Yes, it is a miracle I (J. D.) have actually made a post to our blog, but everyone once in awhile something comes around that strikes me as important. As many of you know I am a major movie trailer junkie. This is a link to a movie called "EXPELLED No Intelligence Allowed". Click on the play button. It is a long trailer but this may be one of the most important movies to be produced in a long time. It will make you think. It is a wake up call to our society and especially to all who those who still have hope and faith.

The past 2 weeks have been busy with pajama days, trips to Logan, homework, piano lessons, stressing about work, and the last few trips to Physical Therapy. We are itching for spring every sunny day we have the girls are dying to get their bikes down. Its still a bit to cold to play outside just yet. As you can see from the clip we are still getting snow. These snow flakes were the biggest flakes I have seen in a really long time; the girls loved them. I also added a very small clip of J trying to walk that funny kid he really hates walking if we try to make him he gets really mad. What a stinker!

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So yesterday I went to physical therapy and was talk to my PT who is from New Orleans and hates the snow that we were pretty much past the yucky snow stuff now when it snows it will just melt. 'O' how wrong I was!! The snow and wind started about 3:00 and our power went out at 4 and didn't come on until after midnight. And of course J.D. is in California for the rest of the week which was probably a good thing because all of the roads were closed around our house I guess people were stuck on the roads for hours. Even some of the kids at our school didn't make it home they had to camp out at the school for the night.

Our kids thought it was fun though the ate dinner, read books and played games by candlelight. J was so funny he would just crawl around in the dark and when I would go looking for him he would just be standing there.

So I went out to shovel this morning to open the garage to find a 2 foot drift. AGHHH now I wish JD was home luckily our neighbor with the snow blower came to my rescue! Here are some pictures but I don't think they do the snow justice.


This is a picture from our back yard see how the houses are plastered with snow.

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Sydney turned 8 on Friday and was baptized on Saturday. I was a great day. I am so happy she made this choice. I can't believe she is 8! She is such a wonderful girl she is so helpful, kind, smart, a great big sister and is so beautiful inside and out. I can't wait to see what the next 8 years will bring.

Jenna lost her first tooth on Sunday. She was so excited and brave. I can't believe she is old enough to loose teeth!

Just a quick note. I looks as though the surgery worked. I am a bit sore but I can now touch my face with my hand and put the phone up to my ear! I know it sounds silly but its the simple things you miss when you can't do it. I have hope that it will just go up hill from here. Thanks to everyone for your help and for all your prayers.

Please please tell me the third time is the charm. Most of you know I had surgery on my elbow again in December that surgery was to help with the mobility I couldn't get back. It helped with my extension and getting my palm up but I lost a lot of my ability to flex. So I saw the surgeon again today and he recommended surgery to get more flextion in my arm so I go in on Monday for this. So I hope and pray the third time is a charm.

I know its crazy 2 posts in 2 days. I am going to try to be a better blogger. Jenna had her VIP at school today. She was very very excited she has asked me everyday when it was going to be and today finally came. She talked about the poster we made, we told about her likes and dislikes. They asked for her favorite book which is 'Giraffe's Can't Dance' and then donate it to the class which I thought was a great idea. Then we played a game she liked and she choose button button who's got the button. It was fun! She is so cute I love when she gets excited she can barely hold in her excitement. Its hard to not be excited with her!

J had his first birthday back on the 18th. I can't believe he is one already. He was such a cute baby and has been so much fun. It is so different having a boy, he pushes everything around like its a car the phone, the Wii remotes a shoe anything he can find. He is my little man and I can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

O.K. I am not the best blogger. I always have good intentions though.

This morning the girls woke up to our first real snow storm and were very ready to go outside and play. They had a good time (we have a slope in our back yard that makes for a good little sled hill) they had fun with the sled and making snow angels. And J got to watch from the window!

We decided this year we would spend more time together doing activities and less money on presents and toys for Christmas. So today we went to the movies; we saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I loved this movie is was so good, very cute! I highly recommend it. Rachel was a bit bored but Sydney and Jenna loved it. It was a great feel good movie.

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Its about time I sit down and do this. It's not that we haven't had anything going on its that we have had too much going on. I will give a brief overview.

I spent the end of September and half of October canning and I surly don't feel like an armature anymore! Physical therapy is going. I haven't had much improvement since the first 2 weeks I went. So now I am wearing a brace at night the stretches my arm to a straight position and yes it is as much fun as it sounds. I will find out if it is working on Monday when I go back but another surgery looks to be in my future.

The kids and I caravaned with my sister Andrea to Arizona to visit our other sister Cheri. We had lots of fun, it was hot. We went to a splash park, a kids amusement park, and we spent a lot of time talking and the kids spent a lot of time playing. We had a really good time. Thanks Cheri or should I say thanks for putting up with us Cory.

JD's work is still plugging along as he is studying for the LARE the test to become licensed as a landscape architect.

Sydney is loving school and she is inseparable with her best friend Annie.

Jenna has absorbed school! She has learned so much and is doing great with her beginning reading. She had her tonsils out on the 23rd and has been a trooper. I didn't realize what a big deal having your tonsils out was. We did have a scary episode on Thursday morning at 3:00 am one of the scabs came off and she was bleeding quite badly so JD took her to the ER. Jenna was so brave when the doctor came in and cauterized it. The doctor said Jenna was the first 5 year old she has ever been able to cauterize without going into surgery. JD was so proud of her, WHAT A BRAVE GIRL!!!

Rachel what can I say about her. I swear a devil and an angel live in that girl. Or maybe its just being a 3 year old. I do have so much fun with her though; it has been nice to have one on one time with her while Syd and Jenna are at school and J is asleep.

J is such a cute boy! He is starting to look like a boy and not so much like a baby. He took to crawling soon after my last blog and loves his new freedom! I would feed him and put him on the floor and he was happy for hours. He is a human vacuum. He can find the tiniest piece of anything and into the mouth it goes. He is now pulling himself up to everything. When he want you to pick him up he will shake your pant legs or in JD's case pull himself up with JD's leg hairs. His new thing now is too point at everything he wants; it is too cute!!!

Halloween was crazy but I think it is for everyone. We had a family Halloween party and Sydney's school program. I am a very lame mom and didn't get any pictures of my kids in their costumes I take that back I did get one of Jenna but she was crying because she didn't want to go to school. (it was her first day back since her surgery). Sydney was a renaissance princess, Jenna was a butterfly, Rachel was a pink ballerina, and J was a terribly cute frog. J, Rachel and I made it up to the school for the parade. I did have the camera but J was so helpful I didn't get to take any pictures. We came home and made caramel apples and went to share them at JD's office and then back home to carve pumpkins. We let the kids draw their own faces on them. They all turned out great but I have to admit I think Rachel's was my favorite (she is the age where she is drawing people without the body; you know the head with the arms and legs).

I hope our November is slow and uneventful. We are excited for Thanksgiving. This holiday is one that I really missed while we were away.

O yea in the mist of our crazy 6 weeks we had our family pictures taken. I hope the pictures don't bore you, there are a lot.

It has been a very very busy 2 weeks. I started physical therapy can I just say OUCH!!!! No pain no gain right? I have to go 3 times a week and it is becoming a bit inconvient I feel like I cant get anything done. Its a 30 min drive there an hour at therapy and a 30 min drive back. JD has been taking his lunch break and going in a bit early so he can watch the kids. Which has been really nice to not have to find sitters all of the time. But his has been a big sacrifice on his part and I think he is getting bit tired of it. But I have made a bit of progress 40 degrees in a week. I am still really stiff and sore but hopefully it will all be worth it. The kids still love school and J is so funny I have never seen a baby try so hard to crawl and not be able to do it. We keep trying to help him but he just needs to figure it out on his own. O yea and hip hip horray Sydney learned how to ride her bike this week she is so happy and proud of herself. She loves her new freedom.

Last week we went the Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband concert with JD's sisters and their husbands. We had so much fun it was a great concert and fun entertainers! Something we plan on doing again next year.

Last Sunday we went to Temple Square here are a few pictures of our time there.

Congrats to JD's sister Lisa and her husband Greg they had baby number 4 today, Boston Gregory Jolley, 6 lbs 12 oz and 22 inches long. He is cute and has great chicken legs. His 3 sisters will just love him to pieces.

What a cute boy! I left him playing with his toys and went to put the girls in bed and when I came downstairs this is how I found him. What a crazy kid.

We went to Pocatello for the long weekend for my Dads side of the family's reunion. I was nice to see everyone a lot of the kids had grown up so much. I have something like 60 cousins on that side of the family what a posterity for my Grandma!

We met up with some friends, Nate and MyrLynn Hill. Its been a long time since we have seen them and their kids. It has been nice to be with people we haven't seen for a long time.

I have spent the week canning peaches and have decide I am a amachure. Maybe some day I will get the hang of it. I also started physical therapy and she said I am very very tight and have to go see her 3 times a week agh!

The girls are doing well in school and JD's work is same old same old. He has been working hard getting the garage cleaned and putting up shelves it looks so nice. His next project is getting the storage room finished in the basement.

Here are some pictures of the girls first day of school. Syd loves 2nd grade her teacher is brand new and is so excited and full of energy. I know Syd will just thrive this year. Jenna's first day went great. She was so excited! She was so ready to start she would ask me every day when she got to go and when it was finally the day she could bearly sit still. She walked right into the classroom and never looked back.

Well the summer has offically came to an end for us. Syd started school last Tuesday and Jenna starts this Tuesday. It is so nice to get back in to a routine. I thought I would do a quick run down of the summer since there wasn't much blogging going on. There was lots going on from swimming lessons, family reunions at the beach, dinosaur museum and the cabin. The girls had fun with slip and slides, cousins and of course Rachel's 3rd birthday. I put in a few picutres of the hospital and my scar because this crazy summer wouldn't complete with out it! The music is a great local band JD discovered Ryan Shupe and the rubber band they are great check them out. http://www.shupe.net/band.php

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Hello Everyone. J is starting to figure out how to get on his hands and knees and it probably won't be long before he has the crawling thing figured out also. Anyway, on a side note Sydney has started school and Jenna starts next Tuesday. I am dying trying to keep up with a running challenge from my Canadian counterparts. My whole body hurts. Everyone is healthy and things are looking better for the most part. Christy's elbow is healing nicely but her range of motion is still limited, but she is more independent, which makes everyone happier. Other then that things are pretty normal. Take care everyone.

Cheers,

This is a test to show my meosphere list and to see if I can get the text to wrap. Also my bro is featured in a the Utah Business magazine. Check it out!

here is a quick up date. i went to the dr. yesterday and things look good i get to start passive movement which i have to admit is quite hard i dont know if its because its stiff or i am a chicken. i go get fitted for a brace today it is suppost to make it easier to do my exercises during the day. i go back to the dr. again in 2 weeks then he will do more xrays and make sure the movement hasnt caused the screws to move.
we have spent the past 2 weeks at family reunions. it has been nice to be with everyone. when jd has time i will see if he will post some pictures.
another quick thanks to everyone that has helped! i couldnt do it with out you.

Well life here has been turned upside down. Hence the long time since our last post. 3 weeks ago I broke my right arm. So I am plunking this out one key at a time with my left hand. So I am sure this will be a short post because my patience is short. To make a long story short I was out helping Sydney ride her bike I was running next to her and just as I let go of the seat she turned her handlebars and I gracefully went over the wheel. A quick trip to the ER found out I that I had broke and dislocated a piece of my humerus (my elbow) and I needed surgery to have it fixed. So they put a splint on it and told us to call the surgeon the next day. When we called we found out it was an unusual break and no one would or could do the surgery. After calling every orthopedic surgeon from Logan to Springville we did finally found a trauma surgeon and I had surgery a week later. After a 2 day stay in the hospital and lots of morphine. I was back home but I have to be in a splint and have keep my arm immobile for a total of 4 weeks. A very hard thing to do with 4 kids especially J. It has been hard not to be able to hold him and take care of him. JD has been wonderful to pick up the slack. My mom came for a week and a half and my sisters have came to take care of us also. Thanks so much everyone! Here are the pics I still can't look at them they make me sick!