Missing Teeth

Brandt is a normal little kid when it comes to losing teeth-he thinks it's great and I think it's so dang cute!!  He has now lost his bottom 2 front ones as well as both top front ones.  Once they are loose, he wiggles them for days until they are so loose they are barely hanging on and he can turn them almost completely around.  His right front one was dangling for a couple days until papa Lloyd finally talked him into letting him pull it.  The left front one is the one he lost today and I was the one who ended up knocking it out-on accident.  It was dangling by a thread as well.  While we were goofing around when I got home from work, I bumped his mouth with my arm and out it popped!  He thought that was hilarious!  He has finally decided that it's a good thing to put his teeth under his pillow for the tooth fairy, but he always makes sure to leave a note requesting to keep his lost teeth as treasures.  So far, his tooth fairy has been very kind that way, which is something we appreciate!  :)

Bridger's Miracle

• I am often amazed at the miracles that surround me every day.  Some are small and easy to miss if I'm not paying attention.  Others are too obvious to ignore or deny.  Bridger's miracle is one that was witnessed by many and has touched many more throughout our whole community as his story spreads.  Here's my take on it (from the beginning of course...):
    Last night my kids and I had a sleepover with my sis-in-law, Maleri, and her two youngest kids at their house.  This morning started out as a typical Saturday morning with Brandt waking up at a little after 6 am (despite finally crashing for the night at like 2:30 am) just as Mal and I were finally heading to bed after talking all night.  He was so proud of himself for spending the night and not being too scared.  Since we were both exhausted, we set buddy up on the couch with some cartoons while Mal headed up to get a little sleep and while I took a little nap on the couch-at least that was the plan.  Of course, it doesn't usually work that way with Brandt; it lasted a few short minutes and then he was doing things like going through all their kitchen cupboards and trying to go outside to play.  He went up and woke up Jolie and then before 7 am they were both out riding their bikes in their jammies-in the middle of Paris and not very quietly I might add. A few hours later I got my kids ready  to head to Montpelier to watch the High School softball team play in order to watch Mariah and Sammi (and all the other Lady Bears we love).  Jolie had made arrangements ahead of time to go with us and then at the last minute Bridger decided he wanted to go, too.  I didn't mind taking them at all because Bridger and Jolie are 100 times easier to keep track of than my own two and I knew that with the Hillier's being there I would have some help.  About an hour into the games Jo came running over to get me to come help Bridger who had fallen off the bottom bleacher face first onto the pavement while they were playing.  He had a little hole in his forehead that was bleeding as well as a scraped up and bruised up nose.  Lisa Hillier helped me get him cleaned up and we decided a band aid and pressure to get it to stop bleeding would be good enough to take care of it and that he didn't need stitches.  After we got him calmed down he was off and running with the other kids again.  The varsity girls had already mercy-ruled their game against Malad and the JV was now playing.  I was having a great time cheering for the girls and enjoying some sunshine while the kids were all playing on the boys' diamond behind us.  At one point Kylie and Bridger took off and ended up going behind the home-run fence where the girls were playing.  I went and got after them for being over there and told them how bad they would get hurt if a ball came that way and hit them.  Back they went to playing and back I went to cheering.  Pretty soon one of Malad's hardest hitters got up to bat.  In a previous inning she had smacked it to the fence.  This time she hit a deadly line drive that was fouled to the left.  The dugout was blocking my view of where it landed, but it sounded like it had hit the cement footing for the lights. Within seconds people were shouting to me that it had hit Bridger.  My heart dropped! When I got to him an RN from our hospital, Andrea Woolstenhulme, was with him and told me it had hit him in the back of the head.  I was confused about that because I could see that above his right ear was already puffed out and bruising, but when we looked at the back of his head there was also a lump and mark that had started at the base of his skull. I later found out from those who could see it that the ball had hit him on the side of his head, then hit the cement pillar behind him, and then ricocheted back hitting him for a second time on the back of his head. He was given a blessing by Jared Hillier with help from Jeff Forsberg (who is also an EMT who was on the scene) before the ambulance got there and was told that he would recover and soon be running around like the happy little boy he normally is.  It was such a comfort to me to be able to look up and quickly find someone who I knew honored his priesthood and could help out with such an important and urgent thing.  One of the coaches from the other team had consecrated oil in his car and was able to offer it to us. The crowd and teams from here and Malad stood around watching and waiting to see if he would be ok and I'm sure there were prayers being sent heavenward from every person there. The feeling of reverence and comfort was palpable and amazing! It was the longest wait ever for the ambulance, but I felt a calmness that I've only felt a few other times in my life. It was such an awesome experience to see so many people coming together in whatever way they could to help.  There were EMTs from the crowds of both teams who offered help; one funny side note is that each of them asked about his oxygen when they first got there and I couldn't figure out why they were worried about it because it seemed fine.  Finally one of them said, did he eat a blue popsicle? That's when it dawned on me-he'd had a blue sucker earlier and around his lips looked blue.  I hadn't even thought about it because I'd already seen him running around earlier with blue lips.  My kids and Jolie were completely taken care of by the Hilliers and some of the other girls from the softball teams, one of whom had a little house dog that she let them all play with on one of the other fields, so the kids didn't even realize how serious the situation was and even Brandt wasn't freaking out and worrying about it.  Jolie was a hero when she was able to tell us her mom's phone number-I didn't have my cell phone with me and didn't know it off the top of my head.  Mal, Quinn, and Allee happened to be in town already because they had decided to take a load to the dump on a whim.  We got a hold of them seconds before they would have lost cell service and they were able to get there before the ambulance did. When they arrived the EMT from Malad who was helping us recognized Maleri and that's when I clued in that they had been in the same ward when Quinn and Mal lived in Malad before; she was able to have someone contact the Swopes so that Mal didn't have to try to call them and could just tend to her son. Bridger was crying and asking for his mom the whole time, but he was calm considering what had happened and the kind of pain he should have been feeling. My friend Shannon and her daughter Brynn met us at the hospital and took care of all the rest of the kids so that I could be back in the ER with Quinn, Mal, and Bridger.  The ladies at the front desk at the hospital arranged for activities for the kids as well as some snacks and juice from the kitchen for them. After being told at the hospital that Bridger's CT was clear of any fractures or bleeds, he was lifted up off the backboard, and there wasn't even a visible lump or any kind of red mark or bruising anymore-well, other than on his forehead and nose where he had face planted earlier. They did see a small congenital problem in his neck on the CT, though, and now they will be able to get it further evaluated and treated before it causes him problems later in life.  Within minutes of leaving the ER and only a couple of hours following the injury, he was running around playing with his sisters and my kids and acted as if nothing had even happened-just as he was promised in his blessing. I can't describe the feelings that were in my heart at that moment and throughout the rest of the day other than to say it was a spiritual high greater than almost any other I've experienced before.  There were so many people who played a part in helping and so many things that seemed to come together by chance that there is no doubt that every detail was a blessing and orchestrated by a Heavenly Father who loves that little boy and all of us who were blessed to witness his miracle.  I hope that those who saw and heard about what happened were touched in a way that they'll always remember it and recognize that it was the handiwork of a God who loves His children.
  

  

  
  
  
  

My Little Princess and her Tutu

My sis, Kelli, made each of the girls (Kenzie, Manda, and Kylie) a tutu for their birthdays this spring, and they LOVE them!  Kylie asks to wear her "beautiful tutu" often and loves twirling and leaping like a little ballerina in it.  She told us that Aunt Kelli needs to make a way huger one for her daddy to wear so he can dance with her to which Kelli said, "just have him pick the colors and I'd be happy to!"

Idaho Falls April 19-20th, 2013

Brandt was long overdue for his Dr. Denagy (psychiatrist) appointment in Idaho Falls and he's been having some pretty big behavior issues at school and home, so we decided we'd better get up there.  He is a great MD and we usually find our visits with him helpful, it's just hard to take the time to get away and do it.  The kids love going because we usually try to make it a fun family outing by getting a hotel room and spending the night.  They love playing in the pool and hot tub and ordering pizza in afterward.  We had hoped to go to the zoo as well, but it was pouring rain, so we opted to just go to the visitor's center at the IF temple, which the kids also loved.  There were actually a few moments of no rain when we were able to snap a couple quick pics outside.  Then we took them to Pet Smart, where they had a great time-that's sort of like a trip to the zoo, right??

 

Silliness at Grandma Granny's

 This was a pretty typical night of craziness at my mom's when I stopped to get the kids after work.  Brandt and Kylie were playing with the house dog, Keyla, and things were a little wild.  I swear that little dog needs ritalin as much as buddy does!  I REALLY don't like it when dogs lick me, but my kids think it's the best to get doggie kisses.  They especially like getting them and then trying to kiss all of us with their yucky dog lips.

Easter 2013 Part 3 (the finale)

We had Easter at my mom and dad's a week later.  Unfortunately Kelli and Kevin and kids weren't able to come, but my two and Amanda had a great time.  It was a little colder than the week before (actually a LOT colder) but we were prepared with warm clothes and they loved the Easter egg hunt anyway.  Each child looks for a certain color egg (Brandt orange, Kylie yellow, etc) so that they can each be spoiled equally with all the fun stuff grandma puts inside.

We all had fun trying out the homemade balloon yo-yo's my mom made; I think my dad set the record for how many in a row could be done-who says you have to have slow reflexes just because you're getting old?