Birthday Celebration

I started celebrating my birthday a week before my birthday. I met my friend Marianne for lunch and we went to Olive Garden and she made me this cute little gift. I love going to lunch with friends.

Jeremy brought we home flowers on Friday since we were going out for my birthday that night.

We went to one of my favorite places: The Roof.  We only go on my birthday since it is a little pricey.  But we love the view.  Plus on your birthday you get to eat free so we only had to pay for Jeremy. 

Then on Saturday, I went with my Friend Kristi to go and get a pedicure. 

On Monday to start the day the kids brought me home made cards and breakfast in bed.  Then I played Hookey from school and went out to breakfast  with my friend Natalie to eat at one of my favorite breakfast places:Kneaders, where you get to eat the best French Toast!

Then I went shopping all by myself at Kohl's where they were having a great sale.  I got the kids and me some new clothes.

Then After school for my "birthday party" the kids gave me a few more presents: blankets and pillows, and then we took the the kids to the Dinosaur Museum and out to eat at Olive Garden. 

Then we finished the day by coming home and eating cheesecake and ice cream.  It was a great way to spend my birthday! 

I also got phone calls and cards from family and friends.  Have to say I love birthdays well except for the fact that you get older, but who doesn't love all this attention.

Friday

Friday, Friday, Friday! I am so glad you are here!  I love Fridays.

I go to work an hour later.   I drop off Devin at 8:40 at the sitter because she has to run her son to  preschool and wouldn't be back in time for me to drop off Devin. But then I get to go home for 30 minutes and do whatever I want for 30 sweet, quiet beautiful minutes! I can read uninterrupted, watch something on Netflix, play on my computer.  I know I should like clean or something but it is MY 30 minutes a week!  Then I only teach 3 classes on Friday and they are the best classes.  It is a great way to end the week.  Then I leave work at 1:15.  And usually on Friday there is no homework or spelling tests to worry about.  I can let the kids come home and play or veg and watch T.V. and relax!

 Tonight is even better because I am going on a date with my hubby tonight for my birthday! We are getting dressed up and going to The Roof in Salt Lake.  Plus he says he has a surprise for me.  I can't wait!

G's Team

Coach: Jason Chandler:  Back Row: Landon, Garrett, Brecken, Lincoln. Front Row: Dilion, Corbin, ? Weston, and Colby.

Garrett is loving Basketball.  He only has 3 more games.  He loves that his Best Friend Landon is on the team.

V DAY

Right before Valentine's Day I was having a bad day! I was overly emotional. But my sweet husband brought me home flowers.

They still looked very pretty on Valentine's Day.   So I had flowers for Valentine's Day.

For Valentine's Day we didn't do much but we did have Strawberry Shortcake for Breakfast!

We also had a heart shaped pizza for dinner and heart shaped brownies for dessert! 

So they are a little asymmetrical.  

New Interest

My new interest is Pinterest. I enjoying looking at the pictures and trying the some new recipes or crafts.

This is a recipe I tried: Homemade Hostess cupcakes! We all loved them!

Miracles

My point of view:
I called my sister, Emily, on Saturday to wish my nephew a Happy Birthday!  As she picks up the phone I can tell she is upset.  Before I can even ask for Zach she is telling me that my mom and my dad were in car accident with Zach, Josh, and their friend Dominique in the car.    My heart is my throat and I can feel the tears starting to come.   She then went on to tell me the story and that they were okay but I just felt so scared and helpless.   But I am so grateful that they were okay that they were protected!

From My Sister Emily:
The Miracles
Saturday morning, February 11th, at about 8:00 a.m. I spoke to my mom on the phone. My kids had a 9:00 a.m. basketball game and had spent the night with my parents the night before. My dad and husband are the team coaches and we planned to meet at the gym around 8:30. It was really snowing and my car temperature said it was 17 degrees. The roads were looking bad, but we've driven on much worse. I told my parents, who travel a longer distance and over some worse roads, to take their time and be careful. I texted my mom once we arrived at the gym that the roads were not great and asked if they were making it okay. I never got a response. I sent several more text messages, and a few phone calls. I was worried, but then started thinking maybe they'd left their cell phones at home. It was after 9:00 when I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. It was my mom. She was sobbing and struggling to talk. She said they'd had an accident. She said: "We've been in an accident. The car went off the road and landed in the creek. We're all okay. Just cold." She told me they'd call me later when they got warmed back up. People were taking them all back to her house. She asked us not to come because the roads were so bad.
My stomach was in knots. I knew my mom would watch out for my kids and she said they were okay, but I couldn't talk to them. They were in a different vehicle when she called me. I couldn't get to them. And all I knew is that they were okay.
I allowed enough time for them to get back home, and then called their house. A woman answered and told me that my kids were okay and that everyone was very cold. She said she was a neighbor and that they were helping them all get warmed. She told me that an ambulance was coming for my mother because she was in a lot of pain. A few hours later, we were able to get to my parents home and pick up my kids. They looked great. We learned they'd been in water and gotten wet, and they'd been very cold. We had another basketball game Saturday afternoon that my younger son played in, and decided that since he was up to it, he could play. My older son's 11th Birthday was Saturday and we had a party planned for that evening. We decided to proceed with that as well. We felt blessed that they were not hurt from this accident. We got word from the hospital that my mother has compression fractures of her L3 and L5 and a broken bone in her shoulder. She was told that it would all heal in time. My father had some lacerations on his head and a black eye. Both were sent home.
Sunday, we decided to visit my parents to check on them and let my kids see their grandparents. As details had unfolded about the accident, we were finding out how lucky they all were to have survived. During the visit with my parents on Sunday, what I found out was that it was more than luck, it was miraculous.

Here’s the story from my father’s perspective:

They were very close to home. The road they travel is a one lane paved road. They had gotten up the first big hill and was starting down the other side. He was not accelerating because the road conditions were bad, and he estimates they were going 10-15 mph. He said that the car started spinning. He’s not sure how many rotations but spinning~ and then they were in the air. They broke thru some brush and rhododendron, and then landed upside down in the creek. He felt the sensation of the cold water as it rose up in the car, and over his head. He said it
took a few seconds to get oriented and realize he needed to unbuckle. He got himself loose and pushed against the driver’s door, which thankfully opened. He looked back. There were three kids in the backseat (two were mine) and they all had gotten their heads up before he did. My youngest, Josh, “slithered” out of his seatbelt. My older son, Zach, found his buckle and released it and got his head up. They yelled for my mother. She said she could hear them screaming “grandma”, and my father yelling “Violet, pull your head up”. She said she couldn’t pull her head up no matter how she tried and she was out of air when my dad pulled her out. My dad said the creek was up to his chest, probably 4 feet deep, and the cliff they’d gone over was about 40 feet. It was a sheer drop and there was no way to climb back up from where they’d landed. He swam each kid and my mother to some rocks on the side of the creek. They were all completely wet, it was still snowing, and he knew they were going to freeze to death without help.
My mother then tells me that my youngest son, when realizing that they can’t climb out, starts to cry that he thinks they will die and he’ll never see his mommy again. (this breaks my heart) My mom says she’s hurting, but she makes the kids stomp their feet and jump up and down to keep their blood circulating.
Dad swam across the creek and walked up the side of the creek and attempted to cross back at one point but the current was too strong, so he went down a little further. He found a place he could cross, and he again had to swim. He had walked almost to the road when he heard some voices and then heard the kids screaming for help.
A man who lives in the area had left his driveway that morning and noticed their tracks. He drove in their tracks and saw the point at which they disappeared. He felt that something wasn’t right and decided to stop. When he got out of his vehicle, he looked over the side of the road where the tracks disappeared, but he couldn’t see anything. Another truck stopped. They discussed how these tracks were strange and then one of them shouted “anyone down there?”. The children started screaming for help! The men said they felt their hearts stop. They couldn’t see anyone and didn’t know what had happened. My dad made his way back to the family. They were able to communicate the situation. One of the men had a 25 foot heavy duty extension cord that he tied to his truck and lowered over the cliff. The kids were able to climb high enough to get to the cord. Then the men pulled each person up the cliff, the kids used

their hands/feet to help climb as they were pulled. My mother was hurt and unable to climb. They had to drag her up the embankment to the road. These strangers helped my family get home and get warmed and get help. (These are my living angels) 
I estimate they were out in the cold, wet, snow about 45 minutes. They are all gloriously fine. My children are completely whole and beautiful. My youngest may need a bit more emotional reassurance, but they are alive, and well, and so resilient to have survived this horrible accident and go on with their lives without missing a beat. 

Once again, I thank Heavenly Father for sparing my parents and nephews and their friend. 

100 year old man

To celebrate the 100 days of school, Garrett dressed up as a 100 year old man.    He's a cute little old man.

Scooter

Devin got a scooter for his birthday. Where is his favorite place to ride it? In the house and down the hallway of course!

Garrett's Baptism

Garrett got Baptized on Feb. 4.   He was excited and nervous.   We are proud of him for making this decision. 

We got to the church at 8:30.  Garrett was wearing his new suit.

Dressed in white.

Grandparents: Rob Violet, Vickie and Earl

Family portrait

More grandparents, uncles and cousins.  Kristi's Eddie, Alex, Amanda, Andrew, Great Grandma and Grandpa Brunner, Uncle David and Uncle Kurt.

My Best Friend, Marianne, and her family came.

Eli, One Garrett's really good friends, and his mom came.

Funny tidbit: After he was baptized he decided to swim out of the font! Silly Kid.

Bone Scan

I went in for a bone scan last week because I am experiencing a lot of pain and there were things on the x-ray that looked troublesome.  Well, the Dr. called and said everything looks fine.  That if  I wanted  to help with the pain to go on my crutches for a couple of weeks.  No I am not going to go on my crutches if there is "NOTHING" wrong. I know it is good news that there is "Nothing Wrong" But on the other hand I live in pain, constant pain everyday.   Sometimes it so painful I can barely function.  I just want to curl up in a ball and stay in bed all day.  Which I can't do that... I have 3 kids, a husband, a job.  Plus I cook dinners, take kids to and from school,  help with homework, run kids to scouts and basketball, do the grocery shopping, plan activity days.   There has to be something I can do for it.  I take enough ibprofen and alleve to keep the companies in business.   So there is no solution just to "Give it more time." I feel like I have given it enough time!

Another Dr. Visit

My leg has been hurting more than usual lately.  Small movements can send horrible pain shooting up my leg.   I can't sit for very long.  I can't stand for very long.  Getting up from sitting hurts.  It has gotten worse over the past month.  I don't know what the problem is.  I broke my leg now a year an half ago.  It has been very slow healing.  I was feeling really depressed because of the pain issues.   I finally told Jeremy that I needed help that the pain was getting to be unbearable.  So I made another appointment with my bone doctor.  He took more x-rays.  The good news the cancer has not come back.  However the broken leg has not healed.  There are some worrisome things on the x-ray.  He is sending me to go and get bone scan tomorrow so we can tell what is causing the problem.   I just want to be able to walk without pain and do things I want to do without worrying about pain or re-injuring it.  I don't want to go through that h--l again.  

January 2012 sayings

Devin: Devin keeps singing the "Santa Smells" song. Jere tells him if you keep saying that Santa won't bring any presents. Devin replies, "He already did!"
Devin: While driving home he says, " Look mom there is a boy on a one wheel bicycle." I reply, "Yeah, that is pretty cool." He exclaimed, "Like the circus, Na-Na-Na Na Na (The circus Music)."
Devin: "My foot wrist hurts"
Devin: On his birthday at 4:30 in the morning comes pounding our door and yelling, "I am not Devin 3, I am now Devin 4!"
Garrett: Comes upstairs wearing one of Jeremy's T-Shirts. I tell him he needs to go change but he then says, "This one gives me more sleeves." Jan. 2012
Garrett: At the Jazz Game with Jeremy Garrett asks, "Do the New York Players speak English. Also at game, Jeremy asks Garrett who he thinks cleans up after the game. Garrett replied, "The losing team." Jan 2012

Devin: In the bathtub singing, "Jingle Bells, Santa Smells, and Robin laid an egg." Jan 2012
Devin: He asks, "Can I have dinner for breakfast?" (meaning left over Lasagna). Jan. 2012
Devin: I picked up Devin from the sitter. She said he had a hard time listening. In the car ride home I asked him why he didn't listen. This was his response,"I was listening but I was playing with toys and she just kept going blah blah blah blah blah." Jan. 2012

Devin: He was swishing his drink around. We told him to stop that he was going to spill it he replies, "I am not going to spill it I am getting the rain drops off my cup." Jan. 2012