My sickness and the kids back in school

So this summer really flew by! We got out the 2nd week in June and went back the last week in July. Usually we are all ready to go back, we've partied hard and want the routine again (at least I do!) This summer we had our Yellowstone trip but didn't do much else. I was really sick all summer and by the time we found out what was wrong, the kids were back in school. Thank goodness for off track time I guess :) So I had severe stomach pains all summer. I went to the Dr in June and they gave me Prilosec. Didn't really help. I called after our Yellowstone trip to see a specialist. They wanted me to wait until the end of August. I said no! :) They got me in the first week of August. I had to have a CAT scan and they found out I had a perforated small intestine. Yep, it was as painful as it sounds. I got on 2 hefty anti-biotics and finally started feeling better. Now the pain is all gone but I am fighting fatigue. They found that I was anemic so I'm trying to up my iron intake. They gave me pills but every time I've taken them I'd have stomach pains again. I don't think it's worth it to re-injure myself for iron, so I'm just trying to eat as much iron rich food as I can find! I'm really starting to feel like myself again! Crossing my fingers that I don't have any relapses!

My three oldest all went back to school on July 26th. They were so excited and they all love school so far! Tiaree started 5th grade (gasp), Jarik started 3rd grade and Bree started 1st grade. It's different having them all gone all day. Keighlee enjoys the "us" time in the morning but by lunch time she is asking when the kids are coming home! It's nice to be back in the routine and have the kids learning so much. They are all doing so well already. Bree is taking off on reading. Jarik is a whiz at pretty much anything he does. Tiaree is a little read-a-holic. Seriously the girl could read all day if she had the time! She takes after me that way :)

Keighlee is such a ham! We start preschool again next week and she is so excited! She loves that she gets to be a big kid now. She says the silliest things. One that I remember really well and that I still laugh at was said on the way to the doctors. I had just found out the results of my CAT scan and had to go get blood work done and get my prescrips. So we are driving and pass a Taco Bell. She goes "Mom, when I was in your tummy did you eat tacos?" "I'm sure I did". "You did. I remember. And when you ate tacos I got tacos in my tummy too cause when I was in your tummy I went like this" and she proceeded to tip her head back and open her mouth as wide as she could! Cute little stinker! She makes me laugh every day!

Well here are some pics of the first day of school:






And here is a pic of Keighlee and her silliness. She was putting stickers on Daddy's bum while he slept!!:

Yellowstone!!

We got to take the best vacation this summer! We went to Island Park and Yellowstone for 5 days. It was so much fun! We were able to go with my mom and dad, Cait and Sam and Erik and Ali. We missed Jared and Ems though :( But man did we have a fun trip. We left on Monday and drove through Idaho Falls and Rexburg. We got to see the temples there.

Tuesday we headed into Yellowstone for the day. We got to see the Upper and Lower Falls, Yellowstone Lake and a bunch of different hot pots and mud pots. We got to Old Faithful about 10 minutes after it had gone off. It was sunset by this time and just beautiful! But there was also a fire and so the air was smoky and there was ash falling on us. It was beautiful to see the sun setting through the smoke though! We finally made it home at like 11. It was such a fun day though!!

Wednesday we relaxed and went on a hike along the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. It was gorgeous!! The water was calm and it was so quiet! It was a 3 mile round trip walk and we got to see the calm river turn into rapids. It was amazing the difference in the sound. Quiet and calm to raging and loud! There had been a sighting of a mother moose and her calf on the trail so we were all being extra watchful!

Thursday we went to Quake Lake. We could have skipped that :D It was pretty boring but still pretty. After Quake Lake we went back into Yellowstone and headed to the Mammoth Hot Springs. They were actually kinda disappointing too. There was no water running through them so it wasn't as cool as it usually is. We got to have yummy ice cream though and it was just a nice day.

Friday we packed up and headed back to Yellowstone on our way to Jackson Hole. We stopped at Old Faithful and were just in time to see it go off. Love it! It's pretty amazing!! Then we took the drive down to Jackson. It was beautiful, especially when we got to the Tetons. They are breathtaking! We stopped at Jackson Lake and the boys and Cait and Ali all got in the lake for a few minutes! It was fun to watch them!! That night we got to go to the BarJ Chuckwagon for dinner and a show. It was so fun and the Wranglers were so entertaining. We were laughing pretty hard and the songs they sang and played were fun. The fiddler is awesome and one guy can yodel like no other!!



Saturday we got up and went swimming before hitting the 7.5 hour drive home. That was the worst part!! It was so annoying! But we made it home and we had a wonderful vacation!!! I wish I could go back :D

Life

I don't even know if anyone really reads this blog, but I want to let those who do know that I am still here and still doing ok. We've had a pretty busy few months with Tiaree's birthday, Jarik's baptism, school functions, dancing, soccer, Memorial Day etc. etc. etc! I'll do pictures and updates on all that soon, I hope :) I'm just trying to get stuff ready for our Eclipse Party on the Plaza Event that happens on Tuesday! Yay!! I've also been going through some medical issues. I've had some severe stomach pains and I'm on Prilosec now to hopefully help. I can't believe how much one stomach can hurt!! It's been debilitating. When I have an "episode" I have to curl in a ball and just rock until it goes away. The medicine seems to be helping but I've only been on it for 5 days. I think it will take time to really work. I've been having to eat a bland diet and that's starting to get old! All I'd love to eat is chips and salsa, but it will kill me! Hopefully when I can get the pains to pretty much go away, I can start eating a more varied diet again! Here's to hoping! So now I just need to get everything done for the event and keep my house clean and dishes done and laundry done and my kids from killing each other and we'll be good! :D

Easter and Conference Weekend

This past Easter/Conference weekend was so nice! Even though it was cold and snowy, it was so nice to listen to conference and spend time with family. On Saturday we scrubbed the house and then we colored eggs. It's always so much fun to color Easter eggs. The kids love it, Tracy and I love it and we all have fun! Sunday Jarik and Tracy went to the morning session of Conference. This conference was my Dad's last one singing with the choir. Since Jarik just turned 8, he had the opportunity to go to a Conference where both his grandparents sang. Tiaree and Jarik will be the only grandkids that were old enough to see them both live. The other grandkids will get to see Grammy, but not Papa. Except Keighlee, I don't think she'll get to see either one live. I can't remember for sure though :D Anyway, they got up early and left so that left the girls and I to find Easter eggs and baskets. It was a lot of fun for them! At our house, the Easter bunny hides the eggs we colored the night before, so if the kids want breakfast, they'll find all the eggs! The girls did a good job of finding them and then we had a yummy breakfast of eggs and cinnamon sugar toast. The girls re-hid about 5 eggs when Jarik was on the way home so he could find eggs and his basket too. It worked out really well and everyone had fun! I just did a slide show because it's easier than putting a lot of pictures in one at a time!

After Conference, we got to feed my parents. I love being able to serve them after they've sung all day. They are usually exhausted and the last thing they need to do is worry about dinner! It's become a tradition and I absolutely love being able to do it. It's always fun hearing their little stories about what happened during conference, even though we always tease them about "choir humor". It's one of those "you had to be there" things but they laugh and laugh! It was a really nice weekend and I always feel a little sad when it's over.

Jarik gets baptized this weekend and Tiaree turns 10 in 2 weeks. She also gets to participate in the District Science Fair and is so excited about that. I'll keep you posted! I'm also going to post about Jarik's birthday and the girls' parent days so keep reading! Oh, and Tiaree's science fair and why she is going to district!

Jarik's Birthday and an early Easter

Blowing out the candles

On March 27th, my Jarik turned 8! I still can't believe he is that old! Jarik decided that he wanted a late night/sleepover party. We had a bunch of friends from the neighborhood come over on Friday night. We had pizza and ice cream and cake. They watched Planet 51 and played the Wii. Most kids went home around 10:30 but one boy got to spend the night and another friend came back early Saturday for breakfast. I think Jarik had a blast and enjoyed having so many friends over!

Zack gave him Legos

Trevor gave him Nerf swords

Daniel gave him a Nerf football

Ethan also gave him Legos

Nick gave him a launcher

On Saturday we got to go to a primary activity and then we took Jarik out to lunch at Red Robin. I usually dread going to restaurants with my family. The kids usually end up being embarrassingly loud and obnoxious! But I left feeling happy and we had a really fun time!

Sunday we had our Easter celebration with my family. With Conference being on Easter this year, my mom couldn't sing all day and then put on a big Easter dinner, so we did it early! We had wonderful food and the kids had a blast on an Easter egg hunt. We also celebrated Jarik and Mom's birthdays that day. It's fun having them have their birthday's so close!

Jarik, Bree, Tiaree, Alyssa, Keighlee and Colette getting ready to hunt eggs!

Jarik and Grammy blowing the candles on the Easter Bunny cake

Monday night we had Tracy's family over for cake and ice cream for Jarik. It was nice to visit with them and for the kids to play with their cousins. They love having time with cousins and we don't get the together enough any more!

More candle blowing with Kyli and Justin looking on

Next up is Parent Day at dance for Tiaree and Bree!

Parent Day

Every year the girls' dance classes have a parent day where we get to go watch them and see what they have learned. It's always fun to watch the girls dance and show off! Bree and Keighlee had back to back parent days a few weeks ago. Keighlee hasn't had hers yet, but I'll post pics of her cuteness when she does! Here are my beautiful dancers:

Bree and her teacher Jenn

Cute curtsey

Tiaree and Jenn

Beautiful girl

The last post for the day is about Tiaree's science fair project! I'm pretty proud of her!

Tiaree's Science Fair

So this year Tiaree had to do a science fair project. She decided what she wanted to do and it sounded really interesting. We were going to try to make sedimentary rock. We took different samples of dirt/sand/rocks from the yard and mixed them together. Then we put the mixture into 3 different bottles and added water. We shook the bottles and mixed everything up and then left them alone for the dirt to settle and the water to evaporate. We were supposed to be able to see layers when we cut the bottles in half, but all that happened with her is they crumbled. I thought, that's ok, we tried and it didn't work. So she took all her stuff to school and her teacher judged them. Her teacher chose 5 kids from her class to compete with the whole 4th grade and Tiaree was chosen. At that point I thought, ok, her teacher must really like her! :D So the day of the whole 4th grade fair I went up and saw her finished project and looked at all the others. I realized then that hers was good. Even though it didn't "work" like we wanted it to, she still did the experiment. She knew what she was talking about and how she could have made it better and I think that really helped. She was able to show her knowledge of her project when asked direct questions about how and why she did it! I was so proud of her, but I still thought that would be the end! She came home from school with a 1st place ribbon and the news that she'd been chosen to move onto district! The district fair is on the 16th of April. All she can take is her tri-fold and her science fair journal. Tracy and I get to go with her but we can't be with her when they interview her. I'm so excited for her and also a little nervous :D Here are some pics of her and her project!In front of her tri-fold
Her samples and the one bottle that you could sort of see a layer in
Her participation ribbon for winning from her class