2010 Pumpkin Carving / Painting

We held our annual pumpkin carving and painting family night tonight. We let the little kids paint their pumpkins because it is safer and more fun for them, probably just as messy though. We gave them each a title this year which was new for us, but seemed appropriate since some of them are a bit unconventional.

Addie went out on a limb when naming her pumpkin, but i think if you really think about it for a minute, it makes sense.

i puked again

Lazy raining sick kids sunday means movies and relaxing (when we aren't cleaning up throw up, that is). Our kids are having a hard time kicking this throw up thing. The other day Elsie threw up twice every hour in the night, I went in to see how Rhen did and he was lethargic lying on his pillow and said, "I puked on my bed." It was pretty funny but not so funny when it was gross to clean up. We thought it was a 24 hour thing but last night they both threw up again. So this morning when we were cleaning up Rhens he said "guess who can't go to wyoming." :) He was planning on going up with Jake this weekend. He says the funniest things, and a pretty cool boy. This past two weeks have been very long and exhausting. I went through the house lysoling (is that even a word?) everything so maybe maybe this can be done!

Cheers to Kael!!

We have met some amazing fighters while Chloe was in treatments. The Leak family is one of them. Kael finished his treatment this month and we were invited to celebrate and have rootbeer floats in his honor, here is our cheers to you Kael...

whew...

A very long, two year decision has been made and hopefully by this time next year this will be the entrance of our new abode. We are moving to "the house with the trees" (as Rhen puts it) in Star Valley Wyoming! A lot of prayer and concern went along with this decision, health insurance, moving the kids to new schools, building out of state and just where we want to be and should be weighed on our mind a lot. We know this is where we need to be and love the beautiful piece of land that we found. The first picture is our entrance...

and this picture is from the back porch of the cabin that is already there. We have gutted it and now will be adding onto it. It has been a long process to get the addition drawn, foundation ready and finally the framer should start framing in a week or two! It is such a beautiful peaceful place and our dream property with full grown trees and great views. When I found out this spring while we were still renovating it to be a cabin that Jake planted wild flower seeds around the house without me mentioning anything about it, I knew this was more than a piece of property to him.

And although it is 10 miles to town, we only have few neighbors, and it snows a lot, I feel peace in my heart that we need to be and are suppose to be there. To be honest the past five years or cancer battling, having to stay home alot and be in hospital rooms has changed me and I am more of a home body these days. Plus there is internet and UPS DOES deliver here :).
It will be our dream house and we feel really blessed to be able to move here. We will miss friends and neighbors here very much, I can't think to much about it right now or I will break down, but you are all welcome to visit anytime. We have a guest room specifically for this reason (wink, wink). We won't move until next summer so our neighborhood is stuck with us for a little bit longer but we just wanted to document our major decision, and let our friends know you will be missed.

Happy Hunting

I love this time of year! Hot chocolate, hot nog (for Jake anyway) the soups and stews, rolls and pies I can finally cook without it baking us in the process. The beautiful fall leaves I can see in my back yard, the cool fall nights,the spooky doors with spiders and webs, and of course picking out the perfect pumpkin...

Elsie picked out 4 or 5 (it seemed like 10) pumpkins before she found the right one for her.

Chloe was feeling under the weather but was able to pull off her beautiful smile, and also was able to pick out a great pumpkin!

This is the first time Rhen has been into getting a pumpkin, last year her could care less, but he had a good time this year and even smiled for the camera (wow)! I love the blonde locks.

Layla loved the pumpkins and informed us that she can't wait until she can have some pumpkin pie! (ps she is feeling MUCH better, yay) Yep there is her tongue, she can't keep it in her mouth. It is really cute how it tips upward on the tip.

Addie, apparently camera shy, so the only picture I got of her is in mid action with Chloe of the major decision if this perticular pumpkin is the one, I guess not :).

I informed them before we went that picking the perfect pumkin is serious business you can't just walk off with any one. She was up for the challenge :).

will Layla ever get better???

Layla has not been feeling well all week. Monday she started throwing up and hasn't stopped. Luckily she has not thrown up today(sunday). I was really concerned about her on thursday. Wednesday night she went to sleep at 4:30 in the afternoon, and didn't wake up until 8 in the morning. I kept going in to check on her to see if she was still ok. Thursday after her nap she woke up with purple and cold hands and feet. I gave her a bath hoping to warm them up and called for a doc apt. Everything was better than I thought, she was just really dehydrated. She didn't have a wet diaper all day and wouldn't drink formula and threw up gatoraide. so I got some pedialite in singles with a straw and she finally would drink out of a straw. I bought new formula wondering if it was the new formula I got for her (her stomach is so sensitive) her tummy is getting better but man she just cries and that is all around stressful. She is not herself, I don't know what else to do. Her feet are better she has had wet diapers but she still is in pain. Addie said she wasn't looking forward to being a mom to soon, and although that is a good thing right now :) I told her being a mom is the best and most challenging thing in the world.
Rhen, frustrating, stubborn, sweet boy that he is just yells, LAYLA be quite!! He won't listen when I tell him to leave her alone she is sick, so she is screaming and he is yelling. Wow, it has been a week.