Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day-2010

Joe would rather not have taken a picture with me...compare this picture to the one below! What a little stink! Wonder who he gets his stubborness from?! :)

Weird, he is smiling with Chelsea! I don't think he will do well when she actually has kids of her own!

There is no other job that I would want besides being mom to these 2 beautiful kids. I love them more than I ever thought possible and am so grateful they are ours!

Chelsea wanted a picture with Lynden since they were matching in their gray and cream! I was still in California for Mother's Day and was able to make a nice dinner for my mom! We had a low key evening at Jack and Sam's and Dan, and Steve & Tina's family came for dinner.
I am lucky to have the most amazing women in my life starting with my mother and mother in law. They are the best examples of hard work, loving and living the gospel, and being mother's. I consider myself pretty lucky to be surrounded by such incredible friends, cousins, aunts, and grandmas that I aspire to be like. Hope everyone had a great day.

My daddy

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, I was having a breakfast at my place for the cute ladies I visit teach. My companion was out of town and I knew I only had a few days left to get it done. I was feeding Lynden and my mom kept calling me. I answered and heard her say, "I just need to let you know, dad is fine." She sounded a little shaken up and I knew she just called me to hear herself say it out loud. My dad had a treadmill test and afterward his resting heartrate wasn't what it should have been. His doctor gave him something to slow it down and it still didn't go down. Thank heavens he has a proactive doctor that wanted him to be monitored and sent to the hospital to undergo some tests. I listened to my mom when she said do not come home until we find out what is going on and I wasted away the day. I talked to my dad who sounded normal and fine and wanted everyone to stop worrying. The next morning my mom called again, this time a little shaken up, but also extremely calm. One of the nurses called and pretty much said, "your husband needs open heart surgery, please come to the hospital." No explanation, no more information, just come. I was picking Joe up from preschool and called Steve to come home. I called my brother, Steve, who was in Valencia for work and he was so sweet and went home to be with my mom. He helped her focus on getting ready and drove her to the hospital where my other brothers Jack and Dan met her. My dad needed some type of bypass surgery, we thought it would be a triple bypass. Mom was told it was an absolute miracle that he had not had a heart attack, stroke, or something worse that I can't even think about. The surgery was scheduled for Saturday. I wanted to be there for my dad and at the same time I felt that I needed to be there for my mom. There were so many scenarios that we went through in our heads with me flying to California with only Lynden or me driving both the kids or all of us going. Mom is funny, she thrives on having people around like I do and she really wanted Joe there. Here came in Mr. Incredible and Steve drove us early Friday morning to California and had to catch a flight back Saturday afternoon for work. It really was quite a selfless act. He had dealt with an emotionally unstable and crabby wife the past 24 hours and a long car ride listening to the same story over and over as I told it to different family members and friends and got to my parents ready to help. I was rushing hoping to see JK off to prom and let him borrow my camera. I had just enough time to stop at the hospital and see my dad for a few minutes while Steve sat in the car with 2 kids that were probably at their breaking point. I saw dad and had the most tender moments of my life in his hospital room that I will never ever forget. I get in the car and once again am crying and talking to Chelsea who has learned she has a free flight and books it and is flying out in 2 hours to come out and be with us. JK looked great and we sent him off. My dad had an awesome nurse that let Tim, Julie, Jack and Sam in an hour after visiting hours were done and let Chelsea and I in 3 hours after visiting hours were over because that's when she landed. Tim and Julie happened to be going to Santa Barbara for her birthday weekend, so 8 of my dad's 9 kids were in town for the surgery. Amazing! Dad went in for surgery at 6:30 and we didn't get a phone call until after 1! Those were some LONG hours! We went to Ben's tennis tournament and my mom probably looked at her phone over a thousand times making sure she had service and battery. My dad said he didn't want anyone there before or during just having anxiety about what was going on. Dad did fabulous! His heart is in such great shape and they didn't even have to put it on the resting machine during the operation, it just kept on pumping! It ended up having to be a quintuple bypass surgery with 100% blockage, 99% blockage, 70% blockage, 60% blockage and somewhere in the 40% blockage. We got to see dad while he was coming out of it. He is the strongest man I know. Right when I walked in and said hi, his eyes were still closed and he asked where cowboy (Joe) was...Of course I lost it and luckily Chelsea took over for me. We took Steve to the airport. He was so sweet to drive us here to allow me to have the car and use it to help out whoever needed rides and it let me have the flexibility to stay as long as I needed. After a few annoying days in the hospital, the nurses didn't do very well of staying on top of his diabetes and blood sugar, they figured out we could take care of his meals at home. He got home Wednesday and his blood sugar dropped 75 points! Mike, our oldest brother, flew in Wednesday and stayed through the weekend. Joe was relieved to finally have grandpa home. He had a hard time understanding why he couldn't take in his Elmo balloon and cards to the hospital. One time when we pulled up, he even asked, "Can I be 14 today?" He was super careful with grandpa and was pretty calm while we were there. Dad is doing wonderful and just played his first round of golf a couple of days ago. He shot an 82 for his first time back, better than most of the pros who just bombed during the US Open. He has played tennis and is on top of his game.
Throughout this whole ordeal I have learned that nothing is coincidental. It's not coincidence that his doctor decided to be proactive, nor is it coincidence that 8 of his 9 children could be in town. On Sunday, when Chelsea and I were leaving the hospital Elder Garns and Sister Garns got there. I have always had a strong testimony concerning the leaders of our Gospel, but it was definitely strengthened seeing them and feeling of their love for our family. I have learned even more that Jesus loves us and knows exactly what we are going through. He knows our limits and because we are here on Earth to grow, gives us trials that we can grow from when we think we might not be able to overcome them. I have learned that the closer I am to Him, the happier and more productive of a person I am. I don't think I have ever kept my stuff more organized/out of the way at my mom's house than I did this time :) The feeling of support, fasts, prayers, and love is a comfort beyond words. Jesus came to Earth not only to die for us, but to show us how to live. I am so grateful for my parents who taught me that my whole life whether I was wanting to listen or not. They are the most amazing examples and I love them dearly.

Our trip to California

The morning of the surgery, Ben had a HUGE tennis tournament. Steve took him at 7:30 since it was starting at 8 and I went over with my mom and the kids at 8. I went home for a bit to get ready for the day and get the kids ready. It was really nerve wracking to be there waiting for the hospital to call and just watch tennis. I went back and we got the call from the hospital and Ben played AWESOME! It was really fun to watch! We were there until about 1:30

One of my greatest friends, Linds, was a huge support and came and entertained my kids while Chelsea, my mom and I took Steve to the airport and went to the hospital to see my dad. She is a 6th grade teacher and was so wonderful with my kids. Joe loved having her over. She had him sorting animals when I got home and he had such fun stories to tell about what they did. She just recently got engaged and we are so happy for her and Bryan! We love them both tons and I am so thankful she was there for me when I needed some help!

I love that my kids are both leaning the same way and that Joe won't help Lynden stay up! Ha ha

Joe with his favorite Aunt Chelsea and Lynden.

I love this dress and had to get a picture of it while it fit

Here she is becoming pretty mobile even in a huge poofy dress

JK had seminary graduation and my mom went with him. Yay JK!

The proud parents...here is daddy 5 days after his quintuple bypass looking like a million bucks!

We got to do some swimming while we were there

Joe asked for a picture by himself, but I'm not sure why it came out dark. He kind of freaked out swimming, so we got him right back into swim classes when we got back home and he is doing pretty good now

This little lady loves the water and will definitely not be as cautious as her older brother! Yikes!

JK's prom

JK needed to leave for the buses at 4:15 and I got there at 4:17 driving in from Arizona. He was borrowing my camera so I was rushing to get it to him! We all looked like trainwrecks after that long drive along with everything that was going on. Lynden never goes anywhere without a headband, except for that day!

JK and his beautiful date, Andrea. I think it's awesome that so many nonmembers like to go to the Mormon Prom.

Uncle JK and Joe

Cutest brothers ever!

My mama and JK

He is such a mama's boy

Found some of these cute pictures on my camera from the evening

He is such a stud!

A few weeks before the prom, JK had asked to have friends over afterwards and my mom had said yes. Well, it happened to be the night before my dad's surgery and my mom is funny she needs more people around so she can stay busy and not concentrate fully on the scary stuff that's happening. I got to my house and saw tons of stuff on the counter for desserts so I started baking. I made brownies, rice krispies, chocolate rice krispies, and started setting stuff out. I'm pretty sure these kids were over LATE!

Lake Pleasant

I had no idea there was a lake so close to us. I guess it didn't really matter anyways, we don't have a boat to go out on it :) Jamie said she had gone out and was probably going out again so who jumped on that opportunity, me! Here is our captain, Taylor!

I love this boy! He was so cautious for about the first hour on the boat. He kept thinking the boat was going to go under the water like in The Incredibles when the ship turns into a submarine. He was nervous waiting for that moment and I finally convinced him that we were staying afloat!

Our little marshmellow! She loved the lake!

Jamie and Parker enjoying the ride

Joe fully loving every minute of his turn driving the boat, seriously where did my baby go?

He got a good lengthy turn and continued to ask for turns all day long

The family that was so nice to let us tag along. They are such good friends!

Love my boys!

Steve and I with our kids. They did so good keeping those things on all day.

Cute boys hanging out

What would a day with Jen be without a ton of treats?! That was my job and I made sure I delivered! These boys like seeing me for one reason...I always have treats!

Lynden even slept underneath for a bit

Mr. Cool

This was the farthest Joe got in and I thought it was huge. #1 it was cold, #2 he has never been on a lake before, #3 it was the first time he had been "swimming" in 7 months so I was proud of him for kicking!

On our way back to the dock after such a fun day!

Waiting to load the boat and loving that I got some color! Thanks to the White family! In one of mine and Joe's conversations, I randomly asked if he wanted a dog like Ellie (my parent's dog) one day and he said, "actually you know what I want, a boat like Taylor's!" He loved it!

Dinner at Mellow Mushroom

Our little miss munchkin! She is so petite and I was nervous she would slip out so we propped her up with Chantelle's massive purse!

We have the hardest time when we go out with Chantelle and Zack because Zack and Joe LOVE to play. I think Zack likes to get Joe all riled up and watch me try to get him calmed down! It's a really fun experience!

Zack and Joe

Daddy and his girl

Chantelle and Joe...Chantelle and Zack are both from Arizona, actually both of their families only live about 3 miles away so they are natives. They always tell us of the best places to eat, shop, get pedicures, etc. We love trying out new things with them!

Girls Night

Another much needed girls outing! We went to BJ's, one of my very favorites! You can tell I plan them :)

Here are the ladies that went this time, me, Chantelle, Kelsey, Cheryl, Nichole, Jamie and Kendra left early because she wasn't feeling well. Jamie and I were able to score a free pizookie because there was some type of plastic in the cookie! Thanks Jamie for taking one for the team :)

My family came to visit us

After Ben's tennis match at the end of the week, we got right in the car and headed to Arizona to see our favorite people, Steve, Chelsea and Ben! The drive went ok, but I think I would rather drive during the day with my kids. Lynden likes to sleep on her belly so she didn't sleep too well. We got into town around 1 and Chels and Ben were here to see us! Joe was so excited!

Of course, the guys had to go golfing and here they are getting ready to go after a stop at the sweet PGA Superstore. I love that place! Dad is hurrying up to get some lunch down before their tee off time!

Love my sister and brothers! Ben chose not to go so he got to go to Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and Sees Candies with us!

Joe needed one quick loop around in the cart before he would leave

We enjoyed a fun day with a BBQ and swimming while the guys went golfing again

This picture is funny to me because Ben took it and Chelsea kept asking if there were any shadows, he said no :) I'm sure it was super bright!

Lynden loving on Aunt Chels

Kylie, Jaycee, and Nichole came and spent the day with us. Joe was a little bit envious of Kylie liking his grandma so he was holding/pulling her face towards him in the picture :)

I love that Nichole and her girls came and hung out with us for the day so she could meet my family! Her and Chelsea are both in pretty intense nursing programs right now so I knew they'd have something to talk about. Chelsea can be pretty quiet at first :)

She must be eating

We love our princess!

Chelsea and Joe in their own little world...dancing! Where did he learn to dance like this?!

Still just dancing away, he is crazy about her!

Enjoying some sweet potatoes

Having some down time

Lynden and Uncle Ben

We have a sitter and a ...

a girl that is on the move! She isn't crawling, but scooting. She can get up on all 4, but pulls her body around and does the seal crawl!

I love my mom so much! I'm so glad my family could meet in Arizona for a quick weekend! The time we spend with them is never long enough, but luckily we get to see them often! Love you guys! I feel bad, I have no pictures of Ben because he was here working and he is usually behind the camera snapping shots of his beautiful wife, but we love him too!