GYPSOMS!

We went gypsom hunting. There is a huge hill full of them. It was so fun!

2012.... 3 months later

So much catch-up I can't even try. I love, love, love my family. And I love that we are all healthy! JD has not been to the doctor since November when he turned 8. No more checkups til the summer. (Which is coming fast) Taylor loves dance and it is so fun to see her show me what she learned. I can't wait for her first recital! Too bad aunt Kelly can't teach her. :( She is the best. Jordan will soon begin pee-wee baseball. Excited for that too. JD just had his 1st pinewood derby. He and Josh worked on it together. He kept getting 2nd and last place. He quickly became upset. (He hates to lose.) I was up north and talked to him on the phone. I tried to explain it was most important to have fun. Right before his last race, he said a prayer and he won 1st place that time. He was soooo excited (an under-statement). He was pumping his fist with a joyous, "YESSS"! I wish I could have seen it. When Josh told me, I cried. Not just little tears. I couldn't stop. I am so proud of my kids. JD is such a special spirit. His faith is already so strong. He is a great example to me. I got to spend the weekend with girlfriends and do what I love: scrapbook stuff! I try to win anything and I did the dance competitions. Fri and Sat night. Lost both times. Next time I will have to bust out the worm. I had fun making a fool out of myself anyway. Then we headed to "The Hunger Games". Awesome! I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to see it with Josh!

WOW I LEFT THE BLOGGER WORLD

I dont know where to begin. JD turned 8. We had a great Thanksgiving. And just last Saturday, JD was baptized by Josh. I am so proud of my little boy. He seems so grown-up to me. He was so happy and excited. He really surprised me. He is usually so shy he looks upset. Not on Saturday! He had to stand on stage with the other kids getting baptized. He was next to his good friend, Taylor. He was chewing gum, reading the words and singing! He didn't have his head down like I would expect him to do. I was such a proud momma! Jordan said to me, "JD isn't singing, he is just chewing his gum!" Jordan is very observant for a 5 year old. But JD was singing-while chewing his gum :)
After he was confirmed, I asked how he felt and he replied, "Really good!" He had a huge grin on his face and was literally jumping with joy. The next day was fast sunday. Testimonies were born. Josh rarely gets up in sacrament. He did. It was such a sweet testimony filled with faith and the spirit bearing witness. I could not go up. I was crying too hard. It would be impossible for me to go up and talk after hearing his sweet and tender words. He spoke of JD, the year we had and that without faith- we have nothing. It is so true. Faith is everything to us. Without it- we would fall to pieces. I love Josh so very much. I am grateful for his example and that he is such a wonderful father and husband.
I love my children and I am extremely proud of them.
For Thanksgiving, my mom asked everyone to tell her 3 things they are thankful for. and she put them on paper and baked them in rolls. So we opened the rolls and got to read and guess who said what they were thankful for. I asked my kids individually in this order. They did not hear each others answers.This is what my kids said:
Taylor (3)- Jesus, friends,baby sister???
JD (8)- People who found America, family on earth, Jesus for making our Earth
Jordan(5)- balloons, paint, toys
Some of these answers really surprised me! I am thankful for good health, (I have come to realize how important it is) My savior, and that I am able to be a mom and wife.

Legoland and Disneyland and SeaWorld, Oh My!

The boys at Disneyland!

Taylor and Princess Belle. So sweet. She loved Belle.

Sooo much going on!

My friend, Steph at Auburn Soul took these amazing pics. She is so great. We had an amazing trip in California. JD's wish came true and we have just been so blessed. I will post more when I have a second!

So happy

Saturday JD had his PICC line removed. He thought the nurse was cleaning it and changing the bandage. I knew he would flip out if we told him they were taking it out. It scares him. As soon as she started cutting the stitches, he knew what she was doing. He asked me if she was taking it out and I said, "Ummm maybe!" And before he knew it, she had pulled it out. I told him to look, it was out. He looked and began to cry. Silly boy. He just gets worried. He later took the bandage off and put a band aid on. I didn't even know until I saw the band aid. He takes oral antibiotics- Amoxicillin. For 6 months he will have to take it! Just as a preventative. I am hoping he will stop fighting me to take it soon. He will just have to get use to it! We were very blessed to have our Stake pres. Pres. Bangerter come with Pres. Wilkinson (one of the Seventy) to come and visit us in our home. The spirit was so strong. They are very good men. Pres. Wilkinson blessed our home and our family. It was a great blessing. We have been strengthened by our trials and it was such an honor to have them in our home. This is the true church. Heavenly Father is mindful of us and loves us, wants the best for us. We need to put all our faith in him and we will be blessed more than we can imagine. I never would have thought we could endure what we did. We almost didn't. Because of the faith of prayers of hundreds of people, the love of our Lord and God.... We did. And we are all the stronger for it!

Milestones

Yesterday marked the 3rd week of being home! It is so nice to be here amongst the chaos. :) This is the longest we have been home since January. Ahhh. No more docs waking us up at 5 or 6 am. I have a huge grin on my face. JD and everyone else does too. The outpouring of love and support is so amazing to us. People are always so thoughtful and we are still receiving things for JD. A sister in our ward made some big dogs from a patchwork material and a quilt. It is so sweet, the things people do for us and especially JD. My BFF Kelly did a fundraiser for us and she raised $1010.oo!! We are very blessed. I am speechless. Strangers have just poured out their hearts and donated and done anything they can. THANK YOU Kel. I love you. My dear friend Amanda, even though she has struggled herself this year; has been there helping every step and stumble of the way. She had her baby about 3 months early and she had to keep him in her bedroom for 3 months without even her other kids holding him. She had a hard labor and delivery, very hard; and she still was asking me how she could help. She was keeping up a blog, We Love JD. So that people could get updated with info. She brought dinners, gifts for JD, cards, etc.... Then to top it all off, during her trials of having her new baby get surgery for a double hernia- she puts together info and sends it to a local company to get fundraising set up for our family to go to Legoland! That is JD's wish. So the Wade Foundation will be setting up some fundraisers to raise enough money for us all to go to Legoland. THANKS Amanda. I don't know how you are able to do all that you do. You are amazing. JD has his PICC line he gets his antibiotics every 8 hours. So when he is off of the antibiotics is when I will be more of a worry wart. He has a check-up on the 23rd of this month. They will do another MRI and the ID docs will decide what to do next medication wise. He will probably do an oral antibiotic for a while rather than just stop. The day before his last day of school, JD got a fever and rash all over his stomach, back, legs and arms. He slept it off with Tylenol and they ended up switching his meds. He got two more rashes with this new medicine, but not for over a week now. Thank goodness! I don't know what that was all about, just glad he isn't getting rashes anymore. He is starting to see a therapist. He does really well. He is so strong and brave. I am very proud of him. Proud of my other 2 kids too. It has taken a toll on the whole family. The youngest are having a hard time with listening and minding, but we are trying to get that under control. They just have different personalities than JD. The other morning, Jordan was sitting on the couch with an old cell phone. I didn't even know he was awake. I asked who he was talking to, and he answered, "Michael Jackson." I laughed and said that's cool! He said Michael was in our house on a motorcycle. Come to find out he has a motorcycle with a guy on it and for some reason he thinks it looks like Michael Jackson. He is such a funny kid. He is always making us laugh. He looks so old with his haircut too. I cut it into a faux-hawk and he likes it. Jordan had SafetyTown last week and this week and today was finally the first time he didn't cry and I left him without him clinging to my leg with desperation. YAY! Of course it was the last day. His graduation is tomorrow. He gets anxiety. I was going crazy. I was ready to quit taking him and say FORGET IT. Now the one day of him going by himself and not crying made it all worth it. Taylor has switched from daddy's girl to mommy's princess. She LOVES me. Daddy tells her she is so pretty and she grunts and comes to me for a hug. LOL I love that stinkin cute lil girl. She can be a brat, but I will always love her no matter what. I am in Young Women's now and I love it. The girls are so excited and it helps me to want to be a better example. I am so very blessed. We live in a wonderful place full of amazing people who are like family. Our trials have made us stronger. I am grateful for that. The sweetheart that JD is always prays that nobody will be sick and that those that are will get better. He knows it isn't fun and doesn't want anybody to have to be sick! He will grow up and help others in some huge way, I should say while growing up too. He is already a great strength and example to others around him at such a young age!