Christmas countdown

Hi everyone, I'm a little behind on my blogging. I thought I was going to be organized and not in a rush this year, but I was only dreaming.
Shane & Casey got us tickets to ride the train from Salt Lake to Nebraska, we are so excited!
I haven't begun to organize our stuff yet. We are going to Nick and Janine's on Christmas Eve. It will be so fun to see those little boys on Christmas morning. I don't think I've been away from home and not cooked for Christmas for years and years. Our train leaves about 4:30a.m. on the 26th . We get back into S.L.C. on Jan. 2. I'm sure it will be a wonderful holiday!

I went to see my research Dr. Friday. I practiced injecting myself in the stomach. (don't get nauseous Shane) it was only a small needle. I go back in about 2 weeks and will hopefully start on the new medication. I only have to give myself a shot once a week. My sugar level have been quite high and I'll feel alot better when they go down.

I still have sewing to do before tomorrow, so I'd better get busy. We love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day! May the spirit of Christ be in your homes and in your hearts.

Thanksgiving Memories

Sorry I've been so slow getting these Thanksgiving pictures out. It was so fun having family here for Thanksgiving! We had a really nice weekend, although it flew by way too fast. Tea' is such a little sweetheart, she loved hanging out with Uncle Ryan! We did a little Black Friday shopping, but didn't go out till about 6am.

Cody spent a good part of the weekend putting up my outside lights, fixing Jenny's pen, covering my windows with plastic, tightening the rail, replacing knobs, etc. Thanks so much for all your help Cody, you're awesome!

Nick, Janine, Gage and Reid came Saturday morning. It was so fun to have them with us. The boys are getting so big and cuter than ever. Grandma Medellin had dinner with us on Thursday and then came to see Nick's family on Saturday too. Tanae had 10 days off for her school break. We missed having more of the family here, but look forward to our summer vacation. Please plan ahead so we can all be together this year!

Look deeply into the group picture on the couch and see if you can Spy Sierra!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone, we're waiting for Tiff, Cody and Tea' to arrive. I thought I'd take a minute to update the blog and wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I've been thinking alot about my blessings this week. I had quite a list going on in my mind, but at the top of the list was family. I'm so grateful that my mom is still so healthy and we live close by her. I appreciate the love and support I get from my brothers. I'm so blessed to have 10 wonderful children whom I love, appreciate, and admire so much. I still chuckle sometimes when I think back to when I was so young, with a house full of small children. It really is a wonder we all survived! We've had a lot of stuggles over the years, but we've grown closer as a family. Thank you for always being there for me, and good job picking such awesome mates. I love you all!

To sing or not to sing

Another week has gone by already. Tanae came down from Rexburg. Her phone starts buzzing the moment she pulls into town, so we don't get to spend much time with her.:) I also picked Grandma Medellin up and brought her over for a visit. We had a fun time running errands and went to see a movie. She's doing well, still feisty!

I was aghast when my next door neighbor put her Christmas reindeer and Snowman on the front lawn a week before Halloween! Oddly enough, this week I have begun to hum Christmas songs. It takes all the will power I can muster not to break out in full Christmas song. Tina thinks we should by-pass Christmas this year, so my early holiday cheer is annoying her! I'm trying to hold off until after Thanksgiving, but I've never been very patient. The best cherry chocolates, are the ones I open 2 weeks before Christmas and then rewrap on Christmas Eve.) I have agreed to wait till December to have my movie marathon of all the Christmas movies I have. I know the kids can hardly wait!!

Halloween 2008

We had a pretty laid back Halloween this year. Sierra spent the night at a friends, Ryan dressed up as Darth Vader and we went to the Mall first. There were some pretty long lines there, but it went fast. We got to see lots of kids in really cute costumes, which I really enjoyed. Ryan wasn't too impressed till he saw a couple of guys working in one of the stores, dressed up as Obeone and Chewbacca(I have no idea how to spell their names, but you get the idea) then he got very excited! Unfortunately I'd forgotten my camera, so I couldn't take a group picture. Later we did a few rounds in our neighborhood, came home, made popcorn and watched a movie. Ryan sure misses having Shane & Casey's kids close by!

Brace Face

As you can see Ryan got his braces put on Tuesday. He did really well. He was pretty excited about his orange and blue rubber bands! His mouth has been quite sore the last few days and he is having trouble eating anything hard. I bought him some snack pack chocolate puddings today so he could have something soft for his school lunches. When I got home from an errand I found a huge bowl in the sink. Ryan had poured two of the pudding cups in the bowl and then added about a cup of cool whip. Braces or not, I don't think the boy will starve!

FYI- I did make it into the research study! I won't actually get to start on the new medication till mid December . Last week the Dr. took me off another medication, so now I am only taking a thousand milligrams of Metformin, twice a day. Unfortunately my sugars are running consistently high with only the Metformin. I'm trying to watch my diet and get more exercise to keep the blood sugars down. Tina bought me a great book called "The Natural Solution to Diabetes." It's full of great information. I'll update after my next appointment.

Braces

Ryan and I went on familyfun.com and made these cool Halloween characters out of milk jugs. I'm not sure what we did all week, but it sure has flown by. I can't believe it's almost Halloween already! I'm not sure if I told you, Ryan will be getting braces on the 28 of October, that's right, just 2 days before Halloween! He's being quite the martyr. The girls and I have generously offered to eat his candy for him:) He was not amused:( For those of my children who are aghast that their 10 year old brother is already getting braces, be assured it is out of necessity, not vanity. Ryan has already had 8 teeth pulled to try and make room, but unfortunately he still has teeth sideways that don't have room to come in. It's either braces or surgery. He will actually have to wear braces twice. We have just begun phase 1. He got his spacers put in last Tuesday and all went pretty well.

Friday Tina and I went to Idaho Falls so I could go to my first Diabetic research trial appointment. It consisted of about an hour and a half of paperwork, bloodwork, EKG, etc. I go back again this Friday to find out all the results and see if I qualify to be in the program. The Doctor seemed pretty optomistic, so hopefully it will be a GO! Tanae met us for lunch and a little shopping. I'm so glad she's close, we had a fun visit!

Sierra has been invited to be a member of the National Honor Society! She has worked really hard to have good grades in High School and it's paying off. I'm really proud of her efforts.

We woke up to about an inch of snow on Saturday morning. It melted away pretty quickly though. On Sunday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. It was so beautiful! All the trees still have leaves and fruit on them and now they were loaded down with snow! I think we had about four inches. It was perfect snowman snow and Ryan had a great time playing outside. As you can see he's not wearing his winter coat, because of course he left that and his sweatshirt at school last week, kids!!!

down with yoga

Joy and John Swapp came through Pocatello Monday on their way to see their family in Utah. We had a nice lunch at Butterburrs and got to visit for a little bit. Grandma and Grandpa Youd were there too, also Dean Andrus, and John's cousin Madeline and her husband. It was really nice to see everyone. Joy said Holly and Jared are expecting a baby girl in November.

The kids had school off last Thursday and Friday and Ryan has Thursday and Friday this week off too. My Pre-school follows the district schedule so I got to sleep in late today. Our Fall weather has come on quickly. Aunt Lori's brother Tim came and took out my air conditioners yesterday, just in time!

I will start my research trial study for my diabetes next Friday. I'm still going to my water aerobics class on Mondays. I really like it, it's 45 minutes of continual exercise and I think it's making a difference already. I've lost 2 1/2 inches so far! I push really hard because I don't want those old ladies to out do me :) I also started going to a yoga class on Fridays. I thought it was going to be a lot of relaxing on mats and swaying to soft music and finding my inner peace, Hah! It was an exhausting 50 minute workout. My body is rebelling and refuses to comply! I was so stiff the next day! No, I'm not giving up, I have another yoga class tomorrow.

Rock Climbing Wall

These are some of the pictures of the Young Men's group building a rock climbing wall on the south side of my play toy. It turned out great and my pre-schoolers are having a fun time. I had to lay down the rule that they must climb back down instead of climbing over the bar, I was afraid one of them would fall. Ryan and his friends climb over the bar all the time and it works fine. It was really nice of them to do this project. I bought the supplies and provided brownies and rootbeer floats and they dug the post holes, poured in cement, sanded the board, stained it, and bolted everything in. It's wonderful to have church youth groups that need service projects!

Tanae came and spent the weekend with us. It was fun to see her, but time flew way too fast. It's sure nice that she's only an hour and a half away. She looks great and is loving BYU-I.

I went to my Diabetes Dr. in Idaho Falls this week and it looks like I will be able to get in a research study they're having . It will involve taking 1 shot once a week, instead of one of my medications. They've had a lot of positive results lowering blood sugars, as well as weight loss. They also cover all the diabetic expense while I'm in the study. I'm excited to get started, probably next week. I'll let you know about my progress.

Mom's update

Hi everyone, Sierra showed me how to get on the blog so I can update it. Sorry to be such a computer baby:)
The kids have been going to school for a month now and things are going pretty well. Neither Ryan nor Sierra are crazy about school, but they're both working hard and getting good grades. Tina also made it on the Dean's list for classes at ISU this summer-Great Job! We got Tanae off to college at BYU Idaho 2 weeks ago too. I did take pictures, but of course they're in Tanae's camera in Rexburg! Her apartment is in Birch Plaza. It was really nice, with 3 bedrooms, 2 girls in each room. I met 2 of the girls and they seem really nice. Tanae says all of her roommates are nice and they get along great. We miss not having her home, but I think it will be a wonderful experience for her!
I started my Pre-school on sept. 2, I have 6 little boys on Tues.,Wed, and Thurs., I also have 2 girls that come with them on Tues., and Wed., only. I am really enjoying my class so far. They have a lot of energy and really keep me on my toes!
Ryan earned his Bear badge at pack meeting this week. He is now officially a Webelos Scout. He was pretty proud and excited to earn more badges. I am currently experiencing camera problems, so hopefully we'll get pictures on future blogs.

Believe it or not we had a yard sale this Saturday! Mom hates having yard sales you say! I Do, but I let Ryan talk me into it this summer. We have been trying to downsize his old toy collection, without much progress, I must add, and getting money for his castoffs was the only thing that brought a sparkle to his eye! However procrastinator that I am, Summer is gone and Fall is here. I courageously put up my yard sale signs Fri. and warned Tina and Sierra that I needed them up at 7am. to haul tables and Stuff out to the front yard at which point they exclaimed "you're really having a yard sale!" Ryan is sooo excited he can hardley sleep Fri. nite. I am sooo exhausted I can hardley sleep Fri. nite.
We both wake up Sat. morning at 4am to the sound of lightening and thunder, of course! We haven't had a good rain here in months, today it pours. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad, but I had put way too much work into this to put it off , so we shoved things around in the garage and had a Garage sale instead. Did I mention that all of my posterboard signs were a soaking mess. Ryan put a couple of new ones out at the end of the streets and prayed for the rain to stop. The Lord really does listen to little children. The rain subsided promptly at 8am and only came on intermittently throughout the day.
Ryan sold Monster cookies, (which were a big hit) and hot chocolate. He was also able to sell his golf cart frame, which Shane had gotten to make him a go-kart. Since our best helper and fix it man has moved, the chances of getting that project done were bleak. We looked on line and found a cool Electric Razor Go-Kart for $229. Ryan is thinking he'll put his earnings in savings and try to order one.
All in all the day went pretty well, we of course had plenty of stuff left, but sold about $180. worth. I was happy to get rid of a twin bed and mattress that was taking up space and a guy is even coming to haul off Tanae's broken basketball hoop! Our yard sale was scheduled from 8-2. At precisely five to two the windows of Heaven opened up and dumped buckets on Ryan as he was picking up signs on his bike:) He had a great time riding around in the rain. (I hope he remembered to say a thank you prayer.) By the way 80% of our customers told Ryan he should be a salesman when he grows up!!

pioneer trek

Oh dont i look soooo...pioneerish?! Tina and Mom cooed and admired while sierra gagged and laughed in the background. I did feel slightly ridiculous in my outfit, not because of its appearance but because of its restrictions! Hiking and pushing a handcart in the heat of the day with a dress is no picnic. However it greatly increased my appreciation for the pioneers, particularly the pioneer women.

Last month my homeward went on a trek and again, while it had its restrictions, it was a blast! You dont realize how much you miss everyday things until they're gone. The leaders tried doing as little as possible and followed the stories of who we were representing fairly close. The "men" were sent to wahandcarts. i must admit, i secretly hoped my i would be allowed to "die" so i could walk the rest of the trail, but as the day went on you could see how greatly deprived each cart was of support. where 4 to 5 should have been there was now 2 or 3. I told you most of the challenging parts, but these r on call of the government and the prophet, leaving us, the woman to climb a treacherous hill alone representing 'Rocky Ridge'. Which was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, and it was no where near the real thing. our second morning we were given rations...two biscuits for the whole of the day, and on the third day the burying of the dead. All of the youth were given characters and those who died along the trail were asked to walk behind the were the things that made an impression on my testimony, and that expounded my gratitude for the pioneers. I am so grateful for our ancestors who had such astounding faith.

Last Monday I took Jenny to Petco for a Spa Day aka a wash and a haircut which were badly needed. Instead of a furry bear she looks like a cute little dog now and much smaller. It turns out she wasn't HUGE just fluffy. And she even got pretty purple bows to top it off but I think I liked the bows more then she did. Here's the results.
-Sierra

We were really glad that Megan, Sondra, and Makenzie were able to stop by and visit us for a couple of days on their way to Rexburg. It was really fun to catch up on what everyone has been doing and hear about Sondra's ancestry. It felt like we still lived close by.

Ryan has learned a new skill this month, "whistling". He whistles all the time! I don't think he even realizes it. It sounded very cheerful at first, but now I find myself lovingly asking him to please stop!!! Just a warning before the reunion :)

Mom's hidden talent

Hey everyone! I was just putting my pictures on the computer and remembered this video I made not to long ago. It was kinda a slow day and Ryan and I were kinda bored so when my camera is close by this is what you get. However, I want you to notice mom when she comes in and listen carefully! It's great! Hope you are all doing well! love ya!
Tanae

4th of July

We had a nice 4th of July weekend. Aunt Janel, Megan, & Mateas, came to stay with us on Thurs, Fri., and Sat. We had kind of a low key weekend. We went to see Wall-E, had a nice barbeque, and then went and watched the fireworks. They shoot the fireworks at the fairgrounds here. We found a nice spot to spread our blanket out at the High school nearby. It was a great show. I love to see the beautiful colors falling above me. I know a lot of people are discouraged with our country, but as soon as they start playing the song, "I'm Proud To Be An American," with the sky ablaze with colors, my heart swells and the tears begin to fall! I really am proud to be an American, and I'm so thankful for all the blessings and opportunities that we have. We got back home about 11pm and of course Ryan was all excited to shoot off his fireworks. I really missed Shane and Brock, It's so much more fun and exciting to watch them light off the tanks and cones than to do it myself! I managed to get through about 3/4 of them before I got frustrated, then we went inside, had smores, and called it a night. All in all a good day!
I also went to my diabetes Dr. about a week ago. He switched my medication a bit and they did my blood work. My HgbA1c should be below 6. The last time I tested it was at 9.5, not good! This time it was at 7.3, getting better, but I know I need to work harder!

Yippee! Tina finally made it through her summer English and Speech classes. She has been so busy with work at the physical therapy office, school and homework, and giving massages at a spa on Saturdays. She also set it up with her boss so I come in and get physical therapy on my frozen shoulder three days a week. She clocks out and helps me with my exercises and ultrasound on my shoulder, then the P.T. comes and tries to rip my arm off.(slight exaggeration)
My arm does seem to be getting a little better.

Tanae's update

hey everyone, this is Tanae. Mom asked me to update everyone on how my summer festival went...but before i do that here's a video of Ryan using his marshmellow gun he made at camp.

So two weeks ago i went to a summer fest at BYU to play the violin and it was awesome! To sum it up, summer fest is equivalent to EFY, only for youth who play and wish to improve their skills on an instrument. They had the hugest symphonies and orchestras, and every instrument you can think of. It was amazing to see all the talent, and work with all the music professors. I had a ton of fun learning, meeting new friends, and improving my talent. As much as i love playing the violin...another thing that this camp taught me is that musicians are CRAZY! Hardcore crazy! 7hrs of practice a day at least and no social life... ok not all of them were like that, but all the professional ones at least. I'm glad to say i find a happy balance and am content in merely enjoying the music and improving my skills.

My roommate Dawnie-funniest girl ever

























My fellow musicians and oue air trio.Michael from Korea who plays a wicked air violin, and Hans on the drums











Alex and me at camp, we were official swing dance champions for the week at BYU.












I'm still working on my violin solo from camp, but I'm planning on putting it on the blog shortly.

Camp Week

Not too much has been going on this week, just the usual cleaning, yard work, and running kids around. Last Friday Ryan got back from three days at 4-H camp. It was held at Camp Alpine in Wyoming. He had a great time! It was really hot during the day and really cold at night! His least favorite part was the mosquitoes! He came back with a lot of bites, including a huge one on the side of his head. (Yes, I did send him with a full can of bug spray.) Before he went to bed on Friday night he very seriously told me that he was pretty sure he had contracted " Mad Cow Disease" from the mosquitoes! I had to promise him he would be fine before he could go to sleep.

Tanae was also gone to BYU Provo for a week long music camp. Hopefully she'll fill you in on that when she gets time.

Father's Day

I just wanted to wish all of my sons a Happy Father's Day. I am so proud of Shane, Kurt, Brock, Big Cody, Nick, and Little Cody. You are all such great dads and I really appreciate how you are raising my cute grandchildren.Thank you! I always think of the Fishy poem on Father's Day.
Fishy fishy in the brook
Daddy caught him with a hook
Mommy fried him in a pan
And baby ate him like a man

Hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day!

Tina and I drove Tanae and her "friend" Alex to Provo for a week long music camp at BYU today. We got to stop and see Nick and Janine and the boys for a couple of hours. They are growing so big and so cute! It will be so fun to see all these kids together at the reunion.
Love to all
Mom

Sierras 15th Birthday

Time seems to be flying right now! Everything has come and gone, prom, my graduation, and Sierra's birthday which was 3 days ago. She got a tripod from Mom and Ry, a jacket from Tina, a hello kitty tooth brush from Tea', and an itunes card from Tiff. I also got her her own eyeliner so she no longer needs to conveniently borrow mine. Tea' really enjoyed wrapping (or as she says, waaaping) presents and singing happy birthday. Sierra loved the hellokitty toothbrush she gave her.

We have a Blog!

So many exciting things going on this week. Cody and Joanne had Jack and we are all so excited checking the blog every hour. :) Tiffany and Tea' are visiting for Tanae's graduation, we're enjoying having them here. Sierra's 15th birthday is today (we will make an additional post for all her pictures later on) and Tanae had her Prom and Graduation! Here are some high-lights.

Hey everybody! This is Tanae. I just wanted to thank you all for the laptop, I am so excited! I really appreciate you all chipping in, I love it. Tiffany recorded me opening it, so now you all get to see the expression on my face as if you were actually there.