The cousins- with their ages

Here are the number pictures of the kids... I think they turned out very cute! And hilarious! I posted all eight pictures because they all make me laugh.

This is me today

Now for why this picture is an accurate depiction of me today.

My sister and I finally got all 6 little kids together and had their numbers all ready for pictures today. We had this great idea that we should take a picture of the little kids after Marilyn turned 5 and before Turner turned 3 so that we could have them lined up in a row, holding a number corresponding to their ages. We only have a month time frame to do this, so we had to act fast, since Turner turns 3 next week! So we have Marilyn (Kurt's girlfriend Jackie's daughter) who is 5, Regan (Leslie's) who is 4, Lacy is 3, Turner (Leslie's) is 2, Rose is 1, and Cooper (Leslie's) is 0. The pictures turned out okay, actually pretty good considering the camera we used is on the fritz and we had six little kids to deal with! Les has the pictures at her house so I'll post them when I get them since I forgot my camera. Duh.

We got there much later than I wanted, because Rose took a longer nap than I expected. So we rushed out the door. I noticed there was a clicking and a red light blinking as I was driving over there. I figured, either a bomb will go off and my car will explode, or else I need to call the Kia dealership tomorrow to find out what's up. So other than it disrupting radio transmissions, it was all good. After Leslie left for violin lessons with Landon and Cooper, I gave the girls a chance to play until I had to leave. At about 3:25, I gathered up our stuff and took the kids outside.

As soon as I opened the car door, the alarm went off.

I didn't even know I had an alarm. And of course, I had a key copy and not the alarm key which was at home. Apparently Rose had been playing with it a couple days earlier, and must have triggered the alarm.

After opening my car manual which didn't help me worth a darn, I saw my highschool friend Chanda coming out of the house with her kids. She had no idea how to help but said her husband would be home soon and maybe he'd know. She was nice enough to stick around and keep me from feeling like a total loser the whole time.

Then Leslie's neighbor came to the rescue! After about 10 minutes, she figured out how to disconnect the wires from the alarm and I was able to go on my way. But not before Leslie returned from violin lessons to witness the madness! At least the alarm went off for 20 minutes!

So yes, I am the loser that everyone in the neighborhood silently (or not-so silently) scolds... "Can't you turn that darned thing OFF!"

Well, no. No, I can't.

Amazing-- breastmilk contains stem cells!

Wow! I just read this article, and all I can say is, WOW! I knew that breastmilk had many ingredients that formula could not replicate. I just had no idea that stem cells would be among those ingredients! It's so exciting knowing that there may be a way to ethically harvest stem cells in the future!

And for your reading pleasure, "Breast Milk Contains Stem Cells" by Catherine Madden

The Perth scientist who made the world-first discovery that human breast milk contains stem cells is confident that within five years scientists will be harvesting them to research treatment for conditions as far-reaching as spinal injuries, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

But what Dr Mark Cregan is excited about right now is the promise that his discovery could be the start of many more exciting revelations about the potency of breast milk.

He believes that it not only meets all the nutritional needs of a growing infant but contains key markers that guide his or her development into adulthood.

“We already know how breast milk provides for the baby’s nutritional needs, but we are only just beginning to understand that it probably performs many other functions,” says Dr Cregan, a molecular biologist at The University of Western Australia.

He says that, in essence, a new mother’s mammary glands take over from the placenta to provide the development guidance to ensure a baby’s genetic destiny is fulfilled.

“It is setting the baby up for the perfect development,” he says. “We already know that babies who are breast fed have an IQ advantage and that there’s a raft of other health benefits. Researchers also believe that the protective effects of being breast fed continue well into adult life.

“The point is that many mothers see milks as identical – formula milk and breast milk look the same so they must be the same. But we know now that they are quite different and a lot of the effects of breast milk versus formula don’t become apparent for decades. Formula companies have focussed on matching breast milk’s nutritional qualities but formula can never provide the developmental guidance.”

It was Dr Cregan’s interest in infant health that led him to investigate the complex cellular components of human milk. “I was looking at this vast complexity of cells and I thought, ‘No one knows anything about them’.”

His hunch was that if breast milk contains all these cells, surely it has their precursors, too?

His team cultured cells from human breast milk and found a population that tested positive for the stem cell marker, nestin. Further analysis showed that a side population of the stem cells were of multiple lineages with the potential to differentiate into multiple cell types. This means the cells could potentially be “reprogrammed” to form many types of human tissue.

He presented his research at the end of January to 200 of the world’s leading experts in the field at the International Conference of the Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation in Perth.

“We have shown these cells have all the physical characteristics of stem cells. What we will do next is to see if they behave like stem cells,” he says.

If so, they promise to provide researchers with an entirely ethical means of harvesting stem cells for research without the debate that has dogged the harvesting of cells from embryos.

Further research on immune cells, which have also been found in breast milk and have already been shown to survive the baby’s digestive process, could provide a pathway to developing targets to beat certain viruses or bacteria.

She knows what she wants!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Dave surprised me with two bouquets of flowers yesterday! I guess he didn't want to brave the crowds at the stores today after work. Smart man! Today we're going over to Leslie's house to take pictures of the kids. Yea!

I almost forgot this story, but it was too cute to forget to share! The other day, Lacy and Rose got out cans from the pantry. I thought I had put them all back, and locked up the pantry so I wouldn't have a big mess everywhere. Apparently I was wrong. Later that day, while I was in the back on this very computer, probably blogging, Rose brought me a can of mandarin oranges. And a can opener, which was put away in a place that I thought she couldn't get to!

So, we had oranges for snacktime that day.

Silly faces

These are very recent pictures we have taken at our house. In most of them, you can see Lacy's eczema around her eyes. Right now, it's under control everywhere else, but her eyes are terrible. At least they're not bleeding. I might call the allergist tomorrow for advice. Anyway, we have fun taking pictures around here, as you can tell! And most of the ones of me are taken by Lacy. Some of them are actually pretty good! Lacy takes a lot of pictures of pictures... we have them rotate through on our screen saver, and she takes pictures of what she likes. She's so fun!






Both kids and Dave in Lacy's new toddler-sized bed.
Rose with her legs bandaged together. Don't ask.
Pretty smile Rose-- if you look closely, you can see where she needs dental work. Poor girl. At least she'll have an even nicer smile next week-- she has an appointment to repair some of the damage on her front teeth.

Lacy insisted on doing her hair in curlers one Sunday before church.
And because I love embarrassing my kids (in the future that is)... potty pictures. Yea!

Right after her nap
Right before bedtime

Date night!!!

Finally, Dave and I had our second date since Rose was born. It was a lot of fun! We ate out at Outback Steakhouse and spent a wad of money there. Then we wandered the mall for a while and I bought some awesomely cute clothes at Christopher & Banks, my favorite store. We ran into Dave's aunt Joni and her family while we were there. Finally, we got in to see the movie.

Unfortunately, it was so stupid we couldn't stand to watch it once the popcorn was gone. Good thing the movie tickets were complimentary. We saw "Meet the Spartans." I kept waiting for a point or a punchline or something to keep it interesting, but after way too many homosexual references and a lot of pointless potty humor, we walked out. It wasn't our first choice, but all the movies we both wanted to see started too late for us (we needed to make sure we got home at a decent hour just in case the girls started falling apart and wouldn't go to bed), so this was a compromise movie because it started at a good time for us. There were a couple funny parts-- it was hilarious when the Spartans linked arms and skipped to the battle ground singing "I Will Survive" and Dave and I both really enjoyed the stepping and breakdancing, but other than that, the movie pretty much stunk. I guess you have to be a teenager to appreciate the type of humor in that movie, though I have to say no teenager of mine will be allowed to see that type of movie.

After Dave got a haircut, we decided to trek on home to make sure the girls got to bed. Unfortunately, Lacy and Rose both refused to go to bed, so we had to get them to that point. Hopefully tomorrow's stake conference won't be terrible because of it! I think we'll hang in the Primary room instead of in the chapel/gym. Otherwise, I don't think we'll be able to get through it. They both need baths and their hair washed. Hopefully nobody will notice they're stinky, because I think they won't have time for a bath tomorrow morning!

Last night, after Lacy went to bed, Dave ran up to Spanaway to pick up a toddler bed for Lacy. It came with princess and Dora sheets! It was a good deal and came with a mattress, so we decided to get it. It is totally cute, but a lot bigger than we thought! We got it to set up in our room, so Lacy would have somewhere to sleep besides our bed. And because we are paranoid about our children's safety, we decided to keep her in our room! I know, I know-- a little over-the-top, no? Anyway, Dave put her in the bed last night, and this morning, she woke up, "I'm in a princess bed!" She was so excited! Hopefully the novelty won't ware off for a long time, because I'd like her to stay in her own bed. At least most of the time, anyway. It's nice having a little extra space to move around. And, now that it's 2008 and it's okay for me to get pregnant (not that we're trying, mind you), we needed to clear up a little extra room in the bed. You know, just in case. So Lacy won't feel kicked out if and when a new sibling comes around. Of course, that could be in 4 or 5 years still, so it might be a moot point. Or it could be in 1 year. Who knows? All I know is, Dave is considering buying a (gulp) mini van, so it might not be too far off. And I am turning 30 this month, so the clock is ticking!

The Woes of a Potty Trained Toddler

Some would argue that there are many benefits to having your young toddler potty trained, as my 20 month old daughter Rose is-- not having to change poopy diapers, less laundry to do and/or fewer diapers to buy, and, did I mention? No poopy diapers to change. While I appreciate all the many benefits that come from early potty training, there are a few drawbacks.

For one, she can't speak very well yet. So she relies on banging on the door, whining until I take notice, or taking off her pants to let me know she needs to go. Since she relies a lot on getting my attention to take care of her toileting needs, she has accidents frequently. Sometimes two a day on a bad day. Sometimes we don't have any at all, but frequently we have at least one accident per day. Not a big deal, she's still learning. I don't mind cleaning up after accidents if it means no more diapers for me to deal with.

Lately she's taken it upon herself to take care of her toileting needs on her own. This means I will very often find her sitting on the potty in the dark of the bathroom, alone. This is usually a great thing!

I decided to take up an exercise routine today. While I was doing my yoga, Rose got into the one cabinet that she's allowed to get into. She got out the nesting plastic mixing bowls and played with them. Next thing I know, I see her with her pants down, sitting on the largest bowl while I'm bent over in a downward dog.

And she didn't just go #1, either.

So, I'm just trying to look at the positives here. She's now so reliable that she's essentially bathroom independent at 20 months old! Yea! But it's really hard to overlook the fact that she used my mixing bowl. Gross.

The Nacho Curse

It seems as though every single time I make myself a nice, nighttime snack of nachos, my sweet little Rose wakes up. And not only does she wake up, it takes her five times as long to settle back down and go to sleep. So while my nachos sit on the stove getting cold, I sit nursing her back to sleep. For what seems an eternity.

Tonight was no exception. I shredded some cheddar, topped the chips with it on a baking sheet, and no sooner had they come out of the broiler, I heard crying. It's like that every single time. Why, oh why, must she ruin my nachos every time? Perhaps she senses the satisfaction I get from making the nachos, and must wake up to keep me from my delicious snack. Perhaps she wishes to have some for herself. Perhaps it is all just a terrible coincidence. Whatever it is, I will no longer be making nachos after she goes to bed. It is far too risky an endeavor.

Seriously, do they always talk this much?

I don't think I have ever heard a little girl talk as much as my little Lacy did today. But then again I am not around other little girls as often as I am around Lacy. She talked my ear off! All afternoon! She was talking about whatever, anything, and everything for a good hour before we set off on our errands, then she kept talking the entire time we were in the car! I actually had her play the quiet game from the time we went to the bank to the gas station, so I could relish in silence for a few minutes at least! Oh my gosh, it drove me batty!

At the grocery store, they had a little cart and I figured she'd like to help me grocery shop, which she did. She loved it! She had a bunch of our groceries in her little cart, and was really good, albeit chatty, in the store. Then we got back to the car, and her mouth kept going, a mile a minute! I tried playing the quiet game again, but she had to tell me every time Rose made a sound, "Mom, Rose didn't win. She's talking."

We got home and it was more of the same-- talking, talking, talking! Oh my gosh! Does it ever stop?

Well, eventually the talking turned into crying and fighting. I think Dave's crazy 12 hour day schedule is throwing her off. I've been letting her stay up late (until 9, tops) so she can see her dad every day. Otherwise, she wouldn't see him. It caught up to her today. So, even though Dave isn't home yet, she is in bed asleep. I think she needed it bad tonight. Tomorrow, she'll get to stay up to see her dad again.

And, Lacy has been volintarily sleeping in her own bed. It is a Dora-themed Ready Bed. Which she loves. But she will sleep in it every other night. So last night, she slept in the Dora bed, tonight she's sleeping in our big bed, and tomorrow she said she will sleep in the Dora bed again. The only thing is, it deflates by morning, and the first night it was kind of covering her face when we woke up, which didn't sit well with me. So last night I put a big king-sized pillow in the bed with her, and it was fine. Deflated by morning, of course, but fine. And I can't find the darned leak anywhere in the bed! Dave and I will probably get her a toddler bed soon, that she can pick sheets out for and everything. Either that or we will have her start sleeping in her own bed in her own room, but that is a little too far away for my comfort level! (I know it sounds paranoid, but a former coworker of mine lost two grandbabies in a house fire, and they would still be here today had they been in their parent's room. So I'm a little afraid to have her so far away! I know, I have issues)

How do I make this into lemonade?

It appears that my dishwasher took its last breath. Bummer. I really didn't want to buy a new dishwasher right now. But on the plus side, we will be getting a tax refund that is bigger than I expected, plus washing dishes by hand conserves water and energy.

I forgot the cutest thing from the other day when I was making lemonade out of our freezer coming unplugged! As soon as it hit me that I needed to be positive about the experience, I started singing (with Lacy), while I was chipping ice away and cleaning the freezer (ironic that there could be so much ice in the freezer yet everything was thawed out) "We're making lemonade, we're making lemonade, hi ho the dairy-o, we're making lemonade" to the tune of "Farmer in the dell." Dave called in the midst of this and Lacy answered the phone saying, "Hi daddy! We're making lemonade!"

The next day my hand ached from chipping so much ice!

Yesterday, Dave stopped working after 3 hours of his 12 hour shift. His foot hurt like the dickens. I called up Dr. Rice, a podiatrist that is a family friend from Shelton, who scheduled him in that very day. Dr. Rice told him that he had two joints in his foot rubbing together, which was made worse by the type of work Dave does. He got a cortisone shot in his foot and a makeshift orthotic for his boot. He will need custom orthotics which will cost about $800, but insurance should cover the cost for 85% of that. The orthotics have a 90% success rate, but if that doesn't work, he'll need surgery to correct it. Let's pray the orthotics work!

Making Lemonade

Tonight while preparing to make dinner, I encountered quite an unfortunate discovery. The freezer was unplugged and everything inside was at various stages of thawing. Some was still frozen solid, like the extra turkey we bought. Some was completely thawed, like most of the small bits of meat, including most of the chickens I disassembled recently. I whined and groaned about it and I yelled at my kids a little too much while trying to clean it all up.

I said a prayer with the girls that I would be calmer, and that they would go to sleep early and stay asleep. After I said "amen," I had an epiphany. I could be mad and yell at my kids to stop getting in my way, and be upset at the loss of our food, or I could take life's lemons and make lemonade, stop yelling at my kids, and get on with life. So that's exactly what I did! As soon as I decided that, everything was much better. The girls still got in my way, and I did yell a little bit, but not compared to what it was before. I looked at the positives of the situation. I figured out solutions so we would lose as little of our freezer's contents as possible. I decided it was a perfect opportunity to clean out and defrost our freezer, which is not frost free and completely iced over in most parts.

So now I'm going to list all the lemons, and how I made them into lemonade.

• 300 ounces of breastmilk, mostly thawed! Rose is 20 months old now, not really needing it, most of it was expired anyway (over 1 year old), and the milk I could salvage was all fairly recent.
  
• The chicken all thawed out! I can't refreeze it once it's thawed. I can easily cook the chicken in water, break it into bite-sized pieces, and freeze the cooked chicken to use when I make something that calls for cooked chicken. What a future time-saver! Plus I can strain the cooking liquid and use the broth!
• Uh oh, two roasts from different animals thawed out completely! Can't refreeze those, either! I'll just stick the beef roast in the crock pot now, and slice it up into sandwich meat. And we'll have pulled pork for dinner!
• Yuck, the freezer is full of fish heads and salmon eggs, and who knows what else that Dave put in there! It's high time to clean that stuff out, anyway. Dave didn't treat the eggs right anyway, and the fish heads he can replace when he goes fishing in the spring (he uses those for bait). Now I can declutter my freezer and make more space!
• Uh oh, I think I may have broken the freezer from defrosting it so vigorously. We hate that freezer anyway! And since we found out our tax refund is going to be decent again this year, we can afford to buy a new freezer soon!
  

Dave was really sad this year that he didn't get a deer or an elk. Now I see that the Lord works in mysterious ways. We would have lost a whole lot more had he gotten a deer this year. I wouldn't have been able to salvage nearly as much as I have been able to. And now I have a brand new perspective on life, and I'm very grateful for this blessing I've been given. And for my now cleaned-out freezer (that hopefully still works, since we have a few weeks before we can get a new freezer).

Note to self: Tonight during personal prayer time, be sure to thank Heavenly Father for this blessing, which I have certainly learned completely now, so no follow-up lessons will be necessary.

The Wedding

The newlyweds are now married and off on their honeymoon! And the day went pretty well. I got to spend some time talking to family, meeting new people, and chasing after a deliriously tired 1-year old. Fun times.

But Lacy was practically perfect in her roll as flower girl! She took it so seriously. And she didn't even get scared! She's got to be the cutest little flower girl in the history of flower girls. Not that I'm biased in any way.

That's her in the dressing room, all ready to go. She's a natural in the job, you know. She loves having her picture taken and loves dressing up. She also follows directions well, and while she doesn't like crowds or being in the spotlight, if it is important enough, she can overcome her fears.

With the cute little ring bearers and the bride. Don't they all look so cute? The one on the left is Logan and the one on the right is, I believe, Wyatt. I accidentally left my program at the church so I can't double check based on that. Bummer. Anyway, Logan was supposed to help Lacy down the isle with the flowers, and Wyatt was to walk right along with them or in front of them, I'm not sure what the final verdict was (It didn't happen that way). They were both sweet little boys, and Lacy sure liked both of them!

I've never curled Lacy's hair before, so it was fun for her to get her hair done (and sprayed with sparkle hair spray!). She likes to choose the hairstyle she's going to have done each day, but I'm sure she would choose this hairdo every day if I would fix it for her!


Lacy's eczema has gotten much better, thanks to a daily double dose of triamcinalone and atopiclair for her eyelids. She looks so much better than she did a week ago. We call the atopiclair her make-up and it makes it easier for her to put it on. But the biggest bummer of the day was that she is still a little sick, though no longer feverish. So while she got her hair done, I plugged in the nebulizer to help her breathe more easily. I'm pretty sure she has asthma, because it really does seem to help her breathing. Hopefully she'll only get asthma when she is sick already. Because I think they may make restless! She sure had trouble falling asleep tonight, but that may be from having such an exciting day today.

Rose was there with us, too. For most of the time, she was perfectly happy playing with a puppy in the women's dressing area.


But after a while, she couldn't handle it anymore and she ended up burning herself on a curling iron. It must have been barely warm enough to make her cry, because there are no red marks anywhere that I can attribute to a curling iron. Fortunately, Brenda, big Dave's wife, was there, and took Rose to the nursery. (If you're reading this, Brenda, thanks again SO MUCH! I loved being able to be there with Lacy on such a special day)

Right before the wedding procession began, Rose broke a glass ornament hanging off the stage. Yup, that's my kid causing all the ruckus. But at least she's cute! Probably I'm the only one who thought that today, based on her behavior! It probably wasn't as bad as I thought it was, but I'm extra sensitive to what my children are doing. I never want to be "that mom" with the rowdy kids. But often, I am.

The procession began, a little bit late, with the groom and his best man (Jeremy) entering in through the side door. They waited on the stage with the branch president from the single's branch, who was performing the ceremony.


The processional music began, on the piano. Cannon in D. Very wedding-y. Nice piece, albeit a little cliched. First came our nephew, Jared, and Elisabeth, Julie's sister.

Next was Christopher and one of Julie's friends. I sure wish I had a program so I could put her name in! Oh well, not my wedding so I guess it's not as important for me to have all the names!

At this point Rose could not take it anymore. So Pete Nielson, Chris's father-in-law, took Rose, and her cousin Allison, and fed them treats. Thanks for all your help today, Pete!
Next was the world's best-looking groomsman and announcer extraordinaire. Yes, my hot hubby Dave walked down the isle with another of Julie's friends. I am embarassed just don't have anyone's names! Anyway, he was looking sharp, I must say, and you couldn't even tell that his boots crippled his feet the day before, nor could you tell he just got off working 2 12 hour shifts! It's a little fuzzy, but I'm hoping to get some better ones from some of the others who were taking photographs. The lighting was really poor, either that or my camera is ready to be replaced!

Somehow I totally missed the maid of honor coming down the isle. Just as well, since I don't have her name, either. She is one of Julie's sisters. I think I missed it because of Rose causing a commotion behind me!

(WARNING: the following paragraph was written by a gushing mother. Please roll your eyes and continue reading) Finally, it was my baby's turn! The three little ones were supposed to walk slowly together to the stage. Well, the boys practically ran, but Lacy, being ever so careful and good with following directions, walked very slowly, by herself, to the stage. She threw most of the petals right at the beginning of the procession, so she was out before she got up to where any of the people were sitting! I was so proud that she didn't get scared, not even a little bit, and did her job like the perfect little angel that she is. Doesn't she just look angelic??? What a little sweetie!

Because the boys bolted ahead of her, her daddy had to help her up on stage. Her legs are still too little!


Oh yeah, the bride came down the isle next. Like anyone cared about that after seeing my gorgeous little princess! OK, Dave is telling me that people actually came to see her walk down the isle, not to see Lacy. Whatever.

In all seriousness, Julie was stunning! Her dress was absolutely gorgeous! Tim's a lucky man. Lacy's a lucky girl to have an aunt who knows all about the girly things in life, because her mother certainly doesn't! They walked down to a country song, I think it is "I Promise You," I'll have to ask Dave because I don't know for sure (not a fan of country music). I was actually surprised because I'm pretty sure Tim's not a fan, either! It sounded lovely. I'm not sure who did the vocals, but he sounded great. I had trouble getting a good picture of Julie because everyone was standing, per the tradition.

Yup, that's the best I could do.

After the father of the bride gave Julie to Tim, the ceremony officially began. Somewhere in there I had to run up to the stage to get a huge booger off Lacy's face. Yuck! Anyway, the ceremony was nice, short and sweet. OK, maybe not short and sweet enough for some members of the wedding party.

The branch president encouraged them to prepare to be sealed a year from now. Lacy did a good job standing there, though she did try to talk to me a little bit through the ceremony. But for the most part, she was quite still, and I'm sure the 15 or so minutes the ceremony lasted felt like an eternity to her!

In LDS tradition, the ring ceremony is not a part of the official wedding ceremony. So after the the bride and groom kissed, they exchanged rings. I wish I had a picture of this, but they could not get the rings off for the life of them! So Dave, being the problem solver that he is, went over to his dad and asked him for a pocket knife, which they used to free the rings and complete the ring exchange! You know you're a redneck...


Then it was over, and the party began! Fortunately, this party included opening the nursery (which is the chapel overflow) to the gym, where the ceremony took place. Thank goodness, because I don't know what I would have done had this not been available! Rose was just not a happy camper, since her nap is usually at 11, and that's when the wedding started. She did enjoy hanging with her cousin Allison and Aunt Kelly.


The cutting of the cake was very tasteful and nice. Personally I'm not a fan of the shoving of the cake into each other's mouths. I know some like to do that at their receptions, but personally, I like a nice clean bite of cake in the mouth, with any mess being accidental. They had cheesecake for their wedding cake! Yum-o! We actually took a whole cheesecake home with us. Great for the tastebuds, not so great for the sugar addiction.


I mentioned earlier that Dave was the announcer/emcee at the wedding. He certainly is the loudest of the boys, so he was the obvious choice for Tim. Lacy loved being part of the action, too!
The first dance was the father-daughter dance.

After the first verse, all fathers in attendance with daughters there were invited to join them in dancing. But Rose had to dance solo first. Dancing and music is her thing.

Of course Dave had to dance with his pretty princess Lacy! (I almost forgot, Lacy kept calling Julie "princess" at the wedding! She certainly looked like one!)

But Rose seemed to be a little jealous of all the partnered dancing going on, when she had no partner of her own to dance with!
So Dave, of course, had to dance with Rose as well.
Next was the first dance as husband and wife. What a beautiful couple! I'm so excited they're going to be in our ward!

As the announcer, Dave got to tell some stories at the front. He talked about how Tim dated girls and sometimes brought them over to meet us when he lived at our house, and we liked a lot of them. He was actually engaged over the summer, and we liked his fiancee a lot. But that didn't work out, and he remained at our house for a couple more months. After he moved out, he started dating Julie, and we met her a few times. We knew there was something different, and immediately loved her. We were thrilled to find out they were engaged, and were anxiously awaiting this date! Dave also talked about his mother. She was a rock in their family, a wonderful person, and very close to all the boys. Dave said some very nice things about her, since she could not be with us at this very special event today. (OK, yesterday, since it's way past my bedtime and after midnight)

One special thing that happened at the wedding was that it snowed outside! Apparently there are pictures in the snow, but I don't have any. I'm waiting to get copies! I'll post them when I get them!

There were a couple of musical numbers, with a serious one "The Rose" (which I've actually sang at a wedding before), and a fun rendition of "Summer Lovin" from Greese. But it was called "Winter Lovin" or "October Lovin" or something, with words cleverly changed to fit Tim and Julie's situation.

The last event was the bouquet toss. I didn't get a good shot of that one unfortunately. It happened too quickly. There was going to be a garter toss, but Tim didn't feel comfortable with it, so it was nixed. Then they left in a sea of bubbles and went straight to their honeymoon. Best wishes, you guys! We love you!

Finally, Rose decided she couldn't take it anymore. So we got our family photo taken and got the heck out of there. Rose was asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car. She slept for about 3 hours today, which is huge for her, especially lately with her 30 minute naps. She looks pretty far gone, doesn't she?

Two last photos and my blog is complete! I had to squeeze in some of my two wedding party members! And I have to applaud them for spelling Lacy's name right. It seems my leaving out the "e" makes it nearly impossible for most people to be able to spell her name correctly!

We made it through the rehearsal!

Tonight was the rehearsal for Tim and Julie's wedding tomorrow. I arrived about 10 to 7, but we didn't really start the rehearsal for a good 20-30 minutes after we arrived. The kids were so good, especially considering they both have coughs and fevers. And I think Lacy has a bit of asthma, with the way her cough sounds. She'll be getting a breathing treatment in the morning. Anyway, Lacy was such a trooper, and did exactly what she was supposed to do! She's so excited to walk down the isle with a boy tomorrow! And she stood so still at the stage. What a good girl! I'm going to have to take a million pictures tomorrow to show off! She's going to get her hair done in the morning, so we're going to have to leave right around 8. Maybe earlier. We'll just scoop the kids up out of bed and off we'll go.

Dave arrived late to the rehearsal because he is working 12 hour days, ending at 7:30. But he learned the order of the procession, the special way to walk, and how to hold his arm. That's pretty much all he needs to know!

I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about tomorrow! Wish us luck, and pray that the girls will behave (and not get scared!). For now, some pictures of the rehearsal. They are kind of grainy unfortunately.

Lacy and Logan (I think! I'll have to double check on his name!)

The whole gang on the stage. Look how still Lacy is! (of course she's still, it's a photo! OK, so that was a silly thing to write) She stood perfectly still the entire time. What a good girl!


Rose and Allison- ready for bed!

The Lord always comes through!

We have been so nervous lately about money. Dave was at a great job, with Dave being among the best workers in the company, being the most efficient and hardest working. Well, he was a little too efficient because the big group of plumbers couldn't keep up with Dave and his 2-man crew (his boss and one other guy!) so they did a temporary lay-off for 1 week, which turned into 2 weeks, which turned into 3 weeks. Well, Dave finally had to file for unemployment yesterday, which practically took all day. We've been doing our very best to be faithful members of the Church with having daily family scripture study and the like, and we've been praying for a miracle to help us through. We've had a lot of things happen for very recently that are quite positive and will help our financial situation.

Dave was called yesterday from the Union Hall. A company wants him for 9 days to do some prep work for a huge job coming up. Dave was the only person available for the job. Well, 9 days of prep work are 9 days straight (with Saturday off for the wedding), and they're 12 hour days. He'll be starting tomorrow. That's 24 hours this week, and with overtime the equivalent to 108 hours next week. And that's if he doesn't work a week from Sunday, which would be an additional 24 hours. So in just a week and a half, he'll be making up for the 3 weeks he's had off, almost.

Plus he'll be getting at least one $500 unemployment check. Maybe one more, but probably just the one.

In addition, we should be getting about $100 for prescription drug reimbursements from the union health plan. And we don't have to pay car insurance for 3 or 4 months because we overpaid for almost an entire year. A savings of about $100 a month.

We are also working on a new business with Daren Falter, who has written the book on home based businesses (literally), who just happens to be best friends with my sister and her family. This has potential to make us a lot of money if we put in the work now. So Dave's out at the Sportsman's Show networking and getting business cards. Plus he wanted to go to the show LOL. With this business, we will be able to pay off our mortgage in 14 years if we don't increase our monthly spending, and if we do increase our mortgage payment in just 7 years. And we had 28 years on a 30-year mortgage left, with a $100,000 balloon payment due at the end. And this is without refinancing. Anyway, it's a really awesome business opportunity and will certainly bless our family and many others as well.

Meanwhile, the girls are sick and the wedding is on Saturday. Ugh. I really hope their coughs go away before then! They were finally better, and now BAM! Sick again. They are croupy, slightly pukey, and barely fevery. But mostly croupy. Plus Rose's teeth are horrible and I tried having her fall asleep on her own last night when she woke at 2. No dice. She fussed, cried, and whined for an hour until I gave in and nursed her back to sleep. I'll try it again in a week or two when Dave isn't working crazy hours anymore and she's over her cough. She has to have some major dental work done soon and I'm not looking forward to it. In the meantime, I need to focus on having it not get any worse.

And just some random pictures that have nothing to do with this post.

Quick stats update!

Lacy: 40 inches and 31 pounds (32nd weight, 82nd height with a BMI of 13.7 which is under the 5th percentile so still underweight)

Rose: 28 inches and 26.5 pounds (67th weight, 86th height)

The Flower Girl and the Singer

Lacy is going to be a flower girl for Tim and Julie's wedding on the 26th! We have her dress, and it is so cute! She always wants to put it on. Here it is:




I'm just hoping that she doesn't freeze and freak out at the wedding. At the very least, she will be awfully cute in that dress and everyone will say, "Oh, poor little girl! She's so scared!"

Rose yesterday at my sister's house picked up a piece of music and started singing. Like she was reading the music and singing. She was very, very cute! And she also likes to lead the music, just like mommy. Very cute stuff! I think she'll be a musician!