memorial day

{Sophia & Les}

We had a Memorial Day BBQ at our house with my family.  As you can tell, some of us enjoyed it more than others!

 

 {Harper & Grandma Chesnut}

We had so much fun loving on all the babies and were so happy to have Brian, Erika & Harper here from Colorado.  

 

{Parker & Grandma Patty}

These two are just silly together.  Who knows what they are up to?

 

{Coop}

Cooper was getting a little bit jealous of all the babies getting so much attention.  He started sticking his tongue out and grunting a lot.  Do babies do that?  I guess mine does!

{Les, Payton & Parker}

We also celebrated Les's Birthday.  How many candles is that?

{Parker, Harper & Grandpa Ock}

Parker didn't like sharing the attention with the babies either so he just jumped in the middle of it!

{My Mom}

Last, but definitely not least.  Our favorite moment of the night!  My Mom kept getting hit in the head by the basketball so she requested a helmet.  Request granted.  

Happy Memorial Day!

 

dog sitting

We watched my Grandma's two dogs overnight.  The boys absolutely loved it.  We took them on about 4 walks in less than 24 hours.  They loved to have these little playmates around.  Too bad I'm not up for having more work around the house.  I just can't do it, but we love doggy sitting!

parker's preschool days are over

{Parker, Kyle and Ryker at Sweet's Candy Factory Fieldtrip}

Parker's preschool days have been absolutely fabulous.  I truly can't believe that they are now over.  I am overwhelmed that these three boys are already moving onto Kindergarten, but I know they are so ready.  Selfishly, I'm going to miss the amazing preschool experience we've had.  Parker and two of his best buddies, Kyle & Ryker have had the same routine all year long.  Preschool on Monday, Wednesday & Friday's then play dates afterward.

I'm going to miss seeing this at my house every week.

Luckily, Parker, Ryker & Kyle all got in the same Kindergarten class.  They are so happy!  I know that we'll have many more play dates like this with all their other friends {like Jack pictured here}, but I'm just sad that the preschool experience is already over.

On Parker's last day of preschool they did a cute graduation program.

These grads sang songs, had speaking parts and looked adorable!

I don't want Parker to ever forget his first "girlfriend."  Ellie, the cute girl {not the cute one standing next to him, but the other cute girl next to her} was Parker's little crush.  According to Ryker & Kyle, he kissed her on the cheek a couple of times.  Oh boy! 

Parker had the best preschool class.  The kids were all so great and they had a lot of fun together.

Especially these three stooges!  I feel so grateful Parker has such great friends.

  

I'm also grateful that Parker had the best teachers.  Mrs. Teresa {pictured here} and Mrs. Camille {I forgot to get a picture of her.}  He adored his teachers and learned so much in preschool.

Kindergarten...here we come!

my birthday {and clint's}

Every year we get our own special day...our day of birth!  Well, ever year, I get to share "my" special day with this guy {yes, the one with his eyes closed!}  Actually, I think it's pretty cool.  Everyone always asks if it bothered me when we were younger and I don't think it did {although I do have a very selective memory.  I only remember good things.}  In any case, now that I'm older, I definitely enjoy it.  I think it's cool.  How many people share a birthday with their sibling?  I feel pretty special.  Plus, it's nice to divert the attention to someone else and have it be "our" day instead of just "mine."  This year, it even meant that the party got to be at his house.

I was especially grateful the party was at his house after the "cake dropping incident of 2010."  Becca {Clint's Wife} was just reminiscing about how funny it was when Clint dropped the cake last year {better known as the "cake dropping incident of 2009"}.  Just seconds after her harassment this happened.  As you can see, it didn't affect my special day.  I was busy blowing out my candles and enjoying the "Happy Birthday" serenade in the background!

 

Being the selfless sister that I am, I offered to clean my brother's floor on his birthday.   Plus, Becca was too embarrassed {or shocked} to come out of the kitchen.

 

Here's my Mom doing what she does best...just being happy to be here!

 

The almost newlyweds!

Sweet Sophia eating rice cereal and wishing it was birthday cake.

 

Happy Birthday, Clint {and me too}!

father & sons

 Tim took all three boys {even the two-year-old} to our Ward Father & Sons camp out.  Luckily, he invited his Dad to join him so he had some extra help.  Tim was insistent that he take all three boys and it was a wonderful break for me!  I threw a little girls party while the boys were away.  I had a blast and these boys had an adventure.  They loved making their own campfire, playing with their friends and playing in the tent.  They didn't love when it started raining and the wind broke their tent.  About 11:00 pm Tim & his Dad packed up the boys and went camping on his parents family room floor.  Nice!  Either way, it was a fun Father & Sons adventure.  They loved it.

spring soccer season

{Zach, Eli, Burke, Aiden, Ryker & Parker}

Parker had a great soccer season.  He enjoyed playing and turned into a great little player this season.  He scored lots of goals, made some great passes and had fun running around with his friends.

{Tim, Oliver, Hunter, Abe, Josh, Lauren, Alex, Chase, Madison & Payton} 

Tim had another great soccer season coaching Payton's team.  This is their last season together and we are sad to see it end.  Tim has coached most of these kids since the beginning.  It's been fun to watch them grow and improve over the years.  Payton has also turned into a great little soccer player.  He had a great season.  He has some great ball handling skills and he's also a great little goalie.  He's had a lot of fun playing with his friends.

We sure do love these boys and really enjoy watching them play!

parker's growth hormone stimulus test

Parker had to do one last test before they could start growth hormone treatment.  He had a Growth Hormone Stimulus test done at Primary Children's Hospital.  He was admitted to the hospital for the day.  They put us in a nice big room with his own bed, tv and unlimited movies.  Parker thought it was awesome and was having so much fun, until...

 

They began poking him!  They had to place an IV line in his arm.  Because he was fasting, he was dehydrated and it was extremely hard to find a good vein.  Also, they had to put in a fairly large IV because of the procedure.  He had two nurses poking him and trying to get a vein for 30 minutes.  It was so awful!  Parker is really brave and he barely cried or whined.  I kept telling him that it was okay if he wanted to cry, because I wanted to!  As you can see by his face, after the torture he was not very happy.

 

He was so exhausted from the trauma of the IV line that he fell asleep.  For the test, they gave him medication through an IV in order to stimulate his hormones to see how much, if any, hormones he is producing.  They had to draw his blood before the procedure and then every 30 minutes during the 4 hour procedure.  Every time the nurse had to draw his blood it was torture again.  Because they were not able to get a good vein and place a big enough IV line, they basically had to irritate his arm so much just to get blood out.  Once again, it was pretty miserable for Parker.

 

As always, Parker was a champ.  He was so happy when the procedure was over and he could finally eat.  He got to order anything he wanted from the awesome menu.  He ordered a big pretzel, chocolate milkshake and banana.  Yummy!  They had to make sure his stats were normal before he left so he had some time to pick out a treasure and enjoy his lunch.

These tests have been exhausting for all of us, but we feel so blessed.  We feel blessed that we have amazing doctors, medicine and health insurance to help us provide the necessary help Parker needs.  We also feel blessed that Parker is not dealing with anything life threatening.  We'll take this little trial compared to the many other children who are suffering with much more.  We feel blessed that Parker is having so much fun with all the attention.

Since this test, we have found out that the insurance company has given pre-approval for his growth hormone medication.  He will begin getting daily shots and hopefully, start growing.  He's excited and keeps asking, "when is my medicine going to get here?"  Unfortunately, he doesn't know that it will be given in the form of a shot.  We are optimistic that he will continue to have a great attitude and enjoy the attention!  Thanks to everyone for your amazing support.  We have such a great support system of people who truly care about what is going on with Parker. 

Thank you!

book of life

 We each have our own book of life.   Our books are full of chapters.  Some chapters are happier than others.  Some chapters are cliff hangers.  Some chapters seem to drag on forever.  Some chapters you don't want to see end.  However, each of these chapters is important to the development of our life stories.  I believe that our Heavenly Father is the author of this book and we are merely characters.  If we allow Him, he will develop us into the characters we have the potential to become.  However, if we ignore this beautiful plan our Heavenly Father has for us, our life story might turn into a tragedy instead of a fairy tale.

I believe my life story is definitely a fairy tale.  All fairy tales have adventure, love, happiness, laughter, contention, evil, disappointment and heartache, but in the end good prevails.  I know that if I can conquer the villains in my story that my fairy tale will have a happy ending.  However, right now I'm just closing one amazing chapter in my life and starting on a new scary adventure.

This new chapter in my life is scary.  I am getting older, my kids won't stop getting older and life seems more complicated than it ever has before.  However, I know that I'm not the author.  I know that I am simply playing a part and I must trust in my Heavenly Father's plan for me.  Heavenly Father has never let me down before.  In previous chapters, I have felt loss, disappointment, sadness, sorrow, discouragement, but all of it has ultimately lead me to happiness. 

I am so happy.  My fairy tale life has been filled with so much adventure, love, peace and joy.  I know that once this chapter in my life concludes I will look back and see the many amazing things that have come from the challenges we face, but right now I'm just trying to have faith that Heavenly Father knows what is best for my story.  That's really all we can do each day.  Play our part, do our part, be our best and have faith in our Heavenly Father's Plan.

I don't really know where my life story is headed, but I'm excited to see what happens along the way!

Editor's Note:  No, I'm not pregnant, we're not moving, no job change, nothing drastic is going on in our lives and Tim and I are still madly in love.  I'm just referring to {and being dramatic about} all the little things in life.

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