Busy Halloween Week

Halloween Murphy Madness is in full swing.

Hayden has had quite the busy week and it isn't even Halloween yet. Already he has participated in the following activities:

Conquered his very first Haunted House
(According to Kaylee, Kiley and Suzi - he stood up to a Zombie and was absolutely brave.)

Walked unaccompanied to Jackson's house and was completely brave and confident.

Attended his school's Halloween Dance Party where he, Jackson and Gunter played all types of games, laughed with friends and participated with all the other kids in the middle school laughing and having a great time. I think their "dancing" would have looked more like a Ninja weapons battle but they had a great time!

Carved pumpkins with his Dad and Gunter... more on that later.

Attended Suzi's ward Trunk or Treat with Gunter, Brooklyn, Kaylee, Katelyn, Kiley and all of their friends.

His poor immune system could not take the excitement and he came down with strep throat... nothing a few antibiotics and staying away from mom  for 24 hours couldn't conquer.

Bounced out the door to the Simonton Halloween Bash at my Dad's house. There is played with cousins, watched the magician, ate homemade ice cream, had platefuls of food, played Halloween Wii outside, had bungi cord races and more. (Even though I couldn't attend, they brought me homemade ice cream back.)

Tomorrow night will be filled with our church ward Halloween Party complete with spook alleys, chili, cornbread, hotdogs, trunk or treating and all kinds of fun carnival booths.

On Halloween, we will all go to Jodi's house... the guys will take the kids trick or treating while Jodi and I sit on the porch, wrapped in blankets, passing out candy to the cute kids.

Busy but incredibly fun week. Ready for all the fun Fall and Winter festivities that are coming up. I am excited!

Pneumonia and more

No matter how hard I try, I once again find myself playing catch up here on the blog. So much is happening in our lives and I am trying to be "present" as much as possible all while feeling like I am being suffocated to breathe. This does not make for a great combination whatsoever.

I found myself back in Urgent care tonight after almost 2 weeks of trying every all natural remedy I could find to alleviate this bronchitis that has been clinging on. I had to cancel my last infusion treatment because of how sick I have been. I have been trying to avoid antibiotics due to the havoc that they cause to my body and that utilizing antibiotics may possibly negate all of the infusions and the goals of what we are trying to accomplish. I have been through too much to want to have to start over.

However, after not being able to climb out of bed and sleeping most of the day, I decided that it was time. I knew how much sicker I was getting and felt I had no fight left within my body. I was weakening.

I love Dr. Brooks at our Urgent Care and wish he would just be my primary doctor, he is that amazing. After two hours talking with him, getting a breathing treatment, chest x-ray, exam, shot and three prescriptions, I left understanding what was wrong with me. My collapsed lung looks better although it has turned into pneumonia and bronchitis. My airways are closing off making it very difficult to take each and every breath. Worse yet, either the meningitis was not all the way cleared up or with the weakened state of my immune system, my body is slipping back into the meningitis. Not fun.

I am grateful for caring, loving and knowledgeable doctors. I am grateful for the inspiration they receive for my care. I was so struggling as to which road to walk. I was determined to fight this infection all naturally and come out without the need for antibiotics. The thought of everything I have been through in the last several months to be in vain, was more than I could cope with.

However, after much prayer, deliberation, inspired doctors, consulting with my loving husband and receiving my own revelation from my Father in Heaven, I know that going on antibiotics is the right decision for my body today. I cannot worry about what this will do to my treatments going forward, or the setbacks that may occur or even the probability of the past several months of pain and torture having been in vain. At this moment, without the antibiotics, my body cannot go on, so I am beginning a treatment of antibiotics and praying that somehow, someway my Savior will let me beat the odds and help the antibiotics to only relieve the pneumonia, bronchitis and meningitis and not mess with the infusion treatments that have taken place.

My next step..take the antibiotics, pray that my body responds well to them, that I start fighting these infections and that they do not interfere with the infusion treatments that are working to heal my body.

I have placed this new set of circumstances at my Savior's feet and have asked him to sort through the details for me. What else can I do? He has never done anything besides what is best for me. I have overcome illness and conquered death, with my Savior's help, over and over again. I am counting on Him to again protect me and save me.

Prayers are appreciated and needed. I know this is in my Savior's hand and come what may, "I know I can do hard things". This is just one more to add to the list.

Desert Living - Fear of Snakes

I HaTe Snakes!
I am scared to death of snakes.
Julie knocked on our door on Sunday afternoon saying that there was a snake in our yard. Not any snake but a 6 foot bull snake. She had hit him with her car and he flew but she was sure he was dead.

Thomas came out to take a look and no, not dead, that snake tried to strike twice at Thomas.

Results: SNakE: 0   ThOMaS: 1

I wouldn't let Hayden outside at first, so he sat in the office, watching his dad through the window, cheering for him, talking about how brave his daddy is and how cool of dad he has... priceless.

Even after being defeated, that snake kept moving and I was freaking out that it was in our front yard. Thomas chopped off it's head and Hayden squealed in delight that the snake still continued to move all over the place.

Thomas was so proud of himself for killing a six foot snake. Look at the proud look on Hayden's face. I love how much he idolizes his dad.

For me, I cringe each and every time I have to walk outside of the house. I am convinced that there must be more of them around. I am frightened JUST by looking at the pictures.

Poor Talmage

My poor little Talmage buddy has been so sick. He has been battling some type of illness and has had us all scared to death. He started running a really high fever that continued to cause him all amounts of pain and discomfort. If you even touched his arm or leg, he would scream "That hurts".

In the past week he has gone from the happiest go-lucky kid to one that is in so much pain. It hurts for blankets to touch him, to be picked up, to pee or anything. My heart breaks for him.

Two Sundays ago, he spent the day in Urgent Care, to be followed up Monday, Wednesday and Friday at doctors, labs drawn on off days, and finished the week on Sunday in Phoenix Children's Hospital ER. He has been poked and proded and messed with and they still do not have answers other than he is a sick little guy.

I love this boy so much and would do anything to take this pain myself. I hate that at 3 years old he is in so much pain and having to face so much trauma.

He looks like he is starting to feel better, yet a lot of his weird symptoms are still going on. I keep praying that Jodi will be guided to someone that can help find answers for her sweet son. She is such a good momma. She loves her children and has hardly slept in the past couple of weeks while trying to juggle Talmage, Brigham having two eye infections and of course, me and all my issues. She is definitely a compassionate and loving example of one who renders need of service to those who need it, no matter how thinly she is stretched, she reaches down and finds a way to keep going.

I am hoping this is all resolved and behind all of us soon. I am so worried about my little T man. Love you, buddy!

Activity Day

While Talmage, Jodi and Troy spent the day at the hospital, Brooklyn and Brigham got to spend it with us. Luckily for the kids, Aunt Suzi was over. They had all kinds of fun.

They made Halloween cakes.

The giggles, laughter, chatter and fun was music to my ears as they poured, stirred, licked beaters and frosted the cake. Serious fun!

The fun did not stop there, oh no, games galore were played.... Jungle Speed, Zingo, Rumikub, Sequence and others. They even pulled Uncle Thomas in on the fun.

Thomas was such a good sport to be Brooklyn's playmate while Brigham and Hayden did "boy things".

These two boys are becoming the best of buddies. Brigham loves having Hayden teach him to play new games, build cool legos, and play the Wii together. The older they get the more these two love being together.

We hated Talmage being in the hospital, but we sure loved a day with Brigham and Brooklyn. Love all these kids so much!

Murphy Gang

Chris, Ann's Dad, came down for a week to spend time with Ann. It had been a couple of years since he had been here.

All of the "in town" Murphy's came over to just hang out and talk on Saturday night. Nothing too elaborate... we ordered pizzas and hung out and talked. We sure had fun laughing and being together and missed those that are far away.

Hayden convinced Uncle Chris into playing a game on the X-Box with him. Victoria and Hayden love anyone that will entertain them. We are grateful he was so kind and took a turn away from the adults to make Hayden and Victoria feel important.

I love family. I am so lucky that I married into a good one. They love me and I am so grateful for the incredible people that they are. They each hold a special place in my heart. I especially adore my mother in law and am so grateful for her continued kindness, selfless service and the outpouring of love that she shows our family with. It is always special times when I can unite with family.

Fall Break

This is the first year that Hayden has had a two week Fall Break. I loved it! I loved being home with him. I loved getting up late, cuddling on the couch, having him here to help me, playing the Ipad with him, watching movies, playing games and just chatting. He is so much fun to be with and I love his company.

He was able to do some fun things during this break. His best buddy Joey, friends since they were 3 years old spent a day with us. They played legos, swords, jumped on the tramp, battled, laughed, chatted and had the best time.

Brigham and Brooklyn were off the first week as Hayden and spent lots of time playing the Wii, legos and having fun.

Hayden loved that no homework meant more time with his dad.

Hayden snapped this of all three of us playing some seek and find game on the Ipad together.

Of course, we had to play Hayden's all time favorite game, Life. Anytime we ask him what he wants to do with us, he pulls out this game. Then he gets all upset if I don't have a son in the game. As if I can control it? Funny boy, he then spends the rest of the game asking if I am lonely without him.

Of course, Talmage was able to spend a lot of time over and Hayden even babysat him a couple of times for Jodi. He loved it. Of course, we were home to supervise but Hayden did a great job.

Gunter came over a couple of days and those boys played legos for hours on end. They built all kinds of creations. Suzi even took them to see Frankenweenie at Harkins Theater. Spoiled boys.

Hayden was content with or without friends over. He spent so much time in creating different lego masterpieces. He created many jets, helicopters, jet skis but his favorite was of course, the Batmobile.

I love how much Talmage loves being with us. He just fits in whether cuddling with Hayden, tickling Thomas or eating yogurt on the counter. I sure love all these boys.

More friends, more legos. This day, at one point, we had six different boys at our house all playing legos, jumping on the tramp and having Nerf wars. It was a tich bit noisy that day. But they are all good boys.

I love this next series with Hayden and his Grandma. He was telling her all about the snake and all the events she had missed while she was in Utah for a week. He really missed her and it was fun to watch their interaction together as he relayed all the events of the past week to her.

I love that the more he talks, the harder she laughs.

You can tell she adores this grandson of hers and he loves talking to her. Priceless to me.

My Dad and Bonnie stopped by and "Boo"'ed us. Hayden's favorite thing in the basket stuffed with goodies was the plastic fake hand. He has used it on everyone that comes over. He is such a tease. Dad and Bonnie had been out "boo"ing all of their grandkids. I think all of them utterly loved it.

This prompted us to whip together some "Boo" Baskets of our own. Hayden carefully chose which families we would boo and start the tradition in our neighborhood. He LOVED walking up to the door and running. In fact, he came back and collected all the stuff he had received and put it into another basket so we could do one more delivery.

Even with mom on the couch, we did all in our power to see that Hayden had a fun fall break. Boy is it lonely here with him at school during the day. I sure love him being home.

Halloween Decor

Hayden took it upon himself to decorate for Halloween since we hadn't. He pulled the decorations down and went to town decorating. He did express that we did not have creepy enough decorations. When I asked him what he wanted he responded with, "something scary that looks more like this.".  Funny boy!

Suzi helped him arrange the decorations but he made sure things were where he thought they should go.

I hear, "Mom, mom, come see what I have done." Luckily I had my camera so I could capture him telling me. Instead of our candy jar holding candy, it was holding a brain and a liver, with a fork and knife poking in it. He then had the black cat leaning over eating the gross body parts.

I love as he tells the story that his smile gets bigger and more animated.

He thinks he is pretty much a crack up at his Halloween creation. Everyone that walks in the house comments that it is gross. With each comment, he is more and more proud of himself. He has certainly enjoying all the "gross" attention that it is bringing to his decor.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE that this boy can find joy in anything? He is happy with friends, by himself, with his parents, watching movies, playing games, decorating, playing video games, playing legos, at school,  at home. He sure is a joy that he looks for the joy in the journey. Love him!

Julie gets Old...

Julie's 60th birthday came and went this past week. We tried to shower her with gifts to make her feel loved, special and an important part of our lives. She has been instrumental in helping us this past several years. I cannot imagine where my life would be without her. She is one amazing lady and I am so lucky that she chooses to claim us as family.

We had to find pink gerbera daisies since they are her favorites. Everyone should receive beautiful flowers on your birthday, especially big ones. They make all okay.

Hayden did a great job trying to pick out special presents for Grandma Julie. He made her a special picture, bought her an ornament for her Christmas tree and helped us get her a new purse.

Hayden sat right by her side as she opened each card and gift. He was so excited to make her day and bring happiness to her.

He loves when he does a good thing or picks the perfect present. He knew he nailed it this year with a ornament with a poem about a grandson loving a grandma. Too cute.

I love Julie's face in this one as she is reading Thomas' card. Thomas sure enjoys mocking her, teasing her and joking around with her. It said something about don't worry about getting older, you were already old last year.

We love you, Julie! Thanks for being a very special part of our lives!

Collapsed lung

This last week I have struggled to breathe. Absolutely struggled for each and every breath. It hurt to take a breath, felt like I was suffocating and my energy was completely depleted.

Jodi called on Wednesday and said that she needed to get me to Dr. Shiflet. She felt that she needed to take me immediately. She piled her kids in the car and told me that she was on her way to get me. I climbed in the car and was still struggling to breathe. Jodi dropped me off at the doctor while she ran to Costco.

I told Dr. Shiflet I was struggling to breathe and he did some asthma treatment. That made it worse, I was really struggling for air. He did an exam and said that unbelievably that my left lung had partially collapsed. The extreme stabbing was my diaphragm was up in my lung cavity and had cut off air in that lung. He also told me that the hospital technique and I don't go so good together. He proceeded to just dig in and move my diaphragm down, relocate my stomach and then tried to pump the air back into my lungs. I couldn't believe how excruciatingly painful that was.  Oh did it hurt.

However, the pain paled in comparison to yesterday. Each and every breath that I took felt as if my back was going to break and someone was stabbing knives into me. My diaphragm killed and feels bruised. I feel like my insides are going to come out.

As I was praying, I felt a distinct impression come over me. You are being protected. I am watching over you. I love you. I will help you.

The Savior had again pulled me through. He had prompted Jodi to get me to the doctor, he inspired the doctor to check my lung. He helped me to receive enough air until I could get help. He helped me to deal with the extreme pain yesterday by allowing sleep to come a lot and easily. He watched over Hayden and when Hayden got scared, he inspired Suzi to call and come over.

I am truly blessed. As I walk this trial, I am in awe at how the Savior works. I am in awe of all the people that will drop whatever I need to help me. I get to see the best in people. I get to see them at their finest. I get to see them doing good, serving, loving and giving. There is so much good in this world. Come spend the day with me and you too will be in awe of all the random acts of kindness and goodness that people do each and every day. How lucky am I?

Clean House

I am a clean freak. I love to have my house clean, in order and everything in its place. No matter how hard Thomas, Julie, Joyce, Suzi and Hayden tried to keep up on it, there are so many needs around here that the house gets neglected some times. Don't get me wrong. It is usually picked up and not disastrous, just not deep cleaned enough. I have really eased up and let things go over the past couple of years and housecleaning is definitely one of them. My house is not sparkling at all times. But, I sure love it when it is.

Suzi called one day and through my breakdown, I cried and said, I am totally useless. I can't even clean my house any more and it is driving me crazy. Suzi comforted me and the next day, lo and behold who showed up at my house? Cleaners. Yep, a cleaning crew to come in and clean my house. Suzi hired someone to come and clean my house, top to bottom, deep cleaned every other week. Can you believe that?

I can, but only because I know Suzi. We have been friends for so so so long. She knew that it was a stress she could take off of me and so she did. No fuss, no big fan fare, just a call to tell me that when the cleaners knocked at the door to let them in and they were prepaid.

That is how Suzi rolls. Just love. Just service. Just random acts of kindness. No one else knowing. No big fanfare. She just meets so many people's needs, not just mine. She is selfless in her giving and love.

Another example, yesterday... was a bad day. Physically I was going in and out of it, sleeping a lot and miserable. Hayden called Suzi and told her that he was done, please come over and take care of me. She left work immediately, grabbed Subway for lunch for us and came over to sit until someone else could get there.

I am so grateful for Suzi, so grateful for a friend that is willing to meet my needs and my family's needs, no questions asked, just does what needs to be done. How lucky am I?

Hayden captured on I-phone

I love that my camera has a phone. I have learned to snap away, even if it is from my phone wherever I am sitting. I love that I am capturing those day to day moments that life is made up of.

I love watching Talmage and Hayden play together. Hayden has gotten really good at babysitting Talmage and loves earning the money for it. Whenever Talmage comes over, he puts that cute little hand up and says, "Hi Hayden". The rest of us, he jumps or leaps in our arms for hugs.

Gunter and Hayden seriously built legos for over 5 hours straight. They built all kinds of cool airplanes, helicopters, weapons and villages.

Hayden had spirit week and they got to wear all kinds of crazy clothes. Hayden loved crazy hair day, sports day, college day and movie day.
Even though they all have alien eyes below, I love when Hayden, Brooklyn and Brigham laugh and play together. They all sure had fun playing on the Wii for hours this week. No fighting, just laughter, lots of noise and giggling. I love those sounds.

Gunter and Hayden have a great time together. Legos, Legos, Legos and more legos. Suzi picked up Gunter on Wednesday night and took them to see Frankenweenie at the theater. Then they spent the night here and played legos the entire day. Funny boys.

I love these random pictures of Bubba. I love how Talmage wants to be right by Hayden and has his sweet little hand holding on to Hayden. Talmage ran to Thomas and said, "Tickle me". Talmage helps himself to yogurt, grabs a spoon, opens it and eats wherever he pleases. Goofy boy. And, this is how I see Hayden on a regular basis, sitting on the chair, big smiles, just chatting with me.... love it!

I absolutely love my life and all the wonderful and incredible people that I am blessed to share it with!

3 Year Old

Talmage turned 3 years old. How in the world is that possible? I cannot believe how fast this little guy has grown up. Lucky me, I get to be around him all the time. I laugh that he has been one of my greatest blessings in the past couple of years. With me being sick, Talmage has spent a lot of time with me and Jodi during the days, running me to doctor's appointments and coming over while Brooklyn and Brigham are at ball practices and games. Oh how we love and adore Talmage over here. We spoil him rotten and love his spunky little attitude.

I love this series of pictures as the boys open gifts. Hayden tries to stop Brigham from opening Talmage's present. But, being brothers, the first thing Talmage does is show the motorcycle to Brigham. Brigham was so cute and telling him how cool it was.

Brigham was genuinely excited for Talmage and so happy that Talmage got what he wanted. We have all laughed because for the past month, Talmage has said, "Jer, you buy me motorcycle for my birthday, k?" We laugh and tell him yes.

So, when he said, "Jer, you buy'd me motorcyle", Hayden piped in with, "of course we did little buddy!"

Hayden was showing Talmage the rest of his present. He accepted the motorcycle and truck sticker and coloring book to play with me on the couch but he would have no part of accepting his Volcom jacket. He kept saying, "I no want it." We laughed and knew that the cool jacket was much more for Jodi than Talmage.

Talmage ran in the room and grabbed his other motorcycle so he could show me both of them together.

Oh, Talmage, I hope you know how very much we all love and adore you! You bring so much light and joy and laughter and love into our home. You are so loved here. You love being here because we spoil you rotten, you get all kinds of attention and you love being tickled, loved on, cuddled with, played with and love love love to make us all laugh. Thank you for bringing so much joy, laughter and love into our lives.