Cookout

One night while we were in Utah, we met up with the Watson's and the Rossi's for a cookout up Millcreek Canyon. The kids hiked around while the Dutch oven dinner was cooking. Hotdogs and s'mores were plentiful. 

Finn had fun conquering nature. 

All my kiddies

Grandpa Rick always makes the best Dutch oven dinners and desserts. We love Grandpa Rick and Grandma Sharlene SO MUCH!!

Savvy had to model marshmallow mouth

Keegan sat with Grand ma for over 30 min, just snuggling. Grandma Sharlene soaked it up, every second!

The kids each found sticks and twine and assembled their own fishing poles. 

Camden, Sydney, Neelah and Savvy. All the kids were partially soaked before the night was through. 

These Darlings are my light!  I am so blessed as well as SO THANKFUL!

Carnival Night 2013

Tonight we went to the Mt Airy Volunteer Fire Dept. Carnival. This is our third year going and we always have a great time. The Sommerfeldt and Donovan family's went with us and the kids all had a buddy to go on the rides with. 

Benson and Finn were two peas in a pod even though they are two years apart. They rode most of the "grown up" rides and these pictures were taken while waiting in line for the Super Shot. I can't believe Finn was brave enough to ride it!!

Most of the crew...

Here are Ashton, Finn and Benson waiting for the ride to begin. Keep in mind, Ashton is THREE!

One of the first rides the kids went on was Puff the Magic Dragon. Keegan was terrified and bawled the entire ride. After that he wouldn't go on any other rides- not even the lame horse behind the buggy that moves slower than he can run. That was a waste of $12!  Other than that, fun was had by all and we ended the night with cotton candy. 

It's family nights like this that I cherish. The kids are filled with excitement and I love to see it in their faces!  These are the memories I never want to forget!

Walter Kent Williams

Here are some more pictures of Grandpa Kent's funeral and viewing. Thanks to Melissa for capturing all the emotions of the day!

Utah Trip 2013

This trip to Utah came to pass because of Grandpa Kent's passing. Along the way, we had great visits with family. We spent a lot of time with Grandma Colleen. We all played cards, colored pictures and helped her around the house. 

Grandma has said many times that she didn't think she would have a chance to meet Brody. Luckily, she did and Brody was happy to let her cuddle him!  All the kids were sweet with Grandma Colleen and I loved watching every second! 

Today, after our visit, I had to say goodbye to Grandma. It was much harder that hearing of a death. I looked into her eyes as I was hugging and kissing her and we both knew it would be the last time we would be together. My heart broke today. 

I am so blessed to have had such a close relationship with my grandparents-both sets. They were all exceptional examples to me and I love them all so much. I have one grandparent left on this earth. I am so THANKFUL for the Plan of Salvation. The thought of a reunion in Heaven comforts me. As grandpa's casket was being closed, grandma whispered "don't wait to long, come and get me soon."

I aspire to have the kind of Marriage with Eric that my grandparents had together. I want my family to be together forever!

Uncle Kirk and Aunt Pam were at Grandma's house today as well. They brought their dog Cocoa. The kids LOVED playing with him and holding him-especially Savvy!  It made the day even more special. 

Fun cousin and 2nd cousin pictures

Finn, Gabe and Keaton

Savvy, Avery and Neelah

Grandpa Kent

Today I said goodbye to Grandpa Kent. He was such an amazing person and as I grew older, I came to realize that more and more. 

Eric, the kids and I were privileged to get to come back to Utah for the funeral. I ADORED seeing all the cousins again. We reminisced and teased each other and I loved every second of it!

It was one of the best days of my life. That is so odd to say since we were saying goodby to Grandpa. I know that Grandpa was so happy to see us all together again!

The kids got to meet and play with my cousins and spend quality time with Grandma Colleen. I miss living close to family. 

Tiny Birdy's

Today I found this in the bush next to our front door. I had suspected there was a nest in there somewhere but hadn't taken the time to look until today. The kids LOVED seeing the probably one day old robins! The babies weren't making any sound or moving at all. They just sat there with their mouths open. I can't wait to watch them grow!

Virginia Beach June 2013

We met up with Anne and Andrew and kids for a long weekend on the beach. 

Riley was so cute playing with Brody

Dad and the kids spent hours digging their "hot tub"

Mom even ventured out from under the shade to play in the water. She got taken out by a huge wave...

Keegan and Finn sleeping in. 

Everyone went out for ice cream. 

Lyme's Disease

Yesterday Neelah and I spent the afternoon/evening in the ER. Ending diagnosis was Bell's Palsy due to probable Lyme's Disease.

She has has cold symptoms for the past week now. Fever, lethargy, vomiting, nausea, headache and congestion. Actually, Finn, Savvy and Keegan have the same symptoms. I chalk it up to a nasty head cold and dose out the Ibuprofen

Friday morning she has redness under her right eye. When I ask her about it she says her eye is watering. Again, I think head cold. Her eyes looked so tired! Poor girl!

At about 1:45, I was talking to her and noticed that her Rt eye and mouth weren't moving symmetrically. All of a sudden, ding-ding-ding! It all comes together that she has something more than a head cold and facial paralysis was pretty high on the "serious" scale so I immediately made arrangements to dump the other kids with Shelly and headed to the ER.

The doctor said it sounded like Lyme's Disease- Bell's palsy was showing up a lot with cases of Lyme's. she wanted to be sure so she ordered a CT. Neelah was so brave through getting poked three times for an IV and having a scary test done inside a scary machine.

Results came back that she had what seemed to be a sinus infection but everything looked normal. Whew!! We would wait a few days for the Lyme's culture results to come back but start on antibiotics now. As I was taking her gown off to put her shirt back on I noticed the classic "bullseye" of a tick bite around her belly button.

My darling Neelah can't close her eye all the way or give more than a half smile. Her right eye doesn't twinkle like the left one does. Everything I've read says that the paralysis goes away anywhere from 3 weeks-a few months. (Months!!)

I find myself babying her because she is different than my other kids. She is "special" now that she has this handicap. It's silly and vain but I can't help it. I should have noticed a tick on my precious little girl.

All in all, this is a lesson in just how exceedingly blessed I am to have five happy, healthy children! Heavenly Father has given me "JEWELS" and I take them for granted all to often.

Halloween 2012

We have a mermaid, ninja, "tangled" Rapunzel, an athlete and Brody

 

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Keegan's 2nd birthday!

Poor Keegan, he really got jipped on his birthday this year. Yaya was here this last weekend for Finn's baptism and Brody's baby blessing. It was a really busy weekend so when Keegan's birthday rolled around on Tuesday (election day no less) all I could muster up was a store bought cake.

At 2 years old, Keegan is so fun and so clingy at the same time. He LOVES his dad....LOVES!!! It drives Eric nuts that Keegan expects Eric's full attention AT ALL TIMES. Keegan loves to wrestle and tease. Unless he has a car/train/tractor in his hand, he is usually sucking on his thumb. His thumb and blanket are still very much his security go-to.

We are still working on talking. It's so different to have a child who doesn't speak full sentences at 15 months like the first 3 kids did. I try to encourage Keegan to use two words together ie. "mom, up" or "want juice" but he is taking his sweet time picking it up just as he did with walking. He didn't start walking until 20 months. It was interesting around here having two babies that didn't walk...

 

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Brody's baby blessing

We were able to have Brody's baby blessing on Sunday. Eric did an amazing job! He began the blessing stating that Brody came to us under such special circumstances that we know he has an incredibly important life to lead.

He is such a happy baby! So smily like the rest of our kids. He has his own look, eyes like Savvy but unique in many other ways. I can't begin to explain just how special this little guy is. We were definitely not planning on having another child and then just as I was getting accustomed to the idea of having 5 kids we learn that he has problems with his kidney and isn't growing like he should. When he was born we saw that he had a full knot in his umbilical cord and so it's a miracle he lived at all. He is a healthy growing boy, average in size even though he started out at 3lbs 15oz. One working kidney won't stop this kid from living the life he wants!

How adorable is he in this tie?!?

 

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Finnegan's Baptism

We had SUCH a great weekend! Finn chose to be baptized a member of the church and I still can't believe I have an 8year old son!! We were lucky enough to have Yaya fly in for the event.

I asked Finn if he wanted to invite any of his friends and the only one he wanted to invite was Julia. She is his best friend/girl friend. They are fast friends and very competitive academically. Finn doesn't like it much if he doesn't do as we'll on a test as Julia did. It was a really neat experience to invite a non member to his baptism.

Finn set the goal for himself that he would read the Book of Mormon before he was baptized and we are so proud of him that he completed his goal. He was very independent in reading each day. He is such an AMAZING boy!

We sure are proud and BLESSED to have him as our son!

 

 

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