FEBRUARY

Does anyone else have a hard time pronouncing "February?"  I vote they just get rid of the first R.  The English language is so screwy.  I really feel for those who learn it as a second language.  The other day for spelling Kenna was doing words with ie or ei.  I started in on the saying of, "I before E except after C."  Then I got looking closer.  That rule doesn't work.  Not at all!  I found a whole slew of words where that rule goes right out the window.  Sheesh.  Anyhow.  February- it needs a revamp.

Whenever we go into town, we pass by the Wellsville cemetery.  Without fail, whenever we drive by Ty reminds us that Uncle Justin is buried there.  The kids had been asking for quite a while to go up and see his grave, so we finally went up there on a Sunday afternoon.  It's a beautiful spot. 

Ty can't quite decide who he likes better; the Ninja Turtles or Spiderman.  It changes frequently.  Whoa!  Watch out!  It's Spidey!

So the kids have reward charts they get to put a mark on every time they are caught doing something extra nice or special.  This way whenever they ask for something, I tell them they just have to fill up their reward chart.  Contrary to popular belief, I am not the bank.  This gives me an easy answer to the thousand times a day I hear, "I want...."  It also helps me focus on some positive reinforcement rather than feeling like I am the Wicked Witch of the West all the time.  Ty got in his mind that he reaaaaallllllly wanted a Ninja Turtle costume.  So he set his mind to getting his reward chart filled up.  I have to hand it to him, he worked hard!  He was pretty darn dedicated to being a good little boy.  Shortly before his reward chart was filled up, however, he found out about cap guns.  That may or may not have been due to the other little boy in our house.  AKA Dad.  Yep, the beloved cap gun.  Not sure which of the two boys was more excited.  That became the new fixation, so when John Wayne filled up his reward chart the two boys headed into town to pick out a cap gun. 

Whoa there, trigger!

I couldn't decide which picture to post.  Let's be serious, that is pretty darn cute.  Take note of the Ninja Turtle shirt.  Oh excuse me.  Not a shirt, it's a sweater.  Just ask Ty, he'll set you straight.  He wears it over everything. 

The Pinders have an indoor pool out in Young Ward where they host a big Family Home Evening swim night for whoever wants to come.  We took the kiddos over one night and they absolutely loved it.  Minus Ty who lost his privilege and had to stay with Grandma Israelsen while we swam.  Sometimes even the reward chart goes out the window.

 Lexi decided the little water slide was the best thing invented since mini wheats.  She loves mini wheats.  We learned we need some major work with swim lessons this summer, too.

My sweet Grandfather Otte passed away the first week of February.  I gotta be honest, I was so happy for him.  It was definitely his time.  He was such a trooper for those few years after Grandma died.  I can only imagine what a difficult time it was for him- he and my Grandma were always together.  They had been for a very long time, too.  I learned so much from him.  What an honor to call him Grandpa.  Oh I could write so much.  I didn't get a whole lot of pictures from the day.  Here is the Otte clan.  So grateful for such an amazing family!

While all the funeral preparations were being made, I got a phone call from my Mom asking if I would be willing to sing at the funeral.  Yow.  This was such a crazy emotion for me.  On the one hand it was such an honor.  On the other hand it was a huge pit of anxiety in my stomach.  Here's the problemo:  my emotions hover right at the surface.  It doesn't take much for me to spontaneously leak tears.  (Pretty darn annoying, acutally).  I really wanted to sing, but I did NOT want to stand up and just blubber through the whole thing.  Immediately in my mind I knew exactly what I had to do.  This would require a HUGE amount of faith, fasting, and prayers.  Along with this I had the calm assurance that if I did my part, the Lord would do His.  This ended up being an incredible experience for me.  There really are no words to adequately explain what a great learning and changing opportunity this was for me.  In short, when it was time, I was able to get up and sing just as I hoped I would be able to.  I really have no way of adequately describing this whole experience.  It was amazing.  On the outside it seems so simple and small, yet to me it was huge.  My testimony of relying solely on the Savior gained a whole new depth.  Hurdles really do become catalysts for great growth and change.

Grandma and Grandpa have their burial plots in Salt Lake where they buried their daughter, Stephanie, so the graveside service was held the next day.  It was simple yet beautiful.  Those pictures are on Jacob's phone....and well if I keep waiting I'll go another 4 months without a post.  So I'm moving along.

Jacob decided he had been without some good bovine out on the north 40 for far too long, so the middle of February we added 2 new critters to the mix.  Behold Snickers and Milky Way:

For the most part the girls have been doing pretty darn good taking care of their calves.  We've had a few issues with who does what in getting the milk all mixed up and such, but it's been a good learning experience. 

We also have had a good crop of baby goats out at Grandma and Grandpa Israelsen's farm.  Darn those little things are cute:

We ended up bottle feeding an orphan for a bit.  The kids loved having a little baby goat to chase them all over the backyard.  We also brought one of our older mamas and her two babies out to our place as well.  Watch out Wellsville, the Israelsens are in town!

I got to join Allie and her 2nd grade class on a fieldtrip to see a darling little play about Laura Ingalls Wilder.  It was such a fun trip to spend with my Allie Gal.  Nothing like a ride on a school bus to do your heart some good!

I guess I can't leave February behind without mentioning another trip I took.  I think I would have rather gone on the school bus again.  Nope, this time I hitched a ride in an ambulance.  I don't even have a good war story to go with it....

One nice Thursday morning I had made myself a big long list of all sorts of great stuff I was going to get done that day.  I decided to start with utilizing the strawberries on my counter to make some jam.  I leaned over to grab the saucepan and YOW!  My lower back caught just right and it just about took me down.  I was able to hold onto the edge of the counter to steady myself then let the pain subside enough so I could catch my breath.  Poor Jacob had just left to head out for the day when he got a phone call from me telling him I had just thrown my back out.  Again.  This is the third or fourth time in about 6 years I've done this.  Ridiculous.  In the past when it happened, I could get situated enough to where I could move really really careful to keep it from catching again and feeling like someone had a pick ax wedged in my lower back.  Then I could make it in to the chiropractor to help work it out and after a few days it would subside.  Well this time it just kept catching over and over again and I basically had become immobilized.  My parents had come out so my Dad could help give a blessing.  When they got there, it was to the point that if I even breathed wrong it would catch.  My Mom decided that getting an ambulance to take me to the hospital was about the only choice we had.  I was at the point that I just let her call.  I needed some serious help!  The EMT's said I was starting to go into shock.  I begged them not to touch me, just please knock me out!  They got an IV line going and loaded me up with some good stuff.  Oooooooooh yes it was good stuff.  It kicked in enough to where the pain was subsiding and I was getting loopy enough so they could move me over to the stretcher and load me up in the ambulance. 

Long story.  Blah blah blah. 

So we went to the ER.  More meds.  The ER doc suggested letting it heal for a while then getting into see a doc and getting an MRI done to find out exactly what was going on.  I finally got in to see a doc, and after x-rays he feels pretty certain I have a joint that gets inflamed and then when it doesn't glide right the body goes into overdrive with major muscle spasms.  He really doesn't think it's a disc issue, therefore the MRI wouldn't do a whole lot of good.  It would just be a big money pit.  I'm ok with not spending any more money!  I just can't WAIT to see what they charge us for the taxi ride into the hospital.  So now I just have to go to therapy to get my muscles back into shape and keep myself better aligned so this doesn't happen again.  Ever.  I would rather give birth.  To 10 pound triplets.   

I guess I'll consider it a learning experience.  We were SO blessed through it all.  I am beyond grateful for Jacob and our two families who basically had to take over for a while until I could gain some movement back.  We also had amazing neighbors and ward members who were so gracious in helping with meals and such.  Thank you thank you THANK YOU to all who gave prayers and love and time.  It meant so very much. 
  
Well ok then.  I guess that wraps up month number two of 2015.  Feb-yoo-ary.

January

Let's see, where did I leave off.......?


Oh yes, January.

So when we moved, we thought our home down in Enoch wouldn't sell until spring, which meant we would be renting for a good 4-6 months or so.  Well, bada bing bada boom, the house sold quickly (hooray for not paying a mortgage AND rent!) so I started looking more seriously at homes up here in the Logan area.  I had searched for a little while online but nothing was really just doing it for me.  Until I came upon a house I just loved.  LOVED.  There's more details and such but I'll just cut to the chase....

...we moved in on January 1st.  Yep, bada bing bada boom.  I haven't regretted it for even 2 seconds!  Jacob thought we were a bit on the hasty side.  But it just felt right.  I love it.

Needless to say, January was spent getting situated in the new house.

The fireplace is a big hit:

As is the bar.  Quite possibly one of my very favorite features of the house:

Lexi loves to "help."


The first part of January Kenna had her very last check-up for her arm with the orthopedic surgeon.  I managed to have the whole crew join me, so we had to get creative to keep from destroying the place. Everyone find a blue M&M and see if you can balance it on your nose!

Oh ya baby, America's Got Talent!




We took a family outing up to Hardware Ranch to see the Elk.  We had to wait for a while, but it was a really mild day and ended up being pretty darn fun:

I have at least 4 pictures similar to this.  Oh look, Lexi bonked her head.  Again.  That child is constantly crashing her head into something. 

I thought for sure it was due to her needing glasses, but HARK!  SING PRAISE!  After her first (and possibly last) appointment at the optometrist, she checks out JUST FINE.  Did you hear that?  SHE IS JUST FINE!!!!  I literally was holding back tears in the doctor's office when he gave his diagnosis.  At least 25% of my children can see.  I'll take it.

The slimy stuff on her bump is arnica gel.  Ever heard of it?  Get some.  I highly recommend it.  Rub it on as soon as you have a big bump or bruise and it cuts down the healing big time.  Love that stuff.  Oh, and the band-aid on her lower cheek was her own little special addition.  What?  You don't just randomly stick band-aids on your face for no apparent reason?  Hmm.  Weird.

The girls built a nice snowman.  In one of the maybe 2 snowstorms we've had this crazy winter:

We then had a nice lesson on appropriate behavior when Kenna got mad at Allie and knocked it over.

At least there are moments of great redemption between my two oldest ladies.  Allie came home one day to find Kenna had decorated her window with snowflakes and left her this darling note:

"Allie you are prettier than a snowflake."  Pretty darn sweet.

Jacob was down in St. George for meetings and I ended up with bed buddies for a few nights.  Ty is always asking to get his picture taken.  He is a self-poser.  Behold, my bed buddy:

And just for kicks I'll throw this one in:

These two.  Ooooh these two.  They are something else.  The epitome of Pete and Repeat.  They either love each other or hate each other.  Here we have Lexi wearing Ty's shoes and tie.  Ty is also wearing one of his ties and Lexi's coat.  Oh well.  At least they're smiling!

And there you have it.  January.  Done and done.

Oh boy.  Oooooooooooh boy.  This is the longest lapse in blog posts I've had yet.  Which means, I have TONS I could blog about.  Not to mention the past few months have been a bit on the eventful side.  That may be a bit of an understatement.  All being said, the past few months have also been full of many blessings.  Hopefully we are starting to get settled into our new norm so I can get back in the swing of the blog.

(Insert here, I first started this blog update about a month ago.  We just keep getting further behind.  Apparently the whole "new norm" deal isn't working in our favor.)

So.  Here goes nearly 4 months worth of updates (full of plenty of things that I'm sure will be left out):

It all began with the big move.  Thursday, October 16, 2014 was our final day living in southern Utah.  Jacob had to be up in Logan for work so I was flying solo the last few weeks before we left.  My salvation that day was Aunt Maria who came down the night before to help me get my house all cleaned and finalized, then she drove with the kiddos and I up to Logan.  WE LOVE YOU AUNT MARIA!!  The move and all the preparation for it was pretty stressful, but first and foremost I have to say we were SO BLESSED through the whole thing.  A whole bunch of little blessings added up to us having a smooth and successful transition.  I had wonderful neighbors who came to the rescue when I needed a little extra help with the kiddos.  While I was packing, I happened to come up with just the right box I needed.  Blessings!

It's real- we're really moving now!

On the day we moved, we still didn't have a place to actually move to.  Minor technicality, right?  Thankfully the moving company was willing to hold our entire life belongings for a few extra days as we finalized a place we could rent up in Logan while waiting for our home to sell.  It only took a few days and we managed to find a home out in Young Ward where we could land for a few months.  Once again, blessings! 

We got the girls all situated in their new school with their new teachers.  Kenna jumped right in, Allie needed a bit more convincing.  Fortunately it only took her a few days to decide the new school was going to be alright.  The girls had only been at their new school a week and a half when I got a phone call from the school saying Kenna took a tumble off the monkey bars and her arm wasn't looking too hot.  Off I went to the school to assess the damage and sure enough, her arm was in really bad shape:

It didn't help that I became a bucket of tears myself when I saw the poor thing laying on the couch in the school office.  It just so happened that this was also on Halloween, so sum it up, we spent Halloween in the ER.  The x-ray confirmed a broken arm right above the elbow:

Yow.  So we went across the hall from the ER to the OR where she went in for surgery to put pins in to hold the bone in place.

Kenna was an absolute trooper through the whole thing.  I was so proud of her.  She was in so much pain, and was so scared about it all, but she stayed strong through the whole ordeal.  Grandpa Israelsen came up to help Jacob give her a blessing and I have no doubt heaven smiled down on us.  We also were fortunate to have a family friend as the attending doctor in the ER.  He was fabulous and took such great care of us.  We MUST give an honorable mention to Uncle Ross who met us up at the hospital and then took Ty and Lexi back home for us.  IN THE MINIVAN.  Yes, it's true.  Ross drove the minivan!  True love right there.  True love.  Good thing it was Halloween so maybe he didn't look too out of place.  (wink wink)

The beginning of December Kenna got her cast off.  She was ready to be done with it.  I suppose the attention of it all had worn off and it was simply a nuisance.  When we went in, she knew they had to pull the pins out and was really nervous.  Not gonna lie, I was too.  That sounded so very.....unpleasant.  Fortunately it was one of those "what was I so scared of?" moments and turned out great.  It took a good month or so to get her muscles back in shape and to regain her motion again.  We took her to 2 rounds of physical therapy but that crazy arm was super resilient.  Disclaimer:  the following pic has a bit of an ew factor.  The skin around it was super sensitive and itchy:

A few more highlights:

We rescued a freezing kitty from the farm.  The kids LOVED her.  I wasn't super thrilled about a cat, but I have to admit, she was pretty darn cute.  Unfortunately, Lexi and Ty can't be trusted with a cat.  They couldn't leave the dern thing along so to salvage all our sanity it soon found a new home out at Aunt Connie's house.  Behold, Midnight Storm:

Okay, this is getting long.  I am going to put a rush on it.

In November I took Ty into the Ear, Nose, and Throat doc to have his ears checked again.  It was obvious he couldn't hear very well.  It wasn't too long after we headed into the hospital (again- it seems we are medical junkies) to have his tonsils out and tubes put in his ears.  I didn't get a single picture of this event.  But, he did really well and it has proven to be worth it.  I actually think his recovery was a bit easier (for me, anyway) then Kenna's was when she had her tonsils out.

Thankgiving was awesome.  Connie and Dustin hosted.  Turned out perfect.  The pic of the
day is Ty and cousin sporting their super sweet backpacks:

Yep.  Thanksgiving in a major nutshell.

First part of December we went down to Vegas for the NFR.  This is the major abbreviated version.  Tons of fun.  Loved it all.  We went down again with Bob and Wendy (SOOOO fun to see them again.  Darn golly we sure miss them). Spoiled pure rotten.  We also got to meet up with Connie and Dustin and Ross and Bekka.

WELCOME HOME UNCLE BENSON!  This was soo soo soo fun.  Being at the airport when he came home was major validation for us moving up here.

ROSS AND BEKKA GOT MARRIED!  Such a perfect day.  Beautiful bride, handsome groom, so fun.  Loved it all.  And they all lived happily ever after....

...at least we all keep striving for "happily ever after," right?  It's a process.  Just have to insert this here because I love love it:

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey . . . delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." [Jenkins Lloyd Jones]

Our family helped out for the Young Ward Nativity.  Well, sorta our family.  Lexi got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Israelsen's house.  Otherwise it would have been more of a tragic comedy.  It was a great experience:

 That's Moses the camel.  How cool is that?!

Despite it being a crazy, somewhat unsettled time after just having moved and whatnot, Christmas still came and went and turned out great.  It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Otte over for the afternoon without either of us having to drive 5 hours!

Well, I've missed a whole slew of details and other great blessings we've received.... but BAM!  I am done with 2014!  A good stopping point.