Catching Up Again...sort of

I obviously have a lot to catch up on. So, one (like myself) might think it would be nice if I updated the blog from the laptop while Gary was doing homework from our other computer. Well, think again!

We just barely loaded pictures on this computer and they were in absolutely NO particular order, so I just had to browse through nearly 800 pictures to find what I was looking for!!

But, on the plus side, I did find some random photos that I may or may not have posted in the past.

Well, since it took me so long to find and upload all the pictures (and there are many) now it is past my bedtime...and I'm really quite tired.

So, enjoy your imagination with these pictures until I get around to writing about them

OK, if you didn't check our blog in the last couple days you can disregard the previous paragraph on continue reading!!

I decided I better have the blog updated before Gary leaves for another business trip on Sunday so I can get back to our daily updates while he's gone.

So, here's what we've been up to....in no particular order.

We went to Denver for Thanksgiving and had such a FABULOUS time!!

It was great to spend time with family, eat lots of good food, and play lots of card games.

I even went Black Friday shopping for the first time.

But don't worry, it was not in the middle of the night for all the door-busters. It was later in the day....for a few items at Jo-Ann's.

I have been looking for material for Christmas stockings for years....and I FINALLY found some.

Yahoo!!

Anyway, while we were in Denver Tanzi got really sick.

She actually had a bit of a cold before we left, and she is teething, but while we were on our trip Tanzi had a fever for about 3 days!

I hate having sick babies :(

The day after we got back (Monday), she no longer had a fever, but she broke out into a terrible rash....and then she wouldn't sleep.

Sick baby :(

I remember Kyri getting a similar rash around the same age and when we took her to the doctor she had a terrible ear infection.

So, thinking this was probably the case with Tanzi I took her to the doctor at 11pm.

Luckily, no ear infection!

And the rash is common after a fever has broke.

But she did have a really red throat and still had a goopy nose, so they gave me a saline solution for her nose and a mylanta/benedryl mixture for her throat.

Why is it that I had to have 3 kids before finding an at home remedy that could have saved us a lot of heart ache over the years?!

We were grateful!

And on Wednesday we finally got our baby back!

We heard her laugh for the first time in about a week.

She didn't eat much while she was sick...and we are slowly getting back on track with that.

She decided she no longer likes baby food unless it's mixed with rice cereal. And before she was sick she was taking 6-7 oz of milk from a bottle every night and now the most she has taken is 4oz, but it's usually only about 2oz.

However, she is having plenty of wet diapers...and even more smiles, so I am one happy mama!

Graysen is pretty pleased with himself for putting on chapstick by himself

You can see where he learned it from

They are quite the pair!!

Since Tanzi was sick while we were in Denver she just wanted to be held ALL the time!

Which worked out well since there were so many people that wanted to hold her. Amber, Grandma, and Grandpa all spent a lot of time snuggling Tanz, which she LOVED.

And while she had her fever Tanzi really just slept a LOT....so of course Grandpa offered to hold her :)

Going...

....going....

...gone!!

Two peas in a pod

A highlight of our trip (for the kids) was staying at "the hotello"

This was Tuesday night, on our way to Denver.

As you can see, Tanzi had an obsession with her new-found tongue

On our way home (Saturday night) I was up in the middle of the night with Tanzi. And since the kids were sleeping on a pull-out bed right next to us I could see just how comfy they were...and I couldn't resist fumbling in the dark for the camera so I could capture this moment!

We really had such a fun trip!

Danny and Amber were nice enough to let us stay at their house and feed us yummy food.

And we had a great Thanksgiving dinner at DeAnne and Alan's house with even MORE family...AND fun, of course.

Jadan was baptized the day after Thanksgiving. It was such a nice service. And he is SUCH a great example to Kyri and Graysen (as well as his siblings, I'm sure)

And then we got a baby sitter so the adults could go out for sushi (kind of as a late birthday dinner for Gary, whose birthday was the day before Thanksgiving).

I wish I would have taken pictures at the sushi place.

Not only was it delicious, but it looked amazing...and they even brought it out to us on a big boat!

It was awesome!

And nice to have some adult time :)

I just wish I was better at taking pictures when we're all together!

I'm not exactly sure when this picture was taken, but I LOVE the look on Gray's face...and that he's wearing pink crocs...and that Kyri looks ticked.

It makes me smile!

Nothin' like mowing the lawn in the rain

My brother, Jared, came into town, from Singapore, for Grandma Dora's funeral.

We wanted to spend more time with him, since he normally only comes once a year.

So, my sister, Tawn, and I took our kids up to our parents for a couple days.

The kids had SO much fun with "Uncle Baby Jared"

AND a lot of fun with each other too!!

If one was sitting in the chair they ALL were sitting in the chair

Jared came to stay with us the night before he flew back home.

The kids could NOT get enough play time in with him.

Well, while we were all just hanging out in the play room Kyri disappeared for a while.

I never really thought much of it....

until she came back into the room, looking like this

I'm not sure what prompted her to get into my make-up and hairspray,

but it sure gave us a good laugh!!

(BTW, her hair was plastered with hairspray and very rock solid!)

This picture was taken a long time ago at my parent's house....and it still makes me smile.

These two are quite the crazy sleepers when they share a bed!!

Cute Kyri Girl

Apparently he's not just a crazy sleeper when he's sharing a bed

Baby feet

This must have been just after we cut Kyri's hair short.

Cute girl!

Crazy boy!

love, love, LOVE these kids!!

Tanzi started crawling with her belly off the floor last week.

This video really isn't anything exciting, but we just had to document this major milestone!

And now she is getting pretty fast...and getting into trouble :)

I have taken a few more pictures the last couple days and have found some more random ones...so expect more updates real soon!!

Grandma Dora

My grandma passed away on Monday Nov 7th

We had her funeral yesterday.

What a great day of celebration!

Celebration of this wonderful, amazing woman and the life she led!

I am grateful for the time at her house during the summers growing up.

And I am extremely grateful for the time with her, as an adult, when she lived in Logan.

I remember one day she showed up at my work in Brigham City about a week after my birthday.

She felt bad about missing my birthday, so she drove to Brigham to surprise me...and to take me to lunch!

My sister, Tawn, recently reminded me of the time we were helping Grandma move and she needed some boxes. We went to the recycle dumpster in a nearby parking lot, climbed in and rummaged through all the cardboard until we found the perfect boxes.

Liquor boxes.

We knew Grandma would get a kick out of them, so we grabbed as many as we could find.

The County Jail Relief Society President has her precious belongings in liquor boxes.

Sure enough, Grandma got a good laugh out of it!

Great Grandma Dora and Kyri in March 2009

I had the opportunity to do Grandma's hair for the funeral.

I have never done anything like that before, but it was such an awesome experience!

I think I may have done her hair once before.

She always had her regular "beauty operator" and was quite particular about her hair.

I may not have fixed her hair perfectly, but I have a feeling she was pleased with the way it looked.

And I knew, while doing her hair, that she is so proud of me!

My Grandmother was a wonderful writer and left us books of her writings.

I have been thinking a lot lately about writing a poem in her memory. I have not yet put one together, but love the one she wrote and wanted read at her funeral.

Requiem

by Dora Mecham Imlay

Do not look down at me when I am dead

and sigh or cry.

I won't be there.

Look up and see me cameoed

In pleasure triumphs I have known--

In God, in country, and in home.

Strong sons, wise daughters and fine mates--

mortality's delights.

Pride of my life, my grandchildren,

Oh precious, precious boon.

See me in them!

Look up and celebrate with me

the shedding of this tattered gown--

long since threadbare.

See me beside my youthful mate,

Beauty as when I took his name,

Restored.

Do not look down!

Look up! Look up!

Oh see me happy!

Sing with me!

I am SO extremely grateful for the memories I have of this amazing woman and for the legacy she left!

Thank you Grandma, for helping make me who I am today!!

I love you!!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Friday was a fun day.

I thought it was going to be a REALLY long day, since it was the day before Gary was coming home, but it really wasn't bad at all.

In the morning we cleaned the house.

When the kids know that someone is coming to our house, then they are usually really good to help me clean.

And, not only did we have daddy to clean for, but my sister, Andrea, came Friday afternoon.

When I told Graysen that she was going to be coming he said, "OH!! Me LIKE Andrea!"

Yeah, she is SO much fun!!

I cut and colored her hair...and she played a lot with the kids.

It was AWESOME!

And our day went by SO fast!!

Tanzi loves to just play in her crib when she wakes up in the morning or from naps (if she's slept long enough).

Since she can't sit up by herself yet, I never find her like this, but I put her in her crib for a minute so I could do something...and she was as happy as could be!

She has plenty of friends to play with

Saturday morning we woke up to SNOW!

Oh, the kids were SO excited!

So, while they were waiting for daddy to come home they had a little fun!

I obviously need to do some shopping for my kids.

Graysen needs a new winter hat...and boots.

Yes, that used to be Kyri's hat, and yes, he is wearing Kyri's PINK shoes.

He only has church shoes and one other pair of shoes and I didn't want him to get those all wet, in case we needed to go somewhere :)

The snow was really heavy and really weighed down our tree....that still has nearly all it's leaves on it

She was so busy playing, but took the time to say "HI!"

Kyri and Gray came in, crying, because they were SO cold!

Their feet, legs (because they don't have snow pants), hands, everything were wet and cold!

I threw them in the tub and that helped cheer them up!

So, I guess in their excitement for daddy to come home none of my kids could sleep.

Tanzi had already had a terrible night and she woke up again just before 5:30.

Right after that Kyri woke up. Naked. She had taken her pajamas off before she fell asleep and now she was freezing.

I had her go peeps and then I took her back into her bed.

We were putting her footy jammies on and when I tried helping her zip them up I realized they were inside out!

AAHHH!

I was holding Tanzi, who was fussing, and Kyri was fussing because she was cold, and I look over at Gray and he was sitting up in his bed!

When I told him to lie down and go back to sleep he said,

"NO! Me reading my book!!"

In the dark?

Really?!?!

Hahaha!

I got the jammies worked out and told the kids to go back to bed.

They stayed in their room for a bit, but they never did go back to sleep :(

I was worried it was going to be a crazy, fussy day, but the kids were actually really pretty good

Tanzi likes to work on some cool moves while figuring out how to crawl.

This is a move she will hold for quite some time!!

We knew about what time to expect daddy to be home,

so the kids were VERY happy to see him while they were looking for him!

Not only were we so glad when daddy came home, but I think he was pretty glad to be home!

Before daddy came home we made signs for him and hung them up all over.

Here daddy is reading the sign on the door.

"Me want my daddy. Wah wah wah wah!"

(Graysen cries for his daddy all the time, but it has also become a bit of a joke between these two)

Kyri said she didn't miss her daddy because we got to Skype him every night, but I think this proves just how much she really did miss him!!

It was SO nice to have Gary home!!

We just hung out and did a whole lot of nothing.

It was just nice to be together as a family!

Sunday was a nice day.

It was really nice to not have to take all 3 kids to church by myself!

We made a "real" dinner. Jell-o and all. (which my kids insist on for Sunday dinner)

I HATE the time change with kids!!

I thought that maybe this time it would be different.

Since the kids woke up at 5:30 I decided not to give Gray a nap and we kept the kids up until 8:00....hoping they would be extremely tired and sleep until the clock said 7....or close to it.

Well, no such luck.

We even kept them up Sunday night, even though we usually put them to bed early.

Here it is Tuesday and the kids are still waking up at 6:30 or earlier.

Maybe they will be adjusted before the time changes again.

Maybe.

Tanzi has been having some really horrible nights.

I can't quite tell if it's teething, her tummy, or what.

So, I'm not exactly sure how to handle it.

But last night she had a really good night!

Which means that I, too, got some much needed sleep.

Too bad Gary was up most the night.

If it is not one in this family it is another.

Always.

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't miss Gary snoring at night while he was gone, but since it got really cold while he was gone I am SO happy to have him back!

He is my human heater!!

If only he would let me put my frozen toes on him!! :)

When Gary gets home from work the kids LOVE to hide from him.

It doesn't matter where they are or what they are doing.

This is something they did not forget while Gary was gone.

Yesterday just before Gary got home Kyri spilled some water on herself...or Graysen spilled on her...something. Anyway, she was changing her clothes when Gary got home from work.

She still had to hide.

Haha!

Don't ask....I don't know.

But don't worry we did NOT let her wear that to the store.

We went to the store as a family.

And it just so happened that WinCo was giving away a FREE turkey for every $100 we spent.

We got 2 free HUGE turkeys :)

Welcome Home Daddy!!

We are glad you decided we were worth coming back to :)

Dear Daddy,

Please come home soon.

We all miss you.

But especially mommy.

She gets so short with all of us kids by the end of the night.

And by the time bath time rolls around she has "had it with these kids" and my bath is all but a dunk in the tub.

I miss the nice, fun baths you give to me.

And the massage afterward!!

Mommy kind of just slaps on the lotion.

And she lets Graysen help, but all he does is poke me in the head.

I wake mommy up a lot in the night.

She is very good to get up with me...and make me feel all better, but she sure can be crabby the next day!!

Will you let her know that I just love to feel her touch in the night?

I don't mean to make her so ornery!

She's been eating lots of junk food and when she does she says "I know I shouldn't be eating this", but I think it actually calms her down a bit.

There must be something in sugar that makes her happy.

Will you be sure to get some extra sugar for mommy when you get home?

Even after you're home I think she might need it.

I miss having you feed me my cereal.

I know you didn't always do it, but when you did I thought you were really hilarious when you sang the "all gone" song.

Don't tell mommy, because I think she actually thinks she's pretty funny too, but she's actually sort of crazy singing that song.

Doesn't she know that I already know it's all gone?! Otherwise she would still be feeding me!

Silly mommy!

I'm getting really big, daddy.

I can almost crawl!!

That's right.

Almost.

I scooch both my legs forward at the same time or pull myself with my arms....

because I have incredibly big muscles in my arms, daddy, just like you!

So, will you please come home before I actually start crawling the "normal" way, so you can see me?

I love sitting up, but I find it important to cry every time I tip over....just to let mommy know I'm annoyed that I tipped and can't sit back up on my own.

She usually comes to my rescue, but every once in a while Kyri or Gray will come over and just start pushing me.

Do they really think that's helpful?

Maybe when you get home you can tell them it's not.

I miss snuggling you and having you feed me my bottle.

Don't worry, I still don't hold the bottle by myself for an entire feeding, so you can do that for me when you get home.

I miss seeing you sneak up the stairs when you get home from work.

That always brings a very big smile to my face!

And I miss having you change my bum.

I've had a bit of a bum rash, so mommy has to put that awful bum cream on.

When you get home will you PLEASE take over the diaper changes?!

I think that would make mommy very happy!!

I really miss you daddy!

Please come home soon!

Love,

Tanzi

Wednesday - Thursday

Wednesday was preschool day.

Kyri always looks forward to that!

She slept in until 8!! I couldn't believe it! She must have been catching up on all the sleep she lost out on at Grammy's.

The day was fairly uneventful.

We went to Walmart and bought discounted costumes for upcoming Halloweens.

I don't know if we'll keep them all.

Just before putting the kids to bed I had Kyri go potty.

Of course then Gray wanted to go too.

He sat down and told me his peeps wasn't coming....but his stinky was!!

And he went stinky on the potty.

He hasn't gone peeps or stinky on the potty for a while so it was a nice surprise!!

I decided that today (Thursday) needed to be a cleaning day.

This morning Kyri and Gray were playing SO well together, so I just let them play while I cleaned.

But then they were just creating more, bigger messes!!

So, eventually they had to help me clean up.

Kyri was a great helper!

And Graysen was not so much.

I found him wearing one of Kyri's dress up dresses...backwards...over his jammies

the fact that he called it a shirt instead of a dress made me feel better about him wanting to wear it....again

And then he changed into a different one!

And, yes, he is playing with baby dolls...who often have to go to time out.

Haha!!

What a silly kid!

Today the kids were all kind of rotten!

Tanzi is teething and just unhappy....ALL the time!

Kyri slept in until 8 again, but she was up twice in the night and just acted tired all day...I hope she's not coming down with something....like a bad case of naughtiness or something!! :)

Today I changed 5 stinky bums on Tanzi, 2 on Graysen, and helped Kyri wipe her bum twice when she went stinky!!

They were the poopin'-est kids EVER today!!

At one time they all managed to be working on a stinky at the same time....

it was incredible

(incredibly stinky, that is!!)

I can't wait for Gary to come home.

Tomorrow is going to be a LONG day!!

Tuesday

Tuesday morning we left Pocatello and went to Logan.

Grammy rode with us and I think the kids thought that was pretty cool!

I dropped my mom off at Grandma Dora's (where she met up with dad) and then the kids and I went to Tawn's.

This obviously isn't a very good picture of baby V, but you can see how happy Gray is to be holding her!

playing with the baby stroller

getting a love in on Grover :)

Kyri loves holding her baby cousin!

What a pair!!

My mom came over to Tawn's and let us leave all 5 kids there while we went to visit Grandma Dora. It sounds like the kids didn't always get along, so thanks for watching them, Mom!!

We stopped at LaBeau's to get a raspberry shake for Grams, since she's not eating much these days.

Tawn fed her the shake and when we asked her if it tasted good she would shake her head no, but she kept eating it anyway....so it must not have been too bad :)

I'm not sure Grandma recognized us, but it was so good to spend time with her anyway.

I told her that the raspberry shake reminded me of the raspberries she used to grow in her garden. We asked if she remembered that. She did. We asked about a few other things and she did remember them. Even the LONG title of the thesis she wrote many years ago.

She was even able to remember a few cuss words :)

And I told her that she doesn't have to worry about anything else she can't remember because she wrote it all down...so that WE can remember.

I'm so glad for her writings!!

It's hard to see my Grandma in the state she's in.

She is so frail...so helpless.

I am very grateful for the time we had with her.

It was precious time!!