was in the tube watching Harry Potter getting scanned by that loud, clanky machine for a while when I asked the technician if I could go trade off with Jeff, who was out in the waiting room with the girls. She said that she was actually calling the radiologist down to look at a scan she had just done and that parents weren't allowed in there while the radiologist was in. I went ahead and left to sit with Jeff and the girls for his 45 minute MRI. An hour and a half later, they brought him out and said that our doctor (Dr. Smith from the scoliosis specialty who had ordered the MRI) was upstairs that day and would like to talk to us about the results.

Heart pounding and legs heavy, we went up to meet with him. He told us there was a tumor on his spine, and he tried to explain a few things, but Jeff and I were too schocked to comprehend it. That wasn't his field, so he didn't actually know (or want to divulge) too much. He set us up with a pediatric neurosurgeon at Primary Children's for Monday, June 6th.

We waited away the weekend in anxiety but with an overwhelming sense of the love and support and fasting and praying that were being done on his behalf.

Oh yeah, we had Easter!

2010-04-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Forgive this blogger for not posting since January. That's super pathetic. But, I haven't been in a comical mood of late, and I like to keep the blog light and funny. I just wanted to state that we had a wonderful Easter, of course.

Look at those cute kids making a not-so-cute mess! We colored eggs of course.

Of course we hunted for eggs.

And of course...we made an Easter snowman.
Naturally one of the best Easters of all time.

Temple announcement and shoe drama

2010-01-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hello there! First off, a new temple was announced for Payson! I am beyond grateful. It will be so wonderful to have a temple in our community. It will be kind of by Wal-Mart very near the freeway, and I'm so excited. We were a little depressed and okay, jealous, when one was announced for Brigham City in the October conference because it seemed about the same distance from other temples as Payson would be. Little did we know, it would just take a little longer. I hadn't really heard of temples being announced outside of conference, but we'll take it. We can't wait to be involved in the groundbreakings/cornerstone layings/open houses/dedications etc. What a great experience it will be for our family.
On to the shoe drama. Every lady loves a shoe drama. I'm a little different in that I don't really take pleasure in shopping for everyday shoes or even dress shoes for that matter, but I realized recently that when it came to athletic shoes, I could shop all day long and never tire of it. I agonized about the decision for new athletic shoes for weeks. I've loved my And 1 basketball shoes and have been playing volleyball and basketball in them for the last couple of years. Their soles were starting to cave, however, and I began getting shin splints. I loved my old pair so much, I couldn't imagine what to get. I went into a frenzy of different modes.
Online shopping mode: resulted in too much anxiety over how the shoe would fit/feel.
Mall shopping mode: this one lended a funny experience in which the salesman would NOT sell me any shoes. I pointed out a few pair only to be rebuffed for my poor choice. I should have known he was not such the salesman when he berated the lady in front of me, "Do you want to look good, or do you want a shoe that performs?" He brought me a few terrible, ugly pairs professing they were the only ones in the store good enough play my sports in. It was hilarious. Who ever heard of a salesman who tells shoppers the shoes are terrible?
Next mode: depression
Next mode: athletic store shopping. I went to Park Sportsman. I had no idea what they might have there, but finally someone was willing to spend time with me. I walked out of there with a pair of $95 volleyball shoes and immediately felt guilty and unhappy with the choice.
Next mode: depression and ducking back into Park's to return the volleyball shoes.
Final mode: online shopping again. I decided it wouldn't be such a risk if I bought the same brand online as the pair I had been wearing. Duh. I ordered a pair similar to my previous pair and waited anxiously for their arrival. The shoes finally arrived today. I felt a curious bump in the sole as I tried the first shoe on. I put the second one on, and no bump. Aaahhhh. Could I play with a bump? I couldn't imagine what mode I was going to have to go into next. Jeff confirmed the presence of the bump, so I knew I wasn't just having shoe mirages. He pulled up the sole and found a clump of tissue paper stuck to the sole! Now who just allows tissue papers to stay stuck to the sole of a shoe and thinks no one will care? Luckily, we were able to remove the offending clump and now the shoes? Feel great! Thank goodness. I can't wait to play in my new shoes, finally! The outcome of the story: shoe drama 1; Lori 0. I guess I need to score some points in my new shoes.

Invictus!

2010-01-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

We saw the move Invictus last night. I was intrigued by it. I certainly hope it wins some Oscars. I loved Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman. It's not the type of movie I want to see over and over, because it's a little bit slow, but overall, it's such a good show. I was touched by the scene where the rugby team travels to the place where Nelson Mandella had been imprisoned. Matt Damon's character just tries to comprehend what it would be like to forgive the people who had put him there. Mandella's life, such a miracle in forgiveness, is an inspiration. The shortcoming that I had was a lack of knowledge of rugby. The way these scenes are filmed, it's difficult to follow without an understanding of the way rugby is played. I wanted to understand those scenes better and follow the story in the game more but was unable to. That being said, I think there are so many strengths in this movie in the way Eastwood really explores the theme of how rugby was just one tool in taking a step toward healing in South Africa. I also really loved the scene portrayed in this picture where the team goes out to the poorest of the poor and gives a clinic on rugby. It changes those kids and those players, and it's a great moment. I needed to look up the poem because it's difficult to hear on screen what the words are, but I am glad I did. It's really good.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may beFor my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Wow! I finally got pictures

2010-01-08T14:59:00.001-08:00

It took a long time, but I now have pictures on my computer from the past few months. Phew. They were some busy months! First, there were gingerbread houses!Then, there was a matter of a birthday to celebrate. Yeah, Jacey turned three! We had a totally fun party.Christmas Eve! The best Christmas pageant Ever!Christmas Day: too many toys!The day after Christmas, we trekked down to lovely St. George to party with Jeff's family. The warm weather was worth it! AAHHH. We had a totally great time at the party.

Jacey is tonsilless!!!

2010-01-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

Jacey was well enough to get her tonsils out today. We were concerned because she had developed a little nose congestion and cough prior to the operation and after November's failure, we didn't want to have to reschedule again -- or try to get our 800 dollars back again. This time, I paid the moolah after she actually went in to surgery. Ha ha. Showed them. She did really great. No crying, minimal frustration at not getting her IV out, good eating and drinking afterward. Heck, I didn't even have to refuse baba juices this morning since we both slept until past her appointment time. Good thing the hospital is so close. I just threw on clothes (most of them the right way) and trucked on down the street with Jacey. It was as easy as it could possibly be.

Really though, Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

It looks like my LDS journal has very little LDS in it. I am grateful the Savior was born and completed an earthly ministry. One of the best things to come out of that is the revelation that Christ, our brother and our Savior, has experienced all the trials, pains, and heartache that come along with living in a body in this world. It is of great comfort to realize that He knows what we are going through. I know that He lives and that His infinite atonement made it possible for "God and sinners (to be) reconciled."

I am grateful for my family and the joy they bring to my life. I love the Lord, desire to do His will, and I know that I have far to go in that process.

I have enjoyed learning some Christmas songs from the Primary Children's song book to sing with the kids. One that was new to me was "Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus" and in it these lines especially touched me, "Hosanna, hosanna, O Let us gladly sing, how blessed that our Lord was born, let Earth receive her King." Merry Christmas one and all, and let us all let our small hearts grow three sizes this day!

Merry Flippin' Christmas!

2009-12-14T14:10:00.001-08:00

To our cyber-friends, the Muir Family would like to present you with a very unique version of a Christmas BIRD! I mailed out "nice" Christmas cards today. We found that even while I had my computer version open, the kids were looking at the screen, repeating the saying, and not quite understanding why it's funny, so we thought we'd better not put it in print. In case you missed it on Facebook, here it is again. We killed ourselves laughing.

It's the holiday season Ha ha

2009-12-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

Lucky us, we got snow. Unfortunately, we also got some cold temperatures. My body is still in shock. The snow makes it easier to get in the mood for Christmas though. During the season, I've got a few goals. I'm trying to get my children to learn that it is more blessed to give than receive. They seem to already have a handle on this concept because they give me a headache on a daily basis. Especially this morning. Quinton thought he needed to be the school stink job. Hygiene and nine year old boys don't mix necessarily. He couldn't understand why he needed to wear socks under his snow boots. He had gone the day before without socks just fine. I can't imagine the odor that must have been emitting all day. It must have sent the Barnett air pollutants seriously up. He also couldn't see the need for taking off his snow pants during class. If I could have put him in the shower before the bus came, I would have because I was just picturing all that boy sweat multiplying underneath those air-tight snow pants. Gross! Poor teachers. They must build up quite an odor tolerance.

Whilst this argument was taking place, Jacey informed me she needed to go poo poo. I pulled down her (sleeping time) diaper only to realize that she was a little slow on the informing part and had already started going. I stuck her on the toilet to finish her job and took to debating more hygienic policies with Quinton when Jacey hopped off the john and sat right on the bath mat to inspect the inner workings of an Ariel Barbie. At that point, I had the urge to just stick everyone in the shower indefinitely and call a house-cleaning service. I settled for putting Jacey and the bath mats in the bath (the bath mats actually went in the washing machine) and sending Quinton to school with socks under his snow boots. That's good mom stuff right there.

The kids have also given me gray hairs. That wasn't for Christmas, though, it was more for Hannakah. Now, if I can just get them to give me a break, I'll be on a roll. Ha ha, of course I wouldn't trade my kids for anything.

Halloween darlings

2009-11-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

Little Bo Peep and her 'found' sheep. I made the sheep costume years ago for Kira to be a Care Bear, and I just modified it. Kira's I bought from a catalog/internet company called Sensational Beginnings. Good find, good quality, good price.

My own Mountie! I made his costume head to toe.

Redemption

2009-11-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

Dear PTA, Walgreens, and reflections contest blue-personalitied committee members; you are hereby redeemed of all the crap you made me go through to submit my kids' entries. Almost. Quinton 1st place: literature, Kira 1st place: photography -- trophies make everything better. Not really.

Reflections of what?

2009-10-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Warning: the following is a satirical piece I have written. I may have "blown up" or "exaggerated" a few details to make them seem more funny.

I think PTA sucks. I might go all postal on cute little moms who inspire their childrens' creativity to dream, to draw, to paint. I am not one of those moms. The only thing I really want to inspire my children to do is read their books and go to bed. I know a lot of you are those moms; I know you love the PTA and show up to meetings -- on time even -- good on ya mates. But I am not one of those moms.

Maybe my PTA miserhood began when I taught at a high school. Teacher appreciation? No. There was no love for the high school teachers on teacher appreciation. I never even knew that such an event existed until I had kids in elementary school. Now, while I am grinchishly humming, I take salads, desserts, and well-thought out gifts to the school in honor of teacher appreciation as a room mother. Maybe the parents of high schoolers got burnt out on PTA during the elementary years, or it could be perhaps that the parents of high schoolers did not want to even think about their "lovely teenagers" during school hours. Whatever the reason the heart or the shoes, woops that's the wrong story.

So, the PTA, in all their glory, with all their structured, perfectly blue-personalitied mother volunteers, hosts this reflections contest. My kids sort of wanted to enter but didn't want to do any of the work. That might be a reflection on what a bad mom I am. We, as parents, are not supposed to alter the outcome of the drawing or painting or photograph or story. How is that possible? Our kids are not creative (maybe yours are) they don't know the first thing about what beauty is... I wanted their work to be great. I wanted them to practice, think, and spend time on the piece. That's not the way my kids envisioned it.

So, we went to the canyon to take photos. We point out interesting bits of fall beauty, and the kids snap it. We're done right? OH, so not right. We put the photos on the computer, we look for the best ones, I taught Quinton to make a collage on photoshop, we get the prints printed. We're done right?

No. We have to look for a mat, look up the guidelines on the website, print off the entry forms, have the kids fill out their own entry forms (way more painful than doing it myself), look up the guidelines again for the fortieth time because we forgot how to submit the stuff, run to Walgreens to get a manila file folder and masking tape and sheet protectors so we can submit their entries correctly, run to Rite Aid to buy a manila file folder because Walgreens only sells them in packs of 48 for $7 (when I only need 1)! Run to the school, assemble the correct forms in the correct page protectors, attach them with said masking tape, and turn them into the secretary. After all that, we should be done right? NO, the school calls, and some PTA cutesy volunteer tells me I didn't sign the entry forms. AAHHH! I signed the media release waivers, but not the actual entry forms.
So, I have determined, this contest is actually a reflection on how crazy I am to enter it! Correction: "help" my kids enter it. Now my kids' pieces will be judged along with the other parents who "helped" their kids enter. Don't worry PTA: I hear science fairs are even worse.

Cheesy cliche fall stuff

2009-10-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Trip to St. George! We just got back from our fall break trip to St. George! It was so fun. Awesome weather. We got hot, really hot, on this hike in Snow Canyon. Quinton especially likes to climb on rocks and stuff, but the girls are good too. We also had a great time swimming on our trip. Our hotel's pool was heated just perfectly, and it was really fun to swim and play.

Trip to the pumpkin patch! What Utah county blog would be complete without some decent pumpkin patch pictures in October? We did a very cliche LDS thing and took kids to the pumpkin patch on Monday night for FHE.

Q and his posse.

brown tights and white shoes are still in style and cute if you're 2.

He's not wimpy -- it's just a big pumpkin. Okay, maybe his arm strength is lacking slightly. They charge by the pound now too. Turned out more expensive than last year -- maybe we should have put Q on the scale instead of the pumpkin -- or at least Jacey; she would have been cheap!

Kira and Keanna. They had to sit apart from the group on the tractor-driven wagon ride. They wanted to be up front. On the way back, they even sat separately from each other to get their prime seats. Too funny.

Kira lost a tooth! She wasn't too much of a lady about it. I had to sort of force my way into the mouth to yank it out, but she was happy I did!

What's it called?

2009-10-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

What's it called when a certain blogger hasn't updated her blog in a long time? Would it be blogger's block or picture-slinging slacking? Maybe Lacking Lori's stories, or Couch Slouch with no blogs in the Pouch? Not sure. I actually have been digitally scrapbooking the year of 08; I'm up to May -- is that good? Not really. So, I wanted to share a classic 08 picture that captures the essence of Jacey. Comet. Comet on the floor -- and I have to say it wasn't too difficult to figure out who the culprit was -- we just simply collected some forensic evidence and sent it to the lab and in the mean time interrogated the children with a harsh lamp shining in their eyes. Looking back on the pictures, I suppose we could have dusted for footprints and had all the childrens toe prints analyzed. We got it all straightened out -- and we couldn't even punish the perpetrator; she's too young for time out to work. She doesn't even care!

We went up the canyon here in Payson and let the kids take pictures for their Reflections contest. These are the ones Kira ended up with. Hopefully, the publishing of these photos does not rule them out for an amateur contest.

First day of school. It was only 2 months ago!

Hiking in the good weather -- after school in Payson canyon. Sticks very important.

We had a great time in Canada! Beautiful!

2009-08-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

GAYWEE!! (Jacey's pronunciation of Gary, Jeff's cousin with whom Jacey bonded immediately!

Quinton's Halloween costume for this year -- a mountee! We watched the Cardston parade with Jeff's cousins Gary and Michelle and their family, and they knew everyone! What does that mean? Extra candy extra yummy!

The gorgeous Flathead lake -- on the way to Glacier.

On the way to Canada, we went through Glacier National Park -- got to be the most beautiful place in the world! We loved showing our kids the fun sights and little hikes. We could have spent more time there, but we needed to get to Canada eh?

We saw a lot of wildlife on Logan's Pass (it's a really steep mountain road)

I love this place!

This little hike is still in Glacier, and it looks like the Ewok forest. It's so cool.

Jacey's best friend, and my salvation, Eric Higbee. He played with her and got her to eat using imaginative trains and airplanes and snakes. He is married to Julie's oldest daughter, Diana! Love you guys! Jacey has a thing for guys -- already! Yikes. She just bonds with males extremely quickly -- I don't know why!

Jacey matched the wild flowers at Lake Cameron in Waterton Ntl. Park

The falls in red rock canyon -- beautiful!

I desperately wanted to ski on this water, but I had two problems: no boat, and no dry suit (the water isn't too much above freezing!)

Bike carts rented and rode around the town in Waterton!

Top of 'Bear's Hump' in Waterton Ntl. Park

Cutie pie in front of Waterton Lake

Throwing rocks and sticks into Waterton Lake

Q in front of the falls in Waterton

Highlights from the trip I don't have pictures of: watersliding at the Ramada hotel's indoor water park (Kira just went and went and went -- she loved it!) in Lethbridge; eating putein at the Costco in Lethbridge (it's french fries with gravy and these wonderful white cheese curd thingys melted into it -- oh my!); playing softball with Jeff's cousins at the family games in Cardston (we won the consolation bracket with a hit by Jeff to score the runner -- me!!! We're still profesh at softball oh yeah); hanging out with Jeff's cousins; and driving home in one day (not!)

Family reunion Dry Fork Bikeride!

2009-07-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Family Reunion Bike Ride! This one is titled: "Stand around and watch as Grandpa loads all the bikes on the trailer, so your bike can be driven to the top of the mountain -- do as little work as possible!" This is in my back yard growing up.

This one is called, "Get ready to get some dust up your nose as you bike 16 miles down hill." Q and his cousin get ready.

This one is called, "Don't stand next to Uncle Kent or you'll get yourself in a headlock for the picture."

Cooling off after the bike ride: this one is a little game called, "How many cousins can you put on a tramp before one falls off because a spring pops off right next to you?" Turns out, you can only fit 24 cousins on a tramp before a spring right next to Quinton popped and he fell off. A little hurt + a lot scared and shaken up=a lot of crying.

Embarrassment!

2009-07-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

We're not always the perfect family I know you think we are! Future bribery methods right here. Quinton took this picture of his sister being mad that she couldn't have the camera anymore! On our way home from the family reunion.

Jacey fell asleep in her little basket bed she made for herself!

Classic embarrassing photos. Jacey livin it up!

She's gettin pretty good at the potty thing.

This one might not be too embarrassing, but one day, he might not want a picture with his sister.

A Baseball Story

2009-07-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

During the regular season

Serious biz in the tournament!

During the Florida Marlins' 3-4 grade team's mainstream season outings, they didn't worry too much about how many innings they pitched a kid or how many runs they scored or where they stacked up in the league standings. I certainly did not. I know one of their games even ended in a tie. Since Q was one of the 3rd graders on a 3-4 grade program, it didn't seem to matter that much. The emphasis was where it should be: on learning the fundamentals of the game, and for Quinton learning to swing the bat-- especially with two strikes -- protect the plate. He got a little bit of an earful from some random mother in the stand who temporarily went insane because he wouldn't swing. Those sunflower seed spitting kids had no idea that the league they were in sent five teams to the state tournament. They had no idea there was such a thing as a state tournament. The top four teams were automatically chosen based on their standings in league play. The bottom eight teams were placed in a single-elimination tourney to vie for the bottom seeded state tournament berth. We have no idea where the Florida Marlins, Quinton's team, stood in relation, but we thought it very unlikely they would win the three games in a row required to advance to the state tournament. But, they did it, and this is their story:

The first game in the city tourney was more tense than league play, and the game was close, but we won. The second game was an extra-innings, strategy packed, nailbiting, heart stopper. The opposing team was coached by an intense guy, who kept calling, "blue, time out" to go talk to one player or another, creating an imposing sense of drama these kids had never witnessed, except maybe in the local theatrical troupe's latest rendition of "High School Musical." This self-same self-aggrandizing dramatic strategy would be their team's undoing. Our coach out-maneuvered him using an obscure rule about how many times a coach can talk to his pitcher on the mound without having to remove him. We were down by one run, runners in scoring position, two outs. We were doomed. The tiny, wide-eyed kid at the plate thought that swinging the bat meant throwing a punch at batman in dramatic play time at recess. Their pitcher was pretty consistently throwing strikes. Did I mention we were doomed? Then, having seen that the opposing coach had already gone out to the mound once, our coach incited a frenzy by calling time, to talk to his batter. This little trap lured the over-coaching coach to go talk to his pitcher, thus having to remove him. He put in his own son, who walked that batter and another. The game went on. The agonizing game was finally put to bed with a home run hit by our star player,Villi, a large Tongan boy who runs circles around everyone else in every aspect of the game. I'm not sure, but I think our coach may have said, "check mate," to the opposing coach while smiling and shaking his hand afterward. Not really, but that would have been cute. Incidentally, Quinton also got his second hit of the season in this game. The third game was a blow-out -- we were hitting our stride by that point.

We lost all three state tournament games, but we didn't care a lick. It was a good experience for them all to see how exciting baseball can be. I was pretty happy about my little boy being part of a big-league experience.

Once this summer

2009-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Big Bubbles? Once this summer. It's pretty messy.

Boating/skiing? Once this summer. Too much wind and rain.

Dancing in the rain? Many times this summer. It's all good. I have to post a few things about Jacey before I forget: She says, "Where you taking me?" When you pick her up and walk off with her. Sometimes we say, "to time out!" Sometimes it's just to the car or something. Pretty funny. She also says , "yay" a lot. E.G. "We're having watermelon Jacey." She'll say "Oh yay!" This little saying is difficult to describe, but it's cute. Trust me.

She's not half bad with an eyeliner pen!

2009-06-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

This depicts what Jacey was up to while I was pounding away on the eliptical machine in the basement. You know, for 2 years old, she has a pretty good sound understanding with make up. She knew the eyeliner went on the lid of her eye. She might have a future in the cosmetic business. The foundation, on the other hand, is on the hands instead of the face. Go figure.

The true Easter dresses, which weren't done in time for Easter. I didn't really mind.

I used a technique called smocking, which is relatively new to me. While I was learning to smock, a neighbor lent me a book titled, "The Joy of Smocking" and it had a picture of a darling little girl in a white smocked dress on the cover. Everyone who saw the book thought that it said, "The Joy of Smoking!" Ha, so then we got into all kinds of discussions about my dirty little habit of smocking. Here are the smoking dresses!

Bad pictures. I promise their collars don't stand up when the wind isn't blowing. Nice. Double negative.

Perhaps my favorite parts were the little arm bands.

Kira's busy day

2009-05-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

First Kira had her gymnastics recital. It was adorable. It was everything a recital should be (I have a bit of an opinion): quick, free of charge, easy to see, and easy to park at. Plus there was only one mother who brought her five year old flowers (that's just not my thing). Bless Miss Cindi, the gymnastics teacher, who kept this recital very fun.

Then, we booked it over (changing in the car) to Kindergarten graduation. Although it was free, it was hot, crowded, and not easy to see. The kids sang some nice patriotic songs and recited the Preamble to the Constitution. It seemed like just yesterday I had taken her to Kindergarten testing. It flew by too fast. The next day she had a field trip to Salem Pond, and the whole Kindy shebang was over. Thus ended a very busy week for a pretty cool five year old.

Backyardigans

2009-05-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

These pics are of the annual game of Jump The River, a traditional game played at every one of Quinton's birthday parties. I think my mom came up with the game when we were kids.

This was one of the winners, our favorite neighbor. He's got about 20 lbs of pure Tongan muscle over Quinton, and man could he jump!

Jacey was pretty good, and she thought it was way cool to be one of the big kids.

Backyard baseball has been in full swing in this back yard. Jacey can not and will not be left out!

Gotta love it.

Yellow ribbons all around!

2009-05-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

My parents returned from their mission in Indiana. We went out to welcome them home, and then we went out the following weekend for their homecoming sacrament meeting. It was wonderful. Jacey instantly took to her new grandma and grandpa. Here she is with PA and Cami, Kent's youngest girl. Great grandma Mildred in the background.

These next photos are graphic in nature and should be screened by parents before letting youngsters view. Ha. So my brother coaches three sports at Uintah high. I call him Mr. Uintah in my head -- I don't tease him like that to his face -- but I found out his more prominent nick name is Scotty the Hotty. His basketball team took a narrow loss to Salem Hills in the first round of state. His baseball team also suffered a heartbreakingly narrow loss to Salem Hills in the first round of state. Needless to say, he wasn't very pleased to see me wearing my SHHS volleyball tee shirt; however, Jacey had a coughing spell during the prayer and did this to the tee shirt in question, which earned some smiles with the Vernal crowd all around. His son had on a favorite football jersey which also got thrown up on (this time by the youngest Mansfield cousin Kason). Too much irony for one night. If Texas takes a fall this season, we'll know why.

This beautiful rainbow showed up while we were out there, and it sure made Dry Fork Canyon sparkle. These shots are taken from the yard in the home I grew up in. I'm goin' back to my roots and it's feelin good. The best part was seeing my family again.

Bling City

2009-04-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

Kira had quite a weekend the week after Easter. She dressed up for school on Friday as Goldilocks for Fairytale day. On Saturday, she attended a birthday party at Primrose Retreat, which was pretty cool. They had a little dress up area and tons of dresses to choose from. They also had a runway on which to model those sparkly dress ups. Kira had fun trying on a Cinderella dress, a princess dress, and a fairy dress. Quite a fun birthday party. She had a really sparktacular weekend. BTW, this is what our yard looked like Saturday morning.

Easter Goodness

2009-04-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Coloring the 5 dozen eggs! Tradition dictates we do this with our favorite Vaitohi neighbors.

The girls did not get Easter dresses made for them this year. They are in the works still. Oh dear. You'll see them later!

Crazy Hair Day

2009-04-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

The kids' school had a crazy hair day. Wouldn't you know it Jacey had to join in too. I didn't get a picture of Q but he had pointed spikes all over his hair. He had been telling people that he would just wake up and go without doing anything to his hair for crazy hair day (he has the most amazing cowlicks you've ever seen in your life), but I decided a little styling would be in order. Kira said her hair was the wildest in the class. Hmm.

Unspotted

2009-04-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

In honor of Jenny, Melissa, and other volleyball friends who keep me laughing, here's my go at LDS SATIRE writing:

Some friends of mine recently enlightened me about a very good way to keep my family more pure and unspotted from the world. After I explained that I get too much clutter on my 'coffee' table, they gently pointed out that perhaps I should be calling it my 'Ensign Table'. I was completely humbled to think that for a very long time, I have been polluting the minds of my children by calling it a 'c-- table'. How terrible! My kids probably have mentioned the c''!> word to their friends, thus polluting a whole ward full of kids. How much more appropriate to call it an Ensign table!

In keeping with this rule, I have devised a list of other ways we can keep our children further unspotted and more holy than other children.

1) I propose we call our husbands "Ensign Hot" instead of "Smoking Hot". May that phrase never be uttered about movie stars or anyone other than our husbands.

2) There is a color a little pinker and darker than ivory which we sometimes call "champagne". I propose that the aforementioned color could be called "Ensign Ivory" rather than the blasphemous word mentioned above.

3) When we put together our Jell-O salads, let us never put "Fruit Coctail" in them. Rather, I suggest we tell our children we are adding "Fruit Friends" into the Jell-O.

4) As spring is upon us and we will soon be seeing roses bloom in our lovely yards, it might be fitting for us to mention that we are going to cut some "Rose Friends" rather than "Rose Buds." The mention of a brand name of beer could entice some youngsters to try it out -- you never know.

5) My husband has a nasty little habit of barbequing. We used to make "Smoked Salmon" on the barbeque, but we have decided in our parental counsel meeting that we will try to refer to our delicacy as "New Era Salmon" in order to purify the minds of our children.

If every one of us will just make these five changes in our every day language, think of the blessings that will flow into our lives -- and the lives of our children! I challenge every one of you to implement these five things that I thought of to make your lives more unspotted from this evil world.

Ha ha. April Fools a little late!

Lovin' on baby Kason

2009-03-25T18:32:00.001-07:00

I went down to Kanab again last weekend, taking Jacey and Kira with me. It was so warm and nice one of the days, I was wishing for shorts. We went to a playground very near my sister Michelle's house, and we also visited Coral Sand Dunes, a very beautiful place. Of course, the best times were spent lovin on that sweet baby Kason.

A Mind of her Own

2009-03-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

Have I already posted something with that title? It certainly feels like it. It's getting to be redundant -- this theme of Jacey having a mind of her own. Yesterday, it was all about food with her. She's not feeling too well. She's had a fever and a cough, but she's pretty happy through it all. So when she requested food yesterday, I was pretty happy. First, she hounded and hounded and hounded me to take her to Taco Time. I couldn't right away, and she kept at it. Finally, about 2 p.m. I took her to Taco Time for lunch. It's not usually that hard to talk me into Mexican food, but I was busy! A little junior soft taco happiness.

We then had Muir Thursday Movie Night. We watched some old Disney flick. I think it was "An Odd Spaceball in King Arthur's Court" or something obscure, but it was funny. Half way through, it's time for popcorn and the minute Jeff says the word, Jacey says, "Caramel?" I know from previous experience that once she starts craving caramel popcorn, she doesn't let it die! I think it's funny she's addicted to caramel popcorn. Of course, I made caramel popcorn. Doesn't make for a good dieting day for me:( but Jacey had a good one!

Visual images depicting our lives (pictures)

2009-02-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

I have to make up for being a slack blogger throughout the month of February. I'm going to show you Kira's Kindy 500, a very fun Kindergarten event in which all the kids got to parade around in home-made box cars. Kira selected the color, theme, and put on the stickers. We used Quinton's old Thomas the Train costume. That came in handy! The funny story about that is when I was trying to take Kira's picture at the school. She kept turning to face me head on, even though I was trying to shoot her from an angle to show the car better. I kept telling her to hold still, but whichever way I went to get the angle, she just turned to face me. It was loud in the gym at her school and difficult to communicate. It was pretty funny.

I also have some cute pics of Jacey all ready for church. She's way too cute.

And I have some pics of the kids making Valentines cookies. How's that for random?

Impromptu trip to Kanab

2009-02-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

Kyle, my sister, Michelle, Kyle (older brother), Kason James (baby)

My brother, Kent, who came and picked me up and drove me to Kanab.

Home from the hospital!!!

My little sister had a baby. We have this thing in our family: we have babies fast and early. My mom had 7 babies and never once did a doctor tell her to push. Now my sisters and I are not that extreme, but we have all had our babies early. I had Kira in Vernal at 36 weeks (when I was planning to have her in Payson) but this story is even better than that. She was scheduled to be induced Monday morning in Cedar City. She lives in Kanab, but she wanted to go to her doctor and use the facilities in Cedar. Her water broke at home in the middle of the night, so her husband stayed home with their older son while she went to the hospital in Kanab. She was only at a 3 but decided to stay in Kanab. An hour or two later she was telling her husband on the phone that she was at a 4. She had to hang up because she was having a contraction. The baby was born 15 minutes later. No doctor, no husband, no epidural. Just three nurses and an anestesiologist (too late). Good news: she was only in pain a short amount of time. Bad news: it was a lot of pain. Good news: her husband was secretly thrilled he didn't have to worry about fainting on the delivery room floor. Bad news: she had to tell the nurses it was their fault. Ha ha. Good news: he's perfect, has a totally round head, and completely adorable.

My brother left from Vernal to drive to Kanab within minutes of finding out the story. He's so cool. My parents are on a mission (hi mom and dad!) so we felt she needed some sibling support. He came and picked me up and we drove down there. The trip was really fun for me, and I was happy I could go see my little sis.

Bad hair day

2009-02-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines! I'm grateful I have my family and lots of friends to love!

St. George was sooooo nice!

2009-01-30T11:55:00.001-08:00

We went to St. George Jan 15-17, and the weather was so nice. We had so much fun. Quinton couldn't get enough hiking on the red rocks, and Kira loved our 'picnic.'

Also, I got these coupon codes through a website called Artscow.com

they do photo books and lots of other photo things. The coupon is for an 8x8 photo book for 11.99 with free shipping (20 pages). It's a pretty good deal. Use one of these if it works for you. They all expire March 17. Let me know if you use one, so I can tell others that it's used.

ZWAEJDR

Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Mar/17/2009
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Two year old with 'tude!

2009-01-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

Plastered into her hair is Biolage Gelee, or in case some men happen to be reading this fabulous blog, Hair Gel, expensive hair gel. Is it an ounce or two? No, try every last scrap of it that was in the bottle. The house was quiet -- I can hear you all screaming "Nooooo! Rookie mom mistake...." into your computers now! Jeff and I were in the kitchen doing some Sunday dinner preps, and in walks Jacey with her hair as hard as a rock, saying "I'm done!" We said "Yep, you definitely are." By the bye, she had turned Kira's laundry basket into a stool which helped her reach the gel.

It took some serious rinsing and repeating to get it all out.

I was trying to get Jacey to wear a cute little vest she got for Christmas. I think it just kind of bothers her or something because she's never left it on. I said, "Jacey, leave it on, it's cute!" She said in such a two year old voice, "No -- ugggyyy." I had no idea she even knew the word ugly let alone that it was the opposite of cute! But she is not the opposite of cute!

Also, we learned that her tummy medicine is working out quite well because at her two-year-old appointment, she had a big increase in her growth chart. She's now in the 19th percentile for height, and the 4th percentile for weight. We were pretty happy with that! I can smell a little point guard on my hands. She's feisty enough and has no problem running the show:)

Our holidays and recipes

2009-01-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

This year, our holidays have been full, wonderfully full, of people and friends and food... fat cells multiplying so fast, I have to get more sleep just so they can grow! I'm currently eating a nice bowl of high-fiber oatmeal with very little sugar on it. Wow.

Christmas Eve was spent with Jeff's mom, Ruth; his sister, Lisa and her two wonderful teens/young adults Annie and DJ; and the V--- family. We ate dinner crepes and dessert crepes, had a talent show, watched our very own live nativity, opened jammies, hung our stockings, and waited patiently for Santa to come.

I have to have a word about this live nativity, though, before I move on. I didn't really know what to expect of Jacey. I thought she might be an angel with Kira or something, but in our practices in previous family home evenings, she kind of took to playing baby Jesus. We used a little bin with a bath mat inside for the manger, and she just decided she kind of liked being there. If we ever tried to put a little doll in there, she marched right over and hurled that thing out of there and got in herself. When it was time to get the kids in their costumes on Christmas Eve, Jacey was dying to take her clothes off and participate. She had been in one of her very ornery moods that evening, so I was giving in to anything that might deplete some of the screaming and clinging. I took off her shirt and pants, and gave her a little white blanket to use as swaddling clothes. I was taking care of some other pre-production chores, when out comes baby Jesus all natural. She ditched the diaper and came out to ham it up. Everyone started laughing which just ignited the star in her, and she came up with some dancing and smiling antics. Then... she nicked her toe on the manger and started to cry. I was picking her up, and our lovely narrator, Siale, was asking if she could begin, when bleeeecchchchch. I was covered in puke and running to the bathroom. Classic Christmas memory. She turned out to be okay. We think she just sort of choked from the crying, thank goodness. Then, after the bathing and changing, we began the nativity. I don't think I have any pictures because I was playing the piano and Jeff was tending the sick little Jacey. We do have it on video, which will be good, because it was very, very funny. All the kids did something a little funny. We were just dying laughing. Here was the cast:

Narrator: Siale Innkeeper:DJ Mary: Keanna Jospeph: Brook Shepherd: Quinton

Angel: Kira Wise Man: Quinton Baby Jesus: Jacey

The day after Christmas we went to Cedar City and St. George to hang with Jeff's family. We had a great time with lots of games and cousins and food. Speaking of food, here's Jeff's sister's famous Chex Mix recipe. It's way good.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups Karo syrup, 1 cup of butter, 1 tsp. vanilla. Stirring pretty often, bring to a boil. When it comes to a rolling boil, cook 2 minutes, remove from heat. Pour over 1 box Corn Chex, 1 small can mixed nuts, 2 cups pretzels, and anything else you might want.

We came back Sunday and have just had a really nice week, topped with last night's New Years Eve Bash. We had the Vaitohis and Brackners over to play, and we just snacked. I did have some cinnamon rolls lying around, and since a few of you have asked for that recipe, I will provide it. What can I say, I'm an accomodating gal.

4 TB warm water; 1 packet yeast; 1 cup warm milk; 1 egg, beaten; 4 TB melted butter; 1 TB sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 4 TB instant pudding; 4 cups flour (That's the dough) Knead it generously. Let it rise; yada, yada. Roll out into rectangle, smear with softened butter, top with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up, cut, you know. I don't like to let them rise much more than 1/2 hour after I cut them. I've found if they rise a whole hour, they get too lofty and not as soft and dense. Bake 350 10 minutes or so. For the icing, I use: 1 package cream cheese, 1 stick of butter both softened -- beat that with powdered sugar (almost a whole small package) add some vanilla.

We played last word, Sequence, Tri-Bond, and Phase 10 (it's almost a tradition around here). We had some great laughs. Quinton had previously asked us if we were going to have some of that "sparkling wine" stuff for New Year's, so we gave him some good ribbing for that. In honor of that, we took pictures of the kids enjoying their "sparkling wine/ sparkling cider". To add to the drama, Quinton put a paper towel around his because the bottle was cold.

Kira got a doctor kit and Jacey got a baby. Cute. Above is Jacey with her cute little buddy Ez, who got to come play with his fam on Tuesday night. Very fun seeing the Sturms again!

2008-12-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

More Pics

2008-12-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

These pictures Adrianne took at Bridal Veil are amazing, but her camera is so hyperpixelated that the files are like huge. I dare only upload a couple at a time, or my little computer will just might have a temper tantrum. We had an amazing time, hiking around and playing.

These last two years...

2008-12-18T14:52:00.001-08:00

It's this little muffin's birthday today! What a girl! She opened an Elmo movie today and immediately burst out with "la la la la Elmo's World!" It was cute. She also says "Peek eee boo!" instead of Peek a boo, which is darling. She absolutely loves sweet red pepper, altoids, and nuts. Wierd 2 year old foods! These photos are from a hike we took with the Brackners to Bridal Veil Falls. We love Adrianne Photography!

The Snow is here!

2008-12-14T11:49:00.001-08:00

All ready for the Polar Express at Kindergarten. (I made this outfit)

Little Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than 2!

Little Jean Scout!

Yeah, all that biz about me getting into the Christmas spirit last time was just because we had no snow. Now I don't need any of that -- just joking. I do like the snow though, and regardless of its driving hazards (luckily I didn't have to go very far yesterday), it's pretty beautiful. Since we lived in Texas until I was three, I hadn't seen snow until the ripe old age of 3. My family had a laugh at my wonderment when arriving in Utah to a foot of snow. I called it Nosse. That's the best phonetic spelling I can come up with. Oh well, pretty good stuff anyway.

The Christmas Spirit

2008-12-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

As the Christmas Spirit gradually makes its way into my heart and mind this year, a lot of things come together to put it there. First, nothing like this scripture really brought the Christmas season to the forefront for me. "And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God." Alma 7:10 I just read that in my normal reading, and it was surprising how much that made me excited for Christmas.
Before that, little bits of Christmas began inspiring me with music. I decided to download a few songs from Itunes. I had a stroke of memory hit me of a certain Christmas tape my parents had when I was a kid. Yep, a tape. I'm that old. I guess it could be worse -- an actual vinyl record or 8-track or something. My little sister and I kept rewinding the tape to hear a certain song over and over. The trouble was, I couldn't really remember exactly what the song was about or its name. Jeff's sister, Lisa, was over, and I began describing it to her. The more I talked about it, the more I remembered. I guess my brain neurons finally hit the right filing cabinet because I remembered it was "Ding-a-ling the Christmas Bell." Bless the Internet because not too many record stores would have a copy of this little song. I promptly burned it on a CD and popped it in my little sister's Christmas card. I hope she likes it. If she's anything like me, she might start dancing a little dance and shouting about a victory. Then, I downloaded "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by BareNaked Ladies, added that to the CD's I imported, and I have a very pleasant little Christmas mix to pop on the IHOME anytime. Enjoying music and its memories has certainly been a fun way to get in the Christmas spirit this year.
Decorating has also hit the spot for Christmas spirit. I was kind of grinchy about it this year. I sort thought it would be fun to put the tree up like on Christmas Eve or something. So Quinton got on the calendar and scheduled it for the 21st of December. Once he scheduled it so far away, I finally gave in to the mess and chaos of decorating for Christmas, but I've been glad it's done.
Jeff was his usual effecient self and got the lights put on the house early, while it was still warm. We bought some fancy snowflake twinkle curtain lights which were a bear to untangle but look extra fancy and nice.
Finally, I declared full Christmas spirit potential, when last night, cuddled in blankets with the kids, we watched, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I can still recite up to where he gets into town or so, and it really does the trick. Earlier, we had watched Elf together, and while I laughed by head off, it didn't really fill me with memories and sweet nostalgia like the Grinch does.
So that's it. That's the way the spirit of Christmas has found its way into my life this year. It's extra cozy isn't it?

A memorable Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Highlights to our Thanksgiving:

*Saw a 10:40 showing of Twilight with Sara and Siale the week before (Team Edward as if there was even a need for teams)

*Cleaned up throw up for a few days (at least everyone was healthy enough for Thanksgiving Dinner)

*Assigned many food items to parents for Kira's Kindergarten feast (nice room mother job)

*Dressed Kira as the cutest Pilgrim ever for her Kindergarten feast

*Used gift card to buy pre-cooked Honeybaked Ham Turkey (probably won't go that route again -- it was a little dry -- but it sure was easy)

*Welcomed Jeff's mom and sister with her family (Shoutout to Lisa. We had fun!)

*Sat back and watched Jeff cook a fabulous meal (Go Jeff Go)

*Set the table with nice china and tablecloths (cake job)

*Ate the fabulous dinner surrounded by lovely family -- Hey Annie!

*Cleaned up the fabulous dinner

*Played Last Word and Sequence (Our love of Sequence originated at the Simons' house thanks guys!)

*Scoped out the ads

*Decided there was nothing worth getting up for

*Got up anyway -- didn't get very many good deals

*Watched my kids play with very fun cousins (DJ Annie Madi)

*Ate some yummy turkey soup

*Went on a date with Jeff since we had babysitters (Four Christmases was funny but crude)

*Started cleaning up diarhea...

Brown just isn't his thing

2008-11-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

As we were walking into the church today, prior to the primary program, I told Quinton how handsome he looked in his suit. Jeff said, "And how about Mom? Doesn't she look great? Doesn't she look hot?" Quinton replied, "Actually...she looks sort of brown." (I was wearing a dramatically chocolate brown dress with brown knee-length boots.)

Other things I love about Quinton:

*He totally nailed his part in the primary program -- with poise even.
*He loves me to read Fablehaven out loud to him.
*He loves Jacey to wake him up in the morning and snuggle with him for a few minutes. She's usually too busy to snuggle, but he gets a quality minute or half.
*He is absolutely thrilled to go to cub scouts every week. (He also looks so cute in his blue shirt)
*He respects his teachers and other grown-ups.
*He loves his friends. He loves to play.
*He loves a treasure hunt. If I could make one every Monday for family home evening, he would never get tired of it.
*If, for a 22 monther (see Jacey's post below), moms should buy an insane amount of toothbrushes, moms of eight year old boys should buy many surplus socks. He puts holes in those things faster than you can say Shia Lebeuf. (HOLES -- get it? Okay, I should not try comedy)
*He has the cutest little belly laugh you've ever heard and a quirky sense of humor (better than his mom's).
*He still loves the color green -- has since he was old enough to talk.
I guess brown just isn't his thing! It's green.

I couldn't find a picture of him in his handsome suit, so I included one from his baptismal day and one from his first pack meeting (Thanks Adrianne.)

Stock up on toothbrushes

2008-11-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

I receive cutesy little e-mails from Pampers that say "Jacey is now 22 months old..." and then they go on to say things she might be doing such as "She could be really interested in banging on pots and pans right now." I always think, are you kidding me? They just don't know Jacey. If I were to write these e-mails, they wouldn't be so cutesy. They would actually be helpful. Mine would sound something like this:

Jacey is now 22 months old. Here are some of the things you can do at this age. 1)Go buy an inordinate amount of toothbrushes because she will dunk every single one you own in a toilet. Even though the experts say that toilets aren't the germiest areas of the house, I sure can't put one in my mouth after seeing it go in the toilet. It doesn't matter if you have child proof locks on these drawers, she is so determined at this age that she will do anything to lay her hands on them. 2) Don't try to help. Offers to hold her hand down some stairs or help her open some crackers will only result in a shrieking noise that will melt your ear drums followed by the famous phrase "I do it!" 3) Lay on the floor at your own peril. Enough said. 4) Do not, under any circumstances, take on any extra household project such as painting your house, doing laundry, or cleaning your kitchen. She will see to it that you don't get it done, she will make a mess out of whatever you're doing, and if you do somehow manage to get it done, she will mess it up afterwards. 5) While trick-or treating, do not expect her to let you carry her, her treat bucket, or her Yoda hood. Do not expect to make it to more than five houses per hour. (Jeff had to deal with that one)

Disclaimer: She has now been loved to death for over 22 months.

Jeff is home!

2008-10-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to have my husband back home after he was gone for a week. He had a very sad death in his family. His cousin, Cam, age 35, passed away from Leukemia (a very rare form) after battling for two years in Canada. He left a 10 year old, a 7 year old, and a 4 year old. I will paste in a paragraph from his wife, Coralee's blog, because I think it is so amazing.

""The last two and a half years having been full of hope, stress, laughter, pain, heartache, and kindness. I know both of our characters' grew leaps and bounds because of the challenges we have faced, and not only that, the love that we have for each other fused us together like nothing else. I have been reflecting on Cam's life a lot the last few days. He sure did pack a lot in, in the short time he was on earth. I couldn't have asked for a better husband, father, confidant, encourager, and best friend. I know he touched a lot of you and I feel his impact has been far reaching. I had a friend email me the other day and she said something that struck me to the very core. It was this: Thirteen awesome years is so much better than a life time of nothing. How true. Counting the time we were dating Cam and I have been together for 15 years. We have made so many happy memories in that time. Although I would have liked it to continue much longer, our lives together have been rich and full. He had no regrets. He lived each day how we all should--like it could be our last. Before writing this I just finished reading his good bye letter to me. I stumbled across it while going through some files on his computer. With tears streaming down my face I felt so grateful for the good life he has lived and that I was lucky enough to share it with him. """

Her whole blog is amazing (filled with testimony, faith, and love) and is linked to mine and named Cam's transplant adventure. Jeff left last Friday night and drove his mother and sister through the night up to Canada for the funeral. Then, he still had to attend his company's big get-together of the year in Georgia. Go Masterwall! He flew out of Montana Tuesday morning to Georgia. Going to Georgia always messes with him because of the time change. They start their meetings like at eight in the morning, which is six o'clock our time. Plus, he usually has to drive at least a half an hour to get to them. For Jeff, the ultimate night owl, that is a huge sacrifice of sleep. Then, they usually fill the day up -- until 9 p.m. So, I picked a very exhausted Jeff up from the airport Thursday night. We're really, really glad to have him home. The kids were good for me while he was gone and things went pretty smoothly.

I did have to brave Parent-teacher conferences alone and the dentist alone, which turned out to be a little more crazy than I would have thought. First of all, my babysitter didn't show, so I had to root out the neighbor girl to come over. It was only for an hour and she didn't mind, so that was wonderful -- thanks Tana. Then, I just had a cracked old filling which wasn't very big at all. The dentist said, "I'm not even sure I have to get you numb." Well, that was the statement that just jinxed the whole night. He said he would give me one shot because although the thing was small, it was kind of close to a nerve. I started to feel a little numb but not much, so he went with a second shot -- fun! Then, he started drilling and I could still feel everything. When he got close to that nerve, I jumped and my eyes got really wide. He stopped and gave me another shot, right into the base of the tooth. Bless his heart, he was really trying. Again, I was still not completely numb and sitting there in terror of when he would hit that nerve. Crazy. It turned out I had taken some Ibuprofen earlier that day which could have messed with my ability to get numb. I was sore from all the shots, and the whole tooth was sensitive for a few days afterward. I've never had even a slight problem at the dentist, so this was a new experience for me.
Lori

Some more pumpkin patch

2008-10-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

Here is her little friend, tiny pumpkin, she carried around with her.

The pumpkin patch

2008-10-06T13:49:00.001-07:00

We went to Santaquin last Monday for Family Home Evening to pick pumpkins. We had a wonderful time, and the Brackners went with us, so luckily we have wonderful pictures taken by Adrianne. What a benefit it is to have a photographer for a friend!

Jacey latched onto a tiny pumpkin early on and insisted on carrying it around with her everywhere. Everyone in the wagon was laughing and saying how cute she was. Brook and Keanna came with us, so everyone had a good time.

I've been tagged

2008-10-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

When I got tagged, I guess it meant I had to write six quirky things about myself.
1. I have a pus obsession. I love to see pus coming out of zits. It seems so cleansing. Wierd, but just ask Sara V. who got her zit squozen in the hallway at church volleyball. Hey, she complained about the nasty zit out loud to me.
2. I may be the only person I know who could spend equally happy hours gushing over wedding dresses in Bride's magazine or playing basketball/sports. An odd combination, but I had to please my dad in some way right? Rock on SportsCenter.
3. Bunions are for old ladies? Wrong. I have a huge bunion on my right toe. Or I could be old.
4. Clutter is for losers. I hate the stuff. I have a quirky older brother who also hates it, but he's a little more extreme. He even requests non-stuff for Christmas. I'm almost there. Sometimes Jeff has to look for his stuff in the garbage or in a bag in the garage.
5. Labor and Delivery. Don't get me started. I love to hear everybody's stories of labor and delivery. When and how much they dilated, how long they had to push, the number of stitches, bring it on. I love it all. Don't know why. Can you say "A Baby Story?" I could watch all day. Cry every time.
6. I dream most every night about one of two things: waterskiing or basketball. Waterskiing dreams are very pleasant, while the basketball dreams are usually frustration, anger, or trying to prove myself. I have very vivid dreams. I notice rich color, story, and sound. Nobody try to psychoanalyze that.
I don't tag anybody. It's not really like me. I guess that's quirk numeral 7.

It's true! There is such a thing as a no-nag husband

2008-10-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

And he's mine!!

While I was feeling sorry for myself last weekend as a hockey widow (Jeff had taken Quinton, Tuli, and Brook to Vegas for an NHL hockey game) I went window piano shopping. We had been talking about getting one for Christmas. I found one I really liked, a black Yamaha at a reasonable price, and just looked into it a little bit. I told Jeff about what I had found and whoala...three days later it was waiting for me in the basement. What a treat.

2008-09-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Intense shooting!
He's flying!

GOAL!

2008-09-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Soccer has been hectic this year but fun. Kira scored her first goal tonight. She had a break away, and her initial shot went just barely wide, but the goalie didn't pick it up, so she went over and kicked it in. Yeah for Kira! Her team is named "The Boxers." I always joke that their cheer should be "Not briefs!" but noone has listened to me on that one. Quinton has had a fun year, too. His league is also with fourth graders, so he is one of the younger ones, but he holds his own. The only reason I signed Kira up this year was this extremely cute pair of Adidas with pink stripes on sale at Shopko.

Funny Chic jokes

2008-09-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.' This quote came with the e-mail, and I just love it. I moved it to the top because I liked it so much. Now everybody comment with the one you identify with. Fess up!

Pregnancy, Estrogen, and Women

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?

A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?

A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?

A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.

A: So what's your question?

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?

A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural ?

A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?

A: Not unless the word 'alimony' means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?

A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?

A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?

A: When the kids are in college.

'ESTROGEN ISSUES'

10 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE 'ESTROGEN ISSUES'

1. Everyone around you has an attitude problem.

2. You're adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelet.

3. The dryer has shrunk every last pair of your jeans.

4. Your husband is suddenly agreeing to everything you say..

5. You 're using your cellular phone to dial up every bumper sticker that says: 'How's my driving-call 1- 800-'.

6. Everyone's head looks like an invitation to batting practice.

7. Everyone seems to have just landed here from 'outer space.'

9. You're sure that everyone is scheming to drive you crazy.

10. The ibuprofen bottle is empty and you bought it yesterday.

TOP TEN THINGS ONLY WOMEN UNDERSTAND

10. Cats' facial expressions.

9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colors.

8. Why bean sprouts aren't just weeds.

7. Fat clothes.

6. Taking a car trip without trying to beat your best time.

5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell.

4. Cutting your hair to make it grow.

3. Eyelash curlers.

2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made.

AND, the Number One thing only women understand :

1. OTHER WOMEN

Only the cutest couple ever

2008-09-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is Jeff's niece, Diana. She got married to Eric H. Saturday, Sept. 13th at the St. George temple. It was such an awesome day. The temple sealing was really wonderful, and these guys are just the cutest couple ever. He's really sweet and patient and kind, and she's more outgoing etc.

At her luncheon, some of the little kids sang a song I wrote to the tune of "I'm so glad when daddy comes home" but I used funny things about their relationship to write the words. eg. "I'm so glad when Diana comes home, I'm not sad at all. I guess I get a little steamed if she's been at the mall." and "I put my arms around his neck; I hug him with remorse. The next thing that I know he's at..the darned golf course." It was really cute.
The temple lawn was all dug up and had maneur spread about. Yuck! But Jacey's cute in the dress I made for her.
Their cake was way cute. And if you look closely at Diana's dress, another one of my roles for the wedding was to sew a piece of flesh-colored fabric right in the V of the dress, so that people could see that feature. Otherwise it would have looked all white there. It was kind of funny the night before the wedding, I'm sitting there sewing a piece of orange-brown material to it. It turned out lovely from the outside, though. It's a fantastic dress.

Who's this handsome feller?

Another thing I did for the wedding was sew the bridesmaids' dresses. Needless to say, my sewing room is strewn about with scraps and threads of hot pink and black. Top to bottom. Seriously. It's so fun for me though. Here's two of them.Sammy, Q's cousin, looked smashing in his little tux.
Jeff's sister's just a little frazzled! No, she was calm the whole time.

And these are the other two dresses I made (besides Jacey's and Kira's). This is Jeff's sister's family that lives in Cedar City. They are super awesome.

2008-09-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday's post was a little "whiny" or some might call it "complaining" or "less than happy," I'll get that off the top by posting some great things about my life.

I have a wonderful husband! He really is my best friend. He's good at a lot of stuff, too, like making the kids laugh when I want to strangle them.
I have a wonderful third-grader. He's kind, loves his sisters, funny, and a little too much like me, personality wise.
I have a wonderful kindergartner. Her smile lights up the room, she's really pretty, and she has plenty of SPUNK! She tears it up on the soccer field, does great in gymnastics, and is a little smarty.
I have a wonderful toddler. She's eating a lot better now, and Jeff and I keep putting her on the scale because she feels heavier to us. She's communicating so well these days. "Mommy, mee" is one of her favorite things to say.

Any trains in the neighborhood?

2008-09-11T08:26:00.001-07:00

Last night, I felt like I had been hit by a train -- a complete trainwreck. Starting at my feet and ending with my head. I had ever so slightly sprained my ankle at volleyball the day before and the pain was starting to catch up with me on that injury. Then, while doing Yoga in my basement, I did some weird thing where my sternum, or some other muscle in that area, got pulled and so my chest was killing me whenever I took a breath. Then, I had a whole neck ache in the side of my neck which turned into a killer headache, which I do not get ever, really. I think that was a result of my sinuses being totally killed by a super rough allergy season. So this is the question: am I getting old already? or was there a train in the neighborhood?
I'm doing much better this morning, so that must mean I'm not old, right?

She takes after her mom

2008-09-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

I love how motherhood helps unlock memories from when I was a kid. I might repress all kinds of embarrassing memories if not for the little reminders I get from watching my kids. I watched Kira dress up with her friend the other day, and man were they cute. I won't post photos to avoid child predator stalker people, but believe me they're cute. Kira' s in this little mismatched outfit of a princess top and a fairy skirt, and Keanna had a baby blanket wrapped around as a skirt. They wore fashion magazine faces too, perfect for the pictures. They put Jacey is a pair of fairy wings and some big slippers.

Dressing up was one of my favorite past times as a kid. I would scour the house for interesting clothing items to mix and match. I loved colors and patterns and beautiful swag-type skirts composed of blankets or sheets or towels. I could mix swimming suits with sweaters -- and totally pull it off (of course). When asked my favorite color at this age, I would certainly reply, PINK! And if it came up, my second-favorite color was ... HOT PINK!

Kira's Kindergarten Caper

2008-08-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Kira's first day of Kindergarten was fantastic! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Evans, and she goes in the afternoon. When she got home, she said, "Do I get to go again tomorrow?" They drew pictures of themselves to put on a poster about the rules of the class. She also learned a song in rap style that went, "The rules, the rules, the rules of the class" that I heard several times throughout the evening. She didn't want to take the bus the first day, so I dropped her off at her class. (More comfortable for both of us). Today, her second day, she was all psyched to go on the bus; however, when the time actually came, she was almost too shy to get on. Not too scared, but too shy. Then, the driver told her she had her name down, and she was good.

Qs first day O school

2008-08-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here is Q all ready for his first day of third grade. I think he's a little excited about it! I've also included some pics of best friends Brook and Keanna. I'm excited for him to learn and grow and experience many fun third grade happenings.

I have an update on Jacey. The results from her scope were that she had some inflammation and heartburn. That's it. No celiac, no allergies, plenty of enzymes. The doctor is putting her on some medicine that helps with inflammation and acid and increases appetite as a side effect. She said that sounds like a good fit for Jacey. Yep. I agree.

Misunderstanding

2008-08-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well,
I must have misunderstood the doctor, so we have to wait until next week to find out results from Jacey's scope. Duh. It must have been wishful thinking! The scope went really well. Primary Children's was amazing. They had a person there just to find her toys and play with her while waiting, they let me stay with her until she went to sleep, and they had a person sitting by her bed doing nothing but watching her vitals when she woke up until she left. It went very smoothly with very little traumatization. She was up and going after sleeping through the ride home. I should scan her pictures of her insides and put them on, but no, actually I think not. They are very cool pictures though. She's a cool girl inside and out!

New feeding method?

2008-08-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

We thought, since Jacey can't seem to gain weight, that we would try a new feeding method. We call this calories by osmosis. Hey, you gotta do something with it if you don't want to eat it. Right?

On a more serious note, her scope is scheduled for Thursday morning at Primary Children's, and we should have some information immediately; I'm dying to know what that is since she's just coming out of one of her 'bad' cycles that has lasted the last five days or so. Pretty typical, but it seemed bad this time. Wish us luck!

Since it's Sunday

2008-08-10T13:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, I've been working on how to include sharing the gospel as part of the blog. That's what really motivated me to begin it in the first place. Since it's Sunday, I'll share a scripture that I really like. But first, I'll start by saying I got to say the closing prayer in sacrament meeting today. I actually made it up to the podium and said the closing prayer. Where's the significance in that? Last time they asked me to do it, I took a crying Jacey out into the foyer to tend her and completely forgot about saying the prayer. It was a little embarrasing sitting out in the foyer and hearing a pause after the song, and then hearing a member of the bishopric say the prayer in my stead. How horrible!!!
"And now, by beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yeah, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." Omni 1:26
I think that scripture is so poetic. I really identify with the key trying to offer your whole soul as an offering to the Savior. I have a problem with "whole." I think the way I have adapted to most of life's problems is to do everything part way. I'm all about keeping a C average. You know, keep about 75% of the laundry done, clean the house 75% of the time 75% of the way through, read just enough from the scriptures to keep me from losing the companionship of the spirit. I very rarely give my "whole" anything; it's pathetic I know. But, I do love the Lord with all of my heart. I just need to show it better. I want to be a more perfect and whole servant. The desire is 100%. I think I can come unto Christ 100%, and He will make up the deficits in other areas. (Like laundry:)

Payson family reunion

2008-08-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Jeff's family came to celebrate a reunion. We had planned to go to Lake Powell, but with gas prices what they are, we decided we could just do a bit of partying right here at the Muir house. That's what we do best after all. And saving money is something also very good. Think of the thousands we saved!

The first day wasn't the funnest day of the reunion. Jeff's sister Julie was diagnosed with Lymphoma a year ago, so she had a cancer screening appointment at Huntsman. It turned out that Jacey also had some testing the same afternoon at Primary Children's. Jacey has been struggling with putting on weight, upset stomach, poor sleeping, and the list goes onnnnn....... The Pediatric GI specialist I had made an appointment with had a cancellation that day, so we jumped on that. The doctor first wanted an ultrasound of her kidneys to rule out that they could be giving her trouble, so there we all were undergoing tests in Salt Lake for our first day. The good news was when the day was over, Julie was cancer free and Jacey didn't have any kidney problems.

Playing cards, bingo, water fights, bacci ball, and going to the movies filled the rest of the weekend. Too bad we weren't able to go boating. The wind was too much. However, in one unruly game of Phase 10 that went late into the night, there was so much cheating going on that I, even I, began to sneak wilds out of the deck, trade cards, and beg for my color out loud. That was the first time I've ever cheated at a game. I guess being married to Jeff for so long has started to rub off:) Oh yeah, there was a lot of giggling and laughter, too. The ironic part is that the ones doing the most cheating didn't even win. Cheaters never prosper and all that.

I was really glad we could all spend time together. That's the most important thing. It didn't really matter that we weren't at Lake Powell. It didn't even matter that we couldn't go boating. In the long run, we just had fun being together, even if noone dares plays cards with me again.

Jacey words

2008-08-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Jacey's doing a lot of talking these days. It's too cute! Her first word that she started using in her vocabulary was hi. She said this word for a long time while it was her only word. Since she's small, it would shock people in the grocery store if she looked at them and said, "HI". The next main word she's been using is "Stuck." I had no idea this word was so versatile. If her feet get tangled in her car seat straps, she's "stuck." When she can't get the lid off a marker to go color on the wall with, it's "Stuck." When she's trying to terrorize a drawer that has the child locks on, it's "stuck." The other day, though, she assumed the pooping position. Her face went red, her eyes bugged out, and she said "stuuuck." And then I changed a diaper. Luckily, she didn't use her favorite word during the picture featuring her fingers up her nose.

Stadium of Fire

2008-07-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks Tuli!

Our neighbor, Tuli, gave us tickets to the Stadium of Fire. My sister in law Juleena and her daughter Emma made the trek out from Vernal to go with us. We had an absolutely great time. The weather was tame, and all the entertainment was really good. My favorite part? The fireworks at the end were to die for! I also really liked the big flag covering the field. That's just one beautiful sight. Kira's favorite part? Miley Cyrus of course! She loved dancing along just like her big cousin Emma because anything Emma did was soooo coool!

Kanab Family Reunion

2008-07-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

My family got together for our reunion. It's just my immediate family of brothers and sisters and their kids. There are seven of us siblings and 23 or so grand kids. My youngest sibling, Michelle, lives in Kanab, so we decided to get together there. She arranged rooms for us at Parry's Lodge. This is a kitchy little place where the stars of 1940's hollywood used to stay when shooting westerns in Utah's "Little Hollywood". It was a cool place.

We boated at Lake Powell on Saturday. It turned out to be a perfect day because it was mostly overcast, which made the heat more bearable. The lake is absolutely beautiful. There's just nothing like it. The water was even warmer than at Utah Lake, and it's much clearer. My cute neices and nephews were learning to wakeboard. A lot of them already know how to ski. One of my nephews, Salem, was skiing and completely fell over backwards. Unbelievably, he popped back up again; however, having already counted it as a fall, he had let go of the rope. He's a little athlete and just sank back into the water having completely regained his balance. Too funny.

We also had our traditional softball game Saturday afternoon. It ended in a tie, how nice! All the little kids get a chance to play, and it's a great tradition. Another tradition we seem to follow is a breakfast of Crepes. We include sweet crepes with fruit and creme sauce and ones with eggs, salsa, cheese sauce, and sausage. YUM!

Unfortunately, my mom and dad couldn't attend this year. They are serving their mission in Indiana and are doing well. Except for some homesickness brought on by the awareness that we were all together without them. It's a sacrifice, and we'll all be blessed for their service.

Oh what a book

2008-07-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished the book, Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. It was just completely fantastic. You must read its companion novel, Ender's Game, before reading this one. Some of the themes that were resonant for me were learning the meaning of love, finding family and where you come from, forming friendships and circles of friends, being resourceful, and becoming a leader. I finished the book while on our trip to Kanab for my family reunion. I'll write about our trip later.

Fantastic night at the lake

2008-07-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This blog entry is not for the faint at heart die-hard waterskiier. We had such a beautiful time at Utah Lake Thursday night that you might not want to read about it due to skiing envy. Usually, the water at Utah Lake has more rollers in it than all the bakeries in the world, but last night, ah last night! It was fantastic! Jeff's cousin's family was in town from Canada, and we decided to introduce them to some warm water. Utah Lake, being shallow, is one of the warmest places around, but I'm not gonna lie, it's usually not too skier friendly.

We all got to ski/wakeboard/tube all we could handle. I've got the sore muscles today to prove it. Okay, we didn't make Jacey do any of that. She really enjoyed just being in the boat and toddling around back and forth between the open bow and the drivers' seat.

We even had enough good water for me to take Kira for a ski. Then, Jeff talked Quinton into skiing with him. Both Q and Kira did just fine. While picking up Jeff and Quinton, I asked Jeff if I had been going too slow. He said, "No, we were just tired." Then Quinton said, "I wasn't tired at all!!" I wonder why???? Could it be Jeff was doing all the work?

Yep, as the sun set, and we were out on the lake, I had that blissful feeling that, ahhhh I am out on the lake, and the sun is setting. It's a lovely place to be.

Off the hook

2008-07-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

I guess the neighbors are off the hook. It seems while I was putting together that little story, I let that bread get a little burnt! It's all the fault of that mommy-induced alzheimer's because I figured I had to write the details of the story before some little person needed me to feed or change them so I wouldn't forget what I wanted to write about. Uh hum...I'll be back.

Funny Story

2008-07-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm just enjoying my first week of being home after a week-long journey with the family to Las Vegas. My husband had a business trip there, so the kids and I crashed the party since he was staying at the fabulous Mandalay Bay. We had a wonderful trip.

When we arrived home, we realized our garden had continued to grow without us. (Thank you automatic sprinkling system.) It was good to see our plants had shot up about a foot with all the warm weather. On the other hand, we were completely ambushed by zucchini. To those of you unfamiliar with LDS culture, zucchini is a long-standing joke among us since so many of us plant gardens. Zucchini, being so easy to grow, often grows much faster and larger than many of us can keep up with. Sometimes, during prime zucchini season, people just drop it off on your porch and run away, as fast as they can.

I guess being among so many non mormons during my week in Las Vegas, I decided to be very domestic and do something with some of our zucchini. I started searching our recipe books for a nice zucchini bread or cake or something. After finding a recipe that did not call for lard, shortening, or cardamon, because I didn't have any, nor ever will I, I settled down to make some zucchini bread.

This is how it went: I first grated some of my zucchini. I cut a few strips and ran them through my food processor. I was having so much fun that before I knew it, I had four cups' worth. The recipe only called for two. The zucchini I had cut in to was only half gone! So now I had to decide whether I was going to make a cake and some bread or just double the bread recipe. Since it is the middle of summer and to keep my kitchen cooler, I decided to just double the bread -- I could bake it at the same time. Looking back on that decision now, it may not have been completely smart. Most LDS recipes already make a pretty big batch for our larger than average families.

Before I knew it I was trying to fit six cups of flour, six eggs, four cups of zucchini into my Kitchen Aid. In the meanwhile, my 18 month old daughter came up and tapped on my legs. I picked her up, so she could see what I was doing. I went to the refrigerator for some brown sugar. Jacey started having a tantrum over the pickles, so I got out the pickle jar and gave her a pickle. She toddled off to squish the pickle into the living room carpet. Meanwhile, I looked back in the fridge and really could not remember what I was looking for. I had to walk back over to the mixer and re-read the recipe to find the ingredient I was searching the fridge for. I call that mommy-induced alzheimer's. I figure it will go away shortly before the real kind kicks in. After holding my breath and squishing that brown sugar in there, I got it all mixed. Then I remembered that a lot of good zucchini bread has chocolate chips in it. I'm all for that, so I headed to the pantry for some chocolate chips. Thinking that one unhealthy turn deserves another, I snagged several Cheetos puffs before heading back to the mixer to add the chocolate. That wasn't Body For Life approved. Oh well. The recipe didn't call for the chocolate -- it's just something to help wash down the zucchini taste. I wasn't sure how much to add, so I just poured. After a few shakes, the batter looked more like chocolate chip cookies than bread, so I added a few more shakes.

Finally, I was ready to pour the batter into bread pans. After pushing aside muffin pans, mini muffin pans, some kind of bear molds?, and several cake pans, I found the bread pans. I only have three, but I figure I was pretty good at squishing the batter in the mixing bowl... Nope, I'm going to have to figure something else out. Pushing those muffin pans to the side actually had a good side effect. Now I can have zucchini bread and muffins -- more neighbors to torment! Won't that be great? Now when I'm dropping all this off at unsuspecting neighbors's houses, I can leave some single portion little loaves! Perfect! It all came out of the oven perfectly -- well it looked a little squished. Total zucchini down -- 1/2 of one!!! Zucchini to go -- about two dozenand a half or so. Oh well, I guess I'll get out my chocolate chips!