05/15/09 Father & Sons Campout

Our Stake had it's annual Father & Sons campout at Zion's Camp. The boys loved fishing, and can't wait for the Ward campout this summer so it will be warm enough to swim!

05/08/09 Laundry Room Project

We finally were able to finish laying the laminate flooring-- a project we began in 2005! (I don't think it really needed to acclimate for THAT long!) We started in the entry, hall and dining room... last year did the kitchen... and just finally finished in the laundry room/office!

OK, it wasn't JUST flooring that took us that long. First, my Dad and Daniel built a dividing wall in 2005... Then we recently had someone set up the sewer, water, and electrical to be able to move the washer/dryer...

Then we painted... and since there was no flooring yet, everyone helped out! Love that $5.00 can of "oops" paint from Home Depot!

Finally time to start laying the floor! Add new trim, electrical outlets, and blinds, and we can move the desks and computers back in. Ahhhhhhhh.

We still need to install cabinets and countertop... maybe in 2011! Slow and steady wins the race, right?

04/24/09 It's a Hannah Montana Birthday Party!

Carly turned 9 years old! She invited a few friends to come over for playtime and cake right after school.

Then we all headed to see the Hannah Montana movie. I must say, that I even enjoyed the music! Here are the girls in the bathroom before the movie started.

To finish off the event, we all went to eat at El Toro Restaurant. The girls had a great time, and Carly LOVED having them all for the celebration! Happy Birthday, Carly!!!

03/27/09 A Close Call

Gabe and some neighborhood kids made the poor choice to run around the neighborhood and shoot at each other with pellet guns! Gabe got hit in the eye and came in the house with watering eyes telling me that his vision was blurry. When the white of his eye started getting red, I knew we'd better go to the doctor. Urgent care wasted no time sending us to the ER at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.

Gabe and I spent hours in the emergency room hoping that his eyesight wouldn't be permanently gone. Gabe was just getting over a cold, and couldn't breathe through his nose, so when they gave him an IV with medicine to put him to sleep, he almost stopped breathing! They gave him medicine to wake him back up, put him on oxygen and a heart monitor, and he was fine as they continued to run tests. They did an MRI to determine if there was anything left in his eye -- no. They continuously monitored the bleeding inside his eye to see if it was disapating -- it was.

Gabe spent most of his time asleep as it was the middle of the night by this point. When we were finally released from the hospital, Gabe had to wear an eye patch to school for a week. I think he sort of enjoyed everyone calling him a pirate! We had disposable patches, so he would draw weird eyes on the outside each day.

It took an urgent care visit, an emergency room visit, six eye doctor/specialists visits, four prescriptions, and eight weeks of healing, but his eyesight is back. He's been released to full activity again! Many friends and family fasted and prayed for him, and we are so thankful that Gabe's vision is back. The doctors think we are very lucky, but we know we are very blessed! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!