Looking Back At 2008 (in a nutshell)

TRUE LOVE

Some highs and lows of the last year...
The first smidge of the year was spent with me waddling around very pregnant.
Big Belly... No, Big Baby! (now can you tell he's breech?)

Believe it or not I lived just over 37 years without ever breaking a bone. Well that changed towards the end of January. (At seven months pregnant, no less). I had a tumble on the stairs. Protecting my protruding belly at all costs the second toe on my right foot took the hit. OUCH! That really hurt! I'm sure I was quite the sight waddling/limping/hobbling around.
When your inertia is off, your toes can be in great danger!

The first part of the year Kaylie was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of scoliosis (an abnormal curvature of the spine). We spent a lot of time at Primary Children's Hospital. The thing about that place is, you think you've got it pretty bad but then you see first hand that someone else has it even worse. It made us thankful for our blessings. Kaylie has definately gone through some trials though, and I know she has more ahead of her. Kind of hard for a Mom to watch. Kaylie was fitted for a brace that she had to wear 18-20 hours a day. It was very uncomfortable for her but she did her best. She is growing so fast however that she outgrew the brace within 5 months. At this point the doctor said brace or not she will have to have surgery. They can't do it until she's done growing though so right now they are just watching her really close. Hopefully we'll be able to get the surgery over and done with and behind us sometime this summer.
Kaylie got some bad news

The highlight of our year hands down was the birth of Matthew. It was so great to finally meet the little guy.
Matthew Charles March 23, 2008

With the best part of the year also came the most difficult. Life is like that sometimes. Can you believe that on my fifth baby I ended up having an emergency c-section? Matthew was breech and nobody figured that out until after my water broke. I was very grateful to have Matthew here safe, but very disappointed about the way he arrived. I was in so much pain I couldn't even move. I couldn't even take care of myself, let alone my new baby and my 4 other children. I have never ever felt so helpless. The day Matthew was born my Mom called and told me that Ethan had just fallen down the stairs and needed stitches in his chin. When it rains it pours. I cried a lot in the hospital. I'm so thankful for my husband who took such good care of me, and our family until I was back on my feet. And to my Mom, who still mothers me when I really need it.
I found out that C-Sections are NO fun.

When we moved into our house non of the landscaping was done so we spent a big part of the year laying sod and planting flowers and trees.
It is so nice to have grass.

In June my Grandpa Daniels passed away. It was bitter-sweet. It's a comfort to know that he is with my Grandma again. We spent some time this summer with my Dad helping clean out my Grandpa's house in Heber. The best part was the shake we would stop and get on our way home (every time).
YUMMY!!

And there you have it. The things I remember most about 2008. It was a pretty good year. We are looking forward to what 2009 brings. Happy New Year everybody!!

Hyrum's Eleventh Birthday

Hyrum celebrated his eleventh birthday today. I can hardly believe that my little guy is 11. Were does the time go?(I guess he's not much of a little guy anymore,eh?) The thing that I remember most about his birth is that the epidural wore off and stopped working. Oh MY!! I thought I was going to die from the pain. I'm happy to say that I didn't, but I did get a beautiful baby boy out if it. Definitely worth it. Today Hyrum wanted to go to Boondocks to celebrate. He spent the day playing laser tag and driving go carts. Fun, fun. Happy Birthday Hyrum! We love you!

Christmas Montage

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebrating. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. By the way, all my little hooligans were up at 3:30 AM Christmas morning. Can anybody top that? I think not. If so, you are a poor soul indeed.  Santa was very kind to us, but yesterday I took the tree down and cleaned my little heart out. I have to say... aaaahhhhh! It's so nice to have all that Christmas rigamarole down. I mean it's nice for a little while but then your house just starts to feel junky and you all know how I love a clean house. (so Merry Christmas to me.) Now on to Hyrum's birthday... then New Years... will the festivities never end?

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O Holy Night

This is my most favorite Christmas song. I love it so much. Whenever I listen to the lyrics I feel the spirit and it makes my heart want to sing. I found this video to go along with it on YouTube. It takes about five minutes to watch but if you have a minute it is definitely worth it. After all the craziness this season brings it's so nice just to take a minute and reflect on what it is truly all about. I find it quite comforting really. I give this video 4 out of 5 stars. The thing I think that could have made it better was some pictures of the Savior after he was resurrected, but all in all it's pretty wonderful, and I love it. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He is the Son of God. I'm very thankful to a loving Heavenly Father for sending the precious gift of His Son. I'm grateful for His example of kindness and goodness. I know that because of what my Savior did for us, we can all return to Him and be together forever. I'm so thankful for this knowledge. May you too feel the joy and peace this knowledge brings on this Holy Of Nights. Merry Christmas everyone.

A HO HO HOrror Story (a kinda long one)

Waiting in line

It all began with a very, very, VERY long line. For a week or so now Ethan has been asking to go see Santa. Now most the time I love living out here in Tooele but because we don't have a mall we don't really have a place for Santa to hang out. So this request meant a trip to Salt Lake which is just a tad bit time consuming and out of the way. But when your Little One wants to see Santa you're going to take em to see Santa. Right? Now please note that this little excursion was our third attempt at a visit with Old St. Nick so we started out just a little desperate. And I was a little concerned about the weather because there was a winter storm warning in effect. The roads can get pretty bad between here and Salt Lake. However in the end we decided to take a chance and off we went. We got there about noon and of course we couldn't find a park. But we were determined. While we are looking for a park it begins to snow. Needless to say I felt some urgency to hurry. I wanted to get on the road and get back. Well we fought our way through the monstrous crowd and just as we get in line they put up a barricade with a sign on it that says (basically) after everyone in front of this sign has seen Santa he is going to have a one hour lunch break and everyone behind the sign, well, this just isn't your day. I was the second person behind the sign. I wanted to cry. This was going to take ALL DAY! At this point I happen to glance out the mall doors and the snow is really coming down. I had visions of us frozen in a ditch on the side of the road. So I panicked and did something totally against my nature. I nonchalantly butted in line. I know. I can't believe I did it either. Now on a good day I think people who butt in line should be shot. At the very least, dragged through the street like the dogs they are. But I'm happy to say, I learned something today (besides the fact that you should never ever butt in line) and that is desperate people do desperate things. I'm going to remember that next time I feel like somebody wrongs me. Who knows what personal demons they are fighting. I'm just gonna give them the benefit of the doubt. Which is what I hope all those people did with me today, cuz this story is about to take a turn for the worse. Several minutes went by and I started to think I was in the clear when I hear a loud, grouchy, irritated voice say, "Hey You! You cut in line! You weren't there before!" You can't do that!" It was Santa's helper. Now I know that I totally had this reprimand coming to me. I can't blame the Elf. But to say that I was mortified is an understatement. I seriously wanted to crawl in a hole. I tried to offer up a lame excuse for my pitiful behavior. "It was snowing, and we'd come all the way from Tooele. We had to get back before that snow started to stick on the roads." Well, this was one of Santa's mean, unforgiving elves. He angrily informed me that everyone there was from Tooele! And that I could go to the back of the line or leave. (They didn't want my kind). I wanted to shout "Well, if everyone here is from Tooele, why in the name of all that is Sacred and Holy aren't you set up IN Tooele? (Bonehead) But instead I hung my head in shame and went to the back of the line. At this point Mark shows up. He'd missed all the drama parking the car. He suggests that we just go eat lunch too. Whatever. I seriously had a huge lump in my throat and wanted to cry. So we go eat a quick lunch and head back to get in line. Even though there is no Santa, the line has grown! I kid you not, it looked like the line from the movie A Christmas Story. It was almost deja vu. The line. The angry elf. (You'll shoot your eye out kid! HO HO HO) So we get in line. And we were there for a very, very long time. Over two hours. I wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't lived it. Part of the problem was I don't think Santa's lunch agreed with him. He had to get up and run to the bathroom three separate times. Adding at least 30 minutes onto our wait. I guess you could say he had the trots. At one point Ethan looked up at me and said, " I think Santa has to go potty a lot." It did seem that way. So to recap. We waited in a horrendously long line, got yelled at by an angry elf, all for a brief visit with Santa who was suffering from a bad case of intestinal distress! On the bright side? We had a very happy little boy and by the time we were ready to head home it had stopped snowing. It was a Christmas miracle! And if you are still reading this, you must really love me. (Right back at ya!)

Dickens -A Christmas Carol ... I never tire of it.

It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God Bless Us, Every One!
Charles Dickens

Meet Dave

Ethan has just been dieing to make a snowman. Finally, last week we got enough snow so he could go out and do just that. When Hyrum got home from school Ethan asked him if he would go outside and help him. Hyrum looked at me and said, "He's so cute, how do you resist that?" I was like, You don't. So out they went to build a snowman. When they were done Ethan let me know that he had named him Dave. Ethan loves that snowman. And I'm sure he's thankful for his big brother who was willing to go out and help him.

A Wild Goose Chase

The Stress!! Okay, How can I discreetly tell this story? My two oldest children have resquested something from Santa that is just a tad bit expensive and very popular. I have to say the older your kids get the more expensive and less fun this Santa business becomes. Now three year olds like Ethan. There's the magic! Anyway, I found their request the day after Thanksgiving and I thought, "I better get these now before they disappear." Which I did and was sick about how much money I had spent. Well sure enough they were marked down a little bit here and there but never enough to go to the trouble of taking them back and then going somewhere else to get them. Well yesterday the adds come out and HOLY COW! now that's the kind of price I want to pay. So I haul myself over to Walmart. They won't price match cuz it's buy one get one free. GRRRR! So I return the ones I have. BIG MISTAKE!! Drive over to another store. They don't have the stuff I need. OH NO! I'm starting to freak out. Drive to another store. Whew. They have what I need. Show them the add, all pleased that I have saved a nice little wad of cash. Get this! The sales guy proceeds to tell me that the add was a misprint. Can you even believe that?! How can that be? How can they do this to people? Now these things cost even more here than they did at Walmart. So do I go back to Walmart? I was so bugged. I think the poor sales guy could tell I was about to have a heart attack because he took pity on me and said "I think I can give you a little bit of a discount." He took five dollars off each one. Which was nice, but was it worth all that? No. That's what I get for trying to save a buck. This is what I'm saying about this Christmas insanity. It's just not what it's supposed to be about. Know what I mean? I hope all of you are having better luck being Santa's helpers. Bless Santa's heart.

What Christmas Is All About

Okay, I have to admit I had a bit of a meltdown on my last post. This afternoon I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas with my kids and then I read the Christmas message from President Monson in the Ensign. And I'm happy to say I'm feeling much better. Christmas is a nice time of year. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's my favorite time of year, but it is nice. Linus said it best, don't ya think? And so did Dr. Suess ... "And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"... And President Monson said, "To catch the real meaning of the “spirit of Christmas,” we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the “Spirit of Christ.”" I Thought that was really beautiful. In the coming weeks as we hustle and bustle around may we grab a moment here and there to follow the example of our beloved Saviour and remember what the holiday season is truly about.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year... Yeah Right.

Let's see, Mark has pneumonia. Ethan has croup and we are doing breathing treatments every three hours (day and night). Matthew has been so sick he hasn't slept a wink. Which means neither have I, and last night he started in with the coughing. Great! Kaylie has a horrible cold and so do I. If you ask me, it's the most MISERABLE time of the year. I mean who are they trying to kid? It's bitter cold outside, and dark and dreary. Sickness abounds, and all this commercialism totally aggravates me. I know I must sound like the Grinch but this IS NOT the most wonderful time of the year. (Talk to me in May or June). Whoever wrote that song was smokin somethin. BAH HUMBUG!

A Love-Hate Relationship

So here is our tree. Pretty, huh? I'm tellin ya nothing exacerbates your O.C.D. like a Christmas tree. I obsess about the lights. I obsess about the ornaments. I can't stand to have the light wires showing. The ornaments have to be strategically placed, exactly so far apart from each other. My poor, sweet, patient husband humors me and restrings the lights two or three times every year. My kids know that if they decorate the tree the second they go off to school Mom is going to take off all the ornaments and spend hours redoing it herself. And they know that once I have it like I want it they are NOT to touch the tree. This is my holiday mantra... "Don't touch the tree!!!" It drives me insane. I'm sure it drives my family insane. And this year we have Macky. He loves to scoot over to the tree and pull all the ornaments off those bottom branches. AAAHHHH! I swear I'm going to lose my mind. But on the other hand, at night, when the house is quiet. I love sitting near the tree with my husband. It invokes a nice cozy, peaceful feeling. So believe it or not, I would have to say The Tree is my favorite holiday tradition. I love the tree. I hate the tree. The poor tree can't win. One quick story. Whenever my husband and I see a tree that is not up to par. We call it an "atrocitree". Get it? Like atrocity, only atrociTREE. We came up with that one year when I was having a very difficult time with a particular tree. I said, "That tree is an atrocity!" Mark smiled, and broke into song to the tune of OH CHRISTMAS TREE... "Oh Atrocitree, Atrocitree, how heinous are your branches..." He helped me to laugh when I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I love that man.

The Maddness Begins

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

GETTING THE TREE...For the last few years we have had a real tree. I just think they are prettier and they smell so wonderful. It's also fun to go and pick out something a little bit different every year. Here in Tooele they have a great Christmas Tree lot. It is a little family owned business that has been going since the 1940's. It's very nostalgic, and I love it. So today when the kids got home from school off we went to get our tree. Well it just so happens so did about 8 other families and parking was a little tight. So there Mark is trying to maneuver our great big suburban into a parking spot when we hear a big SMASH-CRUNCH. UH-OH! I look at Mark. Mark looks at me. Everyone at the Christmas Tree lot turns and looks at US, mouths agape. Mark says, "I just hit something." Ya think? Kaylie and Hyrum look behind us and start giving commentary. "WHOAA!! You smashed that guys bench! You totally smashed it! Look at the Christmas Tree guys face, He isn't happy! You can tell he is totally bugged." At this point I just want to hang my head and skulk off. But Mark, Mr. Positive, Destroyer of Bench smiles at me and says, "I might need to pay for that bench. We'll settle up when we get our tree. Now those of you that know me well, know that Christmas is NOT my favorite holiday. Too much pressure. At this point I'm just trying not to have an anxiety attack. But Mark and the kids get out of the car as if nothing has happened and start looking for our tree. We narrowed it down to three, then two, then one. Ironically at this point, there is not one other car or family to be seen. Our timing stinks. The tree lot guy helps us tie the tree to the top of the car. He was actually very friendly, told us not to worry about the bench. Said he was planning on throwing it out anyway. (Well he certainly is now.) And off we went with our beautiful Christmas Tree. I'm telling ya, nothing can be simple when it comes to the holidays. Hold onto your Santa hat. Here we go!

A Chuck-a-Rama Thanksgiving

Yes, it's true. My Dad treated all of us to Chuck-a-Rama on Thanksgiving. It was delicious and noone had to cook or clean up a great big mess. Yes, there was a looooong line. We stood in it for almost an hour. I guess we weren't the only ones with the idea. But I have to say I would do it again. My kids thought it was great and ate (or should I say drank) their weight in frozen slushies. On Saturday I did cook a turkey and my parents came out for dinner. Today we had yummy turkey sandwiches. This week I'll be making a big pot of Noodles (soup). You gotta love how many meals you can get out of one turkey-lurkey. My favorite part of the weekend was watching Ethan with my Grandma, his Great-Grandma. As soon as he saw her on Thanksgiving day he came running up to me and said with a big smile, "Gramma Linge is here!!" I have to agree with him. It is always so good to see her. We love you Grandma!

Happy Turkey Day!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I haven't posted for awhile cuz the little ones and I have had colds. Yuck! I haven't felt like doing much as you can tell by the way my house looks (messy). Thanksgiving is one of the greatest holidays. You get to cozy up with the ones you love and eat lots of yummy things. The thing that drives me crazy is that is totally gets squished and run over by Christmas. It really annoys me. Come on, let the turkey have it's day! Can't we please just enjoy Thanksgiving before we have to start talking about and thinking about Christmas? It's just wrong, I tell ya. Some things I'm thankful for... My husband (I feel so blessed in that department.) My children. Those are both pretty obvious. So some other things I'm thankful for are... Books, Chocolate, Music, My Washer and Dryer, and Hot Bubble Baths. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. May your tummies be big and full with all that wonderful food and may none of us have to think or hear about Christmas, at least until Friday. (Yeah, right)

Thank Heaven For Big Sisters

Saturday was such a beautiful day that we decided to enjoy the sunshine by taking a trip to the Zoo, it was a nice slow paced weekend. While we were there Ethan asked to ride the Carousel. Well when he got up on that big Polar Bear, he had a change of heart. He was a little freaked out that he was going to fall. No worries though, Kaylie to the rescue! As soon as his Big Sister climbed up there with him he knew he was safe and ready for a good time. It makes my heart sing, to see what good friends Kaylie and Ethan are. La, la la la, La!

My Grandpa Daniels - My Favorite Veteran

I love this picture of my Grandpa, he loved to be busy in his garden. He was a good, gentle, soft spoken man with a twinkle in his eye. I sure do miss him. He passed away this last June. I am thinking about him today because it is Veterans Day. As I hung the flag up today on our front porch my heart felt so full and warm with gratitude to be an American. I wished that I could throw my arms around my Grandpa and thank him again for his service to this country. I am so very thankful for all of the soldiers who have fought and sacrificed for the freedoms that I, myself and my children enjoy. My Grandpa fought in the battle of Okinawa during World War II. He was wounded during this time when shrapnel from a hand grenade hit him in his right arm. My Grandpa is the recipient of the Purple Heart. He never spoke much about the war. I know that the memories of this time in his life were so horrible that he did not want to reflect on them. When I read his life history for the first time, it was the most I had ever heard about it. He said that he fought on the front lines, that eating and sleeping were done on the line. He was lucky to get three hours of sleep in a twenty-four hour period. He was hungry and thirsty all the time, "almost beyond endurance". The battle strategy used on Okinawa was to dig fox holes with a shovel that the soldiers carried on their backs. Then use the fox hole for protection as they pushed the Japanese back. I know that I can not even fathom the horror of it all. My Grandpa witnessed dear friends being killed right next to him. I am so proud of him and thankful for his extraordinary courage. I am thankful that he made it home and married my Grandma, and that they had my Dad. On this day I am happy to honor my dear Grandpa and all Veterans who have served and are now serving our beloved country. God bless America, My Home Sweet Home!!

My little Goblins...

MeghanMatthewHyrumEthan

Happy Haunting!

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How would it be?

Here we have my Mom and Dad on their recent trip to Maine. Looks like fun, doesn't it? My parents said if I posted about it, I would get to go with them next time. I don't think they really thought I'd do it. But they underestimated me. I love it back east. I could live there. In fact I did live there, and I miss it. So, Mom and Dad, be sure and let me know when I need to pack my bags. I'm ready and waiting. And No, I'm not kidding. I could show you around Bean Town, then we could drive on up to Maine for some lobster. What's a trip to New England without your first born, not to mention favorite daughter. Hee, Hee.

Not a Bali Bear

This is a picture of one of the Bears we saw at Hogle Zoo. Could he look more bored? Now if we were at a zoo in Bali this would be a picture of all of us playing with the bear. Sounds pretty fun and exciting, eh? Now how do I know this? Well because my sister is currently living in Korea and they went to Bali for their summer vacation. On her blog she has pictures of her kids actually playing with Giant Bats, Elephants and Dolphins. That's NOT how things are done here though. We count ourselves lucky if we just get to see some kind of movement, or action. We did see the Tiger moving around. That was nice. Can you tell I'm just a little bit envious of my sister Kim getting to swim with dolphins? Just a life time dream of mine. No big deal.

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday we went to the annual Boo at the Zoo event. It was soooooo crowded. It was TOO crowded. We have never seen that many people turn out for it. I definitely think it's more fun with less people. It was next to impossible to find a park, there were long, long, lines for everything, and you could barely squeeze your way in to get a look at the animals. Of course you could just take a look around your personal space and see plenty of the human variety. It truly was a ZOO!! To give you a little bit of an idea, at one point I was sitting on a bench next to another Mom discussing the madness. She told me that her family had been to three different concession stands in the park trying to buy lunch. Well they were completely out of food at all three. Lucky for our family we had packed a picnic, which was actually the highlight of the day. Unless you ask Ethan. For him I think riding the train was the highlight of the day. The kids did seem to have fun and are already talking about our next visit. I guess that is all that really matters but I'll tell you what, if Hogle Zoo doesn't schedule Boo at the Zoo for more than one Saturday in October the Brunsdales won't be going again. After all, we're quick learners.

Holy Hot Potatoes Batman!!

The other day at about 1:00 the phone rings. It's Kaylie's school calling to let me know that she had PASSED OUT in the lunch room and I should probably come get her. What in the world? So I go pick her up and ask her what happened? She said that she was feeling fine and just eating her lunch, when she preceded to take a bite of VERY HOT mashed potatoes. Not realizing how hot they were, she swallowed them. She said they burned and hurt her chest so bad she blacked out. Lost consciousness. How humiliating for the poor thing, huh? Not to mention painful. Anyway, she's okay and we are laughing about it now. I told her she needed to check the temperature of her food, and maybe blow on it before she starts shoveling it in. By the way, I did get her permission to tell this story.

Matthew has somethin' to say!!

I thought this was so cute. I was doing dishes and Macky was keeping me company. He really had something to say. He sure gave me a piece of his mind.

Whatcha got there, Macky?

So I was in the laundry room sorting laundry, not paying too much attention as Matthew scooted his way into the laundry room with me. A few minutes later I look up, and low and behold.... he has found a roll of toilet paper. What fun!! He had unwrapped the roll and was eating it. Mommy says, "MMMMMMM, Chocolate!" Matthew says, "MMMMMMM, Paper!!"

Where's the Fire?

One of my very favorite things about being a Mom is watching my children use their imaginations. It is so entertaining to me to watch their pretend play. The other day Meghan and Ethan were pretending to be firefighters. It was sooo cute. I just sat and watched them for a half an hour. It was better than an episode of Seinfeld.