Christmas Card Pictures

Here is a preview of our Christmas card this year.

Alison's Hero

Ali's teacher showed this to me at parent teacher conference. She is right, he is a hero!

Disney World

Disney World was great. We spent six days there in which we were able to go to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The weather was in the 90's with a heat index of 102-104. It was a little warmer than we expected and they broke all kinds of records while we were there.

Disney was decorated for Halloween which was fun to see. October was a great time to go because there were hardly any lines to wait in.

Ali and Abby experience all the the "big" rides this year. Ali loved the Rock and Roll Roller Coaster and Abby the Tower of Terror.

Ty was a trooper. He loved riding with Daddy in the backpack. He did really well until the end when he began to get sick. We stayed on Disney property at our favorite hotel The Grand Floridian. This helped because if we needed the kids to rest we took the monorail or ferry and we were back in 5 minutes.

Yes, that is an electric wheelchair. We rented it for most of the days we were there. It helped with my recent leg operation and with my handicap pass we didn't wait in any lines. This came in handy on the weekend when the lines were longer. The pass allowed us to get in the fast pass line for every ride. For those who are familiar with this know you can only fast pass one ride at a time and then come back at a certain time to ride the ride. With my pass we didn't need a fast pass ticket but could still go in the fast pass line. Ex. the wait line for Toy Story was 100 minutes. That is just to ride it once. The fast passes were all given out by 11:30 am that day. Thanks to my pass we went through the fast pass line 4 times throughout the day. So we rode it 4 times that day and never stood in line once!!!! I guess something good did come from my fall!

We had a great time but took turns being sick. The girls at the beginning of the trip and the boys at the end. Josh and Nate are finally feeling better but Ty is still pretty bad. If he isn't better tomorrow I will take him in again. And to top it all off I too am getting sick again. But at least we had a "magical time" considering this was Josh's first day off in 18 months. (can't count the days he took off for Ty's birth and my surgery :)

Princess Abby's Smile

This pretty princess...

is hiding something with a smile.

A hole where a tooth use to be!!!

This is the first tooth Abby has lost. She told us it was wiggly and it finally came out eating an orange. She was so excited and as you can tell the new one is already there.

Alison's Baptism

Alison in the dress her grandmother made

Mother and daughter

Josh and Alison

Ali and Abby

Alison

Can't believe she turned 8! She looked beautiful all in white. Her Grandma Carpenter made a beautiful white dress to wear to her baptism. I even got choked up when Josh came down the hall dressed in white at the chapel. Alison was so excited to make this covenant and has been prepared for awhile. Family came and we ate and did some swimming at the house after the program.

Nate's First Day of Preschool

Nate finally started preschool this week. He thought this day would never come since his sisters started school serveral weeks ago. He did really well and was excited to go. His first day was also my first day of driving since my fall. No more house arrest. It felt so good to be back in the drivers seat!

Silly smile

Posing for more pictures

Outside of his school

Ready with his backpack at school

Two Birthdays and a Milestone

Just took pictures of the kids. It was for Ali and Nate's birthdays and Ty being 6 months old.

Alison

The girls being silly

Ty 6 months old

Nate turns 3

Ty and Nate

Cake, Cake and More Cake!!!!!!!

We have two birthdays in August. Ali's and Nate's birthdays are one day apart so we decided to celebrated them on the same day. In the morning we took Nate to Chuck E. Cheese and then in the evening we had a swim party for Ali. We even snuck in a birthday party for one of Abby's friends in the afternoon! Let's just say we are tired of eating cake. All in all it was a great day. Ali is now 8 and excited for her baptism this coming week. Nate turned 3 and starts preschool this week. Can't believe how fast they grow!

Abby

Ali and some of her friends

The Littlest Pet Shop Cake

Nate at Chuck E. Cheese

The birthday boy

The Start of a New School Year

School started last Wednesday. Ali started 3rd grade and Abby started kindergarten. I was bumbed that I couldn't take them that first day. Josh said that Abby did well and could care less if he was there. I miss them because they have been my helpers here especially after my fall. But Nate, Ty and I are bonding and Nate takes good care of me. There are several new posts after this so keep scrolling if you want!!

What a cheese!!

Always ready to pose!

Our big 3rd grader!

Yes, they wanted to dress alike!!!!!!

A Visit from a Macaw

A friend of ours surprised the kids with a visit from his pet macaw. The kids were so excited because this is their favorite bird.

Tyson Tries Rice Ceral

We finally are giving Tyson cereal. But believe me this kid has not been starved. This 5 month old is 23.5 lbs! And yes, he DOESN'T take a bottle!!!!!!!!!!!

And no, he doesn't really like it!!

Things I've Learned

WARNING: LONG RANT AHEAD, MAY NOT BE WORTH YOUR TIME TO READ!!! Well it has been almost 6 weeks since I have been stuck in bed. The doc says that my leg is healing well from the x-rays. I still use crutches or a wheelchair to get around and I lay in bed most of the day. I can put some pressure on my foot, like let it rest on the floor. That is progress. Since I am in my bed most of the day I have had plenty of time to think so here is what I have learned.

1. I have been doing way too much for my kids. Since my injury they have been so helpful. Ali is changing diapers, Abby makes breakfast for us (frozen waffles), and Nate can clean up almost any spill on the floor. When I am well we are definitely making a permanent chore chart!

2. I love to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have known that since high school but with kids and everything else I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. I've even started to read long chapter books to the kids. We are currently reading "Where the Red Fern Grows" and Ali is loving it. She keeps saying "read one more chapter please."

3. TV really does stink 95% of the time. OK so we have like 999 channels and I am not exaggerating all that much. We even have the premium movie channels but there really isn't anything good to watch. Granted, I love my Spanish novelas, Operation Repo and the cake decorating/cooking shows but other than that there is nothing. This is extremely frustrating when you are stuck in a bed for 6 weeks until you turn it off and pick up a book!

4. I LOVE TO EXERCISE (enough said).

5. I am independent! I like to do things for myself and in my own little special way. Yes, I clean my bathroom, do my laundry and load my dishwasher in certain special ways. Yes, I know there is more than one way to do these things so I am learning to let go. I also don't like to ask for help. This has been hard because I haven't really had a choice. It is hard to watch others clean my house, take care of my kids, and cook for me. I don't understand why I love to serve others yet have such a hard time letting them serve me.

6. I love to drive. I hate having to be dependent on someone to take me somewhere. If I want to go to Target to look to see what is new then I go. If I want a drink from Sonic, a burrito from Taco Bell and fries from Mc Donalds than I go and do it. Boy I miss that!!

7. Lying in bed with nothing to do is not all that grand! It stinks hearing your child crying in another room and not being able to see what it wrong. It's hard when your highlight of the day is when your husband comes home and can finally help you into the shower. It sucks having to wake your exhausted husband up in the middle of the night one more time because your teething infant is crying and wants to be walked.

8. I love to cook! Making cookies just because... enough said!

9. I have the best ward in the world. My visiting teacher and RS President have been amazing. I couldn't list all of the things they have done for me. And just friends in the ward who call every Friday for a shopping list, bring books to read, projects I can do from bed, and a Sonic drink because they thought I might like one. They have cleaned my house, colored my hair, brought meals and flowers, and watched my kids. They have been like family and I am so thankful for them.

10. I have an awesome family! My mom and sisters have helped so much. My mom has traveled hours to come and help just for a day or two several times. My sister from Florida used her vacation time here to clean my house and help us out. And then there is my husband. I can't say enough about him. He has suffered the brunt of all of this misfortune. He has done so much and said so little (no complaining). He truly has stayed true to the "in sickness and in health" part of the whole marriage thing. He has been both mom and dad. He jumps right in after coming home from an 11 hour day and has been getting 4-5 hours of extremely interrupted sleep for the last 6 weeks. He has been my hero through this all. I love you Josh!

The 9th of July, The End of the World as I Knew it!!!

Well the picture of the x-ray didn't turn out so it doesn't do it justice. I have 9 screws, 1 plate and some wire keeping my leg together. Wire because he couldn't get the screw to take so he had to wire the bone together in a spot. Here is the story:
I was nursing Ty on my bed and heard Nate cry down stairs. I realized that Ty was asleep so I put him down on my bed and was going to check on the kids and start things in motion for the day. On the second or third stair on the spriral staircase I apparently overshot it and just my heel landed on the step and the rest of me went forward. As I fell I heard a crack and before I stopped sliding down for another 6-7 steps I knew I had broke it. Ali called my sister Joslin and she and another memeber from our ward helped me into a van and off to the ER we went. Long story short, I had surgery the following day thanks to our good family friend Dr. Ivey!
This is definately the most painful thing I have ever gone through. I am pretty much bedridden. I haven't left my house in 9 days and have only been out of my room twice! I am not taking pain meds as often now so my head is a little clearer. Josh has been great being both mom and dad. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to not be able to walk my teething baby, pick things off the floor when they have fallen or even sit up on a bed for an extended amount of time. We live in an awesome ward who has helped out so much. My mom and sisters have helped a ton too. Even my kids have helped me so much.
Too bad I am missing the Rogers family reunion as I write. This was the one week out of the whole summer that I was looking forward to. My sister and her family flew in from FL, we have a family reunion and the Mormon Pioneer Days. Anyone who knows me I love to exercise, cook and do almost everything on my own. Well none of that is possibile and it is killing me! I won't be walking anytime soon. And the only good thing I can see from this is that I get a handicap sticker and a wheelchair! Oh, wait I can't even drive for another 6-8 weeks because it is my right leg!!!!
OK, so that is my pitty party. I don't know when I'll come downstairs again so this may not be updated soon. Wish me luck!!

4th of July

We decided to have a last minute 4th of July party. We had the Kohls and Harpers come over to swim, eat and watch the fire works. It rained a little but after it ended there was a cool double rainbow. And one of the rainbows was a full rainbow. It was really pretty. Everyone had a great time. We did some fireworks of our own but also had a great veiw of all of the fireworks in the valley.

The full rainbow

The double rainbow

Some of the kids

Josh, Jason, Mary and Ian

Susan with Ty and Leanna