The Kimball Family: Four Boys and a Girl

Funny Kids...

2011-10-20T15:05:00.001-06:00

The other day Jax was putting on his soccer clothes and he said "Wow! Mom! My soccer coach is gonna say he LOVES my socks!!!" Who knew how exciting soccer socks could be!!

Later that night I was watching tv and a girl called her mom "mom". Jax said... "that's just like you, she has your name 'mom'. I bet her last name is Kathy just like you!!"

Earlier today we were at the Walmart Market - the 3 stooges and I, and we were leaving and some rude person had ditched their cart right behind our car. I was annoyed, Eli suggested we ram the car of whoever did it, and I just said, no, we just be sure we aren't that rude to someone else. As we were having this conversation, Jonah went to work pulling multiple carts from around the lot and putting them in the cart corral, he was murmuring about the people who ditched their carts - "Who put that one there" "Why did someone leave a cart here" etc. I showed him how to put two carts together to kill two birds, and he thought that was cool. He got in the car and apologized for taking so long. So sweet considering he was doing a job someone was getting paid for but not doing. As we pulled out of the parking lot he said. "Hmm. Lazy people, coffee drinkers....the world wasn't made for people like that." That makes me go "Hmm".

Just a few minutes ago Eli was asking how the baby could be due next Friday when he and Jonah are off school - kind of annoyed that that would ruin his plans or something I guess. I said "That's cool! Now you can come and watch!" He said "No thanks, I don't want to see your organ". Now I must explain this and clarify. He hears the story often how I had to have an emergency c-section when he was born and Jory's embellishments lead the children to believe that all of my organs were out on the table when they got Eli out. After he said he didn't want to see my organ and we had a good laugh, he said "Do you know which organ, Mom?" I said "No". He said "Your heart". Oh my.....

Okay... Maybe more than 2-3 months...

2011-10-05T19:19:00.002-06:00

Hello... I am sure no one is looking at my blog by now. I have gone a full pregnancy without even blogging about it once (another thing Jory gives me a hard time about). But I'd like to look back at the last nine months before our fourth son arrives and remind myself how lucky I am. I have had a very non-eventful pregnancy. That is usually how it goes for me. I have the trauma initially of whether or not the pregnancy is viable, or an ectopic pregnancy (I'm sure I've mentioned I've had 3 of those, the last one a year ago July taking my right fallopian tube), but once it has gotten to the right place (uterus), I usually am good. I have the nausea and I also have an icky aftertaste that makes things like chocolate not taste so good (which I am sure is most of the reason that I have only gained 1 pound my whole pregnancy), but I'll take that over so many other things that can be annoying or more traumatic during pregnancy. So I got the crib set up, with Jory's help, today, and am working on washing and putting away the clothes. I need to pack a hospital bag but other than that we are doing A-OK. Melinda Kunkel (our Primary President) has demanded that I wait until after the 16th at 2:15 - after our annual Primary Program. I hope that all works out - 11 more days, I think I'm good.

Jax is so funny about this baby. He initially named him Jack-Jack - not confusing at all, is it? He's not a big Incredibles fan, so I'm not sure he expects serious super powers out of his baby brother. He is getting very excited though. He then wanted to name him Scamper, which is from this ancient VHS movie the boys always watch at my parents house in North Carolina. Maybe this could be a nick name some day. Eli seems pretty indifferent, not talking much about the baby, and Jonah is ready for it to move in with him so he can change diapers and babysit him. We'll see how it really works out. He says "I've held Keira and Maylie, I'm like a parent!". Uh - sure thing, son.

We also have had a short-sale offer on the Heber house that we just found out last week the bank is accepting, so other then a little bit more money and a huge knock to our credit (I still can't get myself to look at my score), we will hopefully close on the house before or right after I deliver around the 28th. This will truly be an answer to our prayers. Bring it all on at once!! Not to mention all of the Halloween festivities I have to be ready for - and all three finishing up soccer seasons (the rain-out today puts me to the 26th for Eli's last game, and November 2 for Jax's.. that should be interesting.

Hope I've covered most things here..thanks for looking me up!!

The other day Jax said he would have milk to drink "It will make me strong because it has bones in it!".. He he he..

February already!

2011-02-13T22:05:00.002-07:00

Wow, how time flies. We are so having fun - our best news to date is - 2 of my 3 children can tie their shoes!!!! I am vowing to work earlier on this with Jax!! 7 is too old not to be able to tie freakin' shoes!

Jax has been running a fever the last day or so - but I can't complain because this is the first sickness we've had since - well - since last winter - KNOCK ON SERIOUS WOOD!! The other boys are doing great (especially because they can tie their own shoes now)!!!

We've had some issues with the Heber house - we are trying to figure out what to do with it, but it is like a bad dream - just when you think it is over, something jumps up and bites you in the bum!

Well, I need to work on some things - keeping my house in order better, purchasing things for my home that I LOVE, not just want to buy now, and the perpetual losing weight. I also seriously need to work on my spirituality. Jory is always mentioning the admonition I've been given to study the scriptures. Now is a great time with that being such a focus in primary.

Hopefully I can get back in less than 3-4 months - put that on the list of things to work on...

peace out...

I AM THANKFUL....

2010-10-19T17:26:00.002-06:00

This sure has been a crappy year. Not only for me but for quite a few people that I love dearly. But right now I NEED to write down - for the 1/2 second I have - the things that I am most grateful for - fortunately this list is ALWAYS longer than my trials and tribulations... so, for my sanity right now, here I go:

A FABULOUS, WONDERFUL, AWESOME, PATIENT, and KIND husband - what else can I say - for those of you who know him - therefore love him too - what more is there to say

3 beautiful HEALTHY boys... Jonah for his smile - and that he is at the age where I can joke around with him. Eli for his randomness - in just about every conversation I have with him I end up wondering where the subject turned from a serious conversation to his random thinking pattern (what can I say - I think I know what side of the family he gets THIS from...). And Jax for those big brown eyes - and how he hasn't given up on wanting to play with me. Jory says I take it for granted that he always wants me - but I do love it... I play it down so Jory doesn't get more jealous.

Great Parents... who raised me - let me make so many dumb mistakes and learn from them, to be the person I am today. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I think I turned out okay. And even better yet - they still (at least act) like they want to hang out with me and my family, well, at least my family :)

My Heavenly Father - who allows me to learn, therefore grow, from my mistakes every day. I am anxious to ask him a few questions, and continue to grow while I am here.

I am glad I am here - learning and growing - hoping to be more compassionate, loving and giving - mostly to my own family. To learn when to care, and when to let go. Always knowing all things are in God's hands, and that I am here to try to make a difference to all that I come in contact with. It is up to me what kind of difference I choose to make in other peoples lives. I pray I will always pray that I will chose love and compassion - I am really needing to do that right now...

Thanks for reading my ramblings. I really needed this!

Post North Carolina Editorial

2010-07-27T14:35:00.003-06:00

Hello all! I have had such an eventful few months. I wanted to remember as much as I could so here I am. In late May I miscarried - no real problems, my doctor said come back in a couple of months pregnant again. So I went on my merry way to North Carolina for our month on the beach. Jory came out for the first week for the first time. he loved it - although nobody can say much for the humidity. After he left I played lots of golf, beached, pooled, gatored, aquariumed, rested and relaxed. I was spotting some while there, but figured I'd deal with it when we got home. I thought if I was pregnant, it would only be a few weeks. So we were to come home Wednesday night, the 14th of July, but once I got to the Raleigh airport, I realized with the delay I would be stuck in Minnesota. Deciding I'd rather be stuck in Raleigh, my parents, luckily, hadn't left to drive back down to Calabash, so they were able to take me back to my sister's house right outside of Raleigh for one more night. We got out the next morning with no problems (they had even oversold the Dallas to SLC leg, so we were lucky we got a ticket on that flight).

So we got home and I was pretty zonked Friday, but I did take a pregnancy test and it was positive. Saturday I woke up and had some terrible cramping - lasted about 1/2 hour but then went away. We had my SILs baby shower and it went just great, and I was fine until Sunday night. I thought I was going to die. I couldn't move. I was in my bed, Jory and Jonah just staring at me like I was breathing my last breath - which I can't blame them because I said I was dying. My good MIL and FIL came over, just in case we needed to go to the ER, and I called the doctor. He said I needed to have my rhogam shot (I'm rh negative) either way, but I should go to the ER if I am dying, but I was surviving by that point so I decided to tough it out.

The next day I had a dentist appointment and a neighbor was coming to bbsit for me anyways, so I decided to just go straight from the dentist to the doctor because the nurse hadn't called me back. I went in and was able to talk to the dr and nurse. They said have the rhogam blood taken (they need to make the shot from my blood), and have an hcg count taken to see how far long I was. Went back home around 11:30 and was still pretty achey. The nurse called me at about 1 and said I needed to come back for an ultrasound at 3 because my hcg was 3500! That is a huge number! So I went back in, and the tech, after searching all over, found the fetus stuck in my right tube. The thing that really got to me was I could hear the heartbeat. I had really talked myself into this being my last pregnancy, but to have that hard evidence of being pregnant was hard for me.

Because I have had 2 other ectopic pregnancies, I thought, okay, they'll send me right over to the place where people have chemo, that is where they give the methotrexate to dissolve the pregnancy, so I'll cramp a few days and be good. Not so. The doctor said that if they can hear the heartbeat, it is too far along and they need to do surgery because the methotrexate may not work fast enough and I could still rupture. So my MIL kept the kids and Jory got there around 6, just as I was going in. We talked about making it so we would be done - hard to decide in about 3 minutes, even though Jory was done a couple of kids ago (LOL). So the doctor said he would look at everything and if it looked like it would be bad on both sides, he'd take care of it. So Dr. Rigby, my anesthesiologist, nurse Betty, Dr. Stephen Terry (the best) and his partner, Dr. Lloyd (who Jory is probably related to) all scrubbed in to save my life. As it happened, my left side is just fine and still in tact - so more decisions to make. It was kind of relieving, I think being in the hospital for 2 days emotionally thinking of my future and having it be the end of that stage of life for me would have been hard. Not that I'm not done, but I think that will be good to be our decision.

So my MIL and SIL all hopped on board to help with the kids. I have had dinner brought in Thursday through last night (but we went to the in-laws for Sunday dinner). I really took it easy from being home from the hospital on Wednesday to Sunday. Yesterday, I decided while I was already dying, I had the post put in for my implant I needed. It is just because I had the rogue tooth that was causing lots of bacteria to build up because of how it was in my mouth, so I had it pulled about 3 months ago and in 2 weeks will have it done and my front tooth recapped - so Jory can't call me "gray-tooth" any more. Anyways - it killed, so I hung out yesterday afternoon with Jory, then today FINALLY got to some yard-work - I think my neighbors were about to kill me - the grass is looking really good, but our flowers and plants were horrendous!!!

My SIL, Kristi Kimball, had her baby girl, Lila, today - I guess she went in at 10 pm last night and had her about 11:30am. Not too terrible for a first baby, but she said on Sunday she was feeling some movement - even though she was not due for about 2 more weeks or 10 days or so. And my neighbor, Andrea, is having her baby c-section today so I will go to St. Mark's tomorrow to see all of these adorable baby girls!!

That's about my life right now - just trying to take it easy a few more days. One lucky thing is that the day we left for NC, I started one of those additional insurance plans to cover pregnancy - really they are for any hospitalization, but both of them will cover me for the ectopic pregnancy, so that should help out with some of the medical costs. Our insurance will also cover 80%- so we should be okay - helps with some of that emotional stuff.

So I hope to enjoy the last 3 weeks of summer with my boys. Eli has pinkeye - Jax may have it too, so we are all staying close for now. The boys have stuff at Dimple Dell, Jonah sports and both Jonah and Eli are doing a swim/water camp, so that will be fun. We are camping some - and hope to get out and go the next week or two.

Thanks for hanging with me!!

2010-06-08T12:42:00.005-06:00

Hello! Yes we are still here! What a crazy school year- with driving the kids up and back - and Eli being half-day kindergarten, it has eaten a good hour plus out of each day. Thank goodness the kids will be going to Sprucewood next year and can walk if I want them to. Jax will have preschool 2 times a week for a couple hours each - so that will be a good break!!

Well, we leave for North Carolina a week from tomorrow - so I've mailed out the kids clothes and am trying to get errands run - but Jax was very sick yesterday - running a fever of 103.8 most of the day. It broke for a little this morning, but he is warm again. So he's sitting around again - and the boys (Jonah and Eli) are just hanging out with Dylan. I would really like to get some things done- but I am getting a ton done here, like blogging for instance.

The Heber house is still there - attempting to short sell it, but we'll see - I really wish the torture would end. Jory's office is turning over big time - Maria is moving and he has 3 new people coming in. It's been a tough month for him. Our callings in church are going well. I need to get working on my part of the Primary Program for October. And work on my SIL baby shower right when we get back from NC.

Anyway, we are here, we are doing great and are so grateful for all of our blessings!!

keep on moving. . .

2009-10-18T10:24:00.003-06:00

hi there,
again - it's been a while. . . we are in the process of trying to sell our house here in Sandy (anyone looking - nice house, great neighborhood, anyone?). . . and still dealing with the Heber house - I am going to post pictures of that home sooner or later. Anyways, my other all-consuming thing right now, besides "my three sons" is my calling.

. . I am a food storage junkie - that is actually a huge part of the reason that Jory doesn't want to move - he doesn't want to have to lug the food storage around. . . I love Macey's caselot (and every week) deals - I go there now a couple of times a week. I also have started a bulk group through Emergency Essentials (www.beprepared.com). I just bought 90 lbs of wheat for $40 - in the extra insulated super pails!! (actually I did that twice . . . they were out of the hard white the first time, so I got soft white first). Anyways - check out the cool food storage analyzer calculator

Here I am

2009-08-18T09:11:00.003-06:00

So much has been going on - now a chance to sit down and reflect for a second. . . I am so blessed to have my family. We are now going through our big decision with the housing situation. The Lord has seen to it to soften the banks heart and give us a steal on our home in Heber now that it is finished and we have to roll into a permanent loan. Jory thinks we will just sit on it for a while, the only decision now is do we sell this house and move in to it. I'll tell you, that, for me, is much easier to just mull over then bigger decisions like the "f" word (foreclosure, that is) or how to sell it. I may become a realtor so we can save that cost when the time comes to it . . . we'll see.

I have been spending time on my calling the last few days - organizing the plethora (I love that word) of things I have on preparedness so the ward people have information that I have. I am so excited to have this calling - I do really enjoy it. I have great ward people (I just got off the phone with your mom, Sheri) who do so much for our ward. I am truly blessed to be with them.

Of course I am blogging because I went to Julie & Julia last night with my MIL and SILs - it was good and I have renewed my love for Julia, but it reminded me how much I miss my blog.

Jax is getting bigger - Jory went to turn off his light the other night after he had "reading" time (he likes to "read" with his brothers before bed) and Jory opened the door and Jax looked at him, put his hand up, shook his head and went "woah, woah, woah, woah, woah". He is such a big kid - he says "OH MY GOSH!!" all of the time - and is just plain old big kid (he thinks).

Eli is needing to get out his tonsils - the earliest I could get is 1 week before school starts, so we'll have to see. I really don't want it to be that close, but another year of not breathing. . . ? He reads almost as well as Jonah, and really LOVES LOVES LOVES Pokemon.

Jonah just wants to play with friends, all day every day - no matter who or what or where. He still likes reading and is picking up money and time well. He is getting so big - he was baptized by Jory on July 11th - wow - an 8 year old!!

Jory's business is going so well - we are so blessed. His Grandpa Kimball passed away 2 weeks ago tomorrow - but it was a blessing for him - Todd is really seeming like a huge weight is lifted from his shoulders. He has been such a good example to us through this whole thing with his dad.

Well, I will try, try, try to get back sooner - I love to read what I write (it is my life, don't you know :)

I'm Back . . .

2009-04-04T07:56:00.002-06:00

Hello,
So sorry I haven't been around for a while - I got a new Stake calling in January - the Individual and Family Emergency Preparedness Specialist. I have gone storage crazy - deal shopping, etc. Tons of meetings (city, CERT, cannery, training, etc.) and just more stuff to do.

Okay -that was yesterday - my five seconds of inhaling pizza nobody else liked. So, it is Conference Saturday - Jonah says how much he loves conferences, but the little booklet he got from primary is kind of driving him crazy - he wants to know what they are talking about, before they even start talking. I don't know where he gets that from. I have recently decided my kids ADD (especially Jonah's) is a direcet result of my ADD. I need to relax a little. . .really.

One think that I have started since I wrote last was working out at 24 hour fitness. Eli thinks that I go there so he can play MarioKart on the Nintendo in the play room. It is actually very nice that he is so motivated to go and asks to go everyday. The only thing that has thrown a wrench in my program was that Suzi (my neighbor with 3 kids that are tube-fed) has asked me to help her get the kids ready in the am. Actually, it was Taylor, her husband, who called because he is now back to being a patrol officer (Salt Lake), working graveyards. I love going - the boys are great (I do know boys!), I only really feed them (they have a bather, Juan, who is awesome), and the kids like the dogs (Jax shows this by kicking the little one in the gut - yeah, that will be ending VERY soon!). They even pay me to come through the funding they get, but once I am back home, it is tough to go back out to the gym.

Next week, Monday at 9:30, we'll have a breakfast get together at my house (everyone is invited, just bring something to share that is breakfasty)for my birthday on Tuesday. Sometimes we celebrate at Hagermann's Bakery, but Jax is SUCH a nightmare - I decided that I wanted to have it at my house - stop by and check out my new wood and carpet flooring - (there's my ADD) - anyways, Jax is SO bad to take anywhere. Yesterday I dropped Jonah at Dylan's party at the bowling alley, and Scotty is just hanging there with the kids while Kriss is at the counter - Jax would have been down the wood floor, getting stuck in the ball return and running around with pins. During indoor soccer, Jana's Jakey just sits and hangs out with her - not a peep from him. The two times we took Jax I had to wrestle him kicking and screaming so he wouldn't run around on the court. So, my point is, it is my birthday, so my house is much more relaxing for me:)

Jax showed his true form yesterday as we took Eli to another ENT to check his tonsils. He probably needs a tonsillectomy (if anyone has any thoughts on whether or not we should do the surgery, let me know) because his tonsils are enlarged. He doesn't complain of a sore throat and hasn't had strep, but he snores and doesn't seem to sleep very well. So, at the appointment, the kids are running around in an 8'x8' room, while I am intently trying to listen to the doctor - finally I corral them both (by stuffing them with tic tac's) and are holding them - and Jax hits Eli right in the face - even the doctor's eyes got really wide and amazed. That's my cute little boy!

Our summer is pretty much PACKED!! The Sunday after Eli gets done at school (June 14th) we leave for North Carolina. We come home on July 4th, my parents coming with me to help on the flight home (THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!) - that is the LONGEST flight ever! Jonah has scout camp (yes, he'll be a scout by then!) on the 6th, My parents will be here for Jonah's baptism on July 11th. They will then leave to go visit my brother in Colorado on July 16th, we will drive to Newport Beach with Jory's whole family on the 17th and get back on the 24th (just in time for our neighborhood party maybe?). Jonah has soccer camp August 3-7 all day long - we need to find something for Eli to do in August - before school starts on August 26th. Eli is so ready to be in Kindergarten - actually ready for about 2nd grade - he reads as well as Jonah does - with great inflection and all. He actually read the first 2 pages of Twilight before I did!!

That is the downlow on what we are doing - Oh - one other thing - as I eluded to earlier, Jory surprised me with new carpet while I was at scrapaway at the end of February. Because I wanted wood in the kitchen, though, it turned into a big project and thanks to Sheri (at Georgia carpets) and Jamie (the amazing "Mexi-CAN", it all came together beautifully!!

Thanks for checking up on me!!!

Indoor Soccer, Here We Come!!

2009-01-22T09:08:00.003-07:00

So, we've started the indoor soccer season. Jonah is loving it. His coach doesn't do much, just rotate the kids sometimes. I was screaming at the first game, but no one else was, it is pretty silent, actually. The kids enjoy it - they run and run! It is 4 on 4 and they play no out of bounds, so it's play off of the walls and everything, and there is no goalie. Jonah's team got SMOKED by an all-girls team his first game last week, but last night he got about 4 goals and they beat the white team pretty badly.

Thank goodness my MIL was watching Jax because Eli had his very first soccer game at exactly the same time as Jonah so I was going back and forth the whole time. The two courts are only separated by a hole in the wall to walk through, and both play with no boundaries (off of the wall), so I was walking through games standing in the middle the whole time. Eli had a blast and just ran and ran. Greg Summerhays is a GREAT coach - especially for this age when they are learning - the Sandy City kid in charge even said that he is the one coach he saw actually talking to the kids and helping them out - way to go Greg!

It was a great experience, as you can see, for all!!

Funny, Funny Boys!

2009-01-22T07:58:00.004-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago we were in the car and had just dropped off Jonah at school. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the light above where Jonah had been sitting was on. I said to Eli, "please turn that off" knowing full well that he couldn't reach it at the time, but hoping when we got out he would turn it off. He reaches up and over as high as he can (he can barely reach the ceiling straight up when his seat belt is on) and says "It's of no use, Mom".

Eli woke me up yesterday to a faint "I love you so much, Mom" - what a great way to wake up!!

Yesterday afternoon we were going to Walgreen's and I had said it was a "drug store". Jonah questioned that because he knows not to do "drugs" so I explained good and bad drugs. We get to the store and Jonah asks what we are getting. I said I needed a medicine and again Jonah was alarmed. I explained that I take a medicine so that we won't have another baby. Jonah looks appalled that we don't want another baby and I said that the three of them were all I could handle right now. So I said "three is enough, isn't it?" just to see what they would say. Jonah muttered something about three boys and so did Eli. So I said to Eli - "three boys are enough, aren't they?" to which Eli replies, "Yeah, three boys and a sister" (this is not the first time he has mentioned having a baby sister:).

After school, as I was making dinner we watched my favorite "judge show" (The People's Court) after which "The Insider" comes on (about all of the star gossip). Yesterday, however, it started with President Obama's (wow that sounds weird) inauguration ball's and the events of the previous day and night. Jonah has been very into the new president and all of the events around the campaign and just everything about having a new president. So he is watching all of this (mostly about what Mrs. Obama was wearing and such) and then Beyonce comes on (because she is so aware of what makes a great president), but she says something and then adds "He was born to lead us." Jonah scrunches up his face and looks annoyed and says "He was born in Hawaii, not Toledo".

Yesterday morning on the way to take Jonah to school we were talking about Eli's school and I accidentally called it "preschool". He went on and on about it is CHALLENGER school - Jonah jumped in and said his grade was preschool - turning into a small brawl. Then this morning I was telling Jory that yesterday I we were talking about Eli's school and I called it "p-r-e-s-c-h-o-o-l" (which, by the way, Jory hates the spell-it-out thing - my mom used to do it all of the time, but Jory doesn't spell that fast), anyways, Eli pipes right in and says "yeah, it's CHALLENGER school, not preschool" - he is a young and fast speller!!

Jax is just talking up a storm!! His favorite phrase this Christmas season, with all of the lights and that outside, has been "oooo wa wa" (like "ohh la la"). Generally it was really cute, although sometimes it was the WHOLE time "ooo wa wa, ooo wa wa, ooo wa wa") but it was a nice distraction when it was needed. He loves the toy trucks and cars at Grandma's house and threw a fit screaming and crying "toy, toy, toy" the other day when we were going just to pick up the boys from a sleepover - he wanted those "toys". He loves "planes" and "boyds" (birds), and calls both his blankie and binki "budgie", which actually works okay because he usually has them both only at bed times. "Chew-e" is "Lightning McQueen" - "Cars" is his favorite movie ever! "Moonya" means both "movie" (which he got very spoiled with when he was sick over the holidays), and "morning". At night we say "love you", he says "duh doo" and we say "see you in the morning" and he says "moonya" and "have good dreams" he says "goo dwe". The first time he said morning, I thought he was asking for a movie at bed time, which was strange because they all really go to bed just great.

Christmas Day 2008

2009-01-11T16:17:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve at the Kimball's

2009-01-10T13:14:00.005-07:00

Happy Holidays!

2009-01-09T13:19:00.001-07:00

Great Break!

2009-01-02T15:55:00.002-07:00

Well, thanks for the plug, Nikkie, but I took Jax to the doctor this morning and I guess he has adenovirus. Everyone has had it here but me (SERIOUS knock on wood!). Eli finally was better by Monday, that is when Jonah got sluggish and Jax started his normal 104-105 fever at night routine. It wouldn't be too bad, but he will NOT take any medication - we've tried everything - and he has even figured out how to poop out the suppositories we have digressed to. Today he does have a little appetite back and he slept in until 10:45 (I had to wake him up for his doctor appointment). But what a great 2 week break we've had.

I did get to take out Eli for an adventure yesterday - he is such a good kid. We had fun at Cabelas and then I took him around on errands - he is really laid back.

Today has been laundry, laundry, laundry - washing EVERYTHING in the bedrooms and around, scrubbing the kids tubs and putting towels on everything that he is laying on.

I'll try to post some pictures tonight!! Thanks for checking in with me.

Happy Christmas Eve!

2008-12-24T12:02:00.002-07:00

Good things the holidays are close together or I'd be writing every 6 months!! I vow to try to do better (again). . . Well, we're still working on the house in Heber. I ordered appliances this last week, and I went up on Monday (yes, for those of you here in Northern Utah, Monday) in a blizzard and can't believe we made it back alive - I had the three boys with me. When I got to the house, some subs were there working on the house next door - it was one of the subs the builder didn't pay with our money, so it was a little awkward. But always a good time to explain our side of the situation. I was planning to go inside and pick carpet colors for the house, but there was no getting into it. Maybe if I didn't have the kids, I could have killed myself, but I wasn't going to strand them up there. The guys told me they were supposed to get 17 inches of snow, so I promptly went back home, with more questions than answers.

Enough about that. How about the adventure that night. . . Jory's grandpa always has a Christmas party. Because there are so many great-grandkids - and all of us, this year we went to one of Jory's family's favorite mexican restaurants, El Farol's. So I was already wiped out - I had stayed up all night wrapping and getting Christmas all ready, then the white-knuckle drive to Heber. . . So I sat with the kids, Jory sat at another table with the baby. I kind of manned the doorway, so I was up and down. Eli ate a bunch of chips, but seemed fine. When his dinner got there, he ate one fry and then made a gagging motion - his face went pale and I grabbed him and ran for the bathroom - we almost made it, at least it was right in front of the dishwashing area and out of the dining room. He would have picked fruit punch to drink, though. So Jory changed him - thank goodness for the updated spare clothes always kept in the MV. Then not long after that Jax started gagging- I grabbed him and ran to the bathroom - holding him on his back so at least then it would be contained on him - he let out a little, but it wasn't too bad. So we did the obligatory family picture and bolted.

That night Eli was spiking a fever of 103, but he wasn't complaining, though he did have to go to the bathroom and didn't quite make it at about 3:00am, no biggie, but at 3:30 Jax woke up puking and did that about 3 times through the night. I was up, giving him a bath, waiting for his "budgie" (that can be blankie or binki, depending on what he wants) to wash and dry. Then have him puke on the couch - needless to say I went to bed about 5:00 am. Eli was hot all day but thank goodness didn't get sick again, and the two of them went to bed at 11:00am for a nap - Jax waking up at about 4:00 and Eli waking up about 5:30. Neither of them ate too much and Eli was still spiking a fever of 103. They went to bed, Eli ended his night by telling me he wasn't going to throw up, "I only did that one time at the cafe", and by telling Jory "I have a broken heart, Dad". So dramatic.

Eli was up about 5:30, again running to the bathroom, but he made it without going in his pants (whoo hoo). But he said his eye hurt - Dad does eyes. So he woke up Dad and we both noticed he was burning up - his eyes were just dry, so more tylenol and some eye drops, and he slept in bed with me the rest of the night - he is so peaceful to watch sleep. He did ask me, before nodding off, if I thought he was cute - I love that they ask me instead of just wondering - even little men know we don't read minds.

So Jory is off to work a half day, and do his annual Christmas shopping afterwards (which is now) - Jax just went down for a nap, and the boys are playing their Leapsters. . . Jonah told me last night that he is hoping Santa brings him good stuff for his stocking. I asked him what good stuff would be. . . He said "A box of the small candy canes, or maybe one big candy cane" I thought, what a nice, simple, not too greedy request - good boy - then he adds thoughtfully ". . . and a dog". Oh he will be sadly disappointed.

We will be going to the Kimball's house for Christmas Eve - for dinner and presents with the family. Tomorrow we will do our own morning and then Robyn and Todd will come out to us in the late morning. Then we'll have a buffet midday with them again. That's where we'll see Grandma Jeannine. Grandma Jeannine's 80th birthday is in just over a week and so we'll have a surprise party for her at Jory's Aunt Tammy and Uncle Jim's house - I don't need to worry about her seeing this because she still has a rotary phone - no computers live at her house :).

Jonah just came in and had gone to wash the screen of his Leapster - he says "Mom, this strange thing happened. . ." and is holding out the Leapster - dripping wet - he ran the whole thing under the faucet - OMGoodness!! Santa will need to rethink some gifts tomorrow!!

Well, hope there are some positive things you can glean from this - I hope that some people I sent Christmas cards to have found us. I always think how boring my life is, but then when I sit down I think of all of these things that happen that I want to remember forever. . . and that was just the last 2 1/2 days!!

I will look later to find out what friends have been doing - it takes me a day to do mine and a day to look at all of the fun stuff going on with everyone else. I'll also try to get some pictures on today or tomorrow!!

May you find peace in our Savior's love, especially at this time of year, and know that he was born and died for each of us. We are grateful for his life - for what he did for us!!

Thanks for bearing with me!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

2008-11-27T09:17:00.002-07:00

Well - a couple of weeks later - here we are again. . . no more snow to speak of.

The kids have had Thanksgiving festivities at their respective schools. My Mom and Dad are here and so it has been nice to go do things, at the same time it has been nice for me to get things done and talk to teachers and such that I couldn't do with the baby. We are doing great - so thankful for all that we have been blessed with - good friends, a good business, good family - we are SOOOO blessed!

Not much else has been going on - as many of you know, we have been building a spec home in Heber - hoping to turn around and sell it - obviously we've been working on it before the real estate bust. And now we're working with a not very forthright builder - so that has been the bulk of our time and stress. The kids are happy and healthy so we will not complain - just try to get through this and then learn from our bad judgment.

So Happy Holidays to you all - may you always remember to be thankful for what you have - and grateful that the Lord doesn't give us what we deserve :)

One Week into November

2008-11-09T10:09:00.005-07:00

Here I am again - a week later and it was a good relaxing one. We had Jonah's parent/teacher conference this last week. His teacher didn't say much about him, she is wanting me to grade some math so she went over that most of the time - that is good I guess. . . he really is doing so well!!

As you can tell the first snow came and went - Jax had fun until he was stuck because the snow was just too high for him to get through. Eli and his friend Henry had a blast and even helped shovel for a second. I had taken my camera in to the shop the day before I took these pictures - it just stinks - the lighting is so bad inside with it - I hope they junk it - anyways I took these on my camcorder I got when Eli was a baby - not bad for a 2-in-1 that is almost 5 years old.

My parents are coming out the 18th to the 3rd of December - we are so excited!! AJ may come out - maybe with or without Courtney. That will be great. Jonah is sending his Flat Stanley to them first and Jonah said "do they know who I am" - that was kind of sad - but he knows AJ and Courtney know and love him.

Eli is a reading fiend - he says "I can read now because I'm 4" - yeah, most 4 year olds are reading chapter books like (the abridged version of) "Frankenstein". . . Even Jax will sometimes act like he is reading something.

Jax's favorite book is Eric Carle's "The Very Quiet Cricket" board book - he loves that it chirps like a cricket at the end - he also loves any Veggie Tales movie - he is the first kid we've had to figure out how to pop out the DVD's from the case - NOT GOOD!! You have to watch that one!! The only thing is that even if he begs for it to be put in (which he does- he follows you around holding out the open case to you saying "peese, PEESE". And if you do something for him, he will follow you around and say "dat doo" (translation "thank you") until you say "you're welcome" and whenever anyone coughs or sneezes, if he just hears it like in the store, he says "dess doo" for "bless you" - so polite!!

Jonah turned in his reflections photography of Yellowstone Park this last week - we'll see how he does - his grandma is going to take him on Wednesday to Library Night at school so he can show it off - yes, Robyn, brownie points for you!!

I will try to get a little slide show going soon - if anyone has any camera buying advice, that would be great - I am so frustrated with the Canon A560 I got last May!!!

Thanks for checking in with me - I start my new calling today, but I am already subbing in my old class today - it will be good though - Luke Lloyd is moving so I had already planned a party for him, so we'll just cover them both today!!

Is Halloween Over Yet?

2008-11-02T19:37:00.002-07:00

I do love this time of year, but this year I made myself a little crazier than usual... - I'll get a slideshow together soon I hope. But I just wanted to say Hi - that I did serious Halloween partying and I survived. The funny thing is that I looked at the calendar for this coming week - NOTHING in the evenings!! Maybe I should get my VTing done this week, although I just saw everyone last week - that will teach me!!

New news is that I was released from my Primary calling at church today and called as the Relief Society Chorister - I know, Mom and Nicki, stop laughing!! There is a little story behind that too, but I'll update that later as well.

Well, I'm here and alive and well - Jonah has that hackey cough thing - he gets it with the change of seasons, as a lot of kids do, but we're doing great... Thanks for hanging in there with me!!

Tag - You're IT!!

2008-10-13T16:40:00.004-06:00

Well, Kriss, here it is. Because I have a Mac, my picture file is set up somewhat differently, so I just did 8,10,8,10 - actually I came up with a picture of my wedding ring I took for insurance purposes first, but then changed the combination around a little so at least there was something to look at in the picture.

This is a picture of our house the beginning of last fall. I love the coleus and all of the colors. The plant in the planter just about died the beginning of spring because I had put it out too soon and it about froze to death. Good thing it is coming back, though. I love that plant. Any ways, here it is. . . now I'll tag Jamie, Kristi, and Capree. This tag is really easy. You go into your picture files on your computer, and go into the 10th folder and pick the 8th picture in that folder. Whatever random picture that shows up is now your new post! So easy!

Good thing for technology. . .

2008-10-12T09:34:00.002-06:00

On Friday I iSighted (I know, it is not a word) my parents in North Carolina. My Dad bought us this nice computer back when Jonah was born. It seems like it would be totally outdated, and I'm sure it is a little slower than the new fab ones, but it works for us still. . . Anyways, he bought it as a Christmas gift so it would work with the iSight camera (like a video cam) so they could see Jonah as a baby because we were in California and they were in Iowa. We still use it from time to time, not as often as I should. But it is great to see them, and even greater for me to see my kids see them. We love you guys!!

The Crazy Life

2008-10-12T09:31:00.002-06:00

Does anyone else find this time of year already crazy? I can't believe that it seems like every time I talk to someone, I am adding something to my calendar. I do enjoy celebrating and doing fun things for other people, but my big issue is that with the "real" holiday season approaching, what will I be looking at in the near future? Good thing I do know how to say "no" if I need to!! Crazy fun times!!

A calendar item. . .

2008-10-09T13:30:00.002-06:00

For all of you in the neighborhood, I have been wanting to have Mary Ann Lloyd teach me how to cut my boys hair. She will be at my house on Tuesday, October 28th to show me, and any of you who want to know how to cut boys hair at 7:00 pm. Please come, and just hang out if you want - we'd love to turn it into a party!!

It might be easier this way. . .

2008-10-09T13:17:00.002-06:00

After my last post, I was told that I am the worst blogger in the neighborhood (yes, they are all talking about me. . .:) and that people would have to wait to read my blog because it is so dang long. So, I will try to be better at doing this this way. Short, often and sweet (I can't promise any of these, but I'll try!).

A quick shout out to all those websites that let you download pictures and keep them there. Costco, Snapfish, and I even think Walmart have versions of these (I use Costco to avoid shipping costs). But the reason I love these is that if you have a catastrophe - and I did almost burn my house down last week - the are saved to an outside server - not just my computer. Oh I back my pictures up all of the time on my computer, laptop, and even DVDs, but in a fire, I assure you I will not be carrying out my iMac!! Anyways, just a thought. . .

Also I have a story about Jonah I wanted to share. I was delivering something to a neighbors house recently. It had been a while since I had seen her and actually talked to her and I noticed she had lost some weight. I told her how good she looked and she told me she had given up soda (see my side blog . . Ethan), and that she was drinking this green tea. She is a member and fairly active (as much as you can be with her last few callings) with a fairly inactive family. She is so generous so she directly went to her car to grab me a small bottle of this tea. I, not knowing much about teas, thought to myself that I knew the grandmaster of teas and would call Emily when I got home. I thanked this neighbor and she just said how she had turned to this instead of the soda. Meanwhile, Jonah had gotten out of the car and was standing with me. He looked up at me and, right in front of this neighbor said "Mom, are you supposed to have tea?" Wow - it didn't surprise me he noticed, but the fact that he didn't hesitate to say something in front of someone that may be offended, kind of opened my eyes. The neighbor quickly said "Oh I thought about that too but I think it is okay, you're mom will need to decide for herself, though." Now I could chalk this up to Jonah and his sometimes not being really socially appropriate - saying things that could possibly hurt someone else's feelings, but he was somewhat quiet about it and just asking in an innocent kid way. I thought about this after repeatedly telling Jonah how proud I was of him, and that I wasn't sure if I should drink it (which, it turned out, I shouldn't). It made me think about how strong our children are going to have to be in the years to come - socially life is so hard, and our kids need to be able to voice their thoughts and stand up for what they believe. I am so proud of Jonah!!

Happy Birthday, Mom & Dad!

2008-10-07T21:58:00.004-06:00

Well, two things that I have found I love about blogging. First, it lets me catch up with my friends out there in the blogging world when I have time. It may be midinight, or when I’m out of town, but the blogs are there every day - that is GREAT!

The other thing that I am totally digging is that it gives me the chance to be nostalgic and think about things that are important to me, and lets me say it to everyone, especially when it wouldn’t be appropriate to call up my friends and say, “Hey, I’m feeling nostalgic about this. . .”

This brings me to what I wanted to post. Today is a nostalgic day for me. My dad’s birthday is October 6th, and my mom’s birthday is on October 8th. As a child, the 7th of October we celebrated them both - Dad would bring home a chocolate mint cake from Barbara’s Bakery (oh my goodness, I am salivating!) and we’d celebrate.

That made me get nostalgic about my hometown, Iowa City, Iowa. To be specific, downtown Iowa City. Iowa City isn’t great when you get to be a senior or so in high school or older but as a young teenager it was pretty fun. This was back in the day when parents could let their kids hop on the bus on Saturday afternoon, hang out down there, even if they didn’t really have any reason to go there. We’d go to “Every Bloomin’ Thing” and they’d have those pop-its and disappearing ink and fun “magic” stuff in the basement of the floral shop. Even back then I enjoyed looking at the cooking gadgets in the nice stores, led in there by the cool fortune teller in a box (a la "BIG"). We'd go to Younkers (like Macy's) and check out the new Swatch Watches and dream about buying Benetton sweatshirts in the Benetton store. We'd eat a cookie as we waited for the bus to come pick us up. Oh those were the days. . .

Then I started to think about my parents and how much I love them and all they have gone through with me. My parents are the best - and I know I say “I love you” all of the time, but, Mom and Dad, I really LOVE YOU GUYS!! Thanks for being my anchors - especially when it got rough out there. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU BOTH!!

Thank you for reading me in my nostalgia. . . peace-out.

What a week!

2008-10-07T07:32:00.008-06:00

Well, a little hiatus while we got back into the life of school school school!! This schedule stinks because Eli is afternoon preschool so the nap schedule is terrible for Jax.

So, this is my last week. . . Well, just Thursday through today. On Thursday, Jax woke up from his nap and had really red cheeks - I thought it was just from the crib, but it lasted the whole hour we pick up the boys. When we got home and I got him out of the car, he was burning up. All he wanted was to be held the rest of the night. It was nice, because he is definitely not usually the snuggly type, but he was getting really warm. . . and to top it off, he REFUSES to take any medicine. I got him to take some meltaway tablets, but he is right under the cutoff for two, so one didn't do a ton of good. We were all feeling fine, so Jory suggested it was teething. We had a regular 18 month checkup on Friday, which was perfect. So he was pretty good Friday - although he threw up a little (he was really cute - he came in to me and whimpered a little and pointed, so I got up and let him lead me to it at the bottom of the stairs - he looked sad, but kept running around as I cleaned up the Gatorade vomit). So we had his appointment and the doctor looked at his throat and said that he had a virus, although he was acting fine. The boys had a sleepover planned at Grandma's, so it was good that we only had to have Jax, but it would have been nice to get a babysitter just for one and go out to eat. But with this going on, I decided we should stay home. It's a good thing, too, because on the way home he threw up all over himself, and then that night his temperature got up to 105 degrees!! Jory had to go to the pharmacy and get Tylenol suppositories. That was fun. But it did work. The good thing is that at least when he slept he slept good to try to sleep it off.

Saturday he was whiny, but we just kept pumping the Gatorade - no milk, and a few crackers. It was rainy so we just dropped Jonah off at his soccer game and our friends brought him home (thanks, Barry).

While out, I ran to the gas station - and when I opened my door, I felt, and heard a small "pop". So I shut my door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't move at all. So I had to climb into the backseat and out - all windy and rainy on Eli and sickly Jax - while pumping the gas - in and out, playing with the door. So we get home, and, because I am my father's daughter, what do I do? I start trying to take the door apart. Of course with all of the electronics hooked to it, it is impossible. The one thing I have been blessed with, along with the gift to think I can fix anything, is the gift to know when I could possibly do more harm than good. So that didn't work. I didn't get it fixed that day - my warranty company was closed and I wanted to know what I was looking at cost wise, so I waited. At least I figured I could roll down the window and let myself out by opening it from the outside.

Meanwhile, Jax was getting better, which was good because Jory's family came out Sunday for brunch.

So, Monday comes and I take the car in and they get the warranty information to say they'll check if it is covered, because the warranty company told me this morning that they have to know what is wrong to know if it is covered. They take forever on the car, never call me - since my buddy Dave is gone, the new manager is not good at our Firestone. So I walk back and ask what is going on, they say "your warranty won't cover it" and it's $160 for a clip. I get about $20 taken off because usually the $50 fee they charge just to check it out goes toward fixing it. . . but they'd only take th $20 off. So, because I am my father's daughter, I decide to call and talk to the warranty company myself. . . the guy says that he is the only one there and that no one from Firestone had called that morning. So I go back and say that the warranty company is on the phone and will they talk to them because they haven't talked to anyone this morning. So they talk and it turns out I have $100 deductible. So I say "because you told me you talked to the warranty company and you didn't, can you take the rest of that $50 off?" He goes and talks to the manager and comes back and says that the manager said no, but he would do it. I had a rebate for about $30, so it ended up being about $55 out of pocket. Not too bad, but it did take 2 hours, and now we can't trust our car place - if anyone has any suggestions - PLEASE!!

So, while that was happening, my husband was with the boys. Jory was in the backyard getting the lawn mower and Eli was in the front, our neighbor, Alan, walked by and saw Eli and asked him where his parents were. Eli responded with "My mom and dad got shot". So Jory comes out and says "Hey, how's it going?" Alan says that he was just about to go call 911 because Eli says his parents got shot. It actually was probably a little believable because Eli is rarely out front alone, at least not for very long. . . No more Pokemon movies at this house!!

Then, Jory usually picks up the boys on Monday (THANK YOU JORY!), and he gets to do fun things with Jonah while waiting for Eli (I'm boring because we have the baby). So they go and pick out a football - I guess while they were in the store Jory asked Jonah 3 times if he needed to go potty because he was doing the dance. I happen to know Jonah is the kind of kid that doesn't go to the bathroom at school, for whatever reason, and often see the dance when we get home. He says he doesn't need to. . . Well, I know this because I took the boys to soccer later, and noticed in my car the floor mats all turned funny. I get out and go to straighten them, and they're all wet. Jory gives the kids snacks and water in my car, which, I know it sounds mean, but I don't because they ALWAYS make a mess with everything. So they can wait until we get home. . . anyways, Jonah comes back from getting a team mate we carpool with and I ask "who spilled water all over the car?" He looks right at me and says "it's not water" I say "what is it?" "it's pee." "Excuse ME?" - yeah. i know. GROSSSSS!! So I can't stand it - I call Jory to avoid beating Jonah - he tells me about asking him if he needed to go. . .WOW!! And Jonah's new thing any time he is in trouble is "I forgot" and it is starting to make us mad because he doesn't "forget", he just has other better things to do. . . besides use a toilet. Needless to say, he spent a lot of time in his room that night.

At bedtime, Jax fell off Eli's bed, putting a small gash (is that an oxymoron?) above his left ear, which reminds me - a couple of weeks ago my VT's were over visiting and Jax will sometimes not watch where he is going (imagine that!) and then he'll turn to watch. Well, he was watching us while he was walking, then he turned right as he caught the corner with his forehead!! I grabbed him as he wailed, and I let go to look at him and, well, you see the picture!!!

To top yesterday off, my father-in-law called to say that my SIL was in an accident and was at the hospital. She was needing an MRI. A girl with a suspended license was driving a pick up and ran a stop sign. Kristi also had the little girl she nannies in the car with her, and she was at Primary Children's Hospital. They both turned out to be okay, Kristi was home by the middle of the afternoon.

. . .Yesterday was NOT the best day ever.

Thanks for hanging in there with me - and my crazy life!!

August 2008

2008-08-20T21:03:00.001-06:00

At Lagoon on August 18, 2008

2008-08-20T17:54:00.007-06:00

Here is a short video of the boys on the mini bumper cars - so this is why 4 year olds don't have drivers licenses. . . It was funny - they came back to this and Eli isn't that well versed in moving the steering wheel to make the car move, so he would get stuck and then finally when he would quit throwing a fit and get moving again - he would make the car just go in circles about 10 times. He'd look around like "I want to go over there" but he wouldn't move the wheel so around he went. I was laughing so hard I was crying!!

Yellowstone Adventure! & more. . .

2008-08-04T14:57:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone Park with our good friends, the Cole's. We had so much fun - Jax was quite cranky, though, so you'll have to ask Scott and Mylinda if they also had as much fun as we did.

We stayed in Island Park, which is about 40 miles outside of the West Yellowstone entrance to the park. We stayed in "Grandma's Cabin". It was just the right size for all 9 of us. We were able to see bison, elk, bald eagles and mommy moose. Jonah couldn't get enough of it - he cried that he had to go home to 2nd grade the last day we were there.

So now it's almost 1 month since Yellowstone. We had so much fun on that trip, though. Thanks, Cole family, for inviting us.

We've had the flu, Jax has had gastritis (throwing up daily for over a week), I now have a bladder infection - what a great way to end the summer!!

Jory and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this last Thursday, and tomorrow is his 33rd birthday. He is so hard to buy for - he has no interests, no hobbies, I buy him clothes for about every holiday - his mom gave him 3 shirts and ties last Saturday. I don't know - maybe some year we'll have the funds I could buy him a nice bike or a really big TV.

Jonah has played every day with the neighborhood kids - they run around in a pack and go from place to place. Jonah really has enjoyed playing with "the old" Shawn ("the new" Shawn moved in this summer). They are the last two to start school because they are the only ones on traditional. Jonah has enjoyed being at his house more because there is no baby (I spend most of my time saying "shhhhh!") sleeping, and he actually has a back yard. They tramp and scoot, and have lots of fun together.

Eli stays at home mostly. He is such a great kid. My only worry is that I see him in primary and he can not stay still to save his life!! He is smart - this last week he noticed that a sign the chorister held up matched her shirt - then she held up something and asked what color it was and he said "red, like James"- then she held up a sign with an owl on it and he said "like a great horned owl". It was so funny - everything is an analogy with him (maybe he'll ace that part on his ACT's in 13 years). He is so ready for school. We've been practicing reading and he does really well - it doesn't seem that he is phonetic, but really can memorize well. Jonah keeps reading - he actually read a chapter book this summer. We're trying to work on money and adding.

Jax is just so cute- he got this TERRIBLE rash after the gastritis - I guess his natural "flora" was gone so he had yucky stuff irritating it - it was red and bloody and he just screamed every time there was poop. My in laws babysat Jax for us to go to the Anniversary Inn last Friday for our anniversary and the rash started that morning - I felt so bad leaving him for his sake, but also with that bad rash for my in laws. They said he was very cute, though, at a wedding reception they took him to. He was very good and didn't cry at all. He is such a youngest brother!! He loves trucks and cars. He goes downstairs and plays with a little toy garage for hours. We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago - I'll try to scan some in.

Well, I'll post better, and more often - I have a ton of pictures to post - imagine that - Oh, I took the boys to Lagoon this last Monday - they are still too small for the big rollercoasters (not to mention whimpy). So it was like a very expensive carnival. But we were together, no stroller - here to there - the kids LOVED the bumper cars.

Anyways - I'll get the pictures out - thanks for checking back with us - yes we are here, barely. . .

Mommy Tag

2008-07-11T17:20:00.002-06:00

I still need to finish up our trip, but Eli got "Mommy Tagged" and I had a chance to "interview" him, so here goes, before I loose it!

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Thank You"

2. What makes mom happy? "I say you are beautiful"

3. What makes mom sad? "That because you loose toys"

4. How does mom make you laugh? "Make me the best"

5. What was mom like as a child? "You were a baby"

6. How old is your mom? "I don't know"

7. How tall is your mom? "16 - let me count you (he counts 1-20) 20! 20 pounds" Now THAT'S what makes mom happy :)

8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do? "Play with me"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "Taking the baby" (which I did last night, although it is very rare)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Toys"

11. What is your mom really good at? "Fun things"

12. What is your mom not very good at? "My whales"

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Make food".

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Pizza"

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "That's because you are the best"

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "Sponge Bob Square Pants". I really don't think he knows much about him. (I hope)

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Play"

18. How are you and your mom the same? "The same hair". Okay, maybe back in Jr. High when I was blonde.

19. How are you and your mom different? "That's because we are a boy and a girl"

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "Because I find you are the best!"

How fun! Now we're going to tag Max and Brooklyn, to get a little younger and little older perspective!!

Up to Raleigh

2008-07-11T12:49:00.004-06:00

My sister Nicki lives just outside Raliegh in Holly Springs, NC. She has 2 children from a first marriage, and just had her second child with her husband now, Robin. They have a really nice house and let us stay there the night we came in to North Carolina. We also came back up to Raleigh on the 4th to celebrate Nicki's birthday and also hang out with them for a couple of days.

We had a fun time spending Nicki's birthday with her, I think that is the first time in about 20 years I've been able to celebrate with her. Because the fireworks were rained out on the 4th, it ruined all of our plans for yummy dessert and that after fireworks, but we did that on the 5th. We had so much fun, it is actually the first time we've met Alison, Nicki and Rob's daughter who is a little over 3 years old. Nicki's daughter, Madison found a dog they named Munchkin (they call him Munch). He is such a great dog - if I were to have a bigger dog, I'd love to have him. He is a 7 year old yellow lab and was SO great with the boys. As you can see, Jax sat on him, pulled his ears, poked him, you name it. He would just get up and walk away. They played ball with him and just thought he was great. The worst thing was that Jax has this new "fun" thing he does, when he sees an animal, he squeals like a little girl being tickled - SO LOUD! After a while though he just laughs and follows it around, well, like a puppy! Thanks to Nicki and Rob for their hospitality - good food and great company!

The hotel we stayed in was PERFECT because you could sit on the lawn to see the fireworks. They were rained out on the 4th as I said so they had them on the 5th, which meant the kids stayed up late the night before we left for home. Because we were so close, though, it wasn't like they were out all night. It was going to rain on the 5th, too, so they let them all off about 8:30 so the kids were in bed by 9:00.
Thanks, Mom and Dad for the great hotel experience!!

We got off just fine at the airport - I would totally recommend to anyone if you can check in on the computer before going to the airport and then skycap your baggage - do that - now if you don't pre-check in and then go to the skycap, Delta will charge you $3 a bag! I love skycaps! Jax was a little more wiggly, and he threw up just enough to have a naked baby for 3/4 of the flight. The flight on the way home was over 4 hours - it didn't seem that long on the way there, maybe it was the extremely poopy diaper and the puke that just set me over. Eli was AWESOME - he just watched the dvd player the whole time. Jonah was very good too - it is hard being by the baby (on my lap) because he grabs at everything. But Jonah was very helpful. We were so glad to see Jory!! It was like Christmas again!

Thanks to my family for all the fun and hospitality - and Thanks Dad for making it all possible!!

Last Day in Calabash

2008-07-03T19:38:00.003-06:00

So tomorrow we go back to my sister's house near Raleigh to celebrate the 4th of July (my sister's birthday, too) and then leave on Sunday the 6th. Today was our last full day in Calabash. This morning my parents took the boys to a nautical museum so I could pack - of course Jax has been napping 3-4 hours, but only a couple today, but I got most of our things together.

I got to go run errands alone for an hour or so - so nice to have a few minutes to actually think for myself!! We then went, you guessed it, swimming.

We came home had dinner and then got the kids dressed for the beach so I could take a few pictures of them at the beach - Eli fell asleep (can you tell) on the way and was out cold. But we got a few. . .

More and More pictures

2008-07-02T21:45:00.007-06:00

The only thing that stinks about taking pictures, well, there are 2 things. . . 1- I have to choose only a few to post, and 2- I have to blog every second to keep up!!

On Monday we went to a really fun Alligator park. It was really nice and actually had a good variety of animals. We just took Jonah and Eli, Mom stayed home with a sleeping baby Jax.

We then hit the pool, of course. . .

. . . and then for dinner we went to Benjamin's - an all you can eat seafood buffet. It was SOOO good! You could have all the crab legs you could eat, all the shrimp, any way you could ever want it - it was Paradise! Even Jax gnawed on a few legs.

Oh - and Jonah realized today he has his FIRST loose tooth - it's about time, he just turned SEVEN, you know!

Yesterday morning Dad took Me, Jonah, and my cousin's 10 year old son (is that my 2nd cousin?)Jeffrey from Jersey to the driving range at the REAL golf course. Jonah had a blast, but now I think he knows why my score WAS more like 150 when I played with Dad. We really had fun, though.

That afternoon we went on our last jaunt to the beach. It was really fun - Jonah found this poor dead crab he carried around like his best friend, and, as is par for the course, Eli wouldn't get out of the water until he conquered every last wave. Jax, as usual, wandered and checked out all the girls, and tried to take every last abandoned shovel. He was pretty good about staying fairly close, for a 15 month old.

This morning Jax and I hung out outside and wandered the circle in front of my parent's house. It's nice, although I think he now thinks it's okay to wander into the middle of the street. It was nice for him to get out and just wander. He doesn't get to do that often here because there are no fences and a stream (that is actually all dried up, therefore just as scary) runs right behind their house. So he's not allowed back there, only in the front with someone with him. He actually can open all doors to the outside but one, so if you get bolted out of the house, you have to go to the back open porch to get in. Then Dad, Jonah, Eli, Jeffrey, and my Aunt (my Dad's sister, Jeffery's Grandma)Corinne went mini golfing and then to lunch - and a quick stop to Walmart (I can't believe I filled up a 2GB SD card!). We then went to the pool for an hour or so and then had dinner at Aunt Corinne's. It was a very nice day.

Out and About Fun!

2008-06-30T06:14:00.018-06:00

On Wednesday we went to one of the outlet malls, and even let the kids have a second of fun. I really enjoyed it, and it is good for Jory, too, because we're traveling I can't buy what I'd really like to think I can buy:)

We found this snake right outside of my parent's house - thank goodness I found it, and I didn't have someone bring it to ME! My Dad had to check it out to make sure it's not the dangerous kind, I guess there are 2 kinds of black snakes here. He said it wasn't - I'm just glad we didn't have a chance to find out.

On Friday we went to this really fun walking outdoor mall called Barefoot Landing.

Jax, pushing himself.

Dad, trying to get cell phone reception.

Grandpa and Eli.

The boys on the carousel.

There was this Circus place that was like a knock off Build-a-Bear. The kids were all about it on the way in, but we decided to do it on the way out so we wouldn't have to carry the things all over. When we got back, Eli was throwing one of his, now infamous tantrums that he didn't want one. Fine. So we pick an elephant for Jax (really for Eli because earlier that is what he said he wanted) and Jonah gets it all fluffed up. Then Eli throws a bigger tantrum that he wants this monkey thing! Wow - what have I created!! So we do that and really give the elephant to Jax. Then, picking out outfits, Nonny was dressing them all and the boys kept changing what they wanted. I made them keep what they asked for, but by the time we got to the car, Eli's monkey, Domp, wanted to be naked - I guess that is why they are buddies.

An Airplane Adventure

After that adventure, we were going to see some alligators, but we were all too wiped out. So we had lunch, then took pictures of a COOL yellow airplane (as per Cabela's) and helicopter that topped a mini golfing facility.

We then went to a fun store, Paradise, that just had a bunch of touristy stuff and beachwear. It had this cool sharks mouth you could enter the store through, although we were the only ones using it, everyone else went through the regular front door.

On Saturday we were going to have train day, in honor of Sweeps, aka Eli. I had seen a bunch of ads for this Thomas the Tank Engine day at Toys R Us, so we hunted one down. Thinking it would be really fun, maybe get a picture with Thomas, or Sir Topham Hatt, but it was just a couple of train maps and a VERY short story read every 30 minutes, and a coloring page. That was it. BORING. But, we tried.

Then we had to kill some time so, to the OTHER outlet mall - this one had covered walkways, so it was not too bad to walk around there. The kids found this fountain to stick their feet in to cool off a little bit.

The BIG HIT of the day was when we went to this hobby shop that Nonny had seen an article about. Above the store was this space, about the size of a good-sized kids room, where these men had a model train set up that they were working on. Not only was it cool to see, but the boys were SO GOOD!!! They were quiet, they didn't touch a thing - Jonah had his arms folded almost the whole time without even being asked. Jax was a little wiggly, but he is not one for being held for any length of time. They were all so good!! And the men were very nice, and you can see that Eli even got to blow the train whistle and push other buttons. He was SO in awe - he couldn't move!! It was a great experience for us all!!

Sorry the video is sideways - I'll try to adjust it when I get a second.

What a Busy Week!!

2008-06-27T14:58:00.001-06:00

I can't believe it has been a week since I last blogged!! I've had this window pulled up for a couple of days now, and am just now getting a chance to post.

My dad - after the FIRST hole!

Me, actually golfing! It went about 300 yards (oh - typo - I mean 30:).

Me and my golfing buddies, Bob and Ray.

So, here are some pictures of me golfing last Tuesday - I went with my Dad and his neighborhood buddies, Bob and Ray. Bob just had a stint put in a week ago, so I'm glad he made it all 9 holes. The golf course my Dad usually goes to is about 2 houses away, but they just aerated the course so we had to go to the sister course, the Farmstead. It was about 98 degrees out, and because it had rained on Monday, you couldn't ride your cart on the grass at all, so I guess it was more walking than usual (this is only my second time actually golfing, so I didn't know any better). I threw my arm out chunking at the ball on the second hole, so it was interesting the rest of the way. We had a lot of fun, Jonah wanted to know my "score", I told him 100 - he didn't like that too much - already an embarrassment to my children.

Coming home from the beach.
These were taken on the way home from Sunset Beach, which is where we usually go. It is a great beach - not too crowded, not too deep. It is a little worrisome that not far from where we swim, there are fishermen on a really high pier that are catching some big fish, but other than a cool jellyfish some man grabbed in a bucket and the crab Jonah picked up, mistaking it for a shell, oh, and the squishy thing I stepped on, there hasn't been much to worry about. You can tell Eli is about to pass out. He acts so tired at home, but as soon as we hit the beach or pool, he's all over it!

A Few More Birthday Pictures

2008-06-22T18:58:00.002-06:00

The pictures posted earlier are from my Dad's phone in the car on the way home. These were taken at Chuck E. Cheese for Jonah's 7th Birthday Party. There was just me, my Mom, Dad, Jonah, Eli, Jax, and my parent's neighbor boy, Geordan. We really had a lot of fun, and Jonah really liked the games and stuff. It was perfect!

The Boardwalk Rides in Myrtle Beach

2008-06-22T18:51:00.002-06:00

There were fun rides behind the Aquarium that the boys had fun on...

The Myrtle Beach Aquarium!

2008-06-22T18:23:00.003-06:00

So we went to the Aquarium in Myrtle Beach on Thursday, June 19. It was really fun - Eli especially thought it was a treat!!

Fun Outside

2008-06-22T18:15:00.003-06:00

Just having fun with the hose outside with Grandpa! Tuesday, June 17 in NC

And just an aside, because I am using this kind of as a journal, while swimming at the pool I set Jax up on the side and held on to him, and as I looked into his mouth I saw that his top two MOLARS are coming in! That's right, no canines, only his front 4 teeth and then MOLARS!! What does evolution say about that?

My MB E320

2008-06-22T17:10:00.003-06:00

Dad took this picture of me driving his Mercedes the other day - it is SO COOL!! I am NOT getting used to it though, because I get to go home to my MV and the Pro-toe-hay. I joke with Dad, though, because my brother AJ got my Dad's pride and joy, the Taurus SHO that, after having it for 15 years only had probably 80k on it and my Dad babied that thing more than any of us :). And my sister just got their Camry they only had a few years and the neighbor they had bought that from babied that thing to death. So the big joke is that I will get this car when they're "done" with it - I certainly have 20 years to wait:).

Chuck E. Cheese - Can You Say PAR-TAY?

2008-06-22T16:59:00.003-06:00

Here is a picture of master highchair escapee, Jax, taken by Grandpa.

This is on the way home last night from the big #7 birthday party of THE Jonah Kimball

Here is the ECSTATIC BIRTHDAY BOY - Happy Birthday, Jonah!

And here is the middle bro, E-L-I!

We had a fun party, just the family and the neighbor boy, Geordan. It was nice to not have to watch 10 kids in a place like that, trying to get everyone back for dinner, then cake, etc. I got off SO WAY EASY this year. Grandpa paid, Chuck E. Cheese cleaned up, and we are ALL happy - ESPECIALLY Jonah, which is MOST important!

Fungus does not mean Fun with Gus

2008-06-18T21:12:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I feel like God understands I can't handle major catastrophes, tragedy or other such life altering occurrences so he has blessed me with things like fungus. Yes, I know fungus is not one of life's major travesties, however, it is like that tickle you get in the small of your back that you just can't reach. No I have not lost a limb, my hair is receding not bald yet, and my 1994 mazda protege purrs like a kitten as I make my daily sojourn down to the office. Yes fungus does itch, it gives off a zangy aroma, is not the highlight of most persons involved with infectious disease, but right now it haunts my every dream. It feels my mind with stirring thoughts of complete insanity followed by gnashing of teeth"biblical reference", and the urge to run down my quiet, conservative street at Forest Ridge butt naked howling like a dog at the moon. My bed calls, fungus free for the time being, with this I give a shot out to my three handsome boys and my sexy wife. Yo Yo East Side Mormon hollering at your feet, dope y'all peace out.

Just a Few Thoughts - so sorry, Iowa

2008-06-17T10:11:00.003-06:00

Sorry about the picture of me - Jory has been asking me to send him one, I have my "Beach Hair" hairdo going on (aka, no hairdo whatsoever), but Jonah took one, so this is it.

A note about Iowa City. As you may know, I was born and raised in Iowa City, got my undergrad from the U of Iowa - and my parents just moved here to North Carolina this last year after living in Iowa City for over 37 years. I am so sad about the devastation that they have been experiencing for the last week or so, but I am very happy that we hadn't planned on spending our month vacation in the high seas of Iowa City. . .

Here's One For You, Honey

2008-06-17T09:52:00.006-06:00

A picture of me, taken by Jonah.

And I couldn't resist a few more . . .

Jonah holding his newest baby cousin, William

Jaxiekins

Happy Beach Baby

Cub Fan

Johnson Cousins

Baby Will - He's Awake!!

Just Beachin' It - the Rough Life

2008-06-17T07:40:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures of the boys - and one with Eli and Grandpa, in the Atlantic Ocean. They have just loved every minute of it!! Enjoy!

Ready for Retirement

2008-06-16T17:30:00.001-06:00

This is the life. This is the life with my parents I wish I had had growing up. Parents around all of the time, going out to eat, riding in a Mercedes, no worries about money - go go go. To the beach, to the pool, mini golfing, aquariums. Yep, I am ready for retirement!!

Is it really a vacation if. . .

2008-06-16T17:12:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was awoken by my 4 year old, Eli, at about 7:30 am - "Mom, I throwed up" - yes, and good morning to you, too. So I go into the boy's room and there is throw up all over his bed, duvet cover AND duvet, on his bed skirt, and on the rug on BOTH sides of his bed. Luckily I see none on him. I get everything ready to wash (PS. IKEA duvets and covers wash up quite nicely - very pleasantly surprised at the duvets outcome). So I ask, after awhile of doing this, if he got any on Jonah's bed - Jonah says "look" - it is all over Jonah's duvet, and because it stinks like, well, puke, I need to wash his duvet as well. So this takes all day, of course.

But poor Eli, he threw up one more time really good (right on my parents beige carpet, of course, and a few more times in the waste basket (which is now the ONLY thing he will throw up in, "NOT in the TOILET!"). Then he slept from about 10 am until about 4 pm which is good that his body makes him get the rest he needs when he is run down!

I asked Jonah if Eli threw up in the morning or during the night and Jonah said it was during the night. I asked him why he didn't wake me up, he said "You told me not to". So much for threatening them not to wake me up in the morning for food or a TV show. So I had to clarify - if someone wets the bed or throws up, you can wake me up. So now I felt even more sad for poor Eli who slept in his puke so I could sleep. We don't know if it was the fact that he actually ate more than one meal on Saturday, or all the ocean water he has ingested the last week. But he is fine today - thank goodness.

Yesterday was a very good day to be sick - it was Sunday and my Mom's ward had a special Stake meeting so we didn't go to that, and it was overcast and we actually had lightening storms so bad that when talking to Jory for Father's Day the phone cracked and went dead - YIKES!

Well, Jory actually seems more stressed out now that we have gone. Our lawn apparently has a fungus, so 3/4 of it is dead, and he feels overwhelmed at the things he feels he needs to get done, so he is not sleeping well thinking of all of this. If you happen to see him, maybe give him some adult contact that isn't patient to doctor, or employer to employee. He needs to definitely get out more.

Oh, and yes, Kriss, the package arrived on Monday, thank you and congratulations on your news!!!

Better go, the Utah natives are restless!!

Welcome to BEACHTOWN, NC

2008-06-14T20:03:00.005-06:00

It's been a while because we have been traveling to my parents house in North Carolina. The town is called Calabash - which is known for it's seafood - YUM! and also there was something that happened a while ago on the radio and an announcer would end his broadcast with "Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash". Other than that, it seems to be mainly a retirement community - so we get lots of great looks with the kids - usually extreme either way like "You're so cute!" or "Don't puke on ME!".

View Larger Map

It has been great - I am so tan, even I can't believe it. We went to the pool the first day, the beach the next two days, the pool yesterday, and, believe it or not I had to be talked into going to the beach today. The weather is HOT and HUMID (sorry to my fellow Utahns) but the water is PERFECT!! about 75 degrees, which is about 20 degrees more than any water we went into the three years we lived in California. We are so lucky to be able to come out here and bask in the sun - the beach is about 15 minutes away, and the pool is, well, about 3 houses away. There is fun miniature golfing, fishing, aquariums, planetariums, all the fun shops, we hit the flea market today - what an adventure!!

The only bummer is that Jory is not here and will not be able to come - he has to keep down the fort in Utah and keep working - how unfun for us all!! We will especially miss him tomorrow on Father's Day - the only benefit he has is he can truly sleep in for the first time, well, pretty much since we've had kids - that's a treat every 7 years!!

The kids are having a ball - the funny thing is that Eli can't stay out of the water! We bring him in and turn to walk up the beach, and he goes right back in the water!! The undercurrent is very strong so we have to be very watchful of the boys. Jonah loves it too - but he can't decide which he likes better. You should hear him come off the beach. I tell him not to worry about the sand because the car is not ours (it's a rental) and he says (sarcastically) "Oh sure, mom, let's just get sand all over the car, great, mom, that's just great!" Wow, where did he learn that!! My children have picked up on the fact that my Dad smokes cigarettes, so Eli leans out the side porch to grandpa and says "Grandpa, are you doing cigarettes?"

The kids are loving the big squirrels that come up the porch all day to eat Nonny's bird seed - but they are scared of the snakes and other animals that we have told them lurk out there. I must say that I wait until the morning to take out stinky diapers myself, not wanting to disturb the fire ants, the black snakes, or the cockroaches.

Jax has been good, although the first day we came I did fall in love with my parents house - it is beautiful and bright and new with gorgeous molding all over top-rounded doorways, a big, open kitchen, a GREAT master bathroom, and even a shower in the guest bathroom that is big enough to hold me and my three boys at once (you can ask me later how I know this). The second day a few things went up, the next day a few more, towels went on the glass tables, tissues went up, vases went in closed rooms, and eventually the fireplace got cardboarded up. It looks much different now than when we arrived, but my parents are very laid back about it all. They have gotten frustrated with me for telling the kids not to run things on the floor and to be more quiet. They are excited for the kids to use their jetted tub and have even made a small staircase out back for small kids feet next to an outside shower to rinse off after beaching out! It is very fun and we have loved every minute of it!!

Quik Kathy "Indie" Review

2008-06-06T22:21:00.002-06:00

Did not like it - Harrison Ford is still hot, and the chick seriously hasn't changed in 20 years - very impressive, but hated the storyline - and Cate Blanchett (sp?) I really could not have cared for at all!! PS - NIKKIE - DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE - I'm sure it is too late, but I couldn't help thinking of you during a very specific scene (see previous posts and comments) SO IF YOU READ THIS, DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE!! :)

2008-06-06T09:42:00.005-06:00

Wanted to post some pictures

These were taken at Draper Park where our neighborhood got together to have a picnic - thanks, Andrea, for planning this, it was REALLY a BLAST!!

These were when we celebrated Poppy (my niece) and Robyn's (my MIL) birthdays. Jax wasn't too sure about this ride - when he gets nervous he reaches out and opens and closes his hands really fast - he was doing that like crazy RIGHT after I took this picture!! We really had fun at my SIL's!

Eli had his end of year program on Tuesday, June 3 - he was so cute - if you see him, ask him to sing any one of his songs - the "Elasomosaurus " (sp?) song, the "Bee" song, the "Ladybug" song. We got his end of year report, and they said that Eli is the smartest kid in class this year - he knows a little bit about everything - that makes him even more a Johnson - my sister is queen of knowing lots of things that only are worth more than spit if you are playing some kind of trivia game!!
Jory's grandpa, Grandpa Jay, turned 80 on Wednesday, June 4. Robyn threw a nice party for him. He is in great shape and just keeps going - doesn't look a day over 70 :). Don't tell him, but when we got home from the party Jonah said "I'm gonna miss Grandpa Jay", I knew grandpa was going on some dino dig excursion this weekend, but we see him so infrequently, I wasn't sure what Jonah meant, so I inquired and Jonah replied "When he goes to heaven, I'll miss him!" Wow - talk about out of left field!!Eli's last day of school was Circus Day - he was, Eli the Elephant - he has had a negative view of things lately. He said no one thought he was a cute elephant. OH - I beg to differ - he's the cutest Eli Elephant EVER!!

One more quick story. . . Eli comes to us on Monday with a movie, Baby Einstien - Noah's Ark, and says "God said I can watch this movie". Jory: "God said, huh?", Eli: "Yes", Jory: "What exactly did God say?", Eli: "YES, ELI, YOU CAN WATCH THIS MOVIE!" . . . well, if God says, who can argue with that?

A post from the side. . . "Mr. Worry Wort" We get home and Eli goes straight to the back yard from the car. I'm unloading and such, when I hear Eli calling out to someone (yelling) as loud as he can. So I go out there and Eli is yelling at a man redoing Jeremy, the neighbor next door's roof. He's saying "BE CAREFUL UP THERE" and such things. So I tell Eli to calm down and ask what the problem is. He says that it is dangerous and that the man needs to be careful. I said he knows what he's doing and kind of glad that Eli is worried about the man's safety. Eli says "No, if he falls and cracks his head and gets blood, Jeremy will be mad." So much for concern for his safety!

Outdoor fun

2008-05-31T11:17:00.003-06:00

Okay - last, with one more second - yesterday I took these from my bedroom window - it was funny because the kids could hear me, but with being inside, they couldn't tell where I was.

Anyways, the thing that makes me cringe a little is that when we moved into this house, I think the dogs that had been here did lots of their duty in this corner, but what can I do. They were "looking for beetles" as Eli says, but the part of this story that I want to remember is that I looked out on these guys about 1 hour later and Jax was grabbing his ears and rubbing all over him and looked perturbed, but he wasn't crying. Well, I ran to the bathroom to start a bath and by the time I got out there, Jonah was bringing him up to me. They had gotten into an ant hill - Jax had tons of bites on his legs and neck - and a couple on his hands. They all got baths/showers last night, needless to say. I was itchy all night, and about 8:00 found an ant down my own shirt!! I showed it to Jory and he pinched it to kill it and it bit him!! KILLER ANTS!!

I like your irises

2008-05-31T11:13:00.003-06:00

Just finally took a picture of the crazy irises my parents brought me last year. They are from when I graduated from grad school, Vanderbilt's school flower is the iris, so they gave me a small bag of bulbs. My mom decided to plant them in Iowa, then when they decided to move, they drove out here to SLC to bring me some starts - WOW!! They are HUGE and GOREGOUS, as you can see. Jonah is standing there (in his pj's - it was when I thought of it, okay!) so you can see them up against an almost 7 year old!! Thanks, Mom!

A Little Plug

2008-05-31T10:46:00.005-06:00

Hi there,
In looking at my SIL's blog, I wanted to add a plug for Jory's business. He is an optometrist (that means that he can do EVERYTHING but cut your eye - that includes lasik, but he does pre and post care for lasik surgery). Anyways - he has tons of frames and will order in anything from catalogs or websites. He has his own office located at:
8806 Redwood Road Suite 101
West Jordan, Utah 84088
801-578-2020
These are made by a Danish business called Pro Design - they have all different fun color combos!!

I looked for some Bebe sunglasses to show you, but for some reason Jory has a better selection than what is in their own catalog- I have about 4 pairs of sunglasses alone!

Here is a picture of my most recent pair of glasses - I don't need them at all, it's kind of a family joke, but I get a new pair every so often when Jory need a back up gift plan - but I love it!

Another Day. . .

2008-05-30T09:23:00.004-06:00

Hello, not much going on again today - just preparing for our trip a week from Monday to NC - and the end of school looms near.

Eli went to "Day Out with Thomas" this last Saturday with Jory - they had so much fun - Jory especially enjoyed Sir Topham Hatt!
I took the boys on Monday to Speed Racer - we saw it in the IMAX theater - it was pretty good - Jonah loved it, but Eli was so sick - he had a fever and was curled up in a ball. Because of the roller-coaster-like scenes with the racing, I was just waiting for him to puke all over- but we got home and he took a nap - a 6 hour nap. He was better when he got up, watched a movie until 11 pm, and then went back to sleep and was fine. Whew!

Jax is super tired - it has been hard having Eli's carpool at 11:30 - Jax goes down about 10:30 - I got him down at 10:00 today, but he is WIPED and boobing about EVERYTHING!

Well, you'll see that I found a few more friendly blog links - Jonah's (BEST) teacher, my 2 of my brother-in-law's and their wives, so check it out!!

Do I Really Have a "Spare" Minute?

2008-05-23T15:57:00.002-06:00

Well, I am making one, anyways. Jax was up every 3 hours and stayed up at 5:30 with a fever around 103 all night (sorry, Laura, I hope the kids are immune by now:(). He is taking a (nice for me) afternoon nap, so it is quiet and the boys are down watching a movie.
Jonah has finished all he has to "do" for school - no more homework, he barely earned his "Prestigious Panther" award by staying up until 10:30 last night writing his numbers to 1000, and this morning at 7:00 writing a book about himself. So much for not teaching your kids to procrastinate - which actually is really not like me at all. But he is done! Yeah!! I EARNED that award! :)
Eli is being his old Eli self - watching Thomas and Scooby Doo when he can. I am letting them have an afternoon movie because, poor Jonah hasn't done that since Christmas break I think. It is cool out - only in the 40's, so definitely not play outside weather.
We bought our tickets to go to North Carolina for a month - June 9th to July 6th - finally. I am so stoked to leave life for a while - now it is just finding subs for my primary class, getting the newsletter done, having gifts wrapped for while I'm gone, etc. The only sad thing is that Jory will not be coming and will miss Father's Day with the boys and Jonah's 7th birthday. I can't believe he will be THAT OLD - wonder how I'll feel when my baby is 30!!
Well, I have ironing and vacuuming to do - I will NOT miss that in North Carolina - that's for SURE!!

So, so long!

2008-05-17T17:30:00.002-06:00

Sorry it has been a few days. On Monday my sister, Nicki, had a baby boy - he came about 1 month early, so last I heard the only name he had to go by was "Plant", picked by my niece, Alyson, who is 3 and who we have yet to meet!! Hopefully the name has changed, but the important part is that he seems to be doing well, by all of my parents accounts.

So, we are trying to decide the whole where to live issue. We absolutely LOVE our neighborhood - but I drive both of the boys to school, about 15 minutes each day for Jonah. More annoying than the drive, though, is that everyone at his school lives up by it, for the most part, and I'd like him to play with those kids too, to strengthen relationships. Every time he gets a note to play at someone's house, I have to explain that we live out of the neighborhood, so it is more difficult. Anyways, a friend of my BIL's came by to discuss a roofing job, and I got all excited about redoing this, putting in a backyard, etc. because the guy is a contractor so he does all of that stuff. So I'd like it if we hunkered down and put some time, $, and effort in, or started over.

A funny story from Jonah on Thursday. So I preface this with how Jory tries to instill a need to be good with the boys by telling them that they are Kimball's. "You are Kimball's - Kimball's would do (blank) or wouldn't do (blank)". We are in the car on the way home from school, and Jonah decides he wants to go to McDonald's for dinner - which is usual because we pass one on the way home. So he's saying to me "So, I want McDonald's for dinner." No response is necessary from me so he says "Yeah, Mom, we are Kimball's, and Kimball's can go where they want for dinner - Kimball's can go to McDonald's" - it was so funny!!

Jonah has been doing very good in school, and pretty much the only notes I get home say that he was very good at helping someone out or being patient while teachers dealt with a problem student. He also has been doing great at soccer. They had his last game today, and he is such a go-getter. He is just all over the place, and although he only got one goal this year - I am SOOO proud of him!! Some of his teammates have conked out mid game because the field is about double what they had last season, but Jonah just kept on trucking!! It is in the 80's today - so I have barely seen him - out on the slip-n-slide with the boys, now watching a tramp being put up in the neighbor's yard.

Eli is just running out crazy in the back with Dad and Jax. Jory had a camp out with the deacons last night and Eli and Jonah slept over at Jory's parents house. I got yardwork done - I was out there until about 12:00 midnight. It was good to get it done. So I go pick up the boys in the morning and Eli looks at me and says "I peed my pants" I looked at him and said "Right now?", he said "No, last night" - this is the first my MIL heard of it and says she had no clue. Sorry Robyn - and more laundry for Mom.

Jax slept from 7:30 last night until 8:30 this morning. It was great. He even took a good 3 1/2 hour nap - maybe he's hitting a growing spurt - not my baby! He is just hitting the back yard like no tomorrow - and will not stop going- Jory is out there with him and Eli. A good little break for me. Jory is kind of fading because everyone forgot sunscreen and they did a 5 mile hike today - he is FRIED!!

Well, better go get some grub started!! Thanks for stopping by!

Just another day. . .

2008-05-08T22:15:00.003-06:00

Well, nothing great and exciting happened today. Got some bushes trimmed a little, deadheaded the bulbs, and Jax enjoyed an hour or so outside - he LOVES to escape outside any time he can. I was actually thinking today what it was like for Jonah and Eli at one year old, as we were in our condo in Orange County, with no yard to play in. They only got out if I went out, and there was really no where to play right outside. And it doesn't hurt that Jax is a great kid - when we're out front, if he goes to far and I call him, he comes running back to me. He loves to stay with Jonah and Eli when they're outside, so if I can get them back, he's right there. Eli is my eternal homebody, but I did get him off to My Gym today. He was very good - and I got a 30 minute walk in - Jax enjoyed that, too. We finished getting all of the stuff to make Miss Sullivan's teacher appreciation basket - including the carwash certificates we got after picking up Jonah. Miss Carla, Jonah's speech person, stood us up today - it was confusing, though - we've been off for the last 3 weeks - she thought it was one more. For dinner I had some top sirloin out that I had to use today to make an allrecipes.com recipe titled Oxacan Tacos. Now, if you click and link to this - you will be amazed to find my review stating the kids actually liked it. However, as stated, I modified for the kids - using no jalapenos (and no onions for Eli), and added some sour cream (okay, a ton of sour cream for Eli) and cheese to theirs - but Jonah was asking me just for the plain beef!! I also forgot the lime juice and cilantro - and Jax got a makeshift quesadilla and peas. We watched movies - I watched August Rush - how great a movie is that!!! And the boys watched some Dr. Suess movie. The kids went to bed about 30 minutes late - the bonus is that they went RIGHT to sleep!! Jory is away at a meeting to get his last continuing ed credits, so here I am. I will be helping at Jonah's class in the morning, so I better get some shut-eye!!

Holy Sabbath!

2008-05-06T06:56:00.002-06:00

Well, it is now Tuesday - but Sunday gave me much to write about.

So we're at church today, and we’re in sacrament, and my 6 year old, Jonah, who just was given a new suit (at his request) and looks so handsome, asks to read my Bible. I’m so impressed, I turn to the lesson I know he will be having in primary. He reads it and I ask him a few questions about what he read, and he is dead on with his answers. So impressed am I, and he asks me to find Joshua. He reads some of that. Then I get out the Book of Mormon and turn to the Beatitiudes in 3 Nephi 12, and he got to verse 2 and it said "Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized. . ." So I pronounce "depths" and explain it by saying “depths means the very bottom” and Jonah looks at me and says “whose hairy bottom?”

Primary Proteges:

Next, in primary, the bishopric member doing sharing time is talking about families and asks the children what differences there are in families. He’s going for “some have only a mom”, “some may also have a grandma”, etc. Thankfully, instead of blurting out which she is very much prone to do, a little girl in my class turns right to me and says: "I know, they all have different germs!"

Eli, my 4 year old, during this same meeting, is watching the bishopric member put words up on the board. The word is "family" but there are many of them in many different languages. Two words are put up together (of course I don't remember what they were) but one started with an "H" and one with a "B". So Eli, my 4 year old reader, says: "I know, it says Happy Birthday"

Later, Eli goes on to stick his tongue out at his teacher when asked to sit down. Then, when the bishopric member first gets up, it is so quiet and the bishopric member even says "it is so quiet, I can even here myself!" Some kid makes some silly comment, then, from behind me, I hear a comment to the bishopric member in a voice I've known for the last 6 3/4 years "that's easy for YOU to say!" - needless to say, I looked like mother of the year today!

WELCOME TO US!

2008-05-04T11:22:00.000-06:00

Hi there, after a fun weekend getaway with the girls, I became convinced that this would be my thing - so here is my BLOG! My name is Kathy Kimball, I am married to a wonderful husband, Jory, and have been for ALMOST A DECADE!! We have 3 beautiful boys, Jonah (6), Eli (4), and Jax (1). We live in a suburb of Salt Lake City, where we will live for eternity (Salt Lake, at least). Jory's whole family is here, and he has built his optometry practice here, so here we will stay. It is the day after our neighborhood's fun scrapaway retreat, so I should probably go put my MOM hat back on, but I will return!!