Happy birthday, Grandma! May 29, 2012

My Grandma Pugmire would have been 82 this year.  There are days when I miss her so much, but then I remember how miserable she's been the past few years, and I'm happy for her to be where she is now.  Sadness hits me just out of the blue sometimes when I think of something.  Like the other day it was really windy and I thought about the scarf she always put over her hair to go outside.  Or when I looked at my own dry hands earlier today and thought about how soft her hands always were and how she loved her baby magic lotion. She always complained about the veins on her hands sticking out, which is just what mine do. Her hands are one of my last good memories of her because they seemed unchanged even at the end-baby magic soft. The thing I hold on to the most, though, is how much she always loved me and supported me no matter what.  She was always so happy to hear about what was going on in my life-especially when it came to my kids. Lately Brandt has talked about great grandpa and great grandma a lot, often crying and saying how much he misses them.  We just have to keep remembering the good stuff and know that they are happy now.  We had a family Luau for her 80th birthday 2 years ago and it was the best day. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day. 

Brandt's birthday-phases 3 and 4 :)

Bryce and Brandt decorating his first Monster truck birthday cake for the Thompson party

Brandt learned how to make paper bag pinatas in preschool, so we made a big one for him to fill and take to his birthday parties with the cousins.

Monster truck birthday cake #2 for his party at the Pugmire's.

I love this one of Brandt looking up at his dad

I still can't believe he's 5!

Pretty excited about the monster truck from Curtis and Kelly

Carrying her pinata loot in her shirt.

Buddy had so much fun at both of his parties.  I don't think the highlight for him was the presents, but instead being able to show off his cakes that he helped with and then breaking the pinatas he made with his cousins.

Idaho Falls trip for Brandt's birthday- 5/5/12

Brandt's birthday, phase 2.  The museum in Idaho Falls had A T-Rex Named Sue on display along with a whole bunch of other dinos and the regular Idaho history stuff, so we took the kids.  It was the first time there for all of us and a lot of fun.

Sue-I couldn't get the kids to hold still long enough to get a pic with her for anything!

Their favorite part was the kids' play rooms where they could dress up and play in caves, a teepee, and a litte log cabin.

Then it was off to the IF temple. When we first pulled up there were no cars there (later found out it was closed because of regional conference the next day) and buddy started crying.  Thankfully, the visitor center was still open so then life was good again.

The kids loved the Christus!  I love how in this picture our family is encompassed by both of His hands, reminding us that we are always encompassed by our Savior's love.  I believe there are miracles all around us everyday; we just have to pay attention to them.  Well, our miracle for this special day for Brandt was the calmness and peace we had at the temple. One thing we've learned about Brandt with his ADHD is that the more chaotic a situation the more he tends to "short out".  At the museum there were a ton of people and things to see.  He couldn't calm down to look at hardly anything and just kept moving from thing to thing saying "let's go."  He did have fun in the play room, but he still was a little unsettled.  On the other hand, he couldn't get enough of the visitor's center at the temple.  It was calm and quiet, and he didn't want to leave.  He sat for long periods of time staring at the statue of Christ, watching the testimonies of the apostles, and watching the mormon ad movies.  I hope he can learn to recognize the peace that the gospel can offer so that he can know how to calm the chaos in his life as he gets older and there are greater consequences for "shorting out".  I'm so happy that we got to have this experience together and that the kids keep asking to return.

Kylie's birthday pics- March 2012

I just realized that I never posted pictures of Kylie's birthday parties.  So, here are a few...

So sad this one was blurry!  She loved her balloons and would have been happy just with that.

She also LOVED her stroller!  Who knew that one item could provide so many hours of entertainment!

Curious George-Kylie's favorite.  Just one of the many things her brother has taught her...

 Pictured with the decorator himself, her daddy!

And then my camera died and I didn't have the charger; so sad :(

Happy 5th birthday, Brandt! May 4, 2012

Brandt's birthday party-phase 1

We celebrated Brandt's birthday for about a week; first a mini-party on the 4th, then a trip to IF to the temple and museum the next day, then a party with the Thompson's, then a party with the Pugmire's the next weekend.  These are a few shots from his actual birthday...

Yay! The fishing pole he's been asking for!  His favorite bedtime story is about when I was a younger and got to go fishing with the California cousin's when Eddie and Sharon would come and stay in Lewiston every summer.  Highlights for him are when we would go out and collect night crawlers the night before and then when we would put fish in the water trough.



And a tackle box from grandma wanny and papa Lloyd

 

Brandt's favorite: cheesy sticks from Studebaker's

Pin the tail on the donkey-apparently he didn't think he needed clothes on for this portion of the party.  LOL

Even papa and grandma were good sports and got in on the action

Wow, Kylie, right on target!  Although, not sure how much good that blindfold is doing on your mouth. :)

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone and my little buddy is already 5! He's been so excited cause "5 yr old tids (kids) get to go to tindergarten!" We've had to do some talking to convince him that he still has to finish out preschool this year and then wait for fall to go to kindergarten. He's also been excited for 5 because he's positive that 5 yr olds are big enough to go inside the temple. He's such a little turkey a lot of the time, but then there are the moments when he says sweet innocent things like that and he just melts my heart. He is so full of life all the time and there is never a dull moment around our house, especially now that Kylie joins in on his antics. He is becoming quite the protective big brother and tries to keep her safe when she does things like escape outside and runs for the road and I love it. I hope it stays that way when she hits dating age! He is still pretty rough and tough but has shown a lot softer and more shy side lately. I still think he's the smartest kid his age, of course, and am excited to see how he does in school next year. He continues to love books and art and puzzles. He is also pretty hooked on anything electronic these days-the kindle, leapster, games on movies and our phones, etc., an addiction that we are desperately trying to temper. In fact, the other night he burst out crying because he's afraid that there won't be any video games in Heaven! He loves to spend time with friends, especially his cousins. He begs to have sleepovers at grandma wanny's (granny's, aka grandma Ellen) and it makes me so thankful that he can have a similar childhood to what I enjoyed growing up close to my grandparents and spending a ton of time with them. My favorite thing about Brandt is his testimony. He knows he's a child of God and he has no doubt that his prayers are heard. Lately he's been "creative" with his prayers, often doing things like singing them (usually to the tune of "Praise to the Man") or saying them as fast as he can in a silly voice. Recently when I was explaining to him that he should slow down and say them nicely, he countered with, "mom, Heavenly Father knows it's me, Brandt, no matter how I say them." How right you are, buddy! He often talks about those who have passed on, especially my grandparents, and he knows that they are in Heaven and he'll see them again one day. He worries about all the members of our family and if we are all doing what we need to in order to be worthy to go to the temple because he wants us to be a family forever. Oh, how I hope that he will always keep that childlike faith. 

 I love you, Brandt buddy!  You are the first miracle to come to our little family and you make me so happy (crazy, too, but mostly happy!)

Brandt's Blessing and Impromptu Vacation

At the end of April I took a couple days off work and headed to Provo with my sis, Jana, and Jane Hillier for BYU Women's conference.  It was hard to take time out and leave my kids in order to go, but by the first session I was so thankful I had.  It was amazing!!! On Thursday I attended classes on testimony (June Marie Saxton was one of the presenters), on teaching children to have joy in working, and on finding safety in keeping sacred covenants.  As we were leaving the closing session that first day, I got a phone call from home letting me know that Brandt had an abcessed tooth and was miserable.  What a hard thing to be so far away knowing that I was who he wanted to cuddle him.  In my absence a small miracle occurred.  Bryce had Jordan Jensen come over and help him give Brandt a blessing.  My mom later told me that Bryce blessed him to be able to be comforted and sleep and also that he would be willing to let the dentist look in his mouth and take care of the problem (we don't have a very good track record with Brandt and the dentist.  I've taken him 4 times in the past few months just for one little cavity and he absolutely refuses to let them fill it.)  Well, soon he was running around and playing again and then he slept through the night.  For anyone who knows what it's like to have a toothache, that's a pretty big blessing.  The next day Dr. Weston attempted to help, but Brandt again refused to let him even look.  So, we were pretty bummed.  I finished out the day at Women's conference and attended classes on creating safe and stress-free environments for our children and on bridging the differences in marriage.  I know without a doubt that I was meant to be there and attend every class we went to.  It was such a spiritual boost!  So, back to the toothache.... we kept giving Brandt motrin and amox. through the weekend and then we were able to get him in for a consult with Dr. Doug, a pediatric dentist in Logan, on Monday, April 30th.  That is the most awesome office out there!  They were so great with my kids and Brandt let him look in his mouth without a fight!  We stayed over in a hotel that night and then took him in the next morning to have x-rays and some work done under sedation.  They found 5 teeth that needed work and caps; 3 of them were right in the nerve and would have caused some big issues soon.  We had only known about 1 of them because they couldn't be seen from the surface.  So, I guess you could say that that toothache was a blessing.

Ready to hit the pool at the hotel

Gotta love dollar store goggles!

Dr. Doug's office-so fun!