Death To A Dishwasher!

I told you in the last post my dishwasher died. Well I didn't realize how bad it was. I thought the motor just blew and that was the end of it, it was about 10 years old so it was time. When Ron was taking it out and taking it apart (no he could not just say "it's old lets get a new one", he had to examine it and see if he could fix it) he saw that the electrical cord was fried. When he went to use the disposal, he saw that the breaker was thrown. He then realized how lucky we were that we did not have an electrical fire, and how grateful we were that we were being watched over. So needless to say because we have been doing dishes by hand we are using alot of disposal plates, cups, and utensils. The new dishwasher has been ordered and paid for and will be delivered today. The kids are just as excited for it to come as I am, maybe I could actually get them to help load and unload it. Wishful thinking!

Today Is A Sad Day!

I have been so sad today. With the passing of President Hinckley my emotions were set off already, but things keep happening today and I can't keep my tears from flowing. My very dear friend, Marissa Hunt, is moving this week to Peru. Her husband works for Phelps Dodge (not Phelps Dodge anymore, but I can't remember the new name) and has been assigned to a job in Peru for the next 3 years. I have known this time was coming and I was doing really good not being sad, but my emotions are on the surface and I can't help but feel sorry for myself that she is not going to be here for a while. I am excited for her and her family and their adventures they will enjoy together. Ron has told me that we can look into visiting her in 2009 or 2010. I don't know if he is serious or just saying this to help with the waterfall (constant tears) that he knew would come sooner or later.

Brett and Marissa Hunt

I also found out today that my neighbor Irma's young son was diagnosed with Leukemia. Christian is a 9 year old boy and in the 3rd grade. He has been fairly healthy most his life. With in the last month he has been dizzy and weak occasionally. But these were the only signs and they just came on. The Dr's that are working with him are being very aggressive and are trying to help him in any way they can. Their family will be in our thoughts and prayers. Then to top it off, my dishwasher motor blew up this morning. I was on the computer and a weird smell came in the room. When I went out to see what it was, there was a grey smoke and a horrible smell in the Family Room. Thank goodness I live in Az and can keep my doors and windows open in the middle of January. I hope this dark cloud passes and I can be happier tomorrow.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Last night when I heard of President Hinckley's passing I had mixed feelings, sadness and happiness. I am so sad for us who lost our beloved Prophet. He will be greatly missed especially in April at General Conference, when we are so used to seeing his bright and smiling face and enjoying his Witty sense of humor while we are being spiritually fed. But at the same time I am happy for the reunion that is happening right now on the other side of the veil. He has been without his sweetheart for a couple of years now and has greatly missed her. They are together again as well as others that I am sure were there waiting to greet him. Ron E-mailed me this message from our home teacher and friend, Mark Ballif. What a neat tribute to a wonderful man from some of the youth in our Stake....

I had to use Ivan's truck this morning to go over early to help our older daughter, I was gone before Ivan and Jill were even up. He called me at noon for a ride home, when arriving at the high school, Ivan came from the office dressed in his Sunday's best. Letting the self appointed comedian in me come out, I made the statement, "Looks like you fell asleep in your Sunday clothes last night like your dad, and didn't get up in time to change." He replied, "No, I did it out of love and respect for President Hinckley". I asked, "Were you the only one?" He replied, "No, we all sent text messages around to each other and invited our friends to wear their Sunday clothes out of love and respect for our Prophet."

I can't help but think "We Thank Thee Oh God For Our Prophet", and am truly grateful for the influence he has been in my life and the lives of my family.

HELP!!

I need some help! Ron and I are wanting to redo our kitchen. We need to find someone who does a good job making and installing cabinets, and counter tops. If anyone can recommend someone Ron and I would really appreciate it. We are excited to make a change but don't even know where to start. Thanks!

Porter And Cross Country

Porter's true love is Basketball, but he decided to give Cross Country a try. He did pretty good, alot better than I could ever dream of doing. With each meet his time got better. Today was his last meet and he had his best time. Maybe because he got new tennis shoes that actually fit. I felt so bad, he came to me the other day concerned that he had creases in the bottom of his feet and wanted to know if they would ever go away. I asked him to put on his tennis shoes so I could see how they fit him. When he did I was horrified, his feet were way too big for his shoes they were totally cramped and busting out. He had been running for the last 5 weeks at least one and one half miles a day with his feet this way. I felt terrible but also a little excited, maybe this means he will finally grow and catch up to his buddies. We will have to wait and see.Mrs. Wojo (their coach), Ian, Porter, Prescott, Carter, and Chris. They are all in the 6 grade at the local elementary school. It's kinda funny to see how scrawny they all are, but just think in a couple of years they will be totally beefed up.

Porter is known for always smiling. I guess even when he is in the middle of a mile and a half run he can still smile. I can't say the same for me.
Here he is booking it at the end of his race getting ready to cross the finish line. We are so proud of him and his determination. Way to go Bug!

Everyone Needs A Little Boy!

I am so excited! My neighbors, Chris and Laura Hubbard just found out they are expecting their first little boy. They already have 3 girls and have been really hoping for a boy. She called me yesterday just thrilled. Because of our conversation, it made me stop and think about my kids. Although girls are wonderful, every family needs to experience a boy. They are so different. I will never forget when Porter turned 1, he got a black truck for his birthday. He immediately took that truck and started "driving" it on the ground with sound effects and all. I was amazed no one taught him that he just knew it. After a while, I came in to find Bryndee (3years old at the time) using the same truck as a baby bed. It was at that time I realized that from the very beginning boys are boys and girls are girls. When we found out that Taralee was a girl I may have been a little disappointed, only because we all wanted a boy so bad. That disappointment didn't last long because I decided that I have 6 wonderful girls and and 1 bonus child, Porter my only boy. I came from a family of all girls, (there were 5 of us) so my Mom and Dad didn't get their "bonus child". They didn't get to experience the true boy experience; sound effects for everything, really smelly rooms (we have no idea why it smells so bad), teasing sisters because it is fun, bodily noises that are oh so funny (maybe that is why his room smells so bad), play by play commentary about sporting events, a ball constantly being bounced on the floor, the wall, or the ceiling, and the really cute relationship he has with his little sisters. Everyone needs to experience a boy and I am so happy the Hubbards will finally get their turn.

A Great Series To Read

I just finished reading the book The Star Garden by Nancy E. Turner. It was wonderful. This book is actually the 3rd in a series, and I would recommend all three. The first book is These Is My Words, the 2nd is Sara's Quilt and the 3rd is The Star Garden. This series is a fictional diary of Sara Agnes Prine (the author based her books from her own grandmother's diary), a girl growing up in the Arizona territories. I believe in the first book she is a 16 year old, uneducated girl. The series goes through her life until she is a grown woman. I am actually sad that I am finished with this series. Because these books were so well written, I actually feel like I am going to miss the characters. I guess it is time to find something else.

Torie's Sick Day

Well I need to explain Torie's need to stay home yesterday. She really did have a stomach ace, but so did all of us (there is a flu bug that gives you stomach cramps but it only lasts twenty four hours). Apparently Monday at school she sneezed and while she sneezed she made another bodily noise at the same time. A boy sitting next to her heard and laughed and told the whole class. She was really embarrassed and started crying. When she came home Monday she told me it was the worst day of her life. I had a feeling this might be why she wanted to stay home but she would not fess up to it. Last night she said her stomach was hurting really bad again and needed to stay home again today. I asked her if it hurt because she was dreading school and she said that was it. Bryndee stepped in and asked her if she was going to stay home the rest of her life, and helped her realize that most people will have already forgotten and to just ignore the others they are not worth her time. She perked up and this morning we had no problems. Oh and Mom about your comment, I was nice to Torie. :)

Ok I Lied!

My last post said I was OK with my kids at home and didn't really need them to go to school yet. I lied! This morning we woke with Torie saying her stomach hurts. The thought of her staying home just made me mad. Torie tends to moan a little more that necessary in the morning and in the afternoon she is just fine. I tried to get her to go and she would not. So here I am Tuesday January 8, 2008 with kids home and I am not OK with it. Needless to say she will be staying in her room all day without TV and the Wii, we will see how sick she really is.

January 7, 2008 Back to School

My kids went back to school today after 2 weeks off for Christmas. I am quite shocked, I actually enjoyed this break. Maybe it is because I am not preggo and can actually enjoy my kids again. My good friend Cherai took her kids on a trip to Israel to spend 3 weeks with their Dad (he has been working over there since the summer for Intel) and I was totally dreading this break because her kids are my kids friends. But they realized that they have other friends and even enjoyed each other. There were many times I would find Kymber and Abby playing outside together, or Kymber and Torie playing a game together and not even fighting. I spent alot of time with Bryndee just talking or messing on the computer (hence the blogs). Ron was even around quite a bit and we enjoyed his company. We didn't see much of Porter he has so many friends, he could hang out with a different one every day of the week. All in all it was a great break and I was not even pushing them out the door when it was time to leave.

Ellie Again

So my blog is going to end up being all about Ellie. I should rename it to "I'm an Ellie Girl in an Ellie World" because according to her it is all about Ellie. Which it pretty much how it is at our house because it is easier to leave it that way than try to fight her. Yesterday at church was not as bad as the previous week. I did have to get up with her 3 times but the Bishop left his office open for me and we had a place to go so she could pitch her fit and not bother anyone. Since she started nursery, she has picked up a bad habbit of hitting when she does not get her way (gotta love nursery). When she does this we grab her hand and hold away from us until she no longer wants to hit, then we procede to tell her that hitting is not good and she will get in trouble if she hits. Yesterday I did something that made her mad and she raised her hand to hit me and she stopped thought for a second and then put her fingers in her mouth stretched out her lips and stuck out her tongue. I had to laugh because she finally realized that she sould not hit and that was what she came up with to cope with her anger. It is now Monday afternoon and she has not even tried to hit me since that incident. Is it too premature to think she finally got it?