Eeek.......about to pull off a BIG surprise!!

It is Makenna's birthday on Friday and I had the crazy idea to take her to Disneyland for her birthday. How amazing would that be for a 7 year old! It's a total surprise and it's been hard not talking about it around her but I think we have been successful! She said she wanted to go to the dinosaur park on her birthday and Travis whispered that we were going to a park that started with a "D" all right! :) I'm going to pack after they go to bed tonight and get the van all packed so they don't see. Then we are going to say we are keeping her home from school to go to the mountains! She has been begging to go to the mountains to see the snow. It's just going to be a very long trip to the mountains which will then turn into the beach! She has been begging to go to the beach ever since her cousins moved by the beach. We are going to act like that was for her birthday and then surprise her the next morning for Disney!! I'm soooo excited!! I can't wait to see her face!! I just have to do laundry and pack!! Eeek!!! And to just keep our family healthy long enough to enjoy it!! We have been exposed to lots of people that have yucky, yucky sickies and my younger two have been congested with a little cough (which I kinda think is allergies with all the wind and clear snot:) but I can deal with runny noses. What can't be dealt with is a stomach flu which has also been going around!! I'm praying that it passes us by and we can enjoy this trip!! I'm praying hard!! Disneyland....here we come!! :)

Trying something new

Today, we decided to do something new for church. NO food!! No fishies. No pretzels. No fruit snacks. Nada!! I was worried because of Aiden. I figured you always have to have something for babies and then in turn the older kids have to have something because you have it. Well, for a couple of weeks, our kids have been crazy and fighting over all the snacks! They would be loud and ask for it the second we sat down. I had the girls in the habit of not having any snacks until after Sacrament (which honestly was just a punishment for me since Trav was up on the stand leading the music until then) but now that Aiden is older, he was looking for the snacks right away and freaking out when he didn't get any. So, I would give in and give him something which would then make Jor want something right away and when I didn't give it to her, a huge whine fest would happen. So Trav finally said No more food!! I was very wary of this proclamation!! I just thought....whatever! :) But I really was tired of them fighting so I figured it was worth a try. Today was trial run. I had coloring books and letter practice sheets, books and a few small toys but no food. Aiden immediately started looking for snacks and was starting to freak out but once he figured out that there wasn't any, he was totally fine and looked for something else. The girls didn't even use a whole lot of the stuff out of my bag. They colored for a bit and that was it! They were very calm so I could concentrate on keeping little man happy which can be a full time job sometimes;) I was very happy with how they acted and rewarded them with one little package of smarties at the end of Sacrament meeting!! I will definitely be doing that again and pray that it wasn't just a fluke and all will go crazy next week. I guess we shall see. The only problem I forsee is that we have church from 11-2 so it's right through lunch. I had to make sure they had a sandwich and apples before we left so they wouldn't be starving so I just have to make sure we make the time to feed them before we leave. :)

Sleeping Beauties AND an update!

I always check on my little ones before I go to bed and there is nothing like sleeping babies:) I had to take pictures!

Miss Jordyn has been sleeping with her bear practically on her face lately. She must like it because she does it all the time!

Miss Kenna just sleeps HARD!! We still have a hard time with her having accidents at night because once she falls asleep, she is OUT!! We go up a couple of times to take her potty and she doesn't even wake up. We have to stifle the giggles sometimes when she starts talking:)

Mr. Aiden is a great sleeper but also a very LIGHT sleeper! He usually perks his head up as soon as I open the door. I got lucky this night! He must have been in dream land:)

*And an update on Trav's dad! He finished his chemo and his numbers were good enough that he was finally able to come home on Thursday, the 23rd. He hadn't been home since January 23rd so he was very excited. And so was Trav's mom. He's happy to be in his own bed and they will find out at their doctor's appointment tomorrow what he has to do next!

Halloween 2011.....Yup, Finally getting it done! :)

Halloween 2011 was the year of the cheap costumes! I really didn't want to spend a ton of money for one night of dressing up! I'm all about saving money so this is what we came up with!

Jordyn loves Strawberry Shortcake so we dressed her up in a dress that she already had and put green stripes (green duct tape $4), strawberry shortcake pretties and freckles. I think she looked adorable and I only spent $4!

Makenna kept changing her mind. She wanted to be Hermoine and then she wanted to be Snow White (which we already have a dress up dress for that one too:) but she ended up decided on being the White Queen from Alice in Wonderland. She already had a beautiful white dress and I just got her a long blond wig ($6) and put some makeup on her!

Personally, I think Makenna looks better with darker hair. It's gradually getting darker and darker. This is a little too blond for her:)

My Aiden was a hard one for me. I really didn't want to spend any money on him because he's not old enough to care but I still wanted a fun costume for him. I found a cool costume idea on Pinterest. Mr. Aiden is a bum which cost me a total of......$0!! He already had jeans with holes in them. I just put a flannel shirt on him and a goofy beanie that we already had. I also put makeup on his face for his beard! I think it turned out so adorable and funny! Trav wrote, "will work for candy" on his sign and called him the "99%" :)

You are going to put candy in my bucket??? Alright!!!

The green stripes!!!

This was at our trunk or treat!! We also did a little trick or treating around our neighborhood and then over at Grandma's for chili and doughnuts!! I will post some of those pics hopefully soon:)

Old Draft, never published....Summer fun....Pine Valley

So, I was looking through my drafts and for some reason this post was never published!! It's too cute since it's almost two years ago!!
Miss Kenna was 5 years old and about to enter Kindergarten that fall!

Miss Jordyn was about to turn 3! What's funny is that we still have that play snake:)

Horrible pic of me but adorable of Mr. Aiden who was about 3 months here!!

Going for a hike!!

I remember this campsite too!! It was awesome and it was also the last year before they changed them all. Now they are all too close together:(
Hubs and baby boy!!

The girls slept in late!! They were zonked:)

But little man was up bright and early!! I remember his Mama didn't sleep very well that night because he wouldn't sleep unless I was holding him!!

Papa reading his book!! :)

I was trying to lean back so I wasn't in the pic. Guess it didn't work:)

We got some great shots of the deer this trip!!

......and squirrels!!

Are you looking at me??/

Beautiful!!

Apparently I don't know how to blog anymore.....;)

I am having a very hard time keeping up with this blog. I wanted to update all the way back to Halloween but blogger is just giving me the hardest time with uploading pictures and I get so frustrated that I give up. And then I look at it and it's been weeks since my last post!!! I might just try to start a new blog and see if that helps.
Anyway, since I can't upload photos, I'm at least going to write SOMETHING!!! So, I decided to talk about the books I've been reading. I decided to keep track of all the books I have read and will read all year. I think it will be fun to see how many books I've read at the end of the year. It also seems to be the year of books that I didn't think I would ever read. I'm breaking out. It's not just Twilight and Harry Potter (which will probably make an appearance again this year). It's nice to broaden my horizons:) I started off the year with the Hunger Games and they were AMAZING!!! I couldn't put them down. I actually read them all at the END of last year but loved them so much that I read them ALL again at the start of this year:) They are hard to explain to someone who hasn't read them. How can you explain about some games that randomly pick a boy and girl from each district and those that were picked fight each other until the death. See? It's hard to imagine why they are so good but they are!!! The next set of books I started reading was The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. Travis bought this book for me for Christmas and I thought he was crazy. He said people at his work were raving about it so he thought I might like it. So, I started reading it and thought he and the people at his work were definitely crazy. The first 100 pages or so were not very good at all. It was a lot of background info. And I mean A LOT!!  I could only read a little at a time. I felt like I was trying to study for a test and that there was info in this book that I was going to need to remember at a later time but not sure exactly which information. Eventually it got really interesting. I think what interested me was figuring out the who done it. I like shows that solve crimes and whatnot so it shouldn't suprise me that I like to read it in a book as well:) The only other problem was that it was definitely rated R. The 'F' word makes a semi frequent appearance and there are just things in it that aren't pretty. Now having said that, I don't know if I would recommend it because of those reasons but at the same time, I do because it ended up being a good book. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read the next book but I'm always a sucker with wanting to know what happends to the characters and I heard that the next two were a lot better because they were translated a lot better than the first (the author was swedish). I happen to concur with that because I haven't been able to put this second book down. Trav bought me the second one for Valentine's Day after a brief period of not reading anything and finally relenting to wanting to read the second book. I'm glad I did because it's really good so far!! :) Anyway, I'm going to keep a running tally on my side bar of what I'm reading and maybe I will keep writing reviews on them. I can't wait to see how many I read.

Feeling like the rug just got pulled out from under our feet

I was second guessing myself about writing about this on my blog but since I use this as my journal and no one reads this anymore anyway....:)

Our world was turned upside down last week. Travis' dad was not feeling well and getting tired a lot. He went to his family doctor and got some tests taken but I guess they took forever because they still didn't know anything a week later. We had actually gone out to dinner with the whole family last Saturday, the 21st and he looked awfully pale. I suggested they go to a specialist if they weren't getting any answers from their regular doctor because he just didn't look right. That Monday, Gordon went to his regular doctor and he sent him right to the ER. I was actually very thankful for this because at least they could get answers a lot quicker. They found that all of his blood levels (red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets) were all low. They gave him blood transfusions and then went about to figure out what was causing that. He was admitting and a couple days later (Wednesday), they found out that he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He started chemo Friday and also did Saturday and Sunday. They expect him to be in the hospital for about a month because they have to give him blood each time after he as chemo. He can't come home until after he can keep those levels up on his own. They don't have stages for this type of cancer but if they did, it would be a stage 4 so he has a long battle ahead of him. But he is very healthy and strong and we believe he will get through this. Our sweet girls have been worried about him and they were able to go visit Grandpa in the hospital on Thursday (the day before he started chemo). I had to stay home with little man because I was sick. Absolutely no sick people can visit him and even the healthy ones have to wear masks. Makenna even brought him a football card that she got at school and wrote him a little note. She is such a sweetheart. It's going to be a long haul but everything will be fine!!

And to add salt to the wounds, Travis' parents house was broken into on Friday night (the first night of his chemo). It was very upsetting. They stole money, her Nikon camera and a bunch of her jewelry including a watch that Gordon had just bought Nancy for Christmas. There were a lot of blessings though. She had their wedding rings sitting on their dresser and they weren't touched. Gift cards weren't touched and Gordon's wallet wasn't touched. They also didn't go past the bedroom! They shut the door we assume because Lady was coming back there barking! That's our Lady girl!! She kept them from going through the rest of the house and getting other things. I'm so thankful that Nancy has her! She will be a great comfort to her and keep her company when she is home and Gordon is at the hospital. 

Close Call......blessings

So we had kind of a close call today and I can't stop thinking about it. Well, I can't stop thinking about what led up to it. I could blow it off and just say it's all a coincidence but I feel we were blessed today! I stopped at a stop sign. I mean really stopped. My Jordyn has been telling me to stop at stop signs and I say I do. Well, today, I stopped at the one exiting the school after dropping off Kenna and did a kind of California stop because noone was around. She yelled at me because I didn't STOP at the stop sign which ended up being very ironic. Well, later on that day, I stopped at a stop sign and since Jordyn was asking for my drink, I took an extra second to pass it back to her. In that second, a car blasted through their stop sign and ran right through the intersection and right where we would have been had I not taken that second to give her my drink. Truly we were very blessed because we would have been very hurt and I can't even think about my baby boy. He is on the same side as I am....right on the side that car would have t-boned us. I just don't even want to think about it! I just keep thanking my Heavenly Father for blessing us! But then I also have been thinking about my day and all the (non) normal things I did. I took one of Makenna's friends to school today. I never do that! Since they didn't drop off a booster chair, I took Jordyn's old chair out and put her in the middle of the van next to Aiden. Normally, she is in the way back. I also had to pick up Kenna from school today which is not part of my normal schedule either. Trav usually does that after he gets off work but he had a doctor's appointment so I got her today. It was getting to be later than I wanted to leave so I was rushing around and getting ready to go. I normally just grab a water and if I'm running late, I won't even bother with that. But today, not only did I grab a water but I added some yummy Hawaiian Punch flavoring to it. I thought twice about it since I needed to be out the door but I did it anyway. This is the drink Jordyn wanted when we came up on that stop sign! I doubt she would have asked for a drink if it were just my normal bottle of water. I doubt I would have taken that second to give it to her if she were in the very back and not in the middle so I could just give it to her. Yes, it may have all been a coincidence. Or....I could have been very blessed today! I'm going with blessed!!

Um.....yeah....I'm posting about Halloween!!

So, I have really been bad at blogging! I really use it for my family's journal so I feel like I need to but I really hate how blogger uploads pictures and whatnot. I think I might look into other blogging places if there is any:)

Anyway.....I was looking back and I never posted any Halloween pictures! I know I posted them but then realized I posted them on facebook. And since I can't print out facebook.....

This is Makenna and her cute friends Layne and Olivia all dressed up for Halloween. We had school on Halloween for the first time and our school had everyone dress up before...no idea why??? So, since I didn't want Makenna to ruin her wig and dress (it was white:), I had her wear last year's costume which was a witch. Of course it was so windy that day that she couldn't keep her witch hat on and of course on Halloween day, it was perfect weather:)

A few days before Halloween, we went to the pumkin patch. Our friends host a night there and we have been able to go and enjoy all the rides for free and also got a free pumpin!

Seriously, can this boy be any cuter???

My cutie Jordyn!!!

My sweetie Kenna!!!

The only one that came out of all of them:)

The girls loved the swing ride!!!

Aiden....not so much:( His mean mommy put him on there! :) In my defense, he really did want to go on there.....at first. :)

But he absolutely loved the slide!! He could have gone down this 100 times!! And to his mom and dad climbing up that thing, it felt like a 100. :)

Aren't these the cutest girls???

Petting the animals!

Jordyn going down!

Kenna going down!!

Cute face!!! They didn't want to leave!!!

They had so much fun!! I hope our friends keep doing this every year!!

Hopefully, I will keep going....maybe I will get Halloween night up here finally:)

Catching up....again!!!

I don't know why I'm having a hard time blogging lately. It's almost Christmas and I still haven't posted about Halloween!! I think it's because uploading pictures on here is kind of a pain. So...instead of doing a picture post, I'm just going to write some thoughts on here to try to get myself back into it!!

Mr. Aiden has been so fun!! His personality is just adorable. He truly is growing into a sweet little boy. He gives these looks that always cracks us up and he is so sensitive. If you give him a stern voice, he sticks his lips out and gets all watery eyed and even puts himself in timeout. There is nothing more adorable than a one year old with his nose in the corner. What's even funnier is that I haven't even put him there before. He just started putting himself there. I guess he must have seen someone else have to go to timeout:) He loves his sisters and wants to play with them all the time.....especially outside! Aiden is always getting into things and half of our ornaments are off the tree or now broken:) He loves looking at the lights and decorations that people have outside of their houses. When he sees a house decorated, he will get all excited and point to it. He won't sit in his high chair anymore which truly bugs me especially when there is something really messy for dinner. I would really like to fix that but don't know how. Aiden does this adorable little dance that is kind of like a skip. He will do that whenever any music comes on...even commercials:) He also loves to watch his Daddy when he is working on something. He gets his head in there to check it all out like he is figuring out how to do it and loves playing with his little drill. He only has a little bit of hair still but I don't mind because he still looks like a baby and other kids his age look so much older. So I don't mind keeping my baby a baby a little longer:) About a month ago, we put him in the other nursery class so he can have that experience without his Mommy (since his Mommy is in nursery) and I can't believe how well he did!! He is a great sleeper and I love how he just cuddles up to me when I sing him his songs before I put him down. I truly enjoy those few minutes before bed. I just rub his cute little head as we rock and sing. Aiden is such a joy and so fun!!

Ms. Jordyn is just an adorable little girl. She is getting older but still has that cute baby face with the double chin. She has eyes that you can just stare into and melt and has beautiful curly hair. It's actually getting longer but doesn't look like it with her curls. She is my dark haired beauty. She was always dark from birth and never lightened up at all!! I love it. She is my shy girl. She tends to stay pretty close to her Mommy unless she really knows the person. Jor also gets that "I won't look up and won't talk" look. She will even do that to some family:) She loves to play with figurines and plays by herself so well. She does really well with her preschool and I love how well she is doing with her letters and numbers. I think listening to Makenna sing her school songs helps ALOT!!! She can count to 100 by 5's because Makenna kept singing it. She can write her name and her siblings names and loves to do her "homework". She makes me copy pages with her letters so she can practice. She is going to start Kindergarten this next school year and I was concerned that she wouldn't be ready (especially since she is going to still be 4 when she starts) but I'm not concerned at all now. She is ready to go now and is probably going to be better than the older kids! Jordyn loves to play with her big sister (even though they fight over the same toys constantly) and loves to play with all of her friends. I adore this sweet girl!!

Ms. Makenna is my big girl!! I can't believe how much she has grown. She was a blonde but is gradually getting darker and darker. Her curls are also getting a lot looser as she gets older. I'm trying to find new fun ways to fix her hair. She is such a big helper and loves being the second Mommy. She likes to be in charge and usually tells her siblings and friends what they should do or play with. I'm trying to get her to let other kids pick what they want to play but they don't usually mind. I think she will just be a great leader. She is more like her Daddy in that way and also with how outgoing she is. Makenna is about a head taller than all of her classmates and has HUGE feet!! She is a very sensitive little girl. She can get her feelings hurt very easily and gets upset if someone else is upset. The other day she was crying because her teacher was upset. She also cries at some shows even though I tell her it's not real. She is one smart cookie and does really well in school! She has almost all A's except one B in math and it's almost an A.....one percentage point off! She was having a hard time with subtraction but has figured that out now! Makenna is definitely a lover. She loves to cuddle and always wants me to do "feel good" (rubbing her arms or legs) and loves to be sung to. I love this loving girl!!