DAD!

Dad's funeral is on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. Olpin Mortuary is handling all of the arrangements (www.olpinmortuary.com) and will have Dad's obituary, online guest book, etc. there starting, I believe, on Sunday, August 2 (his obit will be in the Deseret News and Arizona Republic then too). Thank you everyone for all your thoughts and prayers, they are definately felt!

I Am Home From Maui!

Yes I am home from Maui! But I am now in Utah. Bryndee is enjoying herself at EFY here at BUY and the girls and I are hanging out at Mom's. Sorry I have not posted about my wonderful trip to Maui. I came home to Abby terribly sick with high fevers (105 at times) and throwing up. Ended up being pneumonia, her right lung was almost full. So between helping her out and taking her to multiple Dr. apts and X-Rays apts and then having to get myself and my 6 girls ready to leave to Utah I didn't take the time to post. Now that I have time I do not have access to my pictures. I sent my camera with Bryndee so she could capture her experience of EFY on film. We will see if that really happens. So when I get home I promise I will post about all the fun that Tara and I had in Maui and the fun the girls and I had in Utah. Until then...

Maui!

Ahhhh Maui! I am finally getting around to posting my pictures of Maui. What a fun time I had. As I said before Tara won a trip through work and she took me as her guest. We stayed at the Weston Resort and it was beautiful! The view out our window was incredible. Tara and I spent most of our time at the beach. We rented 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella and camped out. Most of my week consisted of reading in the sun while getting a little color, playing in the ocean, and shopping. I spent alot of time in the ocean playing around by myself because Tara doesn't like getting in the ocean water (swimming things kinda freak her out). But even though I was by myself it was fun, I did a lot of people watching. I can't believe how many people should not wear a bikini and choose to do so. One day Tara and I booked a snorkeling excursion. The boat ride was so relaxing. While getting to our destination, a pod of spinning dolphins decided to visit us. It was really cool seeing those animals up so close. I have never been snorkeling before, and was kinda nervous. But those nerves went away quickly. Tara didn't like it very much (going back to the thing with being in water with swimming things) and after about 2 minutes she went back on the boat. I LOVED it! I found a couple that was really nice and let me tag along with them in search of a sea turtle. We found it and I swam right next to it. I could have touched it if I wanted to. I am really disapointed that the pictures were not too clear, I guess that is what you get with a cheap disposable camera. The day we left, Tara and I decided to try parasailing. It was amazing. I could not believe how quiet it was up there 600 feet above the ocean. The view was amazing and it was really fun. This trip was so much fun and I am really grateful for Tara taking me. Next time I am going with Ron!

Maui Pictures

The view from my room.

Some of the exotic birds that could be found in the hotel lobby.

The place where I spent most my time. I was very happy...a book, a view, and no one calling me mom!

This is the view I had from my spot on the beach!

This is a Hula Pie from a restaurant on the beach. It is as rich as it looks.

The turtle I swam with on my snorkeling excursion.

Tara and I going up in our parasail.

Being "dipped" in the ocean.

I Forgot To Tell You!

I am going to Maui!!!!

Yes you read that right. I am going to Maui. Not with my husband, but with my wonderful sister, Tara. She won a trip through work and I am her guest. We were suppose to go to Puerto Vallarta, but with the lovely Swine Flu they decided to stay in the USA. I am so excited! 5 wonderful days of beautiful beaches, wonderful food, and good company. And best of all no one will call me MOM while I am there. Thanks Tara! I can't wait for May 12th come!

I Am Back In The Blogging World!

Taralee had taken off with my devise I use for uploading pictures to my computer. Today I got lucky and found my cable that connects my camera to the computer (it has been missing for quite some time). So without further adieu here is what has been happening in my world...

Gourmet Food Club!

I belong to a Gourmet Food Club (I sound like I am confessing something)! It is such a fun thing to be involved with. We are a group of 8 women who really love cooking, really love entertaining, and really love eating good food. The 8 of us are then divided up into groups of 2 making 4 partnerships. When a partnership is created it is there responsibility to come up with a gourmet meal to host for the other 6 ladies. My partner in this group is my good friend Ariane. We had the opportunity to host a dinner on April 30th. We had a really good time this last month thinking, planning, researching, and creating for our dinner. We decided our theme would be "Simple Elegance" with the focus on gerber daises. The colors we choose were white, silver, hot pink, and lime green with a few splashes of bright yellow. Here is what we came up with for the table setting.

Ariane has a wonderful resource in her mom who loves to entertain. After we choose our flowers we took them to her mom and she had these tall skinny vases and all the different sized candles that she let us use. I was so pleased with out table setting it was just as I had imagined it.

These are our name cards, a silver pot with pink gerber daises bunched together. Ariane embossed each name in silver. We didn't know we could be so creative!

Here is the actual place setting. I think it turned out perfect!

Here is our menu:

Appetizers

Mini Cheese Balls

Cucumber Sandwiches

Lime Spirits (The Mormon Way)

Soup

Creme of Asparagus

Salad

Leslie's Salad

Lemon Sorbet

Main course

Feta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken breasts

with Coconut Lime Sauce

Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

Croissant

Dessert

Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

Lemon Meringue Puffed Tart

Strawberry Danish

Here are our appetizers

Here are our desserts. When the flash went off it made the charger look gold instead of silver. I didn't even think about taking a picture of our salad and soup,but I did take a picture of our main dish, but it was very blurry and not worth posting.

Ariane and I took 2 days to prepare the food. So when the actual event came, the evening was so fun and relaxing. I enlisted Bryndee and Torie to come and help serve. Torie totally ate it up. She was loving every minute of it. She would fill our glasses, take away the dirty plates, bring out the new plates with the new dishes on them. Bryndee on the other hand, was much happier in the kitchen helping to prepare the plates and clean the dishes 0ff. These two girls are so different it is amazing they are from the same family. Once again it was a wonderful night and thanks so much Ariane for all the fun memories and to Brett for doing the dishes! What a guy!

Ellie Sure Loves Bryndee!

The other day Bryndee came home from school tired and wiped out, which she does often. She ended up falling asleep on the couch. A little while later I realized I had not heard from Ellie for quite some time. When this happens I tend to panic we never know what Ellie will get into. Anyway when I came into the Family Room this is what I found...

Ellie sound asleep snuggled up right next Bryndee. Bryndee had no idea she was there until I woke both up for dinner. Ellie sure does love Bryndee.

Kymber's Book

Kymber's 3rd grade class wrote books and published them. Kymber is my creative child and you never know what she will come up with. The title of her book is "The Day I Captured Steve Nash!" Go figure? After they were published Mrs. Garcia invited parents in to hear our kids read their book to the class. I was pleasantly surprised with Kymber's book. The plot of her story was she tried to get an autograph from Steve Nash and could never get him to slow down long enough for her to get it so she captured him and took him to her house. Her pictures were right on with the content of the story. Who knows Kymber might become a published author in the future?

Easter 2009

Easter morning we woke up to Ellie and Taralee sick. Tara being so gracious came to my house after her Sacrament meeting and stayed with the 2 sleeping babies and I was able to make it to my meetings with the rest of my family. Rosalie came down to spend the day with us which was a real treat. The kids love it when they get to spend time with Grandma Rosie! We came home from church to a wonderful meal that I prepared before I left and Tara finished up for me. We had Chicken Cordon Bleu, Mashed Potatoes with Chicken Gravy, Salad, Corn, and for dessert Mandarin Orange Cake. It was delicious. Here is a picture of my kids after church. Ellie had just woken up and insisted on being in the picture. Taralee is still asleep at the time the picture was taken. Torie really isn't that much bigger than Porter, she is standing closer to the camera and she has on heels which gives her more height. I actually took my girls shopping this year for their dresses. This is something I have a hard time doing. I love to shop, but I don't enjoy doing it with all the girls. I would rather buy 3 dresses for each one have them pick out their favorite and return the rest. But this year they were persistent on coming with me. It wasn't too bad, we actually came home from the mall still speaking and no one crying. It is funny to see the different personalities in my girls clothes. Each one has a very particular taste and no amount of persuading will change their minds.

My New Look!

You to can look like this only afte 3 weeks of boot camp!

Dad Again!

Once again I took this off of Cassie's blog....

DAY ONE...
Well today we spent the day up at Huntsman hospital. My dad received surgery. He got his hip replacement taken completely out. The doctor put in an antibiotic ball in it's place. The surgery went as well as what they expected. The goal is to get the infection gone and the pain lessened so he can continue with his Chemo treatments. We were somewhat optimistic when the doctor came out and told us he was finished. Then we waited 2 1/2 hours for him to come out of recovery. When they finally brought him up he was not himself. He was talking very strange and singing. He did not know who I was or my sister. And his right side was not functioning. This concerned the doctor. They immediately sent him to do a cat scan on his head and neck. They are not sure but there is a possibility that he might have suffered a small stroke. We will know more in the morning. Needless to say I have never had a more emotional, up and down day. With my dad pretty "loopy" on the medication we were either laughing or crying or we were laughing to keep from crying. At one point he tried to speak Spanish to the Spanish nurse...My dad does not know Spanish but sure thought he did. I hope and pray that he will recover soon and that the pain will be lessened. Time will tell.

Day Two...
As I said in the last post, my Dad had a CT scan yesterday. It showed a small mass in his brain. He just finished up with an MRI, which showed a much clearer picture of what they're dealing with. It is a small lesion (tumor) that is cancer on his brain, not a stroke. They are going to perform radiation surgery. They won't have to cut him open at all (thank goodness), but hit 5-6 different lasers at different angles at his lesion at the same time. The neurosurgeon said he feels this is all it will take to kill that tumor and prevent more from coming. My Dad will have to take steroids to keep the swelling down, and one of the side effects is massive swelling, but it's not an absolute, meaning the doctor had to tell us it's a side effect, but he's confident all will be fine and Dad can continue on with his life and there won't be any more problems. As far as the brain tumor goes. We still have every thing else to deal with. But this is good news.

I can't believe this is going on with my Dad. I guess because I am in AZ and my Dad is in UT I have a hard time picturing him in his very weak condition. Last year when I was trying to pass a rather large kidney stone I had never been in so much pain. For 4 hours I winced in pain with no comfort. Finally they gave me some drugs and I was given immediate relief. My Dad has been dealing with unbearable pain since November with no relief. No amount of drugs they give him will help. I just hope and pray that this new procedure and the surgery he had this last week will give him some sort of relief. Thanks to all for your continued prayers and support. It is much appreciated!

Look Who Torie Met!

Brandon Mull, author of Fablehaven and Candy Shop Wars, came to our school and Torie had the opportunity to meet him. She brought her book, Candy Shop Wars, and was thrilled he was willing to sign it. Then thanks to Karra who thought to bring her camera, she got her picture taken with him. She was so excited when she got home and couldn't wait to tell me all about it. I am so grateful my kids go to such a great school where so many neat opportunities are available for them.

Little Girls and Their Guitar Hero!

Porter was playing Guitar Hero with his buddies and forgot to put it away. I came into the room to find Ellie and Taralee having a great time with it. We start them young in our family.

Taralee

Taralee went to nursery for the first time yesterday. I guess she had a great time because when we came home she crashed on the couch. Don't you just love her chunky legs?

Dad Again!

Once again I took this off Cassie's Blog...

"Thanks for all of the prayers and concerns! The surgery went well. PHEW! The surgeon went into his hip and saw that there was quite a bit of infected fluid all throughout it. He was able to clean and "power wash" the hip out. The problem he did find that because the cancer has eaten away so much of the bone there are lots of little holes for the infectious bug to hide. So the chances of him having to have his hip "power washed" again is likely. They will be giving him some hard core antibiotics but with him being on chemo that is likely to fight the antibiotic. So frequent blood tests will have to be done to determine if the levels of infection rise. Does any of this make sense???? Any how he is recovering and will probably be released from the hospital on Monday if all goes well. Hopefully this will have relieved much of his pain that he has had in that area. Only time will tell. I am so grateful that my sister Tara was able to fly up here from AZ to help with driving my mom back and forth to Huntsman Medical, which is about 1 hour away. My mom will not drive in the dark, on the freeway or if it is raining or snowing, so Tara being here will help a lot!"

I feel so bad that my Dad is going through this! Every time I tell him this he always says "I would rather it be me than anyone of my girls." It is so hard not being there with him and my Mom, but with 3 sisters and my Mom by his side I am updated regularly! I sure love him and want to see this trial over! I know it will be a long road, but I feel they are finally heading the right direction.

Dad!

Once again I took this info off of Cassie's Blog...

"Well we just found out that my dad has to undergo surgery...Again. He has been in unbelievable pain for the last couple of months. His Chemo doctor has just been throwing more and more medication down him to try to ease his pain without figuring out the problem. (She is not my favorite can you tell!) Anyhow he was finally able to meet with his surgeon who performed his hip replacement. Needless to say he was extremely concerned with my dad's progression which has been NONE! It has been very frustrating to watch him in this pain and not getting any better. Well the surgeon decided to run test and he believes that my dad's hip is infected. So tomorrow he will be checked into Huntsman Cancer Hospital to undergo more surgery to scrape any infection from his hip. "

When Cassie told me this info my first thought was FINALLY someone is willing to help him. But then I realized he has to into surgery again and I am nervous for that. But if this will give us some answers we need then I think this is a good thing. I really appreciate all the kind thoughts and inquiries about my parents. It really helps us get through this rough time.

Porter Did It!

Porter was able to compete in the Arizona State Science Fair and he took 1st place in the Chemistry Division for Middle School. He used his same project that he won 1st place with at our school it was Greenhouse Gasses and Alternative Fuels. He took plant and animal matter and captured methane. At least that is how I understand it. If you want a better explanation you would have to ask him or Ron. Monday he missed school to be at the fair. He was scheduled to answer questions from the judges from 10:00-2:00. He and Ron went together, but parents had to be in a different room from the students. I am guessing this is so parents could not help with the answers the judges were seeking. He must have done a good job because he also got a medal from The US Navy and Marine Corps recognizing his project. He was so excited!

Ron was not able to come to the awards ceremony last night, in fact he got home after Porter was in bed. Porter made me promise that I would not tell Ron and that I would have Ron wake him up so he could tell him himself. Ron came in his room at about 9:45 and tried to wake him up with no success. He did get him to roll over and when he did that Ron heard clank clank. Porter went to bed with both medals around his neck. Needless to say Ron got the medals off and came and asked me what they were all about. We are so proud of him and all his hard work. He is already talking about what he can do next year.

Porter receiving his medal for 1st place!

Porter after receiving his medal! He could not quit smiling!

Porter with both his medals! Sorry for the lousy picture! When I got there I turned on my camera and found out my batteries were almost dead. Kymber and Ellie have been playing with my camera and drained the juice out of the batteries. I just changed the batteries a month ago and never thought about checking them. I barely got this picture no time to zoom in.

Guys And Dolls

Every year our middle school puts on a play. This year they performed Guys and Dolls. If you think about it this is kinda a weird play for middle school, I mean it is all about love and gambling. But this is what they choose to do and they did a great job. Around Christmas time tryouts began. Torie and Porter both tried out (I do not know where they come from! I would have never had the nerve to do something like that and I don't think Ron would have either!). Porter got the part of Nicely Nicely, the fat goofy gambler (when he got the part he said "Huh I am not fat and I don't gamble kinda funny huh?) and Torie got the part of a Hot Box Girl (back up dancer to the main character) and a towns person. Practices started late December and went through the middle of March. Sometimes they would go to school for a 7:00am practice and not get home until 6:00 pm. But they stuck it out and did a fantastic job! I was so impressed with the whole production. Every one who participated has every reason to proud of themselves! I have some video, but I have to figure out how to upload them for some reason it is not working. When I do I will share them but for now here are a few pictures.

The cast after the show.

Torie dressed as a towns person with her friend Arielle.

Porter as Nicely Nicely and Ian as Sky Masterson.

Porter and Torie! Aren't they cute!

Bryndee's $3,000 Smile

Isn't she beautiful?

No Hands!

Torie has been trying to land an areal (a cartwheel with no hands) for some time and she finally did it! Thanks to Laura for capturing it on film! Such a cool picture!

That is her coach, Riley, standing there in the black shirt. You can just see it in her eyes...Come on Torie you can do it!

Good Party No 2

Last week my wonderful friend Cherai and her family relocated to New Mexico for a new family adventure. Jennifer Shumway and I decided to celebrate Cherai and have a going away brunch for her and all her friends. It was a success! Cherai wanted to have ONE rule at this party... NO CRYING! I tried to follow, but when I couldn't keep it in I would go inside where she could not see me.

It is so weird having her gone. Not only because she was such a good friend to me and so many people, but also because her kids were my kid's friends. Torie and Sadie were inseparable, best friends from the very beginning. Kymber and Kamryn have a love-hate relationship kinda on again and off again. They would be the best of friends one day and the next they would be screaming at each other. Then there is Porter and Derek. Porter is almost 3 years older than Derek, but they share a great friendship. These pictures were taken the morning the Slades left.

Sadie and Torie! Torie is fighting back tears!

Kymber and Kamryn! This was an "ON" day!

Porter and Derek! Just good friends!

Cherai is definitely One Of A Kind! I have never known anyone quite like her. Even though she is younger than I am, I really look up to her. She is a very wise person! She has a lot of common sense! I would always call her for advice for one thing or another. She is the most honest person you will ever come in contact with. Cherai is know for being funny! Not class clown kinda funny, but someone who does hilarious things and then laughs at herself. Those of us who know her real well call these stories "Cherai-isms"! I am not going to share them here (we already shared a lot at her party) but if you ever want a good laugh just ask me about the mustache cream!

Just some random shots of friends visiting at the Brunch. The food was wonderful and there were lots of friends that came to say goodbye! I think Cherai was surprised at just how many people's lives she and her family have touched.

Jennifer telling the mustache cream story. Cherai just sitting there laughing at herself!

Marcia and Cherai

Millie and Cherai

Cherai and Ariane

Cherai and Jenn!

Jennifer, Cherai, and I! (I look horrible! I had done a lot of crying that morning and my eyes sure did show it!)

Laura, Cherai, and I! Laura lives in the house between Cherai and I. Our families did a lot of things together. Things like BBQ, Pool parties, Gardening, Christmas lights at the Temple, Trick-or-Treating, Camping, Etc. It is very hard to find a couple that both you and your spouse "click" with, but in our situation all 6 of us got along great! And to make it even better we all lived next door to each other. Can you believe how lucky we were?

Kymber's Job

Ron has hired Kymber to take care of his shirts. He has taught her how to iron a shirt properly, how to hang them up so they don't get rewrinkled, and how to sew on a button. He pays her $1.00 a shirt. What a wonderful idea he had it brings happiness all the way around! Kymber gets to make money, Ron has crisp shirts to wear, and I don't have to fill guilty that I am not ironing for him.

Maybe she could teach Bryndee, Porter, and Torie her new skills she has learned. I know for a fact she is much better at ironing then they are!

Taralee Randomness!

I was going through my camera and realized I have lots of pictures of Taralee. I love this age! I love the innocence of this age! Everything they do is new and they are so excited about it. So I thought I would share some of Taralee with everyone...

I know this is awful, but she has discovered watching TV. Hooray! I can finally load the dishwasher without her climbing in to help.

She loves to play outside! It makes her very happy and in return it makes me very happy!
Last week Taralee had an ear infection and was really tight with her breathing. So she was on an antibiotic and a steroid to help loosen her up. I don't know if it was a combo of both meds or just the steroid but a demon child replaced my Taralee. She was a beast!!!! Here she is mad at me for taking away her 5th chocolate donut. She had no patience, she was mean, she would hit, and worst of all she would not nap. It was a long week, but she is now back!

I am amazed a how early she learned to play dress up. She always has something on. It can be a hat, a tierra, a necklace, a purse, shoes or all the above.

Goodbye Party No 1

On the last Friday in February we (Torie, Kymber and I) decided to have a going away late night party for their beloved friends Kamryn and Sadie. Kymber invited 5 girls and Torie invited 4 girls and I let Abby invite a friend as well. This particular night Ron and Porter had a meeting to attend and Bryndee was hanging out at a friend's house so it was me and 15 girls (including Ellie and Taralee) all 12 and under. We had a great time! We had pizza, ice cream sundaes, junk food, junk food, and more junk food. We are all going to miss the Slade girls, but it is always fun to have a party and we are glad we could do it in their honor!

Sarah, Bella, Breanna, Kamryn, Kymber, and Ellie! If you look closely at the floor and you can see the proof of the junk food we had there.

Rori, Torie, Mckayla, Arielle, and Sadie. These girls spent most the night texting a guy that one of them is in love with! Thankfully Torie is not the one in love!

They all ended up outside on the trampoline playing some game.

Kymber and Kamryn showing Ellie how to walk on water barrels. These are the best "toy" for my kids. They spend hours walking empty barrels. Ron keeps threatening to fill these up with water, but they are so much more fun this way!
Emma and Abby! Just so thrilled to be included in the festivities!
After the meeting, Ron and Porter hid in Porter's room and played some guitar hero! I am wondering if Ron and Porter are the first to "jam" in white shirts and ties? Don't you love Porter's tongue? You can tell he is concentrating hard!