Avery Sax Man

So after hearing all of Kimaree's sax man stories, my mom arranged for Avery to play this prank on her after Grandpa's viewing. I have actually been wanting to hear Avery play for a really long time. I got to hear him during this prank and then also at the cemetery. He is really good. Typical of my mom, she is still able to laugh and be happy even during sad times. I am so glad I have been able to see so many cousins with Grandma's funeral last month and Grandpa's funeral this month. I have such an awesome family.

Sexy Sax Man

You have to watch this you tube video. Click on the "play" button on the middle of the above picture.
Kimaree keeps us all up to date on cool you tube videos. She has a professor that loves funny videos and shares one every day in class. This video is really popular right now and on Halloween a bunch of the BYU saxophone players re-enacted this you tube video all over campus. There was even a guy on the roof top of one of the buildings. AND.. to top it off one of the sax players came in to her class... the same class with the professor that always shares you tube videos. Her professor was delighted, to say the least, that they would choose his class to prank (unlike the professor in the video)!

Watch this video today, and tomorrow I will post a little treat for you to watch. You'll be glad you did!

FINISHED! and Brookie update

We finished potato harvest today about 1:00 PM. Exciting! We are usually done by the 10th of October so this is really late for us. We had a lot of snow and rain that kept us from finishing on schedule. We had a harvest "party" which basically was just feeding everyone lunch.

Our menu:
Cafe Rio burritos (meat rice and the Cafe Rio dressing)
Chocolate Cake
Oatmeal Cookie bars

What a relief to have the potatoes out... now we just need to finish beets at the other farm. And we need to have that finished in time for Cody's wedding (Mark's younger brother is getting married Nov 4th in Twin Falls).

Brookie update:
Brooke was scheduled for her final chemotherapy treatment on Thursday (the 19th). When she got there they determined that she has lost too much weight and also had swollen lips and a little bit of a red eye. It was determined that she was not well enough to receive the treatment. They decided to give Brooklyn a feeding tube (in the nose, down the throat, into the stomach). They said she would only be bothered by the tube for about 6 hours, and then she would be great... and that was the case. She is doing well with the tube so far. A syringe connects to the tube and that is how they push medicine and nutrients into the stomach. Brooklyn is glad to not have to take her medicine, it can go in the tube now. She can still eat and drink anything just like normal, but this will just help her to get back some energy and weight. She also had another hearing test where they determined that she has a loss of some of the higher tones.
Brooklyn will go back next week to see if she is well enough to receive the last chemotherapy. 3-4 weeks after her final treatment they will do another MRI and also another hearing test. If the hearing test does not improve they will get her into some hearing aids. Hearing loss is a complication caused by some chemotherapy treatments. Her last hearing test came back pretty good, so who knows if this is just a crazy bump in the road or if she truly will have to wear hearing aids.?.

After the results of the next MRI they will make a new game plan and see what they want to do. Derek and Angelie are planning to go to Disneyland in December through the Make A Wish program. They will go after Derek finishes school and before Christmas. We hope that Brooklyn will be feeling better and that not having chemotherapy treatments every other week will give her the strength and energy to go and have a great time!

I will keep you posted on how her appointment next week goes.

Arco's Flash Flood

A lot of you saw on the news that we had some weather action over here in the desert on Monday. Here is a look at my yard and house after the heavy rain and hail storm.

Isn't that soil supposed to be in the flower bed? My flowers were looking SO good before the hail storm and flood. Mark had used some special fertilizer from the farm and they were so pretty. Oh well we will try again next year.

Luckily we did not get any water in our basement, but our driveway is destroyed. The asphalt is washed away in places and rock from the hill above us is scattered everywhere in the driveway. It literally looks like craters of the moon in my driveway. It is so uneven and the remaining asphalt looks like a lava flow. I guess we will be replacing our driveway this year :(

(Notice my new vehicle in the driveway next to the 'ol Alero. We sold the pickup I used to drive and got a Nissan Pathfinder!)

The "new" river bed in my driveway. You can see where it tore away the asphalt from the retaining wall.

We ended up with a big sink hole where the water was pouring off of the hill.

Relay for Life 2011

"Man Talk" (plus Sicily)

Sorry, picture out of order. The day after Relay Lance took us to American Falls to do some boating. I was glad for the kid size life jacket. We found out Sicily has no fear of the water and ran out into it as soon as we put her down. She loved playing in the sand also.

Paxton lounging with Aunt M'Lisa. He was a very good baby during Relay and the remainder of the weekend. He is spoiling me!

2 sleeping kids at Relay for Life. We did a few laps as a family and soon after both kids fell asleep.

Luminaries around the track. The Luminary Ceremony was very special. They lit all the luminaries and then had everyone walk a lap in silence to remember those who have lost the fight.

Dad's luminary

Our Booth & Decorations at Relay For Life

The coolest picture ever! As part of the decorations there was a picture of Cinderella (Brooke's favorite princess) and Brooklyn. I think there is a story behind how Angelie ended up with the picture, we will have to ask her for details!
Angelie made this banner. It really sums up why we did Relay this year.

Our booth won best decorated! Very exciting! We also sold cotton candy for our on-site fundraiser. This was such an awesome event to participate in!

Kids

Brooklyn holding Paxton. She loves him and can even say his name really well! It is so cute. Brooke never has to be reminded what his name is, and she seems to be drawn to babies. This picture was taken right before the 4th of July. You can see a few strands of Brooke's hair in the picture. Her hair had started to fall out in big clumps and so she was wearing a scarf all the time to catch the hair and also cover her head since she looked a little crazy with her hair falling out in patches. Shortly after we took this picture I took Brooke out on the deck and cut the rest of her hair off. She hasn't seemed to mind too much, and Angelie dresses her in the cutest scarves and hats. Derek and Porter have also been wearing their hair shaved off. Angelie said that Brooke wanted to take her Cinderella doll's hair off the other day. So she is aware that her hair is gone, but as long as she has a scarf or hat she isn't too self conscious about it.

Sicily has finally taken an interest in her baby doll. We got it for her last Christmas and she has never been that excited to play with it. Ever since Paxton came along she is constantly taking care of her baby doll. If she is not rocking the baby she is putting it in Paxton's bouncer chair or his swing. It is so cute to see her singing, rocking, and reading stories to her doll.

We have been having a great summer! I got my double jogging stroller shortly after Paxton was born, and we have walked all over Arco! I have really enjoyed taking walks and have even started a little jogging on the cooler days! Both kids enjoy the stroller so that is a plus.

Sicily's hair has started to get a little longer so her pigtails stay in much better.

Sicily loves her brother! She brings him toys, bounces him, "helps" him all the time. I have to watch her really close because she plays a bit rough still. Usually Paxton is fast asleep in his swing or bouncer chair and she is still talking and singing and trying to get him to play. In this picture she had gotten the box of kleenex and was wiping his nose! I can't believe he slept through it all. Needless to say we put Paxton in another room for his nap, and hid the Kleenex box from Sicily!