It's Begining to look a lot like Christmas!!!

I LOVE this part of the year. When Thanksgiving has just passed so we still feel "grateful" and we get to move on to our Christmas festivities. Last year was a really hard time for our family and it is looking like this year will be much the same so I decorated early this year and I am loving it. I walk down the stairs and the first thing I see is the tree, complete with presents underneath.

When I sit in the family room or Kitchen again it is all Christmas!

My mom and dad came to visit and with her help we got all of my presents wrapped and under the tree, (yes, my shopping is totally finished). Now we can spend the rest of December really enjoying the holidays. We are going to enjoy everyday and really take the time to feel the spirit that exists during this time of year!

Thankful

It seems only appropriate that we take a minute and think about all of those things we are thankful for at our house. We talked about what we were each thankful for. Here is what they said:
Camden said he is thankful for: His life, Jesus, and His House.
Kellen said: Electricity, Family, and Friends.
Mekenzie said: School, Friends, and Family.
Kelly said: His Family, His Job (for now), and the Rain.
I am thankful for a lot of things.
My Husband who works so hard to keep our family well taken care of.
My sweet kids who try so hard to do what is right and continue to amaze me.
I am thankful for our house, cars, and other conveniences of life (and for Kelly's job so we have the ability to pay for them).
I am greatful for doctors, hospitals, and new medical advances that keep the people I love as healthy as they can be.
I am thankful for our faith and that we are able to practice it freely, and for the knowledge that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and will help get us through the trials of our lives.
I am thankful for friends who support us and love us even when we are not so loveable, and who help us out even when we didn't know we needed to be helped.
We are planning to have a great Thanksgiving day with my mom and day traveling from Utah to visit. We hope everyone else will have a great day!

Cleaning up from one end to the other.

Kellen is home from the hospital and his bowels are still moving. He came home after having an x-ray that showed some weird spots so he will go back today or tomorrow to take a second look at those spots.
We came home just in time for Camden to get sick. He has had a fever of 102 and is complaining of a really sore throat. Luckily I took him to the doctor last week for an ear infection and she gave me a antibiotic in case the drops did not work. We filled the antibiotic yesterday and got him started.
The best part is that after being exhausted and dealing with poop all weekend. I was thinking I was coming home to a break. Not the case. I think the ibuprofen I gave Camden on an empty stomach was a bad idea when he came to my bed to tell me he was going to throw up (why??..... why?? I have tried to explain that you can go into the bathroom and call me, I will hear you. Please don't puke on the side of my bed). At which point he threw his hands to his mouth and barf went everywhere!!!!! The floor, the clean laundry, the dirty laundry, the doors, walls, shoes, blankets, him, me...I could go on. I look over to the bed and Kelly is gone (it is 12:30am). Now we are both covered in puke. Kelly is missing and Camden is crying. I wont go into detail but the clean up was pretty extreme. It is the middle of the night and I was coming off the night before only getting 15 minutes sleep and Kelly is missing. I go downstairs to get the "puke bowl", you know the one everyone has one, and Kelly is sleeping restfully on the couch, like an angel. I might have made a little more noise then needed getting the bowl but, he flew off the couch and came up to help (I should add that he said I was sleeping so peacefully across the whole bed and he knew I was exhausted so he chose not to wake me and just sleep on the couch - that is why I love him, and owe him an apology).
Anyhow the point is that as we were going to be last night Camden said... "Mom, did you blog about my barf?" I said no, but I will! Here it is!!!

Go Lytely

I am sitting here with Kellen at Sutter Memorial Hospital where he has been for the past day and a half. He is in the hospital for many reasons but one of the solutions is to do a "clean-out" while he is here. So yesterday the inserted an NG tube (or feeding tube). They are continuously giving him "Go-Lytely" through his tube and then it is supposed to be making him have to use the potty often (trying to keep my blogs G rating). We think the name Go-Lytely is stupid so we have made up a few of our own (We are bored, tired, and he feels pretty crummy). We are going to send them to the manufacturer right after we email the hospital and explain they could make all of this a little easier by installing a flat screen TV on the bathroom wall for those who are made to spend a large amount of time in there. Here they are:
Go often
Go heavy
Go chunky
Go lots
Go stinky
Go to the bathroom
Go runny
Go away
and our favorite...... Go lotsly!!
We will get back to more boredom, sleepiness, and for Kellen more yuckyness. Little does he know this is only the first of MANY things he is going to go through before he gets better. We have to find the fun where it is, especially when it is not very fun at all!

This is why we don't do fundraisers!

I am a big supporter of our school. Everyone at my house does there part to help out. Mekenzie included (she helped out with the Harvest Festival a couple of weeks ago). We do not do fundraisers. We write a lot of checks out to the school, we do our part in many other ways but we do not do fundraisers. So when Camden came home with the See's candy fundraiser I said no. Then I looked at it and saw a few of the things I normally buy for a little less money. So we fundraised (again it started with ME writting a check). The money and order are due today. I stapled the form and handed it to Camden yesterday while making dinner telling him to put it in his backpack. Today I remind him it is due tomorrow and he cannot find it!! This was a "collect as you go" fundraiser so not only the order but the money is missing. We have a lot going on right now. It is an extremely stressful time at our house right now. We spent a good part of our day tearing our clean house apart, (it is no longer clean), to find the stupid fundraiser. In between all this I am making dinner, doing laundry, packing for Kellen's trip to the hospital tomorrow. Kelly is working, helping to pick up behind the mess we are making, and going through bags in garbage. Even Mekenzie is pitching in while doing homework and helping with the dishes (she is a good kid!) It is crazy!
We took apart all of the garbage, every bedroom, bathroom, and even then kitchen. We moved every couch, table, and chair. We did not think we miss a spot in our house. I had to run an errand with Mekenzie so we left. Kelly continued the search.
Amazingly Kelly found it this evening in the bottom of Camdens laundry (where he puts all his clean and dirty clothes). He is my hero. Next time we are not doing the stinkin' fundraiser, I will just write a check to the school. It' so much easier!

Mekenzie is 15!!!

Today is a special day at our house, Mekenzie is 15!!
It is amazing to us that she is 15. It feels like just yesterday that she came into the world, kicking and screaming!! We were so excited to have a daughter!
Mekenzie is growing up to be a great human being and we are so proud of her! She is kind, compassionate, a good friend, and a great help to us around the house. She can often be found picking up the kitchen or running a load of laundry! She is great to help out with whatever else is needed around the house, always willing to lend a helping hand!
She is the "star" at our house always singing and dancing and is taking both a ballet and clogging class.
She is a great student and works really hard to get good grades so she can get into a great college (UCLA or BYU she hopes).
We are so blessed to have Mekenzie in our house and look forward to watching her blossom into a beautiful young women!