A Day in the Life of Us

OOPS!!!!

2009-07-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that I failed to mention that along with all of the others that came to see Kaylin at the talent show, Tali and her OTHER best friend Stephanie also came AND brought us all some yummy donuts! So very sorry about my memory lapse!!!!

P.S. Happy Birthday Tali! :)

School Talent Show

2009-07-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Kaylin played the piano for the school talent show this year. I don't think I was ever brave enough to do something like that, so I am very impressed! She played a song that she wrote all by herself that was untitled at the time (she has worked on the song since then with her piano teacher and added a little more, and has named it Tami's Song after my friend Tami who ALL of my girls adore!)

Hailey and Lindsey were very excited to see Kaylin up on stage!

Tami brought her family to watch the great performance as well. Somehow, only the girls were lucky enough to be photographed!
Scotts parents made the 2 hour drive so that they could also be there and watch Kayllin. What a great fan club she has!!!

Hailey Preschool Graduation

2009-07-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Still trying to catch up on the old blog! Here are a few pictures from Hailey's Preschool Graduation. She LOVES her teacher Mrs Goodrich! What a difference preschool made for Hailey! She is not quite so scared of everything anymore! She made a few good friends and was even bravde enough to stand up and do her part. Night and day from when she started! Thanks Mrs. Goodrich!

Check out my little brother

2009-07-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying going to the state track meet for the 1A division for the last few years to watch my brothers dominate everyone in the hurdles. Taylor was the state champion all 4 years of his HS career and had the state meet record. Dillon entered the picture at the end of this career and let Taylor finish HS with a great record, but has since taken over. This past year he has beaten Taylor's record and the family still holds the state title. Dillon won both hurle events, took 2nd in the triple jump and placed in the high jump....3rd or 4th place maybe...can't really remember anymore! My brothers are awesome! :)

Hailey's Birthday Party

2009-07-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

I do realize that this happened over 2 months ago, but I never posted anything from Hailey's birthday parties, a make up/hair party with her friends and a good old-fashioned family bday party.

Spring Sports

2009-07-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

Kaylin and her cousin Sophie were on the same soccer team this last spring and Hailey decided to try her hand at t-ball. There are definately more t-ball pictures because they got to play at the Peoria Sports Complex for their last game and Hailey thought she was big stuff. Lindsey also decided to pose for a few pictures after the game. I loved the one where she is "stealing" a base!

Zoo Trip

2009-07-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I am going to be posting some random events from the past few months in order to catch up on some of the fun things we have been doing.

A few months ago we took a trip to the zoo with my friend Tami and her kids, my friend Tali, and a couple of Kaylin's friends. We had tons of fun. The tiger put on a nice show for us by climbing up and down the tree...I captured most of it on my camera.

Have you missed me?

2009-07-03T11:37:00.001-07:00

Do to reasons unknown even to myself, it was necessary for me to take a short...ish vacation from the blogging world. It was pointed out to me however, that I left many of you wondering about the progress of my Step-Dad after the heart transplant. For this purpose have I returned to the blogging world with the added hope of catching all 3 readers up on not only my Step-Dad, but on all of the other wonderful events that have happened since I last posted. So please stay tuned for future posts as they will include pictures and short...ish captions about swimming, camping, family, friends and my lovely young women. Stay tuned, because you never know when you might appear in one of the posts!!!

I have tried to take pictures of Harry throughout this whole ordeal, much to his dismay. He told everyone at the hospital that I wouldn't put my camera away and "pretended" to not like it, but he did eventually start to actually smile for me and let me take pictures of him with other people, so it must not have been that bad!

So here is the long awaited update on Harry. His transplant surgery took a little longer than they had hoped due to some extra bleeding. He woke up quickly and things looked great. He has had a slow recovery, mostly becasue the right side of his new heart has not seemed to kick in and pump as hard as it should. They did routine biopsies of the heart to check for rejection (no signs of rejection!!!) and during one of these procedures, they nicked his heart and caused some internal bleeding. He was on blood thinners and so this was kind of a problem and they almost had to so emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. Luckily they were able to get it under control and they only had to do a minor procedure to clean out the old blood that had dried inside. This whole thing slowed down his recovery as well. A few days before they sent him home to my sister Stephanie's house (the first time), his truck was STOLEN out of the Mayo Clinic parking lot. Apparantly someone thought it would be the perfect smuggling truck to take to Mexico. It was found in the desert somewhere and the insurance company totaled it out. What fun, huh? So my poor Mom is trying to take caare of Harry, deal with the insurance company and the rental car company...and her rental car even breaks down on her a couple of times. Harry was out of the hospital for only a few days and whne he went in for one of his check ups, they decided that since he had gained 20 pounds, they were going to readmit him. The day after they readmitted him, he got very sick with an infection and it took him a while to get over that too. He is finally back at Stephanie's house and doing pretty well. They have found out that the right side of his heart has some damage to it now...I don't know if it is due to bad luck, which they have definately had, or if something happened during one of the "routine" procedures that caused the damage. So for now, Harry still has heart failure, but it is manageable. He may have to go back in and out of the hospital to help get rid of water weight every now and then for a while, but once he is stronger and has mostly recovered from the transplant, he will have to go in for one more procedure where they can correct the problem and THEN he can fully recover and get life back to normal! We have appreciated everyone's prayers and support throughout this whole thing. It is comforting to know there are so many people pulling for Harry, even if they don;t know him! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I may not be 100% accurate in all of my details...a lot has happened! If there are any of you out there who want to add to or correct anything I have written, please do! :)

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay) - Piano Cello - by Jon Schmidt

2009-05-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

I just saw this on my sister-in-law's blog and loved it so now it's on my blog too!

Hailey

2009-05-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hailey turned 5 a week ago, so I thought I'd better get up a slide show before I turn around and she's 10! Sometimes I can't believe how fast time passes, and although I really am happy to see her grow up, it is still a little sad to know she will never be like she is now again! I hope you had a happy birthday Hailey and I hope you know we love you!

A New Heart!

2009-04-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

We got the call late yesterday that there was a possible heart for Harry, it was his if it was in good condition. They finally took him around midnight (I think) to go in for surgery and at 3:45 (I think) they came out and said they were attaching the new heart. At 7:40 this morning they came out and told my Mom that the new heart was in and beating on its own! They were still finishing up, but so far so good! He has done such a great job so far. He recovered from his BiVAD surgery and was back on the list in 19 days, most people take months. He was on the transplant list for a grand total of 10 days, 5 days before the BiVAD and 5 days after. I realize that we hve been very blessed in this and am so grateful for the donor to have made it possible for Harry to keep on going, and am amazed at the doctors and what they are able to do...especially in the middle of the nught! Harry would definately not be around anymore if transplants weren't possible and if the donor had not made the decision to be a donor. We have a lot to be grateful for. Thanks for all of the prayers and support! These pictures were all taken yesterday after we got the news about the possible heart.

Anyone who knows Harry very well knows he doesn't love cameras and doesn't especially like to smile for them. When we got there he looked happier than I have seen him in quite a while. He even suffered through my photo session while he made faces and crazy smiles!

My mom isn't going to love that she has her lovely cold sore in these pictures, but she looks great anyway!

I can't remember the reason Harry was "getting after" my Mom...obviously sopmething was funny and I thought the picture was pretty funny itself!

I think Harry was sticking his tongue out as a protest to all of the pictures and demand for "serious" smiles! You gotta love him!

The grand Houston Finally...I mean...Finale!

2009-04-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

Finally we get to the part the girls...and the parents I guess...were looking mmost forward to. We had great seats for the rodeo and concert thanks to Aunt Gail. The arena was HUGE so even with great seats, we weren't that close to the stage. Since we watched the end of the rodeo, we got to watch them assemble the stage for the concert, and we got to watch the band warm up a bit. Scott left to go get food because the Kaylin was STARVING, but he got back just as the concert was about to start and nobody was hungry anymore! The girls all had a great time. There was dancing and cheering and some people who kept holding a big sign up in front of us every time the stage faced us (it was rotating through the entire show) so we could only see Taylor really well on the big screen. She did an awesome job and kept us entertained, even though Lindsey got a little feisty becasue it was WAY past her bedtime and Hailey BARELY made it through the last song before falling asleep! The last picture in the slide show is the girls with Aunt Gail and 2 of her kids Karen and Lee, and, of course, the dogs. The girls LOVED the concert, but I'm not sure that they didn't love the dogs and our family just as much! So, thanks Aunt Gail and everyone else for the great time!

Houston Part 4? I lost track!

2009-04-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

On our last day in Houston we went to the aquarium and saw all kinds of fish, sharks, and white tigers. (Doesn't everyone expect to see white tigers at an aquarium?) We also rode some rides...Lindsey was so brave and rode the drop ride (yeah, I forgot what it's really called) and she loved it! We rode on the ferris wheel and took a ride on a little train. After that we hurried over to the Houston Rodeo. It was lots of fun. we started off with the appropriate carnival snacks of fried twinkies, fried oreos, fried cookie dough (my personal fav), ice cream and sodas. After not being able to actually eat all of that crap...thank goodness!!!...we did a little Taylor Swift Karaoke to prep us for the big concert that night, visited the kids section of the rodeo booths and saw a lot of animals. It was tons of fun.

A Bit of Good News!

2009-04-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Harry got moved out of ICU yesterday! He seems to be making good progress in his recovery and the docs are very impresses with his pain tolerance and say he is recovering much quicker than most patients. They think he might be able to go back on the transplant list in a couple of weeks! I found a few more old pics of Harry...of course with the kids all around him! These pics are from Christmas '03, so you can see what he used to look like a few years back!

This is Harry with one of Layla's girls...I'm going to guess Riley since her fingers are in her mouth.

This is Mattie and one of the twins...I'm not even going to attempt guessing this time! Lindsey says it is Grandpa with Olivia and Luke....I guess she sees the family resemblance between siblings!

This is a very typical scene with Grandpa Harry. The kids just gravitate towards him, which he loves! This is Caitlin or Riley on Grandpa, Olivia is the other baby, and sorry Sophie, you got cut in half on this picture!

Houston Part 3

2009-04-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

So...the journey continues....On day 3 we went to the Houston Space Center. After the road construction and faulty road signs, we finally managed to make it to the space center. As soon as we parked the car though, Lindsey announces that she peed in her carseat. Great, I didn't bring any extra clothes. So we use our not so trusty GPS to take us to a Target....only when we had "arrived at our destination" there was NO Target or anything around to get replacement clothes. We finally found a dollar store...oh yeah, love those dollar store clothes! So I change Lindsey and sit her on a towell in her car seat and we head back to the space center. Haiely waits until we are on the road to announce that she now has to pee. So I tell her she better hold it until we can find a bathroom becasue I was not stoppoing to buy clothes again! We find a fast food place and I rush her in and we rush back out and manage to make it ALL the way back to the space center parking lot. As Hailey gets out, scott notices her pants are WET!!! Seriously?! Well, apparantly I rushed her in and out of the bathroom so fast that I didn't notice she had already had a little accident and since I had said I wouldn't stop again, she didn't tell us so she wouldn't get in trouble. Well, even thgough I said I wasn't going to stop again to buy clothes, in reality I wasn't about to drag her around all day with a wet bum. SO....we leave again, this time hoping our GPS would lead us to a WalMart. Due to the oad construction and detours, the GPS got thoroughly confused, at times not even thinking we were on ANY road at all. AFter much driving around, we Lindsey...I had learned you could never be too sure...and then realized that Old Nave does not sell Undiees in Hailey's size! I really was done driving around and we had spent half of our day trying to find clothes for the kids, so I tried to just make her wear a pull up. She was not happy. Then I remembered we had brought our swim suits becasue we were going to head to the beach after the space center, so she traded in the pull up for the swim suit bottoms. AT LAST we are on our way into the space center and had a really great time. The kids loved playing in their play center (I loved that we drove half way across the country to go to the Houston Space Center and watch my kids play on the play equipment). We did get to see some pretty cool stuff though and I learned about VADs in a video there (Harry now has a BiVAD in place, so I thought that was pretty cool). We had time to take one shuttle and see one extra place and Kaylin picked the underwater training facility. This is where the astronauts train for their missions. Under water is the closest thing they can get to weightlessness for long term training. After we left the space center we drove to Galveston where after on blurry picture, my camera battery died. So I missed out on some pretty cool photo opps with the houses on stilts and some hurricane damage and the girls playing on the beach (for 5 minutes because we took too much tim finding replacement clothes earlier in the day...luckily I picked up the extra outfit for Lindsey as she had no self control and was SOAKED from the ocean!). We ended our adventure by eating at a seafood restaurant where we had to wait much longer than Scott would have liked, but the food was AWESOME!!! Even Kaylin decided she liked the Tilapia! The adventure ended late that night with the 2 little girls hanging out on Aunt Gail's lap. They loved being with her and Lindsey called her Grandma the whole time! (Are you getting sick of our Texas trip yet 'cause it's not over yet! Stay tuned for the exciting finale coming soon!)

Update on Harry

2009-04-08T14:00:00.001-07:00

First of all, everyone should know this is NOT a picture of Harry. It is some random guy I found on the internet, so thanks random guy for the pic!
Harry had surgery yesterday and now has a BiVAD in place and working to help him until he can get a transplant. The Dr. said he bled less than most patients and the surgery took less time than usual and he is doing great. He was able to get rid of the breathing tube earlier today and has even "woken up" a little. He is very groggy and I doubt he will remember waking up, but he is recovering exactly as the doctors want! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers so far! Keep them coming, they seem to be working! :)
http://www.mayoclinic.org/heart-transplant/vad.html?wt.srch=1&wt.mc_id=google&keyword=arizona_BiVAD_BiVAD&campaign=mca_heart_transplant&state=arizona&kw=bivad&ad=3222183048&Network=Search&SiteTarget=&gclid=CL_ow9KY4pkCFRMUagodt3-wVQ
(Sorry I don't know how to link a word to a web page yet, but this will tell a little about the BiVAD)

More of Grandpa Harry

2009-04-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is a video I found from about 3 years ago. It is Harry and Hailey at the piano. It is pretty typical of him: playing with the kids, but why in the world would he want to be on a video? Anyway, Harry goes in tomorrow morning to get an artificial heart (or something else that is not quite as good thanks tp the insurance comapny...aaaaggggghhhhh!!!!!!) while he is still waiting for a heart transplant. It is pretty scary, but we feel like everything is going to go well. Please keep him in your prayers!

Houston Part 2

2009-04-02T11:35:00.001-07:00

So, I forgot to get my camera out for our first day in Houston and missed getting any pictures with Jonathon, who is Aunt Gail's only grandchild. He left after that to spend his spring break with his mom. He is a couple of years older than Kaylin, but was so nice to the girls and knew how to play with them! Thanks Jonathon for the fun day with you! Next time...I won't forget the camera! These pictures are from Day 2, the day of the museums. Houston has a whole section dedicated to Museums, which makes it really easy to visit more than one a day, since they are all so close to each other! We started out at the Children's Museum where the kids had fun doing all sorts of things, including painting their own faces! I love how Kaylin's letters were written backwards becasue she was looking in the mirror and they looked right to her! Kaylin built her own little contraption to roll balls down. It was a masterpiece! After that we went to the Museum of Natural History. We saw dinosaur bones, learned about drilling for oil, saw a lion about to bite into a Zebra...not unlike Alex and Marty from Madagascar...a family fav! We got to see a million rocks, minerals, gems, and jewelry, and finally made it to the butterfly garden where at the VERY LAST ssecond before heading up the stairs to leave, a butterfly FINALLY landed on Hailey, changing the the worst day of her life to the best! The day was finished up with a visit from cousin Karen and her dog Chester and Jonathon's dog Skipper (the dogs also happen to be brothers). What a great day!!!

Grandpa Harry

2009-03-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

My Mom remarried when I was almost 16. My step-dad Harry is one of the best guys I know. He has always been the favorite Uncle to all of his nieces and nephews, and the tradition has carried on with the grandkids. It was his birthday yesterday so I thought I would post a little ditty about him!

This picture was taken a few years ago. He grew up on a horse and is always taking the kids out to help feed them or to give them rides.

This picture was taken last summer when we went up for a visit to Snowflake. Harry has had heart failure for 10+ years and this was taken soon after a lot of his complications began to fester.

This is a picture of Harry just a couple of days ago. He has been in and out of the hospital this past year, mostly in the hospital this last month. After trying to get help REPEATEDLY at the Heart Hospital with NO LUCK (that's a whole other story) and then trying a doctor at Gilbert Mercy, with high hopes, but again, NO LUCK (I don't know what it is about doctors who think it is okay to send a dying guy home saying he's gonna be okay). Well, my Mom knew things weren't right and took him to the Mayo Clinic ER 2 days after being discharged from Gilbert Mercy and they were able to take 50+ lbs of water weight off of Harry in 72 hours. Hooray for my Mom for sticking with her intuition and keep seeking for help, or he would not be with us still. Last Friday Harry was approved to be put on the heart transplant list, without which they gave him about 2 months to live. So today I am grateful for my Step-Dad Harry, my Mom, and the doctors at the Mayo Clinic!

Trip to Houston Part 1: The Journey There

2009-03-29T22:33:00.001-07:00

Over spring break we took a road trip to Houston to visit Scott's Great Aunt Gail. We had so much fun that it is going to take several posts to let you get a peek inside our great adventures!!

Family

2009-03-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

My kids are so lucky to have lots of Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles. We caught some great moments with some of them when we went to see Baby Aubrey.

This is Grandpa Great hanging out with 3 of his great granddaughters.

This is the "newest" Great Grandpa...Grandpa Al. The kids adopted him into the family right as soon as they met him!

Grandpa Al playing ball with the kids. Cousin Logan was ready when he saw the camera!

This is Granno. I love this picture because it has been a while since she has felt good enough to play with the kids and they LOVE her!

I wonder if any of the Grandparents are paying attention to Lindsey? haha This is Grandpa Leg, Grandpa Al and Granno. (Yes, most of the Grandparents have some sort of nick name)

Here we have Uncle Rob making Lindsey giggle. He is such a fun Uncle!

Uncle Rob and Aunt Shelley making a Kaylin sandwich!

Here is grandma Great holding baby Aubrey while Hailey is "helping"!

Baby Time!!!

2009-03-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

We have been quite lucky around our family to welcome two of the cutes baby girls around! The first little one belongs to our neighbors, Dan and Linsey. Her name is Avie Jo and is adorable!
I have to add that Linsey showed up at our door with the baby to show her off VERY soon after she came home from the hospital! We love Linsey, she is awesome! We are glad the Nelsons are our neighbors!

Hailey thought she was such big stuff holding this tiny thing!

Lindsey pretended to know what she was doing!

Kaylin is an old pro at holding babies by now!

Up next is our beautiful little niece Aubrey. We didn't get to hold her when we visited her in the hospital because she was having some breathing issues and also was under the lights to fight jaundice. So this was our first time to hold her.

Hailey was so brave after practicing on Avie that she would stand up with Aubrey to hand her back to me.

Lindsey doesn't quite look so unsure of herself here, but only barely! She loves her new little cousin!

Kaylin would hold the babies as long as you would let her. She snuggled right in with Aubrey and both were as comfy as can be!

Piano Time!

2009-03-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here is Kaylin playing the piano. Her teacher doesn't do recitals, so I thought I would post a couple if things for the grandparents who might be interested!

This is a song that Kaylin composed. She loves making up songs!

Here is the Amazing Hailey and her "Upside Down" Song. (Inspired by our friend William!)

Okay, so Lindsey didn't want to be left out of the whole piano video thing, so here is her rendition of an "Upside Down" song. So cute!

Meet my 4th child...Tali

2009-03-10T13:54:00.001-07:00

Tali is my unofficial 4th daughter (although technically I am NOT quite old enough to actually have a daughter her age). She fits right in, in fact I swear she and Kaylin were cut out of the same mold. HELP!!!! :)

Trip to the Zoo

2009-03-10T13:47:00.001-07:00

We (minus Kaylin) took a trip to the Zoo a few weeks ago with Stephanie and her kids. The weather and the company were so nice. I wish we had time to do things like this more often!

Soccer

2009-03-10T12:48:00.001-07:00

Hailey and her cousin Olivia tried their hands (actually, their feet) at soccer the past couple of months. It was fun to see them play together.

Hailey was a little overwhelmed at first, but by the end of the season she loved chasing the ball and the kids around the field....well, as long as it wasn't too cold and windy!

At one of the last practices, Hailey actually was assertive enough to kick the ball all the way down the field, and for once, I was prepared and got this video!

Kaylin also played soccer and LOVED it! She hadn't played for a couple of years and so it took her a few practices to get the hang of the positions, but she jumped right in and had a great time!

This was the pizza party after their last game. Kaylin LOVED her coach! Thanks Coach Renee for all you did! Their team finished witha 6-1-1 record and were 1st place in their league.

A Simple Request

2009-03-08T22:57:00.001-07:00

So, I really do have great intentions to add to my blog. I log on when I have a few minutes to spare, but before I begin my post, I have to check out what everyone else has posted. By the time I am done with that, my few free minutes (an some that were not quite so free) are LONG gone. So to all of you people who's blogs I keep catching up on, I just have a simple request.....please keep the blogging to a minimum so I can use my time to add to my own blog! HAHA

Okay, so I don't really want you to quit blogging....it's not you....it's me!!!!

Scott

2009-03-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

So a post like this is totally NOT like me. I tend to like to keep things pretty much to myself when it comes to things like FEELINGS!!!! But I decided that this was one time I would take a chance and open up. So last night I had planned on going to bookclub, but Scott has to get ready for an 11 year old scout camp this week end and I offered to stay home and help him get ready. He has been so great at putting the kids to bed for me when I go out with my friends to book club, or birthday dinners, or whatever other event I decide I want to go to. I thought that I could return the favor and try to help him for a change. Well...turns out I wasn't feeling so great, but was going to do what could anyway. I got the older girls in bed and went to Lindsey's room to read while she fell asleep....which didn't happen. Anyway, after close to an hour, Lindsey FINALLY fell asleep, BUT SO DID I!!! So, poor Scott got no help from me at all. When I woke up this morning, aside from getting some of the camping stuff ready, he also fixed my jogging stroller, becasue the front tire decided to eplode last night, AND he emptied the dishwasher, AND refilled it with MY dishes from making applesauce earlier in the day. So I am feeling REALLY grateful for such a great husband right now. How is is that I got so lucky?

Swinging Away!

2009-03-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

We got to Kaylin's soccer practice a few minutes early the other day and that meant Hailey and Lindsey had a few minutes to play on the swings. Can you tell they had a blast? It is funny to see Lindsey copy everything her big sisters do. Sometimes it is really cute, other times....well lets just say that not every behavior Hailey and Kaylin have needs to be repeated!!

So, we are in Tucson at Scott's parents house right now as I am trying to get the swinging video uploaded, and I notice Lindsey is outside getting a drink out of the spicket of a big water jug. I was laughing about it thinking it was rather smart of a 2 year old to figure that out...and then I find out that Kaylin showed her how to do it! I thought it was rather amusing that this occurred just as I am writing about how not all of my kids' behavior needs to be repeated! Oh well, I guess worse things could happen!

Goodman Family Party

2009-01-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

We went to the annual Goodman Family Christmas Party, so here are some random pictures of those in attendance! The kids acted out the Nativity story, my dad and a couple of his brothers sang an impromptu "We Three Kings", we had good food, and the unvoidable White Elephant gift exchange. We had a great time!

Christmas At Last!!!

2009-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas has arrived at last! The girls had fun opening their presents and were so happy when Grandma and Grandpa Cook came to visit. We also got visits from Tim, Mandi, and Tyler, and Rob and Shelly. What a fun time of year!

2009-01-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve at my sister Stephanie's house. After a great dinner and little Christmas devotional, the girls decided to sing some Christmas songs. It was very entertaining! Stephanie is probably not going to love the first video I posted because she is in it, but I LOVE IT!!!! It gives you a glimpse into how much fun she makes things. The second video kinda sums up how their caroling went that night!

Preschool Program

2009-01-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hailey's Preschool calss put on a really cute Christmas Program. Mrs. Goodrich is the best! I thought Nelson looked so cute in the first video (he is my friend Larissa's son). The last video clip is Hailey saying her part...which is a HUGE deal, because she is always way to shy to get up and say things in front of people.

Polar Express

2009-01-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

I am finally starting the process of the Christmas posting! Better late than never! We went to the Polar Express with Scott's family and were able to drag along some friends as well. We had a great time!

Just stumbled upon this

2009-01-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

So I am trying REALLY hard to get a new playlist made so I don't have Christmas music up for the rest of the year, and in the process I came across this really cool video. The sound kinda stinks, but I think you can get the point.

Finally!!!! (Well, almost!)

2009-01-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

I thought that since it was halfway through January, I should update my blog. Sadly though, all I currently had time for was to update the background and add this quick note, but really, anyone that would be checking my blog would probably have figured this out on their own! (Except for one or two of you....you know who you are!!!!)

Scott's Birthday....yeah its really late!!!

2008-12-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

So...Scott's birthday was last month and I am such a great wfe that I am finally posting something before a full month has passed (but only by a day or 2!) Luckily, I didn't actually forget his real birthday, I just have gotten behind on my bloggin, but I figure better late than never! Notice that a lot of the pictures are him holding or playing with one of the kids. He is the fun parent, or "DisneyLand Dad," as he calls himself. No wonder the kids like him the best!

This one is for you Croz!

2008-12-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Scott...this is so you can make it until my Christmas playlist is replaced by my regular playlist!

Wizard of Oz Play

2008-12-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

My friend Taryn invited me and the 2 little girls to go watch the Wizard of Oz play with her and her cute boy Kamdon (or Kam Kam if you live at my house). Hailey is a super fan of the Wizard of Oz and was SOOO excited to meet the actors. I am surprised that she was not too shy to get pictures with them. Pre-school sure has changed her!

Trip to Denver

2008-12-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

So...it has been a while since I have posted, so I am now playing catch up, AGAIN! So we took a trip to Denver last month so Kaylin and Lindsey could participate in a PCD Research study. Scotts parents went with us, which was so great! They were good company and kept everyone occupied enough that I was able to read a couple of books while we were on the road! While we were in Denver, we visited the Butterfly Pavilion, the Children's Museum, and what trip is complete without stopping at the Bass Pro Shop? The kids had a good time letting spiders walk on them, butterflies land on them, and playing with everything in sight. They even got to climb the great rock wall at the Bass Pro Shop.

HALLOWEEN!!!

2008-11-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here are our various Halloween pics. Hailey had a Halloween party at her pre-school. The kids were sooo cute and her teacher did such a great job with the kids. They put on a little performance for us, which, since I am the most awesome Mom ever, I completely messed up the recording process, so I will have to see if I can get a copy from the other parents who were able to work their own camera equipment correctly! The kids got to trick or treat a couple of the neighbors and there were treats and games for them. Hailey requested fingers and toes for her addition to the snack table, which being the most awesome Mom EVER, I made, but I let the ball drop on the whole picture taking part of it, so you don't get to see my handiwork! Oh well, at least I did get pictures of her! The one of Scott and I was taken for a party we went to. Apparently I am a very happy prisoner. I think they got a couple more pictures of us, so I may add more when/if we get copies. Lindsey wore her frog costume to a few houses before she started to strip a little at a time. First the hood came off, then the arms came out a few doors later, and finally she couldn't take it any longer and went as plain old Lindsey for the rest of the evening. The picture on the hay ride is from our ward party. It was a lot of fun. Too bad that was the only picture I took there! Leave it to me to be thorough!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

Stephanie and I took our kids to a pumkin patch/farm for a little fall fun. Tehre was a lot of fun things for them to do. I forgot to take any pictures of us in the corn maze...maybe next year! It was a lot of fun, but quite warm. You know it is too hot when even I wish it would cool down a bit!

Hailey's Performance

2008-11-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

The Best Babysitter EVER!!!

2008-11-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

Kaylin got a hair streaker kit for her birthday and these are the results when she finally got to use it. I helped with her and Hailey's hair, but the next night we had Tali babysit...she is the best by the way....and Lindsey's beautiful colors are the result of her direct and constant supervision throughout the evening. haha! The funny part is that the color wouldn't completely wash out of their hair for almost a week!

Here is cute littel Hailey with her streaked hair and oh so important soda!

Last but not least, here is Kaylin with the ever so lovely Tali, to whom we owe so m uch to for her sweet babysitting skills! We will never get a different babysitter EVER!!!!! (I hope you read this Tali!)

Lindsey and her "horse"

2008-11-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

So, our poor little dog is very well loved by our kids. Lindsey is especially enamored by her these days and drags her around by her collar or her leash. This day apparantly Lindsey decidded Muffin would make a good horse. Luckily Lindsey is just tall enough that she can walk around like that with Muffin without actually sitting on her! No wonder Muffin hides from her under my bed!!!

11th Anniversary

2008-11-02T14:09:00.001-08:00

This is Scott and I on our 11th Anniversary. Aren't we just adorable? We actually went on a date that night and decided we should do that more often. I know, you'd think that after this long we would have figured that out long ago. I guess the secret is out now...we aren't as smart as we look! (And that is a very sad statement!!!)

Mexico Trip

2008-11-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

This is from our last trip to Mexico...a month ago...better late than never!!! We had a great time, although Scott was kept pretty busy replacing the tires on our trailer. There seems to be a few more pictures of Hailey and Lindsey, but it iis only because they hung out with me the most, and Hailey LOVES posing for pictures (sometimes!). Kaylin spent A LOT of time hanging out with the grown ups since there are no kids in the Cook family anywhere remotely close to her age. She adjusts herself pretty well to who ever she has the pleasure of being with though, so she had a great time! So, thanks to all of the aunts, uncles, great aunts and great uncles, and friends that took the time to make sure she had a great time at the beach!

A sad day...but not completely

2008-10-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

So....if you haven't heard...Lute retired suddenly and immediately. I am pretty disappointed, but amused that I am actually posting a blog about it. It is so strange the way this has happened that my bet is there is a lot more to the story than has been told so far. Either way, I am sad to see him go and I hope everyone remembers him like I do in this picture from when they won the National Championship in '97. http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/college/100580.php
(you might have to register if you click on the link in order to read the article...sorry)

So, after being bummed out today over Coach Olson, I checked my email and there was one about the Taylor Swift and Def Leppard Crossroads, including this link for them singing Photograph. http://www.cmt.com/videos/def-leppard/292234/photograph-from-cmt-crossroads.jhtml?id=1597706 I am a dork, I admit, but watching this made me feel a little better for the day, and now I am anxiously awaiting Nov. 7th to watch the whole show! (Yes, I am blogging about things I swore to myself I never would...now you know the inner geek in me!!!)

Hailey's First Day at her New Pre-school

2008-10-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

Hailey satarted at a new pre-school at the beginning of this month. Her teacher is in our ward and used to teach kindergarten, but has been teaching pre-school from her home for the past 10+ years. There are several kids from her Primary class that also go there. She had been having separation issues, so I was a little worried about how she would do, but after I scraped her off my leg, she did really well and LOVES going to pre-school and loves her teacher and her friends. She has now been asking for play days with her new pre-school pals.

kaylin kaylin and MORE kaylin!!!

2008-10-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

WARNING!!!! This slideshow may contain way more images of Kaylin than anyone should be forced to see!!!!

Baptism Day

2008-10-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken pre-baptism. Kaylin in her baptism dress. She picked it out...what great taste!
Kaylin and Sophie in their baptismal clothes, aren't they so cute?

Kaylin and her Daddy, ready for the big event.

Kaylin had the idea for this picture. I love how it turned out!

PARTY TIME!!!

2008-10-08T20:52:00.001-07:00

Kaylin had a sleep over birthday party. We had a problem keeping the guest list small, but the kids had a great time!
Here are all 15 of the kids that spent the night. Also, please notice best friend Tali on the couch. She came to help supervise this motley crew! She's the best!
Scott picked up the High School Musical Sing It game (what a good Dad!) and we had many great performances throughout the party!

Kaylin's Bday

2008-10-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

On Kaylin's Birthday, we decided to skip the cake due to other upcoming cake events, so we sang over a carton of ice cream instead!
The younger birthday attendees.
Kaylin got a towel with her name and baptism date on it from Uncle Tim and Aunt Mandi. She LOVED it!
She also got her own first set of Scriptures from Granno...notice they are the cheap ones...we all know that Kaylin the destroyer will go through her first set rather quickly, so no point in the nicer ones! Granno wrote a very nice message in them though, so we will have to make sure and hang on to those pages.

Is she still little, or did she grow up?

2008-09-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

As Kaylin's birthday has approached, I have been amused by the fact that she seems to be caught inbetween still being a little girl and changing into, well, not quite as little of a girl. For her birthday she was still asking for barbies, but also was requesting more grown up items, such as shoes and lotions and hats, being very specific in the style and trendiness of these items. Tonight she was saying our family prayer and she first was thankful she was turning 8 so she could be a member of the church, and I was thinking how grown up that seemed, but then she immediately followed that by asking for a good nights sleep and that she wouldn't stay up all night being too excited about her birthday. What an amusing age she is at!

Last Day as a 7 year old

2008-09-24T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well, the last day of Kaylin's 7 year old life arrived today, and as you can see, she is in mourning for her childhood that is so rapidly slipping away from her! Luckily she has her baptism to look forward to in a couple of days, so I think she will be able to fin the will to go on!

Trip to the Tucson Zoo

2008-09-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

The kids and I got to take a trip to the zoo a few weeks ago during a visit to Tucson. Scott's Mom and our Sister-in-Law Mandi and her son Tyler came along for the fun! Lindsey and Tyler are just 4 months apart and it is fun to see them play with each other...or give kisses...that won't be acceptable forever, but for now it is soooo cute!

Feeding the giraffes are always a highlight of the trip...even if their tongues are long and dripping with gooey slobber!
I kinda had to make Lindsey feed the giraffe. She wasn't afraid of the Giraffe, so much as afraid of the slime!
Kaylin was an old pro, as this was not her first experiece feeding the giraffe.
Here they are, the cute monsters taking a break near the end of the fun day at the zoo.
And of course, it wouldn't be complete if I weren't able to make my surprise appearance in the pictures! I forgot my camera, so Kathy and Mandi were kind enough to take pictures for me.

Visit from cousins Isaac and Xavi

2008-09-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

isaac visit

My cousin Isaac and his son Xavi made a rare visit to Phoenix last month, causing a gathering of family from my Mom's side. My Granma Pomeroy drove up from Patagonia, Aunt Gene and Uncle Del were also there (Aunt Gene is my Grandma's sister) along with their son Mike and his wife Jewell, his daughter Janet and her kids (somehow they escaped the wrath of my camera), their daughter Karen and her husband Jim, my family, and Steph and her family. We met at Peter Piper Pizza and had a good time catching up!

The New Neighbors

2008-09-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned before, we got some new neighbors, the Nelsons. It has been a lot of fun having someone so close to hang out with. I know Stephanie lives less than a mile away, but somehow it is so much easier to just let your kids walk across the street to play than to load up in the car.

This first picture is a repeat picture from Lindsey's bday, but it's all I got of Dan and Linsey. They are a lot of fun and like to have game night, so it looks like I might finally get Scott to play games with me! Dan is in dental school, so aren't seeing much of him now, but hopefully we are keeping Linsey company!

This is their little boy Rayce. He is 21 months and is sooooo cute!

This is Danielle. She is 6 and she and Kaylin and Hailey play together every free second they can find! She is a lot of fun.

Wanna fight?

2008-09-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

We had a portrait session with one of our good friends Cindy Price and this ended up on our camera...I think Kaylin took it. Maybe she is a budding photographer herself! Anyway, you should go visit Lily p studio in my blog list links and maybe we are still on her blog somewhere. She did a great job and now we are at the hard part of deciding which ones to get!

2008-08-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

Lindsey turned 2 yesterday, she knows how old she is, but is still trying to figure out how to show how old she is on her fingers. (Excuse her bed head in the video!)

2008-08-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is the end of Lindsey's Happy Birthday song! She loved blowing out the candles!

Lindsey's Birthday Party

2008-08-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

Lindsey had a great birthday. Scott's parents drove up from Tucson to help celebrate and my sister Stephanie and her kids came as well as our neighbors, the Nelsons (more about them in another post!) Lindsey was excited about blowing out her candles, in fact, she blew them out immediately after they were lit, so Scott had to relight them so we could sing Happy Birthday to her. Her 5 year old cousin Olivia made her a homemade card and gave her the little bunny Lindsey is holding in one of the pictures. I thought that was so cute that Olivia did that for her! Hailey found a quarter at the store and bought Lindsey a sticky hand out of the gumball machines. Almost as thoughtful, but definately jsut as cute! When Kaylin realized that she didn't have anything for her, she ran upstairs (after the presents were over) and wrapped up one of her newer Happy Meal toys and gave that to Lindsey, not as thoughtful, but still cute and she wins the prize for most humorous! The last picture, Lindsey is inadvertanly flashing her undies. I only point this out because Lindsey's present to me yesterday was deciding to be potty trained! She would only wear undies, not even pull-ups, and she stayed dry during errands and nap time and all night! And it was only the day before that she peed on my coffee table while my visiting teachers were over! Oh well, with Lindsey, everything happens on HER schedule!

2008-08-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I would make a slideshow all about Lindsey in honor of her birthday. I realize that this slide show is ridiculously long, but she is just so darn cute, that it was hard to not include every picture! Just be glad that there are pictures from a few months of her life that are stored on another computer, so I didn't include any of them!

Flowers from Grandpa Al's Garden

2008-08-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

We went to visit Granno while she was in the hospital (she fell and hurt her back, but she went home today!) Al had brought her some fresh carnations that he had grown in his garden and they shared them with the girls. The girls decided it would be best if they wore the flowers in their hair. Awwww, how cute!

We took cousin Tyler, or Ty Ty as the girls call him, and I thought this was especially cute of him and Hailey holding hands.

My new favorite song!

2008-08-13T13:05:00.001-07:00

New Do For a New Year

2008-08-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

Kaylin was very excited for school to start again, although she underestimated the heat and decided to wear longer sleeves than ended up being comfortabe!

Kaylin wanted to get her hair cut for school. I was sad as I watched the 6 or 7 inches get chopped off, but she looks really cute and picked a great haircut, so really can't complain!

Summer's Last Hurrah

2008-08-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

For our last weekend before school starts, Scotts parents brought their boat up and treated us to a morning at Lake Pleasant. We were also accompanied by Scott's brother Tim and his son Tyler. We drove around in the boat for a while to get to know the lake a little since it was our first trip, and also to help Hailey get used to the boat since she was terrified for a while. There was a little bit of swimming around during lunch (and thanks to Grandma, there are actually a couple of pictures of me!!!). Then Scott decided to grace us with his wake boarding abilities. He did awesome, especially since it has been 6 or 7 years since he has done this. Next on the agenda was going to be tubing for the kids, but Mother Nature brought in a small storm that brought our boating day to an end. We did take a few minutes to hang out on the beach before we ended our wonderful last day of summer vacation! Thanks Craig and Kath!

Summer Retreat

2008-08-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

We were able to spend a couple of days in Show Low with my Mom, Step-Dad, sisters, and all of our kids. The pace we went was great! It had a creek running through it, horses wandering all over, a small pond to go boating on, a baby frog, and great company! It wsas nice and relaxing for the adults and lots of fun for the kids. This is where Lindsey discovered her love for fishing, and would get sad whenever she had to share the fishing pole.

90th Birthday/Reunion

2008-08-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

My Grandma turned 90 last month and we had a family reunion to celebrate. My Grandma is a twin and the reunion was for both twins' families. We had a great time in the White Mountains, and there were close to 200 people there I think.

Kaylin, Audrey (my little sis), and Mackenzie (my cousin) had way too much fun playing in the mud.

Scott was Super Dad at the reunion and let me visit with everyone while he kept track of the kids.

This is my Uncle Taylor with a bunch of little girls having an in depth discussion!

Lindsey didn't have a shortage of attention thanks to my sister and all of the cousins!

What a fun Dad!

2008-08-09T18:19:00.001-07:00

We went swimming and as you can see, the girls had a great time swimming with their Dad. Maybe one day he will take some pictures so that there will be some memories of me with the kids! :)

Lots of Rain

2008-08-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had a HUGE storm and we happened to be driving around when it hit. The water got so deep in places that cars were stalling in the middle of the road. Scott was so nice that he got out in the middle of the raining and flooding to help push someone off the road. The next morning the park in our neighborhood was really flooded and the girls had a great time playing in their own personal pond!

Trip to Snowflake

2008-08-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from our visit to my Mom and Step Dad's House in Snowflake last month. The kids had fun in the little pool with their cousins .WATCH OUT HAILEY!!!!This is my Step Dad Harry. ALL of the kids love him to death. He is a great Grandpa. Time to go fishing at the creek. Hailey might be a scaredy cat, but for some reason, she really liked the worms.Kaylin was the only one to catch a fish...and of course my camera was not there at the time to capture that moment, but here she is enjoying fishing with Grandpa.

Granno and Al take the Plunge!

2008-07-31T17:24:00.001-07:00

Scott and I have the sweetest Grandmother. Okay, so she is technically Scott's Grandma, but ONLY by a small technicality called blood and she and I claim eachother. She has been known to all of the grandkids and greatgrandkids as Granno. She got married last month to the nicest Man. (Yes, I know I am a little slow on the news) And you must know that they were engaged 65 years ago and for whatever reason, went their separate ways. She had been a widow for many years and Al's wife passed away last year. They have now come full circle to finish the romance they started so long ago! We are so happy for both of them!

This is Granno with Kaylin, Mason, and Hailey, her 3 oldest Great Grandchildren. Kaylin and Mason got to walk her down the aisle and Hailey was supposed to be the flower girl, but this is the only picture we got of Hailey in the wedding because she chickened out before it started!
Here is our family posing so nicely at the arch.

And what cute little girls I have! (Most of the time! ;)

Pictures of the Big Day!

2008-07-31T17:23:00.001-07:00

After the Wedding

2008-07-31T17:20:00.001-07:00

We had a great time with the extended family after the wedding. We rode the quad around the backyard and played Rock Band. we can't wait for another event so we can get together again!

Dillon at Basketball Camp

2008-07-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

This is my super cute little brother Dillon.....this post is about him. This is my other super cute brother Taylor...this post has nothing to do with him.

My little 6'4" brother Dillon went to the Lute olson Basketball camp this summer.
Not to brag or anything, but he received the award for the moxt valuable defensive player. This was him AFTER Lute handed him the award...dang my slow camera, or my lack ok knowing how to use it!

Rocky Point

2008-07-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to make two trips to Rocky Point at the beginning of the summer this year. The first trip we took was with the my immediate family, the second was with Scott's extended family.

This is my family (minus brother-in-law Martin) in front of the house we stayed in at the beach. (Thanks Jim and Charmaine!) It was fun, especially since this is the first trip in a LONG time that it was (almost)just the immediate family.

This next picture was taken on our second trip during the traditional blowing up of innocent fruit. Kaylin loves to be part of the "big" kids activities! Hailey wanted to try it out this time, but decided it was still a little too scary. I mostly like that all of the "big" kids are running for dear life!

Hailey taught Lindsey how to jump in the water singing Jane of the Jungle like at swimming lessons.

Lindsey made herself a "potty" at the beach. Luckily, she didn't really know what she was doing yet! We did start potty training when we got home though!

The tide went in and out really far. When it came in, there was a sand bar that created a nice swimming hole for the kids to play in.

Hailey peeking through the tube. She had fun, but you never know if she is going to open up for the camera or hide from it!

This was probably one of the only times wehad the whole family in the water during both trips. It seemed like one of the kids was always needing to go back to the house or camp for something!

2008-06-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

2008-06-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here is our super lady-like daughter Kaylin.

This is our "sweet" Hailey, she may look harmless, but don't let her fool you! :)

And Lindsey....what you see is what you get!