Family Fun

We have had so much fun the last week or so with family.

 Emmalee & Benjamin sharing the rest of the watermelon.

 Grandma Carter reading to Emmalee (in bed).  Grandma & Grandpa got to sleep in Emmalee's bed & she slept in Ethan's room with Brienna & Aunt Pamela.

 Benjamin showing Grandpa how to comb hair.

 Ben was all tuckered out & fell asleep in Pamela's arms.

 Grandpa Stewart (Grandma Marge has been battling cancer so she was home resting)

 Benjamin was so excited to have Grandpa over for Zane's birthday that he piled Grandpa as high as he could with his toys (and notice the Hawaiian lei.)

 Callum liked eating the mini cheesecakes with no fork!

 And so did Emmalee.

 She decided to try a blackberry--I don't think it was very sweet!

 In fact--she said it was quite sour!

 Benjamin wearing his new Toy Story jammies.

He loves them & would wear them 24/7 if I let him!

Zane's a Teenager!

Yep, that's right!  Zane turned 13 yesterday, June 21st.

 It was a very busy day for me--I did some laundry, dishes, and then got ready to go to town. I decided not to "make" Zane go shopping with us, so he stayed home along with Callum.

 And they said they actually got along!  (And I guess it helped that Callum bought Zane an Arizona drink at the store for him).  And Brienna gave him her old MP3 player for his birthday.

 (A shirt from Aunt Pamela)  We went to Rexburg (shopped at the DI thrift store) & then got Ethan so he could get some things he needed at the church distribution store (temple garments).

 After Rexburg, we got Wendy's for lunch & then headed to Idaho Falls for Brienna's back brace appointment.  She needed new padding & Velcro on her back brace.

 After picking up a few groceries (and birthday presents), we came home, made tacos & his dessert--Cheesecake (with blueberry topping).

 And enjoyed the rest of the evening.  Actually--Zane & Brienna went to mutual (young men's & young women's).  I even made 6 mini-cheesecakes for the kids.

 Zane enjoying his birthday "cake".

 Playing with his rubber-band gun.

And wearing his "Parry the Platypus" t-shirt from the family.  (the character is from a TV show called "Phineas & Ferb")

While we were eating dinner, Zane told us that he had a dream about Parry the Platypus the night before.  

So I asked Zane to come into the living room so I could take a picture of him with his new shirt on.  When I saw where he was standing, I asked for him to take one small step to the left & then took this picture.  If you look closely, it looks like he has antlers on his head--(it's just the antelope antlers hanging on the wall).

Temple Day

Saturday, June 18th was an important day in our family.

 Ethan attended the temple to receive his own endowments.  (If you don't know about LDS temples & what happens there, click here for more information).

 It was a wonderful feeling as a parent to see our child making rewarding & wonderful decisions. 

My parents were able to attend, along with my sister Pamela, Rusty's dad, and our sister-in-law Cindy & her 2 sons, Ian & Morgan.  

(We couldn't figure out the timer on the camera, so we had to take 2 different pictures to get everyone in).

Afterwards, we all went to Applebee's to eat & spend some family time.

I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for my testimony.  Life on this earth progresses quickly and it is wonderful to have the knowledge of "better things to come".

Health

Last Friday I spent almost 3 hours in the dentist chair.  

One of my teeth (a bottom molar) had chipped probably 6 months ago, and so every time I ate something, food would get stuck between my teeth.  So I flossed a lot, but it didn't bug me--until last week.  So I finally called & got an appointment (I don't know why I dread going to the dentist because I really do like to have my teeth cleaned & we have dental coverage).

There were a few "good" things about this dentist trip:  

     1--I did NOT need a root canal.  But the tooth had decayed some so he had to do a cap for the tooth.

     2--I got to use "happy gas" for the first time since I've gotten married.  All the other times I went to the dentist, I was either pregnant or nursing.

     3--I was able to get my permanent cap instead of having a temporary & coming back another day for the permanent one. (one reason I was there for 3 hours)

     4--I was able to watch TV the whole time (a great distraction from the tooth work!)  I  mainly watched the HGTV channel.

     5--I had a $65 dollar credit from the last visit (insurance actually paid more than expected last time) & if I paid in full, I would get a 10% discount.  So it wasn't quite as expensive as I first thought it would be.

     

Things not so good:  I couldn't talk for about 2 hours afterwards.  (After the dentist began, he had to numb things a little more because I could still feel things).  My mouth & tongue was quite numb!

Then Monday I had my physical for Wood Badge.  At least that one was much more pleasant than the dentist visit!  And I found out some wonderful news!

They actually measured how tall I was.  I expected to have lost a half an inch or so.  But I found out that I am actually 5 foot 5 inches!  My whole life I thought I was 5 foot 4 inches!  After finding that out, I realized that I really have never been measured for my height since high school.  When I first got married and was pregnant, they just asked me how tall I was.  And that has happened over, and over again.  I don't ever remember being measured to see how tall I actually was.

4-H Cupcakes

(This 4-H day camp was BEFORE Haircuts!)

 The kids learned how to decorate cupcakes lots of creative & fun ways.

 Zane's plate.

 Brienna's cupcakes.

 She shared hers, and ate the "healthiest" one--the apple.

 And Callum with his cupcakes. 

 He was so excited because he actually got to eat then this year (with eggs!)

Haircuts for the Summer

The boys were in dire need of a haircut.  But since it hasn't been hot yet this summer, they were dragging their feet about getting it done.  (well, except Rusty).

 I finally told Zane that he couldn't spend the night at his friend's house until he got a haircut.  So then he was a more eager.  And he really, really needed it.

 Callum just wanted a trim, but I told him he could use a buzz.

 Here's Benjamin's after picture--he sat super good for his haircut!

 Zane's haircut in progress--he wanted a flat top, so I had buzzed his sides & wanted to see how long the top was.

 Jimmy Neutron!

 The finished product--he looks so serious!

 Nice, though!

And we really didn't get a good on of Callum's, so here is one.

Cuties, Allergies, and a Pot of Gold?

Zane took pictures of the 2 youngest all ready for church.

 I had an early morning meeting, so Brienna gets them ready for church (thanks!)

 They both have to make sure they have their scriptures.  And Benjamin won't go into nursery without his!

 And here are the 2 cuties playing "hospital" one day.  We have had cool, rainy, windy weather.  So we have been inside a lot.

Last week, I finally got an appointment for Callum at a doctor that specialized in allergy elimination.  He uses acupressure and muscle testing (NAET or Nambudripad’S Allergy Elimination Technique).  It sounds sort of crazy & wacko, but we figured it was worth a try.

So the first day of testing, he used the muscle testing to see what Callum reacted to.  And since it was raining, and the forecast was for more rain, he decided to treat a bunch of environmental allergies.  Once you are treated (the acupressure & a few other things), then you have to avoid the thing(s) for 25 hours (well, really 24, but the doctor likes to add an extra one just for safety).

When we returned on June 9th, he re-tested Callum for those allergies & they were gone.  So Callum was treated for his egg allergy.  So on the afternoon of Friday, June 10th, (after the 25 hours), Callum ate...

 An egg!  His first one in 2 years!

 And he was so happy.  He has eaten eggs every chance he could--in muffins, scrambled, omlettes, in cookies, etc.  And the good news:  his skin is clearing up.

 So when the sun finally decided to come out on Friday, we were happy to see this rainbow from our porch. And if you look hard, you can see an outer-double rainbow.

Callum was sure that at the end of this rainbow was a pot of....EGGS!

Laurie's 50th Birthday Party

Do you think she was surprised?

 So we pitched right in to help her get ready for the party.

 SashaAnn and Pamela frosted all the cupcakes (SashaAnn was in charge of the sprinkles)

 Don's brother & sister-in-law (Danny & Janice) came from Gillette, WY.  Curtis (in the red shirt) helped entertain the kids that were there.

 Janice, Laurie, Danny, Don.

 Happy 50th, Laurie!

 Caden, Caleb, SashaAnn, & Tina with Jonathan on her shoulders.

 Caden sitting on Sherrie's lap, and Jonathan hugging Laurie.

Sherrie, Tanny, Pamela, Me, Janice & Danny.  A picture with me in it!

It was a beautiful day.  We blew up 50 black balloons and hung them on the clothes line.  And the sun shone and shone on them until finally all 50 of them popped.  But we left them hanging since she was having an "over-the-hill" party!

It was a wonderful trip and I am grateful Pamela was able to get us to Wyoming to surprise Laurie!

Surprise!

3 of my 4 sisters surprised my 2nd oldest sister, Laurie, for her 50th Birthday Bash.  (our 4th sister lives in Pennsylvania so couldn't make it)

She was under the impression that none of her siblings could NOT make it to her birthday (June 3rd) and also to Wyoming for the 4th of July.

So my parents blindfolded her, and I was videoing it.  Of course she turned to me first to give hugs, so I only got about 20 seconds of video.

Next I'll post photos of her birthday party & my time in Wyoming.