A Little Sparkle For Georgia

Well, today during some time to kill between appointments, we ended up getting Georgia's ears pierced. She looks SO cute! She was such a good girl too! She was being such a cute little sweetie to the lady, and she was so surprised when the first earring when in. It was sad. She stopped crying until Del walked into the store with the boys. He took them on a walk for the big event. She only wanted him for a few minutes. Don't worry, she perked right up when we went to lunch afterward and she got to eat some yummy soup. She has been such a good girl about them so far... so let's hope that continues! Now girl's got some bling!

Big smile!

Showing off her new look.

Georgia with her bag that says she got her ears pierced.

Easter

We had nice Easter this year. We went to Uncle Scott and Aunt Sandy's house for dinner and the egg hunt. It is always nice to see so many of their great neighbors and ward friends. Our kids were definitely hard to miss among all the adults and almost adults. Especially Wally, who refused to sit anywhere but at the table with all the teenagers. He bumped poor Brittany from her spot at the table, and she was kind enough to eat off to the side at a folding table with Will. Who do we think we are rolling in to town and demanding seats at the head of the table anyway? Oh, well, Wally is anything but easy-going! We had a great day, and it was so nice to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Group

The Hunt

The Loot

Ice Cream!

Me and Georgie Girl

Brother and Sister

More ice cream with Aunt Sandy

Will and his new toy from Uncle Scott and Aunt Sandy

It it is all worth it when...

your children give you compliments. Yesterday Wally told me that I am "the best girl in all the world." So nice of him to notice! And those are the moments when the stress of life, and the day just doesn't seem to matter. But that compliment makes me realize I have a lot to work on!

Mac and Me

Good ol' Mac and Me. I am not the only one that remembers the movie from the 80's by that title by the way. I know I am not. You know it is familiar... the aliens who find themselves suddenly in California somewhere, boy in wheelchair, dancing in McDonnell's, and something about windmills? They eventually attain their U.S. citizenship. So admit it, you know the movie, and like me, loved it. So if you do, you better comment and confess.

Today, I am not referring to THAT Mac and Me. I am referring to the fact that we have joined the ranks of the iMac owners. To those of you who are Mac owners, it is like we have joined the fold. We have come home to the place where all decent computer owners should be. I cannot believe how excited people are for us. It is like we have had our fourth child. On the other hand... the PC people out there usually just look at us with a confused stare and ask,"Why?" "PC snobs." I am stealing that title from my friend Kathy, who outright told me she is one.

Well, right now I must tell you, I am wondering why? myself! I am super frustrated with the learning curve involved in this change. As is Del. I know that once we get it down, we will be as happy as all you other Macies out there. But right now, I can't find my files, or my pictures, I don't know how to get into several websites because it says to use Firefox, and although it is downloaded, it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Configurations? Some nonsense like that. And when I download a file successfully, it disappears into a galaxy far, far away, and I can't figure out how to access it. I need Mac 101. I have however figured out the photo-booth feature. Now that is fun! So at least I know how to post those pictures, since I can't find any others! I know I'll love it, Mac and I just need to get to know each other on more personal level.

Me, finding the photo-booth. Hmmm....

Discovering the potential.

Fun!

SUPER Fun!

Why can't I figure this thing out? It might lead to baldness. Or going gray early.

A "Toe"-tal Ouch..And Some Other Fun Stuff

Okay, so I am going to break what I'm sure are the cardinal rules of decorum, and post pictures of a bloody foot, and vomit. But those are just the breaks when you have had the grand experiences that I have had over the past week and a half.

The fun started when being the genius that I am, I tipped an extremely heavy kitchen chair, with Will sitting in it, over. The chair landed smack dab on my big toe nail bed, and let me tell you, OUCH!!!! Del was not home because he had just jumped in the moving truck with Brady at the last second and had been on the road to sunny California for a couple of hours.
My writhing in agony sent my boys on a hunt for band aides and their special blankets to comfort me, but alas, not even those healers of all ouchies could help my toe.
I called Del and asked him if he knew what I should do, and he said pretty helplessly that he didn't. So I tried to get as comfortable as possible and wait it out. I was sure I had broken it, but I know that at the E.R. they just say that it is too bad for you, and tape it, or something else useless like that.

Mandy showed up at my house with a very special "princess boot," or medical shoe for those of us with less imagination than Alec.She had heard from Brady I had smashed the livin' daylights out of my toe. We then sat around and watched it turn blacker and blacker. By 7:00 that night, this princess had had enough, and after a reassuring call to Dr. Jared, I had to call my neighbor to sit with my kids while I drove myself to the E.R. The first hospital had a four hour wait, which I cried when I heard because the pain was running all the way up my leg and into my hip by now. I made it to another hospital, where they did x-rays, stuck about eight shots into my toe and used a hot drill to make a hole for the blood causing all the pain to escape.

Oh, so happy to have some relief, I hobbled my way back out to my car. The medical shoe was proving very welcome at this moment. With many promised phone calls to make to my mom and Del to assure them I was okay, I started home. This was when I realized that my gas tank was running on fumes and my cell phone was dead as a door nail, (or my toe nail in this case.) To my further dismay, the one gas station in the area was closed when I pulled up, and now panic was setting in. There isn't much in the area and it was almost midnight, I had no cell phone and a hurt toe, (it wasn't broken by the way, just pulverized.) So apparently in my state of alarm I was going ten miles over the speed limit through about a two bloke section of road where the speed limit suddenly drops drastically, and I almost screamed in frustration when I saw flashing lights in my rear view mirror. I know, I know, I should have been able to get out of this one. I have had many a comment about that already, but no, after 11 years since the one and only ticket I have ever received, I accepted my fate and limped into a gas station, finally, ticket in hand.

Trust me, I did the screaming in frustration thing when I had safely seen my neighbor off and got in bed, in defeat.

I don't remember a lot of the next day, just worry for the Spencer's, wondering where in the country Del and Brady where, cleaning up an entire bottle of red liquid children's Tylenol Will dumped out, off my carpet, and sitting with foot propped up holding Georgia.

The next day, Del got home. Yeah! I had just handed Georgia off to him when he walked in, when suddenly she threw up. I bent down to wipe the mess up off the floor, and her flood gates opened and I ended up with vomit running off the back of my head and in between my shoulder blades. What timing. We have now had sick children for a week, and Del even took a turn. I am just bidding my time judging from my scratchy throat. I also feel a bit of a tooth ache. Is there no relief in sight?

So, the adventures never end and why would we want them to? Life would sure be a whole lot more boring. P.S. Watch out for falling kitchen chairs!

I know that my feet are already not the most attractive, but trust me, my toe looks better than it did the day before I took this picture!

Maybe vomit has some kind of shine inhancing vitamin or something. Here's hoping. Look at that sweet little face. She looks so apologetic!

We Love The Spencer Fam!

We love our good friends the Spencer's! We are so sad to see Brady and Mandy move away, but we hope that their new adventures bring so much happiness. Watch out guys! You can't move to a nice, sunny spot and not expect visitors!
The trials the Spencer family have faced have been heartbreaking for us to watch, but we have been amazed by the faith and strength shown these past weeks. We are so sorry for your loss.
Brady and Mandy, we will miss you so much! We are so glad to call you friends! Let us know if you EVER need ANYTHING!

Mandy, Brady, Del and me at the farewell party for Brady and Mandy.

Mandy and Me.

Mandy, Ella, Lois Jean, Me and Georgia. One last trip to Chuck E. Cheese together.

Georgia found the gigantic singing mouse hilarious! Could her grin be any bigger?

Georgia pointing out that charming Chuck E. Cheese!

My Wally Boy

March 8th our little Wally will be a not so little 5 year old! I can't believe how fast time has flown, and at the same time, it seems like Wally has always been with us.

Wally came to us with a dramatic entrance. He scared us by needing a couple of weeks in the NICU on a ventilator. But he came home going strong, and hasn't stopped since.
We named Wallace after one of the great examples in my life, my Grandpa Clark. His middle name is Stapley after Del, who is named after the general authority Delbert Stapley. I know, a lot of name for a little boy. They told us while he was in the hospital he must be destined to be a Supreme Court Justice with a name like that!

The move to Chicago was made in a huge truck with six week old Wally along for the long ride, in between me and Del.
We found out Wally needed a little more special attention when he was diagnosed with all kinds of fun words like, torticollis, plagiocephaly, hypospadias, and a couple more that I have forgotten now that they aren't part of my every day vocabulary anymore. That sent me and Wally on all kinds of adventures around the Chicago area. Wally spent time doing physical therapy, and wearing his special Doc Band helmet. He looked so cute in it! Three surgeries, and many a doctor's appointment later, Wally is a healthy as they come!

Wally has a soft spot for babies, and animals. He loves to be busy and the first thing I hear from him in the morning is, "Where are we going today?" He is also a home body however, and loves to get back to the place he knows best.
Wally has logged more miles in the sky than I had before my twentieth birthday, and loves to go on a trip on a plane. He has got the routine down pat. He knows you take off your shoes to go through security, and that you get a treat on the flight.

Wally gives me a run for my money. I think he was sent to me so that I would be forced to re-evaluate everything in my life, and yet not take things so seriously.
Wally loves his dad so much, protects his little sister, and doesn't know what to do without his brother. He is a social butterfly and can carry on a conversation better than some adults. He is not afraid to approach anyone and often tells store clerks and teachers things that I would prefer he didn't. What five year old doesn't, right?

I love my Wally so much and don't know what I would do without him. He is such a big personality and forces me to be up for anything. He loves people so deeply and really cares when he understands someone is hurting. I can't wait to see what this little boy is capable of, and becomes in this life. He has overcome so many obstacles in his short little life and I know that for Wally, the sky is the limit! Happy Birthday Buddy Boy! Mom and Dad love you!

Our scanner isn't working, so I don't have any pictures of Wally as a baby in my computer. That is a polar bear behind Wally in this picture. I think he is about 13 months here,and this was taken with a cell phone, hence, the not so great clarity.