Best. News. Ever.

Most of you know a bit of Graci's health struggles. She has gone through a tremendous number of doctor appointments and surgeries in the last few years, mostly for her heart, but for other reasons as well. It was very hard news for her when after her last open heart surgery, she was put on oxygen at home. Many people didn't even know she was on oxygen because she didn't have to wear it while we were out and about or when she was at school. At home she often took it off when people came over or when we took pictures. All too often she didn't wear it all together because she hated it so much, and that has been a constant battle. She has however ALWAYS used it at night-- a must from her cardiologist. We even had to cart it on our trip to China, and on any other overnight trips.

We have been purposely vague about the extent of Graci's health issues and will continue to be, but I'm sure it is apparent that things were not good. She did, after all, get a wish from the Make-a-Wish foundation and has been in and out of the hospital many times. Every surgery she has had has gone better than expected, but her condition has still been very, very serious. When Graci was initially placed on oxygen, we were told it would be for the rest of her life, and that as things worsened (not if, but when), she would have to wear it at school as well.

Graci had none of that and says she always knew that she would be off oxygen one day, and Thursday, that day came! We were in for her routine ECHO and EKG, done every 4-6 months. Miraculously, her stats are on a big uphill trend. We knew after her surgery in November that things were looking good, but we didn't know that they were THIS good! (: Her cardiologist said that it is time to be cautiously optimistic about everything and TOOK HER OFF HER OXYGEN!

Insert cheers!!!!!!!!!! (: (: (:

I was shocked. I know I shouldn't have been, because the Lord can do anything. But it hadn't even crossed my mind that she would ever get off the oxygen. Her cardiologist was shocked himself. In fact, I think Graci was the only one not shocked. She just smiled like it was no big deal. (:

For all of those who have prayed and fasted for our Graci over the past few years, we thank you! We know without a doubt that God has heard those prayers. We know of His perfect love for Graci, and we knew that miracles could occur with her health, we just didn't know if they would. But they have! And we are overcome with gratitude for a loving Father in Heaven who made it so.

Graci, we love you. You are such a light in our home. We admire your strength and courage and pure, unwavering testimony of Christ. We are so, so blessed to have you in our eternal family. There are so many people all over the world who love you and need you HERE! We are looking forward to many more years for you to grace our lives with your sweet, quirky ways. (: Happy NO MORE OXYGEN Day, little Ling Ling!


He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. --Psalms 147:3

Taking her out to dinner to celebrate!

In Jesi's World...

Tonight was a bit tough for Jesi. She was working on her 2nd grade math homework when I came up and started trying to help her out. She actually does very well in math. I'm quite proud of her. In fact, what I was trying to help her with was the way she was holding her pencil. As a child, my parents were quite emphatic about helping us have good handwriting. I was taught the correct way to hold a writing utensil and the the correct way to form each letter. I believe this was more emphasized in school back in those days as well.

Watching one of my children write with an awkward grip is a bit difficult for me, so I try to encourage them to do it correctly. (I am coming to terms with the fact that my grandchildren may not even learn to write at all. Everything may be voice activated at that point, or keyboarding may be the only important skill. So I sometimes wonder if there's any real value to teaching my children a dying art form. But old habits die hard...) Anyway, I was very patient with her. I kindly talked to her about how it would be easier to write neatly if she would hold her pencil correctly. She was NOT happy with me. At first she flat out refused to make the change. Five years ago, that would have likely been met with an outburst from me. But I have grown up a bit as I have grown up. So I gently explained that sometimes she has to do something she doesn't want to do, just because Dad says to do it. She glared at me for several seconds, then stood up and went into her bedroom. She didn't throw a tantrum or slam doors, but she was obviously unhappy with me.

I followed and explained that marching off in frustration is not an appropriate response to your dad (although in retrospect, it's a lot better than if she were yelling at me, so maybe I just need to count my blessings!). Eventually we patched things up and she came back in and really made an effort to hold her pencil correctly. I was quite proud, and she was still able to write very neatly, despite this new technique.

She finished her math homework and asked me to check it. Most of it was correct. Then we got to a section where she had to write equations in different ways. One option was to reverse the sides of the equation (223-132=91 is the same as 91=223-132.) But instead of just switching the sides of the equation, she looked at it like a mirror image (223-132=91 is the same as 91=132-223). I tried to explain to her that this didn't work. I told her that by doing this she was trying to subtract a larger number from a smaller number. She just couldn't grasp the concept. She insisted that her way was right. She told me that Mrs. Miller (her 1st grade teacher) had taught her that this was the correct way to do it. Finally, I figured out how to help her get it. I had her write out the subtraction problem vertically and then solve it. When she did it my way, she got 91. When she did it her way, she realized that it didn't work. She re-wrote the answers the correct way.

As a satisfied teacher who had helped his student see the light I asked Jesi, "Do you get it now? Do you see why you have to keep the order of these numbers the same?" Jesi looked up at me with her cute contemplative look and said, in all seriousness, "In my world, the other way is still right!"

Dear, dear Jess, how I love your world. How grateful I am that the good Lord has blessed me with increased patience over the past several years so I was able to help you without getting frustrated. And how grateful I am that the entire experience, while difficult for you to go through until the light came on, was a positive and loving memory between us. Jessica, your world is a special place. Keep inviting me in!:)

Love,

Dad

Oops!

Our family was at the ballpark tonight for Xander's first baseball game. Afterward, we started walking toward the car. There was a group of people visiting on the sidewalk/grass area that we had to squeeze past. Sophi was walking just behind me, when I heard a man's playful voice ask, "well, where did your arms go?" Jer later told me that it took him a few seconds to process why someone would ask a question like that, but I immediately knew that the man had just assumed she was hiding her arms in her jacket. I turned around to see Soph staring up at him like he was crazy. I didn't know whether or not to say something, because I knew he would be embarrassed, but decided it would be worse not to. I said with a smile, "actually, she was born without arms." The poor man's mouth just hung open, and immediately his wife was apologizing up and down. I laughed and said it was ok, and not to worry, but I'm afraid that sweet man, who was just trying to be friendly, was mortified.

I've been giggling about it all night. (:

Dear Tiff

Your phone number is still in my phonebook, which means it's been transferred through at least five different cell phones since you passed away. It's hard to believe it's been almost eight years. My kids hardly even remember you anymore. I'll make sure we watch your funeral video again sometime soon.

Every month I still get the Travelzoo email you signed me up for long ago. I never even read it. Once in a great while, I'll skim it. But I can't bring myself to unsubscribe, because it's kind of like getting a once a month reminder that my little sis still loves me. On the flip side, I still send dad a few bucks a month to put some flowers on your headstone. I hope you see them there.

I still have a picture of you on my desk and a card you sent me about a year before you left. I particularly cherish the line: "I've appreciated all your advice. You're a great big brother." You and I were kindred spirits, Tiff. I love you. I miss you. I know you are in a beautiful place, and I look forward to seeing you again. I wish you were here to hug Lexi and Sophi. They would have loved you so much. Your exuberance for life would have brought out the squeals and laughter they love to share. I wish you could know Graci and Xander and they could know you. Graci would look up to you so much. I'm sorry you never got a chance to meet Elli and to hear her unique expressions of joy. Taylor and Parker still remember you, although it's more from pictures and videos at this point. They've always remembered that they were your "tiger & munchkin." Jesi met you just a couple of times, obviously too young to form any lasting memories. But I'm so glad we have the pictures of you holding her.

Every once in awhile I re-read your rather prescient "If tomorrow never comes" email. I'm so grateful you had a chance to share those thoughts with us before you left. And I believe you're still close by. I think you know a lot about our family. And I think you are as happy as anyone about the road we have chosen. I like to think that you had a chance to meet Elli, Lexi, Xander and Sophi before their spirits came down to this earth. I like to think that you hugged them, and maybe even told them that I was a "great big brother." Hopefully you told them that if they could just be patient with me, I might turn out as an OK dad, too.

You know what got me thinking about you today? The nose-hair clipper you gave me as a present years ago! I miss the candor of our relationship. Not every sister would just give that to her older brother and say, "Here. 'Cuz you need it!" Thanks, Tiff. And you were right:)

I miss you, little sister.

-Jer

Here's a story in the BYU newspaper about Tiffany.

Three things that made me smile...

Looking out the window to see this:

Walking in the living room to see this:

Having Jesi shove a box into my room and saying, "Look, Mom, I have a present for you," and then turning the box around to reveal this:

Happy Birthday, Xander!

Our Xander Commander turned 7 on March 26. He was so excited and has been talking about his birthday for months! He chose an omelet with lots of salsa, mangoes, and juice for his breakfast in bed. We had a fun celebration with the family that evening, and he was thrilled to get a new Lego set.

The real fun came on Saturday! Lexi had never gotten her friend party, as her birthday was over Christmas break and we were busy visiting family. We decided to combine parties for the two. A few months ago, we won a party from Munchkin Radio from a benefit auction. They came out to our backyard and put on a great party for Lexi and Xander. I figured since it was in our backyard, that the kids could invite as many friends as they wanted. They both invited their classes from school and a few other friends as well. Needless to say, we ended up with over 50 kids!! This normally wouldn't stress me at all, except that Mother Nature hates me and always seems to know when we are planning a big party. The wind was CRAZY that afternoon. A few minutes before guests started to arrive it really picked up. Decorations were blown everywhere, chairs were tipping over-- it was nuts! I just kept thinking, "In two hours it will all be over!" Thankfully, prayers were answered and it wasn't too bad during the party. We even had a few moments of complete calm. Weather, that is. (; The kids had a great time dancing to music and playing the games Munchkin Radio brought. We had hotdogs, chips, cookies, and popsicles-- all requested by Xander. He and Lexi had so much fun and loved being the center of attention. I was so grateful for a couple of moms who stayed and pitched in when we needed a few extra hands! I am also so grateful for the good friends that these two have. They are a great bunch of kids who have really taken Lexi under their wings. I just love first graders!

I should mention that the party was the same day that we had baseball field clean-up, General Conference, an Easter egg hunt for the blind and visually impaired (beeping eggs and blindfolds for the sighted-- awesome!) and a Jackie Evancho concert. Whew!!! Believe it or not, we stayed smiling all day! It didn't hurt to end it with Jackie Evancho. Make-a-Wish gave us free tickets and she was breathtakingly good. Even better live than online/TV.

Xander, we love you! You are so full of life and love! We are so proud of how far you have come in math and reading-- way to go! You are such a good friend and look out for everyone. Your smile lights up a room. We know that life has big things in store for you, because you are bigger than life! Happy 7th Birthday, X-man!!!

More Jesi-isms

The other night Jessica came up to me and said, "Daddy, do you notice something?" This is not an unusual occurrence at our house. With five daughters, I am frequently asked to notice this or that about someone's outfit or hair or the like. I responded, "Your beautiful hair?" "No." "Your beautiful clothes?" "No." "Your beautiful shoes?" "Daddy, it has nothing to do with my beauty!" OK, then:) (I don't even remember what I was supposed to notice, but clearly it wasn't her lack of self-esteem.)

Yesterday, Christi was doing Jesi's hair. She was standing near a door with a mirror on it. Jesi turned and caught a glimpse of herself, and, in complete sincerity, commented, "Hello, Gorgeous!"

Jesi used to do Kung Fu moves with Xander. Hers were quite entertaining. Yesterday I asked her to do some of her Kung Fu moves for me. "I don't have any more Kung Fu moves." "Why not?" "Now I just have fabulous poses!" She was very obliging when I asked for a demonstration. She looked like she was preparing for a trip down the catwalk.

At Christi's annual Easter reunion this weekend Jessica was talking to Christi's cousin Melissa. "How many kids do you have," she asked. "Three boys." "You only have boys?" "Yes." "You need to get you some girls!"

After the above mentioned reunion (a three-day-camping-in-the-Utah-desert affair) we got back to civilization late last night. Jesi was monopolizing the bathroom and Christi wanted to shower. Christi knocked on the bathroom door. Jesi, in a very matter-of-fact, formal voice, "Um, I'm very sorry out there, but this bathroom is occupied." "Jess, you need to hurry." "I'm sorry out there, but the bathroom is occupied."

What would we do without our little princess?

Jer

Utah United for Half the Sky

I blew it.

I was asked to blog about this over a month ago, and kept forgetting. Or putting it off. Or both. And now all of a sudden, it's the week of the race and I am feeling awful that I haven't announced this earlier.

Utah United for Half the Sky is sponsoring a 5K/10K race this Saturday. It will be held along the Provo River Trail (beautiful!) and is run by BYU student volunteers, with all of the proceeds going to orphans in China. If I wasn't going to be at a family reunion, I would be running in this race. Not because I'm a runner, but because this is a GREAT cause! Half the Sky is one of the best organizations out there and they have done incredible things for China's orphans.

Please, if you live in Utah and can participate in the race, consider doing so! If not, I am sure your online donation would be very much appreciated. These students have worked very hard to organize this race and have big hearts for the orphans of China.

Click HERE to learn more.

--Christianne

Spiced Citris Chic

Parker came up the stairs this morning holding this and asking, "Mom, is this hairspray?"

"No, it's air freshiener."

"Are you sure?"

"Um... Yeah. I'm sure."

"Well, Taylor won't believe me and has been using it as hairspray."



I thought he's been smelling good!

Get The Point?

Every night before bed we have a pretty defined bedtime tradition. We sing "Let us gather in a circle," alerting everyone that it is time for family prayer. We kneel down together, say our prayer and then share a scripture. After scripture, each family member says, "I love you, Elli." Then together we all say, "We love you, Elli." Elli (most nights) then responds, "I love you, family!"

The choice of who would say prayer each night (and all the other prayers during the day) used to be just random. I would pick someone, trying to spread the opportunities around. I would get many vociferous requests from various family members each time we were going to pray. As our family grew and grew, it became judicious to have some sort of organized system to decide whose turn it was. Way back in 2009, when we only had seven family members, each person had one day of the week. On that day, that person got to say every prayer. Meals, family prayers, any others that came up. It worked well. Then we jumped to eight and then 10 people. Now, I get the 1, 11, and 21 of every month. Christi gets the 2, 12, and 22, Taylor gets the 3,13, and 23.... You get the idea:)

On your day, you not only get to say family prayer at night, you also get to choose the scripture for the day. Sometimes these will be memorized verses. Sometimes we may open the scriptures and read directly from them. Often (for kids 8 and under) we will act out a scripture story. By far the favorite one over the years has been Noah. As we talk about the animals getting on the ark, each family member gets to choose an animal. Then we all act and make noises like that animal. Pretty fun stuff! It takes a lot longer now than it did when Taylor and Parker were little!?! Maybe not the most dignified way to share the scriptures, but at least the kids enjoy it:) After the scripture story, whoever's day it is shares their testimony about what we can learn from that scripture. With Noah, a child might talk about how we need to listen to the Lord and His prophets and follow their counsel.

Tonight was Xander's night. He chose another popular story: David and Goliath. Whoever plays Goliath gets to be on Dad's shoulders. After David gets us with the slingshot, I act out a rather dramatic demise. The child playing Goliath gets to crash slowly to the ground as we wobble and sway until Goliath goes down. Xander, of course, chose to be Goliath. (Sophi was David tonight, and having her slay us with a slingshot creates its own logistical problems:) After the story was acted out, I asked Xander to stand up and share what we could learn.

Xander: "We shouldn't throw rocks at people."

At first I thought he was trying to be funny, but then I noticed how serious he was. Stifling my laughter, I replied, "Well, that's true. Anything else we can learn from David and Goliath?"

Xander: "We should be nice to our brothers and sisters?"

Me: "Very good Xander. What about we should pray to and have faith in Heavenly Father and he will help us overcome even the biggest challenges?"

Xander: "Yes."

Clearly, something is getting lost along the way here!:)

-Jer

Counting Our Blessings

The other night at dinner I had a very simple yet very profound experience. We had finished eating and were playing 20 questions while still sitting together. This is a favorite game for the kids. My arms were resting on the table, and my elbow hung out over the edge by just a few inches. Sophi was down from her chair and wandering around. I almost didn't notice as she came up and started rubbing her eye against my elbow. I glanced down at her and was suddenly hit by the significance of what she was doing.

I paused our game for a moment, and without telling anyone why, I had us sing the first verse of "Count Your Many Blessings." After we sang, I asked if we all had challenges. Of course everyone said yes. I asked what some of them were. Someone mentioned Lexi being blind. Graci talked about her heart problems. (Parker threw in "being overly attractive...it's rough.":) After listing a few more, I pointed out what Sophi had been doing. How often, I asked, do you reach up with your hand and rub your eye or face? Pretty frequently! Sophi cannot do that. If she is sitting, she can do it with her foot, but if she is standing, she cannot do it by herself. So she came up and rubbed her sweet little eyes on my elbow.

We were all grateful for our hands that evening. I am grateful for all of my children-eight wonderful blessings I get to count every single day.

Jer

Christi's Problem

My sweetheart is an exceptional cook! She often whips up familiar recipes but isn't afraid to try new things. She has an occasional miss, but this is very rare. But she does have a problem. She almost always serves her meals with some kind of derogatory comment with regard to what we are about to eat. "This doesn't look very good, does it?" or "I'm sure it will need some salt." or "If you don't like it you only have to have a little." I believe part of this stems from her unique method of making sure the food she cooks tastes good...she looks at it.

That's right. My snookums never tastes her cooking before she serves it! Not a bite. Not a smidgeon. Not a snitch. Nothin! She will NOT sample her cooking before she puts it on the table. Not even to salt or season it. She just "looks at it". If she is really unsure of how it will taste, she requires my services. Problem is, I am a food moron. I may be able to tell her if it's not quite right. But my only idea to fix anything consists of, "Well, uh, maybe it could use some salt?"

The other night, she decided to try a new dinner. Homemade enchiladas and Mexican rice from rice-a-roni. The enchiladas were fantastic. Loved by all. The rice-a-roni? Even I should be able to do rice-a-roni, right? Not so fast! She gets done cooking the meal, again using her "look at it" method to make sure it will taste good. She spoons up some of the triple batch of rice-a-roni ("serves 4" just doesn't do us much good anymore). She let's it glop from the spoon back down to the pan. She looks at me and offers up a typical pre-meal comment, "This looks horrible!" I tell you, the woman absolutely inspires confidence:) But in this case, I have to agree with her. It looks more like Mexican rice stew than Mexican rice. We all sit down to eat. With another pessimistic remark, she prepares the kids for the worst. I get a lot of skeptical looks as I dish everyone up a small spoonful. As we start to eat, nobody says much. Finally, I make a comment: "Well, it's pretty bland. But at least it's crunchy." Like I say, her misses are few and far between, but this was definitely one of them.

The next morning I was cleaning up the kitchen after making seven lunches. I noticed 3 unused oatmeal packets sitting on the counter. Not an unusual occurance after breakfast in our house. I picked them up, but noticed that they had no labeling on them and must not be oatmeal. I looked at them for a moment, confused. I took them in to Christi and asked, "Honey, do you know what these are?" She looked at them for a second, got a goofy grin on her face, and replied, "I guess now we know why the rice-a-roni was so bland..."

-Jer

PS. Either Christi and I have a fantastic relationship or I am going to have my blogging privileges suspended for a long time. Perhaps I should ask her before I publish a post that knocks her culinary skills. Naw...I've "looked at it" and it seems fine to me:)

Christi's Christian Home for Stray Kids and Animals...

Remember Patti? The lost dog who infiltrated our home about 3 weeks ago? In 13 years of marriage, that was the first time we've ever had a stray show up on our doorstep. Yesterday morning about 7am I was making lunches in the kitchen. Lexi, sitting on the living room floor hollers out, "Where's that cat?" I listen closely for a minute and sure enough, I hear a cat meowing. I open the front door, and there's a young cat looking plaintively up at me from the bottom of our front stairs.

What's a guy to do? I've never been one to hide my feelings about cats. I've toned down my rhetoric a bit now that I have children (including one Princess Jesi whose favorite animals are cats), but I still don't hesitate to say that I strongly dislike the creatures. I'm very allergic to them. Their aloofness, even haughtiness, is in direct contrast to the goofy adoration a good dog will show his owner. But here is a cat on a chilly morning, clearly wanting some shelter. So I let her in. (No idea whether it was a he or she, but Jesi insisted it was a girl.) Christi tried a bowl of milk, which the cat ignored. Christi then tried a bowl of cold, leftover scrambled eggs and turkey, which the cat again ignored (can't say I blame the poor thing...what were you thinking on that one, sweetie?).

The cat then explored the house and headed to the basement. A couple minutes later Parker bolts up the stairs and said, "Did you know there's a cat in the house? And it's drinking out of the toilet!" Christi quickly put out a bowl of water, which was eagerly accepted.

We didn't keep this stray very long. After she had something to drink, the cat wanted to go outside again. It had warmed up considerably, so Christi let her out and she didn't come back. The kids think this is a sign that we are supposed to get a pet. I'm not so sure. But if a guinea pig shows up next week...

-Jer

Someday

Dear Sophi is such a trooper! She is independent and works hard to do everything by herself. She loves to help and will carry things in her mouth or between her chin and her shoulder. She gets up and down stairs by herself. She is so precious. She rarely ever shows sadness about her missing arms. In fact, she usually is quite content with "feet-hands" and "leg-arms" as she calls them. Her usually cheerful attitude made this exchange all the more poignant:

Sophi had a roll of Smarties candy. She tried and tried to open it with her toes, but just couldn't figure it out. Suddenly she just went to pieces. She sobbed and sobbed and was so distraught. I held her and rocked her in our easy chair. I opened the Smarties and she ate them with her "toe-fingers". Once she calmed down, I helped her out of my lap and held out the wrapper to her. "Here Sophi," I said. "Go throw this away." She looked at me with hauntingly sad little eyes and said, "I can't. I no have arms."

Oh, sweet Sophi. I am so sorry. You have some challenging days ahead of you. Fortunately, you have an indomitable spirit. You rebounded quickly from this experience and will do so with more tough experiences in the future. I am so grateful for a personal witness that Jesus Christ is our Lord. That through him, someday, you will be able to look into my eyes and say, "I can do it, Daddy. I have arms!" I love you, Soph.

-Dad

0 to 60...

We have been married for almost 14 years. For over 13 of those years we fought the silent battle of "who's getting up with the kids?!?" The one where we both lie there in bed, pretending to be asleep, waiting for the other person to respond to the crying (screaming?!) child. The one where Christi scolds me in the morning for being lazy and I insist I was asleep the whole time and she says, "I heard your breathing change!" That game.

Then, about 2 months ago, we got a clue. We switch nights! Every other night one of us is responsible to get up with the kids. That poor sap has to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door. The other lucky person sleeps soundly on the other side where she kicks the guy whose turn it is to wake up. We've even got it down to where we switch off weekend mornings to sleep in. Now that our church has moved to a 1pm start time, we get two glorious weekend mornings. How sweet it is.

The whole point of this is to share with you Sophi's method of waking up. This applies in the middle of the night as well as in the morning. Most kids fuss a little, toss and turn as they start to make some noise. Sophi goes from 0 to 60 in 0 seconds. One moment, the house is bathed in glorious, sleeping silence. The next moment a 120 decibel siren goes off down the hall. There is no pretending to be asleep through Sophi waking up. And yet somehow, Christi still finds reason to kick me...;)

-Jer

The kind of things that make me smile...

(made from cheese, turkey, and duct tape)

Recent letters from Jessica

Dear Mom
I want to change the wall and make my room filled with princesses inside it. My three reasons are I want it that way because... I need a baby Cinderella doll so I can practice with her to baby sit a real baby when I grow up. And my second reason is because I want some princess makup because I would use it wicely. (wisely) My third reason is... I want a princess dress so I can use it for an immergncy like to go to the princess festival. Love: Jessica

Dear Mom,
I love you! You are a good great mom to me. You are very very helpful. You are a creatve mom. In fact you are the best mom in the hole wide world. You stay awsome and stay fashionble to.
Love: Jessica Anne Green

It's a Bird...

This morning Lexi developed a super hero alter-ego. She wanders around the living room saying "I Blind Girl! I in the sky! Dad, you can call me Blind Girl! Hey everyone, you can call me Blind Girl!" In theory, this is great. Lex has embraced her disability and turned it into a positive way to face the world and it's challenges. On the other hand, I can't wait until I'm overheard at the park saying "come on Jess, come on Xander, come on blind girl, it's time to go home..."

-Jer

Elli's Antics

Elli, Elli, Elli...

What are we going to do with her?

Anyone who has a child with severe autism knows what a rollercoaster ride it can be. Elli can go from laughing to screaming to singing to screaming to quiet to screaming (are you getting the theme here?) for no apparent reason. For the past few months, the screaming and sadness seemed to be the overriding emotion and it was becoming extremely difficult for everyone. We decided to start her on some meds to try to stabilize her moods a bit.

Results were quick! We felt like we had our Elli back. She became more verbal and sweet and happy. Along with that came a whole new Elli.

We call her Miss Mischievous.

Elli's newfound energy and contentment (which, by the way, is by no means constant-- she still knows how to scream, but overall it is much less) has been channeled into wreaking havoc upon our home. In any given 5 minutes, she can destroy an entire room. Whereas before she would tend to stay in one area for long periods of time, playing with her music toys, she now roams the house constantly, exploring and making messes. One of her favorite new things to do is to go into the bathroom, climb in the tub fully clothed, and turn on the shower. This was funny perhaps the first couple of times it happened, but quickly got very old. After several stints in the shower, Jeremy purchased the "childproof" plastic doorknob covers to put on the bathrooms. It helped for approximately one and a half weeks. Yesterday we were out at parent teacher conferences all afternoon and left most of the kids home with Taylor and Parker.

Speaking of parent teacher conferences, we visited with over 20 teachers. Eight kids and two in junior high make for a lot of visits!

But back to Elli. We got a phone call from Taylor that went something like this, "Dad, Elli found out how to open the bathroom doors and went into the shower again."

"Oh, I'm sure someone just left it open."

"That's what we thought the first time, but it's happened twice now. She knows how to pull apart the plastic on the covers and can get in. She's showered twice."

Seriously, what are we going to do with her? The other day she went in Jeremy's office for a few minutes and managed to create a huge mess that had Jeremy pulling his hair out. When I went to get her the other morning, she had pulled off the closet door in her room and was sliding down it. She's broken the piano bench and ping pong table. She tears pictures off the wall, "clears" off the kitchen table, pulls all of the blankets and sheets off beds, and every other thing you can think of.

Whatever you're envisioning, it's worse. I'm actually very worried to find out what she's doing this very moment! But believe it or not, it's better than the constant screaming. She seems happier most of the time. So I'm not sure what to do! It's impossible to watch her every minute of the day. She's kind of acting like a one year old, but can do so much more damage because of her size and strength.

One thing that has come to mind is getting her more musical toys. She has a TON already, but she plays with them constantly, so the novelty can wear off. Every time we get her something new, it provides hours and hours of mess-free Elli. But it kills the budget. So... if any of you readers out there happen to live in my neighborhood and have musical toys that would just go to the DI, PLEASE ask if we have them, and if not, send them on over here! You could be saving an entire house from utter destruction! (:

I'm not even kidding.

We do love you, Elli! It's fun to see you come alive. (:

Science Fair

Thanks again to everyone that helped with our science fair projects! It was great to get so many responses-- I love blogging! The kids did a great job on their projects. Graci got the highest score in her class. For some reason, however, nobody in her class advanced on to the school competition. She did such a great job though. We are proud of you, Graci Kate!

Taylor and Parker both advanced to the school competition and advanced from there to the regional charter fair competition, held at UVU. I got to go with them and we had a great time. I was able to be a judge and it gave me some good insight into future years. The kids were each judged by three different judges. I believe there were a couple hundred students competing. The boys were super excited to be chosen to advance to state. It will be held at BYU in a few weeks. Good job, boys!

As I was up late helping one of the kids with their project and feeling a bit frazzled, Jeremy came into the room and said, "You know, hon, next year you will have three projects again, but the next year you will only have two. and the year after that you will only have two, but the next year you'll be back to three and the next year..." I gave him the look of death, and he concluded with, "You only have about 30 science fair projects left!"

Thank you, honey. (:

The hardest part about being a mom

are conversations like the one I just had with Lexi:

"Mom, why I blind?"

"Because that's the way you were born."

"But why my eyes can't see? Are they broken?"

"Yes, your eyes are broken."

"But it's not FAIR!"

"I know, honey. It's not fair."

"But I tired of being blind!" (sobs begin) "I want to see you!"

"Come here, sweetie." (I put her hands on my face) "You can see me with your hands."

"But I want to see you with my eyes! I don't want to be blind anymore!"

"Lexi, someday you won't be blind anymore. Because Jesus will heal you. And you will be able to see me with your eyes."

"I want to see you right now!" (tears continue to pour)

"I know."

"I don't like being blind. Because I trip a lot. And I want to see Erin C."

"You will see Erin C. in heaven. And you will run around and play with her. And she won't need to hold your hand while you walk, but you will hold hands anyway because you love each other."

"Can I see Denise (Erin's mom) too? Because I want to know what she looks like."

"Yes, you can see everyone in heaven!"

(little bit of a smile, but still sniffling)

"I want to go to heaven."

"I know, I know."



These are the kind of conversations I've had with many of my kids about their unique struggles. There aren't words to explain how hard it is.

Luckily, Sophi is still at the blissfully easy place where a conversation with her goes like this:

"Why I not have hands?"

"Because you have feet-hands" (her terminology)

"Oh... good!!!"

(:

That didn't quite come out right...

Phone message I heard Jesi leave today:

Hi, I am calling to see if Maddie can play because I can't think of any other friends I want to play with, so... call me back... um... Jessica Green 801-208...."

Tea Party

Jessica's class apparently worked very hard to earn a "tea party." Anyone that knows Jesi knows that tea parties are right up her alley! In fact, I don't think she has ever been so excited for a school event. She spent a long time planning out the perfect outfit and hairdo.

I love our girly girl!

PS Is anyone else having a tough time loading pictures on blogger? For awhile it was uploading pictures in a new, easier format, but now it seems to be back to the old way and is being ridiculously slow. Any ideas?

Patti

Meet Patti:

Saturday night at about 10:30 p.m., this sweet dog showed up on our porch. She was shivering and her paw was bleeding. She walked right in when I opened the door. At first I was a bit taken aback, and tried to shoo her out the door, but luckily I have very compassionate children (and the mother of one of Parker's friends) who wouldn't let me.

Graci immediately named her Lizzi and was in love. She begged and begged to take care of it. We got her cleaned up and fed her some chicken (the only thing I could think of... I'm not a dog person.) She scarved it down and seemed much happier afterward.

Later on that evening, a couple of the kids took a peek at her and decided she was a boy. So she was renamed Shiver (because of all her shivering, of course.) We put her in a box with some blankets and Graci slept next to her.

Jeremy was away on a weekend with his brothers, and I couldn't get ahold of him, so I sent a text "Um...we have a dog," and then went to bed. He was quite confused until we were finally able to talk later the next day.

The next day I tried to locate her owner. I thought that surely it was someone right in our neighborhood. I made some calls and even announced it in church, but nobody knew anything. The kids begged to keep her, and I was wary to call animal control because I didn't know what would end up happening to her. We borrowed dog food from a neighbor (Shiver didn't like it) and tried our best to take care of her. She was SHOWERED with attention, if you know what I mean. Poor dog. She hobbled around the house trying to escape Sophi's constant desire to smother her. We joked that with her "special need" she knew just which house wouldn't turn her away and she fit right in. (:

This morning after the kids went to school, I looked closer at Shiver and decided "he" was a she. Back to calling her Lizzi. (Let's see how much we can confuse the dog.) I took her to a lady in the neighborhood who grooms dogs and asked her to look at her paw (the one that was bleeding.) I didn't want to pay to have her seen at the vet when I didn't even know if it was serious. While I was there, the animal control truck pulled up to the park right in back of her house. Crazy "coincidence." I decided to take a chance and see if they had a scanner, in case Lizzi had a chip. I drove up to the truck and approached the lady and told her how we had found this dog, and wanted to possibly keep her if she didn't have an owner looking for her. She asked what kind it was and I told her it was possibly a yorkie chihuahua mix. Her face brightened and she said, "I know the owner, and she is frantic!"

I was hesitant to just hand over the dog, because my kids were so attached and would want to know exactly what happened and where the dog lived, so I asked if I could follow her to the owner's house. When we arrived, the owner was outside waiting for us (the dispatcher had called her), crying with relief and excitement. She hugged me and with tears streaming down her face kept proclaiming, "It's a miracle!"

We found out that "Lizzi" is actually Patti. (Yes, they spell it without an "e" just like all of my girls-- they got a kick out of that.) She is a 12-year-old dog, and had special, significant meaning to the couple who owned her. They really loved her. They had gone through some terrible tragedies in the past few weeks (including her 33-year-old brother passing away) and had left Patti with a dog sitter to go to St. George. The dog sitter apparently lost Patti, and was devastated. She called the owners, who left their trip early to come home and try to find Patti. They had spent hours combing the streets with flashlights last night, trying desperately to find her. They were mostly looking for a corpse, as it has been VERY cold at nights, and they didn't think she could have survived. We were all shocked at how far she had traveled to get to our home (a couple of miles).

The owner invited me in and showed me the laminated posters she had just made to post around the neighborhood. I took one home to show the kids. She invited me to come back on Saturday with the kids so they could meet the owners and say goodbye to Patti.

When I returned home, Sophi asked where the dog was and immediately burst into tears when I told her she had gone home. After school, when I picked the kids up and told them the story, Xander did the same. He was so, so sad. The rest of the kids were old enough to understand that this was a very happy ending, even though they were sad to lose Lizzi/Shiver/Lizzi/Patti. (:

Of course, you all know the REAL ending to the story. Our kids are now desperately begging for a dog. They have wanted one before, but never this much. I feel like I have my hands full (go figure) but I don't know that they are going to back down so easily now. (: I must say, if we were to have a dog, Patti would have been perfect. She didn't make a sound and was as sweet as could be.

So what do you think? Is a dog too much work?? Could we handle one with all we have going??? What is the most patient dog breed out there? (:

--Christianne

Lexi

Lexi has come so far the last few months. Something has finally clicked with braille, and she is beginning to read simple three-letter words by herself. It is sooooo exciting to watch! She still struggles with many letters, but she is getting there, and can braille most of the alphabet by herself now.

She still surprises us with how bright she is. The other day I was practicing spelling words with Xander. I gave him the word "water" and he wasn't paying any attention at all (typical) and began "b..." Lexi, who was in the room but busy with something else, exclaimed, "XANDER! That would say "bater! Silly you!" This from a girl speaking English just over a year.

Lexi is our social butterfly. She has been so blessed to find a "best friend." Her name is Erin, or "Erin C." as Lexi always calls her (there are two Erins in her class.) I will often hear Lexi in the morning laying in her bed singing "I love Erin C." to various tunes. (: Today I overheard Parker tell his friend about Erin. I thought he described her perfectly:

"Erin C. is so great because she treats Lexi like a real person. She doesn't baby her, but she's so nice to her at the same time. She actually plays with her and acts excited to be her friend."

That's our Erin C. I love that girl so much for what she has done for Lexi. They have had many playdates together and I am so grateful for that! Lexi is not fun when she is bored, so playdates are a good thing! On Thursday, Erin and Lexi were walking from school to their cars and Erin fell down and cut her forehead. She ended up with a few stitches. I'm not sure who was more traumatized-- Erin or Lexi. It took Lexi over 30 minutes to stop crying. She kept saying, "I'm so sad that Erin C. is hurt. I really really really want Erin C. to be better!" She was hysterical, and still talks about it several times a day. "Remember when Erin C. fell down?" she says constantly, and then has to relive the whole thing. Such sweet friends.

Lexi loves to be like everyone else. It is poignant to be watching a show and have her laugh when everyone else laughs even though she didn't see what was so funny. She is such easy company. She's happy to be doing anything besides sitting by herself. Jeremy has taken her along with the boys to go to BYU basketball games and she is a great sport, just sitting there and cheering when everyone else does.

Lex is a great sleeper. She can fall asleep at any time and both Jer and I love to have her join us for naps. She'll lay quietly by you and stroke your face for a second and then just drift off to sleep. So so sweet.

Lexi loves to share her testimony of Jesus. She still tells anyone who will listen how Jesus is going to fix her eyes. It can be so incredibly heartbreaking when she cries to me, "Mom, why can't He do it now?" She's been begging for a "blind friend." Anyone know of someone nearby? Sometimes she will put Jesi's glasses on (so cute!) and say, "Why I not wear glasses to help me see like Jesi?" Oh that glasses would work!!!!!!!!

I'm in love with you, my Lexi Li! I am so privileged to be your mother!!

The Abominable Snow Pants

Jeremy has these awesome snow pants. They are black, bib overalls and are super fluffy/poofy. They make him look twice his size, especially in the "posterior" region. (: I've always been amused by them.

These pictures do not do the "poofiness" justice, but I'll share anyway and add a couple of cute pics of the kids.

Last week he had the opportunity to go skiing with his boss and his boss's boss. As he was packing, I gently suggested (maybe with a little giggle) he consider getting some new snow pants since this was a business ski trip. Jeremy doesn't like spending money on himself, especially when the old pants "work perfectly fine." I worked and worked on him, telling him how much use he would get out of some new pants and how much better he would feel in them. He finally caved and ended up buying himself some nice ski pants.

I was so glad to see this picture he just emailed me of his ski trip yesterday with his brothers. The pants have been passed on to Tyler. (:

Painted Nails

Jesi and her friend were having fun painting their nails. Xander saw that Sophi was feeling left out and decided to do hers. How'd he do? (:

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!

This is one of Xander's and Sophi's favorite games. She's the baby, he's the daddy. Oftentimes Jessica is the mommy, and once in awhile I get roped into being grandma. I'm not sure the purpose of dragging her around in a laundry bssket, but it works for them. They love it, and I thought it very cute. Cute enough to take pictures.

Then the other day as I was rushing into my room to get something, my foot accidentally got entangled in the rope that was still tied to the laundry basket. I was rounding a corner, the rope pulled tight, and there was nothing I could do but fall absolutely flat on my face. Hard. My head, neck, and back felt like it had landed on asphalt. Parker couldn't understand why it hurt me so much. He tried falling down flat, and said it was no big deal. Guess I'm just getting OLD. A couple of days and muscle relaxants later, I was no worse for the wear, but I am a bit more strict on untying the ropes when they are done with their little game. (: