Daddy Daughter Date

First, I have to laugh because when I was looking for a pic on the web of a BYU Basketball Game to use for this post I came across the one above. It is our bishop, and a close friend, in his basketball days at BYU. Now on to the fun story:

Yesterday at school Reagan's class was given two basketball tickets each for the BYU Basketball game. She came home so excited, saying that she got the tickets for her and her Dad because it was a 'boys basketball game'. She was bouncing up and down and couldn't contain herself.

I had to break the news to her that Matt had Young Men's last night and wouldn't be able to go. But, last minute, Young Men's was canceled since it was so close to Thanksgiving. Reagan pleaded for Matt to take her to the game, and being the ever amazing Dad he is, he said yes.

Reagan hasn't stopped talking about her fun date all day. She has told me stories of how Daddy spoiled her with her own huge pretzel, how they saw a lot of her friends from school, and how they even sat next to some neighbors without realizing who they were sitting next to at first. She had a blast and I know it really meant a lot to her, especially after last week, to get to feel so special.

Daddy's always say how they want their little boys, but I will tell you that daughters can tug at their Father's heartstrings in an unparalleled way!

Birthday Blues

Thursday Reagan turned seven years old. This is what I hope that she would tell you about her birthday if asked:

My Daddy took care of me and cuddled me all night. When my Mom came home from work she loved me and told me Happy Birthday. I spent the day with my family and got to pick any lunch I wanted. I picked a taco at Costa Vida with Tres Leches. Then I opened lots of cool presents and watched the new movies that I got for my birthday. We had pizza for dinner. Mom said that we got to celebrate my birthday the next day too with hers so we had my cake and Aunt Josalyn came to have fun with us in the afternoon.

This is what I remember:

I went to work as normal. We were having our monthly update meeting that day which means it is the busiest day for me work-wise all month. Matt called me at 8am, saying that Reagan was extremely sick, complaining about her side. He had made a Dr. appointment for her at 11:15. He would stay with the girls until I came home and go in late to work. I called the school and her normal morning ride and told them we were keeping Reagan home.

I came home shortly after 10:00 to find my birthday girl in agonizing pain. She had been up since 4am and couldn't walk. Matt was a lifesaver. He stayed home the rest of the day and took care of Brooklyn and Kenna while I rushed Reagan to the Dr.

Reagan had a fever of 103 when we arrived at the Dr. She told him that her tummy hurt and he asked her to show him where. She pointed to her back, on the side. The Dr. knew right away that it was her kidney. She has a history of bladder and urinary infections so this wasn't new- just the worst she has had.

About a month ago we did an ultrasound on her kidneys, but that came out clean. The next step is to go to Primary Childrens Hospital to see a urologist in six weeks. Anyway, that day the Dr. wanted to give her a shot and an IV for fluids. I asked if we could maybe not do all this on her birthday! So we started her on antibiotics and made an appointment to come back the following day, my birthday, to see if she needed to be hospitalized. Thankfully, her fever broke about 7pm and she is doing better. At the visit the next day she checked out great and didn't even have to get a shot.

The rest of her birthday she layed on the couch watching her movies. I had to cancel her bowling party. It is harder to cancel a party than to plan one! She didn't even want birthday cake because it hurt to eat. Poor little thing!

It was a crazy couple days. Reagan and I spent our birthdays at the exact place that we did seven years ago when she was born, at the Orem Community Hospital. It really did bring back a lot of memories and it was fun to talk about that special day with her. It wasn't the way we planned or even how we wanted, but I wouldn't have spent it with anyone else. Our little family stuck close together and roughed it out on two special days.

Eight years and going strong

Eight years ago I married my best friend. This past year was one of the hardest years for us as far as trials and hard times go, but those hard times only made Matt and I closer than ever. I am so lucky to be married to someone that I can talk to about anything and everything. Someone who cares about me and helps me to be the person that I want to be.

September was the busiest month of this year so far. Luckily, we celebrated our anniversary early because that night we barely fit a night out to dinner in our busy month. I am so happy that Matt still takes me on dates even after all these years. Here's to another year with the love of my life.

See you in two years!

Wednesday I dropped James off at the MTC. We are so proud of him! He will be serving in the Washington DC Spanish speaking mission. I was the only sibling unable to attend his farewell, but I hear it was wonderful and that he made many co-workers who visited cry. He gave a talk on God's love for us and then played the piano as his friend sang.

We will miss hearing him play the piano for the next couple years. I have never heard his equal in talent. I know that this gift of playing and composing music will be utilized while on his mission.

Monday Daniel and Disa brought James to stay at our house until Wednesday when he reported to the MTC. Tuesday night Daniel, Disa, James and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. It was pretty special to be inside the Temple with two of my siblings. Someday I will get to go through with my other three siblings.

We will see you in two years, James. You will be taller both in features, stature, and wisdom.

Beach Days

Brooklyn loves the beach. Brooklyn LOVES the sand. She loves to play in it, sift it through her fingers, and eat it. Yes, you read that right. She loves to eat sand. Weird? Yes. We could not stop our year old baby from stuffing handfuls of sand down her throat. We tried, but in the end it wasn't worth our efforts. She just liked the texture/taste... we don't know!

We went to the beach a couple times when we were in California in July. I figured now was a great time to reflect on it as the weather turns cold.



James, Reagan, and Kennedie built a sand couch. They spent a lot of time perfecting this couch. I have to say that it was comfortable! When we left the beach the family nearest to us asked if they could take it over right away. The couch was quite a hit.Reagan had a blast at the beach. She is a social butterfly just like her father. She made new friends at the beach and played for a while with different groups of people she had just met.


Brooklyn had not been walking long. The beach was the first place she really ran. She ran to the water and enjoyed every second of it.
Below shows James and Kennedie starting the sand couch.

Martin's Cove

A couple of months ago Matt was called to Wyoming on business. We took the rare opportunity to go with him on this trip. Along the way, we stopped at Martin's Cove. This was the best part of our entire trip and was really something special.

Both Matt and I have ancestors that traveled to Utah in the Martin Handcart Company. Our ancestors likely met long ago. Matt has ancestors on his Dad's side that traveled in this company. Ancestors on his Mom's side traveled in the Hodgetts Wagon Company that traveled most of the way along side or near the Martin Handcart Company. His Mom and Dad's family likely met as well, not knowing that someday our families would be connected.

When we went to Martin's Cove we didn't know much about the history of this sacred place. We have since researched and read and learned so many fascinating, special stories of this Company and the sacrifices they made for us.

We arrived at Martin's Cove just before they closed. A missionary couple asked us if we would like to accompany them in a ride around the grounds. They told us so many wonderful stories as they showed us place after place of significance. Since reading "The Price We Paid" (thanks, Jen) our pictures have even more meaning to me.
Below is the river where the pioneers had to cross for the last time in the freezing snow. The rescuers saved many lives by carrying people over the icy water over and over again.

Below is Devils Gate.There are several statues at Martin's Cove representing the rescue efforts that were truly heroic.
The missionaries told us that it is always windy there. Can you imagine walking all day long in the blistering snow with the wind blowing at your face?

I have a new sister!

In Daniel's words, Saturday he, "took my best friend to the Temple and made her mine forever", giving me my tenth sister (eighth sister-in-law). Disa compliments Daniel so perfectly. They are a wonderful couple and the weekend was memorable. Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner, hearing stories of Daniel and Disa from family and friends.

Saturday was the big day. They were married for time and all eternity in the "Castle" as the girls call it, or the San Diego Temple for the rest of us. Kalene and Josalyn played with the gorgeous flower girls during the ceremony.The day was quite long for them. By the afternoon they were tired, waiting impatiently to see the bride and groom.Then we took many, many pictures. The kids were exhausted and decided that a nice family picture was out of the question.

After a late lunch we headed to the reception center. James caught the garter, but I doubt he will be the next to get married since he just turned in his mission papers! Disa shoved cake in Daniel's face after he lovingly fed her a piece. They danced as they were accompanied by a friend playing and singing on the piano. The toasts were heartfelt, especially as her Dad (step-dad) explained that he knew that her Dad would approve of their union.


Daniel carried Disa off into the sunset to begin their new lives together...

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

Another year is gone. Can it be that just a year ago we had our third beautiful addition to the family and Matt began our blog? Yesterday Brooklyn turned one. I can remember the entire day of her birth very vividly. Now, a year later, she still has her dark hair- yay! She is so pretty! She has seven teeth (has for a while) and more on the way. She still likes every food she has ever tried and drinks whole milk. Brooklyn is the best eater we have had and the worst sleeper. A couple days ago she just took off walking and thinks she is a pro. She never has been a big crier and when she falls she will just lay there for a minute before picking herself up and going again. She is LOUD though and has been one of the loudest kids since a year ago when she met the world.

Brooklyn lives to make us laugh. She will randomly start laughing if it has been too long since she has heard a laugh. If she does anything that makes someone laugh she will continue doing whatever it was that brought the consequence she was looking for.

It is funny to see the differences at such a young age between her sisters and her. She loves her sisters- esp to wake them up in the morning, by climbing into their beds and patting them on the back until they wake up. She is daring, thinking that she is much bigger than she is and can accomplish any feat. Like swimming. Brooklyn fought me and fought me today at the pool to just let go of her in the water. When we got out she went right back to the pool, trying desperately to take her crack at swimming without me.

She is still wary of strangers- and even family for that matter that aren't Dad or Mom. This can be a good thing, but for the most part it makes things difficult. Balance, Brook. She loves her Dad and the two of them have a special connection. When he comes home from work if we are downstairs she will scream for him to come down and get her, holding her hands up for him. Happy Birthday, beautiful Brooklyn. We love you happy baby.

Boating on the Fourth

John took us all boating the afternoon of the Fourth of July. Matt started us off on the wakeboard, showing the girls how much fun boating can be. When they didn't agree that it looked very much fun, Matt called to them from the water, "this is so much fun". Kennedie yelled back at him, "You like to fall?"

Paul did a couple tricks on the water for us and then Reagan and I went on the tube. Next, I went wakeboarding for the first time ever! I got up after my third try, but didn't stay up long. So Terra decided to show me how it's done. All the kids took turns on the tube and some of the older kids did a little knee-boarding. Kennedie and I finished us off with a little tube action. She "used her big muscles" just like Kaz told her to. Thanks, John, for an awesome day out on the lake!