CPE Done!

I just finished my CPE for the year. Nothing like waiting until the last day to get it done! I am looking forward to a good steak dinner at Keith's parents tonight. We bought them a bunch of meat for Christmas, so they are sharing it with us. :) They plan to come over to our house to ring in the new year after the kids are in bed.

December

December has been fairly eventful with all of the Christmas activities. On the morning of the 5th, we attended the Ward Christmas Party. They had a breakfast and some from the ward put on a skit of the 12 Days of Christmas. They were all things related to a ward. Reagan was one of the seven snot-nose sunbeams. They even had eight mothers milking. I thought it was pretty funny.

On my way to work on the 7th, I was rear ended by a big GMC truck while I was stopped at a light. The damage to the bumper wasn't too bad, but we did get a check for $492 from the insurance company to cover the costs of getting it fixed. We are just going to hold on to that money right now to help pad the checkbook for Christmas. I did have a sore neck and back for a few days, which wasn't much fun. The evening of the 11th, Keith, John, and I attended the Institute Choir and high school Christmas concert. It was fun! Taylor M. was quite entertaining.

On the 12th we attended a Christmas open house at the kids' daycare. Santa was there. John wouldn't sit on his lap, but did tell Santa that he wanted the Harry Potter 7 book. Reagan did sit on Santa's lap and told him that she wanted a princess dress. Keith handed Riley to Santa and Riley freaked out. I rescued him quickly though. :) I had to hold him for the picture with Santa. Riley wouldn't take his eyes off Santa though. He is very shy around strangers and stays very close to me until he feels more comfortable.

I had a work Christmas party on the 15th during lunch. We went bowling again. Let's just say that I either need to go bowling more than once a year or stick to Wii bowling. That night we met Keith's parents for dinner and went to Temple Square. We had a nice time and the weather was great (we didn't freeze to death). I had a company-wide Christmas party on the 18th during lunch. I sang in the choir again. We had a pretty good size group this year. I enjoyed it a lot.

The afternoon of the 19th Keith, John and I attended a concert at the university. It was really good. However, during the concert I realized that John had a fever and wasn't feeling very well. So afterwards we took him to the Dr. He had an ear infection. He is still very prone to them. One of my coworkers gave me some sugar cookie mix for Christmas, so on the 20th the kids and I made Christmas cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree, a gingerbread man, a flower and a teddy bear. We decorated them with white frosting and sprinkles. They were really good! I was quite relieved for the 21st to arrive so it would start getting lighter each day. I had felt down for the last month and thought that some more sunlight would help. Actually the 21st turned out to be a pretty good day! I am feeling better now.

We had a nice Christmas. Christmas Eve we attended a party at Keith's parents with two of Keith's siblings and their families. John finally coaxed us out of bed at about 7:30 Christmas morning. We opened up almost all of the gifts before Reagan and Riley got up. We woke them up at 8:30, since we were expecting Keith's parents and aunt at 9:00 for breakfast. Reagan said that she didn't want presents and wanted to stay in bed all day. She is a lot like me. I don't like getting up in the morning either. It always takes her a little while to get out of bed. Once she finally got her presents she was very happy to have them. John got legos, bionicles, bakugans, a Hot Wheels race track and the Harry Potter 7 book. Reagan got a pink stick unicorn, a pink My Little Pony, a set of 12 princess story books and a Tinker Bell outfit. She wears it as much as possible and even slept in it last night. Riley got a toy vacuum and a toy flip phone. He loves his vacuum and is very good at vacuuming. We just wish it really worked!

On the 26th we drove to my parents house. My nephew got married on the 5th, but hardly any of my family was able to attend, so we had a get together for them at my parent's house the evening of the 26th. One of Riley's favorite things to do is play on the stairs. I don't trust him yet to be on them by himself so he takes a lot of monitoring. While at my parent's house, he was standing on the landing at the bottom of the stairs which then steps down to a rock floor. He started falling backwards towards the rock floor. I ran to him, but when my foot touched the rock floor it slid forward sending me into the splits. I was able to break Riley's fall, but my ankle hit the edge of the rock floor. It hurt pretty bad! It has been pretty sore in a couple of places, but is getting better. I will be so glad when Riley is able to go up and down stairs on his own! We came back home on the 28th. We don't have any plans for New Years Eve. We will probably play some games and maybe watch a movie.

We all finished getting our flu vaccinations in December. Right now all the kids are getting over a cold, but other than that we are doing pretty well!

2009 Christmas Letter

I am posting our Christmas card letter since it gives a good history on what we have been up to this past year. Some of it may be a repeat of previous postings, but I think most of it is new.

Dear Family and Friends,

We feel grateful for all of the many blessings we've received this year, the greatest being the true "reason for the season"! Of course, we are also fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends who we love! :) Thank you all for being so caring and fun! As all of our years together have been, this year has also been an eventful one.

We were somewhat landlocked for the early part of the year, but in March we visited Keith's grandma (91 years old) so she could meet Riley. We spend Memorial Day weekend with Jo's family visiting cemeteries.

In June we had John and Reagan's allergies tested. We learned that John is allergic to just about everything, including dairy, which could explain a great number of health issues he had in his early years. Regardless of the findings, he still insists on consuming all forms of dairy because he loves it so. Reagan wasn't allergic to anything, which was a relief. It might have been that she was too young. We were unable to get Riley tested, but we are very aware of his infant milk intolerance or "allergy". Hopefully, he'll soon outgrow it. Also in June, Keith and Jo took a much needed vacation in Las Vegas. We took in everything that was "G" rated, including the Shark Reef Aquarium, the Tournament of Kings Dinner Show and the Donnie and Marie Show. We also got to have a nice lunch with Jo's brother and his girlfriend at the Rainforest Cafe. It was a lot of fun!

Keith had LASIK surgery on his eyes in early July. It was expensive, but worth every penny. He loves being able to see without glasses and doesn't miss all of the times when he would misplace them! Later that month, we helped put on the Youth Conference for our ward by serving on the Youth Conference Committee. We had a game show, dinner, fireside, picture treasure hunt, boat regatta and testimony meeting. The kids were rambunctious, but the Spirit was strong! It was a great experience!

John was baptized on August 1st. It was a terrific day and we appreciated all who were able to share it with us. For his birthday, he spent a week with his grandparents. He always has a great time and looks forward to it every year. Also in August, we attended Jo's extended family reunion near where her grandma grew up. We really enjoyed seeing the sights of her childhood.

Labor Day weekend brought another family reunion with Jo's family, which was held at her aunt's lodge. We toured a local history museum, visited family history sites and did some hiking. Also in September, Jo spent her birthday with her sister and two of her nieces at her aunt's house. They did some more hiking and had a fantastic time!

Keith has had a busy semester. He is currently serving as the program chair with one faculty member on sabbatical for the year and another one recently let go due to cutbacks. The remaining few have had to absorb the excess work. It has been stressful with the state shortfalls in revenue in the face of increasing enrollment. Keith no longer teaches any extra classes except for an online course due to cutbacks. It's nice to have him around every evening and to have him free in the summer, but we do miss the extra income. Keith has really appreciated the elliptical machine we purchased this year and uses it to work out all of his stress and to prepare for the occasional run.

Jo is enjoying her job. Fortunately, her organization operates independently and is not reliant on state funds and seems to be doing well with the federal contracts that they receive. Jo has also restarted a workout regime this year on the elliptical machine. She enjoys watching her favorite show while staying in shape!

John (8) is now in cub scouts and he thoroughly enjoys every aspect of it. He earned his Bobcat badge in a week and is well on his way to earning his Wolf badge. We have always known of John's musical talent. With the purchase of Keith's parents' piano, John was able to begin taking lessons from Jo. He's a quick study. John is also an avid reader and just finished the third Harry Potter book. Reagan (3) practices her mommy skills on her dolls, her little brother and anyone else she thinks needs them. We just love her sweetness. Riley's (14 mos.) favorite place is on Jo's hip, although he is walking everywhere now. He talks a lot, like all of our kids, and even knows some words too! :)

We miss you all dearly and truly wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Keith, Jo, John, Reagan and Riley

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

If I thought the things that I did in my last post were crazy, I have since topped them all. On the evening of November 24th, I did something pretty stupid. I was trying to do something good, but apparently didn't think through it very well. I set two gallons of bleach on the top step of the stairs. My next stupid move sent one of the gallons tumbling down the stairs. Everything was fine until it landed at the bottom. It broke open at the lid and sprayed the entire office with bleach! Keith and I quickly worked to clean up the puddle of bleach on the carpet. It amazingly doesn't look too bad, although there is a lighter colored circle where the bottle landed. We didn't think to clean the bottoms steps, so there are some bleach spots there. The worst part was the pictures that were splashed. I have a scrap book desk in the office with pictures on them. I cried when I saw that they were ruined. They were professional pictures. At least we have other hard and/or digital copies of all the pictures. I think you can safely say that the office has been sanitized. I would put this pretty close to the category of when I tried to back out of the garage before the door was open, which I did earlier this year. We still have not replaced the door. Hopefully it doesn't look too bad (I think it probably does though).

If this wasn't bad enough, earlier in the day, I realized that I had lost my small flash drive. I had kept it in my purse in a place where it could easily fall out. The Wednesday prior I had looked at it and thought that I needed to move it. However, I failed to act on that prompting. I have checked all the places that I had been during the previous week, but have been unable to find it. I am hoping that it has been destroyed or is never found as I had some very personal information on it.

My Crazy Life

I had some crazy things happen to me in the past few months. The first one happened on my birthday. I spent my birthday with my sister and two nieces on our annual Girl’s Retreat. We stayed in my aunt’s camper trailer that is parked outside of her house. It is hooked up to electricity and was quite comfortable. While we were getting the beds ready, I bumped into the dials on the front of the stove, but didn’t think anything of it. After awhile, the trailer started to stink. I had opened the bathroom door to hang my garment bag on it, so everyone thought the smell was coming from the bathroom. We opened the windows to try to air out the trailer, but it didn’t help a whole lot. After we got settled, we went for a walk. It was dark and we were in a very small town, so we could see the stars really well. We walked down past my grandparent’s house (my cousin lives there now) and to the pond that is on their property. It was one of my favorite spots growing up. It was so neat! After we got back, we got ready for bed. The trailer still stunk really bad. It was almost unbearable. I kept looking for some switch of some kind thinking that we must have done something to cause the smell because the trailer didn’t stink when we first got there, but I couldn’t figure it out. We stayed up late talking. While we were talking, my sister asked if there was a red light on on the stove. I looked over and it was just a red dot. I had remembered bumping into the dials earlier, so I checked to see that all the dials were off. One was turned a little bit, so I turned it off. My niece said that the noise went away. My sister and I are deaf enough that we didn’t know there was a noise. The gas had been on and we didn’t know it! We figured it had been on for about three hours! The smell finally started to go away and we could breathe more easily. Thank heavens we finally figured it out and didn’t light a match in the mean time! I doubt I will ever forget that smell!

The second one happened when we went to campus to go for a walk. When we got back to the truck, I asked Keith for the keys so I could put Riley in his car seat. I unlocked the passenger side door, hit the unlock button (so I thought), then threw the keys on the driver’s seat and closed the door. I then tried to open the back door, but it was locked. Sure enough, the truck was locked with the keys inside! We called campus police and they unlocked the doors. They wanted verification that we were the real owners of the vehicle, but neither Keith nor I had our identification with us. I guess they figured we were trustworthy enough and had car seats for all the kids, so they didn’t worry about it.

The third one happened when I put Reagan’s comb in the bathroom drawer, shut the drawer, then shut the bathroom door so Riley wouldn’t go in. Later when I needed to get into the bathroom again, I couldn’t open the door. Apparently, I had shut the drawer hard enough that it bounced back open after I shut the bathroom door. Keith finally got the door open by causing the drawer to fall out. He broke a piece of hardware on the drawer in the process, but that wasn’t too bad considering. When I told someone this story, they said that they knew of a situation where an 18 month old opened the drawer and climbed in. They couldn’t get him to get out and close the drawer, so they had to take the door off. That would definitely be worse!

The last one happened when I got out the chopping knife to cut something. It slipped out of my hand and I tried to catch it with my other hand. Not recommended! I cut my finger in the process and didn't catch the knife. The cut wasn't too bad fortunately. It kind of reminded me of the time when I stuck my arm in a moving dryer. Sometimes you just don't think before doing some things.

Update

It has been a little while since I posted so I will try to remember what has happened. I am feeling better, although I still have a cough every now and then. We played Wii Bowling for FHE a few weeks ago. I bowled a 226! Six strikes in a row! I just wish I could do that in real bowling. I finally was able to replace my black boots. They were in really bad shape. I bought my new ones on Nov. 3rd, exactly four years from the day that I bought my old ones. It was definitely time! I stayed home with Reagan on Veteran's Day because she threw up doing the night. She felt fine in the morning, so I took her with me to the Veteran's Day assembly at John's school. Keith and his father were both going to be there to be recognized with other veteran's from the area. I am so glad I was able to go. It was very good and emotional. I ran out of leave at the end of October, so I am working late on Thursdays and planning to work part days over the Thanksgiving holiday and most days over Christmas break to make up for hours that I still have to take off. Hopefully next year will be better and I can actually take some more time off at Christmas. The first year after having a baby is always more difficult for me to get my hours in. I haven't written much about my kids yet on this blog, so I thought I would give an update on how they are doing and what they are up to. First off, I love being a mother and cherish every moment that I am with them! I am very thankful for my three wonderful and adorable children!

John is really enjoying being in cub scouts now that he is eight. He has earned his Bobcat and is working on his Wolf. I have enjoyed attending his pack meetings each month and seeing him participate. He did an awesome job in the primary program today. His primary teacher told him that he should be in a children's singing group. I agree. John and I like to play games together. It is nice to have someone to play with. We have a good time. We also like to put puzzles together occasionally. Lately we have started playing catch in the living room with a miniature soft basketball and football. It is a lot of fun and I think it has really helped his throwing and catching skills (by the way, I am proud of the fact that I do not throw like a girl). Reagan and Riley sometimes join in as well. Riley mostly slobbers on the balls though. One of John's favorite things to do is to try and scare me. He fails most of the time, but sometimes he gets me pretty good. I think it is fun too. I get to scare him as well. John told me today that he wants to write a short novel. He said it would be a fairy tale mystery. He earned his Squire certificate at school for earning 100 points from reading and taking quizzes. He is doing great! I have started teaching him piano on Tuesday nights. I am sure if he ever gets a real piano teacher, they will probably curse me because I haven't taught him correct technique. Oh well, I am doing the best I can. Since we bought the piano from Keith's parents earlier this year, I have really enjoyed getting to play the piano more. This past week we bought a desk for John's room from one of our neighbors. He got an art kit for his birthday and has really enjoyed making home-made cards and gifts for birthdays. We figured it would be easier for him with a desk. It looks really nice in his room. John is still working on eating all of the candy from Halloween. I guess we should be thankful we have made it last this long.

Reagan is really into princesses right now. We got her two princess dress up outfits for her birthday and she got a Sleeping Beauty Barbie from her friend. That is her favorite movie to watch. She isn't potty trained yet, although that is mostly mine and Keith's fault for not putting forth the extra effort. We need to get it done soon though. We reward her with candy and a sticker when she does use the toilet, but they don't seem to be good enough incentives. Reagan is pretty assertive and sometimes bossy. I think that is great though. I always thought I would have to teach my daughter how to be assertive. Keith and I don't know where our kids get their personalities because we certainly weren't that way when we were kids. Reagan is at the age when she takes everything literally and only knows one meaning of a word. She will say the funniest things in response to things we say that she doesn't understand. My favorite is when Keith told John that he was free to choose. Reagan told Keith that John wasn't free, that he was eight. It took me a little while to realize that she thought Keith was telling John that he was three. She can't say "three" so she says "free." It was pretty funny. She calls me Mama and I love it. It sounds so cute when she says it.

Riley spends most of his time at home on my hip. I have pretty much figured out how to do most things while holding him. I just need an arm of steel! I don't mind too much though, he feels so good to hold and I love kissing his chubby cheeks! He was taking up to six steps at a time until Oct. 22nd when Keith called me at work to tell me he walked from the couch to the TV. He is all over the place now. I don't bother going to Sunday School anymore because he is so active and talkative. Once the three year olds move into Primary in January, I will probably start hanging out in Nursery with him until March when he turns 18 months. He is also a dare devil and a thrill seeker. He likes to climb and stand on things he shouldn't. He is the only child we have had that isn't scared of the vacuum at a young age. In fact he really likes it! He follows it around when we vacuum. One time when I turned it off he started to cry. When he was 11 months old, we tried him on regular formula, but after a week of diarrhea we started him on a formula where the milk protein is partially broken down. It seems to have worked well and is not as expensive as the completely broken down milk protein formula. Now that he will be 14 months this week, we are ready to try him on milk to see how he does. Riley was able to get his first dose of H1N1 flu vaccine, so that just leaves me that hasn't gotten it.

We were supposed to have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents this year, but since I need to work, we decided to host it at our house instead. I will work Thursday morning, then have Keith's parents over for Thanksgiving dinner in the late afternoon. I am pretty excited! It's our first Thanksgiving dinner at our house. My parents will have Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. I will work again Friday morning, then we will go to my parent's for the weekend.

Health

I am tired of being sick! I have been sick for two weeks. It's hard to say if I have had the same thing for the whole two weeks or not. Colds don't normally last for two weeks. I should probably see a doctor. Riley has been sick with one thing or another since we moved him from a home daycare to a daycare facility the first of October. It is nice to have him with our other kids, but he is now getting exposed to a lot more sicknesses.

I had a checkup with my ENT Dr. on Monday regarding my thyroid cancer. He had planned to do a scan, but my blood work is looking so good and it has been five years since my diagnosis, so he decided to just do a chest x-ray. It looked good, so I should be good that way. My Dr. lowered my thyroid medication at the beginning of May. I am guessing that is the reason I gained five pounds. I haven't been able to lose it, which is a little frustrating. I only have one pair of jeans that fit and a bunch that don't. I'm not quite ready to go out and buy some more just yet. I currently weigh the same as I did at my 6-week checkup after Riley was born. I guess gone are the days of eating anything I want and still staying thin! I have started exercising regularly again. We bought an elliptical earlier in the year and a big screen TV to watch while we exercise. I even got barbells for my birthday. (When I am not sick) I work out in the mornings while I watch Glenn Beck. He is a good motivator to get me out of bed in the morning. I find him entertaining and enlightening. Hey, isn't that his slogan? Oh ya, "The Fusion of Entertainment and Enlightenment." Keith had his annual physical yesterday. His readings are looking better than last year. He has lost weight and is in pretty good shape. His workouts are pretty intense. It's how he stays mentally sane.

Everyone in the family has gotten their seasonal flu vaccine and everyone has gotten the H1N1 vaccine except for Riley and me. Of course, we are the ones that are sick. We will keep our fingers crossed that neither of us gets the H1N1 flu. Hopefully, Riley can get the vaccine soon. It has been hard to get because the health department keeps running out quickly. Keith, John and Reagan were able to get the H1N1 flu mist the first day it was available. Unfortunately, Riley is too young to get the mist. I had gotten the seasonal flu mist the day before, so I couldn't get the H1N1 flu mist.

I am currently taking anti-depressants. For me it is a miracle drug. I went off them for awhile this past summer and felt exhausted and depressed. Of course this was while I was working a ton of hours too. That wasn't very good timing. Either way, I went back on them and am feeling good.

Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I had a hard time being very productive at work on Friday with playing pranks on people throughout the day. Friday night we attended a carnival at the kids' daycare. The kids had a good time. I took John and Reagan trick or treating Saturday night for awhile. John was a skeleton and Reagan was Snow White. I was a witch (standard standby). Reagan got scared at a few houses, but overall she was excited to get candy. After we got home, Keith took John back out for awhile and I hung out with Reagan and Riley (who was a bunny). Once they got back we all went trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's and a few of John's friends that don't live in our neighborhood.

Fall Activities

I am enjoying the beautiful fall colors! Fortunately, the weather has been fairly mild this fall. We have tried to get outdoors to enjoy it. A few weeks ago we went to the local historical farm. We had fun at the corn maze and other activities they have there. They have a really neat Haunted Hallow. I only went through when it was kid friendly, but it would be fun to go again when they really try to scare you. I like that kind of stuff. We also took a walk along the river. I took lots of pictures. It is a beautiful area! Last week we went to the pumpkin walk. It is always enjoyable.