salmonsarah

We've been Slacking on our blog

2010-01-23T15:16:00.005-07:00

Martin's Cove Trek

2009-06-14T16:22:00.005-06:00

We had the opportunity to go to Martin's Cove, Sixth Crossing and Rock Creek Hallow on a handcart trek with our ward neighborhood. We took the girls along to make the experience more like the real thing. It was amazing! I echo the comment of one of our neighbors, this could've been in a swamp in the middle of the desert and we still would've gone because of the people that were there. We absolutely love our neighborhood and they're part of the reason the trek was so good.

If you don't know much about the Martin and Willie handcart companies that got trapped in a blizzard in Wyoming I highly reccomend reading up on your LDS history and then go and experience the spirit at these sacred and hallowed places. Here's some photos from our trek...

Chloe's First Birthday

2009-06-14T15:38:00.005-06:00

On the first weekend in June, my great Uncle Lloyd and great Aunt Mary came to visit. It had been two years since we saw them last and we had a wonderful time visiting with them and my Gramps and Tante Terri, mom, and brothers.

They were all able to make it to Chloe's first birthday party at Southfork Park in the Provo Canyon. It was a bit chilly, but when the sun came out it was perfect.

Chloe loved her cake, but she had to have a spoon to eat it! Guess this little one doesn't like to get her fingers sticky!

Chloe had a party at home with her sisters and some of her cousins on Friday, June 5th. She got into the spirit of opening presents pretty quickly and loved all her new clothes and toys.

Princess Festival

2009-06-14T15:32:00.002-06:00

This past Friday we went to the Princess Festival in Lindon, Utah. The girls had a great time helping the Prince from each princess story rescue the Princess. The entry fee went to helping women and children in Africa build their communities and create businesses to generate income. It was a worthy cause and fun too!

Owies!

2009-06-14T15:28:00.002-06:00

So Sam took the older girls fishing one morning and they had a blast - they didn't catch a thing but that was okay. They got doughnuts and time by themselves with Daddy. Kaylee also got a huge scrape on her cheek when she fell on a rock there and it's finally healing. Ginger got bit by mosquitos around her eye on our Martin's cove trek and it was so swollen! Thank goodness our bishop is an eye doctor!

May 2009

2009-06-14T15:23:00.002-06:00

We had some great weather in May so we played outside a ton. We also got a lot done on the exterior of our house - a new roof, new siding on the gables, shutters, and just recently a new porch cover in the back. There's a little bit more to do on the house, but it's coming along so quickly!

Lemonade stand

2009-06-14T15:18:00.002-06:00

Kaylee read a book about a girl who did a lemonade stand and thought it would be fun, so she begged me everyday until I made the time to do one with her. But we couldn't just sell regular old lemonade, we sold flavored lemonade. Strawberry, raspberry, and peach lemonades really brought the customers in and the girls each made $7. We sold the lemonade 25 cents a cup, but a lot of people were really generous and let them keep the change. They had a lot of fun, and learned a little bit about working to make money too. Kaylee hasn't asked to do another one though, maybe it was too much work!

Easter 2009

2009-06-14T15:09:00.002-06:00

Here are some pic's of our girls on Easter - what a cute bunch!

We had an easter egg hunt at Linda's place with the cousins - lots of eggs and candy! I think we still have chocolate eggs in our candy bowl!

2009-02-02T16:31:00.006-07:00

Ginger is a Character.She and Kaylee love to steal the camera and take crazy pictures of themselves or make silly faces when we take pictures of them. I have been wanting to put all the pictures we have of Ginger being crazy together. Finally today I was able to do it. I found 81 fun pictures of her. So I picked the top 20 or so to show off. We Love Ginger for the fun girl that she is.

Disneyland and Huntington Beach

2008-11-23T15:41:00.016-07:00

This post is a little late. We took the family down to Disneyland in the begining of November. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and the girls had a lot of fun. We broke the drive up by staying in Vegas on the way down and back.

The first day we were there we walked to the park.The girls had no idea where we were going, they thought that we were just going to a "park", little did they know it was Disneyland Park.

The girls had fun talking with Tinker Bell they asked her a bunch of questions, it was so cute.

Gingers favorite part was driving the cars in Tommarowland. I t was the only ride that had a line and we waited in it twice for her.

They got soaking wet in the water, but it was warm enough that it was refreshing.

We had fun on the Buzz Light Year ride we went on more times then I can even count.

Stitch loved playing with Chloe. I t was cool to see one of the chatracters interact with us like that. There was a bunch of people trying to get an autograph or picture with Stitch but he ignored them and played with Chloe for about 5 minutes. It was the highlight of our trip. It made her so happy. We ended up buying alittle Stitch doll because of it.

They were so excited for the Parade.

We wasted a day away at Hunnington Beach. It was well worth it

I don't think Sarah got any closer then this to the water. She had a good time reading her book and soaking up the rays. And yes, she is wearing clothes. It wasn't one of those kind of beaches.

The sunset was beautiful. Sarah had fun taking pictures of the sunset.

Wisdom for Me to Live by...or at least try.

2008-10-27T23:32:00.003-06:00

Today I was having a rough day with the kids. Well, let's be honest here... it's been rough on and off since Kaylee decided she had a mind of her own and Ginger followed suit. When I finally had a moment to myself to think about the day and how it had gone, I found myself pondering what I could do because the way I was doing things just wasn't cutting it. I yelled so much today, and I felt so behind in trying to keep up with the house and all that needs to be done. The list is exhausting and I always feel like I can't keep up.
These sorts of days just don't sit well with me - I always feel I could be doing better, that yelling and being angry isn't the person I want to be, and that I'm sure I'm hurting my kids by being this way. You know, the regular guilt trips us moms give ourselves. While I was thinking about all this, a friend's name popped into my mind and I knew I should give her a call. She answered right away and had the best advice. She's a mom of several kids and always seems so laid back. I admire that about her and that her kids really seem to respect her. So I asked her what her secret was.
She said she remembered the scripture in D&C 121: 41-43 which says we should persuade only by gentleness and meekness and love unfeigned. I've read these scriptures before and I know this is the way Christ taught and the way I need to teach. The next thing she said which made the biggest difference in how I look at this scripture was to decide what is critical that my kids do and what's not. Chances are there are very few critical things that my kids do, things that are life/death sorts of things, incl. spiritual life/death things. So if she's asking her kids to hurry and put their shoes on so they're not late, she'll help them out instead of get angry at them and frustrated. It's the long-suffering part, the love and service part of that scripture I need to do. These are my children, my job is to love and serve them. Because who else loves us like our mothers?
My friend also mentioned Moroni 7: 45 - charity (the pure love of Christ) suffereth long, and is kind...and seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked...beareth all things...endureth all things. I need to be less selfish and seek to put the needs of my children (and my husband) before my own selfish interests. Of course we're supposed to take care of ourselves too, so we don't deplete our well of love and service, but I need to remember these two scriptures.
The other thing I've learned through motherhood is the meaning of sacrifice. We sacrifice so much for our children: our bodies, our time, our showers, our sleep, our money, you name it, we give it at one time or another. But we do it because they are our greatest source of true joy and happiness. I love my girls - they have been my greatest trials but also my greatest blessings. I hope I can remember the advice I received from my friend tonight so that my relationship with each of them is better, that we're closer and we can feel the peace that comes from living in a Christ like manner.
By the way Sam, you are the best husband! I'm so grateful for your love and help in raising our children and for how hard you work for our family. Thank you, really, for all that you do everyday for our family and for me. Your love and service to me has not gone unnoticed - your girls are grateful for all that you provide for us. I'm so glad our girls have such a great relationship with you. It's so very important for them to have you around and to have the relationship they have with you. Thank you Sammy and I love you!

Addresses please....

2008-10-23T23:18:00.002-06:00

If you're address isn't in our sidebar to the right, chances are we don't have it anymore... or we've misplaced that email. We don't have to add it to our links if you don't want us to, but we'd sure love to see what you're up to! Just email us with your blog address and tell us if posting it is an option or not. Thanks all!

Chloe Update

2008-10-19T22:00:00.005-06:00

Chloe had her four month birthday this month which means we can start giving her real food. She loves her rice cereal. Kaylee loves to feed her, I think more cereal ends up on her face then in her mouth when she feeds her though.

Did you know that they made a Cabbage Patch Doll after Chloe. If she were smiling you would see her dimples and she would look like the doll even more!
Chloe has found her voice. Usually after we change her diaper she is happy and starts talking.
As you may know Chloe made an exciting entrance into this world and had a rough first few days of her life. She hasn't had any health problems from being born in the truck. Sarah and I were just talking about how much of a blessing she is in our family. No matter how crazy our home gets and frustrating Kaylee and Ginger make us Chloe bring a special spirit into our family. She can always make you smile. She always smiles at her sisters and her parents. We love her so much.

Do You Like It?

2008-10-19T21:34:00.005-06:00

Okay, Sam is forcing me to blog right now about my hair. I was debating about what to do - it's been falling out for a few weeks like crazy and getting too unmanageable and Chloe loves to pull it and wrap it around her hands (which probably adds to the hair loss). So I found this photo of Alexis Bledel and took it into my stylist Debi Tea at Salon Revez. I think she did a great job and Sam said it's better than things I've done in the past to my hair so that's a good thing too. Of course my hair in this pic doesn't really look like Alexis' but it did when I came home from the salon! We'll see if I can get it that way again.

The First Snow

2008-10-12T16:26:00.003-06:00

Kaylee and Ginger were so excited yesterday when it was snowing outside. I got their snow clothes out of the box in the garage and got them all bundled up. By that time it had stopped snowing and none of it stuck to the ground. they were bummed. Then this morning they were so happy to see the snow on the ground. We let them play a Little bit this morning before church. Everything has melted now. Seven Years in Utah and we still love the snow.

Catching up on September

2008-10-12T14:29:00.007-06:00

September came and went before we knew it. We wanted to blog about all the things we did but wasn't able to, so here we are just doing one post for the whole month. September means Peaches in our family. We are blessed with two peach trees in our yard. One tree is more than enough peaches for us to eat and can. We were able to can 20 quarts of peaches and give away a bunch more. Yumm.....Kaylee and her friend Mikelle made their own peach soup one day after school.

Where's Chloe?
Roooooaaaarrrr!!!!!
Ginger Loves her Firefighter costume ad wears it everyday.

I'm ready for a bath Mom.
Kaylee was so excited to go to the theatre with Grams (Sarah's Mom). She talked about it all day long. They saw "Suessical the Musical" at the Scera Theatre in Orem.

Grams knew the actor who played the Cat in the Hat, who is the Narrator for the show, so after the the show they were able to get his autograph in Kaylee's Cat in the Hat book.

Happy Anniversary

2008-09-28T19:04:00.003-06:00

Today is Sarah and my Seventh Wedding Anniversary. I just wanted to let her know that I love her very much. We have been through alot in the last seven years including: Moving away from home, remolding a home (which was started 7 years ago and hasn't stopped yet), College, working many different jobs, finding my job as a Firefighter, starting my own business, health problems and three daughters. I have grown to love Sarah more through all of the trials that we have gone through. When we first started dating g we used to say that we went together like " Peanut Butter and Jam" and seven years later we still do. I wish this could have been a bigger celebration for us this year, but I am working today and our lives have been pretty busy lately. I love You Sarah!

Last Camping Trip of 2008

2008-09-08T18:20:00.006-06:00

Since I had some time off of work over a weekend we decided to take advantage of it and spend it camping. We wanted to go somewhere where we had never been before. We also wanted to be far enough away where there wouldn't be alot of people. So we found this campground which was two hours away. We had a great campsite. There were two large ponds right in the campground.

Kaylee and Ginger love Rolly Polly bugs at home and this one was a little bit scarier then them.

I am so blessed to have a beautiful wife who doesn't need makeup to look pretty.

This Little creek was right behind our campsite and it was fun to explore.

We didn't get a picture of us fishing but there were alot of fish that you could see from the shore. I caught an albino trout and the girls had fun fishing. Kaylee can cast her line out about 20 ft all by herself.
Our little ladies
We hiked around the ponds. the girls had fun picking flowers and find "camping sticks" that they could throw into the pond.

Chloe had a good time on her first camping trip. We celebrated her 3 month birthday by having some dutch oven cake.

If anyone wants to come with us next year we are planning to go in September again. We are definitely going to bring the canoes and maybe even four wheelers. There are alot of trails around to ride. Let us know if you want to go!

Gingers' First Day at Preschool!

2008-09-08T18:15:00.001-06:00

Ginger had her first day of Preschool. She is going to the same preschool that Kaylee went to. Her teacher is really great. She is excited to be able to go to school like her big sister.

First Day of School

2008-09-03T20:31:00.003-06:00

It's finally here, our first child is in school. Kaylee is so excited about going to school. Her teacher is a veteran Kindergarten teacher and is great with the kids. Kaylee really likes her too. Kaylee already made a new friend on the first day. I asked Kaylee what her favorite part of school was and her answer was the same as mine when I was her age "Recess!"

Cataract Canyon Rafting Trip

2008-08-30T13:36:00.009-06:00

I had the oppurtunity to go on a four day rafting trip with the youngmen in my ward. We went down the Colorado River through Catact Canyon. We started in Moab, Ut and ended up in Lake Powell.

We got to do a few hikes everyday. These are some Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs. The other pics are of some side canyons we hiked up.

If you look hard enough you can see our heads in the water as we swim through the rapids. That was one of the funnest parts of the trip. It was exhausting too, because once you were about 2/3 the way through you had to start swimming to the side to get out of it. We thankfully didn't loose any body and no one got hurt the entire trip.

Your view going through the rapids. This is the boat that I was on most of the time
The river made a big 180 degree turn which took three mile so we hiked up and over the mountain to catch up with the boats on the other side. It was a cool view from the top.

We made camp on this beach the first night.

On the last night we were having a hard time finding a good place to camp. We found this little shelf on the riverside. I slept on top of a rock above this picture. The rock projected out above the river and had an awesome view of the river
I highly recommend Tour West River Adventures. They did a very good job. http://www.twriver.com/

Barbie Island Princess Birthday Party

2008-08-03T19:23:00.002-06:00

Kaylee turned Five years old. She had alot of having all of her friends and cousins over to celebrate. It is pretty crazy that she will be going into Kindergarden in two weeks! We are so proud of her.

Family Reunion Week

2008-07-25T20:37:00.006-06:00

We had a very busy week during the Fourth of July Weekend. All six of my brothers were able to come out to Utah for the many events that took place. It was really great to see everyone during that week, we just wish everyone was able to spend more time. Kaylee and Ginger loved playing with all of their cousins that they don't get to see very often. Here was our schedule for Our Busy Week.
Wednesday- BBQ at Tom and Diane's
Thursday- Lindsey's 8th B-Day Party at the park and Lehi pool
Friday 4th of July- Picnic at South Fork Park
Saturday- Lindsey's Baptism, Block party at Chucks House, Fireworks
Sunday- Chloe's Blessing, Picnic at the park, Uncle Keiths 75th B-Day Party in Malad, ID. Traveled to Nola's in Menan, ID.
Monday- Tim and Nola's Wedding
Tuesday- Swimming at Lava Hot Springs
Wednesday- I worked at the Fire Station
Thursday- Dinner at Todd and Shelly's, Four Wheeling and Swimming

Chloe's Story Part 1

2008-06-29T14:22:00.003-06:00

Hi Everyone! I'm finally blogging again. Sam asked me how long it'd been - it looks like forever based off of our site. Anyway, I guess people are asking for the entire story of how Chloe was born and "What?! She was born in the truck?!" . So here I am with all the details of Thursday evening the 5th of June.

Thursday mid-morning I thought that I might have a slow/small amnio fluid leak and I called my doula. We figured out that it very well could've been and that maybe sometime that day I would go into labor. Well, the previous weekend I had two nights of contractions timing at 5 minutes, then 4, then 3, then 2 1/2 minutes and then disappeared. So I wasn't too worried. I felt what seemed to be braxton hicks throughout the day, painless tightening every so often, but nothing serious at all.
At 7pm I came in from talking with the neighbors to make a quick leftover dinner for the girls. I noticed that I was starting to have contractions that kind of took some concentration to go through. I couldn't heat up the quesadillas, get the girls to clean up the fishies on the floor and get through the contraction all at the same time, so I thought it might be the night and called Sam to tell him to stay close to the phone. Ten minutes or so went by with a few more contractions, no cooperation from the kids and still no dinner for them so I called my doula/neighbor 3 doors down, to come and help me. Kirsten came over by 7:15 pm and after we talked for a few minutes and went through some contractions together we called a different friend to have her come and pick up the kids. No one we originally talked to about taking the kids was home! Figures, ya know?
So Larissa came and picked up the girls around 7:30pm which by then I really had to concentrate through the contractions and couldn't speak through them. I was trying hard not to let the girls see that it was tough because they were really worried. After they left we called Sam to tell him to come home and this was the real deal. While we were waiting for him the contractions were really coming on and Kirsten decided we should get the hospital. So at 7:45pm we called Sam to tell him to meet us at the hospital and he had just gotten onto the freeway in Sandy. Kirsten put our bags and things into the truck and then helped me out there.
We left our house just before 8 pm and when we got to the stop light down the block I was starting have really intense contractions, right on top of eachother, no breaks in between. After we turned onto 8th North I couldn't get comfortable sitting forward so I flipped myself around so I was leaning against the back of the chair, facing the back of the truck, kneeling on the chair. Finally a little relief! But after I did that I started pushing - I couldn't help it at all, and I could barely get myself to breath through the contraction so as to not push Chloe out.
Between 8:05 and 8:10 we made it to Timpanogos Regional Hospital and Kirsten pulled up into the ER entrance where she jumped out and yelled at onlookers to get an nurse because I was having the baby in the truck. After what felt like forever a nurse came and asked me to get out - I said there was no way I was doing the that because I was pushing. So she checked me to see that I hadn't crowned yet, hopped into the seat behind me and Kirsten drove us around to the maternity entrance. It wasn't very far but I was definately pushing and the nurse kept trying to get me not to push, but it was too late - Chloe was on her way.
The whole delivery team was waiting for us outside and when we stopped the nurse and Kirsten jumped out. They were trying to figure out how to get me inside because I was pushing. And while they were discussing this I pushed Chloe's head out. I couldn't tell them because I was pushing and groaning but after she was out I yelled as loud as I could, "the baby's head it out!" I was still fully dressed, so they pulled my clothes off and sure enough there she was. So I delivered Chloe the rest of the way at 8:14 pm - Kirsten called Sam and told him the baby was born and that it was a girl. He was still on the freeway, but not too far away. They took Chloe inside to the newborn admitting and I sent Kirsten with her. They took me into the delivery room where we took care of the rest of the delivery, but I had to wait 1 1/2 hours for my doctor to show up to stitch me up because he was doing an emergency c-section. Sam showed up right after I was taken into the delivery room, and a few minutes after that my mom, brother and Jen Barnes all arrived. So this is the true story of how Chloe was born in our truck in the Timp Hospital parking lot in an hour and 15 minutes. Check in again soon for part 2 - the rest of the story and new photos too! (I'm going to take a nap!)

Yard Sale

2008-06-25T07:39:00.003-06:00

On Friday night Sarah and I were cleaning out our garage and back patio (or should I say storage shed with no walls). I told Sarah "someday we are going to get tired of storing all this "stuff" and we will have a yard sale and get rid of it. So about 15 minutes later I told Sarah that it was time. So we went through everything and pulled everything out that we haven't used in the last year or more. We filled our entire carport with "stuff".
The Sale went very well. I got up early for the die hard buyers and put all the "stuff" out. Sarah sold all of her "stuff" for dirt cheap. I don't think she sold anything for more then a dollar. She sold all the toys and kid clothes for only 25 cents. I had fun bartering with people. The best deal of the day was a guy who was looking at some fabric that Sarah had. He asked me "How much?" I said "Two dollars". Then he kept adding more fabric to the pile and the price went back and forth and he ended up buying all the fabric on the blanket and even the old blanket it was all lying on.This same guy ended up spending about $50 at our sale. At noon we had made $130 and it was about 130 degrees or at least it felt like it so we packed up and took the rest of the "stuff" to the thrift store.
With our money we purchased some pavers to go under our fire pit and some wood for a hammock stand Sarah has commished me to make.
The girls did good with selling their stuff. The did end up taking a few things back
The water was a good idea but we didn't sell a single bottle! We drank it though.
We wanted to sell this stroller but Ginger hung out in it the entire time. She loves to play "Baby"

Busy week having fun with dad

2008-06-15T22:46:00.002-06:00

We're HOME!

2008-06-08T22:48:00.002-06:00

We did it! Chloe past all of her tests today and the Dr said she can come home. We were hoping that she could have come home this morning, but the Dr wanted her to be on the lights a little bit longer. That was a let down so we didn't want to be let down again, so we just told ourselves that we wouldn't come home till Monday morning. We were so excited to hear that we could come home tonight. Chloe's Beliruben levels have continued to drop. We still need to get her tested again to make sure they don't go back up. It is so nice to be able to finally be able hold Chloe whenever we want. When we were at the hospital we were regulated on the amount of time she could be out of the lights, we were always trying to sneak in a few extra minutes. I am going to have alot of time off from work so my goal is to be Super Dad for the next few weeks. I have planned to do alot of fun things with the Kaylee and Ginger so Sarah wil be able to have alot of time to herself with Chloe.

Chloe Pictures

2008-06-07T13:51:00.000-06:00

Day Two

2008-06-07T11:20:00.003-06:00

To start, Chloe is doing good and she wil hopefully come home tommorrow morning. To correct myself in the last entry she was actully born at 8:12.
It has been a new experience for Sarah and I to have a baby who not only was born in the front seat of the truck but to also have one that has had to stay in the nursuery the entire time. I have more time today to give a better update on Chloe. On Thursday night/Friday morning Chloe was in the nursurey and her oxygen saturations would drop into the low 80s. This worried the Dr. so he put her on oxygen with a nasal cannula. They also did a chest X-ray. She had some fluid in her lungs. The blood test reults came back that she had some type of infection. So because of all of this they started her on an antibiotic. If that wasn't enough her beliruben levels were rising, meaning that she was jaundice. She now has three lights on her to help. They want her to stay in light for 2 1/2 hours then she can be out for 1/2 an hour to nurse. It was an emotional roller coaster, we knew that none of this was too serious but we wish she could be in our room, so we could pick her up and hold her whenever we wanted.
We got good news this morning. They did a blood test and her white blood count was down meaning that the antibiotics were working! She will be finished with the antibiotics in the morning. The Dr. said that she should be able to go home tommorrow morning also if her beliruben level stay down. She has been doing really well with her oxygen levels. They weaned her off of the oxygen and she has been keeping her level up all by herself.
Thank You everyone that has and will be helping us. We hope to her from you all soon.

Chloe Olivia Hale is Here!

2008-06-06T07:05:00.002-06:00

Chloe was born last night at 7:12 pm in the front seat of our Expedition in the parking lot of the hospital. I was on my way there from the fire station, after receiving a phone call from our neighbor Kirsten who drove her there. Chloe had a rough start into this world but she is doing good now. They are keeping her in the nursury while we are at the hospital to be able to monitor her vital signs. They have also started doing some light therapy because she is a little jaundice. Sarah is doing very well and has been up and around. I will post some pics soon. Visiting Chloe is very limited so it may be best to wait till we get home to see them. Feel free to give us a call. Keep Chloe and Sarah in your Prayers. Thank You Everyone who has been helping us.

2008-06-01T20:37:00.003-06:00

So today I was reading and letting the kids play and we all know what happens when we let our guard down with kids. This was the surprise today - Ginger loves chocolate, but this was a new way to love it. I'll need to keep a closer eye on Ginger and her treats I guess.

High Alert Status!

2008-05-31T21:25:00.008-06:00

We are on High Alert Status because this aby could come at any minute. Yesterday I came home from work and I found Sarah pulling weeds in the flower beds, I think she was trying to get labor going, that is what she did, well actually, we thought she was going into labor. She spent the evening having contractions that were pretty regular and intense. My job was to time them and help her get through the pain. We were all ready to go to the hospital, we had the kids shipped off to Jen's house for the night the truck was packed, we had our Dula with us. We didn't want to go tothe hospital until we had to, so we waited, and waited... The contractions didn't change or get any more intense so we decided to just go to bed and see what happens. Sarah woke up with contractions for about an hour but they went away. Today they have been spaced out further and less intense. Sarah believes that tommorrow June 1st is the day. I have to work so we will see what happens. As for now we are still on High Alert Status!

Nesting at it's best... or worse?

2008-05-25T22:49:00.002-06:00

Since I shared some slightly embarrassing info about Sam, I thought it only fair to let you in on one of my own little secrets - I have OCD - like crazy. But only regarding the cleanliness of my house. I'm sure some of you have suspected this or we've joked around about it, but it's always been a little secret of ours. Sam's great and is really patient about it and he's a great sport when I ask him to help me deep clean something.

Lately I've been playing it off as nesting, but that horomone has really started kicking in this past week. I have this undeniable urge to get the house ready for the baby. Which has meant of course deep cleaning and reorganizing EVERYTHING in the house. We finally finished with the storage room on Saturday and I have to brag, it's beautiful! I can walk inside, find everything I need, not stepping on buttons or beads which have been spilt out of the craft box. It's a dream come true for me :) Is that sad?

I never remember to take a before picture, but just use your imagination and make it as messy as you can. Now look at the picture, it's gorgeous, isn't it!

Allergic to what?

2008-05-25T22:22:00.003-06:00

So funny story. Friday Sam was working at the fire station and they went to the market to pick up lunch. Sam and his captain both bought a mixed fruit salad.

Later that day.....

as everyone was eating lunch Sam's captain mentioned that the kiwi in his salad wasn't ripe and wasn't very good. Sam's kiwi was at the bottom of the bowl and when he got there, he thought he'd try it, to see if his was any good. One taste, not even a real bite, told him it wasn't ripe, so he spit it out.

1 to 2 minutes later....

Sam noticed his mouth starting to get itchy, and then he got a big lump in his throat, and his eyes started watering and itching!

I called him while this was happening and he and his coworkers were googling kiwi allergies to see what they should do. The funny thing is that I think Sam might be a hyperchondriac. He has "chronic" shoulder pain, and he keeps getting this "weird" achy pain in his side which makes it hard for him to breathe, and he's pretty sure his ribs pop in and out on their own. He always has "severe" colds, which he's certain has turned into something worse. The only thing I know for sure is wrong is that he's starting to go deaf from listening to his mp3 player so loudly I can clearly hear it from a few feet away - okay so I'm exaggerating, but just a little. He really is going deaf.

So for everyone that knows a hyperchondriac - here's my advice, go along with it as long as it doesn't cost you money. Anytime Sam wants to go to the doctor for these "symptoms" I convince him to wait another day or so. Or I tell him to go see the chiropractor, which works because he really DOESN'T like to go (I think it challenges his sense of manliness). So far these tatics have worked for us, I hope they work for you too. I'm sure there's a family help line out there and here's links to helpful websites: http://www.webmd.com/ and http://www.allergizer.com/ .

And sweetie, if you're reading this, I really DO believe you have an allergy to kiwis.....

5K for Charlie

2008-05-17T22:40:00.002-06:00

This morning we went to Salt Lake for a 5k that Sam signed up to run in. The race was to support the brain injury foundation and we found out about it from one of Sam's coworkers, Shani. She has a nephew, Charlie, who has spinal meningitis in his brain. He's only 9 months old. We have a link to her blog and she has updates about him, and a link on her page to his as well. It's a heart touching story and we hope and pray he gets better soon. There were so many people out to support him and his family today, it was so great!
So this morning I got up at 6 am - just a little side note, I NEVER get up that early, so for me to do that for him, I must love him a whole lot, I just wanted y'all to know that - and got the girls up and we headed out for Salt Lake to meet Sam by 7:3o am for the race. After the race, sorry there aren't any action shots, we went to the playground at the park. We all had fun spending the morning together there. This park was cool too, it had a water playground and the kids could all run around in it and get wet, for FREE. Free is a good thing for our family, so we'll probably go there again this summer. It was a little difficult to convince the kids that the fountains were fun to play in, but after a while, they were having fun. After the park, we all came home and took naps. It was a great day, and we all felt really good for showing our love and support for Charlie and his family. I'm really glad that we could use this opportunity to teach the girls about loving and serving others - Ginger told everyone she saw today about Charlie, they were both really touched by him and his story. If you have a chance, check out his blog and keep him and his family in your prayers!

Mother's Day :)

2008-05-17T22:24:00.002-06:00

On Sunday, my mom and brothers came over for dinner after church. We had a really great time visiting and the girls showed off for their uncles of course. They love all their uncles so much that whichever ones happen to be visiting are their favorite's for the day. So, Steven and Kurt got all the attention and were begged all afternoon to play hide 'n seek and to push them on the swings. We love having their uncles over so we get a break! I also just wanted to add that I have the best mom in the world, who's given me a wonderful example of mothering, and I hope that I can be as good of a mom as she is. My husband is more than I deserve, and I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be his wife. He is my lifesaver again and again with the girls when I'm too tuckered out with the pregnancy. He understands if jam is on the floor for a few days too. I love him so much and he's probably going to roll his eyes and then be all humble and say "whatever, Sarah" and then give me a big hug. He's so predictable, just like the romance movies I love. Anyway, I won't gush anymore, it'll embaress him too much.

Meet Matt's Girlfriend!

2008-05-17T20:25:00.003-06:00

This past week Matthew's girlfriend, Brooke, came out to visit. She got to meet the fam on her whirlwind visit and from their stories it sounds like it was a great trip for both of them. I asked them if it would be alright to post their photo so y'all could meet Brooke - they said that was fine with them, what they didn't know was what I would write! Just kidding you two, I promise I'll keep it nice. But I couldn't write anything except nice because Brooke is a sweetie. She's an early education major in school, so they kids loved her of course. She served a mission which is how she met Matt - well sort of. She had a companion who's a friend of Matt's. She's outgoing and fun and could muscle a canoe down to the river.... that seems to be a Hale requirement, I had to pass that test too. :) Anyway, here's some photos of their visit.

Help me fix this page!

2008-05-15T10:59:00.003-06:00

This is a call for help! I changed some of the settings in the html so I could put another column in the page. I have so much I want to put up, but it would fit best in 3 columns. I have two main problems: I tried adding a column in the html but it wouldn't take it because it doesn't understand another type of float, like topmiddle. It only uses startSide and endSide. The other problem I have is I don't understand half of what I'm looking at. Could someone please help me out? I've tried a few sites online that help you along, but then I'm stuck at the startSide and endSide floats for the column placement. Does anyone understand what I'm talking about?

Oh the other thing I want to do is change the header so it stretches the width of the page setting, but again, don't understand the html lingo entirely.

Please help me!

Day at the Park

2008-05-14T18:14:00.001-06:00

We took my mother-in-law to the park on Saturday, for mother's day. We flew our kites when it was windy enough, but the kids caved in to the really cool playground after a while. There was so much for them to do and explore and there were so many kids! It really wore Kaylee and Ginger out, and they were sad to go. When our cousins come out during the summer, we'd love to go there with them!

Day of fishing

2008-05-10T20:43:00.000-06:00

I took the girls to the kids fishing pond this morning while while Sarah slept in. I was surprised that they held onto their own rods. Kaylee even reeeled in her first fish with her new Hanna Montana fihing pole.Gingers was unsuccessful with her Batman rod. Kaylee has been very proud of her fish.I put it in a grocery bag and she wanted to hold it all the way home. The girls got their first anatomy lesson when they stood around and watched me clean it. After I cleaned it I put it in a ziplock bag and in the fridge, Kaylee keeps getting it out and playing with it. She acts like its swimming though the air. It is funny but also gross.They are already asking about going again.

The best news!!!

2008-05-08T14:06:00.000-06:00

We got some of the best news today! My doctor appointment was with Dr. Parker. He's the best! He's letting the certified nurse mid-wives deliver the baby, I just have to go to him for the appointments. No one feels like the baby is going to have anymore problems because the non-stress tests have been perfect and they're not going to induce! I am SO happy about this. Some people think I'm crazy, but I'm so glad it all worked out. No premie worries, no inducement worries, no baby health worries.
I am so grateful Heavenly Father has blessed us like this. Sometimes we have to walk by faith before any blessings are showered upon us. I'm glad I learned that lesson because now I feel like it'll be easier for me to rely on Heavenly Father for all I need - help with the new baby and the girls, selling our cars, buying a house and anything else that might be coming up. And I know that these health concerns with the baby can change anytime, but I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us and helping us along the way. It's so wonderful to know this. Anyway, I'll get off the podium now. :)
I hope this blog is helping everybody stay updated and I'll keep it posted as much as possible.

My flip flop quiz results.... :)

2008-05-07T14:04:00.000-06:00

I chose the pink flip flops with the flowers.

You are a very sweet and sensitive person.
You connect with other people easily.

You're the type of person who feels bad about killing bugs.
You hate to see anyone - or anything - in pain.

Your ideal warm weather place: Thailand

If you want to do it too, here's the link.
http://www.blogthings.com/theflipfloptest/

Visit to the kid's museum :)

2008-05-06T22:38:00.001-06:00

We went to the Kid's Discovery Museum at the Gateway in Salt Lake City earlier in April. In preschool Ginger and I were studying the letter B. The museum had an exhibit from Sesame Street about the human body. It was really neat! Kaylee's favorite part was playing in the house and at the pretend store. Ginger's favorite part was the kid police car.

Flower mania

2008-05-06T22:00:00.001-06:00

On my mom's birthday we went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving point in Lehi. I just got a new camera with an option specifically for shooting flowers up close so I've been loving that and here's the pic's I took that day.

Visitors!

2008-05-06T21:50:00.001-06:00

My Gramps and Tante Terri visited us from Carson City, Nevada. They came out for my mom's birthday so there are pic's of her b-day too. We had a great time seeing them and they're hopefully moving out here to Utah!

Baby Update - the latest

2008-05-04T20:56:00.000-06:00

Whew... we're breathing a sigh of relief tonight folks. We heard from the doctor this evening that the baby's not anemic! Yeah for the baby! and thank you to Heavenly Father for blessing us with this answer to prayers.
You all are beautiful :) .

2008-05-04T14:41:00.000-06:00

So Sam got me hooked. I have to say this blogging thing is pretty nifty and as Sam mentioned to me earlier, it's kind of like a family history journal, so I don't feel so bad doing this on a Sunday. Any way, we all stayed home from church today because 3 of the 4 of us were sick, and I'm being Dr. Mom today. But I really haven't done much, since I'm hooked on doing this blog. It's actually all I've done today besides make breakfast. :)

Kaylee and Ginger are resting in bed, watching movies. Their favorite movie is actually Phantom of the Opera, which I don't mind at all since Gerard Butler makes a great Phantom. I keep trying to get a costume for Sam but he says he won't wear it. Too bad!

This past week has been a bit crazy with the baby. We found out that my body is now developing the antibody D, which in Rh - moms isn't good. It attacks the babies blood, which can make it anemic, have a heart attack from stress on it's heart, and cause brain damage from lack of oxygen. We've been monitoring it from the beginning and it's always been the lowest it could be until 2 weeks ago. We got the blood test back on Monday, and I was discharged from my midwife's care because she's a direct-entry midwife, not a certified nurse midwife. I'm now high-risk, so I'm going to a well liked obgyn in my area. I haven't met him yet, but a lot of women I trust recommended him. Wednesday and Thursday I spent most of the day at the perinatologist's office in Salt Lake. He's been monitoring us with ultrasounds every month or two weeks this whole time, depending on how high the baby's blood volume is. If it's high, it suggests anemia in the baby. Wednesday and Thursday it was high enough for amniocentesis, which we did on Thursday. The amnio can tell us two things, if the lungs are mature and can count the billirubin levels which tells us how anemic the baby is. So far we know the babies lungs are mature enough to be born if need be. We're still waiting on the billirubin levels because they did the wrong test. Hopefully we'll have results on Monday. From there we'll know whether or not the baby needs to be delivered now or if we can monitor the baby until it comes on it's own. We know that everything will be fine with whatever happens and we're excited the baby can come at anytime! We're soooo not ready, I don't have a cradle or anything out yet, but hopefully I have some time this week!

If you didn't know already we're looking for a house. We'll move probably sometime in June when Sam has vacation lined up. So if you come to visit us, you'll need a new map.

Well Sam says I'm rambling so I should go before I bore you all and you never visit us again. Let us know if you have a blog and we'll add you to our links!

We jumped on the band wagon

2008-05-04T10:35:00.000-06:00

We may have started this because of peer presure, but I think it was okay to give in on this one. I told Sarah that starting a blog will help us save on cell phone minutes. Now she won't have to call everyone and talk to eveyone individually and say the same thing over and over. Now we can just post it once and then it will be done (I hope).