Easter Playdate

My sweet fun friend Mary Biggs wanted to have a little Easter party with the boys that don't go to school yet..well except preschool! So her and I got the neighborhood together.......yeah no other parents would come but they sure asked if their kids could come without them!

Grant Allen, Mr. Grant, Ryker Shupe, Taylor Allen, Logan Cluff, Ryan Biggs, Zac Biggs Can you even imagine whats going to happen when these boys are teenagers....YIKES!

Of course we had an Easter egg hunt for them. Everyone brought a dozen eggs so all the boys got to find 12 eggs which they all loved of course!

Mr. Grant didn't really care about finding eggs but he did love his basket!

Logie Bear

Ryker and Grant Allen

Carsyn Shupe was the only girl.

Mr. Grant enjoying his lunch!

The crew eating lunch......everyone brought their own lunch which was great for Mary and I. Isn't she adorable........she's expecting boy #4!

Yummy treats!

Mary made the cute little Easter basket cookies and I made homemade donuts!

The kids just loved these and they were pretty darn tastie as well!

It was such a fun activity for the kids I think we'll make it a tradition. Except our kids at school want to join in next time.

Thank Mary for a great afternoon!

Fishin' Time

We had a fun FHE down at the pond

The boys all fished and everyone of them caught a fish!

It made for a fun night!

Nice fish Logan

Hey even the babies count at the pond.........although it is a catch and release rule. Which I am completely okay with! We were all very happy when Justin caught his fish. Because if Daddy doesn't catch a fish and others do it ain't pretty! Love you Babe.........you are a wonderful father!

Scare with Mr. Grant

April 6th was a busy day for me......

I was trying to pack and get all the kids stuff lined out because I was leaving for my Girls Trip to California at 4:00 that day. I also was babysitting Wendy's kids that morning.

Logan, Mr. Grant, Carsyn, and Ryker were all playing in the back yard having fun. All of the sudden the kids come running in saying Mr Grant was hurt. I hurry out and he was screaming but walking towards me. I asked them what happened and they told me Mr. Grant fell off the castle. He fell from the top story of the castle to the inside bottom level.......approximately 6 feet. He scram for maybe 5 minutes and then he was knocked out. I couldn't get him to wake up.

Ironically this brought me right back to the day Logan fell 10 feet on to a cement basement floor and suffered a small subdural hematoma, he also had frontal skull fracture, parietal skull fracture. That experience was terrifying! Logan was roughly the same age as Mr. Grant was and both Logan and Mr. Grant's falls happened in the month of April, just a week difference in the day.........but of course 4 years apart.

I called Justin to tell him what was going on and together we decided it would be best to take him to the ER. I was leaving at 4:00 and knew I needed to make sure he was okay or I wouldn't be able to leave him.

Mr. Grant's face was white as a ghost and it looked like he had possibly hit his face in the fall. I didn't really examine his head once he was asleep and wouldn't wake up I just did the things I had to do to get him to the ER. Wendy had gotten home so I grabbed some lunch stuff for all the kids, packed it in a bag and told them to hurry and put their shoes on. I took the kids back to Wendy's, asked her if she could keep Logan and get him to preschool, and explained why Mr. Grant was passed out on my shoulder. She wanted to call an ambulance but I insisted that I could take him myself. She didn't know the detail that he had been awake after his fall for a few minutes plus I knew I could make it to the hospital faster then the ambulance could get to us. So away we went........I held Mr. Grant in my arms and tried to talk to him to get him to wake up, but nothing. I ran into the ER, they hurried and checked us in........Mr. Grant slept through all that. Once we were back in our room the doctor came in quickly to check him out. I went to lay him down and the Dr. pointed to the back of his head and asked if this way his birth mark. Mr. Grant had a 2 inch strawberry on the back of his head and I said, "Oh no that would be where he hit his head when he fell." She examined it and then asked my to lay him down. As soon as I layed him down he woke up...........Justin got there shortly after he woke up. The Dr. examined Mr. Grant for a bit and since he was awake and alert she wanted to observe him before doing any tests.

Mr. Grant was a little groggy for about 10 minutes but then he was just like his usual self. He was playful and happy! We had to stay at the hospital for a couple of hours to be observed but I was so very grateful that things were fine. I said a pray of gratitude in my heart the rest of that day. I had envisioned him being airvaced out like Logan and for sure that would mean me missing my girls trip.

But things went much better then that and we were back home at 3:00 with an hour left to finish packing, take a shower and get ready. I was so thankful it was just a little scare and nothing more........this time. Life can just change in the blink of an eye so I am always thankful to my Heavenly Father when what could be a huge challenge ends up just being a little reminder!

Mr. Grant just adores his Grandpa Boswell

He thinks Grandpa's shop is the best place on earth.........and I think my dad loves Mr. Grant wanting to be out there just as much!

The Dr. explained that one explanation as to why Mr. Grant was knocked out is because after his fall he scream bloody murder for about 5 minutes. Between the actual event of falling that far and hitting a hard surface along with all that screaming his little body could only take so much adrenaline and then it kind of shut down so to speak.

Now that is one happy boy

I love this picture of my dad talking to Mr. Grant and I am pretty sure Mr. Grant thinks he is working right with Grandpa!

I love you Mr. Grant!

FABULOUS Girls Trip

So me and three of my best girls planned a trip to California! Stacy Moore, Tifani Cluff, Amanda Wood and I were more then excited about this trip..........4 days of no kids, no wife duties, no schedule, and no responsibility was just what we all needed!

Get us gals away from regular life and we act like kids! Okay maybe it's just me...........he, he...... We were lucky enough to get to stay for FREE with Tif's awesome brother, Sexy Rexy. He also got us into Disneyland for FREE! Thank you Rex and Thank you Tif for arranging everything! The weather was a bit chilly but kind of refreshing as it had been hot back home. We had a great time at Disneyland! Riding the rides, eating yummy food and just enjoying being together as friends! These three ladies are some of the most awesome people I know. There are many qualities that they have that I wish I had. Thank you ladies for teaching me and for being so much fun! I don't need to do ab workouts for a month because we laughed so much in those 4 days that my abs are good! These are some Special Bear friends of ours...........glad we got to see and visit them! We had a great time with them!! This picture might not bring you much joy but for Stacy and I it just makes us laugh. So Tif and Amanda got eyelash extensions for our trip............yes I said eyelash extensions! They were so funny about their eyelashes getting stuck together. They made some funny faces trying to fix stray eyelashes and what not. They would often stop in the middle of a crowd to help each other with their "eyelash trauma." It was hilarious and I just had to take a picture! We left Disneyland to eat at The Cheesecake Factory............what a smart choice! The food was so yummy and the company was delightful to say the least. Sexy Rexy is a hoot!

We then headed back to Disneyland to enjoy the magic and catch some of the shows. This picture turned a little inappropriate when Tif misunderstood Amanda's instructions. I had to remind these two that we were at Mickey's Toontown and they needed to keep it clean!

Ha, ha

This picture is funny because Stacy always attracts dogs.....every where...........it's so funny!

We spent one day at Balboa Island. We ate at a cute little cafe, looked at all the shops and enjoyed some hot chocolate.

One of our days there Rex took us to Hollywood! We went down Hollywood Boulevard and then drove over to Beverly Hills to look at some mansions.

We had a great time walking down Rodeo Drive.

And yes we had to hit the famous CRUMBS!

Look at all those cupcakes.........it is making my mouth water just looking at them.

I had a raspberry cream cheese cupcake and LOVED IT!

So worth the $4.00!

Many of the stores have these gorgeous looking guys handing out glasses of wine while you shop. And yes we didn't mind asking for a picture with him.........now for the price of the items in the store they better be handing out a lot more then wine.

I'm thinking you'd need to be drunk to pay those prices..........ha, ha.......or I guess rich would do it too!

The trip was wonderful and just the break that I needed. I came home to a very grateful husband after having the kids all weekend. I did remind him that he didn't even have to go grocery shopping, or do laundry, or run the kids to all their practices, or anything.

He agreed he never wants to switch places and be at home 24/7! He did say the kids were good but he forgot how much work they are. That's a sign he needs to be home more and work less!

Thanks Babe for letting me take this trip!

Birthday Party turns Bad

So on Saturday February 26th Logan went to a friends birthday party at the Pima Park.

Well it ended up being a more eventful birthday party then I had hoped for.

Kiersten and I were in town doing some grocery shopping when I got a call from Wendy Shupe telling me that they called from the party and they think Logan might have broke his arm. So I hurry and check out......my car is loaded with groceries........I call Justin (he was at home with the other two boys) to let him know whats going on and to meet me at the park.....I rush to the park...

When I got there Justin was holding Logan...........Logan was crying and holding his arm. I asked him to show me his arm........ Aaaaaaa no question his arm was broke!!! We are so lucky to have such great friends like the Shupe's! Wendy just took right over........took my car home with the kids........put all my groceries away (with sweet Kiersten's help)........got the kids dinner.......and then had one of her girls come over to babysit. So Justin and I could just focus on Logan.... when we got to the hospital we were so happy to have our favorite ER nurse Heather Mack! Yes I know it's kind of sad to have a "favorite" ER nurse but we do. She got us a back private room because the ER was full of sick people. Thank you Heather! Stewart was working and stopped by to cheer Logan up and to tell him how brave he was. Logan was thrilled to have a cop in uniform come to the hospital just to see him! Thanks Stewart! Logan was such a trooper! They gave him morphine for the pain.... that is when we found out Logan is allergic to morphine. He scram so much worse when Heather was injecting the morphine then he did with his arm being broken or her getting the IV in. She kind of thought it was weird but once his hand and arm turned bright red and started getting hives all over she said, "oh no he's allergic to the morphine" and she ran out of the room. She quickly came back with Benadryl and put that in his IV. It helped a lot with the hives..........poor sweet Logan! It seemed so painful! Heather tried to flush the IV but it was really hurting Logan so he had to get a new IV put in. They called Dr. Bryce, the orthopedic surgeon to come in and set Logan's arm. Logan was given Diprivan, the Michael Jackson drug, to go to sleep. He was so brave the whole time........once the allergic reaction from the Morphine was gone....that seemed to be worse then anything! We loved Dr. Bryce.....he was so good with Logan. He did think Logan was asleep and he gave Logan's arm a little yank.......... Oh boy Logan sat straight up out of the bed and said "NO!" So Heather gave him some more Diprivan and we waited a few more minutes...... then things were all good and Dr. Bryce quickly set Logan's arm. We were a little bummed that they didn't have water proof casts at the hospital as we were planning to go to the beach in a few weeks (but those plans changed anyway). It was a crazy day but Logan was a brave little guy through it all!

10K

These pictures are way out of order but anyway........

back in February I ran my first 10K and I am happy to report........

drum roll please....

I RAN THE WHOLE WAY!!!!

My good friend Mac ran the 5K........so proud of her! Me before the race Justin brought the kids to cheer me on the last 3 miles and in all honesty it was what kept me running. The kids were so excited to be cheering out the windows of the Yukon.........I just couldn't stop running. Then the whole way down College Ave. in Thatcher J.P. (Mac's husband) stopped his car in the intersections and held traffic so I could run through. I really got the red carpet treatment that day.........Justin even surprised me with chocolate milk at the finish line.

Burning a Hole in His Pocket!

All the kids had been saving chore money for our big trip to Lego Land.... Well once that fell through Hunter's money had been burning a hole in his pocket...

So while we were in Chandler he spent all his chore money (and a little of my money) on a HUGE Lego set. He was so excited about it because it is a track hoe just like his dad's!

It's even remote control....so he had to build a motor with gears and everything.

Hunter wanted to make sure I wrote down that it's for 12-16 year old to make and he is only 7.

There were a few days before Spring Break was over and Hunter seriously spent at least 6 hours a day for three days building it.

Justin was impressed Hunter could build such a complicated set. I was impressed with Hunter's dedication, patience and determination to get it done!

Justin did help Hunter out when he got stuck a couple of times but Hunter build 95% of it all on his own!

Great job Hunter!

He was so thrilled once it was finished and actually worked.......he showed everyone!

Makudo Island

One of the days while in Mesa we made plans to meet the Moore family @ Makudo's Island. The kids were so excited!

Brinner the Giant.....this kid will probably be 7 feet tall one day.

Logan striking a pose........we were able to get Logan's cast changed to a water cast. Thank goodness because 5 days at a hotel and not being able to get your arm wet would have been tough for Logie Bear!

He is so silly!

Kendall, Kaden, Brinner, Becky, Hunter, Stacy, Kiersten, Logan, and Tasia

Brinner and Logan are quite the pair....I can't imagine how many gifts I am going to have to bring to their kindergarten teacher next year....ha , ha.....sadly it's not a joke!

The whole gang.....with Justin, Mr. Grant and Branton

Just our family with our new weekend addition of Tasia Shupe!