Resuming Normal Life

The gang is back together again and normal life is resuming...

Emily is in the bruising stage of her wisdom teeth extractions...

Julia is over strep and a sinus infection...

And Hilary and Hannah are back from an awesome week at EFY and have slept

almost non stop ever since...

Dan is home from a business trip...

And I am enjoying the sounds of home and family after a quiet week.

Off to EFY and More

Hilary and Hannah are off to EFY this week...

and while Dan dropped them off and helped them get situated in Heritage Halls...

Julia and I were at the oral surgeon's office with Emily getting her wisdom teeth pulled.

The surgery went well for Emily and my quiet daughter became a chatterbox after surgery--gotta love the drugs they give them. Even though Emily was quite repetitive, it was enjoyable listening to her tell me she has big veins and that the surgery was easy and that they had to take off her blue nail polish, etc. (I just kept thinking, wait until the drugs wear off..)

While the nice nurse was going through the post-op instructions with me, sweet Julia stood quietly by my side until I saw her body fall forward and smack face first into the not so cushy carpet. The poor girl had passed out cold! Sadly, this occurrence (thanks to Hilary and Hannah) has become somewhat commonplace for me. However, this is a first for Julia. As I scrambled to the floor and turned her over, she came to and I saw that the inside of her lip was cut up thanks to her teeth. Gratefully her teeth were all intact and the doctor felt the lip would heal okay without stitches. What a sight we were--Emily drooling in a wheelchair asking a few too many times what happened to Julia and Julia sobbing in another chair holding her bleeding lip. By this time I started feeling funny myself and asked the nurse to finish the instructions so we could get home.

I couldn't help but think of the time Hannah was getting stitches removed from under her eye with Hilary dutifully standing next to her on a stool watching. Before the doctor was even half-way done, Hilary had passed out, fallen off the stool and smacked her head on the tile floor.

And these are the tame stories! Man our family has had a lot of medical dramas!

All is quiet now with the twins at BYU

(they've only called twice--we're averaging right now only one call per hour--pretty good).

Emily is enjoying life on Loratab and all you can drink Jamba Juice.

Julia is watching a Disney movie with an ice pack to her chin and lip.

I've decided that I will stick to taking one child to the doctor at a time.

Father's Day

To the wonderful man in my life and in the lives of our girls

Happy Father's Day, Dan!

Dan earned his fatherhood after the twins were born. When Hilary and Hannah came home from the hospital, we each took a baby during the night and did all the feedings and diaper changes together. Throw in an occasional night terror from Emily and our nights were crazy for several months. Sleep deprivation took on a whole new meaning. Yet Dan was up with me every night and then off to work every morning. When he stepped through the door after work, a baby was placed in his arms and a toddler was usually at his feet.
While the needs of our girls have definitely changed, he is always there for them.
Let's just say that the five females in this family love and adore him!

Now to my own dad...

I love you!

Happy Father's Day!

Lately

I am so happy to report that my summer project of injecting a few

more homemaking skills into my girls is going splendidly!

I was so excited to see Emily in front of the stove top that I had to get a picture.

The other girls have been great about helping with little and big projects and Hannah is even incorporating it all into finishing her
personal progress projects.



This week we found out that Hilary lost retainers #6 and #7
at Martin's Cove. Our orthodontist truly loves us.
We are always there for something I swear!
The bottom retainer will now be permanently bonded on her teeth--yeah!


And nothing epitomizes summer quite like playing outside
on freshly cut grass with your dog.

Chris & Lauren

We had the extended Snow family over last night

(those who weren't sick and who weren't out of town anyway)

to celebrate Chris's birthday. We always love playing host to the college kids and this time was no different.

This cute couple is set to get married in August--they are as great as they come!

Martin's Cove Wyoming

Youth Conference 2009 at Martin's Cove was absolutely amazing and a testimony building experience for our family and the youth of our stake.

Dan and I were asked to be a Ma and Pa for a group of 8 youth for the three day trek.

We had no idea who was assigned to our family until we were on the buses and heading to Wyoming. Over the course of the journey we loved getting to know the great youth in our group. Dan and I feel like we are better people for having had this experience with these particular young men and young women.

It was always a highlight to catch a glimpse of our real children along the way.

The Sweetwater River was a constant companion along the trail which also includes the original Oregon Trail and Pony Express route. The second day of trekking took us to the crossing of the Sweetwater River. Most of the youth and many of the leaders

silently waded across the cool water.

Emily venturing across the water...

One of our sweet daughters--I loved chatting with her along the trail...

A view from inside Martin's Cove

Hilary and Hannah crossing the Sweetwater River...

At the request of a young woman from our ward, Dan carried her across the water...

Hilary

Sunset at Jackson Campground

Dan catching up with our girls after a day of trekking...

We walked and walked and walked and pushed and pulled for a total of 25 miles in three days!

Hannah

Two of our daughters helping set up their tent (we had to collapse the tents in the morning and raise them in the evening so they wouldn't blow away during the day).

Our boys in front of the handcart pulling and three of our girls pushing the handcart

up a steep, sandy hill.

Dan was so awesome throughout the trek--truly no different than everyday. He carried an injured girl out of Martin's Cove on his back, carried one across the Sweetwater, gave up his coat several times in the whipping wind, opened countless 5 gallon buckets, closed countless 5 gallon buckets and so much more. I would not have made it a mile without him!

Natalie and Marc signing our family flag before we began the journey.

Our 8 children for the trek pictured above. We really felt like their parents during the trek. We got to know each one of them and loved them instantly! The last two miles of the trek were spent in a downpour of rain and bursts of thunder. We were all completely soaked and muddy! The talk among our group through the rainstorm was one of wonder at the pioneers who walked this same trail but in knee deep snow, bitter cold temperatures, scanty clothes and near starvation. There is no doubt that during our trek we walked on sacred ground.

At the end of our trek, I have never wanted a hot shower more in my life or my own warm bed more. Yet we were all uplifted and forever changed by this journey. To quote a nameless daughter, "Mom, I never knew I could learn so much by pulling a handcart."

Almost 17

My oldest child is almost 17...

I'm posting this today because...

her actual birthday is jam-packed with non related birthday things...

so sorry Emily!

A few things about Emily that you may not know...

she loves the rain and cold weather...

her eyelashes are to die for (she actually has to comb them)...

she can do anything she wants to do and do it exceptionally well...

she fills our house with beautiful music...

she is our in house audio visual/computer technician, math tutor, photographer and so much more...

she is her parents' guinea pig...

we all love her tons!