Christmas Dance Recital

Last night we had our Christmas Dance Recital.

Oakley's group are good little cloggers. (She is 3rd from left) They did 2 dances. This is the only picture Ryan got that wasn't fuzzy (he was incharge of still shots while I was videoing....you know it is a tag-team-effort this whole parenting thing) because the girls were bouncing around so fast. We love watching her clog. I instructed Ryan to take a super short video of each of the girls Christmas dances on my regular camera so we could upload it here, but he MISUNDERSTOOD (or just wasn't listening) and recorded almost the entire dance so the video is too long and won't upload. :( (Sorry gramp & gram Romrell....I was hoping for you to be able to see a little dancing.)

It was Laiklie's first recital. She told me yesterday morning that she wasn't going to dance, and was a little cranky when it was time to get her clothes on. I tried to keep her happy.....you can see the red ribbons tied on both sides of her t-shirt.....HER IDEA! The shirt was a little too big so I thought I would tie a cute bow on the one side to pick-up the slack and it was super cute....she decided she needed a bow on both sides. And....because I was trying to keep her happy - she won! She did her first dance which is one with their teddy bears and then she did a Christmas dance to Rudolph. She did a great job on both dances. Her pants were a little too big we discovered part way through when she was having to tug to keep them up, oh well....I guess we know for the next recital.

Merry Christmas Little Cloggers!

And we are DECORATED

Last week for FHE we got out our Christmas Decorations! This is one of the very most looked forward to days at our house all year long. The kids ABSOLUTELY LOVE getting out the Christmas decoration. I remember being a kid and the feelings I felt when the Christmas boxes were brought up from the basement. I am guessing my kids feel the very same excitement as I felt. How can you not love this time of year?!

We had a crazy week last week and, of course, FORGOT the camera! SO ANNOYING!! Dallin had is first "Pack Meeting" for scouts. He was MORE THAN EXCITED! They played an old indian game and he and his friend Taveh tied 3 times for 1st place and Taveh finally beat him. He was so excited for Taveh to win. I was very proud of his good sportsmanship!

Oakley sang with the Elementary School Christmas Choir at Snake River Landing and we froze our bums off listening to them, but had warm hearts. I LOVE listening to children sing and Christmas songs especially get me. They did a great job. They have 2 other performances so hopefully I can remember to take my camera to atleast one of them.

Some other things to look forward to......Oakley and Laiklie have their Christmas Dance Recital this week. We are all super excited to watch Laiklie perform for her first time. We are just hoping she does the dance the teacher taught her and not one she makes up on her own! :) For those of you who know Laiklie you KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!! We are also counting down the days until we can start our 12 Days of Christmas for our newly widower-ed (is that even a word?) bus driver and until school gets out for Christmas break!! YAY! So many fun things to look forward to!!

I Belong to the Church.....

of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

Dallin got baptized on Saturday by his daddy Ryan. We are so proud of him for making the choice to be baptized. Dallin knows that this is the first of many steps that it takes to return to live with our Heavenly Father. Saturday night he asked me to sit by him and help him spell some words while he wrote in his new journal and (I know I am a wimp) I couldn't hold back the tears as he wrote the words, "I had a warm feeling inside me" and "I love my baptism day." I hope he always remembers this day and the feelings he felt.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,

For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for you limitations,

because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,

because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary,

because it means you've made a difference.



It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FAMILY & FRIENDS!
WE ARE SO VERY THANKFUL FOR YOU!!

I Am Getting Baptized

Dallin Hawkins

Saturday, November 27, 2010
Is he not the most handsome 8 year old around?
We LOVE him to death!!

Can You See Me SMILING? :)

So.....I got "WORLDS GREATEST COMPLIMENT" tonight. Oakley has had terrible headaches the past few days and we decided that her cold that has been lingering has turned into a sinus infection, so I ran her into the doctor. He was looking at her eyes, ears, etc. and stopped and said to her, "WOW....YOU LOOK JUST LIKE YOUR MOM!" I wanted to *hug* him. I would LOVE to be as gorgeous as my sweet daughter!

Dr. Matt at UVFM...you made my day!

I HATE HOSPITALS!!!

What a week we had this past week. I took pictures, but of course can't get them off my new phone....HOW ANNOYING! Ryan is probably happy about me not posting pics of him in the hospital anyway!

He had hernia surgery on Monday for the two hernias in his stomach. Surgery went well. The doc said the hernia's were not actually that big, but that he had Swiss cheese type holes all through his chest so they put a big 6X8 piece of mesh in his belly to prevent more hernias. When he woke-up from surgery he was extremely sore and his oxygen levels wouldn't come up. So they booked us for the night at the recovery center. I was grateful to be there because it took 3 people to move him from one bed to another and a big male nurse to get him in and out of the bathroom and I knew I could not have done it here alone.

Tuesday they sent us home around noon and I hurried to get refreshments made for Evening in Excellence and spent the evening at the church with the young women.

Wednesday I took Oakley in to get her new insulin pump and by the time we got home Ryan was having ALOT of pain. We thought he just needed to go to the bathroom and couldn't because of all the pain meds so we called 2 different nurses and they told us what over-the-counter products to try. We tried them all with NO SUCCESS! So by 9 pm that night his stomach was cramping and he was in TERRIBLE PAIN! I ran him to the ER and they thought he had a blockage in his bowels and admitted us for the night. We had a NIGHT FROM HELL! SERIOUSLY!! I have never felt so helpless in my life. He was in so much pain even on really strong pain killer and so we just had to wait for the doc to show-up in the morning. Finally the doc showed-up and they did a ct scan and there was no blockage, just bowels that had not woke-up from the anesthetic. So they put him on a morphine drip and told us we had to wait it out. We ended up spending Thursday night there too and finally by Friday at 6 pm they told us we could go home. After two nights in the hospital, no shower in days, bouncing children back and forth from grandma's to home and back again I was READY TO COME HOME!!

Ryan is feeling so much better! We are still on pain pills to help with surgery pain and still on oxygen when he sleeps but otherwise so much better. Hopefully this week is semi-back-to-normal. And......If for any reason any of you should try to get ahold of me and can't, just look us up at the local hospital!!