We are SO Blessed!!!

Taylor at her "Ending Pose"

She got to do 2 dances this year and they were both amazing!!

Dan was able to come to all of the girls' recitals with no problems!!!

I loved this shot of Tay's feet!!!

Taylor's beautiful leap!!!

Hannah's leap!!!

Hannah in a perfect kart wheel!!!

She is getting to be a PRO!!!

Hannah at the studio's Christmas tree.

Makena just before she started!!!

(SO EXCITED)

Just stretching!!!

In her "Dancing stance"

Makena is a FABULOUS leaper!!! (Seriously)

This last week has been a VERY emotional one for me, to say the least!!!

We started off with Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with dance recitals for all the girls.

Coming back to Shellies School of Dance has been great because everyone gets to go back to dance!!! The first was Makena's, I was SO nervous because the first few weeks I had to take her in crying.... She did SO good, she has found her new love!!! The next was Tay's. I was wondering how it would go because she is older and you know how it is when older girls dance....... ANY WHO... I had tears in my eyes.. I did my best to hold it all in, I know Taylor would be so embarrassed!!!! She was just Kenny's age and now she's a WOMAN!!!!! Last but not least was Hannah.......she did great, she has such a happy go lucky attitude about dance. When she make a mistake she just laughed. Taylor and Kenny are much more serious.

They were all so cute and I was one proud mama!!!

Thursday, Ethan and Taylor had orthodontist appointments and I have been dreading this... Ethan (and Grandpa) lost his retainer again and I knew I did not have ANY extra money for another stinken retainer. Well.... I got the courage to talk to Dr. Arnold and I explained that I have been searching high and low and wanted him to wait before making a new one so I could keep looking. All he said was "It's on me, Merry Christmas" WHAT??????

I thanked him graciously and had to go back to the waiting room so he didn't see me cry. How did he know we needed that SO much?? Needless to say, I cried the whole way home!!

THEN.... on Friday I was running Kenny to school and running errands...I got
a call from Dan....... "The insurance approved my surgery!!!!!" Again, crying.......We have been waiting for this for 9 months!!!!

All of a sudden things were coming into place and things were going our way.....

We have all been smiling and crying ever since.

I felt SO blessed, Heavenly Father HAS been hearing our prayers and we were finally getting answers.

THEN....... Saturday I was working on a Christmas project and a WONDERFUL neighbor called to see if I would be home for a minute. .

(She also went through this surgery 4 years ago and know what we are dealing with)

She brought a huge box of oranges and a bag of cards. Dan and I opened them up to cash and gift cards for groceries, etc.

We both broke down into tears. There are family and friends out there that are watching out for us and love and truly care about us. The feeling is so overwhelming. I just can't even explain it.

I have been so worried about Dan, the kids, money, taking care of Christmas that the spirit of Christmas and the true meaning of Christmas was not really on my mind.

This week of TRUE MIRACLES has reminded me what it all should be about.

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for watching over my little insignificant family and pouring out these tremendous blessings on us.

Dan's surgery is this Thursday, December 23rd. We will stay overnight and come home on Christmas Eve!!! I will keep you posted on his recovery and thank you all for everything you do for us!!!!

This one snuck down to the bottom, she did

this little move with such flair!!! LOVE IT!!

ANOTHER FAMILY UPDATE!!!

HERE IS A PICTURE OF DAN'S PERMANENT BRUISE. HE ALSO HAS QUITE A GOOSE EGG THAT JUST DOESN'T WANT TO GO AWAY. HE IS STILL PASSING OUT 2-3 TIMES A DAY. WE DO HAVE ANOTHER SURGERY SCHEDULED, BUT I AM NOT EVEN TALKING ABOUT IT SO I DON'T JINX IT!!!!
THIS PICTURE IS OUT OF PLACE, BUT I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT IT ANYWAYS!!
HANNAH AND MAKENA DECORATING GINGERBREAD COOKIES AT THE GRAND AMERICA HOTEL JDRF EVENT

HERE IS HANNAH AFTER THAT FIRST HUGE SNOW STORM!!

HERE'S MAKENA!!! TAYLOR WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THE HUGE AMOUNT OF SNOW WE GOT THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE PICTURES!!!

HERE I AM.... THIS IS JUST DAYS BEFORE THE WORST
STREP EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. I WOKE UP THE SATURDAY AFTER

THANKSGIVING NOT ABLE TO SWALLOW OR MOVE. I HAD THE CHILLS, THEN WAS COVERED IN SWEAT. I COULDN'T EVEN SIT UP MYSELF TO TAKE MEDICINE!!

LAURA SAVED MY LIFE BY TAKING ME TO THE DOCTORS. A FEW DAYS LATER MY THROAT WAS SO MUCH WORSE. DAN'S MOM TOOK ME BACK TO THE DOCTOR
AND HE SAID THAT THE STREP SORES HAD ULCERATED!!!! I AM NOW ON ANOTHER ANTIBIOTIC AND FEELING MUCH BETTER. NOW, 5 DAYS LATER I CAN ACTUALLY SWALLOW MY OWN SPIT!!! (I HAD TO SPIT IT OUT TWO DAYS AGO)

HERE WE ARE BACK AT THE GRAND AMERICA HOTEL. THEY HAD BEAUTIFUL GINGERBREAD HOUSES TO BID ON, GREAT HOT CHOCOLATE, CINNAMON ALMONDS, SCONES, PICTURES WITH A DARLING MR. & MRS. CLAUSE, LETTERS TO SANTA, AND DECORATING COOKIES. THERE WERE ALSO DECORATED WINDOWS LIKE ZCMI USED TO DO!!!

THE KIDS CHECKING OUT
JAKE'S LETTER AND PICTURE FOR DIABETES.

THE KIDS AT THE HUGE TREE!!

I LOVED THIS ONE OF ETHAN, I LOOKS LIKE HE 'S LEANING ON THE
HUGE BALL!!!!

Holiday Boutique Nov. 17th

Happy Halloween!!! 2010

At the Thomson Halloween Party, Laura had the

kids decorate their moms as "Mummies"

Taylor and Kam

Ethan and Hannah

a.k.a. "NERD"

Hannah a.k.a. The Bride of Frankenstein
Yes, that is here real hair!!!

Puckering up for FRANKIE!!

Makena as Tinkerbell

Makena and Sandra Ahlquist (teacher)

I was quite shocked at Makena's involvement
in her pre-school Halloween program!!!

She sang and danced and best of all, didn't cry!!!

It was wonderful!!

Mrs. Thomsen was a "Mad Scientist"

She was hilarious!!! That is a mouse in her cup!!

Catching up.....

So it has been a while since I did some actual blogging!!! I am going to try and catch up!!

Taylor turned 14 on August 5th. Can you believe it??? She has also changed her hair color!!

She is a brunette with red highlights, thanks to Aunt Krista!! She is now wondering how she is gong to be able to keep up with the re-growth. She is doing AMAZING in school and got a 91% on her last test!! We are SO proud of her, seriously, I got a tear in my eye at parent teacher conference!!!

Ethan is loving school!! His favorite thing to do at recess is tether ball!! He says he is the best at the school!!! He is preparing himself for basketball season by shooting 100 hoops a day. He goes to Fitness for life and a Science class two days a week at the school just to get better. He always strives to do his best and just recently moved up into a higher spelling class!!!

Hannah is in first grade and FINALLY going to school with a smile on her face!!(Almost everyday)

She has gotten used to the fact that school isn't a choice it's a HAVE TO!!!! She is loving learning and starting to read. She going to Choir twice a week and has told me she really should be trying out for AMERICAN IDOL!!! I agree!!! She has been taking dance this fall and is very good at the rump shaker!! You'll have to ask her to do it for you, its hilarious!!

Makena, my baby girl turned 4 this August. She started pre-school, dance, and primary all in one week. I think she was terrorized.(I Wonder where she gets that!!) Two weeks after everything has started she loves it all. She wants it to be her turn any time the other girls go to dance. I can't believe how big she has gotten these [past few months. Her last AMAZING accomplishment is that she sleeps o grandma and grandpas couch all by herself every night!!!! I know, it's shocking!!!

Dan is doing a little better. He still is having horrible headaches. He saw a neurologist today and found out what was causing the headaches. Some kind of nerve on the back of his head!! She gave him some medicine to try for that. He is at the cardiologist as I type seeing if they will be doing the surgery for the hole in his heart. We are all keeping our fingers crossed.

I am loving working at the Junior High. I get to see Taylor everyday (I love our relationship right now). The kids I work with are pretty cute. They absolutely love TAYLOR, I have told he she can't come in while they are there because it causes too much havoc!!! I did my first in a long time (3 years) boutique out here a few weeks ago and had great success!!

Our hopes are that Dan will get better soon and he will be able to find a great job. We have been so blessed this last little while, I am not sure why, but I am thankful for it!!!

It's Official!!!!

I am an employed woman!!! I got my finger prints done this mornin and apparently there are NO skeletons in my closet (I was a little worried, hee hee!!!) I am working for the Granite School District at Taylor's school!!! I am working with the special Ed. kids!!! Four days a week four hours a day!!! I am pretty excited to be doing something and the kids I will be working with are pretty special!!!
By the way... we think Kenny ran into the corner of the door!!! We are still not positive as she is not willing to talk about it!!!!

WISH ME LUCK!!!!!!

OUCHIE WAW WAW!!!!!

Kenny was getting ready for dance today and all of a sudden I heard a scream from her bedroom!!!

I went in and she was lying on the floor holding her eye. I picked her up and we got sat down. I lifted up her hair and saw the HUGE goose egg on her forehead!!! It poked out about an inch and was purple and green. Needless to say, she missed dance today!!!!!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2010

ETHAN STARTING 5TH GRADE

HANNAH STARTING 1ST GRADE

MY FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR IS HERE!!!! I LOVE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. EVERYONE IS EXCITED TO GO TO SCHOOL, WAKES UP EARLY, AND IS OUT THE DOOR WITH NO PROBLEMS!!

ONE WEEK LATER, HANNAH IS BEGGING ME TO "JUST CHECK HER OUT" AND ETHAN'S MYSTERIOUS STOMACH ACHES ARE BACK... THERES NOTHING LIKE PREDICTABLE KIDS IS THERE?????

TAYLOR ALSO STARTED 9TH GRADE. SHE I LIVING AT DAN'S BROTHERS HOUSE, SO WE DON'T SEE HER THAT OFTEN. WE WILL HAVE TO FAKE A FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PHOTO!!

A bit of a SCARE...

So we thought we had everything figured out with Dan and all was well... We saw two doctors the next day after we found out he had a hole in his heart. One we optimistic that we were on the right track and the other contradicted everything we have been told. SO...we left that doctors very upset and furious and confused on where we were with him. Saturday night about 9:00, Dan called me in to the family room. His whole right side was going numb. He called his parents to see if we should go to the hospital and the answer was "YES". Hannah ran to our back yard neighbor to get our bishop and Dan's mom called his brother David to come get the kids. They gave him a quick blessing and we were on our way. We told the E.R. that we thought he was having a stroke and they got him in SUPER fast. Took blood, hooked him up to all sorts of wires, and whisked him off to a cat scan and chest x-ray. Everything came back normal and they figured he his having mini stokes which are common with the hole in the heart!!!
We have 2 doctor appointments so far this week. One with a urologist and another with a cardiologist. With this Sunday's fast I feel like we will get into the Neurologist at the U of U and start getting to the bottom of all this. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers!! We love you all!!
On another note, MOTHERS DAY is in 24 days!!! YEE HAW!!!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

We have GREAT NEWS!!! We found out today that Dan has a hole in his heart!!!

You may be thinking that this isn't great news at all, but we have been waiting for some kind of answer for several weeks now, so were thrilled!!! I don't know if this will solve all of his problems, but I do know it will take some away!!! We have 3 more Dr. appointments this week and maybe by next week we can get him fixed!!! YEAH!!!!!

24th of July 2010

Hannah and Kenny really wanted cowboy boots this year!!

Kenny wears hers with everything!! Even swimsuits!!
Makena posing for the camera!!

Hannah at Grandma's pool!!

Taylor just so happy to be swimming in 95 degree weather!!

Grandpa playing the "guess what ..... game" with the kids!!

Chloe, Lilly, Hannah, and Makena enjoying the day!

Dan, just trying to make it!!!

Ethan just chillin..

Hannah relaxing in the shade.

Kenny playing in the pool!

Happy 24th of July!!!

We had an enjoyable 24th of July. We spent the day at grandma and grandpa's pool.

The weather was perfect, the food was great, and swimming kept us cool.

We are expecting a week full of tests for Dan. We have 2 echo-cardiograms. One where they go through his arm up to his heart and push bubbles through to see if there is a hole in his heart. The other they will go down his esophagus to check the back of his heart. One other we are waiting on is the Neurologist at the U of U, checking for MS (which he has 9 0f the 10 symptoms of). All I am hoping for is an answer so that we can start getting him better. Please keep him in your prayers!!!