Rob and Marci Peacock and Family

Ear Tubes for Jaxy Boy

2011-09-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sadie is our only child that hasn't had ear infections and ear tubes. It all started with Cayden who had chronic ear infections from the time he was only 2 months old. When he was 6 months old, he finally had tubes. When the twins were born, we knew what to look for and sure enough they both started having ear infections from the very beginning. McKell was so little when she got her tubes at age 2 months and Ashlee only 5 months when she got her first set of tubes. She has since had another set put in and may have to have another. Sadie came along and we just assumed she would need tubes, but nope. She was just fine.

When Jaxson was born, we again watched for signs. He had a few really bad ear infections that our pediatrician misdiagnosed as "swimmer's ear" when in reality, he had ruptured his eardrum. This happened twice. After realizing that he wasn't talking much, we took him to our great ENT, Dr Kelley. He agreed that he needed tubes and a hearing test showed that he had hearing loss in both ears, but didn't think that was permanent. So a few months ago, we decided to get tubes. But Jaxson had other plans. He had developed a really bad cough that morning and they refused to do surgery if he had a cough. Instead, we spent the morning in the ER getting a breathing treatment for croup.

Following that, he didn't have as many infections, so we thought it was okay. But upon a follow up with the ENT, we realized that he still had fluid behind his ears and couldn't hear. We scheduled tubes again, and this time we did it!

Jaxson did great going with the dr. And his recovery was perfect and he was back to his normal silly adorable self in no time.

Since then, his vocabulary has exploded. He is talking so much and saying so many words. For weeks after his surgery, the other kids would say, "Thanks Mom and Dad for getting Jaxson his tubes. Now we can talk to him!" We couldn't agree more!
Hanging out at Primary Children's in Riverton just waiting for his turn.

He was happy and had fun playing while he waited for his turn.
It was hard for me when they came to take my baby boy away. But he loved getting to ride in the car to the operating room and seemed very happy. The surgery went great and we are thankful

Looking to the future and the past

2011-09-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

It has been WAY too long since I blogged. I had great intentions of getting all caught up and moving forward from there. Yeah, that didn't happen. After realizing I was about a year behind, I decided to scrap that plan. So my new plan is to start blogging from today while also trying to catch up on the past. Wish me luck!

Two Peas in a Pod

2011-05-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

These two are the best of friends. Where you find one of them, you usually will find the other. It makes my heart so happy that they are so close and love each other so much! When we decided to have Sadie, we knew we would be having another baby after her so she wouldn't be the "lone caboose". It is the best decision ever! I have no doubt that God sent these two angels to our family at the exact right time. Their little personalities are so different but they fit like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. Sadie is full of life, energy, opinions, and is a very strong little person. Jaxson has always been sweet, laid back, easy going, and pretty much just goes with the flow. They make a perfect pair!

Happy 9th Birthday Ashlee & McKell!!

2011-05-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

My beautiful girls turned 9 years old today! NINE!? Where in the world did 9 whole years go? It honestly just seems like yesterday that I was in a hospital room in Boise, Idaho giving birth to these amazing precious girls. Ashlee coming first with just a few pushes and McKell having to be literally pulled into the world with one arm behind her back and born breech. Their births gave a very clear forecast of their personalities to this day! They are both growing into such beautiful young ladies. I love that they look different, act different, have different interests, and totally different and unique personalities! I love that they are the best of friends and have a special unbreakable bond between them. Happy 9th birthday, my beautiful girls!
Such silly girls! They keep each other laughing all the time!
For their 9th birthday party, Ash and McKell decided to have a birthday luau.
I LOVE this photo! Little girls being little girls...giggling and whispering to each other.
The Bounce house was a big hit!
We had yummy Hawaiian pizza, Hawaiian punch, and Hawaiian fruit

This photo of Sadie makes me laugh. She spent hours in that bounce house and loved every minute!

So happy that Korbin could come join us. He and Sadie had a blast!

Two of a kind! These two, often referred to as the "village idiots" are best buddies and never stop laughing, goofing off, and usually causing trouble! We love Brett!

I made the mistake of letting McKell watch "Cake Boss" a few months ago and she has been begging since then for a "Cake Boss Birthday Cake". Since we weren't going to fly to New Jersey and I wasn't going to spend a mint on a cake, I decided to try it myself. This is my first attempt ever of working with fondant, layers, etc. I was pretty happy with the outcome.

My little Sadie Jayne

2011-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Sadie Jayne
My sweet little Sadie Jayne is growing up before my very eyes. My baby girl is set on being a "big girl" no matter how hard I try to keep her little. She is all about being a princess and is a girl with a mind of her own. Sadie is the ray of sunshine in our family!
We have reached a "fun" stage with Sadie where she will ONLY wear dresses and skirts and it is ALL about the twirl. If it isn't a "twirly dress" it is definitely a hard sell. I would probably be more frustrated if it weren't for the fact that I was the exact same way when I was little. I remember spending hours "twirling" to make sure my dresses were sufficiently twirly. So now I am getting my "come up-ins" with my own little twirly dress princess!

Poor little princess is all tuckered out after a long day at church!

Update

2011-01-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

So, it has been a while since I gave an update on my back situation and quite a bit has changed/happened.

Things with my lower back have been put on the back burner. There are still major issues there, but they aren't the main focus any more. The good news is that the latest MRI shows that the discs in my lower back are no longer herniated. The bad news is that they aren't herniating because they have degenerated so much due to "degenerative disc disease". So we will just have to see how things go. I still have a lot of lower back pain, but it isn't as bad as before.

Unfortunately, the reason we aren't focusing on my lower back is because we are having to focus on my neck. Back in July, when I had my car accident, the MRI showed a bulging disc in my C5-C6. The disc was actually herniating to the right and inward and indenting the thecal sack. (The sack around the spinal chord that holds the spinal fluid in.)

I met with a neurosurgeon and we discussed different options including a disc replacement surgery. My neurosurgeon, is the "go to" guy for this specific surgery. It is a relatively new surgery, but he has done this surgery numerous times. The surgery basically goes in and takes out the damaged disc and then a stainless steel disc is attached with screws. The reason it is the best option is because the recovery time is a little less than a fusion but mostly because it allows you to still have mobility in your neck and also doesn't put added pressure on the surrounding discs like a fusion does.

About 3 weeks ago, the situation took a severe turn for the worse when I was rear-ended. The guy behind me was texting and I was stopped at a light on Bangerter and he hit into me. I noticed an immediate increase in pain, especially in my neck. MRI's confirmed that the disc in my neck that was bad before, was now a lot worse. The disc is now actually in contact and flattening the right side of my spinal chord. It is also in direct contact and impinging the main nerve coming out of my spine . My doctor described the pain pretty accurately as it feeling like having an open root canal in my neck. It has been very painful and because it is nerve pain, it is often not responsive to pain meds. The biggest concern is that this nerve is being compressed and "impinged" by that disc and over the past few weeks I have had my whole right arm and hand and fingers etc. gradually become more and more numb to the point that I am in right now where it feels like my arm and hand is always asleep and gets tingly, etc. and doesn't ever go completely away. The reason this is bad, is because that is the sign of the nerve being damage. And as you probably know, nerve damage is not repairable so once it is damaged, it is gone which if it keeps being damaged, will end up in eventual paralysis in my right arm and hand.

We have tried some other options like physical therapy and traction but they haven't helped much. I went to have a steroid/pain relief injection this past week but there were complications due to the bad inflammation and they weren't able to even complete the procedure.

I have an appt with my neurosurgeon on the 11th and was supposed to have a surgery date of the 12th. But that all changed this past week when my neurosurgeon broke his finger and had to have surgery on his hand. He has postponed doing any surgeries for an undetermined amount of time, but they are hoping that he will be okay by the 26th. The problem with that for us is that at the rate that I am losing feeling, muscle strength, etc. aka nerve damage, we don't think we can wait until the 26th and risk permanent severe nerve damage and paralysis.

So we are incredibly frustrated and nervous about all of this. Because of the holiday weekend, we haven't been able to discuss this with any other doctors or get any other recommendations of what we should do. What we have been told by all of the doctors is that the best thing that I can do is limit my activity level, no lifting, bending, etc. which of course is impossible with 5 kids, including 2 little ones.

So please keep us in your prayers as we work towards figuring out what we are going to do. This has been a very big struggle for our family and we are trying our best.

Love,
Rob and Marci

The "Machine Gun" Herriman Fire - Sept 19, 2010

2010-09-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 19th started out like any Sunday in our family. We went to church, came home and had brunch, etc. We were all pretty tired because the night before we had our ward Luau that Rob and I were in charge of. We had gotten to bed late and were exhausted. We had the older kids turn on a church movie, laid down the 2 little ones for naps, and Rob and I crashed in our bedroom. A few hours later, I remember waking up completely startled and scared. I didn't know why. I now know it was because I could smell smoke while I was still asleep...not a smell you want to smell. At first I thought something was burning downstairs so I rushed down to make sure the older kids hadn't started the kitchen on fire. One of them nonchalantly said, "Mom, I think there's a fire." Our home was filled with smoke because one of the kids had left the back door open when they were looking outside.

At that point, I looked out our back window to see this. (Actually, this photo is a side view of it. That smoke was coming right into our backyard and because of the intense wind, it was coming fast and thick.)
I quickly went to the front window and saw many of my neighbors on our street coming out of their homes and talking. I ran outside and the smell completely took me off guard. It was SO thick. The wind was so strong. We had record temperatures that day so it was extremely hot, about 93 deg at that point. The best way I can describe it is that it felt like being blown by a blow dryer. I ran to our neighbor, Wry, who is in the National Guard. I asked him what was going on and he informed me that there was a major fire that had started on the other side of the mountain at Camp Williams. Wry's father is the Utah County Fire Marshall so we had a lot of good information coming from him. What we knew at that point was that a fire was sparked during a drill at Camp Williams. At first, it was thought that the fire would never get off Camp Williams property because they were fighting it from their end, but we quickly realized that this was not the case. I asked Wry how serious his dad thought it was at that point. He said that his family had packed bags and important papers. That really shocked me that it was that serious. But the longer I stood outside, the more smoke came billowing through our neighborhood and I realized that we were in danger.

I ran back into the house, and quickly grabbed Rob so I could talk to him away from the kids to avoid alarming them. I explained the situation. We hadn't eaten dinner yet and the kids were hungry. Rob told me that if we were maybe going to leave, that we needed to document our possessions. We had never gone through with a camera to actually have a record of what we owned. So as he fed the kids, I started going through the house, room by room to get a record of all of our belongings in the case that our home was destroyed. At this point, I was concerned, but not panicked.....that is until I looked out the window and saw this...
The smoke from before, was now flames on our side of the mountain. I ran back outside to talk to neighbors again to see if they had heard any more news. At this point, I was told that they had just announced that "The Cove at Herriman Springs" was being evacuated. I was completely stunned. An evacuation!? I couldn't believe it! And The Cove was just west of us. The wind continued to blow with wind gusts as high as 40 and 50 mph right in our direction. I ran back into the house and told Rob the news and we knew that we needed to take action.

We called my parents who live in Bluffdale and made them aware of the situation. They knew there was a fire in Herriman, but didn't realize how bad it was. My mom suggested that it would be a good idea to go hook up our trailer so we could pack it up and take it if we needed to leave. Thank heavens she made that suggestion! I'm sure she was inspired to do so. We asked them to see if they could come up and help me with the kids while we tried to get some things packed. They agreed and said they were on their way. By the time I got off the phone, I looked out the window and it now looked like this...
Because this was the view from our back windows and back yard, our kids could see it and knew there was danger. Rob and I tried to talk out of earshot of the kids, but kids are smart and they knew that something was seriously wrong. The pictures probably look bad, but you have to realize that it was the wind that was so scary to us. It was blowing SO hard and straight at us and every time we looked out the window, it was alarming...
We agreed that Rob would go hook up the trailer, a process that takes about 45 minutes, and I would start packing up the things that we needed. You always ask yourself, "What would I take with me, if I had to leave my home in an emergency?" My mind started racing...pictures, photo albums, baby books, home movies, computers and hard drives, the laptop, important documents, heirlooms from my grandparents..."

I pulled the older kids aside and told them that we were going to be okay, but that we were going to need to leave our house so that we could be safe. I asked each of them to go upstairs and quickly pack their little suitcases with pajamas, a change of clothes, school uniforms, socks and underwear, shoes, and that they each could take 3 small toys or stuffed animals.

My parents called and said that they weren't allowing anyone into Herriman so they couldn't come and help us. They told us that they had talked to my brother, Shawn, who lives in Riverton, and he said that we could bring the trailer to his home and park it by his house. When I looked out my back window, it looked like I-15 at 5:00. Our home backs to Rose Canyon Road which is the only road out of The Cove and other neighborhoods. It was shocking to see cars, trucks, horse trailers, etc. lined up all the way up the canyon.
I really tried to remain calm and collected, but I felt such a sense of urgency. Little did I know it at the time, but it was about this time that Rob said he started feeling panicked. Rob is a VERY rational person and it takes a lot to get him "freaked out", but he said that when he realized that the fire had come halfway down the mountain in less than a half hour, he freaked out. The adrenaline takes over and you start to "get stupid." I couldn't believe how fast this fire was moving towards us! Cayden, age 10, was great and very calm. I asked him to start helping Rob get things taken out to the trailer. The smoke was so bad that Rob had to wear a bandana over his face which only slightly helped. I felt like I was running around like a crazy person. At this point, McKell, age 8, came to me in tears. She was terrified. Normally I would be a very nurturing mommy and take the time to talk through everything with her. She is only 8 years old and can see a raging fire coming towards her home and there is chaos everywhere. But I didn't have the luxury of consoling her. I looked her in the eye and said, "McKell, we can't do this right now. I am not being mean, I am just being very serious right now. And I need you to be brave. We will have a time later when you can cry and we can talk about all of this. But right now is not that time. You need to be brave because if the little ones see you crying and getting scared, then they are going to be scared too." McKell grabbed my hand and said, "Mommy, I don't know if I can be brave! Can I say a prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help me be brave?" I wanted to cry. I gave her a big hug and told her that it was a great idea and that I knew that Heavenly Father would help her feel better. So she knelt down, right there in the living room and said a little prayer. I don't know what she said, but the faith of a little child is amazing. And when she was done, she stood up, wiped her eyes, and took over being the mommy so I could continue packing.

A few minutes later, I went in the front room to find my little Ashlee, also age 8, on her knees praying. When she saw me come in, she looked up at me with her eyes filled with tears and said, "Mommy, I need Heavenly Father to help me feel better because I don't want our house to burn down. So I said a prayer and I am feeling better." Again, my heart was so touched that she knew that she should pray and that Heavenly Father would help her. I gave her a quick hug and told her to go help McKell with the babies, and I continued to pack.

At some point, I happened to glance out the back window again, and was terrified when I saw this...

I couldn't believe how close the fire had come! At some point as we were running in and out, we heard from a neighbor that they evacuation line had moved to our street behind our home. We were officially being evacuated. We were planning to leave no matter what because of the smoke, but it was just still unbelievable that we were actually being told to leave our home.

I had things packed but I was so worried that I was forgetting important things! I felt like my mind was racing and I couldn't think clearly. At that point, I said a quick prayer asking God to help me to remember everything that was important for me to take with me. My mind was not thinking clearly and I needed help. A few seconds later, the very distinct impression came into my mind, "Call Juliann." (Juliann is my sister-in-law and best friend who lives in Kaysville.) I thought that was a ridiculous "idea" and kept packing. But again the impression came to me, "Call Juliann." And then I realized that this was the answer to my prayer. I could not think clearly in the situation that I was in, and I needed someone who was not in this situation and chaos to be able to think for me and help me know what to pack. It also helped because she knows me so well and knows the things that would be of importance to me. So I called her, explained the situation quickly, and asked her to think for me. She very calmly walked through every room of her own home and told me the things that we could see that she would pack. I had remembered pretty much everything, but then she said, "Baby Blessing Dresses, Baptism dresses, you wedding dress, your personal scriptures, heirlooms from your family." I had completely forgotten those things! I ran and grabbed all of them.

As I was taking my precious painting from my Grandpa and Grandma off the wall to take with me, it REALLY hit me that this was real. WE were evacuating our home. I couldn't believe how quickly the fire had already spread and how quickly it was heading right towards us. We received phone calls from my family assuring us that they were waiting for us at Shawn's and ready to help. It calmed my nerves so much just to have that reassurance.

We finally felt like we had everything packed. I noticed that our air conditioner was running full force on both levels which was weird because I didn't think it was too warm outside. I went through the house for one last look to make sure we had everything, turned lights off, etc. and loaded the kids in the car. Before we left, I went outside to take a final look at the fire and see where it was. The smoke smell was horrible. It looked like it was snowing because of all of the ash and soot falling from the sky. I also realized why our air conditioner was going on...we could actually feel the heat from the fire at our house because it was so close. At this point I heard a sound that I will forever remember. Amidst all the noise of fire trucks, wind, sirens, etc. I heard the gut wrenching sound of a house coming down. It was one of the worst sounds I have ever heard. We could actually see the home burning less than half a mile south of our home. It brought me to tears to know that someone was losing their home and that many more would lose their homes as well. I felt a sense of calm that our home would be okay. I noticed that there had been a big shift in the wind, which was to our advantage, because instead of the fire coming directly north towards out home, it had shifted more northeast.

This is what it looked like from our yard as we pulled out.

This is what it looked like on our street - a snowstorm. But it wasn't snow falling from the sky, it was ash and soot and debris.

We had to leave out the "back way" to avoid the traffic. Rob and the kids pulled the trailer and I drove Rob's car. I cannot express how grateful I was at that point as we drove out of our neighborhood, that we had our new trailer. What a blessing that proved to be during this time.

As we drove out of Herriman, it was unbelievable to see the whole mountain on fire. I cried as we left as I said to myself, "There is no way any of those homes are going to make it. They are all going to be gone."

Downtown Herriman was a circus with roadblocks, frantic people, lots of horse trailers, and more emergency vehicles and workers than I could count. As we drove away from our home, we received many phone calls from concerned family and friends. We truly felt the love and prayers from everyone near and far.

As we pulled up to Shawn and Heather's home, we were immediately met by my loving family. They were all there waiting for us, anxious to help, concerned about our well being. I felt like I had held it together pretty well up until this point. But as I got out of my car, I was met with the warm embraces of my amazing parents and a long, much needed hug from my big brother, Jay. It was like a floodgate was opened and I just lost it. I felt every possible emotion - fear, concern, sadness, uncertainty, love, and a huge sense of relief. We were safe. My little family was out of harm's way. We were with loved ones. My children were immediately taken care of by loving grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Diapers were changed, pajamas were put on, makeshift beds were made. Our most precious belongings that we had taken with us were carefully and lovingly carried in by my brothers and nephews. Our home away from home was quickly set up by Rob with help from my dad and brothers. It was a team effort to get our family set up for the night. At some point, I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so Heather quickly warmed a plate for me. We watched the local news channels and internet like hawks. Listening to every word, hanging on every bit of new information.

(LOVE this picture of my sweet and very handsome nephew, Jordan with my two babies. He has a special way with kids that I love. The both snuggled up with him on the couch.)

After a long night, we got beds made up and put 5 very tired and smoky children to bed. Their exhausted daddy soon followed. But I couldn't sleep. My back was killing me from lugging boxes, etc. and my nerves were a mess. So I took a quick trip to Walmart at 2:30 to get a fan, some food, etc. I stared in complete shock as I stood in the Walmart parking lot with a perfect view of the whole mountainside, now on fire. I still couldn't believe this was happening. It was like something out of a movie.

I finally got to sleep and slept for a few hours before the sound of helicopters going overhead and sirens woke us up. I was incredibly anxious for any information I could get. Jay was right there to help with the kids so Rob and I could try to return to our home. We weren't even sure if we could get in. We had to go through numerous road blocks and even though our house was right on the "line", the police officers allowed us to go in just to open windows and assess our home.
We were grateful that our home was safe. It smelled awful inside. But it was still standing and as we looked out our backyard, we witnessed a miracle. Home after home was untouched. All in all, there were only 3 homes destroyed in the fire. It was unbelievable to see the fire lines that had gone right up to homes, but the homes were kept safe. Sadly, we also saw the 2 homes near our home that weren't so lucky. It was so sad to see nothing standing but the chimneys. These people had lost everything. It was a bittersweet morning.

After a while, Rob went to work and I took the kids to school. We wanted some sense of normalcy for them. Plus we wanted to get them out of the smoke zone. That evening, for Family Night, we had an impromptu BBQ that Jay and Heather put together. Again, my family was there to take care of us. We packed up our smoky trailer and everyone followed us home to help us unpack and get settled.

Our new "home" for a few days.

This is what the inside of our trailer looked like.

It was really interesting to see what the kids packed when I told them to pack a bag of their important things.

Sadie, our little shoe queen, found her preschool backpack and filled it with EVERY shoe she owned. We didn't realize this until we started unpacking the trailer and found it. She is the little princess.

Our kids thought it was great! Getting to go "camping" at their cousins' house?
Couldn't get any better than that!

Our littlest evacuee

Jay and Jaxson

Such strange boys!

LOVE my big brothers who were there every moment to help us.
Along with Shawn's family and my parents.

The days following the fire were filled with a mix of emotions. It took quite a few days before the fire was considered 100% contained. We held our breath the next day after we came home as the news reported "unfavorable fire conditions" once again. We hoped and prayed that the winds wouldn't kick up the "hot spots" and start another fire. We got used to the sound of helicopters and airplanes going overhead and fire trucks going up and down the canyon. There was an eerie calm for the first few days as not everyone had been allowed back into their homes. The road behind us was almost empty for days with the exception of rescue vehicles.

In the weeks that have followed, we have begun the arduous task of getting our home back in order. We have damage to our carpets and walls. We have soot and ash throughout our home which has caused a lot of problems for us with allergies, nose bleeds, headaches, etc. I have lost my voice and upon going to the doctor today have learned that I have smoke damage and major irritation to my throat and sinuses which is causing my headaches. We are hoping it won't make its way to my lungs. The National Guard has taken full responsibility. They were unaware of the unfavorable weather conditions on that day due to a lack of communication and "fired in the face of a red flag weather warning" which is not something that they are supposed to do. We have spent the last 2 weeks working with disaster cleaning companies, carpet cleaners, etc. and have spent hours on the phone and Internet getting bids. We spent hours at the makeshift claims office at City Hall to file our claims. And now we begin getting everything done which has to be done quickly to avoid further health issues with our family.

This is definitely an experience that we will never forget. We all learned so much from this. First, I realized that when it really matters, things are just that...things. When we were evacuating and I had to pick what things to take, it never crossed my mind to take the big screen TV or the speakers or my nice China. The things I took were all things that contained priceless memories of our family. And of course, the safety and well being of our family was absolutely the first concern.

The other thing that I learned was how strong my children are. It was difficult for me, as a mother, to not be able to help my little ones through their fears the night of the fire. I desperately wanted to scoop them up in my arms and comfort them and assure them that it would all be okay. But I didn't have the time to do that. So instead, they had to turn to their Heavenly Father and rely on His help. It was life changing for me to see each of these strong children of mine kneeling in faith and pouring out their hearts to their Heavenly Father. Each had their own needs and fears, and each asked for their own specific things. But what struck me is that this was the first time that THEY had to rely on HIM all on their own. I know that was a life changing experience for them and that it gave them the confidence going forward that in their own times of need, that they have a Heavenly Father there to take care of them, even when no one else can.

I also got a glimpse into the eternal realm of things on a very small degree. I cannot explain the feeling I had as we pulled up to my brother's home after our difficult "journey" and were met with loved ones with open arms and open hearts. The relief I felt when I saw them was like nothing I had ever felt before.

I also realized how grateful I am for modern day technology. Even though the Internet was often times slow because it was overloaded, we were able to get immediate information. Many of my friends and neighbors have made the comment that they got more information from Facebook than anything else. We were able to assure family and loved ones across the country and even the world that we were okay and keep them updated on our situation. We were able to find information quickly which helped us tremendously. It is something that we often times take for granted, but I have a whole new appreciation for it.

Mostly, I am grateful for my little family. We were very blessed that our home was spared and I know that. But what I realized is that even if we hadn't been so fortunate, we would be okay because we had each other. Our home without our family is just a building. Our toys and games without children to play with them are just useless possessions. Our TV without our family eating popcorn and having a movie party is just a piece of electronics. None of it matters without our family. My family is everything to me and I will forever be grateful for their safety and happiness.

The previous pictures are mostly ones that we took, but some are from neighbors and friends and other resources. The following are some pictures from the fire. Some of them are ones that we took and others are taken by friends or news channels.

This picture breaks my heart every time I see it.

The famous "Heaven and Hell" picture. Taken on the Camp Williams side of the mountain. This is the Mt Timpanogas Temple
The flames got to 30 and 40 feet high.
Can you imagine looking and seeing this headed towards your home?
An amazing view from a helicopter of the whole mountain. This is "our" mountain that we have looked out and seen from our kitchen for the past 5+ years of living here. The kids now call it the "black mountain". For days it was covered with smoking "hot spots" and when it finally rained, you could see steam coming off of the mountain because it was still so hot.
Every time it has rained since or the wind has blown, we get that smell blown right down to us.
Right above our home, to the south of us, lives a family who I have known since I was a little girl. They were in our ward growing up and currently work at the temple with my parents. When I saw the whole mountain engulfed in flames, I sadly told my parents, "There is no way that the Warr's home made it." I was just sick at the thought of their beautiful home being gone. But, as I said before, there were miracles too numerous to count and their home was spared. The picture below is a aerial view of their home. Notice the fire lines. This is how home after home looks.

More amazing photos of the miraculous fire lines and the homes that were spared. There were angels guarding those home that night. Some wore firefighter uniforms, some were neighbors who snuck back into the evacuation zone and helped out, and some were just angels.

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-08-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Pinewood Derby time has rolled around again this year. It actually fell on our 14th wedding anniversary. I was kind of sad when I realized that this would by Cayden's last Pinewood Derby. He has really enjoyed doing the Pinewood Derby and it has been a fun even every year for our family.

This year, Cayden chose a "Harry Potter" themed car. He has really gotten into Harry Potter this past year and has read every book, some of them twice. So he designed the car, painted it, etc. and did such a great job of it!

For the past few years, the boys have done a test run before the actual race which allows them to make last minute adjustments, etc. Rob had planned on being able to do this, so he didn't completely align Cayden's wheels before we came. It was pretty hectic with check in, weigh in, etc. and the next thing we knew, they had started the race. Needless to say, Cayden's car didn't do as well as we had hoped. He was pretty disappointed, especially because he had worked so hard and it was such a simple thing that could have been fixed so easily.

That being said, it was a good experience for him to learn good sportsmanship and be able to really support his scouting buddies. It also helped him feel better that after the race, Rob aligned his wheels properly, and his race time was much faster than the 1st place winner.

It also helped tremendously when he won the "Best Paint Job" award, especially because he designed and painted the car all on his own. We are very proud of him and the hard work he did.

Cayden's den was over the flag ceremony tonight and Cayden conducted it. He did a great job. It was also really fun having Grandpa and Grandma there to cheer him on.
McKell and Ashlee also wanted to do a car this year. McKell chose a "dance" themed car. She designed and painted it. Hers looked like a sparkly pink ballet slipper. Ashlee chose to do an alligator car. She did a great job coming up with the idea, design, etc. When we were painting her car, Ashlee painted a few of the alligator's teeth gold and said she wanted it to look like Grandpa. They had fun racing their cars after the actual race was done.Cayden's Harry Potter car. He wanted his to represent the "House of Gryffindor"
Sadie was really amazed by the whole thing.

What a good looking Webelo Scout with a good looking Car!

Sunshine, popsicles, and a new pool!

2010-06-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Summer break has finally arrived! School is out and we are ready for a fun summer! Today was a very hot day, the kids were getting antsy, so we took a trip to the store. We stocked up on popsicles, (my kids love the twin pops) and a new pool. It isn't anything expensive or fancy, but it does the job.

We got it blown up, filled with water, and in no time, I had 4 little happy fish eating popsicles and playing in the water. It brought a smile to my face that something so simple could bring such joy to my kids. It also made me so happy to see them playing together, laughing, splashing, jumping, and truly enjoying being children.

Here's to a great summer!
This picture truly cracks me up! I recently bought Sadie a "shampoo hat" to wear in the bath tub. She wears it when I rinse the shampoo out of her hair and it is supposed to help the water from going in her eyes. I found her little white sun hat to help keep the sun out of her eyes. But a few minutes later, she came inside, walked upstairs to the bathroom, and came downstairs looking like this. She told me she needed the white hat to keep the sun out, and her "shampoo hat" to keep the water out. She keeps us laughing!
McKell loves being in the summer sun!
Cayden thinks it is great fun to torment his little sisters, and he does a great job of it. But deep down, he loves them and they love him.
This picture just makes me laugh so hard! So typical of Ashlee. She LOVES water more than any child I have ever seen. So a pool is heaven for her! She found this ridiculous troll doll and had a great time with him in the pool.
Sweet little Sadie Jayne
Pool time is THE BEST!!

Spring Dance Recital 2010

2010-06-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

The girls' spring dance recital last year was quite an event. We had monsoon rain storms on the night of the recital and when it was rescheduled, we got round two of the storm. This year, we were grateful that we didn't get completely rained out, although we did have another storm this year, but it wasn't as bad.

The girls did such a great job and looked beautiful. The song they danced to was "The Big Bad Wolf" and they both did a great job. It was definitely hard to keep Sadie in her seat because she loves to dance and wanted to jump right up on the stage with them. We are definitely putting her in dance next year.
(*Ashlee's smile looks a little strange right now. She had a "rapid expander" put in at the orthodontist. Her bite is too narrow for her permanent teeth to come in and in hopes of avoiding braces, we needed to expand her palette as quickly as possible to make room for those new beautiful permanent teeth to come in.)

We are so proud of Ashlee and McKell and their hard work this year in dance.

I'm a sucker for a good summer storm

2010-06-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

I am such a sucker for a summer storm! Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved watching the dark clouds roll over the mountains, the smell of rain in the air, and the lightning and thunder. I remember as a child we would sit on my Grandma Neilson's front porch and play the "lightning thunder game". Grandma told us that when the lightning struck, we should start counting and when the thunder crashed, that would tell us how many miles away the lightning had struck. Not sure that there is a whole lot of scientific fact to that, but it sure was fun.

Now as an adult, I still love summer storms. We had a wonderful one this evening! It was a very hot day and after a full day of family, church, etc. we came home and all of us just sat on the back patio and ate pancakes at 8:00 pm. We watched as the dark clouds came over the Oquirrh Mountains and we knew it was going to be a great storm. The lightning started and I taught my own kids the "lightning thunder game". So there I sat, in my backyard on a summer evening with my kids, and just watched a storm come. It was pure heaven!

It actually turned out to be quite a storm. We loved watching it and afterward, the kids had a great time picking up pieces of hail and jumping in the puddles. A great summer storm. I love these "ordinary, extraordinary moments" with my family.

The kids loved picking up the pieces of hail. Some were about the size of marbles!

It made it even more fun that our neighbors, the Jays, came out in their front yard as well. Their daughter, Kennedi, is a good friend of Ashlee and McKell's. They are great neighbors!
I LOVE these photos of our street! This is right after the storm ended, but the skies look amazing!

Ashlee & McKell's Baptism Day

2010-06-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

Almost 8 years ago, on a warm day in July of 2002, I dressed my beautiful baby girls, Ashlee & McKell, in their sweet little white blessing dresses. They weren't quite 2 months old and were so tiny. They still carried that unique spirit that only comes from little babies fresh from leaving the presence of their Heavenly Father. On that summer day so many years ago, I remember looking at these sweet little angels and feeling like my heart was going to explode. I was feeling so many different emotions. Love, joy, nervousness, gratitude, and incredibly blessed. Before the girls were born, a life threatening ectopic pregnancy left us unsure if we would ever be able to have any more children. The doctors told us that our chances of getting pregnant were not good and that if we did get pregnant, that our chances of another ectopic pregnancy were much higher. Imagine our shock when we found out that not only were we having one baby...but two! We were thrilled when we found out that these two babies were little girls. For a long time, they were known only as "Twin A and Twin B". But on May 9, 2002, they became Ashlee Jo and McKell Elizabeth. A few months later, we celebrated their blessing day.
Eight years later, on another warm summer day, I was again dressing my beautiful little girls in white dresses. But this time, it was for their baptisms. They looked so beautiful and pure and again, like little angels. And just like 8 years earlier, I again felt like my heart was going to explode from feelings of love, joy, nervousness, gratitude, and incredibly blessed. I also immediately began flashing back to the past 8 years with these beautiful girls. SO many priceless moments with each of them. SO much joy and laughter as well as tears and sadness.

Tonight, as I reflect back on this special baptism day, I wanted to write down some of my thoughts and feelings of the day.

In preparation for this day, we had a special family night. I remember doing this when I was 8 years old. My own dad showed me how he would baptize me and we practiced it over and over in the backyard until I felt sure about it. Rob did the same thing with our girls and we have tried to talk a lot about baptism, what it means, the promises we make, etc.

About a month ago, we went to the mall to pick out their baptism dresses. This was such a special day for us. We went to "Jolene's" dress shop and I let the girls pick out whatever dress they wanted. They each chose a different dress that fit their personalities perfectly. In typical fashion, Ashlee had hers picked out within a few minutes. Ashlee usually sees what she wants, makes her mind up, and then usually doesn't give it another thought. McKell, however, took her time. She tried on many many dresses and then agonized over which one to choose. This is so typical of little McKell - my indecisive one. I picked out some white sandals and white headbands for them as well.

A few weeks later, we headed to Grandpa and Grandma's house on a beautiful summer evening for the girls' baptism photo shoot. I absolutely LOVE doing pictures at their home in the backyard, over the hill. Uncle Jay was on hand to help me with poses, making sure their dresses and hair were okay, etc. The pictures turned out more beautiful than I even imagined. The girls had such a fun time and loved sharing this moment together. I used those photos for their invitations, display photos, etc.

This past Sunday, Ashlee and McKell had their baptism interview with our bishop, Darren Gillette. McKell was surprisingly nervous about it. She is so funny that way. But she did a great job. I asked her about it afterward and she said that she and the bishop talked about why she was getting baptized, what promises and covenants she would be making, etc. McKell has a very deep understanding of the Gospel and a true love for God and Jesus. On more than one occasion, I have gone into her room to find her kneeling by her bed saying a prayer. She also has a strong testimony of the Priesthood and is usually the first one to ask for a Father's Blessing when she is sick or needs comfort.

I actually sat in Ashlee's interview with her. I sat back in the corner so I wouldn't be a distraction to Ashlee. I'm so grateful that I was able to be there and listen to Ashlee as she talked with the bishop. In typical Ashlee fashion, she came up with some new "Ashlee-isms." Right to begin with, the bishop asked Ashlee if it was okay with her if he said a prayer. You never ask Ashlee a rhetorical question like this because she will answer it honestly. Her response? "No, I think we should just save the prayer for the end." He was a little speechless, but he is really good with Ashlee and said he would say a prayer anyway. After that, the bishop was trying to explain to Ashlee how when we make good choices, we feel good and when we feel good then we continue to do good, etc. At this point Ashlee stops the bishop and says, "You know what I would call that? I'd call that a 'Righteous Cycle!'" The bishop thought that was hilarious and agreed with her that it was most definitely a "Righteous Cycle". Finally, as he was trying to explain about covenants and the promises we make when we are baptized, etc. Ashlee finally said, "Wow, you sure use the word 'promise' a lot in your sentences today, Bishop!" It was quite an entertaining experience. At the end, the bishop asked Ashlee, "Are you getting baptized because YOU want to get baptized, or because your mom and dad want you to?" Oh boy. I got nervous on this one. Ashlee thought about it for a minute, and then said proudly, "It's because I want to get baptized." Whew! I felt relieved...and then she leaned forward and whispered to the Bishop, "Is that the right answer?" Oh my sweet hilarious Ashlee.

Unfortunately, the week proceeding their baptism was quite rough. The girls got out of school this past Wednesday, and in celebration, we went to McDonald's for lunch. By that evening, we were all VERY sick with what appeared to be food poisoning. Everyone but Rob got it and everyone was very very sick, including me. How grateful we were that we had previously asked Grandpa and Grandma if we could do the baptism luncheon in their backyard instead of at our house. Due to my back being so bad, we didn't feel we could get our house ready in time for the luncheon. And after 3 full days of food poisoning, there would have been no way we could have done it.

Saturday, June 5, 2010 was a very special day for our family as our beautiful twin girls, Ashlee Jo and McKell Elizabeth were baptized and confirmed as members of our church. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful spring day. Both of the girls have looked forward to this day for so long and it was another special moment for them to share together.
In typical fashion for our family , we of course were running late. It isn't easy getting TWO little girls all ready for their baptism day along with everything else needing to be ready. But we made it in time. As I was helping the girls into their baptism jumpers, Ashlee said to me, "Hey mom, did you wear a jumpsuit like this when you got baptized 100 years ago?" (OUCH!) I told her that I didn't know what people wore 100 years ago when they were baptized, to which she replied, "Okay, I'll just ask Grandpa." (Yeah, he loved that!)
It was so wonderful to see so many people there to support the girls on their special day. It was a stake baptism which means that children from all of the ward in the stake participate and have baptismal candidates. Each bishop gets to introduce the children from their ward. Bishop Gillette introduced the girls and shared how much he enjoys them and loves them. He shared the experience that when we were first made a new ward and he was newly made the bishop, he felt a little overwhelmed and nervous. And he remembers that on that first Sunday as a new bishop, Ashlee and McKell walked up on the stand before church to shake his hand and tell him hello. (This is something they have done since they were very small. They love to shake the bishop's hand before church.) Bishop Gillette shared how that gesture from two little girls made him feel so much more at east and welcome in the ward.
We were able to participate in some of the program. Grandpa Neilson gave the opening prayer and Rob gave a wonderful talk on being Confirmed and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He did a great job and spoke right to the kids in a way they would understand. Caden DeHaan, a young man from our ward gave a great talk on baptism. After that, our family sang a song together. We chose a favorite primary song, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." (It was a little nerve-wracking because we didn't have a chance to even go through the song before the baptism with Juliann who accompanied us on the piano. So when we got up to sing, we realized that she actually had a different arrangement of the song! Fortunately, it all worked out, but it was scary for a minute or two!) Our family was the last group to be called. We all went in to the Relief Society room. We let the girls decide who would go first and they decided that it would be McKell. This is so very symbolic of their whole lives - McKell going a few steps ahead of Ash to pave the way. McKell had a beautiful big smile on her face as she was baptized. After she was done, she stood on the steps of the font so she could watch Ashlee be baptized. Ashlee was overflowing with every emotion possible, but mostly nervous excitement. Ashlee makes this very distinct little giggle when she feels overwhelmingly happy. It is hilarious. So as she came down into the water, she had a huge smile on her face and I could hear that little nervous happy giggle very quietly. When it was time to go down into the water, Rob had to really push her down. Her foot came up, but not above water. It was so sweet to see Sadie out of the corner of my eye. She was fascinated by the whole thing. She loves her big sisters and looks up to them so much. She even had to wear a special white dress of her own today that Grandma bought her, so she could look like her big sisters.
Aunt Miriam helped me get the girls dressed and ready. I asked them both how they felt and their first response as they were shivering was, "COLD!" After that, I asked them how they felt inside and McKell said "Good." Ashlee said, "Um...pretty much just the same." I believe them both. We got them dressed and ready very quickly, in fact we were even faster than Rob. McKell thought it was so funny that Daddy took longer to get changed and ready than it did them. Ashlee told her, "I think it's because Daddy didn't have a helper like we did,"

Rob gave them both beautiful confirmation blessings. I am so grateful that he is so close to the Spirit and takes his Priesthood responsibilities so serious. Ashlee was so curious when McKell was confirmed and listened to every word. It was pretty cute because after they were confirmed, they looked at each other and McKell shook Ashlee's hand as if to say, "We did it!" It was a very special moment and the spirit was so strong. As I was sitting there, I felt so strongly that my grandparents were there in spirit to watch this special day. Even though the girls didn't know them, they have always loved hearing stories about them and are fascinated with their lives. I later found out when I was talking to my mom that she had the same experience and it was as if she could see them smiling as they watched these two precious little girls be confirmed.After the meeting, we went to my parents' home for a luncheon. They have such a beautiful back yard and it was perfect. It was such a nice time to visit, take pictures, etc. Both girls expressed how relieved they were thought to finally get to change out of their white dresses so they could play. Right before lunch, I played a special video that I had made for the girls to the music "In Heaven's Eyes". It turned out so great!
It was truly a wonderful and special day. We are so proud of Ashlee and McKell and are so grateful and blessed to have them in our family. At the end of the day, as I tucked them both into their beds, I asked them how they felt about the day. Ashlee said, "I am glad I have the Holy Ghost to help me. And I know that the bad news is that if I make a bad choice, the Holy Ghost will go away. But the good news is that he won't go away forever." McKell simply said, "Mommy, this was a perfect day. I feel so good and happy inside." I feel so good and happy inside as well.

Later in the day, we were able to have a baby shower for Jewels and Baby Miles.

Info: In attendance at the girls' baptism - Grandpa and Grandma Neilson, Grandpa and Grandma Peacock, Michelle, Jenni and Korbin, Jared, Jay, Paul, Miriam, Heidi, Warren, Ian, Jakob, Kaijsa, Lexi, Shawn, Jordan, Mary, Olivia, Tiff, Jaydee, Gage, Nate, Great-Grandma Lucille, Nena, Bryan, Isaac, Nathan, Hannah, Jon, Juliann, Anna, Andrew, James. Josie Holt-primary teacher, Aunt Kaye & Uncle Buck, Jen Sweet from our primary presidency, and Bishop Darren Gillette, and of course our family.
Witnesses to the Baptisms - Grandpa Neilson and Grandpa Peacock
In the Confirmation Circle - Rob, Bishop Gillette, Grandpa Neilson, Grandpa Peacock, Uncle Bryan, Uncle James, Uncle Jon, Uncle Shawn, and Uncle Paul.

Teacher Gifts and the end of another School Year

2010-06-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that another school year has come and gone! That means that it is time for Teacher Gifts at our house. When I was growing up, my Grandma Neilson had this yummy popcorn called, "Mother Goose Popcorn". It was usually bright pink and very sweet and delicious. So this year, the girls all helped me make batch after batch in all different bright colors. We added a cute thank-you card, umbrella straw, and a flip-flop key chain and on the last day of school, the kids had a great time delivering them to their wonderful teachers. It has been quite a year full of ups and downs, but we are grateful for amazing teachers.

Every once in a while there is a teacher that really stands out. Ashlee has a lot of teachers that because of the extra time they spend with her, are very endeared to her. One of these teachers is Mrs Fowler. She is such a sweet lady and every time I see her, she runs right up to me and tells me how much she loves Ashlee and McKell and usually has some funny stories about what Ashlee has said or done.
Ashlee absolutely LOVES little stuffed animals. We decided to use this to our advantage as a motivator in school. So each day, Ashlee can earn "tokens" throughout the day if she is good. If she gets 10 tokens by the end of the day, she can "buy" a little stuffed animal/Beanie Baby. One day, Mrs. Fowler gave Ashlee a little piece of fabric to use as a blanket. Ashlee was overjoyed. Mrs Fowler saw Ashlee's excitement and the next day, she had crocheted her a little blanket for her animal. The next day she made one for McKell. And so for the last few weeks of school, this sweet and wonderful teacher spent hours crocheting all sorts of blankets and even little sleeping bags for the girls' stuffed animals. I took these pictures and printed them out and on the last day of school, the girls gave her the photos, a thank you card, and some pictures they had drawn. I love amazing teachers that go the extra mile and have hearts of gold.

Precious Little Girls dressed in White

2010-06-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

My beautiful little angel girls just turned 8 which means they will be getting baptized soon. We spent a fun day together picking out their baptism dresses. Each picked out a different dress that was perfect for them! When I saw them both in their white dresses for the first time, I cried and cried. It seemed like just yesterday I was dressing these beautiful little girls in their white blessing gowns. And before I know it, I'll be helping them into their beautiful white wedding gowns. What a blessing these two little girls are to our family and to each other.
(I took these pictures in my parents' beautiful backyard. Uncle Jay was a great helper! I am so happy with how they turned out.)

Memorial Day 2010

2010-06-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

Some people would say Christmas or Thanksgiving are their favorite holidays. But I have to say that Memorial Day is actually one of my favorite holidays. Ever since I was a little girl, Memorial Day weekend has always been a wonderful time. I grew up with my mom calling it "Decoration Day" (because you decorate the graves). And every year we would walk over to the Bluffdale cemetery for the morning services. There would be a program, patriotic songs sung, the American Legion Veterans would shoot their guns followed by children scrambling to get the bullet casings, and then "Taps" would be played. We would go look at the graves of our relatives who were buried there and then we would all cross Redwood Road and head to my Grandpa and Grandma Neilson's home for a breakfast. We would spend most of the day at Grandma's house, playing with cousins, eating, etc. Many times there would be volleyball, croquet, and a BBQ.

Many times we would spend one day of the weekend going to Eureka where many of my mom's relatives are buried. The Eureka cemetery, much like the town itself, is unique and wonderful.

Now that I am grown and have children of my own, I love that
The whole gang walking to the cemetery the night before Memorial Day. Amazing how things have changed. When I was little, I remember thinking that road (2 lanes) was busy. Who would have ever thought that it would someday be a 5 lane major highway!? Thank goodness for the sidewalk.
Nate insisted on pushing the stroller all the way to the cemetery by himself.
My cousin, Amy, made these really cool grave markers. They are a really cool way to display pictures, poetry, information, etc. about the person buried there. I made some for my other grandparents as well.

My two amazing big brothers - Shawn and Jay
A typical scene on a Sunday evening - Dad drying dishes.
My 3 very handsome, funny, and amazing brothers. Shawn, Scott, and Jay.

Cousins and stuffed animals - can it get any better? (McKell, Mary, and Jaydee. Ashlee who is the ultimate stuffed animal lover was too busy "walking her cat" to take a picture.)
Scott B. and sweet little Katie
You just never know what is going to happen when the boys get together. Today's entertainment? Handstand competition! (Alex and Ian)

Miki
Forever the poser - Jordan
Getting a normal picture of Paul is rare....as seen below...

Me and Alex
What would Memorial Day be without a game of May-I?
Alex, Ben and Shawn
I sure love my sisters! Me and Miriam
Jay was very serious about defending his tetherball championship. Opponent #1 - Ian
Cousins on the trampoline - Andrew, Cayden, Gage, Mary, Jaydee, and Sadie
Very tired boys
Jay's opponent #2 - Scott B. This was quite a match! Love that form!!

3 VERY crazy girls - McKell, Heidi, and Lexi

A very tired Jordan. (Just ignore the drool)
Hmmm...A racket and a football. Quite a combination, Nate!
One of my all time favorite pictures of my beautiful niece and handsome nephew -
Angela and Brian

My Happy boys

2010-06-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

I love being a mom to boys! There's just something about a mom and her boys. I loved having a boy for my first baby and I have loved having a boy for my last baby.
My little "Boy Bookends".

(Above: Can you even stand that adorable gummy little smile!?)
(Below: Cayden, the goofball, helping me make his favorite dinner - Sweet and Sour Meatballs)

Our New Trailer!

2010-05-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

Our family loves to go camping. Every year, we usually have numerous family reunions, campouts, etc. that we try to go to. We especially love going to Fish Lake every year with my family. In years past, we have borrowed my parents' old "Roadrunner" trailer. It is a very old trailer, but it is well taken care of. However, with 5 young children, we have outgrown the old Roadrunner. We knew this time would come, so we have been saving up for our own trailer. We have looked and looked for months and finally, this month, we found it! It was the right layout and the right price and after a test drive up Parley's canyon, we knew our car would pull it. It is a 2009 Forest River Grey Wolf 31' Trailer. It has quad bunks in the back, a queen bed for Rob and me, a table bed and couch bed, and bathroom.

We are SO excited to finally have our own trailer and plan to have many many fun family trips and create some wonderful memories!

Needless to say, our kids are beyond excited! They were already claiming their beds and mapping things out before we even bought it!

Tin Grin #3

2010-05-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

As of May 27, we have another member of the Peacock family in braces! After months and months of cranking McKell's rapid expander, she finally got her braces. I can't believe I have an 8 year-old in braces, but her bite is pretty bad and we definitely want her on her way to straight teeth and a beautiful smile. She only had to have braces on her top teeth and still has her removable retainer on the bottom.
We are praying Ashlee won't have to have braces
and will only have to have an expander, but we'll see.
Total Count of "Tin Grins" in our house to date? 3 - Rob, Cayden, and McKell.
Can you say Ka-Ching!$?$?

Ashlee & McKell's 8th Birthday Carnival!!

2010-05-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

About a week after the girls' 7th birthday party last year, they started talking about what kind of party they wanted for this year. Because it was their 8th birthday, I wanted it to be a big party with a fun theme. We decided the theme would be "Carnival Birthday".

It was quite a challenge to get so many activities put together, set up, etc. but we pulled it off and it turned out great! Our biggest challenge was the weather! Utah has had some really crazy weather this spring and this weekend was no exception. I pretty much had The Weather Channel.com on the computer at all times. I had no idea how we would move something as big as a carnival party to somewhere indoors. I scheduled the Stake Center just in case, but thank heavens we didn't have to use it! I wish it would have been warmer, but I can't complain too much - there was no snow, rain, and only a little bit of wind. It was very cold and we did have to end up opening presents inside the house because the kids were freezing, but it still went great!

We were also very grateful for everyone that helped us!! With the carnival theme, we had to have different people man the booths. Our great families really helped us out!

When the kids arrived, they each got a ticket necklace with different colored tickets on it. They then got a gift bag to decorate to keep their prizes in it. We had carnival food - hot dogs, soda, and chips. After lunch, the kids could go to the "carnival" in any order they wanted. Each booth was assigned a color so when the child went to that booth, they gave them the coordinating colored ticket from their necklace. This worked out really well.

A very special party for a very special birthday for two very special girls!
Aunt Lori and Brooke did a great job at the Face Painting Booth

Hannah did the "Sucker Tree" booth
Jared manned the Fishing Pond booth with help from Livvy behind the fence.
When they weren't doing the carnival games, the kids enjoyed just playing on the playground.
Sadie loved the party and got lots of attention from the party guests.

Uncle James did a great job at the balloon dart toss
Grandma Peacock at the ring toss.
Livvy trying her hand at some of the carnival games.

We had a really good turnout with a lot of kids.

Uncle Jon was a great "bouncer" at the bouncehouse. The bouncehouse was a big hit. Sadie in particular loved it and was sad to see it go at the end of the day.

Grandpa Neilson helping Sadie do the Duck Pond.

Crazy kids in the bounchouse!

Uncle Jay was a great helper at the milk jug toss. This was a favorite game because each child won a stuffed animal. We had great friends and neighbors who were happy to donate stuffed animals for the prizes.

Uncle Jon doing the Ring Toss
Picking out a stuffed animal prize from the milk jug toss.
Mary waiting in line for a game.
Jared and Livvy doing the fishing pond

The weather was so crazy all week. And when I woke up and saw the skies looking like this, I was very nervous. But thankfully this storm held off until after the party.

Rob was so great and helped wherever needed. He did a great job at the beanbag toss!
It started getting really cold and windy toward the end of the party, so we brought all of the kids inside to open presents. The girls got so many fun things! They have great friends!

Wax Museum-Lord Charles Cornwallis

2010-05-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

Every year at Navigator Pointe Academy, the fourth grade students do an annual "Wax Museum" Cayden has been looking forward to do thing event for YEARS and this year he finally got his chance. Each student is assigned a historic figure and they have to write a report and give the oral report in front of the class complete with pictures.

However, the "Wax Museum" part is what Cayden has really looked forward to. Each student has to write a few sentences about their historic person which acts as their "script". They also have to come up with a costume to look like their historic figure.

Cayden was assigned Lord Charles Corwallis. He was a central figure in the British Army and was labeled as the man who lost the Revolutionary War for the British. He was also a revered military figure and it was very interesting to get to work on this project with Cayden, It was quite a challenge to come up with a cool costume for Cayden, But once again, my mom saved the day with a great red suit coat and 3 cornered hat.

Each student dresses up and then sits on their desk around the outside of the classroom. The parents are invited to come and as they go to each student, the "wax" student "comes alive" and says their part.

Cayden not only looked great, but he did an amazing job on his part. Overall, it was a great experience and one that Cayden will always remember.
Cayden aka Lord Charles Cornwallis, reciting his lines.
He looked so good and did a great job!

What a total goofball! I love working on these projects together

"I ride him on my bum?"

2010-05-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

I love listening to Sadie and all of her fun phrases. She has an amazing vocabulary and amazes me all the time with the things she says.

Today, the twins had a field trip at Wheeler Farm. They really wanted me to come, so I loaded Sadie and Jaxson up in the car and met them at the farm.

On the way there, Sadie asked me where we were going. I told her we were going to the farm to see the animals. That immediately peaked her interest. The following was the dialogue...

Sadie: Mommy, we go to the farm?
Me: Yes Sadie. We're going to see lots of animals!
Sadie: We see a horse!?
Me: Yes
Sadie: I ride the horse on my bum!?
Me (cracking up): No, you can't ride the horse.
Sadie: I ride the cow on my bum?
Me (cracking up more): No, you can't ride the cow.
We continue this same thing with pretty much every farm animal she can think of. Sadie thinks for a long time....
Sadie: I know!
Me: What?
Sadie: I ride the elephant on my bum!
She was so proud of herself, I didn't have the heart to tell her that there were no elephants at the farm and even if there were, she wouldn't be riding them on her "bum".

Homework is EXHAUSTING!

2010-05-14T00:40:00.000-07:00

It must be the end of the school year because I came downstairs this afternoon when the girls were supposed to be doing homework and instead, I found this. Ashlee and McKell were sound asleep and Sadie, who does everything her older sisters do, was pretending to be asleep as well. I didn't have the heart to wake them up, so I just let them sleep until they woke up on their own and finished their homework.Shhh....Sadie is asleep....or is she?
Nope! She is just a really good actress!

McKell-The beautiful Japanese Sparrow

2010-05-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

At the kids' school, they do "Culminating Events". At the end of a unit of study, they do some sort of special presentation for the parents showing them what they have learned. Sometimes it is a display in the classroom, sometimes a play, etc.

McKell's class studied different countries this year, including Japan. McKell was really excited because she knew that I had lived in Japan so I came to her class, and Ashlee's as well, and did a presentation on Japan. It was so much fun. For McKell's class' Culminating Event, they did a series of short plays about different countries that they had studied. McKell was thrilled when she was chosen to be a beautiful sparrow in the Japanese play. She wore my authentic Japanese Kimono and my chopsticks in her hair. She looked beautiful and did a great job on her part.

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, when anyone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say that I wanted to be a mom. I spent hours playing with my dolls in the basement - feeding them, changing them, taking them on walks in the baby stroller, etc.

I feel that it is an amazing blessing that my dream to be a mom has come true. I was over the moon ecstatic on a beautiful fall day in November of 1999 when the doctor placed a beautiful baby boy in my arms. And I felt twice blessed on a warm spring afternoon in May of 2002 when I became the mother of not just one beautiful baby girl, but two. Five years later, on a gorgeous summer evening in August of 2007, I was again blessed with a special little baby girl. And just this past year, in July 2009, I had a beautiful little blue-eyed boy placed in my arms and became a mom for the 5th time.

To me, being a mother isn't something that I do, it is something that I am. I am not the best mom in the world and there are days that I feel like the worst mom in the world! But I try every day to be the best mom that I can to my kids. I know with no doubt that they were entrusted to me by God and that there was no mistake that they were sent to me.

I am eternally grateful for the gift of being a mother. I love watching my children grown and learn, whether that is learning to take a first step, or learning how to do long division. I love watching their unique personalities form and to see them interact with one another and those around them. I love the gummy smiles, sticky hugs, countless drawings and paintings, and the priceless hand written notes that they give me. I love that no matter how old they get, they still need mommy to tuck them in, give them a kiss and hug, and love to snuggle with me.

So when Mother's Day comes around each year, I look at it a little differently. Rather than celebrating me on that day, I celebrate and give thanks for the gift that I have been given. The gift of motherhood.
Every year, Rob and the kids usually spoil me with a delicious breakfast, a yummy dinner, and I get the day off to rest, nap, etc. And then we go to my mom and dad's house to have strawberry shortcake. This year, we had 2 extra reasons to celebrate on that day - it was also McKell and Ashlee's 8th birthday.
It was a very special day and as I tucked each of my 5 precious treasures into bed, I again gave thanks to God that I am a mom.Me and my 5 beautiful kids - Cayden Robert age 10, Ashlee Jo & McKell Elizabeth age 8,
Sadie Jayne age 2, and Jaxson William age 10 months.

Mother's Day at my parents'. Jordan, practicing his golf swing.
Kyle helping Cayden on his golfing skills.
Sadie LOVES to dress up and she LOVES to dance. So when my mom bought her this fluffy purple and pink tu-tu, she was in heaven!! She would not take it off for days! Gotta love a little girl in a tu-tu!!

This is a priceless photo of me and my beautiful mom. She is an amazing mother and a great example. She raised 9 children and spent many of those difficult years as a young mother on her own while my dad was working full time, going to college, and was in the US Air Force. I don't know how she did it. I am so grateful that we have a great relationship and she is truly one of my best friends.

What a very special Mother's Day for my sweet niece, Jewels.
This is her first official Mother's Day since becoming a mom to this adorable baby boy, Miles.

This is a pretty normal look for Shawn on a Sunday. The life of a bishop is pretty exhausting...especially on Sundays!
Jakob enjoying his strawberry shortcake.
Kaijsa
Ben, Jordan (love the attitude), and Olivia.
Being a mom to Sadie is one of the greatest joys of my life!
Sadie on the run!
Cousins and great friends! McKell and Mary
My beautiful and very silly girls. They truly love each other so much and love
laughing, giggling, and being silly!

Mother's Day was twice as special this year because it was the same day
as Ashlee and McKell's 8th birthday.

Happy 8th Birthday to my beautiful girls!
Rob and the kids made me delicious Belgium Waffles with
strawberries and whipped cream. YUM!

One of my favorite things on Mother's Day is getting little notes and cards from my kids. They are honestly more priceless to me than any gift.
Above: Ashlee made this paper flower and note at school
The kids made these fun lists in primary where they answered questions about their mom.
Ashlee's read: My mom is "happy and sad", My mom "Loves me", She likes "Me", She looks like "A happy mom", She sounds like "A happy mom", She smells like "Make up", She always "Hurts her back", My mom is "Fun".
McKell Wrote: My mom is "sweet, nice, kind, helpful", She "loves me", She likes "having McKell and Mommy days", She looks like "a queen", She sounds like "a beautiful bird", She smells like "a rose", She always "says I love you", My mom is "so nice and beautiful."
This is Cayden's. Keep in mind, he apparently was trying to make it rhyme. And in typical Cayden fashion, it had to be in BYU blue and says "BYU ROX" at the bottom. LOL!
Cayden wrote: My mom is "cool", She is "the best", She likes "going to the pool", She looks like "she is good with her tests", She sounds like "she's not a fool", She smells like "a clean desk", She always "cleans her room", My mom is "the best mom in the world."
In school, Cayden's class had to take the name of their mothers and then start each sentence with the letters of their mothers name. Cayden wrote:
M-Moms are the best, A-Always taking care, R-Rubbing my head if I am sick, C-Cayden, I love you, I- I love you too.
A beautiful painting by McKell

Civil Right and Castles

2010-05-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

Each year, the kids' school does a school-wide Culminating Event. They have an evening at the school where every class gets to display something they have done during the year. This year Cayden's class chose to highlight their unit on castles. Cayden decided to add a few more guys to his castle for this event.
Ashlee and McKell's classes were both studying Civil Rights and the many amazing Civil Rights leaders. The girls are in separate class, but as luck would have it, they both were assigned to do their reports on Susan B Anthony. They had to research, write a report with pictures, and then dress up as their character and give an oral report. Thank goodness Grandma Neilson has lots of things we can use for costumes!
Ashlee dressed as Susan B Anthony showing her poster that she made.
McKell as Susan B Anthony. Their class sat at their desks and the told the parents about the Civil Rights leader they were portraying. She did a gre

Like Father,,,Like Son

2010-05-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

Looks like we have a future engineer on our hands. The above picture is very typical of our little Jaxson. He can be surrounded by a pile of toys, balls, etc. but if he spots anything in the electronics department, he beelines for it! It is very normal to see him pulling himself up to play with the computer mouse or keyboard, pushing the buttons on any remote, or studying the cords to the Xbox. But he is definitely the cutest darn techy that we've ever seen!

Dance Class

2010-05-03T00:20:00.001-07:00

Ashlee and McKell love their dance class. They both started taking dance from Tiffany Dance Co last year and they are both doing great. This year they are taking a ballet/tumbling combo. It is a little hard for them because they are both so tall so tumbling is a little tricky for them. But they are doing great and having fun.
(Above is McKell doing her ballet warm ups. She has a very good form and really remembers the dances well.)
Ashee doing her ballet warm ups. This has been a really good experience for Ashlee. With her autism, Ashlee is challenged with her large motor skills. Dancing, tumbling, etc. is a great and fun way for her to work on it.

As I mentioned, tumbling is a little more challenging for my girls because they are so tall for their age. But I am so proud of them because they work hard, have fun, and keep trying.

McKell's awesome arch-ups

Ashlee's awesome arch-ups
Doing stretches

Dyeing Eggs

2010-05-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

(SORRY, FOR SOME REASON THE PICTURES WENT IN BACKWARDS ORDER, SO YOU GET TO SEE THIS BACKWARDS.)
Above: My sweet dad, or "Papa" as we call him, taking it easy after dyeing eggs. He just had knee replacement surgery and is amazing everyone with how well he is doing.

Sadie was in absolute heaven coloring eggs. She couldn't get the eggs quick enough and couldn't color them with more dye! Needless to say, she was very unhappy when we had to clean up after we ran out of eggs.

I love that ALL of Cayden's eggs are either blue, green, or turquoise. He is a boy with a theme in mind and it is ALL boy!!
McKell's beautifully colored eggs
Ashlee's beautiful eggs. (Note Ashlee's smile - her teeth look a little strange these days. She is currently sporting a "rapid expander" in her mouth. We crank it every night and it expands her bite little by little which makes room for her teeth to come in. She has been a trooper and we are hoping to not have to get braces on her.)
McKell's "Easter Socks". She got some green egg dye spilled on her socks. At first she was upset, but then realized that she now had a new pair of Easter Egg socks. Unfortunately, the dye came out when I washed them, but for one evening, she had a fun pair of socks.

Sadie was very meticulous and made sure her eggs were colored just right. Pretty amazing for a 2 year old.

Cayden's favorite thing is to write words and sayings, mostly "BYU" on his eggs with white crayon before dyeing them.

Jaxson was a little too young to help dye eggs, so instead he hung out in the living room with "Papa".
My little McKelly is quite a poser. I love that girl!!
All ready to dye eggs.

NPA 5K Fun Run 2010

2010-04-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

Every year, the kids' school, Navigator Pointe Academy does a 5K fun run fundraiser. This is the first year that we have been able to attend. The kids took it very seriously and spent days pounding the pavement to collect sponsors for them. They all raised enough money to earn a special lunch with the school director, Mrs Farris. They also wond some addition prizes including a big box of firecrackers and passes to Hollywood Connection.

They all did the 5K and did a great job. We borrowed a jogging stroller for Sadie and Jaxson and Rob pushed them through the route. I had just had a back procedure the night before so I couldn't do the fun run at all.

I was very proud of my kids and their hard work to earn money for their school. We love our school and are happy to do anything we can to help raise money for the great programs and curriculum at NPA,
Our littlest racers in the jogging stroller
Rob did a great job encouraging the kids and cheering them on while running with them.
Ready....set....GO!
Cayden did a great job!
NcKell was a speedy little racer!
Go Daddy!!!
Ashlee was a great racer!
There was a great turnout and it was really fun for the kids to see so many of their friends from school at the fun run.
McKell's certificate.
Way to go Team Peacock!!!
Sadie and Jaxson did great and loved being in the stroller together.
Ash and McKell and their wonderful art teachers Ms Packham and Mrs. Fowler.
Sadie is ready to eat!! They had a yummy pancake breakfast at the end of the race.
Sadie taking a turn with the stroller. (Jaxson wasn't inside! :o)
Sadie showing us her racing skills.

Easter Weekend 2010

2010-04-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny left some great loot on Easter Saturday. Lots of candy, clothes, and fun little toys. Of course the kids got their kites that they get every year for Easter. Unfortunately, we didn't have kite flying weather, more like sleigh riding weather. We still had a fun weekend which was also spring break AND General Conference. A very fun and busy weekend!

Jaxson on Easter, watching conference with Daddy
Sadie loves her new foam puzzle letters from the Easter Bunny
Easter Saturday Morning 2010
Our cute little Easter boy - Jaxson's first Easter
Cool little Easter dude!
Our family Easter egg hunt in our house
McKell on the hunt for her eggs
Cayden

The annual Peacock Easter egg hunt. Grandma Peacock explaining the rules of the hunt.

Jaxson got right in on the action!

We also celebrated Uncle Jay's birthday over Easter weekend!

The Neilson Easter Egg Hunt

Sadie and Nate on the hunt
Papa helping Sadie find her eggs. They are the best of friends!
McKell was SO excited to get one of the coveted golden eggs with money inside

I love my Daddy!
Our "Golden Girls" = Jaydee, McKell, and Ashlee all found golden eggs this year!

Jay and Jared

It was too cold for Jaxson to be outside, so he stayed inside with Brian. He did great until he saw us outside through the window and then it was all over. Look at that sad face!

Spring Break - Zoo Trip

2010-04-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

Spring break felt more like Winter break here in Utah. We were so bummed that the weather was so bad, but we were determined to still have fun. Rob took work off for a few days and we had a great time. One day we did the zoo and another day we hit Chuck-E-Cheese. It was a cold spring break, but definitely fun!

This was Jaxson's first trip to the zoo. We bundled him up really well and he did great. He loves being outside and although it was chilly, he was a trooper! He was fascinated with all of the sites and especially loved the monkeys jumping around.
(And look at those beautiful blue eyes!!!)
We were so excited to see the new baby elephant! When we went last year, I was pregnant with Jaxson and the mommy elephant was pregnant as well. We were really looking forward to coming back this year with our baby Jaxson to see the new baby elephant at the zoo. What a cute baby she is!! (Although we think our baby is much cuter!)
On the big scale trying to weigh as much as the baby elephant.
Cayden and McKell have a very special relationship. They are best buddies and really love each other so much. I love that they love each other.
We got very up close to the giraffes. Ashlee was fascinated by their long black tongues!

Our monkeys!!

Wow! That is way too similar!
Our big papa gorilla!

Because of our name, our kids get VERY excited when they see a Peacock. They were absolutely THRILLED to see this Peacock up close and with his feathers in full bloom. Their daddy has taught them a perfect Peacock call and they love it when the Peacock "Yelps" back at them.

Our young padawan on the road to be a Jedi

2010-04-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

Uh oh. Looks like we have another little Jedi in the making. Jaxson found one of Cayden's lightsabers and was pretty excited about it. What a cute little Padawan, don't you think?

Princesss Leah aka Sadie coming into the picture! I had to include this picture, because it is SO funny. Sadie is ferociously protective of her pink "silky". Jaxson has his own, in blue, but he is impartial to color and when he sees a silky, he goes after it. Sadie is not too excited about the idea of sharing so the battle begins. Sadie usually wins her silky back and Jaxson usually just gives her a big gummy smile.

Our Little Scientists

2010-04-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

Ashlee and McKell had their 2nd grade science fair. They had to come up with a simple machine and make a model of it. They both chose pulleys and both had the same idea which made it much easier for us to do TWO projects! They were so proud of their entries and were excited to show all of the parents at their culminating event at the school. We love these great learning opportunities!

homework

2010-03-11T12:49:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I forget to capture the every day little things that we do.
The mundane things that occur every day that we don't even really think about.
One such moment for us is homework each day. I thought I couldn't hate homework any more than when I was in school myself. But now I know that I hate homework SO much more when I am trying to help 3 kids with their homework at the same time. It gets a little chaotic and DI lose patience quickly. But it is all in a day at the Peacock home.

Bowling!

2010-03-06T23:43:00.000-08:00

Cayden convinced us that we hadn't been bowling as a family for a long time. So, we headed off to All Star Lanes and went bowling. It worked out well because it was the kids' fundraising day at the bowling alley. As you can see from the score, I didn't do so great. I think I need the bumpers as much as the little kids!

Cayden is quite a good little bowler!
McKell
Even Jaxson got in on the bowling action!
The highlight for me was seeing Sadie bowl for the first time. She was SO excited every time she had her turn. She could hardly wait until it was her turn again!
Sadie loves "give me five...knuckles...bones"
Sadie gets her first strike!
The bowling master!

Ashlee has quite a powerful bowling throw. So powerful, that she landed a ball on one of the bumpers and totally busted it!

Great concentration!

Sadie giving "five...bones...knuckles...yeah!"

Look who's jumping!

2010-03-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

We recently got our "Johnny Jumper" out of the basement for Jaxson. None of our other kids have really loved the "Johnny Jumper" but we thought we'd give Jaxson a try. He LOVES it! He loves being in his Johnny Jumper and it didn't take him long to figure out how to spin around and jump and bounce like crazy. Of course, it didn't hurt that his big sissy, Sadie, was jumping right along the side of him to teach him how. Now we just have to keep her from thinking it is a swing. A few days ago I found him literally swinging in the door frame. He thought it was great, as did Sadie. I about had a heart attack. Now he thinks he needs to jump whenever he can. He goes nuts in his exersaucer and makes so much noise jumping in that thing that it is ridiculous. He also loves to "jump" when I hold him on my lap. He's quite a cute little hopper!
Thinking about it....

And now he is JUMPING!!

Getting some jumping tips from his big Sissy, Sadie.

Pretty tired after all that jumping!

Side Note: Speaking of jumping and hopping, I had to mention this. This past week, we let Sadie get in the shower with the big girls. She thought it was great. She did fine until we noticed that she kept jumping in the shower and then back out etc. etc. We got really stern with her and told her to stop. She finally replied, "But I'm hopping in the shower!" Oh dear. We say that all the time, "Hey kids, let's go hop in the shower..." I guess Sadie took it a little more literally than the others. It was pretty darn funny.

Go Utah Jazz!!

2010-03-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

As part of Cayden's Jr Jazz registration, he got a pair of tickets for a Jazz game. He was SO excited to get to go see a real NBA game. He wasn't sure who he was going to take - me or Rob. He finally decided on taking his Dad, which I was really happy about. When I asked him why he made that decision, he said to me, "Mom, it's just kinda like a guy thing." Oh boy. My boys had a great time at the game and to make it even better, the Jazz won!!

Sadie was bound and determined that she was going to go with the guys. She wanted her own "Ticket" so Rob gave her his Costco gift card which apparently looked enough like a Jazz ticket to make her happy.

Tubby TIme!!

2010-03-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

Jaxson is finally old enough to sit up in the tub. This also means that he is old enough to get to take a bath with big sister, Sadie. I'm not sure who was more excited about this - Sadie or Jaxson! They had a great time and did a whole lot of splashing!!

Jr Jazz

2010-02-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

Cayden played his first year of Jr Jazz this year. His team was a little under par, but it was a good learning experience for Cayden. He loves basketball and was so excited to get to play this year. He is SO tall and played center pretty much the whole time. We look forward to another great season next year!

Peacock Family Game Night

2010-02-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

We get together with Rob's family for all sorts of fun times. This month, James and Brooke planned a Peacock family game night. We had pizza, treats, and mostly we had a great time!
Sweet Jaxson had a great time and loved seeing everyone!

Uncle James getting lots of practice for his future babies :o)
Nena brought a new game (I can't remember what it was called) but it was really quite strange. As you can see from the photos, it had everyone doing some pretty odd things and had us all laughing!
Lori and Suzanne had way too much fun!
Janet and James
Suzanne
Nena and Bryan explaining the rules
Sadie loved playing with her cousin, Brooke. She even let Sadie look at her pretty necklace
Cute Brooke
Jaxson also loved playing with Brooke
Hanging out and chatting
Jaxson and Brooke
McKell
Sadie loving her ice cream cone
Brooke, James, and Isaac
Andrew
Now THIS is trouble! Nick, Isaac, Cayden, and Alex
Rob and Marci
Brooke and James - the lovebirds!

Camera wars with Brooke
Sadie loves her Grandpa Peacock!
So cute! Me and James
Sadie and McKell
Hanging out and chatting over dinner

Valentines Day Celebrations

2010-02-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

(Above: Ashlee made this "Valentines Treat" for me. It is something made of mushed up bread, cinnamon, and rainbow sprinkles. YUM!)

It was a little strange having Valentines Day on a Sunday this year. But we had a great time. We had a special "romantic" dinner and even ate on the nice dishes on the dining room table with sparkling cider and cheesecake with strawberries. I love having fun family traditions!Ashlee and McKell made these cute pictures to decorate our home for Valentines

I had so much fun making some Valentines banners with my friends, Dorey and Regina! This is my XOXO banner.
McKell and Ashlee made these cute Valentines at school. They traced their hands and then cut them out and glued them in the "Love" sign.
This was our yummy Valentines dinner - chicken cordon bleu, cranberry tossed salad, twice baked potatoes, homemade rolls, and fresh asparagus. YUM!
CHEERS! Our fancy Valentines dinner
Keeping with Neilson tradition, we had to "kick Valentines". I still don't know why the rest of the world doesn't do this, but it is what we did ever Valentines growing up. You put Valentines on the front doorstep, knock or "kick" the door, and run. This year the kids got treats, and cute little stuffed animal monkeys. (Although I think this picture is awful! It looks like a bunch of dead monkeys on the doorstep! LOL!)
My cute romantic boys. Every year Rob and Cayden give flowers to me and the girls. I love that Cayden helps Rob do this. It teaches him how to be a romantic guy like his Dad!
Cute McKell
Sweet Ashlee
Our yummy cheesecake and fresh strawberries
Beautiful flowers from the boys
I just had to take these pictures of Rob and Jaxson on Valentines. Jaxson LOVES to have his head stroked (just like his mommy!).

SO sweet! Jaxson loves his daddy!
We were SO excited to get a special package all the way from England! Rob's sister, Jenny, sent us a wonderful Valentine's package with lots of treats, little bears, and candy from England which the kids thought was so fun! Thanks Jenny!!

My sweet Jaxson boy

2010-02-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

A picture can speak a thousand words, so I don't need to say much. Except for the fact that I LOVE this baby boy! He is such a joy to us and is the sweetest little boy in the world! He is now sitting up, rolling all over, and up on all fours all ready to crawl. He loves his bouncy chair, johnny jumper, bumbo seat, and recently was introduced to Biter Biscuits which he LOVES! He makes the funniest little sound that sounds like "Scuttle" on The Little Mermaid when he tries to sing. It is hilarious. He also gives THE best gummy smiles around! He loves me so much, but when Daddy comes home, he is a Daddy's boy for sure! It is pretty darn cute. I cannot believe that he is almost 7 months! I really just need him to slow down and stay a baby as long as possible!!

You've got a friend in me...

2010-02-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed that my kids truly do love each other. Yes, they fight and yell and sometimes hit, etc. But for the most part, they are friends. They love each other and laugh together and have fun together. Nothing brings me more joy than to see my children love each other and be friends.

Cayden and his little Buddy - Brothers!

Cayden and Ashlee have had a very difficult time over the years being friends. But recently, I posed a challenge to them to try harder and they both took it to heart and as you can see, they are doing much better. They love to wrestle together, and Ashlee can hold her own! I am so happy they are finally getting along!

Sadie and Jaxson were born friends. While the older kids are at school every day, it is these two little ones who entertain each other. Sadie is quite a fun little mommy and Jaxson adores Sadie and is fascinated by her.

Cotton Candy

2010-02-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, we got a Cotton Candy machine for a Christmas gift. It's just a little hokey one, but it is one of our kids' favorite all time gifts. McKell is our cotton candy monster so she is thrilled at any opportunity to get out the machine. We usually get it out for a Family Night treat and as you can see, it is a big hit!

Superbowl 2010

2010-02-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

We're not huge football fans in our home. But we're always fans of a fun party. This year we headed to my parents house for a big Superbowl party. I had to ask numerous times who was even playing and was coaxed into routing for The Saints. My brother, Jay, is infamous for his party planning skills and had the whole thing set up. Go Saints!!
(Above: there was a ton of yummy food!)
Jay cheering, "Go Saints!"
Decorations representing both teams

Cute Lexi and Jaxson
My sweet Cayden boy
Dad and Paul watching the big game
The boys watching the game. Sidenote: you can tell it is a Sunday because "Bishop Shawn's" eyes are barely open.
Heidi and Ian being...well...Heidi and Ian
Cute little Mary
These two are crazy! Oivia and Kjaisa

Beautiful Lexi
Jaxson found a new friend in Heidi
Jakob
Jaxson cheering with is Mardi Gras b eads
A rare shot...my dad actually is holding the remote!
Jar Bear

Gentle Reminders

2010-02-10T08:15:00.001-08:00

As a Mom, I have learned that we often times receive what I like to call "gentle reminders". These are things that happen to put things into perspective.
They remind me of what is important.
They remind me of what I have to be grateful for.
They remind me how I need to be better.
They give me strength, courage, and inspiration to carry on.

One such gentle reminder was when a dear friend, Jenni Pemberton, unexpectedly and tragically died a few years ago. She was a young mom much like me. She was pregnant with her 4th baby and had 3 beautiful young children. One day, she found herself unable to breathe. The ambulance was called, she was rushed to the hospital, everything was done to save her and her sweet unborn baby boy, but nothing worked. She died.
When I heard the news, I remember it striking me like a slap in the face and I found myself sobbing. Mostly because I remember thinking over and over again..."How did she leave her children?"
Did she kiss them goodbye that morning when they went to school?
Did she tell them that she loved them?
Did she pause to watch them leave the house?
Or was she like me on most mornings...rushing, stressed, late, raising my voice, etc.
This is where the "gentle reminder" came in. I was reminded on that sad April morning that I need to be better with my own children. What if I died that day...would my children know I loved them? Did I tell them? Did I give them a hug and kiss? Did I SLOW down and spend time with them?
Since that day nearly 2 years ago, I have made it a point to NEVER let my children go to school without telling them that I love them. Giving them a kiss and a hug. Letting them know I care about them. I still have very stressful mornings and we are usually in a hurry, but my "gentle reminder" usually kicks in and I remind myself to slow down and do what is important.

Another gentle reminder came this past week in the way of a total stranger. I happened upon her blog from a link on another blog. I will post it in this sweet mother's words of the tragedy that happened this past Saturday to her family. It could be me. It could be you. And after reading this, it has been another "gentle reminder" to be a better mom, to be more attentive. To hug my kids more and love on them and realize their little lives are precious.

"We had a terrible and tragic accident at our home on Saturday morning.
It was a typical Saturday... We had just had breakfast as a family.
Matt had gone on an unplanned mountain bike ride, alone,
but was waiting for a buddy to call and possibly join him.
Kaden was playing video games on the Wii in our family room.
Trevan, was watching cartoons.
As usual, the babies were a mess... covered in breakfast.
I'd just come home from the gym. I needed a shower.
I usually take them in with me. It is easier, faster and less of a mess to shower them.
(I think they had their first actual bath together just a couple weeks ago.
They loved it! I actually video-taped them because it was such a novelty!
They splashed and laughed and played for hours!
I thought I needed to take the time to let them do that more often...)
I started to get undressed to get in the shower, right next to the tub.
I took pajamas and diapers off my little boys and ushered them into the shower.

As we passed it, Daynen begged to get in the "Hot Tub" (our big, jetted Master Bathtub).
For once, we weren't in a hurry to go anywhere.
I started their water.
I put them in the tub with their fish toys and their boats.
I set out their towels. I played with them a few minutes while the tub filled.
I ran their water a few inches deep. I turned off the faucet.

I poked my head around the corner into our bedroom to check on Trevan.
(He'd been sick on Friday and had thrown up 23 times. I think he lost 5 pounds.)
He was lying on top of the covers because Matt had made the bed.

He looked skinny and cold and was shivering in his underwear.
I asked him if he wanted a blanket, he said no.
I told him he looked cold and suggested he go get his pajamas on.
He said he was too tired to go get them.

And... so I left...
Which turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life.

Please do not try to sugar-coat things for me.
I am responsible. I am the Mommy.
I should have been more attentive.
I should never have walked away from that tub.
I hope to forgive myself one day... Right now that feels impossible.

But I walked down the hallway to Trevan and Daynen's room to get Trevan his pajamas.
I should have come straight back...
But I noticed Daynen's bed was still unmade.
And I saw the Laundry basket full of clean clothes
that Matt had carefully set on the end of the bed that morning,
ready to be put away when Trevan did his chores.

So I thought I'd be nice and do it for him.
I took the shirts Matt had hooked over the side and hung them on the rod in Trevan's closet.
I took the folded stack of jeans and placed them on the shelf.
I straightened the row of shoes on the floor.
While I was in the closet, I got out a diaper and onesie
so I could get Daynen dressed when I got him out of the tub.
I closed the closet door...
Basket in hand, I stepped over to the dresser to put away the socks and underwear.

I heard a muffled shout from Trevan.

I set the basket down, alarmed.
Then Trevan came running,
"Mom! Mom! Bronson drowned in the tub! I think he's dead!"

I ran.

It was very far to the bathtub.

He was floating on his back. White. Lips blue. Eyes rolled back. Gone.
Daynen had his arms under his shoulders and thighs, trying to lift him.
Our eyes met.
He looked tiny and helpless trying to keep his brother afloat.
Trying to heave him out.
"Mommy! I so saw-wee! I twy to get him out!"
There was too much water.
It was up past the jets. Running at full speed.
One of them had turned it back on.
.I lunged.
I pulled him out. Wet. Cold. Dripping.
I laid him on the floor on our bathmat, next to the shower we should have taken instead.
He had no pulse.
He would not respond..
I screamed for Kaden to call 911.
He was already there. Phone in hand. Dialing.

I began CPR.
I should have gone to Relief Society.
We just had a CPR course... I stayed home that night.
I forgot to pinch his nose..
I blew air into my baby's lungs. They filled and rose.
He sputtered. Water leaked from his eyes, nose and the sides of his mouth.

I blew again, pleading with him.
He had no pulse.
I pressed down on his chest with both hands shaking, counting.
Praying.
I blew into his mouth and nose again. Air filled him. He sputtered.
I blew again, hard. He began to vomit.
It was everywhere, on both of us. I turned his head to to the side. I cleared his airway.
Again, I blew. Again, I pressed.
Again, his breakfast ran onto the carpet at the side of his head.

Any second... Any second.Any second his eyes would flutter and he would take a breath.
Any second he would would sit up.

Any second I would wrap my arms around him and thank God for the close call.
Any second he would be back with us.
Any second... but he did not wake up.

The Emergency Dispatcher said they were almost there.
I shouted for Kaden to go unlock the front door and wait. To show them where to find us.
He was so brave. So responsible.

He waited with the door wide open, watching in the cold
the long, loooong minutes until they arrived.

The Police Officer pulled my shoulder up and back from where I hovered over him, blowing.
I begged him to save my baby.

The Fireman grabbed under the armpits and lifted him from the floor mat
running out the door with my heart in hands.

I scooped Daynen up into my arms, cold, wet and dripping
from where he'd stood shivering and watching me try to bring his best friend back to him.
I told him it was not his fault.

I ran back down the hall to get him dressed.

The Police Officer followed.
So many questions...
How long had I been gone? How long had he been under?
How deep was the water when I came in?
Was it hot or cold?
Had he slipped? Had he been pushed?
Did he hit his head?
I didn't know... I still don't know...
I will never know.
We will never know.

I told my boys to be fast. To get ready to go to the hospital. To get in the car.
I got Daynen diapered and dressed.
This was not happening.
Where was Matt?
Please call Matt. Someone call Matt.
But Matt won't answer. His ipod will be in. He won't hear his phone.
He was going for a long training ride. He could be hours.
He'd just left.
I would do this alone.
Could I do this alone?

Downstairs, the Officer told me I could not drive.
Told me my children should stay home. Told me to call a neighbor.
SO many choices, which one to choose...
Angi appeared out of nowhere.
She was in my kitchen, an angel in a t-shirt,
"What can I do?"
"Stay here with my babies."
She hugged me, I knew she'd been prompted to come.

But where was Trevan?
He was missing. Why would he run off? Where would he have gone?
Was he okay? He must be terrified...
I remembered I told him we needed to get to the hospital as fast as possible.
I felt that I should look in the car.
I opened the door to the garage and could see his silhouette,
swaying slightly in his middle seat of the car.
There he was, sick as can be, dressed with his shoes tied, all by himself...
buckled into his seat in the car.
Ready to go. So obedient. So resourceful. Bless his heart.
Another beloved, respected neighbor stood in my entry.
"Oh Steve," I said as he pulled me to him in a supportive embrace.
"I know... I know..." he said.
And as I looked into his eyes, he did.
No judgement.
Bless him for understanding.

Someone handed me my purse.
I walked out the door with the Officer.
The strikingly beautiful wife of our bishop, Annette, stood eagerly on the sidewalk.
I told her Bronson had drowned.
There were few words, but her compassionate eyes
told me she would help to see that everything was taken care of.

I glanced up.
Concerned neighbors were everywhere.
The guilt of what I had done washed over me like a wave.
I had left Bronson alone. He was gone. He may never come home.
My poor boys. I had abandoned their brother.
I had created this mess for them to deal with.
I had taken Bronson away from everyone who loves him..
The Officer escorted me to his car.
The front seat was cluttered with and boxes and papers.
He opened the door and put me in the back where the criminals sit.
Fitting, I thought. I did this.
Not on purpose, of course, but out of negligence.
I bowed my head in shame, not meeting the eyes of the sweet neighbors we drove past.
I wept the empty cry of the helpless.
I prayed to God to spare my son.
I prayed he would be okay.
I promised I would never let myself become distracted by something so unimportant.
Something that can wait.

We hit every light red on the mile and a half drive down the hill to the hospital.
We drove with no siren at traffic speed.
I wanted to get out and run but my door would not open from te inside.
We pulled into the Ambulance loop at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
I could not get out of the car! I was trapped!
I felt claustrophobic.
I waited the eternity that it took for the Officer to walk around to my side and unlock the door.

I ran, purse dangling over my shoulder, through the doors of the Emergency Room.
More questions...
Where was my baby? Was he alive? Why could I not see him?
I was ushered into a small empty room and asked to wait for these answers.
Alone, I panicked.
I knelt to pray. It was all I could think to do.
I offered my heart and soul to my Father in exchange for a miracle.

The door opened. It was Angi. She came so that I would not be alone.
We embraced the familiar hug of two women who have been through too much together.
I thanked her for being thoughtful, beyond words.

The door opened again and my sweet, beautiful Matt came bursting through,
Sobbing.
Wrapping me in his strong arms of comfort.
How had he known?
I thought Kaden had been unable to reach him.
He had been on his way up the canyon, but was waiting for a neighbor buddy to call,
so he'd left his ear phones out and was watching his phone.
I was amazed by this small, tiny miracle.

He answered Kaden's call just as he was passing Timpview High School.
His world came crashing down.
He will always dread passing that spot on the road where he got that call.
He pedaled his bike across snow-crusted fields and down busy roads to get to the hospital,
unsure what he'd find when he arrived.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry."
Over and over I apologized.
I don't remember what I said or he said in that frantic moment.
But I do remember the sweet feeling of relief
as I received forgiveness he would not even admit he was extending.
"How could I be mad? Why would I ever be angry?",
spoken in love and genuine sincerity.
They were the sweetest words I would never even have dared to hope to hear.
Lifting a perceptible weight..
We knelt and prayed. Matt poured out his heart on behalf of our son.
A Nurse came in and ushered us to the room where they were working on Bronson.
.Our sweet, tiny boy.

.
.

He looked so small amid a dozen doctors and nurses hustling about him
amid too many tubes and too many wires.

.
.

There are still too many tubes and too many wires.

Our Bishop arrived fast.
He and Matt places their hands upon his little head and offered a Priesthood Blessing.
We all wept.
Matt commanded Bronson to be made whole
and called down the powers of heaven to preserve his life.
He asked Father in Heaven to allow him to fulfill the blessings he had been promised
when he was named and blessed as an infant.
Peace and gratitude for this amazing man washed over me
as I heard his voice speaking confidently
and with faith I myself had not yet received.

We thanked the efficient paramedics
as they described how they had broken protocol
and ran right over the hoses they should have re-reeled back into the truck
in order to shave a few extra seconds off their response time.
They were fast.
We hoped it would be fast enough.

A neighbor friend, Chad, an ER Doc,
stopped by to offer words of comfort and give information we had not received.
We felt confident he was in the best hands.

Matt's dear friend Mark walked in.
Arms full of clothes for Matt to change into.
Real shoes to wear, instead of his clipped-bottom biking shoes.
So thoughtful...

We helped to push the gurney out the double doors
and across the parking lot to where the helicopter awaited.
We begged Rose, the Life Flight attendant, to take extra special care.
We stood, arm in arm, and watched as they flew away with with our life hanging in the balance.

Matt's parents, Peggy and Larry, arrived, devastated.
They pulled their car around, ready to chauffer us to Salt Lake City.

A stranger approached in an aloha print shirt.
A detective.
He just needed a few minutes of our time.
Now?
Yes, now.
Where were our other children?
Home with a neighbor, I said.
Could the neighbor bring them down to the station?
No. They need to be at home. They've all had a traumatic day.
But he needed to have them interviewed right away.
"We are on our way to the hospital," I explained.
He was insistent.
It was critical that he be able to speak with Daynen and Trevan
in order to determine if there had been any criminal activity.They are 2 and 6, I said.
It must be right away before anyone else can interfere with their testimony
by planting responses or swaying them with suggestions.
I fumed silently.
I shivered with cold... or anger. I'm not sure.
I was cold. And wet. In shock.
Was he actually taking my time with this right NOW?
The audacity was disgusting.
I bit my tongue and politely told him I'd be happy to comply at a later date.Monday?, he suggested, as if that was actually a realistic consideration.I told him I hoped I was not at a funeral on Monday.
I gave him my cell phone number.
Mark tucked us into the car with Matt's parents and closed the door,
clenching his jaw to keep from punching the detective in the face.
I smiled at our good and loyal friend.

Larry followed the GPS printout and navigated to Primary Children's Hospital.
(Which is entirely too far from a major access road, if you ask me.)
We wandered through endless halls trying to follow the path of red signs to lead us,
but could barely find them through our tears.
He'd been stabilized by the time we arrived.
His heart was beating on it's own but he was still not breathing without assistance.
He was already on his ventilator and seemed almost peaceful.

.
.

The doctors and nurses have filled in the holes and explained things as well as they can.
Here is what we know...
Bronson arrived at the ER in full cardiac arrest.
He was intubated en route, but the tube was ineffective
because it had been misplaced in his esophogus instead of his trachia.
All resuscitation efforts had failed to that point,but he was revived when his heart began to beat again spontaneously in the ER at UVRMC.
He is being treated for anoxic brain injury,
although it continues to remain unclear how severe that might be.
His official down time is impossible to calculate
because we will never know how long he spent underwater before being found and pulled out.
Kaden placed the 911 call at 11:20 am.
The EMT's arrived at our home at 11:24.
Bronson was en route by 11:29 and arrived DOA at 11:31.
Eleven long minutes... plus ?
Currently, he is very sick and the outcome is still unclear.
He is considered in critical, but now stable, condition.
It is still too soon to know whether he will survive,
and if so how much damage there may have been to his brain.

All the early tests have shown surprisingly positive indications,although it will be several days more, at least, before we really have many answers
or know what we will will be dealing with.
His initial CT scan showed minimal swelling of the brain
and definitive differentiation between white and gray matter.
We feel fortunate that because of his young age, his fontanelle (soft spot) is still open,
which gives his brain a little bit more room to expand without damage, as he heals..
We chose to have Bronson receive a cutting edge, but experimental treatment
called Post-Arrest Hypothermic Therapy.
The theory is that by inducing hypothermia and reducing his body temperture,
we reduce his swelling (and therefore any further secondary injury that could be caused by it).
More importantly, it also reduces his metabolic rate and metabolism,
(thereby minimizing the energy stores needed to run all of his vital bodily systems).
So that frees up his body's reserves to help heal the most injured parts, his brain and lungs.
The down side to this is that it requires a paralytic medication
to prevent his body's natural shivering reflex.
So he is medically paralyzed for at least 48 hours.
He is also kept heavily sedated to prevent usage of unnecessary energy.
So the wait time before regular neurological assessments can begin is therefore extended.
I'll be honest... It has been an agonizing couple of days just waiting and not knowing.
Still, we were well advised and felt very good that we should do anything we canto maximize his healing time and allow his body to rest, heal and resethis circuitry, in a sense.
And if there is any chance at all of improving his prognosis,
we felt we had to give it our best shot and that it would be worth a relatively small wait.
Doctors were clear that they did not want to instill false hope
and that the outcome looked fairly grim.
Saturday was pure, unmistakable misery for all of us.

We made it through the first torturous night.
No one slept well.
Matt tossed and turned restlessly, waking up each time only to realize he was still here.
I had horrific nightmares. You don't want to imagine.
His early morning chest X-ray came back to show fluid in his right lung.
(A common issue with post-arrest victims who have aspirated during CPR.)
They began an antibiotic to keep the pneumonia from worsening.
Antibiotics are miraculous.
They also temporarily suspended the paralytic medication in order to do an initial
neurological assessment of brain activity and determine a starting point for his progress.
We were all surprised to see that his pupils were reactive to light,
as opposed to the consistent fixed and dialated position the day prior.
And then a tiny little miracle...
WE SAW EYE FLUTTERS!
We were almost too nervous to hope they were real!
But before long he came out of sedation enough to look around and blink,no doubt trying to make sense of where he was and what he was seeing.Pure joy. I now know what it feels like.
We were also super encouraged to see him move each of his four major extremities.
Each arm and each leg had what appeared to be purposeful, cognitive movement.
He even passed gas several times!
Who would have thought we'd be so proud and excited for that!

The rest of the day was much of the same.
Many visitors, much love, overwhelming support.
We did have to make the decision to focus just on Bronson
and ultimately gave up trying to make text updates to everyone.
We hope you understand...
Thanks to Cheryl, Mindy, Lori and whomever else has been helping to spread our news,
keep all of our family, friends, neighbors and loved ones informed
and most importantly petition for your prayers and support.
Monday morning's chest X-ray showed a more concentrated area of fluid.
This evening, they began to suspect that a portion of his right lung has actually collapsed.
They have adjusted the method and pattern of ventilation
in order to maximize oxygenation and prevent further lung damage.
Tomorrow night's possible extubation looks unlikely.

He also had a little hiccup with the Arterial IV in his left arm...
It infiltrated and collapsed, leaking caustic medication into his arm, rather than his vein.
He is pretty puffy and bruised and has some slight petechiae,
but they caught it early and it should heal in a day or two with no permanent tissue damage.

He was holding his favorite blankie, a gift from his Auntie Jane.

.
.

But the MOST exciting part of today was during the afternoon's neuro-assessment...
Initially, it was actually fairly disappointing, as compared to yesterday's good news.
He was much less responsive and seemed more sluggish coming to.
His pupils are still reactive, but are unevenly dialated, (we are told
probably due to the fact that he is still at the peak point for cranial and cerebrial swelling).
HOWEVER, we noticed that rather than just randomly gazing around the room,
he seemed to actually make brief eye contact!
At one point he connected his gaze with Matt's and held for a few seconds.
He also seemed to follow or track toward familiar voices!
Matt and I tried standing on opposite sides of his bed and taking turns speaking to him.
He definitely attempted to turn toward each of us in turn! Especially his Mama!
We are convinced that this is an indication of cognitive processing and recognition!
We are praying we are right!
We are feeling so encouraged that he is fighting so hard! He is such a strong little stinker!

The doctors and nurses seemed very surprised and encouraged!
He also completed his 48 hour cooling period and began the warm-up phase.
They will slowly return him back to regular body temperature over the next 16 hours.
He should be done around noon or 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.
Then they will attempt to take him off of the paralytic, lighten his sedative
and see how he does. We will just have to wait and see.
Tomorrow could be a very pivotal day!
Our other boys are home with Alli and seem to be doing well.
They made their second trip up to see us tonight and stayed for a couple of hours.
They are each dealing with their part in the crisis so differently but seem to be coping.
They miss us. They are praying for their brother.
Matt and I are still in a bit of a haze, but are trying to process all that is happening.
It hardly seems real!
We plan to continue to stay up at PCMC for the next forseeable little while.
I do not want to leave him.
We take turns sleeping and staying by his side in his room.
We are doing our best to take care of ourselves and appreciate your support.
We are trying not to think about the what ifs and what thens, but are taking things hour by hour.

We are still praying for a miracle.
Already so many tender mercies have been extended.
So many friends and family have texted, sent messages and gifts, called and been to visit!
It is overwhelming... truly...
Meals are coming in by the truckload!
Our wonderful next-door-neighbor, Jacque, already has us coordinated through next week!
And they are even coming from hundreds of miles away!
Our dear friend, Jane, arranged them while poolside from her vacation in Maui!
Unbelievable...
We appreciate all of you for your amazing efforts
and your kind, understanding words of encouragement, support and hope.
Most of all, we are grateful for your faith and prayers.
We feel them! They are real!
We are humbled by your many outpourings of love!
We thank the Lord for the eternal nature of families and our testimonies of the gospel.
We have all received beautiful priesthood blessings with powerful promises.
We ask for your continued faith and prayers on our behalf.
Please pray that Bronson's life will be preserved and that his mind will be protected...
That we will be able to feel peace and clarity
when making whatever difficult decisions must be made...
And that we will have the strength and perspective to follow the spirit as it guides us
and that as we discover Heavenly Father's will, we will have the courage to follow it.

For now, please hug your babies a little tighter...
Give your children a little extra squeeze...

.
.

Be a little more patient and diligent
and a little less distracted by the things that will wait until later.
Embrace the things that matter most!

Life is so fragile...

.
.

We are holding onto it for now."

For pictures and updates please visit Sarah's blog. http://www.stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/

A pain in the back...

2010-02-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't done an update on the status on my back condition or Rob's due to our fun car accidents over a year ago. First, we are so ever grateful for an irresponsible 19 year old girl in a giant SUV who rammed into Rob in his little Honda. She was going over 60 mph and Rob was at a complete stop. We also want to thank the selfish idiot who rammed into my front end of my car in his giant ugly white work van. At least in Rob's case, it's a no-brainer that he wasn't at fault and everything for him will be covered. Unfortunately, because of the circumstances of my accident, and frankly the dishonesty of said idiot who hit me, we may have to hire a lawyer and hope for the best.

So, first an update on Rob. I must say that I am grateful every time I think of his accident and realize what a true miracle it is that he wasn't hurt or even killed. Logic would say that he should have been horribly injured due to the circumstances of his accident. But thankfully, he came away from it relatively okay. Unfortunately, he is still having nagging pain in his neck and the back of his shoulders. Rob doesn't complain of pain and rarely sees a doctor, so when he complains, I know he is hurting. He still has numbness in his arm and loses sensation completely at times. His profession, sitting at a computer all day, only makes it worse. He finally saw a pain specialist and unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot that can be done. Basically he had SEVERE whiplash which fried the nerves and there isn't anything to fix that. He is looking at a lifelong problem with this. Great. Bring on the lawyers please. He gave him some meds to help and we'll hope for the best.

My issues are a bit more complicated. Not at all shocking. When I got in my accident, I didn't know it, but I was pregnant with our fifth baby. Fortunately, he was fine and is healthy and happy. I didn't fair quite as well. After the accident, an MRI showed 2 herniated discs - 1 in my lower neck and 1 in my lower spine. Going into a pregnancy with 2 active back injuries was stressful to say the least. It was a very difficult pregnancy and I was in pain with my back for the whole 9 months. But I "willed" myself through it and we made it okay. After Jaxson was born in July, my back seemed to be doing a little better. I would have moments where it would hurt and days where it caused me a lot of pain, but it was managable and again, I "willed" myself through it.

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I started having horrible pain again in my back. It radiated all down my left leg and as each day came, the pain and numbness went further and further down my leg to the point that it was really killing me. I tried to "will" myself through it again, but it didn't work. It also doesn't help that I have a chubby little baby boy who I am lugging around all day, as well as a 2 year old. Another MRI was ordered and it showed all sorts of fun new things.

So, as of now, I have an addition herniated disc in my back. The lower back herniations are between L4-L5 and L5-S1. In addition to that, I also have osteoarthritis in the facet joints of these same vertebrae. Basically I have bone hitting bone. OUCH. In addition, my joint next to my sacrum is a mess. My pelvis basically was "torqued" due to pregnancy and the accident and cannot be "un-torqued". I am currently working with a great pain clinic and last week went in for my first injection. Because it is in the spine, they have to do it while looking through an X-ray to make sure they get it in the right space. I am not a fan of needles in my back, and this was no exception. It is a little better on some days, but mostly still the same. We are kind of on a search mission right now trying to find out which back issue is causing the pain and numbness.

Like Rob, I am most likely looking at a lifelong issue with this. I am not happy about that.

I am trying to stay positive as I hobble around like an 85 year old granny. There are times that I can't even walk and I have spent more than a few nights on the couch because I can't lay flat in bed. I am trying to "will" myself through it again, but it just isn't working. I have had to call Rob on more than one occasion to come home from work because I literally cannot even stand up. It basically sucks.

So, that is the update. I wish it were better news, but we are dealing with it the best we can and we'll go from there.

Valentines Decor

2010-02-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

So Valentines Day is upon us and I've got the house all decked out and full of LOVE! Here are a few fun new things. Above is a banner that I made with my friends Dorey and Regina. It says XOXO. I used some really cool textured paper. I really love the black red and turquoise combo.

Below is a banner on my mantle that read "be mine".
My very talented friend, Dorey, came up with this fun idea. She made me a great Witch book at Halloween and for Valentine's we made these fun books. They are made from old Reader's Digest books that are distressed and covered and decorated. The idea is that you can put the valentines you receive in the pages. SO cute!

This is my mantle.
So I am ALL about doing fun centerpieces that are inexpensive. I got these vases, shredded metallic red paper, ribbon, and fun glitter heart picks all at the dollar store.
Another fun idea with a vase. I just filled it full of Conversation hearts and put some glitter heart picks in it.
This is one of my favorite new additions to my Valentines decor. I got the idea of Becky Higgins web site. I did a little photoshopping to make these pictures and then hung them on my plate rack. They say "Love One Another".
Another fun decoration. I LOVE these new glittered chipboard decorations from Walmart!
Gotta love thrift store finds! I found these cute berry topiaries last week and they look great on my mantle!
This is my sofa table in my entry way.
I found these cool flowers on clearance at Roberts after Christmas. I got the placemat from Kohls and the cool old clock from a thrift store!
So this is a fun new craft that I did. You can use lace doilies or hearts cut out of different pattern paper.
I decided to do a Valentine's tree this year. It is lots of fun and we all love it.

Ashlee's Haircut

2010-01-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot to say about this. The picture pretty much speaks for itself. This is what I found in the closet after I noticed Ashlee's hair looked a little different...okay, a lot different. She tried to get out of it by telling me that her hair just "fell out that way when I brushed it!" When I found the evidence in the closet, she then explained that she just wanted her hair to be a new style. Well, she definitely achieved that!