Jaden Lately....

Oh....my little baby bubby
[bubby is his nickname, used more than his real name]

What hasn't he been up to or into lately?

He keeps me going. He's constantly on top of the tables. He eats soap. He drinks bath water. He bit a fake baguette in my sister's table center piece. He put our neighbor dog's tail in his mouth (the dog is in the pit bull family)! He picked up a dead mouse in my parents' garage with his bare hands(YUCK!). He's a hitter...and a biter...and a pincher....and climber. He's almost always in full throttle mode.

He's aggressive, strong, independent, adventurous, curious and completely fearless!

What's a mother to do?

Don't be fooled by his cheesy little smile & adorable dimple.

He is trouble with a capital T. A complete rascal. Dennis the Menace in training. He never ceases to amaze me. I can't believe all that he can do or come up with, especially for his age.

He can be completely sweet & charming. He loves Jace & loves to climb up onto his bed in the morning, lay his head on top of Jace's and be totally sweet. When he wants to give kisses, he'll come up to your cheek and say, "hi" in a soft and sweet voice, then have you kiss him.
But...you've gotta watch your back because the next minute, he could very well be trying to bite your neck. He's as quick as a cat- he catches you off guard and can get you before you know it. And...he leaves a mark every time. Little stinker!

He NEVER Gives up.

He is very persistent and does not let anything stop him from going after what he wants. These chips? Oh yes, they were in the pantry with a clip on the top, folded several times, very secure-{because I know better}. Well...he took them and shook it until he got the clip free. This is him claiming victory over that clip.

He is the same way with figuring out a task. He loves a challenge. One day, he was suddenly very quite. {Not a good sign usually}. So..I went around looking for him and found him sitting there very nicely with his blocks and completely focused on the task of building a tower with them. He sat there & did not give up until he got them stacked.{Then got frustrated when it got higher and started falling apart.} I'm glad that his persistence can be a good thing as well. He can figure anything out. His determination is impressive.

He really doesn't let things stand in his way. He is thrilled by dogs, especially when they are riled up. Little dog, Dawson, was barking at big dog's Duke & Chavez and our lawn was the cross yard between the dog chatter. Jaden was so excited! He loves chasing after little Dawson. Of course, the sprinklers did not stop him one bit from trying to get to that dog. Thankfully, our neighbors dogs are nice & tolerate our curious little guy.

Jaden can be a little goof and has a funny personality. He knows when things are funny. He's also a little stink and turns not-so-funny things into a laughing matter. He'll do something that he knows is naughty, {like running into our road}. When I say Stop! or No! he just keep running and looking back dieing of laughter at that fact that I'm chasing him like a wild turkey. He's hard to discipline because he'll laugh a long time before he'll cry or learn a lesson . He's a little mess around for sure.

I thought he looked so cute squatted up in this planter basket. He thinks it's so fun to ride on this like a bike.


Did I mention that he's a climber? Oh, boy he gives me a run for my money. He'll crawl onto the toilets, then up to the counter and in the sink. He's also obsessed with toothbrushes, so he's sure to use someones when he's up there.

He scares me half to death most of the time. No matter what I do...he finds a way. He's sneaky and fast. One time we heard him crying and thought he was just in playing the kids. Justin went to get him and found him up in the sink with the water turned on himself. Hot water too! Luckily it hadn't warmed up yet. Bathroom doors are now always shut.

This little happy dance on top of the table. Combined with this sitting trick on the chair. Resulted in this tie-down:

I had to rope off all of our dining chairs. The rope solved the dining table problem, but that just gave him the challenge of the snack bar. He can now get up to the snack bar from the attached swivel chairs. AHHH! It's worse. It's already resulted in a fall, which resulted in a double bloody nose and goose egg on the forehead. You cannot take your eyes off of him for a minute.

He thinks he's one of the big kids. His little mind is definitely above his age level. He'll try anything the older kids do. One morning he tried jumping off our king-sized bed. He can also hold a baseball bat in position, extend a normal sized basketball over his head and make multiple baskets (when lifted up to the hoop), he can jump on the trampoline & get both feet off the ground. He can climb a ladder up to our slide, he jumps from the coffee table to the couch. And he can get up to and on top of anything, I swear. It's unbelievable (& nerve wracking!)
He's fearless. He's not afraid of anything, except he did used to be afraid of our stick horse, which was funny considering all that he's not afraid of.

He definitely takes life by the horns, so to say. He has a lot of courage. When our older two kids were being wanny's, clenched to Justin's leg, bubby walked right up to these lambs by himself. He wasn't afraid of them one bit- he would grab their tails and chase them around. They are interesting to him. I love his curiosity and willingness to give anything a try.

He makes a mess of everything. He's so independent & refuses to let you help him in anyway. He refuses a bib. He does not enjoy being spoon-fed. He wants the spoon or bowl or whatever himself and he'll figure it out. Needless to say, his clothes and eating area are a big mess.

Jaden is one strong kid. Does this amaze anyone else that he can hang from these bars? I can't believe it. He wants to do it over & over again too. He also had to get a CBC/lead screening test, which required a needle to take blood in his arm. Bubs sat there & didn't even cry. He is tough as nails, has a kung fu grip and super-baby strength. He's certainly has a lot of athleticism to him.

He's such a little wild man. He loves life and is curious in everything it has to offer. He jumps right into situations, without fear.

He loves mischief...

But....there is just something so sweet about him at the same time. He knows how to wipe and blow his nose and it's just too cute. I love hearing his language take off as well.

There is no doubt about it- He is hard to handle:

But how can you resist the little rascal?

Rylee Lately....

Things have been pretty good for our little miss lately. Well...until yesterday, but I'll get to that later. She's growing up. It makes me sad- I feel like she/we got robbed of her toddlerhood in some ways.She's darling though. She is sweet and sassy, but more sassy than sweet lately. She can do it all herself and waddles around like she owns the place. She's in charge of her brothers and definitely has her dad wrapped around her little finger. She loves chocolate milk, hates doing her hair or wearing cute clothes. She wants to wear a skirt with a shirt that doesn't match or the oldest, shortest worn out sweats with a tank top or junk shirt that she can find. No matter what you put on her, she'll respond, "I don't like that one." or "That's too tight for me." Etc., etc. Seems like it's a never-ending clothes battle. Then when you do convince her (because we're going somewhere), she rips her hair out and dresses down the minute we're home. She's all about comfort. And most of the time...I just let it go and let her be her.
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On April 3, she celebrated her 3rd birthday. It was a busy weekend, with General Conference, my birthday, her birthday and Easter all within a few days of each other. She had a cute Easter egg cake.

We did a combined birthday party with her cousin, Presley, who's birthday is about a week after Rylee's. We invited all of the cousins to the Bounce House (R Jump) to celebrate.

Rylee loves the big slide and is really good at climbing up all the obstacle course things up to the slides. We opened gifts, had cupcakes and let the kids play for a few hours.

She loved her gifts- she got some Barbie stuff, a Polly Pocket Limo, some summer shoes and a mini children's song book and Book of Mormon. (She loves playing church with Jace, so it was perfect. She's usually hauling my big song book around.)

She had a pretty good time...until she didn't feel well. This was her at the end of the party- she had had it. "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..." Because of conference, we did the party in between sessions, which also landed at her nap time, so she was tired, but she also came down with a fever after we got home and wasn't feeling so hot for the rest of her birthday or the day after. Darn it- I'm glad she was able to have fun for awhile though.

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Most days are pretty typical for her. She likes to ride her scooter, jump on the trampoline or swing.

She enjoys coloring and playing stuff with Jace like house, school, church, restaurant, games, etc. They usually get along pretty good. She also like combing hair, getting dressed up and getting into all of my shoes and jewelry. That day, her Barbies were hanging out at the pool of flowers.

I've had her start doing chores with Jace this year and she does great at them. They have to unload the silverware and sippy cups in the dishwasher, put their clean clothes away, carry all the dirty laundry/ baskets to the laundry room, clean the toothpaste out of their sink, pick up the mud room and put their toys away/clean their bedrooms. It's amazing how capable kids are when you give them some responsibility/expectations.

She's been going to nursery and having fun there. It's fun to see her developing friendships. She and our little neighbor Annie have been so cute this spring as they run around, trying to keep up with all the big kids.

She's had fun with the little cousins too. They love 4-wheeler rides and doing puzzles or playing in the house together. I've noticed that she's very caring and mother-henish. She likes to take care of the little ones. She'll squat down and get at their level then say..."You want that? ...O tay, here you go." Or drag Jaden by the hood and say, "No bubby!" and shake her head in disgust at him. I love it.

But...don't let me fool ya. She's got her moments of mischief as well-climbing pantry shelves, making a water mess in the bathtub and having her spells of stubbornness, "No..I don't want to." Overall though, she really is a pleasant child. ------------------------------------------------------------------

Old Hurdles: In addition to her everyday life, we're still dealing with the same old hurdles of cancer. For some reason, many people lately have been under the impression that Rylee is done with treatment. That is not the case.

We're still in the maintenance phase which consists of monthly chemo treatments and spinal taps every 3 months. We also have our same home-medication regimen which consists of: At home chemo (Methotrexate) once a week (we give this to her); Mercaptopurine daily (this is kindof like a super vitamin); Dexamethosone 5 days/month (this is a steroid that is given after chemo treatments monthly); and Dapsone, which we give her once a week.

She still has her port in as well (that is what they are cleaning in the picture- prepping to access it). She will complete treatment December 12. At that point, all medication/chemo will end and we'll be in a wait/watch period for nearly 3 years. (To reach the 5-year survival mark).

The first 6 months following treatment are supposed to be the scariest in terms of watching to see if her body is able to produce normal, rather than Leukemic cells. So...while I'm thrilled to finish up with the treatment phase, I'm still uneasy about how the next phase is going to be. Right now we're in fight mode, trying to get rid of it, the next phase is watch mode, so you feel more vulnerable. Concerns and worries will just take on a different focus.

Sometimes it definitely feels like even when we're done...we're not done. But...we're getting closer.

This is what her port looks like when accessed. They push a 1/2 inch butterfly needle into the port, which feels like a button (about the size of a quarter) under her skin. The needle is attached to a little hose-like line that has a valve on the end where they twist syringes on & off of it to take blood or insert medicine or whatever they're doing that day.

We'll probably have her port removed in a year from now to give it some time to see how things are going. She'll still have to get blood checks regularly and will continue regular Dr. visits once treatment ends. Once we remove her port, they'll just take blood from the arm.

Here's Rylee in her cancer kingdom. I just love Teton Oncology. When Rylee was diagnosed, she was their youngest patient. Shortly after a 17 month old was diagnosed with eye cancer and another baby had kidney cancer. Over the years, more youngins have joined this unfortunate club as well.

The nurses converted one of the rooms to a pediatric room and put toys, books, stuff to color & play with, etc. in there. They disinfect everything after each kid too. Small things make such a difference & I feel like this office really get's it. For instance, many of their staff has personal experience with cancer- having children, spouses, grand kids, etc. who have been through it. There is just such a feeling of understanding there, which I really appreciate.

Dr. Hancock has been so wonderful for this area too. Not only bringing his qualifications to help so many in this area (he has patients from Salmon to Blackfoot and beyond), but by organizing training to improve the nurses skills and hospital staff. Last year he organized this whole training session for his nurses, having nurses from Primary Children's come and teach additional training for dealing with pediatric patients. Seriously, what a noble profession- one that really makes a difference. I've been glad that we've been able to be part of this trail-blazing effect that was needed in this area. You probably had no idea (like us before), but rest assure that Madison Memorial ER is now better prepared to deal with pediatric and cancer issues specifically. It blew my mind at first to learn that they didn't stock certain supplies that were absolutely necessary in treating pediatric patients. Although it caused us some emergency trips to Salt Lake, I'm glad that they now are better prepared and have the supplies they need to treat us and others in the future.

This is Rylee before her spinal tap in March. Another example of a good medical professional going beyond his required duties. There was a mix-up in scheduling, so we had to wait for over an hour for her procedure to start. So...the nurse blew up this XL glove, drew a face on it and Rylee played with it and bounced it in the air while waiting her turn. She sat it next to her on her bed and took it into the procedure with her. I just appreciate all the people who have helped make this journey easier for her & us.

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And..New Hurdles:

Sometimes I look back and am relieved at all that is behind us, overwhelmed at all that we've been through and experienced. Sometimes I get so excited for this to be out of our lives. In ways, I'm on a countdown- only 7 more months left to go. 7 more rounds of chemo, 3 more spinal taps...it's getting so close, it actually feels like it's really going to happen.

We've honestly been in a really comfortable place lately. Rylee has been blessed and has had minimal complications or concerns the last several months and we're feeling life resume to a pretty normal pace. It's been so good, sometimes we forget what we're still dealing with.

That's why days like today...and yesterday are hard. We ended up in the ER again this morning. I haven't been scared for Rylee in awhile, but today I was.

On Friday night, she crawled into our bedroom about 1:30 a.m. I figured that her leg just must be asleep or something, so I took her to the bathroom and put her back into her bed. Saturday morning she was up and around and nothing seemed wrong. Then a few hours later, she wouldn't walk anywhere and said that her legs hurt her really bad. Justin carried her around most of the day and we didn't know what to make of it. She could only walk on her tippy toes and her legs were in a lot of pain, they would just shake if she put any pressure on them. She wouldn't let us try to rub them or even touch or skim them for that matter- she was hurting. As the day went on, her legs started getting ice cold from the knee down, so I started getting nervous. I called Dr. Hancock and asked him if this seemed familiar because we've never had anything like this happen before. He said to put heating pads on her legs and keep her warm and to watch things. Last night, she was in pain throughout the night and woke up with a fever and complaining of a headache.

We've been in this phase for so long now, when something new comes about....it's frightening. What if it's relapsed..or spread.. or what if she got an infection...or is it just a reaction to a medication? Then it goes to...what if the pharmacy messed up (which has happened)...What if there's nothing we can do...? On one hand, you want to keep your cool and assume that it's probably nothing. On the other hand, you're scared to death and prepare yourself for the worse. We've had to make some pretty tough calls at times. It's horrible and helpless feeling... there are just so many factors and I only understand a fraction of them. Yet...I am her advocate and the one whose supposed to be able to kiss it all better. There is just nothing worse than watching your child suffer.

So, at first the Dr. was afraid it might be something like meningitis, but after examining her and looking at her blood, it was determined that it was an adverse affect of her chemo medicine (Vincristine) from treatment this month. She's gotten this medicine in the same dosage for the past year and a half monthly and treatment was like 15 days ago, so it was a little unusual that all of the sudden she has this reaction, but we knew it could happen, it just never has happened. It's really put things into perspective for me and I realize how blessed she's been throughout treatment. It made me realize that she's been spared a lot of pain overall, which I'm so grateful for.

Peripheral neuropathy is the technical name of what she's been dealing with. Sometimes it's referred to as falling foot though and ironically the nurse was just talking to me about it at her last treatment. Here's what it says about it:

Although uncommon, a serious side effect of decreased sensation and paresthesia (numbness and tingling of the hands and feet) may be noted. Sensory loss, numbness and tingling, and difficulty in walking may last for at least as long as therapy is continued. These side effects may become progressively more severe with continued treatment, and your doctor may decide to decrease your dose. It is caused by the burning off of the myelin sheath which is the "insulation" covering the nerve endings.

Mind you, she's only 3 years old. It's completely heartbreaking. It's hard to say how long this will last. Right now, we're trying to keep her comfortable with Tylenol for the pain and are keeping hot rice bags on her legs and having her take it easy and rest. I'm just letting her do what she can as she feels up to it. Keep her in your prayers.

Another new hurdle that we've started is speech therapy. She's doing great and loves to do her homework and practicing her words. She's working on the lettter "f" and "d" in the final sound (at the end of a word). One problem we're seeing is that she ommitts the last sounds of words, like saying foo instead of foo-d. She started at the school, but now that it's out for summer, we plan to pursue private therapy during the summer and probably double up and do both in the fall to move her progress faster.

We're taking it a day at a time, one hurdle after another. I think we definitely have a better understanding of long suffering and what it means to endure to the end.

And...because this is already the longest post in history, I'll leave you with the the lyrics to the song, Consider the Lillies, which is my dad's favorite song and has been on my mind today- the last verse particularly.

Consider the lilies of the field,

How they grow, how they grow.

Consider the birds in the sky,

How they fly, how they fly.

He clothes the lilies of the field.

He feeds the birds in the sky.

And He will feed those who trust Him,

And guide them with His eye.

Consider the sheep of His fold,

How they follow where He leads.

Though the path may wind across the
mountains,

He knows the meadows where they feed.

He clothes the lilies of the field.

He feeds the birds in the sky,

And He will feed those who trust Him,

And guide them with His eye.

Consider the sweet, tender children

Who must suffer on this earth.

The pains of all of them He carried

From the day of His birth.

He clothes the lilies of the field,

He feeds the lambs in His fold,

And He will heal those who trust Him,

And make their hearts as gold.

A Great Eight!

Monday was mine & Justin's 8th Anniversary. No, we did not celebrate at the bounce houses, this picture was taken at Rylee's B-day party, but apparently the two of us never get a picture taken together, so this will have to do. I guess this is a better representation of where we are 8 years in anyway....never alone and always having a kid in our arms!


Thanks to Greg & Hailey, we got a few hours to ourselves. He wined & dined me at good 'ol Applebees and we saw the movie, Letters to Juliet. That's about as romantic as we (or Rexburg) gets.

I must say that we chose well- we make a pretty good pair and it's been a great 8 years.

Here's some fun stats of what's happened in our union so far:

- Jus earned a Bachelor's degree
- He's had 5 different jobs
- I've had 3 different jobs
- Jus earned a Master's degree
- He also became a CPA
- We've created 3 children
- Lived in 5 different houses
- Built 1 home
- Lived in 2 different states
- Been in 6 different wards
- Taken maybe 8 trips?

That's all I can think of. Happy Anniversary to us!

Jace Lately...

Jace: This kid is growing up on us. Already 5 and a half. Tall & handsome. Always wanting to do something. Always picking for food in the pantry. So ready for Kindergarten in the fall.He's my right hand man. I can't believe how much help he is to me with the littler ones. I notice his absence when he's gone. He's responsible and careful. He fills his role as big brother well. He probably worries and is way more cautious than I am. He cares a lot for Rylee, even though they also love to rival. And he absolutely adores Jaden and melts when Jaden hugs him or crawls up onto his bed in the morning. He's good at coming up with games for them to play. He also likes to act like he's a parent- threatening to spank or give time-outs to Rylee or giving the kids the 1-2-3 count if they are out of line. This day he put Rylee down for her nap. I thought it was so sweet when I caught him reading to her.

He tried out gymnastics the first part of the year. A good way to burn off some energy in these way too long of winters. He was in Boys Level 1 and it was really fun for him. We'll probably have him return to it this winter as well.

I thought it was great for him. In the boys classes, they work a lot on strength and coordination. They would rotate through a bunch of different stations- floor, rings, bars, rope, pit, etc. After his first few classes, his muscles felt it. He couldn't raise his arms to eat his cereal one day. Good for his athleticism.

He had a blast with his Taylor cousins. So many boys on that side, which is a great change from all the girls on the Price side. When Rich's family was visiting, the boys were on the go, go, go. They hiked the butte, played baseball, jumped on the tramp, sat in the hot tub, played video games, rode 4-wheelers, went swimming, went to the movie. They made some good memories.

Although he had a great time, the butte brought us a little bit of trouble. Jace started complaining of all these mysterious things- his leg was swollen one morning, then he said his head hurt, then he had this huge gland. We didn't know what to make of it. Then almost a week after he had hiked the butte, Justin found a tick in the back of his head. What? We didn't even think to check. We got it out, but the swollen gland got worse. I was scared it might be lime disease. The Dr. gave us some antibiotic and waited for a few weeks. Things finally cleared up, but that was scary. I can't believe he had a tick in his head for that long. Makes me sick.

He's been busy playing everyday. He & our neighbor, Halli, are great friends. They are constantly riding their bikes or scooters back & forth down our street. They play on the swing set, jump on the tramp, play at one of our houses, have picnics, etc. It's so fun for them when the weather is nice. Nice for me too, I must admit. It can be hours until he's ready to come in. We've got a great kid neighborhood.

And....he had a not so fun friend moment. At Justin's basketball tournament, Jace received his first punch in the nose. One of his friends was feeling threatened by a bunch of the kids playing in the primary room and Jace was trying to correct his friend, which made his friend more heated and so he punched him in the face. Darn it.

The friend later wrote him a note that apologized for hitting him. They're friends again. Boys will be boys, I guess- but it sure took Jace by surprise.

Last Friday, Jace graduated from his second year of Preschool. He went to the Burton Elementary preschool. It was a great prep year for him. He's very comfortable with the school and is so ready to start Kindergarten. He did preschool with 2 of our neighbors. This is him & Halli Angell.

Jace & Jus just returned today from the Father & Sons outing. Jace has been talking about it (& rubbing it in Rylee's face) for the last week. They camped at Warm River. Jace came home talking about stick fights, one of Justin's young men coming out to breakfast in a robe (which he thought was so funny) and taking their "leaks" outside- sounds like male bonding to me. Jus froze his butt off, Jace didn't. I think they had a good time, but I'm pretty sure they'll take a camper next time. Hopefully Jaden will be old enough (& less crazy) to join them next year.

And finally...this goofy picture of him. He loves to play dress up and comes up with some pretty funny get-up. Little nerd.

He's been a busy kid. This summer he's going to do his first year of T-ball, 2nd year of soccer and 2nd year of swimming lessons. He'll also turn 6, then off to Kindergarten.... where does the time go?

After I read this to Jace he said, "Mom, you should put...Look out Kindergarten, here I come." I thought it was funny.

Life Lately...

Pretty sure that was my longest blogging break ever. Just seems like there is always something else on top of the priority list, but I do like to keep things current here as it's the only form of record keeping I currently keep on my family. So...today's the day.

Here the latest:

Justin: We are loving that he's done with tax season! Always feels good to have him back in the fold. The kids love it when he's around, even though they all get in maniac mode, attacking him and chasing him around and such.

His office closes at noon on Fridays in the off-season, which is fun because he gets to be involved with stuff we've got going on. We went to my mom's neighbors house to show our kids these baby lambs. Jaden LOVED them, the other two...scared silly. Jaden has no fear and would walk right up to them, pet them (or hit), grab them by the tail... whatever.

Jus has also been getting our yard in shape. He's always busying himself with some sort of project. He's fertilized, burned the weeds on the other side of the fence, mowing, weeding, planting stuff, setting up the sprinklers, etc. The lawn is greening up and looking good with all his efforts.

In mid-April, Justin's brother, Rich & family came from Maine for their yearly visit. We did all sorts of fun stuff: swimming in Jackson, tin foil dinners/S'mores down by the river, going out to eat, visiting, etc.

Justin's parents were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting, so the whole fam came to listen. This is everyone in front of the Menan Stake Center after church. 16 grand kids and 32 total members of the Taylor Family. We had a fun week together.

Jus is serving as the First Counselor in the Young Men's, which keeps him pretty busy. We hosted mutual at our house a few weeks ago and one of his YM went through our trampoline. Pretty funny! It was a combined activity and I was just glad that it wasn't one of the girls. The tramp was the one I had as a kid, so it was 20 years old and probably ready to retire anyway. Poor kid though-he felt pretty dumb.

He has also been playing basketball regularly. Our Ward was the Stake Basketball Champs, so lucky us...we had a really long season. He enjoys playing with these guys and doesn't get so in to it as he used to (you might recall his previous problem with technicals). Glad it's just for fun now. He still plays once a week, eventhough the season is over. Good exercise.

And...I might add that Justin was the winner of his office's tax season weight loss competition. He lost 10 lbs. and is looking great! Won himself $100. Not bad.

Justin decided to drive one of his dad's old classic trucks home after helping his dad with something and our kids loved it! Jace especially, but Rylee and Jaden got so excited over it too. Jace would sit in it out in our driveway for a few hours playing like it was his truck. When Justin took them on a ride, they were grinning ear to ear. A big, loud truck is just Jaden's thing- he was in heaven! They love how there are no seat belts and that everyone gets to sit "up front".

Natalie: Besides my daily tasks of being a wife, mom and CEO of the household (which consumes almost all my time and energy). I've been focusing on trying to get our house back in order. After a year or so of total mayhem, it was overdue. I love to organize and have been taking one cabinet, room, drawer, system, etc. at a time. I'll show you some pictures later...but it feels so good to start climbing back on top of things. Seems like things are constantly changing and therefore requires revamping things often. I'm feeling pretty good about what I've accomplished so far, but just trying to do a little everyday.

I've had a few other things going on too. My cute friends from high school all got together for a little reunion. We try to make it happen atleast once a year and unfortunately, I had to miss it last year due to an emergency trip to Primary Children's.

My friends are and always have been great people. I love seeing what life has brought each of us- we have all faced our own set of challenges and have all traveled our own paths, yet when we're together, it's as if nothing has changed. Friends Forever! I feel so secure knowing that I've got a great bunch of gals behind me no matter what. We've got 20 kids plus 1 on the way (and 3 step kids) between the 9 of us. We've all been friends for a long time. We met each other sometime between 1st and 7th grade & have been friends ever since.

Also had a great time at BYU's Women's Conference with my mom & sisters again this year. We do it every other year. It's such a fun get-away. We shopped as much as the Suburban would hold (literally- not a spare spot anywhere), ate at great places with no kid interruptions, talked, ate and came home totally inspired by the classes and speaker there.

If you've never been....go sometime. They always have amazing speakers who have led inspiring lives. You always leave wanting to do and be better.

This year they had 15,000 women in attendance. What a sight! In the closing session, I'm always overwhelmed by this. The whole Marriott Center is filled with women and you can just feel a certain power with that. I love it every year.

Loved it even more to come home to a perfectly clean house, everything calm and handled without a problem by Justin. I love how capable he is. He was even reading a book for leisure, which he NEVER does, because he was "bored". Oh brother....he made it seem so easy taking my place. Maybe that's a sign to do it more often?....

Next post: What the kids have been up to. That's all for now.