Small Successes

So I have been contemplating my routine revamp and my priorities in life. During church on Sunday, all the speakers in sacrament meeting spoke on patience and being slow to anger. This really hit home with me. Once of the things that I am really imbalanced on is my patience level and my hot temper......the imbalance isn't in a good way, either.

Both Monday and today, I have worked really hard to be patient. Patient with my kids even when they are whining and disobeying. Patient with the stage of life that I am in. Patient with being self employed. Patient with the Lord's time table. Patient with not having all the answers and solutions to some issues in my life that I want worked out this minute.

When I am fearful of something, I want the solution right away. However, the Lord doesn't always give us inspiration right away. There is one situation in particular in my life right now that I want to figure out my game plan with all the contingencies. I want it figured out right now what I am going to do if situation A arises and what I am going to do if situation B arises, etc. I want all the contingencies worked out right now. I am learning to take a step back and trust that the Lord will provide me with the right solution at the right time. He will let me know the best course to take before I need to take it....even if it is only minutes before. Sometimes, in my haste to get things worked out, I don't have enough information and the course of action I set my mind on doesn't turn out to be the best once I get more information. I need to be more patient with my Father in Heaven.

I have really worked on my patience with the girls. I have a temper and I get frustrated easily. It drives me crazy to have to tell Paige something three and four times. Usually by the third and fourth time, I don't just tell her, I yell it at her. A lot of times after I have taken a step back from being impatient, I see the hurt in her eyes and know that I have broken her spirit a little bit. Thankfully, children are very forgiving and forgetful about this sort of thing, but one day she won't be. I don't want to break her spirit at all, but especially when she isn't so resilient to bounce back from it.

I have been praying for the Lord to give me more patience and He has delivered multiple opportunities for me to practice. However, I am thankful that I kept my patience even when Paige had an accident on the couch yesterday. And when she had an accident today and didn't tell me about it (how can I clean something up if I don't know it happened?).

I am also working really hard at being patient with Paige's gift of gab (she got it from me). Paige just loves to talk and sometimes I don't feel like I have time to listen to her jabber on about all these "little" things. However, they aren't little to Paige. And I am afraid that if I am always too busy or uptight to listen to all the little things that she has to say, she will quit talking to me, especially when it comes to the big things.

At times I feel so undeserving of my children, but these last few days, I feel like I have gotten a little bit closer to being the mom I want to be and the mom my children deserve.

My other success has been with prayer. I am really trying hard to talk to Heavenly Father about everything, even the minor details in life. I am trying to ask for his help and guidance, no matter how small the issue. This morning, I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me with potty training Paige (we have given up the Pull-Ups and are braving underwear!). I prayed that he would help me to be consistent. I prayed for some really specific things that really aren't that big of a deal, but none the less, I was struggling with them and asked for inspiration. Lo and behold, I encountered one of the situations that I was praying about today, and the answer on how to handle it just came to me.

I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who listens to and answers our prayers, no matter how big or little the issue. I am thankful for the small steps that I have been able to take these last two days. I pray that I will continue to have this resolve and have more successful days.

Prayer of A 3 Year Old

Tonight after I helped Paige with her prayers, we discussed things that you could pray about. I told her that you could pray to Heavenly Father and talk to him about anything. My parents are currently on a mission, so I used as an example, that she could pray for Grandma and Grandpa on their mission.

Her eyes lit up and she said "Can I pray for Grandma to be home to see my birthday?" I told her that she could and so she started a new prayer and all she asked for was that Grandma be home to see her birthday.

My parents will be home sometime in October (probably the middle) and Paige's birthday is October 11th. We'll see if that prayer gets answered!

Three Years Ago

Disclaimer: This post is about Joseph's injury 3 years ago. Many of you have heard this story, so feel free to skip this post. I have debated writing it but have never written this experience down and I want my children to be able to know about the hero their dad is and how hard he fought for them. I have included some pictures of his injury. Some are graphic so please proceed with caution.


Three years ago today, my life changed dramatically. Joseph had been deployed to Iraq for six months. We had begun to plan his homecoming which was 6 weeks away. I was so excited for him to come home. He had missed the first year of Paige's life and I was so excited to be a family once again.

About 10:30 in the morning, my phone rang. I recognized the number as someone from base but I didn't think a whole lot about it. President Bush had been in Idaho to visit the day before and I had gone to hear him speak. I had been on the phone a lot with 1st. Sgt. Heyob to coordinate tickets for the event. Although I found it weird he was calling, I didn't think anything of it.

I answered the phone and the 1st Sgt. asked how I was doing. I replied that I was fine and asked him how he was doing. He said that he was okay. He then asked me when the last time that I had talked to Joseph was. At this point, I panicked and with a trembling voice asked why. You see, the Marine Corps doesn't really care how often deployed Marines get to call home so I knew he wasn't asking for social purposes. The last time that I had talked to Joseph had been Tuesday night. However, he told me that he wouldn't be able to call for 4-6 days so I wasn't thinking much about the fact that I hadn't talked to him for a day and a half.

1st Sgt then informed me on behalf of the United States Marine Corps that my husband had been involved in a vehicle rollover and that he was in serious condition with abdominal injuries. I broke into tears. He told me that he didn't have very many details at that point but that he would call me as soon as he heard more. He did say that with abdominal injuries, that Joseph was probably in surgery but that the doctors would have him call me when he was stable and out of surgery. 1st Sgt. apologized over and over. Through my tears I thanked him. I thanked him for not being on my doorstep. Anyone who has any experience with the military knows that if they are on your doorstep it is to inform you of your loved one's death.

After I hung up with the 1st Sgt. my next call was to Joseph's mother. I didn't know how to tell her that her son was hurt. She wasn't home and so I called her on her cell phone. She was at Joseph's brother's painting. When she answered the phone, my voice caught. I didn't know what to say so I just blurted out that Joseph had been hurt and that he was in serious condition. She asked me if I was joking and I told her that unfortunately I wasn't. She told me that she would be over shortly and that she would call Joseph's dad and let him know.

After I hung up with her, I really didn't know what to do. It wasn't like I could jump in a car and run down to the hospital. I just had to wait to find out more. One of my biggest fears in life is the unknown and not being with Joseph and knowing how he was every minute was heart wrenching.

My father-in-law arrived to my house first. I remember walking outside and with tears streaming down my face, we just hugged. Soon after, my mother-in-law got their along with Joseph's brother who worked for Joseph's dad. He was on a construction site and Joseph's dad called the foreman to have him inform Josh and then send him over.

That day was so surreal. It felt like it wasn't really happening. I was literally living a nightmare. What do you do to make the time pass? I don't know what most people do, but my mother-in-law and I stayed busy. We couldn't just sit there and think about all the things that could be going wrong. So, we painted my bathroom. We just waited for the phone to ring, for any information about how Joseph was doing.

That day was one of the longest days of my life, but that night was even worse. I don't think that I slept at all. I cried and I prayed like I have never before prayed. I pleaded with Heavenly Father to save Joseph's life. I told Him how much I needed Joseph and how much our precious 10 1/2 month old daughter needed her daddy. Sometime during the night, peace finally came. I didn't have peace that Joseph was going to be okay, but I had peace that no matter what happened, God would make things okay.

At 6:30 Friday morning, I still hadn't heard anything. Not from Joseph, not from the 1st Sgt. I finally broke down and called the 1st Sgt. I was afraid that Joseph had died and that they were just waiting for the daytime to come and inform me. The 1st Sgt. assured me that Joseph was still alive and that he would have come anytime, night or day, to inform me if Joseph had died. He was surprised that I hadn't heard from Joseph yet. He was on his way into the office and told me that he would make some calls and call me in a little bit.

A little after 7:00, he called to tell me that Joseph had been flown to Landstuhl, Germany. The reason that Joseph hadn't been able to call was because he was in a drug induced coma and in critical condition. He said that he had talked to the surgeon in Germany who had just finished operating on Joseph and that the surgeon would be calling in about 20 minutes to explain to me Joseph's injuries.

My hand shook when the phone rang with the call from Germany. The doctor asked if I had any questions before he explained Joseph's injuries. I asked him if Joseph was going to live. He was quiet a long time before he told me that he wasn't sure. My heart broke.

He then told me that Joseph had sustained massive trauma to the abdomen. His duodenum (the first part of your small intestine that connects to your stomach) was severely bruised. Their concern was that it was so bruised that they were afraid it was going to rupture. If it ruptured, they didn't think that they would be able to save him. He had also sustained a liver laceration, pancreatic damage, and kidney damage. They said that although he was critical that his vitals were good and holding.

He told me that as soon as Joseph was a little bit more stable that they would fly him to the United States. He would be flown to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He thought that it might be a week before Joseph was able to fly.

I finally called my parents who were on an Alaskan cruise. They were scheduled to come home the next day. I hadn't called them already because I knew my mom would want to jump off the ship and head for the nearest airport. I wanted them to finish their cruise and on Thursday I didn't have a lot I could've told them. I remember calling the cruise ship and my dad answered. After telling him, he said that my mom would call me as soon as they got to the next port (calling the cruise ship was $9.00 per minute).

I called Germany every 4-6 hours. I knew that I couldn't talk to Joseph but I wanted to talk to someone who was with him. The nurses their were wonderful and patient to answer all my questions every time I called. They always said that his vitals were strong and that he was a fighter. They also always asked me if there was anything that I wanted them to tell Joseph. I always asked that they told him that I loved him and that I was on my way.

On Saturday, they decided to fly Joseph to Bethesda the following day since his vitals had held strong. The Marine Corps made travel arrangements for me to fly to Bethesda and be their when Joseph got in. That too was a long day, waiting to find out what my travel arrangements were and if Joseph was going to for sure fly.

I stayed Saturday night at my parents house. When I put Paige down to bed, I didn't know when I would see her again. I felt so horrible as a mother for leaving her, even though my parents would (and did) take amazing care of her. I felt like I would either be a horrible mother or a horrible wife because I couldn't take her with me and not going to Bethesda wasn't an option.

Sunday morning my dad took me to the airport. Everyone was so nice and generous that day to help me out. There were several times that I just broke down in tears on the plane, not knowing what to expect or how to handle the situation. I hadn't seen Joseph for 6 months and now we were going to be reunited in these circumstances.

I landed in Bethesda about 4 hours before Joseph did. Thankfully, one of Joseph's Marine buddies from Idaho who had been previously injured and was going through rehab about 20 minutes from Bethesda met me at the hospital and took me to dinner so that I just didn't wait and wait with nothing to do.

Once Joseph arrived and was settled in ICU, they allowed me to go up and see him. By this time it was about 9:00 or 10:00 at night and I was exhausted. I remember riding in that elevator so afraid. I didn't know what Joseph was going to look like and it scared me. I will never forget walking into that ICU room and seeing him on a ventilator with 7 tubes coming out of his face and abdomen. After I walked in, the doctor told me not to hold my breath because they still didn't know if he was going to live.

I walked over to his bedside and held his hand. I rubbed his head as I told him that I was there and how proud of him I was that he was fighting so hard for me and for Paige. At one point, they lowered the dose of medicine that was keeping him in his coma so that he could respond to me. He fought to open his eyes when I called his name. He nodded when I asked him if he was in pain. He would squeeze my hand and I would just tell him to keep fighting.

On Monday, he had another surgery and on Tuesday, when I walked in, he was out of his coma. He was alert, awake, and angry. He was mad that the doctor in Al Asad, Iraq had sent him home. He didn't want to leave without the rest of his company. He didn't think it was fair that he was back in the United States and they were still in the desert. I told him that he almost died and that he still might. I told him that they had no choice but to send him home.

He then told me exactly what happened in the accident and also everything right up until he went into his first surgery.

In Iraq, Joseph was a machine gunner on a 7 ton truck (to give you a inkling of how big this truck is, the top of the tire comes to the top of my head) and ran convoy security. They were 2 miles from their destination when the driver fell asleep and rolled the truck. Joseph never lost consciousness. The truck bent him in half backwards (causing transverse process back fractures), rolled over his abdomen, and then left him in a heap after the gun turret ripped off. He said that he was able to get up and run back to the truck after it had stopped rolling. He said that when he stepped up onto the truck to check on the driver (who was non responsive) and felt sharp pain in his abdomen.

About this time, the next truck of Marines arrived and Joseph collapsed, unable to breath. The Corpsman got to him and decided that he needed a chopper. Joseph argued that he had just broken some ribs and that they could drive him to the aid station 2 hours away. The Corpsman insisted on a chopper. We found out later than had they driven Joseph the two hours, he would have died from internal bleeding due to his liver laceration.

Once they flew him to Al Asad (the main field hospital in Iraq), they did an MRI where they saw some internal bleeding. They told Joseph that they were going to do a 30 minute exploratory surgery. Joseph insisted that they not send him home and the surgeon told him that they would talk after surgery. They never woke Joseph up from that surgery. When they got in there and saw how bad it was, they fixed his laceration, stapled his duodenum closed, and put him into a drug induced coma. He then woke up five days later in the United States with me standing next to his bedside.

Over the next two months, Joseph was unable to eat. They fed him through a feeding tube going into his abdomen. He lost 50 pounds and when I brought him home, he weighed 135. Those two months were the hardest months of my life. Never have I endured a trial like this one but I have never been so blessed. There were so many miracles in those two months. There have been unmeasurable amounts of blessings that has come from this experience.

In another post (or several), I will talk about the many miracles. I want my daughters to be able to read back and know that Heavenly Father blesses you, even in your toughest trials.

I am so thankful that Heavenly Father allowed Joseph to live. To give you some perspective on the miracle of him living through this rollover, I would say that less than 5% of gunners survive vehicle rollovers. Most rollovers happen in Humvees which weigh a lot less than a 7 ton truck.

We recently met an amazing young man who survived a rollover of a smaller truck. However, he is paralyzed from the chest down. I believe that angels literally surrounded Joseph as that truck rolled and protected him. It is a miracle that he is alive today, with the ability to run, snowboard, wrestle with his daughters, and do everything that he loves.

I am thankful that Joseph never gave up, that he always kept fighting for his family. It didn't mean that he didn't have hard days or days where he was discouraged. But he never gave up. Today is a celebration for us, a celebration of life, and a celebration of miracles.

Joseph the day he came out of his coma

The surgeon told Joseph that even though it was going to be hard, she wanted him to try to get up and sit in a chair. His stomach wasn't even completely closed at this point. After she left, he gritted his teeth and got into the chair. Twelve hours later, she came back and was delighted to see him sitting up. She asked him how long he had been able to sit for. With gritted teeth but a look of determination, he told her that he had sat for twelve hours. He then asked if he could lay back down now. With a shocked look on her face, she immediately helped him into bed and then told him that she had only wanted him to sit for about a half hour.

Everytime she asked Joseph to do something, he went above and beyond. If she asked him to make a half lap around the hospital floor that day, he did two whole laps. He fought with everything in him.

Four of the tubes coming out of his abdomen.

Be thankful, this picture is small. This was his stomach when they finally let him take a shower (three weeks after the accident; I had been sponge bathing him up until this point). Click to enlarge if you really want to see what the fat layer of your stomach looks like.

Joseph and me

Routine Revamp

As I have been reading different blogs lately, more and more people have been talking about making their home a cleanlier, happier, more peaceful place. They have also talked about getting into routines to keep the house clean. It has gotten me thinking a lot about my house and my life in general.

Add to this, last week as I was preparing for my Primary lesson, I came across this quote by Dallin H. Oaks:

"What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow-through our premature death or through His unexpected coming-what would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear?

If we would do those things then, why not now? Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained? If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them."

I have thought about this quote all week. Millions of things come to my mind in checklist format of things that I would do. I feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and plain old not good enough. I feel like this race that we are all running seems SO long.

So, in pondering all this, I have decided that I need to have a routine revamp. I need to figure out what is my priorities and find some balance in my life. So often with working, especially from home, I feel like I neglect my kids. I feel like we just go through the motions to get through the day without really progressing towards any goals. I feel like I am just keeping my head above water.

I have written down daily routines a thousand times. My biggest problem is the self-discipline to keep them. Too often, I am too tired to stick to schedule or I just don't feel like it. My kids need more of my time, my house is in shambles, and every day feels SO chaotic.

So, I have really opened up during my post today so that I can renew my commitment to get on a schedule and be more balanced. So that I can fill my lamp of preparation. So that I don't have any regrets when everything is said and done. Hopefully, everyone can help keep me on track!

It Has Finally Begun

My two kids have been great friends. Paige has always been good to play with Lexi and they have great fun together. I have seen other siblings fight and I was so thankful that my kids didn't.......yet.

Well, my pleasant enjoyment of amicable children has ended. They now yell, cry, hit, and pull hair. In fact, as I write this, they are in the midst of another scuffle.

It has only just begun but I am already SO TIRED of tattle telling, pushing, hitting, crying, and everything else that comes along with bickering children. Hence, I am letting them work it out for the moment.

How do YOU deal with bickering children? Any suggestions?

(I have ruled out institutionalizing myself for insanity! :))

Paige's First Real Haircut

Every day when I brush Paige's hair, she SCREAMS. I got so tired of the battle that we decided to get her hair cut. We took her to Walmart's hair salon for the $10 special. She was really nervous to get her hair cut but she loves it shorter!!

Before

After

All the hair she got cut off

It is so much more manageable but I can still pull it back into a ponytail. We have a happier home come hair time!

Biscuits 'N Gravy Cook-off

Several weeks ago (I am really behind with blogging), Joseph's Uncle Aaron was involved in a cook-off. He eats a little cafe near his office pretty regularly and commented to the owner one day that her biscuits and gravy were really good but he thought he could make a better biscuits in gravy.

So they decided to have a cook-off. They turned it into a charity fund raiser. Whoever lost would pay $1 for every vote cast. They decided to donate the money to my sister-in-law, Lisa, who is running a charity marathon to raise money for a leukemia and lymphoma foundation. They advertised it and everyone who came in got free biscuits and gravy, one of each variety.

You didn't know whose was whose. They were each on a different color plate and you picked the color that you liked best. They also tallied up the votes every half hour and whoever lost every half hour got in the dunk tank. Everyone who voted for the winning plate got to through three balls at the loser.

Although both gravies were DELICIOUS, we ended up not voting for Uncle Aaron's. We didn't know that at the time of our vote. So we each got to through three balls at Uncle Aaron to try and get him in the dunk tank.

I royally sucked on my throws but Paige got to have a turn. With her first ball she hit the target but it wasn't hard enough to put him into the dunk tank. Since she had rightfully hit the target, Lisa helped her out on her third throw by hitting the target with her hand and sending Uncle Aaron into the dunk tank!

My nephews each got to take a turn as well.

Into the dunk tank went Uncle Aaron!

It was a great time and they were able to raise money for Lisa's marathon! Uncle Aaron ended up losing the cook-off but they have decided to make it an annual event. We can't wait to join in the fun next year!

Health Update

I saw the urologist on the 14th. He confirmed my need for surgery. He is actually going to transfer me to a urologist who is joining their practice in September. She specializes in urinary reflux.

Good news is that he said that there is about a 95% success rate with this surgery. I will be in the hospital for a few days and then home with a catheter. I won't be able to lift things for awhile (not even Lexi). However, he really feels that I haven't done much kidney damage and that this can be easily corrected with the surgery.

He said that I have had it since birth and for some reason, I never struggled with urinary tract infections as a kid and so they weren't able to catch it. Even if they had caught it, they are pretty conservative with children and wait to do surgery because a lot of times as kids grow, it corrects itself. Since I am done growing and it obviously hasn't corrected itself, they will surgically correct it.

He said it isn't an emergency to get it fixed so we are hoping to have the surgery done the beginning of November. I can't even see the new urologist until sometime in September. I hate the waiting game......I will feel much better after I see her and things are set in stone.

I do feel a lot better than I did after the VCUG. The radiologist really freaked me out and the urologist was able to calm a lot of my fears.

I know that God is watching over me and that everything is going as He wants it. I just need to keep learning to trust in Him and His plan for me.

Vesicoureteral Reflux

I know, I know....first how in the world do you pronounce that and second, what in the world is it? Let me give you the technical definition from a kidney website that I found:

"Urine normally flows in one direction—down from the kidneys, through tubes called ureters, to the bladder. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the abnormal flow of urine from the bladder back into the ureters."

That definition does fail to mention that it not only backs up to your ureters but also back into your kidney.

So at this point, although I am sure you are thankful for this wonderful tidbit of health information that I have shared today, you are probably wondering why in the world I care enough to blog about it. Well, I get the pleasure of dealing with it after being diagnosed with it on Monday.

I will start at the very beginning. Shortly after getting married, I had a bladder infection. Not that big of a deal except that I don't get symptoms of a bladder infection until it has gone to my kidneys. To put a kidney infection into perspective, I would rather birth a baby with no pain medicine than have a kidney infection. With a kidney infection, it gets worse by the SECOND (not even exaggerating!) and it hurts no matter what I do, even breathing. You can never get to the doctor fast enough when it gets worse by the second.

Anyway, I digress. I also got several bladder infections and kidney infections when I was pregnant with Paige. They even put me on a medicine that I had to take every night to prevent infection. Ever since then, I have gotten these infections with increasing frequency.

A few months ago, I had two kidney infections in one month, followed by another one the next month. Thankfully, I have seen my doctor long enough that when I call her and tell her that I am in pain, she handles it immediately. Well, after enough of these, her and I sat down to have a chat about my issues. She had me go for a CT scan of my kidneys to see if I was having kidney stones. After the CT scan, she personally called (never a good sign when they don't pass it off to the nurse to make the call) to tell me that she was sending me to a urologist because although I didn't have evidence of kidney stones, I did have a cyst on my right kidney and inflammation on my left. She said that it wasn't a major deal but that she did want a urologist on board with my care.

I was a little nervous seeing the urologist but figured he would sign off on the medicine that my regular doctor had me on. I figured it would be in and out. I didn't even have Joseph go with me because everything was going to be fine. FAMOUS LAST WORDS!! After discussing all of my symptoms with the doctor, he said that he wanted me to be evaluated for reflux. I asked how we did that. He told me that I would have to have a catheter and they would put contrast into my bladder to see if it was backing up.

The tears started to well up in my eyes. Ridiculous to those who haven't had a scarring catheter experience. Perfectly normal for someone who has had a nurse rip out your catheter without deflating the balloon and you haven't been able to pee for three days.

He said that after that procedure (called a voiding cystourethrogram - more commonly referred to as VCUG) he would put a camera up in there during our next office visit. I told him that he was out of his mind if he thought that a camera was going in me without me either having an epidural or being completely knocked out. I told him it was going to be a cold day in you know where before he would even get me to have the VCUG. He told me that if reflux causes permanent kidney damage and so I really needed to have this done. I ALMOST opted for risking the permanent kidney damage.

We came to a compromise that if I was good about getting the catheter procedure done, that he would knock me out for the camera part. So six weeks later (I did reschedule it once but not because of my fear but rather because they forgot to clear it with Tricare. If any of you have Tricare, you know why this is a big deal and a show stopper) was this last Monday and I went in for my VCUG. I made Joseph go with me and told him that he better hold my hand, rub my head, whisper in my ear over and over that it was okay, and generally be emotionally supportive. Okay, emotionally drag me through this. If any of you know Joseph well, you know that emotional is not his preferred place to be. In fact, I usually have to drag him tooth and nail to get him to get emotional or even deal with my emotions. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband more than anything. I just wish he wasn't always so emotionally tough.

Once again, I digress. I also called for some Valium at the last minute to help me get through this VCUG. Thankfully, the doctor gave it to me which made the procedure much nicer. Anyway, to shorten this already long saga of a post, the upshot is that I have major reflux. The radiologist said that it was bad and that I needed surgery........soon. I have reflux on both sides. I have a lot of questions right now but I don't see the urologist until the 14th. I have tried to be pretty light about the whole situation in this post however it is pretty serious and I don't know how much kidney damage I have already sustained.

I do know that this is Heavenly Father's will and that he is very aware of the situation and more importantly, is in control of the situation. I know that even though things are really scary for me right now, that if I have faith and lean on Him, He will carry me through this.

Joseph and I have faced a lot of scary medical things in the almost five years that we have been married (in fact I might tie him in surgeries with my current health issue). He has had a major trauma accident which included six surgeries, five days in a coma, and two months in a hospital. I have had two premature babies that included a combined six months of bed rest with two of those months in the hospital. I have had two surgeries (bringing my overall lifetime total to four). We figured it out one time that Joseph and I have had combined inpatient time of over six months in our five years of marriage. Anyway, my point is that through all of this, Heavenly Father has carried us every step. He has never forsaken us and I know that He will take care of us again.

However, I could use all the prayers that I can get at this point. I will keep you posted on how everything plays out!

Slippin' and a Slidin'

A few months ago we hosted the monthly family dinner for Joseph's family. We just barbequed on a Saturday afternoon. Our next door neighbors were out with the slip and slide and invited the kids to come over and enjoy the fun! Paige, as usual, was very timid and cautious. James, our nephew, was having a blast and held nothing back! It was so much fun to watch the kids enjoy themselves and cool down from the hot weather!

Our neighbor's dog, Barracks, is HUGE! He loves to play in the water and will jump to catch water. I cut the top of Joseph and Barracks off of this picture but you can still see how big Barracks is and how high he jumps!

Paige preferred to drink out of the elephant's trunk!

Summer Water Fun

Since it has been forever since I posted, I went back through the many pictures of the summer and found some cute ones to post. One of our favorite things to do during the summer is play in the water. The kids love it and it helps pass the time, especially when they are cranky!!!

Two of the cutest girls on the universe - Paige and her cousin Josette

Running through the sprinklers

My nephew, after being assaulted by the sprinkler

This summer has been lots of fun. It has been really busy (hence, the lack of posting) and has gone by so fast. I hope to catch up soon and update our blog with what is going on with us!