Photo Friday

Here is our one photo for the week.  I made German pancakes for the boys for the first time ever, and they loved them!  We may have used 12 eggs but learned that you really don't need to double the butter when doubling the rest of the recipe, though the remaining butter was great with our Salmon that evening.  I'll try again tomorrow with 9 eggs and less butter and see how it goes!

Photos Fridays

I styled my very own wig for the first time!

Back

Side.

Otha Side

Front! But we did have to change this to hide some of the model's hair because the wig was too small.

Photo Friday!

I must say, that turned out pretty good! I'm not one much to do girls' hair.
Just ask Jodi… Jaime was very complimentary.

Posers...

Just a fun day with Dad at home!

Photo Friday

As I was cleaning out the office, I came across these photos I don't know if any of you have ever seen before...maybe.  Anyway, I guess it's more of a "throwback thursday" then a photo Friday, but just the same, hope they make you happy!

Mom High School Graduation

Dad--High School Graduation

Mom and Dad High School Graduation

Photo Friday

For some reason most of my photos this week are of food, or about food. Woops.

My best friend, Estelle, is getting married next week! This is her and her fiancé
at her bridal shower. I pulled the good ole empty box gag gift, thanks Michelle!

Justin brought me this from Rocky Mountain Chocolate
Factory after going to dinner at Tucano's for Bryce's
birthday. (I was at home with a feverish 4 year old)

I had my eye on this for awhile and finally bought it when I saw it 50% off.
I was so disappointed! I just like my cookbook so much better.

Taking care of a newborn...

Costa Vida. Oh yeah...

Photo Friday

Look, I'm early!  Yippee!   Here are some fun photos from our trip to Virginia.  Enjoy!

Enjoying the 60º weather together.  I love just going outside and watching Hyrum play!

The shovels are still out, so why not play with them without snow!

If there is no snow to shovel you can always shovel your brother!

Just too cute not to share!

And while the boys played . . . mom and James shopped!  In the end plenty of money was spent but homes were beautified!

Michael loves to put Hyrum on his shoulder and fall onto the couch.  They both have a blast but sometimes I have to close my eyes because they don't fall slowly.

This is for Jodi and her girls . . . it may not be homemade yogurt, but it is still yummy and makes a great mess!

Now if only I can talk Hyrum into sitting or kneeling when he eats, but apparently standing is the way to go.  

My weekly projects

While Dad has been in London this week, I have been trying to get reorganized, motivated by all the help James gave me while they were here.  I've been cleaning out my "dresser" in my closet into the beautiful dresser James painted for me; I've been trying to put Dad's office back in order, since we moved out the armoire, but not all the stuff stored there; and I have gone through all the toys and condensed and organized so kids can easily put them away and find them again.  I have to admit, this kind of organization did not work for my kids, but I hope it will assist in clean up at the end of a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

"big kid" toys

"little kid" toys

Always favorite dress ups

The results--no more mess!

Do you think it will work?

St Patrick's Day in Virginia

From our bedroom window.  Brrrrr...

Early morning chore (before he can go to London)

Photo Friday

Dinner Party we went to where someone brought Creme Brûlée
for dessert. We each got to torch our own. It was really cool.

Ava trying out her bumbo. Still a little small for it.

Roasted a banana squash, pureed it, and then it eventually became my
delicious squash pasta sauce, which ended up in lasagna. Joe is right. As the squash
sat in the basement, it got sweeter and sweeter. Who knew squash is a fruit?

We got the girl scout cookies we ordered a long time ago on
Monday. Monday. I'm saving my treat day until Sunday.
It has been a long week of passing them out to the kids one
by one and really hoping there are some left by Sunday :(

Project!

Mom and I did some great work this week. We helped her get her living room arranged and put together and put up some photos and bought a lamp or two. It's been fun, and I'm glad we could have some fun time together to decorate away! 

My favourite project of the week, though, was her bedroom dresser. Mom needed a dresser, and we decided that the best way to put a small one in her room was to replace her nightstand with a short stack we found at IKEA. This one, to be exact:

This is the TARVA, $79 and solid pine from IKEA. We picked it up on Tuesday and hauled it home. I also bought some amazing velvet curtains for my living room, but that is another project that will not get done this Spring Break. 

So, we put all but the drawers together, then got to work on making it suitable for Mom's ever more chich bedroom.

Step 1: PAINT

We used Bayleaf from Valspar's Eddie Bauer paint line at Lowe's. I wish we would have left off the rails, but I already had to put them on twice, and I was afraid the holes wouldn't take a third try, so on they stayed—live and learn.

You can see in the bottom of the photo that we left the legs bare so that it would look like it was sitting on its own custom little platform. After the paint dried, we distressed the edges with sandpaper and then we went after it with stain. We used Rustoleum's Wheat color, fast drying. I would not use Fast Dry on a project like this again. It just dried a little too fast to get all the rubbing and wiping that I needed. It made stress, and projects like this should not make stress.

We stained the entire piece—bare wood, painted surfaces, and distressed edges. I just wiped on and wiped off, and in an hour it was dry. We waxed it with Paste Finishing Wax, my favourite way to finish furniture, and then put on knobs. We did 2 crystal knobs and 4 of the original wood ones and it looked like this:

(This photo is the most accurate representation of the color. Oh, natural light. :)

But, then Mom found some great knobs at Lowe's that really upped the "not homemade" factor on this beast, and now it looks like this:

Isn't it great? If we had it to do again, we would router the drawers and top before assembly to give more architectural detail and more surface to distress. Again, live and learn. It look likes a million bucks in their room, though, and the color has such depth; we love it!

This photo doesn't sshow the color, but it does show off the layout and Mom's new drapes that Dad and I hung for her this week. It looks like a cozy bedroom in there!

The Amazing Genetic Frontier

Dear Family,

To some this is a story you have already heard. For others it is new. Please don’t take offense if I am just now clueing you in on our recent adventures.

When Ava was born, as is done with all children born in Utah, she underwent a basic newborn screening looking for common diseases. This test was performed twice, and to our surprise, the results for the second test were the same as the first: indeterminate for Cystic Fibrosis. Her blood samples were then sent on for further genetic testing.

While I was in Virginia, taking a few days with Mom and Dad after a business trip to Washington, DC, Jodi received a call from the genetic specialist at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City. It was revealed that Ava has two specific genetic mutations associated with Cystic Fibrosis, and she needed to be seen at Primary Children’s right away for further testing. I bumped up my flight, and returned home as soon as I was able so I could accompany Jodi and Ava to the hospital. There Ava underwent a Sweat Chloride Test, the “gold standard” for diagnosing Cystic Fibrosis for more than 50 years. During the test we met with a genetic counselor to learn more about the genetic mutations, possible scenarios, and next steps. Honestly, we left with more questions than we went in with.

The Sweat Chloride Test: Use electric current and chemicals to stimulate the
sweat glands in the arms, collect the sweat, and measure the salt content.
People with Cystic Fibrosis have a higher concentration of salt in their sweat.

The results of the Sweat Chloride Test were borderline between being classified as a carrier, and having mild symptoms, which led to another visit to Primary Children’s four days later for a meeting with the pulmonologist and further testing to better understand the specific nature of the genetic mutations to give a more accurate diagnosis. Blood was drawn, questions were answered, and we were on our way, still very uncertain as to what the future would bring for our little Ava.

After two long weeks, the results finally came in. We knew Ava has two genetic mutations associated with Cystic Fibrosis: one severe mutation, and one mild mutation. The additional testing showed that the severe mutation is such that it could express itself mildly, and the mild mutation is such that it could express itself moderately. What does this mean? Though there is still much we don’t know, we do know it means that she should never exhibit full symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis. The worst case scenario is that she will show mild symptoms. The best case scenario is that she will be classified as a carrier, and never exhibit any symptoms. We will be back at Primary Children’s in another few months to again have Ava do the Sweat Chloride Test, where we should know, with more certainty, what to expect long-term.

In the middle of all this, Jodi and I decided to have a genetic screening performed for each of us to know where the mutations were coming from. We each have one of the mutations, meaning each of our children have/will have a one-in-four chance of receiving both mutations, as Ava did.

Our genetic testing looked for hundreds of common genetic disorders, not just those associated with Cystic Fibrosis. It turns out that I am also a carrier for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. I share this because each of my siblings is most likely also a carrier, and while most of you are done, or close to being done, having children, I feel it my responsibility to let you know that you may also be a carrier (as could your children be).

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a disease in which certain nerves in the brain and spinal cord die, impairing the person’s ability to move. Called motor neurons, these nerves control our ability to sit up, crawl, and walk. There are five types, each with its own set of symptoms. The most severe cases result in a child’s death within 6-24 months of birth. Without both spouses being carriers, it is rare (1 in 2400) that your child will have this disease. Perhaps worth getting tested for, though, if you are still having children. The same caution applies to you being carriers of Cystic Fibrosis. Because I am a carrier (of the mild gene mutation), you could be, too. When combined with other Cystic Fibrosis mutations, it has the possibility of being expressed.

Through all of this we have felt the faith and love of those who have been aware, and the natural bonds of familial love and hope from everyone. I have been quite at peace through this process, and stand by, with faith, the blessing which I gave to Ava as part of her naming ordinance. Here is a snippet: “Ava, we bless you with health, with strength, that your body will be impervious to the sicknesses that will be all around you, not just now in your infancy, but as you grow and later in your teenage years and in your adulthood.”

We wanted you all to know about the adventures we have been having. We are full of faith.

No photos :(

Ok, so I am ashamed that we haven't taken any pictures on this trip yet.  I will do better, so I have lots to share next week.  But I will give you a great piece of advice when traveling . . . don't run out of fuel. These new cool gadgets on cars are great and will tell you how many miles you can go, but I warn you that they may not be perfectly accurate.  We were within 1 mile of a gas station when we ran out of fuel.  It was a very sad moment when my car decided it was done and we started decelerating at an alarming rate.  We got as close as we could to the exit, but there was still about 3/4 mile to the gas station.  James got out and walked to the gas station while I entertained a car full of children.  Sadly, no one stopped to give James a ride, so he got in his exercise for the day!

In the car I let Hyrum sit up front with me and enjoy not being strapped in.  The other boys were itchy, so I decided to let them push the car closer to James.  I wasn't sure if they would be able to do it, and was curious.  They were happy to do something that might help daddy, so it was a win-win!  So, out they went.  And yes, they are capable of pushing the car which I thought most impressive.  They couldn't move it far, but they may have moved it 1/10 of a mile.  Not bad!  What is sad is that still no one stopped to offer assistance even with young boys pushing a car in their pajamas in 25 degree weather.  What is wrong with these people!

We finally saw James returning with a gas can full of gas and the boys were thrilled to go out and meet him.  We put the gas in, went to start the car and learned that our battery had died while sitting there.  Seriously!?!  So, we called our insurance company and asked for a jump. They sent someone out, and no we didn't have to wait 2 hours, thankfully!  Once we were up and running we grabbed a late breakfast for some very hungry boys and were on our way.  It was not ideal, but we worked together and stayed calm and supportive.  It was definitely an adventure.  So, there is my fun little non photo Friday story for you.  I hope you enjoyed!

Photo Friday!

Jaime's haircut.

Vida's new bed reading material.

As we sat here picking pictures, Jaime insisted we put this
one up - one of the ones she took on her phone stealing spree.

I ordered the MobyGo and got it in the mail that day!

My salads have been decked to the hilt lately. A bed of spinach, then
carrots, green onions, beans, eggs, cheese, bacon, and homemade ranch.

The first time I used the MobyGo to take the girls
along to pick up Jaime from her preschool.

SUGAR!

You have no idea how badly I wanted a baked treat yesterday, but this week is double no-sugar points. So, you better bet I did not have any treats. No way am I sacrificing 10 points for taking two treat days this week.

(We have a dinner party on Saturday that will include several treats that we don't want to miss out on. So, we decided at the beginning of the week that we'd save our treat day for then.)

How's that for a discussion board for the week, Heather?

And to add to the discussion about sugar this week, I didn't know I was addicted. I blame it on the holidays. Going off sugar (except for the one day a week) was hard for me. Harder than I thought it would be. Patrick and I were discussing the topic and we decided we think it'd be easier to go off sugar completely, because the once a week thing just brings cravings the day after.
How has it been for y'all?

Photo Friday, On Saturday

Mom said in a blog response we are not very exciting.  While she may have a point, but I am not in full agreement.  So, we really do have pictures to share...

We were blessed last week to have Justin visit while he was in DC for meetings.  He wanted to have a fun dinner so we did two of them.  Sushi for Wednesday evening and Filet for Thursday.  Have to refine the cooking for the steak.  James, perhaps you can remind me...

Oh well, here are a couple of pictures.

 Our local Japanese restaurant is know for their Sushi.  Go figure, excellent Sushi in a small southern town!

Justin is sold on iPhone.  Here he is working to sell mom.  She loves the size.

Thanks to all for posting so we can stay as close as possible as a family.  We love you!