Snow Day!!

Last night we had a huge snow storm. It was so
amazing to watch. I had to go to work so we got

to drive in it. A little scary but we got there in

one piece.

This is what we woke up to in the morning. School

was cancelled. That is a first for us. The kids woke
us up. They were so excited to look out the window

and see white eveywhere.

They were out there for over 2hrs.

Troy and I felt like little kids too. Growing up in
Az we are not use to this. This is our first actually

living in the cold. We love it!

I can't image what its like to have these storms

for days at a time. Its like we have to put our lives

on hold till its over.

Halloween

These were the only pictures we got for Halloween.
As you can see I had to take this one. Tatum was being
silly.

Mason was just too cute to pass up. He called himself

"Stuperman"

We didn't have a chance to get a picture of the

other kids. They were off playing and we didn't

see them the whole night.

First day of School!

Yeah! The kids are back in school. Kaden is in 4th,
Jared is in 2nd, and Maegan started Kindergarden.
They are loving it. Usually the first week is pretty laid
back so we'll see how it goes once they start homework.

It's pretty quiet only having 2 at home. But I am

really enjoying it. I love shopping with only Tatum and

Mason. They definitley miss their brother and sisters

though. It's really hard for me to get them to play. Mason

just follows me around the house. On Monday Tatum is

starting preschool. A couple ladies in my ward wanted to

start one and I am so excited. Tatum will love feeling like

she is going to school. She wanted to go with Maegan to

kindergarden.

We are excited that the new school year has started!

Life seems so much easier with routines. I have never been a

routine person. I think I am really liking it.

Tournment Results

Sorry it took so long for the update, but I am sad to say for
me it didn't turn out so good. We played horrible. Kimmie's
ward were the champions. They played really good. But it was
really fun and tonight we have our first games for co-ed volleyball.
At first Kimmie and I were really bummed because they were
going to schedule all the games on saturdays. Troy and John work
every saturday. Fortunatly we got enough people to tell the stk
activies leader that we want to play Fri and Sat. nights,so there is
only 1 saturday they won't play. We are so excited.

Volleyball Results

All of you that know my sister Kimmie knows how competitive she is when it
comes to volleyball. So I wanted to give you a little update on the results of
our game this past Saturday. Tyler 2nd ward(Laura) beat Bullard ward(Kimmie)
in 2 games. We play the best out of 3. It was so much fun to play and any one
of us could of won. As it stands now we are in 1st place and they are in 2nd.
Tournments are this saturday and if everything goes like we think it will we
will play each other again for the final championship game. I love you Kimmie,
Good Luck!

Info Update

We're still here. I do have some pictures coming but they are not on my camera.
Things are going good. We are really enjoying the area we live in and the kids love
their school. They have made so many friends. Kaden will ride her bike to the park
with her friends or their house. I would have never let her do that in phoenix. Jared
has boys in his class that are also in his primary class. The ward is wonderful. We have
a lot of new friends. The women are playing volleyball and Troy's calling is he is the
Basketball coach. I have loved playing and getting some exercise. Our ward and Kimberly's
ward are tied for 1st. We are bothundefeated and we play each other in a couple weeks. We'll see who comes out on top in theplayoffs. It's been really fun but competetive. I enjoy playing like that. Game on Kimmie.!!!Ha!Ha! Our work schedules are still the same. We are trying
to find different things to do on our days off since we don't have a lot of time any other days. The weather hasn't been bad at all. We have only had a couple days where it has been hot and
can feel a little humidity. The highest has been 90 degrees. i will take that any day over dry hot
100 degree Arizona weather. Well I better go I got crying kids. We miss everyone so much!

Tatum's Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tatum!

Tatum has grown up so much. She is definitely my

fireball. She keeps me on all ten toes and all ten fingers.

Although Tatum can be very very challenging, she

is a really smart girl and has a mind of her own.

We love her so much.

I am so excited because Tatum is fully potty trained.

4 down 1 to go. It was a lot easier than I thought.

When I first startedto try and put her on the toilet

she was vey stubborn. Now a lot of the time she will

go all by herself.

10 things Tatum loves:

-Milk

-flip flops(even if its freezing outside, or at home in her pj's)

-Baby dolls

-Dora the Explorer

-Max and Dax(Kimmie and Janell's dogs)

-Taking a bath

-Going to Nursery(finally after about a year)

-Hot dogs

-Gum

-Going to Grandma's

Hopefully there will be no terrible 3's

(we'll cross our fingers)

Mason's update

These pictures don't do any justice. But it's the best
I can do.

Mason is doing really well. I think this is the best it
could be considering what could of happened. He only
had his huge bandage on until that next Wed. when
I took him to the orthopedic. The doctor cut it off to look
at it and said "ITS ALIVE". We were so relieved, he can
keep his fingertip. I saw the x-rays and it did not go through
the bone. That next Monday we went back to the
doctor and got his stitches taken out. I couldn't believe
how fast everything went. The ER doc said it was going to
be a while before it would really start to heal.

If you look really close you can see that his ring finger
and pinky are really dark also. When the doctor took
his bandage off I saw that they were all purple and
swollen. I asked him why they were like that and he
said that they were also smashed in the door. I didn't
even realize it because I was so focused on all the
blood.

Mason's fingers are healing really well. He is pretty

much using them like he would normally. Right now they

kind of look like they were burned. The skin is coming

off and they are all scabby. But it is looking so much

better than we ever thought it would at this time. We are

so blessed that everything went as good as it could have.

Mason has delt with it so well. He is such a good boy.

We love him so much.

Tragic Accident :(

Well it Happened. The thing I have been so scared of since Kaden was little. That cringe you get when a door is shut and there is a cry to follow. On Wednesday night when I was making dinner, I heard Jared shut his bedroom door and then Mason started screaming. I knew exactly what happened. At least I thought I did. Jared started yelling that there was blood running down his hand and arm. Sure enough when I picked him up blood everywhere. When I looked at his finger(middle, left hand) the tip was falling backwards. I grabbed a papertowel and pretty much was holding his finger on. I knew I was going to the ER. Now I am really starting to PANIC!
I immediatly called Troy and told him he needed to come home. 5 minutes later Bro Rose came to drop Kaden off from her girls activity night. I ran outside to tell him what had happened and didn't know what do.(by the way I was sobbing). I couldn't drive and I had no clue where a hospital was. He told me he would drive so that I didn't have to wait for Troy. My mom came over to be with the kids so Troy could go straight to the hospital. When we got there it was really crowed, but they got us in really fast.
When the doctor came in and looked at Mason's finger he told us that it was partially amputated, and he had crushed his fingernail. I felt so horrible having to watch him. They gave him a shot to numb his finger. Shortly after that they took x-rays to see if it had gone through the bone. When we got back to the room they started preparing to stich it back together. All things considering Mason did very good. The hardest part was having to hear him calling me when they were doing the procedure.
As it stands right now the doctor said that the blood flow was very good and he thinks there is a more than 50% chance that he will be able to keep his finger. His nail won't grow back normal if ever at all. On Monday we will call and schedule to go see the bone doctor and find out results of x-rays.

We are very thankful because we know it could be a lot worse. Keep him in your prayers. He is dealing with it very well. He plays as if he didn't even have a club hand. We love him so much.
To check out some pictures Kimberly was so kind to post some on her blog for me since I don't have a camera. We will keep you posted.

P.S. It is so sweet because at least once a day Mason will put his hand up to my mouth and want me to kiss it.

New Start in Texas

As you all know we now live in Texas. It was a very long journey. 20 hours to be exact. We were not looking forward to it at all. But it ended up actually not being too bad. I couldn't believe that Mason my 15mo old was the best one out of all of them. We stayed at my parents house the first night and when we got there my mom took pictures of our truck because she said we looked like the Hillbillies. I will get those from her and post them. It was a good laugh. So far everything is going pretty good. Kaden and Jared adapted to school really well and they love it. Both of them have already made lots of friends. Our schedules work out pretty good. I go to work early in the morning until about 9am ,and then Troy goes to work at around 11a.m. and gets home around 9pm. We are so happy to be around our family again. But I miss Jessica, Josh,Braxton,Bobby and Rachel tremendously!!!! It was very hard to say good bye. We know that we needed change and it was time to go. We have adjusted very well and love our neighborhood. We hope to see everyone soon.

It's been soooo long!!

It has been months since I have blogged I know!! We have had a broken camera so I haven't been taking any pictures. Also I have been spending a lot of time on Facebook. So I will give you a little update. Work has been great and I actually look forward to going to work. Kaden and Jared are back in school from the holidays. Me and the kids at home have been spending most of our time hanging out with Jessica and Baby Braxton. We are trying to get as much time with them as we can because YES! We are moving to TEXAS! Our journey starts the 12th of Feb. We are very excited! We know now it is finally time for us to go. We are going to miss everyone! I hate to have to leave my job. I cried when I told my manager. But I know it's for the best. I will try to get some new pictures soon. The kids are growing up way to fast. I am so glad I have these tools to keep in touch with everyone and their lives.

Cereal disaster

Mason is in to everything now!!

I couldn't resist not taking this picture. Mason
decided to dump out the box of Froot Loops. I guess he
was hungry.

Jared's Ear Scare

I wanted to share the good time Jared had first before
we get to the not so good. This is Jared on Halloween night.
He won 2nd in the potato sack race.

taking a rest on the dirt hill

So here is the bad.
I came home from work on a Wed night around dinner time. Troy tells me
that Jared had stuck something in his ear. It was a little plastic ball. We tried looking
in his ear but every time we got even a little close Jared would flip out. So we decided
to take him to the urgent care. Ears are so sensitive I didn't want to mess with it. Of course
when I got there we had a lot of laughs. Everyone had there attention on our room. Anyways they started one at time trying to use different instruments to get it out. After 2 hours of Jared screaming and his ear swelling the doctor decided that I needed to go somewhere else. So we found a pediactric ER connected to John C. Lincoln Hospital. After going through all the explanations AGAIN and telling them what was not going to work we felt that putting him under would be the only way to remove the ball. There are no words to describe what he went through to get in his IV . Even Mason was crying because he was so scared from Jared. They used three different meds in the injection. One was a pain reliever and the other two were to put him to sleep and an amnesia to help him forget all the trauma he had already been through. Thankfully everything went really well and the doctor was able to pop it out. It was in there pretty good. She had to dig for it. What an experience and I don't recommend it to anyone. I think Jared would agree with me. He said "I am never doing anything like that again". We would greatly appreciate that.

Trunk or Treat

Halloween Night!!

Our trunk or treat was held at a family's house
in our ward that has 10 acres. Mason and Tatum
found a huge dirt hill to play on. Mason was Sparky
the ASU sun devil. Tatum was a unicorn, Maegan &
Kaden were witches and Jared was darth vader.


The kids had so much fun playing games. Eating
hot dogs and chips. Yes of course they ate plenty
of candy.


They also had a hay ride to go on. That was the
big hit.

Mason loved it. He cried every time we took him
off the hay. We had a great time.

Maegan posing right before she went on to the cake
walk, which she did win some cupcakes.

.
After experiencing bangs with Kaden I said I would
never put them on any of my girls. Unfortunatly I couldnt
keep away from them. So here is the finishing touch
of Tatum's new hair cut. I think it is growing on me
though and I am having fun doing something different.
It's actually kind of easier to do because it is styled.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

"NOT wanted hair cut"

A couple of days ago before the kids went to school,
Kaden for some reason decided she wanted to cut
off Tatum's hair. Of course I didn't realize this until
later that day. Obviously she didn't get the message
that "I do not like bangs".



At least with 3 girls I have been able to go this
long without having major not wanted hair cuts.
We will be going to kids cuts tomorrow to see if
there can be any recovery. We can not have this
hair do with a wedding in 2 weeks. I would love
to hear any suggestions.



I know we have all had our share.

Mysterious Mole

As most of my family knows, Mason has had a weird mole to the side of his stomach. It's about
half the size of a piece of corn(just to give everyone an idea). It has been there since he was about a month old. I noticed it but didn't really think much of it. I thought it was kind of a birth mark or something. When I took him to his 9mo Dr. appt(only because I was late on his shots), I asked my Nurse Practitioner if she would look at it to see if she knew what it was. She just said it was a mole but to watch and make sure that it didn't change color or grow. Well the next day I got a call from her and she said that she changed her mind. That night she went home and researched tons of Dermotology books to see if she could put a name to it, but she couldn't. So a little over a month ago I made an appt for last Thurs. to see a pediactric Derm. and we got the results. It is called "Mastocytoma". A collection of mast cells that release histamine when it is irritated/rubbed, which causes it to have reddness and swelling. The doctor said he was surprised that Mason only had one. Usually they are all over the body. He could get more but he probably won't if he hasn't already. I have noticed through out the last 6 months that his skin is very sensitive. If I pick him up from under his arms and then put him down his arms would be really red. When I lay him on the floor to change him and then pick him up his back is all red.

The good news is it is the best kind you can have. There is no need for a byopsy or anything. It will just go away as he gets older. I just have to watch and make sure that it doesn't blister, and when he is older if he breaks an arm or something he can't have demerol, morphine,or codine because it will make the mastocytoma flare. That is only if it hasn't gone away. We are really relieved that it is nothing serious and blessed that Mason is still a healthy boy. By the way, he is walking across the room now. My last baby is growing up so fast. He will be 1 next month. We love him so much. I also have to mention we have no ear drums anymore from his screaming.

Little bug friends

Our poor little Tatum has been an eating frenzy
for some bugs during the middle of the night. We
don't know what kind, but it has been going on
for a couple of weeks. She is itching them all the
time and they are so swollen. As if she isn't chunky
enough already. 30 % of the time she sleeps on
our floor and 70% of the time she is in our bed.
So for the last couple of nights we have been
sleeping on the couch. These pictures don't do justice.

We decided to take her to the doctor because we
thought it was something worse then just bugs, like
hives. The doctor said it was all bugs. So we were
told to put neosporin on it to help from getting
infected and to give her benadryl for the itching.
Just in case it gets worse the doc gave us a perscription.
I also have to find her a new spot to sleep at night.

The weird part is that no one else is getting it.
Just a few here and there. Tatum has some very
tasty legs. We will be spraying to get rid of
our not so nice friends

My New Job!

It's amazing how the Lord watches over you. When you think that he's not there he
will throw in a little blessing to let you know he's watching you. A couple months ago we
talked about me getting a job to help us with the move, but it didn't seem right at the time.
And then out of the blue it seems like it just kind of all came together. Things with Troy's work
got really good and now it has worked out that I am able to work. It's kind of funny how it happened. Last week Janell and I were out shopping at the mall to get Treston
some new school clothes. We went into her favorite store called the
Pumpkin Patch. As we were looking for different outfits Tatum had pulled
a pair of shorts off the hanger. I put them back on the hanger and asked the
employee (who happened to be the store manager) if that was how they were
suppose to go. She was so surprised that I knew how to do it and then insisted
that I took an application. Last night was my first night starting. I love it. It will
be a change for me but I know in the end it was for a good purpose. So all of you who can
come see me. I only work at night so I can still be home during the day.

Pedicure Heaven

It's about time I know!!

Well I finally did it! My first pedicure. It was
wonderful. I cant believe I waited this long to go.
I have always been so insecure about my feet.
Not any more. You were right Anny, they are very
addicting. I am ready for my next one. Thanks to
Janell for urging me to go with her. My little Maegan
is also addicted. She's asking me every week to go.