Had some sitting time...

I know it shouldn't take getting a stomach bug that keeps me in the chair to sit down and update my blog, but I guess it did this time. We are staying so busy with everyday things around here. Life really is great!! We have so much to be grateful for, and I guess, in some ways having a stomach bug is even a blessing. ;) I am proud to tell you that Brinlee weighed in at a hefty 21 pounds this week in the doctor's office. I took her in because she was just really fussy, and now I know why because I have the bug, too. Again, a blessing that we found out she was gaining weight and didn't have an ear infection. Brice is doing his student teaching at Parkside Elementary in the 4th grade with Jocelyn Frame. He is LOVING it, and I am so glad!! He is now hunting for a job for next year. We really would like to find something close so we can stay in Powell, but we have decided that he should apply for all of the Wyoming positions and see where it takes us. Wyoming pays very well compared to the surrounding states, and there have been layoffs in Colorado that really make the job market around here competetive. We heard there were 160 applicants for two jobs in Powell!! Let us know if you hear of anything coming open in your neck of the woods. Kellon is doing really well in 1st grade. He is getting super excited for Grandparents Day next Thursday. All of the 1st graders host their grandparents for a day of fun and a musical presentation. Today he had career day at school and wasn't quite sure what he wanted to be. He came home and let me know he had decided...a CIA agent. I am not sure how I feel about that, but I don't want to discourage his dreams. :) Barrett is one of the smartest pre-K kids in town--literally. At least that is what the teacher told us at his kindergarten screening. She said he had the highest score all day, and he was very proud of that. Barrett has been going to CRC preschool. I think that he has enjoyed it a lot, and it has helped prepare him for being in all-day kindergarten next year. The girls and I will really miss him! Aubree is suffering with a stomach bug with me right now, but most days she is a happy, imaginative little princess/mommy. It is amazing to me how much she models what I do...a little scary. I try to be a good example because I want her to keep saying she wants to be a mommy just like me when she grows up. Brinlee is getting a little chubby, finally. She is talking a lot and loves to play outside. This week I taught her how to climb the ladder on her little slide all by herself. Now she wants to be outside constantly, but the weather has been cool and windy most days. I am so thankful that she has had a good, healthy winter. Other than her surgery to remove the scar tissue blocking the blood in her heart in December, she has not been in the hospital. I guess I should say a few words about what I have been up to...mostly playing house. ;) I have recently started going to a Zumba exercise class that a lady facilitates at the church three mornings a week. That has been fun and helps me feel a little healthier. Teecee and I have done a couple wedding cakes and some birthday cakes. You can see pictures of most of our stuff on our blog sisterssweets.blogspot.com. April is my month for sharing time in Primary, so if any of you have any ideas you are working on, let me know. This week I am really struggling with how to organize my thoughts on the Atonement. Of course, it is ward conference, too, so the stake primary will be watching my sharing time. I am trying not to stress out about not knowing what the next few months will bring as far as jobs or where we may end up.

This was our attempt at a self portrait a few nights ago.

Aubree is our little glamour girl.  She loves to go "swimming" in our family room.

Kellon baked and decorated his first cake with Teecee.  He was very excited about it. The writing is all of the kids' names in our family.  He even dictated which piece each of us could eat.

Brinlee is quite a "cheeser" when it comes to the camera.  The trick is taking the picture before she tries to grab the camera and look at the picture.

Barrett is such a handsome boy, especially with a big smile and funny hair.

A little Christmas Greeting for you all!

Digital greeting generated with Smilebox

Brinlee Hospital Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

My Loves of a Lifetime

I have been thinking a lot lately about how blessed we are as a family.  I have so many things to be grateful for, and each member in our family is one of those.  I thought I would post a picture or two of the loves of my life just to try to catch you all up.  We all know these posts are few and far between, and that probably is not going to change.  I really hope that you all keep up the great work at posting more often than me though because they are so fun to read. ;)

So Brinlee has been walking for about a month now.  In fact, she is almost running now.  I thought this clip really captured her skills as well as her great personality.

 The girls posing about a month and a half ago.  They have both been changing so fast.  Brinlee has gained 2.5 pounds since her birthday July 25.  She is a whopping 17 lb, 15 month old now.  Aubree is quite the girly girl.  She has to have some form of pink on everyday.  Just recently she has started wanting to wear her hair down.  I have been missing the pigtails.

 Aubree got a castle cake complete with a princess and crowns for her 3rd birthday. Notice the color theme once again (pink, pink, pink, or yeah and a little purple).

 Barrett was a cowboy for Halloween, but this outfit would be him most of the time anyway.  He loves roping and wearing his boots with his pants tucked inside of them.

 Yes, I know you are surprised, but Aubree was a princess for Halloween.  Kellon was a motorcross rider and Brinlee was the scowling cow.

 My brother, Brady got married Aug. 7, and these are a couple of pictures taken there.

Kellon loves taking care of Brinlee, and she likes it most of the time.  These pictures, however, don't reflect that very well.  You can see the oxygen cord in this one.  We were so happy when Brinlee was taken off that leash about a month after we came home from Denver (Aug. 30).  She really started getting mobile then.





I took some pictures of the kids at the beginning of August. It was hard to get babies to smile and big kids to stop smiling (cheesy) when Mom was the photographer, but we managed a few pretty good ones.



I was bad and took her oxygen off for a few pictures.

 

My first grader that is already chest high to his Mom.

Kellon is so grown up and loving 1st grade.  He is reading pretty much anything now and even silently.  I am sure that my kids are geniuses (in my unbiased opinion).

What a natural.

I told Barrett to picture himself giving Aubree a swirly to get this "real" smile.



Doesn't Brinlee looked thrilled to be there.



And last but not least, the greatest husband and dad ever.



 We have had a beautiful fall here with lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets that I have attempted to capture with my camera.  The leaves were also so pretty.

Heart Mountain at sunset









A beautiful autumn sunrise



The huge ash tree in our yard.

The same tree from underneath.





End in Sight

Just wanted to let you all know that the doctors are finally talking about the day we will go home.  If all of Brinlee's blood work and chest xrays look good tomorrow, we will be released to the Ronald McDonald House for the weekend.  Then we will have a post-op appointment Monday.  That means that there is starting to be a light at the end of the tunnel for us (and those that are taking care of our other kids :) ) Brinlee is really doing better.  She is starting to act like our smiley, fun-loving baby again.  We know that she is healthy enough to leave because she throws a fit everytime any healthcare worker (nurse, doctor or janitor) comes too close.

Lizzy and Angie are two of our CPCU nurses.  Brinlee was okay with them as long as she had her fuzzy.

Sporting her new hair flower I put together yesterday to match her outfit.

What else do we do at the hospital for entertainment?

"When can we go out there?"

Silly Daddy

Laughing is the best medicine.

The balloons from Grandpa and Grandma Barrett, Teecee, Kellon, Barrett and Aubree have been a fun toy.

Happy Birthday Barrett!

Barrett has been so anxious for this special day of the year since a week after his birthday last year.  He has asked me many times over the past year, "Mom, how many days until my birthday?"  I usually gave him a rough estimate and made sure he knew it was a long time.  Now look at how fast the time really has gone. We are so excited for Barrett to be a big five year old.  I can't hardly believe we have been blessed to have this special boy in our family for half a decade already. :)  I wish that I could be home to celebrate with him today, but he is going to get his daddy on his birthday--ssshhh its a surprise.  We had an "un-birthday" party for him the day before we left.

  We hoped that he would understand that we couldn't be with him today.  He was a great sport about it, but every once in a while he would say, "I am going to have my real birthday party at 9:30 at night so that Mommy and Daddy can make it because they are going to be in Denver."  We decided when Brinlee moved out of the ICU and was doing so much better that Brice should be his birthday present today.  Barrett is such a bright spot in our family.  He always gives really good loves and snuggles when we need them.  He is also a great friend to his brother and sisters, always willing to play spies with Kellon or house with the girls.  We love you so much Bert!!

Living separate lives

Right now our family is living two separate lives.  Brinlee, Brice and I are in Denver because Brinlee had her third heart surgery on Thursday.  We have been here since Monday, and it looks like we will be here at least a couple of weeks.  My cousin Marcie and most of her family have been in Denver this week, so we have met up with them a couple of times.  It is always fun to see Rocky and his girlfriend Tiffany since they live here in Denver while they are in physical therapy school.  Brice, Brinlee and I had a free day on Tuesday.  We decided to eat some Thai and Indian food and go to the zoo.  It was fun to have a carefree day before the real serious stuff started.

Brinlee has been holding her own since the surgery on Thursday.  It took 11 hours in the operating room, so she has taken some time just to get everything besides her heart functioning well again.  We miss her loves and smiles since she is sleeping under sedation all of the time right now, but she should be able to wake up in the next couple of days as she continues to heal and has more energy to spend on being awake.  In the meantime, I have actually have time to update my blogs and check my email.  I know you are all so surprised.  If you want to check out a couple of the most recent cakes Teecee and I have worked on, our new blog is sisterssweets.blogspot.com.

Kellon, Barrett and Aubree are staying with Grandpa and Grandma Barrett and Teecee right now.  They have been having fun picking strawberries--I think they are up to 8 gallons.  Also, they have helped wean lambs.  For the 4th of July Grandma, Grandpa and Teecee took the kids to the rodeo in Red Lodge yesterday and the parade in Cody today.  They are having so much fun!  It sounds like most of them crash in the afternoon because they are going from pretty early in the morning until later in the evening.  We are so grateful to them for taking care of the kids and everything at our house.  It definitely takes a load off of our mind to have that taken care of at home.