Trunk or Treat

Our ward had every family bring soup and candy. We ate at 6 then paraded around the gym picking up candy at the tables. By 7 we were out the door and headed to Grandma and Crapa's. On the way home we made one stop at the Mickelson's so J could do some trick or treating. Now we are home and the kids are in bed. John wants to watch a scary movie and I have no desire. I hate to be scared.

Audrie this is for you

A Halloween in the past........Remember This? I can't remember how old we were.
Did we go toilet papering looking like that?
I can't figure out how to turn the picture.

1 year ago

Every night for 5 nights straight J would say "I don't want my tummy cut." John and I would explain that it would be OK. We had a list of events that would happen before surgery and that helped keep him focused on the fun things.
On Friday October 26th my brother Charlie returned home from the Chili Conception Mission.
On Sunday afternoon J asked Charlie for a blessing. My dad, Scott, Brandon, and John joined in. The spirit was fresh from mission field strong. Charlie blessed J that he would recover quickly and have no pain.
Monday night we went trick or treating to a few of our neighbors. We had arranged with them to come a few days early. Then we had dinner at my parents house and carved pumpkins.
Tuesday morning (October 30, 2007) started with the usual 2 high blood pressure pills for J. He asked for food but I had to tell him no. When he asked why I explained that it was the big kidney day. My mom came to the house about 10am to pick up the babies they were 7 months old. After loading them into the her car we left for SLC. We checked in at 12:45. The waiting room was empty. J got to pick from any game system (PlayStation, game cube, Nintendo 64) and he tried them all. There was a craft table so he made a pumpkin. At 2:30pm they gave him some liquid to help him relax. By 3 we were walking behind the Dr. pulling J's bed. We said good bye at the door to the operating room.
We went to get some food and then up to the waiting room. John's parents were there to visit with us. At 4:30 we got a call from surgery and everything was good. At 6 we were told that it would be another hour because they were having complications. At 7pm Dr. Snow walked in, he explained that
laparoscopic surgery went well. He made 4 small incisions and through the lower one he removed the kidney. There was a small mass the size of a quart that he sent to the lab to be tested.
At 8pm John and I went to see J in recovery. He was still out and only waking up to throw up. I went up to the room to pump. By 8:30 he was in his room #3089. John sat up with him most of the night while I slept.
6am he woke up hunger. I told him his kidney was out and he said, "I am so happy." I went out to get him some crackers and juice. We started Lortab at 8am with breakfast. He had bacon. 10:00 he walked down to the Halloween party. By 12pm Dr. Snow & the Urologist had both seen J and given the OK to take him home. We were shocked. We were scheduled to stay for 2 or 3 nights. It took several hours to get the paperwork done for the release, so we went trick or treating around the hospital with the other kids. J insisted that he didn't need a wheelchair, but after only a 1/3 of the way through he was tired.
So my story is very long and extremely detailed, but the point is J was home by 7pm -- 24hours after having his kidney removed.
I want to thank you all for all your love and support over that last year. It has been a roller coaster of emotions. We are grateful for each of you.

FHE

After the twins went to bed we carved a pumpkin with J and made cookies.

8 things tag

I am accepting Becky's tag......

8 TV shows that I watch:

1. Amazing Race

2. Extreme Makeover

3. Biggest Loser

4. Days of our Lives

5. Jon and Kate Plus 8

6. MASH

7. Smallville

8. Decorating Cents

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Made waffles

2. Didn't do dishes

3. updated blog

4. wrestled with the boys in Sacrament Meeting

5. Sang fun songs in Primary

6. Had Sunday Dinner at my Parents

7. Finished one Christmas Project

8. Spent quality time with John

8 Places that I love to eat:

1. Big J's

2. Olive Garden

3. Chilis

4. Angies

5. Copper Mill

6. Wendy's

7. Arby's

8. Subway

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. My Birthday

2. Halloween

3. Birthday Shopping with my mom and sister

4. Pecan Pie

5. My mom taking the kids over night

6. Jaren and Sarah's wedding

7. Christmas

8. Snowmobiling

8 Things on my wish list:

1. eliminate John's student loans

2. finished basement

3. a fence around the yard

4. caught up scrapbooks

5. replacement for my lost diamond

6. family vacation to disneyland

7. new furniture

8. maid


8 people I tag

1. John

2-8. anyone who wants to.

Chili Party & Corn Maze

At Aunt Brenda's Chili Party we dressed up the twins as Thing 1 and Thing 2. J was a Pirate.
After having some yummy chili and donuts we went to the Corn Maze in Syracuse.
Here are 7 of the grand kids. Camden, Tanner, Caleb, Jakub, J, Rylie, and James. Wyatt and Lucy were in strollers.
All the kids loved the slides. Here is one of the smaller ones. Perfect for James and Jakub.

The THINGS playing in the ghost.
James waved at everyone he passed on the train. Jakub cried when he got out and the train drove away without him.
By the end of the day the blue hair and mustache were fading, but not the smiles. We all had a great time. Thanks to Grandma Mills for a fun family day.

Pumpkin Bash

It was a again other year that I didn't win the pumpkin bash. But I don't care I had a lot of fun. This year my team was.....Jim, Kenny, Brandon, and Preston. We were in the craft room. I wish there was a picture of our pumpkin with the lights off because it was really cute. We used glow sticks for the ears and the tongue.

My mom and Ina played with all the kids making play dough pumpkins and coloring pumpkins, while the adults were in 3 teams creating. It so great to enjoy the game and not worry about my boys.
Dad and Uncle B tallied the votes. And the winner is......the team from the garage. They gave a POWERFUL performance.

Treats

I just finished the apple treats for the pumpkin bash tonight. I made some with chocolate and granola, some with whipped cream frosting and chocolate chips, and the 3rd kind is chocolate peanut butter.
I cut up some apples and dipped them in the chocolate peanut butter for Jakub,
and James. They would suck of the chocolate and give me back the apple and say. "More"

Give Thanks

The Amoxicillin is doing it's job.....4 ears are recovering......2 boys starting to get off mom's lap and play a little bit more.



Yes, my 19 month old twins still take a bottle at bedtime. I know I am a bad mom......James has to be holding a blanket or shirt sleeve when he is having his bottle and falling to sleep.
After 10 days with only 3 shoes to fill 4 feet..... I am happy to report.... I found the missing shoe.

ER

So last night we ended up in the ER with James. The Dr. found double ear infections. While James had a chest x-ray, I walked over to the Nursing Home to visit my Grandma. She was having a bad day and started to cry. She is so worried about crying in front of anyone. I took her it was ok, I cry too. When I got back to the ER, I walked into the room and James reached for me and started to scream. The cries didn't get any better, because with in minute we were holding him down while they took 2 blood samples out of his arm. I love to watch blood being drawn, but it was hard to see James so unhappy. As we waited for results I walked up and down the hall with James. He didn't want to go back in that room. Good news.....x-ray looked good. Blood test "fairly dry" but dehydration is not to the point that IV was needed. We went home with antibiotic and orders to get him to drink.

It was another sleep less night for me. But the fever is down this morning and he drank milk and ate some bread for breakfast. Hopefully we are on the way to recovery. I got my primary music covered for today, so I am going to send John, J and Jakub to church and maybe I will get a nap. LOL

FALL

J's Pumpkin Patch produced 25 pumpkins this year. He is very excited. We have been giving them away to family, friends, and neighbors. I wish we could have afternoons in the 60's for another month. It is so nice to feel the warm sun coming in through the windows. I would be out enjoying it today, but I am stuck inside with Jamesy. He has the flu. His temp is 103. I am afriad I am going to miss out on the nice weather.

New Jammies

I love the Children's Place Outlet in Park City. I can always find cute stuff for Cheap.

quiet moment

I love nap time.....

Snowbird

It was my first time to Oktober Feast. John warned me a few days before that it is just a bunch of people getting drunk. There was a lot of that, but I loved the music. I took the chance to dance with each of my boys and even got John out on the dance floor. (:Someone please sign him up for dance lessons:)


J played musical chairs and had many sword fights with his cousin Camden using his balloon sword.
Between songs someone was giving away free tram tickets. I ran up and got them first. I must have been the only sober one that heard the offer.
So Sunday morning at 11:30, John, J and I headed up the hill. J had been worried about getting scared, when in fact I ended up being the one clenching to John's sweater. At the top it was not sweater weather at all. There was 1 foot of snow and it was still coming down. We trudged through the snow to the warming hut. 20 minutes later we headed back down the mountain. The clouds cleared and we could see the resort below.
James and Jakub's snow play consisted of playing on the deck of the condo.
It turned out the be a great weekend.

I love fall.
General Conference was inspiring. I truly believe the Lord knows and loves me. I am blessed.