3 little monkeys jumping on the bed

I finally talked my husband into getting me a new mattress after years of neck and back pain from our last one. The sales guy at the store told my kids that he was giving them a one time free pass to jump on my bed to break it in. Oh and they listened. I was in the other room and heard laughter, this is what I found......

Three little monkeys jumping on my bed!!!

Catch up

So I am playing catch up again.  My computer has been down for a while and for a minute it is working, so I am busily adding posts.  I still have more to catch up on, but for now I hope you will enjoy these last few new ones.  If you don't see anymore for a little while, you'll know my computer was being bi-polar again.  Thanks for reading, it is greatly appreciated.

Wendy

WENDY

16 years ago, this beautiful angel finished her earthly mission.  While on this earth, she accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime.  Diagnosed at the young age of 14 with Ewing Sarcoma, she spent many years going through Chemo and fighting for her life.  She is a hero.  She saved my life in many ways.  Her life was dedicated to serving the Lord and helping those around her.  I am one of those lucky recipents of her dedicated service and love.  I have spent the last 16 years trying to repay her by paying it forward.  I'm sure I have many more years to go before I come close, but I am grateful for her example and the courage that she showed.  I miss her everyday.  I miss her contageous laugh and smile that brightened my days.  When we are lucky enough to have someone like this in our lives, we hold on to the memories a little tighter and treasure them even more.  Wendy, I am blessed that you came into my life.  I love you!! 477

Payton's MRI

Yesterday, Payton had an MRI.  It was a follow up to check on the changes in her spine.  To start at the beginning, when she was born I noticed a small bump on her lower back.  I took her to the doctor, who then sent me to a surgeon.  They did an MRI and said it was a lymphangioma (a pocket filled with fluid).  We were told to check back if anything changed, but that it would probably go away by the time she was 5.  It didn't, it actually got larger so we went back to a different surgeon due to insurance changes and with a fresh pair of eyes, the surgeon found something suspicious in her spine.  He ordered another MRI to get a baseline to compare future MRI's to.  They called it a Syrinx or fluid in the spinal cord.  The fluid is supposed to be on the outside of the spinal cord, not the inside. 

They asked us to come back in a year to see if anything had changed.  I put it off by almost 6 months mostly out of fear that it would be worse or that the news would not be good. 

Yesterday, my prayers were answered.  The Neurosurgeon couldn't explain the results.  The fluid in her spinal cord was almost completely gone.  He couldn't explain it, but I can.  The power of a priesthood blessing and many prayers.  I saw the hand of God in our lives.  I know He is always there, watching over our every need.  He answers our prayers today.

Payton is a stong little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family.  I love you baby girl!!!

First day of School

 I was a little unsure how the first day would end since it didn't start out so good.  It started with her waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but I was able to get her excited about school when I told her we could paint her nails.  Even after we got to school she was still excited, she even walked in tall and proud.  As we got to the classroom, she noticed one of the kids crying and upset.  That's when she looked at me, looked at the boy, then back at me and the tears started.  I picked her up to sooth her, not a good idea.  They had to pry her off me.  She had a good hold on me and my hair.  I had to just walk away and let her cry.  You could hear her all the way down the hall.  All day, I waited for the school to call, but they didn't.  When I picked her up, she was smiling and asked if she could come back.  She said it was the funnest day.  YAY!!!  A successful day!  It's been all she can talk about.  This will be good for both of us since we spend so much time together. 

I didn't get a really good picture of her because of the tears, but this was the moments right before she fell apart.  You can almost see the concerned look on her face as she's about to start crying.

She really has loved going to school.  She askes me everyday if she can go today.  I wish they stayed this excited about school.

Birthday Girl

This beautiful little girl just had her 3rd birthday.  She  blesses our lives everyday with her funny attitude, big smiles, bear hugs, and kisses.  She's almost always happy and laughing.  We love her very much and can't imagine life without drama, girly squeels, and all the frills.  Happy Birthday baby girl!!  We love you!!

After she opened each present she would stand back, pose, and tell me to take a picture.

She spent hours playing with Barbie's hair.

Utah trip week 2 & 3

So I'm a little slow in posting, but I lost a few pictures and didn't want to post till I found them.  Guess what?  I found them.  Yay!!!

WEEK 2

Week 2 started off with a specail invitation to visit the jerusalem movie set in Goshen.  It was so awesome walking thought the set, hearing where each story would take place and actually being able to visualize the stories like you were there.  As amazing as this was, the very best part for me was at the end when we were getting ready to leave and we were extended an invitation to visit the garden of gethsemanie.  Goshen isn't exactly the greenest place, so among all the weeds and brush, I wondered where in the world they would put such a beautiful place, but as you come over the hill it takes your breath away.  They've planted grass and trees and made these beautiful stone walls that take you to this large old oak tree and you can't help but feel the overwhelming feeling of the spirit.  I could imagine the savior kneeling at the base of the tree and feel his love for me.  In that moment, I gained a deeper understanding of the atonement and what it meant for me.  This is a picture of the oak tree and the court of the gentiles.  They were even better in person.

My kids really loved helping grandma in her garden.  Payties favorite part was her hollyhocks and her daisys.  The boys took what they picked and each made their own soup for lunch.  They had a great time gathering eggs and tyring to catch the chickens too.

There are some cool places (among the weeds) to take pictures, so these are some of our fun pictures in a wheat field, a cherry orchard, and the sinclair gas station.

It was fun to see some of our friends and go to some of our favorite places.  The kids even got to go to the zoo.

Lunch with the Petersons.  We miss them so much.

I always enjoy seeing my grandma.  It was funny to see her helping Ethan with his video game.


We ended the week by heading up to Park City and Milan flying in to join us.  Milan's uncle passed away last year and the family decided to go together and do his work.  While we were in the chapel waiting to start our session, we ran into Elder Taggart (I guess it's not Elder anymore) who was also in the chapel waiting for the same session.  It was so fun to see him, but weird to run into him.

WEEK 3

Park City is always so much fun. we love coming here.  This year we were there on grandma's birthday so we went bowling.  This kids loved it!  It was fun to watch Payton try to figure it out.

We always try to ride the slide and the mountain coaster, but this year Carson finally weighed enough to ride the zip line. He was sooo excited.

My little buddy Kinley

The Owens Kids and The Evans Kids

Milan, Craig, & Rebecca
This has trouble all over it.

Mills Family Reunion and Grandma's Birthday 

The in-laws (the favorite children)

Mills Family

It was this beautiful ladies 80th birthday, which is why we were all together.

This is Monty, this is how he wore his gun the whole weekend.  So funny.

My Grandma and Grandpa Mills

It's hard to see the picture on the shirts, but it's my little sis dressed as a mexican.

This is what's on our shirts

The reason why you NEVER fall asleep in my family.  This is what happens to you.

My beautiful little sister Annie.

 This was a great ending to our great trip to Utah.  Probably the thing I miss most about home is my family.  I wanted to say thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy lives to spend time with us, those who fed us and housed us.  We really appreciate all of you and love you very much.  We couldn't do these trips without all of you.
To those of you we didn't get to see, we love you and wish we could have had more time to fit more in.  The invitation is always open for anyone to come visit us.