Family Home Evening fun

Nights like tonight I am so glad I went on a mission. Family home evening went so well. We had Ariyona, Makayla and Tanner over and they all stayed for FHE. We talked about testimonies and how to build them. We played the flour game, where you have a penny in the middle and the person that makes the penny fall has to get it out with their teeth, not hands. The kids had so much fun and I was surprised at how well they related it to building a strong testimony. We used this all the time in Korea, and it was really effective. I only wish I had written down all of the object lessons we used on a mission and how they related. I would love to use all of them now with Hayden.

Here are some of the pictures of the kids playing the flour game. We had a great time.

Hayden after he finally got the penny with his teeth.


Tanner had a hard time getting the penny out.


Hayden, Tanner, Makayla and Ariyona


Ariyona won-she was the only one that didn't have to put her face in the flour.


I really enjoyed tonight and it made me really appreciate having such great kids in my life. Thomas and I may only have Hayden, but we've been blessed with lots of people that let us borrow their kids whenever we want them! We are truly lucky!

Late to church again...

This morning I woke up at 5:15am and decided I could get a lot accomplished before church. Thomas and I were organizing the office, and at a little before 8am, I said we should start getting ready for church. Thomas made breakfast, I had Hayden take a bath while I was getting ready. Pretty standard every Sunday church ritual. All of a sudden, I looked at the clock and panicked that we needed to leave in the next 20 minutes, so it was a mad dash to finish getting dressed and get all of our church materials together. We pulled up to church at about 3 minutes after and rush into the back. We sit down and I think wow, I was gone the last two Sundays with Hayden being sick and there have been a ton of new people move in our ward. Then, I realize that they are already giving talks, and I am thinking how did I miss the sacrament? Thomas leans over and says, hey, this isn't our ward. I was like what do you mean it isn't our ward. He pointed at the time... it was only 9:10 am. Oops! Our ward starts at 10:00am. We headed home and relaxed for a few minutes before heading back out to church. What a crazy morning!

Jodi's kiddos

We kept Jodi's kids last weekend while Jodi and Troy were at the trials. We had so much fun with the kids. Luckily we pulled out the camera a couple of times and got some great pictures. Brigham is so funny and gives a cheesy grin whenever he sees the camera. You can tell his mom is a photographer. Not Hayden, he hates getting his picture taken unless it is of him holding some type of reptile or bug.

This is my favorite of Briggy. I love his smile!


We put a trampoline in our family room for Hayden's therapy. It is amazing. All the kids love it. Hayden and Brooklyn danced on the tramp for the longest time while watching Hannah Montana.


Thomas tickles the kids every night before bed. He is a big kid, too. Then he can't understand why they don't want to go to bed. Oh well! The kids love it.

It's Official

I passed the state and national real estate tests yesterday and took my 6 hour contract writing camp. I am officially a Realtor. What a relief that this entire process is done. Hayden was so excited last night and wanted to know if we could go celebrate that he gets his mommy back. All I wanted to do last night was to hold Hayden until he fell asleep. I'm happy to be able to be a mom again after work and not worry about classes and studying. What a relief!

Happy Father's Day!

I am so fortunate to be married to such a wonderful man! He is an incredible father to Hayden. Hayden absolutely loves his dad. I love watching Thomas and Hayden play together. They have such a great time wrestling, playing the Wii, building legos, playing superheroes, and looking for frogs. I am so proud of the example that Thomas is setting for Hayden. He is teaching Hayden how to be a good father, a faithful disciple of Christ, a worthy priesthood holder, a good friend, how to serve, and how to be an incredible future husband. I'm so lucky that I found such a great guy!

I also was very fortunate to have grown up with a wonderful father that taught me so many wonderful things. He taught me the value of hard work, the importance of honesty, how to trust in our Savior, and how to serve. I am very thankful for these wonderful lessons he taught me and so many more! He is a great man! I am so glad I am able to call him my father.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there, especially the ones that mean so much to us in our lives. I especially wish a great day to Thomas, my dad, Troy, Josh, Jake, JD and Chris. Thanks for being such great examples!

Paralympic Trials

Last night we went to ASU to watch Troy compete in the paralympic trials. He had some fantastic races. It was a lot of fun! The kids love playing in the bleachers. Mistie made signs for Troy and the kids loved holding them up while Troy raced. Troy definitely had the biggest fan club there. I had several people in the crowd comment to me that Uncle Troy must be really loved. He is! He is a great uncle and we are all so proud of his accomplishments!

Hayden's Toy Drive

I received a call from Phoenix Children's Hospital last week. They have assigned someone new to help us with the toy drive. In fact, she wants me to come down and meet with her so we can discuss how to grow Hayden's Toy Drive. She requested permission to do a media campaign with Hayden, both in print and on the news. They are impressed with Hayden and what he has been through and want to feature him and his giving back to the hospital. So, it looks like this Christmas he may be on the news and in ads to raise money for PCH. He is excited and we are excited for the publicity that this will help us get for the toy drive. Now, I need to create a website, get business cards and establish Hayden's Charities into a 501c non-profit corporation. I am hoping to get it accomplished, but we are probably looking at 2009 for it all to be established. I am excited for the doors this will open up for us.

Noticing improvement

We are actually seeing improvement with Hayden. I am surprised that I am already seeing a difference in him in the short amount of time that we have realized there was a problem. Hayden is fantastic at remembering details and comprehending what is going on. In fact he tested at a 3rd grade 8 month level in those areas. But, he has had a hard time remembering names, in fact, Josh's kids are all Austin and Austin's brothers. And, JD's boys are all Bryson. He came home from Karate camp this week and was telling us all his friends names. Unbelievable! And, he is becoming so much more independent.

I have been taking Hayden to a myopractioner for cranial work and a homeopathic doctor. They are doing studies that some Autistic tendencies are greatly reduced when cranial work is done. So, what the heck, we decided to give it a try. Since he was diagnosed with having blockages in his brain, we were going to try to go to occupational therapy to re-route the signals his brain was sending. (We are still working on this) But, with Dr. Goldberg, he is actually breaking up some of the blockages and the breakthroughs that we are seeing with Hayden already are amazing! So, we feel very fortunate and very blessed to have found these specialists.

Hayden is in for more testing on Thursday. He is not excited. He has 5 hours of testing with an occupational therapist. Then on to the myopractioner's office that usually takes 2 1/2 hours and then to Dr. Ber. He is so not looking forward to the day. But, I told him that we would definitely be hitting Toys R Us on the way home.

I remember asking Hayden's cardiologist if the testing ever got easier as they got older. I loved his reply. He said yes, once they understand, if you will cooperate you can have whatever you want at Toys R Us. So, I am taking his advice and we will be going to Toys R Us after the testing. Hayden already knows that he wants a Ben 10 watch.

Golfland - Sunsplash

Thomas, Jodi and I took the kids to Sunsplash yesterday. We had such a great time! I was so amazed at how much Hayden did and how much he loved the water slides. He was up and down constantly. He has really learned to swim and is becoming so grown up. He didn't even care where we were, he had a great time just playing by himself and doing his own thing. Brooklyn and Brigham stayed by us more and liked the kiddie water area the best. It was tons of fun and relaxing. I loved being able to sit there and just chat while the kids had so much fun. I can't believe we all the lasted over 6 hours with the kids.

I didn't get any great pictures. We were too busy playing. Here is one that shows how tired they were at the end of the day.

I passed!!!

What a good day! I went in this morning and took the real estate school exam. The first 100 questions weren't that bad. But, by question #146, the words were running together. By question #200, I was just glad it was over. I ended up having to be in Scottsdale for a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so I got a massage and went shopping after my test. I was still really nervous about the test and the thought of having to re-take it next week. But, I came home and I had passed. And, I passed with a 95%. I was so excited. So, test #1 down, only the state and national exams to go! My treat to myself, no studying this weekend. It should be a good weekend, not to mention I have to get caught up on laundry, cleaning and spending time with Hayden and Thomas! Tonight I just want to sleep, tomorrow we will do something fun!

Procrastinating the inevitable

I have locked myself in the office to study for the real estate exam. Obviously, I put my book down and would rather complain about it than actually begin studying for the test. Studying to take the real estate exam is about torture! It has been so incredibly long since I have taken a test or really studied. I get distracted so easily and would rather do anything, including cleaning the house and laundry, than I would study. I have finished my classes but cannot motivate myself to really sit and study to go take the test. I think I have test anxiety... I know, I should just take it. I will be so relieved when I actually have my real estate license and this is all behind me. For now, I guess I better get back to studying, or at least attempt to get this usless information into my brain. Really, does anyone care what year Arizona Revised Statutes came into play?