Nathan Humor

(Yelling heard from the bathroom) . . . "MoMMMMY! I just went poop and I wiped my own bum!! Now I can go to kindergarten!" ~mid summer, just before starting school

"I can't get out of bed yet because I'm having a growing pain in my leg. (after a brief pause). . . Okay, I'm done growing for today."

"Mom, I really like that you built me a bunk bed 'cause I wanted one my whole life. But, sometimes I miss the old days too."

I caught him on the bathroom counter admiring his nose holes in the mirror. He explained that when he stretches his nose, his nose holes make "perfect butterfly wings".

I think he is right. I can almost picture a little butterfly body between those perfect butterfly wing nose holes.

One afternoon while Nathan and I were cuddled up in the chair, Hyrum took pictures of us with my phone. Though it's fuzzy, I love the memory it brings up. Some of my best conversation time happens with Nathan. He is smart and witty and wise and caring.

Love Notes

November-December 2011

One of the best ways that our family communicates is through leaving notes. LeRoy and I started this in the beginning of our marriage and it has been passed on to our kids as well.

One of my favorite things to do is surprise my kids at school with random sweet notes. After 1st trimester grades came in and Derek was so proud of his scores I decided to make a bigger deal about it by taking him a poster to school.

He told me that his friends thought it was pretty cool and if something gets friend approval on top of parent praise it has to be good.

December was a hectic month with numerous trips into town, Idaho Falls, school plays and concerts and LeRoy and I still trying to squeeze in our weekly date. Justin was the babysitting hero for that month. It was fun to surprise him at school with a thank you paycheck.

I have a white board in my office for reminder notes. One day I noticed a new note that Justin had written. I love seeing his humor come through, even on a boring shopping list.

It is so rewarding when the kids start leaving notes for me. I love kindergarten for that reason. Nathan has been through several notebooks writing notes to all of us and many of them say the same thing but it's good practice, both for writing and for expressing love.

I guess texting language is really just reverting back to our kindergarten skills.

Any time Vivien closes one closet door or her bedroom door the other closet door poofs open. It was really bugging her so I suggested we find the magnet monkeys to put around the handles so that both doors would stay closed. We looked for them for a few minutes but then had to go somewhere. While the older kids were at school Nathan determined that he would find the monkeys for Vivien. I didn't know the outcome until a few days later when Vivien showed me this picture that she had taken.

From Nathan to Vivien

These monkeys are for you.

I found it in the animal closet under the stairs.

Love Nathan

For the year and a half that Erika worked at Wendy's I would leave a sticky note for her every night that I wasn't up when she got home. She ended up saving them all on her wall. That to me said that she appreciated them but she has never been one to leave notes in return. I can remember exactly three notes from her and they have all been left during this last two years. I found my first note from Erika early on the morning that I ran the Pocatello Half Marathon. She wished me luck and said she was proud of me. That totally made my day and thoughts of Erika pushed me through that race. The second was left last spring when I was out really late playing Bunco with my girlfriends and it simply said "you are late for curfew. Good night."

The last note is the one that really caught me off guard. It happened to come when there were no significant events taking place. She went to bed early one night and later when I went to bed I found this note on my pillow.

Erika is not one to share her feelings so this came as quite a surprise. I will treasure it forever.

Erika's 18th Birthday

November 17, 2011

No matter what we could have pulled together for Erika's birthday it would have fallen short in comparison to what she was so excited about for that particular day. Bret was coming from Colorado. . . just for her birthday. . . for four whole days.

Still, we tried. And we had a good time. She was happy to get a new book from Grandma Fullmer (a tradition we all love), new piano music from Bret (and it has been great to hear her playing again!), a Tim Burton movie collection from us (which includes all of her very favorite movies), and meaningful "I love you" gifts from Vivien and the boys.

If she is going to give in and put something on her feet it will be flip flops so that's what we used for her cake. I used double chocolate cake (her favorite) with purple frosting on the top and chocolate frosting for the "sole" with Skittles for decoration.

I can't believe it has been 18 years! There are so many memories going through my head from her birth through the happy, tough, funny, scary 18 years that followed. The best way I could put it all together was to use pictures that hold those memories and use one of her favorite songs with one that also expressed my feelings.

For our Twinkling Star . . .

I, Eye, Electricity

LeRoy has been trying to get Hyrum to say "I need . . . " instead of "me need". When Nathan came and told me that he needed something Hyrum tried to correct him, even though he had said it right. Needing a little back up to support his correcting he ran over to me and said,

"It's I need not me need, huh mommy? Daddy learned me that".

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After 2 lasik surgeries I am back to wearing glasses. I've been trying reeeeeelly hard to ignore it but after asking Vivien to point out Erika and Derek in their play and realizing that I can't see faces at church or read any road signs or tell when someone is gesturing a facial hello or glare from across the room I figured it was time to fess up. And I was having flashes of light in my left eye. The first time it happened I thought I had a paparazzi stalker in my kitchen.

While Kellie was here visiting I asked her to help me pick out frames and then it was easy to get the appointment done. She was awesome! Having an optometry shopper is the only way to go (for me).

During the week that I had to wait for the glasses I realized how really bad I had let it get. I was actually excited about glasses. Contacts aren't an option right now because I see fine to read and be on the computer but everything else was a big foggy world around me. I put them on for my drive home from the office and I was practically a 5th grader again, reliving that first pair of glasses and seeing the world with spectacular vision. I'm sure I had the dorkiest smile on as I giggled like a school girl, reading out loud every street sign as fast as I could. I wanted to roll the window down to sing along with the pedestrian that I could see....really see...was singing along with her ipod - who cares that our songs would be different. And then I took notice of the trees. Oh, My! I could see every naked branch on every naked tree. They were gorgeous! I have missed seeing nature.

It was a little dizzying to get home and not really know when to take them off. I wasn't used to seeing every color in the carpet or the sayings on the wall art and suddenly my children looked so stunningly beautiful. I was giddy. Then it was bedtime storytime and I realized I needed to part with them for a bit. I was sad to give up seeing the facial expressions of the person sitting across the room from me but I just can't read while seeing double and I AM NOT ready for bifocals. I will adjust.

I have been asked if I regret having lasik done or if I could sue them or get a refund. Hey, I was nearly blind and now I see. It took me almost 6 months after my first surgery to quit trying to take glasses off (that weren't there) to get in the shower or grab for them on my nightstand first thing in the morning. I have not regretted it for one day, even with the dry eyes, amount of saline bottles I have purchased, the glare of headlights at night or even the fact that I won't ever be able to do a late night eyeball massage ever again. I really do miss being able to rub my eyes, it's the closest thing to thumb sucking that I can relate to. Still, this is sooooo much better and I am very grateful for lasik, optometrists, glasses and eye drops.

Oh, and the flashes of light? Vitreous detachment. Basically, I'm getting old. My eyeballs are aging more rapidly than my birthdays. We'll have to watch out for retina detachment - which is a problem - but for now I just deal with occasional flashes of light and foggy floaters in my vision. If you ever see me jump suddenly for no apparent reason or randomly space off like I'm trying to look at my brain then you know that the detachment is fooling with me. It's all good.

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We have crappy electrical service out here. Everyone around us is on Rocky Mountain Power and yet we fall on the Fall River Electric grid. Just our subdivision and the one right past us. Don't know what deal was made for that but here we are without power on almost a weekly basis during even the most lame of windstorms.

This morning the power flickered off and on nearly 20 times. I know because every time it happened I had to go restart the dryer and couldn't blow dry my hair or flush the toilet (the well pump is electric) and was cut off in the middle of a phone conversation twice due to our cordless phones. It's not that I can't live without electricity for a time here and there, I do it frequently, it just seemed to interrupt my routine a little more than usual today. By 3:00 it was out for good, at least for 67 minutes. The boys were getting frustrated that they couldn't play downstairs - too dark, with the storm clouds gathering around us - or watch a show, or play on the computer or flush the toilet or wash their hands or stand in front of the fridge with the door open or heat any water for hot cocoa. I gathered them into the living room to build a fort and, with a flashlight, read some stories. They were more than willing but Nathan still stated in a rather impatient tone, "why don't you just have dad fix it? He's an electrician!"

And that was our next step if the power was still out by dinner time. Dad would fire up his toys and with our gas generator we would have power. Go Dad! (Mom can do it too but I'll let Dad be the electrical hero, I'm the fort hero today.)

Halloween 2011

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Some years I manage to pull out a few decorations, some years they don't even make it out of the basement. I don't like the pressure of coming up with costumes. I don't like having tons of candy for the kids to hype up on, destroying any efforts and successes that I may have made attempting to keep my family healthy. The older kids do costumes on their own. Nathan and Hyrum have worn the same Tigger costumes for the last 3 years. Trick-or-Treating is LeRoy's thing (I don't go) and it usually doesn't last long because of the cold.

BUT, we do have a couple of traditions that I love.

I love carving pumpkins with the family. I love watching the kids take a large vegetable and create a masterpiece with it. I love laughing with them over the squishy pumpkin guts. I love watching the kids all help each other, especially with the sharp carving tools.

I love seeing their excitement of the glowing faces and creatures as we gather around the frozen porch to admire our work.

I thought that we were making these ghosts just so I could have another project with the kids but, according to Nathan, we made these ghosts to "scare away any Halloween monsters".

I also love making a huge, creative mess in the kitchen with my kids getting ready for our yearly "Boo-ing" of the neighbors.

I love bundling up in dark clothes, balancing plates of scary goodies while driving without the lights on and sneaking around the neighborhoods to leave a big "Boo, we love you" on their porches. I love the kids' adrenalin rush from knocking and running and hiding and hearing the yells of "thank you" as the neighbors find their treats.

I love the laughter and retelling of the experiences as we gather again at home with hot cocoa.

So, even though I don't really like the traditional Halloween activities, I'm glad we have the excuse to do these once-a-year fun things together.

Tidbits

Fall 2011

Spring and Fall mark the time for dentist appointments. This was a first for Hyrum and Nathan's second time. I didn't know that Nathan liked the dentist but he filled Hyrum in on all the details. He explained the gloves, the bib, the drill sounding cleaner that polishes the teeth, the "sucky air" thing, the "water squirter" and of course the "duck lips". During Levi and Erika's first visit the hygienist labeled the fluoride treatment as duck lips and now it has been passed on to all the siblings.

Nathan went first and showed Hyrum that it doesn't hurt at all and how to hold the sucky thing between the duck lips and how to open his mouth reeeeally wide. Hyrum jumped up in the "magic chair" and did exactly as he was told, the way Nathan showed him. They both walked away with prizes, balloons, cool new toothbrushes, and their very own toothpaste and floss.

Nathan did have one cavity that needed a filling so on a follow-up visit he got to experience the excitement of laughing gas. He was a little more nervous this time but took Lambie for comfort. They put the gas on him and he laid there quietly for a few minutes. As he raised his arms up and said in a blubber "my arms are floating" we knew that the gas had kicked in. He giggled as he played with his fingers and tried to talk. Then came time for the work. He didn't flinch through the two shots, he didn't whimper during the drilling or placing of the new filling and he didn't squirm. He was quite happy.

They let him take home his laughy gas nose piece which he bragged about at home while asking when he could go back. He also got to pick another prize. He certainly picked one that marked the event.

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Our cat and bird have made friends. Well, mostly. The cat likes to sleep on Erika's bed during the morning hours while the boys are wound up and crazy. Then he moves to Hyrum's bed for nap time. For those hours while Harrison is napping on Erika's bed, the bird cheerfully welcomes in the morning with his chirping and singing. However, Harrison just wants to sleep so he has been known to meow his annoyance at Barbados (the bird). It has happened enough that Barbados now meows back at Harrison but Harrison has not picked up on the hint that Barbados wants to play. So, Barbados has started diving at Harrison while he is asleep. It's really quite funny to watch. Harrison lazily lays there and bats at him as he circles. Barbados is pretty darn lucky that Harrison is too fat and lazy to move from his napping position and he is de-clawed.

Harrison had finally had enough. As I walked past Erika's room one morning I could see Harrison and Barbados both sitting by the cage having a staring contest. I wasn't sure where it would go from there but I watched them for a minute. I couldn't tell who blinked first but eventually they both just stared out the window and seemed content to just be together. I quickly grabbed my camera to have a picture to show Erika after she got home from school. I took one picture and then called out "hey guys" and they both looked for the next picture.

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After reading about Lehi's vision in the Book of Mormon the boys were in a path making phase. They would use books, blocks, toys, and towels. They always had their "iron rod" and worked together.

My favorite was when they were taking a bath in the big tub and built a path to the promised land with their bath toys. When I asked where the tree of life was in the tub Nathan responded with "the tap of life water".

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Our neighbor's daughter got married so they decided to take down the loft bed that her dad made for her when she was 12 and they brought it over to us. Derek took the wood from an old bunk bed that we had and built a frame for Hyrum to have a bed underneath Nathan.

That lasted for about 2 weeks until a sick night when, in the middle of the night, Nathan was disoriented and couldn't figure out how to get off his bed and vomited ALL OVER THE PLACE. It was everywhere! Derek and I had to carefully lift the mattress over the side and set it on the floor to clean up the mess and then I had to wipe down the entire bed and change Hyrum's bedding as well. That experience, coupled with the fact that I couldn't tuck Nathan into bed very well or occasionally snuggle with him, put a temporary end to the bunk bed and it became a loft.

The boys have enjoyed that even more than the bunk bed. We have since added walls (sheets) so that it is their own private clubhouse. There is room enough to have the small table and chairs for activities and lunches or we can clear out the space and throw in a ton of pillows to have movie time with the travel DVD player. One night they even had a "sleepover" in their fort with their beds right there in the same room with them.

Sightseeing with Vivien

We had a few reasons to go on a couple of day trips.

We wanted to show Vivien the beautiful nature around us.

Vivien needed to take outdoor pictures for her photography class.

Derek needed the driving hours to fulfill his permit requirements.

Mesa Falls
August 2011

Vivien had been with us for one week

LeRoy, Derek, Nathan, Vivien and I took a Sunday afternoon to go up to Island Park to look at a cabin that LeRoy was going to be working on Monday morning. While Derek and LeRoy made a parts list for the cabin Vivien took pictures of Nathan and I enjoyed the peaceful calm around me.

On our way home we stopped at Mesa Falls.

Vivien was good to capture pictures of ALL the creatures around her.

Can you see LeRoy in the picture?

I love Mesa Falls! I wish it was in my backyard but I'm grateful it is only an hour away. I love the sound of the crashing water that drowns out the rest of the world. I love the drifting mist that rises up to gently coat the hot air with a cool breeze. I love the sound of the birds singing joyfully in their beautiful home. I love the smell of pine and wild flowers and the gentle rustle of the leaves on the trees, especially the quaking aspens. When I am there I can't help but sing softly to myself one of my favorite songs that seems so appropriate for how feel.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky.

Whenever I feel the [mist] on my face or the wind as it rushes by.

Whenever I touch a [pine tree branch] or watch as the [squirrel jumps trees].

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me.

Jackson Hole

October 2011

Again, Derek needed drive time and Vivien needed to take pictures so Derek, Vivien, Justin and I took a day trip to Jackson Hole. We laughed so hard I about wet myself. I love hanging out with these spontaneous, witty teenagers!

We had to stop at the top of the pass to let the car cool down for a few minutes which gave us the opportunity to view the valleys below and the awe of being up so high. Once in town we wandered the square and browsed through shops, finally arriving at the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. We spent a couple of hours shocked, amazed and disgusted by all the random stuff around us.

Our last stop was at an ice cream shop. We could not stop laughing at the cookie jars sitting on the counter.

Vivien's Birthday

Vivien had only been with us for five weeks when her birthday came. It had been a very stressful month for her trying to adjust to the language, a large family, the school, and trying to do homework in another language. She was still very quiet, kept to herself, and didn't eat much. Knowing her birthday was coming up, I made an even bigger effort to get to know what she DID like. I found in that month that she loves purple, fuzzy blankets, socks, Superman, strawberry ice cream and Peanut MnM's, and cheese pizza. I figured we could work up a party around that and really hoped that it would help her feel more a part of the family and for her to know that we were glad she was with us.

During the day, Hyrum and I went to the school to decorate her locker. Erika and Derek skipped out of class for a few minutes to help and leave her notes.

When she walked in after school I could see that something was different. She thanked me for doing the locker and was happy to toss around a couple of the balloons that were decorating the kitchen for her. We all enjoyed the cheese pizza. I enjoyed seeing her finally eat something.

I didn't know if she even liked cake but we stuck to American tradition and I tried to make one with things that I knew she liked. Rather than just to cake I layered cake with strawberry ice cream and topped it all with Peanut MnM's. The combination was a little odd to me but she was very pleased with it.

The boys went in together to get her a superman shirt and some fuzzy socks to match. Erika got her a purple fuzzy blanket and LeRoy and I got her a BIG pillow pet from Costco.

It was the first time in five weeks that we saw Vivien really relax, laugh and smile. It really helped that Erika, Derek and Justin were sucking helium from the balloons, filling the night with high pitched entertainment.

A few days later she got a package from her Mom and sister. She kindly shared Slovak, Hungarian and European treats with us. The giving on all our parts seemed to draw us closer together.

"I'm gonna live forever. So far, so good"

~Vivien

You Have To Be There

I cannot say it better than the lyrics already do. Thank you, Benny and Björn from ABBA, for this emotional cry that I can belt out in all the unprofessional bellowing of my soul since it is written, like most of the ABBA songs, in a range that I can reach.

You Have To Be There
You have banished me
From the land where I was born
Here upon a foreign shore, forsaken
I have followed you and done thy way
Should I kneel to you?
When I rise, you strike me down
Once again, a little one you've taken
Everywhere I turn it's darker still

What is it Lord that you want
And that I am not seeing?
What in my innocent prayers
Am I failing to say?
Never before have I questioned the truth of your being
Never once have I dared
Never until today

All of a tremble
I stand on the edge of confusion
Who is to save me
If into the darkness I fall?
Now that I need more than ever my God to be near me
Do you hear when I call?
Are you there after all?

You have to be there, you have to
My life I have placed in thy keep
And without you I am drifting on a dark and rising sea
You have to be there, you have to
Without you I'd drown in the deep
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down

I reach for your hand

Who when I die will throw open his arms to receive me?
Who will believe me and take me into his embrace?
When I go to my rest, who will watch me and wake me?
When my time comes at last, will you grant me your grace?
I am so small on this Earth, I am nothing without you
Daring to doubt you at all turns a knife in my heart
Little by little I'm losing my way in the shadows
I am losing my hold and the world falls apart

No, you have to be there, you have to
My life I have placed in thy keep
And without you I am drifting on a dark and rising sea
You have to be there, you have to
Without you I'd drown in the deep
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down
I reach for your hand

And without you I am drifting on a dark and rising sea
You have to be there, you have to
Without you I'd drown in the deep
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down
I reach for your hand

Cabin-ing

This was our first time staying in a cabin instead of a tent to "camp".

September, 2011

LeRoy was asked by a friend do some electrical work at a cabin in Island Park. Instead of doing it as a paying job we opted to trade for a weekend stay at the cabin over Labor Day weekend. After the kids got home from school on Friday and we got everything loaded up we started our weekend away. We got there after dark so didn't get to take in our outdoor surroundings until the next morning.

The inside sent me right back to the 80's with the baby blue and light pink floral decorating most of the rooms, needle points framed in ruffled hoops, floral hats on the walls and the green couch that welcomed us in the entry way.

The kitchen was great! I was told that the kitchen would have basic supplies in it but that thing had all condiments in the fridge, the cupboards had all baking supplies and there were even crackers and cereal. I found out later that the cabin is used nearly every weekend by someone in their family so they keep it full of supplies throughout the summer.

The next morning we woke to a beautiful sunrise, took a quiet morning walk down to the lake and enjoyed the peaceful calm of nature waking up for the day. The kids were happy to see the swing and trampoline near the cabin. I was thrilled to not have cell service or electronics interfering with family time.

We are not really a water family but it is still enticing when only knee deep. The boys had fun wading in it and the older boys entertained us with their karate kid impressions on the lone rock.

It was so fun to have Kate, Korben, and Logan join us for the weekend. I love watching the cousins play together and the older boys watching out protectively for all of them.

After a day of wandering and playing we let the boys choose a movie to watch before bedtime. Of all the movies we had there they chose Tangled. The perfect boy movie. The boys didn't even notice Kate taking pictures of them but Erika and Vivien did their best to hide from the camera.

Since we were "camping" we had to have a campfire to cook marshmallows over. Vivien had never had marshmallows before and decided after one sticky, crusty, hot blob of straight sugar that it really wasn't her thing.

Two of my favorite pictures from the weekend:

My teens

My man