SMITH FAMILY

December 2011

2011-12-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year once again. Christmas is in the air. This week we rode the train downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. What an adventure! Alex started not feeling well and barfed in the visitors center, talk about good times.

Earlier this month - Alex received principals pride. Good job Alex. Alex also particpated in the pinewood derby for scouts.

We had our first snowfall and of course the kids were so excited to play in the snow.

Halloween and Playoffs

2011-11-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

I think that Halloween is about the dumbest holiday ever created, but this year I thought that it was kind of fun. I think that it is stupid to buy candy, then dress up and exchange candy and then throw most of it away. And I hate picking up all of the wrappers for the entire week following Halloween. This year I had fun dressing up the kids and Michael took the kids out trick or treating and I stayed inside with our fun neighbor Angela and ate pizza and just hung out. So this year I quite enjoyed this pointless holiday. Caroline was two different princesses. First for dance class she was Cinderella and for preschool and Halloween she was a Barbie princess. She loved being a princess.

Alex wanted to be a zombie and Charlie was Darth Vader.

Both Alex and Michael did awesome in football this year. Alex's team made it to the playoffs but lost their playoff game. Michael's team won their playoff game and is now going to play for the championship this Saturday. We are so excited. These are pictures of Michael's playoff game. It was cold and snowy. That is Michael # 67.

Pumpkins 2011

2011-10-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, pumpkin time. It is always fun to go and pick out our pumpkins. I think that this was our last nice day before the cold :(

Looking for the perfect one.

It was amazing no one needed to go to the ER.

I don't know why Charlie is pulling such a sad face.

Joe judged the pumpkins and said that Caroline's was the best. (Of course I carved hers). I just realized that I didn't take a photo of the finished products. Oh well maybe next post.

Charlie and Caroline do like each other

2011-10-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

I just had to post a picture of these two getting along. Normally these two get along wonderfully. But lately they have been fighting like cats and dogs. Maybe it is because Charlie started school and is gone more so Caroline is jealous? I don't know, but a few weeks ago it was a particularly bad week between these two. Caroline bit Charlie twice. What a little stinker. Charlie came to me and asked me "Back when we lived in robes, why did you pick her?" Then the next day he told me that "Jesus told him that we can't send her back" Sometimes my little Charlie says things that are so profound.

This is just a picture of Caroline with bubbles in her hair that she wanted me to put on here. :)

Football, school, birthdays and more football

2011-10-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Once again life is super busy, so this is another catch up post. Alex and Michael are both playing football. This is Alex at one of his games.

Michael started 7th grade this year. He is finally in Middle School. Yay!

Alex started 3rd grade.

Caroline getting ready to go to the pool.

My garden did awesome this year. Check out that huge cucumber.

Charlie started kindergarten. Ahh ... my babies are getting all grown up.

This is Michael and one of his coaches. Coach Nelson Tuatagaloa

This is the line for Michael's team and Nelson is the line coach. Our line this year has some mighty big boys.

Michael looking tough.

We celebrated Charlie's birthday.

Caroline sleeping. This is the only time that she will wear bows. She will stay up late and change her clothes and look and books instead of going to sleep. What a little stinker. She is my girl though. We love to stay up late and sleep late. Too bad the rest of the world doesn't function like that.

Michael turned 13! He was so excited for his present to arrive. He wouldn't even wait until after he changed out of his football clothes.

Caroline's preschool class. The letter of the day was C - they are clowns.

Alex at football.

This is what we did for conference weekend. We canned peaches, pickles, mustard pickles, jam, grape juice and toasted sunflower seeds. We still need to finish the apples. Canning is such a time consuming process. We also made 8 loaves of zucchini bread (that was in the oven at the time of the photo)

All in all life is good. Super duper busy, but good.

summer catch up

2011-08-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Ok life is as always super busy. I wanted to get a bunch of pictures on here from our summer activities. School starts Monday!

This is the dinosaur museum in Ogden. My kids have decided that it is LAME. But I didn't care because I had a city deal and it was super cheap so I told them that they were going to enjoy it do matter what.

The zoo also has dinosaurs this year. They are pretty cool. Most of them spit water.

More of the same poses near the tigers.

We made it to the planetarium at the Gateway. It is free. I never knew that. You still have to pay for the light shows, but we weren't there during any of those times, so it was totally free. We still want to make it back for a light show, but the ones we want to see start late and we have football every night right now.

My kids started having fun after I got upset and told them that they needed to have fun and stop complaining about how lame everything is. We took them swimming afterwards. That's why they are all in there swimming trunks.

We have been bringing the kids to Jordan Landing for Yogurt after some of our football practices. They love playing on the bears in the plaza.

My boys hanging out and Grandpa and Grandma's

And one more pose at the zoo. My kids are growing so fast. That is one nice thing about all of the same picture areas at the zoo, so we can see how they change and grow.

Charlie riding a two wheeler

2011-07-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Charlie took the training wheels off his bike this week and off he went. The doctor told us not to teach him this year because his arm isn't fully healed yet and we didn't want it to break again. But Charlie was determined and he picked it up in a matter of minutes.

I don't even have anything to gripe about this week. I guess that must mean that life is good.

Michael Shaving

2011-07-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

We had our Stephenson Family Reunion a few weeks ago. There was all sorts of fun. there was a face painter and Caroline got a butterfly on her face. I downloaded an app to change the color of your pictures. Pretty cool. This was the only picture I took the whole day.

Michael shaved for the 1st time on the 4th of July. My baby is totally growing up. He is now 5'11" and 200 pounds and still just 12 years old.

Charlie's hand

2011-06-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

So... a few weeks ago, Charlie broke his arm. The doctor said he didn't want to put the hard permanent cast on because they cost too much. He told me that Charlie's arm would heal fine and to just leave the splint on that they put on the first day. So everyday Charlie says how much his arm hurts. I finally brought him back in to the insta care. The girl that took his xray the first time asked me why I never went and got a cast on his arm. I told her that the doctor told me that I didn't need it. She told me that I should have gotten a cast on. So they took the splint off and the above pictures show the damage. What IDIOTS! Anyway now we are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. His arm needs a cast on, but they can't put one on with the damage on his hand. Now he has to be really careful not to injure his arm anymore. And I have to bandage his hands carefully twice a day. The doctor is afraid that it will become infected and I will have to bring him in to a specialist to deal with it. (So much for saving me money!)

Michael stealing home :)

Isn't this picture so awesome??? It was taken with my phone, talk about perfect timing.

crazy life

2011-06-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Caroline's dance recital and Charlie's broken arm.

Ok here is what is going on in our crazy life this week. I really am looking forward to when life is easy. Please tell me that life will be easy at some point???

This week at Michael's baseball game I was score keeping. We had two scorekeepers for our team because we were home team and there was also the visiting scorekeeper. The umpire made an iffy call, so a parent for the other team came over and started yelling at me and the other home scorekeeper (Felita). Felita said to him very calmly..".look it is just a kids game, calm down." boy did that set him off. He was truly a crazy nut job. Anyway he kept yelling at us and told us we didn't know anything ... blah, blah, blah. so Joe came walking over and said why are you yelling at the scorekeepers? They don't have anything to do with what the ump's call. Then the dude started going off on Joe about how he is on the board and he is a cop so he knows everything. (What a complete jerk!!!) so finally Joe and the jerk went back to their seats. But the visiting scorekeeper happened to be the jerk's ex wife. So she starts mumbling under her breath about me and Felita. After 20 minutes, I was about to BLOW! I said to her to knock it off, that we could hear her talking about us and it was uncalled for... that set her off and she called me a "f***ing B*****". So I turned around and told the president of the board what was going on and he said "it's ok we know them and that is just the way that they are and to let it go" I was blown away. Finally she stormed off saying that I and the other scorekeeper were harassing her. I don't know what conversation she was listening to but her and her husband were wacko!

I couldn't believe what had happened. When we got home Joe's wasn't feeling well and asked me to listen to his heart. I hate when he does that because it is never good. I listened and immediately could hear that he was back in Atrial fibrillation. If he gets too stressed out or worked up too much it messes with his heart. Half of his heart just flutters and the other half races. The side that beats will beat about 200 beats a minute. So we had to bring him to the ER. Usually they shock him with the paddles (defibrillator) and its all good and we go home and he will fill like he was hit by a freight train. This time they did it 3 times and couldn't get it back into rythym. So now he is in the ICU and they are trying to figure out how to fix him.

Yesterday Charlie was riding his scooter and fell and broke his arm. At least it was his left and not his right.

Caroline had her first dance recital also yesterday. It was so cute to see the little 3 year olds out there dancing around. I was so surprised that Caroline actually danced. She always gets so shy whenever she is asked to do something.

Oh and I forgot to add that last week our house flooded in 3 different places! What the crap?? a bucket of water was spilled in the bathroom and went under the walls and soaked Charlie's room and Caroline's closet. I didn't know that it even went that far so it took me a day to discover it and try to clean it up. It was so stinky. It also went through the floor and dripped into the basement and flooded our storage room downstairs. I had to throw out so many things. the worst was the box from my mission. I was so sad. I did save one package of pictures and a couple of letters. It has been so wet and rainy around here that it took days for Charlie's and Carolines room to dry. Since it has been so wet and rainy here the ground is saturated and came up under the floor in our basemet and flooded Alex's room. That also was super stinky and took days to dry. We had the heat cranked and fan a blowing. The 3rd flood was in my kitchen. My ice maker line broke behind my fridge. The water leaked under my tiles and cracked pretty much every tile in my kitchen. Can you believe that I had three seperate water issues on the same day???

I am so glad that this is the last week of school. We are planning on spending as many days having fun as possible.

It is so beautiful in the canyon right now. This is up Big Cottonwood Canyon at Storm Mountain.

Joe and Charlie at Lagoon.

This is about the only ride that Joe will ride. Oh and he will also ride the train. He hangs out with Caroline in kiddie land while the rest of us have tons of fun riding the rides. I did make the mistake of taking Charlie on Wicked. It was hilarious riding with him because he was so scared, he was screaming so loud. We did get him to go again and told him that it was scary fun and now he likes it.

But this is more Charlie's speed. He loves the rides in Kiddie land the most.

This is Michael, Alex and I waiting to ride Colasses.

petting zoo

2011-05-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Look how stinking fun this place is.... It is a free petting zoo right off of the Scipio exit in Millard County. We stopped for about 45 minutes and the kids still wanted to stay longer.

How is it that they have a zebra and the regular zoo doesn't??

In this section they have bunnies, chickens, ducks and sheep. The bunnies like to burrow in all of these rocks. They have an emu in the fenced in area behind Charlie. Watch out for him because he bites. Not hard, but enough to get your attention. The caretaker thought that it was funny to let him bite Joe.

tutu

2011-05-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

Look how totally awesome I am... I just made this tutu for Caroline. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not crafty, so I am so proud of myself! Enough about that ;) Also this is Charlie up to bat. It is so fun to watch the little 4 year olds try to play baseball.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Alex started scout and this was his first pack meeting. I don't remember what award he just received.

Here is Alex hanging out in the dugout at baseball.

Here are my kids coloring eggs at grandpa's house. Michael really did have fun, even though he doesn't look very happy right here.

This is about half of the cousins. We had to send them all outside to eat. There just wasn't enough room inside.

When I was a kid, I always thought that this mountain was Mr. Sunfalufagus's home. (it has eroded quite a bit since I was a kid) It was shaped more like him 30 years ago when I was into Sesame Street.

Every year we head out to white mountain to roll Easter eggs. The kids dig tunnels in the sand to roll there egg through. They also just play and dig in the sand for hours. We then hide the eggs and they look through the sand and sagebrush to find them.

The kids are lining up to go find the eggs.

Aunt Alena is helping Caroline find some eggs.

All in all we had a great time. I just got my blog printed and I totally love it. Charlie wants to look at it every night at bedtime. Good times baby - Good times!

dance

2011-04-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that it finally feels like spring. My attitude improves so much when the sun is shining. Life has been so unbelievable busy the last few weeks. We have all three boys in baseball. Charlie and Caroline are both in dance and preschool. I just watched a segment on tv whether it is ok to put boys in dance. They were some strong opinions for and against. Hopefully I am not screwing up my little Charlie by letting him particicpate in dance. He really loves it. It is also great for Caroline to have him in the class, because she is more shy. But with him there she jumps right in and participates too. Right now I have them in Axis dance center, but the owner is so rude and they have terrible customer service. As soon as a friend in our neighborhood has an opeining I will pull them out and move them to her.

I just got my blog printed and it is coming in the mail. I am so excited to see it.

kites, baptism and cancer - what a life

2011-03-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

Spring is here!!! Once again a blog with pictures that aren't so great... but you get what you get... We got a bunch of kites and have been flying kites at the school. I truly love that Charlie and Caroline are such great friends.

Michael is such a great helper with all of the younger kids.

We finally got all of them in the air.

Michael finally got his braces off. What was suppose to be one year turned into 2. But it finally happened and his teeth look great.

Last day with braces.

Alex got baptized. My babies are growing up so unbelievably fast. In this picture, we seriously look a little homeless. but you get what you get and don't throw a fit.

Don't they all look so Happy? ;)

Joe's mom came to visit to see Alex's baptism. I am grateful that Alex felt the spirit and knows that he made the right choice. I am so proud of my kids.

It is so weird to see me standing next to Joe and be so much shorter than him. I have lost 3 inches in the last year. Cancer SUCKS.

Another question??? Black or red? I was going to go blond, but I chickened out.

the price of beauty.

And the new red do. This was my first haircut in over a year. I was so excited to get it done.

Here's a little more on my current dilemma. As most know from the glorious facebook, I have been faced with a monumental decision. My oncologist has given me the choice whether I continue with my maintenance chemo or whether I stop. So the option is: Do I choose a shorter but better quality of life or a longer, but crappier life?? Her are the pros and cons. The pros: It will be longer before the cancer comes back. Probably five years before I have to do the transplant again. It puts my mind at ease, I don't worry with every bruise or back pain that occurs that the cancer is back.

The cons: The cancer comes back sooner, probably in 3 years. The chemo wipes out my white blood cells. So I get very sick about every 3 -4 weeks. I ended up in the hospital for a week with pneumonia and months later am still trying to feel completely over it. I have to go to the doctor to take a blood pregnancy test every two weeks! It's $40 a month (I know not a lot) but it becomes a pain in my butt to fork over that money every month, because I also have to do labs before they can give it to me and that is an extra $30, and if I have to see the doctor that day which is every 6 weeks then that is another $30.

And they aren't sure whether I will build up a tolerance to the drug and then not be able to fight it the second time. ugh! But I have found a Multiple Myeloma facebook page. There I have found a few people who have taken the drug for about 12 years and are doing fine.

I only have enough stem cells for one more transplant so this is a pretty important decision. Well so far I have decided to stop the drug and hope for the best. We are also planning on going to the temple today, so that I can ponder my decision and make sure that it is the right one. Wish me luck.

Craziness of the last few months

2011-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of weeks have been insanely busy. We have all 3 boys in baseball. Michael and Alex in scouts and piano. Charlie and Caroline in dance. And Charlie has preschool and Caroline has speech. So I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But here are a couple of things that have been going on. At Christmas we attended the ward party and all of the kids got to sit on Santa's lap, (I have given up trying to get all 4 kids looking good for the picture) - so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!

We travelled downtown to see the lights at temple square. We went with my brother Jason and Jennifer and there baby mama - Margie. Jennifer is a surrogate for Margie and was ready to pop, poor Jennifer didn't get to give birth for a few more days though. But baby Marcella joined her new mama the following week.

I almost got all 4 looking good for the picture. Almost!

Michael had his science project due. We (and yes I mean we) worked very hard on his project, we were trying to see if different types of vinegars produced different reactions.

Alex turned 8 !! We had his party at classic skating. All of the kids had a ton of fun. Next I will have to get baptism pictures up. My babies are sure growing up fast.l

We also hit the zoo AGAIN. The weather was beautiful. The tiger was right next to the fence and also the gorilla was right next to the fence, Super cool.

We were about the only ones in the entire place. It was so nice.

That is the gorilla right behind Caroline. It took me a minute to figure how to turn off my flash.

And that is the tiger right behind Charlie. The tiger is just chilling next to a bird.

So we have had a crazy couple of weeks that are only getting crazier, but that makes life fun - right??

Cast and end of October

2010-12-11T19:33:00.000-08:00

I am planning on getting my blog printed this month, so I had to hurry and update the happenings for the last couple of months. At the end of October, Caroline broke her arm. We were at the park while Michael was at football practice. Alex and Caroline were swinging on the zip line together. They had gone a couple of times and I was just commenting how strong Alex was being able to carry Caroline across so many times. Just as I was saying that - he dropped her and then landed on top of her. We went to InstaCare and sure enough it was broken. She picked out the bright orange cast and eventually used it as a weapon against her brothers.

The kids had a great time for Halloween. Michael only would wear this costume for the trunk or treat, (and not to school) because he said a friend of his dad's looks like this normally and this costume was rude. What a sweet boy. Alex was a devil. Charlie was a dragon and Caroline was a witch.

Joe's work sent us to the crazy corn maze for a worker appreciation day. We all had a good time and got lost in the corn. This was the first time that we went when it was still daylight. I actually liked it better this way. When we have gone in the dark it has always freaked me out. I absolutely hate the sound of the chainsaws. Too many scary movies!

Once again we went to the zoo. It is impossible to get a picture with all 4 kids smiling and looking at the camera, so I have to take individual pictures of them.

Charlie loves his batman pj's

Michael just turned 12!

2010-10-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things that are happening lately. Michael turned 12. I can't believe that my oldest baby is already 12. Michael is playing football once again. He is loving it. Once again he is the biggest on his team.

Alex received principal's pride at school. He was so excited that he was in the first group to receive it. The kids receive principal's pride for doing something that stands out. He brought monarch butterfly caterpillars and snails for his classroom to learn about. Out of the five caterpillars only one made it into a butterfly. The kids in his class were able to watch the caterpillar transform and then they released it. It was a fun experience for all of them. Joe and I were able to go have lunch with him for the ceremony.

Charlie started preschool. He asks everyday if it is time for him to go to his school. So far they have learned about the letter A and the color blue.

Well that is about all that has happened lately. I did go to the dermatologist today, for my 6 month check with him. He asked me if my oncologist had informed me that my cancer is fatal. REALLY! I just looked at him at told him yes. The poor guy was more distraught about my sitution than I am. He sat and chatted with me for a half an hour after he cut out some spots. He even looked up when spring break was for all of the colleges and CA schools because he told me that we needed to go on vacation and I said I would choose to go to Disneyland in March. Anyway he just kept chatting and chatting about my cancer. I think he needed to talk it out, because he is close to my age and it made him think about how life can be so short. He did predict that I could live at least 10 years because I should outlive the life expectency because they have very little data on people's life expectency with my cancer for people under 40. (Because it is so rare for someone under 40 to have my type of cancer) I have an (typically) over 65 black man cancer??? Reading back over this doesn't make that much sence, but that is how my mind works lately. So just try to follow along!

remission

2010-08-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well - my tests results came back. I am officially in remission! The bad thing is that I cannot get rid of the anxiety filled pit in my stomach. I thought that I would feel elated when I heard the results, but oncologists are such buzz-kills. My doctor told me that everything is good, but then on to the next step. I will now take an oral chemo drug for at least 2 years ( which I need to take a pregnancy test every week this month and then every other week for the following months ) The funny thing with the pregnancy tests are that I have had my tubes tied and I am in or been through menopause. They still say I have to use 2 forms of reliable birth control. And those two together do not count. Isn't that just riduculous??? I will have to go back every month for blood draws to see not if but when this is coming back. I think that is the part of this that is freaking me out the most. I will never be rid of this horrible disease. They did say that I will probably be free for 2 years before I have to start this whole mess all over again. So much for ever having long and lushious hair again! Just kidding my hair has never been long and lushious. So I figure that 2011 is my year to shine. Since they tell me that it will take about a year to feel better, that leaves 2011 to be my best year ever. Any way onto funner things. We are now bunny owners. UGH! I am so not an animal lover, but the things that we do for our kids - right. Well a few weeks ago we were at my grandmas house and my brother lives pretty darn close to her and my sister in law is an animal lover. She has all sorts of pets. She has bunnies galore. Well Charlie had been asking for weeks to have one and on that particular day he gave me his sad little puppy dog eyes; so low and behold we came home with a big white bunny. Well last night after I thought that our big white bunny had run away we found some more on ksl. So big white bunny returned and we still went and picked up new baby black bunnies. We went with the intention of coming home with one and we ended up with THREE! I am such a sucker for sad looks. The big problem with bunnies is that they are horny little buggers - at least the big white bunny is. As soon as we brought the new ones home he started raping the little ones. So we had to seperate them. Hopefully we don't end up with a million more bunnies. Anyway that is what is going on lately in our household. I am just waiting for my anxiety to go far far away. I am such a wreck.

Oh - I had an epiphany last night. Here it is - Everyone thinks that life is not fair; therefore life is fair. We all have our issues to deal with and we just have to make the best of what we have been given. What to you think?

1st day of school 2010

2010-07-26T08:07:00.001-07:00

It is the 1st day of school today. I am really starting to like year round school. We hads tons of fun this summer and just last week my kids started fighting. If we had to spend more time together they would have really started to fight. This is Michael's last year in Elementary school :( My baby is getting so grown up. Alex is starting 2nd grade. This year we have heard good things about both of their teachers, so I am hoping for a great year.

Last week we went to the Copper Mine. It made my stomach have butterfly's looking over the edge. It is huge!

Looking down in the pit at the huge trucks driving around with regular trucks next to them; it made the regular trucks look like matchbox cars.

The Children's Discovery Museum

2010-07-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

Having fun at the Discovery Museum

Happy birthday to my Charlie.

I thought this was just a cute picture - Splish, Splash they are all taking a bath.
I am not sure how musically talented my boys are.

Maybe this will be Michael's future Job?

Working together!

Beep, Beep.

For the 4th of July we went the Children's Discovery Musuem downtown at the Gateway. It was pretty fun. I liked it a lot because they had things for the little kids and also stuff for the bigger kids. Usually whenever we go somewhere either my little kids are bored or my bigger kids are bored, but here they all had a blast. Michael got 2 free family passes from school so it was even better to be able to go for FREE!! Michael also won a bike from school - which was awesome because his was stolen and I really didn't want to have to buy a new one. Thank goodness for little blessings! Sometimes life feels completely overwhelming and then there is always little rays of sunshine.

We are still potty training Caroline - whoever said potty training girls was easier - is totally crazy and up in the night!! We have got peeing down but pooping has been a nightmare. My boys were always fasinated by pooping so it was easy to potty train them, but my girl - HOLY COW she just won't poop in the potty. And we have to bring the princess potty with us whereever we go. She refuses to sit on a big potty. Hopefully we finish this business up soon. I am looking forward to being done with diapers.

It was also Charlie's birthday. He turned 4. I only got one picture that turned out because my camera is totally jacked up. It sucks when you spend the big bucks for nice things and they turn out to be just as cheap as the inexpensive things.

Anyway life is starting to get better and things are going well. I am even starting to get a little hair!

Joe's work luau party

2010-07-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last week we attended Joe's work party - we had to miss our family reunions to do so, but this year we decided that keeping a job was more important. Anyway the kids had a blast. There were blow up toys and fun games and good food. Joe even participated in the potato sack race - it was so funny to watch and he will probably die of embarassment if he sees this post. We also gave away our crib this week. It was a sad day in the Smith household. One of those things where you move onto the next chapter in life. I had to fight the urge to run out and buy a pregnancy test even though there is like a less than zero chance of me ever becoming pregnant again. Also Caroline is almost potty trained!!!! I couldn't find an appropriate picture to post or I would have. I am down to about 10 diapers and hopefully will never have to buy any ever again. The last 2 days she has had one accident each day, but today she has refused to wear undies so we will see. Hopefully tomorrow we will be back on track and say goodbye to diapers!!~!

Dinosaur Park

2010-06-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day at the Dinosaur Park in Odgen. My kids sure are getting big and all grown up!

I wish that the Dinosaur Park was closer. I would spend more time there. It is very peaceful. My boys were wishing that Dino's were real.

Thankful

2010-05-11T20:20:00.001-07:00

I spent 2-3 hours today reading a blog about a family whose son was diagnosed with Leaukimia. It made me grateful for the trials that I endure. I wouldn't be able to handle my child being sick and going through the things that I have gone through in the last couple of months. The blog talked about the child getting his port and going through chemo and how weak he felt. It made me so sad. I have gone through the same things and know how it has made me feel I can't imagine being a child and going through the same things.

So I am saying how grateful I am for the things that I have. I am grateful to people who donate blood. I never realized how important that is. Yesterday I received platelets from a donor and will probably need blood in the next couple of days. I am grateful for my children. I am grateful for Joe. For our neighbors that help with my kids, since I am unable. For friends and family that offer so much love and support. For annoymous people who sent us Christmas (I know that it was months ago) but I am still grateful. I am so thankful that I have the gospel in my life. I didn't have a testimony of priesthood blessings until recently. I have received many priesthood blessings in the last few months and they have been a source of comfort and strength for me.

Anyway I have blabbed on and on and it is time for me to sleep. I have to time it right my nurse should come in in the next few minutes to take my vitals and then I will be able to get 4 hours of rest before they come back in to check on me and do my vitals. Isn't the whole point of being in the hospital to rest and get better? How can anyone rest if they have to see you every 2 hours and do vitals every 4???

1 HELL OF A YEAR

2010-05-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

I am here in the hospital and have been for the last 11? days and just met with the kidney doctor. He was asking about how this whole ordeal started and he looked up my origianl CT scan to look at my kidney damage. That CT scan was last June! It has been an entire year! What a year. BUT I am almost at the end of this rocky road. My counts are all just about bottoming out so that means that they will start going up. And that means that I should be out of the hospital in the next 2 weeks. My hair still hasn't started falling out - I am hoping that I didn't shave my head for no reason. The doctors assure me that they haven't seen anyone make it through this without losing their hair, but they are also surprised at how well I have been feeling. So we will see.

This is what I have to wear anytime I step outside of my room. They told me that after I am released that I should also wear this lovely mask everytime I am around a crowd. It makes me feel so pretty! NOT!

I am excited that I am almost at the end of this rocky road. Wish me luck!

These are just a few fun pictures that Charlie (my 3 year old) took at the flag football game. I'm thinking that he has got some talent.

checking in at the BMT

2010-04-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met with the doctors in our last family conference before my admit. Everything is set up and I have checked myself in to the Bone Marrow Transplant unit ready to go. I already have fluid coursing through my veins. In about an hour they we start the heavy duty chemo. Last night I decided to go ahead and shave my head. I was having anxiety about it all week, but when it came down to doing it -then it really wasn't that bad. Each of my kids took turns running the clippers and hopefully it won't be so traumatic for them when I come home completly bald. I already miss my babies!

Well the pictures started to upload? So hear are a couple of pictures in the shaving process.

ear tubes for Caroline

2010-04-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today Caroline got tubes in her ears. I was a nervous wreck worried about it. I am so glad that it is done. She has not been able to hear at all in her left ear and they said it was muffled in her right ear. She hasn't really started talking yet (she is 2), so hopefully now without all of the fluid behind her eardrums, she will be able to hear and start speaking. I think that she may be able to hear now because on the way home from the hospital - I was listening to the song Halo by Beyonce and Caroline started singing along with the song. The words "Halo" and "more" sounded really clear. So I am hopeful that she can now hear! These pictures are taken at the hopital. It is easy to tell which is before surgery and which is after. There little gowns are so cute.

The Living Planet Aquarium

2010-04-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of hours at the Living Planet Aquarium. Take my word for it that it is kind of a waste of money. My kids think that it is pretty cool and they have a good time everytime that we go, but it is expensive for what it is. It costs about $7.00 a person and we make it through the entire place in 30 to 45 minutes. A really hard thing about it also is that is a very dark and is three hallways. I loose Charlie everytime that we go there. He is such a free spirit and he runs off so often. this time when we went I said that it was about time to go and then I turned around and he was gone. I started looking for him and searched through the whole place (remember the place is dark and 3 tunnells so it is hard to see him) Well I searched and searched and the panic was setting in when a lady brought him in from outside! That child! Anyway, the lady started chewing me out for letting him go outside and told me that I needed to watch him better. And she also was getting angey at me because he was peeing outside. I just about screamed at the stupid woman. I think that any mom should be understanding about a lost child. Any way that was our day at the aquarium. I realize that the more chemo that I receive the more I loose my ability to spell and form sentences. Ah the joys!

Easter and Skin Cancer

2010-04-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

We went to Flowell for Easter and had a great time. My kids had been asking for weeks beforehand to go and play in the sand and roll Easter eggs. Too bad it was so cold!!! I brought my camera to take pictures and after the 1st picture my camera had a dead battery so I was only able to take one picture with all of my kids looking down and my dads "storage" behind them. But we did have a good time. My mom was able to come home for the day. She can say yes and no and she will eat if you put something in her right hand.

On to the next subject. I now have skin cancer to add to my list of "it can't get any worse" list. I had a blister like spot on my arm a couple of months ago that I thought looked really weird, so I went to the dermatologist. He said that it was just an age spot and that it was fine. Well the spot did change into something that looked liked an age spot, but then it kept changing and turned brown and then had a portion that was black. So I went to a different dermatologist and he didn't like the look of it so he biopsied it. He called me 2 days later and told me to come back in and that this spot was knocking on melanomas door. He said it was the closest thing to melanoma without being full blown melanoma. So he had to cut wider and deeper. He took so much out that I have an indent in my arm now. He said it will look like a shark bite after it heals. I now have to go back every 6 months to get a full body check and will have a lovely scar on my arm. He warned me to be so careful in the sun. To wear hats and sunscreen and long sleeves. I have never even been to a tanning bed! Ahhh such is life.

Caroline's 2nd birthday

2010-03-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

I have completely given up on the thought of ever getting all 4 of my kids looking good and looking at the camera at the same time - so this is the best that it gets.

Happy birthday to my baby! Caroline turned 2! birthdays are a lot more fun in thought than in reality. We got Caroline presents and a cake and her celebration was an hour of fun chaos. She got her first barbie and while opening it , Alex cut the back of the barbie's hair off. What is a barbie without a hair cut from her brother. Cake ended up on the one surface in my entire living room that is cloth. And the sunglasses that came with Caroline's cake flicked her in the face and caused her to scream. What fun birthdays are!

bone marrow transplant

2010-03-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

I met with the bone marrow tranplant team today. How stressful! This doctor kept saying my life expectence was 2 - 3 years. CRAP! that is not very long. He did say that after those 2 - 3 years then we just start over with the treatments - with the chemo and then another bone marrow transplant. When I go in for my transplant they are going to harvest enough of my stem cells to be able to do 3 or 4 more transplants in the future. There is no fricking cure for this cancer. I cried all of the way home. I don't know why it hit me so hard while meeting with these doctors - he kept telling me the same things that I already knew, but hearing it from them hit me hard like when he said that the cancer covered 80% of my body or about the damage to my bones that will never be better. Joe is convinced that I am going to beat this and live and I don't have that kind of faith. I have so many doubts about my life expectency. I want to be able to live and raise my kids and have grandkids. that is what I want most is to be able to be a grandma. Hopefully I will get that wish. I still don't know when I go in for my transplant. This is such a pain in the ass waiting game!

Carolines 1st haircut

2010-02-24T12:24:00.001-08:00

Caroline got her first haircut today. She was not too thrilled with the idea. I forgot to save some of her clipped hair, but at least I remembered to take a picture. Charlie also got a haircut - give him a sucker and he is happy.

Me and kids

2010-02-24T12:19:00.001-08:00

These pictures are at Christmas time. This is also after I started taking the steroids for my cancer which makes me super puffy. Ahh the joys of medicines.

Christmas 2009

2010-02-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

My kids had a great Christmas this year. They were all so happy with everything that they got!

zoo

2010-02-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

One more trip to the zoo. We love to go in the winter when all of the animals are out. And on this day we had to whole zoo to ourselves.

Halloweeen

2010-02-24T11:50:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2009. Michael was some kind of scary thing. Alex was a vampire, Charlie was a dragon and Caroline was a mouse. Caroline had to carry her mouse costume around for months. She loved it.

pumpkin patch

2010-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

We had to pick the perfect pumkins. I love fall colors. Too bad fall leads to winter. It would be wonderful if spring would follow fall.

Alex playing flag football

2010-02-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Alex started flag football this year. He has a ton of fun. all of these little 6 year olds are so funny to watch as they play

Alex 1st lost tooth

2010-02-24T11:33:00.001-08:00

Alex lost his first tooth!

what the crap!

2009-12-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

Ok I decided that I needed to start from the beginning because things are already becoming blurred in my mind and things have really only been super crazy for less than a month. This all started in July 09. I went to the doctor with what I thought was ovarian pain. The doctor couldn't figure out what was up so he sent me for a cat scan. the cat scan showed clots on my kidneys, but my kidneys were in good working order so my regular doctor thought that the clots would be caused by a hole in my heart. He sent me to a cardiologist and sure enough there was a hole in my heart. So a couple of hours of surgery, a night in the hospital, and 2 grand later I had a pfo closure (fancy word for hole in the heart fixed). I thought that I was as good as new. Next Joe lost his job - another stress, but hey I babysit and we have unemployment. Then during the summer we spent a lot of time at Lagoon - during one of the visits I went on the Jet Star with Michael and totally jacked up my back, but that wasn't the worst part - I took Caroline on the baby slide in the kiddie pool and got a compressed fracture in my back - talk about painful. I went to 3 different chiropractors and they couldn't fix me. They couldn't understand how someone my age could have a compressed fracture (they usually only happen when you are really old) The last chiropractor through out that worst case it would be cancer. I thought he was a nut job and went home to let my body heal on its own. A few more months go by and I get a letter in the mail from my regular doc saying that it is time for routine blood work to make sure that my pfo closure fixed my kidney problems. I felt fine so I wasn't going to worry about going to the doctor - honestly who has time for that! The letter was still in the back of my mind but I kept ignoring the fact that I should go to the doctor when I was sitting in Sunday School and our Relief Society president came and sat next to me and said completely out of the blue that I looked very sick - she said that I was not well and needed to go to the doctor. She thought that was the weirdest thing to say also - I thought that I was looking pretty darn good that day. So I called the next morning and went to the doctor. I just had 1 vial of blood drawn and was sent on my way. The medical assistant called that afternoon and said that they thought that there was a lab error and they wanted me to come back in first thing in the morning and get retested. (still not worried) I went back and got retested and the doctor and I were joking that it had to be a lab error because I looked great and I was functining so well. Well the doctor personally called a couple of hours later and told me that my creatin was 5.8 and that I was in kidney failure. He said to go to the emergency room NOW. I told him that I didn't really have time for that I still had 2 extra babies at my house and my kids weren't home from school yet. He said GO NOW they are waiting for you at the er bring a bag they will probably keep you overnight. (starting to get a little worried) Well we called a neighbor to come stay with the kids, grabbed a bag and headed to the er. When I arrived at the ER the kidney doctor met me and said there must be a lab error. He said I looked too healthy and if the numbers were correct then I shouldn't be able to be walking and talking. He said if the numbers were correct then I would basically be comatose. Well he retested again 3rd time is the charm right. Well the tests were right I was in kidney failure and my blood level was down to 17 (apparently that is super duper low) they start tranfusing at 21 They gave me 4 units of blood and I was still low. They told me that I would be staying overnight. What a pain in the butt. Well now my world is starting to feel like it is being turned upside down. It is December 1st, I haven't started my Christmas shopping and I am stuck in the hospital with kidney failure! They couldn't figure out what in the world was wrong - they kept coming in for more vials of blood I lost count at 36 vials. If I was so low on blood you would think that they would leave me as much as possible. Well 2 days later on the 3rd of December the hemotologist oncologist paid me a visit. (starting to get a little worried) He came in and said that I have multiple myeloma an incurable cancer that has a life expectency of about 8 years. Just plain facts - he said it like he was telling me that it was Tuesday. He told me that they would start chemo immediatly and a procudure called plasma apherisha (they pull all of my blood out spin it - seperate the plasma - throw my plasma away and give me a syntetic plasma and return my blood) Then he asked me if I was ok and left the room. HOLY CRAP my world just got turned upside down. They sent me right down to radiolgy to get my lovely neck acessory put in and that is when it hit me. Holy cow I broke down on the operating table and cried and cried I had the entire room crying with me. The nurses were all awesome - my goodness I think that every nurse that I had cried with me for the week that I was there. The nurse made the radiolgy techs give me good drugs during the port installation even though they normally just use a local just because they felt sorry for me. Well I stayed in the hospital for 8 days before they finally let me go home. I can no longer babysit because I can't be around the germs and I honestly don't have the energy to even think about doing anything extra right now. Actually somedays I can barely make it to the bathroom without feeling like I am going to pass out. Some days the stress feels completly overwhelming. On Sunday our furnace wasn't working (thank goodness we have an HVAC friend) he got it working. the next day Joe backed into our neighbors car and it feels like we are being beat down for some science experiement. Then other days we feel extremenly blessed. our neighbors, friends and our ward have helped us so much - they have come to clean our house and brought meals in and watched my kids and have just been a huge support for us. Well that is about where things stand now. I have 3 different chemo drugs they are trying to be super aggressive with my treatment since I am so young. (this normally attacks over 65 thin black men) I will do 1 chemo drug every day and the other 2 every other day until the spring when I will do a bone marrow transplant and then they will do some serious heavy duty chemo which will make my hair fall out and I will have to stay in the hospital for 4 weeks. FUN STUFF! Let me tell you I am looking forward to that. Oh and at the begining of all of this the monday before Thanksgiving my mom had a massive stroke and is now on life support at Utah Valley Regional. What the CRAP!

Gotta love cancer

2009-12-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start updating my blog it will be much easier than updating on facebook and Joe was super wonderful and bought me a laptop for Christmas. Thanks babe you are awesome. Well just to let you all know if you haven't heard already is I have been diagagnosed with cancer. I have multiple myeloma. I don't know why I have got it or how. The docs say it is just bad luck! This type of cancer usually attacks over 65 thin black men so I have no idea why it is attacking me. I was joking with Joe the other day that I was going to write a book about my experience and call it I just shart myself. We had a super big laugh about it even though that it not a very funny situation. The word shart is from a movie with Jack black in it and they are at a dance club , he askes his friend if he just sharted himself. When you think that you have to fart and you shit yourself! That is a line that we just think is hillarious. Well after a chemo treatment it happened to me and thank goodness we could see the humor in it because it was either have a very good laugh about it or curl up and cry. I am adding a picture of my beauty. I haven't been able to take a decent shower or wash my face for weeks now due to the fact that I have a beautiful accessory poking out of my neck. I have a port in my neck for my chemo and also my plasma apherisa (they pull out all of my blood, spin it, take my plasma out and then return my blood with syntetic plasma) fun stuff! Any way that is the jist of what is new in my life - I will update more frequently now that I have a laptop and I won't have to go to my freezing basement to get on my computer.

Joe's Crab Shack with the Anderson's

2009-07-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

I am so blog challenged!!! I tried to turn this picture, but couldn't so I gave up. Also every time that I post a new post I always forget to post backwards so whatever I am talking about goes backward. But I guess that that is how I roll - backwards and barely making it. Someday I will be organized and with it again. I am not counting on it until my kids get much older though. Anyway these are my cute boys. I love being a mom and getting to spend time with my cute kids.

This is my nephew Brandon. He was visiting from California. He is almost a year older than Michael so he is trying to stretch himself taller.

Sydney and Alex forever :)

This is Sydney and Alex. We have always joked that they would grow up and get married someday. These pictures remind me of engagement photos.

On Saturday we got together with our friends Chris and Mary. They moved to New Mexico about 4 years ago, but about once a year we get together at Joe's crabshack and have dinner. This picture shows what giants my children are - Michael and Christian are the same age and Alex and Sydney are the same age. We love to get together with these guys. I sure wish that they would move back to Utah.

Lagoon

2009-06-30T11:56:00.001-07:00

This is how Caroline ended the day. Charlie, Caroline and I had to wait for the boys to finish up one more ride, so we got an Oreo shake. She wouldn't let go of it. I tried just feeding her a spoonful at a time, but once she got a taste of it then there wasn't any turning back. She loved it though. I guess that was her reward for being so patient and sitting in the stroller all day while her brothers were having fun. All in all we had a great time. We ended up buying the season passes, so if anyone is going and wants us to hang out just give us a call.

The train ride is awesome there. I think they have about as many animals as the zoo, but with a view from the train!

The great thing about Lagoon is that they also have the water park in addition to the roller coaster rides.

Charlie is fearless. He will get on all of the rides in kiddie-land all by himself and loves them. Alex likes going on all the big kid rides with Michael, but here he was trying to be a good sport and go on one with Charlie.

Michael and football

2009-06-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

Football and soccer are done for 4 weeks!!! I don't know what to do with our free time now. Michael has been playing flag football for the last 2 seasons and now at the end of July will start tackle football. I am not looking forward to my baby playing tackle. He is so big, the other team always puts extra guys on him. That is Michael in the center with a good 6 inches on the rest of his teammates. We are going to move him up to play with the 12 years olds (he is 10) so that he will be closer to the same size as the rest of his team. Hopefully he doesn't screw up any growth plates while playing!

The ZOO again

2009-04-16T13:48:00.001-07:00

Michael got braces for Easter he now acts and looks like a teenager.

My little Diva.

Alex loves the gorillas the best.

Caroline has a cute pink cast.

We love "riding" the animals too.

Easter at White Mountain

2009-04-16T13:32:00.001-07:00

After coloring easter eggs (which Charlie got more on his shirt and face than on his eggs) we went to White Mountain and rolled them down the dunes. Caroline broke her leg, so she pouted in the car.

Joe, Michael and Alex rode Uncle Jason's 4-wheelers and had a great time.

zoo

2009-02-20T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here is our little trip to the zoo. Going to the zoo is always the best. The animals are all active and it is not crowded. My laundry is suffering because I am updating my blog - I better get back to my laundry.

Charlie's clean face

2009-02-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

Charlie actually has a clean face. Miracles never cease

piercing Carolines ears

2009-02-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

We pierced Caroline's ears this week. She was not a happy camper. The things that we do to be beautiful. Afterward she was much happier. Check out her vampire fangs:)

2009-02-20T11:59:00.000-08:00

I cannot get a picture of my kids when they are all looking good. Of course Charlie has a dirty face!

Halloween

2008-11-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

We had a zoorific time for Halloween. Charlie was a snake, Caroline a lion and Alex was a monkey. Michael not yet in costume was bloody scream again.

Seaworld

2008-11-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

We met up with Blake and Maria at Seaworld. We rode the Atlantis ride multiple times and were all soaking wet.

Sleeping

2008-11-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at Disneyland. Bus this was my favorite time.

Disneyland trip

2008-11-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Joe woke up and asked if I was ready to go? I said where are we going? He said lets go to Disneyland. So we packed our bags and got on the road!

Sunday

2008-08-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

Finally a picture with the four of them together. Charlies face is clean, but scrated and bruised. Too bad Caroline isn't looking at the camera. Oh well such is life. At least they are all healthy and happy!

Charlie loves his little sister. Charlie always has a dirty face. This child can get dirty no matter what. I cleaned his face a half a dozen times just during sacrament meeting.

Carloine has her angry eyebrow pose and Alex has his zoolander pose. It is so hard to take a group picture. We got Caroline's hearing tested again and she can finally hear!

Grandpa's house 8/17/08

2008-08-18T09:33:00.001-07:00

Joe was conviced that he could get a picture of Grandpa. Better luck next time!

The kids are all filthy dirty, but very happy. We went to the pond looking for grasshoppers and caterpillars.

declaration of indepence

2008-08-18T09:25:00.001-07:00

Joe, Michael and Alex went down to the capital to see the Declaration of Indepence.

kids in august

2008-08-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

Michael is getting so grown up. He just started 4th grade. His teacher is Belynda Paxton from Fillmore. Alex just started kindergarten. So far so good.

Look Charlie is wearing undies! I am so excited that he is almost potty trained. The bad thing is that he gags and throws up everytime after he poops in the potty. He can't stand the smell or the sight of it, but of course he has to look at it. What a boy!

It is so fun having a girl to dress up. Her brothers just adore her also.

2008-08-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Charlies 1st haircut. He put gum in his hair! What a little stinker.

my 4 cuties

preschool graduation

This is my favorite picture of Joe. He looks so carefree and happy.

Blessing day for Caroline

Family pictures

2008-08-04T19:58:00.001-07:00

This was the best shot of our family. Our family is getting too big to try and get everyone looking good and at the camera. This was the day we blessed Caroline.

Caroline is getting so chunky!!

Alex at t-ball

Charlie at Primary Children's getting his cast.

Rosemarie and Caroline in the hospital the day she was born

Charlie loves hats