The last day of the fair also happened to be Allie's 8th birthday!!

It's

GREAT

to be

8!!

The majority of her day was focused on getting the fair all wrapped up, but we tried to get in a little celebrating nonetheless.  Lunch request was McDonald's.  Despite going there to celebrate with Grandma Shelly just two days before since G & G Otte were going to be out of town for the weekend.  Nothing says Happy Birthday like McDonald's!  We made her cake, but ended up saving it until the next day because of all the coming and going.  Cake request was.....a horse!  Miss Allie loves horses.  Just today as I am writing, we finally managed to get a child-size saddle.  "Hey Allie, we finally got a saddle to fit you!  Oh ya, and school starts tomorrow."  Brutal.

Grandma and Grandpa Israelsen stopped by for a birthday visit and gave Allie this AMAZING minky blanket for her birthday.  Kenna also got one on her 8th birthday and they are the most perfect, comfortable blankets!  

 

The first week of August (aside from the fair) was spent in absolute excitement and anticipation for the pending arrival of our newest niece/cousin!  We waited, and waited, and waited.  We hoped for Allie's birthday, but had to wait just a few more days until the sweet new little lady made her debut!  Congrats to Aunt Connie and Uncle Dustin!  We are beyond enamored with this precious little angel! 

Seriously, isn't that just heaven?!  Can't you just tell how much she loves me?!  Oh, fine.  It's the other way around.  Nothing quite like newborn snuggles, I tell you what.

 

A few quick other highlights of our summer adventures:

"Managing" the goat herd:

 No childhood is complete without a round or two of goat head-butting.  Goat people are weird.

Of course the classic summer activity of swimming:

We made it to the Martin Harris Pageant with our friends Maddie and her mom, Chey (they were our rodeo friends too).  Maddie came to play at our house every Thursday this summer and we loved having her: 

Must give honorable mention to fun, games, and mud with irrigation water:

And just to give you something to make you shiver a bit, here is what I found in the garage yesterday that caused me to do a double-take:

 

 Um, creepy!  Just what part of "put your doll away" was misunderstood?  Never a dull moment.  

Father's Day

Since my back has been giving me troubles (again), I have frequented a few doctor's offices in the past few days.  This morning as I sat waiting for an appointment, I listened in on a conversation that made a huge impression on me.  This is one I feel I really need to remember (hence it's going in my history books.  aka- the blog).

I was sitting on a couch, and directly across from me on another couch were two wiser women who, after a short time of eavesdropping, had obviously both lost their husbands.  As I started listening in, I was so intrigued at what they were saying.  I felt a huge stab in my chest as I realized I take so very much for granted.  This one really got me.  It went something like this:

"My husband never really liked to go grocery shopping with me, but when I got home he always came out to help me unload the groceries.  Shortly after he died I had gone grocery shopping and when I came home, I found myself looking around as if waiting for him to come help me.  I then realized...he wasn't coming.  It was so hard."

The other lady soon followed with:

"One of the hardest ones for me was the first time the ward directory came out after he had died. I was sitting there in church looking through the directory and then when I came to my single name it hit me.  I was so upset I had to leave."

I don't know why this particular experience hit me so hard.  I felt as though I had just been hit with a ton of bricks.  I felt such sadness for these sweet ladies.  Mostly I realized how selfish I am.  It's so easy to get focused on me, or the kids, or whatever else I think of poor little me, I don't take time to appreciate what I have.  The adversary has an incredibly sly way of getting us to focus on the weaknesses and shortcomings of others that we don't take the time to truly appreciate their greatness.  I never want to be a victim of regret and have to painfully say "you don't know what you've got until it's gone."

The thought came to me briefly that I was supposed to be there, right then at that very moment to hear what those ladies were saying.  I needed to hear that.  Perhaps I also needed this experience to help me realize just how much we need each other.  You could almost feel a tangible connection those two ladies were making as they visited for those few brief moments.  I have no idea of any prior history they have with each other.  From what I could gather they had just met.  But the connection they were making seemed to be very healing for them, even though throughout their discussion I learned their husbands deaths weren't recent.  One had even remarried.

There are no coincidences in life.  We are where we need to be when we need to be.  In my case, I needed to be right where I was to hear those ladies talk about their dear husbands and make me realize I need to appreciate mine so much more.  Those ladies needed to be right where they were to be a strength and a comfort for each other.  For all they knew, I was lost in whatever as I pretended to be engaged in my phone.  In reality, their words made a huge difference to me.  Lesson number three: you never know who is watching you.  We may very well be changing the lives of those around us when we think no one is even paying attention.

Our Father's Day was actually a very nice day.  I was able to pamper Jacob a bit and spend time with both my own father and my father-in-law-  3 of the most incredible people I know.  I am so grateful I was able to enjoy a beautiful day.  If anything, I know that I really don't know just how blessed I really am.  So grateful for my experience at the doctor's office to remind me even more.

Summer!

Yep, summer is here.  Yep, been over 2 months since I wrote.  Oh well, moving right along....

Here's a recap of the past lil' bit.  Certainly not exhaustive, but it'll do:

Ty played spring soccer and enjoyed each and every millisecond of it.  He would beg, all day every day, for someone to come out and play soccer with him.  We had a bit of a problem during games, however, when it was his turn to sit out a quarter and let the other teammates play.  He was less than happy about it and even had to spend the very last quarter of his very last game in the car because of his less-than-happy outburst.  Still, this is such a fun age to watch these cute little boys play.  They were so darn fun to watch.

The girls ran in the Mountainside Mile at school.  They both did awesome!  It was so fun to watch.  I, of course, cried.  Yes, really I CRIED.  Thankfully it was sunny and I had my sunglasses on. When it comes to a first for my kids, it just gets me and I.......cry.  Annoying, I know.  I try so hard to avoid it, too.  Drives me nutzo.  Anyhow, Allie came in 13th with the 2nd grade girls, and Kenna came in 2nd with the 3rd grade girls.  Kenna really has a knack for running so hope she will give it a whirl.  We need to gear up for the Wellsville Mile next year.  I think I already want to puke.  I'm sure I'll cry.

Allie has really gained a love of horses.  She hops up on our horse Denny and rides like a champ.  She has me beat, hands down!  I'm amazed at how comfortable she feels on a horse.  It didn't come from me!  I of course spend the majority of the time as a ball of nerves when she rides, so thankfully she has her good papa to help her with all the equine stuff.

Speaking of horses, Jacob got a new hoss.  He's very large.  He likes to buck.  I keep a healthy distance.  But my goodness that is one handsome man.  Jim Craig, is that you?  One of my very favorite things is to see Jacob on a horse.  And then to watch him take off and run on a horse?  Ooooooh he looks mighty fine! 

This is the kind of horse ride I don't mind one bit.  Giddyup!

Kenna had a science fair at school.  She picked the project that required growing plants.  I have a black thumb.  Needless to say it didn't turn out fantastic, but she at least had a project to take.  Here she is sporting all her Harry Potter attire.  The end of the school year they spent reading the first Harry Potter book and doing a lot of fun activities surrounding the book.  My mom sewed her a wizard robe:

Allie's class did a little opera at school.  She was a deer.  I would like to announce that Jacob can no longer say I NEVER sew.  I pulled out the ol' sewing machine to sew part of Allie's costume.  Because if you're going to be a deer, you MUST have a little white patch on your behind, right?  Right.  Just don't look too close.  Any deer would be horrified of my handiwork.

Speaking of talent, here is another great one.  It happened while I was making bread a few weeks ago.  I started mixing the dough but for some reason could not figure out why it just didn't seem right.  I went through all the ingredients in my head and was certain I had put everything in, so that wasn't the problem.  Finally it dawned on me.  Check this out:

I was starting to mix my bread with the whisk-type attachment.  Hello?!  Fortunately I didn't break the wires.  Unfortunately I had to dig a LOT of dough out of those suckers.  Ha!

Lexi turned 3!  Yay!  The request was a pink cake.  Well there you have it, my lady.  Can't believe my baby is THREE!  She likes to let us all know her place in the family, that's for sure.  It is so fun to watch her little personality grow and change every day.  She really isn't my baby anymore!

Ty man graduated preschool!  He had started at a wonderful preschool down in Enoch last fall.  It was the same preschool Kenna and Allie went to, and I was so sad he wouldn't get to finish.  When we first moved up here to the Valley, I had a hard time finding a local preschool to send him too.  Seeing as though he has a late birthday, I was worried this would really put him behind in starting Kindergarten.  When we moved to Wellsville, I found a preschool just down the street that had an opening.  I considered it a huge blessing.  He LOVED preschool and I was so grateful he could continue on to prepare for Kindergarten.  Congrats Ty!

 This year was a BIG year for the Richmond Black and White Days.  (Once again, due to my agriculture-deprived childhood, I didn't know such a thing existed).  Papa Clark was recognized for his many years of service and hard work for B&W and it was so fun as a large majority of the Israelsen clan was able to make it up to Richmond to see him receive his award.  My phone didn't get in the mix for the big family picture, but these two look great!  I'm sure blessed to have married so well.  Thanks for putting up with me!  Such an honor to carry the Israelsen name.

Lately there seems to have been an abundance of roly poly bugs.  I was so pleased to hear my sis-in-law Andrea say she called them potato bugs.  Yes Ann, they ARE potato bugs to me too!  Lexi especially has loved collecting the poor little critters.  I didn't think I'd ever hear myself saying, "No roly polies in the house!  They MUST stay outside."

Thank heavens for uncles.  Especially when they give Ty a phone to play with.  Uncle Dan, you're a good man!  This little situation here has happened more than once.  Ty loves his uncles!  And don't you even think for a minute that anyone is tougher than Uncle Dan.  And don't you even think for a minute that anyone is more relentless at getting his uncles to go outside and play with him when we are visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house than Ty is. 

Summer is in full swing!  We're trying to make the best of it.  So far so good.  We've had a few trips to the library, been to some parks, and had plenty of nagging from Mom.  Clean your room!  Shut the door when you go out!  Fold your clothes!  Be kind!  SHUT THE DOOR!  Yep, it's summer alright. 

Way To Go Me!

What?  A new post and it hasn't been a full month yet?  Whoa.  Double pat on my back.

Last week the kids were out for spring break.  It actually turned out better than I thought.  The kids were pretty darn good about getting along and also getting all their work and extra chores done around the house.  I found myself thinking a few times, "If this is how summer turns out it won't be too bad."  I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The kids had been asking to go see the movie Home, so I told them if they could dig in and help get the house cleaned we could go to the matinee.  I'm really trying to keep a perspective on earning rather than just getting.  It was pretty cute and we had fun together.  Kenna was too embarrassed to get in the picture.  She's not 10 yet.  I'm afraid.  Ty, on the other hand-  now that kid loves to strike a pose.

On Thursday our Idaho cousins were in town and Grandma Israelsen and Aunt Maria had a fun Easter party planned for us.  It was so fun!  The kids loved it and it was so fun to watch them run around and giggle together.  I feel safe in saying this is one proud Grandpa (excuse the sun):

When we called the kiddos over to get a picture, they ran over and put themselves in this perfect line-up:

On the last day of spring break Jacob took the day off and we headed to Layton to hit Chuck E Cheese.  They have a worker who walks around dressed as Chuck E Cheese.  Here is how Ty feels about Chuck E:

Yep, he crawled under the table to hide!  He was terrified!  We had only been there 5 minutes and he was begging to go home.  It brought back memories of my own similar experience as a little child.  When I was just little, probably Ty's age, during Christmas ZCMI had a talking Christmas tree in their store.  I still shudder when I think about it!  It scared the living daylights out of me!  I had to have some compassion on my poor little Ty man.  He kept a pretty close eye on Chuck E the whole time we were there, but eased up a bit after a while and had some fun.

Lexi wasn't phased a bit:

She marched around so proud of herself to have a bit of autonomy.

Kenna and Allie decided Chuck E wasn't too bad, especially when they got some free tickets out of him:

Dad, the skee ball champ!

It ended up being a great time together as a family.  Although the last time we were at Chuck E Cheese we were in California with the whole Bowers clan.  It really just wasn't the same without them!  We had a bit of homesickness for our Bowers Fam while we were there.

Of course we had to get in on some egg dyeing.  At the store I found some little q-tip looking things that had dye in the middle of them.  They were pretty messy but the kids loved coloring their eggs with them:

Then it was off to Grandma Otte's house for a scavenger hunt.  That crazy bunny did a scavenger hunt a few years ago and the kids loved it.  He left it out at Grandma's house this time! 

Last week we were driving out to Paradise to visit Connie and Dustin.  As we came into Hyrum, there was a church with a sign outside that said, "Silly rabbit, Easter is for Jesus!"  This just made me smile, I thought it was so creative.  How true it is!  This year I tried to spend a little extra time throughout the week with the kids to learn about some of the events the week before Jesus was crucified.  Hopefully my kids caught glimpses of the Spirit of this beautiful time of year and what it really means.  Even now I realize I can barely even begin to comprehend the magnitude of the atonement and resurrection.  I LOVE that it was also Conference weekend.  Hearing from God's chosen leaders makes it that much more wonderful.  Of course I have much to review, but look forward to doing so. 

Ok April, so far so good!

March, Part 2

So as you drive in to Wellsville past the Wellcome Mart, it's hard not to notice this wood sculpture that is off the side of the road.

Kudos to whoever is responsible for this, it's really amazing!  It's a mountain man holding his rifle in front of him.  It's huge and appears to have been done out of one giant log.   

So we were driving along the other day and shortly after we passed this Ty chimed in from the backseat and said, "Hey Mom, I just saw the Golden Jesus!"  He was so matter of fact about it.  After a few seconds I realized what he was talking about- it was the mountain man sculpture!  I couldn't help but giggle!  I love that of all the things he could relate it to, he chose that.  For an adult it would have been sacrilege, but for him it was pure and sweet.  Out of the mouth of babes...

Speaking of Ty, we MUST document his recent major achievement:

No training wheels!

Here's how he feels about it:

Oh ya!  It must be the superpower emanating from all his Ninja Turtle decor.  He just got reaaaaaallly lucky the Ninja Turtle helmet was cheaper than the others.  Otherwise he would have ended up with something a bit less turtletastic.

Ty learned that his buddy Tate could ride without training wheels, so he became determined to do the same.  He was a bit on the frustrated side at the beginning as he realized it was a skill to be learned.  At one point he came marching in to the house in tears, threw down his helmet and cried, "Why does my stupid bike have to be so stupid!"  Jacob and I tried so hard not to laugh as we explained it takes a lot of practice.  He took a tumble or two but has finally gotten pretty darn good at riding his bike and using his brakes.

Way to go Ty Man!

Now the problem is keeping him from abusing his new found freedom.  He likes to frequently stop over at the neighbors and invite himself over.  Needless to say he's lost his bike privileges a few times.

We got to go up to Idaho to see our new baby cousin get blessed.  It is SO FUN to be close enough to go to all these fun little things!  While up there, we also got to find out what Connie and Dustin are having.  The kids were so excited to each take a turn to give a whack at the pinata to find out if pink or blue candies would fall out.

Here is Kenna with perfect toe-pointed pinata whacking form:

Come on Ty, crack it open! 

Is it just me or does Dustin look a bit nervous?  That stick suddenly seems very very short.

 Swing Allie, swing!

 It's a GIRL!  YAY!  WE ARE SO EXCITED!!  

Kenna and Allie went out to the farm to help with the ditch burning.  On the way over Ty threw up so he didn't get to join in.

I thought maybe Ty had eaten something that wasn't sitting well because it seemed to come out of nowhere, but later that night Kenna threw up as well.  As the rest of the rest of the week panned out, it was obvious we ended up with a 24 hour bug of some sort as it managed to work its way through our entire family.  Every last one of us.  It was most unpleasant.  I have cleaned up enough mess out of both ends of the body to last me for quite a while, thank you very much. Good riddance to the yuckies!! 

Last weekend my brother and his family were staying at my parents, and my sister's kids were also there.  We ended up having an impromptu cousin sleep over at our place.  It was so fun to watch the kiddos play their little hearts out with their cousins.  We actually could be the hosts for it for once!  SO FUN to be close enough to do this!!  Chaos?  Yes.  

 

This is our big debut year as 4-Hers at the County Fair.  Kenna has decided she is going to follow in her daddy's footsteps and show a pig.  The piggers made their official debut last Saturday.  Behold Princess and Snooze:

What fine swine!

We especially like the owl who perches in the neighboring silo.  Not so sure he appreciates all the activity in his adjoining territory-  he pooped on Allie, but we aren't deterred one bit!  We've just learned to be very cautious as we peek up into the silo to see if he is watching.  When those tail feathers spread, MOVE!!  He has good aim.

Of course while we check on the pigs we also have to harass the baby goats.  Allie loves to get in and chase the poor little beggers:

The poor thing looks like it's trying to play dead to avoid any further torment. 

Last Sunday while checking on the new oinkers we decided to venture out for a little ride.  Love my crew!

Adios March!  Based on how time is flying, it probably won't be long until we see you again.

March, Part 1

Okay.  So March pretty well marched on by.  Once again we have a month to cram in.  Hey, the glass is half full- at least I'm not catching up on a whole year, right?  Right!  Let's get this going!  (Excuse me while I put down my pom-poms first...)

So when I took Allie and Ty in for their yearly eye check-ups in February, the doc was a bit concerned about Allie's optic nerve looking swollen.  Since he has no history with her to determine if it was same/worse/better, he suggested we go down to Salt Lake to see a pediatric opthamologist.  I lean towards the "better safe than sorry" side so we booked an appointment.  This particular doc is usually quite a few months out, but we somehow managed to get in the following week.  As fate would have it, her appointment was just a few days after my back went out and I was still moving pretty slow.  The mama bear in me absolutely REFUSED to let anyone take my place at the appointment so my dear dear dear dear father was our chauffeur for the trip.  And oh my was I ever beyond grateful for him.  Such a huge blessing!  Her appointment was first thing in the morning, so we drove down the night before and stayed at my sister's in Murray.  For my dad it was no big deal, but for me it was and I was so so so so so grateful.  Especially since we stepped out of the doc's office into a major blizzard.  He got us home safe and sound!

The appointment was at Primary Children's.  While heading to the doc's office, we came across a Spiderman statue.  We MUST get a picture for Ty!  Okay Allie and Grandpa, shoot out some web! 

Golly I love my Dad.

At the appointment the doc determined that Allie has what is called pseudopapilledema.  Basically that means a condition that causes the optic nerve to appear swollen when it's really not.  Her cause of the pseudoyadayada was due to what he called drusen, or rather bumps on the optic nerve.  He wanted to send her over to another opthamologist to have an ultrasound just to confirm the diagnosis.  Hmm, well let me just go out back and pluck a few bucks off the money tree.....

But, once again, mama bear wants to be sure, especially when it comes to my kids' eyesight!  So we made an appointment for the ultrasound and headed back down to Salt Lake a few weeks later.  I need to add here that Allie has become a HUGE champ.  At her first eye checkup this year, we about had a major catastrophe when the doc went to put in the dilation eye drops.  Severe drama.  Pull out your hair craziness.  But, I am happy to report that Allie has made a major turnaround with eye drops and I am so darn proud of her!  There may or may not have been some bribery involved.  But let's be serious-  I am not at all sad to leave some of that drama behind.  Even if sugar is a factor.

Here we are waiting once again in the hot seat for another round of eye checkup shtuff.  We decided to have a little fun with it.

What a character.  She so gets it from her dad.

Thankfully, after literally 10 seconds with the little ultrasound wand on each eyeball, the doc confirmed the diagnosis.  Simply harmless calcium deposits on the optic nerve.  He then had me hop into the chair and do a quick ultrasound on my eyes to see if I had passed this on.  I have to admit, that's pretty darn cool- I was all game for it.  Drumroll please...........I am not the culprit!!  I sure hope we happened to show up on buy-one-get-one-free-ultrasound day though....



So we have a little friend who frequents the backyard.  He's gray and furry and the kids love him.   

He's a cat.  

We have no idea who he belongs to, but the girls decided to name him Buddy. Quite a likeable little guy, actually.  It really is a win win situation.  The kids get a pet (sort of) and I don't have to feel completely obligated to take care of it because it's not really ours!  He's full grown, super friendly, and STAYS OUTSIDE.  Love it.  I may have possibly bought some cat food for him.  Much rather that than have the kids keep asking for a gerbil or a hamster.  Oh that just gives me the shivers. 

Here is Allie one morning with Buddy.  The same morning she insisted on getting a picture with the little orphan goat before it left to its new home:

Not really sure how to caption this next picture.  Maybe it should simply be titled, "Blackmail."

Oh wait, while we're at it, here's another one.  This time, however, Lexi is dressed in Ty's stuff.  Including his underwear.  Which is over her pull-up.  I completely absolve myself of having absolutely anything to do with any of this.  They just show up like this and then I can't help but take a picture.

Oh dear.  As I scroll through the rest of the month I found yet another.  It's Aunt Connie and Uncle Dustin's wedding revisited!

I know, I know.  Borderline disturbing.  The other day Ty was out with Jacob and called me to say he needs a brother.  We may just have to look into that....

Kenna made a little leprechaun house out in the backyard.  The girls were so cute to watch with this.  They had convinced themselves that a little leprechaun was really in there.  They apparently had put some clovers or something in there and were certain a green little fellow had been eating it.  It was so fun to watch them chatter and run out to the backyard to investigate.

There is actually a part of me that is just relishing in this.  Kenna is already starting to grow out of "little kid" stuff and I love that she can still hold on to some of the fun and joy of early childhood.  She keeps asking me if I am Santa/Easter Bunny/Toothfairy and it is driving her insane that I keep skirting around the issue.  Part of me struggles with this because I feel like I am basically lying to my children, but then again I just want them to eat up all the magic and imagination that comes with it.   We'll see how this one all pans out.

And that wraps up at least half of March.