Company Party

We didn't think that we were going to get to go to our company party since they had decided to put the Ward Christmas party on the same day...although we didn't find out about it until after we had RSVP'd to the company party. Since all the people we know are either in our ward or at Jon's work...we didn't know if we could find a babysitter. Many thanks to Heidi who took the boys to the party and then to her house until the middle of the night :) Disclaimer: the events are going to be in chronological order...I'm not trying to be disrespectful or anything.

We got to the party late but it was alright Nannett saved us a seat (Yeah again! I HATE sitting by people from Jon's work that I don't know and don't have anything to talk about), so I was very glad to see her and her hubby there with a bunch of their friends. We started off with crab legs (I don't think I've ever had REAL ones before...they were very fishy, but good) and then I got brave enough to eat an oyster...it was interesting. I was getting a little worried that my mouth wasn't going to let me swallow it though, it was quite slimy." :P Then not long after we started eating the salad someone started yelling "Who has a phone?!?!?! Someone get a phone!!! Find a phone!!!!" So (obviously) we turned around to see what the problem was. Apparently a guy at the table next to us (She was yelling he's choking...I don't know if he had a heart attack? Maybe a stoke? And they just thought for a minute that he was choking) almost died (he actually might have for a minute, I don't know) but he was VERY white and not responding. Thankfully Jon's company employs people who are also trained EMS/Nurses...one of whom was sitting at our table, so they were able to get there immediately. The paramedics were still called and took him to the hospital. They started losing his pulse again. I felt very sorry for his wife who was sitting next to him. I said a silent prayer for the both of them. Then (seeing as how I'm related to my Mom and sudden adrenaline rushes make me break out in hives) I broke out in hives...just after I ate some crab and the oyster so everyone thought that I was allergic to seafood. Jon kept asking me if my throat was closing off. He kept watching me even after I explained to him that it was just the adrenaline...he's cute that way.

Then we finished our meal of prime rib (real tasty, you could have cut it with a butter knife it was so tender). Then a dessert that was delicious! But so rich that even I couldn't finish it. They had a Wii tournament that Jon entered. They did the Mario Kart racing and the Wii Sports shooting. Jon won (yeah, maybe a little pride in that sentence) lol. He won a Wii, some controllers and the Wii Sports game. (So I guess the money we had to pay to go there was worth it. Then we went to get our VERY tired boys who slept WONDERFULLY all night long. :)

Topher Says

Jon was sick today, so he stayed home. I have to play for choir, so I had to take Topher with me. I started playing the introduction of a song and I was almost to the part where the song starts when Topher looks at the choir in a loud voice says "HEY! YOU GUYS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SINGING!" Everyone was laughing so hard that they couldn't come in when they were supposed to so we had to start over. lol :)

And in order to convince Topher that I needed to play by myself, without his help, I had told him that I need to play so that the choir knows what they are supposed to sing. A part in one of our songs is a capella. When we got to that part Chris (in a panic-y voice) says "Mom, you have to play the piano, they won't know what to sing."

Thanksgiving Weekend

I had so much fun this weekend. Although it was much too short; it seemed that we had to leave almost the moment we got there. Everyone but Brian and his family was there...and Grandma and Grandpa Savage and Leeann. Thanksgiving just isn't the same without going to Grandma Savage's and then running to Grandma Allred's and just plain eating too much pie...and everything else.

The boys had a lot of fun getting to play with their cousins. Topher had been telling Jon ALL the way (the ENTIRE 5 1/2 HOURS) to "go faster because we need to go see Grandma (or Grandpa depending on who he'd been thinking of most recently)" Then we got there and he practically jumped out of the van while it was moving. He was so happy. Then when he found out that Sam (his cousin) was there...he thought he was in heaven.

We went to "Black Friday" (I so look forward to that every year...family...shopping...great deals...it's GREAT!) I went (mostly) to get a laptop and a camcorder. After we got there we found out that they started handing out the electronics at midnight (they aren't supposed to give them out until 5 am). And their defense was "but they still can't check out until five" I was ticked because basically, all of the laptops and cameras were gone before we even got up at 3 in the morning." I still had fun, and they still had the cameras online so I got one of those anyway.

We didn't get to see the Egeland side of the family for very long. Because we had to get back on Sat. so that I could be to church in time to go play the piano in sacrament meeting. (We had been planning on spending another night, so we could spend at least one night with Jon's family). So we only got to spend like 5 hours or so with them. Then we went back to my family's house. After we woke up I started packing, just as we were getting ready to leave I got a call saying that I didn't need to play in sacrament meeting. So we were debating whether we were going to stay (which meant unpacking almost everything, and then packing again tomorrow) or if we were just going to go home (which means staying one less day with family). Well we figured that we had already told everyone goodbye and I didn't feel like unpacking and then packing again. I was a little disappointed, but it's real nice to be home, and now we don't need to rush home for church 'cause we're already there.

And that's our Thanksgiving vacation in a nutshell, we all had a LOT of fun.

December Ensign

Any of you that have gotten the Dec. Ensign yet (or when you eventually do) I would REALLY suggest the "Home for Christmas" article on pg. 5 by President Henry B. Eyring. It was a really good read. President Eyring told of his childhood and how he was always grateful to go home because he knew the kind of welcome that waited for him when he entered the doors. Then he told that the house he grew up in is still there "A few years ago I went back and knocked on the door. Strangers answered. They allowed me to step into the rooms where the radio had been and where our family had gathered around the Christmas tree.

" I realized then that the desire of my heart was not about being in a house. It was about being with my family, and it was a desire to feel enveloped in the love and the Light of Christ, even more than our little family had felt in the home of my childhood." He then relates that feeling to the way we feel (or should feel) about returning "Home" to our Heavenly Father. "The feeling and longing for home is born into us. That wonderful dream cannot become real without great faith - enough for the Holy Ghost to lead us to repentance, baptism, and the making and keeping of sacred covenants with God. Then he talked not only about the forgiveness that comes through the atonement but also the need for us to forgive others in order for us to be able to be forgiven.

My favorite part in this talk, though, was when he asked if you have ever had the impression to help someone only to find that what you were inspired to give was exactly what someone needed at that very moment. "That is a wonderful assurance that God knows all of our needs and counts on us to fill the needs of others around us." And my favorite line from this talk "God sends those messages to us with more confidence at Christmastime, knowing that we will respond because our hears are more sensitive to the Savior's example and to the words of His servants."

There's A LOT more in that talk, but you can read it for yourself if you have the Ensign...if not you can always go to lds.org and look under "magazines" then under "Ensign" and you can read it there.

I was also grateful for "The Power and Protection of Worthy Music". I have been called as the Relief Society Chorister and they have us doing special things during the "Practice Music" portion of the class. I have been looking EVERYWHERE for something that I could do, but I haven't found anything. There were TONS of things for leading the music in Primary, but nothing for R.S. and this was just what I had been looking for. (It's good to read even if you aren't the chorister.) I was going to write a little about each story that I found, but now I realize that if I did that this post would be REALLY LONG! I would just suggest reading your Dec. Ensign, there are just WAY too many good stories in it.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

Ethan's birthday was the other day. He's is growing up so BIG! He has to do EVERYTHING that Topher does...he loves his big brother, and his big brother loves to spend time with him. Ethan is getting better with Justin (most days...he still has his days that he forgets that Justin can't wrestle like he and Topher do). I just have to keep an eye on him to make sure that he is playing nice.

I love to have Ethan as part of our family. He keeps me laughing all the time. He has the most contagious laugh. He reminds me of David when he was a baby. ;) He was so excited about his Elmo cake. I might post a picture if I remember. He ate a lot of the cake...and cake isn't his favorite thing, he rarely will eat cake...but he was so happy that it was Elmo that he just kept eating for as long as I let him. We were in the store on his birthday (I always seem to lose my cake tips when it's someone's birthday, so we had to go buy some...don't worry I will find it in a day or two when I don't need it I'm sure) ;) and there was a lady that was talking to the boys. Ethan has gotten REALLY friendly since Justin was born...he has to say "hi" to EVERYONE as we pass them in the store, I think it's cute. Anywho, she asked how old the boys were and Topher said "I'm three!" and Ethan said "I'm ONE!" Topher started yelling at Ethan saying, "NO YOU'RE NOT! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! NOW YOU ARE TWO!" And Ethan was arguing that he was only one...it was funny. Then she asked if they were twins...I get that alot, I guess Ethan is just big for his age. I thought it was a funny time to ask right after Topher said he was three and Ethan was two, but I guess she didn't catch that part. ;)

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent Ethan to be a part of our family. He's one of the blessings of mercy, I think, because I know I never did anything so good that I had a blessing like him coming to me.

Here and there

I have only been slacking on the blogging because nothing too much has been going on (I know I shouldn't say that because every time I do someone ends up getting a concussion or breaking something or we have to move...and I don't want any of those things to happen). I am SOOOOOO excited! Jon and I get to go dancing this week (Thank you SOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOO much to Ross and his Wife for offering to babysit - yeah!) I hope they know what they are getting themselves into. ;) Jon has still been doing his Karate (hasn't broken, fractured or bruised any bones lately - so yeah!) One of the sisters from my ward was talking to me about that. She said that she had been thinking about doing karate just for the exercise, I told her I had thought about doing the same thing...until I saw Jon come home with repeated injuries. I told her everything that he'd hurt and she was like "Yeah, maybe I'd better think twice about that." Then when she found out that all those injuries were just since we moved here. She decided not to do it. She thought those had been all his injuries since he started (that was like Jr. High or something like that). It's definitely not for the faint of heart. ;) He's thinking about doing a tournament up in MT (I don't remember when, it's like this summer or next...something like that). If he goes we are going with him (to MT), I want to support him and go see what he does...but on the other hand I think ignorance might be the better option in this situation.

Christopher is going to have his first primary program on Sunday. I'm excited for that. I hope that he doesn't get scared up in front of all those people. He got a screening today (eyes, hearing, general knowledge) he had a lot of fun with that. He got to go and play with a bunch of kids (there were a few kids from our ward who were there that he and Ethan knew...and some they didn't). They both LOVED it. After about an hour though Ethan started getting a little "clingy". Then we went to the park. There was this one park that was his absolute favorite, and then the City tore down "the big slide" he's been distraught over that for about a month now. Every time he talks about the park he hangs his head and gets this real sad look on his face and says "But the took the big slide down." So we went past there today because he wanted to see "where the big slide used to be". They've put up new things with an even bigger slide. They had all behaved real well while we were at the CDC so I told them we could go play. After we got out I realized that there were no stairs to the top of the slide...just that netting stuff. (I need to get a picture of the slide so you can truly know my horror when I realized that.) But Topher, being his Daddy's little boy who's not afraid of anything, decided to try. He made it fine...I almost had a heart attack in the process, but he seemed to have fun.

Ethan is in the "Look at me! Look at me!" stage. Some days he's certain that we've forgotten he exists, and others he's fine just playing by himself. He has to try everything Topher does...today at the park all I have to say is "Thank you Grandma Savage for passing on your fear of heights to him" Ethan got up further than I thought he would, but then his fear of heights over came him and he came down. He had a lot of fun getting to play with all the kids today too. He was a little bummed that the lady wouldn't put stuff in his ears (checking the hearing). But we are taking Ethan and Justin next month to get them checked.

Justin is getting his legs under him. He's doing quite well actually, he's so close. It makes me frustrated because I know how close he is, and he wants so badly to move like his brothers. They will crawl around him and say "Justin! Do like this!" Then they get frustrated because he won't. I've tried to explain to them that he CAN'T, but they just don't understand. "It's so simple, we are showing him how, so he should just be able to do it." I love children's logic. ;)

And I am surviving. That's always a good thing. I was laughing because everyone was envious of how much Stampin' Up! stuff I have. They all said that hands down I had the most out of anyone in the ward. I was just thinking that if I were back in Butte I'd still be one of the people with the least. It just made me laugh. I played the piano for the choir for the first time a few weeks ago in Sacrament Meeting. I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking. It's really hard to play the piano that way. And in less than a month we have our Christmas Meeting. We (the choir) are doing the whole thing, so I will be up there the entire time. I'm nervous about that. When I first got up to play the piano for our Thanksgiving song Ethan did the "HI MOM!" thing, that helped calm my nerves a little knowing that my boys were there. Then just as I finished playing I started coming down the isle to go sit with my family and Topher came running down the isle yelling "MOM! YOU PLAYED GREAT!!!" I love my cheering section...everyone should have one. ;)

Excitement all over the Egeland household...my goodness. Chris was jumping around on our bed last night and decided that he wanted to jump to me...unfortunately he forgot to tell me that he wanted to jump to me...and to wait until I was facing him. I had my back turned to him when he decided to jump off the bed, I turned around ALMOST in time to catch him...almost. He realized at the last second that I was not going to be able to catch him so he tried to stop but couldn't. He went off the bed (head first) right into the corner of my night table; which, thankfully, broke on his way down. I think it softened the blow when it broke, if it hadn't it could have been REAL bad. He's got about a 2" scrape from his temple to just behind his ear. I was a little worried at first because just after he did that he was slurring his words when he talked to me. And his pupils were HUGE! (Just a little more than a sliver of color around the black), and he was looking like he was going to throw up. Then after he calmed down he was complaining that his stomach hurt. And he was starting to fall asleep. He was pretty upset that I wouldn't let him go to sleep. He kept crying and telling me how tired he was and he just wanted to sleep. I tried my best to explain to him why he couldn't go to sleep (without scaring him into NEVER sleeping again). Then I went to check his eyes, and believe it or not - 3 flashlights and none of them worked. So I called Jon to ask where his flashlight is. I decided we officially live in an "Egeland house" when I asked him and his first response was "Why, who hit their head?" Then he told me the black one works but it just needs batteries. So I started to go get some and as soon as Chris saw that I was leaving momentarily he started to go to sleep (but every time I picked him up he started to go to sleep). So I decided that he'd stay awake if he talked to Grandma. I felt a little bad because I know how that feels when you know your kids are hurt and you can't be there to cuddle them and hug them and let them know it's alright...I imagine it's much the same with your grand kids. But I let he know why I needed her to talk to him, so she kept him occupied while I found batteries. Well, when we woke him up last night to make sure that he could wake up well still we were asking Who's this? (point to Dad), Who's this? (point to Mom), what's your name? What's your brothers' names? How many fingers is Daddy holding up? etc. he looked like he thought we were the dumbest people alive. I tried to explain, but seriously, how do you explain to a 4 year old (well, almost 4) that we are waking you up because we want to make sure that you don't have a concussion and end up going into a coma in the middle of the night or something? But he seems to be doing fine. His pupils are normal, he can walk in a straight line, he woke up by himself this morning, and he's been actively playing all day. We called the Dr. this morning to check if we should bring him in, but they said "If you're worried then bring him in, if you think he's fine, he probably is." It was a long night though, he slept well (only woke up screaming twice...well, never woke up really, he was still sleeping)...but I was just too worried about him, so I didn't sleep well.

Ethan's post

khkhykhjj i yiyhu uy jhhujgtjrhy hun hj jnhh57uu uyuui 6y6ioi66i776oo06 0oo6iir 5t5i6t5kttyyktttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt gggtgrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg rr5ttpyrty[5ppy p-[6p5p[666ppp5 ppppppooooopoppppppppp 5poop6p55555p5p5 ppppottjbnnnjjnbbbb

mmk,,

jjhhghghhhhh

Oh, and I wanted to tell Grandma and Grandpa Vick thanks for that picture that you gave us for Christmas last year. Ethan LOVES it! He's even been sleeping with it the last few nights. I asked him who was in the picture and he told me it was "gam-ma and gam-pa-pa". He carries that picture with him EVERYWHERE! We can't wait to come see you guys. Love you!

Here's hoping!

Life is so hard when you are so technologically impaired. I have been trying to get these pictures up for so long. So here's hoping that you get to see some "Before" and "After" pictures of my bathroom. And a picture of my new piano.

Here's "Before"

One wall red, the next black, then red, then black. It looked like a giant checker board.

I HATED this bathroom...

He's "During" and I couldn't get the computer to actually SHOW the pictures of "After" so I will keep trying later. Just imagine this pattern across the entire wall...and a mirror back up under the lights. ;) The other walls are still just the light blue. I LOVE IT! (Thanks Mom for showing me how and helping me do it).

And here is my new piano! I love that as well. The day after we got it (we got it at night, so I couldn't play it very long the first day) my arms HURT from playing so much. But it was so worth it. I am the new pianist for the choir here and I haven't had ready access to a piano since High School (unless you count Butte, I could go to the church whenever I wanted...but it's not the same). So needless to say I am a little out of practice and having this IN MY HOME helps A TON!

Now no one can say I didn't show them pictures (except the completed "After" pix...but that's not my fault). I will try again when I post pictures of the baby's room (No Mom, it's not done yet...the crib is STILL in there, but as soon as we get that out, we will start painting that. Then on to the living room and Kitchen and eventually the boys' room. (Yeah, I'm a wanna-be over-achiever) ;)

A Child's view...

Topher broke one of his favorite cars a few days ago, but it's not in a way that I can just "snap" it back together. So he brought me his car and says "Mom, fix it...ppppplllllleeeeeeeeaaaaasssseeeee." I told him that I can't fix it, I need a special tool to fix it. He says "Oh, okay." and went back to the playroom. A few minutes later he comes back with his favorite tool (it's just like the one he sees Daddy use the most) and says "Here Mom...here's a special tool."

I fixed it the best that I could...

SWEET!!!!

I just got a new piano yesterday (I love my hubby...skipped 1/2 of his karate so that we could go piano shopping). Yes, I know, I am TERRIBLE at posting pictures, but I've just been too busy playing it that I haven't really gotten a picture yet. It's great though. And the guy that we bought it from has Lovell connections...what do you know...

I was glad that we went when we did though 'cause as we were getting everything ready and they were loading up our piano this couple walked in and was looking for an inexpensive piano and I know they would have gotten ours. The next closes to an "inexpensive" piano was almost twice what we paid for ours. I was so pumped, I asked how soon they could deliver it and they were like "we can deliver it whenever would be most convenient for you." so we were starting to set up a time when they could deliver it and I asked what would be the ABSOLUTE earliest that would be plausible for them to deliver it and they said "We could even deliver it tonight if that would work for you." So we had them deliver it right then. I was so happy! I can finally play the piano whenever I want (well, not at midnight or anything, but when people are awake I can play).

I PROMISE!!!!

I promise that one of these days I WILL get the pictures up of my bathroom. I am probably going to wait until I paint Justin's room though. And maybe the Living room and Kitchen. Yeah, I know, I am overly ambitious. But I am so excited. I already have all the paint ready to go, I just have to get Jon to help me move some things so that I can paint without getting all my kids high in the process. ;) LOL. Oh, and I am going to paint my little craft area (news to Jon...yeah like he ever reads my blog...he'll find out when he comes home one day and the wall is painted blue). We all know what he'd say if I asked if I could anyway "Do what you want Hon, I'm no good with that color stuff, so if you think it looks good you can do it." Yeah, he's great that way. I have my idea of what I'm going to do with the boys' room, but I have promised myself that I am NOT buying anymore paint until I have the projects done that I already have my paint for. I'm sure Jon's getting tired of tripping over paint by now. Really nothing much is going on (which I ALWAYS say is a good thing).

Topher is getting ridiculously too smart for his own good. (He wrote his name by himself this morning). His "Mom, What is it?" stage isn't that bad, because you only usually have to tell him something once and he'll remember it FOREVER! I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid in a few years when he smarter than me.

Ethan is still in that "I'm going to see how far I can go without getting into trouble stage". It's tiring at times, but he's still just so stinkin' cute that I can't get mad at him. (Now I know how my Mom felt). He does everything that Chris does, Chris is his hero. That will make me sad when that fades and he wants to be his own hero.

Justin is trying really hard to crawl, so that he can run around with his brothers...or run away from his brothers...depends on the day. :) He's getting real close.

Jon...hasn't broken, fractured, or dislocated anything lately...so yeah, we're all happy.

Heartattack!

Topher is the "informer" in this house. If he or Ethan or Justin needs help, he's the one to let me know. If Ethan gets hurt, he's on his way to get Mom. So while I was down in my scrapbooking room (at 9:00 at night) and I heard Topher yell "Mom, you go get him!" I (obviously) had to go investigate. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Ethan, Mom...he's outside." So I headed upstairs, assuming he went out the back (fully fenced in, so not that big of a deal...and they do that alot). Then Topher says "No Mom, Ethan out front door." We just put a child proof handle on the door because he kept doing that and I was thinking 'how in the world did he get out? Ethan can't open that door, and neither can Chris, we made sure of that when we bought the handle.' So I opened the door praying that he's sitting on the front step (as he will do occasionally). He wasn't there. Needless to say, it was pretty dark so panic set in pretty quick I looked all in our front yard and down the street...no Ethan. Then I had the feeling to go look upstairs (glad I listened) there was Ethan sitting in his room looking at me like he thought he might be in trouble. I was relieved and then I was VERY upset. I have no idea WHY Chris told me that Ethan had gone outside, but I was never happier that he had lied to me...(so to speak).

Update on Sonnet

Just thought I would let everyone know that Sonnet is doing MUCH better now. She finished her race (which in and of itself was a feat) and in the alloted time too. She said this was her version of a one handed thumbs up because she couldn't smile.And I thought I would also let you know that I found out that she DOES have insurance. So she is doing GREAT!

Correction!

In my last blog I put that the e-mail address was stampinforsonnet...it's stampingforsonnet@yahoo.com (stamping with a 'G'). Sorry about that.

Sonnet

I've been meaning to post...but nothing is happening. Not that I'm complaining; that means no broken ribs, legs, arms or any unexpected trips to the ER, no packing or unpacking, moving, or living out of motels...so it's all good.

Oh, I meant to write about this a while ago...my friend Sonnet (some of you may know her and some of you may not) got in a pretty bad biking accident a few weeks ago. As far as I'm aware she does not have insurance (even if she did with the amount of time she's spent at the hospital and Dr. office it would still be a strain I'm sure). So I was going to sell cards and some other items to help raise some money for her. I will be posting picutres of the things I will be selling. 100% of the profit will go to Sonnet. Also, I am with a crating company (Stampin' Up! for those who are familiar with it) and 100% of my commision from this month (and probablly into next since it took so long for me to remember to blog about it) will go to Sonnet. Or if you do not need any scrapbooking/crafting supplies, you may feel free to donate on her behalf. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the "commment" section of this post. If you need to give personal information (ie, address, e-mail address, ect.) I have an e-mail account stampinforsonnet@yahoo.com that you can send that to. (I am the only one who reads it, but it doesn't have any info link to me so when I reply it will not say my name in the subject line).

Sonnet is doing better. She did make it to the race (the one she was training for when the accident happend). I haven't heard how she did, but I can promise that she gave it her all. :)

My Cute Boys

We were in church on Sunday and we had some recently returned missionaries and a Pre RM speaking. I explained to Topher what a "missionary" was and asked him if he was going to go on a mission. He thought for a second and said "No Mom, I don't go on a mission" I asked him why he didn't want to go on a mission. He said "Mom, I go on THREE missions!" ;) (I told him that sounds like a good idea).

I think that Justin is going to grow up REAL tough...if he survives to the age of 2. I came upstairs, checked on the boys and they were fine. They were all just sitting and watching a movie. So I decided to empty the dishwasher (I'm glad that I didn't decide to do something downstairs). I had only emptied 2 or 3 plates when I turned around and saw Ethan with Justin in a scissor hold. Justin was just sitting there chillin' like there was nothing unusual about his brother "wrestling" with him. My goodness...I guess what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger huh?

Other than playing too rough sometimes, Ethan takes GREAT care of his little brother. When we were outside yesterday he was playing and Justin started crying and he stopped playing IMMEDIATELY and starts yelling "Justin, you OK...I come, I come!" and he ran over to Justin and gave him his bottle and comforted him until he stopped crying and then he went back to play when he was satisfied that Justin was alright.

In a nutshell (alright, so it's a big nutshell)

We had family over this weekend...it was really a lot of fun. The boys were really excited to have kids their own age to play with all weekend. And Chris (yes CHRIS) had a blast in the hotel pool. (Yeah, the kid who screams like he's just chopped his leg off when he gets a drop of water near his eye when he's in the tub). Aunt Beth (who used to be a swim teacher) got him used to the water. By the end he was "swimming" back and forth between Jon and Beth (with floaties and a water noodle) with NO ONE holding him. I never thought I would see the day...and he was actually having fun doing it. The last time, when we were living at that motel, we fought him to even get into the pool...he went kicking and screaming the whole way. We got to spend about 2 min. in the pool that time and then had to get out because Chris was screaming so loud that he was terrifying Ethan. It was a waste of getting into our swim suits. This time we had to fight him to get him out...it was great! Then we had a BBQ at our house (we were VERY grateful for the fully fenced in back yard with 5 boys ages 4 and under). But we had a TON of fun this weekend.

Jon, has ANOTHER cracked rib (at least this time it wasn't Sifu Tony...but it was still from Karate). He really enjoyed having his sisters here too. We were laughing when we went to check them into the motel ALL of us went (Jon, Me, his 2 Sisters and 5 little boys) with them. When we walked into the room Beth started laughing, when we asked what she was laughing about she said she hoped no one thought that we were polygamists...because we sure looked like it. And apparently he also tried to saw his finger off. Topher and Ethan kept jumping on Topher's bed and pushing it all around the room. And it broke, so Jon was fixing it and cut his finger up instead.

I have been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning...and my house still looks the same. Someone once told me that housework is like tying beads with no knot in the end. I have never believed that statement more than I do right at this very moment. I just finished all the laundry on Friday. One weekend later there are 2 weeks worth of clothes...how does that happen? I think my laundry room should be the 8th wonder of the world...it creates dirty clothes on it's own. Oh, and I got to help out ("help" meaning be in charge of) the RS enrichment night. The RS president was supposed to leave on Friday (the enrichment was on Thurs) but her husband apparently was already 1/2 to where they were going and didn't want to have to drive back to get them and then drive back to where he was and continue on (I can't say I blame him, that would make for 6 EXTRA hours of driving). So she called me on Tuesday (I was at the Doctor's office with the boys) and asked if I would be willing to take over. She kept saying that it was going to be a lot like a Stampin' Up! party (without the sales and "business" part of Stampin' Up!), so it should be easy since I'm a demonstrator. I think that she thinks I am more experienced than I am. Really, I mostly do it because I get a discount and it's the only way I can justify spending that much money on scrapbooking. I have only been a demonstrator at 1 party and only been to 3 as a customer...so yeah, I should know what I'm doing right? :O It went well though, I had a lot of fun.

The boys are all growing so fast you wouldn't believe it. I swear they grow 6 months over night. (Children...the 9th wonder of the world huh?)

Chris had so much fun with cousin "Mewl" (Mel). He had to make sure that Mel was coming with us EVERYWHERE. We went out to eat "Mom? Can Mewl com too?" Then when we got to the restaurant "Mom! Mewl's there too!" Then when we stopped at the gas station when we were getting ready to leave Sara pulled up beside us, so when Chris turned around to make sure that they were there he didn't see them. "MOM! STOP! MEL IN THE RED CAR ISN'T THERE!!!" So I showed him that they were right beside us he says "Oh, okay, you can go now." Then at the BBQ they had a lot of fun "relocating the dirt" to the tree who was hungry.

Ethan started playing with Kai after a while. Ethan was HUGE compared to Kai but they are about the same age. And we turned Ethan's room into a playroom. That's been nice. Before my Mom and a few of my siblings came 2 weeks ago, Ethan would wake up SCREAMING like 5 or more times a night. Then one night he woke up once, I comforted him and he went back to sleep and never woke up again until the morning. I was surprised. Then I found him in Topher's room. The next night he slept through the night...but woke up in Topher's room again. So then when my family came we just put his bed in there and he seemed to do fine. So we just kept him in there and set up all of the toys in his old room. So when it gets messy in there I can just shut the door and not worry about it. And the toys don't mess up my living room because the toys stay in the toy room. I really love it.

Justin is almost rolling over. He's at that point where, if he would just kick ONE more time, he could do it. But he doesn't know he is that close. I've decided that it's probably a good thing that the Lord made pregnancy so miserable because if not for the thought of having nine months of that misery, I would be wanting another one already. It seems to get sooner and sooner after each pregnancy. With Chris it was about 8 months after, Ethan about 6 and now Justin at 3. Man, the next one I might be coming out of the hospital ready for another. ;) LOL, I doubt it.

Well, I think this blog has gotten a little out of control, so I think I will be done for now :)

It won't be like this for long...

He didn't have to wake up, he'd been up all night.

Lying there in bed listening to his new born baby cry.

He makes a pot of coffee and splashes water on his face.

His wife gives him a kiss and says it's gonna be okay.

It won't be like this for long.

One day we'll look back laughing at the week we brought her home.

This phase is gonna fly by, so baby just hold on.

It won't be like this for long.

4 years later 'bout 4:30, she's crawlin' in their bed.

And when he drops her off at preschool she's clinging to his leg.

The teacher peels her off of him; he says what can I do?

She says now don't you worry this'll only last a week or two.

It won't be like this for long.

One day soon you'll drop her off and she won't even know you're gone.

This phase is gonna fly by, if you can just hold on.

It won't be like this for long.

Someday soon she'll be a teenager, and at times he'll think she hates him.

Then he'll walk her down the isle and leave her there.

But right now she's up there cryin'

and the truth is that he don't mind.

As he kisses her goodnight and she says her prayers.

He lays down there beside her 'till her eyes are finally closed.

And just watching her it breaks his heart 'cause he already knows.

It won't be like this for long.

One day soon that little girl is gonna be all grown up and gone.

Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by, so he's tryin' to hold on.

'Cause it won't be like this for long.

It won't be like this for long.

It's just been one of those days I've been trying to remember this song. Put things into perspective...you know what matters and what really won't matter. I remember hearing someone tell me that before you discipline or yell ask yourself "Will this matter in 10 years? 5 years? 1 year? A month? A week? Tomorrow?....10 minutes from now?" If the answer is "No" don't worry about it. Let it go. Sometimes I just have a hard time "letting it go". I suddenly feel sorry for my Mom having to go through that "nothing works for discipline" stage with me. It's really irritating. Afterwards you feel terrible because you feel like you disciplined to harshly...and yet, he's completely un-phased by any of it. And then I think about when he's going to be grown up and is going to be the wonderful man that I know he will be; it breaks my heart. Unless his personality changes DRASTICALLY between now and manhood, he will be such a sweet and caring man too. He's not going to grow up to be a terrible person just because he doesn't want to clean his room, or gets a little territorial with his brother, or doesn't eat all of his food at dinner, or if he won't go to bed right away. Or forgets that it's MY job to discipline his brother...not his. It's not going to have eternal consequences if he keeps wanting "just one more drink of water" when he's got a full glass sitting right next to his bed. In the long run, none of that really matters...I just need to remember that.

Popcicles

Last night I told Topher and Ethan they could each have one popsicle before they went to bed. They both had their ONE popsicle and of course had to ask for another (just to see if I forgot I told them only one). I told them "No, I said that you could have ONE. No more." Then Ethan tried to get another one (I'm not entirely sure he even heard me when I said no more). Then I hear Topher yelling "MOM SAID NO MORE!!!!" and a slam...then a crack...then a scream. I looked over and Topher had (inadvertently) slammed the refrigerator door on Ethan's hand. The crack I heard was (unfortunately) Ethan's hand...right on the knuckles. It bruised it, but thankfully, didn't break it. Then Ethan, cuddling his hand and with tears streaming down his face says "Mom? 'cicle (popsicle)?" Alright...I'm not heartless...he got another popsicle.

Excitement with the Egelands

Last night we had a bit of excitement (more or less). Jon and I were watching a movie and then we decided we didn't want to finish the movie, it was getting late. So we started getting ready for bed. Jon went into the bathroom to brush his teeth; then I hear this *FFFSSSTTT FFFSSTT!* (Jon scaring away our neighbor's cat that is ALWAYS in our yard. All of the sudden I hear "OH HOLY CRAP!" and the window slamming shut. I was thinking "alright, that was a bit of an over reaction...it's a cat." Turns out it wasn't a cat...it was a skunk - RIGHT outside our window with it's tail up in the air and pointed toward Jon. I suppose that was an appropriate reaction to THAT. So then we wandered around the yard with Jon's BB gun trying to find where it went (by "we" I mean Jon did while I stood up on the porch...I was the look-out...I was NOT going to end up getting sprayed by the skunk.) But we never found it, but we also didn't find a hole or anything that it could have gotten into, so hopefully Jon just scared it away. I was NOT pleased, just that morning I was wondering how DOG FOOD got onto our back deck. All of the neighbor's dogs are big enough, that if they had gotten into our yard, you would have been able to see the hole that they crawled in through. I did not like the thought of a skunk up on my deck. So we might just get some of those things that Mom and Dad Egeland have (I don't know what they are called) you set them up around your yard and they emit a high frequency sound (I think), but whatever they do, they keep animals out of your yard. It was annoying when I thought it was a cat, but when it's a skunk...I'm not going to put up with that if I don't have to. I don't want my kids to find it and think it's a cat and end up getting sprayed. That would be horrible.

Ed Freeman - A TRUE HERO!

True Story !

Ed Freeman

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Na Drang Valley ,

11-14-1965, LZ X-ray , Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it...

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.

He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.

And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times...... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman,died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID .......

May God rest his soul......

I bet you didn't hear about this hero's

passing, but we sure were told a whole

bunch about Michael Jack son.

Medal of Honor Winner

Ed Freeman!

Shame on the American Media

Best Husband in the world!

Sorry I've been lacking on the blogging...nothing new has been going on though. We finally got the evaporative cooler in. YEAH! (Thanks to Jon for that). The boys (and me too I suppose) have not been quite so cranky today...I suppose part of that has to do with the house not being so dang HOT! Well that and Jon taking the boys so I could sleep. I have the greatest husband in the world (I don't care what anyone else says...if you want to believe that your husband is better, I will let you think that...but I know the truth). ;) I think we need to work on our communication skills though. Last night Jon was finishing putting the cooler up, so after that was done he showed me how to hook up the new tractor for our water. Then I was getting tired so I decided that I would go and read my book while I waited for Jon to come to bed. Not long after I got into bed, Jon came down and said "I need to go shut the water off." but sounded to me like he wasn't ready to go to bed. So I told him to take his time, I didn't want him to feel like I was rushing him. So he went and shut the water off. Then I kept waiting and waiting. I went to see why he hadn't come to bed yet and he was up playing solitaire. So I decided that I would read a few more chapters. Then I went back up stairs and he was playing his Starcraft. So I was like "Alright, I suppose I can read a few more chapters." Then I looked at the clock and it was 3:30 AM. So I decided that I was going to go to bed whether he was with me or not. About 4:00 he came to bed. And then this morning I found out that he was doing all of the gaming and dishes and cleaning to pass the time because he thought I wanted to read and he was waiting for me to finish. Maybe if we both hadn't been so patient with the other we could have gotten to bed at a decent hour. LOL. So this morning (I don't have a clue what time) Jon got up and changed Justin and got the other boys changed and fed and the upstairs all cleaned so that I could sleep until a ridiculous hour. Then he finally got a nap himself. He's the greatest because he didn't get to sleep early either but he let me sleep as long as I wanted and kept the boys quiet (which is a feat in and of itself). But that's about all that has happened lately, so I don't have much to say.

Would you RUN?

I got this on an e-mail. It really makes you think. After you read this ask yourself...would you RUN?

Imagine this happening to you...

One Sunday morning during service; a 2,000 member congregation was surprised to see 2 men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying sub machine guns.
One proclaimed "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are!"
Immediately the Choir fled, the Deacons fled, and most of the congregation fled.
Out of the 2,000 only 20 remained.
The man who had spoken removed his hood. He then looked at the Preacher and said "Okay Pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites...now you may begin your service. Have a nice day."
And the two men turned and walked out.

Funny, how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny, how everyone wants to go to heaven...provided they don't have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" yet follow Satan (who, by the way, "believes" in God too.)
Funny, how you can send thousands of funny jokes through the internet and they spread like wild fires...but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, you think twice about sending them.
Funny how the lewd, crude and vulgar pass through cyber space freely...but public discussion of Jesus is suppressed by the schools and work place.

FUNNY...ISN'T IT?

Funny, how someone can be so fired up about Christ on the Sabbath/Sunday...but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?

Funny, how when/if you go to forward this message you will not send it to most of your address list because you are not sure what they believe...or what they will think of you sending it.
Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

ARE YOU THINKING?

Will you share this with people you care about? Or not?

Finally!

We have our computer back (about dang time). We sent it to Gateway. We couldn't prove that it was a hardware problem the last million times we called them so they insisted that it was a software problem (how convienient...that means they don't have to pay for it). So Jon took it down to Luke one weekend and Gateway finally admitted that it was a hardware problem. So we had to reschedule the internet (who wants to pay for internet for 2 weeks when you don't even have a computer?) So not next week, but the week after that we will be getting the internet....and if someone makes it so that we can't get the internet AGAIN...I'm going to be mad. I hate not having access to the internet at our house. It's really annoying.
I had a million things that I was going to write while I didn't have a computer, and I can't remember any of them now. I will post pictures (they are adorable) Chris decided that he wants to be just like Dad. So he comes out in Jon's karate gear. Then Ethan (of course) wants to be just like Topher, so he had to have all the gear on too. It was really comical. I'm thinking that Jon just wants to make sure he can hold his own against Sifu Tony. Every time he comes home with a bruise or a cut (or a fractured rib)...it's always from sparing with Sifu Tony. I told him that I am going to forbid him from sparing with him (at least until his rib heals). ;)
Not much else is going on here (except a bunch of potty training *UHHHHH*....but seriously who wants to read about that?)

If anyone can help?

I have deleted this "Baby Ticker" thing 4 times...does anyone know how to get it off of here?

Going ons at the Egeland's

We are finally getting the internet at our house on Monday! Yeah-a-h! I am VERY excited about that. Now we don't have to sit on this uncomfortable dresser of Justin's so we can "borrow" our neighbor's internet. I've been told that (legally) if it is an unsecured network then it is considered a public network...I hope that's true. Plus once he's in his own room (it's coming soon, he's getting to be a really noisy sleeper) then we can't get on the internet unless he's awake. This is the only spot in the house where we can pick up the internet.
Jon's Mom just left. She stayed for almost a week. That was the most relaxing week EVER! She cleaned and unpacked and put stuff away all over the house. And she rearranged things so I got more counter space in my kitchen (Woo-Hoo!) And then those parts of the house where I have to put it all away because I can't really tell anyone where it goes...she was kind enough to watch the kids while I did that. (Every time that I tried to clean Justin's room before Chris and Ethan "helped" and there were toys EVERYWHERE! The room got dirtier than it was to begin with). And then she watched the boys while we went to the movies. We went to "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". Jon said it was "alright" I thought it was great. Who says you can't find a clean movie that's entertaining at the same time? It's PG, and I was laughing through most of the movie. I would like to see it again. And it's one that you can take the kids to. They didn't have all of that "adult humor" that when you're with your kids you're thinking "man I hope they didn't understand that."
Jon's been doing his Karate thing. He's having lots of fun. He was sparring with a Sifu (pronounced see-foo)...it's the guys with that have earned their black belts. Jon's Mom and I were laughing at the name "Sifu", we didn't think that it sounded very "tough". Apparently they demand their respect when they do a round-house kick to the ribs. The Doctor told Jon that he may have fractured a rib, but when it's only one rib, they don't do anything. Apparently, if it's only one rib then the other ribs hold it in place. If it were multiple ribs then they would set them or something. He's still a little sore, but he's fine.
Nothing much more has happened here. It's been raining (yeah and boo). We can't take the boys outside or anything, but on the plus side, I don't have to water my lawn either. The boys are all doing great. Justin is gaining weight now, so that's good. Ethan is really warming up to him now. So he's not so much "I like him"..."I don't like him"..."I like him"..."I don't like him" He still thinks he's starved for attention, but he doesn't seem to blame Justin for that anymore. Chris is really learning a lot. I was surprised that a 3 year old would be so interested in learning how to write. He asked me to teach him how to write his name. He's (mostly) gotten down how to spell his name (not the long one...just his nick-name). He just seems to want to learn EVERYTHING. I hope I can keep up...or at least that Jon can so that when he needs help with his homework there is SOMEONE here that can help. I'm sure I'm going to be like "I don't have a clue what this is even asking you to do, let alone HOW to do it." He's such a smart boy.

Oh, I forgot!

I forgot, Jon wanted me to write about our encounter with the neighbors yesterday. We were (finally) relaxing and we hear a knock at the door. Jon asked me to get it since he was feeding Justin. So I went to the door and there are the neighbors standing there (smoking). They didn't introduce themselves or any "welcome to the neighborhood" or anything like that (that's what we were expecting). No, they're all "Is that you're truck?" (We had to park Jon's work truck in front of their house...we figured it would be alright because it was just for ONE day and they park their car in front of our house EVERYDAY...I'm not sure why because they don't hardly ever have a car parked in front of their house). So I said "Yeah" and then waited for them to ask if we could move it or...something. They just stared at me. Then Jon (from upstairs) yelled "I could move it if you need me to." So I waited for a "Yeah, that would be nice" or a "No, we were just wondering whose truck it was."...again I waited for...SOMETHING. They just stood there staring. So I'm standing here thinking "Do I say 'Have a nice day' and close the door"... do I tell them (again) that Jon can move it if he needs to...do I just assume they want it moved? They just stood there staring. (While the wind blew their smoke into my house). Then finally they said "Oh, we were just wondering." But the way they said it said that they weren't "just wondering"...but what can they say since they park their car in front of our house everyday, they can't very well get upset about us doing it once...ah, what a neighborhood. So Jon just went and moved the truck. We figured we don't want our neighbors mad at us already. It's people like them that make Jon and I so home-sick for Butte.

And a little child shall lead them...

A few days ago Chris and Ethan were playing. Chris would run to one end of the house and Ethan would chase him. This went on until the inevitable happened...they crashed...I could almost feel the pain as Chris' lip got smashed between his teeth and Ethan's head. Of course they were both crying. I kissed Ethan's head and "magically" it was all better. But I just couldn't seem to calm Chris down. He just kept crying and crying and crying. (Usually it's the other way around). So I was trying all of the "it's not bleeding" , "I know that hurt, I'm sorry you got hurt"...nothing was working. Finally Chris said "Mom, I'm sad." Usually after he tells you why he's sad then suddenly it's all better; so I asked "Why are you sad." He said "Mom, I hurt Ethan." That was special to me. He wasn't even worried about the fact that he was hurting, he just knew that his brother got hurt and he was the cause (not really, but that's how he saw it)...and that hurt him worse than his smashed lip.
I have been so home-sick for Butte lately. I like how when we lived there I kept waiting for the "welcome wagon" to wear off. You know when you go to church and everyone is all "Hi, so glad you're here. How are you liking it here..." etc. , etc. , etc. And every Sunday when my Mom and Dad would call they'd ask how the church was there in Butte. I would always tell them "I will tell you after after they get to normal and the whole "welcome wagon" thing gets old." Then one Sunday when I told them that I realized that I had been there for 6 months already. I finally decided that wasn't just the "Oh, there's a new family in the ward let's make them feel welcome until they aren't the new guys anymore"...that's just how they are. The welcome wagon here has disbanded. I mean don't get me wrong, they are still real nice and all, but I just wish I were back in Butte. Unfourtunately the only job that was hiring there at the time we would have been making 20-25 thousand dollars less a year than we are now. That would really suck. I almost just want to head down to Butte just for the weekend or something. It would be nice, I don't suppose it'll probablly happen, but it would still be nice.

Some days are so long...

I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...I LOVE MY JOB...

I really do love my job...sometimes I just have to remind myself. ;)

So Scary!!!

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine in Butte that I thought should be shared. I trust the source, it's a true story that needs to be taken seriously. I thought our blog would be a great place to make sure that people hear about it. This is the e-mail that I got (with names removed).

Dear Family & Friends,

Two weeks ago I got a call from our FBI friend’s wife (also my counselor in YW) for permission to discuss Internet Safety to our youth. Earlier that day her husband got a call from the Salt Lake City FBI asking if he knew the whereabouts of one of our Young Women. She was safe at home. They arrested a man in SLC for the murders of 80+ girls. As of two weeks ago they had almost 90 bodies in connection with this man. They found that he had several pictures of several girls with one target being the girl in our YW. This man was in our town last month with no “business” being here. This is still under FBI investigation and details have not been released yet.

So, how did he get her information? Believed he “Hacked”(not invited) into her Facebook account & downloaded pictures & collected information about her whereabouts. PLEASE be very cautious as to what you post on the internet even on password protected sites. Do NOT post any future plans, scheduled events, pictures that could be used to arouse, name of schools, home address, phone #’s. Also check the backgrounds of your photos to be sure house #’s & other identifying info is not there. Be cautious not only of what your kids are posting but also what you might be posting about them. I am still sick to my stomach & on the verge of tears when I think about this and how close we could have come to looking for another abused dead body whom I call friend.


The thought of this happening in Butte, Montana really scared me. The thought that this young girl could have been gone before she even knew she was in danger. Just be careful of what you post and remember that others can see things that you post even if you don't invite them to see them. There are always ways around these types of things for those who know how.

Jon's birthday

Yesterday was Jon’s birthday. He had a GREAT birthday (computers don’t do sarcasm very well, so I will let you know…that was sarcastic). His parents had been down to see Justin (and the rest of us…but mostly Justin LOL) they left in the morning. Since it was Memorial Day, Jon had the day off, so he decided that it would be a good time to do the online driver’s school. He got a speeding ticket earlier this year (I know….big surprise huh?) and if he took this online course then the ticket wouldn’t go on his record. And (technically) the course took a minimum of 3 hours…it took WAY longer than that though because he had to stop every 20 minutes or so because our stupid computer would freeze up. So then he would have to wait for it to reboot and all that good stuff. So it took pretty much all day. Jon wanted to go to Apple Bees for his birthday dinner; so when we finally got there (at around 8:00) we were a little hungry. So we ordered our food; Jon wanted the steak and shrimp…he likes his steak a little pink in the middle…so that’s how he ordered it. I ordered a hamburger and 2 kids meals with milk for the boys. So the waiter brings out our drinks…and spills nearly the entire cup of Chris’ milk RIGHT INTO JON’S LAP. So the waiter brings him some towels, and the dry towel must have been the dusting rag because Jon got to smell like pledge after that. Then they brought our food. Personally, if I am having a steak, I like it well done. I would rather have it a little burned than ANY pink in the middle…but that steak was so burned that even I wouldn’t have eaten it. Of course now days you’re afraid to send it back either. Not only was the steak burned beyond recognition but it was only about --------------------------------------- this big, I’m not exaggerating either…that was a tiny steak. And my burger was also burned…it was crunchy…I don’t like my burgers crunchy. They even burned the bun (that takes talent) and the milk shake was about as thick as milk…but at least they didn’t burn the milk shake too. Hehehe. I felt worse for Jon though because #1 HE was the one that got milk in his lap and #2 this was his birthday dinner. So he asked if we could go to Chinese later in the week for a “make up birthday dinner”. I told him that would be more than fine. Then after that we got to go do his favorite thing in the world (sarcasm again)…shopping. We needed to go, we were completely out of milk and bread and nearly out of a few other things. So by the time we got back he had missed his Star Craft game (I felt a little guilty for not really feeling guilty about that though…it’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s true). Well, maybe we could count the Star Trek movie as part of his birthday. While Jon’s parents were down, they babysat while we went to the movies. Anyone who likes the original Star Trek would love this movie…and those who don’t. I’m not a big fan of the original Star Trek, I’m more of a TNG type. But it was really funny. Just the right amount of action, the right amount of romance and the right amount of comedy…one too many “sex scenes” though…which is to say they had ONE (it was less than 30 seconds long…but that‘s about 30 seconds more than they needed). They found out important information in that scene that was important to the plot of the movie…but as far as I’m concerned they could have found out that information in a less smutty sort of way. All in all it was really good movie though. I’m definitely going to get it when it’s out on video. I found my new favorite line from a movie in this movie. They had Spock and a future 80 year old Spock talking to each other and when they were getting ready to say good bye to each other the older Spock says “I would bid you farewell with the traditional Vulcan farewell, but that seems needless and self-serving. So instead I will say (doing the “live long and prosper” hand gesture) “Farewell, and Good Luck”…that doesn’t sound as funny out of context…but it was really funny. Other than that, not too much has been going on here lately.

I'm going to throw this computer off a cliff!!!!

This computer lost my blog...AGAIN! So I will write what I remember. I was just catching up since I haven't been able to get on to my computer for so long.

The other day I was downstairs and I heard a loud THUMP and then I heard Topher crying. I went up to investigate and found him laying on the floor and the curtain hanging from the wall. I could guess what happened; he'd been hanging from the curtain and it couldn't hold his weight. And that's the story he told me when I questioned him about it. It was about time for my doctor's appointment so after consoling him I said "How about we go and get Daddy? But first we are going to go to McDonald's for a happy meal and then we are going to go get Daddy. Does that sound like a good plan?" He says "No, not a good plan." I'm not sure which he loves more...a happy meal or going to get Jon. So I questioned why that didn't sound like a good plan. He said "No want a happy meal Mom...I'm sad."
A few days after that I was downstairs and after only a few minutes I heard some hysterical laughing (the 2 older boys) then silence...then laughing and silence. Any Mother knows that when there is a newborn upstairs that the kids can't stay away from and a 3 year old and a 1 year old that has to do EVERYTHING the 3 year old does and you hear THAT kind of laughing...it's reason to worry. So I hurried upstairs and sure enough - the 2 older boys were sitting in Justin's bassinet (thankfully the pack n' play one...the other one would have tipped over with all 3 of them in there) they would rock the bassinet and then laugh. They both were having a great time...I'm not so sure about Justin, but Topher and Ethan were having fun. LOL. I wish there were a handbook for this sort of thing. I needed to discipline them both enough so they know that's not alright (they have a hard time understanding why it's OK for Chris and Ethan to play that way, but not Justin), but at the same time I need just the right amount of understanding so that the 2 older boys don't associate Justin with getting yelled at or something.
Our house is finally starting to look like a house instead of a storage unit ;) How in the world Sarah S. got her house all together (and a dinner party 2 days after moving in) is beyond me...she must be super woman or something...it takes us ALOT longer than that to unpack. Jon's Mom and Dad are coming down this weekend, I'm excited about that. Jon and I are finally going to get a little while away from the boys (YEAH!) Jon was laughing at me yesterday because I just didn't want to do anything and he said "You know my Mom is coming this weekend...you'd better get the house cleaned...you know how judgemental she is." He still likes to tease me about the first time I met his Mom. I think I just imagined her as a stereo typical "mother-in-law". You know the whole "You'll NEVER be good enough for my son." , "I'm going to go through your house with a white glove and whine and complain about any speck of dirt that I find." kind of a lady. Then after I met her he really made fun of me because she is about as opposite from that stereotype as is humanly possible. So he makes sure to tease me about that as often as he can. LOL.

Catching up...

I don't think I will ever be able to get on here again. We still (technically) don't have the internet, so I will try to remember all the things that I was going to write (sorry, it might be a little long)...so I will just write a quick blurb, about each thing, so one story will have nothing to do with the next.
The other day I was downstairs when I heard a thump and Topher crying. So I went upstairs to see what was going on. I saw Topher on the floor and the curtain hanging half way off the wall. I figured he'd tried to climb on the curtain; when I questioned him about it, sure enough, that's what happened. It was about time for us to leave to go get Jon for my Dr.'s appointment so after consoling him I said "We need to go get Daddy today. So we are going to go to McDonalds and get a happy meal and then we are going to go get Daddy. Does that sound like a good plan." Normally this is the part where (between sobs) he would say "Yeah, go get Dad". So I was surprised when he told me it didn't sound like a good plan. And I was even more surprised when I asked why and he said "Mom, no happy meal." (this kid LIVES for happy meals). I asked him why he didn't want a happy meal and he said "Mom, no happy meal...I'm sad..."
I like that the boys like their little brother, but sometimes I wish they didn't like him quite so much. I went downstairs for just a minute to check on some insurance info. I heard the older 2 boys laughing...then silence...then more laughing. (Any mother knows that's reason for concern when you have a new baby that they can't stay away from. LOL) I figured I'd better go and see what was going on. Apparently they had both climed into the pack n' play bassinet with Justin and would rock back and forth and then laugh...then rock some more. (Thankfully at least the legs of the bassinet stayed firmly on the ground). I wish there was a handbook on how to handle a situation like this..you know, to tell the right amount to punish. Because I know they are playing with him because they like him (they don't understand how that could hurt him) They need enough punishment so they understand we don't do that, but enough understanding so that they don't associate the baby with being yelled at (I don't want Justin to end up being the outcast because I yelled at the boys too much about hurting Justin...ahhh, the joys of parenting.
Our house is finally comming together - we are not COMPLETELY surrounded by boxes anymore. I am really begining to hate all the little things that really don't have a place or purpose, but for some reason you just can't get rid of it. And I just want to cry every time I see a box that the mover have marked "papers". This house is a little smaller than the one we just moved from in Pocatello, so even the things that had a place there still don't have a place here. And I can't just get rid of the stuff that doesn't have a place because the biggest problem area is in the kitchen. Where there is room for food OR the pans and whatnot that you need to cook the food. Right now, I haven't found a place for both. So we are trying to decide how to make room so that everything can have a place (that's not in the middle of the floor in a box). Well, we have Stake Conference today, so we have early church. And I can't think of anything else to say, so that will be all for now...hey, that wasn't as long of a blog as I thought it would be.

A million and 3 things down....and nothing left to do.

(This stupid thing just erased my whole blog entry...so if I leave out some information...sorry).
We finally had our baby on May 01st. A boy. Justin Michael Egeland. 7 pounds , 19-1/4" long. I think that he is tied (a 3-way tie of course) for the cutest baby I have ever seen in my life! LOL. He looks just like some of Jon's baby pictures. Jon said it was about time we had a baby that looked like him. It looks like he might have the darker skin too, but we will have to wait and see. I really like the hospital too (I delivered at Evanston...thank you to everyone who warned me about Rock Springs hospital). That is such a great hospital. It was the first time that I have ever had a good Doctor and good Nurses. With Chris My doctor was good but the nurse was a yahoo. With Ethan the doctor was a dip-weed and the nurse was the best nurse ever. At Evanston every single medical person that I had to deal with was wonderful. Not a rotten one in the bunch. And I LOVE the way they do anesthesia. In Butte they just gave you enough to make the labor pain almost bareable...and then they let it wear off just before the "pushing stage". I thought that's how they all did it. But this time I had a continuous epidural. I really really really like those. ;) When the nurse came in and asked if I had felt any change in pressure in my abdomen, I told her I had not. So she said she was going to check me to see how much longer I had. She started to check, but instead turned toward the door and yelled "Dr. Evans! We need you in here NOW!" It scared me a little 'cause I didn't know if something was wrong. Then the nurse said "Well, we have a head of hair." then 2 1/2 pushes later Jon was delivering a baby. (I know, how lucky am I? This was by far my easiest delivery). The Dr. had to cut the cord though because it was wrapped around his neck. I only got to hold him for a few minutes though because they had to take him to the nursery to give him some oxygen (he's fine now). I thought it was good of the nurses to let me know that the oxygen was more of a precaution. I hate when something like that happens and then Dr.s and nurses don't bother to tell you that it's not life threatening, so you just lay there thinking that your baby is dying in the other room. (That's basically what happened with Chris...so I was really appreciative to the nurses this time). But I had to just lay in bed, I couldn't go to the nursery and see him because my legs were still numb, so I couldn't walk. Jon was laughing at me earlier because I didn't realize that I was making a grunting noise (after Justin was born) until Jon jumped up and was all "What's the matter? Are you hurting? What can I do?" I told him he could put my foot back on the bed. He looked at me like "What?" My foot had fallen off the bed and I was concentrating really hard (hence the "grunting"). I had been trying for the last 5 min. or so to put it back on the bed...my brain was telling my foot to move, but my foot didn't listen. LOL. Jon thought that was pretty funny. I don't know how some women do this alone. There is no way that I would survive labor without Jon there. He is the greatest support person EVER!
We took Ethan to Utah to the Dr. on Monday. They said they think that it is just a reaction to an earlier immunization that caused the bone to make extra calcium and cause the lump to form. They said it could take up to a year for the lump to go away, but we don't need to worry unless it starts to grow again. So good news there. I just don't know what to do with myself now that I'm not running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.
I got another great "birthday present"...when I came home from the hospital, Topher was nearly potty-trained. My Mom had been working with him while I was in the hospital with Justin. Don't I have the greatest Mom in the world? Yeah, I thought so too. <3