The English Family

Birthday!

2012-02-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

This little sinker is Two!

Katie loves to give kisses and likes to try the kiss she sees at the end of the Tangled movie. Nice and long.
She loves Bears. She sounds like she's saying 'beer' though when she says bear.
She loves baby dolls. She got a cute like Cabbage Patch doll for her birthday.
She loves books and movies.
She loves her mommy and Daddy. She has a hard time letting Daddy go in the morning for school.
She will start potty training soon. (As soon as mom gets up the courage)
She is very loved and has 3 mothers. Me, Bri and McKenna. The girls love to help her and tell her what to do.

Her new baby.

She actually blew her candles out all by herself. She had yummy gluten-free cupcakes so Mom could enjoy too. We thought these cupcakes were actually better than regular cupcakes. Something that rarely happens with gluten-free.

Happy Birthday Katie!

2012-01-24T10:59:00.001-08:00

It's been a challenge to adjust to keeping me well. I have felt really good the last few days. I accidentally took the sacrament bread on Sunday and got sick after church. Lesson learned though.
Everyone is well. We got a lot of rain and a little snow the girls are excited about the snow. Me, I'm ready for warm weather.
We spend most of our days in comfy clothes. I am testing out recipes and researching how we can be healthier. The highlight of our days are when daddy comes home! Chris is working hard, I admire how dedicated he is and still has time to be an awesome daddy. Bri gets really sad when he leaves. She tells me "Daddy's my best friend" as she crys when he leaves. McKenna is still always singing she loves the movie 'Annie' right now. Katie sadly is growing. She's fun, she bugs her sister and loves her mama. Kendal is great, she loves school and loves her mama too. She loves her music and loves to dance with me.

We got a new wagon with a canopy! Kendal will love it for the summer.

When it rains it pours...

2012-01-12T09:49:00.001-08:00

We've been, let's say, tested lately.
I got sick again.
Really sick.
I thought it might be a stomach flu. Or maybe the house was somehow making me sick. But it was always just me. I had my friend Lindsay over on Thursday last week and as soon as she left I collapsed on the couch and didn't move for 3 days. I puked I had the chills but most of all I had a gassy yucky stomach.
My sister Sam awhile ago suggested gluten-intolerance and I looked it up and knew it couldn't be that because I didn't want to give up gluten. So after 3 days on the couch I woke up early on Sunday with a feeling I should look into the Gluten-intolerance more. I found a site that listed symptoms and if you have more than two you should get tested.
I have 22. Here is the list:

Abdominal Distention
Abdominal Pain and Cramping
Alternating Bouts of Diarrhea and Constipation
Anemia
Arthritis
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Autism
Bloating (see Gluten Intolerance Bloating)
Bone Density Loss
Borborygmi (stomach rumbling)
Constipation (see Celiac Disease Constipation)
Stunted Growth and Failure to Thrive
Depression, Anxiety and Irritability (see Celiac Depression)
Dermatitis Herpetiformis (skin rash — see my Dermatitis Herpetiformis article)
Diabetes
Diarrhea
Fatigue
Malodorous Flatulence
Malodorous Stools
Gluten Ataxia
Grayish Stools
Hair Loss (Alopecia)
Headaches and Migraines
Hypoglycemia
Infertility
Joint pain
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Lactose intolerance
Mouth sores or mouth ulcers
Nausea
Numbness or tingling in the patient’s hands and feet
Osteoporosis
Peripheral Neuropathy (including either a tingling or sensation of swelling your toes and fingers)
Sjogren’s Disease
Steatorrhea (high lipids in the stool, which may cause the stool to float)
Teeth and Gum Problems
Turner Syndrome
Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies
Vomiting
Unexplained Weight loss
Urticaria

I put my symptoms in orange.

So Sunday I cut them out and by tuesday I was as good as new. But still very sad to give up my gluten. I have relationship with food. I love it. I love trying new things, baking. It was very hard for me to give up these things that make me happy because they could really harm me. I have new respect for people who live with this. Gluten is in EVERYTHING. It's challenging.
Good things: I lost 5 pounds. I get to try new recipes. I got a Nutrimill to grind my own flours.(store bought specialty flour is VERY expensive) I'm the only one sick.

On top of all this our main line flooded the basement. The pipes have tree roots growing in them. So there was a mess of sink and toilet goodies to clean up.
Good things: the basement is cement. We are renting. nothing got damaged. I have storage in bleach.

Our next bummer deal is Chris went out to his bike this morning to ride to school and someone stole his bike. They left him one. An old huffy. Chris wasn't to happy about it. So we add to our expenses we can't afford right now.
Good things: umm. Chris gets a new bike. Nothing else was stolen.

Go BYU!

2012-01-03T09:10:00.001-08:00

Chris took the twins to the BYU basketball game New Years Eve. They had fun. They got bored fast though. Chris and I have tickets in February to the BYU vs. Gonzaga game. It should be a really great game. Chris is torn though, he has always loved Gonzaga but he's a Coug now!

Chris has orientation today and we start preschool here at home. The Girls want to learn so badly. We are starting with gardens and Adam and Eve. I thought I might as well add the Gospel in there. Wish me luck. I'm not a very patient teacher sometimes.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. The girls loved giving and getting presents. I love to see their excitement when they see the cookies they made for Santa Clause actually got eaten. McKenna was upset she couldn't feed the reindeer herself.
We had the traditional homemade chili for Christmas eve. Something my Grandma Tolley started and still does. I made homemade bread bowls this year too. Sunday was presents and Church our bishop called people up to bare their testimony and say their favorite song and then the congregation sang the first verse. I thought it was cool they got a little Christmas present from the ward.
Things are rolling here in Provo. Chris has already run into the Missionary who baptized him and a missionary he trained when he was on his mission. He went out to lunch with the missionary who baptized him yesterday and was out talking for four hours. These are exciting times for us. We are anxious to see what it will be like having to adjust to BYU schedule and homework. Luckily we are able to make it without having to have Chris work. Such a blessing.

Chris is the stick figure with the spiky hair. Bri is getting good at drawing.

The princess banks were the highlight.

Provo

2011-12-20T12:03:00.001-08:00

After a loong and rocky start we are finally feeling like we are home.
The drive down was perfect. The roads were perfect the whole way. We stopped Friday night in Idaho Falls. We stayed at the Red Lion right across the Falls from the Temple there. The girls loved it and Katie loved the 'waarer' (water).
Saturday we made it into Provo around 2:00 pm and noticed right away the house was FREEZING! We find out that the gas was turned off and that the gas company wasn't going to come until Monday. We checked into another hotel and stopped by the dollar store for some treasures for the girls. They spent the evening coloring and playing mermaids. Chris stayed late at the house unloading and help came from the ward elders quorum.
Sunday came and we got all ready for church and went to the house to start the heaters in the kids' room. They watched movies and played in winter coats, while Chris and I unpacked in our winter coats. Church was at 1:00 and as soon as we sat down I wondered if I was going to make it. I felt yucky. So I took Katie back home (across the parking lot) and went upstairs to lay on the girls' mattress. Chris came and got Katie after sacrament and that's when I started puking. After a good night sleep in a cold room but warm bed I felt better plus it was Monday and we could call the gas company! But to our disappointment they wouldn't come until Tuesday. (Chris had to talk them into that even) We made some progress on the unpacking but decided to get some driving around stuff done for most of the day while we were suffering in the cold.
Tuesday came and so did the gas man! Kendal had her first day of school in her Amazing new school. She is loved already. We put up the Christmas tree and watched Elf with hot chocolate with the kids.
Wednesday came and Chris and I finagled the washer and dryer down the stairs. Washers are HEAVY! The rest of the week consisted of fighting and crying over rude people with Kendal's social security. They seriously make me feel like I'm an incompetent loser.
Thursday night we went to temple square. It was beautiful. I beam with pride (the good kind) to know that I am apart of such an amazing wholesome church. The nativity on the lawn was so realistic and beautiful. McKenna especially loved it and she loved the 3 wise men on the 'Canimals' (camels).
Friday we went to Ikea! I love it there. We got Katie a big girl bed and me a new bookshelf. Every time we move I give another one away and now I have none, but I own a lot of books. we let Bri and McKenna pick out little things for each other for Christmas. The picked out squeaky and rattle things for Kendal. And little mice for each other.
Saturday we went to Super Target. Another place I love. The girls took turns with either Chris or me picking out presents for us. It was fun. They are loving the Christmas spirit. I'm gonna hear about it for the rest of the year I'm sure.
Sunday was my first day of church. We have a great ward. Everyone lives within 3 blocks of the church. The building is soo old and amazing. Our neighborhood is ancient and I can't wait to explore some of these old house around us.
Our house is great. We have so much room and I feel bad for it sometimes when I see how other renters have mistreated it. We have laundry chutes, built in dressers, a mail slot, cold storage in the basement, the ceilings in the upstairs are all slanted we have hit our heads A Lot but I am very at home here. I love everything that Provo has to offer. It's a little dry but that is almost my only complaint.

I went through great length to give my plant a nice ride and after a night in the car at the hotel this guy didn't survive. He's sad.

Our fireplace. There is a huge mirror above the fireplace. It makes me a little vain at times ;-)

Brianna needed a picture of her and this candy.

We just happened to be at the mall at the right time to catch Santa. The girls were in need of a shower and clean clothes (yes we are those people that you see at the mall who go out of necessity with our kids looking like orphans). Katie's only interested was waving and saying bye to Santa. Kendal got to see Santa at school and was very sweet with him.

The girls at Temple square.

Katie looking very tempted by those presents.

Christmas part 2 and moving part 1

2011-12-08T14:57:00.001-08:00

I didn't get any pictures for myself of Christmas with my mom but we had such a great laid back time. The kids had a lot to do which made it really nice. They made gingerbread houses and necklaces and loved hanging out with their cousins.

Now to the move. I am surprised how organised and low stress this move has been. Our biggest lesson learned lately is have patience and stick to the plan.
We had a huge amount of help from the men in our ward today. They came at 10:00am so it was the older, wiser, we have a ton of experience moving, men. I have grown so close to these guys and appreciate them so much it was sad to think it may be our last time seeing them.
We fit, just barely, (except for the BBQ that was hiding in the backyard). One last night in our house and we are off early in the morning.
It feels good to be able to relax tonight rather than get on the road. I will be enjoy my favorite thing of the season tonight (The Office Christmas party). With my favorite person (Chris).
The next update will be from Provo!

The girls have been riding their bikes in the empty basement.

This was requested for breakfast the other day (bananas and pickles) and because I'm clearing out the fridge I said ok.

Katie with her friend Lizzy watching Elmo while the guys worked.

Bon voyage!

Christmas party number 1

2011-11-27T20:19:00.001-08:00

We feel kinda bad about leaving for Provo right before Christmas but we wanted to get there sooner than later in hopes of missing some bad weather and we want to set Christmas up when we get there to our new home. So we had an early Christmas with Chris' parents on Saturday. We went and stopped by the nursing home to see Grandma on last time before we leave too. I think she really enjoys the girls.

Chris' parents really know what woull make Chris happy for Christmas and that is having his whole family decked out in BYU gear.

Thanks David and Debbie!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T20:13:00.001-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with my family. We had fun! I went out shopping for the first time for black Friday deals. This was only because Walmart opened at 10. I didn't get home until 1:30. But I got all the things I wanted. Kinda worth it.

This is after the feast. Papa got a new kindle and the girls love "big phones" as they call them.

At the festival of lights downtown Friday night the girls thought it was cool they could walk in the street. Eventually Bri couln't hold herself back and had to start dancing in the street. She is so funny. Her best moves are her foot dance where she taps her foot to the beat and then says 'look mom my foot's dancing' she says it all so seriously. I love it. Her next move is something I've seen pretty often at our house dance parties we have before bed. It's where she gets down on all fours, into down dog position, and puts a leg up in the air and shakes it. This sometimes progresses to more of the break dancing moves. She had all the other kids doing it too. The life of the party as Chris would say.

They loved getting to hold their own candle at the lighting ceremony. The fireworks were amazing. Mom and I had to reassure the girls that the fireworks couldn't get to them. They liked them though. McKenna kept telling me how beautiful they were.

Birthday Girls!

2011-11-27T19:53:00.001-08:00

We had an early birthday celebration for Brianna and McKenna on Wednesday at the Resort. They love Gooey's which is what the dessert menu is called but the classic dish is the Reese's or Butterfinger Gooey. We wanted to let them to have one more before we left so we made it a celebration. They couldn't have been happier. We had nuggets and a hamburger (Bri is the hamburger) at Wendy's with Grannie and then met everyone else at dockside for dessert.

They are wearing their new Fancy Nancy dresses. They were suppose to be a replacement for the old tattered and stained white one McKenna wears Everyday. Now she wears her new one but if she can't find it she puts the lovely white one on. They also got the Tag reading pen from us and they love them. We picked up some headphones and now we are set for our car trip that's coming up!

Happy winter!!

2011-11-18T15:23:00.001-08:00

Katie's need to be just like her sisters and attempt a snow angel.

Happiness

2011-11-15T09:48:00.001-08:00

There is chaos all around but I am absurdly happy. Thing may be crazy but everything is going well. I have my moments when I am incredibly overwhelmed but then I stop and think about my blessings and the awesome experiences we've had with confirmations from the Lord, and things just feeling right that I really can't complain.
Moving this time comes with more goodbyes than ever and we have really come to love the people in our ward and being so close to family. But we know our path and are excited for the challenges to come. Our last couple of weeks are filled with getting together with these love ones. It's gonna get crazier. It's a good crazy.

The twins and I went to Puss in Boots. They loved it. The big screen they called it. I loved it it was a great movie.

The Divis' are friends we wish we could take with us. They have Makayla who was born without eyes and we can relate so well to one another and James and Chris have a little bromance going with there love of all things electronic and Xbox. It's so cute when we get the little blind girls together.

Gotta wear the kids out.

Halloween

2011-11-01T06:37:00.001-07:00

Well things are moving along here. I have decided to pack everything except essentials (pans, clothes, some toys, beds) I've been busy and the garage and closets are filling with boxes. Yay! I despise moving. I made a ton of freezer meals during conference and it helps soo much. I'm feeling a lot of anxiety about the move now. I'm really excited to get there and get adjusted. Moving Kendal takes a great deal of organisation, coordination and time. Drs, insurance, schools, feeding supplies... all need to be working slowly around each other. I'll be glad when it's over.
As for Halloween, we wore that sucker out we had a field trip to the pumpkin patch with Bri and Kenna's preschool class and then the next week a Halloween party. Then Saturday we had family pictures with my mom and then a ward party. The girls had fun. Katie is getting over a cold so we stayed in last night but I'd had my fill of Halloween anyway. We got about 4 trick-or-treaters and then we started getting high school kids (who I do not give candy to) so I turned out the light.

All the grandkids
This one turned out really cute.

I was taking picture over the photographers back.

This is Katie eating her banana in a laundry basket.

Whitney

2011-10-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

Below I posted about our looong weekend to Provo and Boise and back.

My cousin Whitney passed away Sunday October 16th. About a month and a half before this she slipped into a coma and everyone was sure it was the end. I was too. I check Facebook non stop through the night and was amazed at how many people were doing the exact same thing. I was completely devastated and depressed. I sat and imagined how her husband Ryan must feel and her sweet kids and then I imagined how my aunt Debbie and uncle Stan would be able to bury a child. But she woke up and I heard reports that she was going to Walmart days later and friends flooded to their house in Boise.
I believe that scare was a Tender Mercy from the Lord. People who loved her where able to say or do anything they may have forgotten. We were able to prepare ourselves for the real pain of losing her. I'm grateful I was able to go to her funeral after a distracting weekend in Utah. But as soon as I walked into the church and started to see my cousins, Whitney's brothers and sisters, I broke again. I wept through the viewing. And wept even harder as her husband prepared her before they closed the coffin and they lift her son Trevor to kiss his mommy one last time. I was uncontrollable through the funeral as my cousins sang and gave talks. Most of my crying wasn't for Whitney because I am sure she is resting and whole and happy, I weep for her dear husband and kids and family. The sadness must be crushing.
The chapel was filled all the way back to the stage. She is very loved.

We will miss you Whitney.

Utah/Boise

2011-10-23T12:19:00.001-07:00

Chris and had planned out our weekend to visit Provo to find a home and visit the campus. We planned it out so that we could leave the kids with Grannie and Papa and we could celebrate our 5 year anniversary. As it goes with most of our life we had to make some last minute changes. My cousin Whitney who had been battling colon cancer now for 3 years passed away Sunday morning. That was a rough Sunday not only was it our primary program but it was also my last Sunday serving as Primary President. So my brave mom planned to drive down with all my kids to Boise and we met them for the funeral on Saturday.
We had fun but it was stressful to shorten up our trip. Luckily we found a home and I adore it. It's and old home but pretty big. It's right up the street from the new Provo temple. The campus and atmosphere is amazing I am so excited. We feel like its home already.

Katers

2011-10-14T14:57:00.001-07:00

Katie is getting big. Too big if you ask me. She's such a cutie and is ADORED in this house. She can:
-Drink from a cup (sometimes better than her sisters)
-Say moo for cow neigh for horse ruff for dog and meow for the kitty and roar for most scary animals.
-She yells Bri for Brianna.
-She Loves to give hugs and kisses and wave.
-She puts herself in the corner and enjoys it (that won't last long)
-Favorite foods- salad with ranch, 'nana'(banana), 'eee'(cheese), yogurt, carrots, Soup, spaghetti,and tacos.
-She loves Kendal's bus and the bus driver loves her and let's her on most days so now she thinks it's her bus.
- Says mommy and daddy in the cutest way, it melts me.
-Loves shoes
-there is a spot in our kitchen where she can sit under the counter and store her treasures (it's actually where we put the trash can and the stool) we find things like dads shoe, books, her blanket, her puppy and snacks.

2011-10-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

Here's a little randomness of my girls.

Best Friends. I am so happy when I see these two and their relationship. They take care of each other.

Katie LOVES bananas. She take bites up and down them.

McKenna is like a little mommy to Katie. It's sweet.

Katie likes to see herself in the camera phone.

Bri dressed herself for preschool.

Bri got caught playing in the fire pit.

McKenna pulling the girls home from preschool. In her new mermaid tail!

I made mermaid tails for Halloween! My first attempt at making their costumes.

Slugs were loved like puppies this summer.

Choo choo

2011-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday you'll find us at speech and feeding therapy for Kendal. The girls find various way to entertain themselves. McKenna is usually reading the phone book (no joke) and Bri is testing out the drinking fountain throughout the wait. This is what they did the other day.

Preschool!

2011-09-22T17:32:00.001-07:00

Bri and McKenna are going to my friend Jay Lynn's Preschool. She is Excellent! It's just a one day a week preschool for them. They Love it. I love it their learning and I get a 2 hr break with just Katie. It makes me really excited for kindergarten.

2011-09-20T21:07:00.001-07:00

In our ward at church we are getting ready for the Mormon.org campaign for our area. It is getting me so excited! I watch the videos of other peoples profiles and read answers to questions from friends, our stake president and I am overwhelmingly proud to be a Mormon.
You can see my profile here

Also soon to be handed out in Relief society everywhere is this book:

Daughters in My Kingdom.

It's beautiful.
It's inspired.
Read it.
If you haven't received a copy yet you can download a copy for yourself
here

I love this quote from Helen Mar Whitney.
Page 34 in Daughters of My Kingdom.

We have a third grader!

2011-09-06T10:10:00.001-07:00

Kendal has missed school. She gets pretty much undivided attention at school and although I wish I could I cannot divide myself in four or five (one more for my only boy, Chris) So I'm sure Kendal will never dread going back to school.

We took a bike ride to the park and rode around the basketball court on our bikes. The girls had fun.

Katie has been so fun lately. I love this age. She has been cranky with teeth for soo long I almost forgot what she's really like.

Sunday

2011-09-04T18:41:00.001-07:00

Since our last camping trip was less than enjoyable we decided to 'camp' in the backyard this weekend. We set up the tent, nobody actually slept in it which is why I am not a grumpy mama today.

We had our marshmallows tonight. It's funny to see how different our girls are. McKenna is ever patient letting the marshmallow cook to perfection. Bri doesn't care about the cooking process, she only cares about the end result, sugar. Katie takes hers raw, that's moms preference so there is less mess. Kendal you will see is just enjoying the cool weather lounging in the grass. She's still not much of an eater.

2011-09-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

We Played hooky from church on Sunday. Bri had a temperature all weekend and puked Saturday she was fine all day Sunday though.

So we did a little photo shoot. Bri took pictures of McKenna and me and McKenna took pictures of Bri and me.

This is how they started my head got cut off so I had to bend over. Sorry bout the chest shot.

Then we had to move to the ground. It was easier for them to point and shoot if they could point it down. Bri got good and really like to push the button so there is more of Kenna and me then her and me.

Bri started giving instructions like kiss her and say cheese.

Then we took some together.

I love my girls.

Ch ch ch changes...

2011-08-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

As is necessary in our life as English's, we love to shake things up. We tend to make life changing decisions that up root our family and send us on new life changing journeys.

We are overdo if your keeping track.

Usually we start these little adventures every year. We are at 2 1/2 in our current adventure. So here it comes.

Chris has been accepted into BYU Provo! He starts in January. He will be in the accounting program (which is #2 in the nation). I am extremely proud of him! He works so hard and sacrifices so much. Congratulations Christopher I love you!

To be continued...

2011-08-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

I've always known that I have weird eaters. Good, but weird. This is the kids eating peppers like an apple. They love to eat their veggies; carrots, celery, broccoli, squash, tomatoes... The only thing they won't eat that I have tried is mushrooms, but that's a hard texture to get used to.

2011-08-13T17:25:00.001-07:00

We are trying to soak in the 90 degree weather as much as we can!

These are the flowers the girls planted.

I love this! McKenna Loves Taters and always has a seat for her in the cozy coup.

McKenna sleeps just like her Daddy. It's fun for me to snuggle with Chris' elbows.

Doesn't get much better...

2011-07-31T22:19:00.001-07:00

Instead of swim diapers Katie spends most of her days in the buff. I LOVE it. Another plus to having a fence.

2011-07-25T11:34:00.001-07:00

We had a good weekend...

When Chris is home this is usually where he is.

Kendal

Yes she's naked.

"Did You Smell My Owie?"

2011-07-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

McKenna has a song for everything.

2011-07-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Some cute randomness

The girls made a bed at the bottom of the stairs and were reading books to each other.

McKenna riding in her princess dresses. She got about 4 dresses on.

Summer crafts

We talked about Jungles and made paper bag vests and and went on a safari with toilet paper roll binoculars.

McKenna mowing the lawn in her rain coat.

Camping

2011-07-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

Camping with kids is a lot of work! They love it though, we got eaten by mosquitoes, and the kids came home super beat up and dirty. They were up at 5:30 and that would have been fine (I guess) if I wouldnt have been up worried about the two cougars we had been warned about and the weird scary transient two camp spots down. So mom got maybe 2-3 hours of sleep. But I still have to to say that it was successful!

The last picture is of the kids on the way home. Two of the kids are really sleeping one is faking. Can you guess whose faking? She's a good actress.

Garden

2011-07-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

One thing that gives me great joy and a sense of accomplishment is my garden!

I have purple ruffles basil and sweet basil, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, pumpkins, cilantro and spinach. The sweet peas are growing but the girls keep them under control they never even make it into the house usually. My zucchini and squash are out of control along with my tomatoes. I got ambitious and planted 6 different varieties of tomatoes. So if you live in the Post falls area plan on receiving a few "gifts" from the English family:)

I have branched our from the vegetable gardening this year and have really enjoyed my flowers. We are a poor college student family with a mortgage so I've started most of my stuff from seed and bought the clearance plants when I can. Still a work in progress but I'm always up for that.

2011-07-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the no posts lately. All I can say is it's summer and we are outside not sitting at the computer. We've been to Boise and back for a family reunion and we had a great Fourth. Summer school for Chris is rolling and he's (of course) doing amazing. We are off to camping today and hopefully I'll take some pictures! It just never seems to be on my mind to take pictures.

Here are some pictures from the Boise trip. My uncle Ron took all the swimming pictures which is why I have pictures of it at all. The kids ran up and down that hill so many times to sled down! They loved it and got to meet a lot of second cousins. And of course they were instant friends.

2011-05-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Finals are over! I get my husband back! Chris did Great in all his classes and has a great plan for the future. He gets a small break before summer classes begin. Most of that time we will be found in our newly fenced backyard! We have neighbors on both sides of us who haven't finished their yards so it hasn't been much fun keep the girls from going into their dirt and rocks. And another not so pleasant thing is that both our nieghbors have dogs. I've just been waiting for one of them to come up to me with a "rock". HUGE blessing. Expensive but worth it!

I had a good Mother's Day I got something I have wanted for awhile. A gift certificate to Blurb so I can make our blog into a book! It's been fun going through all the old posts and seeing my babies grow again. This book will be treasured in our home.

The girls have been learning how to ride their new bikes. We have been up and down this saidewalk hundreds of times now.

Oh Summer we've missed you!

Katies Eyes

2011-05-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

We've had some computer issues lately. Just when I commit to myself to post more to the blog. So we have a loaner hard drive from our friends until our replacement comes. Sometimes I hate computers.

This picture is from a couple weeks ago of McKenna and Bri with their friend James. He got whacked in the face by my resistance band and it split his lip open. I felt so bad. I thought he would need stitches but he was good! Their playing the Iphone. James is probably better at playing some of those games than me.

On Tuesday May 3rd, we had to go in for a quick surgery procedure for Katie. She needed her eye ducts widened and cleared. I have been through this a lot with Kendal so that helped to prepare me a little. The procedure is so non-invasive and only took about 20 min. It all the pre-op and post -op that take up all the time. She did great though. She took her soft blue blanket with her. She was given the relaxer med versed and was so funny. She was in lala land and didn't care that she hadn't gotten her 3 bowls of cereal that morning. She sleep most of the day and was herself by the next day. It is always hard to send your baby back in the arms of a nurse after they have made you aware of all the risks. Everything is running through your head as you wait in the waiting room next to a dozen other anxious parents. What a relief it is though when the doctor comes and tells you she's done and you get to hold your little one again. I am so thankful for good doctors who work such long and hard hours to help others.

Sweet Katers on versed.

2011-04-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

We just got an inch of snow!

Maybe if I welcome it it will stop coming. It worked with the Sunshine.

Brianna asleep on her chair. She couldn't get down until she took two more bites.

This is the kids' favorite spot. We make them tents with blankets and they take their lanterns in there and play and read. Katie was ready for a nap.

Brianna is camera shy lately. She only wants to see McKenna on the screen of the camera.

Finally she turned around covered in smoothie.

McKenna is always willing to pose. She always seems to get her food in weird places. It's between the eyes today.

SpRiNg!

2011-04-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Every couple days we have a glimpse of Spring. Last week it did snow, but I choose to forget that. Something I like to remember is that it was warm enough the other day to soak in the vitamin D in 60 degree weather. I got a small, very very light, tan. Oh I am soo looking forward to Summer!!!

Katie is under the impression that she is 3 and a half like her sisters... that is not allowed.

The girls found a worm. He got to go down the slide and take a horsey ride.. they even ripped him in half so they could each have one. Aren't they sweet.

Her are the best buds. Katies watching T.V. Kendal is enjoying the company.

2011-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

I must say when it comes to sweet kids I think I got a quadruple helping. I'm not saying they didn't inherit their mothers inpatients and her hot temper, but they do have such sweet hearts. This is McKenna holding Katie. She is very loved at this house. She gets hugs and kisses all the time and they make her smile. It's so cute to watch her walk away after a good hug just smiling. Brianna wouldn't pose in this picture (another trait she got from her mother) and she is usually the one with the attitude. But scrape some of that intolerance away and you have the sweetest of them all. She is my snuggler and very tender. You can see every emotion written plainly on her face. And McKenna is a sweetheart a very tender hearted little girl just a look can break her heart. No need to mention Kendal's sweetness, she is the definition. As mentioned before I have some character traits that aren't so fabulous. I am seeing them more and more in my girls. I know it is learned not just inherited. I am working on it. We have just started the bean jars for the twins in hopes that they can see that kindness and service has rewards and bad attitudes and unkindness has consequences. They are very attached to their beans already. It's working! Now I need to find a "Bean Jar" that will work for me.

While reading in my scriptures I came a across a quote by President Howard W. Hunter;

"We need to be kinder with one another, more gentle and more forgiving. We need to be slower to anger and more prompt to help. We need to extend the hand of friendship and resist the hand of retribution. In short we need to love one another with pure love of Christ, with genuine charity and compassion and if necessary, shared suffering, for that is the way God loves."

I'm taking this to heart.

2011-03-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

Chris caught up to me and is Finally 27! I gave him his gift a couple of weeks ago. I actually did better than I normally do. Usually as soon as I have the gift he gets it, but this year was a little different. He got a brand new guitar and guitar lessons! Sean from Northwest Music Academy in Coeur d'Alene helped me set-up a big surprise where Chris would come in and his guitar would be sitting there with balloons and his new music teacher would be waiting to give him his first lesson. Chris new I had a surprise for him but didn't know what. On the way to the surprise my mom called and asked me to pick up a new violin bow for Makenzie's violin (wink wink*) I acted all annoyed that it might ruin our surprise. Sean played along when we got there and said I need to come to the back to pick between a couple and there it was! It took Chris a minute to figure out that the guitar was his and I was leaving him there to have a lesson. Man I am good! I am so not good at these things and this was a whooper! He deserves it soo much he works soo hard in school and at work to provide for his girls and I am so Lucky to have such a sweet and dedicated Husband! Happy Birthday!

This is a cute one of Katers in her shoes and bursting out of her 12 month jammies! I still put her in them just cuz' it's so cute!

Here is Katie dancing. She has her Daddy's moves.

2011-03-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wow I am terrible! I haven't posted in awhile which would be fine if I hadn't missed two of my kids' birthdays in that time. To make it even worse there was a first birthday and an 8th birthday. But I do have good excuses. After the first birthday everyone has been sick on and off for weeks (except for Chris) and I have managed to partially cripple myself.

This little peach turned one. A happy and sad day. She is definitely growing up she is a bossy girl with a mind of her own. Her sisters LOVE her and love to help her.

Everyone got a candle.

This picture was taken awhile ago at the resort we had a little scare with Brianna, she limped for a few days and we couldn't figure out why so blood test and x-rays were endured and she came out negative. While this was all happening I needed a babysitter while we went to x-rays. My sister Amanda who works at Dockside was just getting off work and offered to watch them she fed them Ice cream and the salad bar. Best babysitter ever!

This is from Kendal's school talent show. They sang Peanut Butter and Jelly. I made the shirts! They did so great! Kendal pretty much laughed the whole time.

Kendal had a birthday Too! She turned 8. Normal in our church children who are turning 8 would be baptized. Chris and I prayed and searched for an answer as to whether or not to baptize her and and our answer was no. She is too perfect anyway right!

Boasting

2011-01-28T03:43:00.000-08:00

I have a favorite section in the scriptures in Alma. It's after all the success of converting the Lamanites, and Ammon takes a little moment to say how amazing it all is that something no one thought could be possible, happened and not only happened, but they became the Ammonites and were one of the most righteous examples in the Book of Mormon. As he is talking his companion Aaron tells him he sounds like he's boasting, which is a sin. But Ammon continues and and tells him "I do not boast in my own strength nor in my own wisdom: but behold my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God"(alma 26:11) I know what your thinking, wow Camille your getting a little preachy for a Friday. But I am having one of those moments where my heart is "brim". In the past couple weeks I have had some rough moments. I have felt like I am in another refiners fire. I am still in that fire but I can't help but look at all the blessings I have right now and I give all the glory to God and know that I am being blessed, and that if I keep the right frame of mind even this refiners fire will be a great blessing of growth and knowledge for me.

Here is why my heart is Brim:

-Throughout all the unstable economy, Chris has always ended up with 'the perfect job' for our situation.

-Kendal has not been sick. A miracle.

- My heart has been stretched beyond my recognition to be able to hold love for around 90, 18 month to 12 year olds in our ward. Anyone who really knows me knows this is a miracle.

-We are always warm and have plenty to eat.

-Family time has become more precious than gold.

-The twins are growing and becoming so helpful.

-Kendal is progressing so much you can actually have a conversation with her.

-Katie (although it may seem I am not grateful) is a healthy 11 month old, soon to be one year old.

- Chris is Kicking butt in school. I have his love and support and he has mine. I have his friendship and he is a true companion who shares my burdens and lifts me when I feel I can't go on. He holds me when I cry and loves me when I am moody... A miracle.

My heart is Brim.

IF you read this tell me why your heart is Brim and do a little boasting. :-)

Some sweetness :)

2011-01-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

Here is some proof of Katie walking. She gets better everyday!

And here are my girls playing. McKenna as always is singing.

And this is my newest friend! Chris made him with our good friends down the street who are soo talented. We have a small landing and so it gets over crowded and cluttered fast especially when I am the only one who seems to clean that area. So Chris made this fella for me and I LOVE it. sometime I just sit and look at it. I love feeling organized!

Come over and see it the picture just doesn't do it justice:)

Oh....

2011-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

Katie is walking !/:-(

She's suppose to stay little! I am in Mommy depression over my BABY growing and me feeling like it's all going faster than it should.

2011-01-13T05:46:00.000-08:00

We were so blessed this Christmas. We got to be around our family and on Christmas Eve and Christmas day we had nowhere to be. SO we stayed home I made my first Turkey dinner with all the fixn's, and we just enjoyed our little family. I couldn't have asked for anything more. The girls are getting into the excitement and imagination of the season. Bri is still talking about how we made cookies and Santa ate them. She walked right past all the new presents in the room to check out the plate of cookies.

Last weekend we went with our friend Shaylie, who is a beginner at trying her skill as a photographer. It was SO cold and it didn't talk long for the kids to get cranky, even Kendal started getting annoyed by the cold.

I honestly would have never known Shaylie was a beginner. The pictures turned out amazing she had such a great vision of what she wanted to do before we got there and I couldn't' have been happier with the results. Thanks Shaylie!

Check her blog out HERE

Kendal and 3 years old!

2010-12-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this. I have a funny husband who jokes and plays with our kids all the time. Lately he has been a spider and that's how he gets the girls to do things like eat and take showers. And he has also been ee-ah the donkey giving rides. Then there is Robot who is pretty much just a robot voice with bad dance moves. Anyway Kendal catches on to these thing more than we realize and adores Chris but out of nowhere today Kendal says in a robot voice "I am going to dominate this house." I couldn't stop laughing because Chris has never said that.

More Funny things from Kendal:

Recently she said "I'm going to punch Marv in the face" Marv is her sweet substitute bus driver who is also in our ward. Chris pretends to punch the girls' stuffed animals sometimes so I think thats where she got that one.

The Girls' birthday!

Their official birthday is today. We had a little party for them last weekend but only their friend Zander could make it. The girls couldn't have been happier though, they love Zander and he brought them their first Barbies. They love them. We got them bikes. It's a little cold out for bikes right now but when else do we get them for them right? We actually ended up in immediate care with Bri she had an ear infection and wanted to get a shot for it and said that to every nurse she saw there. All we needed was antibiotics though.

The other day we went down to the Resort to look at the lights the boardwalk was closed but the girls liked it anyway and Katie loved it too then we went in for Gooey's at Dockside. I don't think that bliss could be described more perfectly than Brianna when she saw that Gooey, she was clapping and cheering when she saw the waiter bring it to our table.

Oh I love these little people in my life.

2010-12-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Wow I am a slacker in the blog world. It probably won't get better during this season but I promise at least two more this month for the girls' 3rd Birthday and for Christmas.

I love this time of year. I love being a parent and thinking of ways to teach my children the real reason for Christmas in this commercialized world, I wish that I didn't have to and that we lived, as a nation, more simplistically. I think Chris and I have put a lot of thought into our Christmas presents for our kids this year and have decided not to bombard our kids with "stuff". They are pretty much getting one meaningful gift. Something we plan to continue forever. For the most part as they grow we will be finding opportunities for our family to sacrifice and serve others during this time of year rather than having kids that only anticipate what they are getting for months before-hand. My kids will never NEED anything and I hope we can raise them to be grateful for that.

SO moving on....

We have been through over a foot of snow and a blizzard already! Bri and McKenna are LOVING it.

We also got to meet Mr. Boston Samm's baby. He came up for a week to be blessed and spend Thanksgiving with family, unfortunately we only got to see him twice because all our kids were sick our whole Thanksgiving weekend. Chris' parents were nice enough to pack up dinner and bring it to us Thanksgiving night.

Boston will be back for Christmas and they will be moving to Pullman the week before so we get to see them more often I am soooo excited!!

Bri

Chris' snowman with a cucumber nose.

Grandma and Grandpa B came up for the blessing. Kendal once again was in heaven spending as much time as she could on grandpa's lap even during his nap.

And Katie is excited for Christmas too she found away around the gate to her presents.

McKenna

2010-11-09T13:57:00.001-08:00

This little girl is ALWAYS talking, singing, humming, laughing...

just a loud little girl.

Katie

2010-10-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

KATIE

(Katers, Kater-tot, Katerson)

Next week Katie will be 9 months old!

Really?

Wait, aren't your last ones suppose to grow slowly and let you snuggle them all day long and smell their precious babyness? The only thing that seems to be slow about this baby is her teeth.

She's saying dada. She thinks she is a three year old and that the girls should treat her that way and include her in all their fun. She is adored by them though, Bri especially, she loves Katerson. She sleeps through the night for the most part and is going like a pro on solids. She loves all foods so far, besides jarred meats (can't blame her). I make most of her baby food anyway.

She is trying out this walking business. She walks along the furniture and is getting familiar with her walker.

Katie has the sweetest personality. She is so tolerant of all the extra 'love' she gets from her sisters. She's got a grip like none other and moist little hands that will rip you flesh off (or your chest and arm hairs if your daddy).

All you have to do is look at her and she smiles.

I love this little girl so much! She is the perfect finale to our baby days. Heres to the toddler phase!

Break out the gates! Here come the bruises and fat lips!

2010-10-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lately.....

2010-10-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was a busy one for us It was Chris and I's 4 year anniversary on Thursday so we went out to Wolf Lodge Steakhouse on Friday night and then stopped by the resort for Gooey's. I ate way too much but it was all worth it. Really has it only been 4 years? It's seems like we have been through way more than only 4 years of experiences together. What will the next 4 years bring to beat the first 4?

Saturday Primary threw quiet the party. My first one to put together with the help of my presidency. I must say it was fun. It will be hard to top next year. We had carnival games, a clown, pie contest (which yours truly won two out of the four golden pumpkins, and no it was not rigged the Relief Society was in charge of the pies), and a display area for people to display their talents. I got to the church at 8:30 that morning and left at almost 9:00pm. My Mom was there with me the whole time and I owe her a huge Thanks! Thanks MOM! We Strung the lights across the ceiling that we used in my reception and hung Lanterns that my Primary kids colored. We had a Photo area that hardly got used but I loved it.

And in the midst of all this we had a hugely successful garage sale and Katie was sick. We're busy but happy... I have to say who couldn't be happy when they are serving the Lord.

Our display area

the kids' balloon plunder

Photo op!

Our judges: Our Young Men's President Brandon Ward (whose wife went into labor the next day, I'd like some credit for that, making her stand in the gym all night :-), Bishop Short, and our 1st counselor Tyler Sorensen.

Candy Apple Pie

Really how could she not win... I almost, almost felt bad for even entering her.

The girls at the garage sale. We actually sold all their toys and just kept these boxes... just kidding.

Brianna flying.

We are enjoying confrence...

2010-10-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

McKenna and Jeffery R Holland.

Is it the weekend...

2010-09-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

Wow it feels like I haven't taken a breath all week. As Chris comes in the door I go out it or he comes in to eat and leaves again right away again. With this calling as Primary President there is a lot that requires my time and thoughts. Honestly any spare minute I have, it is spent studying or thinking for Primary. Chris has been working over 40 hours a week when in the begining he was told they would work with his school schedule, instead they are overworking him and it is unexceptable for family time or study/school time to suffer. So he responded to a craigslist ad and got the job right away... funny how things just work out. He's been training, giving his last week at work, going to school, doing homework and going out with the missionaries... Me, I am some brand of crazy because I add canning and starting clothe diapering for Katie to my long to-do list.

Let's just say we have a GREAT need for family time this weekend. Chris and I are headed to the Temple tomorrow morning (it's been way too long) and then I am going to the RS broadcast with my Mom that night. Sundays are hectic crazy for me. Chris picks up all my slack (really he is amazing). But I assure that night we will be lounging and lazily enjoying each other!

Kendal has me constantly singing the Articles of Faith songs and Mr. Curiosity by Jason Mraz... All day long she does this thing where she just sings a few words of the song and then I can't help but sing along or finish it and then it's stuck for the rest of the day.

This one thinks she owns the place. I'm starting to believe her, she is the sweetest girl ever always smiling and gets sooo excited when she sees Kendal. She climbs up on everything but hasn't figured out how to get back down.

We've moved the girls' movie bed up on the couch Katie loves to eat their hair.. they aren't too fond of it. Here they are enjoying their Fruit and spinach smoothies. They are watching Aladdin. When I tell McKenna she is beautiful she tells me "I'm beautiful like Princess Jasmine."

Who wouldn't miss this guy...

Can I just add how excited I am for General Conference!!!

2010-09-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

My funny husband. Working hard. We'll see how long it takes him to notice this picture.

i love that his hands aren't really " representn' " anything in particular.

Cute girls in the tub.

I don't really have a bucket list but if I did this would have been on it. I've always wanted to learn how to can and so with a little encouragement from friends I found a few recipes and used my new canning equipment my mom got for me. I must say it is very rewarding and not quite as scary as I thought it would be.

Peach Jam and peaches.

Tomato Basil garlic sauce. A lot of work but soooo worth it.

For Sale

2010-09-17T09:27:00.001-07:00

The hat not the baby...

Visit Here

2010-09-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Best Friends. Katie loves to just crawl up on Kendal and lay across her legs.

The girls love dragon's and dinosaurs.

I've interrupted her show.

First Day of School! She was so happy to go back and sooo tired when she got home.

An here is some cuteness. I wasn't thinking again and filmed to whole thing sideways but it's too cute for my embarrassment to keep it off the blog.

Some Summer Randomness

2010-08-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Katie snuck up on McKenna and started eating her Fruit Loop Rice Krispy treat. I think we have another food lover on our hands.

The Beach. After this visit we learned quickly that our girls needed life jackets. since they took off shoulder deep like it was nothing.

Wow check out that hot babe! Ow Ow!

Katie crawling everywhere and turning on her mobile in her crib.

Stuck.

Busy playing in the yard. Stuck in traffic.

My Garden.

Katie didn't even get a chance to wear her 6 month swimsuit, she is bulging out of it.

Lot's of movie time with a 'bed' in the living room.

My girls.

Kendal went in this morning at 6:30 to Kootenai Outpatient Surgery and got the calculus (the hard white build-up) off her teeth. She did soo good but even after so many times going under anesthesia I still get really nervous to walk out of the room and leave my limp baby in the operating room. She was even better because she got have Teddy with her the whole time.

Seattle

2010-08-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

If you really know the English Family you know that we tend to be spontaneous and unpredictable about or big plans ( moving to Seattle, moving to Spokane, trip to Vegas, buy a house, moving to Post Falls, new Job, new Job, new Job....) Anyway so when Chris said let's take a trip, we did. We went to Seattle for a few days. The plan was to leave Thursday after a half day of work and come home Saturday so we could go to church. We ended up leaving Wednesday after Chris got off work instead. We got in late and had a rough night but Thursday was the best day to go to the Zoo. It was warm and sunny and the rest of the weekend was overcast and rainy, but still fun. The girls loved the zoo. Friday we went to the Children's Museum and they loved that too. Saturday we left Seattle through Snohomish, where we used to live. It's always fun to go back to an old neighborhood. We had a good vacation that was VERY needed. We got some good family time in before Chris goes back to school and I had the chance to not think about Primary for a couple of days and just enjoy my kids and Husband.

Sorry it sideways I'm a bone head sometimes.

Bri has been telling us about the "snake" in her belly button for awhile now. She had a pretty big outie belly button when she was a baby and it left a little wrinkle that I guess could look like a snake.

McKenna wanted to see a dragon. She was excited to see the Komodo Dragons.

Kendal was cute feeling the Orangutan hand

McKenna just all the sudden showed us what those fish were doing.

Simba?

Katie had just blown out her diaper right before this was taken.

New Monkeys. Thanks Daddy. They had these hooked around their necks the whole rest of the weekend.

Children's museum Seattle. Brianna.

McKenna

Shopping! They loved this a part and the little Mexican Restaurant.

McKenna's profession someday?

Bri's profession someday?

Watching the Fountain with Daddy. It was a cool day or else they would have been in that fountain. they walked down in it but stayed out of the water

This is how we did naps. Kendal was usually asleep with them.

Sideways again but too cute. We were dancing to the Black-eyed Peas during the trip and Bri can't help but dance even a little.

And this little cutie turned six months old on the trip. She was pretty put out that she had to spend most of her days confined to a stroller or baby carrier. She is scooting everywhere. We're starting the rice cereal. I have been putting it off because I remember how much work it was with the girls. I'll start blending up some baby food for her this week. She doesn't seem to mind the rice cereal so I'm excited to see what she'll do with some flavor. We love her so much and I am sad she seems to be growing so fast. She is quite the tank. We'll see her pediatrician this week and I'll post the official stats then.

Kendal's Story: Part Three

2010-08-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

The end was in sight! Kendal was all ready for her surgery to place a feeding tube and perform a Nissen Fundoplication (procedure that fixes acid reflux, we couldn't even lift her bum to change her diaper without her puking). How did I do it? Send my sweet little baby back to surgery in the arms of a nurse. At the time I didn't know how I was doing it without going crazy and pushing these annoying people away and running out with my baby. Because deep down I knew these people's lives revolved around sick people and their desire is only to see them get well. Her surgery went great and I was exhausted in every way a body and spirit could be. My normal routine was to show up bright and early every morning, but one morning I came in late. I figured I deserved it and she was a couple days past surgery and was doing well. I walked into nursery B and saw her nurse standing alone over her bed crying. I remember thinking 'oh the poor thing is having a bad day'. But as I got closer to the crib I saw that Kendal was crying. I couldn't hear her. But then I looked at what was in the nurse’s hand. My babies arm and it was twice the size it should be. I was in shock. It is routine in the hospital to change out IVs every so often to keep the site fresh and healthy. She was on pretty heavy IV fluids since all her nutrition went through it. Routinely they would place the IV and check on it within 10 min. to make sure there is no infiltration. When an IV is infiltrating it has slipped out of the vein and is flowing into the tissue instead of the vain. It's harmless if it's caught. Her nurse had set the IV and left her for over an hour. The Dr didn't know what to do. Her hand was starting to die; the pressure from the extra fluid was collapsing the veins and depriving it of nutrients. It's kind of the same effects frost a bite has on the body. Her hand was turning black. The nurse came to me crying and apologizing. What do you say to someone who has inflicted that much pain on your child!! I was so angry, but at the same time I knew my anger couldn't change what happened, she asked me what she could do and I told her "I don't want her to hurt" She stood up from kneeling in front of me and said "ok" and rushed to help Kendal, making sure she had enough morphine. After calling to different hospitals, Seattle Children's and Portland, They were up for trying to save her hand although they were sure she would never have full use of it. They were told to poke small like holes up and down her arm and release the fluids. They were using an extra sensitive heart monitor to see if she had any blood pumping into her finger tips, I saw a plastic surgeon who was sure he'd be doing work on her. He never got the chance. The small holes did their job and by Easter the whole NICU was calling Kendal their "Easter Miracle". It was a Miracle. 10 days after Easter We got to go home! She passed her infamous car seat test (where they hook her to the monitors and if her SATs drop while she's in the seat she can't go home, I was so nervous for this test, I'd watched a few babies fail it.) I went home with a baby who was fragile but no one knew why. I was set up with therapists and appointments. She came home on oxygen and breast milk so if I went anywhere you could find me with a huge blue breast pump, an oxygen tank and tubes for feeding, oh, and a baby.

She had an occupational therapist that came to our house and worked with Kendal every week. She was the one who said "something isn't right". And for peace of mind told me I should get her eyes checked. Hmmm really, her OT not one of the many higher educated people suggested this. I knew, I knew she had vision problems I was reassured by a nurse once and that's all the peace I needed and I had convinced myself as a mom she's just a little slower she'll catch up. How many other Moms have said the same thing to themselves about their perfect baby? I went alone with Kendal to the ophthalmology appointment. They dilated her eyes and 20 minutes later she laid her down on a pleather bed in a dark room and looked in her eyes. She looked maybe a min probably less. Then looked at me a said "She's blind." What? Hadn't she already been through enough for a lifetime couldn't that be her challenge, her story to tell? Why? Why her, why me? I was single, I was 19, I was a stupid kid, I was afraid of challenged people, and I couldn't ever talk to the blind kids in high school. The first thing I asked was "So she'll never drive?" The answer of course was "No". She had Optic-nerve Hypoplasia. She wrote it down for me I still have the piece of paper. Sometimes with this diagnoses there are more health problems that come along with it. She set us up for an MRI. I went to the parking garage called my mom and wept.

The MRI brought even more bad news. Adrenal problems, a mid line defect, absence of the corpus Colossus, septo-optic dysplasia, Arnold-Chiari type I malformation. All these meant nothing to me at the time but I know them in and out now. She was referred to geneticist, endocrinologist, neurologist, Neuro surgeon. My sister Alexis went to a lot of the appointments with me. We went together to the neuro surgeon in October and we had to do emergency surgery within a week to correct her Arnold-Chiari. Dr Gruber, he is the reason for the 9 inch scar up her neck. Her Brain was extended into her spinal cord and putting pressure on it. There was a high risk of fluid collecting in her brain. October 31st Halloween was her surgery.

During this time I continued to make wrong choices. I coped by partying and drinking I had a few boyfriends during this time. It felt good to be selfish once and a while but I eventually got to the point where I needed my Heavenly Father in my life again and I picked up my scriptures and started to read. I can't describe how amazing it felt to have the spirit in my life again. It was as if He was waiting for me. It was so familiar and I couldn't imagine ever wanting more than this. I really identified with Alma the younger in how racked with torment and fear he was over the sins he had committed and I wanted nothing more than to know my Heavenly Father again. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who trusted me enough with one of His choice daughters. In the end it has made all the difference. I know I would not be who I am and where I am if it weren't for her.

For all of you who have the Honor of meeting and loving this little girl remember her. She has done great things and when she is made whole she will do unimaginable things!

Katie Crawling...

2010-07-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Katie isn't even 6 months old yet but she thinks she should be 2 1/2 like her sisters (ha triplets)

She is soo close to crawling.

Please excuse the naked butt in the background I didn't realize it when I was filming. I thought she had her swim bottoms on.

2010-07-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here is an interruption in Kendal's story for an update post. I will finish the story, I promise.

We're busy people these days and life is only going to get more hectic and crazy! It's good to be busy. Chris can usually be found at work , school or the library. The condensed curriculum for summer is quite the load. But he is doing Awesome! Kendal is in summer school twice a week right now and she loves it. Brianna and McKenna are loving the sun and playing in our pool and LOVE the beach. We had to get them life jackets because they just keep walking out into the water to their necks. They have no fear. And our little Katers is rolling and scooting everywhere she has to keep up with those big sisters. And Camille, I'm soaking up the rays as much as I can and really enjoying it because when I've had enough I go inside to my air conditioned home. I'm so thankful to have such a great family. My husband and kids are my joy. I'm loving my calling at church and enjoying the increase in spirit in our home.

What can I say the English's are happy!

Bri and me warming up

Katers getting to know Roody

I love this picture I caught them at just the right moment when they were running and both in the air!

McKenna

Kendal's Story: Part Two

2010-07-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

I remember clearly bits of that day, but a lot of it is a blur. I am so thankful I had my mom there. She’s so good at tying up the loose ends and making sure I ate. Going to Spokane not only took me further from the support that I had it took me further from my hope of leaving within days. I thought at the time we were looking at weeks maybe a month. We stayed there for about two and a half months. The contrast between the small room with three or four beds that is the Kootenai Medical Centers NICU, and the Rows and Rows of sick babies in incubators with alarms sounding was a scary new reality at the Sacred heart NICU. I was devastated. I walk in and have to scrub up and put on a gown then wave at the nurse behind glass to unlock the door to get to my baby. This eventually became a real comfort of security for me. I get my picture taken so it can hang on the side of her metal crib. The nurse in charge of Kendal was indifferent, she seemed to not care that this was devastating to me. I cried all day. I met the NICU paediatrician and was told we'll have you out of here soon. I think that is one of the cruellest things that happened to me throughout the whole experience. The hope the Drs and nurses gave about when we'd go home and those days came and went. I looked around this sad place and couldn't help but be a little grateful. My baby wasn't in a bubble, I could hold her, my baby was breathing on her own, my baby weighed more than a pound. But I bet the majority of the babies in there have grown up with no lasting damage from their infancy. And at the time I had no reason to believe Kendal would either. We met with more Drs and a surgeon, Dr Thorne; He was an optimistic man with real answers of how to get out of there. She had to gain enough weight and get her stomach big enough to have surgery for a g-tube placement. Her feeding problems were the only thing keeping her there at the time.

I think it would surprise a lot of people how little a lot of parents come in to see and hold their babies. There is a study that has found that the more a premature or sick baby is touched, held, and loved the faster it's progression and it's health is improved. The hospital has sweet old ladies who volunteer to come rock and love on these sweet angels. I'm sure it's not an easy thing for them at times, to hold the babies with all their tubes and wires, and at times their deformities. Kendal was held twice in her three months there by these 'baby rockers' and each time the time was inturrupted by me. I was there everyday, all day. I came early in the mornings and I was kicked out at around seven everyday for rounds. I would come back in to meet Kendal's night nurse, made sure she knew how to get a hold of me, checked to see what test she would be having that night and the following day, stayed a few more hours with my baby and went 'home' to the Ronald McDonald house. The Ronald McDonald house is an amazing place. If you are ever looking for a charity to donate to make it this place. It is a place where out of town parents can live free while there children get treatment or while their children or babies are in the Hospital for long periods. They have some food provided and game rooms with Xboxes and playstations for brothers and sisters of patients and sometimes the patients themselves. I was grateful to be there but couldn't wait for the day I could check out. No matter how cheery you try to make a place like that it is still filled with sadness and pain. I started do develop TMJ in my jaw from all the stress and got tension headaches. My jaw still cracks when I open it and I can't chew gum for too long, and I still suffer from my tension headaches when I'm stressed (which feels like all the time with two, two year olds :-) Two days after we moved into Sacred Heart we were moved from Nursery A to Nursery B. That felt good because when we were first admitted I was given a small tour and was told if you make it to nursery B you'll be out of here soon, that's just a stop on the way out. Usually they place babies in this nursery for post or pre-op. We saw a lot of babies who were just passing through. I was so excited when they did but jealous. When other parents would ask me why we were there I really had nothing to tell them. We were just waiting for something to happen. I became really good friends with a few of the nurses there. We talked and occasionally they gave me bits and pieces of private information about different patients. One morning I came in and saw Kendal had a new roommate, the baby cried a lot and the mom was there looking as though she had just delivered and was beaming over her new baby. The next morning I came in to a completely different set of people talking to the nurse learning how to care for this infant who was being discharged to them. Turns out this baby was born addicted to drugs and the new people were foster parents. The mom had no idea. I broke down to the nurse and asked if they were going to do that to me. She assured me that I was one of the best mom she'd seen come through there. Which was surprising considering I was 19 and one of the most frequent parents to come in to be with my baby and that they would have a hard time getting her out of there with anyone but me. I was still cautious from that day on. We also had an extended stay patient with us. Her name was Zooey. I actually never saw Zooey at that time, but saw her mom there as often as I was. She had her own glass room; she was born premature and weighed 13 ounces when she was delivered. By the time we had left she was still there, she had to reach her due date. I ran into them a few years after we got out. She had long list of issues that she was dealing with among those she was mostly blind. Her mom was excited to see me and gave me her number and wanted to be in touch. I regret now that I never called her.

During this time Kendal's Father tried to come up a couple times. I actually came into the NICU one morning and walked in on him holding her. That day I went back to Coeur d'Alene, renewed the restraining order and had his picture posted in the nurses’ station. He had threatened to take her from me and was her parent too so technically could have been released to him. I know that they wouldn't have but I was still afraid. He yelled and threatened some more. But never came back.

Kendal continued to aspirate when she ate through her mouth. She got most of her nutrition through the tube in her nose but we worked with her everyday on oral feedings. She wasn't able to control whether her food went to her stomach or straight to her lungs. She ended up getting really sick and was moved into the quarantine room with pneumonia. I was sick at the time too and had to wear a mask and gloves around her. It was the only time I would leave early during those days so that I could get myself well. My step-dad Mark and Kirk Steinberg (huge man who is probably close to 7 feet tall) came to give her a blessing. Kirk wept. She got better soon after that.

She finally made it to her goal weight and had a big enough stomach. We prepared for surgery the third week of April.

I scanned these pictures in from Kendal's scrapbook. They are 12x12 pages so it's not the full page here.

Kendal's story: Part One

2010-07-07T12:27:00.001-07:00

I feel I need to write this down for myself. I know it will benefit others and that's why it's going on the blog.

I got pregnant with Kendal when I was 18. I was in love with her Biological father. It was an unexpected and a huge shock to hear from the nurse that I was pregnant. I went in for a birth control refill and she took the test "just in case".

I was in the middle of a life full of chaos and instability. My parents were newly divorced, and both remarried quickly. I found ways to forget the hurt and confusion I was feeling with alcohol, and drugs. I found the love I craved in all the wrong places. When I told her Father, he wanted to abort. It went against EVERYTHING I ever believed. Then we decided to get married. I'm not sure what it was maybe the pressure of becoming a dad. Maybe the newly hormonal girlfriend, maybe just because he was still just a kid, but our relationship went from good to terrible. I was able to get into low income housing. I had a job and a car of my own. And he moved in with me with none of those things. He started staying out late and I felt like I was his parent. He would come home drunk, if he ever came home at all. I started to hear rumors and was called one morning by a friend saying she walked in on him cheating on me. I at the time was a stupid kid too and I forgave out of fear of being alone and raising a baby by myself. He ended up getting violent and I came to realize he was not what I wanted to raise my baby with. So I kicked him out. I had to get a restraining order.

During this time my mom was two months further along with her own pregnancy with her new husband and my sister was one month further along with her boyfriend soon to be her husband. When their babies came I just rocked them all day. I was becoming excited to be a mom, to have a beautiful baby like my mom and sister. February 17 2003 my water broke. I waited for contractions and never got any. So I decide to try to sleep and in the morning I called the Dr and went in. I had her that evening. She was beautiful. I delivered at 6:12 pm with my sister Amanda at one knee and my mom at the other. When they handed her to me I saw her Father in her but there was a lot of me too. They handed her to me and I held her to my chest and cried. At that moment she was perfect, whole. She was so calm, she didn't even cry. They found that her blood sugar was low and her temperature was low so they wrapped her in warm blankets and fed her formula through a tube. The nurse had to put her pinkie in her mouth and put the tube on it as she sucked. When she was done they gave her back and unwrapped her and we stayed skin to skin She spent her first of many nights under a heating lamp in the nursery. The next three weeks was an unbelievable nightmare. My vision of a perfect baby was destroyed. Test after test was preformed with results like failure to thrive, small stomach, and large tongue. Then the big test like the chromosome test, x-rays, upper G.I. tests, echoes, specialist, all the Dr's would say is " all we can tell you is you have a very beautiful baby." and ''nothing to be alarmed about'', Throughout this time she his hooked to IV's and being continually feed breast milk through a tube in her nose and under the Bili lights. She rarely got to be in my room with me but I was always there. I never left. I got moved to what they called the boarders room where Moms with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stayed while their babies recovered. If I left they would have had to kick me out. The room was about a quarter of the size the other rooms were. In fact the bathroom to this room was bigger than the room itself.

My mom was there every day, with her own infant. Her Father came twice in those three weeks. I needed someone to share the burden with me, my mom was amazing but I felt guilty. When he came he caused conflict and because there were no diagnoses he was confused and just wanted to take her out of there. I knew better and saw the efforts of the Dr's and nurses to help us get out of there. The second time he came he threatened that he would get custody because I refused to tell him we were going to be together after she got out. He was getting verbally abusive and wouldn't leave my room so I had to pull the emergency cord for the nurse to come.

My wish is that no parent ever had to see their sweet baby go through trauma like Kendal went through. It's a terrible thing that parents have to send their helpless infant into the arms of strange Dr's and nurses to be poked and prodded. A terrible thing to go through with a companion, a husband or a wife. I did it alone.

March 3, 2003 Kendal chokes on her spit up and stops breathing. After a Chest x-ray shows she has fluid in her lungs she is transferred to Sacred Heart where they are better able to care for her. She is unable to hold enough food in her stomach to help her sustain life and needs more nutrients through her IV. They aren't able to give that to her at KMC.

Right before they loaded her on the ambulance. Taken by our favorite nurse, Lisa, who actually was my nurse for Katie in February.

Our Fourth!

2010-07-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

The fourth of July is one of my Favorite holiday's. I love how it is laid back and all for spending time together as a family. We started on the third, we swung by our friends for a little pre-firework fun. The girls didn't last long, McKenna didn't get a nap that day and so she was a little edgy. But we had to do our fireworks when we got home they liked the sparklers and the 'pop-its'. We had one firework malfunction, it was blowing up the wrong way and started shooting everywhere. It scared us all pretty good and we had two of them so we were nervous for the second one but it worked right but the girls were VERY nervous.

Sunday we had a good time at church. Always a great testimony meeting around the Fourth. Primary was a breeze with half the kids there. We had a BBQ with my family and then headed down for the fireworks. My sister Samm and Andrew, her husband, were in town from Rexburg. It was so great to see them! She is big pregnant and the next time I get to see her is after mister Boston is born so I tried to soak them up as much as I could. The girls loved the fireworks. 10 is late for the girls to stay up but it was worth it. I found myself to be overly animated about the fireworks because of their excitement. I must have sounded like a big dork to everyone around us, but hey, I'm a mom.

Monday we had a great breakfast made by Andrew. and then hung out with them before they left to get home for Andrew's class Tuesday.

I miss 'em already.

Kendal sitting at a comfortable distance from the noise.

This is a great picture of Bri's personality.

Mckenna

Trying to be excited for the second firework.

It's an obligation as a parent to get the Chickens right?

Right!

Bri is ready to get downtown.

McKenna

Loves for Daddy

Bri and Samm.

waiting for the show

Glow stick necklaces provided by Grannie

Day after hair.

2010-06-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Kristi's site and she is seriously one of the most talented girls I know!

Vist!

2010-06-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Love this!

I feel the weight of my calling as a mother heavier everyday. With four beautiful girls I know it is my responsiblity to give them the tools they need to rise above and be stronger than the evils of this world. Most people know of my rocky period in my life, I feel like the testimony I had before that time was weak, but there. I know if it hadn't been there I wouldn't be here today. I know that the lesson I needed to learn was to teach my children NOW. There is too much to teach to not start now. They need to know the scriptures, and to be able to teach them about the scriptures I need to know them myself. They need to know their Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, and for them to know them I must know them. They need the knowledge of the joy that comes from a virtuous life through the example of Chris and me. They need the example of the strength that comes from a moral and clean life from loving parents. It's a constant progression, a continual desire. It's not easy but necessary. I will not have any regrets about how we raise our children, and I will have peace in knowing we did all we could. I know I can't live their life for them and they could chose a different path but I can be a loving example and show them the happiness in choosing the right path.

Camping: Lake Roosevelt

2010-06-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

We went Camping with friends this weekend. I really want to get out a few more times this summer. We are always left wishing we would have gone camping more when it comes to fall and we can't. So this is the first of hopefully a few camping trips this summer.

We'll get the hang of camping with the kids. They love it . Kendal not as much the heat gets to her so it was nice to be right next to the water. It was the PERFECT spot, right next to the water, the right amount of shade, and just all around beautiful. We came home exhausted and dirty but with good memories and new friends!

McKenna walked into camp Saturday morning yelling 'Momma it's a snake!'

and she was holding this giant worm. She took him on the skate board, he broke a couple times, I'm not sure what ended up happening to him but she loved him.

Kade checking out the 'snake'

My kids playing in the sand. Chris was working really hard to make his sand castle.

McKenna spent ALL day playing at the waters edge but wasn't to comfortable with the temperature of the water.

Bri is a water baby. She didn't mind that it was cold.

2010-06-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

We're Having so much fun in this warm weather!

Please stay!

The forecast is thunderstorms. :-(

Lunch with Spiders

2010-06-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

We are preparing for a camping trip with our friends this weekend and I was trying to think of ways to make it fun for the girls. I know I know, how much more fun can you get than playing in dirt and not having to shower, sleeping in a tent in a sleeping bag, and playing with friends all weekend. But still I thought they would like to catch bugs so we did a little test run this morning during lunch and caught some spiders in old peanut butter jars, they LOVED it. They even had to eat with their spiders right next to them.

And now a quick Ode to this guy:

I can deffinatly say I couldn't have found a better man to be MY husband. He is the BEST daddy and his kids' best friend. On this day I was trying to get the girls to eat dinner (an impossible endeavor at times) and as soon as daddy stopped tinkering with his new computer and started to eat and said they could sit next to him, suddenly it was the greatest dinner they had ever had. He takes so much time to show his kids his love and is working so hard to teach them in their young age not only right and wrong and how to be good kids but Gospel truths as well. He is a big kid and loves to play with them which make him Superman to them.

I love you Chris!

A match made in Heaven?

2010-06-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

I'm slacking on my babysitting duties to write this post it's just too funny though. We are watching our friends boys while their mom is at an achievement day and Dad is at work. I started to see some similarities in the kids. My girls have very different personalities and so do the Morgan boys. I figured if Shalie and I were to play matchmaker with our kids this is how it would go.

Kade and McKenna.

He was sweetly asking her when her birthday was earlier and she had know idea what to say to that and was replying "Happy Birthday? It's a Happy Birthday?" They both are pretty sweet and smart.

Brianna and Chase.

This match is based solely on the fact that they both seem to really like food, especially snacks.

We'll see if this romance evolves over the years. I'll keep you updated...

2010-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

We had a good weekend my little sister Hannah graduated so we went to a few parties for her. I've been somewhat sick and just can't seem to get over it, I wish I could just will it away, if I could it would be gone, it's slowing me down. Katie started laughing for Kenzie my littlest sister it's a cute deep laugh I love it.

Bri was eating her dessert on the trampoline while everyone else was jumping.

The infamous dirt pile.(thanks Mom)

Katie slowly devouring Papa.

Overdue For a Post...

2010-06-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the slacking on posts lately. I have been soo busy. Katie has been teething and having a growth spurt so little sleep for me again. I have a new calling in Primary that keeps me really busy. And we have family events going on. It feels good to be busy but I could use a little time to be lazy. I've also been trying to read more. I missed it and I am part of a book club so I set some goals and any spare time(ha) goes to that.

Katie had her 4 month visit and shots today she's a whopping 14.6 pounds and 24 inches long. She did really good with her shots. And I have a feeling will do better than last time when she seemed so MAD at me for doing that to her. She's reaching and cooing and looks like she'll be rolling in no time, she already scoots herself around in her crib and presses herself against the bars. She's trying to suck on everything and drooling everywhere. She's a very happy baby and loves her sisters and her daddy.

Kendal also got a couple shots, meningitis because she's at a higher risk and the pneumonia shot because she's high risk and seems to have it ALL the time. She's lost her top front tooth and the other one is dangling. She'll be a toothless Joe. She's been doing great at school and been really happy and more involved in family life lately. Katie loves to watch her.

McKenna is ALWAYS singing. She sings until right before she goes to sleep at night, and stands by the piano and asks if i want her to sing and play a song. She sing during dinner which I know could be a bad habit later but I just love it soo much I can't tell her to stop. She loves Katie and is always helping if she's crying she'll go to her and talk to her which always cheers her up.

Bri who has always been a little behind speech wise is caught up, she's getting good at letting me know what she wants. She's just not much of a jibberish talker like McKenna, I think that may have been the reason she was behind. McKenna is never quite. Bri is so cute when Chris does something funny she laughs and says "you funny Daddy" it's adorable. Bri loves Katie too and can't stand it if she has drool or spit up coming out of her mouth and always wipes it away.

Chris just started school and is really liking his new job. Anythings better than being around foul roofers and working in the pouring rain and blistering heat. He's going to do well in school, he's smart and dedicated. I'm really proud of him.

A cute one of Kendal with all her teeth.

Katie loves to eat fabric she loves the clothe diaper burp rags. And loves a good soft blanket she nussels herself right into them.

My Cutie Pie!

Oh this would have drove Bri nuts!

McKenna loves to pray and we love to hear it. We get an occasional one from Bri but usually she's our "close your eyes" and "Fold your arms" monitor. She's praying with her cookie.

It's summer time and I'm sleeping through the night! (almost)

2010-05-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a 70 degree house, that hasn't happened in awhile. We keep it pretty cool during the winter. But I am SO thankful for our brand new Heat pump (AC). Hello enjoyable summer good bye tax return.

We had a great weekend enjoying the nice weather with friends and family. Heres a couple cute ones of McKenna and Bri. We've had our photo shoots while Kendal is at school so I don't have any new ones of her.

This little chubster has been going the whole night without nursing! I have been just giving her a binki and she goes right back to sleep. I decided this was necessary when she would fall immediately back to sleep as soon as she started eating at 2am. I figure she's way chubby enough handle it.

This is gonna make you laugh.

2010-05-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

After going through all my old pictures and watching videos of when the girls were younger I've set out to record more video of the kids. I was taking this video today and caught McKenna feeding her baby. I knew it would happen someday since they watch me feed my baby (Katie) But they also watch me feed my other baby (Kendal) through her g-tube. So I think McKenna might have a mix of the two here.

3 Months old and Mother's Day

2010-05-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

Katie is 3 months old! Wow. She's is such a sweet girl. She's a big talker and cooer. She's starting to reach for toys and really concentrate. Her sisters LOVE her. And so do Chris and I she really does melt us.

She's a hefty one. this is Katie and McKenna

We had our friends James and Audra over this weekend. Audra and I sent the guys with all the bigger kids to the park while we stayed with the little kids while they napped. What good guys. We ate way too much and had a lot of fun. We love you guys!

And on Wednesday I got to go to Kendal's school and have mother's Day tea with her and all the first graders. She got up on stage with Mrs. Johnson her aide behind her helping her do the motions and sang most of the songs, it made me teary. I loved getting to have a little time with her. She's on the far right on the bottom in the light colored shirt in the video.

And some cute ones of the girls.

They were told to play downstairs if they wanted to be loud and I got this shot of them being funny.

They were cracking each other up running into the slider the other day. McKenna was outside with Dad and Bri inside with me. Their personalities are very different but they are both, thankfully, good girls.

Kendal Snoring

2010-05-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

I was consolidating Pictures and found this old video of Kendal. It cracks me up. This was right before we got her tonsils out. She obviously needed it.

One Year Later

2010-05-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cinco De mayo is our year mark for the day we closed on our house. What a ride it's been. We finished the basement. Put a sprinkler system in in the backyard, poured a slab and hydroseeded.

A lot of long days that lasted through the night and a few Rockstars later and we have a great house. It's so rewarding looking back and seeing what we've done. I'm so glad to have such a dedicated and handy husband (more so now through trial and Error). We are still improving and working. We'll probably always have little projects in the works but we've come so far in just a year.

Move in day

Home Depot has not felt the recession thanks to the English family.

Bathroom then:

Bathroom now:

View from Kendal's room into the laundry room:

Kids' rooms drywalled:

Kendal's room painted:

girls' room

Kids rooms painted:

Kids rooms with floors:

Girls' room done:

Family room looking into bathroom to the girls' room:

Family room:

family room drywall:

Chris finishing drywall!!!:

Family room ready for paint:

family room without floors:

Family room with floors:

Family Room Finished (messy as it always is):

Kitchen before moving in, as clean as it ever will be:

Living room, Kitchen painted:

Backyard with just garden beds:

Backyard hydroseeded:

Backyard now:

Under the tarp is the latest project waiting to be revealed tonight by Chris. My retaining wall garden bed!

Backyard now with the new awning and stairs down from the deck:

My mother's day present from last year.

My Pear Tree:

House Then:

House Now:

2010-05-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures. I thought I erased them but found them in an older file. This happens often when I'm taking pictures, someone will make a weird face or stick there head in the shot (most often it's Chris) But Bri did it this time and it cracks me up to see order these pictures were taken.

Sweet Katie sleeping on her play mat

and then there's BRI!

so funny.

Hair and a Surprising new talent.

2010-04-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

My sister Samm cut Kendal's hair for me when she was in town last week. I love it! She does much better with shorter hair, her head is extra sensitive which is the norm for blind people. And her hair is courser and looks more damaged usually because of the variety of pills she's on. So now she has a cute little bob.

And we were in desperate need of wall decor so I attempted some art work of my own. I love it too! What do you think?

Lazy Sunday

2010-04-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Chris woke up with the chills and a temperature, and I am not brave enough to go to church by myself with two potty trained two year olds, a ravenous 2 month old and Kendal. So we stayed home and broke out the chalk! It looks like Wolverine scratched our cement slab with multi colors because all they draw is lines. There is a little of my fantastic art work too.

Kendal is napping with Daddy. Sorry Kendal, she loves it though.

Our house is about 70 degrees and Chris is very bundled, poor guy.

2010-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Life seems to be falling into place. We couldn't imagine being just a family of five now. Six sounds like so many though. The big girls all love her. Kendal likes to feel her toes and she has started to coo more and Kendal loves that. McKenna is a little mommy to Everyone and loves to hold Katie. Bri like to hold Katie too but when she's done she's done and tries to just push her off. Chris LOVES his girls, they are very lucky to have a daddy like him. He's their best friend and favorite playmate. And I'm hanging in there. One healthy baby is definitely a walk in the park, if it was just her. Brianna and McKenna are the challenge these days, it's seems that if I just turn my back for one second there into something (more to come on that)...

Hanging out with Daddy in our bed.

Big sisters

Katie loves it when they talk to her

Playing outside when weather permits. I can tell it's going to be a fun and dirty summer. Lot's of baths.

We love the Kroc center with there inside play ground. This is Brianna swing in the top next to my sister Amanda.

a blurry Smile

And here is what I was talking about above. We just got back from a stressful outing, just me and all the kids, so i went up to feed Katie after putting Barney on for the girls. And they ended up doing this....

Yes that's an empty Comet container. All over the couch! I am so thankful for micro-fiber and hardwood floors!

Kendal's Song

2010-03-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

So I've mentioned before how amazing Kendal's Aide is at school. She sings to Kendal when she's feeding her at school. Kendal started singing Doe Ray Me the other day and was surprised by how much she knew. I love it, this girl is always wanting to hear or sing a song or music from the minute she wakes-up to the moment she goes to bed.

Fun at Farragut

2010-03-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Katie is almost 7 weeks old! Really! I'll do a post with pictures of her soon. I accidentally erased the most recent one off my camera without saving them to the computer. I was mad.

Saturday we went up to Farragut National Park with Grandma and Grandpa English. We had a fire and it was like camping but we got to come home and shower and sleep in our own beds. The girls had fun and were EXHAUSTED by the time we left. They saw their first up close and personal neigh neigh. They were so excited. Katie slept the whole time pretty much and Kendal played with tinker bell Aunt Jane's dog.

My Favorite Conference talk: The Tender Mercies of the Lord

2010-03-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

I taught a lesson in the singles ward for teaching for our time on Elder Bednars conference talk. I've never felt so much like a talk was given just for me.

It seems to always come around when I need it the most. This is a new Mormon Message video.

Katie's Blessing Day

2010-03-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

Chris gave Katie a very sweet blessing on Sunday. She has been such a perfect addition to our family.

Grandma and Grandpa B came up for the weekend and Aunt Samm was here from Rexburg. McKenna loves Grandpa B and sat with him all weekend and read him books.

one of the cute pictures out of the many taken.

2010-02-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of the last year!

{LOVE THIS}

2010-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

Chris hates how many toys we have and compared to many (not naming names) We don't have that many.

I agree we have too many toys but how do you choose which ones to get rid of....

I love this, and this.

2010-02-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

This little girl is 7 today!

Happy Birthday Kendal!!

McKenna

Bri reading to Katie

Bri

Bri and McKenna reading together

Bri and the always dirty face. This kid eats everything.

McKenna loves to hold Katie. SHe never wants me to take her and cries when I do

Sweet Katie

Such a good baby

Katie Camille English

2010-02-10T06:36:00.001-08:00

I can't believe she is here and she's Home! Thats a first for me to have to care for a newborn right away. We had her at 8:33 am on Sunday and she weighed 7 pounds and was 19" long. She came out needing a little oxygen because she swallowed a lot of fluid but she was actually doing fine before I even got to see her again. We left Monday afternoon which is pretty uncommon for c-section patients, but I needed sleep and I wasn't getting any at the hospital. Now after two nights of good sleep I'm doing great, but still really sore. Katie is an angel she will barely even cry when she's hungry. She is tolerating the noise from the kids well and all the kisses and snacks that are shared with her. I think there is a little jealousy because not only is there a baby taking my time but when she's not they can't climb on me and snuggle like usual.

first time I held her about 3 hours after she was born.

Bri was really excited to see me, McKenna was too I think she just didn't like seeing me in bed with tubes and wires. Kendal was really sleepy a

I don't have a good one of McKenna and Katie. McKenna gives kisses to her all the time.

Please excuse the belly in this picture This one is just to cute not to post. Brianna is a mommies girl.

Right before we went to bed I realized we hadn't gotten a picture of Chris and Katie. Chris looks tired.

Here she is!

2010-02-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

I'll post pictures soon these are the ones taken at the hospital:

http://spectacularportraits.zenfolio.com/p1020228209/hd4a37a5#h1f7dbbde

!!!!!!Sunday!!!!!!!!

2010-02-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

I had a Drs appointment today and let me tell you these last two weeks have been rough. Two Hospital visits with contractions and pressure and two different Drs telling me I wouldn't make it to the weekend. Well I made it through one weekend and I'm sure to have made it through this weekend. I needed a Dr to have mercy and put me out of this misery. There are pluses and minuses to having an iron fist for a cervix. My C-section was scheduled for the 12th of February. I could have made it, but then we get news that after about two weeks off they need Chris to go to Walla Walla! That is three hours away. Dr Penney took pity on me and understands that the reason I haven't gone into labor is that I've had my Husband doing all the work for me. Tripling my load would send me into labor for sure. So Sunday morning we will have our little Katie! I'm so relieved. I'm so glad to be Done with contractions FOREVER!

We'll post pictures soon!

Our latest Project

2010-01-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

We finally finished a project of ours. Our plan was to paint when we were finishing the basement but anyone who has painted their house knows how fast it gets old. So we waited and Chris has had some time off so we tackled the project. I did very little work just edges and some touch up. Chris did a great job and we love how it turned out. We did just a few accent walls. Eventually when I make up my mind we'll paint the babies room and our bedroom but it's nice to have our home be a progressive project. We're really excited about the yard this summer.

McKenna playing in the toy closet. She loves to organize her toy on the blue tray. She was just sitting in there singing to the animals. She's a loud one who LOVES to sing.

Bri tries to be camera shy but loves it. Look at those big blue eyes, she got my big eyes.

Last week I was worried about the babies movement and went into the Dr who sent me over to the hospital for a Non-stress-test ( a test where the monitor contractions and reactive heart rate) and a Biophysical Profile ( a test that gives the baby points for Breathing, Movement, amount of amniotic fluid and muscle tone) She looked amazing, and it was really great to get to see her. Two weeks until the C-section! Possibly sooner.

Katie 36 weeks