May Memories

May has been a busy month full of sweet & FUN memories. Here is Jake & I at his preschool "Mothers Day Tea". He is such a sweet boy. So thrilled to show me the gifts that he made.
Lindsey got an Academics award at school. Allison just loved getting to visit "Dee Dee" at school. We're so proud of Lindsey!

Lindsey turned 7 on May 22nd! We had a "mock" sleepover. It is the way to go! All the fun of a sleepover but none of the drama. The tramp of course was the biggest hit. We had all the girls come in their PJ's, had pizza, decorated cupcakes, watched a movie with popcorn, painted nails & did a little craft. All the girls left by 9pm. A definite success & super fun.
Lindsey's cake... the colors of the girls new bedroom makeover...more pictures later! Almost finished with it.

Nice Loren! All of the girls had a little fun with the icing. Loren was my special "helper" for the night. She wanted "in" on the gift bags :)

Quincey, Aubrey & Eden. Super silly & best buddies of Lindsey!


a close up

Allison turned 2 on May 13th. I can't believe it. This was her favorite gift. She can almost count to 20 & loves to point out all the colors & objects she knows. She is such a cutie & has 3 tutors daily teaching her new things to say & do.

Loved those cupcakes!

Jakes's preschool graduation. Here are his two best buddies, Riley & Reece. I can't believe Jake goes to Kindergarten this fall!

Jake with his two preschool teachers, Miss Rose & Miss Glena. They were amazing!

One of my favorite pictures.--just took it today in the backyard. Lindsey still absolutely LOVES to be with Allie every chance she get's & Allie loves her SO much! So sweet together.
Jake had is final T-ball game of the season. Jake has had a busy month! Here is Jake with Coach Mick (our really close friend) getting his first ever trophy. BJ was the assistant coach this year.
The Dodgers.

Up to bat. He can hit that ball every time! Maybe next year he'll keep the helmet on as he rounds the bases. So funny. He'll hit the ball, start running, realize he doesn't want the helmet on, stop half way to 1st base, throw the helmet back to home plate then continue running.

Way to go Jake!

Hope you all are wonderful & winding down a little like we are. School is out in 2 more weeks. Yay! Have a great week!

10 Years!

We left this little face (yes, those are Mr. Potato head glasses!) & three of her siblings for seven days (something we haven't done in 7 or 8 years) to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. We've never gotten away for more than a day or two so this was a big deal! 10 years!

Flu & cold season hit our home hard this year. It was only the day before we left that Allie (who got hit with both the flu & a cold--which resulted in asthma issues of course) was finally keeping fluids & food down. She was a sick little girl. It just broke my heart & I was a nut case to say the least. My AMAZING mom flew from Hawaii to watch the kids. Knowing she is a nurse & has had 5 kids helped with my anxiety. It's enough to get through the routine, homework, activities, etc. etc. of four children without having sickness on top of it! Besides Allie missing her mom & still recovering (and doing lot's of treatments/meds), Jake got the flu a few days later & then my Mom caught the cold! Mom, you are the greatest! We love you & we owe you SO BIG! We had a wonderful time & wish the kids would have been healthy! Thank you, thank you for doing this for us! Here are some pics from our trip. We cruised along the Mexican Riviera...to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, & Puerto Vallarta.
Our favorite destination...Cabo. Someday we'll come back to spend more time here! Beautiful!

The beach in Cabo...ahhhhhhhh!


Okay...this is probably why it was our favorite destination---MI CASA--perhaps the best Mexican food we have EVER eaten...and we eat a lot of Mexican food! We wanted to find an authentic Mexican Restaurant & found it. So nice that BJ could use his Spanish & get in with the locals to lead us to this place for lunch! So good! We'll come back to Cabo just to eat here again.
Isn't it adorable?
Oh yeah!

A view off a museum terrace in Mazatlan. We did a walking "historical" tour for our excursion in Mazatlan.
Coast of Mazatlan
Mazatlan... streets in the "Old Town"

A Mexican couple we met on our tour (Spanish speaking only). Lot's of translating for me. We met several really great couples & families on our trip.
An opera house built in the 1800's. Mazatlan.
The Catholic Cathedral in Mazatlan.
Here we are on our actual anniversary on the ship. Happy couple!

Here is a view of Yelapa--our excursion when we ported in Puerto Vallarta. Yelapa is a small fishing village only accessible by boat. We got to go snorkeling, kayaking & then hike up to a little waterfall & then lounge on the beach. A really fun day. The only downfall...seeing way to many people get super drunk!
Yelapa
A humble home in Yelapa. Yelapa only got electricity 2 years ago!
Such a cutie!

The waterfall we "hiked" to in Yelapa :)
Oh I love tropical views!

SO HUGE! We sailed on Princess cruises & we still can't believe how huge our ship was!
Out of order...but here is Mazatlan on our walking tour of the monuments
Mazatlan view

1st formal night on the ship...a Sunday...we decided to attend a Jewish Passover service. A great experience. We met a wonderful family & we exchanged lot's of information on eachother's religions.
Such a cute family!

What a sunset & what a great escape with my favorite person with benefits! :) Thank you sweetie. To hold hands for seven days & do anything we wanted to do...was WONDERFUL!!!Now we're back to reality & fast! Everyone is healthy though! Yahoo!

Thanks again Mom!

Our Miracle drug & lot's of catch up...

We're on the mend over here. Since my last blog everyone else in the family got sick--with a nasty chest cough. Thank goodness Allison didn't catch it this round. I may have got it the worst...and I've still got it. I haven't coughed this much or so hard for a few years! I had to include this picture of Allie though from a few weeks ago. I still can't get over how easy it was to give her treatments. She's so fascinated with cartoons right now because she has figured out so many words & loves to point out all she knows. She is a big girl! Well, I promised to share with you all our miracle drug from my last blog...which WORKS!...so here it is:
Sambucol. You won't find it in a pharmacy. Only in a vitamin/natural/holistic/health foods type store. With two children with asthma, flared by virus induced respiratory infections I was determined to find something to help. Asthma is scary. I'm a nurse & have been trained in drug therapies. I never looked into herbs or holistic type therapies until recently. But, I'm hooked. For a year I've given Sambucol to my kids when I first notice they are coming down with a cold. What it has done for us is it decreases the symptoms & the length of the cold...it "nips" it by boosting their immunity. By doing this it has prevented their colds to get bad enough to trigger a asthma attack. They'll cough and have drainage but NOTHING like before. So, there you have it. Try it & see if it helps. It's safe enough for infants, just divide the dose accordingly. I get the adult strength & divide up the dose for my kids so that it will last longer. It has been a great blessing for us...to be asthma flare free for a year is pretty good!

Now for some catch up! Allie had a blast finding eggs this year at Easter time. Here she is with Tabitha & Lindsey at our ward Easter party.
She is now addicted to "cannee". She seems to find all the kids hiding places for their baskets & runs to find me and say, "mmmmm yummy cannee!". Oh boy! I don't have a picture of it but on Easter Loren, Lindsey & Jake "hid" some hardboiled & plastic eggs in the backyard for Allison. It was so cute to see them so excited to help her hunt. She was in heaven!
Loren had her Hawaiian dance class recital. It's her second class. She LOVES it! Her favorite is the poi balls. She can hold the poi balls with one hand & do the "butterfly". Pretty tricky!
So sweet. My Loren is growing up too fast!
All the girls

Jake just had his 1st ever T-ball game this weekend! He couldn't be happier to be in his new cleats, baseball pants, shirt & hat. Ever since T-ball began two weeks ago with the team mtg & practice he has worn his hat daily. Today at the game he was seen dancing in the outfield! :) His Dad is an asst. coach & out there with him so he is in heaven.

All the sisters watching Jake at the game. Go Jake!!
Besides dancing Jake was focused too & getting those balls & making some big hits. Pretty fun.

Lastly, I did it. I've joined the big 3-0 club. 30 years old!!

Everyone has asked me if I was ready to turn 30 & I say YES! I've been excited to turn 30 if you can believe it! I've got 4 kids! I've earned 30! :) I had a great birthday. I was very spoiled by my sweet friends & family. I had a great surprise from two of my best buddies (thank you Mique & Tara for kidnapping me!!), plenty of GFM (guilt free money) & gift cards to spend (thank you to my awesome family & friends!) & an amazing husband who threw me a party (thank you honey! You're the best!). Thank you everyone for making my birthday so great. Now I just need to get rid of this cough!

Happier Days

Allie had happier days like this a few weeks ago! She's got her phone, birdie toy & a dozen Hawaiian "pritty ecklace" (s) on. :) So cute how she would put them all on & run to find me to say, " Mommy...LOOK! Pitty ecklace!" Of course, Loren & Lindsey are all saying "So pretty!" to her & she was thrilled. Well, I'm ready for those days! Allie hit her 3rd cold in a row (over the past few months)...and for almost a year now we've avoided the major asthma meds (oral steroids) & Dr. visits because we've been able to nip the colds before they got bad enough to really kick in heavy asthma symptoms (more later on what I've found that has SAVED us on early nipping of colds). Both she & Lindsey have asthma & have done so well for about a year. SO! Allie is a trooper. This time the cold was just too nasty. BJ & Jake got it really bad & then Allie got it. I tried everything but the heavy wheezing set in along with major cough attacks & wasn't going away. Nebulizer treatments every four hours (10 min breathing treatments...and done with ease now that she loves to watch Elmo, Little Ponies & Caillou! Yes! Gone are the days of the headlock to get through a treatment!), Flovent (daily inhaled steroid), oral steroid dose for the next few more days, constant coughing, off and on wheezing & runny nose..the kind that get's rubbed all over the face! She has been a sad & tired little lady & therefore...mommy is very tired too! It's still nothing like her MAJOR asthma episode last year where she was almost hospitalized so I am relieved but today...I was so tired! It's all getting better.

So, I have a few pics to share. About a month ago or so Loren was in the school spelling bee for the 3rd grade & got 3rd place. Loren was in it last year as well & got 3rd place. Two years in a row! We are so proud of her. She loves school & it is so nice that she is independent on her homework! :)
This was really cute. Loren & her best buddies at school planned a special outing to see the Spiderwick Chronicles movie...just after Valentines Day. Just Moms & girls. They had all read the Spiderwick series & had been talking about going together as soon as they realized a movie was coming out. We had this same group of friends over for a playdate the other day and they are cute together. Making up plays, singing to songs, tramp games. Loren said it was the best play date she had ever had!

Well, that's about it for now. On the mend over here! Sorry Gpa D. for not posting Lindsey's "He-man" pushups video. Coming soon. :)

I've been tagged...again!

Rules of this game.Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names and then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and that they should read your blog. Got it?

10 years ago...
I was in pre-nursing courses at BYU Provo & engaged to BJ. They were hard classes! Try Patho physiology & Microbiology while being engaged! We were married in April, the day after my last final. Oh yeah, my last final was at done at something like 7pm the night before my wedding!

5 things on my "to do"list today
Well, first of the all the day is over but what I had was...
1) Get through the piles on my dresser to finally dust under it (did it)
2) Get my bathroom & the kids bathroom cleaned (did it)
3) Do Jake's preschool book with him (his reading book--he's getting good!--we did it)
4) Finish my "homework"--I read a book on Asthma to get my CE (continuing education) credits done to renew my nursing license. Finally finished this & mailed it in! It's only taken me a year I think. I read half of it this last week!
5) Help the girls with piano...make practicing happen for two days in a row! (Yes!)

We are busy...had more than 5 things on the "to do" list!

Snacks I enjoy
I love chocolate chip granola bars (why do I buy these!). I love graham crackers, open faced toasted PPJ's, apples, slices of chedar cheese, bagels with cream cheese...I could go on :)

What I would do if I were suddenly a millionaire
Pay off our house, invest a bunch of it, put a bunch of it into savings...go to Europe with BJ or maybe Tahiti :)

3 bad habits
1)When we make chocolate chip cookies I can't just eat one or two...
2) Piles...too many piles
3) Stay up too late & pay for it in the morning (When do kids decide to sleep in past 6am?)

5 places I've lived
1) Alpine & Provo, UT
2)Santa Clarita, CA
3)Chiba, Japan (only for 6 weeks as an exchange student summer before my Junior yr of highschool).
4) Oahu, HI (went to BYU Hawaii my freshman yr of college and met BJ there)
5) Draper, UT

5 jobs I've had
1)Drive-through at McDonalds (my 1st job...wow)
2)Secretary for a Family Practice office (when I was in pre-nursing at BYU)
3) Pineapple Delights girl at the Night Show at the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) in Hawaii
4) Telemarketer (Pathetic high school job...that payed better than McDonalds--I was one of those voices pleading to give a survey!
5) Mother-Baby nurse & Piano teacher

5 things people don't know about me
1) I have very bad toe nails....VERY bad & I can push my lips under (and they'll stay). BJ HATES when I do this! (Picture Jim Carrey, anyone remember that movie?) Yes, teeth. Frightning!
2) I went sky-diving in Hawaii. Loved it! Never will do it again but loved it.
3) Ran track, cross-country & played on the high school basketball team. My relay team won 1st at State one year...I ran the 200 meters in that relay team. Good times.
4) I've river rafted down the Grand Canyon with my Dad & brothers & a bunch of other guys when I was in highschool. The only girl in the group. Can you tell I like thrills?
5) I once took a dare to eat pasta for an hour by my cousin (Erika & Heidi, you know who dared me to do this!) The dare was for $100...and he never paid up! I think I was dating BJ at the time. He found out early on he was with a girl that could eat. Boy was I sick! I still love pasta if you can believe it!
Friends I have tagged: Whit, Sunnee, Melissa, Angel & Jen.

Valentines Tag

I've been Valentines tagged! Here it goes...

1. How long have you been together? We celebrate our 10th Anniversary April 23rd! We're going on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera to celebrate. Ahhhhhh.
2. How old is he? 32 (33 in April)
3. How old are you? 29 (30 in March) I know, BIG ONE!
4. Who eats more? Hmmm. Anyone who knows me knows that I can eat. I think we tie. But, if we're eating chocolate chip cookies, I win.
5. Who said "I love you" first? BJ. Don't we all wait for the guy to say it first? I was ready to say it back pretty quick!
6. Who is taller? BJ.
7. Who sings better? Tie again. We don't have trained voices but we can stay on tune! Not many people know about BJ's GREAT singing voice. He can always pick out the harmony...where I love to sing the melody. OK...BJ just came in & denies the tie. He say's I'm better. Hm. :)
8. Who is smarter? Are we talking computer stuff or medical? Obviously I'm the medical but BJ is better at Perquackey. Any of you played that game?
9. Who does the laundry? Megan. BJ has tried very sweetly to do it before, but after some articles of clothing shrunk he has been forbidden. He does ALL his own ironing though. I HATE ironing!
10. Who does the dishes? Mostly Megan.
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? It changes. Every pregnancy I end up on the left but then when it's all over I'm back on the right.
12. Who pays the bills? Megan. Love the Bill Pay.
13. Who mows the lawn? Of course it's BJ. I don't think I've EVER mowed the lawn.
14. Who cooks dinner? Mostly Megan...but BJ makes GREAT gourmet breakfasts & Mexican. I CRAVE his salsa! He also likes to experiment. Most of the time it's REALL good...except when he put vanilla in the scrambled eggs back when I was pregnant with Loren & ohhhh was it bad! Now his experiments always surprise me with how fresh & creative they are. I really love when he cooks! I love to cook too. It's hard to find the time to really cook every day these days!
15. Who is more stubborn? On a scale of 1-10 - We're both not super stubborn people. Although BJ really was a stubborn kid I guess (according to Grandma).
16. Who kissed whom first? BJ kissed me first. VERY early on in our courtship :) I was realed right in! :)
17. Who asked whom out? BJ asked me out first. He worked in the testing center at BYU Hawaii & asked me out right before I was going to take a math test! Hard to concentrate on that one... I could see him through the window the whole time!
18. Who proposed? BJ. I knew it was coming. It was perfect. A view, down on one knee in the snow...a wonderful night.

19. Who is more sensitive? Definitely Megan. Megan can be WAY too sensitive. BJ is a good listener.
20. Who has more friends? I'd say we're the same. I chat, e-mail, blog with them more often though. We both love making new friends & staying in touch with old friends.
21. Who has more siblings? BJ. He's the 5th of 7. I'm the 1st of 5.
22. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'm happy to say that we are truly equal partners.

I love BJ so much. He is my perfect fit, my best friend and the hottest guy around! We have the same goals, the same dreams. We love being parents & he is a GREAT Dad. I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

10 years has gone by so fast!

OKAY...now you all are tagged! What are all your answers. Happy Valentines Day!!