Desert Beauty

I love watching a good storm roll into town.  I love living in Arizona and that you can watch the sky and earth interact in such a way that almost feels like a dance.

One of my most favorite smells is the smell of the dessert when it rains!

I wish I could bottle that smell up and save it for a bad day.  Because it instantly brings a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart!

Love This!

  I love this message I found on my chalkboard wall! 

What I love even more is that my 13 year old daughter, Kiersten wrote it!  How did she know this was exactly what I needed to read? What a blessing Kiersten is to me! I am going to try my best to do just what it says "Love More, Worry Less! "

CORN ON THE COB BABY

So after 11 months of not eating corn on the cob I finally was able to eat some!!! Yay! Best reason ever to eat corn on the cob! Oh and it was Mona's first time eating it too. I should have taken a picture of her too. But she was in a hurry to go on a jog with another exchange student, Pia, who also lives in our neighborhood. They are both from Germany and so sweet! 

My smile says is ALL! 

 I told my kids the day I get my braces off I am eating lots of corn on the cob! And so when I picked them up from school I told them, "Guess what we are having for dinner?"

They asked "what?"

I replied with a big smile, "CORN ON THE COB!"

Everyone of the kids notices right away that I got my braces off!  Yippee! Pretty excited to not be part of the brace face club any more. Although I did enjoy being in the club with Kiersten and her friends!  I am wearing my retainer religiously this time and hopefully my teeth can stay put!  

Oh and that corn was the best I've ever had! Notice my nose is still red.....yeah that's the Raynauds! I'm ready to drop the Rudolph look I've been supporting for the past month :) 

My Lovely Kiersten

How did my gorgeous girl get to be 14?!?

Kiersten has to be the more wonderful 14 year old there is. She is not only beautiful on the outside but even more so on the inside! 

Look at this beauty! 

14 Things I Love About Kiersten:

1.  Her laugh...I could listen to it all day. 

2.  Her tender heart, she cares about everyone's feelings.

3.  Watching her dance. She is amazing and steals the stage!

4.  Her desire to be a good example. It is honestly contagious!  She makes me want to be a better person!

5.  I love it when Kiersten says air headed things. She is so smart but she can say this silliest things. 

6.  Her love for Ella. She loves having a sister!

7.  Her bond with Hunter!  They are so close and I love seeing them being such good friends!

8.  I love how responsible Kiersten is!  Honestly I think she could raise her brothers and sister better than I can! 

9.  Her devotion to school!  I have never had to worry about how she was doing in school. She's a smartie!

10.  I love watching her grow up!  I am loving this new stage on having crushes. It's a scary stage for sure, but it gives us one more way to be closer as mother and daughter. I do think she understands that I have experienced some of the same feelings and situations she is just now living through. And that I can help her see the big picture through out the drama. 

11.  Her is one of he hardest workers I know. 

12.  Her smile!  That dimple in her left cheek can melt hearts!!

13.  Love watching her testimony grow!  I often find her reading her scriptures or knelt in prayer when I go to tell her good night. 

14.  The way she gives anything and everything she does 110%. Whether it's babysitting neighbor kids, schoolwork or dancing. Her devotion to whatever she is doing is admirable!

I love you Kiersten!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl!

The main thing she wanted was a shower cap. Hahaha....wish granted. That was an easy one! 

FINALLY HOME!

After 60 day in the hospital we are super excited that Silvio finally got to go home for good!  We have been praying for this day for 60 days.  The kids are so good to remember Silvio in their prayers!  And I know Silvio has felt them, even all the way over in Italy!

It seemed like this trial of Silvio's was never ending.  Seemed like every time we messaged each other things were improving as we'd hoped.

The one good thing is that Silvio thought the care in the US and especially the nurses were way better then they are in Italy.  In fact, Silvio said if we come to visit him in Italy that we definitely should not get hurt!!! Yikes we need to really think about our visit to see Silvio....we all know our luck with travel and emergency rooms.

These are the rad scars Silvio is left with.  Hunter thinks they are really cool!!!  He told Silvio that, "chicks dig scars" and that he needs to make up a really cool story about what happened to his leg.  I think they decided on a shark story.

Wow!  I remember one night when Silvio and I were in the hospital.  The orthopedic Surgeon came in to see him and Silvio asked the doctor if he'd have scars.  The doctor told Silvio that a plastic surgeon would be accompanying the surgeries to close up the incisions so to minimize the scaring.  But that yes he was going to have several large scars.  Without giving Silvio a second to speak the surgeon went on to tell Silvio that he needed to be happy for these scars BECAUSE that meant he still had a leg.  The surgeon reminded us both of how close Silvio came to loosing his entire leg and quite possibly his life.  He told Silvio that he has patients all the time that wished they had scars.....it would mean they hadn't lost their leg or arm.  So he said Silvio has everything to be grateful for and the scars would be a reminder of just want he easily could have lost.  It was a wonderful pep talk I tell you!  I hope Silvio can remember that pep talk on his hard days when he is frustrated or annoyed with these scars.

Gila Box

We took the little kids out for a day in the Gila Box.

It was a little far driving the ranger all the way from Pima but fun to be out.

Such a fun little girl.  Ella loves anytime she can be outside!

Logan was an expert at catching tadpoles with his bare hands.  

Oh how I love my Mr. Grant!

Ella was HILARIOUS with the tadpoles!!!

She wanted to hold them so bad and then she would scream when they moved.  Justin and I were laughing our heads off.

She was so brave holding them.......then as soon as they wiggled too much she'd drop them.

With Hunter being gone, Logan really stepped up and became the fish hunter!

It was actually really cool to see the stages of the tadpoles and how they turn into frogs.  This one was huge!

Of course even just playing in the dirt is a fun time!

Oh how I wish they would stay this little!

We had a wonderful day!  

I love this family of mine and I love any outings I get to go on with them.  It is always nice to just break away even if it's just for the afternoon.  

Play In The Wash Kind of Day

When I dropped Kiersten and Mona off at the high school this morning for them to head off to the student council leadership retreat this weekend I noticed the wash was running pretty good. My kids always want to go play in the wash when it has water in it. So after we did some yard work we headed to the wash. 

We so should have skipped the yard work but I wanted to do something nice for Justin. So by the time we got down to the wash it had dried up a lot but we still had fun. 

The high blood pressure medication the doctor has me on for this raynauds syndrome is making me tired so I mostly just sat and enjoyed watching the kids play. 

Brodie Brown was hanging out with us today so we were happy he could come too. It always seems like I end up with at least one extra kid when we go on outings. 

I knew the boys would end up covered in mud. I probably would have too if my toe wasn't irritated so bad. I was afraid to get anything on it or let anything touch it. 

A good ole' mud bath is refreshing!  It was cooler then normal, but got kind of sticky after an hour or so. 

Ella Jane was pretty happy about our adventures. EXCEPT for when she would walk in the really thick mud and about a quarter of an inch of mud would stick to the bottom of her feet. She would get so freaked out it made me laugh!  

Even with most of the water gone the boys had a great time!  When we got home they got hosed off and took a nice dip in the swimming pool!

For The Birds

This Raynauds Syndrome is what's for the birds!  It is a very strange sensation and it's not pleasant at all!! 

My toes are ON FIRE today!!!  Oh well guess I'll just be grateful I have toes. And at least for today, my fingers aren't feeling ON FIRE as well! And the internal blisters like things that were on my fore fingers and thumbs have calmed way down. That hurt pretty bad when it was at its peak :( Hope I find a Rheumatologist that can figure out what's causing all this. 

And Just Like That School Begins

Where did the summer go??

First day of school for these high schoolers and junior higher. 

Hunter picked out a princess backpack and princess vans. 

See he is a funny kid! 

Not sure how I feel about Kiersten going to high school. Okay I know how I feel about it. I'm not ready for it!!  But ready or not, here we go. She is super excited so that makes me excited!! 

One more thing I definitely am not ready for it Grant starting high school!  I have to admit I cried. I am going to really miss having Grant at home. And let's not even talk about how much Ella will miss him. 

Logan is starting 4th grade. 

We are handsome guy!

Love him. 

Hunter is excited to go to junior high. 

Still in denial over Kiersten being a freshman!  

Mona is considered a senior, even though age wise she'd be a junior. She is looking forward to all the senior experiences. 

Mrs. Wasson is going to be a great teacher. Me. Grant is super excited to get to go to school all day. 

He loved finding his desk. 

Mrs. Thorton is from California so Logan said she "has to be awesome!"  Logan is pumped to have her this year. I am excited she is a veteran teacher. She'll be great for Logan. 

Kids were excited to come home to their annual first day of school gifts. Everyone got a shirt and some candy with a note of encouragement. Each kid also received a fathers blessing from Justin. I love listening to the personal messages each of the kids receive at the beginning of the school year. 

2015-2016 is going to be a great school year! Love these kids! 

Another Adventure Begins

We are excited to be hosting another exchange student this year!  Her name is Mona Netzbandt and she is from Germany. 

We are excited to learn about Germany and her culture. And of course we are excited to teach her about America! 

We hope she feels welcome in our home!  And we are sure we'll end up loving her just as much as we loved Silvio! The kids did a great job decorating a sign for Mona. Especially considering we've been in Califonia for a week and stopped at the Phoenix airport on our way home to pick up Mona! Life is a adventure with us for sure. So we hope Mona is up for it :)