I'm Published

I finally got one year of my blog into book form! I'm really pleased with how it came out. Blurb's a winner in my book {if you will}. Fellow CBJ's- we should make a cookbook!!

AZ

Our Arizona trip was a blast, as usual! We drove, which went surprisingly well {save for a few episodes of car sickness which prompted the purchase of Dramamine for the ride home}. The kids were great. No fighting, no crying, no pull overs for emergency potty breaks! We spent most of the week swimming, playing with cousins, watching movies and playing games. I discovered the goodness of Sonic cream slushes...mmmmm. On Friday we drove up to Matt's parents cabin in Snowflake. It was so much fun! We had a great time exploring the 40 acres of property on the 4-wheeler. Matt was the master at discovering ancient artifacts. He found several arrowheads, which made me jealous so I had to search until I found one myself! We also found a bunch of pottery, which was cool. The kids loved "helping" uncle Curt build a cool fort in the trees which was dubbed "Arrowhead Fortress". Jackson wandered around picking up rocks and the odd stink bug. He was in heaven! It was great to spend time with the whole family.

While in Arizona, Matt's mom set up family pictures, which was great. We have never had a family picture, so I was excited. They turned out wonderfully, especially the ones of the kids.

Vay-Kay

We just returned from a
fabulous week in Arizona.

There was much:

car riding,

swimming pooling,

Sonic "happy hour"ing,

game playing,

puzzling,

movie watching,

cousin playing,

cabining,

arrow head finding,

4-wheeling,

and relaxing!

Some of the highlights for the kids were being able to watch movies in their bedroom at night {Lincoln wanted to watch "Bye Bye Birdie" every night!}, Kensie learning that the tooth fairy can find you anywhere....even Arizona!, and playing with their cousins. It was a great vacation! Pics to come!!

Let's Make A Memory

Want to play?

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

CDT

As you may {or may not} know, Kensie has been a part of the Virginia Tanner Creative Dance Program for the past few years. In May she auditioned for Children's Dance Theatre {CDT} and made it! They only audition dancers going into second grade. If you make it, you're in for life {or until you leave/graduate}. The only other way to become part of the company is if a spot opens up and your teacher recommends you. SO, this is a big deal for Kensie! She is beyond excited, as am I. She has been taking an art/dance class this summer with the girls that will make up the new CDT Second Grade class, and it has been so great. She's already made so many friends, and these are friends that will be with her for the next 10 years!! I'm excited for her to develop the bonds that will be formed with these girls. I have bonds with my Life Arts Center and U of U dancing friends that will never be broken. Here's a little background on CDT for those who are interested:

Children’s Dance Theatre (CDT) is the performing arm of the University of Utah Virginia Tanner Creative Dance Program. The company was established in 1949 by Virginia Tanner. Since 1979, under the artistic direction of Mary Ann Lee, the company has continued to grow in size and programming, resulting in continued state, national and international recognition. In February 2000, a major goal was realized when the program became a part of the University's Department of Modern Dance in the College of Fine Arts.
This company of young dancers, ages eight to eighteen, shares its performances annually with more than 45,000 Utahns. Every spring, the company showcases an original work at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. CDT is the second oldest performing arts organization in Utah and performs regularly under the auspices of the Utah Arts Council’s Performing Arts Tour, with support from the Zoo, Arts and Parks fund, and in collaboration with other arts organizations and individuals.

The goals of CDT are to allow children to experience the joy of moving and the discipline of dance, to nurture the creative process and to share the results of this training with a broad population base. While technique is taught for the development of strength, flexibility, control, balance and an awareness of the body’s potential, an equal emphasis is placed on creative problem solving. The importance of balanced intellectual and physical development is continually stressed. Inherent in the program, CDT nurtures an appreciation of music, literature and visual arts.

A few projects from her summer class:

Backyard Deux

A few pics of how the yard is coming along.....

In Another Life....

Manual labor and I do not get along.

Me and shovels? We just don't mesh.

The blisters on my hands... not my friends.

I've decided that I was born to be royalty {who wasn't?}. I was born to be a queen, not a servant. I was born to have people wait on me hand and foot. My hands were made for crocheting, not shoveling rock. I am supposed to be sitting in the garden under a parasol, eating fabulous treats and reading poetry, not breaking my back trying to MAKE the garden. Alas, I am alone in this realization. And so, I continue to slave. Honestly, I haven't really done much. Unless you count spending 2 hours last night shoveling, raking, and unloading the wheelbarrow {which I think counts A LOT}. Most of the work has been by Matt and my dad, but isn't that how it should be? After all, I am royalty you know.


p.s. We're almost ready for sod!

My Name Is:

1. My rockstar name (first pet and current car): Syd Durango
2. My gangsta name (favorite candy bar and favorite cookie): Skor Ginger Lime
3. My "brotha" name (first initial of first name and first three letters of last name: N'Hol {not quite as good as my sis-in-law's "A'Hol"}
4. My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal): Purple Manatee
5. My soap opera name (first name and city where you were born): Natalie Salt Lake
6. My Star Wars name (first three letters of your last name and first two letters of your first name then the word "of" then a medication you are on): Holna of Centrum
7. My superhero name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "the" in front): The Blue Water
8. My Nascar name (first names of your grandfathers): Elmo Elmer {classic!}
9. My stripper name (name of your favorite perfume and your favorite candy): Tommy Girl Lemon Heads
10. My witness-protection name (mother's and father's middle names): Eddington Spencer

Stitch

Lincoln and the coffee table are not friends. He had his second {losing} battle with it on Tuesday evening, which resulted in his second trip to Urgent Care. On the previous occasion his forehead was the target, but luckily was just super-glued back together {worked great. no scar}. This time, however, we weren't so lucky. I hauled the clan into the office {luckily Kensie played babysitter with Jackson in the waiting area during the ordeal} & waited for the dr. I've had good experiences with urgent care doctors in the past, but this guy {probably in his late 40's} was a complete moron. He looked at the gash on Lincoln's chin & I told him that previously they had used the super-glue stuff and it worked great. "Really? Nurse, what is that stuff? I've never heard of it before", he says. Nurse tells him about it. He says he thinks it will be better to do stitches. I say okay. Whatever you think is best. Nurse gets everything ready and asks dr. what type/size he wants for the stitches {she throws out many numbers and some medical jargon}. Dr. has no idea what she is talking about so she picks one for him. At this point I'm thinking I should just ask the nurse if she'll do the procedure, but then I think that might be rude. Dr. numbs Lincoln's chin {supposedly}, nurse and I hold him down, dr. puts gauze over Lincoln's eyes {I'm assuming so he won't see the needle and freak out} and begins to sew. Lincoln freaks out. Not screaming, but crying that it hurts. Dr. takes his sweet time with one stitch, and Lincoln won't keep his mouth closed so dr. decides that one stitch is good enough. I'm pretty sure I could have done a better job at "the stitch" than he did. It didn't even seem tight. Nurse promptly applies a plethora of steri strips to make sure it is closed. We leave, and they tell us to come back in two days to take the stitch out. Yeah, right. I did it myself and saved us 20 bucks.

Lincon's fine now, but will probably have a scar. Good thing I have Mederma for kids.

Fourth Festivities {or not}

Our Fourth of July was pretty boring this year- we didn't even see any fireworks {although we heard some from our house}. We used to buy the huge pack of fireworks at Costco, but alas, now that we live in the mountains we are forbidden. We were able to spend the day at my family's cabin on Saturday, which was a blast. We had fun playing horseshoes, having water gun fights, playing Five Crowns {Kensie's new favorite game}, eating good food, and relaxing. Jackson was intrigued by the elk head, but did NOT want to touch it. He pointed at it a lot, though. Jackson and Grandpa Young were inseparable {mostly because Jackson would not let anyone else hold him. He & Grandpa are buds}.

SEVEN

The week of July 4th is a week of celebration. Freedom is a GREAT reason to celebrate, but around here we celebrate for another reason, too......

On July 3rd, 2001 Matt was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

It was a huge shock to all of us. Right after Kensie was born, he started getting really tired and dizzy, but we just attributed it to lack of sleep. When it didn’t go away, I finally convinced Matt to go to the doctor. He couldn’t see anything wrong with Matt, but did some blood tests to be sure. He said we should come back in a week to get the results. The next day we got a message from him saying there was a problem. He made an appointment for us to see a hematologist (Dr. Nibley). He gave us several options of what might be wrong with Matt, including Leukemia. Matt’s red blood cell count was 18, and normally it should be around 40-50. That day (it was our 2nd anniversary) Matt went in for a blood transfusion and a bone marrow biopsy.
In the bone marrow biopsy they stuck a huge needle through Matt’s back and into his pelvic bone, broke off some of the bone, and extracted some of the marrow. This procedure would tell them exactly what was wrong with Matt.

Three days later, we went in to hear the results and Dr. Nibley told us that Matt had Leukemia. I was in total shock. Matt said he had a feeling that it was Leukemia. Matt’s mom & my parents were in the waiting room, and I don’t know how they reacted when they found out, but it was a surreal day. Dr. Nibley told Matt he had until Monday to quit his job, bank sperm, and get everything else in order. On Monday he was to go into St. Mark’s Hospital to begin chemotherapy. That was the beginning of over a year of intense chemotherapy treatment, lots of worry, many bizarre events, and endless miracles.

We were so blessed to have family, friends, neighbors, and Church leaders who helped us in so many ways {financially, spiritually, emotionally}. I look back and wonder how I did it. I really think it was through the prayers of others that I was able to survive through all the hellish things Matt had to go through without breaking down {too much}.

SO, every July 3rd we celebrate another cancer-free year. This year is NUMBER SEVEN! Independence Day has always been one of Matt's favorite holidays, but being able to rejoice in another kind of independence makes it even more special!

Backyard Update

Work started yesterday! Hooray!! The kids love to sit and watch the "digger" {who needs a babysitter?}. So far the wall on one side and the raised area is pretty much done. Hopefully by next weekend we'll be ready for sprinklers and sod. Woo hoo! Here are some pics:


YESTERDAY:









TODAY:


*couldn't get a picture of the wall b/c the machinery is in the way.....

Freedom: do you love it?

Where do you fit on the freedom scale?

a test courtesy of the jolly porter

1. When you hear the National Anthem you:

a. Sing it super loud and know all three verses. You are the first to stand when they sing it in Sacrament meeting and it makes others feel guilty. You resent that we don't sing all three verses, because the first verse is technically just a big long question.

b. Sing it mostly loud but drop out when it comes to "and the rockets red glare" and "o'er the land of the free" because those parts are really high and it's not like you're Mariah Carey.

c. You sing it, but you don't know a lot of the words. When you forget a part you just sing "watermelon, watermelon, ramparts, ramparts, watermelon."

d. You don't even fake like you know the words. Instead you act all sassy and sing "Oh, Canada."

2. When you first visited the Statue of Liberty in New York, you thought:

a. Wow, what a glorious symbol of steadfastness and heroism!

b. Wow, what a glorious symbol of steadfastness and heroism, even though French people made it.

c. That's actually not that big. It looked bigger in the pictures.

d. That's fine, but we should be getting back. Wicked starts at 7:30 and I'm not going to be late for that!

3. When the American flag passes by at the 4th of July parade, you:

a. Stand and salute, and you have a tear in your eye and a lump in your throat.

b. You stand up, but it takes a little while. The only time you jump to your feet is when the missionaries march by! (woot! woot!)

c. You are not going to stand up, but you feel patriotic anyway. If you stand up you are positive that a street urchin will steal your lawn chair, and you just bought those!

d. You don't even see the flag go by, because you are too anxious to see the cutest baby float.

4. Your favorite 4th of July movie is:

a. Band of Brothers. You watch all 16 hours in a foxhole you dug in the backyard and deny yourself popcorn and bathroom breaks.

b. The Music Man. A delightful slice of Americana which shows that liars and cheats will always be bailed out in the end.

c. Pearl Harbor. Because even though a lot of people died, the actors are super hot!

d. Dogville.

5. Your favorite thing about America is:

a. At least you know you're free. The rest of the world isn't.

b. In America we can have fancy things like the Las Vegas Strip.

c. It's really hard for foreigners to get in.

d. Nothing! I like Cuba way better.

OK. Time to tally up! For each time you answered A, give yourself 5 points. For each B answer, you get 4 points. Every time you answered C that's 3 points, and it's 2 points for every D. Got your score?

21-25 points: Way to go! You love freedom more than everyone else. That's fantastic. But maybe you are showing off a little.

17-20 points: You have realized that freedom isn't free. You enjoy participating in Civil War re-enactments.

13-16 points. Like most of Hollywood, you hate the war but love the troops. Secretly, like most of Hollywood, you hate the troops as well.

10-12 points. Hmmm, time to brush up on your Americana, Adolf!

1 Year Stats

Height: 30 1/2 inches {up from 25 % to 75 %}

Weight: 22 pounds {down from 75% to 50%}