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Where did my babies go?

We recently had our family pictures done and all I could think about when I looked at them was; Where did my babies go? It seems like the girls have grown up over night. Especially Ellie! If you look at the picture at the top of the blog and compare it to one year previous, it blows my mind.


For my own record I needed to document the lives and time of these three girls.



This year in school Ellie has had a tremendous teacher who appreciates her nature. It was a blessing for me. Ellie is very artistic and can often focus more on the outside of the box rather than the content inside of it. Her teacher has told me several times that Ellie is a brilliant child with lots of potential. Many days I see the potential and encourage it... other days I am just the mom who nags at her to pick up her room and get her homework done without getting off track. Ellie is in a phase of peace sign and hoodies. She loves wearing hoodies and tries everyday to tie one into her attire. I have tried to embrace this fashion statement and find as many different and hopefully dressy hoodies as I can. She is on comp team this year and loves every minute of it. I can honestly say she is really good at hip hop and has the swagger that it takes! Yeah! She is still in piano and is getting much better at reading music. If her Christmas wish comes true she will start adding a little guitar music in her life. Again, when did I get old enough to have a kid who wants to play guitar?

Ellie at Stadium of Fire

Moving on to my big girl Tess. First grade phenom. We were also really blessed when Tess was placed in her first grade class. Tess' teacher is the most positive and kind person I have ever met. She loves her students and really does all that she can for them. Tess is my quiet thinker. She doesn't often say things out loud but she definitely lets you know how she feels about things. Last year I wasn't allowed to help in Tess' classroom because she would never talk if I entered the room and then she would cry when I left. So when her first grade teacher asked me to be the room mother this year, I told her I would have to check with Tess first! She agreed it would be ok and has been very excited when I show up. Her teacher has had a hard time finding things to give Tess that are a challenge to her. She does her assignments and asks what is next. I completely understand. When I give Tess a list of chores/work at home, I can guarantee it is done and she usually comes down stairs and asks me what else she should do. Tess is also doing really well in piano. She keeps right up with Ellie and plays more by ear. She can read the notes but once she has heard the tune she really excels. If all works out she will start violin after the New Year.

Tess losing her first tooth.

Last but certainly not least...MIA. She has grown up and even moved into 4T clothing. This kid cracks me up everyday. She goes to two different preschools to keep her occupied and cries if it is a day when she has no where to go. She also told me the other day that her favorite store is Kamas Food Town. When I asked her why she simply stated- "well I get a slushie when I go there." Whatever makes her happy while her sisters are at school. She has really taken a liking to acrobatics. Dancing is good but I think this one likes the wild adventure she gets in acro whereas in dance she actually has to listen to me and do what I say! She can do a cartwheel and land on her feet. This may sound like nothing big but some 4 year old can't do a forward roll. She still like to snuggle and she and I could sleep in til 8 if anyone ever let us. I have to also throw in that she is the best colorer (is that a word) She stays in the lines better than the 6 year old and she is always drawing and coloring me a picture.

My preschool doll!

So even though there had been no update of a while, we are alive and I am just trying to keep up with my growing babies! Life in good on Country Lane!

A few other occurrences in our lives: From my previous post you know that we lost out 23 month old nephew. I need everyone to know that we understand the "plan" and we all are still working on accepting it. His parents are valiant and the rest of us are encouraged by their strength. Three days after losing Luke, my grandfather pasted away.

From the time I can remember things I have always had my grandfather in my life. We moved next door to them when I was only 4 years old. I watched him work the cows and the crops. Sometime he would even let us go along for the adventure. He was a very hardworking man and expected anyone that worked with him to work just as hard. I think that could be where I got some of it. He also loved my grandma VERY much. They always had a smooch for each other and sat hand in hand. After my grandma died you could tell a part of him died too. He loved her so much and had such a desire to be with her. The Monday before he pasted I was able to spend the afternoon with him. I always felt like it was a blessing to spend time with him and when I left that day I honestly knew it was probably the last opportunity I would get. I told Tim that night about how I felt and really cried for what I knew was to come.

His funeral was such a testimony to all that he was. His big family and the legacy that he left made me realize how important the "plan" really is. I felt the veil was very thin on that day and both he and my grandma where sitting there by their children as proud as they could be.

Between losing Luke and my grandpa so close, I saw the gospel in its fullness. I have never been more sure of anything in my life. So while my "babies" are growing and changing the one thing that will never change is the importance they are in my "plan."

Perspective

There comes a time when things get thrown at you and you have a different perspective. This evening our family unfortunately experienced one of those moments. Our sweet nephew LUKE TAYLOR returned home to our Heavenly Father. At 23 months old I can honestly say this child fulfilled his calling on earth. Luke was the center of the Taylor family. His spirit brought joy to their home. His wonderful father and adoring mother gave love without limits when it came to this kid. His brothers Josh and Mike would do anything and everything for Luke. This is an amazing family!

I know the plan our Father has for us. I love the peace that I get from it. I try to share my testimony of it whenever I can. I want my children to know this. I want my friends and neighbors to understand it. There is only one way to find comfort in any of this.

I want to bottle up the feeling I have in my soul right now to open up and use later down the road when my perspective may not be so clear and my eyes may be out of focus.

Please pray for this family! Keep them in your thoughts. Do all that you can to ensure you will be with your family again.

April Fools... it is still April isn't it?!? I have lost track of time. It seems these days that the days run into weeks and the weeks have pasted to months. I have been super busy but NEVER take pictures. Even on this trip I had to force myself to remember to break out the camera. To sum up our vac-kay MUCH NEEDED. We started off our R & R in St. George with the Gunners and Johnsons. We were fortunate enough have Rob and Dad accompany us on our journey. I had a driving partner and the girls were on their best behavior (if that is possible) for Uncle Rob. It really helped to have a total of 3 dvd players going. (Thanks Erica!) The girls rode bikes and played in the sand while the adults listened to conference and had wonderful food. I am not sure there is ever an event with us that doesn't involve food. Sunday we watched the first session of conference ate AGAIN and then jumped in the car to head to Pheonix. I had told Dad that I wasn't sure the Vegas route was the best. Tim and I had been that way over 9 years ago and I remember thinking it would never end. But dad insisted he had measured it out with string on the map it we should give it a try. All went well UNTIL Hoover Dam. All I will say is 4 miles=55 minutes. Got a great view of the suspension bridge being built over the dam, IMPRESSIVE! Dad did suffer from a touch of road rage:) Eight and a half hours later we made it to see our adorable little Rajko. He was definitely worth the wait!

Dad and Rob actually stayed with Giselle and Noah while I stayed with Sharee and Matt. They also have three kids and a kid friendly back yard. The warm Phoenix air made my kids believe it was summer. (80's the entire week.) While in Phoenix we did everything we could to keep those kids entertained from indoor Amusement Parks to Bowling. The thing my kids wanted to do more than anything was SWIM in the pool. However, one of the highlights was the Hannah Montant Movie as well. I will just go on record saying I LOVED IT!!! Sharee and Matt were great host and Giselle and Rajko were our event planners. Thanks to everyone who we spent time with. I may need a week or two to catch up on all the sleep I missed but Sharee and I got caught up on our lives. Dad and I made a joint decision to leave on Friday and drive in the night to St. George. We didn't get out until 9pm Arizona time and I pulled into Chelsea and Max's at 4:20 AM. However the girls slept the ENTIRE time and it went by faster that way. We made it home for Easter and it looks like we are in for a week of storms. So great to be back.

BTW: This is not a resort pool, this is Sharee's back yard! LOVE IT!

Since I uploaded pictures from my camera I did find two events that I hadn't blogged about.

Mia had to dress silly and crazy for April Fools. She loved it and was extra pleased to wear make-up to school.

Tess had the kindergarten piggy opera. She had been excited for the big day! I think I could hear her singing...?

But definately the cutest piggy-EVER!!! Come and see us soon Rajko and Scheerhorns.

Heartbreak and.... you can't make this up!

So this post will be a two part update. I have to document both stories just so one day I can look back and laugh since all I want to do is cry (but I am way to tired for it.)

HEARTBREAK
My little Mia has such a big heart accompanied with serious crushes on boys of ALL ages. There is however a little boy in her preschool class that she calls her "boyfriend." His name is Jameson and she like him because he has the same color hair as her dad. I will admit that he is probably the cutest boy in the class and I think that his mom is a sweetheart so I play along with the scenario. Today she drew a picture and told me she was taking it to preschool to give to Jameson. I just smiled inside and thought of all the trouble that I am going to have to deal with when she is 16 and having all these mad crushes.....I did not know I would have to deal with HEARTBREAK at 3! She came home from school crying because she gave Jameson the picture and he threw it on the ground and walked away. I tried to assure her that he still likes her and that it was a nice gesture to have done that. In the back of my mind I wanted to call up his mother and tell her what a rude thing her son had done to my sweet little baby. Oh boy I think home school may be the ticket for the both of us!

Who could resist this face?!?!

On to the second part... You can't make this up!

It all started two Sundays ago. Mia had been acting whinny and sick like. I decided to stay home from church with her since neither of us had gotten a whole lot of sleep. We napped took medicine and watched some TV. Then around 5:00 she started screaming that her ear hurt. Of course, it is Sunday and it is after hours why shouldn't it start hurting NOW! So Tim and I took her to Urgent care in PC. Sure enough raging ear infection. Now it is 7:30 on Sunday night and all the pharmacies are closed. They gave us some antibiotics to get through the night and the next day.

Jump ahead two days. Tuesday Ellie comes home from school and tells me she doesn't feel well. I give her some Tylenol and cold medicine and send her to bed. Next morning we go to piano and I drop her off at school with a box of Kleenex and take Tess to the doctor because she didn't sleep, nor did I, through the night because the stye on her eye has gotten huge. I tried many home remedies but obviously we need a prescription to overcome this ailment. We got her prescription and instructions to hot pack it three times a day and apply the antibiotic ointment. I run Tess back to school and head home to get ready for my "long" day at the studio. By 3pm Ellie is home and bawling and throwing all kinds of fits. (Hit the pause button for a minute) Remember in my last post I told you she is the worst sick patient EVER. Add to the fact that Wednesday is my long night at the studio and the night Tim is in St. George. So now it is 8 PM and I am trying to help her finish her homework that she and the babysitter did not get done!!! To her credit her nose was BRIGHT red and she could not go longer than 21 seconds without wiping it. As she was spiting out all the medicine that I could give her we decided to call it a night and not send her to school the next day. Instead she and I both went to doctor on Thursday. My ears were plugged and it sounded like I was talking into a tin can. Two prescriptions later and a few shots of steroid mist up the nose and we were good to go! Hang in there were are almost through the week!!!



I decided in the middle of all this to have a surprise birthday party for my mom on Saturday night. We invited about 25 of her friends and family and had a great time. She was completely surprised as she showed up in her sweats and no make-up.



At 5:30 Sunday morning, Ellie woke up screaming and crying. She had a fever of 105 and was shaking all over. So you got it ONE more trip to the urgent care!!!! Again Sunday morning and no pharmacy open til ten. We decided to sleep in the parking lot for an hour and wait it out. This is a true story, I am not embellishing one thing. Good thing I got those antibiotics in her because there was no way I was having any sick kids at home this week. Oh wait, did I say that! Today, Thursday, is Tess' second day home with the runny nose and ear aches. Good thing I have ALL the medicine I need to get her over this. President's Day can not come fast enough!!!

What a month!

I have had the ongoing talk with Olivia on the lack of blogging. I have two sides to blogging NOT at ALL and VERY LITTLE. It is not that we don't have things going on, it is that we have many things going on. Here is a recap of January to this point.


To start my January off, I was in Idaho visiting the in-laws when I received a very disturbing phone call. My sweet Jenica's mother, Teresa, has past away in the night. I have know Jenica since she was my little girl's age. I have watched her grow and I have taught her a lot of dance and hopefully some other things along the way. I spend three days a week with her work at the stuido and tending. My kids adore her and love her. This was a huge shock to her and all of us. I spent that first week just sick and wondering how I was going to help Jenica through all of this. It has been a good experience for me and I have had time to reflect on my own relationship with my girls. I am happy to report that Jenica is as amazing as she is talented and seems to be pulling through this. She and her brother JT were unbelievable at the funeral. Seriously one of the best funerals I have ever been to.



On to a more fun topic...PARTIES. We have hosted many parties the last little while. We started of the year with a party and it seems like it has had a snowball effect! New Year's Eve we hosted a fondu party. It was a lot of fun and the fondu was FAB. There were two of the cutest boys at the party. I will let you be the judge!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Next was the baby shower. It was great to have Giselle in town. We held it at our house. There were so many people from high school to college, ballroom, family and even a few drop ins from dance students. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of baby Rajko. (We hope to be spending our Spring Break in Phoenix!)

The next day we had a birthday party for MAX. (Good thing I am not as old as he is!!!) It was great to see the Logan Johnson's as well. Max has a twin sister and the rest of the family came as well. Then four days later I hosted bunco group at my house. Yes I am a sinner in a bunco group, but I have had the chance to meet some great people that I would never have otherwise know.

In between the parties I have had the same syndrome as everyone else. The mother-with-sick-kid-syndrome that is. It started with Mia and the stomach bug! It seemed like we all were in the clear and then five days later Ellie got it. She has a hard time being sick and actually missed three days of school. After that I completely DETOXED the house. Washed the walls, ripped the covers off the couches and washed them. Cleaned beds and bedspreads. You name it, if is was washable it got washed. then once week later Mia started with a head cold and we ended up in the Urgent Care on Sunday with a flaming ear infection! LOVE IT! I plan to head South over Presidents weekends and hopefully our spirits will be lifted! So there you go-now you know why there have been NO updates. Hope the rest of you are finding more healthy days in January.

A typical day involves me fighting Mia over if I get to do her hair or not. This is her favorite hair do-water slick back. She was so proud of how smooth she got it. Good thing they see her on other days at Kamas Food Town since that is our hot spot!

Here and there we did some sledding. This is one of the reasons I live here!

Tess and her friend.

Ellie the leader of the pack.




Noah and Mia gave up on the tubes and went down without!

Ohh too cute!

We Did It

We have successfully made it through the holiday season. It seems like it went so fast yet on the other hand we had endless celebrating. I am so blessed at this time to have a week off and the girls and I have some big plans. It seems strange to think that 2008 is just about to close. We have had a great year and I continue to marvel at how big the girls are getting. Christmas morning brought that to my attention in so many ways.









Ellie was completely excited all day on Christmas Eve. She encouraged the other two to join in the anticipation. There was so much going on and we were able to have Giselle and Noah here with us which brought its own excitement. We all joined up at my mom and dad's for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner. (Going back a few years) We always have a Christmas Eve program and each person is encouraged to participate. When I was somewhere around Ellie's age I remember singing, with the old LP (that is a record) Amy's Grants Tennessee Christmas. Not sure why I chose that song but for some reason I did. This year my girls decided to start singing a new Amy Grant song, I need a Silent Night, that I found while looking for Christmas music for the Christmas show. They each took their turn belting it out on the karaoke machine. Then they turned it into quiet the trio performance. I just couldn't believe that these were my children and they were participating in the same type of traditions that I so fondly remember. There was an empty space at the table this year without my sweet Grandmother. I still have these little flashes now and again or something that makes me well up with those stinking tears. I just remember the previous year with her all dolled up in her Christmas outfit. We miss her a lot and I am just so gad that my children were old enough to have the chance to meet her and know her. The hardest part now is watching my grandpa. He misses her so much and longs to reunite with her. I realize how grateful I am for the plan and how much I want to be with my husband and children forever. (Wow I am not sure how I got off on that path but I have now regained my composure and can move on. Sorry Mom!)







Once we got home form the Christmas Eve celebration all of the kids in their matching pjs went to bed. We all sleep out in the bonus room and so we can wake up together. Ellie however decided that 2:30 was an appropriate time to check and see if Santa had arrived. It took me the next three hours to keep her from jumping out of her skin. By 6:00 we were up brushing our teeth and ripping apart wrapping paper as fast as we could. Ellie got her own digital camera and I have officially let her take over the photography. She is doing quiet well and manages to remember to take more photos then I. I was completely surprised at with my Christmas present. It was all set up and decorated as I walked into the room. I will let you judge for yourself!



The snow decided to bring Christmas joy to us and we had trouble making the two mile trip to my parent's Christmas morning. As we took a the second path we also saw the three elk that have reappeared from last year. Ellie again capture the moment.

On Saturday we headed to the Bisel party. We are normally in Idaho for that weekend. It was great fun to participate in the Sleigh Ride, tubing, cemetery visit to Grandma and the unbelievable buffet.

Oh the memories that we have made this month. Here's to a new year of happiness and family time.