"The Bigger They Are... The Harder They Fall..."

We had gotten together with the Esplins, Fredricks and Andersons to go sledding near the Esplin's home. It was a fun yet painful outing!!!

Ollie speeding down the hill.

If you look closely, you'll see Eden's got a little air! I think I hit that same bump the first time I went down... on my belly... headfirst... yeah... I should have known better!!! "I hate this day." Eden didn't like having to climb back up the icy hill.
Ollie with one of the Fredricks boys.

I had to do the tongue thing! I look like a cross of Wendy and Pippi Longstocking with that hat flapping in the wind!

Ollie and me

Yes... kids are so kind

Ollie - *fake gag* *fanning the air away from his nose*

Mom - "What? Does my breath stink?"

Ollie - "It smells like Oyster Skins!"

Unsolved Mystery Heel Pain

I've been dealing with some nasty pain in my left heel for over 3 months now and I've been to the doctor, who said it was Plantar Fasciitis, my chiropractor who helped with my back pain that was out of control... I'm sure because of the way I've been walking and FINALLY I went to the Podiatrist who took an x-ray of my heel and found that it was a heel spur. This is where the tendons and ligaments pull a part of the bone away from the heel and cause lots of pain.
He said I was extremely inflammed and gave me two cortizone shots in my heel. Yes... it was the most painful shot I'd ever received, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. My podiatrist said that it would last for 2 - 4 weeks... I'm guessing helping with the inflammation and NOT the pain because I'm still in a good amount of pain right now. He also gave me a wrap to wrap around my ankle and under my foot to help support my arch a little. I wear that whenever I'm on my feet (always with shoes), ice my foot at least 3 times a day, take ibuprofen and do my stretches throughout the day. He also said to stay off of my feet. I laughed and said, "Yeah... I have two young kids and a 6 month old! Like that's gonna happen!"

He said that most people live with this by getting orthodics to help, in my case, with my high arches that are the cause of the heel spur. It's just fantastic to learn that these orthodics will cost upwards of $400 and then to find out that my insurance does NOT cover it! Oh... FANTASTIC!!! (See the movie "SiCKO" for more outrageous insurance screw-overs)

Anyways... I thought, "Well, I guess if I can 'live with it' I HAVE TO HAVE the orthotics to help." So... I went back to get my feet scanned by walking on a mat and seeing where the most pressure falls on my feet. It will be about 2 weeks until they arrive and I pray that it helps!!!

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalinfo2/a/heelspur.htm

Loads of Christmas Fun!

LET THE HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES BEGIN!!!

*Tuesday, December 18 - Christmas with my Dad and stepmom, Ellen. We went over there for dinner and then the kids opened their presents. They got some clothes and other fun little stuff.




*Thursday, December 20 - Christmas with our own little family. We ordered pizza and opened presents. Ed even got some mistletoe from me in his stocking! I guess you stick it in water and it like quadruples its size! "Pucker up, Buttercup!".

The kids LOVED the collars and nametags I got for their favorite puppies! The nametag has the puppie's name and our phone number in case it ever gets lost. I found this idea in one of my magazines!

Jaren playing (... or chewing on rather) with his new truck!

Each year we get the kids a new ornament. Eden - Tiara, Jaren - Elephant and Ollie - Bowling shoes!

*Saturday, December 22 - Christmas with Ed's family. We went over there and had a wonderful breakfast with waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage... the whole works! What a way to start out the morning. After breakfast we exchanged gifts and chatted for a bit.

I loved this picture of Jaren and Rosie staring at each other!

*Sunday, December 23 - Christmas with my mom and brothers. Sunday evening we spent at my mom's house with my two brothers and Willie the dog of course! He loves to help everyone open their gifts! He'll go from person to person and get his nose up in everybody's business! Eden was not at all about to relinquish her gift opening duties to the dog!!!

Jaren, Uncle Bryan, Eden

Bry playing with Ollie's fake snot he got in his stocking! I love how it has a bend in the fake snot...

Ollie with his new set of not-so-pearly whites!

*Monday, December 24 - Christmas Eve with my grandparents and other family members. We always travel to Clinton, Iowa to visit my grandparents and celebrate Christmas Eve with them. They always have a Christmas Eve service at their church and this year my mom and I helped my grandmother with part of the service. My mom lit some candles and I helped with some of the reading that went along with it. We came back and opened gifts with everyone. This year Dave, Talen and Brett came as well as Sue, Mike, Katie, Andy and his girlfriend Jessie. My family and my mom and brothers were there as well.

*Tuesday, December 25 - Christmas Day. Dave decided to take Talen, Brett, Bry and Chad to Eagle Point Park to teach them how to build an igloo. While they were doing that, we decided to bundle up the kids and take them sledding in great grandma and great grandpa's yard. We went through several hill heights (bunny hill in their yard, the alley behind their house) until finally we geared up to sled at OLA, a large hill about a block from my grandparents house! I thought Ed was going to break something! I just snapped pictures, since my back has been hurting.

" WATCH OUT, OLLIE!!!"

This is a video of Ed sledding down OLA (a large hill near my grandparents house)!

After sledding, we grabbed my mom and headed to the hotel to swim. At first Jaren did NOT like it at all! When I gave him to Ed, he started to squeal and then curled up to Ed with his arms up by his chest! Then he fell asleep on his shoulder while still in the pool!

*Wednesday, December 26 - We went up to see the igloo that the guys built before we left town! Oliver was engaging people in a snowball fight. Him against EVERYONE else! The kids loved being in the igloo. Eden wouldn't come out... she said that she lived in the igloo now!

Eden, Chad, Ollie and Bryan

Ollie enjoying a snowball fight!

Eden, Brett and Bryan (throwing a snowball into the igloo at Oliver)

6 months old today!

Well, Jaren is officially 6 MONTHS OLD TODAY! He's getting to be such a big boy. I still have yet to see him actually roll over... everyone else has seen it! We're starting him on squash for his first food. The other kids absolutely LOVED it! It's so funny to see him try and eat... he ends up blowing it all out of his mouth! His tongue seems to be his new favorite toy these days! I just can't believe how big of a boy he is!

There's the face... before it all gets spit out!!!

School Christmas Parties...

Ok... this morning school was delayed for two hours due to the fog. When school is delayed, Eden does NOT have school at all. Oliver's party was scheduled for the morning and so EVERYTHING was thrown off because of the weather. (Yesterday was WAY worse and they did NOT cancel school... go figure!) Anyways... Eden's teacher called and said that they were still going to do it and just cram as much in as they could!

I got the kids all dressed and packed up and left around 10:40 am. Everyone was encouraged to wear their pajamas, even Oliver's class.

They all looked so cute! I didn't end up helping with Oliver's class, but got to stay with Eden's for most of the time. They watched a bit of "The Polar Express" and then had pizza and goodies for lunch.

Then, Santa (Mrs. Boehmer's husband) came for a visit and gave each of the children a book and a candycane. They even got to sit on his lap and tell them what they wanted. A ton of the kids wanted computers and laptops and stuff! I was dying laughing! Eden wanted a talking horse that she could feed carrots to! Even Jaren got to sit on Santa's lap. (Mrs. Boehmer has a pic of that... check back and I'll post it later!) I always LOVED the school parties!!!

Here they are singing "Must Be Santa" to Santa Claus!

Eden sitting on Santa's lap for the very first time!

A New Do

I've been in need of a haircut and color for a LONG time now and after realizing that it had been several months (April) since I'd gotten it done, I thought I would make an appointment with my stylist! She's a member of my church and does an EXCELLENT job with everyone! She's a miracle worker! Anyways... I was sick of the ponytail and my 6 inch roots, so I just got it done... here's the proof...

I was going to take a reeeeeeeally sad looking photo as the "before" and a jazzy two thumbs up photo as the "after", but I just didn't have time to get it done... maybe next time!

Jaren's First Tooth!

Jaren has been teething for several weeks now. He's been fussier, sticking out his tongue, getting red cheeks, fever, etc. I've been giving him Tylenol and putting Orajel on his gums to ease his pain a bit. He screams for like 2 seconds right when I put the Orajel on his gums and then realizes... "Oh... this feels better!"

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 marks the day that his first tooth emerges. I was putting on some Orajel and I felt a sharp little nub! I bet he'll look so cute with one little nubbie sticking out on his bottom row! I feel so bad when I've done all I can possibly think of and he's still suffering.

When Eden was teething, we never knew it! She was fantastic. I think that Oliver was more like Jaren. He was a little Krabby Patty.

"Twist and Shout!"

On Monday, Oliver and Eden were horsing around in their room and all of the sudden, Eden comes running out of her room crying. I'm thinking, "Grrrrreat... WHAT NOW?!" She's trying to tell me what happening through her tears and hand gestures. I let her ramble for awhile and then she finally calmed down. I asked her what happened and she said that Oliver elbowed her in the face and now her tooth was loose. I took a look and it was REALLY loose! It was sticking straight out like it was pointing at me!! It was like her tooth was doing the "hula", we could twist it 'round and 'round!

Yesterday, I tried to persuade Eden to let me pull it out before she went to school because she was complaining that it was hurting her. She promised me that I could pull it out when Papa got home!

She was freaking out when it came time to pull it out, but she finally submitted. I pulled and tugged for a while and FINALLY I pulled it out and it barely bled. She didn't even cry when I pulled it out... she freaked out for nothing! She was so excited and smiled all night long! She even did some fancy poses for me when I got out my camera!

Cry on... Cry off... the CRIER!

Today was hilarious! We put up our Christmas decorations and our tree today. Usually I have the tree plugged into the "Clapper" since I can't maneuver around the furniture and the tree to plug it in and unplug it. It's a hassle. Anyways... I LOVE having my tree on all day long while I'm doing chores and wrapping gifts and stuff. It gets me into the Christmas Spirit. It hasn't been on for several days... we finally had to unplug it from the "Clapper"...

Evidentally, when babies sporadically yelp, fuss and cry, it looks like a disco in here! On... off... on... off... and so on and so on. I got up one morning and the tree was on. I thought to myself, "I know Ed wouldn't have left the tree on all night long." Then, Jaren started to cry and I saw the light show with my own four eyes!!!

Eden's 5th Birthday!

REWIND TO BEFORE WE LEFT FOR CALIFORNIA...

November 27th, 2007 - Eden's 5th Birthday

We celebrated Eden's birthday on the 27th of November. I ran to the store and bought some cookies for her to pass out to her class that day and also got her favorite meal from Las Margaritas, a chicken burrito with beans and rice!

Ed and I met up at her school and surprised her on her special day! We sat at her table with her and the other kids and ate lunch with her. Then we passed out her cookies and she had a special "cake" with a candle on it. All of her teachers and classmates sang, "Happy Birthday" to Eden and she blew out the candle and made a wish. Then she had to go over to her teacher for her birthday "spankings" (The class and Mrs. Boehmer just clapped their hands... once for each year!) And then a "pinch to grow an inch".

After her "spankings", Eden got to choose a beanie baby bear from the birthday gift box. I could tell that she felt so special.

I just love her teacher!!! She's so easy to talk to and very helpful in answering my questions! One of my conferences with her lasted for about an hour and a half just because we both have the gift of gab!!! The kids just played nicely at the centers in the back of the room. I'll definitely miss her next year. At least Eden will be able to go and visit with her since she'll be at Edison again!

That night we got McDonald's and ate it at home with Grandma Young and Grandma and Grandpa Palmer. She got a new backpack and some new pajamas for her birthday! One of her favorite things was opening her card from Great Grandma and Grandpa Young. She got twenty, one dollar bills. She thought she was rich!!! Then we had cake and ice cream to celebrate! Hope you had a WONDERFUL 5th birthday!

A new Disney Princess backpack for school!

New pajamas! YEA!!!

"She's in the money... she's in the money..."

A cake fit for a Princess!

"You'll pay for this later, Eden!" thinks Jaren.

VIDEO COMING SOON!

Flashback Friday - Meeting Mandisa...

Today is my good friend, Mandy's birthday and so I thought I would do my Flashback Friday about the day we met! I went with the sister missionaries, Sister Escalante and Sister Keliiheleua to visit with Mandy, who had just moved to Waterloo with her husband, Mike. I'm always nervous to meet new people, especially when I'm serving with the sisters. Sometimes we aren't welcomed as we would hope to be.

We walked into her dining room and they introduced me to Mandy and all of my fears just went flying out of the window! She was so easy to talk to and just so funny! As we sat at the table, she told us about herself and told us some stories and I was just dying laughing. I could tell we shared the same sense of humor already! I knew that we were going to be good friends after the first time we met! She had a friend visiting her and so they were off to get their hair done, so we had to cut the meeting short!

I'm so glad that I didn't let my fears get in the way, otherwise I would have missed out on a very special relationship with Mandy and her husband Mike and now three years later... their little manchild, Isaac!

It's hard to find couples that just connect. I feel like I'm blessed with several couple friends where the wives connect AND the husbands connect as well. Our interests, our sense of humor, everything just meshes together. We all love to scrap, chat, dine out and the guys love watching movies, comedy and BBQing. We all understand each other's sense of humor which is quite rare. Sometimes I feel misunderstood... and odd. It's nice to know that we all feel odd together!

Well, Mandisa, my equally odd friend... I hope you had a wonderful birthday with your family! Here's to many more laughs and weird stories about anything and everything! I don't think ANYTHING is off limits with us! :) I love you and I'm so glad that our paths have crossed! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

The Long Journey Home

Monday, December 3 - The Long Journey Home

Well, we got to the LAX at about 11:30 and I had to go to the restroom in the worst way!!! I got out and said, "I'll be right back" and ran into the airport. When I came back out, I was sad to hear that they had already left and I didn't even get to say thank you or good-bye! So... Jared and Emily... here is my "THANK YOU... and GOOD-BYE!!!" And of course *HUGS*... We had such a WONDERFUL time out there with you guys! I know that the kids had so much fun with their cousins! They are STILL talking about it!

Our plane left at about 1 o'clock, we traveled for an hour and a half and this time I got to sit by a window so I got some pictures of LA from above! We landed in Salt Lake and had an hour layover and then traveled 2 1/2 more hours into Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was 17 degrees when we got there and man... it was COLD! Ed drove for about 3-4 more hours back to Iowa and got home at 1:30 in the morning. I just let the kids sleep in the next day... I didn't want to send crabby kids to school for the teachers to deal with! Ed could not sleep in... he had training to get up for because he just got a promotion at work! Yea! It was nice to be in our own beds again, but I think I could have wrapped up Jared and Emily's bed and brought it home... AHHHH... it was like sleeping on a cloud! Thanks again guys! We had a BLAST!!!

The Temple and Beach

Sunday, December 2 - The San Diego Temple and Carlsbad State Beach

This morning we went to see the San Diego Temple. It was absolutely gorgeous! You could see it from the highway that we were on and it looked like a castle! Here are some pictures...

After that, we went to Carlsbad State Beach, where the kids saw the ocean for the very first time! Even though it was a tad chilly out, nothing could stop the kids from running along the beach and chasing the waves. The water was really cold, but they just LOVED it!!! We packed a picnic lunch to eat at the beach and the seagulls were hovering right over us, waiting for a little treat I guess... (kind of like my mom's dog, Willie, ogling me when I'm eating something at her house)! Jared and Emily even brought a kite along and it was the perfect day to fly a kite! Oliver was singing, "Let's go fly a kite...". It was a pretty windy day. I was in my sweatshirt the whole time we were there!

Eden and Aubrey

Oliver running from the waves.

Splash!!!

Eden, Aubrey and Oliver waiting for the waves...

Eden screaming, "OCEAN!!!"

Ed and me

Jared and Ed untangling the three tiered kite, which ended up being a single kite!

Oliver (I LOVED this picture of him!)

Jared running with the tiny kite attached to his hat!

Oliver playing in the sand

Oliver and Eden jumping down the little sand dune.

Our family picture by the ocean, minus our little Jare Bear of course.

We had such a fun day! After we got back to Jared and Emily's house, we had a FANTASTIC turkey dinner with ALL the fixins'. It was a second Thanksgiving and it was GREAT!!!

Here is a video of Ollie and Aubrey playing in the ocean. (Eden was pooped by this time and laying with Ed on the beach wrapped in her towel!)