big buddy starts football

Last month, I saw a banner hanging up outside the High School.  It said that there was registration for tackle football for William's age group!  William has been wanting to play tackle football for a while now, but so far, for his age, there is only flag football.

I quickly registered William, and he had his first practice last week.  After practice, was equipment pick up. 

It might has well have been Christmas Day!!!  William strutted through the door wearing his gear, and he was beaming, but trying to act cool.  It was hilarious!

his tough football face

William displayed all of his equipment on the kitchen table, and he took turns showing it to his brothers and having them try it all on.  He, himself, tried it all on at least three times that night, and again the next day.
He came down the stairs the next morning wearing his helmet so he could "get used to it."  haha!!  It is awesome.

He has since had another practice, and tomorrow they will wear full pads and "finally get to smash each other."  William is so excited he can hardly stand it.

I can't wait to see what this boy of mine can do.  He is fast, has a good arm, and is really athletic.  This will be fun!

when weed wacker meets rock

Ben was trimming the lawn the other day, and the weed whacker got a rock. It threw the rock into our front window by our door.  And this happened....

Yikes!

dog diggity dog

A few weeks ago, as our family was headed out to the duck pond to go fishing with our neighbors, I was trying to put Charlie outside.  Charlie hates being put outside when he knows we are leaving, so he ran downstairs to get away from me.  While he was down there, he got ahold of Sam's rattlesnake head keychain.  He ran back up the stairs with it, and I continued to chase him all around the dang house with that thing in his mouth.  At one point, I grabbed Charlie, and he swallowed the keychain.  It is really big, about 5 inches long, so of course he started choking.  In order to save him, I put my hand down his throat, and I got ahold of the keychain.  I yanked it, but only the keychain came out, Charlie swallowed the entire 5 inch preserved rattlesnake head.  UGH!!!  I kind of freaked out for a while, and watched him, but he seemed fine, so I just put him outside and we left.

The next day, we noticed that Charlie had a huge lump under his eye, about the size of a golf ball.  It really hurt him if we touched it.  I started to wonder if I had somehow broken his nose when I was yanking out the keychain the previous evening. Our friend and neighbor is a vet, so I gave him a call.

It was next to impossible to explain that my dog swallowed and chocked on a preserved rattlesnake head keychain, and possibly broke his nose.  It sounded so ridiculous, and hilarious, and crazy!!!  Our friend came over, and ended up doing some x-rays on Charlie's stomach (to see if the snake head was blocking his stomach), and his face.

Sure enough, Charlie had a broken bone in his nose.  The stomach x-ray didn't show anything, but he told us to go to our vet the next day, so we did.

I had to tell the story all over again.  The vet had a great laugh about it, but told me that he has seen and heard about everything when it comes to dogs swallowing stuff.  He confirmed the break in Charlie's nose, but said it was just a tiny bone, that is very common to break in puppies, and that it was two weeks old.  I did not cause the break, and it wasn't a big deal.  Few!

The lump on his nose though, didn't look good.  The vet did a biopsy of it, and it showed that it was full of some bad infection.  The vet's guess was a poisonous spider bite.  The lump on the nose wasn't even related to the break!  huh!

Charlie's stomach xray did show the snake head (insert eye roll), but it was not blocking anything.

We came home with antibiotics for the infected lump, and instructions to watch his poop for the snake head.  oh joy!

Charlie seemed fine after that.  The lump went down, and he was pooping.  However, one night, he started gagging THE ENTIRE NIGHT!  We seriously thought he was dying.  I called the vet, and took him in again.  I was terrified that he was going to die, for real.  The noise he was making was horrible!
On top of that, we were headed to Idaho that very day for a reunion.  Great timing.

It ended up being kennel cough, which is very common, and he probably got it from the last vet visit, because it is extremely contagious.  It sounds WAY worse than it actually is.
The vet had pity on me, and didn't charge us for that visit.  I think he was just thrilled that we still took Charlie home with us.  Believe me, by this point, it was tempting.

So there you have it.  Spider bite, snake swallowing, broken nose, kennel cough, and car sickness.  Go Charlie.

camps and trips

The day after we arrived home from Idaho for the 4th of July, William had his very first scout camp and Mary left for LA for a week long trip with her best friend Alina.

William left early that morning, and got back later that evening.  He was absolutely filthy from head to toe, he was tired, he had two pocket knives, a piece of gold, and some animal skin, and he could not stop talking about how much fun he had!  He has been watching Sam go to scout camp for years now, and he has always wanted to be a part of it.  He was so excited for it to finally be his turn, and it did not disappoint.  He had a blast!  I love that he gets to be in scouts now!

Mary spent that week in LA with Alina.  They went to the beach every single day, and Mary was in heaven!  She had been looking forward to this trip for months!  I missed her terribly, but we talked on the phone every day, and she sounded to excited and happy.  What an adventure for a teenager to get to do with her best friend and her family.  Mary had a great time, and is now, more than ever, in love with California and the beach.

beach babes

4th of july

By the time the 4th of July rolled around, the absolutely crazy summer was catching up to all of us.  I was drained, the kids were starting to crave something outside of Heber, and we were all ready to bust out of here.  We decided last minute to head to Idaho, and hang with my family.

Mary and Sam actually headed to Idaho with my parents after William's baptism.  It was the first time they had ever spent a few days alone with my parents.  They had so much fun!  I'm so glad they were able to have that time.

It was a really quick trip, but it was so much fun! We brought Charlie, which was his first trip ever, and he had a blast in my parents huge yard!  He did throw up all over the car on the way there, which was not fun at all, but other than that, he did really well.

We went boating one day, ate yummy food, got in some good workouts, set off some huge fireworks, had a bonfire, watched movies, went shopping, and just enjoyed not having an insane schedule for a few days.

I love spending the 4th of July in Idaho, I always have.  It is one of my most favorite holidays, and it holds some of my absolute most fun and best memories.  I hope to give that same gift to my kids.

big buddy gets baptised

William was baptized on June 30th.  My parents came down the night before, and were able to attend.  We went out to dinner the night before, to celebrate. 

It was very small and intimate group that attended, and the spirit was so powerful and special.  It felt like the whole room was full.  William has the best feeling around him all day long.  The baptism was very neat and very powerful.  My parents gave the talks on Baptism and on the Holy Ghost.  William and the kids listened intently to them and William looked so happy and very in tune to what they were teaching him.

The actual baptism and confirmation were very sacred and very special.  There was just the best feeling.  Ben mentioned that he could feel the presence of my grandpa, and William's middle namesake, during the confirmation.  I felt it as well.  I am sure there were many relatives from the other side there that day, celebrating with us on such a blessed and sacred day.

My parents had to leave soon after the baptism, and we just hung out as a family the rest of the day.  Our home was filled with peace and a very special feeling.  It testified to all of us, once more, that the decision that William made was right and good. 

It was a very powerful day, and I felt strongly that William is such a special boy and will be a very good influence and a very special servant of the Lord.  He is an amazing boy, who made the best decision an 8 year old could make.  I am so proud of him, and I love him very much.

 

sams scout camp

Sam was able to do his first overnighter scout camp about a month ago.  Ben got to go with him, which was really cool.  They both said is was a lot of fun.  Sam had a blast!  I am really sad that the scouting program will be ending in about a year and a half. My boys have loved it so far.  I can only hope that whatever the church will be doing to replace it, will only be better. Sam came home filthy, exhausted, and grinning from ear to ear.

she's three and proud of it

The only way to really do this post, is to copy what I posted on Facebook. 

 

"So, Ben was at the dentist office today explaining a few things.

1. Why he was late to his dentist appointment: His little girl cut off a TON of her hair right as he was headed out the door.

2. The reason for the dentist visit:  That same little girl made a "picnic" with crackers and rocks, and then she poured her mixture back into  the cracker bag.  Not knowing about the mixture in the bag, Ben ate a handful of "Crackers."  Ben cracked and chipped his tooth on a rock.

 

#saltinthewound

#survivingathreeyearold

#didimentionthesharpieonthewalls

 

tball with my buddy

Earlier this summer, I was able to be the assistant coach for Luke's Tball team.  Our town does neighborhood teams, so Luke was on a team with all of his friends.  The beginning of this summer was absolutely insanely busy, so I was nervous about taking on something else, but it turned out to be so much fun doing something with Luke.

Luke was timid at first, but as soon as he broke out of his shell, he was a great tball player!  He could really slam the ball off of the Tee,

and he is extremely fast!!   I loved how he would get all ready to run when he was on a base.

ready position...haha!

Sam came to almost every game, and was a huge helper.  He is also a monkey, and set a "great example" of climbing up the dugout almost every game.

We had a really fun season, with a really cute little team. Go Jets!!!

Left to right:  Luke, Ian Johnson, Ty Hadlock, Christian, Ky Russell, Luke Phillips, Pippa Suhkan, Elle Kohler Evalyn Dyer

sundance bike race 2018

Ben had a bike race in Sundance a few weeks ago.  The kids and I thought it would be fun to drive up there and support him.  It is such a beautiful place, and the kids love to walk around and explore up there.

We got all packed up and headed up to the race, so that we could be there when Ben zipped through the finish line.

The kids were so cute!  They collected some "prized posessions," and Molly spent a lot of time finding the perfect "trophy" for her daddy.

The kids cheered for Ben as he came through the finish line.  It was pretty cool to see him in his element.

Ben coming through the finish line

It was so cute to see Molly present Ben with his trophies.

Good times at the races!

Mary was at cheer practice, so she couldn't be there.

the birthdays

William and I had a pretty good Birthday.

I treated myself to a tortuous 14 mile run outside.  I ended up leaving later than I thought, and the heat almost killed me.  It was nice though, to help me still feel young enough and fit enough, to just go out and run 14 miles the day I turned 36. haha!

Mary was kind enough to make a pancake breakfast for everyone.  William loves pancakes, that is his favorite breakfast.

We all went out for snow cones when I got back from my run, and William opened his huge bow and arrow gift from the family.  He then played with his best friend.

I taught piano lessons and celebrated William.

That evening, I went to home depot and bought stuff to build our mound with.  I REALLY wanted to get that done for my Birthday. 

While I was there, Ben took William to the store to pick out his new bike.  William was so excited!

William had his donut cake, and I had cheesecake that evening.  Ben surprised me with the cement that night, and told me it would be done the next day.  It rendered me speechless. haha!

We sang, blew out candles, and wrapped up the day.

Overall, I hope it was a wonderful day for William.  He had his party earlier in the week, but I did my best to help him feel like the actual Birthday was special, unique, fun, and all about him.

I love my big buddy so much!

Fun facts about William:
He is a great friend, and has TONS of really good buddies in the neighborhood.
His best friend is Tyson Muhlestein and Stockton Paige
He loves to ride his bike, ride his motor scooter and play on his kindle
He is willing to try ANY new sport.  He loves sports and has a desire to try them all.  He is particularly good at wrestling and soccer at the moment.
His favorite color is blue and orange
His favorite food is pizza..without the cheese.  So, basically bread and pizza sauce..hahah!
He has the best laugh in the world. It is straight from the belly and is totally contagious.
He is a twinkle in his eyes when he smiles.
He is a happy kid.
He is our best reader so far.
He is very curious and asks lots of questions all the time.
He really, really loves Charlie, and he cries whenever we have to put Charlie in his crate our outside and Charlie whines. 
He has a HUGE heart and big feelings.
He is always warm, and is the best to cuddle with.

Happy Birthday William!  Love you to the moon and back!