This Week's Top Ten

1.  Hiking Stewart Falls.

Jeremy heard about this great hike up by Sundance that we thought would be perfect for Labor Day. Xander, of course, was still recovering from his surgery, so we had to get a babysitter for him.  Since we were already leaving Xander, we decided it would be easier to leave Elli too.  At the last second, Jesi backed out.  I'm telling you, we were counting our lucky stars that these three were not on the hike!  (They aren't exactly our biggest troopers when it comes to long, hot hikes.)   We've definitely been on longer, more strenuous hikes, but not with all the littles!  Taylor was awesome and backpacked Sophi all the way up.  Lexi did great on most of it, but was pretty exhausted by the time we got to the top.  I kept thinking how much harder it must have been for her-- it takes so much more energy when you have to hold someone's hand the whole way and be led around rocks and over dead trees.  I mean, imagine how tense you would be hiking a mountain while blindfolded-- this is essentially what it's like for her-- she expends a lot of energy.  It wouldn't have been nearly as hard for her if the trail hadn't been so full of rocks.  The falls were beautiful, but by the time we got there, Lexi wasn't having fun anymore.  It broke my heart that she worked so hard to get there and couldn't even see the beauty of it all.  There were some people at the falls who had come from a different starting point on a different trail that was supposedly quite a bit shorter.   I decided to go down that way with Lexi, while the rest of the group took the original trail back so they could get to our car and then drive and pick us up.  As we started down, I wondered what in the world I had done!  The trail was super rocky and narrow and I was trying to lead Lexi by myself.  Unlike the original trail we took, we weren't passing many people.  Part way down the trail, I was startled to hear what sounded exactly like a cougar or some other big cat.  It was an unmistakable sound, and unless someone was trying to be funny and imitate a cougar (quite possibly the case) I am quite sure that it was one.  At that point, I told Lexi to jump on my back and I piggy-backed her at a much higher speed down the trail!  She's a big girl, and I was exhausted by the time we made it down the mountain, but we did make it!

 

2.  Seeing the Mathenys!

Some of our dearest friends from Tennessee came into town this week to drop their oldest daughter, Meredith, off at BYU Idaho.  This is one of the world's greatest families!  They have five beautiful children (one adopted from China!) and we feel so blessed to call them our friends.  Meredith is truly just pure gold.  If my boys can find someone like her to marry, life will be fantastic for them!  There really couldn't be a prettier, sweeter girl-- I have a feeling she will have more than one boy chasing after her by the first day of school.   Heather (mom) is one of my favorite people ever.  (I have been blessed with two best friends named Heather!)  It was so much fun to visit with her and Michael and catch up on their lives.  They live in Georgia now but if I had it my way, they would live next door!  (By the way, as I'm writing this I'm realizing that I didn't ever write about our other visit from Tennessee friends-- the Merediths-- which was equally awesome!  I'll have to find pics and blog about that, too!)

3.  Sophi's Birthday!

Already blogged about this.  Love that girl!

4.  Getting invited to "The High-Fashion Fashion Show."

Starring Jessica on her fabulous pink runway, of course!

The Emcee

Um, a little small and ragged, perhaps?

5.  The ward campout.

Ok, we'll just call it the ward dinner.  We weren't able to actually camp because Xander decided to go and get a 104 degree fever which landed him back in the hospital on Friday.  After doing bloodwork and examining his leg (which had turned red and hot) they determined he had another infection and he was admitted overnight.  Jeremy took the rest of the crew to the dinner while I was at the hospital with Xander.  Apparently Jesi took it pretty hard that they weren't going to camp and was sobbing on the way there, but she was able to recover and have an "awesome" time.  In fact, Jer said that everyone loved it and had such a great night.    Xander was pretty miserable at the hospital, but the antibiotics are doing the trick and he was able to come home today.  We are praying mightily that the fever doesn't come back so he can stay at home-- otherwise, they'll have to admit him for several days to do another course of IV antibiotics.  UGH.  Poor boy!!!  This has not been a fun 6 weeks for him, to say the least.

I don't have pics of the ward campout or of X-man at the hospital, so I'm subbing a random, cute pic of Lexi instead!

Well, I was going to do "Top Ten" but being as how I am falling asleep at the computer, I think we'll leave it at "Top Five."  (:  It's been an exhausting day.  Actually, it seems that every day is an exhausting day!  I'm sure all you mommies relate all too well!

Goodnight!

 

They Really Do Love Me...

Last week Christi and I went on a drive.  When we came home, this was taped to the front door:

If I am not mistaken, this picture was taken by Christi at the end of a very late Christmas Eve.  Ah, the gratitude.  Kudos to Parker for the artwork:)

Happy Birthday, Sophi!

Yesterday was Sophi's 4th birthday.  She LOVED all of the attention, especially going to the store with Mommy to pick out a new barbie and playing with her cupcakes instead of eating them!  The kids were all so cute with her and loved on her all day.  It was a special birthday.

I had a thousand and one important things to do this morning, but instead I sat at the computer and created this:

We love you so much, birthday girl!  How did we ever get so blessed to have YOU as our daughter?!!  You are a piece of heaven on this earth.

Horseback Riding

I grew up with horses.  My grandpa had around 40 Arabians, and we lived on his farm.  I also had friends who lived on farms, and some of my favorite memories involved herding cows on horseback with them in the summertime.  I love horses!   Jeremy's grandpa raised horses as well.  So when Jeremy and I were given the chance to go horseback riding when we were dating, I jumped at the chance.   The guy who owned the horses gave me the "tame" one, and put Jeremy on the bigger, "more spirited" one.  He said that the spirited one liked to follow the tame one-- so off we went on a mountain pathway, with me in the front.  At some point I realized that Jeremy was a little anxious on his very spirited horse.  So I thought it would be funny to give my horse a good kick and take off-- hoping his horse would follow.  It did indeed, with Jeremy screaming like a little girl (at least, that's how I like to tell it)!  I finally reined my horse in, and his stopped as well.  I turned around to see tears streaming down his cheeks.  To this day, he claims it was his severe horse allergies (which he legitimately has) but I like to think I scared him a bit.  (:  At that point, I offered to switch Jeremy horses, and he quickly accepted.  Something I'm sure he regrets to this day, as I love to give him a hard time about it.  (:

You would think with my background, my kids would have at least had ridden a horse before, but it's been a long time since any of Grandpa's horses have been tame enough to ride, and several years ago he finally sold them all.  A few days ago, our sweet neighbors offered to let the kids ride their horses-- and we were all so excited!  I was shocked that Sophi, who is terrified of most animals, had the most fun out of anyone!  She kept asking to go again and just couldn't get enough!  Xander was pretty much terrified, but he finally calmed down at the end.  Lexi was somewhere in between Soph and Xander-- alternating between being very nervous and very excited.  Things are so different with someone who is blind-- we have talked about horses with her, but really she has had no concept of what a horse is!  I didn't realize how much we rely on pictures to teach our kids about things until we had Elli and Lexi.

Thank you, Blackburns, for helping me finally get my kids on a horse!  Now we just need to get on down to Aunt Leslie's so we can ride some more!!

PS  As I was posting these pictures, another horseback riding memory came to mind.  It was in Egypt, and I guess now that it's been 16 years, I can blog about it without worry!  It was the end of my semester abroad in the Holy Land.  There was a week-long extension to Egypt that someone anonymously paid for me to go on.  It was incredible in every way-- one of the highlights of my life.  One night, about 10-15 of us snuck out of our hotel and went to a place that rented horses (the things a college girl will do to hang out with some cute guys)!  The guy spoke very broken English, but somehow got it across that he had enough "good" horses for everyone but two of us.  He asked if any of us had ridden horses before, and I raised my hand.  (Dumb decision).  After everyone else had climbed on their horses, he brought out two additional horses for me and the other unlucky guy.  These horses were not exactly tame, to say the least.  After finally managing to get up on mine, it took off at full speed into the Arabian desert.  I had to use all of my strength to rein him in, and finally got him to understand that I was boss.  The other friend wasn't so lucky and was bucked off-- but not seriously hurt.  The group of us headed off into the night with a guide and the Great Pyramids as our destination (they were very close by).  For those of you that don't know, it is illegal to climb the Great Pyramids-- so you have to be creative.  A guy in our group had learned from friends that you have to go at dark with flashlights and then bribe the guards.  You give them enough money and then you climb up the pyramid on the side he tells you while he keeps a lookout.

Can you even believe I was this stupid?

I did indeed climb to the very top of the pyramid (the smallest of the three-- but it wasn't small by any means) and even made it back down, across the desert on my wild horse, and back to the hotel in one piece without being discovered.  Looking back, I feel a mixture of pride and "what in the world was I thinking??!!!"  It is kind of cool to think that I climbed one of the Great Pyramids, but risking a big fine and being kicked out of college???  Yikes!


 

The Great Pyramids

What they looked like in the middle of the night!

Some perspective on how big they are!

First Day of School Pics

We did it!!  As of yesterday, all of the kiddos have started school!  Xander is barely hobbling around and still has his drainage tube, but his surgeon has given him clearance and he was going out-of-his-mind CRAZY here, so off to school it was!  Luckily everyone has been taking very good care of him, and I'm sure he doesn't mind the extra attention.  We have been so blessed this year with FABULOUS teachers and great schools.  It's surreal that we have three in jr. high this year-- time goes by waayyy too fast!  I hate when summer break ends and it's time to send the kiddos off, but I must say that I am really loving the couple of hours a day I have to myself!  The only problem is, the more I clean, the more messes I seem to find-- will it ever end??!!!

Here are our cuties:

Graci-- 8th

Taylor-- 7th

Parker-- 6th

Lexi-- 1st (repeating)

Jessica-- 3rd

Sophi-- preschool

Xander-- 2nd

Elli-- 2nd

Jes waits to see what outfit Graci chooses, then coordinates hers and Lexi's to match-- one fun part of school uniforms!

BPFFE

I just found this note as I was cleaning up-- I believe it was written before Graci went to Oakcrest:

Jessica, I clean the room for you before i left now if you clean on friday and it looks good you would get some reward.  PS:  I would clean every day or put things away after your done so you won't have to clean alot.  Love ya  bye and thanks  PS:  Love ya I will miss you be good to Lexi and Sophi  Love:  your Best Princess Friend 4 ever BPFFE

There was a time I was worried about it being hard for Jesi to be replaced as the oldest girl by her new big sister.  Now I can't imagine how Jesi would survive without her!  (:

Calla

First of all,  PLEASE keep the meal ideas coming-- I'm loving it!


Once in awhile, you'll see a picture or hear a story that just rips at your heart.  It makes seemingly important things not matter anymore, and causes you to reflect on the truly important, eternal kinds of things.  Tonight I saw such a picture.  I won't share it here, because it is too heartbreaking, but I will share another one, of the same sweet girl.  In this picture, you won't have to see the horrific burns that cover so much of her body, and her sad little eyes as she is photographed showing her scars.

 

This little girl, named Calla by the agency advocating for her, is Jessica's age.  She was found at the age of 3 months old with severe burns all over her body.   This is part of what my friend, Annie, writes about her:

Her file states that as she learned to speak, the nannies taught her to say “mom” and that is was hard for her to say at first but she tried and tried until she was able to say it.  It also stated that because her feet were so badly burned that learning how to walk was very hard and painful for her, but she was determined and was able to overcome the pain and learned to walk.  Now, with the help of teachers and of other children, she will hold the hands of the other children to go to classroom or  to the dining hall to eat. She loves sharing her toys and loves drawing and although her file states that “it is not as pretty as other children’s”, she proudly puts her picture on a wall to show it to teachers and other children.  I pray that someone tells her that it is wonderful, that she draws pretty pictures. 

Please pray that this precious, beautiful child can finally know love, can finally know how amazing she is.

Surely there is someone out there who has room in their hearts and home for beautiful Calla.  If you or someone you know would like more information on her, please email me.  (:

--Christianne

HELP!

Most of the kids have started school and it seems I might find a little bit more time in the day to get somewhat organized and dig into all of the paperwork and projects and messes that have been looming over my head like a dark cloud!!  One thing that I want to attempt to get better at is meal planning.  I so often don't even know what I'm making for dinner until 20 minutes beforehand.  Most of the time that works fine for me, because I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of girl.  But sometimes it causes undue stress and leads to less than stellar meals.

So I want your ideas!!!  I want ideas for EASY (most important) meals that are mostly nutritious (I try not to cook with a lot of cream-of-something soups, sour cream, etc) and that are QUICK!  Crock pot recipes would be great.  I'm into really easy sides, like rice, cut up fruit or steamed veggies (I don't usually make fancy salads or side dishes unless it's a special occasion). 

I'll give you a few ideas of some of our favorite, easy dinners off the top of my head:

Breakfast Sandwiches: Toasted English muffins (we even like whole wheat) with scrambled eggs and turkey bacon-- easy and yummy. 

Breakfast Burritos:  Scrambled eggs and turkey bacon with salsa in tortillas

Barbeque Chicken Wraps:  Chicken cooked in barbeque sauce in the crock pot, shredded, then add more bbq sauce and put in tortillas (preferably the uncooked ones that you cook yourself-- so much better!), sometimes with added cheese or rice (Thanks, Channy, for this family favorite)

Stir fry:  A mega bag of stir fry veggies seasoned with soy and teriyaki sauce-- at the end add a bunch of cooked ramen noodles (drained and seasoned)

...These are the easy kinds of meals I'm talking about.  A few ingredients and QUICK.

Please, slather me with ideas!!!!  (:

 

A very special lady

We had so much fun at Seven Peaks the other night that we decided to take the kids again after school today.  Luckily, Graci isn't into swimming right now, so she was happy to stay home and keep Xander company.  Xander, by the way, is doing much better overall.  He still has his drainage tube in, but the surgeon told us yesterday that he could bear weight on his leg now and even go to school as soon as he's ready.  He can't currently do anything more than the most pathetic little hunched-over shuffle (and is in tears doing so) but we're hoping that by next week he can be walking.  (:

Anyway... while at Seven Peaks, the sweetest lady approached me as I was sitting on the steps of the kiddie pool.  She wondered just how many kids I had.  (:  We continued to have a lovely conversation for the next 15-20 minutes.  She introduced herself as "Rosemary," and of course my kids told her that they had a grandma named Rosemary.  She and her husband were at the water park watching their grandkids swim, and our unique kids had captured her attention.  She was just a wonderful lady, and so sweet to the kids.

At one point in the conversation, she asked if I was LDS, and of course I said yes.  I told her how grateful I was for my testimony of the gospel and the eternal perspective it gave me as a mother.  I also told her how amazing our ward has been to our family.  She asked me what stake I was in, and I told her.  She then said that sometimes she visits stakes, and would love to visit ours sometime.  A light went on in my head, and I realized she must be serving on the general board of the church.  I asked her, and she said yes.  Then her sweet daughter (or daughter-in-law) spoke up from a few feet away and kind of whispered to me, "She's the Primary president."

Um... oops!  I had just been visiting with the Primary General President of our church and hadn't even recognized her!   Her full name is Rosemary Wixom, and she and her husband are truly just the sweetest people (he does a fantastic Donald Duck impersonation, btw).  For those of you reading who are not of our faith, the Primary is the name given for the children's organization within the church.   It is an absolutely beautiful organization, not only teaching the kids classes each Sunday, but truly caring for them on an individual basis and meeting their needs.  For example, Xander's Primary teacher was just here the other day checking up on him and bringing him a treat.  Every ward (comprised of 200-500-ish members) has a Primary president who, along with 20-30 other adults called to work in that organization, serves the children in the ward.  There are something like 30,000 LDS wards worldwide.  About 5-10 wards make up a stake, and each stake has a stake Primary president (along with counselors and a secretary) who oversees the ward primary presidencies.  So Sister Wixom, and her counselors and board, would be the one overseeing all of that-- a worldwide organization serving well over a million children.  It's no wonder she has a special glow to her!

As soon as I realized who I was speaking to, I quickly gathered the children and formally introduced them.  She was just so attentive with them and I could really sense her love for them.  I am so grateful to her daughter for speaking up and sweetly pointing out who she was.  I would have felt really stupid if I were watching General Conference in a couple of months and saw her speak-- realizing that I had visited with her for such a long time without acknowledging her amazing service to the children in our church!  Parker hadn't been there as we were first visiting, but after I introduced them, he told me,  "Yeah.. I totally know her!  I've seen her speak.  I think she wore a purple dress."  (:

As we were loading in the car, I mentioned that it was unfortunate I had to meet the Primary General President in my bathing suit instead of dressed up nicely.  Taylor said, "You know, Mom... it would have been a lot more awkward if you were in a dress at the water park.  I mean, she would have thought that was really weird!"  Thanks, T.  (:

You can read one of Sister Wixom's talks HERE.

Ask a silly question...

...get Jeremy's favorite answer.  (:


Me:  "Would you rather drive Taylor and Graci to the church or clean up dinner and start getting the kids to bed?"

Jer:  "Let's see... Would I rather be rich and healthy or poor and sick?"

So sad to see them go...

Tomorrow is the first day of school.  Summer has been so much fun.  It's been great to see the kids relax and play and work and go to camps.  We will miss them around here!  As one last activity, we took them to Seven Peaks water park this evening.  Lots of fun.  Got home around 9:30.  Last child didn't get tucked in until 10:45.  We're great parents:(  Here's hoping they can stay awake tomorrow!

A few reasons I love my kids...

I took Elli, Jesi, Lexi and Sophi to the park and to get snow cones the other day.  They are all so cute.  I'm a proud papa when I'm out with them!  Sophi likes to push herself up the slide and then slide back down:

  

 As she is at an obvious disadvantage in some ways, I was inspired by her attitude.  She kept looking up at me, smiling and saying, "This is so easy, Daddy!  This is so easy!"

Jesi took her turn on the slide, resulting in some significant static hair issues:

 She also found some success on the rings:

Yesterday Grandma and Grandpa Nelson were sweet enough to drive 5 hours round trip to see Xander.  He had missed going to the family reunion because of his hospital stay, so the brought him some gifts and really cheered him up.  Thanks!  While they were here, Grandma spent some time with Jesi creating a closet for her doll, Penelope.  Quite impressive:

After they were gone, Jess asked me to help her find a place to put the closet and bed.  It had to be a place that Elli wouldn't destroy it.  In order to do this, I suggested we go downstairs with a measuring tape and look for places it could fit.  I asked Jesi to get the measuring tape.  When I came back five minutes later, she was prepared!

This morning when I got up I found this little scene in Lexi and Sophi's bedroom:

 

What made it so cute is that Sophi was calling out, "I will catch you, Lexi.  I will catch you!!!"  Confident kid:)

PS.  For any of you who are lucky enough to read this before Christi does, you can see a picture of "Queen Christi" as coronated by our sweet Jess:)

Parker Picked a Peck of Peppers

After eating lots of bell peppers at the Oregon coast last month, Parker and Taylor are on a bell pepper kick.  Ever since we've been back they've been requesting that we keep the fridge stocked with red and orange peppers.  As a late night snack, Parker will come in with a plate full of cut up bell peppers to share with Taylor and me.  It's great:)

What's For Dinner?

I was reading a Yahoo article entitled "The 7 worst summer foods for kids."  Number two was:

Pepperoni Pizza

One slice packs nearly 300 calories, and your munchkin may want seconds. There are also gobs of saturated fat and dehydration-promoting sodium, about 700 mg per piece. Kids need only 1,000 to 1,300 mg per day.
Smart swap: Homemade veggie pizza on whole-grain crust. Besides being healthier, your pipsqueak can pitch in with this cooking project, which wards off boredom. Just buy a premixed ball of whole-grain dough, low-sodium tomato sauce and vegetables your little one loves. "Mushrooms, green peppers, red peppers and tomatoes are great choices," says Marilyn Tanner-Blasiar, MHS, RD, LD, a registered dietitian in St. Louis, MO. "You can also add skinless chicken breast or lean hamburger for protein," which keeps kids fuller, longer and means less rooting around in the kitchen for a snack.

After reading this I asked Christi if we should stop eating so much Little Caesar's.  Her quick reply:

"No.  Because their parent's sanity is far more important to a child's health and longevity than what they have for dinner.  Besides that, I always order one ham and pineapple so they get their fruit."

Touche:)

Jer

PS.  Xander has been home since Thursday.  Although he continues to take an antibiotic, he has a persistent low-grade fever.  He is starting to go stir crazy since he is supposed to have his leg elevated basically all the time.  The swelling in the foot is looking better.  We keep praying that his infection will be taken care of with this antibiotic.

Phone Phase

Taylor went through a phase when he called me all the time.  Learned my cell phone number and would call throughout the day to talk or leave me a message.  I have recorded many of them, and they are wonderful treasures.  Jesi is now going through that stage.  Three or four times a day she will call.  A recent conversation went something like this:

"Hello?"

"Hi.  This is Jessica.  Whacha doin?"

"I'm at work."

"I was just callin to check on ya."

"Thanks."

Click.

Some of the calls are more purposeful, such as when she is requesting that I bring home some strawberry cream cheese to put on her strawberry bagel.  Virtually every one of the messages she leaves starts like this:

"Hello, this is Jessica.  Your daughter."

And what a precocious daughter she is!