New Recipes Added

I have added two more weeks worth of menus on my menu & recipe blog. I have also been working on posting the recipes to go with the menus. I have made four new recipes this weekend. They have all been hig hits!

Dwayne's Syndrome

Some of you have asked why we went to Primary Children's Hospital. When Logan came into our home, it was evident that something funky was up with his eyes. Several people commented that he must have a lazy eye. I once had a lazy eye and knew what a lazy eye was, figured it was very possible. We took him to several eye doctors. You know that mom instinct where you know something is wrong. Several doctors told us it was nothing. Bryon and I joked that it was typically normal for a kid to be looking in one direction and for the other eye to shoot off in the other direction. A doctor here in Rexburg diagnosed Logan with Dwayne's Syndrome. Dwayne's Syndrome is a nerve that actually never develops in the eye. This nerve is necessary for normal eye movement, control, strength and function of the eye. Because this nerve never developed properly Logan's right eye is not able to move laterally from the center point out towards his ear. It is quite hard to diagnose because children with Dwayne's Syndrome are very good at compensating. It isn't until you actually clamp their head down to where they can't move it and focus on just the eye movement that it is apparent. It is quite funny to watch. We have clamped his head down so many times to see it for ourselves and to show others that now when we are done, that Logan will clamp our head down and move his finger for our eyes to follow. The doctor that diagnosed Logan with Dwayne's Syndrome basically said, he has Dwayne's Syndrome have a nice day. As we began studying the syndrome closer, we realized that with Dwayne's Syndrome usually there are other disorders. We also learned that Dwayne's Syndrome if left untreated can lead to lazy eyes, need for glasses, and can ultimately cause blindness. We were able to get a referral to Primary Children's hospital to the Moran Eye Center. That place is amazing and Logan's doctor is wonderful! He looked at Logan and agreed with the diagnosis of Dwayne's Syndrome. He wanted to see him again in six months to see how much his eyes changed in six months time. He gave us the option of just having the eye doctor here track his eyes yearly. We did not feel that confidant having a doctor that didn't give us very much information about the disease and didn't seem to know much about the syndrome himself track Logan. We opted to have the doctor at Primary Children's Hospital track Logan's eye. So now we just go down once a year for a check-up.

The doctor this time noticed a slight change but not enough to warrant doing something.

Anyway, that is probably more than you ever wanted to know about Dwayne's Syndrome.

Conner T-Ball Season

Conner has watched his brother, Sam, play ball since he was a baby. He always said he could not wait to play. This year he was finally old enough to play.

The first few games Conner played in, he had no idea where to run. I kept asking him, how many games of Sam's has he sat through?!? He would run to pitchers mound and then take off trying to get the ball.

Someone at one of the games commented that if you were having a bad day, you should go watch a kids t-ball game. They really are quite entertaining. It is funny that all the kids on the same team run after the ball and try to get it once it is hit. Conner is usually an easy going child. However, if he is not the one that comes up with the ball, he has this huge melt down in the middle of the baseball field.

Conner has a hard time waiting until it is his turn to bat. He also gets "bored" in the outfield. Before the game is over, I am usually out on the field trying to keep him motivated. He would much rather be drawing pictures in the dirt, climbing trees, playing with Logan or Natalie and has even been known to walk off the field in the middle of a play to tell me something. I have to keep reminding myself, that Sam was once the same way. Sam grew out of it and I am hoping Conner will too.

I really do hope that he has learned something this season and will be ready to play again when next season rolls around.

Sam Baseball Season

This year Sam had the opportunity to play baseball. We have usually signed him up to play in Rexburg because that is where we live. This year we let him have the option of playing in Rexburg with some of his neighbor friends or playing Sugar City ball where he would play with boys from school. He opted to play in Sugar City. What we didn't know at the time was that Sugar City and St. Anthony pull their leagues together and they play all of their games in St. Anthony. This meant for us at least one trip to Sugar City a week for ball practice and an additional two trips to St. Anthony a week for games.

Sam has played t-ball and coach pitch but this year it was the real thing. I was amazed at how "official" it was after the first game. Those boys can really throw the ball pretty fast. They were also allowed to steal and not to mention that all of the team except Sam was wearing baseball pants. We bought Sam new ball pants before the next game and then he used his own money to buy a baseball batting glove.

Sam is left-handed. He has always played ball left handed. Three-fourths of the way through the season, Sam's coach informed us he thought Sam was probably right handed, at least as far as playing ball goes. Sure enough, he played much better right handed. Too bad, it has only taken us six years to figure that out!

Most of Sam's team played together last year and so consequently he was the "new kid on the block." He did really well. He struggled a little and so he and I spent countless extra practices over at the church ball diamonds working on batting, catching, and throwing.

Sam had an awesome coach this year. Coach Garner, is actually a sixth grade teacher in Sugar City but coaches several sports. He helped Sam so much this year. He was always so positive with the boys.

The baseball season went from the end of May to the end of June. As you know, we have had an unseasonably cool spring. I don't think there was a single game that it didn't rain, or the wind didn't blow like crazy. Several of their games got called because of lightening. Bryon had the privilege of sitting through one of his games where it rained the whole game through but the game never got called because there was no lightening. The blankets that we hauled to the game to pad the hard bleachers usually became something we curled up in trying to keep warm.

Tournament started last week. Sam's team went in seated number one. They played once on Tuesday night. I was able to watch him before I left for Girl's Camp. They won. Then they played twice on Thursday night. They won both of those. The championship was set for Saturday morning at 10:00. They were playing a game that already had one loss. So if Sam's team won, it was over. If they lost, they had to play again at noon. Sam's team won! It was a really close game. The team they played is the only team that has given them any competition all season. Sam's team was behind at one point and I thought for sure we were going to have to play again. I think the final score was 5-7.

The boys were so excited to get their trophies. Coach Garner was so cute with them. He told them they would remember this game for the rest of their lives. He also told them that they all played like champions. Never once were the boys mean to the other teams and always played with great sportsmanship. They were also so good to each other. They never talked smack because they let the kind of game they played speak for itself.

Congratulations Sam on winning the championship! I am so proud of you. But more importantly, I am so proud of the way you played and all the dedication and devotion you put into improving your game.

Busy Week

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but it sure feels like it. This week has been crazy busy. I am leaving in two short hours for Girl's Camp. I will be there until Friday morning. My older two boys are going to go spend a few days with Grandpa & Grandma Kennedy. They are looking so forward to going horseback riding and helping with the sheep. My younger two are being shipped out to various babysitters. I just hope everything goes smoothly while I am gone. I will get home on Friday afternoon and then we are leaving again to spend a few days at my husband's grandparents vacant house known as "The Ranch." The boys are so excited to see how many water snakes they can catch while we are there. We then are heading over to Salt Lake for a couple of days so Logan can go to his yearly visit at Primary Children's. The kids are excited to spend the night in a hotel, go swimming, and going to Thanksgiving Point to see the Dinosaur exhibit. But I feel like I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything in order just so we can go. Anyway, I am hoping to blog more on Friday. Until then have a great week.

P.S. We are toying with the idea of going to Cafe Rio while in the Salt Lake area. Please leave me some comments about what is really great to eat there.

Tagged {Picture Me} Tag

{Picture Me} Tag
1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/

2. Type your answer to the question in the search box.

3. Use your favorite image of the subject.

4. Copy the html and paste for the answer or "save picutre as" in file

Birth Place: Logan, UtahFavorite (Dream) Vacation Destination: ScotlandFavorite Color: Purple

Dream Career: Office Assistant (Secretary)

Guilty Pleasure: Movie Theater Popcorn with Butter

Favorite Hobby: Scrapbooking

Favorite Restaurant: Applebee's

Favorite Actor/Actress: Matthew McConaughey

Favorite Vehicle: GMC Yukon

Favorite Place to Shop For Myself:

Favorite Flower: Gerber Daisy & Lilacs

I tag: Linda, Amanda, and Jaimee

Small Miracles

Tonight I have had several small miracle moments but I want to share just one.

Bryon was downstairs tickling Logan and Logan was laughing hysterically. We all started laughing just at how hard Logan was laughing. Bryon stopped tickling him and said, "Logan, it is so good to hear you laugh. When you first came to us at 15 months old you didn't know how to laugh." Sam thought we were lying. Sam is in that stage lately where he thinks we sit up and night and make up a long list of lies to tell him. He later asked me if it was really true about Logan. I told him it was. Today has been a hard day for me but that little moment of Bryon commenting about how far Logan has come was really huge moment for me.

Logan, I am so proud of you and the accomplishments you have made and continue to make. I remember you coming into our home, all those little things like being pushed in a swing, laughing, giving loves, the feel of grass between your toes, and looking into the mirror that we assume every 15-month old has had in their life, you had never experienced. You have come such a long way and continue to amaze me with your strength and determination. I Love You!

Memorial Day Weekend 05-25-08

I love Memorial Day Weekend. I think it runs a close tie with Christmas, My Birthday, and 4th of July as being my favorite holidays. I think mostly because of all the good memories I have about Memorial Day. I remember as a girl going with my parents and Grandpa & Grandma Pehrson to decorate graves in Millville and Smithfield. Those are memories I will always cherish. Since moving away from Cache Valley, I really miss not being able to visit the graves of my Grandpa & Grandma Pehrson. I think about them almost daily. I was very blessed to marry into a family that honoring family heritage runs deep. I love spending Memorial Day with them. We usually celebrate it on a Sunday with a hot dog roast and then visit the graves.

This year my mother-in-law invited us to go down to have a hot dog roast with them. We decided with the price of gas, we could stay at home and eat our own hot dogs cheaper than we could to drive down there. Sorry, we might have been influenced for steak but not round steak! :)

We met up with them at the Archer Cemetary. Bryon's grandmother and several other family members are burried there. My mother-in-law is so creative and always has fun games for the younger children to do to help them learn more about the graves we are visiting. This year she just printed off a family group sheet with pictures. It still was very helpful in helping our children learn more about the ancestors. Then we came into Rexburg to visit the Rexburg Cemetary. Then we went back to Archer to visit Bryon's aunts grave.

After visiting graves, we went back to Bryon's grandpas house for cookies.

Mrs. Farmer's Suprise Party 05-23-2008

I know it looks like I am back tracking and I might be, just a little. I have had so many things I have wanted to blog about and have just ran out of time.

Sam this year has had the priveledge of being in Mrs. Farmer's class. Mrs. Farmer was going to retire last year but decided to work one more year. We are so glad she decided to stay on another year. She was a great teacher for Sam. She helped Sam and us so much this year. We knew all year that this was going to be her last year. I have enjoyed being one of two room moms this year. After the holidays, I began thinking more about her retiring. In talking to Bryon, it sounded like the schools don't do a whole lot for retirement. The more I learned about her, the more I was amazed by this incridble woman. I couldn't stand the thought that this great teacher was retiring quietly. So the other room mom and myself put our heads together and started planning this surprise party. It all just snowballed from there. We made a bound book with family, teachers, and students writing tributes. I was amazed with as many people knew about the surprise party that we were actually able to pull it off. So the day of the party came. Her class had library. They went to library but ended up coming down to Bryon's room where we holding all the festivities. Once the kids were in the room, the principal brought down Mrs. Farmer. She was totally surprised! We played a game of Jeopardy of things the kids learned through the year. We also played a game about how well the kids knew Mrs. Farmer. It was so much fun. We had made a video made of pictures of her teaching through the years. She couldn't believe all the pictures we had. Her first comment to me was, "Where did you get all these pictures? I have some of the very same pictures." I told her they all were actually her pictures. Then she really was stumped. I had her daughter in Logan gather the pictures, scan them and e-mail them to me. Then after school was out we had an open house for faculty, family and friends. She was so surprised. The principal's daughter-in-law used to do some catering for the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City. She made us two cakes to serve. They were beautiful.

Mrs. Farmer, thank you so much for the awesome teacher you were to not only my son but hundreds of other boys and girls. We are really going to miss you!