The house is ready for Sarah's birthday party tomorrow. She turns 9 on Wednesday :-)

Other pics today...

 Sophie's first real toothbrush!

It's the little things that keep me going :-)

Michael made me this...

Sarah wrote me this...

And it snowed.

All in all a good day.

MASH

Had to take Sophie into the hospital to get some blood work today. Still trying to figure out what these new movements are :-( There were a lot of kids suffering from illness in the pediatric unit :-( It's terrible hearing children moan :-( Please everybody pray she didn't catch anything. I bathed her in On Guard water when we got home so fingers crossed! 

The great news from the hospital today, is we purposefully went on nurse Hannah's shift, and she got blood on the first try....again! She's SO talented! Yay! Sophie hardly noticed :-)

Then tonight I found time for some one on one with Sarah. She wanted to play barbies, a special kind of torture for me 😫. I was a good mom and played for a bit....okay a minute 😜 I had to change it up fast so I taught Sarah how to play MASH. Remember MASH?! Memories! Anyhow tonight I discovered it also doubles as a tricky way to find out who she likes at school!!!

 Max played too ;-)

Michael heard how much fun Sarah was having and asked to play MASH too ;-) Here's his reaction to getting the good life!

Everything was perfect for a while! Then in the same minute I swear.....Sophie threw up, Michael and Sarah started fighting (because they started figuring out who each other likes at school-HA!), and Max started punching people in the stomach for attention. Can we say bedtime?! Yes we can!

Last pics....

A picture Sarah drew for Sophie's projector today

And Max's busses :-)

Some things you can't control

Most of the time we almost just want to have answers about what's going on with Sophia so we can help her. Even if it's bad news. We can't control or change what is going on, but knowing helps us help her. So in an odd way sometimes getting bad news, is actually good news.

For a change today I was glad that we did not get an answer. I was afraid it was going to be what they were testing for (infantile spasms), but thankfully it is not! I'm glad because from what I read those aren't very easily controlled. So although we are still looking for answers as to what this new movement is, we are glad that it is NOT West Syndrome!

Waking up this morning....  :-)

EEG (it looks like she's in a copy machine huh)

Good advice (for everyone) from a book I'm reading: 

"What are the things you can't control in your present situation? What are the things you can and should control? How can you respond to them in a way that keeps God in the picture?" (from the book "A Different Dream for My Child")


Everywhere Sophie is, Max is also :-) If she's laying in front of the fire, he's pushing his bus on the fireplace...

 If she's in her cradle, he pushes a chair over to adjust her animals....

Or play her piano....

Great Grandma Hayes

Last night Great Grandma Hayes passed away. She was a really wonderful Grandma to Jason and a wonderful Great Grandma to our children. From the moment I met her, she treated me and the kids like family :-) Michael and Sarah were instantly her great-grandchildren :-) She always remembered to send them a birthday card with $2 inside and the kids would look forward to it. Until relatively recently she would often drive all the way down from Idaho, with Jason's mom and dad, for events that were important in our family. But my all-time favorite memory of her is something she said at our wedding. She pulled Jason aside and told him to "try to make this one stick"! Jason loves to tell that story for a good laugh! Good advice Grandma, good advice 😂

Trials Help Us Discover

"Our trials help us discover and prepare for the work Heavenly Father has for us."- Elder John C. Pingree of the Seventy

Today since I couldn't go to church I listened to a talk from General Conference. It was really inspiring. Elder Pingree said that our trials can help us discover our talents. What a wonderful idea!

https://youtu.be/y1sFYAFGesw


I can't decide which of these pics from tonight is my new favorite :-)
This one is so sweet of Mikey. And I especially love the curl in her hair :-)

Or Mason took this one. It really shows her personality :-)

Lastly, I don't really want to talk about this bc she's been doing so well. But she does seem to be having a new type of seizure :-( After watching a video I sent, her neurologist ordered an EEG. She didn't say this but I picked up on a couple things terms she used. I believe she is worried about West Syndrome/Infantile Spasms. Some of these kiddos have it. But we'll know more soon and I'll keep you posted.

More Family Coming!!!

I have four awesome siblings :-) 3 sisters and one brother! For years I have been the only one in this Southern Utah area....where we claim to be from! haha ;-)

Recently two of my sisters have moved significantly closer to where my parents and I live :-) My sister Holly moved from D.C. to Northern Utah. My sister Ahna moved from Boise to Bloomington (just outside of St. George). And today my Sister Amelia is moving here! They are setting up at Mom's temporarily... while waiting for their house to sell... and deciding exactly where to live! SO exciting! Now we just have to get Chris home and we'll be complete! Love my family!


Today was a lazy Saturday....
Sophia on a texture blanket made by a group of senior women in our church. I believe it came from sisters in California. She loves the fuzzy pink strip :-)

 Max and his Superman pillow....man that thing is getting tattered...

Sarah playing around in make up I handed down to her tonight (for fun). She's got her own drawer in the bathroom now. Awe, little milestone :-)

Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there, pay attention to your feelings :-)

This is a picture of our backyard.....

 And this is a picture of our backyard yesterday......

 Every once in awhile these beautiful misty clouds will roll in and completely cover up that huge mountain in our backyard. Now I know the mountain is still there. I can feel the presence of the mountain even though I cannot see it. Just like I know that there is a spirit world. I've been lucky to have experiences in my life, where the veil was thin. I know the spirit world is there.  Just like I know that mountain is there. I believe that my loved ones and ancestors are in that world. I also believe they are working hard, preparing for the day when we can all be together again, and live in peace :-)

Tonight we got some more respite! Nurse Helen (the BEST!) came to watch Sophie... and Lindsay and Gracie came over to play with Max :-) (p.s. Lindsay Nicol is the best babysitter ever!)
Jason and I went to dinner with his sister Melanie and brother-in-law Layne :-) It was so nice to get out and act normal for a couple hours :-) We should have taken a picture! Thank you Lindsay and Helen we couldn't have done it without you! :-)

And look who got her toy today! She's been batting at these toys for a while but today she grabbed and held on... long enough for me to go get my camera and take the picture! Good girl!