It's a Girl!!!

We found out today that we are having a girl!!! Julia was thrilled. She's been praying for a sister for over a year. Two boys and two girls. That sounds about perfect.

Halloween

I know this is posted way late, but I haven't gotten the pictures off my camera for a long time. We had a really fun Halloween this year. We carved pumpkins a few days before, and like always, the kids thought it was great. Here's the three of them with their pumpkins.

Anthony was a bat this year. And I just want to point out that this is the same bat costume I wore when I was his size. Can you believe it? My mom made such good costumes that they've lasted a long time. He was pretty funny about it. He ran around flapping his wings. That was...until Shawn painted his face like a "vampire bat" (as you can see in the next picture), and then he ran around hissing and saying he was a vampire. That was cute, too. Leave it to daddy to make Anthony want to be a monster.

Air Musem and Dinosaur Park

We went to the Hill Air Museum (for the guys) and the Ogden-Eccles Dinosaur Park (for the kids) with the Clarks over UEA weekend. It was a lot of fun, but we were tired by the end of the day. Here are some pictures...

Julia's Cool New Bike...

So, until now, Julia has been riding her bike with training wheels. That's all fine and good, but for those of you who have dealt with training wheels before, they're really not all that stable. She couldn't go very fast, and if she had to turn, she often fell over. Shawn decided to do some searching online to see if he could find a three wheeled bike. There were a lot, but they were all handicapped bikes. That's fine, but they had seat belts and high back seats -- and that's not what Julia needs. She just needs stability. Besides, they were like $2700!!!! Anyway, Shawn decided to go search on ebay just to see. He found this guy in Alaska who makes a modification for an existing bike. You just take off the back tire and attach this bar he's welded and then put on a new chain and the two modified wheels he sends. It was about 1/10 the cost, and we didn't have to buy a new bike. Here are some pictures of her riding it.

Even more thoughts on the boundary change fiasco...

I know, I know, I've already posted about this today, but in talking with some of you, I have two additional comments.

If you'd like to email Dave Stoddard (the district guy in charge of this boundary change), here's his email david.stoddard@jordank12.ut.us. Tell him you think it's ridiculous that if the only area affected was Butterfield Canyon, then why didn't we take their public input into account to decide which option would have been better (between B and K).

Also point out that, whatever the committee, may have made up their minds to decide, a vote for N, K, or J was definitely a vote against B. After all, the first three were basically the same. Whereas B was significantly different.

Thirdly, I have numbers given to me by the district. One of the things we look at when considering where to draw boundaries is how many kids it affects. Well, the committee must have completely forogotten that rule because option B moves 400 kids, whereras option K only moves 200. Shoudln't we affect the least number of kids possible?

Boundary Change Update

Last night after the open house, the committee met until midnight to "discuss" the final proposal to send to the school board. In the end, it was between option B and option K. All but three of us who represent Butterfield Canyon voted for B, which made me livid. The only difference between B and K was in which areas of Butterfield Canyon were going to Herriman and which ones would stay (they were an exact mirror image of each other).

Anyway, after about ten minutes of discussion, Michelle Taft and I (who both live in the affected areas) looked at each other and just knew everyone was going to vote for B. After a few hours of discussion, we were right. It didn't matter what we said, how valid our arguments were, or anything. They were bound and determined to vote for B.

B did get the most votes last night, but not by much. And we kind of ended up feeling that the votes for J or K were diluted because we had two good choices, whereas those who wanted B only had one. Not that that mattered either, becaus when Michelle and I brought up the fact that since it is our area that is affected most, we should really look at the feelings of those living here, we were told that you all came last night just to voice an opinion, and that we didn't have to go by that at all. We could simply discount that if we thought it in the best interest of everyone.

As you can probably tell by now, I am completely disgusted at what happened with this boundary change. Why even have an open house if you're not going to look at how people in the only affected area feel about the change?

Anyone who is interested, I'll try to make sure I know when the school board meeting is. If you feel strongly enough, you can attend and voice your concerns to, hopefully, a more unbiased group.

School Boundary Changes

As many of you know, I am on the boundary change committee for the upcoming new school in Herriman. I live in a particularly affected area because there really is no school close to us. The committee has come up with four options (although two of those, I believe, will immediately be voted out) that will be presented for public comment at an open house this Thursday, October 9, from 6:00 to 7:30pm at the Middle School. If you are concerned about this issue at all, you need to be there and vote.

The public is given a sheet of paper and they write their options in order of preference. Those votes are actually counted and play a huge part in drawing up the final draft of the boundaries later that night. There is also a comment section. My problem with the option that doesn't keep my area in Butterfield Canyon is that it doesn't seem right to move us to Herriman and then keep busing the kids further up the street to BC, when we are closer to BC and already attending that school. That would be my comment.

I also have a safety concern because Herriman buses would drop kids off on my street around 3:30 and then a half hour later, the BC buses would drive up the street. I'm afraid that kids will be out playing by that time and that it poses a safety risk.

I know a few people who want to pass out flyers in our area to make sure we let everyone know. If you want to help, give me a call. If you talk to your neighbors (even those without kids or only with pre-school kids, because it really does affect everyone), please tell them to go over and vote that night. It will only take ten minutes or so and they can bring the kids. This affects everyone in our area so much.

Hopefully, if we all go in force and express how much we want to stay at BC, then the committee will see our point of view and keep us there.

Julia turned Nine Yesterday!!

Isn't she so beautiful???

My sweet little girl turned nine yesterday, and I can hardly believe it. It's gone by so fast.

For anyone who doesn't know, Julia was born 8 weeks premature and almost didn't make it. My water broke and sometime during the ambulance ride to a different hospital with a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), something happened. The doctors think her cord got pinched because there wasn't enough fluid to support it. Anyway, by the time we got to the hospital, her heartrate had dropped to 40 beats a minute (contrast that to the normal 150). They did an emergency C-section, and I do mean emergency. It wasn't five minutes after they heard the heartbeat that I was put under general anesthesia and Julia was out a minute later.

She wasn't breathing, and her heart rate had dropped even further. They immediately put her on a ventilator and did CPR for like 15 minutes before her heart started beating on its own. She was on the ventilator for an entire week. Almost all her other organs had shut down: kidney, liver, etc. But the scariest thing in those first 45 minutes is that her blood acid level was way, way too high. Eventually even that stabilized but one of the nurses told us later that she'd never seen a baby survive with blood acid levels that high. It was truly a miracle.

So now we have our beautiful nine-year-old Julia. Except for some brain damage that causes all her motor skills to be behind (speech, oral, and fine), and a few seizures (she had one when she was three and then started having them a few years ago), she's perfectly normal. She gets really good grades at school (we're so blessed that her intellect wasn't impaired), and she's just about the sweetest thing in the whole world (despite the little attitude she's gotten lately, oh well, that's what comes of being a girl).

We love her so much and feel that she's our little personal miracle.

New Computer!!!!!

We finally got a new computer after 5 1/2 years. Here's the old one. (It wasn't set up on the kids table when we used it, but it went there while we transferred everything to the new computer.)


And here's the new one. Isn't it pretty? The screen's almost as big as the wall. Ok, not really, but still, what a difference. Now we just need a pretty desk to go with it. This is the same one I used all through college and it's UGLY.

Laser Tag

Yes, we are total nerds. A few weeks ago we played laser tag in the backyard (and the front yard for that matter) with our friends the Clarks. It was way fun, even though I was completely terrible. Oh, well. Here's a funny picture.

Ward Campout

I know, I know, this was a while ago, but we were in the process of getting a new computer and the transfer of pictures, etc. took me a while. (My old computer was so slow it actually took a long time to download them all to a DVD). Anyway, the ward campout was fun, albeit rather windy, and afterwards we took the kids to Bridalveil Falls and let them play in the water. Here's a few pictures. Julia didn't really like the cold water too much, but the boys loved every minute of it.

Shawn's new job

Last week Shawn started a new job. No, his commute isn't any shorter. He now works in Heber instead of Park City. The company is a land development company. They're building a Jack Nichlaus golf course and homes. There will also be a pool, equestrian club, tennis courts, a spa, the works. Shawn has liked working there. He even got to meet Jack Nichlaus!!! And believe it or not, he has graduated to having his very own office.

Finally (and I do mean finally), we have bunk beds!!!

I think it was almost a year ago that we moved Anthony into Collin's room. Collin had a twin bed with a trundle so we figured it would work all right for Anthony to sleep on the trundle and then we could just push it in and out everyday. Easier said than done. I don't know about other trundles, but ours doesn't push in and out so easily. So for that entire time, it's just been left out, leaving only about a foot of space in between the beds and the dresser. The room was so crowded, and the boys couldn't really play in there.

Anyway, there was a salt lake online company that was having a 25% off sale on their bunk beds. The only catch was that I had to go out by the airport to pick them up. It was well worth it. Now the boys' room feels like a room again instead of a mattress storage facility. And we gave Collin's old (not really old, we've only had it for a year and a half) to Julia, which was always the plan.

Now both of their rooms look fabulous. Yea for bunk beds.

See all that floor space?

This bed looks much better in Julia's room

Girls, Breaking Dawn, and No Husbands

Last Friday was Fathers and Sons, so Shawn and Collin were gone. (He didn't take Anthony because he was helping with a lot of stuff, and well...for those of you familiar with Anthony, he's a full time job). Anyway, that was also the night that "Breaking Dawn" came out. I decided it would be fun (since our husbands were gone anyway) to have a girls night. We talked for a while before and let the kids play in the yard, then at about 11:20, we ran over to Smiths and stood in line until midnight when we bought the book. After that, it was read, read, read.

It was going to be a sleepover but then we found out that the men had been evacuated due to a fire (that never really was a threat). Shawn called at like 1:15am and said they were on their way home. Anyway, most people left around two, but a few people stayed longer. Me and my friend Kim finally gave up around 4:30. I haven't done that in a long time, but it was really fun.

The book was really good. Stephenie did a lot of great things, even some I wasn't expecting at all. I only had one complaint, which I won't share here because I don't want to spoil it for anyone (it's really pretty minor, just something I wish she would have added).

So, here's to reading, especially late at night.

First Day of School

Yesterday was Julia's first day of third grade, and today Collin went to his first day of first grade. They looked so cute!! I can't believe that I'm home all day with only Anthony now. It's a little strange to think about Collin not being here for part of the day.

Lake Powell

We got back from a week of Lake Powell on Saturday. We had a blast. It was hot, but the air conditioner on the houseboat was a lifesaver. We did a lot of swimming, building sandcastles, riding the wave runners, and watching movies at night. It's one of our favorite trips. A few of the group even took a four hour boat ride to go see Rainbow Bridge. Isn't it beautiful? It's the largest natural arch in the world, I think.

Shawn made this teepee one night when he wanted something more productive to do. We all thought he was kind of funny and then it turned out really cool. All he needed were a few animal skins to cover it with. The day after he built it another house boat pulled in next to us and Shawn was talking to them a little bit and he discovered they were a scout troop. Then they got talking about the teepee and how the lashing was good or whatever. What a scouting nerd!!! Just kidding.

All three of the kids slept in one of the basement bedrooms. We turned them sideways on the bed and then they all fit on it together. We thought they were so cute. Every night we'd look in after they were all asleep just to look at them.

Here's us swimming in the lake. It's one of my favorite things to do and the kids loved it. It's also probably the best wasy to stay cool in the afternoon. We did get a little sunburnt, but only on our shoulders, and it really wasn't too bad.

Shawn and Collin built this sandcastle one night. Collin loves to build. He's sitting in the "swimming pool."

Two years ago at Lake Powell, the boat next to us had built this huge waterslide. Then we saw a video of our friends Trevor and Wendy who'd done the same thing. We decided to try. They got all the plastic laid out and the hose and everything, but our beach just wasn't steep enough to make a good one. So, Shawn decided to make one for the kids. He build it up a little so it was steep enough. They loved it. Anthony even went a little crazy (no surprise there).

I put more individual pictures of each of the kids on their own blogs, so if you want to go take a look, feel free.

A more recent picture

Ok, so I finally downloaded some pictures off my camera. Yes, I need to do this more. In fact, I need to take more pictures. Here is one of my kids from Lauren's wedding. I thought Julia just looked beautiful and the boys are so handsome.

Ah, Summer...

My kids are finally out of school for the summer--if you can call it that. Precisely 27 days isn't exactly the summer I remember as a kid. That's what you get from year-round school. We are even going to Lake Powell for a week of that measely little 27 days, so my kids have about 2 1/2 weeks of true summer. Then they go back to shool for 9 weeks before another three week break.

Hopefully, we can use the little time we have to do a few fun things. Like today we're going to make little scrapbooks for them to color or write stories in. Tomorrow, hopefully, we're going to run through the sprinklers.

A blog for the family

So, I've had a writing blog for a few weeks now and there are a few pictures of the family, but I thought it would be fun to have a blog that was just for the family. Now I can post cute pictures and do things I wouldn't want to do on my writing blog in case an agent were to ever look and think it was unprofessional. Anyway, I need to download a few pictures and then we can start. Here's one to get going with.