Trick...not a treat.

Right after Dakota's friends went home from her birthday sleepover she went to the doctor for her regular check up.  The check up went well but the doctor heard some extra heartbeats when listening to her heart.  An extra heartbeat now and then is normal but he heard quite a few in the short time he was listening.  Just to be safe he ordered an EKG and had her scheduled to see a Cardiologist.  The EKG was normal so her doctor said it was most likely nothing but to still keep the other appointment so now we just waited for the visit with the specialist which happened to be Halloween morning.  The Cardiologist said the same thing as the doctor...he can hear the extra heartbeats but said the "plumbing" of the heart was fine (meaning that all the valves were working normally.)  Just to make sure that the "electrical" part of the heart was working good too he needed more than just a 30 second look at the heart that the EKG gives.  He sent her home with a 24-hour monitor.  She was hooked up to a little device that measured her heart beats like an EKG but constantly.  While the device itself was small the wires were cumbersome.  The technician who hooked her up said that she should go as a robot for Halloween since she had all the wiring.  It wasn't uncomfortable but it was a little hard for her to keep answering all the questions it came with since it was pretty hard to hide.  Some of the teachers didn't believe it was real at first since she had to wear it on Halloween.

She was a good sport and did a great job keeping the wires safe and stickers in place so that she wouldn't have to wear it for another 24-hours.  Now we just wait for the results.

Note: A few weeks later I called the Doctor to find out the results.  He said that everything looked good and we just need to keep an eye on it for now but there is nothing to worry about.  Whew!

Pink

For crazy hair day this year at school Dakota wanted to wear Rebecca's pink wig.  I think it looked really cute.

Darin's 2nd Visit

My cousin Darin loves to come and visit the girls on their birthdays in July every year, and we love having him visit.  This year he had so much fun in July that he decided to surprise the girls with a second visit in October for Dakota's birthday.  They had no idea that he was coming.  When he got here he hid in the basement and I asked the girls to go and clean up the toys down there.  When they were all down there I turned off the lights and they kept asking me to turn them on.  I was not the one however that turned the lights back on, it was Darin.  They were very surprised and so glad to see him.  He loves surprising them so he had fun with the trick as well.

He was able to get some fishing in which is his most favorite activity.  Dakota goes fishing with Darin because she loves to fish too and doesn't get a chance to do it any other time.  They only caught one fish this time (sadly they didn't take any pictures) but apparently it was very big.  The rest of the fishing he did here was on his fishing game for the Wii game system that he taught everyone how to play.  He also made us one of his favorite dinners...upside down apple french toast.  It was yummy and the whip cream topping was the best I have ever had.

We are looking forward to his next trip out to visit with us which he is already planning.  Here are a few fun pictures we took while he was here.


Megan covering Darin in toilet paper.




Now he's being attacked by both rugrats.




He had as much fun being covered as the kids had fun covering him.



Darin and Dakota with her pink hair.



Darin modeling the pink hair.  Its been a long time since he's had any hair on the top of his head.



Happy 12th Birthday!

My sweet little Dakota is now 12 and reminding me that she is not little anymore.  I can't believe that she is 12 already.  The girls get birthday parties with their friends on certain birthdays and the 12th birthday is one of them so Dakota had been planning this party for years.  I must say that she did a great job and she and all her friends had a good time.


These were a great group of kids.



She had a lot of games planned to start with.  I did my best to stay out of the way except for taking pictures and just let her take charge of the party.



The first game was making mummies.  There were two teams who wrapped their mummies in toilet paper and the first team to use all the paper won.



This girl was a great sport and really looked like a mummy.



After the mummy game there was an impromptu TP fight.  This was enjoyed by all.



Next they played a game Dakota named, "Vampire Victim".



Dakota's favorite game "pin the tail on the donkey" with a twist.




It was "stick the spider on the Witch". 
Better luck next time Dakota.



After the witch game they had a costume contest where they modeled their costumes for the judges (me and Lizzie) for an awards ceremony later.



After the costume contest it was time to get them all hyped up on sugar.  They emptied the candy bowl very quickly.



While the results of the costume contest were being tallied the kids took a break and ate pizza while watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

 After the movie they went outside and had the award ceremony for the costume contest which was a lot of fun because the kids really got into it.  After that it was cake and presents and then most of the kids went home.



Her best friends stayed for a sleepover to keep the party going all night long.



Although I wasn't too sure how I was going to handle so many pre-teens running around the house for so long, it actually went really well.  The kids were great and Dakota was having so much fun.  Happy birthday to my sweet, crazy, always fun Dakota.

Beautiful

These young women are so beautiful, inside and out.  How I love each and every one of them.  They fill me with such joy that it is painful at times.  Each one is very different which is what makes them so much fun, but they are all the same when it comes to the deep love and kindness they feel for ALL of Heavenly Father's children (especially their younger brother and sister.)  As I watch them grow I feel a sadness knowing that their short time with me is nearing its end, but at the same time I see the beautiful, loving, and capable young women that they are growing in to and I am getting more excited all the time to see them create their own paths as they begin to prepare for their own lives and families.  I am thankful for each and every day that I have had with them and look forward very much to so many, many more. 



Dakota
Age: 11
Grade: 6
Loves playing board games, drawing, riding bikes, and playing video games with dad.
Wants to work for NASA when she grows up.




Rebecca
Age: 13
Grade: 8
Loves reading, singing, performing, and spending alone time with mom.
Wants to be an actress and a teacher when she grows up.




Lizzie
Age: 14
Grade: 9
Loves babysitting, music, sign language, and learning new hairstyles for little girls.
Wants to be a cosmetologist and a teacher for deaf children when she grows up.



A few random photos

I have a few random photos that the kids wanted me to post plus one that I love, so here goes...



This is a castle that the girls built with one of their friends.  I think they did a great job.




Dakota and Megan's fort they built.




Megan in the fort.




Megan got this kitchen from her Grandma D.  It is a birthday/Christmas present.  She loves it so much, and so does everyone else.  All of her friends and even her siblings love to play with it.




Last week we had a yard sale and Rebecca and Dakota had a lemonade stand.  They made a good amount of money.  Both of them want to donate most of what they made to thier school's performance departments.





I forgot to post these from last year but here is Dakota on crazy hair day.




This is one of my favorites.   Xander just loves this hat and he looks so darn cute in it.



Pops Choir Concert

Rebecca LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her choir class at school.  I think she has one of the best chior teachers ever.  Tonight was the first concert of the year.  Her teacher, Miss McCune, likes to make this a pops concert with music that is familiar to everyone.  I loved the song choices this year.  We really enjoy going to her concerts.


Rebecca in her concert choir dress.



She has made some really good friends in choir.



This was the final song of the performance.  It was all 4 of the school choirs combined.



"Stand Ye In Holy Places"

We are so grateful to live in an area where the Lord has decided to place one of His holy temples.  We are so excited to be able to watch the process of the building of the temple from start to finish.  The first part of the process that we were able to attend was the ground breaking ceremony where one of the General Authorities of the church blesses and dedicates the land on which the temple will be built.  For the Payson Temple it was Elder Dalin H. Oaks.


 Photo by Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News

 In his talk before the dedication he talked about his ties to Payson and why this temple has a special place in his heart.  After his dedicatory prayer the land that we were standing on is now holy ground.



Official spot for the ground breaking.

 We watched as preparations were being made to accommodate 5000+ people for the ceremony. 



This is the site of the ceremony before any work was done.

 


Here they flattened out the area of hills where people would ride their motorcycles.  It was just behind the area where they set up the chairs.

 


Setting up a lot of chairs.





Seating for 5000.



It got really busy the night before the dedication and we even got a phone call from the city of Payson warning us of road closures and heavy traffic delays for the morning hours (I was told by some of our neighbors that ran errands that morning that they had to prove they lived there before they could get back into the neighborhood.) 



This was at the end of our block.



The morning of the dedication I went out early to get some pictures and to save our spots in the standing room area.  Lizzie, Rebecca, Dakota and myself were the ones that were able to attend.  Because of how early we had to be there plus the rain and the cold we decided it would be best to leave the two little ones at home. 



Lizzie, Dakota, and Rebecca all bundled up in their Sunday best.



 It was such a wonderful experience I had with my older girls. We got a spot right up front and Lizzie was able to watch the ASL interpreter that was there which was really fun.  I don't know as many ASL words as Lizzie does but I was still able to understand a lot of what was being signed.  Anyway, it was very cold and a little drizzly but that didn't stop most people from attending. 



Two of the six busses plus some of those who had to park half
a mile away.  I am so glad we onlly had to walk half a block.



The sea of umbrellas.



Just before the prayer the rain stopped and the
umbrells came down.  The crowd seemed endless.



I got lots of pictures of the chaos going on while the buss loads of people were coming but my camera's battery died just as the ceremony started so I had to borrow pictures from other people of the ceremony itself and the first dig. 



 Photo by Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News



After the dedication I was surprised to hear that anyone who wanted to would be able to use the special golden shovels to break ground as well.  I can't explain the joy I felt at this temple ground breaking opportunity with my eternal family. 



The plaque on each of the shovels specially made for this occasion.



 The girls and I went back home to get CJ and the little ones (plus give a quick charge to the camera) so that we all could break the temple ground together. 

The girls each saved a program from the ceremony (Dakota saved a little of the dirt too) and will record this experience in their journals.  It was a very spiritual morning and we can't wait for the next part of the building process to begin.



Payson Utah Temple