Emmett's Newborn Pictures

 I wanted to share Emmett's newborn pictures!
This little boy is so beautiful and sweet.
I cuddled with him last night and counted my blessings
knowing that we have the privilege of watching our children
raise the next generation,
and what a great job they are doing!
There is nothing more heavenly than a newborn snuggled in your arms,
and I am grateful every single day
that my children find the same joy in babies that I do.
That they cherish life...
and are willing to sacrifice to give life to these precious gifts!

Emmett George... We love you!!!

 

Mining Expo

 

 Things were busy the first week in June...
Beside graduation,
We did our very first mining expo.
We all wanted it to go well and we spent a bit of time
preparing and setting up.
Jan came out from Utah to help us get the booth set up,
and it really turned out great.


This year was a lot different than most years
since school wasn't out yet and graduation was Friday afternoon,
But Thayne was able to get some good contacts
and next year we will be pros at setting up and tearing down!

And.... just because he is so adorable to me, and because he LOVES coming to the shop,
I had to add a couple of pictures of my baby boy.
I love him!!!

Emmett is here!!!

 

We are very, very excited to announce the birth of

our beautiful new grandson...

Emmett George!!!

He was born on Saturday, June 22nd at 5:17pm

weighing in at 8lbs 6oz and 20.5 inches long.

With a head full of blond hair!!!

 

He is perfect!!!

Tiffany's midwife gave her a little jump start and it wasn't long

before we knew that this would be the day.

Tiffany is one tough girl and as usual I am amazed by her strength!

Yes!  She does it all natural!!!

 

His name is pretty awesome too.

We started doing family history and found the name Emmett.

When Garrett and Tiffany saw the name they loved it.

George...

Well, George is a family name also.

Thayne always wanted to name one of our boys George.

I always said no.

Garrett decided that he was going to use it for his son instead.

I think Thayne will probably always call this little man George.

Garrett will probably drive him crazy saying,

"I will call him George, I will love him, and pet him and squeeze him..."

(From the old Bugs Bunny cartoon!!!)

 

 

Yesterday I stopped to count my blessings...

my heart was so full of love for Tiffany,

and her willingness and joy in giving birth to these children.

I see my son, as a father,

who finds joy in his family.

I feel so grateful that another beautiful spirit joined our family.

That he is healthy, and that the delivery went well.

 

I spent time counting my blessings...

each and every one of them.

 

Welcome to the world Emmett...

You are loved, and wanted, and will be cherished every day of your life!

 

I love this picture...
but I suppose you had to be there...
The nurse turned him on the side and he rolled into the side of the bassinet,
threw his arm over it, and those big, full lips were pressed against the glass
and he instantly stopped crying! 
I tried to get a picture of his face before the nurse picked him up but I missed it!
 

Garrett and his three sons moments after their births.
In the red shirt he is holding Isaac, white shirt is Gabe and blue shirt is Emmett!

Preschool graduation

 Sometimes it is hard to believe how far this little man has come.
Sometimes I think about those long, terrifying nights in the hospital,

wondering if we would miss out on all of the little things in his life.

Or some of the not so little things!
Like Preschool graduation.

 

Kailee got to be one of his preschool teachers this year.

That was one of the greatest parts of his whole year.

That and he was right next door to where we work so he often got to run next door

after he got out of school and hang out at the office for a while.

 

I still look at this little boy in complete amazement.

I still remember the simple question I had in my heart while we flew to Salt Lake,

watching him fight for his life.

Would he have the chance to experience life here and now?

Would he grow up, go to school?

Would he overcome the health issues that seemed to over take him in an instant?

Would he live?

Would I get to send him off to kindergarten?

How would I feel to send him off to kindergarten???

 

I did not go with Thayne when he registered Nathaniel for kindergarten.

I sent him alone... to fill out the paperwork
(and let's admit it... I have filled out paper work for 14 other children,

year after year, so I really didn't even feel bad!!!)

I just couldn't face it... not yet!

I know I will be fine when he goes next year,

it's just the thought of it right this moment!

Ms. Kailee and Ms. Kim were fantastic with the kids.

Kailee has loved doing this, and loved having her brother in her class.

I cannot believe how quickly the months have flown by...

watching him grow up so quickly!!!

 

It was fun to be there with so many of his brothers and sisters

to celebrate with him.

It's so bittersweet. 

I wish I could freeze time and slow down these amazing moments!!!

 

 

Way to go Buddie.  We love you so much tater bugs!!!

 

Graduation 2013

Kinzee did it!!!
She set a goal to graduate a year early..
And she did it!

She has such big plans and if this is any indication
of how she will work on those dreams,
I know she will do really great things!!!

 

I am so proud of her, and how hard she worked.
I love this girl so much.
Sometimes I feel like we are battling wills because
she is so determined and so head strong about growing up

so fast!

But then, she always has been older than her years!

As her mom,  I guess the only thing I can really do

is what I have always tried to do...

teach her what we believe,

give her the knowledge that she is loved,

and that she has the ability to do anything she sets her mind to do,

and then stand back and give her wings...

Knowing she is cherished,

and that she always has a home!

 

 

Way to go Kinzee and Checotah!!!

We had their graduation party together.

Because we have been so blessed to have friends

that are more like family,

and these two girls are amazing!!!

Congrats girls!

We know you are going to fly!!!!

 

 

 

 



living in the twilight zone

It seems many people live in a parallel universe,

 and their alternative reality sometimes seems to clash with real life.

Who knows....

 Maybe we all do.

 Maybe that's why we need to be gentle in our judgment.

I would hope they aren't KNOWINGLY being dishonest

in how they represent

 another's character and reputation.

 

I have wondered about this lately.

Do any of us really see ourselves as we are?

Do we lie so often that we start believing the lies we tell?

Are we harder, or more gentle, judging ourselves than we are with others?

Do we want others to protect our 'truths'

yet lie to make us feel better about the situation?

 

I wonder why we demand more from others

than we do from ourselves.

Why would a person expect you to not say anything about a situation,

yet turn around and lie

to make themselves look, and feel better?

Why would a person tell lies about someone who helped them,

cared for them, and trusted in them, and treated them as a friend?

 

I guess I never really understood that kind of behavior.

I suppose I never will.

Emma's Blessing

We were able to go down for Emma's blessing...
She is such a beautiful girl and we are so grateful

that she is part of our family.

Kimi is enjoying having a baby girl so much

and

Jared really loves his baby sister.

He is very sweet with her.

Matt is practicing his scary police face for all the boys

who will eventually want to date her!



The kitchen

 

 Well...

That went faster than I thought it would!!!

 

We have had problems with our countertop for years.
We had someone come in and fix it once,

and he told us then that they really needed to replace the counter.

Part of the big island was actually two different colors,

and it kept cracking by our stove top.

 

After yet another crack,

they decided to honor the warranty and told us we could even pick a new color.

We also chose to get rid of the cooktop and replace it with a huge oven.

Now I have my double ovens and this awesome beast of a range!

It's huge.

I can cook with my extra large pan..

and still have room for my other normal pans.

The lighter color turned out so well.
We have never had light counter tops here so this opened up the kitchen in a whole  new way.

 

It only took a couple of hours and the two men did a fabulous job.

I was so happy!

Happy with the service and happy with the way it turned out.

 

I am looking forward to an excuse to cook for the entire crew now!!!

 

Kimi's visit

 

We were so glad to have Kimi be able to come and spend a couple of weeks with us.  It was so nice to have her and the kids here.  We got to spend lots of time with Jared, and snuggling Emma and it was crazy, and fun to have all 5 of the grandbabies here one night when their parents went out.  Though I will admit that I am not as good as I once was.  At one point I am pretty sure we had every single child under the age of 6 in the house crying!  Thayne and I looked at each other and laughed... because losing our mind wasn't an option!  I do think I would have loved having twins.  Jared and Noah were fun together, and Noah adores his sweet little niece!  He would make Thayne help him pack her around!

Kimi and I went with Nate's preschool (and Ms. Kailee) on their fieldtrip and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the Grove.  The little boys loved it too, and it was fun to watch Kailee do her 'job' as teacher.  She is good with those little kids and they most definitely love her! 

Worst part of all is that Kimi lives much too far away from us, and that just isn't fair!!!!!

The Accident

Did I mention the accident?

The one that totaled the Durango?

The phone call that caused my heart to stop for a second?

 

Kailee had decided to go visit Kimi while we went to the George Strait concert

and asked if she could take some of the little kids.

They were all so excited to see Kimi that we let them go.

I didn't really like that they were going one direction,

while we were going another...

but I am always like that.
I know I can't keep them in a bubble,

but it would sure be nice if I could.

 

We got home Saturday, but they were planning to stay until Sunday

after church.

Sunday morning brought a promise of really cold, bad weather

and they decided to leave earlier than they had planned.

The road was fine until they were about a half hour from home.

Kailee called to let me know they were in the little town less than 30 miles away

and that the roads had been great.

I was getting ready to go back into Sunday School when my phone rang again.

I wondered why Kailee was calling me again so soon but stepped back out

to answer.

I could tell something was wrong...

she was very upset and crying and asked us to come and get them.

It took a few minutes to get her calmed down enough to tell me what had happened.

The tunnels were black ice.

She did everything right according to the police,

and I was more than impressed that she held it together for the little kids.

 

Everyone was buckled up and everyone was safe,

however Kalli had twisted in the seat to check on the little kids

and hit her head. 

She had a big gash on her forehead right at the hairline.

Kailee said after it was all said and done,

Kalli's flare for drama was quite funny.

When Kalli realized she was bleeding,

she threw her arm in the air and said, "I'm dying Kailee, I am dying!"

Of course that set off the other kids and they were crying and asking if

Kalli was really going to die.

Kailee told them NO, she was not going to die and did her best to stay as much in control

as you possibly can while  you are ping ponging through a tunnel!
Kalli, in shock, jumped out of the Durango when it came to a stop and stood

in the middle of the freeway waving frantically for help.

Oddly enough, 

a 7 car pile up happened going the other direction in the tunnels

and an off duty police officer was on his way home.

He was able to give them the help they needed.

The kids wanted us to come get them,

but I talked to the police officer and he told me that the roads were closed and

the kids would be sent to the hospital in the ambulance.

All 5 of them together.

 

Thayne and I went directly to the hospital and waited.

While we sat in the parking lot waiting, Kalli called us to talk.

I kept asking if they had given her medicine because she sounded like they had drugged

her up.

She was so funny telling us about what happened.

Then she started saying to Kami to hide,

explaining that Kami had to use the bathroom and they told her

they couldn't stop,

but gave her a bowl to 'pee' in.

It broke the ice and calmed my heart enough to wait for them to get there.

Kailee also hurt her shoulder, but was so worried about everyone else

that she didn't even let them check her.

She did everything possible to keep them safe.

There were many others on the other side of the freeway that had much more

experience than she had, and still fell victim to the black ice.

(I HATE those tunnels by the way!!!)

 

The CT Scan was of Kalli's head to make sure nothing else was wrong.

She had several stitches and will have a good scar, but otherwise she was great.

Although for a moment...

everyone looking at the results were a little worried...

until they realized she still had bobby pins in her hair!

 

The first thing Kalli told us when we got to the hospital was that

Heavenly Father had protected them because it should have been a lot worse.

I have to agree, and thank Him for keeping His hand on them as the were flung

through the tunnel.

Kailee believes that she had help that day keeping it on the road.

I agree with her.

And I am grateful!