Heading for a VACATION!!

Seriously we are in such a need of a vacation around here!!

We are heading to beautiful sunny Arizona!! I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!

Nothing is better than sunny blue skies, tall palm trees, warm weather and beautiful sunsets!!

We are looking forward to this fun vacation and will take plenty of photos to share our fun time with you all!!

What are you all doing for spring break?? Hope every one has a fun and safe time!

Until next week!

Catching up

Ok I must tell you I think this is so cute!! Austin loves to help his little brother and has been carrying him wherever he needs to go now that his foot is broken!! I almost died when I seen him packing him around but he has been doing it a lot and has not dropped him yet. :)
When Bryson came home and was in pain boy Austin has been such a good helper getting his blanket and making sure his foot is propped up and everything!!



Now for Mike's birthday I made him this bouquet of candy bars and home depot cards. He really liked it!! I gave him cologne and a shirt also and the boys each picked him out something. Tucker gave him a camel backpack and Austin gave him a dart board game that they have really enjoyed playing, Bryson gave him a football which they have been throwing around now. Fun day for everyone! We dragged it out a bit and that made it more fun!!

Bryson was so excited about his birthday cake and he loved the Spiderman one!! Can you tell!!

I am just glad birthdays are done for awhile now!! Hope everyone has a great spring break!!!!

We are excited Mike is taking the week off and we are gonna have some fun I hope!! I just got through packing some boxes up and getting ready to put our house up for sale! Wish us luck!!

Tigger has lost his bounce!!

Have you ever watched Winnie the Pooh? Well if you have you know what I am talking about when I say Tigger has lost his bounce. That is what has happened at our house!! Bryson remindes me so much of Tigger!! He has so much energy and life and you kinda feel crazy when he is around!!


Yesterday Bryson and Austin were playing on the stairs to our basement. They had blankets and pillows of all kinds at the bottom of the stairs. Both of them were playing spider man or somethin or rather. I told them so many times that they should not be doing that and that someone was going to get hurt. I sounded like my mother or at least I thought I did, listening to myself reminded me of her. I went to get into the shower and Austin came running saying Bryson's hurt. So I go and there he is laying at the bottom of the stair in the pile of blankets and pillows crying. I picked him up and asked where he was hurt and he pointed to his foot. His big toe was red and sticking up and so I thought I bet he broke it. I sat him on a chair and got him some ice and gave him some Tylenol. He wouldn't stop crying just saying "ow, ow, ow" So I went to get dressed while he was screaming. I knew then something was wrong, he was usually better by now. I threw the kids in the car and dropped Austin off at school way early and made him sit in the office until it was time for him to go. I knew I would never be back in time for him to be on time.
Bryson was being so tough trying not to cry and being such a big boy! I was so proud of him. I was frustrated with him crying and crying and Austin asking me a ton of questions I was trying to think it through, how I was going to get him to school or if I should call someone and I couldn't even think with all the craziness. I said " Bryson you've got to stop I can't even think, be a big boy and be tough." He stopped crying and then began to whimper. I felt so bad but I was losing it. Then after I dropped Austin off I looked in my rear view mirror and asked him if it was getting better. He shook his head no and I said "it is ok to cry buddy mom was just frustrated." Then the flood came and I realized that he was trying so hard to be tough!! :) I felt so bad that I had said that!!
We got there and they were amazingly fast and had him x-rayed in no time! Then they came in and wrapped him in a splint and told us if we needed crutches to get them somewhere other than there, they didn't have any that small. :) I then started to realize how this was going to affect this little guy. A broken foot. WOW! He by far is my busiest kid!! For some reason I have this funny feeling that this is not going to be our last either with him. He is such a fun kid and has to be doing anything and everything! He is a go getter, which can be really good but also can be not so fun because cautious is good!! He is a ton of fun and it is going to be weird to see him hobbling around!

As you can tell he is not liking it at all!! They told him he couldn't move his foot over this line and so he was so careful not to move it while the cast was setting up it had to stay in that position for 10 or so minutes. You can also tell that the medicine hadn't quite kicked in yet.




The cute little bear that he is holding they gave him and they also wrapped his leg up to make it match his. It has a broken leg also is what Brys says. I took him to get a milkshake afterwards, before we headed home and he was so concerned about going in he begged me not to go in. Which is very unusual for him he is always begging us to let them go in. Not yesterday. We had to take his pants off because of the splint and so he didn't want to go anywhere and was so concerned about anybody seeing him!!

We called mom last night and he told her that he broke his skeleton. He has been telling everyone that!! :) It is so cute!! He is such a cutie pie!!
I do have to tell you this house has been soooooo much quieter with him laid up!! There are no fights and Austin is being his little helper by getting things for him and I have even caught him packing Bryson around!! I will have to get a picture of that and post it later. It is tooo cute! I think in some ways Bryson has needed this!! He has been such a stinker lately, he loves to tease his older brothers and has caused some fights here lately!! He hasn't been very good at being obedient either or very impatient. He wants me to get it and get it now. Well guess what this has been hard for him because he has had to wait, even to go to the bathroom until I can help him!! :) It is funny in some ways, he is learning some things. :) I love him so much and he is such a fun little bugger to have around!! There is never a dull moment!! This will pass and he will be back to running aroundwith his bounce!! I don't think it will be long. I left the room for a second and came back to him hopping up and down holding onto things in the room trying to get to something. Yep in no time I see it already but for now we are liking the quiet no bounce Tigger (Bryson!!) :)

Helping Tucker find his potential!!

I have been out of the blogging world lately. I just have had a lot on my plate and have done a lot of pondering, I think you need to take that time every now and then and reconnect with yourself. Well mostly I have had Tucker on my mind and how I can help him. This year has been a hard year for him for sure!! He decided to switch schools and make new friends and that has gone well. But the school is a lot harder and he has been struggling in Math like crazy!! He just really never got it down in third grade and so we have had to go back and start over. Well he also has received testing for the last three months. He hasn't liked this one bit. Well a psychologist came in and saw him for 30 minutes and we just got that report back from him. He said that Tucker is depressed about his disability. Well I kinda think that is a given in some ways. He has never expressed this to me but I have always felt that he has not been fully happy about his disability. Most of the time he has a smile on his face and you would never know unless you are his mom or have known him for a really long time. Even knowing this it was still hard to hear. I thought what now??

For the last two years I have really seen a difference in him. I think most of it has stemmed from him not being able to go and do what his friends are doing!! He started to not care or do as much with his friends and I noticed it. I think it was because he felt left out and knows he can't do what they can. So Mike and I talked about it and knew there would come a day when this would happen and we then decided it is time to do more things with family. SO we have been bowling, movies and fishing and playing games at home. Tucker has a bow and arrow and BB guns, and we have been bike riding. It has been fun as a family to do these things together and I can tell Austin has an amazing love for his brother a bond that I love between them. It still hasn't filled that gap or whatever. It has helped and we have really tried to be more positive with him. All those things have helped but I know that inside he still doesn't understand why he can't walk and his brothers can. We have had so many talks about each of us being different and special in every way. That our Heavenly Father has created us for special purposes down here and that he has taught all of us so much and I have been ever so grateful for him in my life to teach me to appreciate the small things in life, to love everyone and to really serve as the Savior served. I have learned so much from him. BUT I can tell him all these things and he knows that but until he is ok with himself it doesn't really matter. I wish I could give it to him and help him see how special he really is!!!!! He is a gift to me and I feel humbled every day to raise him!! SO many things I have learned from his sweet spirit and I have really gained an appreciation for so many things it is unreal!!

I have been reading this amazing book by Emily Freeman. It is sooo good!! It is called The Promise of Enough - Seven Principles of True Abundance. Wow I have been stuck on this subject for like the last 4 or more months. I feel like I have been blessed with Abundance in my life and I had read that talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin and I loved it and it hit home!! Ever since then I have been pondering on the Abundant Life!! I have an abundant life. I am living with a husband that loves me and blesses my life every day, I have three amazing boys that I would do anything for, I have health, I have the gospel of Jesus Christ instilled in me, I have friends that bless my life everyday, I have a family that cares about me and wants to help whenever we need it, I live in a beautiful country and freedom, Oh ok I know I won't go on but I have an abundant life. I don't have the fanciest car, the nicest house on the block, we have a junker camper we just bought, I don't go get my hair done every month, I don't have the latest fashions. BUT I am so blessed and feel like the Lord has been good to me!! Through this book I have even come to realize more how blessed I am!!
The first principle is Understanding God's Will. Boy when you get that figured out your life falls into place for sure! He loves us so much and wants us to reach out to Him. He blesses our lives every day!! If there was no God there would be no purpose to life itself!! How glad I am He is there and I can trust His love for me and that He will guide me to where I need to be. He knows best that is for sure, he knows me better than I know myself!

The second principle is Recognizing your Potential. This has been an awesome chapter!! I am writing this post because of this chapter. Like I said I have had Tucker on my mind a lot lately and how on earth can I get him to believe how wonderful he is, how he makes all of our days and he is so special. Well as I have been on my knees so many times wondering what I am going to do and how can I help him. I would just be begging the Lord to please tell me what to do. Well as I have been reading a sentence she wrote stuck out to me like crazy. She said "I had taken no thought of what I had to offer, I simply asked Heavenly Father to tell me what to do. Boy that hit home!! I hadn't realized that I wasn't bringing anything to the table I was just requiring the Lord to tell me what I needed to do. So often I find myself doing this!! I know now that I have things to offer Tucker and that I need to trust in my potential or gifts that He has given me and use them to help Tuck. I now just have to figure out what that is!! :))) Boy sometimes that can be hard. But I am so ready to give him what he needs or help him see his own potential. He has many gifts he can bring to the table!! I know that Heavenly Father has sent him all kinds of gifts.

At our house when there starts to be more fighting then normal and more irritation with each other. We play spin the bottle. When it lands on someone they have to say something nice about that person. It is not fun in the beginning and they even sometimes have a hard time saying nice things but as time goes on it gets better and before you know it they are giving each other hugs and telling each other they love each other!! :) I love these moments!!

Joseph B. Wirthlin also said " There is a spark of greatness in every one of us - a gift from out loving Heavenly Father. What we do with that gift is up to us." We really need to recognize what that spark of greatness is and to use it to bless our life as well as others that's when true peace, joy and happiness comes and we can more fully see our Abundant life!!!

Well I had all these thoughts in my head I needed to write them down for my children. I would love any advice if you all have any!!!! I know many of you have many sparks of greatness and I would love you to give me some insight on what to do to help Tucker see his potential!! I love all of you and feel blessed by you every day!! Thanks for all your help!!