I have been neglecting this blog because I have a different one that I do just for me and my little family.  It is our journal.  But enough of you have been helping Brooke and hoping for the best for her so I thought I would copy what I wrote on my journal blog and share it with you.  Thank you for all of your concerns and more important, your prayers for our family.  This has been a long time coming and I think even you will be surprised as to what we found out!  On a side note, Amy, you can see when we last had our pictures taken.  We would love to get them redone sometime soon!  We would like to have some current ones of Jayden especially for his baptism in March.  Is there a time during Landon's weekend where we could get some taken?

WOW!! What an amazing day I had yesterday! I woke up and got the kids all ready for school and sent them on their way! I had only been home for a couple minutes when I got a call from Sandy Kunkel over at the school telling me that there was a lady coming up from Vernal to test Brooke and see if she couldn't help her. Brooke has been really struggling with her school work. I have shed so many tears these past couple of months because I have know that there was a problem but not knowing how to help her. So many prayers I have uttered asking that help would be given to Brooke and that she would start to do better. Well, those prayers were answered yesterday! Vernie Heanie is the lady's name and she works with kids and finding out what color they need. That sounds strange doesn't it!? I was a little worried when she started to tell me that by laying a colored overlay over her pages that she reads it will make a big difference. I wanted to laugh because of how rediculous it sounded, but I held back because laughing at someone is not nice!! I just sat back and let her take me on the amazing ride.

I pulled Brooke from class and we sat at the little tables in the Library and let Vernie do her magic! It was really simple, Vernie wanted to make Brooke's eyes tired, since the problem usually presents itself the more tired she is! So she had some papers with a Jackolantern and a Penguin made out of all "X's" and other symbols. The belly of the penguin was all white and the eyes, nose and mouth of the jackolantern white. Brooke was asked to look at the jackolantern and was asked several questions about what was happening as she looked at the white parts. She said that the black was "Jiggling" and that the white part was really bright! WHAT? Have you ever heard of that? Normal images moving back and forth when all she was doing was looking. Well, hold onto your socks because then Vernie asked Brooke to look at the white of the penguin and was asked all the same questions. I expected her answer to be the same since I couldn't tell the difference between the two images except of course the image itself. But she blew me out of the water!! While looking at the penguin she told us that the paper kept turning red and blue. As I sat there listening to her describe what was happening to her when she tried to read I had to hold back my tears because the last thing she needed was to see me crying AGAIN for her. But it was hard. Think about how much you read every day! Everything is reading or looking and keep in mind that Brooke wasn't READING anything she was just looking at a white paper with black marks on it. Vernie then gave Brooke a piece of paper that had Dutch words on it. She didn't want Brooke to focus on the words but to just let her eyes spot which color was better. She then took one colored overlay and put it on the paper. She removed that one and put a different color on, asking Brooke which color looked better. She continued to do that until she had gone through all of her colors. Then she put one color on half of the page and a different color on the other side asking Brooke which one was better. Again she did that several times. THEN she put two colors, that according to Brooke had been the best ones, on top of each other on this page. Brooke sat back and exclaimed that they were no longer moving. This was a page of words that you would read in ANYTHING! This wasn't a picture made out of white paper and symbols. As her Mom it hurt me to know that she had been living with this for probably forever and Vernie said that that is the reason she hadn't said anything was wrong. She didn't know any different! So NOW she has a couple of the sheets to keep at school for her books there and I was sent home with some to keep her at the house. When her siblings saw what she had they HAD to know what they were and what she was doing with them. I smiled to myself as I heard her tell them that they helped her read just like them! AMAZING!! I sat back and just thought about how blessed I am to live here in Dutch John. I wonder if she would have been given the glasses that she DOES need (she has a stigmatism and is near sighted just like her Mom) and then then her other problems would have been looked at as just her not trying. That is what I was told at the last Parent Teacher Conference. "She is very bright, she just isn't trying hard enough!" "Maybe if she stays after school we can scare her into doing better!" Those are not things you want to hear about your child but we did try having her stay after school. And it did scare her to think that her Mom was going to be mad! Now wait, that isn't fair and I have no idea why she would think that because I thought I had been doing a good job at hiding my fears and not telling her how she was doing at school. The only thing I can think of is someone at school told her that Mom was going to be mad!

In the next couple weeks there is going to be different lady who will come up and work with Brooke AND the teachers. She will see what kind of help Brooke needs to get herself to where she should be and will TRAIN the teachers on how to help her! Two weeks ago when we met with the Opthmologist/O.T, I felt like my options were NONE and that Brooke was going to have to just deal with her grades! AND NOW! The whole world seems to be opened for Brooke and that makes my heart SOAR! I have had some amazing moments with my kids but THIS is one of the top!!

Jumping Puppy

Yes, I have a very talented puppy! I was doing the dishes this morning and could have sworn I could see the tramp moving. And then I saw this!! I have watched Indie try to get on the tramp when the kids are on, but never by herself and never all the way on the tramp!

See, when we got this trampoline we thought it was the best buy because of how safe it is for the kids. Well, they forgot to tell us that we would be replacing the mat every other year because the sun will fray the springs (since they are cloth instead of metal) so this year the kids have had a tramp that didn't have any bounce to it. Well, who knew it would create the perfect hole for my pup!! I think I will keep my eye on her more to see what other amazing tricks she has!!

I FINALLY DID IT...

I have been wanting to do this for a long time! And now I can say I have, and I liked it!! We spent ALL day doing applesauce and pearsauce and I must say I enjoyed it! I remember how I dreaded canning day growing up, it always seemed like too much work for not a great pay (seeing how I don't much care for canned foods!). My kids LOVE applesauce and so we put them to work!!

It all started with a trip to South Weber, where we picked the few red apples that we could, thanks Mom and Dad! With JayDee getting in the tree to get the tip top apples I knew it wouldn't be long before the kids followed suit. Sure enough, here came the calls of "Look at me Mom! Can you see me?" And of course my least favorite one! "Mom, do you think I should go up higher?" My little "mookeys" as Emmy calls "monkeys", deserved to have some fun since they did work hard at getting the apples, but really, did it have to be in the trees?

Anna did help with the apples until she spotted Papa's swing, and after that there was no getting her motivated (plus, I think she may have been buckled in and couldn't get out! One less mookey in the tree for me to worry about!

Emmy wasn't as much help at getting apples as she was at getting herself into trouble!! But who can get mad at such a cutie! I think I could, if she had fallen off the table!!

This morning we started this amazing feat! It took us nearly all day to do it but it is done and my house smells so good! Plus, it feels so good to have accomplished something I have wanted to do for so long.

And here we have my fantastic helpers! They couldn't get enough of the plungering of the apples and pears!

The kids called this the applesauce pooper. They said it plops just like poop. Not the image I want in regards to something so sweet!

And, here it is!!! The finished product, well almost, this was before we put it in the jars! Doesn't it look YUMMY!?
But really, this is what I wanted to blog about tonight! Look what I finally did!

After 2 1/2 years, Emmy has finally had her first hair cut! I have been SOOO scared that if her hair were to be cut, she would loose all of her beautiful curls! Lately, I have been cutting the kids' hair and have been really frightened because Emmy has watched and has asked for her turn each time. I knew the day would be coming that she or one of the other kids would do it. I needed to do this so that I wouldn't be mad at the kids when they did it! I can't tell yet if her curls are all the way gone or if we have a true curly head! Time will tell, but I have to say that the cut is super cut. I cut between 2 and 3 inches!

Fun in the Sun

For as much rain and cloud cover that we have had nearly every day we sure have had fun in the sun! Around 11am the clouds would move in, which I thought was perfect because it pushed the kids to get their chores done early in the morning to play a little before they had to play inside. And then around 2 or 3 in the afternoon the sun would come back out with just enough time to play before they had to come in for supper! I have loved sitting outside and sun bathing while the kids have fun in the pool. We got toys to play in the pool with but the kids don't like them in the pool so they are always throwing them out on the grass, but Little Miss Emmy loves to throw them back in the pool just as fast. I think we are going to have a big tease on our hands!!

These pictures are of most of the kids who were at the 24th parade. I overheard a few of them talking about how they were going to make their attack. The way they were talking I was feeling quite sorry for whoever was going to be attacked! Little did I know that it was going to be my sweet husband!! He never saw it coming!! But he was a better sport than a lot who were there so the kids chose right!!

24th of July

We are making great progress here! We are already to the 24th of July!! Our little town might not compare to the big cities but I quite prefer our little celebration. Each year it is the same thing but guess what? The kids still have a blast and that is what it is about!! Each year we have a parade that includes ALL of the kids so you might be wondering who is left to catch all the candy!! Well, Emmy and I of course!! I think this year the kids all held onto their candy until our house because they sure sent many flying our way. The picture of the flag coming up the road and Emmy sitting in the wagon (picking her nose only happens when the camera is on!) are the only ones of the parade that I took since I was busy spraying them all with the water hose and fighting off the water balloons coming my way!! I think I got them better than they got me!!

As always we got to have smokey the bear make his appearance in the parade and then meet the kids (who aren't afraid) down at the church. Out of all my kids the only one brave enough was Emmy. I tell you what, she is the one kid I am most scared about with strangers!!! She pushed her way past some of the other kids just to have her turn and then when he picked her up Smokey turned to me and said that she was so cute he could take her back to his den with him! Emmy turned at that moment and said "Bye, Mommy!" I don't think I have pulled my kids away from someone so fast! I thought I had her distracted with watermelon and other kids but when I turned around there she was chasing that darned old bear!

Back to the Fourth...

I am not going to give you all the scoop of what has gone on this summer in one swoop. But I figure that if I do one thing each day I should be caught up by the time school starts (yea right but we can hope!) in 5 days. I think the kids have been counting down since the end of July. I can tell they don't want to hurt my feelings because they phrase it like this, "Mom, it is kind of getting boring riding bikes, swimming and playing with friends, but I do like being with you!" You know they are bored when the kids are bored of the things they LOVE to do the most!! But I must admit that I have gotten tired of planning activities and chasing them so for the last month we have just been! And I have LOVED it!!

So back to the fourth of July. Well, actually the third since that is when we celebrate it here! We were finally home long enough to get our pool up. I forced JayDee to do it since his Dad was here to celebrate with us and he would be able to give a second pair of hands! Emmalee loved it except for the fact that our water here is ice cold. The kids kept pleading for me to cook some water to make it warmer. I told them to forget it since the sun was a natural warmer, but I should admit that it is too cold for me to want to get in. It has since warmed up quite a bit and the kids love it!!


Emmy is throwing a temper tantrum since I made her get out and warm her little piggies!!


This is Blake Walker, one of JayDee's nephew's. Blake and Lenore are here for the summer and got to come out to play with us!


Beth decided that we all needed to be able to spot each other in our HUGE crowds here so she bought each of us this matching shirt (yes, even the adults!!)


We played so hard that my Brooke fell asleep, she never takes a nap!!


What a great pretender!!


I ABSOLUTELY love these last two!! I think they speak for themselves!! :)




But what a great weekend we had! Our display of Fireworks is incredible. I am amazed each year that such a small community can put on let alone afford such a great show. We don't even have to go anywhere since we can see them from our house. Next year with the kids a bit older I think we will be starting the old tradition of sitting on the roof to watch!!

An Update that really isn't an Update!!

So let's see....we left off with my Birthday. I now have a lot to catch you all up on. So as many of you know this month has been a lot of ups and downs, literally. We have made how many trips down to Ogden and back up to Dutch John. Oh Yeah!! Four (so far)!!! It started on the 8th of June I had to go down to meet with a G.I. Doctor (well, actually his NP) since I have been having problems with my tummy since January. NP Earley gave me three options that it could be and trust me none of them sounded good. I refuse to even write them down until I have an answer for fear of jinxing myself. She scheduled me for an upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy for the 18th of June. But before that could happen we made the trek back home so that JayDee and I could go to the Opthamologist on the 9th of June (yes, that's is right, my birthday!). And I must say that so far that has been the best thing about MY summer. I LOVE my new glasses. The kids all say I look pretty (what did I look like before the glasses?) and JayDee says I look very studious! Well, I must say....you will all have to look for yourself!! They even came in my favorite color - green!!! If you use your imagination please be kind!! :) Well, on June 11th we headed down to Salt Lake and partied with DD and HH. The next day we got up early and headed to the Dentist! Yep, I have MORE cavities along with Cora (poor girl has my teeth) and Brooke! We were told that we should schedule Brooke and Jayden for braces sometime this summer! Yes, they are only 7 and 9 but I guess they are starting early! We headed home after that visit and got to rest for a few days before we headed down to Ogden again on the 17th of June. We opted to stay at the new Best Western at the mouth of the Weber Canyon. We wanted to give the kids a fun, different place to sleep and SWIM! Plus, I had to drink the HORRIBLE drink to clean me out COMPLETELY before my procedures the next morning. This way, we knew that the toilet would work just fine!! I survived both the drink and the procedures and when I woke up I was told that they had found a cut out a few polyps but found that along with everything else they were normal. As much as I am grateful nothing bad was found I was and am so TIRED of hearing everything is normal because if this is normal than I don't want to be normal anymore. I just want to live my day without wondering if I will be sick all day or if today will be a good day and I will only be sick a little! JayDee has the pictures for those of you who want to see them. He says he is going to scrapbook them for me since I won't! It is neat that we have the technology today to be able to look inside our bodies with just a small tube. I waked out of that appointment with a new appointment for the following Friday to have a Breath test done. Trust me, I know how silly that sounds, but that is exactly what it was. I had to go on a specific diet Thursday and then fast for the 12 hours prior to the testing. I had to drink a solution and then I sat in a tiny exam room for three hours with a timer set for 20 minutes. After each timer I had a bag that I had to breath into. I am still waiting for the results for that test. It is supposed to tell me if I am allergic to glutton or not. Do any of you realize that flour (wheat or white) is EVERYWHERE!!? I have started paying attention since that might be my life sentence and I can not believe how often I see it. JayDee has always said that we couldn't have pets because of his allergy. So if this happens to be my allergy, I guess it will become the families allergy as well! I might just get me that dog I have wanted for the last few years, just so he can have some of the foods he wants to keep eating!!

My summer may not be going as I had planned, but the kids seem to be enjoying themselves anyhow! I will leave you with some of our summer fun pictures!!

This started out as "Dancing in the Rain" and ended up with "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair!!"And the rest of these are of the kids on the Slip and Slide! Thanks Grandma!!Anna wouldn't come close to getting on the slide, heck, she wouldn't even get wet!! She says it was too cold! I don't blame her one bit! The water is COLD!!

Happy Birthday Monica!

Since Monica would never in a million years brag about her birthday, I will!


If you haven't guessed who is writing this blog, well it is no other than JayDee. I want to let my wife know how much I love and adore her. She stands as a beacon for Mothers everywhere and I am so grateful that she would be my wife and walk this adventurous journey with me!

Honey, I know you are not one for being showered with kisses, but I sure love doing it. First of all, it is a good way to tease you. Second, it is the best way I know how to show you that I love your beautiful face. And third, you have blessed me with so many things since you came into my life that it is a way to show my adoration and love for you.

I hope you will have a wonderful birthday!

Love, Jade

What was I doing...

6 Years ago right now? I was watching the dreaded star wars (I never did let JayDee choose what we watched while I was in labor!) waiting to see what was going to happen with the little bump in my tummy. After a long couple of weeks of having ultrasounds atleast once a week and testing 2 times a week, I was finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. On June 3, 2004 I was induced due to a lack of amniotic fluid. After the Dr. broke my water (what very little there was) he said he was going to, go home and get some sleep and advised me to do the same since I probably wouldn't be ready until the early hours of the next morning. I kind of chuckled thinking "Yeah right, how can you say that!?" But I figured that since he was the Dr. he just HAD to be right! But little did we BOTH know! Just under 4 hours since I started I had gone from a zero (I was 3 1/2 weeks early) to a ten and was ready to push. The nurse became frantic because the on call Dr. was already delivering and my Dr. was about 10-15 minutes away. She called him and told him he didn't have time to get dressed. He walked in in his pj's and his slippers and literally caught Cora! I think her post delivery has got to be my favorite. My Dr. placed her immediatly on my chest and let us bond. They didn't worry about any of the measurements and let me just love my new baby. I love my little C.C. She is so smart and can't wait to be in 1st grade because then she will be just like the big kids! She loves to help anyone who will let her. She is such a great friend and such a sweet daughter. We love her so much and are having so much fun watching her grow into such a beautiful young lady. Happy Birthday to my sweet Cora

Is it summer yet?

This has been the question of the day. Really they have been asking all weekend if it was summer but the weekend was pretty rainy and cold so the answer "No" was easy to give. Well, today still wasn't very warm infact the sun didn't poke its head out of the clouds until about 5:oo pm. I was out watering our flower bed and the kids just kept begging me to spray them with the water so I obliged!! Boy, was it fun, and who knows maybe the coldness of the water and the not so warm sun will keep them from asking to get wet again for a while! I doubt it, but I can hope right!?

Being the first REAL day of summer vacation, I am already bored and want the kids back in school. Not really but I do want to know what to do with them for the next 3 months. I am already tired of them asking if they can play with friends (anyone will work), and those of you who know our town know that it consists of the school (which is really our only park), but really, how many times can I send them to the park before they realize it really isn't that cool! We have plenty of roads where they can ride their bikes, but the kids have already pointed out that they all lead back to the house, so once again they are bored already. We have beaches to take them to but not till it warms up quite a bit, hiking trails to go on but not until I figure out what is wrong with my tummy. So needless to say, it looks like we might be in for a long (and hopefully not boring) summer vacation. Too bad, Dad isn't the Mom and Mom is the Dad so that the kids would have more to do!! Anyone who wants to come and play PLEASE do so SOON!!!

I leave you with some pictures of our Memorial Day fun! We had a picnic lunch over at the school (Dad did all the work so I got to enjoy it even more!), and afterwards we turned our plates into bases and played kick ball with the kids. Even Anna got in on the fun. She would stop the ball before she kicked it but she kicked it anyhow! Emmy took pictures for us. Unfortunately none of them passed the "Mommy Test". They were all of the grey clouds above and even some of her nostrils (they looked much bigger than they really are so I think she may have hit the zoom)! Good thing for Dad and his ideas to get us out of the house and the yard we usually use for our picnics!!