OH HAPPY DAY!!!

We are celebrating today because Shayne GOT A JOB!!! We have been waiting for this moment for a while now and are THRILLED to finally say that he found work. Shayne starts work Monday for a company in Draper called Occurrence. Occurrence sells things seen on infomercials such as Rosetta's Stone. He was hired as a Supervisor and was told that because it is a growing company that if he impresses them he might be made to project manager quickly.

To celebrate, the girls and I bought a balloon, card, and cake for him and my mom came over to babysit so Shayne and I could have a dinner alone. With this news a huge mountainous weight has been lifted and we couldn't be more happy. With this job being in Draper, this might mean a move up north in our future as well but at this point we'll go anywhere! We plan to stay until Danelle finishes her year at Kindergarten and move the first week of June.

Having Shayne be unemployed was hard on our family. We were under a lot of stress and tension as the search for a job dragged on and on. We are looking forward to good things happening for our family again. Thank you to everyone who prayed, put our names in the temple, offered help in finding him employment, those who suggested where to apply, and for all the support we have been given over this time. Life felt like it was at a stand still for a while; we are glad to get moving again.

St. Patty's 2011

I consider myself a holiday person. Infact, to some people this is what sets me apart. I am always decorating my house for the next holiday, big or small. We plan activities and have traditions for almost every major holiday. St. Patrick's Day might be a fun day to wear green to almost everyone, but it's no small day for our family. We LOVE it.

Thinking back, I think the love for St. Patricks Day started for me in the second grade. I had the best second grade teacher, Mrs. Walton. This day, we went to the library and when we returned green footprints were scattered around the room! A leprechaun had visited and left goodies and confetti everywhere! From that moment on, this holiday had some magic to it and I knew I wanted my family to one day share in this magic.

We started our day with green eggs... and green ham. Usually, I dye the eggs green but this year Shayne took it one step further and we had green ham as well. They were tasty but every year the green does make us question. I had great plans for a green lunch, but after such a large breakfast we decided LUCKY CHARMS were sort of St. Patrick's Day-ish and had a bowl full instead. For dinner, my Mom joined us for chicken pesto pasta, asparagus, green jello, rolls, and key lime pie for dessert. The leprechaun made his usual visit leaving the girls a couple of bags of goodies and everyone was decked out in green all day. We had a great day. I hope that you had fun with it too!

Harlem Globe Trotters

Thanks to America's Best, we enjoyed an evening watching the Harlem Globe Trotters as they toured in Salt Lake City on February 22. Evan and Monyka graciously took our children so we could enjoy this much needed night out. It was a great time! It was so fun to see Shayne laugh and smile as he really enjoyed the show. I am not much of a basketball fan, but found the Globe Trotters to be amusing but enjoyed being with my sweetheart most of all. It was a memorable night and we are glad that we were able to do this together. Thank you to Evan and Monyka for babysitting for us!

Another "Married" in the Family

While in Hatch every year, I like to hear my Uncle Brett call the married nieces and nephew's "the married's" as we gather for our own special combination picture. This year, we have another married in the family; my brother Danny married his lovely fiance, Uurtsaikh, in the Salt Lake City Temple on February 11, 2011.

It was a special day for everyone. Shayne and I were blessed to have current temple recommends to attend the sealing in the temple. I have only been to one sealing before this and it was awesome to be a part of one of the most memorable special days they will ever know. Seeing my brother with tears gently coming out of his eyes as the temple worker spoke was something I will not soon forget. I had never been more happy for Danny than at that very moment. He and Uurtsaikh are so wonderful together.

I was so tickled to be asked to be one of Uurtsaikh's bridesmaids. It was through this process that I got to know her better. When wedding dress shopping, there were many choices to pick from. Most brides are quick to say what they don't like about a dress, but Uurtsaikh was so kind. When presented with a dress that was not her style she smiled and said, "they are all pretty, but I like this one best" and careful not to offend anyone who may have liked the dress being picked. It was then that I knew she would be easy to love and want to be around and we will be friends for life and longer.

I am so happy for my brother and his new bride! Congratulations to the newest set of "marrieds" in the family. I look forward to seeing their lives unfold as this journey together begins. Glad that you are finally, "Closer to heaven in 2011."

Fell behind with February

Sorry! I just realized that I didn't write ANY blogs for February. I know this is both surprising and sad (at least I would like to think someone out there is disappointed by my falling behind). Between a tough sociology class, keeping up with the girls, gloomy weather, the wedding of my brother Danny, and the stresses of everyday life I haven't had the time or energy to blog. Luckily with the coming of Spring however, I am feeling like I can write again.

Valentines Day; We love Valentines Day. Even though you never need a reason to tell someone you love them, there is just something about having one or two days a year that are special and for this purpose. Shayne and I like to buy Danelle a bear every year with the year on it for V-day. It was fun to start this tradition with Kaitlyn as well. We also gave them each a balloon and card with a personalized message inside just for them. They wore new sweaters that day that Uurtsaikh's mother gave them. They looked so cute and enjoyed the day.

Shayne and I bought our gifts last minute. I decided it was time to get him a water pitcher with a filter inside. He had been telling me that he wanted to stop drinking soda and I figured that this water pitcher would be just the thing he would need to cut back or stop altogether. Shayne had a very thoughtful idea for my gift; he spent some time on the computer compiling a bunch of our love songs for a CD. We have many of them, and it was great to know that he still remembered and brought back some of the romance that remembered when we were first dating and in our earlier years. Shayne can be very romantic. He also has EXCELLENT taste in flowers and I was so happy to find a huge bunch of the most beautiful flowers and Whitman's chocolates just for me. We enjoyed a lunch at Sizzler, and had an overall wonderful day.

Elle and I took the opportunity to let our family know that we love them too! We made some very special Valentines for our closest friends and family and delivered them that day and the next. It was a wonderful Valentines Day. We hope you had a good one too!

Eczema and Flower Shaped Confetti

Kaitlyn just had a couple of fun experiences at the doctor lately. About a month ago, we noticed that Kaitlyn had a rash developing on her back. I picked apart my brain trying to figure out what I had given that child to eat or what she might have come in contact with to start such a horrible rash! I decided to wait a week, and if it hadn't improved to take her in. The rash came and went, and I was getting more and more frustrated with it! I couldn't get rid of it. Then the opportunity came to take her to the doctor and get it checked out.

When I say the opportunity came, I really mean in the form of an "emergency." Elle had just brought home a poster with a hundred hard flower confetti's on them to celebrate their 100 days of school. Shayne was on the computer and I had just stepped out of the room to start some dinner, and in the time it took for me to go in the kitchen and Shayne to turn around to start his shift babysitting - Kaitlyn had taken one of the hard confetti's off the poster board and had it in her mouth. Before he got the chance to take it out, Kaitlyn had swallowed the little thing.

She was breathing just fine, but was gagging and throwing up. She did this for a while and after a brief phone call with the doctor, they told me to take her to the emergency room. I met my mom at Mountain View Hospital in Payson, but by that time she had stopped her choking and seemed fine for the most part. They wanted to check her out though, just to be sure it hadn't gone into her lungs.

Watching little Kaitlyn get her x ray was so funny. She layed flat without a tear or any kind of coaxing whatsoever. She was the BEST BABY in the ER. Danelle STILL flips out to see the doctor, even if she knows FOR A FACT they will not hurt her. Danelle has been this way almost from birth. Kaitlyn however just sat down, let the doctors examine her and kept the same cute smile on her face. She is so small, we only needed one x-ray to do the job.

Luckily the confetti was on it's way through the bowels and not in her lungs which would have meant instant surgery. We were lucky and happy for this. The doctor took a look at the rash last saying it was just dry skin an to apply moisturizer. I wish he would have been more specific that it is actually eczema and how to treat it, sparing us a trip to her pediatrician only a few days later because it had gotten worse (probably from the perfumed moisturizers I had been rubbing all over her).

Everything is under control now though and her skin is just as pretty as ever. Learning that she has eczema has been a challenge though. I switched her laundry soap, baby wash, and apply Eucerin cream twice a day and hydrocortizone cream for itches when needed. Little Kaitlyn is a lot of work, but such a happy baby and great blessing for our family. We love her so much! She is definitely worth the extra trouble!

Mighty Mouse

Lately our family has had a sixth member. A smaller, pesky, unwelcome member. We like to call him "Mighty Mouse." I swear the little bugger escaped from NYMH and can outsmart any attempt to catch him. We caught one of his "friends" the other day, but Mighty Mouse lives on!

Shayne has laid out different kinds of traps, but none is a good match for this mouse. It even manages to hide it's poop where I can't see it. In fact, I actually didn't believe there was a mouse for a long time - until Shayne finally took a picture of it one early morning he got up to "wait for it" and prove to me that there was indeed a mouse.

Here's the thing about Shayne; he does not like PESTS. Mice, flies, mosquito's, ants, anything like that is almost like his O.C.D. They cannot co-exist with him. This means late nights sometimes trying to catch that one last fly buzzing around the house. It may mean pulling the car over to squat the mosquito on the dash and HEAVEN FORBID you ever leave the door open for too long and let something in! In a good way though, this means that my house has been pest free as long as I have known Shayne.

I don't know how much longer we (Shayne) can stand having this mouse around the house. I don't know how much longer I can tolerate having a trap around every corner of the house either. Poor Shayne is losing sleep (and claims Daisy is too) knowing that the little rodent is scampering around somewhere. Shayne even claims to "hear it" all during the night. It's been good for a few laughs, but the little thing has to go. Fingers crossed we can catch it soon.