Easter Pictures

I can't believe how this kid is growing- he's up to 6' 3 1/2 ", and I think he's probably not done yet....

Ethan!  He's starting to grow, too- no more little boys around this house!

Handsome boys :)

They clean up pretty nice, but the next picture is probably more accurate...

Yep, those are my boys!

All of the kids!

Beautiful girls!

Cute Eliza!

Beautiful Rebekah!

Annie is so hard to get a good picture of (holding still and looking at the camera is hard!), but she is such a cutie!

Emma is growing up- that's scary to her Mom and Dad.  She's beautiful!

And finally, Price.  Love this kid!

Grand Concert

Price and Josh were both in the Grand Concert at the Jr. High this year- part of winding up 9th grade, I guess!  I love that they do this as a fundraiser instead of selling stuff that no one wants- and the concert is always worth paying to see!

Look at those handsome young men! :)  I have great boys.

Front Yard

Finally working on the front yard!  We pulled out those two huge bush things (not too bad, since they each had one trunk) and a ton of Oregon Grape- which had a TON of roots.  Seriously never planting that stuff in our yard ever again.... After pictures to come!

Deer!

This winter we had lots of snow- and so we got even more deer in the backyard than usual!  We had fun watching them out the window, waiting for Eliza to spot them and shriek so they'd run away.

Hey- when you're stuck inside in the middle of the winter you take entertainment where you can get it!

iPad Portraits

No end of entertainment for Eliza!

All-State Band

Oy- do I have catching up to do!  Like the whole year!.

Well, here goes: Rebekah made All-State Band this year!  She was super excited, and it ended up being an amazing experience for her.  The guest conductor was awesome, the other kids in the band were wonderful, and the concert at the end was beautiful.  The only glitch came from bringing Eliza to the concert- she had been sick a few days before, throwing up... we thought she was done... she wasn't.  Luckily I had taken her out to the lobby because she was being restless, and yes, she barfed in the lobby of Abravenel Hall.  On the carpet.  I can now testify that the staff there are extremely kind and accomodating.  Also, it was a really, really good thing that my Mom followed me out of the concert, and was just in time for Eliza to get sick.  I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there!

Even with the barf incident, the whole thing was still definitely worth it- it is so amazing to watch my kids have experiences like this.  Awesome!

My beautiful Emma has discovered that she like to write poetry- and she is good at it!

Here is a sample:

A homey, comfy library

After a rain storm

Sunset over the town

Pages rustling

Quiet whispers

Computers whirring

Shelves full of books

People reading

Bustling librarians

Reading in a comfy corner

Searching for books

Taking it all in

When I finish all the books I have...

I will return and rediscover the comfort of the library

-by Emma Walker

Big Brothers are the Best!

Price has been my not-so-busy kid this last month.  Rebekah and Josh are both involved in plays, and so have had to stay after school most days.  Price gets to come home, though, and even though it can be boring (hanging out with Mom?  Woohoo!), he has been reaping the benefits of being around his baby sister lots.  She think he walks on water!  

The other day, he built her a playground- complete with a bench to jump off onto a pile of cushions!

When he plays the piano (usually "I Saw Her Standing There"), she starts dancing- or she runs to climb up on his lap and "help".

And just for the heck of it, here are a few cute Eliza pictures:

Follow-Up to our Adventure with Josh

We were fortunate that the one pediatric neurologist in Provo had a cancellation for Jan. 2- the day before school started again.  That day, I took Josh down, and Tim met us at the office for the appointment.  After a short physical exam, and hearing the story, the doctor told us that he didn't think it was transient global amnesia- apparently, with that, the person usually knows who they are, but not who people (like family members) around them are.  Josh definitely knew who we all were.  Instead, the doctor thinks that it was a confusional migraine- something that is relatively common in children and adolescents, but rare in adults.  The good news is that he should grow out of it, although he may have migraines as an adult.  The negative is that it will probably happen again.  He has been fine so far- I don't know what to expect at all.  Will this be a biweekly occurrence, or will it happen rarely... or never again?  Kind of hard not to know, but at least it's not dangerous.  If it happens again, we'll at least know what's going on, and it won't be so scary!  I'm a little bit nervous about what will happen if it happens when he's at school or somewhere else.  For the rest of this week, he and Price have all the same classes... and I've told Price what to do if it happens.  But after that they are only in some of the same classes.  I'm thinking I need to go talk to teachers and let them know that it's not a major emergency... no need for ambulances... just to call me!

The doctor did say that if he starts to get a headache or to feel confused, we should give him an Aleve and a large, caffeinated soda- so when I went shopping Friday I bought the medicine and a 12 pack of Mountain Dew. Tim was wishing he could have seen that... since I have never bought such a thing in my life. :)  I'm storing it in the medicine cupboard.  I know.  Go ahead and laugh.

We are so grateful this isn't something more serious.  Hopefully it will just become a great story to tell (kind of like the time he fell out of the tree and broke both arms, right?), and won't have an impact on his future.  

I sure love that kid!