SPOILED

I was extremely spoiled this last weekend. My birthday was on June 1st, of course, a Sunday, so Josh and I celebrated it on Saturday. Kathy watched little tootsie while we went to see Indiana Jones and went out to eat at Johnny Carino's. I love Italian food more than anything. We had fun having it just be the two of us. Thanks Kathy and Rachael, for that matter, for taking care of Chloee so that we could have a fun night out.

Josh let me sleep in on Saturday morning. He made me breakfast. I love bacon, egg & cheese biscuits from McDonald's, so Josh made me some. The biscuits were from scratch, YUMMY! We had bacon, hash browns, strawberries, Orange Julius. Oh, it was divine. He is so sweet, he spoils me rotten and I will be the first to admit that. Thanks Josh AND Chloee for making a wonderful birthday!

We went up to my parents' house on Sunday to celebrate. My mom made me one of my favorite dishes. Chicken Cream Puffs, they were delicious. Thanks mom! Here is Chloee on the ride up to Logan.

One of the funnest things to look forward to on your birthday is what kind of cake mom will make you. It is so fun and she is so incredibly talented and creative. I thought she did a fine job of this cute camera cake she made for me!

Yes, I got them all out... with a little help from Kai.

Why not stuff your face?

My parents got this new tramp a few weeks ago. The kids LOVE it and that is an understatement. It's nice to have them fenced in.

Okay, so maybe the adults LOVE it too. Amy and I reminisced a lot last night on the tramp. Amy used to bounce me so high, it was way above the rough line of the house. I remember going so high once and landing on the springs and when it pinched me, it actually took skin off my legs. We also bounced Josh but no pictures to prove how funny that was.

Grandma and the kiddos. They love snuggling up to grandma on the back porch, watching their parents make fools out of themselves.

Mom, thank you so much for all that you did to make my birthday so wonderful and thank you for the sweet gifts too. I love you so much and I am so appreciative of all the hard work and love that goes into all our birthdays every year. I love you!

Josh, my birthday would be nothing without you. Thanks for always putting up with my, "It's my birthday, I should be able to get away with anything" syndrome. I love you and thank you for making it so great.

Kathy, thanks for making my birthday great by watching Chloee. Thank you also for your sweet gift and wonderful card. I read it often. I love the item you picked out yourself, I couldn't have done a better job myself. It is exactly what I would have picked and I really appreciate that.

Thanks to everyone that did so much to make my birthday so great!

Now we get to celebrate Chloee's birthday tomorrow! I think she will be so much fun this year!

WOW!

For any of you out there that have a little girl, you need to check out this website. My sister-in-law's friend does this. Her website is amazing. I can't believe how many cute and fun things she has for little girls. The accessories, the dresses, all of it. If you have only boys, she even has a spot on there "just for boys" that has ties and such. Click on the link below to see what I'm talking about.

www.littlestatements.com

Hope you enjoy!

Rabbit Trails

I saw this done on a friend's blog. She jotted down the thoughts that she just couldn't get off her mind and it was very therapeutic. I think I am in desperate need of anything therapeutic, so here it goes. Hopefully this helps and I can get these things out of my mind!

* I HATE when my child is sick. I find her hard to take care of when she is healthy. When she is sick, I wish I could disappear to a far away island and come home when she is nice and happy. I am so worn out, all I think about is sleep.

* I really can't stand UNGRATEFUL people. It sure seems like there are a lot of them. I really have NO tolerance, whatsoever, for these people. I guess this is the same kind of person that just "expects" you to do everything for them because, "don't you know how privileged you are just to have them in your presence". Gag me!

* I am getting so excited to go get Jordan from the airport. Even though Josh can't come because he has a meeting at work, I'm so excited to see him. I can't believe it has already been 2 years. I can't wait to see how Chloee acts around him, seeing as how they have never seen each other. Yea, for Jordan, I'm sure he'll miss Peru terribly. He still writes about how he doesn't want to come home and he feels like he's only been out for a few short months, not 2 years.

* Is my baby really turning 2 next week? Wow, it makes me cry. I would never go back the newborn time, that was never something I enjoyed but I can't believe that she is really going to be 2! Where did that time go?

* I feel extremely stressed with certain things in my life right now. I feel like my life is a ship at sea. It is either incredibly beautiful with still, calm water watching the sun go down at the tips of the ocean or I'm in a hurricane / monsoon with the water raging and taking over. Sometimes the ship is full of water and I'm sinking by myself or I've been thrown off and I can barely keep my head above water, only to give up right before help arrives. The tide is constantly changing and just like the sea, changes an any given moment, without notice.

* Often at night I wonder, "Is this my life?". Am I a good enough mother, a good enough wife? Sadly, I know the answers to these questions and they are not yes. I know I could be much more patient and understanding.

* If someone tells me ONE more time how to raise my child, I promise you, I will punch them square in the face and walk away wishing I'd probably done it YEARS ago.

* I need to be better about reading my scriptures and saying my prayers. It seems so easy but I truly struggle everyday. I just need to sit down and make a routine out of it.

* My friend Jackie and I are going to do a girl's night out tonight. We BOTH are so excited. We are going to to go Olive Garden and we told our husbands that we don't know if we'll come home! Josh is so great about me taking time to recoup. I am truly grateful for that.

* My house has gone to pot. Anytime Chloee gets sick, my house suffers tremendously. It is so hard to even care. By all means, I am no Mary Poppins or MAREN, for that matter but I do hate to have a messy house for days on end. I LIVE in this pigsty 24-7, it has to be decent for me to survive in it ALL DAY.

* I hate the word "offended". In fact I detest it. It might has well be the F word to me. I think it is constantly used in the wrong context. When someone hurts your feelings, it is okay to be "offended" for crying out loud, THEY HURT YOUR FEELINGS. "Offended: hurt feelings by the ones you love" that would be my definition. Who wouldn't be offended if someone said something hurtful to you? HELLO, we all do that. Why should we always have to let it roll off our backs too? Feel bad, get it out, chew the piece of crap out, tell them how you feel and that they don't have the "right" to talk to you like that just because that's their personality! So, my personality makes me want to steal, so is that okay? NO! It should not be acceptable for a person to treat you like crap and just get away with it because that's how they are and they are not going to change. They might not change but I sure as heck am going to let them know I don't approve of their behavior and that they are WAY OUT OF LINE. Maybe one day this person will realize how hurtful their words are. Probably not because most people like this, can't see past themselves long enough to see or care about what they are doing!!!

OH, THAT FELT AMAZING TO JUST GET THAT DOWN! That was VERY therapeutic, I feel much better. This will have to become a regular, weekly thing for me. Wow, I really can't explain how good I feel right now.

BIRTHDAY BASH

On Sunday, we had a birthday party for Josh's Mom, Kathy, at our house. Her birthday is actually today. Happy birthday Kathy! Chloee told me that you were coming to visit after we got off the phone this morning. So funny!

The very sick Chlo had to be with her daddy 24-7. No one else could hold or comfort her. Poor thing, threw up Saturday night and was running a temperature of 103. We took her into InstaCare, it was an ear infection.

As part of our present to Kathy, we gave her a big tube of bubbles "for the girl within the woman". The kids loved chasing them around.

Josh made an exquisite birthday cake for his Mom. It was from scratch, yellow cake with two layers being divided up by another layer of chocolate frosting (from scratch as well). We also had homemade ice cream with it! A side note about Josh and cooking, he made one great meal too. The roast, potatoes, gravy, you name, it was amazing. I'd like to say I'm shocked but I'm not! He has a knack for cooking.

Shaun took Kathy for a ride on his shoulders. The second picture doesn't even do the motion justice of him trying to get her out the back door without hitting her head. A special side note: Shaun also gave Tyler a swirly. Yes, you read right, an actual swirly in our toilet. Shaun said it was a long time coming for Ty. I wish I could have seen it!

Someone must always get hurt at family functions. Chan hit his nose on something, it was bleeding. I love this picture, look at his cute little bum hanging out of his shorts. Give the crying, bleeding child to the nurse. It's so nice that Kathy is/was a nurse, she makes it all better.

Look at Rhyder flying in the sky. These are all the natural colors outside when I took this.

It was a blast and we are glad that everyone could make it to be here for Kathy. We all know she loves having all of her kids together. Thanks for helping with everything Kathy, even though it was for your birthday.

We also played a "How well do you know Kathy?" game and Stacie won. It was fun to hear everyone giggle. Grandma Jones also came but is not pictured anywhere. If you want to see even more about this fun party, you can click here to see Stacie's post as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!!! Thanks for being such a great Mother. I love you to pieces and thanks for coming and supporting us on Sunday to listen to us give our talks in Sacrament Meeting. Hope you have a good one, even though your hubby is out of town!

In Remembrance Of

On this Memorial Day I wanted to put up a post in remembrance of Joseph Dean Jones. He was also known as Grandpa Jones. He was Josh's grandpa that he was so incredibly close to. I would say that he was like a 2nd father to him. Unfortunately, Grandpa Jones died from Alzheimer's in February of 2001 while Josh was serving his mission in Brazil. I have never met him but I know what an amazing person he was just by the stories that I have heard. His dry sense of humor shines through in Kathy and Josh everyday. I love it. Although I didn't know him from this Earthly life, I feel very indebted to him for the guidance he gave Josh, for the principles and hard work he instilled in his grandson who was going through a very hard time in his life. He shared his love of cooking with Josh and taught him countless lessons that Josh has used throughout his life.
Thank you grandpa, I love you and can't wait until I can finally meet you!

How beautiful to see our American flag draped across his coffin. Grandpa served in the Navy, just one more thing to admire him for, along with all the other many accomplishments he did in his life.

Snapped Like A Twig

I felt as though I were this tree on Sunday. The only thing that was holding me up from completely falling apart was a tiny little wire, something that could easily give way at any moment and make my body at one with the ground.

I was worried sick about my talk, I worked on it almost all of Saturday. About midnight rolled around and I decided to get some shut eye. I made one last look at Chloee and realized she was incredibly HOT, not sleeping very deep and extremely ornery. We took her temperature (rectally, hey that's all we have that works) so you could imagine how MAD she was. Sure enough it was 103. We took her downstairs to give her some Tylenol. In goes the first half of the syringe and she starts screaming, stands up and pukes all over the carpet. A lot of blueberries came up, it was almost impossible to get out of the carpet. I moved her over to the tile just to have her throw up 2 more times. It was all over the tile, me and her. We knew we were in for a night of FUN! After lots of screaming, crying, holding, rocking and laying on an inflatable mattress in our front room, she finally let me sleep solid from 6-8 am. I was running off 2 hours of sleep. The only reason I woke up was because my mom called at 8 am to see how she was doing. I almost slept through church! That would have been grand! Josh's mom was on her way up to listen to us talk. We figured it was food poisoning where she was doing better.

We got to church about 5 minutes before it started. Lucky for us the youth speaker took about 5 minutes instead of 30 seconds. Josh said, "Let's give that kid a hug!". Josh had LITERALLY NO TIME to do his talk. He was doing it when Chloee got sick on Sunday night. He kept telling me, "Take your time, I really don't have a lot". Great, that's what I was telling him earlier on in the week. I said the opening prayer and then went on to talk after the youth speaker. I took a little over 20 minutes! I didn't even realize I was up there that long. I was completely guided by the spirit and was able to get though it without too many mistakes. By the time I was done and the rest him was over, Josh had about 5 minutes. Needless to say, he did 15 minutes and had shortened it way down. Funny how things like that work out.

We came home after Sacrament Meeting. Chloee was on the rise again in temperature. She only wanted to lay on Josh's shoulder, it all pointed to an ear infection to me. We were getting everything ready for the birthday party dinner we were doing for Josh's mom and all the kids. We took her to KidsCare and were there for an hour. YEP, A BAD EAR INFECTION. We were at the pharmacy for an hour and by the time we got home, Josh cooked for about 3 hours straight. Talk about BAD, BAD timing. I am so glad that it is all over! At least now we know what is wrong with Chloee and that she can be on some meds and that we are ALL done with our talks. From now on the answer is, "NO"!

SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG POST. I'M SURE YOU SCANNED IT STACIE, MAYBE NOT EVEN THAT. SORRY IF THIS IS BORING TO EVERYONE BUT AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, MY JOURNAL, DEAL WITH IT OR DON'T READ IT!

A Struggle

I actually get physically sick when I have to talk in Sacrament Meeting. I don't sleep almost all week and I have nightmares about it. I wake up with a stomach ache in the mornings and any time I think about it, I want to puke! Unless you have experienced the same thing, you have NO IDEA what a real challenge and sacrifice this is for me. I would rather teach Relief Society every week. This is just not something I can do. I don't feel like my talk ever really comes together. I get so nervous, I talk fast, I shake, my voice trembles and I can't read. I am so not looking forward to tomorrow. As I sit here trying to prepare my talk, I feel like I have no puzzle pieces to connect to make the finale so great and marvelous and well worth the time slaved into the puzzle.

Why is this so hard for me? Why is this something that brings me turmoil? I wish I had the gift of speaking in front of others. I can carry on a conversation with any stranger, people I'm uncomfortable around and those that probably don't like me. This, I cannot do. If the bishopric member would have asked me, I would have said no. Ok, that's probably not true because Josh told him he'd have to talk to me about it first and he'd get back to him. Oh great, now it's my own fault! I wanted to say no SO badly but with A LOT of prayer hopefully it comes together and sounds half decent.

Just had to take a break for a minute and get my feelings down!