Recovery Update

 Raegan had been out of school for a total of 2 weeks.  She was so ready to get back to social life at school!!  Luckily during those days, she had loving friends and family bring fun things by.

Sabrie Wall had brought a fun assembly of gifts.  Kelli Mitchell had also brought frozen pops and other goodies, and Averie Brown (cousin) had also brought frozen treats and balloons.  Raegan felt very loved.

Tubing At Soldier Hollow

Found this groupon to do tubing at Soldier Hollow out by Midway.  It was fun to try something new for the first time.

Grabbing our tubes to get on the rope tow.  Ammon started out like this... but you'll see soon enough, that changed.

dfh

Tarin brought a friend, Emma Miller.

Does he ever smile for a picture??

On the rope tow we would try to break up some of the hard snow and throw it at each other to keep us laughing.  But the snow was so stinkin' hard only snow rocks were our options, and those hurt.  You can see in the background this was a very mild winter, not much snow around, except on the slopes.

Oh lookie... someone is having fun!!  With 5 slopes to choose from, the crowd did keep moving.

Yes, the sun was going down, and our time slot had expired.  It was a great time.  Remember, Reagan just had her tonsils out, so she wasn't able to come :o(

Since we were already in Midway, I just had to visit my awesome friend, Maddie Gardner.  She is amazing and so strong even when adversity hits.  Love her.

Afterwards, we met dad, Rian and Reagan for some Inn and Out Burger.

Snowy Day

This winter has been super mild.  Snow has been rare, so you can imagine the excitement each time it did snow.  Ammon likes to take things to the next level.  He decided to strip down to his skivvies and do a run through on the back deck.  The rest of the kids thought they would take advantage of this and lock him out.  It was funny to him... at first.  But you can imagine the panic after a few seconds.  He's just a spunky little kid that keeps life fun.

No, he wasn't done yet.  Dressed back in his clothes, but no shoes, socks or a jacket, he runs outside to make a snowball.  He loves a challenge and wanted to "prove" something...not sure what, but he enjoyed the daredevil attempts.  Love me boy!

Braces Are Off!

Same day as Raegan's surgery, Rian had her braces removed!  So exciting!  Made for a busy day, but it was a day of progression.  After 18 months, Rian was free of metal, rubber bands, careful eating, and no more ortho. appointments!  

Process took time.  But worth it!

BEFORE  Braces                                                                                                                           AFTER Braces

Later she came back to have her gums lasered or trimmed back.  So the after picture reflects that.

Such a Beautiful girl!  Love her confidence in smiling and that she is grateful for the effort.

Tonsillectomy and Adenoid Removal Surgery

Over the years, Raegan has had numerous sore throats, ear infections and other ailments that kept her home from school.  In November/December she was out for awhile and finally took her to the doctor.  She not only had strep but tonsil stones.  I know, right?!  What are those.  Just food and other build up getting into the crevices of her tonsils and then causing problems.  This wasn't the main problem, but added to the doctor recommending her getting them removed.  After seeing a specialist and him thoroughly checking things, he also recommended getting her adenoids removed.  I knew she snored, but I guess 95% of her nose airway was blocked by the adenoids.  Finally, we scheduled the surgery and were glad to be on the road to helping her feel better.

Giving me the "I don't know about this" face.  Silly girl.

 BEFORE

She was pretty nervous, but excited.  She was ready and willing to be healthier and stronger.

AFTER

I'm not sure she really understood what it would be like after surgery.  Waking up was hard, but the nurses said she did really really well.  Doctor said her tonsils were kind of tucked into her throat so he had to do a little bit of "digging."  He said they were definitely bigger then normal ones he's seen.  But she recovered really well from the anesthesia.  We picked up her pain meds, then to a store for her to pick out popsicles and other soothing treats.  On to a long road of recovery.

 Her little stuffed animal also got the treatment and wore a hair net. :o)

Biking With A Friend

Rian still has piano up in Cedar Hills once a week and Ammon and I miss riding the "adventure trails".  So, I decided to pack up our bikes, invite Ammon's friend, Canyon, and took advantage of the 45 min. wait for Rian.  It's rare you will find a picture that Ammon shows a normal smile, so this is a sign that he is having fun.

Heritage Park 

This is a fun stretch.  We attempted a little off road on a side trail.  It was pretty cool.

The sunsets on the mountains are so radiant!  Since we were driving home in the opposite direction, I had to capture this through my mirror.

Hiking The "G"

Dad and the kids had this day off because it was Presidents Day.  So we went and hiked the 'G' in Pleasant Grove.  We have never done it, so we decided to change that.  It was a great day to be together as a family.  Weather was a little off and on.  It was windy, then warm, then even had snow flurries.  When at the G we saw a major storm coming, so we headed down.  

The valley so vast!  It's amazing to think we live on the other side of Utah Lake. 

Ate a snack/lunch at the G and looked around.  

Afterward, we hit Swig.  Kind of a mixed drink and goodies store.  As we pulled in it was snowing pretty hard with big white flakes.  Didn't last too long, but glad we got down when we did.

Happy Valentine's Day

 The kids had woken up to these lovely treats I had gotten at a cupcake shop in Pleasant Grove.  They are a-mazing!  

That night we built a fort for them to have pizza and watch a movie in, while mom and dad went out on a date.  I think they had a perfect day! :)

inside the fort, zoned on the movie...

Words Make A Difference

For Family Home Evening, I felt the need to do this.  I think it has helped, but I need to keep the principle alive...

We talked about 'Sad Words' and 'Good Words'.  We listed some and put them up.  We talked about the consequences of both and how they can make others feel and how they can even make you feel.  They, over the course of the next week, were asked to quietly add 'Good Words' to each others pictures.  It was a great practice.  (Probably need to do this every couple of months as a reminder of how much to do actually love each other.)  The next FHE we let each other read the comments.  You could just see the smiles and beaming faces.  That's the love God intends for all of us.

(mom and dad's pictures were up too, so the kids could also see us as "human" with feelings.  Guess I didn't get a picture of those)

Moments of Greatness

 Yes, this kid keeps life real!  I love his love to keep us laughing, crying and even the frustrating moments.  I wouldn't change it for the world.  I love him and all the moments our kids bring us.

One afternoon, our awesome neighbors the Vincents; Allie brought something over to me.  A few of us from the neighborhood had gone to lunch at Kneaders.  Afterwards, Allie and I stuck around to browse their fun selection of trinkets and crafts.  I was admiring this saying and loved it.  She knows what I've been going through and decided to buy it after I had left.  She's been a neighbor that doesn't smother or crave gossip, only interested in my and our families well being.  Best neighbors you could ask for.  I hope to be that for her.  But this is something I have the hardest time with.  I have so many fears of the unknown or what will be, and how things were, that it has consumed me at times.  I'm not perfect, but I do recognize this and continue to learn about the atonement and trusting God.  I need to trust God in all things.

Always trying to be a better mom, I need to spend more individual time with each of my kids.  Today, it was Jarom's turn.  I took him to Cafe' Rio for dinner.  He's a deep thinker like me and even over thinks things like me...  Blessing and a curse, me and him, but it's who we are and I love it in me and in him.  He's an excellent young man, and I'm excited to see who he becomes over the next many years.  Love his ability to love and love his deep spirit and intellect.  He teaches me a lot.

Speaking of growing up...  Jarom had his first shaving lesson!  Luckily his hairs are blonde, but it's crazy to me that it's that time...to have a shaving lesson.  Life is moving fast!  Too fast, and I'm sad to see my babies grow up.  But it's exciting to see them reach these milestones and move on.  So much for these young minds to learn.