The McCumber Family

Easter FUN

2011-06-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

Time to Hack!

2011-04-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Hi...This is Aunt Tell and I've stolen (well, actually, I asked nicely) Vickie's computer while she was logged into her blog. I'd say it's about high time she update her blog. Don't you agree? So I'll do it for her...here we go...

Burt's busy tellin' fart jokes.
Vickie's busy chasin' 9 family members and their c-r-a-z-y schedules.
A.J.'s chillin'.
Mary's checkin' out the cute boys.
Julianna's hangin' with her friends.
Katelynn's entertainin' us.
Abby's crackin' us up.
Emily's nanny-nanny-boo-boo-in' us.
Wendi's lovin' life.

I'd say that about sums it up!
Check back again in a few years. Maybe Aunt Tell will hack us again for another detailed update. ;)

HUGS

First Day of School....2010

2010-08-19T20:48:00.001-07:00

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Emily and the BUS!

2010-08-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

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Preschool 2010 for Emily!

2010-08-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

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Emily Goes to Preschool !!!

2010-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

We have been working fervently to get Emily all signed up for Preschool. First there was the initial evaluation, then hearing and vision testing, and then more evaluations. WE met with speech therapists, psycologists, and teachers. After all that they determined she was in need of preschool. Whew! They had me worried.
Man was today hard! We got up and got her ready to go. She had no interest in eating breakfast so we got her a bottle of milk. She didn't want that either. I did her hair and to my surprize she left it alone. Socks and shoes were next.....she kept them on to!

Her jacket was another story....off and back on at least 4 times!

Burt was late to work so he could be with her on her first day. Really it was for me. We got there early so we hung out in the office for a few minutes.

Time to GO! She was ready....but look how little she is.

As soon as we walk in the room her teacher, Mrs. April, shows her where to put her backpack and jacket. She hung up her back pack all by herself...

This is her spot....

Then off to play....We stayed for a few minutes. She was fine. I wasn't. I fought tears while standing there watching her. I was told I could stay as long as I wanted by Mrs. April, but 2 minutes later another little girl looked up at me and said "You can go.". Just like that I was kicked out by a 3 year old! If Em could talk it probably would've been what she would have said. So, we left. And I cried.....and Burt laughed.

Emily is 3 !!!!!!

2010-02-09T09:44:00.001-08:00

Emily turned 3 this last week. CRAZY! She is still so small. She had a blast opening a few presents from her siblings. They got her new bubbles, a movie, and some fun wind up toys!

Burt and I got her a Kareoke machine for toddlers! I wasn't sure she would know what to do with it but I knew she would love the music it played!

As soon as it was out of the box she started to "sing" into the little microphone! It was so cute!

Here she is looking at her candle. I held her hands because last year she tried to grab it. This year she was just enjoying looking at it.

She loved her Cupcake too!

Grease!!

2009-09-30T14:07:00.001-07:00

Mary did an Amazing job! She was the part of Marty. Here are a few pictures of her on stage. I included a link to youtube so you can see her sing. (Just click on the heading Grease.)

***And now this is Mary typing to all my fans out there who love to watch me sing, U ROCK LOL!****

The Entire cast was Fantastic! They had so much fun and it made the play fun to watch! These kids have some definite talent and GUTS!

Helping Hands!

2009-09-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

I started to clean the downstairs bathroom when Abby came in and begged to help. This is her doing the rest by herself. Who knew cleaning a toilet would be soo_ fun!

2009-09-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad about keeping up with my blog. I will try to do better. This summer we did a whole lot of NOTHING! I didn't even take very many pictures this summer. Here are a few....
These were taken at a Pizza Hut at the begining of the summer the night before the kids' races.

Ward Campout!

2009-07-26T10:33:00.001-07:00

All 10 of us loaded into the van for the Ward Campout! That's right I said 10 ! We had Aunt Wendi and Ginger with us.

We got there at about 7:30 at night so we had to set up the tent in the dark! Burts headlamp came in handy.

Here are Mary, Aunt Wendi, and Katelynn in front of our Mondo-Tent.

Ginger helped us keep Emily occupied!

Somebody had a hammock and it was a hit with all the kids.

We were the last ones to bed.

Emily escapes! But we caught her...

She also steals a Dora quad. She got it to go a few feet and loved it.

Abby spent alot of time playing with this treestump. Katelynn played with the hammock nonstop. Jules had Ginger alot of the time. She and her friends would take her exploring, Ginger loved it!

Mary spent her time playing cards and off exploring while AJ was rarely in camp at all.

We broke camp and drove to the lake. I guess Abby is afraid of heights because we had to drive down to the lake and there was a great view of the side of the mountain just off the road and she starts screaming "We're gonna fall! We're all gonna die!" I thought she was kidding at first but then her voice got all high pitched and shreiky and I knew she was really scared.

At this point we still have a few miles to go and I ask her if she wants to sing a song or tell a story to distract her and Katelynn offers to tell a story. Here is her story: " One time there was a family that went camping and they were in a car and it was on a cliff and it rolled over and they died . The End." No kidding this is the story my six year old tells..... Obviously it made Abby even more upset but the rest of the car burst out laughing!

Mary and Jules made it to the island after a few failed attempts.

Abby thought it was all too dirty!

Then she figured out it was fun!

AJ found some scouts with boats and borrowed one. He and some friends took it and went cliff diving.

Emily was asleep when we first got there but when she woke up she couldn't wait to get wet.

The kids played in the water and Burt went on a run. Then it was time to go. It was a beautiful weekend and we had a great time.

McCumber Family Triathelon!!

2009-06-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ballet Class

2009-06-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Abigail GraduatesPreschool !

2009-06-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Katelynn's Kindergarten Graduation

2009-06-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Poor Baby....

2009-06-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

So Emily can turn on the water in the bathroom now. She climbed up to the sink, climbed in and turned on the water. She has 1st and 2nd degree burns on her thigh area. The 2nd degree is about the size of a dime. The redness has faded today and she is left with a blister. She cried for an hour when it happened and then took a 3 1/2 hour nap. Since she woke up she hasn't acknowledged it at all.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCMENT....

2009-06-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

DO NOT BUY THIS.
IF YOU DID BUY IT, DO NOT EAT IT!
IT TASTES LIKE STINKY FEET!
THAT IS ALL.

Another Broken Arm.....

2009-06-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

Does this look a little familiar........

This is AJ sporting his fabulous new cast. He was riding his bike and took a corner too fast and biffed it. He has lots of cuts and bruises but will be OK. He only broke one of the bones, but he broke it within a centmeter of his growth plate, so we get to make a few more trips to the Dr. to watch it. He also put his tooth through his upper lip. It was swollen for 3 days. The good news is he can still swim and go on his 50 mile hike. Whew!!!

Abby has been a Total Gut Buster today!!

2009-06-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

So, there we were, sitting at the table enjoying breakfast. Nothing out of the ordinary. Katelynn asks for more milk. I take her cup and ask her how much. She replies three quarters. I fill her glass 3/4 and give it back. Two minutes later Abby needs a refill. She hands me her cup and I ask how much. She replies...........wait for it..................

" four pennies."

Does anyone have a conversion table for that?

This is not a joke. It was an actual conversation.

Later this morning she was wearing a swimsuit and needed to use the restroom. She, being 4, still needs help in getting the swimsuit off. Dartell and I had gone to the store and she was waiting at home. Upon our return she marches up to Dartell and scolds her saying " I have to go to the bathroom and I couldn't find you to help me. WHERE THE HECK WERE YOU?" After a hearty laugh Dartell asks where she learned that and Abby replied "Oh. I just know it." Too Funny!!

Snack Time!

2009-05-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

So I walk into my kitchen today and this is what I find.... Emily and Daddy are sharing an Otter Pop. I don't know why they decided to eat it on the floor in the kitchen though......

Anyway, it was tooo cute not to post!

Sad, sad day!

2009-05-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is taken from Burt's blog because I just couldn't write it myself

"Sad sad day today. I heard the dogs barking last night around 2am, so I went to see if Sugar wanted to come inside. I opened the back door and Ginger came in, but I didn't see Sugar. I looked around the house to see if she was already inside, and maybe I was just hearing things. Couldn't find her. I woke my wife up and told her I couldn't find Sugar. She told me where the flashlight was. I got dressed and went looking again for her in the backyard with the flashlight; couldn't find her anywhere. Then I shined the flashlight out in the golf course. I saw something out laying in the grass. I hoped it was just a piece of cloth or a stuffed animal, but I think inside I knew what it was. I went around the block on to the golf course and sure enough it was Sugar's lifeless body. I think she squeezed through the wrought iron view fence. My guess is she saw a coyote out there and went to go play. She's never tried to go out before. I scooped her up and put her in a box. Vickie cried. We broke the news to the kids in the morning as they wondered why they weren't going to school. Mary and Julianna had a good cry. Then we had a family prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for the time we had with her. We asked who wanted to go out and help bury her. AJ, Katelynn, Abby, and Ginger came along. We drove out to the desert and dug a hole. Katelynn and Abby had their little beach shovels. Ginger sniffed around at the box. We buried her and Katelynn and Abby sprinkled leaves and flowers they had picked from home on her grave. AJ gathered up golf ball sized stones and wrote her name. All the kids are staying home, their choice. I never would have thought having a pet for only a week and a half and having to bury her would be that sad. Sad day. "

Oh Sugar !

2009-05-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Burt ran a 10K in Kingman on Saturday. When he came home that afternoon he brought with him a fridge for the garage and this.......

We love her dearly(already), and she fits right in with our rambunctious family! We named her Sugar 'cause you just can't get much sweeter than she is!

Cinco de Mayo (late)

2009-05-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

On Cinco de Mayo Mary had her last Track Meet. She did well. She ran the 200, 400, and then the 400 relay. She was very tired after all that running. I hadn't planned dinner and with it being Cinco de Mayo, we needed some Mexican food. So.....I made Nachos! They were delicioso!

Garden Update

2009-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

I think it is coming along nicely. We have eaten a few Grape Tomatoes and they were good. Very hard to split 8 ways though! The strawberries are coming in but Ginger seems to get them before we do. AJ does really well remembering to water it.

Pat's Run 2009

2009-05-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is a 4.2 mile run in honor of fallen soldier Pat Tillman. If you don’t know, Pat cut his career short as a member of the NFL football team, the Arizona Cardinals, to fight in the war against terror. He was killed in the line of duty by friendly fire. Pat wore #42 when he played football at ASU and #40 as a member of the Arizona Cardinals. The race was held at ASU, and 42 was a common theme for many aspects of the race. That’s why the race is 4.2 miles long. The kids’ race is 0.42 miles. Both races finish up on the 42 yard line of the ASU football field. They even have a special age category of 40-42. This is Burt at the end of the race. Looks like "Where's Waldo?". I'll give you a hint ..he is wearing #42! HaHa! He came in 672nd out of 13,360. That is the top 5%. Hooray for Burt!!!

We signed the 3 girls up to do the kids race. Here they are ready to go...

This is Abby and Katelynn at the end. Abby wanted to run it too, so I figured I would go with her. It's less than half a mile, right? So we line up and it's time to go. I stay with her for a little bit but there are so many kids and their parents. Mary, Jules and Katelynn had said they would stay together so I let them go. Then before I know it Abby takes off. I try to catch her but there are way too many people. I couldn't even see her. The whole time I am praying that she is ok and that no one will take her and that I can find her at the end. I had no idea there would be sooo- many people. When I got to the finish line I couldn't see any of my 4 girls that ran. I started to panic and then Katelynn grabbed my hand. WooHoo! I asked if she knew where the other girls were and she said she found Abby. She took me to where Abby was. Abby was along the fence dancing to the loud music. It was hilarious! She ran the whole thing and when I asked her why she left me she said"cuz you were too slow Mom!". We found Mary and Jules pretty easily and headed back to the Kids Zone.
.

Mary and Julianna with an ASU football player.

Mary and Julianna with Baxter.

Mary and Julianna with Sparky.

After the race we went to Ted's Hotdogs in Tempe. We loved this place when Burt was in school. Emily liked the hat that they gave her.

So did Burt.........

We had a really great time and it was to remember a really great person.

(AJ was at a campout)

MEXICO (pre-swineflu)

2009-05-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

I took my 3 oldest to Mexico over Easter weekend to see their Tia and Tio. We had soo- much fun. We were only there 3 days but we did so much stuff. They can't wait to go back! We got in really late Thursday night and ate beans and quesodillas for a snack. The next day was Good Friday and in Mexico that means you have a Fish Fry. We all piled in my van to go buy some fish. So how many people can fit into my 12 passenger van? I think we got 20, but some could've been hiding under the seats. At the store we picked out some whole fish and bought stuff to eat with it. I am showing the girls how to pick out a good avocado.

This is Pablo. He fried all of our fish for us. We had 30+ people for our Fish Fry.

Mary and Jules eating their fish.

This is the first time I have had fish with the head still attached
.

After we ate, we went to Central Park. The girls made friends with a goose.

This is the kids on bumper cars.

And then on another ride. My kids on one side and some Mexicans on the other had a screaming match during this ride. Kids are so loud!

Here they tried on some masks at the market.

At Walmart (yep, Mexico has them to), all the kids went on this bungee ride. They had so much fun. Mary was the only one able to do a flip.

These are some tacos we ate later that night. I wanted to take everyone out for Carnitas but with it being Good Friday most of the meat serving restaurants were closed.

We went to the temple and it is so beautiful. I have been there 3 times now, hopefully next time we can do a session.

After the temple we went to the open market. This is where you get mobbed by people asking you to buy everything. Most of them are really pushy, but some are really funny. This one guy says as we walk past "Hey, do you need any more junk? I have all the junk you need!" It made me laugh. I have been there several times too and love to haggle with them to get the best price. I bought all of the girls Mexican dresses for Easter for less than $40 total and I got them to throw in matching belts! Remember I have 5 girls!

I love this Picture!

Jules on a horse!

Mary on a horse!

And AJ................

This is Twilight in Mexico.

These are Gorditas that they make at the mall. These are Heavenly.....

This is the line at the Border to get home. Some times it takes hours to get across. We got lucky and it was about 30 mins.

When we stopped for gas just across the Border I found this huge Pinata and had to take a picture of it!

Easter was Fun!!

2009-04-16T20:56:00.001-07:00

We had an absolute blast this Easter! We got up about 7:30 and watched the kids go through their Easter Baskets. Abby and Katelynn were so cute! They were excited about everything in their baskets.
Burt played us the piano because the house wasn't loud enough without it! HaHa! Some of the kids had Confetti eggs and so we had a confetti egg fight! I think AJ lost. We wanted to keep it all on the tile but that didn't last too long! I am still trying to get it all out of the rug!!

Here he is all decorated for Easter!

Emily had candy for breakfast. Really.

After the candy I made a HUGE Brunch. We had eggs, bacon, two kinds of sausage, fresh strawberries, french toast and Belgium waffles. It was soo- Good!

After Church we went to my oldest sister Suzie's for dinner and an Egg Hunt. The food was really good and it was nice to be together. The kids loved the Egg Hunt.

Katelynn poses for a picture when she is done with her Hunt.

Emily would put an egg in her basket and immediately sit down so she could eat whatever was inside.

Abby is showing us one of her "finds".

I went to Mexico this last weekend (will post later), and I got the girls Mexican Easter Dresses.

I thought they were cute and so much cheaper than the traditional Easter dresses. Aj was not sad that he did not get one, he got a bull whip instead!!!

Abby Goes to Dance Class!!

2009-04-07T22:17:00.001-07:00

This is also Abby's first day of Dance Class! Here she is just strolling in. She looks so grown up to me.

Each of them gets a new piece of their outfit at each class. She loves her TuTu. We can't wait to see what she gets next week!!!

There are 12 little girls in her class and they are all soo- C-U-T-E !!

I will let you all see her new pieces as she gets them.

Abby Goes to Preschool!!!

2009-04-07T22:06:00.001-07:00

Abby was so excited to show off her new backpack for preschool. She was supposed to start preschool last week . We got her dressed and took her only to find out that the first week had been pushed back. She was so confused and disappointed. All is better now. Let's try again! She kept telling me to take another picture as she was buckling her car seat. I did and she flashed me a great smile!!

She was so ready. I didn't even get a hug goodbye.

F.H.E.

2009-04-04T17:47:00.001-07:00

So, the other night we had FHE and this is what we did. Katelynn gave a lesson on how to act at church, or when the home teachers come ,or during the FHE lesson. She did a really good job and she did it all on her own. This is Emily telling Daddy it is her turn!

Burt almost collapsed with the older girls on his back,but they wanted a turn too!!

Emily had soo much fun!

Scout Hike!!!

2009-03-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

Aj and his scout troop went on a camp out and hike this last weekend. Burt went with them. It was a really good sized group. There was about 20 people. All the boys had to pack in their own stuff, i.e. water, food, tent. No fires were allowed so they used some long lasting candles that AJ brought.

The hike was 10 miles long and rated as "Very Difficult". I think the boys and leaders will attest to that. At least one of the leaders is a seasoned hiker and he said it was one of the most difficult hikes he has done.

This is a picture of a scout at 2 miles in. He still looks happy.

This is looking up where they will go.

This is Burt at 4 miles in. He didn't have a hiking backpack so he just used one of his sport packs. His shoulders are so bruised.

After the boys did some cliff jumping the dog decided she wanted to jump too. The only problem is dogs don't climb ropes and that is the only way to get back up. A leader and AJ made a harness for "Sophie" and Aj climbed up the rope with it in his mouth. Then Burt and a few other scouts hoisted her up the water fall.

The water is about *20 degrees. And the water fall is about 15 feet up. Not everyone jumped, but those that did have some serious bragging rights !!!

Now for the trip down.

This is when Sophie almost started a "Gang War" with some wild horses.

All in all they had a great time. They will go on two more 10 mile hikes before their 50 miler this summer.

Our Garden........

2009-03-25T15:10:00.001-07:00

This is the humble beginning of our Family Garden. We were going to try container gardening but thought this would be better in proportion to our family. We took a piece of "fertile ground" and cleared off all the rocks. Then Burt loosened up all the dirt. Here we added potting soil and everyone helped to mix it up. Abby is telling everyone where we had missed.

Man this is tiring work!

This is where the kids started to get bored.

What's a friendly "sword fight" between siblings?

Here they are planting the seeds.

And AJ is planting a Marigold border.

This is a picture of the finished project !!! On the first row (from the left), we transplanted Artichokes, Tomatoes, and Strawberries. The second row is all carrots from seed. The third row is peppers, radishes, and cucumbers. The fourth row is potatoes, onions and more onions!!

This was taken 1 week after we planted everything. I think it started off well!!! I can't wait to make salsa from my garden !!!!!

Emily Goes to Nursery !!!!

2009-03-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday we let Emily go to Nursery. It wasn't really by choice. I was teaching the lesson in Relief Society and about an hour before church Burt was asked to teach the High Priests, so that left us with no one to watch Emily. I agreed with Burt to let her try out Nursery. After talking with her teacher and letting her know the situation she promised to watch Emily Very closely. I left and then came right back in to take some pictures. This is her saying "CHEESE!".At first she seemed fine. She waved goodbye to me with no problems. I stood at the door and watched her through the window for a little while. After I felt semi-confidant that she would be ok, I left to go to class.

After I taught, I walked into the hallway ready to race to the Nursery to get Emily. Burt had gotten her and she looked sooo- SAD. Her eyes were all puffy and red and she had snot running down her face. Burt said she was sitting there with big crocodile tears in her eyes. Her teacher said she did good, at first, then she would just get sad and start to cry. She just didn't know anyone there.

She fell asleep on the way home. Emily had a decent first experience. We'll let you know how it shapes up!

Abby's cast is GONE !!

2009-03-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok.... All you math wizards out there will notice that her cast is gone a little bit early. Two weeks early to be exact. Abby got a little anxious and took it off HERSELF !! After we tried to put it back on, with no luck, I made a call to the Doctor. I made a splint out of 2 tongue depressors and my sons scout neckerchief for her to wear until she could get a new cast. The doctor thought that maybe she wouldn't need one and could get by with a real splint. She took two X-rays and decided a splint would do fine. So here is a picture of Abby and her new splint that she will have to wear for the next 5 weeks.....

No Surgery !!!!

2009-03-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

When Emily was born she had lots of problems. One was a good sized hole in the top area of her heart. Along with that there were enlarged valves, extra flaps of skin, and a main artery that is basically backwards. We were told she would need surgery to correct the hole. She was very little and it was decided we could wait until she was 1 year old to give her time to grow and give the hole a chance to fix itself. At 1 year she was doing well and the hole had gotten a tiny bit smaller. The Doc said he really wanted to wait until she was 2 to do the surgery because she still weighed just 13 lbs. Her heart was working and he didn't feel like it was being stressed. I, of course, wanted to put off surgery as long as possible. I wholeheartedly agreed with him. Today we had another appointment with the Pediatric Cardiologist. After a few tests and what seemed like forever in the exam room we got to talk to him. He got out his diagram of a heart and began his explaination of what he had seen. Her hole was significantly smaller. The valve that had been enlarged was some how not so enlarged. The extra flaps of skin were shortening. It took me a bit to understand what he was saying. I had gone to this appointment ready to set a date for her surgery. He kept talking about how great this was and how it was really not expected. So I asked him "When will she have surgery then?" Thinking to myself that 3 would be ok. I could do that. That's when he said "Never. Atleast not for these things." I just looked at him.. I thought about how I had been scared of this surgery for the past 2 years and now ....... What? Nothing.

I feel so blessed right now. In spite of everything else wrong in my life. Emily doesn't have to have heart surgery. None. Not even a little. I have been struggling lately. Not with my testimony, but with how strong the Lord thinks I am. I can handle alot, but when it comes to my kids I have a hard time. Emily goes through so much already and I was really worried, no I was Scared of this surgery. I tried to educate myself hoping that would help, but then I just had all that information swimming in my head.

I think I need to be more like Emily. She smiles through it all. When she was 6 monthes old she got RSV and Pneumonia at the same time. While in the Hospital her lung collasped. Every Nurse on our floor wanted to see her. They were amazed that she was still smiling at everyone. Of course she still has her moments but she is basically happy all the time.

A Monster of a Cake

2009-03-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

So, this was a total Fluke !! Dartell had also made this cake for Abby's birthday. It was a perfectly normal chocolate cake to begin with. On her way to my house she made a pit stop at her brothers to say hi. While she chatted away inside, the temperature in the car started to rise. Things started to melt (ok maybe just soften a little). When she arrived we ate dinner and Abby opened presents. Afterward it was time for "pupcakes" and ice cream. I wanted cake instead of the "pupcakes". When I took off the lid this is what I found. It looked like it was smiling at me. I had to get a picture of it. Next thing I know Dartell is adding to it. Here, she added eyes. Great, now it's looking at me too !!

Then she found some stray white chocolate chips. Now teeth.

And more teeth..... All the better to eat you with my dear!!!

Five minutes later the face had been eaten. First a lone tooth by Abby, then a nice slice of Monster Cake by Burt. Who's scared now?!?!?

Happy Birthday to Abby !!!

2009-03-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

So, Sunday was Abby's 4th Birthday !!! She picked roast chicken and corn on the cob for dinner. It was delicious.!! Aunt Dartell made her "pupcakes" and we also had ice cream. This is a picture of her opening a present from Aunt Joanna. She bought it before she went to Mexico and had me wait until Abby's birthday to give it to her. Abby loves this pony. She carries her around all day !! Thanks Auntie Jo!!

This is Abby posing with her "pupcakes". She wouldn't put down the pony.

She loved that her name was on them and all the colorful sprinkles !!

One Giant Step for Disabled Kids.......

2009-03-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

I am so excited. It looks like there was a judgement issued in the case filed against the state in Maricopa County Superior Court. My daughter's D.S.I. emailed a copy late last night. I can't convert the file into something that can be read on blogger, but I'll work on it. It basically stated that the court granted the injunction against the state, ordered them to not proceed with the budget cuts, and ordered them to send out letters advising everyone of the judgement. That means we still have our services, but it also means we still have a fight on our hands. Please continue writing letters and making phone calls. You all have a voice and a vote. Please don't waste them !!!

Abby Broke her ARM!!

2009-03-09T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is Abby with her new cast. She broke her arm when she fell down the stairs last week. We took her to Urgent Care and they said she only broke one of the bones. When we got to the Orthopedic Surgeon we were told she broke both bones just above the wrist and barely missed the growth plates. Whew! Yeah, no surgery! She will have her cast on for a month and then she will have a splint for a few weeks. It will come off just in time for Preschool and dance class to start.

School House Rock

2009-03-09T10:04:00.001-07:00

Mary was in her school play last week. "School House Rock" They all did an amazing job !!! I posted a link. I hope it works. If it does, she is the one with the pompoms. (click on the title) She went to practices after school for 2 months. She also went to dance practice, trained for her 5k, and kept her grades up at the same time.

I love the Elvis. This part was so funny. This kid had the hip moves down perfect!!

This is after the play. Mary got flowers and is with some of the cast. Julianna is up there too!!!

2009 Ragnar

2009-03-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is from Burts blog. "RAGNAR!!! This is what I live for. The one race I look forward to all year. You see, racing hurts. Ragnar hurts. It hurts bad. But the difference is, you have 11 friends rooting you on the whole time. And that helps. This is the race that got me back into running. It's the race that changed my unhealthy lifestyle. I owe my life to Ragnar. (Cheesy enough?)"

While it may be "CHEESY", it is also true. He talks about this race all year. He has done it 4 times now. Ragnar is not just any race. This is a 204 mile relay race, starting in Prescott, ending in Mesa, with teams of 12 people in 2 vans. Their slogan is "Run! Drive! Sleep? Repeat!". Not much sleeping though.

Burt again "Overall we came in 59th place. I was hoping for another top 25% finish, but we barely missed it. But with all the changes to the team at the last minute, I'll take it. To see everyone at the finish line together was awesome. And now I remember why I keep doing this every year."

They came in 59th out of 223 teams !!!! Way Awesome!!!

A Rally at the State Capital !!!

2009-02-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

Due to our states' budget shortfall, DES has canceled DDD services for children birth to age 3 who are not eligible for long term care.This means that these children will no longer receive services such as developmental specialists, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or speech therapy.WE NEED TO ACT NOW TO SUPPORT THIS CRITICAL PROGRAM. Please contact your legislators and Gov. Brewer to voice your opinion. Gov. Brewers # 602-542-4331. Also find your legislator on the link and let them know your concerns. Please help me fight for the rights of my daughter. These are the only services Emily receives. She is growing and learning so much thanks to her wonderful therapists. This will affect, not just my family, but thousands of others who also have a child with special needs. www. azleg.gov

There will be a Rally at the State Capital on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 10:30 am. I will be going. I would like anyone who is able to come too. I have never felt like this before. I need to do something . I can't just sit here an complain while being told my daughter isn't worth anything until age three. I know Emily is special and I want others to see it too! I can't imagine where we would be right now without her therapists. This is wrong. There are other places to save money. There are laws in place to protect our children in school but none to protect them before then. There has been a Bill in the works since 2004 to protect children under 5 but has yet to pass. We need to show all those making these decisions about what is and is not important that our KIDS are definitely IMPORTANT. Please come and show them OUR KIDS matter!!!

Two Sisters One Heart 5k (3.29 Miles)

2009-02-16T13:35:00.000-08:00

We heard about this race two weeks ago at London's Run. This was a fundraiser to help a couple of girls that are joined at the heart. They weren't supposed to live for more than a few hours, but now they're two. From the website: "Emma and Taylor are our 2 year old twins that are also conjoined, sharing one common heart and liver. They are face to face, from the breast bone down to the belly button. They have their own arms and legs, and certainly their own personalities. Taylor has a twinkle in her eye and always being silly. Emma is more reserved and loves to be cuddled. At age two, they have beaten the odds at survival and we hope to have many, many more years with them."

Burt, Mary, and AJ all ran the 5k. There were over 200 runners. Burt came in 6th overall, but 1st in his age division! AJ did really well coming in 56th overall and 3rd in his AD. Mary came in at 113th and 2nd in her AD. This was the first time Mary has run a 5k and she did an amazing job. The race was alot of fun. Since they got a first place, second place, and third place in their respective age divisions, they got one of each color flower. The local elementary kids made these ceramic flowers, and that's what was used as awards. Pretty cool.

2009-02-09T11:40:00.004-08:00

This was taken during London'sRun. There was a DJ there and some really good music. We would be sitting there and all of the sudden Abby would just break into dance. It was so funny. We video'd it twice but it happened the whole day. People would stop and watch her like she was a performer or something. She would keep dancing until she got too embarrassed.

Emily's Birthday!!!

2009-02-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

WooHoo! Emily will officially be 2 on Wednesday, but we had her party on Saturday night. She had a lot of fun. She loved all her presents, especially those that make noise! While she liked the way her cake looked she wasn't interested in eating it at all.

Londons Run

2009-02-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

"The first London’s Run was a benefit event for London’s family in 2006 made possible by the caring support of the Queen Creek residents. London Solomon was a courageous six year old girl who fought a brave and cheerful fight against an aggressive type of leukemia (AML). Her grace still inspires all of us to take advantage of each new day without fear of doing hard things and cherishing our relationships with each other." (directly from the website). This year's London's Run entry and donations went to another family who has been impacted by cancer. "Lorin Merkley, 18 was diagnosed with an unidentified form of Sarcoma in August. His treatment at Phoenix Children's Hospital was intense and aggressive. The cancer was not friendly to Lorin, but he kept a hopeful heart throughout his sufferings. The cancer continued to grow inspite of treatment and took Lorin's life in November."

Burt, AJ, and Mary all took part in the race this year. AJ and Mary ran the 2 mile Fun Run and Burt did the 10K. They all did a fabulous job!! AJ ran his in about 16 minutes. Mary was at 19 minutes. Burt did his at just under 50 minutes. All these times are approximates because the official times haven't been posted yet. I will update when they are.

The first pic is Burt starting his race. Then we have a group shot before any races started. Then a pic of AJ finishing strong. And then one of Mary passing a lady right at the end. And another group shot( considerably more stinky than the first).

Joanna joined the Club!!

2009-01-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

It's official. Joanna finally caved and joined our Club. Soon she will be off to Mexico and before we know it Jesus will be too!(pronounced hey- sues)HaHa! I will keep you all posted for a sealing date.

Mary's first dance performance at school

2009-01-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

This is Mary's first dance performance. This is a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. They meet twice a week after school to make up and practice their routines. They all did a Fantastic job. I will try to video the next one because you can't really tell all the cool stuff that they were doing with pictures.

Training for a race.....

2009-01-21T13:17:00.000-08:00

This is Mary and Burt training for the upcoming Londons Run. Mary and AJ will both run the 2 mile and Burt will do the 10K. They are all working so hard. I love that they spend time together.

2009-01-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

We went to play in the snow in Strawberry and had the best time. Emily and Burt stayed home and AJ was on a snow campout with the scouts, So it was just me and the girls. We went with some friends and stayed for several hours. When we got home Emily decided it was her turn for a ride.

New Family Pics

2009-01-19T20:59:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of them. I think they turned out great. These were taken the week before Christmas at 8:30 in the morning. We were all so cold. Instead of saying "cheese" we all said "FREEZE" !

Katelynn loses tooth #2 !!

2008-12-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Two weeks after the loss of her first tooth, Katelynn lost her 2nd tooth. The event was eerily familiar. This tooth began to loosen with the loss of her first one. The rest is almost exactly the same as last time. The ToothFairy left her $2 this time and she plans to spend it at her schools' Christmas gift shop.

Katelynn Lost Her First Tooth !!!

2008-11-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

Wow ! What an ordeal this was. Her tooth had been loose for almost a month. No one was allowed to touch it. On Sunday She let Dartell look at it, after a lot of convincing. I won't lie. Some wiggling did take place. Dartell asked Katelynn if she could see it again and before we knew it her tooth was out. She was in shock at first, but when she saw blood she lost it. Slowly she realized that she wasn't going to die. Then a sibling mentioned the "Tooth Fairy". That was all it took. She put it in some water and left it on the counter. The next morning she had a crisp $1 bill. Guess what she bought with it. A 6 inch solid chocolate santa. Thank you Tooth Fairy.

Halloween

2008-11-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures with you.This year was kind of mellow, but we still had a really good time.We kept the house decorations to a minimum, but I did add this really cool spider that I made. Hopefully next year she will have a web. FYI you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Buddywalk

2008-11-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun event. Last year just over 2000 people came to help support Down Syndrome. I would bet that this year we doubled that. Mascots were everywhere. Baby Bop, Barney, Suns Gorilla, Cardinals, and AJ was McDonalds Hamburglar. The kids loved it. The walk was less than a mile but the support was overwhelming. Emily got to walk some of it. She was sooo- cute. There were people all along the course to clap and cheer and just give support to those who walked. As we walked by they would give us five or make a human bridge to go through. Emily doesn't give five yet, so she would hug them. At one of the human bridges she hugged her way through it. They just passed her down the line. She was so funny. There was so much for the kids to do and it was all free. They had carnival style games, A rock climbing wall, pony rides, a DJ,too much to list it all. Free food too. Ice cream, cotton candy,Burgers and hot dogs. Next year will be even more fun. Can't wait.

Thursday Night Dinner

2008-10-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight for dinner I made Chicken with pesto and angel hair pasta. I was really surprised at how easy and delicious it was. Even my kids loved it. While we were eating we were talking about how school was for each of the kids. My fourth grader Julianna caused quite a ruckus on her turn. Julianna told us that she had been given a new assignment at school and that she made her teacher laugh. This is her story........

Teacher: "Class your next project is to pretend you are an announcer on the radio . You can announce what ever you want.You have a few minutes to decide."

Julianna:Thinking to herself "I don't know what to do. I don't know anything important. This is so hard...........Oh, my aunt Missy is pregnant, I can announce that. Whew, glad I thought of something."

Teacher (as she passes out a worksheet): " Ok, class everyone write your announcement down and answer all the questions about it on this worksheet."

Julianna excitedly fills hers out. She answers a few of the questions and then suddenly stops.

Teacher: " Is everyone almost done? Are there any questions?"

Julianna: "Do I have to answer all of the questions?"

Teacher: " Yes, of course."

Julianna: "My announcement is that my Aunt Missy is pregnant, Are you sure I have to answer the last two questions?"

Teacher looks down at the worksheet to see what the problem is. The questions are "how" and "when". Suppressing laughter: " I think you can skip those."

Julianna: "Whew, That would not have been good."

Everyone,but the younger three, got a good laugh from that story. I snapped a pic and told her it was definitely going on my blog!

Schnepf Farms Pumpkin Festival

2008-10-29T16:51:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday we went to Schnepf Farms Pumpkin Festival with my sister Missy and her family . We had so much fun. The kids all climbed a rock wall and rode lots of rides. We went on the Haunted Train Ride and got a little spooked by some of the Haunters. I think my favorite was the carousel from 1916. It is the oldest working carousel in Arizona. It would make a great location for a budget horror flick. A good time was had by all.

It's All About the Sweets!!

2008-10-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Friday was such a fun day. Dartell came over and baked for most of the day. We had 6 different kinds of cookies, pumpkin bread, and rice crispie treats. I spent most of the day sewing Mary's pirate costume and then I made a huge pot of chili for our wards Trunk-or-Treat. These are some of the kids' costumes. AJ was Slash. Mary a pirate. Julianna an evil fairy. Katelynn, Abby and Emily were all witches. Nichole was Ariel. We had a lot of fun!

Weekend In Mexico!!

2008-10-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

So a couple weeks ago Dartell, Joanna and I drove to Mexico to spend the weekend with Jesus(Joanna's husband). We had a great time. We went to see the Temple in Juarez. It was beautiful and there were butterflies everywhere. We also went to Central Park. It is almost like a zoo. They had a Giraffe and a lion and ducks and deer and probably more. It was so cool. You could feed the Giraffe and pet it . The food was amazing that weekend. I did find a few things that I didn't like( i.e. pig skin, manudo,corn with chili),But I loved most of it. On Satuday night everyone goes outside to just hangout. Sooo nice. When I am home there is always so much to do.The other picture is at the top of Freedom Bridge on the way home. We were waiting to cross the border and we were in two countries at the same time. Very cool. I look forward to going back.

Dancing in the Rain

2008-09-29T10:40:00.001-07:00

With rain being such a scarce comodity here in Arizona the kids tend to take advantage of it when it comes. This is Emily's first time out to play in the rain. She loved it, even though she was only out two minutes. The other girls were soaked to the bone when I finally got them back inside. This is Mary, Abby, Katelynn and Julianna hamming it up for the camera. I think they had fun, What do you think?

A Nice Sunday

2008-09-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a good day. Nothing special just good. We had a great dinner, pork roast and red potatoes, and then dessert that Missy brought, cupcakes that almost didn't make it, and we finished the evening watching Emily color and then a few hands of Nerts. It was a great day. I love Sundays like that. Friends, family, good food and games. What more do we need?

Girls Night at the Ballpark

2008-09-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

So this was a great Girls Night Out. We had alot of fun. It didn't hurt that the D-Backs won. It was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend. More weekends should be like this.

MY BIRTHDAY !!!!

2008-09-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend. Friday Burt and I went out to dinner with my sister Missy and her husband Curtis. We had a lot of fun. Saturday was GIRLS NIGHT !! The plan was to go to Dave and Busters (chucky cheese for adults) eat dinner and just play around. We all met at Missy's at 6pm. To my surprize my mom came down. We had a blast!! The food was delicious and the games were addicting !! On Sunday Missy's family and Dartell came to dinner. Ummm Roast chicken.... we even had cake and ice cream. Monday was another girls night. We went to the Diamondbacks game. That was so fun. I will post pics of that later. This was a great birthday weekend !! Thanks guys !!!

All about Emily

2008-09-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

So Emily has been trying to walk for quite some time. Here she finally has it.. She is still wobbly but does a great job. The other pics are of Emily looking through a window. She was trying to give Burt a kiss. We just thought it was cute!!!

Burt Is My Hero........

2008-07-28T17:33:00.001-07:00

A little over a month ago we bought Burt a new bike to ride to and from work(save gas). At first we went to Walmart and spent about $200. I thought we got a good deal. After less than a week it was broken. Upon taking it to a pro bike shop to fix it, we learned it was made wrong and had parts that were out of date. We took the bike back to Walmart and returned to the proshop to purchase a second bike for Burt. All is good with this bike, except that since Burt has had it he has also had an inkling to try a triathelon. Burt is a runner and has been since High School. Burt is also now a biker. He logs about 50 miles a week, give or take. Burt is NOT a swimmer. He doesn't like the deep end, doesn't like to be splashed, and on more than one occasion has told me that we will never own a boat. Here comes the Hero part. He completed his first Triathelon this weekend. It was, to say the least, exhausting. He had to swim 420 yards (think 4 football fields), bike 12 miles, then run a 5k. All one right after the other. Here are some pics I took during the race.

Moving....

2008-07-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you that don't know, Burt and I have been trying to save our home from the F- word. Foreclosure. We lost yesterday. Our home went to auction at 1pm and started at $209,000. There were no bidders, so our home now belongs to the bank. As far as I can tell we don't have alot of time to move. We have prepared our kids for a possible move from the start, even though we really wanted to work something out with the mortgage company. All along they have been less than helpfull. In all this time they gave us no option except reinstatement (which is to pay all past due plus late and legal fees in one payment). Don't they think, if we had it, we wouldn't have been late in the first place? This s000- sucks.

But at the same time it is a blessing. We bought our house at the end of the boom, so we paid alot for it. Houses in our area today are being sold for $100,000 less than we paid. We never would have been able to refinance or even sell it. It is hard because this is my dream house. We have plenty of room for all our kids and we finally got a dog. I love the layout and my huge closet. We have a dining room that is big enough that we all can sit and eat at the same time. That in itself is great. We love the neighborhood and our ward is fabulous. They have been such a help in difficult times.

My mom told me that "it is just a roof over your head" and that "you can just get another one". On one hand she is absolutely right, but on the other....this is my home. I have made it mine. I painted a wall red in my living room. I have always wanted a red wall, but never thought that I could pull it off. I have bought and sold furniture on craigslist so I could "upgrade" within my budget. I finally decided on an american flag theme for the living room. It goes great with the red wall.

It's just a house I can get another one and start all over again. It just sucks.

There's a first time for everything.....

2008-07-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Being over 12 years into my marriage, I will not try to play "catch up" I will just start from today. Burt and I have 6 amazing children. I am in constant awe of their talents and abilities. AJ will be 13 this week and he has an awesome sense of humor, a strange love of documentaries, and with 5 sisters he is bound to be the perfect husband. Mary is 11. She, just last night, attended her first concert (Jonas Brothers), and made her TV debut on the 10 o'clock news. She was Dang Cute !! She is %100 GIRL!! Julianna is 9 and has her own way of doing everything. She loves to be outside on the trampoline , riding her bike, on roller blades, but is not quite a tomboy. She also loves to play the piano and do gymnastics. Katelynn is 5 and starts Kindergarten this August. Her first question every morning is "How many days left?". Every Morning. Abigail is 3 and is in constant motion. She tries to keep up with everyone. She wants to know what everyone is doing at all times. Emily is 17 months and is our miracle baby. Her pregnancy was tumultuous to say the least. At the most difficult point she was given a %10 chance of survival. She has defied all the odds. She is the most beautiful baby.