I Forgot To Be Thankful!

Way back in November I started a list of things I am thankful for, one for each letter of the alphabet. I realized that I ended with O, and as we learned way back in kindergarten O is not the last letter of the alphabet. So I decided to make an effort at finishing this list. So here are P, Q, and R: Parenting, Quiet, and Rachel.

*I thought this pic represented a good "parenting moment"*

P: There are many things I am thankful for when it comes to parenting. On Sunday the talks in sacrament meeting were about family history and that reminds me to be thankful for my ancestors who parented my grandparents and so forth. I am grateful for my own parents and the example that they are now and have always been to me, my siblings, and now my children. I am grateful to my husbands parents and the love and support that they show me and my children everyday. I am grateful for others who help parent my children. Aunts, Uncles, Teachers, Neighbors, Grandparents and the many others who make being a parent possible. I am thankful for the opportunity to help parent others children and last but not least I am so grateful to be a parent myself. I love each and every one of my children (not just the ones I actually gave birth too!) I hope they know that even though I am not always patient, I still love them!

*Cassidy and I are enjoying some much needed "quiet"*

Q: Ok so I know I did a post about being thankful for noise and I am, noise often tells me that my children are happy and healthy. Noise at work reminds me that I have a job that I love. Noise at church reminds me how grateful I was as a young mother to be able to leave my own children at the nursery and enjoy a few moments of peace and I love my calling in the nursery. But I also appreciate a little peace and quiet now and again. I love the quietness of the temple and the peace I feel because of the quietness.

*Rachel*

R: It is easy to be thankful for my sweet Rachel. She is such a loving child. She loves all people and animals. For those of you who weren't around, we almost lost her at birth and she is a mighty precious miracle in my life. She turns 8 this year and I am excited at the prospect of her baptism and confirmation. I am so blessed to have her and all those other sweet spirits assigned to my care. Heavenly Father must think I am pretty amazing to trust me this much!

We Miss You

Singing

Tonight we were looking through some pictures on the computer and ran across some of Blake's Family. The kids all started talking about how much they missed Maya and Desi (shortened because I don't know how to spell it!). So as a family we just wanted to say how much we miss you guys and look forward to seeing you again.

Proof

It't amazing when you look at the video how small those little ditches look cause the view from the dirt bike makes them look alot bigger! Does anyone besides my children understand what an accomplishment this is?

Update on Cassidy's Epilepsy

I haven't posted about Cass for a while and thought I'd get everyone up to speed with what we are currently doing for her. I have really struggled with this diagnosis and what is best for her. I have had a hard time with what the neurologist wanted and felt was best. As you know Cass had a pretty severe reaction to the first med that we tried. In fact her reaction was reported to the drug companies because it happened on so low of a dose - anyway the next med that they tried had a severe side effect of psychosis. I could not bring myself to feel good about it. After fasting and praying about it I decided not to give it to her. This did not impress her neurologist at all. She said that most anti-seizure meds are broken down in the liver and that for some reason this is associated with rashes and obviously Cass has an issue with this. The med she was recommending is one of the few used for partial seizures that is broken down in the kidneys instead of the liver. While she was willing to try something else she felt that I was being "paralyzed by anxiety" and "not making decisions in the best interest of my child". In the meantime I had been hearing alot of good things about an alternative route of treatment. There is a man in our area by the name of Destin Thayne and he is what some would call a "witch doctor". He heals by alternative meds using herbs and things like that. When I took Cassidy in for her appointment with him I was surprised that he didn't ask any questions about why we were there he simply went about his business of testing her. He uses a computer that has a device that looks like a large computer mouse, with a metal pad for each finger and the palm. This device sends electrical impulses through the nerve of the finger back to the major organs of the body and back to the computer - don't ask me how it works but he pegged Cassidy to a T. The first thing he asked her was how long she has been constipated. Honestly this has been a huge problem for Cassidy since she was 1 year old. We spent alot of time talking about that and he said that she did not produce the enzymes necessary for breaking down and digesting food. Because of this she is unable to absorb the needed minerals from the food that she eats. He also said she carries staph and strep and that she is fighting a super bad fungus infection. He said that his computer works on a opposite scale so that the level of zinc in the body on his chart should be 0 - Cassidy has a level of 1004! Meaning she pretty much has none - he also said she was very low on an amino acid called Taurine. After all this discussion he asked if there was anything else we would like to discuss. Cassidy very sarcastically said "you mean besides the fact that I have epilepsy?" He was surprised and reran the scan. He said that he treats people with epilepsy and they don't usually have to tell them they have it, he said that after 3 different scans no evidence of epilepsy was visible. He did say however that it has been shown that low levels of Taurine can cause seizures, especially partial seizures.... Cassidy is now taking several supplements including Taurine. She takes a digestive enzyme with each meal. We are hoping this will help and have way less side effects then the anti-seizure meds. Don't get the wrong idea, I am not totally opposed to treating her, it just hasn't felt right before now.

Careful What You Say

When Barry and I were dating I made the mistake of telling him that I would be willing to "try new things". This statement has been used agaisnt me ever since. I will admit that I have had a lot of fun due to my husband throwing it in my face on a regular basis but (and this is a big but!) I have been scared to death more in the last 2 years then in my whole life! Because of this statement I have climbed a rock wall, ridden a street bike (with Barry), snowboarded, rollerbladed, riden a dirt bike (on my own) (ok so it was just down our road and I only got it into 2nd gear but still), swung off (or more like fell off) a rope swing, and many other things. The thing is I don't think my husband has any idea how hard it is for me to do these things. Once when we were snowboarding and he was trying to teach me something new (that I was scared for my life to try) he told me that I just needed "to get out of my comfort zone a little". I laughed because at that moment I realized that he had no idea how far out of my comfort I was to even have that crazy board strapped to my feet let alone allow him to haul me to the top of a mountain on a ski lift and drag me off. I had long ago surpassed my comfort zone when I got out of the car! Now if only I could get Barry to say something stupid like this!

Conference Weekend or In Other Words Our Weekend In SLC

I love it when we get to listen to, meet with, and mingle with Elder Scott. He is such a wonderful person. He always finds some way to make you feel good about who you are. I'm certain that as a true apostle of the Lord he can look into your soul. What a great experience to stand at his side.

Bryan and Romina always get involved with the meeting. Romina makes the most delicious empanadas. Everyone loves them, this time someone else made some too and I don't even hesitate to say that Ro's were much much better. Baby Sammy also got to meet Elder Scott for the first time. Isn't she cute?!!

Little Addy also got to meet Elder Scott this conference weekend. It was fun to see her smile and flirt with others while we waited to meet and greet Elder Scott. What a cute family.

Stetson has come to the meeting with us about 4 times now. I think this is Justin's 2nd time and Cassidy was able to come for the 1st time this trip. She was excited to meet him and she truly enjoyed the meet and greet afterwards, especially the snacks!

This is the "Conference Bingo" game that Barry printed off for the kids. It was supposed to be used during conference but we improvised and created a game for the kids to entertain them while the men were off to the priesthood session. They had to answer a question in order to put a skittle on the card. If the got a "missionary" (bingo!) they were allowed to choose one of Brooke's special treats. Even with the questions you can see that they had a great time.

This is what the girls did all weekend, play dress up! They were pretending to be ballerina's. One good thing about cousins is no matter how long it is between visits, you can just start back up where you left off. Lookin' good Girls!

As opposed to ballerina's however our boys were our resident super heros. Not to worry they performed operation "save the baby" and played with the little ones too. Aren't our boys awesome!

All our amazing, handsome, men ready for preisthood, minus Todd as he met them there instead of going almost 2 hours early. We love you guys!

Barry of course was prepared for not only the 2 hour priesthood session but also for the hour and a half wait before hand. I love you Babe!!!

Sherry provided the eggs, and Brooke and Barry hid the eggs for our suprise Sunday before Easter, Egg Hunt- Here are all the kids waiting very paitently to come out of the house to look for eggs.

After finally getting out of the front door, they all had to line up and look for eggs according to age. Once again they are patiently waiting!

Hayden and his eggs!

Barry, Addy, and her egg! Happy First Easter Egg Hunt Addy!

Kerri found her two too!

Everyone found their alottment of 2 eggs each - afterall it wasn't Easter quite yet! It was fun to watch them get so excited about something so small.

On the way home Barry and the girls and I stopped to visit Lewis and Sheila. It was fun to visit even if we only had a little while. We'll have to go back again. We love you!

Ok so this is a crazy long Blog but it was a crazy fun weekend. Spritually lifting, relaxing, enjoyment of great company, great food, and a safe ride! As always Bryan and Romina made room for us in thier home and Todd and Suzy hosted their 2nd bi-annual conference breakfast. Next time we'll have to remember the camera for that event also. I think Brooke and Sherry got some pics though so don't forget to check their blog for breakfast pics. Thanks to everyone who helped car pool our family since we only had our car, you guys are awesome and I love you!!!

St. Patricks Day

So I used to be really good about celebrating holidays with the kids and making a special dinner in honor of that particular day. I have gotten away from that but decided to try again last month for St. Paddy's day. Our menu consisted of: Green Mashed Potato Casserole, Green Beans, Green Salad with Green Ranch Dressing, Green Cabbage, and of course Corned Beef (not green), and Green Punch. We also had Cinnamon Breadsticks with Green Frosting for dessert. It was alot of fun and perhaps will get us back in the spirit of fun with the holidays.