Our Memorial Weekend...

On Saturday we drove down to Preston Idaho to visit Ethan and Grandpa Hodges' grave sites. As soon as we pulled up we noticed that someone had left a balloon and little toys for Ethan. We knew that Grandma Hodges, Aunt Margene and Uncle Dewey were coming up from Utah to visit this weekend, but didn't know what day or what time they were coming. We tried calling them but couldn't ever get a hold of them. As we got out of the car we were surprised when they pulled up right beside us! They were just leaving when we pulled up and it was nice to be able to spend a little bit of time with them.


We took Ethan and grandpa some flowers.
On the way home the girls were being silly and saying "Weeeee" as we were driving UP hill.



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Our "trusty" (yeah right!) orange vacuum... kicked the can. It bought the farm. It went belly up. It checked out. It bit the dust. It went out in a blaze of glory. It's number was up.

It.
Died.

However you say it, it was done for and in it's place...
we bought this one of a kind, beauty. Isn't it sweeeet!? It drives like a dream. Just check out my hunky husband taking it for a spin. He was so stoked to try it out as soon as we got home.



This vacuum also came with a bonus gift ...a cute baby.What a KILLER deal we got! ;)

As we were dropping our dead vacuum off at a donation place, we saw a lady who had just dropped off this cute little red bike! So we traded.
Avery was pretty excited to have a bike like Madi now and I am happy that they can both ride this summer.

We also went camping...sort of. This is our version of "roughing it". The girls were pretty excited to go "camping". I always thought it would be fun to put a tent up in the living room and when I saw a friend do this with their kids I thought, we should totally do that! It's so hard going camping when you have a baby and little kids. We are not huge campers anyway so for now the living room works great! We got this tent at our wedding reception and have never used it. We sure put it to good use this weekend. We had a blast! We told ghost stories, read books, ate popcorn and watched movies. We even called Grandpa Newman so he could tell one of my favorite childhood ghost stories called, "The Ghost with the Bloody Finger."

I am so grateful for those that have served our country and gave their own lives that we have freedom today because of it. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Weekend.

Tuxedo Ready

When our little Ethan passed away, my mom had made Ethan a little tuxedo that he could wear to be buried in. As my mom was making his tuxedo, she felt impressed to make and sew another one. After finishing that one, she again felt impressed to make a few more tuxedos. She didn't know why at first but then knew why- to donate them to the University of Utah Hospital for other little boys that might not make it.

I told my mom to leave her address for those that wanted to contact her to thank her. (I know I would want to thank someone for a tuxedo for my son). So she did, and just today she received a letter from a family in Utah who had twins-a boy and a girl. They wrote that their son had passed away just two days after he was born and that they buried him in the little tuxedo that my mom had made. Their twins were born 16 weeks early and their little girl, Kassidy was still fighting hard to live. I pray that their little girl lives and that this family can have peace with their son's passing. It's a devastating thing to lose a child and I just pray that they feel that peace and love as we did during this most difficult time. I am also grateful for my mom for listening to the spirit and acting on those impressions she felt. She has taught me so much about prayer and listening to those promptings. She has had some amazing experiences through out her life and I just really admire her strength in the Lord.

Ryan and I have been told by doctors and nurses that boys just have a harder time when born so early. They don't fight as hard as girls do for some reason. Even though that may be true, for Ryan and I, we have always felt that Ethan came down to help Emily down because she was too scared to come alone and he was being that "Big" brother for her. I haven't spoken too much about Ethan since his passing, because some things are just sacred and it can still be difficult at times to talk about. But as I heard about this sweet family going through a similar situation as we did, my heart aches for them and my thoughts turned to our little boy. Tomorrow we are headed out as a family to visit him where he was buried. So this letter that this sweet family wrote made me want to share just a few personal experiences that happened to our family.

When the twins were born, Ryan gave them each a blessing. When he placed his hands on Ethan's head he told Ethan to be obedient. We didn't really understand at the time why Ryan had said that. And as more and more time passed we knew Ethan wasn't going to make it. Before taking Ethan off the ventilator, Ryan once again was able to give him a father's blessing. Which again, he felt impressed to tell Ethan to be obedient. Soon after Ethan's passing we realized why, or came to the impression as to why, that was said. Ethan's time on earth was about finished. Ethan had fulfilled his mission on earth and he needed to be obedient to our Heavenly Father and return home, however much Ethan wanted to stay with us and his sister, Emily, he needed to return home. So he did. And as I was holding him I was overcome with so much peace and I felt as though I were being held myself. The words, "I'm ready, Mom. I'll be okay" came to my mind and I looked at Ethan and knew. I told Ryan and he felt the same. We knew that it was time to let him go.

There isn't a day that goes by I don't think about him. It's hard looking at Emily and not thinking of Ethan in some way too. What he would look like? What would his smile be like? What color would his eyes be? What would his personality be like? ...so many questions. However, we KNOW this is what was supposed to happen and we KNOW we will see him again. And knowing those two things bring us peace and a calm assurance that it is indeed true.

Tinker-Toy Trauma

Something horrible happened to these, (our) Tinker-toys. You can't tell by looking at them, but they were physically, and I have to say most importantly, emotionally traumatized by none other then our OWN flesh and blood. That's right.


Avery.
Avery might have scarred our Tinker -toys for life. We are hoping they make a full recovery however, but as we speak they are still in a traumatic state of mind. They are currently in a clean and friendly environment where they can rest and recover until they can return back to their bucket.


What did Avery do to these poor, helpless Tinker-toys??


Madi: Mom, Avery peed.
Me: Ok. Well can you tell her to come here.
Madi: No, Avery peed on the Tinker-Toys.
Me: What? She did WHAT?!


Ryan and I find that Avery was upstairs playing and apparently she couldn't make it down the stairs fast enough to go potty, so she pulled down her pants and sat over the Tinker-toy bucket and peed.

We took Avery into custody just minutes after the incident happened to talk with her about the allegations brought against her. We have filed a restraining order against Avery, that she must stay at least 20 feet away from the Tinker-toys. As this is her first offense, no jail time is required. Nevertheless, she will be doing a few hours of community service for her repulsive actions she committed against the Toys.


Don't let this innocent face fool you...


Poor, poor Tinker-Toys.

Happy Day.

It's Monday.

For most people Mondays aren't that great. It's, "back to work", "back to school", "back to the old grind", "back to..."boring"', until the much anticipated weekend comes again. But sometimes Monday's can be a good day too. As it is a NEW week. A FRESH start. Ahhhhh.

Growing up, and to this day, I still hear my mom call Mondays her "cleaning day." Now that I am older with kids, Mondays have become my "Cleaning day".

So today, I should have been doing this...

and especially this....

and probably this...
oh, and that...

and well, probably a whole lot more...

BUT INSTEAD we built this...and did lots of this...

and that...

and especially a whole lot of of this...

What a great Monday!

We should make Tuesday the "cleaning day" sometimes, and give Monday a break! ;)

"If You Give A Kid a Crayon..."

She's going to ask for markers too.

When you give her markers, chances are her sister will want to draw as well.

And if you give them markers you know at least ONE kid will end up coloring on their face instead...
or maybe two.
And if all three kids get a hold of the markers, you will most likely have to give them a bath...
And if you give them a bath they will ask to have their hair spiked.
They will eventually get cold and they will ask to get out. Once you get them out, they will want to run around the house singing "Bum-Bum" songs.
After awhile they will want to get their PJ's on. So they will dump out the laundry from the basket to find some. After dumping out the laundry from the basket, they will want to play in it...After an hour of playing in it, they will be exhausted... or rather, the parents will be. So they will put the kids to bed.

And when the kids wake up, they will almost always want to draw again.

And it you give a kid a crayon...She's going to ask for markers too.

Back on the Scale, Again.

I am a BIG fan of the show, The Biggest Loser.

I love it. I love the contestants. I love the trainers. I love the drama and the intensity of the workouts. It inspires me to work out harder. It challenges me to not give up so easily. It motivates me to work a little harder; to run a little farther, to be a little better.

The final four contestants ran a marathon. That has always been one of my goals, to be able to run a marathon. And if they could do it, so can I.

I was able to lose 25 pounds after the twins were born and I was really proud of myself. However, (and I am not proud to say this) I have already gained back 10 pounds!


And even though I have been training for a half marathon, I still have not lost a single pound. In fact, I have GAINED a few besides the 10. I am pretty sure I have gained some muscle mass, which we all know weighs more than fat. Yet I don't want to blame gaining weight on gaining muscle weight. What a lame excuse that would be. Plus, that doesn't make me feel any better to see that awful number on the dreaded scale.

Someday I want to be able to do this...

Instead of this...

So, once again I am committing now to work hard at losing the weight for good and KEEPING it off. For some reason it is easier for me to make weight loss goals by telling people. Weird, I know. It's probably just because if I have to report to someone it makes me do it. So that is what I am going to do on this blog, report every week to YOU.

Keeping the weight off is going to be a life long battle, I am sure. But I can't give up and throw in the towel now or ever. I am going to start counting those calories again and working harder than ever. So please, pray for me. haha!

No. I'm serious.


My mom has inspired me lately. She has lost 22 pounds as of last week and I am so proud of her. She looks great! She wants to lose another 17 pounds to reach her goal and be that "sexy lady". I think she already is! Good job mom!

My goals: To lose 15 pounds in three months...by August 19th. And to run a marathon this summer.



Isn't that the truth??

Chicken Zucchini Caserole

It's a recipe that I got from my mom and I love it. I really like making casserole dishes and also crock pot meals, because they are fast and usually pretty easy to throw together even when you got two kids hanging from each leg and a baby crying.


Get a big pot of boiling water going. Then slice/cut up 2-3 whole zucchinis and 1 whole onion. Dump it all in boiling water for 8-10 minutes until they are tender. Drain. While that is cooking add in a large bowl:

1-2 cans of chicken(already cooked) or 4 large chicken breasts cooked
1-2 cans of cream of chicken
1 cup of sour cream
1-2 cups cheese
salt for taste

Mix drained zucchini/onions together with the rest in the large mixing bowl.

In another bowl take a half a stick of melted butter and add that to a box of stove top dressing.

Finally coat the bottom of glass dish with the stove top/butter mixture, add all the chicken/zucchini mixture and then top that with the rest of the stove top.

Cook at 375 until top is brown and crispy.

Enjoy!

Hmm...

In...



Under...

Over...

And Through...

Emily's already learning her prepositions...that a kid. ;) She is one cute explorer.