Ella the Dinosaur

Kent is very good about always encouraging the kids to be whatever they want to be when they grow up. He reminds them that hard work and good grades will open doors to let you do whatever you love. So yesterday after his little pep talk to the kids, Kent said, "So, Ella... what do you want to be when you grow up?" Of all the things in the world Ella says, "I want to be a dinosaur when I grow up." I laughed and laughed. I guess she better keep her grades up so she can be the most successful dinosaur out there. Aren't kids great about keeping us laughing. Oh little Ella, what will she come up with next?

Back Online!!

It feels so good to have a computer again. Our old computer crashed about 6 weeks ago and never recovered. We ordered a new computer a few days after the old one gave up. We waited over 4 weeks to get our new computer shipped to us, only to have a crack in it so we had to send it back. Yesterday we finally got the replacement and today we are up and running. I have LOTS of pictures that need to be added to my blog and I hope to get to it early next week. I wanted to just say "hi" and let you know that I will be getting caught up with my blogging soon.

Baptism Buddies

These two girls are both getting baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints tomorrow. Earlier this week I was able to take pictures of them in their beautiful white dresses. I love serving in the Primary, at church, and watching these amazing children make correct choices. Congratulations to both of these girls, they are beautiful!

Senior Pictures

One of the assistant's at Kent's office asked if I would be willing to take Senior pictures for her little sister. I was flattered that I was considered for such an event in her life. This young woman is so beautiful that I had a great time taking pictures of her.

Loving Kids

As I sit on my computer, checking emails, I hear the kids brushing their teeth and making their way into bed. As they climb under their covers, I hear Ethan say, "I love you, Ella." "I love you too, Ethan." It's moments like that that make it all worth while.
Good night. Very good night.

Laura's Visit

Luckily for me, Laura takes pictures as much as I do. In my condition, I was not thinking about pictures and so I borrowed these from Laura. I wanted to show you all the things we did to keep ourselves busy during her 12 day stay here.

After her VERY long trip from coast-to-coast, Kent and Ethan picked Laura up at the airport. Ethan held up a sign he had made that said, "Welcome to Sunnyside!"
When they arrived at our house, Ella held up the sign she had also made for Grandma.

The second night Laura was here, we decided to BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs. While Kent was busy coming in and out from the grill, Laura was busy cutting vegetables and getting condiments ready. As we started getting our plates ready to eat, we noticed an abundance of flies swarming the food. We kept swatting and swatting, while counting 10 flies we had killed! Whew. Then Kent said, "DO NOT look up." Of course we all looked up at the ceiling and saw over 30 (I counted) flies just waiting to "dive bomb us" as Laura would say. It was disgusting. We grabbed the food and ran in the other room. We do live next to a cow pasture but we have NEVER seen the flies so bad. We were counting over 50 casulties a day. After just a few days, our fly swatter was nearly useless but Sunnyside Wal-Mart and Dollar store were sold out!! Look closely at this picture, you can see a dead fly on there- so gross.

During Laura's stay she cleaned, cooked, carpooled, did laundry, did dishes, cleaned garbage cans, washed the truck, made a trip to the dump and played with the kids. Ella loved following grandma around with this sponge, helping however she could. We started calling her Cinder "Ella"


Laura and the kids spend an entire morning cleaning Kent's truck inside and out.
As if Laura wasn't doing enough, as Primary President, I needed someone to substitute Ethan's primary class. Who better than grandma?! I know Laura loves me (and Ethan) because she is NOT a fan of primary and she did it without hesitation.

Kent and Laura took Ethan to Wal-Mart to get him a new bike. Ella loves it as much as Ethan because it has pegs that Ella can ride on.

Soccer season started this week so Laura was able to go to a practice and see Ethan play his first game. He played very well, I lost track of his goals but I know of atleast 7? One of the players on the other team came up to Ethan, stuck his finger in his face and said, "You are going DOWN." Kent and I laughed so hard!


Since Monday was a holiday and Kent didn't have work, we decided to take a ride and get out of the house. Whenever we go to Florida, it is tradition to go to Chuck E. Cheese so we headed to the tri-cities to have a fun day out. I rode with a pillow and then sat at the table the whole time. The kids had a great time and it made it so Kent and I could chat with Laura while the kids played.


While Laura was here, Kent was able to do some dental work on her. I was glad that we were able to do something for her, for all the sacrifices she has made to be with us at this time. Laura also took Ella for a "check up." Ella loves to go see Daddy and get her teeth brushed.
We had so much fun with Laura and we are thankful that she came to see us. We gave her a little gift with a saying that reads, "A Mom's hug lasts long after she lets go." We truly believe this. We know that Laura loves us unconditionally and that even when we are from her she is suppporting us and praying for us. Laura, I hope that one day we will be able to do for you what you have done for us.

Up and At 'Em

On Friday we met with the Perinatologist and had another ultrasound. Although nothing has changed, the Dr gave me permission to get off of bed rest. He said, "Whatever is going to happen, is going to happen whether you are on bed rest or not." I can't do any lifting and I have to watch that I don't get my heart rate up, but I am so happy to be able to go back to my normal routine. Laura left yesterday and we already miss her dearly. Ella keeps saying, "Are you sad Grandma's not at our house?" We are thankful that she was able to stay with us for nearly two weeks. I know that my body feels as strong and healthy as it does because of the relief she provided for us. Today I was able to go to church and I was glad to see so many faces that I had missed. Thank you for your kindness and support through all of this. We know that the Lord is mindful of us and we are praying the worst is behind us.

Prayers of Many

This is a very long post, and if you are anything like me, you don't really like to read the posts as much as just look at pictures. So in a nutshell, this post says, "I am pregnant, things are complicated, I'm on bed rest, Laura is here to help us, I'm feeling better, thank you for your prayers."



For those of you that are looking to kill a couple of hours.....


I just wanted to put some thoughts out there to let everyone know how thankful I have been these last few weeks for all the prayers, help, food, and love. As most of you know, I am almost 14 weeks pregnant and so far it hasn't been like my other pregnancies. Being pregnant with Ethan and Ella, it was very "textbook". My biggest complaint was that of heartburn. Well, in April I found out I was pregnant but, unfortunately, that ended before my 7th week in miscarriage. We were sad, but since it was so new and we hadn't heard a heartbeat yet or seen an ultrasound, I think it made it a little easier to move forward and focus on trying again. Well, that we did. Two months later we found out we were pregnant again. At 7 weeks my Dr. did and ultrasound and we saw a little bean in there and heard a strong heartbeat. Whew. Now we can just relax. For the next three weeks, everything was seeming normal, minor nausea, interesting cravings, you know.. normal symptoms. At the end of my 9th week I had a scare as I started having bleeding that reminded me too much of what had happened in April. I felt disappointed and scared. I called the nurse and she told me to come in immediately. I called Reagran and asked her to send Annie over right away to play with my kids while I went to the Dr. When I got to the clinic, they pulled me in for an ultrasound. I was reliving all the emotions that I had never really released in April. When the ultrasound came up there was a little peanut moving around and a strong heartbeat. I was so thankful to still have a fighting chance. The Dr. put diagnosed me with Placenta Previa and put me on bed rest. She told me to come back at my regularly scheduled appointment, which would be about 2 weeks later. I followed her orders and laid in bed. I did a lot of reading (as you saw on my earlier post) and watched TOO MUCH of Dora the Explorer. Well, a week later, we had the same problem as before and, once again, the nurse told me to come in right away. My Dr. was not in that day so I saw another Dr. She did an ultrasound and found a kicking little lime and heard a strong heartbeat. I will say this- this little thing sure does love to have pictures taken! So after looking at the ultrasound closer, she noticed I was having bleeding that was pooling between the fetal sac and the uterine wall. She told me to stay on bed rest and wanted me to come back to see my Dr at my regular appointment, which was now only five days away. Well, I took it easy, as much as you can with two other children, and the bleeding stopped. I was feeling good and happy to see my Dr. hoping she would tell me the bleeding is gone and I can go back to my normal routine. That was NOT what she told us. She did another ultrasound to see what the blood clot was doing. It had quadrupled its size in only five days. She was very concerned and insisted we got full time help. My parents were in New Zealand at the time and wouldn't be home for another six days. We knew Laura was working full time but called to see if there was any way she could come stay with us. She got school taken care of and Kent had her flight purchased for the very next day. Within 24 hours, Laura was at our house- ready to take care of us. What a blessing it has been to have her in our home. The kids love having her here and I am so thankful for someone to be here to do the things I cannot do for my family, and to keep me company. Despite the Dr. appointments and resting, we have tried to have some fun too. We have watched some Hallmark movies, talked about books we have both been reading, and stay up after the kids go to bed to watch "Semi- Homemade with Sandra Lee." I will be sad when Laura leaves us. My next Dr. appointment is with the Perinatologist on Friday. My hope is that the bleeding has stopped, the clot is shrinking, and that I can return to my old routine. I was called as Primary President the day before finding out I was pregnant and it has been very hard for me to lay in bed while everyone has to take care of my duties for me. I am thankful for a wonderful presidency, and counselors that have taken charge and made my life easier. Being away from family in times of need is very difficult. It has been very hard to let others serve me, but I am learning that my dear friends are just like family. I have been blessed to see that I have so many wonderful relationships that have only grown through this experience. I am thankful for the patience of all those that have taken my children for the day, or dropped them at school, or brought us food or chocolate banana shakes. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for placing these amazing people in my life to share our burden. As fast Sunday came and went, all of our family members fasted and prayed on our behalf. I have felt their love and prayers and am truly humbled to know that we are loved so dearly by so many. I know the Lord is mindful of me and of my little peanut and our growing family. As I enter into my second trimester this week and still am at a greater risk for miscarriage, I know that whatever happens it shall be for my good. I love all of you and wanted to take this time to say "thank you."

Back to School

My little kids are getting bigger! Ethan started First Grade this year. His teacher, although we didn't know it, is one of our nieghbors. We have heard wonderful things about her, and Ethan is happy that some boys from his basketball team are in his class.


Little Ella started preschool and all I have to say to her teachers is "Thank you and Good luck." My little moody girl is hot and cold about how she feels about school. This morning when Laura took her to school, she ran in and hid behind a box. Oh boy! Although, she must be learning something because she now knows the letter "A." No big deal? That's a BIG DEAL!

Priesthood Blessings

Last Sunday, the night before school began, Kent was able to give our children a Father's Priesthood Blessing. While I was growing up, this has been a special tradition in my family. Now, as a mother, I am grateful that my husband is a worthy Priesthood holder that undertands the importance of blessings in our lives. We had a family home evening lesson explaining what a Priesthood blessing is and some things that come from having one. We learned that we can be protected, comforted, healed from sick and given direction in our lives. As our kids go off to school and make new friends that could influence them for better or worse, I am thankful for the knowledge that we have given them the tools necessary to make wise choices and to be a leader to those around them. I, myself, received a priesthood blessing a couple weeks ago by my sweet husband and his dear friend, Jory. I am thankful to the Lord for putting people in our lives that can help us make it through hard times, especially without having family around us. I am thankful for the gospel in my life and thankful for my husband and his love for me and for our children.