None of my kids have ever gotten pink eye before until Today. Trevor has a serious case of pink eye in both eyes. His eyes look so painful that mine water every time I see him. And the best news is it's highly contagious. YEA ME!!!! I guess that's what you get when you go to school with 2,000 germy kids. Unfortunately I know this is only the beginning of whats to come in the cold an flu season..
So Josh has informed me on several occasions that GIRLS ARE WEIRD. Here is why.
I was painting my toe nails and put the spacers in between my toes. He was just watching me with such a intense look. Then I opened the polish and he turned up his nose still looking at me like I'm crazy. When it was all said and done he turned to Trevor and said. "Girls are weird."
Today he came home from school announcing that a little girl in his class is weird I ask him why. And he said. "She always wears a skirt and has to twirl and twirl to make it go in a circle." "Why does she do that it's not even cool." "Girls are weird".
We were walking down the hall at school when we ran into his little friend Sarah. She ran up and gave him a huge hug and said. "Josh I'm still going to marry you someday." again I got the response. "Girls are weird."
I'm not to sure that boys thinking girls are weird fully goes away. I know I find myself wondering why boys do the things they do. But I always find things funny when I see them through my cute 5 year old boys eyes. And seeing it like he does YES GIRLS ARE WEIRD!!! Maybe tonight I'll let him see me pluck my eyebrows that will really freak him out :)!!!
This week has been a humbling one. I unfortunately had to have surgery due to some complications I experienced while having my Babies. And after nearly losing my own life from the complications I had with Gavin. I knew that we had to be done having kids.
This surgery was just one more nail in the coffin of I couldn't have anymore kids so it's been really hard to wrap my feelings around it. The process of putting this chapter behind us and moving on to the new one has been so slow and hard for me. Because anyone who knows me knows that my heart will always ache. I will never know what it's like to raise a little girl.
But I feel so blessed to have 3 handsome healthy boys. They each bring such joy into my life. And I wouldn't trade them for anything.
I'm so grateful for all the wonderful people who came to my aid in helping. With all the phone calls, flowers,prayers,blessings, driving me to the Dr. at 6:20 in the morning, taking my kids after school and bringing my family dinners. I feel so loved and so blessed to know that I have so many wonderful people surrounding me. I'm not very good at excepting help and felt that I could do it on my own. So when I got so sick from a bad reaction from the medication, I'm so grateful that people just stepped in. When I went into my surgery I thought I was just going to have a great nap, little did I know I would wake up in the ER. When the Dr. asked me if I knew where I was all I could ask was. "who are you?" I was more concerned that my female Dr. somehow turned into this man that I've never seen. I guess they even took me there on the ambulance, but I don't remember a thing. Poor Ryan had to see it all and sit in the consolation room wondering what the heck happened.
I'm excited to be free from the pain and exhaustion I've had for two years now. I pray that this surgery fixed the problem and I can again be healthy and able to live my life. Again thank you so much everyone for all your help. I'm so very grateful. My heart is very full and I know I'm very blessed.
My Cute nephew was born on Monday September 22nd.
It killed me not to be able to see and hold him in the hospital.
Another disadvantage of being away from family.
Congratulations Lynn and Keri. We can't wait to meet him. 
So Saturday morning at 3:00 our alarm goes off and Ryan rushed to get ready to leave the house and head to Houston. It was a early day but very exciting as he loves this kind of stuff. Not to mention he got a chance to really use his Chain saw. :)
He as well as 26 other members from our ward and then several stakes in Austin got the opportunity to help clean up what Hurricane Ike had destroyed. It was a humbling experience and made Ryan and I feel blessed for what we have. And that we have the ability to help others that were in need.
They spend most of their time cutting down trees and helping people clean up their yards. He said it was great to knock on peoples door and ask what was needed. People couldn't believe that they would offer their service for free, and that they came all the way from Austin to help. They truly were greatful. I'm so grateful that Ryan volunteered. It makes me feel so blessed that he has such a kind heart and is always willing to lend a helping hand. Here are a few pictures of his experience.
So I mentioned how I love Gavin's new little stages. But there is one that I'm not to fond of. I call him my Tornado because in a matter of minutes he can have every cupboard emptied, all the toilet paper off the roll, all the clothes pulled out of the drawers ect. Today as I was taking a shower I turned on his Elmo movie (which he usually is mesmerized by and doesn't move) in my room. I always make sure he can't get into to much and having the main door shut he can't get out. He kept coming in a out of the bathroom carrying clothes. I knew he was pulling clothes out of the drawer but I had no clue of the extent until I got out and this is what I found.
When I went to go get the camera to take his picture he smiled so big and said "CHEESE PLEASE". Now how can I get mad at that. It sure makes for a frustrating day when EVERY THING I DO gets undone in a matter of minutes. But they grow up all to fast so I know this stage is Easy enough to handle. So Ry when you ask me what I have done all day this is just a snip it of the messes I get to clean :) And for all of you that say my house is always clean here is proof that it's not!!!!
My sweet little boy has now become obsessed with Airplanes. He carries a small one around all day long and I recently gave him this book which he wont let go of. I love how he tells the airplanes "bye bye". He's such a easy going baby I just can't get enough of him and his cute stages.
Hurricane IKE has been a horrible storm here in Texas. Luckily everyone we knew in Houston didn't have too much damage. Diane and Fernando have been staying with us until they have power and water back. I'm so grateful that we have a place for them and that they are safe. The weather here is so crazy. We moved from Seattle to get out of crazy rainy constantly soggy weather. And now have crazy unpredictable weather. Luckily Austin doesn't get too much of the storms just the aftermath which isn't as strong. I feel very blessed. You can check out their blog with pictures of the little damage they got from the storm.
Ryan and I were discussing Trevor and decided that he and Ryan need a good project to do together. He absolutely loves to build thing and is always tearing things apart to see how they work. I was thinking something like a bird house.
Ryan had other plans!!!
This was his permission to get him a REAL motorcycle!!! It's a pit bike that they have to put together and get a engine for. Trevor has to earn putting it together with good behavior and helping around the house. The last few day's he's been a stinker and secretly I don't mind him losing putting the thing together. I'm not happy that he will have his own bike. But I held off Ryan as long as I could. It was only a matter of time with 3 boys and a Dad who LOVE LOVE LOVES Dirt bikes.
I'll post pictures of the progress. So far it's still in the box. YEA!!! As for Josh he's our cautious kid. We can't get him off training wheels on his bike. I don't think he'll be riding a Motorcycle for a LONG time. I'm so happy about that.
I ask my self daily WHY DID I KEEP THIS DUMB DOG?? Did I really think it would traumatize my children so much that they wouldn't be able to recover? My parents got rid of all our dogs in some traumatic fashion. One had worms and my Mom shot the dog. SERIOUSLY!!! Maybe that's why I don't like dogs all that much because I was traumatized as a kid.
Oh who am I kidding I kept the thing because I'm a sucker!!!
Why am I complaining this time? Because Jake found a new friend. Lets just say living on a green belt has it's advantages but it also has some CREATURE disadvantages and we now have a pet SKUNK who has sprayed Jake.
Ryan was luckily home the 1st time he got sprayed and he stunk to high heaven. So we did what two nerds do and googled a solution to our problem. Then we drenched the dog in Hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. Which actually worked.
Ryan conveniently left on a business trip and Jake got sprayed again. We had used all the hydrogen peroxide, and the kids were asleep so I couldn't go to the store.
I had read that Tomato paste worked for the smell and I had to do something because he wouldn't stop crying about it. So now not only do I have a stinky dog who is not allowed in the house and wines all night, but I have a red dog who keeps licking himself because the tomato paste wont come off.
WHY AM I SUCH A SUCKER???
Nice Gloves huh.
We woke up this morning and saw our new friend. We were lucky enough to get to take a picture of him. I didn't know SKUNKS were so cute. The boys wanted to keep him. There is NO WAY that's happening. No matter how much they bat their eyes. :)!!!
Ryan's sister Diane and her husband Fernando came up from Houston to visit us this weekend. We really enjoyed being with them and were so happy that they could come and see us. It's so nice to have family kinda close by. Especially fun ones like Diane and Fernando. 
Josh playing Lazer tag. The vest was bigger then him.
Trevor kept spraying everyone on the bumper boats. Poor Diane was so kind to take Josh and got drenched in the process.
Austin park and play was a great way to spend the day.
Waiting for the bats. Which never came out. Lame bats. But we were not the only fools waiting to see a million bats, that place was CROWDED. Maybe they will come out next time. It's something Austin is Known for and everyone said it's really cool if they actually come out from under the bridges. 
Walking to see the bats Fernando was GREAT with Josh!!! Or as Josh calls him FER-MAN-DO
The boys just LOVE aunt Diane!!! She's so great with them as well.
Getting Ready to float down the river
Nothings more red neck then floating down a river in a Hot Texas afternoon. But those red necks sure know how to have fun. We had a great time doing this. It was a bit crazy and we nearly lost a kid or two a few times. We were so grateful that Fernando and Diane helped out so much because we couldn't of done it with out them.
The pictures are a little out of order but it was to hard to fix them. I'm a beginner blogger and maybe someday I'll get it just right but for now this is what I got.
1st we went to New Braunfels Texas and hit the outlet mall for a while. Then floated down the river. Sunday after church we went and attempted to see the non existing bats. Monday Ryan took them to Austin Park and Play for the day. Gavin and I stayed home from that one it's just not a place for a baby. But what a great weekend I love doing things like this and so did the boys. Thanks again for coming guys you are welcome back anytime.
No you're not seeing double for some reason it added some pictures twice and I can't fix it. Oh well that's the way it goes sometimes.
Ryan and I bid on a boat cruise down lake Travis. It was a auction the boy scouts in our church put on so they could go on a HIGH ADVENTURE. We were allowed to invite up to 10 couples and kinda over crowded the boat. oops!! We kept sinking and had to run to the back of the boat to save us from going under. It was quite the adventure. Then while we were at dinner it started to pour on us. Luckily the restaurant was under tarps so we all just crowded together. Boating back to the car we got pulled over by the boat police. But got let off with a warning for overloading, and not having on the proper lights. It was a perfect ending to our great ADVENTURE. It was such good company and it made for a great memory. Thanks everyone for coming.
I can't believe I have two full time students now. Josh started Kindergarten with two shiners and a goose egg between his eyes. What a great way to start school huh. And poor Trevor was in the Dr.'s office last night with a food allergic reaction. He had the worst upset stomach. But they were both up bright and early 6:00 to be ready to go to school by 7:15. Josh was so excited he could barley contain himself. He walked right in and got all set up with out any help. I was so proud of him. And Trevor was embarrassed to have us take him so he hid behind the door while we took his picture. He's so funny. I'm so glad I have Gavin at home he helped with the loneliness. I hope they have a good year I love these kids so much. Why do they have to grow up so fast?
My Home town of Cedar City Utah just suffered a GREAT loss. A plane carrying 9 Dr's crashed in Moab killing all of them. My sister Wendy worked with some of these great Dr.s and has felt the impact it has put on the Small town hospital. These were all great people who will be greatly missed. What a tragic loss. Our hearts and prayers go out to their family's.
If you want to Read more about it here is a link to the article that was in the Salt Lake tribune.
http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_10283456
Family picture time. They turned out pretty good considering it was about 110+ outside and the boys were hot, tired and hungry not to mention wild and crazy like always. The Photographer did a wonderful job!!!
Today we went and got some more with us all dressy to go above my mantel. I was pretty cranky with the kids because they would not cooperate. I hope we at least have ONE good one of the whole gang. AHH family picture time I now remember why we have not had them taken in a long time.
My Nephew Kaleb just got his Mission call to Georgia. We are so proud of him and excited to hear about all his adventures.
Good Luck ELDER GOULDING!!! We love you.
The other day I had to take the boy's to the Dr. Trevor and Josh were both complaining about a ear ache and Gavin was very congested. Luckily they would see all three at once usually they wont. Anyways the Dr. 1st looked at Trevor and discovered he has swimmers ear. Then she asked who was next and Josh volunteered Gavin. After she looked him over she said "he has a sinus infection." Then it was Josh's turn. She looked into his ear then in his nose and then Josh said. "So Dr what's my problem?" He's such a character.
Then yesterday Ryan and I were in Sunday school it's in the gym and the stage is on the side of the class. It was all quite and the teacher was going into his lesson until we see the curtains move and a child pops out. Low and behold it was Josh. I was so embarrassed. When we discussed him being out of class and disrupting my class he said. "Mom I was just making sure you made it to class safely." I'm always checking on him making sure he's into class because he likes to go Himself with out any help. Looks like I taught him a few things with out knowing it.
Ever have one of those days? Well today was one. So it's the end of the week and we had a VERY limited food supply. But I had enough for pb&j's for lunch and then I was making skinny minis for dinner with a smoothie and a banana cream pie for dessert. So with a messy kitchen and using up the last of the milk, eggs all the staples we were good to go. Until there were little black chunks in the skinny mini batter. Unfortunately I didn't catch it before I made the pie which was now a WEAVEL pie. YUCK!!! We pulled back the top layer of flour to find it covered in nasty ALIVE bugs. So I figure we will just have our smoothie until as I was pouring it I accidentally DUMPED the whole thing out missing the cups. UGH!!! So I herded the kids into the car and headed to Wendy's. What an afternoon and this is why I HATE COOKING!!! I wont even mention all the other things that went wrong but this is the icing on some pretty crummy cake.
Well here's another slide just the best way to view pictures when you have a ton. I think.
It was great to go back to Washington and see some old friends. It was such a brief time we had to say hi. I hope to just go back to Duvall sometime and visit with everyone next time. We only stayed in Redmond Friday and then Saturday after Trevor's baptism we headed to Eastern Washington to find the sun shine and to Lake Chelan. Ryan's parents have a house there; well a big house and a little house so it makes it perfect when the whole family comes up we all have room. The boys LOVE LAKE CHELAN.They played hard all day long. Trevor's favorite thing was to ride the seadoo's and Josh loved the HOT TUB. (Couldn't pull that kid out.) and Gavin just loved it all and was such a happy little camper playing in the dirt and throwing rocks into the lake. He didn't Sleep the whole time we were there so I really need a vacation from my vacation I came home EXHAUSTED! Both the older boys got swimmers ear and the baby came home with a sinus infection. I guess that's what 7 days in a lake will do for you huh. We are so glad we go to go it was nice to see the Family we miss them so much.
