Our favorite UPS worker

We were so excited to dress Ike up for Halloween but with all of the craziness that day brought we did not get to dress him up.  So a few days later Harlee put him in his costume and he couldn't be any cuter!  He did not love it but he was a good sport for a few minutes.  I think that we will be getting him another costume next year!

Starting off the celebration...

Monday is my 41st birthday and the festivities began today!  My mom invited Jenna and I over for breakfast this morning.  She made us the yummiest crepes with nutella, vanilla pudding, and berries.  They were amazing.  She also made scrambled eggs.  I was so stuffed but did not want to stop eating.  It was nice to spend some time with her and so nice of her to do this for us. 

Our Birthday Boy

We cannot believe Ike is a year old.  Or is it 7 years??  Whatever it is we were so excited to celebrate our favorite puppy.  We made him a special birthday hat that he could not wait to take off and we gave him some new toys and treats.  We seriously love Ike and cannot remember what it was like without him.  He sure loves the kids and me and wants Joey to love him!  He is so a part of our family and we were so excited to spend a little time making him feel loved.

Spendy Diagnosis

Around 11am today Gray called from school in tears saying his stomach hurt.  I brought him home to rest.  He drove with me to pick up Tag and to take him to therapy.  After dropping off Tag we came home and I suggested that Gray go upstairs to rest on our couch.  He made it up half of the stairs before falling in pain.  His stomach hurt so bad.  I made the decision to take him to Urgent Care.  We got to Urgent Care and they immediately told me to take him to the ER because they were worried about appendicitis.  On the way to the hospital I arranged Tag to be picked up by John and Darolyne, cancelled flu shots, called the kids at school, and arranged swim carpool.  They got Gray in quickly and they first took his blood.  They then did an ultrasound and then some XRays.  The conclusion was that he had a lot of gas in his tummy.  He came home and was in so much pain again that he actually threw up.  It was so sad.  Luckily by the morning he was feeling so much better and was ready to get back to normal life.  So grateful it was not anything more serious.

Halloween Night

After filling up on pumpkin shaped pizzas our Curious George, Gray Ironman, Zombie Football Player, and Flapper were ready to go trick or treating.  Joey took Tag, Gray, Harlee, and her friend Addie around the neighborhood and Nash went with his friend Ashton.  Luke opted out of trick or treating and enjoyed pizza and a Stranger Things marathon with his friends at Drew Eden's house.  The four trick or treaters made out like bandits!  Candy that will last for months!  Happy Halloween!

Halloween Parade

It's Halloween which means another school parade!  Since Tag goes to a different school I was looking forward to two parades.  Tag's was at 9:30am right after he arrived at school.  His sweet teacher told us to stand to the left of the classroom and we saw the parade as it began.  Tag did amazing and I was back in the car by 9:40am!  Seriously my kind of parade.  The kids parade was to begin at 2:30pm.  But around noon I received a call from Gray that he was not feeling well.  So I picked him up and left a note for the other two that I would not be able to make it to their parade.  Luckily my friend Cami was able to take some pictures for me of Harlee and Nash.  Such cute kids!

Paintin Pumpkins

With only a few days to spare we finally got to our pumpkins!  After dinner we covered the table in newspaper, got out all of the supplies, and let the creative juices flow.  I love to see what all of the kids come up with.  The pumpkins turned out perfectly!  So grateful for these memories that we get to make as a family.

Primary Program

Today we had the primary program.  I would love to say that it went off without a hitch but that was not a case.  Before we left I told Tag that if he went up and did his part then he would be able to paint a pumpkin when we got back.  I know now that I should not have done that.  When it was time for him to go up with the other kids, he really struggled.  He got up there and screamed that it was all my fault that he was up there.  I was embarrassed and I took him out.  He calmed down a little and said that he needed to go back up there.  I waited until they were in the middle of a song and took him back up.  He was so upset and started to scream while they sang.  I took him out again reluctantly.  He was so upset so I held him on my laugh and told him that he was so brave to go up there.  I also let him know that he would still get to paint his pumpkin.  As I sat there and held him I had a thought come to my mind "Look how far he has come!".  Last year he could not even make it through the practice.  This year he made it through both practices and he attempted to go up there.  So much progress.  When he calmed down he asked me "Mom, was it hard for you to go up when you were little?" Oh my sweet boy, yes!  It is still so hard for me to go up there!  He wanted so badly to be able to go up there and do what he was supposed to but was so afraid.  How the embarrassment faded as I held my little guy who is doing the best he can.  I was so proud of him.  This week a friend shared an article with me called "The Sword or the Angel".  It is an amazing article written by a mom of a son with severe autism.  She tells the story: "Why do we have to endure these challenges?  Could God heal him if he so desired?  Without question, he could.  Do we lack sufficient faith or perhaps God doesn’t love us as much as he loves others.  Some parents have seen miracles with their autistic children.  All fair questions.  What would the Lord have us learn? A few years ago, we went to a fireside and the speaker asked some of these same questions.  He referred to the Book of Acts, Chapter 12.  Herod the king put Peter and James into prison.  Both were apostles.  Both were members of Christ’s most inner circle. The circumstances and timing are the same.  In verse two, James gets the sword and is martyred; but Peter, in verse seven, gets an angel.  He is saved by the angel who assists him in escaping prison.  Why such a harsh contrast between the treatment of these two apostles?  You have to ask the questions. Did Peter have more faith than James?  Probably not; they were equals before the Lord.  Then maybe the Lord loved Peter more than he loved James.  When you think that through it doesn’t really seem likely.  Then why did one get the sword and the other the angel?  Perhaps that is just the way life is; sometimes we get the sword and sometimes we get the angel and there are no easy answers.  But no matter the trial or burden, we can choose to yoke ourselves with the Savior and, by so choosing, our burden will be shared by Him who has infinite strength and who has suffered all.

There was a time when we felt like we got the sword with Elijah.  The pain was sharp and the wound deep.  But Elijah is innocent and pure before the Lord.  We are better people because he is in our family.  Our other children have always served him and we have had to sacrifice and humble ourselves because of the challenges.  Have our lives been more difficult?  Yes, without question. But do we live better lives because of him?  Again, I would say yes, without question.

At a time when Elijah rarely spoke a word, a teacher asked each of the special needs students in the class what they were thankful for.  Each took their turn … a favorite toy or a friend.  When she came to Elijah, she asked him the same question.  She paused for a few moments, but did not expect him to answer at all.  He usually did not respond to any verbal prompt, but a small light burst from his soul and penetrated the invisible barrier.

He opened his mouth and said just one word.  He said, “Love.”

We didn’t get the sword.  We got the angel."
I love this article and can relate so much.  Tag is such an angel in our life.  He teaches all of us daily how to be better people.  He is pure and speaks without worry.  I love the lessons I am learning as I am blessed to be his mom.
PS- I did not get to watch the other kids do the program but I could hear each of them give their part.  They did any amazing job and knew their parts by memory!

Mimi's Annual Halloween Party

Tonight was Mimi's annual Halloween Party.  We enjoyed pizza, the kids made sugar cookies and of course the played the freeze dance game.  It was so fun to see everyone's costume and spend some time catching up with some family members I have not seen in a while.  With all of our crazy schedules it is so fun to get together.  After the that Halloween party we headed to the church for our ward Halloween Party.  Two parties in one night = exhaustion!

JBiztown Round 2

Friday it was Harlee's turn to go to J Biztown which is the 5th grade field trip where they get the opportunity to work different jobs and run businesses.  Harlee had to interview a few weeks ago and was offered a position as the CFO for Maverick.  She loved this because she got to be in charge and use a cash register to help out her employees when it got busy.  They rode the frontrunner there and back and she had the best time. 

2nd new car for 2017

Well we for sure did not plan on getting Joey a new car this year but his truck had other plans.  We were hoping to get at least another year out of the truck but it broke down last week.  It was going to cost us over $5,000 to fix it so with 230,000 miles on it we decided it was time to say goodbye.  So we found a Hynduai Santa Fe and it is beautiful.  It is a 2014 and in amazing conditions.  Two car payments is not fun but I love the comfort knowing that both of our cars will get us where we need to go.