Garrett and Tiffany and their growing family!

Garrett and Tiffany now have five amazing, beautiful, practically perfect in every way babies that are growing way too fast!  Gabe is in first grade now and growing up so much.  He rides the bus with his Uncle Nate, who feels he must be Gabe's protector.  Gabe, Isaac, Emmett and Lyndsey keep Tiffany on her toes.  Tiffany is a great mom and seems to roll with the flow when it comes to being a mom to many small people.  She is also taking foot zoning classes with us and is going to be an amazing foot zoner.  And on August 22nd, she gave birth to a big, 8lb 10oz, beautiful dark hair baby girl.  Rosalee. She is named after Thayne's grandma.   I was privileged to be there for her birth.  Tiffany is tough!  We are blessed to have her in our family. 

Garrett left mining for a while to work on starting his own business.  He worked extremely hard to make it work.  He will be going back to the mines this month.  It is so hard to get a construction business up and going.  I hope he knows how proud we are of him for trying, for giving it an amazing shot, and for being willing to fail, because that is the only way we grow.  He is willing to do whatever he has to for his family, and that is an amazing trait to possess.  He also started school so he is going to be a busy dad.  Busy is good!  Life is good, even when there are trials. 

Maybe time for an update?

 I think maybe it's time to update my blog!  At least that is what some of my kids keep telling me.  Honestly, I haven't slowed down long enough in the last few months to do much blogging.  When I finally sit down, the last thing I think about is pulling out the computer!   However... LOTS of fun (and not so fun) stuff has happened and it's really time to catch up.  Because some really awesome stuff has happened!

First of all.  The top picture.  My dream come true.  This family that I have dreamed about since I was old enough to understand, is growing beyond my wildest dreams!  There is nothing better than what they are becoming!   We have had babies, and a wedding and the love just keeps getting bigger. 

While our "family" is shrinking, it continues to get bigger and my heart keeps growing! 

Thayne is staying busy with work.  Business continues to grow, and we count our blessings every day for that. He can mostly work from home except when he has to go out to the different mines or go harass them at the shop to make sure they are doing their jobs! (haha)   We are now den leaders in scouts at church together.  It should be fun.  As soon as I get over my bad attitude about scouts!

I am now training to be a foot zone instructor.  I am so excited to see where this all leads.  We are doing classes at our house right now.  Kailee is taking the classes and is an amazing foot zoner also.  I have spent the past year going to classes in Idaho and Utah to learn more about zoning, energy work, homeopathic healing and essential oils.  I am so, so grateful for the blessing this has been to our family, and to watch it bless the lives of so many others.

Kailee, well this girl is something else.  She was promoted to manager of her store and what once was the store with the highest theft in the region to the top performing store.  They got the email this week that they were number 1 in the region last week.  She loves it.  But I think bigger and better things are coming along in the near future for her!

Willie has been working at the shop for Thayne and is doing a great job.  He has coached Nate's AYSO soccer team for 3 seasons and is an amazing coach to these little boys.  And they ADORE him.  It melts my heart to see him out there with them, and to watch them with him. 

Wyatt is a senior this year.  My heart is just a tiny bit sad that he finished up his soccer season.  He is an amazing defender.  One of the other coaches from a really great team, who had also played professional soccer told him not to give it up.  That he has great potential in college and beyond.  He is such a fun kid.  He is a protector of my heart and I am so grateful for him.

Hayden, oh my Hayden!  We have struggled finding his spot in school.  There were some bad experiences and I have been so very disappointed with our school district and some bully teachers who aren't sure what to do with a kid that ask questions and has opinions.  We decided to home school him but were really struggling, and he went to work at the shop.  He also has some side jobs.  Lawn care and working with his brother when he needs the help.  Amazing thing is he had an opportunity to go to a new program at the school, and has a wonderful teacher who recognizes the good in Hayden.  He went from being behind in credits, and us worried about how we were going to even get him to graduation, to being ahead of schedule and ready to graduate this year!  AMAZING!

Kalli is a sophomore and busy with friends and school.  She got to go to her first big dance at school this year with a bunch of friends, including her big brother.  She looked so pretty in her dress.  Like a princess, which was her whole goal.  She is a ball of energy, except when she sneaks down to nap because they get up so early for seminary before school.  She makes me happy, except she doesn't like to shop...  not sure where she got that sad personality trait.  haha

Hyrum is in 8th grade.  He is homeschooling and his passion is soccer.  He will be trying out for the high school team next year and is starting on an elite team this week.  He mostly defends, like his big brothers.  He says it's because he can hit, and take a hit.  I'm pretty glad he is going to play because I think I would go into withdrawals without high school soccer. 

Kami is in 7th grade and homeschooling also.  She loves to go to the elementary school and help the kindergarten teachers.  They are so busy, have so many students and went to all day kindergarten this year and they love having her come in and help.  She has a soft spot with the special ed kids and they love her so much.  I love to hear her tell me stories about the kids. I think she has found her passion also. 

Nate is in 3rd grade and doing great.  He is like his big brothers and LOVES soccer.  He says he wants to be a professional player one day.  He is such an amazing kid.  He loves everyone and has the softest heart.

And then there is Noah.  He is five.  We decided not to start him in kindergarten this year because he would have been one of the younger ones and the thought just didn't sit right with me.  He goes to preschool two days a week, but usually he has to be bribed.  He told me he made a deal with his dad.  That he would go to preschool and his dad would take him to the store after school and buy him a treat.  I kind of think he gets away with far too much, but he is the baby and he seems to be amazing despite having us as his parents!

And there is a quick update of my little, shrinking family.  I'll do an update on the rest of them in another post.  I love these people!  I am grateful every single day that I get to live my dream!!!

Who Said 13 Was Unlucky???

Well, for some strange reason, I am not allowed to make this Facebook official, but she told me I could blog it! (???)  Hey, who am I to argue?  However I am thrilled to announce grandbaby #13, currently known as "Avocado" mostly because mommy and daddy haven't come up with a name that will be worthy of the princess this little one will surely be!  Avocado is, well, it's kind of funny.  When we were in Hawaii for Chris and Kassi's wedding, we had lunch at Bubba Gump.  The waiter was a hoot, and his name tag said Avocado.  When Kassi found out she was pregnant she started calling the little one Avocado, and it seems to have stuck.  Poor baby.... since it's a girl, not a boy!  But it makes us all happy (and makes us wish we were in Hawaii again!).  She is due to make her appearance in early October, but who knows with this one.  She's done things her own way since she was no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence.   Kassi is seeing a midwife and plans to have her in a birthing center.  It's going to be an exciting ride.  Chris is out of the military and deciding where to go to school so we get them around for a little while.  I will surely cry when they decide to leave, because we have all gotten extremely attached to having Kassi and her sunshine back with us for a while! 

So, our family continues to grow in the most amazing ways.  These grandbabies are... there are no words for how amazing they are.  Each with their own amazing personalities.  It is so fun to watch them grow.  Thayne has the most tender heart and if it's been very many days in a row without seeing them, he starts telling me we need to see them.  He's gotten soft in his 'grandpa' years which is probably why he recently insisted we get a play house/swing set for them.  One much nicer than he did for his older kids (yes, we heard about how spoiled the younger kids are, but we couldn't help it that the younger kids were born the same time the grandbabies were being born).   Life is busy.  It's sometimes overwhelming.  There is so much going on in everyone's lives, and often we get pulled in to the whirlwind, above and beyond the normal whirlwinds of our own life.  Last week, we had plans to get out of town overnight for our anniversary, but heard Kimi was planning to come and spend the weekend.  Thayne just shrugged his shoulders and with a goofy grin on his face, he informed me that this whole crazy mess was my idea!  He always tries to turn it around on me!!!  haha  

Honestly, I have a million dreams, a million hopes, a whole bunch of 'stuff' I want to be working on now.  But I know that in the end, the love these babies show to us, the hugs and loves and kisses and squeels of laughter, well, isn't that what life is all about anyway???

13 is the perfect number to round out the year.  Our arms are full... you should see our hearts!

Did I say 11 was great? What I really meant to say is....

If 11 is great, a dozen is even better!!! 

Yes, a dozen grandbabies. 

Garrett and Tiffany gave me the best birthday present.

An ultrasound picture of our next grandbaby,

due in August!

And she's a girl...

God Hears Our Desperate Prayers

Faith proceeds the miracle.  I have been taught that my entire life, and even when things don't turn out exactly the way I had hoped, I still trust that the Lord is in charge and I have found peace in even the most trying circumstances.  We have to actively believe in order to see miracles.  Though often the miracle is not exactly what we wanted, but simply the understanding to get through whatever it is that we happen to be struggling with.

Yet sometimes, things happen that teach us that everything is not exactly as we believe it to be, and that we have angels watching over us, and praying for us... and just maybe, we need to take a little more time to pray for others.  The past month have given me many opportunities to recognize unseen hands in my life, and to take the time to pray for those that I don't even know.

Kailee and Kalli were recently in an accident.  A woman was having a diabetic reaction. The girls had passed her on the highway by the high school and were concerned that she was drunk because of the way she was driving. Kailee's exact words to Kalli were, "Let's get around this crazy right now!" This is the busiest time of the day and traffic in both directions is nonstop.

They had traveled less than a mile after passing her when Kailee looked in the rear view mirror and sees the same SUV rapidly approaching her. There was absolutely no place to move. To the right were cars, the left had oncoming traffic. The lady continued to accelerate and Kailee did her best to maneuver to the left so that she didn't hit her straight on from behind, which probably saved their lives (for the first time!). But it propelled Kailee into oncoming traffic. Hit her so hard she was thrown into the slow lane of oncoming traffic. Somehow a man in a truck was paying good enough attention and they crisscrossed paths as he moved to the passing lane. She was able to get off the road and stop. They were shaken up, Kailee hit her head several times and they both had whiplash. Kailee especially had serious whiplash and is still dealing with pretty severe pain. Kalli is a lot shorter and because Kailee warned her they were going to be hit, she kind of curled around the box she was holding and didn't get as banged up.

Kailee called us. Very shaken up. Obviously. The SUV had continued driving. In fact never slowed down. Thayne headed to the girls ahead of me. As I left the house he called to tell me there was a bad wreck with multiple cars at the round about. The woman had continued another mile plus and hit two more vehicles causing a pile up at the round about. I stopped there and let the cops know the woman was responsible for the girls wreck also. The officer said they were just putting it all together. So I headed to meet Thayne and the girls at the hospital.

It was very scary but we were so grateful for the very obvious miracles that had saved them that night.

Fast forward a few days later. Kailee went into work to meet the delivery driver at work. Freight was due in that morning. She waited and waited and they didn't show up. So she decided to run to the bank forgetting that the bank didn't open until 9am. There is the main doors and then the ATM and the inside doors to the bank. She tried to open the inside doors as it dawned on her that she was early. A woman was standing in there and an older, Indian man who had been in a big truck came in and told Kailee the bank opened at 9. She said she just realized she was early. She gets nervous around strangers and tried to avoid conversation. But this man started telling her about an accident he had witnessed the week before. He described Kailee's red car (obviously she wasn't in the car so he had no idea it was hers). He told her if he had ever doubted God, or that God hears our desperate prayers, that night, he knew the truth. That God hears our desperate prayers because he prayed desperately for the people in that car. He told her he watched the SUV hit the car and throw her into oncoming traffic. He said the truck moved into the opposite lane just missing the red car. And then he told her that the other cars just disappeared. He said there were cars coming and that there was no way for them not to be hit. Except the cars disappeared.   Kailee was in tears by now and told him that she was the driver of the red car. He kind of smiled and told her God was there. He heard the prayers, and He was there. That the other cars just disappeared so she and her sister were safe.  Kailee went into the bank. Both she and the other lady had tears in their eyes. She came back out and the man, who hadn't even gone into the bank told her God was there that night.  Then he told her to go to the site of the accident and sprinkle some blessed water and pray so her back would be healed.  NOT knowing her back was hurt really bad. Interesting thing. At the very moment he was telling her, I was in Idaho in classes at Butterfly Express MAKING BLESSED WATERS!!!  Homeopathic remedies called blessed water.

The man turned to leave. Kailee told him he never went into the bank. He just kind of shrugged and told Kailee, "God bless you" and got in his truck, and left. He was at the bank early, and then never went in.   But delivered a message so powerful, I doubt we will ever be the same.

God hears our desperate prayers.

Ten is a great number! 11 is better!

 

I have so much to catch up on...

It's kind of overwhelming to think about,

and I ask myself why I get so far behind.

I love blogging.

I love journaling.

But sometimes life just seems so busy and overwhelming,

and things change before I can even get my act together.

However...

I do love these particular changes.

Babies growing.

Adding babies.

Can't ask for anything better.

Ten is the magic number today.

11 will be the magic number in May!

Oh! And THIS!

I waited all day to be able to post THIS one!

Yes!  This happened tonight.

Tallin and Janae are getting married.

 

Don't mind the picture of a picture.

I couldn't be there to take it,

so a couple awesome friends stalked them!

(Not really stalked, Tallin DID ask!!! haha)

More pictures to come!

 

I can't even begin to express how happy I am about this.

I knew it was something special the first time he said,

"MOM!  So, there's this girl."

I have wanted nothing more than for this sweet boy to meet the one.

And the moment I met her...

clear back, last week...

I knew he was in love.

The forever kind!

 

No details yet on dates.

Tallin has a very exciting few months coming up.

He graduates, will move back here to go to work with his dad and brother,

and will be gaining a wife.

While I gain a new daughter.

The easy way.

 

Welcome to the family Janae.

I am so very excited to see what the future holds for you both!

And then there is this....

There is simply so much going on that it makes my head spin a little bit!  Why'd these kids all go and grow up on me at the same time???  It's like we don't have one of anything... except babies, we only ever had one baby at a time... but now these kids are having kids at the same time, together, one right after another.  As if that could ever be a bad thing.  It's just that I foresee life forever being crazy like this.  FOREVER!  Isn't that the greatest thought in the entire world!

In case I didn't mention it before.  Grandbaby #10 is due this month.  The 22nd is his exact due date.  His dad, Josh, thinks it would be kind of cool to wait until the 25th and be born on his birthday, in the same hospital 20 years later, delivered by the same doctor.  It's a possibility, since Kinzee is seeing the same doctor, and delivering in the same hospital that Josh was born in.  But I think Kinzee would be more excited if he would come earlier.  Like tonight or tomorrow! 

We will call him something other than his number.  Although #10 isn't a bad name.  It's just that we aren't officially announcing his name yet.  Even though his initials are all over his room.  I'll make that announcement after we see his chubby little face in person.  They tell her he could be a big baby, and his ultrasound pictures really do show chubby cheeks.  Just the way any respectable baby boy should be!!!  A friend told us that since #9 was 9lbs even, that #10 should be 10lbs.  Kinzee isn't so sure about that!

While the pregnancy has not been uneventful, there were a few scares.... Kinzee has done surprisingly well and we are all looking forward to this little man's arrival and can't wait to welcome him to the family!

We miss Kassi

This is the reason everyone misses Kassi!  She's fun, and she does crazy things, and makes messes, but everyone is happy!

Sometimes I leave her in charge and I come home and find that she has made a fort with chairs and blankets and some plastic stuff she had in her truck from work.  And the kids are laughing and happy and the house is destroyed and I can't do anything but take pictures.  And laugh with them.  Then demand that SHE is the one that cleans up the mess.

I love this girl.  I love that she is happily married and that she gets to live in Hawaii.  But I miss her so much.  She is so much fun.  She always makes me smile and I hate that I have to be so far away from her!  The kids all miss her too!

Win, Lose or Draw...

We did this!

A dream my dad and I always talked about...

Going to a Cowboys game.

From the time I was a baby,

I watched the Cowboys with my dad.

The first year, I would sleep on his chest as he cheered on his team.

It really didn't matter if they won, or if they lost.

We liked it better if we won,

but he always said it was the Cowboys, win, lose or draw.

Willie kept telling me we should just go to the game.

An impossible dream.

Jace started looking into it and told me that it really wasn't impossible,

that in fact, we could make it possible.

One day, the idea was just a dream.

The next day, we had flights planned and tickets bought

and I was trying to find clothing that would keep me warm enough to handle

being in the wayyyyyyyy below zero temps that were happening in Wisconsin.

 

We flew in to Minneapolis late Saturday evening.

Stayed up all night visiting my brother and sister in law.

Left at a ridiculously early hour Sunday morning.

Drove to Green Bay.

Stood for the entire four hours we were in the stadium.

Because you cannot sit down during a play off game.

Especially when that game was between the Cowboys and the Packers.

Drove back to Minneapolis.

Stayed up the rest of the night visiting with Shiloh and Joy again,

and left at an even more ridiculously early hour

to catch our flight home.

Who needs sleep anyway?

It's overrated!!!

You can always sleep...

but you can't always make memories like this!

 

They lost..

They were ROBBED.

Even the really obnoxious Packers fans in front of us said that it was a catch...

But it really didn't matter.

It was the experience.

It was the game.

It was being there with my Cowboy's loving sons,

and with my dad in my heart.

This memory was for you Dad.

I hope you got to be there with us!!!!