Bargain Breaking Dawn

Update: Teri (our bargain shopper) found out some info on our book. Walmart is selling it for 1/2 the price of Barnes and Noble! So...we're thinking we'll hit the Barnes and Noble party then head over to Walmart to pick up our book! I left my name on the list at Barnes and Noble (just in case for some crazy reason Walmart doesn't have a book for me). Can't wait!!

Also...If you want me to print up your transfer for your t-shirt I would be happy to. We're all going to split the cost of the paper, so call me if you want one and you can stop by and get it!

Breaking Dawn Fun!

Our plans have changed a bit. We are going to go to Barnes and Noble in Sandy. They are giving out wrist bands at 9 am. If Natelli and I can get a count we'll go get the wrist bands for our group. It's a wedding theme, so people can dress up like they are going to a wedding if they want. Natelli and I thought it would be fun to make Team Edward or Team Jacob shirts. We are going to use white shirts. Everyone is in charge of making their own shirts, we are not sure exactly how many people are coming and thought it would be too complicated to make one for everyone....but we do think it'll be fun if our group all sort of matches! Any one coming from our end of the valley, let's meet at Natelli's house at 8:15 and we will car pool up to Sandy at 8:30. If you are coming from some where else, meet at Olive Garden at 8:30. Olive Garden is off of 106 South, just a little ways up from South Towne mall. I called Barnes and Noble and reserved a copy for me, they said it is easier if everyone calls and reserves a copy individually. Here is the # 801-233-0203. I am trying to get an exact count so if you are coming~leave a comment :D I think that's all! Hope to see you there!

When Your BFF Lives Far Away....

Tragedy struck when my best friend Rochelle moved to the Northwest corner of the world. Thankfully with technology we keep in touch now better than ever. Ever the party planner Rochelle is planning a smash for the 'Breaking Dawn' release. I've talked to her several times over the weeks, giving her a few suggestions, answering some really hard quiz questions etc. This morning she calls me and asks my opinion on a font she found online...'do you think it looks like 'Edward'.....you know....girl stuff....She proceeds to email me the font. For some reason I got the email and it looked like plain old times roman font to me. Frustrated beyond belief....here is her solution. 'I'll take a picture of my computer screen with my camera and send it to you!' Voila!! Genius!! Thank heaven for the Internet...and cameras!! What did we ever do without it!?

Shark I

A big thank you to my friend Kristin for letting me know about sign ups at the swimming lessons she takes her boys to. Jace loved every minute of his lessons and he learned a ton! Worth every penny!

Our little Shark I doing his awesome back float.

The front crawl (I'm pretty sure he is better at this than I am)

Diving through hoops

And his favorite....the diving board!!

Pioneer Day Party!

I was a Pioneer Day scrooge this year! I don't really know why...but I didn't even dress up my kids in red/white/blue!.....we did HOWEVER have a great party!
We barbecued, played Apples to Apples (which we're all pretty sure was rigged since Ryan's family took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place), we rocked out to some rock band, roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and did some fireworks. Thank you to Aunt Laura and Uncle Ryan for hosting our party!

I think the "big kids" got into this more than the little ones!East our drummer boy Seriously...he wasn't too bad! Uncle Jeff is always up for making us all laugh until our bellies hurt!

Look how Maddie is sitting just like Aunt Laura! So cute!
Derek helping Jace and Garet get their S'mores ready
Grandma likes her S'mores!

Hey Bonnie...I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to catch them on fire!

Auntie lighting every one's sparklers...I was off duty after last time...my hair is still growing back!

Our little fireworks display

Sophie's Fun Party

We got to go to Sophie's first birthday party last week. It was tons of fun! My sister in law Jacci makes the coolest cakes! She is an expert! This is Sophie's first birthday cake....a giant cupcake all to herself!
Camry and Uncle Trent the winners of the chicken fight!
Easton/Uncle Corey vs. Kaleb/Uncle Trent
Jace and Garet having their turn!

7 Peaks

If I was stuck in the hospital...I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want ANYONE to have any fun without me! Not so with our Grandpa....he is always suggesting fun things for us to do as a family. This week we got to go to the Water Park. We had a great day, although we really missed having our Grandpa there to see him go down all of the scary orange slides!

Grandma Linda LOVES the water! She was in with the kids the entire day....and has the sunburn to prove it! Tori has a broken arm....but the cast was carefully removed for her day of fun, then put back on after! She's a brave little girl!

Aunt Jacci and a tired little Sophie

Auntie sunbathing....

Another self portrait....Me and Aunt Tanya

Daddy and Jace in the wave pool

Our brave guy...ready for MORE! He went down all of the scary rides!

Us after our day in the sun. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!

Memories...

Here's a little game! I like games....who doesn't? Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.Ready, Set, GO!

Lil' Slugger

This is the first year that Jace has been old enough for team sports. He was so excited to play T-Ball! His team was called the 'Cougars' and they had a great season!

Jace and his buddy Ethan waiting for their turn to bat

Batter Up!

Sliding into home plate....or rather, 'sitting down' into home plate

Garet and Jace. Jace was thrilled to get a medal because now he has one like Easton!

Mama Mia!

I've been on blog hiatus for a while. Life has been crazy, but I'm back and I must begin my week of posts with my favorite! My sister in laws, mother in law, and I went to see Mama Mia on Friday. LOVED IT! Seriously so good! I've never seen the play...I'm sure it's great. Pierce Brosnan left a little to be desired in the singing department, but I could totally get past it! If you haven't seen this I recommend it! At the end of our movie the whole audience was dancing and clapping in their seats! So fun! Great girls night out! Thank you Grandpa Mike for treating us to the movie...even though you thought it looked stupid! :)

A Miracle

Bryan's cousin Michele sent out this email. Aunt DeAnn (our Grandpa's bone marrow donor is Micheles mom). I thought she did a great job describing the transplant process and I learned a lot reading this! Thanks Michele!

Hi,
As you all know, Mike was diagnosed just over a year ago with leukemia. Right from the beginning, the doctors started talking about a bone marrow transplant. So Candice and my mom were tested to see if they matched Mike.

There are 10 antigens in the white blood cells that could match in the donor and recipient. A good match is 7 or 8. My mom and Mike matched all 10. An interesting fact is that they have different blood types - Mike is O+ and my mom is A+.

After the testing, they decided not to do the transplant last year. Mike received lots of chemotherapy and eventually the leukemia was gone.

On May 14 (his 59th birthday) of this year, Mike received the phone call that the leukemia was back. He was back in the hospital 4 days later having a chemo treatment and he called to ask my mom how her bone marrow was. They needed to do the transplant.

So, this week we watched this miracle happen.

Each morning for 4 days (starting July 3), my mom went in for a shot (in her stomach) that increased the stem cell production in her bone marrow. Her bones were achy and she got headaches. On the 5th day, she received another shot and got a catheter put into her jugular vein. Then that morning, over a 4-hour period, 14 liters of blood were taken out, run through a machine that removed the calcium first, then the stem cells, and then put back into her body. 14 liters of blood is approximately 2-2 1/2 times her body's full blood supply. The next morning, the 6th day, she received another shot and then they removed 14 liters of blood again.

The first day's collection was one cup. 1% of that cup of liquid was stem cells. It looked like watered down blood. There were 2.7 billion stem cells collected the first day. That's a lot but Shawn could probably count them. There were 3.6 million stem cells per some unit of measurement (I can't remember what). They said that was a great number. We don't know the number of stem cells collected the second day but they figured it would be about 2 million per unit.

My dad and I went to the hospital on the second day. We watched my mom's blood run through a machine and then back into her. The second day they warmed the blood before it went back because the first day she got really cold (which never happens) from the cold blood. They also put calcium back into the blood before it went back because she felt very tingly due to a loss of calcium. We saw the little bag of stem cells hanging there and the plasma that was also collected. We watched the tech pack it in a cooler that is kept at room temp. A technician stayed with my mom and the machine the whole time both days. The tech personally delivered the stem cells to the lab.

When my mom was done, all 3 of us went to Mike's room. He had received his last chemo treatment 2 days before (July 6). The infusion of stem cells from the first day had just started. They are run into him like an IV. He has a line into his jugular vein. It took just over an hour or so. I sat and held the little tube and watched the cells run through it. The nurse kept checking his vital signs to make sure he wasn't having a reaction to receiving foreign cells into his body. While we were there, the nurse and other staff members came in with a birthday balloon. They sang Happy Birthday to him because it was the first day of his new life and being a new person.

The stem cells will take 2-3 weeks to ingraft (I think that's the word they used) in his bones. Then they'll start producing A+ blood. So, Mike's blood type will be changed. Over the next few weeks, he'll need blood transfusions since he has no bone marrow to produce blood. They'll give him O+ red blood cells but A+ plasma and platelets. If there are any remaining leukemia cells, my mom's cells will kill them off. As soon as his white blood count is 500 then he can leave the hospital but has to stay somewhere close. I don't know how long he has to be here in SLC.

It is an amazing miracle and so neat to watch. I'll try to attach some pictures. You can send this on to anyone that you think might be interested.

I will send the pictures we took also. But I will need help so it might be a few days until I get that done.

Love, Michele

Me and My Shadow

I always wanted a little sister growing up. When Camry started asking me why she didn't have a little sister I felt a little bad saying, "because we didn't want to risk giving you another brother" HE HE....(I didn't really ever say that to her)....So anyway, now that we have Miss Maddie around I'm thinking we've filled a void. These two are so cute together. Despite the big age gap of 10 years they are still best buds. Camry is so sweet with her and you can just see the love and admiration in Maddie's eyes whenever she looks at her cousin. She loves to copy what Camry does and sit on her lap. Camry is the greatest babysitter...I think Bonnie has it pretty good having a 2 yr old with Camry around to chase her everywhere! I hope Camry always remembers that someone is looking up to her and trying to be just like her.Camry and Maddie at the Huntsman Center
Giving each other moral support at the Pediatrician
Fourth of July

Tag of 3's

I was tagged by Cami and Jessica on this one...
3 Joys....my kids, my family, reading a good book
3 Fears....losing someone I love, heights, being in a car accident
3 Goals....start running again (great now Bonnie is going to make me go), play more with the kids, finish all of my projects I've started this year.
3 Obsessions....blogging, my mini bag of popcorn (I seriously plan my day around this), my bank account being balanced to the penny
3 Random....I rarely cry (but if I'm watching a sad movie I can sob for hours...weird), the smell of a cafeteria gives me little panic attacks (no idea why), I love to laugh so hard my stomach hurts...therefore I try to surround myself with people who will make this happen ie. bonnie, cami, chelsea....
3 Tags....Melissa, Jenny, KerrieLeigh

Giant Water Slide=FUN!

My cute friend Cami....this is her above.....invited me and the kids to the park today for some Giant Water Slide fun!
Big Hill +Vinyl Billboard Signs+Water=Tons of FUN!! Here's a view of the slide...although the picture doesn't really do it justice.
My cute nephew Garet
I don't think this backwards move was intentional...but Jace loved it anyway!
Best Buds...Emily and Camry

Easton...the little daredevil.....he ended the day with some major road rash on his shoulder! Major pile-up!!
Me and the little boys going SUPER fast!

At the bottom....let's do it AGAIN!

My graceful self...major crash landing.
We had so much fun! Thanks again Cami for inviting us! What a great day!

14th Wedding Anniversary

Wow! I can't believe I've been married for 14 years! Has it really been that long? It's amazing how quickly time goes by. What a great life we've made for ourselves. We have 3 amazing kids, and a dog....and we're surrounded by family and friends. Engagement Photo...1994
Wedding Day Photos 7-8-94 Us Now...2008

14 Random Facts over 14 Years

1. We've moved 6 times
2. We've had 3 babies
3. We've built 2 houses and put in 2 yards
4. We've been really poor....and not so much
5. We've never lived anywhere where our ward hasn't split at least twice while we lived there!
6. We've been to Disneyland 6 times
7. We've owned 4 different cars and 4 different trucks
8. We've had a hundred fights and made up a hundred times
9. We've welcomed 5 sister in laws, 5 nieces and 5 nephews to our family
10. We've broken 1 bone, and had 2 surgeries
11. We've had 8 different jobs
12. We've made best friends with our neighbors
13. We've cut, colored, permed, and grown out our hair...both of us!
14. We've loved each other every day!

Independence Day Fun

MORNING OF THE 4TH

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids

Thank you Grandma Gail for always supplying us with cute Fourth of July gear!

Nemi and Camry....it's so fun for Camry to have a girl cousin her same age...these girls are 4 months apart in age. One extreme to the other!

Camry, Nemi, Jace, and Easton in the back of Grandpa's truck. These city kids thought this was one of the coolest things about Blanding....getting to break the rules and ride in the back of the truck!

PARADE

Grandma and Sage all set to watch the parade.

Garet and Jace...bags in hand....ready for the candy fest!

Me and my Maddie at the parade

Making sure everybody's bags are the same size!

Grandpa and Camry hanging out in the shade...it was a HOT one!

This picture is for Rochelle and Jeremy....we were laughing so hard that the D fell off this float....read it in Navajo and you'll get it! :)

Uncle Colby and Sage waiting for some smarties!

Easton and Kaleb...the boys had a great weekend together!

DIVING FOR DOLLARS

Diving for Dollars: money is thrown on the bottom of the pool. The kids are split into age groups and dive for the money.

Garet and Jace before they "dove for dollars"

This is Jace trying his HARDEST to get to the bottom of the pool....for some reason little bodies just seem to float! I almost fell in trying to push his head down to the bottom to help him out.

This is a picture worth a thousand words....the little boys holding their "charity" coins.

Mass chaos in the 9/10 year old group....these kids were out for blood!

Every time Easton came up for air he looked over to make sure I was watching. This is him with his hand full of money! Way to go bud! East is always so giving...before he even got out of the water he gave Kaleb, Garet, and Jace all a coin.

BARBEQUE
Sage was having some "Naked Time" in Aunt Karen' s pool.

Uncle Danny and my Dad tending the burgers. Thank you Aunt Karen and Uncle Danny for having us and my whole family over for dinner...you're the best!

2 of my favorite babies....Maddie and Sage.

Sage really loved Maddie. He followed her around pointing at her saying, "pwetty!" So cute!

Uncle Jeff entertaining the kids on the tramp....luckily no stitches were needed during this event.

What more can a boy need....olives and cheetos! Yummy!

FIREWORKS Ciana, Nemi, and Camry hanging out at the Fireworks.
Maddie and Grandma Linda taking a resty.
Garet and Jace, glow sticks in hand waiting for the big show.
Jace and my lovely self....it was a hot, sweaty, long day!
Dawson, Lance, Easton, and Kaleb playing the gameboy before the fireworks started.

10 Things I Loved About The Day:

1. Spending the whole day with both my family and Bryan's.

2. Getting to see all of our Arizona family together.

3. Hanging out at Aunt Karen's (it's always a party)

4. Watching the small town parade and seeing so many familiar faces

5. Seeing Jenny and Aundrea at the fireworks

6. Lighting a billion sparklers for the kids and burning my arm hair off

7. Cheering my kids on while they dove for dollars

8. Taking a much needed nap

9. My little guy falling asleep on my lap during the fireworks

10. How many hundreds of people stopped me and asked me about my father in law.....I love what a close knit community Blanding is!