Just a few pics....

 Baby!!!

Ellie baptism day and Amelia blessing day. Such a wonderful day!

 Halloween!! Ellie literally switched costumes 4 times. Thank goodness for the dress up box.

 Soccer man!!

 Go UTES!!

New

Welcome to our family our beautiful, lovable, perfect and wonderful little Amelia Jo. She was born August 22, 2013. She is 8 months old. I feel like my pregnancy with her was soooo long and soooo miserable. I have never had a summer baby and I will never have another one. That was no bueno. But now she is 8 months!! AHHHHH!!!! They grow too fast!! She really is a perfect baby. She sleeps through the night, only fusses when she is hungry or tired(or a sibling is being annoying). We are all in love. Daxton is so sweet with her. He is so gentle(most of the time) with her. He likes to hold her and help me take care of her. The girls are also in love. Mady is a little more business like with her. She is a good helper when asked but rarely just takes her and plays with her. Ellie is a little mom. She likes to take Milly in her room and play with her, take videos, sing, tell her stories, play dolls and all sorts of cute things. It is so wonderful as a mom to see the love that they have for each other. Milly has been a blessing and bright light in our home.
Besides getting over a never ending sickness, life is good. The girls and I are in The Sound of Music put on by Clearfield City. Mady is playing the part of Brigitta and Ellie is Marta. I am playing a "filler" nun, as Ryan put it. We are having a lot of fun with that. It will keep us busy busy up until July. The girls are still dancing and we are getting ready for their year end recital. We are all so excited for school to be done for the year. The girls have a countdown on their door...19 more days!! Since spring break I have struggled sending the kids to school. I just want to play.
Daxton is doing great. Besides a cough that is lingering his health is doing great. His heart is looking amazing. We finally got rid of his gtube. We felt it was time to get rid of it so we set up a reward system where every time he ate his food he got a sticker. When he got enough stickers he was able to pick out a lego. That has been a very expensive reward system, but whatever works. It still seems like an every day struggle to get him to eat but I know I am not the only parent that feels that way. He is in preschool and LOVES his teachers Miss Sandy and Miss Kesha. He has made remarkable progress this year and we are so grateful for this teachers and the love that show our little man. They are amazing! Daxton started soccer in the fall. We still aren't too sure on how he likes it. Most of the game he is running around pretending he is a transformer. When the ball gets close to him he has to gear up his engine(or battery, depending on the day) so by the time he gets all the gears going the ball is already long gone. I think we would keep at it if he showed that he liked it at all but we are thinking soccer might not be for him. He gets really mad if anyone else touches his ball or if the kids bump into him. It is pretty entertaining to watch. He has a very strong will and if he doesn't want to do it he will not. Little Stinker. We are excited for him to start kindergarten in August. We struggled with deciding whether or not to put him in kindergarten last year. We feel like we made the right decision for Daxton I think he is much more prepared than he would have been. Daxton loves legos and is very good and putting them together. He still loves trains, cars, trucks and fire trucks. He is a very high energy little man.
Ryan and I are hanging in there. Adjusting to 4 kids is rough. Ryan started a new schedule where he has to get up for work at 5am(yuck!!). That has been rough on him and me. Thankfully this shift will only last another month. We are in the never ending dilemma of do we move? Or do we stay where we are?  We have looked at a few houses and even contemplated moving to Grantsville but have not felt good any of those options. We are keeping an open mind and things will all work out. Ryan is busy with being Assistant Scout Master and I am on the Relief Society activities committee. We are happy and busy. Life is good.

Too long.....

I have so much to catch up on but I am not going to. That just overwhelms me. So I will start with today.

Today Mady is in the 4th grade and is loving it! It is very refreshing because we had a really hard year last year. Lots and Lots of girl drama. She has an amazing teacher that she just adores. They have been learning the dance to "Thriller" and Mady is so excited. She is a busy little bee with dance, piano, achievement days, homework and just being an awesome big sister.

Miss Ellie started the 1st grade. I can't believe how grown up she is. It makes me so sad/happy. She also loves her teacher Mrs. Shallenberger and just thinks she is the funniest person in the world. Ellie is taking dance but does not love it as much. She cries almost every Friday when I take her. Poor thing. We tried piano this last month. She did great at her lesson but then when it came to practicing she would NOT do it. I decided I would rather have one less thing to fight her on so we will wait until next year and try again. Her birthday is on Sunday and we are going to have a fun celebration tomorrow. I love that her birthday is in October, so many fun things to do.

My Dax Man is growing, growing and growing. We celebrated his 4th anniversary since Transplant on Sept 10th. He amazes me everyday. He is going to preschool Mon-Thurs. That is really hard for me, I wish it was just two or three days a week but I know that he needs the extra help so I am grateful for that. He is communicating so much better and even other people can understand him. He is eating better and loves pancakes. He wants pancakes for every meal. I still tube him a few times a day depending on what and how much he has eaten. Last clinic visit he was down in weight so cardiology was on me for that. I have to say that is one of the most frustrating things. I try not to tube him so he can feel hungry and eat but then he goes down in weight, etc, etc. It will get better, eventually.

Ryan had a big year. He finally graduated from College!!! I am so proud of him. It took a lot of perseverance and dedication. Now he is the job search mode, which is just another barrel of laughs. It is a weird transition. Neither of us are quite sure how to handle it but we are working on it. Ryan also got called as Assistant Scout Master. I think it is the perfect calling for him. He was an awesome Boy Scout and will help the boys in our ward succeed. And he gets to go on lots of fun camping trips.

I have joined a choir and am having fun with that. We have a concert this weekend at Libby Gardner Hall. This has been a really hard couple of weeks. My sweet heart mom Mimi lost her little girl who received her angel heart when she was 4 months old. They were on Mia's Make a Wish trip to Disney World when she got sick and didn't recover. My heart is literally breaking for Mimi. I know that she will get to continue raising her in the next life and I know that she is perfect. I know all this just like I know the sky is blue but my heart and soul still ache for her. That has completely consumed me these last few weeks. I am ever so grateful for my Savior and that he knows all of our pains, fear, sorrow, joys, and heartaches and he is there to comfort. I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that Families ARE Eternal!!

I am going to do much better documenting life. I will have pictures soon. Our hard drive is on the fritz.

Thoughts on 2011

Last year around New Years I had the thought/impression that 2011 would be a very good year. In my mind I was thinking that meant lots of vacations, so much money we wouldn't know what to do with it all, and just lots and lots of fun.

As it turns out none of that happened, expect for the fun. We only went on one vacation and that was a family reunion. We went to Cedar City to celebrate my Grandparents 70th wedding anniversary. We did not have loads and loads of money to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. It was a hard year in that department and one of this years resolutions is to try and not be so not smart with money. But as I look back at 2011 and think "why did I think it would be such a great year", I am able to count my many blessings.

This past year was a very special one for my little Mady. She turned 8. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints turning 8 means you are now accountable for your choices and you get to be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost. Mady was so excited and ready. The spirit was strong and there was lots of love on that special day.

There are moments in life that you know you will always remember and cherish forever. For me this year that was "The Music Man". It was so much fun to be in this play with my Mady and to take a leap WAY out of my comfort zone. I met so many amazing people and made friendships that will last forever. It is awesome that a silly little play can bring so many wonderful things. I'm so grateful that I was able to do this and I am grateful that Ryan was a super trooper taking care of the other kids while we had this awesome experience.

In February I was able to do the hair for our local high schools production of "Les Miserables". It was a remarkable experience. My little sister Mallory and my little Mady were in the show. Mady played little Eponine. She just loves acting and being on the stage. It was so humbling to watch these kids grow and strengthen and watch their amazing talent. Normally when I help with a show I am soooo done with it by the end of the run but this one was different. It was life changing and I am grateful to have been apart of it.

In September we took Daxton in for his annual Heart Cath so the doctors could test his beautiful angel heart for rejection. We are humbled and grateful that there is no rejection and we are going strong 3 years post transplant.

Ryan and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. Some years I feel like we deserve a medal for getting through the year together. Marriage is amazing and awesome but it is also dang hard and frustrating at times. So I am grateful for a man that I love more now than on the day we were married forever. He is my Eternal Boyfriend!

And last but most defiantly not least is my weight loss journey. This year has been one of "getting healthy". Ryan and I joined a gym that literally kicks our butts. It is hard work and emotionally taxing but it has been so worth it. I am down 30lbs with a lot more to go but I have seen that it takes hard work and that it really is all about what I put in my pie whole. So I am grateful that I feel better and have more energy.

So even with no cruises or trips to Disneyland, new house, sprinkler system, perfect yard, perfect house, perfect anything 2011 was a great year.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

So Beautiful!

This is a beautiful message on life after death. I know that we will be able to return to our Heavenly Father and brother Jesus Christ after we leave this earth. I am so grateful that he died so that we could be reunited with the ones who have passed away before us. There is so much comfort and peace in having this knowledge.

Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy41VCbdt0I

Summer Fun!!

Yes I do know that it is almost the end of October but alas that is how my life goes...always behind. Oh well, here are just a few of the fun things we did this summer.

For my birthday we went up to Mueller Park Canyon and had a wienie roast.

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" better than a cake fight!!

I LOVE food fights!!!

The best birthday present ever...my cute family!
Cooling off.....ahhhhhh.....

First day of School! Mady started 3rd grade and Ellie started Kindergarten.

Daxton seeing his sisters off to school.

Our annual trip to Lagoon. This is Madys reaction after riding the white roller coaster for the first time. She did not like it.

Ellie all smiles on the Carousel.

My sweet Grandfather and Grandmother have been working on their genealogy and life story for 50 years. We had a big celebration and luau and he revealed the book to the family. It was so exciting. It is a beautiful book of our history and it is an amazing gift they have given to me and my family. I'm so grateful.

Mady showing off the picture of her in the book.

Mady and I had the awesome opportunity of being in our Stake production of "Music Man". We rehearsed all summer and performed the last week before school started. Mady was a towns girl and I played the part of Ethel Toffelmier. We had way too much fun and met many many amazing people. It was sooo much fun.

For ALL Women

This past Saturday I had the privilege to hear an amazing man give some amazing counsel and I thought that I would share it here.

http://lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/president-uchtdorf-reminds-sisters-of-five-things-to-forget-not?lang=eng.

We as woman with the help of the adversary are too hard on ourselves. All we can do is our best and then let the Lord take over. I have tried to make a new resolve to enjoy this day and enjoy the "small moments".

I just wanted to share this and hope that it helps lighten your load.