So I am obviously really into the videos right now. Don't feel like you have to watch all of them, but they are adorable so you might just miss something that would make you smile! :-)

My kids really are the joy of my life. They drive me crazy some of the time, but I was half way there to begin with so there you go. It's nothing medications can't fix - hahaha. That was a joke, sort of.

I've become an insomniac this week and my brain is really struggling right now. Part of me says to stop writing before I make a fool out of myself, but the other part is telling me this could really be interesting so I guess I will keep going.

You all love me enough to deal with my quirkiness, right?

I just want to say how much I love blogging. It has really helped me get in touch with so many of you that I thought had fallen off the face of the earth. We all have kids and husbands and totally crazy lives now, but it's nice to sit down and catch up on each of you each week! I have been able to start a great relationship with my cousin Holly. (If you want to see some amazing photography check out her blog. Her kids are adorable!) Karen and I have started an awareness association that is apparently catching on and spreading quite quickly. So if I don't accomplish anything in my life at least I feel like my blog has made a difference! :-)

I better get off my rear and get going. Life is so crazy - it's nice to just sit and reflect sometimes.

An oldie, but goodie!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jayne has become such a "poser".

She is always doing funny things and saying, "Mommy, take a picture!"

Russon & Melanie Hale's family had us over for a delicious dinner and FHE last night. My dad told us about South Africa (he served his mission there thirty years ago). The Hale's have been studying South Africa so it was fun to hear all about the country and the political things going on at the time. I didn't get any pics of my dad or his cool things he brought to show us, but here's a few pics before the lesson.

We all had a wonderful time enjoying great company and relaxing in their beautiful home!

Tender Mercies of the Lord!

I know what you're thinking. This is a picture of Jayne holding onto a rickety old cart at DI, but it's what's INSIDE the cart that matters in this story!

While cleaning my room this weekend I realized we needed a bookshelf of some kind to act as a nightstand as well. I found a cheap thing at Walmart.com that would kind of work. I wasn't thrilled because it really wasn't going to match anything, but I keep all my medical binders, etc in my room and I needed a better place to keep them. So... Jayne and I were on our way to Walmart and I decided to hit DI just to see what we could find. We were looking for a book case and weren't finding anything. As we went to leave I passed this night stand. It may look like a beat up old thing to you, but it is the matching piece to the one on Jay's side of the bed. My parents got it for me about ten years ago.

The best part... it was only $15 bucks!

So I brought it home and cleaned it up and it looks great. It holds all the binders perfectly and matches! I have a matching set!!! I am grateful for little miracles like this that let me know someone is watching out for me!

I tried to make it look nicer in the first picture, but in reality it looks like this:

Sunday was really special because Jay and the girls got to know someone who is very important to our family: Steve Raz. He lived across the street from us when we moved to Mesa 17 years ago. He works for the Mesa PD and is such a great guy! We kindof adopted him as an uncle way back then and even though we haven't stayed as close as we would like to it was great for Jay to see why we love him so much. He came to hear Katie speak in church and then came over to my parent's house for the afternoon.

Here he is doing the famous "claw". We grew up in fear of that great tickle monster!

Steve and Rachel

Steve and Jayne

Darlene and the girls at the luncheon after church on Sunday. Katie's "last opportunity to speak in church before her mission" was great! (It's not called a "farewell" anymore.)

Nice bib Kelly!

Jayne and Papa watching a movie

We heard Rachel snoring the other night and turned around to see this. We were just driving home from my parent's house so it wasn't a long trip. She was out cold.

Well, we actually were able to work together as a family and do some good cleaning Saturday afternoon. This is what the living room is suppose to look like!

This is Rachel and Jayne's easel and their "Wicked" collection. Notice the drawing on the chalkboard. It's a self-portrait of Rachel. She has a lot of legs.

Hmmm, can we say child prodigy?

Our silly girls!

On Friday Jay and Damien went up to Camp Geronimo to spend the night and bring the scouts home on Saturday. That meant party time for the rest of us! We had a swim party at my parent's pool.

Rachel and Jayne

Cyanna, Rylan, Rachel & Jayne
Kalet and Nylah

Nylah LOVES the water!
Rylan is five and he can already jump off the diving board and swim across the entire pool freestyle!

We've been going to a music and movement class at the Towers assisted living center in downtown Mesa for the past few Fridays. Faith Wagner's mom (Cathy Shepherd) teaches the class. It is so much fun to get together with all of my friends from high school and see our kids interact. The grandmas and grandpas LOVE it!

Rachel entertained them all last week. We stayed for a few minutes after everyone left and she danced for them and made them all feel great.

Kaylani's kids I think Sarah is the cutest little thing ever!

Kaylani and her daughter Sarah

Jayne sitting next to Kent (she has a crush on him)
Rachel shaking away
Rachel and January Shepherd playing with a "grandpa"

Karen Olson with Mallory

Kent playing with a "grandma"

The children were "going on a picnic" so they all had their food shakers
It started raining on their picnic!

Singing songs and running around

Shake those hips girls!

Rachel got into a box of bandaids and used all of them to cover her leg. Of course they were the expensive kind so they aren't coming off easy. I started to get upset, then I asked her why she did it. She told me she was making a brace for her leg so she could be like Mommy. How sweet is that?! She did get a little spanking, but I just couldn't be angry when she is trying to be like Mommy! :-)

(This is after we got most of them off)

Well, we couldn't stay away. We took Papa Abbott to Bass Pro to show him all the fun animals on Thursday night. The girls were SO excited!

Jayne and Papa in the boat

Rachel rubbing a brown bear's rear end
Jayne's favorite part - the Racoons in the camp site
Mommy's favorite - the rhino in the fine gun room

I am not sure whether it was the visit to the Fine Gun room at Bass Pro that led to Rachel's concern for African animals, but she sure has taken an interest in them. Watch the following video (on the next post) and you will laugh. It's definitely worth the seven minutes - trust me. She is so serious. She also believes she was once a baby in Africa so there you go.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If you are familiar with Dora the Explorer you have to watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb7eLgaddI4

Enjoy!

I have received some interesting comments. I did not write this as a form of complaint. I was reading what I wrote last year and it made me laugh so I thought I would share it. This is how I deal with all the crazy medical stuff in our lives... with "sardonic" humor. Please don't feel sorry for me or think I want your pity. I just thought you would enjoy a good laugh.

I wrote most of this last year. I found it when I was going through some files and thought I would share it. It is really funny now that I don't remember the pain as vividly! Enjoy!

Last summer I had the “opportunity” to have a procedure done on my shoulder that I would not wish on my worst enemy. The Magnetic Resonance Arthrogram was “going to hurt” as everyone I spoke to put it. They were right. I took Valium before I left for the hospital. Beth drove me and as we were sitting in admitting and I was about to fall over on the desk she told me that she was getting sleepy just looking at me. By the time I got into the actual room for the arthrogram the medicine had fully kicked in and I was whacked out. I was asked to go into the small restroom, remove everything from my waist up and put a gown on. This may seem like a simple task to some, but to a woman with a bum shoulder that is seeing spinning psychedelic colors all around her this was quite the project! When I finally emerged the nurse asked me to climb up on the table which was about four feet above the ground. There was a little step stool to help and that was it. All I can say is it was a good thing I was fully clothed from the waist down or there would have been quite a show! I lay down and tried very hard not to think about what was going to happen. If I opened my eyes the room started spinning and I felt nauseous so I tried to sleep.

About twenty minutes passes (which is a long time to try to convince yourself not to make one last dash out of the building and run for your life before it is too late) and the radiologist still hadn’t shown up. The nurse wasn’t around at all and I realized I needed to use the restroom. I tried to forget about it, but the urge just wouldn’t go away. I can wait until after. Then, If he surprises you too much with the needle you are going to wet yourself. I decided that somehow I needed to get myself off that table and into the restroom. I sat up slowly. I looked around. No sign of anyone. I am going to have to do this myself. The step stool was no where in sight so I just took my chances and leaped off the bed. Four feet to the ground with the room spinning and spinning. I landed, sort of, and regained my balance grabbing onto anything around me. I took care of business then stood in front of the table trying to remember how it was that I got up in the first place. I found the slide-out stool and used it to launch my body back up on the bed. I lay down and soon realized that the Valium was starting to wear off. At that point I really became scared. What am I doing? He is going to stick me with a huge needle and I am not even crazy enough not to care anymore!

I was trying to calm myself down when the nurse walked in with the radiologist. He leaned over my face and said in a “welcome to the circus” voice, “Hi! I’m Doctor Weiner! Hee! Hee! Hee!” The Valium must still be working. He walked over to the tray with all of the “fun stuff” for the procedure and started giving the tech orders. He put his gloves on like a surgeon and was very sterile. The tech on the other hand was not wearing gloves and kept wiping her nose. This is a nightmare. I watched carefully and made sure she didn’t actually touch anything that was going into my skin. Then I notice what Dr. Weiner was wearing: blue jeans. Is that allowed? Is this guy for real or did he kidnap the real doctor and sneak in here to play around like a mad scientist?

Dr. Weiner came and cleaned the area for the injection, which to my surprise was more in my chest area than the shoulder. He said, “I am going to mix all the fun stuff then I will be back to finish.” He mixed a huge syringe full of at least three different solutions. He returned quickly and while giggling said, “Ok, I am going to give you some Novocain.” Poke. “Does that hurt? It should hurt. Do you want to see the next part?” “NO!” I replied. “All right, now for the fun...” STAB. “...part.” He turned to walk away and yet I could still feel what felt like a huge metal pencil sticking out of my chest. Did he just walk away and leave that thing in me? I turned to look and was mesmerized. I couldn’t look away. This is so cool! Dr. Weiner returned again, this time with the huge syringe. He began pumping my shoulder joint full of fluid. And then it was over as quickly as it had started. He put a band-aid on the injection spot and left the room.

Next it was off for the MRI part of the procedure. I have had many MRI’s in my short lifetime so I wasn’t too worried. My shoulder felt like it was going to explode from all of the fluid in the joint. I lay on the table and was put in the tube for the first set of images. It lasted about a half an hour. The tech came in and asked me to sit up so he could set up for the next set. I thought he was kidding when he asked me to put my arm above my head while he shoved the “shoulder holder” under my armpit. I told him that I couldn’t lift my arm that high. That’s why I am getting an MRA! He told me I had to so I dealt with the pain and did what he said with a little assistance. As he rolled me back into the tube I had two thoughts: I am going to kill this guy. No, it’s not his fault. I am going to kill Dr. Weinstein. The last set only lasted about fifteen minutes. The entire time I spent plotting Dr. Weinstein’s demise. I came out and was in so much pain I wanted to scream. The Valium had worn off and I was not happy. I went into the dressing room to put my clothes back on and as I moved my arm I felt a huge pop. My first rib on my right side dislocated. This is it. He is so dead! Obviously I calmed down before I saw Dr. Weinstein again because I am not writing this from prison. I did let him know that I had some major homicidal thoughts toward him. He was very grateful I decided not to act upon them.

Dr. Weinstein is a great doctor who deserves the best praise. I know he ordered this test because it really was the only way to diagnose what was wrong. I am grateful that after five years we actually know what happened and how to fix it. Now we just wait and wait until the time is right for the surgery.

Rachel-isms

I have started collecting all of Rachel's funny sayings. Here are a few:

"Arrrr. I'm a girl pirate!"
She says this with one hand on her head like a hat and the other hand over an eye. Absolutely adorable!

"I win! I get ALL the trophies!"

"Mommy, don't be scared. I am a GIRL monster." Said in a sweet, high-pitched voice.

"Mommy, I have YELLOW pee!"

Mimi: Are you done or are you poopin’?
Rachel: “Get me a magazine.”
Daddy goes straight to the bathroom when he gets home from work for some Jeep Magazine time. When he has a magazine we know it's going to be a while.

"Get away from me or I'll hit you!" She says this to Jayne and Sara when she needs some space. She makes a fist to show she's serious.

"Yes, your majesty!" Sometimes this results in a slap on the mouth.

Kristin McPhie: "What would you like for lunch?"
Rachel: "I would like a sandwich OTHERWISE I would have to wear a bib with the soup."
We certainly don't speak like this so who knows where her vocabulary is coming from!


Now for Jayne:
DDD Suport Coordinator: "You have such pretty dolls!" (our Wizard of Oz dolls from McDonalds)
“They aren’t toy dolls, they are a collection!”
I do let my children play with toys, just not those!

"Mommy, you are the bestest mommy I ever had!"
two minutes later...
"Mom, you are the worst mommy I’ve ever had!"

"Daddy, you make the best food ever!" (left-overs that Mommy made the day before, but it’s always better when daddy serves it.)

"Mommy, I love doing chores!" (I take advantage of this because I know it won’t last long!)

I asked Josh if he could think of anything funny that the girls say. Here's what he wrote:

"I think that the three thing is still my favorite from Jayne.(with explanation that she flipped people off) Other than that, all I hear her say is "No!!!" and "Stop! That is not how I said to do it!". Rachie is just hilarious. She should have her own show!"

The "three thing" is probably the funniest thing in the world if you aren't Jayne's mom. When she was three years old she decided that she would count her "own way". Her thumb was one. Her pointer finger was two and her middle finger was three. She would only put one finger up at a time which meant she was giving everyone the birdie when she said three. My aunt Duffy would always get a kick out of asking her how old she was at church so she would flip people off.

And last but not least:
Cam's famous prayer. A few years ago we were all sitting at the dinner table on Sunday when Cam gave the following prayer:
"Bless the missionaries, those who are out of continent and those who are incontinent.”
We all started laughing soooo hard, even my dad!

Jennifer had some good questions so instead of commenting on each post I thought I would answer them here.

"Why is your dad in Glendale? Is he not at Westwood anymore?"
My dad was transfered to Mountain View right after we graduated. He taught there for a few years then he transferred to Gilbert High School as the principal for a few years. He moved up to institute three years ago and was transfered to Chandler Gilbert Community College Institute. He was just transfered again last month to Glendale Community College Institute. He is the institute Director and the only teacher. It's over thirty miles away. They thought about moving, but have decided to stay.

"What on earth is Guitar Hero?"
It is a Play Station 2 game that rocks! My brother has had it for a while, but I just started playing it a few weeks ago and I am addicted. You pick a song and have to play along with a fake guitar. There are buttons to push and a strum bar. There is also the whammy bar which is my favorite! Definitely something that will bring happiness to your life if you can try it! Highly recommended!

Jayne just had a three inch growth spurt. That's right - 3". And of course it happened right after we bought her new clothes. So... we made another trip to Walmart and Fallas Paredes and she is outfitted again for the time being.

She LOVES this outfit. And as we all know:

"Modesty is ALWAYS in style!"