The Worse Moment of My Life . . . and a Great Weekend

This weekend we had the worse moment of our life and then a really great weekend.

To start off with we went to Kamas on Friday. We went to the parade and the kids caught a ton of candy. It was pretty good. Then we hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's house and launched water balloons with our cousins.

We went to BullWars with Grandma and Grandpa. It was fun for the kids to get to go to a rodeo. It was pretty good. Here is a picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

Then we came back to Grandma's house and built a fire and had smore's. Then Jacob, Joshua, John and Grandma decided to sleep out under the stars. Abigial and Wyatt, Grandpa and I slept in the house. About 3:00 a.m. John comes in the house and wakes me up and tells me to come and see something. I walk out into the kitchen and Jacob is sitting there and his legs are all bloody. I ask "what happened?" I guess Jacob took off sleep walking and nobody woke up. He climbed over a barbed-wire fence and walked through the field with stickers and everything with no shoes on. He then climbed a chain link fence and by that point he had woke up and started crying. The lady in the house heard him and she called to him and asked if he needed help. He then told her he needed to find his Grandma's house. So she found out who his Grandma was and walked him back to the house. She rang the doorbell and no one heard it. So Jacob told her his Dad was in back of the house so they walked back there and she woke John up. He was pretty scared. Waking up in the middle of a field and not knowing where he was. His legs are all scratched from the barbed wire and he has huge blood blisters on his feet. He can hardly walk on them. He went into shock and threw-up and so it took a few minutes for him to warm up and calm down. I am so very glad that lady brought him back home. So many things could have happened. I will be forever grateful for her for being awake at that time of night and finding him and bringing him home safe. Here are some pics of John washing out the rocks from all of his scratches. It made him go into shock again. We had to lay him back down and now he is doing fin.



On Saturday we went to the Atkinson family reunion. It was really fun for Abigail because they all of Celiacs, so there was a lot of desserts she could eat. It was nice to talk with all the cousins again.

Kenecott Mine

So our summer is half over and it has been going by way fast. I have hardly posted anything. Mostly because I keep forgetting the camera.

Well today we went to the Kenecott Mine tour with some neighbor friends the Hendricksons. It is free until Saturday. It was cool. My kids enjoyed it. Reminds me of my Dad. He used to work in a mine similar to Kenecott and drive the big shovel. It was super busy though. Glad we got there early.

Fourth of July Weekend

This past weekend has been great. It all started on Thursday. Abigail had her kindergarten graduation. Wow! She is now a 1st grader! I can't believe that.

Then Friday was the last day of school! Hooray. Summer can finally begin. That night we went to the Riverton Parade. We love going to this parade. It is so much fun. We went with our friends that Hutcheons and had dinner and waited for the parade.

Then on Saturday morning our neighborhood always has a neighborhood parade that the kids decorate their bikes and ride in. It is a lot of fun.


Then we had to go to Kamas for a wedding. So we ran up their for that and then we came back and had a BBQ with my sister and her family. Then we went to the Riverton fireworks. They were really cool this year. Here are a few pics of the kids with their light swords that they bought that night.


Sunday we went to church and then that night John and the kids slept out on that trampoline. There were quite a few fireworks going off in the neighborhood so we got to watch them again.
Then on Monday we went for a bike ride and then we came home and played on the waterslide.




This has been a very busy but fun weekend. Hope you all had a great 4th.

Lagoon!

Yesterday we went to Lagoon with my sister and her family. It was a lot of fun. I haven't been there for about 10 years and they have a lot of new stuff. There are a ton of rides for Wyatt. He had a blast. Abigail rode a lot of the rides with Wyatt and she was so cute. She would help him and our cousin Kaden who is also two, on and off of the rides and make sure they were buckled. She was a good little helper. Jacob rode all the big roller coasters. He loved Wicked. He went on it about 5 times. Joshua, is in the in-between stage. Still scared of the big stuff but too big for the little stuff. Hopefully next time we go he will have more fun. It was a long day but very fun. I of course, took some pics but they were of the rides and they didn't turn out very good. Sorry.

Birthday Weekend

This is our busy weekend of birthdays. First it was Johns. Happy Birthday! His Dad got a new gun, so John wanted to go to Kamas for his birthday to shoot guns. So after Abigail's last soccer game we headed to Kamas. Unfortunately it was very rainy and soggy. They only got to shoot for about 10 minutes. But had fun anyway. John's Mom made him a birthday dinner and I made him a coconut cream pie(his favorite).

Today was Wyatt's birthday. He is now two years old. I can't believe that my baby is already two. Wow! how time flies. He definately woke up with the two year old attitude. He had a good birthday. He got to go to nursery for his birthday. We had his favorite dinner tonight and he got to blow out his candles on his cake. He had fun. Of course he just LOVES everything Elmo, so he had to have an Elmo cake. I must say, this is the best birthday cake I have yet made.

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend has been fun-filled and busy. Friday we left to go to my Mom's house in Star Valley. It was good to go and see her. Saturday we went up to my Dad's grave and put flowers on his grave.



Then we left and went to Kamas to visit all of John's grandma's and grandpa's graves and had a BBQ with his parents. It was good to be there.

Sunday we had a great day and church and then the kids decided they wanted to sleep out on the trampoline. So they got everything ready to go and then John read to them until it was dark. Then Abigail decided she didn't want to sleep out. The boys lasted until about 2:30a.m. when they came in with their teeth chattering. They were freezing.

Today we accomplished a ton. John did a lot of work in the yard and I actually got to deep clean the bathrooms. I haven't done that in a looooong time. Then we had a BBQ with my sisters. It was good to talk with them.

This has been a great Memorial Weekend.

Abigail's Birthday

Yesterday was Abigail's birthday. The school had their carnival that night so we went to the carnival and the boys went to Fathers/and sons at the Stake center. Then Abigail and I came home and had some girl time. We played cards and made cupcakes. She had a lot of fun. Then Wyatt threw-up again! He has been throwing up now for a week. We had our hometeacher come over and he and John gave him a blessing. Thankfully today he has not thrown up. I hope he is finally over it.

Today we had Abigail's birthday party. Because Wyatt threw-up last night we decided to have it at the church so as not to expose everyone else to the germs. I think it was a lot of fun. We had a kitty birthday. I made little kitty ears out of headbands and then put whiskers on them.



They played a game of follow the Kitty. We played quite a few games like, Mother cat where are you? and Kitty Says, We lapped up milk out of dishes like a kitty. Then we went in the gym and played hide and go seek and tag. I think everyone had a great time.

For cake we made Betty Crockers Gluten Free Chocolate Cup Cakes and no one even knew they were gluten-free.




Abigail got a lot of good gifts. Thanks to everyone. She had a great day. We had Abigail's birthday dinner tonight. She chose chicken, and baked potatoes. It was a good day for her.

Potty Training, Soccer and Life

Well, we have been doing a bit of everything lately. I decided to try potty training Wyatt last week, so on Tuesday we put him in underwear. The first time he went pee he was very shocked at getting all wet. Then when he went again, he started catching on. Finally after four try's he got it and has been mostly dry the past week. I am so excited to have this on its way. I really do hate potty training, but I hate changing diapers worse.

Abigail is in soccer this year and likes it alot. She has fun running and trying to kick the ball. Here is some pics of her.




Then we had some friends over Saturday night for a tinfoil dinner and started a fire in the firepit and had tinfoil dinners and smores. It was a lot of fun. Abigail got really messy. I just had to take a pic of her.



Then last night we went to the mini-park for a little gathering to say hello to some ward members who had moved out of our ward about a year ago and they had come back to visit. It was good to catch up with them, but I wonder if Wyatt ate something off of the ground because last night at 4:00 a.m. he started throwing up and threw up every 15 minutes until about 7:30. Then he fell asleep and he is still asleep. Hence why I have time to sit at the computer and update my blog at 9:30 in the morning! Well, the dryer just beeped, so I guess now I need to go fold clothes.

Piano Recital

Tonight was our piano recital. It was a very good one. It was kind of emotional for me. This was the last recital for five of my students that I have been teaching now for years. They are moving on to college and other things. It was kind of neat though that I had these kids come to me not knowing anything and now here they are playing the piano. It is really cool. My three oldest children also played really well. Here are the video's of them playing.

Abigail, playing "Ode to Joy"


Joshua, playing "The Purple Cow"


Jacob, playing "Ballade"

Busy Weekend

This weekend was a busy one. On Saturday, I had a Stake Service project that I went to and then John and the kids loaded up the tree that we cut down and took three loads of trash to the dump. Then Jacob mowed our whole yard for the first time. It is really neat to be able to have the boys getting old enough to really help and do some of these kinds of things.

Abigail had her first soccer game. She really had fun.

This is not the best pic. I will get a better picture next week.

Then John made us dutch oven potatoes and Hamburgers for dinner. It was a great day. I love it when we get so much accomplished.

Jacob's Science Fair

This past weekend Jacob took 2nd place in the School Science Fair and got to go to the District Science Fair. He didn't place at District, but had a lot of fun. We are proud of him for taking 2nd place at the school and getting to move on.

He did his science fair project on which batteries last longer: Name brand or generic. His results were they were both very close. So for the money it saves you, buy generic.

Are We Ready for an Emergency

Tonight, for Family Home Evening we had a test run to see if we are prepared. It all started at dinner. I didn't cook anything and when I called everyone to the table to eat, John turned the power out in the kitchen and the weather turned out nicely. The wind was blowing and the dark black rain clouds were blowing in and then the power went out. The kids are scared and then John comes in and says"I think we're having a earthquake, quick get under the table." So we all gather under the table, (Abigail is now crying hysterically) and we talk about what to do in an earthquake. Then we had everyone go to their rooms to pretend to sleep and then John pushes the fire alarm. We all exit the house and go to our family meeting point. Now everyone is having fun. Then John shows us how to shut off the gas and water.

Now comes the fun part. Because we have had an emergency we need to pull out our 72 hour kits and eat dinner from this. Well, I filled our 72 hour kits 4 year ago and after we got all the food out, everything was expired! (ha, ha,) Good thing we did this now and not when there was a real emergency. So we ended up throwing almost everything away and had french toast for dinner.

But we learned a few things:

1. Don't store things that expire in the same year you buy them.
2. Store things that you really will eat (we had things that were on the list that nobody like)
3. Rotate the food yearly so when a disaster strikes you have fresh food.
4. Put your food in a ziploc bag for easier rotation. (I had sealed our kits in mylar bags, but you can't rotate food in and out of them. If they were in a ziploc bag I could rotate things easier.)

So now I will go buy new food for our 72 hour kits and hopefully remember to rotate it more often.

It was a pretty good FHE and all the kids learned a few things.

Easter/Spring Break

Well, this past weekend has been our Spring Break and Easter weekend. Of course, it SNOWED!! My kids were not too happy with that, but they made the best of it and put their snow clothes on and went out and played in the snow with their cousin McKayla.

We died Easter eggs Friday night. It was fun. I had taken some better pics, but after I had taken them, I realized the memory stick wasn't in the camera!! ugh.




On Saturday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson's for an Easter party and to watch General Conference. It was a great conference. It seemed to me, they talked a lot about how to raise your children. Very good stuff. During dinner, Wyatt kept trying to steal food off of Grandpa's plate.


We had an Easter egg hunt at Grandma's. The grandkids all loved this. Here are some pics.

My New Washing Machine

I love my new washing machine!

I should tell you that about two weeks ago my old washing machine gave up the ghost. On a very in-convenient day. Well, I went shopping and picked out a new one. Then they delivered it and I washed the first load. It was OK. So I washed a second load and a shirt came out stained. I washed a third load and a the grass stains did not come out of Jacob's pants. (Before, they have always come out). So now I am a bit petrubed at this new machine. Doesn't seem to be working quite right. Then the next load, I put in a pair of pants that had some muddy sand from the sandbox on them. When they came out, they still had muddy sand on them. So I called the store and they returned the machine and I got to pick out another machine.

This one came and I LOVE it. It washes beautifully. Even the clothes the the other machine stained came clean! Yah! I love my new washing machine and am so thankful for it. You kind of take for grated the things that make life a little easier, like washing machines, dish washers and microwaves until yours doesn't work anymore.

I am so glad I finally got a washing machine that works really good.

Anniversary Weekend

This weekend was John and I's 11th anniversary. John took me downtown and we stayed at the Little America Hotel. I LOVE that hotel. It is great. I especially love the breakfast buffet. We had fun galavanting around downtown Salt Lake. It was a great break from the kids and life, and it was wonderful. John's parents came and stayed with our kids. They had a great time.

So being our anniversary weekend, I thought I would share how I met John.

We were in a University of Utah Singles Ward and I was the ward organist. John and his cousin had just moved into our ward, and he saw me walking (or rather he says "bouncing" up to play the organ. Then my friend Christin saw his cousin and thought he was so cute. So she talked me into making lemon bars (I don't know why she didn't bake them) and take them over to welcome them into the ward. Well the lemon bars didn't turn out they were very runny. But Christine was very persistent that we were going to take these lemon bars over the the Atkinson cousins. So off we went with very runny lemon bars. They ate every last one of them. They were not picky. Well, it seemed as if Christine really liked John's cousin and she kept dragging me with her every time she went over there. She kept setting things up for us all to go and do and John and I became very good friends. I remember telling one of my friends that I could tell John anything and he was a great listener. We used to talk on the phone for hours.

Then one crazy day John decided to ask me out on a real date!! I said yes and then I went home and called my mom and cried for an hour because I knew that I would marry him.

Well, the rest is history. We dated for 1 month(but had been friends for about 3 months) and got married in 4 months.

I love my husband and am so thankful that he chose me.

Washing Machines . . .

What a crappy day this day has been. I woke up feeling like I didn't want to get out of bed and I should have stayed in bed. I got the laundry ready to go in the washer and then on the first load, it stopped working. It wouldn't spin the water out of the clothes. (it has been making strange noises now for a few weeks so we knew it was going to break shortly). So I call John and asked if I could call the fix it man, but he said it would be cheaper to buy a new washer so off I went to the store to buy a new washer. Got there and they had nothing in stock, so I have to wait until Monday for a new washer.

One nice thing though, John was working nearby so he came home for lunch and limped another load through the washer.

But at least the day is almost over and I can try for a new day tomorrow.

Rolls

I finally did it. I have been wanting to make homemade rolls for a long time now, but the thought always scared me. Finally I decided to try it. They worked out very well. My boys were really excited. They loved having fresh baked rolls.

Living Planet Aquarium

Today is our last day off-track. I have mixed feelings this time about my kids going back to school. This off-track time has been very nice. We have done a few things, and my children have been very cooperative and nice to each other. It has been really nice.

Today for our last thing we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. We had discount tickets and we went with my sisters Andrea's two children and my sister Serena. It was fun but I was glad we had discount tickets otherwise it would not have been worth the money.

Grandma and Grandpa

Today we took a trip to Kamas to visit Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson. It started out snowing this morning, so we didn't know if we would go, but we chanced it and it was fine. We got to Grandma's ad she had made sugar cookies so the kids had a great time frosting cookies with Grandma.






Then after that they all settled on the couch with a story from Grandpa.



We had a great time today. We have great Grandparents. They are wonderful. Thanks grandma and grandpa for a great day.

Swimming

Last night we went swimming for Family Home Evening. When I asked the kids if they wanted to go swimming they all looked at me like I was crazy. Abigail said, Don't you think we will freeze? They thought I meant at the outdoor pool. But we went to an indoor pool. The kids had a great time. Wyatt didn't know what to think at first, and then he finally warmed up and loved it.

It was a great time. I didn't take a camera so their are no pictures.

Nice Weather

This week has been so nice. The weather has been so nice. My kids are off-track and they have loved going outside everyday. Then on Friday we went to Classic Skating. They loved it. I forgot the camera so no pictures. It was a lot of fun. They rode their scooters and climbed on the big blow up slides and the jungle. It was a lot of fun. Even Wyatt was able to go on the big blow up slides. They all came home very tired out.

Today I was able to clean the garage and then we went on a bike ride. I have been enjoying this beautiful weather. I just hope it doesn't turn cold again.

Random Things

We have been off-track this week, and so we have just been hanging out and having fun. Here is a picture of Wyatt all dressed up and ready to go ...


Jacob made us peanut butter chocolate chip cookies today pretty much all by himself. He is becoming quite the chef.

Stiches, stiches stiches ugh!

So today was a great day, until about 3:30 p.m. John's parents and his sister came to visit today. We just hung out and talked and got hair cuts and such. Then we went to Jumbo Burger. We no sooner had gotten home, than Wyatt decided to climb on the table (The little monkey that he is) and then he slipped and fell and hit his eye on the metal railing. Instantly his eye poofed up and bleeding. We were pretty sure he needed stiches so we went up to the insta care and as I was walking in a doctor was walking out and she saw Wyatt's eye and walked right back in with us. Then at the check-in counter we had five nurses all looking at him. He was pretty brave. They put his arms in a pillowcase and wrapped him up like a burrito and they stiched him up. He didn't much like getting the shot to deaden him, but everythig else was done. All while the doctor was stiching him he kept saying, Done, done, done. He wanted to be done.

He is doing great now. Running around like the wild child he is.