VACATION!!!

This past week our family had the FABULOUS opportunity to go to a Tilton Family reunion in Dallas, TX. We all had SO MUCH FUN, and were a bit sad to leave the family as well as the beautiful area. I was having so much fun, in fact, that I neglected to take pictures for most of the trip. Pretty much the only pictures are at the temple or while the kids are sleeping...sigh...oh well. At least the pics I did actually take turned out!

Here are Cory, Bryson, and Dallin at the temple in front of the nativity. Dallin was so cute, he didn't want to get up from that little spot. He sat there for quite some time just starring at the display.

A bunch of the siblings had planned to do a trip to the temple, so I decided I would take the kids. Kim (sister-in-law) decided to come too and take two of her kids. I think we are all glad we did it.

Cory is getting so old, it amazes me, even bewilders me at how fast it's going by. Here he is trying to smile, but actually just making a dorky face in front of the temple. Hey, at least he let me take his picture. :) I love my boy, he was so good on the trip. I mean, TRULY EXCEPTIONAL. I was a proud mom. He enjoyed taking care of his smaller cousins and trying to keep up with the older ones.

Below is little Bryson, although, he's not so little anymore either. The sweet thing got so homesick after only a couple days in TX (we were gone from home a total of ten days). Other than that, he had a LOT of fun playing with the cousins, especially on the trampoline. I felt like some days on the trip I barely even saw him because he was outside playing with his cousins all day.

...And little Dallin. Oh boy, he was a character on the trip. He has so much affection, especially for the little babies, that it would come out in big bursts of hugs and kisses, and he'd end up knocking the poor little things over! He is definately going to have to be taught how to interact with children smaller than him before our next little guy (or maybe gal) is born. He was even a bit of a bully at times...ughh...but he's only two, I guess what can you expect? He was at an akward stage where he wasn't a baby, but he wasn't just one of the kids either. He REALLY enjoyed wrestling each night with whoever would wrestle with him...uncles, cousins, or whoever. And before he went to bed, he went around and gave everyone he could find a hug. (There were about 40 people at the reunion, half kids, and all of us under two roofs).

Here's Bryson with Jayson, his three year old cousin. They were good buds.

Bryson and Jayson with Aunt Maria, Jim's wife. She did a much better job than I did at taking pictures...maybe I should snag some of the ones she took!

There were a bunch of acorns on the ground, and the boys had SO much fun finding them. We got home and Bryson's pockets were full to the brim with little acorns...and his pockets were NOT small. ha ha What a nut! (A little play on words there for the cheesy folk)

Unfortunately while we were there, the kids (and I mean ALL the kids, not just mine) got sick. It was something like the croup, which in general is not fun, but for asthmatics like Cory, it's just plain scary. At one point I was quite concerned because Cory's nebulizer treatment was having virtually no effect on his asthma. I wasn't sure if the insurance would cover something like a hospital trip out of network (I've heard they're a pain about that sort of thing), so I was doubly concerned. John called Jeb and Evan in (two of his brothers), and they gave him a blessing that his body would be able to heal on its own. Within an hour we realized that the nebulzer wasn't hooked up quite right, so he wasn't getting the much-needed meds, and within about three hours he was showing a significant amount of improvement. Ahhhh, blessings!!!

So, back to the pictures...we found a lady bug while on the temple grounds. I posted this picture more because of Cory's cute little hand than because of the lady bug, though. He's getting old, but he still has the pudgy little-boy hands. Ahhh, I know they're not going to last much longer, so I've got to cherish them while they're around.

Below is uncle Jim carrying Bryson and Jayson. What a sport. Maria and Kim are also sort of in the pic....I wish I had better shots of me and the sister-in-laws. We all had SO MUCH FUN together. We'd leave the kids with our husbands and take off and have fun. We went shopping several of the times, and did the New Moon movie. The sisters all went to get mani/pedi's, but I just wasn't up to it (darn fatigue kicked my tooshy), so when they came back, they all sat me down in a "princess chair" and gave me my own mani/pedi. I know, how totally sweet, right? They even cut my toe-nails!!! Yeah, after that they deserve better pictures, but alas...

Dallin was hilarious while he slept. He never woke up in the same spot twice. We'd hear him during the night bumping into different pieces of funriture. He never woke up. Anyway, this was one of the mornings. He cracks me up!

Here's Cory and Bryson asleep in the hotel room. We were able to break up our 16 hour drive at the hotel each way, thanks to a VERY generous family member (THANK YOU!!). They are just so cute, I had to snap a shot.

I have been accused of not taking enough pictures by my brother and sister, so here's another one of them falling asleep together. They're the best of friends, I love watching their bond form stronger and stronger, especially now that they're both in school. They even sit next to eachother on the bus. I love my boys!

And here's another random picture for my siblings who've been asking for more. The kids were cute at breakfast this morning. They're all crazy, I swear!!!

Catching up on last month...

First of all....MY POOR CAR!!!! We had a wind storm the other week (you know how bad they get in Sierra Vista, ughh!) Well, this one blew our swamp cooler off our roof and onto our car!

We heard a lot of noise during the night, but never did it cross our minds that it was our swamp cooler coming off our roof!! Luckily our car insurance pays for it (it falls under "wind damage") so we will be getting a check in the mail pretty soon, and because it wasn't "our fault" our premium won't even be going up! Meanwhile, it's totally embarassing riding around town with our little beaten up car.

We've also had a bunch of sickness in the home. It seems like every week is something new...this week it's the stomach flu. Here are the brothers cuddling with eachother watching a movie. They're so sweet. Whoever is well is always taking care of the sick brother.

My thyroid was out of whack again last month, so they've upped my medication, and so I've begun to keep up with the kids and house again. THANK GOODNESS! I still have to take a nap (and by have to take a nap, I mean HAVE TO take a nap, I swear, I'm like a two-year old, scheduling my day around nap time, but hey, whatever works!)

Ok, so these aren't the most flattering pictures of Dallin, but I had to get a picture posted. A few weeks ago we got home from church, and before we had a chance to get them out of their church clothes, the kids were playing in the backyard.

For whatever reason, Dallin decided it would be a good idea to go stand in an ant hill and stomp on ants. Well, the ants bit him several times under his chin. These pictures were taken a couple days later, and you can still see how swollen it was. John came home from work the next day and said, "Wow, Dallin is really getting chunky". No, the double chin is from the ant bites, poor thing!

What happened just after the ants got on Dallin was pretty remarkable. Cory, who is generally VERY scared of ants, saw that Dallin was screaming and had ants crawling all over him. He went up to Dallin and started flicking the ants off of him, one by one. After he got several off, he ran and got me, and then ran back to him and continued to get the ants off his little brother until I got there. I was so proud of him forgetting a HUGE fear of his, and just stepping up and taking care of Dallin. I told Cory that shows me he'll make a good daddy someday.

Halloween

So, I was a bad mother this Halloween, and only took a couple of pictures, and most of them didn't even turn out that well. But, we'll work with what we've got, right?

Here is Bryson (Spiderman) after the sugar hit his bloodstream.

Little Dallin (our little Monkey) digging into his brother's candy.

Cory was Bumble Bee (the transformer), you can see him running away from getting his picture taken.

We ended up having a LOT of fun. Bryson was invited to a party in the afternoon before trick-or-treating. His BFF from Kindergarten (his name is Cooper, they're inseperable) was allowed to invite a friend to his parent's Halloween party, so we ended up all going. Afterwards, we rushed home to get dinner ready (roast, mmmm) and we left trunk-or-treating with the Declett family.

The day before Halloween, my good friend Sarah Avalos invited us to a party her school throws for the kids of teachers. My darling grandma sent the kids some costumes, and it worked perfectly, so they didn't get their other costumes dirty or anything. Here is the picture they took there:

Grandma also sent a few hats for the kids. Here is a random picture of Dallin in the jester's hat.

Pat on the back, Brycie!

Last week I got a notice that Bryson would be given an award at an upcomming awards assembly for K-2nd grade. You can imagine how proud I was of my sweet little boy.

There were two types of award given: citizenship and student recognition awards. Bryson was awarded the student recognition award, and here is what was read about him in the assembly:

If the type is too small, here is what it says about him:

Bryson is an excited participant in all of our classroom activities. He shows a good attitude toward school and is very respectful of others. Bryson shares, listens, and works well with his classmates.

Ahh, I'm so proud of my boy! He genuinely is all those things, very thoughtful and optimistic. He's such a joy to be around, and I'm so glad that his teacher/classmates think so too. But who wouldn't, right. :)

Goodbye, Nella

Our sweet little boxer puppy, Nella, had to be put down a coule of days ago. Above is the note Cory wrote to God about Nella. He kept sticking out the back door so God could see it. He's so cute.

Here she is inside a kid's size shoe-box.

The kids all adore(d) her, she was very sweet/patient with them.

Dallin and her used to meet under the table to find bits of food to eat. (Totally gross, I know.)

When the kids were sick, we'd let Nella cuddle with them. She was like a little babysitter.

A few months ago we took her to the vet because of a bad limp, and found that she had a severe case of hip dysplasia. It's a problem that only gets worse with time, and she was in a lot of pain from it.

Despite the pain, she still managed to be completely crazy and have some fun.

But after a good day of playing, she'd always have a few days in a lot of pain recovering. :(

So, a few days ago, John put her down. She was a sweet dog, it was sad to see her go like she did.

What was once our bathroom...

Over a week ago we got started on this project. We knew there was mold growing in the wall (sooo gross, I know!!) So, last Thursday, John and his dad tore everything out and bleached the crap out of the bathroom.

Unfortunately, the day after this project started our little sick streak, and so our bathroom still sits completely torn apart, but at least without mold growing in it anymore. We've put black plastic over the room and there it sits, until we can get everyone well and back to having the time and energy to finish the project.

I seriously look forward to posting some "finished project" pictures!!

Meanwhile, life at home has calmed down a bit. The kids and I are still coughing a bit, but no one feels horrible anymore, so I consider that a huge step in the right direction.

Ever since Dallin went to the hospital, the older boys have paid extra attention to their little brother. They are so sweet, including him in everything, and Dallin just eats up the "big boy" attention.

Cory lost not one, but two teeth last month. Here he is with his bottom teeth missing. He's SO BIG!!!

You can kind of see the teeth growing in behind...I foresee braces in this kids future. :(

He's holding the little box containing his tooth that the tooth fairy took later that night.

My little Brycie just isn't looking so little these days! He's completely enjoying kindergarten and writing and comes home singing the most adorable songs. He has been very clingy to me the past few days, every chance he gets he'll come and sit on my lap. I guess it's from being gone for a few days. I love the cuddles, I know my days are numbered.

As for Dallin, he's back to full-energy, but he has definately been more clingy as well. If Bryson is cuddling with me, he'll come up and say, "NO! MY moma!" I love being a mom, but sometimes I get the feeling there's just not enough of me to go around.

And here is our adorable little boxer, Nella. She's 10 months old, and still so iddy biddy. She's got a bad case of hip dysplasia, so sadly, she will not be with us much longer. Her quality of life is quite poor with her bad limp, and severe pain. Our poor little crazy girl!!!

I appreciate all of the concern that was expressed over our family getting better. I'm very happy to report that we're slowly getting back to normal. Thank you for the prayers that went for Dallin especially. I believe we had a miracle happen this past week, for him to recover so quickly, and for the condition to not be as bad as they originally thought. We are seriously very blessed.