We set up our tree on Friday, and today we woke up to about 4" of snow! So fun! The kids came bouncing in at 7:00 this morning so excited to see snow. Like it was their first time or something. Although along with this wonderful snow came bitter cold temperatures. It was 10 this morning when Sean left at 5:30. It had risen to a balmy 18 by 7:00. I think the estimated high is somewhere around 20. A little chilly.
Here goes. The requisite Thanksgiving post. I just hope I can think of everything I'm thankful for.
1. My family (All of them, spouse, kids, parents, even the in-laws)
2. Friends
3. A good ward
4. Sean's good job
5. Being a stay at home mom
6. A sense of humor
7. A simple life
8. Always wanting more
9. Not needing more
10. Naps
11. Tylenol
12. Padded chairs
13. Being able to keep a secret
14. Anti-depressants
15. A growing belly
16. Pull-ups
17. 400 thread count sheets
18. Long drives with good conversation
19. Unfinished projects
20. Good kids!
I think that sums it up for the most part. I'm sure as the day goes on I'll think of more, and maybe I'll post them too. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it reminds me how much I have to be thankful for. I am very blessed, and sometimes I wonder why. I feel very undeserving most of the time, but I'll take it!
I was listening to the X96 Radio from Hell Morning Show this morning, and they were talking about how one of the host's kids is going to Arby's for a field trip. Several other people called in telling stories about visiting McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Hardee's, and other similar places. Emma had a walking field trip last year in which they visited the Auto Zone, the Wonder Bread Outlet, and the 7-Eleven. This year they visited Albertsons. I'm just curious, where have you or your kids been on field trips? Anywhere cool, or unusual, or just plain strange, a la Auto Zone.
This has been quite the festive Halloween season for Emma. She has really been spoiled having Grandma off track and done with her Master's. And with Nunn working only until Noon, they all have lots of time to play. Thank goodness for wonderful Grandma's. 
Maggie and Emma at the pumpkin patch with Nunn. 
Emma at her school Halloween Party in her Cheerleader costume. 
Emma at the Witches of Gardner Village display with Grandma. They are two peas in a pod, don't you think?
This morning my wonderful, beautifully behaved children did something amazing. They were fighting over a half-eaten pop tart. Seriously. What's next? Two day old room temperature pizza?
I like this name better than 24 hours of Moab. Moab is a beautiful desert oasis. I thought deserts were supposed to be relatively dry. I should have rethought that as we came into town in the middle of the night to washed out roads and puddles the size of small lakes. I knew last week had been bad rain-wise, 4 to 5 inches in 5 days, but we thought the worst was over. We were wrong.
The road in to the race site is bumpy and hilly, but we managed to get the trailer in just fine. Aside from getting our $20 worth of impact fee by making our own turn around, we found the camp site with no problem. This was Friday. Saturday, the rains came down and the floods came up. It was pouring. And that beautiful red sand turns in to mucky, sticky, clay in a matter of seconds. But our riders are troopers. They rode anyway. All four got in a good lap. But then poor Mark had to head out for his second lap, in the dark, and in the thick of the rain. The average of 1 hour and 25 minutes per lap was ruined. 2 hours and something later, he rode in to the finish. He looked beat, literally. It was then that we hear the only road in and out was closed. Not a good thing. If there had been an emergency, no one would have been able to get out. Scary. I guess that's when they decided to call the race for the night and resume in the morning. In the famous words of my brother, Troy, "Gimme that cheeseburger!" Suddenly the mood went from serious to jovial in seconds. It rained through most of the night, but by morning the rain had stopped, even though the clouds remained. After hours of debating by officials, they decided to continue the race. Our riders only had time to get in one more lap before the Noon cutoff time, so they all went out together. Aww. What team unity.
I think fun was had by all, and it brought our trailering season to a spectacular end. Now comes the task of getting all the linens washed and returned to the trailer, the winterizing, and the storing. I hate this time of the year just for that reason. Although the next time we use it, we'll have little baby Gretta with us! That's definitely something to look forward to.
It's true, we have gradiated (yes, I meant to spell it that way) to the 21st century. We are now the proud owners of an LCD TV. HD, mind you. And it has a story. Oh, what a story. How many people do you know that have incurred serious injury due to their television? Me, none. Well, one now. You'd think a TV would be fairly harmless, but alas, in this house nothing can be labeled harmless. Ask Sean how to balance a 30 pound, $1000 TV on a flimsy aluminum ladder without dropping it and sacrificing yourself to save it. He wouldn't know. You see, that is exactly what happened. And I swear it happened in slow-mo. Here I was sitting on the couch watching, due to the nether-region problem, and I saw his eyes get as big as saucers. Then the TV went falling. And falling. Holy crap, it's happening. Suddenly Sean is on the floor, ladder atop him, and TV is upside down on the wood floor. I was under the ladder too, but I have no idea how I ended up there, since I can barely walk, let alone pounce like a cat. The first thing he says: "I broke the TV!" Who cares? You just fell off a ladder. Duh. Well, the TV survived somehow, and Sean is now limping around with a bruised heel and a bunch of bumps and bruises. Note to self, accept help when it's offered as you dangle precariously above the fireplace on a flimsy aluminum ladder. And don't expect your wife and her aching nether-regions to pounce like a cat to help you. Even though I did. What can I say, I'm a sucker for falling spouse.
Well, my baby is 3. I can't believe it. She had a good birthday and scored lots of presents. We're so blessed to have her in our family.
She loves Belle, so she got a Belle doll, and a Belle dress, a new outfit, and shoes, and of course a Belle cake. She also got a new Cabbage Patch Doll from Grandma, and she loves it so much, she slept with her last night. And the dolls name just happens to be Maggie as well. Too funny.
As far as I can tell, the bets were 5 boys to 3 girls. And it looks like the minority rules this time. It's a GIRL!!! I'll post the pics as soon as I get them. The machine was down so they couldn't print them or the CD. It should be ready this afternoon.
Well, another deductible met and another broken bone. This child is crazy. She was out riding bikes in our neighbors tennis courts, and hit a crack. She flew off the bike and took the full brunt of the fall with her face. She has a broken arm, and her cheek and nose and forehead are all bruised up pretty good. The docs don't think any facial bones are broken, but with the swelling it was hard to tell, so we'll know more about those today. She gets her hard cast on this after noon. This picture doesn't do it justice. You should see her this morning. Black eye, fat lip, and she has a huge cut on the inside of her mouth. She definitely knows how to do everything all the way. No half-ass attempts at injury for this gal.
I'll post later about the ultrasound.
We are having our ultrasound on Friday, and we are finding out the sex of the fetus. I'm just curious as to what everyone thinks we are having. With 2 girls already, many are saying boy, but, as Bonny can testify, sometimes the girls just keep coming. So put in your two cents. I'll announce the sex on Friday afternoon, so check back!
And for anyone that knows me, knows I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about PREMIER SEASON!!! I've officially become a TV hermit. I don't know what I ever did without Tivo. This year on the lineup I have more than ever to watch.
1. Amazing Race
2. Law and Order SVU (or SUV to Mom)
3. Criminal Minds
4. Biggest Loser
5. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
6. Grey's Anatomy
7. America's Next Top Model
8. Law and Order: The Original
9. 'Til Death
10. New Adventures of Old Christine
11. How I met your Mother.
Wow. I'm really a dork. I need to get a life.
We definitely know how to travel. Caravan style. We made our way to Logan on Friday night, and the games began Saturday morning. Kelli was the first rider in the family relay, named "relatively fast", to get everyone off to a good start. She came into Preston, Idaho, 37 miles later, in under 2 hours. What a woman. Next was Troy, who had a seriously hard leg of the ride, and who was also still recovering from two serious crashes. He too came in under his expected time. Barring a little puking that forever traumatized Gabe, he looked pretty good. Meg was next in line, and another hard leg awaited her. She was actually doing two legs since sister Jill and I were both out of the race due to pregnancy. She had Salt River Pass to conquer, and she did just that. Coming in to the feed zone with a broken crank hanging from her shoe left us all in awe of her ability, and giggling just a little. Then went Sean. He was doing Afton, Wy. to Alpine Junction, Wy. which is 35 miles. We were all expecting him to come in just under 2 hours, but he surprised us all by finishing in 1 hour and 35 minutes. No one was even waiting for him at the feed zone. Oops. Then Ty, our anchor leg man, took off with lightning speed to climb the canyon from Alpine into Teton Village in Jackson Hole. 2 hours and 7 minutes. I'm pretty sure he wasn't even breathing hard. All in all it was a successful day. Thanks to Nunn and Poppa for corralling all the kiddies in the motorhome so we could focus on the race.
After our great ride into Jackson Hole, we spent 2 days there just sight seeing and recovering. But Yellowstone awaited, and as always, it didn't disappoint. This entire weekend, plus 2 days was spent in fairly close quarters with the ENTIRE family, and I am proud to say we had a great time. I think we are so lucky to get along with each other so well that we can compete, vacation, and tease without a bitter morsel. I heart my family. 
Two cow elk just chillin in the Madison River.
The five fabulous riders (except the baby, sorry Eli.). They are the ones that rode to victory. In order from front to back: Meg, Ty, Sean, Troy, Kelli. They rode from Logan to Jackson Hole, Wy. in 11 hours and 7 minutes. Nice job.
The whole fam damily. Left to right, front: Madison, Gabe, Emma. Back: Kelli, Ty, Dad, Mom, Meg, Troy, Eli on top. This was in Yellowstone at the Mud Volcano. Aren't we a cute family. Awww.
Thanks to Bonny for taking this cute picture of her girls' shoes. It just shows to me how fast they grow, and how much we can miss in between those sizes.
I wish so badly that this post could be about the huge new diamond ring I got, but alas, no. This is a stone of a much deeper, darker, more painful depth. It's the stone of the kidney. This would be stone #4 for me. That's enough to make a nice pair of earrings. Too bad they're not so shiny and pretty that one would want to show them off. However, I'm beginning to think that I should. If I count 4 kidney stones, and 3 children, that's me giving birth 7 times! Ask any one, they will tell you it's a painful as child birth. I have to say I agree. Perhaps I should post a picture of this? Perhaps not.
Yesterday was a weird day. I got up and took Emma to the bus stop, and then when I returned home, I was beckoned by the softness and coolness of my yummy bed. It sucked me in. I fell back asleep for an hour. I awoke to Maggie yelling "Ariba" at Dora on TV. Weird. Then I hung out at the pool with my awesome neighbor, and we had a whine session about nursing, babies spitting up, mean husbands ( not mine, of course! ), and other such topics. Afterwards, I made lunch and then came down with a splitting headache. I was down for the count. Poor Sean arrived home to an ornery wife, crazy kids, a messy house, and no dinner. But being the saint that he is, he went ahead and made lasagna. And it was great! The kids loved it. Mmmm, lasagna. So once again, I am praising my hubby. What would I do without him? He's the best.
Summer has ended at our house. School started today, and boy am I excited. Maggie and I were ready for some alone time, and to get back to a schedule of some sort. Emma was quite excited to start second grade, and she got the teacher she wanted, Mrs. Cummings.
Well, the time has come. I've reached 16 weeks (well, tomorrow), and as of last night, I can no longer get comfy on my stomach when I sleep. This is a sad day. It's not like the rest of you who know that merely days after delivery you can return to your stomach sleeping bliss. I have a big sore incision that has to heal before I can return to that bliss. It takes weeks. So you can imagine my sadness. But on a good note, since becoming pregnant, I've lost 8 pounds, which brings me to a total of 20 pounds since my surgery last November. Seems slow, but it's actually right on track for the 2 pounds a month. It's a juxtaposition of good and evil. Yes, I said juxtaposition. So I bid a fond farewell to my tummy, in more than one way. Of course, It won't be long before that tummy is replaced by a growing fetus. I think I can handle that.
Okay. Here goes. I have a dilemma. For the last 14 weeks or so I've felt like crap. This is not news. However, in my feeling like crap, a lot of things have been neglected. My kids, for example, both need haircuts, as does the dog. Those can wait. What is really bothering me is the neglect that is showing in my house. I have serious dust bunnies. Everywhere. Normally I pride myself on keeping a pretty clean house. Nothing immaculate, but picked up at least. And now, as I sit here, I have 3 piles of garbage that need to be taken out, and dishes that need to be put away and loaded in the dishwasher. I just don't have the strength or motivation to do it. So here's where the poll of sorts comes in. I grew up with a housekeeper. She did all the yucky stuff like clean the toilets and dust the baseboards, all those kind of things. I still had plenty of chores to keep me busy, but I never had to worry about doing THOSE things. Now I'm considering hiring a housekeeper to come in ONCE and deep clean all my blinds, baseboards, fan blades, bathrooms and such. This would not be a permanent thing. I just don't feel like doing it, and when I do get a bug to do it, I pay the price for a week! It is a little selfish, but it's for a good cause, right? Before I go any further, I should tell you that Sean is vehemently against this idea. He thinks he could do it all and take the money we would have paid the housekeeper and buy himself something nice. The problem with this is that he doesn't do it. He also tells me I should have the kids (namely Emma) do it, but that actually creates more work for me, thus nullifying the idea at all. So would you do it? I'm interested to know where the women stand on this subject, but the men can comment as well. Remember, I'm growing a person here. It's not just because I'm lazy!
