Dance It Off

This is the first year the Gila Valley has had it's own dance competition. 

Kiersten, Hunter and Logan all had several numbers in the competition and they rocked!

Kaely performed for cheer and did fabulous as well!

So proud of all these sweet kids and the talent that they have!

Hunter even had to do the worm across the whole stage with a broken hand.....now that's talent if you ask me :)

Logan's Pinewood Derby

Logan sure has been excited about the Pinewood Derby this year! 

He had a great attitude and to me that's all that matters. 

Logan told me, "the best part about the Pine Wood Derby is building the car with GRANDPA!"

Yeah Grandpa Boswell is the one that really helps the boys build their cars.  Justin gets off the hook every year!

Logan took 3rd place in his group!  He got a metal and was very happy about that!

The best part was that he was a good sport when he lost a race so guess what.  He earned himself a trip to the Dairy Queen.  Being a good sport when you loose is difficult and deserves a good reward!

Thanks Grandpa Boswell for making it a great experience for Logan!

Scouting Snow Trip

This was Hunter's first big scouting trip as an 11 year old scout.  He was so excited about going.  Brother Madsen and Brother Milsap took the boys up on Mt. Graham to do some sledding.  They left around 11:00 and got home around 5:00.  When Brother Madsen brought Hunter home, he walked him inside the house.  My first thought was, "Oh no there was a problem on their trip." I was thinking a fight or misunderstanding with another boy.  But then I saw Hunter's right arm in a sling.  

Brother Madsen told me that Hunter had wrecked while sledding with Austen Ashby, Hunter's really good friend.  He told me that Hunter had sprang his wrist.

Ok, I thought, no big deal.  Then Brother Madsen asks for the sling back so he could keep it with his first aid things.  They took the sling off and I immediately knew that it was no sprang wrist!! It was INDEED a broken arm that would need to be set!!!  

Look at that disfigurement!!

The major reason behind Brother Madsen not thinking Hunter's arm was broke was because Hunter never cried.  Not only did he not cry but he sat for 2 hours while the other boys finished sledding.  Hunter never complained once, his scout leader said.  So he told Hunter there was no way his arm could be broken.  If it was broken Hunter would be crying and in so much pain he could hardly talk.....according to Brother Madsen. 

Well the minute I saw Hunter's arm I knew.  But I didn't say anything till Brother Madsen left.  Then I told Hunter that his arm was for sure broken.  You just can't make your bones disfigured like that without a fracture in one bone.  Hunter agreed.  He said "I knew it was broken when it happened."  I asked Hunter, "why didn't you tell the leaders that you needed to come home?"  His reply is priceless, "Because I didn't want to ruin the other boys time sledding!"

I was blown away by his answer.  But it was so genuine.  Hunter said he knew if he complained that they would make everyone load up and leave.  Plus Hunter said, 'It wasn't hurting that bad, just a little."

Brother Madsen did come back after dropping off the other boys.  I had everyone loading in the van and we were driving away.  We stopped and talked to Brother Madsen and he agreed that it would be a good idea to get it checked out.

Hunter didn't even want to go to the ER, he was tired and wanted to stay home to relax and watch some TV first.  I told him no that we needed to go now so that we weren't there till the wee hours of the night.  He was happy to get to watch some b-ball while at the ER!

Not only was Hunter's arm broken, Dr. Bryce had to come to the ER to set Hunter's bone back in place!  This meant Hunter had to be put to sleep.  Everyone that we told the story to at the ER could not believe Hunter just waited for 2 hours for the other boys to finish sledding.

Hunter just has an AMAZING tolerance for pain!

This is the third time he has broken a bone.  First time he walked on the broken foot for a week before I took him in.  He never complained I just took him that time because I noticed him walking funny.  The second time he broke his right arm while we were at a waterpark resort.  The paramedics checked him out when he fell.  After they examined Hunter's arm they told us they were pretty sure it wasn't broken because Hunter would be in more pain.

We, knowing Hunter's high pain tolerance, decided to take him to the ER any way.  Sure enough it was a clean break!  The doctors were amazed then at his high tolerance for pain.  Those two breaks happened when he was only 5 years old.  I think this experience is proof that Hunter's tolerance for pain must be growing just like he is! 

The next day at church Brother Madsen could not believe that Hunter's arm really was broken that whole time and that he also had to have it set back into place.  It makes for a great story for Hunter to tell for sure!  Several of the boys from Hunter's scout group made him cookies or brought by get well gifts.  They were all so sweet to him!

Hunter's fingers did swell quite a bit, as you can see from this picture.  The big bummer was that basketball season just started a week ago.  Hunter is on a really good team this year.  His coach has extra practice and everything.  I was surprised that when Hunter figured out that this would mean a cast for almost the entire season he remained positive.  In fact he said, "Well maybe I will end up being a better player because I can get good at shooting and dribbling left handed."

What a proud (and very sad) day to be Hunter's mom!

He is such a great kid!

I'm really sorry this happened to him, but I am beaming with joy at how he handled it all!  What a tuff guy!

"I'll Clean the Garage ANYTIME!!!"

These were Hunter's exact words!

Let me explain....

I decided to have the kids help me clean out the garage to surprise Justin.

He has been under some major stress at the office for a VERY LONG TIME!!!

With Brian not coming to work consistently for several years and actually Brian hasn't came to work but maybe 5 times in the last 7 MONTHS, it has created a HUGE amount of STRESS for Justin, the only owner of the company that consistently comes to work EVERYDAY!

Brian is in a tough spot in life which is hard to see but EQUALLY so Justin is now in a tough spot in life!  It's complicated and hard for all involved!

Can you tell it's a difficult situation that Justin is in?  

I do what I can to support Justin with all thats going on.  But after listening to him vent out his frustrations last night, I decided he could use a little surprise!

You know how quickly a garage gets out of order right.  Well this was the condition of our garage.  Wish I had taken some before and after pictures.  We got it cleaned up and organized.  The kids did a fabulous job!

We were moving some storage shelves to sweep under them and one of the kids saw a mouse.

My initial response was to scream and cry like a 12 year old girl......... and so that is just what I did!!!

Hunter on the other hand took this opportunity to use his new knife he got for Christmas!

Hunter stabbed the mouse with his knife.....he was loving every minute of this whole experience!  

He thought it was "Totally. Awesome!"

This picture itself gives me the heebie jeebies!!

So not only was Justin surprise, he was very thankful!   He couldn't believe we would all be so thoughtful.  I know he appreciates a clean garage.

I hope Hunter remembers the enthusiasm he had today the next time I ask him to help clean the garage :)

Older Brother Dream Come True

Hunter has wanted an older brother his entire life!

Having Silvio join our family has been a dream come true for Hunter!

These two are like two peas in a pod!  I think when Hunter is gone to dance or somewhere that Silvio actually missed Hunter!  Hunter now sleeps on an air mattress in Silvio's room.  They sure enjoy visiting with each other at night.  I am surprised Hunter would do that because it means he gets woke up about 30 minutes earlier each school morning, as Silvio has to leave early for his zero hour class.  But Hunter doesn't mind it!  Guess visiting with Silvio in the evening makes up for getting up early.

Sweet Sista's

I love seeing Kiersten's love for Ella!

Even though they are 12 years apart I know they are going to be good friends.  Kiersten is such a wonderful daughter and I am ever grateful for that.  I know that Kiersten will be a blessing to Ella through out her life as well.  Ella is in good hands!  It will be like she has two moms :)

"Sure I'll Do It!"

After primary Brother Craighead cornered me and asked me if Justin and I would be willing to speak in church next Sunday.  Public speaking is NOT MY THING!!!  With the increased anxiety I have been having since having Ella, I really just wanted to say no.  But he asked me in front of my kids and members of the Primary Presidency so I said okay.

We were given the topic of "Service."  Brother Craighead said we could go any direction we wanted to with the topic.  So at least it was an easy topic.  He also asked if I would have Kiersten speak with us.  He told me that if I wanted any of our other kids to participate in the program that Sunday just to let him know.

Went we got home from church I broke the news to Justin.  He hadn't gone to church that Sunday because he wasn't feeling good.  He doesn't mind speaking in church so it was no big deal to him.

As we were talking about it, I jokingly told Silvio what Brother Craighead had told me about our other kids participating with us.  I told Silvio, "I think that means you need to speak with us!"

Silvio asked the topic.  After I told him, he said, "Sure I'll do it!"

It was as easy as that!

Justin called Brother Craighead to get it approved.  Since Silvio is not a member of our church we weren't sure what the rules were.  But it was cleared with no problem.  Only rule was that I had to read over Silvio's talk and make sure what he had written was within the teaching of Jesus Christ.  With the topic of Service I wasn't worried.  Silvio wrote a beautiful talk!  He spoke of the example his mother has set for him with respect to serving others.  He also was kind enough to mention how serving our kids and family have been to him.

Kiersten gave a wonderful talk as well.  She really does a great job speaking in church.  This was her third youth talk and she's only been in Young Womens for less then a year and a half.  

I told Silvio and Kiersten to give me sad faces since we all had to speak in church today!

I love Silvio's expression!!  That's pretty much how I felt too :)

But Justin and I did our part and I felt good about it once it was over.  I am thankful for a wonderful ward family that was so kind and spoke such sweet things to us following our talks.

It was pretty impressive that Silvio would speak at Sacrament meeting especially considering he is not of our faith.  What a great young man he is!

I am thankful for each of my beautiful children!  Hunter and Logan both told me that if I wanted them to speak with us that they would.  They are such sweet and caring sons!

Our Baby is ONE Already!

How has the time gone by so fast?

This little lady turned ONE!

Her smile captivates us all..........but not as fast as her scream does!  Hahaha!

And look at those blue eyes!

Her daddy finally got his blue eyed girl!

Look who found the frosting?

Yeah Ella was pretty thrilled that we were letting her have this cake and not taking it away.

I am in love with Ella's One year photo shoot pics and her tutu!

You can tell she was loving the taste of that sweet frosting!

She pushed her hand in the cake and couldn't believe we didn't care.  Her expressions were priceless!

It's my party and I can cry if I want to!

I love pictures like this one!

Someone is ready to PARTY!!

I LOVE that we got to finish our family with this sweet girl!

One Thing I LOVE About Ella...

1.  Her funny personality!  Even though she is only one years old she already does such quirky things that keep us laughing!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

The Legend of La Befana

In Italy on the eve of January 6, an old woman with magical powers comes and visits the home of all the children.  If you have been good she often leaves candy or a toy.  But if you were bad the witch will bring you coal.

I guess because Silvio is with us this year we got visited by la befana.  We were all surprised!   Especially to find a letter from her written in Italian!!!  Silvio had to read it to us.

WOW I guess these kids have been good.....

They still look half asleep and super surprised as well!

She brought the new Disney Infinity game along with lot of characters and even some candy.

The kids all enjoyed hearing about and experiencing this Italian tradition!!!

Ella Thanks You!

I had hidden the Halloween candy and happen to find it today.  I was throwing it away and Grant asked if he could get the suckers out.  So I let him.  Of course I had a million things to get done so I left him to look for the suckers.  I didn't realize he was going to dump the bag of candy on the floor.

After awhile of not being bother by Ella I figured I should check on her.  

I yelled out to Grant, "Where is Ella?"

He quickly told me, "Don't worry mom she is right here!"

I went on with what I was doing for a bit.  Then I decided I better check and actually see what these two were doing.  I find that Ella has eaten about 8 tootsie rolls and a couple of mini candy bars.  She was super happy I will say!

So I know that Ella was thanking Grant for letting her have some Halloween candy!  Grant was pretty proud that he shared the leftover candy so well too.   Win win situation I guess!

Proud Moment

The boys were playing out in the playhouse one Friday.  I had made them lunch and taken in out to them and then headed back in the house.  I remembered I wanted to tell them something so I stepped back in the playhouse.

This is exactly how I found them!

Logan, Grant and Ryker were all bowing their heads while Logan said a prayer to bless the food.  It was the sweetest moment!  Such great men they will make some day.  It was one of those moments that you walk away from and think, "wow I'm actually not failing as bad as I thought!"

Grant said they could only play with this doll because it's a boy doll so boys can play with it!

You'll all make great daddy's some day too!