concert, messes, and sick!!

again, these are backwards, so i will describe it all backwards!! after rebekah's first concert. she did great, and i loved singing with her onstage!! there are too many people for the adults to be onstage with the kids, but we were down in the audience, so i could see her singing her little heart out!
rebekah in her cute little choir outfit. she is such a doll!! her hair was curled by my friend, and stayed curly even for another day!!
my sister, tat and i. i always seem to look weird in pictures. not sure what it is......
trying to pose on my "skinny" side
my curls from the back.
walking up to the ikeda theater. so excited!!
rachel joined a swim lessons class for tiny kids. she loves it, and even moved up to the next level after 2 weeks. i never knew starting them young was so awesome! she is just thriving in there!!
after sleeping in foam curlers, here is rebekah
both girls from the back
rachel thought she needed some curlers too. i only had hair for about 4, to rebekah's 20. they were very cute though!!
so thursday, i started getting a tickle in my throat, and it didn't take long for my body to decide it was at war. i woke up saturday, the day of our big Collin Raye concert, with a barely audible voice, and really hurting when i did try to talk. i preserved my voice the best i could until the concert, and was able to sing a little bit for the first concert. by the second one, my voice was completely shot, and i snuck cough drops in my folder. i sucked on 5 of them throughout the hour and a half of the concert. i only coughed a few times, then went home and collapsed. sunday i was wasted, and didn't get up in time for church. i slept until almost 11, then took a nap at 2. nathan didn't sleep well either, so he came upstairs to sleep with me, and left colby in charge. normally, he does a great job keeping everyone out of trouble. not so with this day. he got caught up in the imaginary world he was in, and rachel got into some serious mischief. i'm not sure which came first, but she put a roll of tp in the bathroom sink, and left the water on. flooded the floor and outside carpet with inches of water, and little floating bits of tp. also, she got out the comet powder and dumped a lot of it on the kitchen floor. i guess she thought she was cleaning. i swept the whole floor of all the dry powder, but she had sprayed windex and bathroom cleaner on it too, so had to mop several times to get all the residue up. i guess that's what happens with a 9 year old is left in charge of a crazy girl named rachel!!!

Mom and Dad

After church on Sunday I took the kids over to see my parents. Here is Colby and my momHere is the rest of the kids with her.
and here they are with my Dad. He is always in his office when we come over, so we have to go in there to see him!! With a computer and his own tv, who can blame him? :)
I was trying to get cute pics of the kids, and this is what they gave me! little Toads!!!
My new dress. I got it for Kirsten's wedding, but had to see how comfortable and resilient it was first. And I got new shoes, which I love. Not sure if they go together well though....
Today I went to see a new guy for my headaches and back and everything. I went to his office, way out in Phoenix. Right away, it was different. There weren't six people waiting to get in, and he spent over a half hour with me. He did a minor examination, and listed off some problems I have that I hadn't even told him were bothering me. He gave me explanations for my headaches, back pain, neck and shoulders, all that has ailed me for so long. I was worked on for a while, and left feeling so much better I couldn't believe it. I have had a sharp pain in my low back that no doctor has been able to touch. Chiropractors, massage, anything. When I would sit down to drive, it would just feel like a knife was sitting in my back. Driving home was the first time in over a year that it didn't bother me!! Now all day, I keep waiting for it to come back. It hasn't!! But I do feel like I ran a marathon, all my muscles are SORE!!! Hopefully the exercises he told me to do will help, and I can finally have some relief. That is my deepest wish!!

great fun

Rachel is constantly asking where Grandpa is, or if she can go to his house. Nearly every day, he comes in our backyard to work on something. At the moment, we have a sea-doo, a boat, and an old pick up truck in there. Not to mention all the yard work he does for us when he can't stand it anymore! Rachel sees him back there, and flips the lock on our sliding glass door, and runs out to see him. Barefoot, through the rocks. She doesn't care. Anything to give her grandpa a hug. She loves him and has such a connection with him!!
The kids dyeing easter eggs. Rachel thought it was the best, to plop her egg in the dye, and splash it all over. Good thing I have a vinyl tablecloth on the table! They had a blast with the eggs this year.
After a few weeks ago's fiasco of getting white nailposlish all over herself, I thought we could soak her and get it to come off. No such luck. Although she really enjoyed splashing everywhere. A little big for the sink? NAH!!

The kids at play

I did not sleep very well last night, so while I was taking a nap, this is what Rachel did. It may look like lotion, but it white nail polish. The really strong kind that is stubborn and does not want to come off of the couch!!
Or off of Rachel's skin. Her nails are all gorgeous, but her legs and arms, not so much.
Last weekend, we went to Prescott for Mark and Heidi's baby's blessing. Here is Rebekah holding baby Matthias. We all loved to hold him, and marveled at what a beautiful baby he is! They did a good job with him. Makes me want another.....almost!!
When we came back from Vegas, Heather suggested this group to contact and see about the lice removal. She had it for almost 2 months. We could not get rid of the stupid eggs. She didn't like having her hair brushed and examined like it needed to be. So I bit the bullet and made an appointment with Hair Angels. It worked!! After her one treatment, it is gone. Thank the heavens!!!

And here is the wonderful machine. Kind of a glorified hair dryer. It dries out the eggs and the live ones, and you just have to comb them out after. No more hatching eggs!!
We went to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory, but the sun was in the kids eyes. The actual factory wasn't going either, something about the demand not warranting it at all times. It was still cool to see where the magic WOULD happen though!



we went to Heather's for Spring Break this year, and got to go with them to Chuck E. Cheese. The kids loved it. Rachel has her battle scars, as usual.

Heather and Taryn. I can't believe how long that baby girl's hair is!! She is not a baby anymore!!

Snow!!

These always post in backwards order but here goes. This is Rachel posing on the couch in her oh so cute skirt and shirt. We love her in them!!
and here is Colby riding the scooter in the backyard. He is funny!!
Rachel and Rebekah
Rachel posing with her popsicles. She was very happy to eat them!!
In her dress after church. I had to take a pic of it, because Rebekah wore it not so many years ago!!
We went to Prescott on Saturday to see Mark and Heidi and their new baby. It snowed most of the day! Here is the splatted snowman Nathan made.
And here is Nathan trying really hard to put Mr. Snowman up on our slanted hood!
Heidi and Matthias. Such a sweet boy, almost makes me want another baby! .....almost
Rachel and Daddy hold baby Matty
She really liked holding him, and I did too! Thanks guys for letting us play with you!!

sick of sickies!!

If you haven't seen much of us lately, it is because we have been sick. Super sick! It started several weeks ago when Nathan had a nasty run in with bronchitis. He was on antibiotics, but it still took several days before the fever, chills, shaking and general crummy feelings went away. He is still coughing up a lung, but at least he doesn't feel as bad, and has an inhaler. Fast forward a few weeks, and you have Rachel getting bronchitis. She ended up on antibiotics, and breathing treatments. Not a week later, she started off the family fun of the stomach bug. She got so sick, and couldn't keep anything down for several days. I was told to take her to the ER by her doc, so after 7 hours in there, and 4 of her getting iv fluids, she was finally able to hold some juice down. She has been slowing getting back her appetite and being her mischievous self again. A week later, I had my first bout of vertigo in several months. I was down for the count for 3 days with the torturous room spinning, nausea and sleeping for hours at a time. If it sounds fun to stay in bed all day, you are wrong. It is alright for the first few hours, but it gets really old, really fast!! I was sending Nathan texts all the time, once I got coherent enough to type. Poor guy got to be super dad for a few days. Then Rebekah got the stomach bug, and was sick Sunday night and all day Monday. She was back to school Tues, and we had a few days of a reprieve. Then Wednesday night, I had a late dinner, and started feeling sick. The feeling lasted all day Thurs, and I hate actually throwing up, so didn't eat anything at all during the day. My wonderful Mother had some chicken noodle soup and ginger ale that she gave to me, and I finally ate that. I had choir rehearsal, and DID NOT want to miss it. I sucked it up and went, despite the fact that I had barely eaten, and still felt icky. But, I managed to survive, and sang what I needed to. Our concert is on March 5, and we now have only 2 weeks left to have an entire program memorized. I just couldn't miss a rehearsal, and with Brett, who wrote the amazing music, nonetheless. We normally have his brother, Brandon, direct us. It was a nice change, and some much-needed comic relief to rehearse with Brett. They are both extremely talented, and I feel so privileged to be a part of their organization. The debut of the Messiah in America-We'll bring the World his Truth- will be something that noone wants to miss. I am so excited to help bring the dream to fruition in this way. It is the story of 3rd Nephi from the Book of Mormon, and is truly spectacular with the full orchestra behind us, and the talented soloists that are going to be joining us. YAY! We are almost there!! Now, if we can all just stay healthy for a while......

scrapbooks and knowledge

caleb's class made him this card when he had his tonsils out! i love it, but we couldn't keep it up anymore. so we took a picture.

so for those who know me well, you understand what a big deal it is that i finished!! i am about 6 months behind, but i finally finished all 5 books of the pictures i had printed!!! i ordered the rest of the pictures today. it took forever, literally almost a year to finish, but i did it!! i finally had enough extra money to stock up on paper and page protectors and adhesive. that made all the difference. it is really hard to find the motivation to work on them when you know you don't have all the supplies you will need. it's one of those, "why bother?" scenarios. so thank goodness the post office has extra trips during the holiday season, even though nathan hates doing them with a passion. we at least get a little much needed extra money!!
and on a side note, i am back in school, taking 9 credits this semester. they are all online classes, and so far, i have done pretty well. but i find that i have to actually prioritize to get things done, and watching the shows i have recorded, does not always end up at the top of the list like it used to!! GASP!! i know. but i have been feeling pretty good about myself lately, you know, improving my mind and all. and i have tried to make the kids more organized too, with a little chore chart that they can move the stars over when they finish. it was pretty simple, and way cute! now, if i can just get the kids to actually use them.....
and another side note, nathan and i are taking a marriage and family class put on by our stake, and we are really enjoying it. nathan was totally against the idea at first, but agreed it to appease me. he is a really good man, and i find myself even more grateful for him as i learn about other couples, and remember that we have a pretty dang good thing going!! yay!