Warning-this is a sad post.

Well, since most of the family knows now I can blog about it and I'll just put it out there. John and Kaylin will no longer be living with us. Their last day is this next Saturday and they are only off and on here until then. I can't and don't want to get into details (to Seans friends-don't let all of Sean's lame excuses fool ya, he can't and won't get into it either and ignore his nervous chuckle too). Not only because legally I can't but because of respect for my children. Yes, I will always think of them as my children. No matter where they go, what they do, or how they feel about me, they will always have a place in my heart as my kids. I just won't be able to call them that. And I don't think I'm out of the normal realm because I read stories all the time about foster parents feeling that way. We know the family they are going to live with and I think that will make it a little easier. Definately for John! He can go to the same school, the same counselor, they even go to our church (different ward and time but same building). Johnathon's counselor wants us to have no contact with them for a period of time after the transition and that's going to be super hard but I am going to do everything in my power to make this next move work! I want the best for these kids and as hard as it has been and will be I am now on the back burner and am not totally ok with it yet but I'm getting there. I have shed quite a few tears this last week (sorry about the awkwardness Kelley!) but I can't deny the spirit I have felt about everything being ok. Now, if I can just get my heart to believe it. This has been a terribly hard experience but if it gets John and Kaylin a good, stable, permanent family then it was worth it! We have had them for 2 years. We are the only "real" family they have known and I know these next few years will be incredibly hard (trust me I know) but I hope their future holds hugs, kisses, and a good solid chance at a forever family. No pressure for the family right! It will be a long, long time (if ever) that we do this again. It took it's toll on us and Jase and Jayda. We will never look at the system, birth moms/families, or us for that matter, the same again. This has brought out the worst in us but also the best. Everyone involved is nervous and scared (understandably) but I remind myself it's the journey AND the destination! I love John and Kaylin and as I write this crying all over the keyboard I am happy because I really do feel we got them right were they needed to go. I have a hunch there was a bigger hand in it. Again, I just need to remind my heart of that.

No News is Good News...right?

I have been on a no internet hiatus. But I'm back so here's the low down.

We are having a great time this week. I have been trying to be more adventurous with our time so I couldn't complain anymore. We.........

went to the movies yesterday. Yes, me and 5 children ages 2-6. The main reason we went is because it was FREE. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays they are playing movies (they are a little bit older) throughout the summer and did I mention it was FREE! Wahoo! Needless to say it was full of people just like me. Little kids up the wazuu with parents who would never actually pay for fear of leaving and wasting their money. It actually went great. No crying, no tantrums, very little shushing and Dane and Jayda only asked to go home once each. I'm like "come on you're at the movies, have a little fun!" I am gonna try and do it as much as we can.

are packing. We are moving again. More details to follow but we are definitely moving.

are taking a little bit of break from babysitting. I love, love, love my nephew Dane. He is funny (not to mention cute) and keeps me and the kids entertained but it is not easy to pack with him around. I am looking forward to the down time but am sad I won't have any spending money again. Funny how you get used to that sort of thing. :)

are not pregnant. He-he, you got the not part right? Just thought I would throw that in there in case you were wondering.

are done with gymnastics. Yay. They really should have ended at the end of the school year. It just seemed to drag on way to long. Jase has one class left tomorrow and then it is on to swimming lessons!

know someone who is having a breast biopsy done. Please pray for them. Know that we love you, are praying for you and now you have more people praying for you!

are doing OK. We are all healthy, have a home (for now), a good job, a family that loves us, awesome friends and we belong to a great church with good people. That's as much as we can ask for right now!

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day has come and gone. We didn't do anything spectacular because we are trying to save money but the homemade gifts are more thoughtful anyway. Jase painted Sean a picture frame and superglued her picture all by herself. She glued two of her fingers together and freaked out a little bit but we got them apart and with skin intact! :)I helped the kids do a handprint plaque (do not attempt by yourself with 4 little ones). It turned out A LOT better than I thought it would! I let the kids pick out their colors and paint their hands by themselves and they did really good. John and Kaylin both needed help filling in around the edges and Jayda painted Jase's a little but we got it figured out. I did put my professional painting in play and painted around the hands tan. I had planned on letting them do whatever but you ended up not being able to see the hands real well. Jayda's is purple, John's is green, Kaylin's is red and Jase's is light blue.
So Happy Father's Day my love! You are a great dad and I am so proud to call you mine! Hope you enjoyed your day! I love you!

p.s. Happy Father's Day Dad, John, Russ, Brent, Trent, Justin, Brad, DJ and Jeff.

Slacker.

I've had a hard time blogging. I've got a ton on my mind and am finding it hard to make a post outta nothing. We haven't been doing a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g since school has been out. Fun stuff everyday but the same fun stuff everyday. Mix it up once in awhile with a trip the park or the pet store but so far summer is not living up to my expectations. Hopefully, with all that is happening in the next two weeks, I will be able to keep up. More to come.....

JAL

A few months ago we went and visited the local airport (when we went it was Japan Airlines but it isn't anymore) with the youth at our church. I am the secretary in YW and I milk the perks when I can. I took Jase with me and it was a good time.Here she is as co-pilot. Holy Cow there was a lot of buttons!! It's the largest plane Boeing makes and it was HUGE! Me being in Aww didn't take any pictures of the whole outside. Oops!

She wanted a picture in one of the seven bathrooms. Silly girl!Good thing they didn't turn it on! The airplane has 4 jets, we had to climb a ladder to get up in it. It also has 18 Huge wheels and inside it is multi-level. This thing was B.I.G!

I have quite a few more pictures but they aren't to exciting. It was kinda interesting to see the different areas of class and compare them. It was $16,000 dollars for a first class ticket to Japan. Ahhh.....to be rich.

Buh, Buh, Buh......Another one bites the dust.

My many thanks Aunt Linda!! Sparkles will love living at your house!
Can you tell who loves the kitties the most. She is actually a tad bit obsessed. :)

Monday Madness

I neglected my blog for a few days so this is catch up.

1. We have been infested by spiders. Ewww.....all different kinds and sizes but this one totally made me run and get some TP. Usually I let the kids catch them and keep them or let them go outside but this one was gross! And green! And Huge!

2. By request. Here is a picture of Flower. She is a sweet girl who needs a home. Flower, not Jayda! :)

3. Cooper is still all puppy. He is six months old on the 19th and has developed a terrible habit. Sneaking everything he can find under the kitchen table. Here he is (doesn't he look guilty) with his loot- 3 pairs of shoes, a bowl, a toy dog, a yo-yo, a dress up shoe, a sippy and a toy bear.

4. Jase's last day of school was last Wednesday. Yes, I know, I'm late! Here she is with her beloved Mrs. Nash (she's wearing the necklace Jase gave her too). She had such a good year and we are so proud of her! I think her teacher loved her too because she always, always, always only had good to say. We are so proud of her. We love you Jase. Congrats!

Jase with a few of her friends at parent pick-up the last day. There were a few tears but everyone made it through it. I think the pajama party helped. L-R Sydney (totally bawled her eyes out), Janessa, Maiya, Jase

5. And it looks like Jase has another UTI. Number 18. We caught it early cuz I was watching and thinking~maybe~so I went and got a home test downtown. It was positive so I took her in. She's on antibiotics but it didn't make it to her kidneys so it's not to worrisome just another round of antibiotics. Yuck!

It's a miracle!

I am so, so sad I didn't take a before and after picture! You don't understand how excited I am about this. Ecstatic! Ok, now that I have played it up enough, I can tell you what happened. Dane wrote (quite a bit) on my fairly new couch with an ink pen. Ahhh.....Black pen and very noticeable! But then I remembered the life saver of a post my sis-in-law Anne wrote about the very same thing. I decided to try it. Hand Sanitizer. Yes, I was sceptical too. I put an even line down every pen stroke and in 2.5 seconds it was gone. Yep, Gone. I know. Amazing!! I didn't even have to rub it! I thought maybe faint marks, maybe a funny ring from the sanitizer. Nope, Nothing! As soon as it dried, you couldn't even tell where my couch had been ruined! Oh, the JOY! Now, I am passing on this life saver (well, couch saver anyway) of a post on to you.
Read, Enjoy, Remember!

Water Babies

After the dirt.....Comes the water.Yes, he is wearing shorts.Dane looked like a drowned rat everytime he got done. So funny!
I know I have done the sprinkler post already but this is what we do a few times a week. :)

Picture Perfect

My brother and sister-in-law took me up on my family picture offer. I'm glad because not only was it fun but the pictures turned out cute.One of my favorite pictures. My nephew Finley, oh so cute!

Also love this one, he is such a hoot!My handsome nephew Conley with his newly lost teeth. :)

Thanks for the practice and letting me post em! And thanks Mom and Dad for letting us use your spiffy yard!

And here's scenes from our next episode.

Unsuspecting husband, wife, 4 kids and 3 (obviously not) watch dogs sound asleep at 6 o'clock in the morning. Nice neighbor walking his two dogs. Big red tow truck hooked up to unsuspecting families Lincoln Navigator. Bad men proceeding to open Navigator with jimmy, wedges and all other gadgets used to break into unsuspecting families car without damage. Nice neighbor wonders if Navigator is being repo'd. Then nice neighbor notices big red tow truck has no license plates or business logo's. Nice neighbor stops and watches bad men. Bad men notice nice neighbor stopped, bad men stop what they are doing, unhook Navigator from tow truck and pack up all breaking into paraphernalia. Meanwhile, nice neighbor notices a couple of the bad men walking around the neighborhood peaking in windows. Nice neighbor goes home. Nice neighbor does not call police. Meanwhile unsuspecting husband, wife, 4 kids and 3 (obviously not) watch dogs still sound asleep.

Yes, this was this morning. You would think we live in the hood with all that's been going on lately. The nice neighbor did come over, about noon, and tell me about it and I told him our Navigator is paid off. There would be no reason for it to be repo'd. I went and talked to my neighbors who'd been peeked on, called Sean, then called the cops. I wasn't expecting anything for me because there was not really any damage (only a few scrapes and scratches) and they didn't get in or take it. I just wanted to let them know about the tow truck. Last month I met Officer Myer and today I met Officer Varner. He came out and tried to take fingerprints. No luck, looks like the bad men were smart. They were wearing gloves. And during this whole time, I was going about my business as usual and having a play group at my house. So weird if he hadn't deterred them I probably wouldn't have even noticed it was gone until I had to take Jase to school at 12:15 (thanks Stacey). I'm so glad he was snoopy!!

On another happy Navigator note. I had been hearing a funny noise for a week or so. I told Sean about it and said it sounded more like it was coming from the wheel or underneath and not from the motor. He looked under it and around the wheel well and tire but didn't see anything. Yesterday, it really started clunking so I called Sean. I took it up to the Pit Stop at about 5. Sean took the tire off and found out the caliper (brake part) was missing a bolt and was just kinda hanging on. Every time I would brake or turn hard it was flopping around and that was the clunk I heard. Sean called everyone in town. No luck. Ahhh...what would I do without my car. He ended up putting it back together and we decided I would slowly scoot home. I got there I could get home. Sean decided to retrace all my car steps of that day to see if MAYBE he could find the bolt. You will never believe it. HE DID! He found it embedded in a street I drive down at least 4 times a day taking Jase to and from school. It was pretty hot yesterday and the asphalt was soft and it stuck and stayed. He dug it out, came home and put the car correctly back together again. I am so glad we got it fixed yesterday and so glad it didn't get stolen today!! Dear Lincoln Navigator, I may not always treat you well but I am so grateful I have you. I love you, Gator.

Jayda is soooo sad.

Our Lu-Lu is gone. I have been trying to prep the kids but, by the outcome today, I don't think I did so well. By the way, I didn't just decide to take a bunch of pictures of my sad kids, it started out as Jayda wanting one last picture. Here is Jayda giving Lu-Lu her last good-bye. Little did Jayda know what was in store."Mom, why are they taking her away? Mom, they are taking Lu-Lu in their car."

Then came the chain reaction....

The chain stopped at John. Obviously!Nothing like sisterly love to make everything better.She's tryin anyway.

The others are coming around but Jayda is heartbroken. She has not had to deal with a whole lot of loss in her little life. With how pitiful she looked just laying on the couch and sobbing I hope she doesn't have any more for a long time to come.

P.S.

I already shaved the dogs a couple weeks ago. :)

Doggie depression

The dogs are driving me N...U...T...S!

Their shedding is insane.

I wash, I brush, I vaccuum (yes them), and lock them outside daily.

But still I have insane amounts of hair everywhere!

When I turn on the vaccuum to do the floor-Tubs comes running-

she hates shedding as much as I do.

And I turned on the vaccuum and did the floors three times today.

It could probably use one more time before bed!

Dog hair is on the furniture, on our clothes, on Dane's butt (don't set a newly changed boy on the carpet), in our eyes, in our food, floating around in the air and even ends up in our mouths.

Yuck!

If this turns you off from dogs, it shouldn't.

It should turn you off from 3 black haired dogs maybe.

It does me!!

P.S. I do love my dogs otherwise I wouldn't put up with all this craziness!

Relay for Life

Once again it was time for The Relay for Life. For those of you who don't know (and I'm surprised that people still don't) it is a fundraiser for the Cancer Society. You can find out more info if you want at Relayforlife.org. They raise money for cancer research and I have gone since I was little. My grandpa died when I was little of Lung Cancer (another testiment for not smoking) among other extended family members and so I willingly and actively participate. Not to mention it's a good time. The company my mom works for is a big contributer and we usually run with them although I have also ran with others throughout the years. The slots are half an hour and I am a traditional hourer.
This is the awesome team who ran from 3 to 4 am. Michaela and I half dead.At 4 am there was a cake walk and guess who won a cake. Yep, we did!! I told you we were awesome!My favorite part is the luminaries. They are paper bags you personalize with names of people and put a candle in it for those you want to recognize who have been affected by cancer. These ones had been burning for 6 and a half hours. It really is beautiful and I wish I had taken more pictures but I was pretty tired by 4:30 in the morning.