Kindergarten here he comes!

Teacher- Mrs. Parish 

Age- 5 years old

Backpack- Planes

Favorite Food- Ramen or Mac n Cheese 

Favorite Color- Blue

Favorite Show- Wild Kratts

Friends- James, Lydia, MJ, Liam, Ryker

What he wants to be when he grows up- A scientist

Thyroid

I have not been feeling good for a long while. I've been tired and my throat (not airway) has felt enlarged and hard to swallow. So when I went to my OB for my checkup a couple weeks ago I asked him about my thyroid which my mother, sister, and grandmothers have all had issues with. He checked my blood, the basic testing was fine. He felt it and said it was swollen so he'd schedule an ultrasound. I had that ultrasound today and the tech was Brother Johnson in my home ward from North Logan. He was nice! He told me it was very very enlarged and swollen and huge! Awesome. Not!

So I guess we will move forward from here, hopefully it's an easy fix with medication. I do not want it removed. 

Seriously, someday life with go our way. 

Continuing one of my New Years goals!

I set the goal to slowly replace my closet over this year. Since loosing weight it's needed too. I haven't posted in a long while updates. Why? Because I haven't been buying anything for me for a long while. With all the doctor bills we have no extra. Well last night I kinda broke down. I needed shopping therapy. I spent some of my preschool tuition I'm earning on clothes at Ross. I needed it! It's amazing how spending a little money on yourself every once in awhile makes you feel like a person that matters. It's hard putting every penny to bills, and I mean every penny. Oh the stress!

Here is a new shirt and shoes I got. 

I feel pretty! That's a nice feeling! 

Rachel's First Day

This year Rach gets to be in my preschool. It will be fun and she is SO excited! She is super kid the first week which means she got to being the snack and share her poster. She liked that! 

 Here is a writing sample of her handwriting and tracing abilities at age 3.5 years old. I will say she is way above level! Yeah for her!!!!

First Day Back to Speech

Rachel loves Mrs. Price and she does so well going to speech. She was excited all day to go to Mrs. Price and was upset it wasn't til after nap time. How I love this girl! She is smart, diligent, sweet and on the ball. I hope this year holds lots of improvement for her as far as speech. 

Super Kid Rachel

Rachie gets to be super kid first in our preschool class! Here is her poster about her age 3, almost 4 years old. 

Bedtime struggles

Carter is at that age where bedtime has all of a sudden become a struggle. He has been dropping everything out of his crib, crying, and pointing to Daytons bed. So we set up the bunks and tried that. Carter didn't like his own bed. He wanted his brother so, they slept together. It was too die for cute. Carter looks up to Dayton and wants to do everything he does. It's so great to watch. 

Finished

The kids are so proud this summer they read 100 books, each of them! So today they got to pick a candy bar and I had two bags of skittles for kids in my preschool who don't like chocolate, well D and Rach both picked skittles. Ha, so all chocolate choices for my preschoolers. Anyway, the whole summer they asked me to read to them so they could get an X. Dayton wanted to beat Rachel, even though I explained it wasn't really a race. He caught up to her quick since I started him later and he was just one book behind her. So they pretty much finished the same time. I love these two! I'm glad we could read lots this summer together! 

It's always fun when medical bills come...

La da te da te da!!!!

That's how that primary song goes right?

Over the past couple weeks checking the mail stinks. We have been overwhelmed by medical bills and it's tough.

We have also been overwhelmed by love and kindness from people we know, family, a ward yard sale in our behalf, dear friends and in some cases anonymous donations. Because of this we are able to pay $10,000 off of medical bills this month before September 1st when our max out of pocket will start over again and we have to pay another $12,000 by next August 2016 for Adam's medical care. This will be a lifelong trial for us. We now have what I call a "medical mortgage" each month. We are counting our many blessings as all these bills means Adam is alive and well. He is back to work and functioning about 80%. It is a real miracle! Thank you Heavenly Father for your healing and thank you family and friends for your prayers, fasting, financial help in any way. We love you! 

Meet the Teacher

Tonight was meet the teacher. Dayton was very grown up and independent. He did the scavenger hunt on his own mostly. He marked each circle carefully. He said "hey" to all his buddies from preschool and town. He was too die for handsome! He will be going to Mrs. Parish morning Kindergarten and he could not be more pleased. I can't wait to see how he grows this year. 

Peaches!

Today we are canning 75 lbs of peaches! Boy oh boy is it work and takes lots of time but we are blessed for it! It allows us to save grocery money all year and they are so yummy! We are feeling very grateful for this extra work or excessive produce and canning this year because of medical bills that are lifelong. The lord blesses those who work hard and are faithful stewards. Soon the blog will be overrun with canning and probably naps! Ha!

Dayton Loves...

Mutton Bustin!

This kid did it twice this summer at the Preston and Cache Rodeos. He is competitive, which surprises his mother, and likes it! He kept telling us how he was going to get the big trophy the second time. He rode longer the second time but had about 3 kids beat him. Bailey stokes, our neighbor, included. Dayton was bummed about that! He really wanted to earn the big trophy and I think seeing his friend get it was even worse for him, harder to deal with. A lesson better off learned young in life I guess. Anyway, we are SO proud of him and his determination and zeal for life. He is one special boy! Til next year mutin bustin! Rach also rode is Preston and wasn't old enough in Cache. She wanted to cause D was and then when it was time to get on the sheep she freaked out and cried. She rode for about 2 seconds. Bless her heart! She came back and told me she had fun but didn't want to do it again. She was most excited about the belt buckle she earned. We are so proud of her, the only 3 year old who rode, for trying something new and scary. 

We bought the pics from the professional camera man. They were expensive but it's a memory we want forever on our wall. 😉 I will scan those in below when they arrive. 

Pool fun!!!

Tonight Dad met us at the pool right after work and we swam til past dinner time. It was so fun! 

Fruit!

Wow oh wow are we going to have fruit off our trees this year! So many peaches and grapes! I am thinning the peaches now and there are tons! The grapes look awesome too! Yeah! We also have some pears that will be ready soon and some plum apricots we just picked that are yummy and sweet! I love having a yard that produces food for us to be self sustaining. Canning season, here we come! 

The goodness of a creek in your yard!

Oh the summer goodness this creek brings! Frogs, mud pies, wading water, and an ever flowing supply for squirty toys! Our kids love it! I get to sit and watch them play in natures beauty and they have fun exploring! 

And more fun! 

Lazy summer days!!!

I've been trying to play hard with the kids on a budget these last 3 weeks of summer. Why? because their summer was rough with Adam's NMO and being tended here and there. We have been to the splash pad, pool, park, walks, bike riding, rodeo, county fair, bakery for treats, and more. Today though, it's a lazy day! Including Legos, water paints, popcorn on the porch, Netflix, leap pad time, I pad time, and even pbskids games online. It's almost noon and it's been lovely! The kids are happy and so am I! They do get to go to a friends for two hours after naps but this "hang out" day has been awesome! 

Worm boy!!!!

He is such a boy and I love it! 

Mama knows best!

Tylenol and a long walk calmed this boy down after screaming in bed. When I went into calm him he was holding his head. Pretty sure it hurts! Sad!

I did enjoy a nice long walk in quiet though!

Mamma for the win! 

Joe gets married!!!

Bathing Carrots

Tonight Carter helped me pick half our carrots! We have tons and only planted one row! He is such a little helper and very cute doing it too! 

After we picked I had D and R get in the tub and give them all a bath and a scrub! It's awesome when you work as a team.

 Now Adam and I will run them through the food processor to slice them and freeze them. Yum!! I love harvesting even if it is a lot of work! We got 11 bags to freeze, perfect to throw into any soup!