Fun in the Sun, it's finally Spring!


What a cutie Jaxon is he is 9 months old today!!


Abby took Jaxon for a ride on the little bike, because he is definately not tall enough to reach the pedals yet. He is now just barely 17 pounds.


What a beautiful day, warm and in the 60's. But if you know anything about Utah that really doesn't mean much. It sometimes even snows in June, and often it will be a warm sunny day and it will snow.


Abby out in the front going for a ride.

AMERICAN SOLDIER BY TOBY KEITH

PLEASE REMEMBER ALL OF THOSE WHO MAKE THE SACRIFICE AND SERVE OUR COUNTRY EVERYDAY!! MANY OF THEM ARE NOT RETURNING AND MAY THEY KNOW THAT THEIR REWARD IN HEAVEN IS GREAT, AND THAT I AM A PROUD AMERICAN AND I AM GRATEFUL FOR THEIR SACRIFICES. I APPRECIATE MY FREEDOM AND TEACH MY CHILDREN EVERYDAY WHAT IT MEANS TO SERVE OTHERS, SACRIFICE, AND STAND FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ALL THOSE WHO SERVE, ALL WHO HAVE SERVED, AND ALL OF THOSE WHO WILL SERVE IN THE FUTURE!!!

I’m just tryin’ to be a father, raise a daughter and a son
Be a lover to their mother, everythin’ to everyone
Up and at ‘em bright and early, I’m all business in my suit
Yeah I’m dressed up for success, from my head down to my boots
I don’t do it for money, there’s bills I that I can’t pay
I don’t do it for the glory, I just do it anyway
Providing for our future’s, my responsibility
Yeah I’m real good under pressure, being all that I can be
And I can’t call in sick on Mondays when the weekend’s been too strong
I just work straight through the holidays, and sometimes all night long
You can bet that I stand ready, when the wolf growls at the door
Hey I’m solid, hey I’m steady, hey I’m true down to the core.

And I will always do my duty no matter what the price
I’ve counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice
Oh and I don’t want to die for you, but if dyin’s asked of me
I’ll bear that cross with honor, cause freedom don’t come free.

I’m an American Soldier an American
Beside my brothers and my sisters, I will proudly take a stand
When liberty’s in jeopardy, I will always do what’s right

I’m out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight
American Soldier, I’m and American, Soldier.

An American Soldier an American
Beside my brothers and my sisters, I will proudly take a stand
When liberty’s in jeopardy, I will always do what’s right
I’m out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight
American Soldier, I’m and American, an American, an American, Soldier.

IT'S YOUR LOVE BY TIM MCGRAW
Here are the lyrics. What a great song!

Yea yea
Dancin' in the dark middle of the night
Takin' your heart and holdin' it tight
Emotional touch touchin' my skin
And asking you to do what you've been doin' all over again

Oh it's a beautiful thing don't think I can keep it all in
I just gotta let you know what it is that won't let me go

It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
Oh it's your love

Better than I was, more than I am
And all of this happened by taking your hand
And who I am now is who I wanted to be
And now that we're together,
I'm stronger than ever
I'm happy and free

Oh it's a beautiful thing,
Don't think I can keep it all in
If you asked me why I've changed,
All I gotta do is say your sweet name

It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under
Oh, it's your love

Baby, Oh oh, oh,

Oh it's a beautiful thing,
Don't think I can keep it all in
I just gotta let you konw what it is that won't let me go

It's your love
It just does something to me
It sends a shock right through me
I can't get enough
And if you wonder
About the spell I'm under,
Oh it's your love
It's your love, it's your love, it's your love

Jaxon during dinner time. He loves to feed himself, and loves to dance to music and scream at the top of his lungs. Here he is just lovin being a kid.

Argh the kids are sick again. Can't we just get better and stay better. Abby has had a cough and a cold and the flu, all over the last 3 weeks. It just seems to carry on. And now there are allergies to watch for. So she is coughing and sneezing and very little voice. Jaxon caught a cold this time. He has a cough and a runny nose, and we are hoping that it doesn't land us back in the ER or for a hospital stay like the the last one did. Dr. said even he has had something similiar for about 7 weeks. Thats comforting to me, NOT!! Well the day started out raining, and because the kids are sick I had to play the MEAN MOM, and not let them outside. So instead they watched through my window. It was so cute watching both of them looking out the window wishing they could play that we snapped a couple of pictures. The weather turned and its now snowing, but WAIT isn't SPRING NEXT WEEK. Oh the weather in Utah. You wish and pray for snow all winter for the skiers and for the water level, and fire danger. Then you want spring to come because you are sick of all the snow, and yet it continues to snow through the end of April. We will see!!


Jaxon and Abby looking out my bedroom window on the second floor, wishing they could just play outside.



Abby doesn't seem to mind as much as Jaxon. She knows that if MOM says NO OUTSIDE, its for a good reason. Because we spend a ton of time outdoors when they are healthy and its relatively nice weather. And yes even to play in the snow.



Poor Jaxon, he really thinks that MOM IS MEAN. He wanted outside so bad, that he spent most of the afternoon crying and being moody. No afternoon nap even, STINKER!! :)

High on the mountain top




High on the mountain top
A banner is unfurled.
Ye nations, now look up;
It waves to all the world.
In Deseret's sweet, peaceful land,
On Zion's mount behold it stand!

For God remembers still
His promise made of old
That he on Zion's hill
Truth's standard would unfold!
Her light should there attract the gaze
Of all the world in latter days.

His house shall there be reared,
His glory to display,
And people shall be heard
In distant lands to say:
We'll now go up and serve the Lord,
Obey his truth, and learn his word.

For there we shall be taught
The law that will go forth,
With truth and wisdom fraught,
To govern all the earth.
Forever there his ways we'll tread,
And save ourselves with all our dead.

Text: Joel H. Johnson, 1802-1882
Music: Ebenezer Beesley, 1840-1906

Isaiah 2:2-3
Isaiah 5:26

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family.
Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.
It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!*
Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice is... don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.For $160,140, you never have to grow up.
You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.*
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day,and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
*coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits.
So . . one day they may, like you.
Love without counting the cost...
That is quite a deal for the price!!

-Author Unknown

It's SNOWING again!!

So Utah has kinda not really had a winter this year. The other day it was warm and sunny and 58 degrees. No snow around in the valleys, and barely even any in the mountains. Now for Utah that is strange, but we have had a very small snowpack. So Friday the 5th of March we awoke to a rather large snow amount in the valleys. It wasn't really fun to shovel, because it was slush on the bottom layer and then topped by about 4 inches of powder. Lucky for us the kids love to play in the snow, and it does make Utah rather pretty. So here are some pictures of the play adventure. The neighbors built an igloo, and Jaxon thought it was amazing.


Jaxon posing in front of the igloo that the neighbors built.


Jaxon loves to lay in the snow and kick his feet, Good thing they invented snowsuits to keep our kids warm.


Jaxon at first wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to get in the snow, so he sat on the sidewalk and watched for awhile. He laughed as the kids hit each other with snow, and laughed even harder when they were cold and wet.

Higher Than Even A Kite Can Fly





We had a great playdate today. We were shopping the other day at the dollar store before Jaxon got sick and found these really cute little kid aprons. So Abby decided she wanted to get one. So she picked out a purple apron for herself. We made sugar cookies and decorated them. I was laughing halfway through that no drug or anything like that can get you higher than sugar. Bouncing off the walls, and bellyaches and all we had a great time.

So I totally intended to put these up and share these with everyone, but I totally missed the boat. We took Jaxon for the first time to Chuck E Cheese, and had a really great time. He loved looking at all the noisy rides, and had fun playing and chasing his sister.

So for the past 5 days our house had the cold going around. Abby had the flu, and then was better. I had a cold, Dad had a cold, and Jaxon was just starting to get a cold. Saturday morning all seemed well. We went to Maceys to get some milk and bread, and Jaxon was happy and smiling with everyone. Around 3 pm, he just started vomitting everything. He didn't have any wet or poopy diapers, and everything went south from there. He was not a happy camper at all. So I sent Bradly and Jaxon to Orem Community Hospital to find out what was going on. He had been tugging on his ear so I was afraid of an ear infection, but what was causing the vomitting. After 5 hours at Orem Community Hospital, they transfered them to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. The bigger hospital and to an area where they can handle super sick kids. My sister Stacie came and picked me, and took Abby to Grandma Long's for the night to sleep over. I arrived at the hospital to a very sick boy. He seemed even worse than before. They had cathed him 2 times to get pee and nothing was working. They drew lots of blood samples, and he was hooked up to tons of machines. So at about 2 am Sunday morning they cathed him again, and were able to get some pee finally. They took more blood, and suctioned his nose to send more tests off. They told us his white cell counts were off the charts, and for an infant that scares them. He was in the 30,000s. One nurse said it seems as if he had food poisoning, and the Rhino virsus. I don't think any really knows what he had. Sunday around 5 pm, he would finally take an ounce of formula. So we just kept feeding him when he wanted it, and could handle it. More tests his blood count was down to the 17,000s which is the high end of normal. Thank-you Heavenly Father. Sunday morning Abby came to visit with Grandma, and then went to church with Grandma and Stacie. She ate dinner with them and then Grandma took her home with Bradly. Jaxon and I spent Sunday night together alone. It was pretty hard. He would only sleep if I held him in one postion on my chest and lap, so of course I didn't get to sleep. But Monday morning they told us he seemed to be doing better, and that we could go home. I am so gald to be home. Tired, worn out, and ready to be in our own house.


Jaxon felt I am sure that he was in prison. This is a very hard experience for an 8 month old. I do not wish this on anyone, and hope that noone has to experience this soon. They still aren't really sure what is going on. He has the Rhino virsus, and the flu. His white counts were all over the board, and I am sure we will have many more tests to follow.


Our little Jaxon hasn't been a very happy camper. It was the first time he has been sick since he was born. He hadn't even had the typical running nose or cold, instead he went sick and it ended up in a stay in the hospital for the weekend.


Here are Dad and Jaxon the morning we were able to go home. It has been a long weekend, and we are ready. Daddy stayed the first night with mommy and Jaxon, and then came home to spend the night and give Abby love.


Abby thought she needed to be in the pictures too, but she made it clear to all of us that she was very glad to be a vistor instead of the patient.


Abby wearing a mask to prevent spreading any germs to Jaxon. We all were sheltered in our own little world.


Mommy and Jaxon trying to smile and make the best of the situation.


Here are mommy and Jaxon after a very long adventure of a weekend. I am so glad that we are coming home. I do not envy mothers with premies or really sick children. After 2 days of absolutely no sleep, I can barely function.