So, I am even worse at blogging than I am at journal writing....well, not quite. This summer hasn't been a huge one for us. We have just been living life around here. There have been some fun things like Brad's 30th birthday and the Bell Family Reunion. My pictures are on Brad's computer so I will update those shortly. I am hoping once this summer ends, which is on Monday, things will settle down. Probably not. I will be teaching 26-27 students this year, teaching an intro to music choir class for 3-4 year olds with a friend, and I am doing a benefit concert in October for a little neighbor girl (more of this to come). Oh, did I mention I have four children, a home, and a husband to take care of? Hmmm....yeah, so I guess I probably won't be blogging for the next millenia...please forgive me. Anyway, keep up on all of your good blogs because I do like to see what you are up to.
Monday, August 11
Thursday, June 19
A Carson City Adventure
So, my little sister Tiffany was schedule to come out last Friday, June 13th to Utah. She was three weeks away from delivery her third child. Her doctors were out in Utah and she wanted to deliver with them. Well, her little baby would have nothing with that. He decided he wanted to come to Nevada. On Thursday Tiffany went into labor. She delivered a very healthy baby boy named Landen William Sorensen. He was 6 lbs 13 oz, 19 inches and has tons of light brown hair. He is such a beautiful boy.
I am now here in Carson City, Nevada where Tiffany and her family are currently living. I have had the wonderful opportunity of helping her get things in order after having a baby. Plus, she is flying on a private plane with here girls tomorrow up to Utah. Don't you worry, my sister Nicole and I and our two babies get the wonderful privilege of spending hundreds of dollars of Tiffany's money by driving out Tiff's tahoe so she has a car to drive while in Utah. I have had tons of fun here. The best time was yesterday when I did a photo shoot of my 4 day old nephew and his sisters. Here are some of the results of my labor.
Wednesday, May 28
Friday, May 16
Ever changing Kids
So, I have learned one thing being a mom. Things never stay the same....no matter how much you are enjoying (or not enjoying) life. So, I am trying to learn to relish in the moments. This week has been a pretty big one for my family with changes. I have been trying to wake up by 6 am (this morning it was 5:45) and exercise before the kids are up and at them. That has added much energy and hours to my day. Second, I went into Becca's room after a nap the other day and saw this......
Yes, she has learned to pull herself up in her crib. She kind of started doing that last week so I moved the crib mattress lower. Good thing or she would topple out.
Another big change for little Becca is she has produced her first tooth!!! It is still popping through so today she isn't too happy. So far, though, she has been very good considering her "ailment".
Well, the biggest change is that Ashlyn is in the process of potty training. She wasn't showing any interest and really detested wearing underwear until Brad came up with a brilliant idea. Lipstick. Yes, lipstick. Actually, we have resorted to lipgloss which is much less messy with a two year old. The first two days whenever she wore underwear she got to carry the lipgloss around and wear it. That brought a few stares at Walmart as she had real lipstick all over her lips and mouth. We were going to buy the lip gloss at that time. The next few days she just got to put it on whenever she went. Now, the prizes have kind of died down as she just goes for the sheer enjoyment of getting me to "Come see my pee, mom!!!" I've never been more proud!!! She does enjoy putting stickers on the potty chart. We just hope she can keep this up....and learn the second part of toilet training.....the poop. That should be interesting. We are trying a playdough reward for that one. Anyway, that is it for now. Ryan and Makayla keep growing as well. They are just older where the things they learn aren't quite as BIG so to speak as these younger ones. I will say for Makayla that she is turning into quite the reader. I am so glad she and Ryan have developed that same love for books that I have.
Oh, by the way, if you want to see updated pictures of my ever changing kids you can look at my photography blog (which isn't that great but the newest set of pictures of the girls are cute) it is tambellphotography.blogspot.com.
Thursday, May 1
Where have I been? Part 3
It is now May 1st and there is snow on my lawn. Does anyone else see this as a problem? Little Ashlyn is dying to play in the snow, but all the snow clothes are in the attic. She asked me if when I get bigger like a daddy if I could get them for her. That was a pretty safe yes on my part.
Anyway, continuing this saga. Easter was wonderful except for a phone call I received as I was listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and doing my hair. My dad called to inform me that my Grandma Joyce, his mother and my only living grandparent, was diagnosed with cancer the night before. WHAT?!!!! I had no idea she had been that sick. We had just known she was tired and not feeling 100%. It was the shock of a lifetime.
That next week was a roller coaster for all of us. She seemed to be getting sicker fast and we still didn't know the extent of what was happening. On Thursday she saw an oncologist. He wouldn't give her any definitive diagnostics until he ran further tests. He did say he was pretty sure it was pancreatic cancer.
On Friday, my mom, Allison and her baby Libby, myself and Becca, and Nicole and her baby Kiegen all hopped into my van and headed to St George. My grandmother was getting worse everyday. She slept most of the time we were there. When she was awake we had the most wonderful visits. She taught my sisters and I had to properly roll a ball of yarn for crocheting. We took a walk down memory lane and just savored every last moment we had with her.
Sunday was the hardest day of all. We had to say goodbye. With my grandma and grandpa on my mother's side it was easier. They were in the hospital and comatose when we had to say our goodbyes. Grandma Joyce was not. She was fully alert, in pain, but very alert when I hugged her goodbye. It was so hard knowing full well I would never see her alive in this life again. This was to be the case. On Monday she found out things were as bad as we thought. The doctor gave her a day to several weeks to live. He also gave her permission to die. That is exactly what she did less than 48 hours after. She passed away on April 2. It was a sweet passing.
My grandmother was from Canada. She lived there unil just last summer. That meant her funeral was to be held in Canada. So, on Friday we packed up and went to Idaho Falls. We went the rest of the way on Saturday. The funeral was lovely and the trip was very therapeutic. I finally got my sweet husband to Canada. It was great to show him my heritage.
Old Chief Mountain -that is a prominent mountain seen all over southern Alberta.
A panoramic picture Brad and I took of Waterton Dam-just 1/2 mile from my grandmas
My great-grandparents home in Glenwood, Alberta, Canada
The Lodge where we all stayed. It had 13 bedrooms in it. It was awesome. It is across the street from my great-grandparents home.
While in Canada we celebrated Ryan's 7th birthday. Am I really old enough to have a 7 year old? Ryan was quite spoiled this birthday. We went to Burger King for lunch in Lethbridge. That is 45 minutes from Glenwood. There is nothing like that in Glenwood.
After lunch we found a bowling ally and had some great fun!!
Glenwood has a HUGE slide at the elementary school. My kids LOVED playing on it.
Ryan ended up with 4 birthday cakes. One in March when the Bells were up. We had a tri birthday party for Ryan (April 7th), Brooklyn my niece (April 8th) and Julie my sister in law (April 9th). He then got a cake on his birthday at the viewing in Canada. Of course there was the cake for his birthday party (actually they were cupcakes), and then a cake the Sunday after where he had a party with all of his family.
The rest of the month was crazy with small but time consuming things. When we got back from Canada I had to do Ryan's birthday party we had had to reschedule. The next week was spring break. We had lots of fun sticking around town. We got a pass to Thanksgiving Point and went to the farm and Dinosaur museum. My kids were in heaven.
The new baby goats at Thanksgiving Point
Anyway, we finally got them better on Sunday. I was having major cabin fever last week. I didn't drive for days, or practically step out of house except to water my raspberries.
Unfortunately, life comes full circle. I began this saga saying Becca was sick with a fever. I am now holding my feverish baby, who does not want to be put down for any reason what so ever. She has had a fever since Monday and it is now Thursday. I am assuming she has a milder case of what her siblings had. I say milder because her fever has only been 102 instead of 104. I am hoping this will break soon and I can have my happy go lucky baby back so I can live life to it's fullest!!!
Well, there you go. In case you were wondering, that is where I have been for the past 2 months. I am hoping May holds nothing but happiness and fun for our family. I am especially hoping for warm weather as this has been by far the longest winter of my life!! Until next time, ciao.
Wednesday, April 30
Where have I been? Part 2
So, as if finishing my home wasn't enough things got even crazier at the end of the month. The Bells came up for easter and we had a wonderful visit. Easter Saturday was full of an easter egg hunt and a 88th birthday party for Brad's grandpa Bell. Easter Sunday we had a wonderful time with the Bell's at Brandon and Lindsey's. The kids endured endless picture taking.
Where have I been? Part 1
I profess that I am a not so perfect blogger. Okay, let's be honest, I am horrible. I love reading everyone else's blogs and even updating my own...when I have time. That is the kicker. I just don't seem to have time for everything. Well, the last two months I have actually had some pretty valid excuses. Here is a very brief summary of what has happened since the beginning of March.
March began with a sick baby. She had a weird fever that lasted a few days. I don't know how many of you can get anything done with a sick baby, but I sure haven't mastered that part of motherhood yet. On March 8th Brad left to Beijing, China for business. He was gone for one week. While he was gone my sister Tiffany stayed with me while her husband was also gone. One night we were talking about the wood I had just bought to redo our living room and kitchen floor and how I wished it could be done by Easter for when Brad's parents came into town. She got this look on her face, like only Tiff can, and said "How adventurous do you feel?" I smiled knowing what she was thinking. We called my brother in law Bryce to see if he would be in on our cunning plan. I then emailed my brother in law Brandon to get his opinion. Well, here are some pictures of what happens when my sister and I put our heads together with the brawn of some very wonderful men......
The carpet was the easy part to rip out....
The subfloor under the ugly linoleum was a BEAST to get rid of...at least for me. My brother in law Bryce seemed to have no problems with it.
Tiffany was the official babysitter. Did I mention that while she had this brilliant idea she couldn't help as she was 5 months pregnant.
Lee (a friend) and Brandon (my brother in law) got us started on Thursday night.
DeLyle (our friend) and Matt (another brother in law) both were a huge help. (Matt was mad that all the pictures I took of him he was standing around. He did help tons.)
Bryce was the main man in all of this. It is so great to have a brother-in-law who loves to this kind of thing . Thank to my sister she lent him and his skills to my home for several days while we finished the project before Brad got home.
My friend Meg was days away from being due with her little baby girl. She was desperate enough to get the baby out that she helped along side the rest of us....it didn't work. She had to wait a few more days before adorable Allie was born.
Just last week Brad finally finished all the wood trim around the carpet and door jams. It is nice to have it all done.
Decorations I put up top
We ripped up the carpet in the living room and the hall.
