Stephen graduated...

It was a process, but Stephen made it. It came down to the very last week to almost the last day. Stephen had a F in English, but was able to pull it up to a D- so that he could graduate. I was going crazy because we had family coming and had reserved a luncheon for him. I was almost afraid that I was going to have to make some phone calls. It was such a relief that I didn't have to do that. It was kind of an emotional day for me. I first met Stephen when he was in 5th grade and have seen him grow into such a great young man. Times have been rough along the way, but I am so proud of him and hope that he continues to choose good in his life. We don't know if he is going to continue on to college, go on a mission or even get a job. We will just have to wait and see what he decides to do, but I do know that there are great things in-store for him.


We love you Stephen and are so very proud of you!

Stephen's grandpa and mom

Grandma Patrice

My parents

Ellie Bug's 1st Birthday

Can you believe my baby is 1. Where did a year go?!?!? She is a joy to have in our family and I can't imagine our lives without her. Sure glad we have her.


Ellie is now walking. She started about 10 months, but never fully just walked until 11 months. She thought she was still faster at crawling. She also has 4 teeth. Got those just after she turned 9 months. She weighs a whopping 21 lbs and is almost 30 inches tall. She is going to be a tall girl. Maybe should get her into basketball or volleyball.


Here are some pictures of the party we had for her;





Ellie's little friend Taytum. They are the same age.

Graduation and Vacation

YAY! Shane graduated. Shane is now finished with his RN. Two years of school are finished. What a great day it was. We also found out that Shane was accepted into the BSN program. This will give him his bachelor's degree in nursing. It is only 3 semesters and online. He only needs to go to class every 6 weeks. I think we can handle 3 semesters. That seems like nothing compared to the last two years. Graduation was on the 22nd of April. That night we headed down to St George to start our vacation. I had this planned since December. We were making our way to San Diego for a week. We stopped in St George to break up the drive. Yes, we drove because airfare was a little much for all of us. I know it sounds crazy, but the little ones did great. Ellie slept most of the time and we had DVD players do it kept the others entertained.

We made it to San Diego and had tons of fun. We went to the beach, the zoo, SeaWorld and Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland! It was a big surprise for Owen. He didn't know that is what we were going to do. The weather was so nice. It even snowed at home while we were gone. Picked a good week to be gone. Shane and I managed to get a little sun burned, but the kids made it out fine. Nice to be outside and in the sun. Our trip was a great get-a-way. It was really hard to come back. Amazing how fast a week goes by when you are having fun. Here are some pictures.

Owen wrote his own name

Ellie hated the sand on her feet.

This was my favorite ride when I was little

Isn't she a cute little mouse?!?!

After looking through these pictures you may be wondering where Stephen was. He decided to stay home because he didn't think he would be able to keep up with school work and graduate. He stayed with a friend and we missed not having him with us.

What's been going on.....

Wow! It has been a while since I have posted anything. It has been a crazy 3 months since I last posted. Let's see what I can recap on.... Ellie nursed till she was 6 months to the day. Kind of had to quit because I couldn't suck up the pain. Ellie was on an antibiotic and it gave her thrush in her month. I got it and it was the must painful thing I think I have experienced. It hurt to pump or even have her nurse. I tried to get through for a couple of weeks, but I was just done. I was getting frustrated and was crying. It just wasn't worth it. But I was happy that I was able to nurse her for 6 months. Just hadn't planned on it ending the way it did.

After that we put her on formula. Things seemed to be going fine, but then she was getting sick a lot. She had been coughing and so many boogers that I think we were at the doctor's at least one a week. She has been on a few antibiotics as well. They would help at first and then we would be right back where we started. Seemed like this was a never ending battle and no one was winning. We had several trips over to the hospital for tests, then sectioned her out and took blood to see if there was an underlying issue.

The results came back and Ellie had RSV, double ear infection and she was getting her two bottom teeth in. That explained the coughing and boogers and why she just wasn't happy. I actually went a step further and thought it had to do with her formula. Seemed like everything was fine until we switched to that. I tried her on soy, but still the same thing. Finally we tried a hypoallergenic kind and she seems to be doing well on that one. Her blood work came back and she has a low immune system. She is like a sponge the doctor said. If anyone is sick around her, she is going to get sick as well. She just doesn't have the antibodies to fight off getting sick.

We were told to treat her like a new baby, even though she was 8 months old at this time. How do you do that when both parents work and you need to work. My mom has been a trooper and helped us out tons. I don't know what I would do without her. But it seems like Ellie still would be okay for a while and then we would be back at the doctors again. She totally hates being seen by her doctor too. She already has anxiety about it as soon as we go in the door. Funny how they sense that.

Well, long story short I guess....Ellie is now 9 months old. She has two bottom teeth and is trying to walk. She has mastered crawling up the stairs, but still isn't sure how to get down them. She loves to play peek-a-boo with you and thinks she is so funny. She can say bye-bye and blows you kisses. She tries to say hello when she puts one of our phones up to her ear. She really is getting so big. I can't believe she will be a year in a couple more months.

Other than that, Shane has one more month left of school and then he will graduate. YEAH!!!! Can't believe we are almost there. I know that he is burned out and it will be nice for him to have a break. We are still waiting to hear if he has been accepted into the BSN program. Should be finding that at soon. His unit also got home this month from Afghanistan. They all made it back and no one was hurt. Seems like that went by fast.

Stephen is getting ready to graduate himself. June is not that far away. Can't believe that. Dallin is hanging in there. Seems like 8th grade has been a little rough for him. Hopefully he will make it through. Owen is also getting so big. I actually just filled out his kindergarten papers and we have to go to his school next week. I don't think I am quite ready for that. He will ride a bus to school and is so excited about it.

Well I think that about recaps the last three months. I will need to post some pics so you can see how big the kids are.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year. The kids and I dressed up and went to our ward party. Owen was a white ninja, Ellie and I were both witches. Shane had to work until 6 so he didn't make it to the party until it was almost over. Once he got home we headed up to my parents so I could hang out there with Ellie while he took Owen out to get some candy.


My brother, his wife and my youngest nephew meet us there so they could go out together trick or treating. It was a fun to get together, but it was my first night not going out since Ellie was so little and the weather wasn't that good. Owen seemed to have a lot of fun though.



My dad dressed as the White Rabbit

My dad and Ellie (She loved his costume)

Me, Jenner, my dad and Owen