California Vacay- Part Deux- Day 1 of fun

We arrived in California and checked into the Portofino Inn and Suites (for anyone looking at a Cali vacation, we were able to get the large suite, with 2 beds, as well as bunk beds, for $78 a night and it's right next to Disneyland). The kids were excited that there were bunk beds. Remember when that's all it took to make your day?

The next morning we headed to Magic Mountain. So. Dang. Fun! I know you really don't care to hear all the details of each ride, but basically, Mason was the only child tall enough to go on all the rides (but there were some the first day he didn't dare go on, but the second day, that boy took 'em ALL!), so when we headed for rides to big for the little ones, one of the 4 adults (or 2) would take the kids for a while and let the others ride away while they took the kids to the kiddie rides. It worked out so well. And thanks to the time of year, there were NO- read that again- NO lines! Quite often they would just let us re-ride. Kiana, my niece, was the bravest of all! She is 8, and this tiny little thing but she loooooved all the roller coasters. She was furious about the ones she couldn't go on! It was amazing :) The weather was in the high 60's, so we did wear coats most of the time but with jackets on, we weren't cold at all. In the afternoon, we really didnt even need jackets.

California Vacay- Getting there

I'm sorry I haven't yet blogged about our trip. I have been sorting through the photos and it's taking me a while :) So I thought I would blog it a little bit at a time.

Day 1: Everything was packed and ready to go. We dropped the baby boys off at my Mom's house and drove to Pocatello where we met up with my sister, Miriam and her family. We moved everything over into their van and headed to Vegas baby!The kids were great on the long, 10 hr (ish) drive. We had 3 laptops, a DVD player, and webkinz for them to play. They were so happy to see each other that we had no issues with them at all.

We got into Vegas very late, checked into the Stratosphere, and wandered around town a bit. We went to the Bellagio and let the kids see the fountains, and hit a few other places while we were out and about. The next morning, we got up, took the kids to see several more places. They thought it was very neat, and learned quickly about "don't look!" at just about everything on the strip :) Savannah would say, "Don't look at that huh mommy? Don't look at the naked bum" Eek! I'm from Rigby. When we see buses passing by, it's school children, not something you wouldn't even want your school children to know exists.

Savannah, Dan, Me, Mason, Jeremy, Kiana, Miriam and Keegan

I was so happy that I was able to meet up with my friend Heather for lunch while we were there. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe. The kids loved it, and I loved getting some time with Heather!

On the way out of town, we stopped at the Silverton where they have the Mermaid Aquarium. The girls thought it was the most amazing thing ever! I think they liked that more than anything else in Vegas.

The last time we did this....

Daniel and I are taking the older 2 kids to Disneyland etc for 10 days. We are leaving on Friday and we are all so excited. We took them just over a year ago, in October, for the first time, and since we are going again, I couldn't help but be reminded of something unusual that happened the last time we went, so I figured, "Hey, why not blog about it?"

So October of 2006 rolled around. We decided to take the kids to Disneyland as a surprise for Mason's 8th birthday. We had our airline tickets, the secret was still intact, and I was packing our suitcases to leave.

As a female, I am so lucky as to have to think, when packing, about what time of the month it is, and whether I will need certain female items while on said trip (there is a point to this, I'm not just throwing that wicked mental picture out there for my health). I got to thinking about it, trying to remember when the last one was.....hmmmmm...let's see, it was when my brother Paul and Kristin got married...that was.......calendar.....5 weeks ago. WHAT???? Wait a second. 5 weeks? For me, that's like 6 years. 5 weeks is unheard of. Hmmmm....for most people, that would be a pretty sure sign that something was up, right? But for me, not so much. Most people who know me know that Mason, Savannah, and Jaxon were all fertility babies. So wondering if I am pregnant was not something I had ever had to do. I know when I'm pregnant. It happens after a lot of doctor visits, a lot of pill taking, a lot of shots, a lot of worrying and hoping, a lot of disappointment and expense. What it doesn't do is just happen. Weird. Well, I knew I didnt want to take a trip to the coast, wondering what was going on. So I decided it would be best to buy a test. I didn't tell Dan anything about it. I knew from past experience that it would be a complete miracle if I was. I also knew that with Jaxon being only 9 months old, Daniel would be more than a bit freaked out. So there was no reason to worry him over nothing.

I went to the store and bought 2 tests. I took one the morning before we left. Negative, just like I thought. No reason to even mention that scare to Dan at all. I was strangely disappointed, but I wasn't sure why. I told myself I knew before I ever took the test that it would be negative. I can't tell you how many times in 10 years I had a negative pregnancy test. So I went ahead and packed my female items, and off we went on our trip.

The flight went rather smoothly. Except for one thing. For some reason, my stomach felt very unsettled. Flying doesn't usually affect me that way. But I was nauseated not only on the flight, but right after we landed as well. Reaaaaallly nauseated. Odd.

A couple of days into our vacation, we decided to go swimming. I put on my swimsuit and immediately started complaining to Daniel. "Look at me! I must be retaining 10 pounds of water! I know I haven't gained any weight but look at my stomach! It's huge!" Since I was over a week late, I figured I was just having major PMS. I didnt even want to go out in my swimsuit looking like that, but I bit the bullet and just hoped that extreme bloating would go away soon.

That night, as Daniel and I hopped into bed, I snuggled up close to him and he said, "What is wrong with you? Are you sick? You are burning up!!!" I felt fine, and told him he must just be cold. "No" he said, "You are hot to the touch. You must have a fever." Mason had been sick the day we arrived, and I could have caught that, but I didnt feel hot at all. I felt fine. Weird. Again.

The next night, the same thing happened. There are only 2 times when my body feels hot to the touch- when I have a fever, and the first 10 weeks-ish of a pregnancy. But I knew I wasn't pregnant since I had just taken that test. But here it was another 3 days or so after that and still no period.....And yet I was totally convinced I could chalk it all up to an extreme case of PMS. Dan made a joke with me, saying, "Maybe you're incubating HAHAHA" Big Joke. I decided to reassure him, and told him about the fact that I actually had thought I might be before we left, but he could rest easy, it was negative. His response, "You BETTER NOT BE PREGNANT!" I kept reassuring him that duh, it wasn't possible for me to be pregnant, chill out.

Throughout the rest of the trip, I continued to feel sick to my stomach from rides, food, the car etc. But not badly enough that it ruined any of my fun.

It was a short trip so 4 days or so later, we headed home. Daniel and I got in a silly argument over something ridiculous on the drive home from the airport so we weren't speaking when we arrived home. By this point, I was almost 2 weeks late and I did not feel right, so I decided to take the remaining test the next morning.

I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, all the signs were there. But after 10 years, and never being able to get pregnant on our own, I was shocked. I kept going back in there and looking at the test again and again. The strangest part was that even though I had just had a baby, and even though this was in no way planned, I couldn't help but see the miracle in front of me and be grateful, and happy, about this incredible surprise.

Now for telling Dan :) We still weren't speaking, and I wasn't about to drop that on him when he was already pouting. So I sat on it for a few days until the right time seemed to present itself. Let's just say he was far more shocked than I was.

It's ony been 14 months but how life has changed since then! Jayden is the best surprise we have ever been given. He is an amazing addition to our family. He is the sweetest, snuggliest little guy. I can't imagine our family without him. I am so grateful for the blessing he is. It is such a neat experience for me to see the dynamic between him and Jaxon, being so close in age. My other children are all close to 4 years apart, and my boys are over 7 years apart. I am so excited to see how their relationship develops as they grow up.

As we head to Disneyland this time, we are leaving 2 babies home with family, instead of 1 like we did last time. And I expect my tummy will feel much better this time around. But I think every time we take a Disney vacation, I will recall the big surprise we got the first time around.

Girls Gone Wild (or as close as it gets in our family :)

L to R (ish): Natasha (SIL), Brigham (newphew, Lyndi (SIL), Hannah (niece), Savannah (daughter), Janna (niece), Grandma Janet, Miriam (sister), Kiana (niece), Donna (mom), Me, Jayden in cognito.

What do you get when you send a mother of 4 on the road with 2 of her children, a group of her friends, her mother, her grandmother, her sister, 2 of her sister in laws, 3 of her nieces and 1 of her baby nephews?

Well, what I got was a break, and a lot of shopping done.

Way back in the day, in like, August or so, all the girls in my fam decided it was about dang time we went for a girl's trip. My mom had a seminar in Salt Lake the first weekend in Oct so we thought that would be the perfect time and place. And that's where the craziness all began.

Then, more recently we (we being my friends and I) realized that it was Tammy's 40th (I mean 29th) birthday, which meant a girl's trip was in order there too. Lucky for me (and if you know me, you know luck doesn't come my way often), they decided to go down on Thursday, when my plan with my fam was for Friday through Sunday, so I was able to do both in one trip.

So Thursday morn I headed down with myself, my daughter, my Gma and my baby. I dropped my grandma and Savannah off at the hotel and met up with the girls at Taipan. Heaven, I tell you, that place. After that, we went to eat at Cafe Rio and hit the mall for some more spendage. I got some fun things at Taipan and some great clothes at the other stores. Ahhh..retail therapy.

Around 4ish, the crew headed home and I drove to meet up with my mom and company. Most of the group wasn't coming in until Friday, so my grandma, my mom, myself, my daughter, and my baby, hung out and ordered in :)

Everyone else arrived on Friday, later in the day. And that is when the craziness all started (it was all Miriam's fault for sure. She WAS always the brave one!) We were getting settled that night. Miriam, me, my kids, my mom and Gma Janet were in one room. Somehow we got on the discussion about the Hilary Clinton/Sarah Palin SNL video (if you have been living under a rock, you can watch it at NBC.com). In the vidoe, Sarah Palin uses the word MILF. My dear, sweet, at times naive mother didn't know what it was when she watched the video, so (prior to the trip) she did what any reasonable, completely insane person would do- she googled it. Poor mom. She is no longer naive. Shortly after, my grandma said she needed to take a shower and put curlers in her hair so she could look all purty. I said, "You mean so you can be a MILF? A GILF?" Silly girls.

Anyhoo...after we stopped laughing about my mom's little google misstep, I realized that my sister Miriam had my mom's phone so I whispered to her to change mom's banner to say "MILF". So sho nuff, soon it read "Donna is a MILF" and my mom had no idea. We got settled into bed, but like a 12 year old at a slumber party, I couldn't stop giggling.

The next morning, we got up and got ready to go shopping. Oh, let me not forget, I did get up and run 4 miels on the treadmill downstairs. We went to the Gateway Mall where I was able to FINALLY buy my jeans at Express (it's the only place I buy jeans, the only place that carries my size in longs, and we dont have any in Idaho). I bought 3 pair, including some skinny jeans (that my daughter thinks are totally "in"). After that, we ate at my fave restaurant in the world, Tucano's, where I tried my darndest to make sure I never fit in those skinny jeans.

After we were done shopping there, we went to Taipan where I went NUTS and got so much fun stuff for my house. When we had blown all our money, we headed back to the hotel once again. The kids swam in the pool off and on the whole time we were there. It was a blast. Oh, and my MILF of a mom finally saw what we did to her phone around Saturday evening sometime.

Sunday morning, we turned on conference and then checked out of the hotel to head home. But since the rain had finally let up, Miriam and I decided to stay and go visit temple square before heading home. I took a few pictures, we talked and let our girls play together, and then we headed home.

I wont tell you what my house looked like when I got home. Im still trying to block that image from my brain. Anyway, here are just a few snapshots from temple square.

A night in the Emergency Room

Turns out that Jaxon's permanent marker escapades were not the worst thing he would put us through last week. Not even close.

My sister Miriam's daughter, Kiana, was getting baptized this weekend in Boise, so Daniel and I planned our trip up. We were really excited to spend time with Miriam and her family, and I was excited to spend time with my childhood best friend April, and her family as well. I have only seen her once in the last 3-4 years! So we drove up uneventfully (although we did end up leaving the morning after we planned because I am still no good at getting all of us ready and out the door in a timely fashion) and attended the Saturday afternoon baptism. Now, the only reason I am not spending more time on that important event is because that will be a separate blog in itself, once the pictures are ready.

Anyway, after the baptism, we went back to Miriam's house for dinner.


For brevity' sake, I will give you the reader's digest version. We were all staying up late talking, and when we decided to go to bed, I went to pick Jaxon up off the couch, where he was sleeping next to Dan. He was making weird noises, but I thought it was just because he was tired and mad that he wasn't in his own bed. He was crying and coughing, but it sounded off. My mom and sister both noticed and and asked if he had asthma, which he doesnt. After I had been watching him for a while (he was sleeping off and on, and would wake up and cry and cough again and again, with that weird sound), my mom came into the room and said she found her purse and that Jaxon had gotten into her chewing gum. We figured that must be stuck in his throat. We continued to watch him for a while, but since he seemed to be getting worse and worse, we decided we better get him in to the hospital before he could no longer breathe. We arrived at the hospital about 3am.

We ended up waiting in the ER, back in the room, for 3 hours, which at any time during, he could have stopped breathing, just to be told that the xray showed nothing (which they had told us it wouldnt since it was chewing gum) and that we had to go to their other campus, where he would need surgery.



When we arrived there about 7:00am, the doctor was ready and waiting, not wanting to wait any longer than necessary since it could dislodge at any moment and cut off his airway completely. The nurses tried pretty frantically to get an IV in, but couldnt get it for some reason. Jaxon was hysterical and I was crying, seeing him in pain from the IV issues and hearing the horrible noises he was making as he struggled to breathe. Finally, after a long while, they got an IV in and took us down the hall to prep him for surgery. He was crying and calling, "MOMMY! MOMMY!" as they took him away from me on the gurney, and it was so hard for me to let him go.


Daniel and I waited in the waiting room, but thankfully, it was a very short procedure. The doctor came in later on and told us that indeed, the gum had been stuck in his airway, and that she was able to locate it and remove it, and he was in the PICU, still asleep from the anesthesia.


Daniel and I went up to see him and called Miriam to bring over some clothes for him (he was just in a diaper when we rushed him out the door and to the hospital). He woke up not too long later, but had to stay for a while so they could monitor his oxygen sats and make sure his airway was not too traumatized to be able to breathe effectively. Thankfully, by about 11am, they told us he was getting better and we would be able to take him home.

After all of us being up all night, that sounded like a great idea. We went back to Miriam's house, thankful that we were blessed enough to have a positive outcome from something that could easily have been much, much worse.


I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up to Jaxon laying on top of me (I didnt even know he had climbed onto me) and a few pictures of that were on my camera :)

After getting something to eat and taking it easy for a few, we drove home.

I grabbed my camera this morning to take a few pictures of my sweet, happy, healthy little boy, but instead I got pictures of Jaxon back to his usual self

Climbing cupboards

Throwing a fit when he couldn't get up them

And begging for food

Today everything is pretty much back to normal, except I am a little tired, and a lot more appreciative of my little boy, mischief and all. Today I skipped making the bed and instead, got on the floor with my tough guy and wrestled around. And those little, big, and most often unfixable messes of his didn't seem so life altering. Today at least, they are just reminders that he is here, that he is okay, and that all too soon, he won't be little any more.

A Race, A getaway, and a Grasshopper

This past weekend was Bear Lake Brawl, a first in a few ways. It was my first full triathlon since having baby Jayden over 2 months ago, it was Daniel's first triathlon, and it was our first one together as well.

My grandparents were unbelievably kind in letting us use their fifth wheel and truck so that we could take the whole family down and camp for the weekend. Daniel's niece, Alyssa, and her friend Alyssa (yes, we called them Alyssa 1 and Alyssa 2) came with us to babysit while we raced and then to enjoy the weekend with us.

I will spare you all the details of the "amost didn't make it down there"s since Im sure this blog will be long enough. Ill just skip right to the race stuff, and eventually, you will find out what the heck a grasshopper has to do with any of this.

So Saturday morning was the race. The swim was- well, different. Im not familiar with Bear Lake so I didnt realize that it stays shallow for, say 7 miles or so ;) Which does 2 things during a triathlon swim. First, it means that it's very, very choppy and wavey since the water is shallow, which makes it very hard to spot. Second, it means you can stand up at any time and look around to see where you are since you can't tell when you are swimming. So yup that's what everyone did. Trust me, it was the only option. I was laughing at those who went before me, stopping and taking their goggles off. What was wrong with them? I found out soon enough as I had no idea where I was going, couldnt see a thing..so there I was, in the middle of the swim, standing on my 2 feet with my goggles on my head, looking around...not my proudest moment...

And then, it gets too shallow to swim and you have to wade through the water forever to get to the shore. But all went relatively smoothly, craziness aside.

Onto the bike... My transition took what felt like forever. Im not sure why, but it did. Once I actually started riding, it went great and I felt like I rode very well. But alas, this is where the grasshopper comes in.

About half way through the bike, I was riding past some fields, when I started getting dive bombed by grasshoppers. Not that unusual of an experience, to be honest. Bugs and your face meet quite often when riding. But there was oooonnnneeee grasshopper---- it hit me right on the side of my nose as I was riding about 21 mph. I shook it off and kept going, but then I could feel wetness on my face. My thought was "Stupid grasshopper splatted his guts all over my face. Gross!" So I reached up to wipe his guts off my face with my arm (yeah, triathlon isn't the most glamorous of sports, and this isn't the worst of it, trust me...) When I looked at my arm, it wasn't grasshopper guts but my own blood that was running down my face! WTH??? So I assumed he gave me a bloody nose. I kept wiping it as I rode, since I could feel it continue to bleed. I would later find out that no, he didnt give me a bloody nose at all, he actually split my face open (no worries, it was a very shallow, very boring flesh wound people). I am sure this is the dumbest race injury to ever occur in the history of mankind. Dumb. Duuuuumb.

Anyway, so the bike went smooth as could be, grasshopper wound and all. And onto the run....

My MP3 player (that isn't allowed anyway but I was going to be a wild woman and break the rules- I am a maniac, I tell ya- crazy to the core) wasn't working, but the run was very uneventful most of the way. About 20 feet from the finish line, the volunteers that went with us (who just so happened to be stationed right before the finish) shouted at me, cheering me on, and then I heard them yell, "AnnaMarie, she's gaining on you!" So I took off into a full on sprint, and I felt her come up behind me. I ended up beating her to the finish by 0.9 seconds. Phew. Thank goodness they were standing there because I had no idea she was that close!

So I was done and I waited for Daniel. Dan started 15 minutes after me (but of course, he is faster so I only had to wait 5 minutes for him to finish). And his finish was even more intense than mine (not that this was a very intense race in any sense of the word). He had the same sort of a thing happen in that he thought he was in the clear, when just before the finish, he felt someone coming up on him. He started sprinting and the guy was shoulder to shoulder with him. At the end, you could not tell who was ahead, but according to the timing chips (well, that's another story altogether...), er...according to the times, the other guy beat him by 0.10 seconds. Imagine that. Daniel took 5th in the Clydesdale category (over 200 lbs, and yes, he is over 200 lbs, he is around 200.4 I believe). And then we waited for Tammy, who was in his wave as well. Hidee, my other friend who did it with us, finished before I did (of course, Im no speed demon at this point).

So there you have it. That was our race. It was a blast and we want to make it an annual thing and take the kids down each year to enjoy it with us. Perhaps next year, since I wont have just given birth, I can be more competitive. I hate losing. I really, really do.

After the race, we camped the weekend and had a blast playing on the beach, sitting in the hot tub, playing cards in the camper etc.. Here are some pictures of our fun.

The Alyssas- Thank you to both of you for taking care of my babies. You were wonderful and it was fun having you there with us!!

Jaxon in the cupboards. It's not the first or the last time for that one Im sure.

This is our whole race gang (those that went that is), including the girls who volunteered and got Tammy and Hidee into the race after registration was closed. L to R: Andrea, Bethany, Mackenzie, Tammy, Hidee, Torrie (with baby Ellie), Daniel and Me.

our bikes and a guy who was doing his first race who had a lot of questions, and kept making me laugh with his comments.

I think the rest are self explanatory....