Mc & Mc , Car Dancing

McKay and McKenna
Turn your sound up and take a look.

Aren't they cute?




Update on McKay's car: He has none.
Finally, State Farm declared it is totaled. He and McKenna, along with Tyler and Karen returned the rental car to Salt Lake City last weekend.

Happy milestones

They were having a race to see who would get the first tooth.
And guess what?

It's a tie!!

My grandtwins both got their 1st tooth on the same day!!
What are the chances of this??


Jonas does have a way with women, already.
They swarm around him.
Amazes me the way Amy has no problem holding both babies.
My back hurts just watching her.



Moving on to the next family...
Cam Cam is learning to feed herself. She is doing so well!

Sometimes I have to go back

"The past is a foreign country.
They do things differently there.
"
L P Hartley

When I go to my Oral Surgeon's office, as I did today, I go back to my old neighborhood. I see the house where I raised my 4 babies. And I see the school that 3 of my 4 sons attended.

I had a different husband, a different home, and although my sons were the same people, they sure looked different back then.

It's made for a rather emotional drive.

I use to park right by this gate waiting for my kindergartners.
I was nearly always the very first Mom there each day. A fact that use to embarrass me, but I am proud of now. Funny how that works.
As I drove by today I could almost see them.
I love my life.
But somedays, just somedays, when I allow myself, I go back.
I don't think a Mom can ever let go of those days completely.
I miss my babies.Don't you just love the quote at the top of this? I found it today in a magazine at the OS's office.

How to raise Shy Children

I don't know who wrote this, or where exactly it came from, but I like it. I think it would be a good list to follow for all children.
Wish I could change the spelling of the last word.

I was not too good with #7.

Amy's signs

Last night while I was in Amy and Logan's bedroom playing with the babies, I saw this sign posted to the wall right next to the bed:I asked Logan, "Who is that a reminder for??"

He said, "Amy made that to remind herself."
Then he added, "She has a different one in the kitchen. Did you see that one?"Yep, I'm impressed!

Rebecca Leonard

There has been a page devoted to Becca Leonard updates on Facebook that anyone can join. Just go to Rebecca Dorfmier Leonard and you can click to join. It's difficult waiting and not knowing what is going on. The letter below, writen by her husband (earlier this evening I think), is printed there as well:


"Well, I think that most of you know at this point about Rebecca. For those of you that don't I will give the lowdown of the last week.

Tuesday-Friday Rebecca was complaining of being sick. It didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary so we just went about our day. By Friday she was feeling extremely ill and asked me to take her to a walk-in clinic. At the walk-in clinic the doctor told us that he was very concerned for Rebecca and felt that she needed additional help at the hospital. So, the doc called an ambulance to have her taken to Clovis Community because she was too weak to walk. She arrived at CC about 10 AM. By 2 PM they determined that the problem was her gallbladder. They informed me that she would be alright and they would perform the surgery in the morning. About 11 PM that night I got a call from the GI doctor and he informed me that her situation required that she have it out immediately and they took it out that night. Later he called to tell me that everything was fine and she would likely be coming home Saturday afternoon. Rebecca never called me on Saturday and the hospital informed me when I called that she was unable to speak. Later that afternoon the nurse called to tell me that Rebecca wasn't getting any better and they were moving her to ICU (Intensive Care Unit). At that point I went to CC to pay her a visit (it is difficult to get away when you have little ones to care for). The doctor told me that the gallbladder was not the problem but that her liver was failing. At that point he suggested that if her condition worsens she will need to be taken to UC-San Francisco for additional help. I left the hospital and by the time I got home he told me I needed to come right back because her liver was failing completely and she was going to have to go to SF right away. From that point things began to deteriorate very rapidly. It was about 9:30 PM Saturday night that the ambulance arrived to take Becca to the airport to fly her to San Fran. For some reason it took her around 3-4 hours from the time she left CC to arrive at UC-SF. During that time she developed a heart problem. The Cardiologist says that it appears that she had a heart attack because half of her heart is not functioning properly (it is very weak and there is scar tissue around the heart). She arrived at UCSF at around 1 AM and her status became critical. At about 5AM on Sunday the doctor called to tell me that Rebecca’s system was shutting down and she was likely in the final stages before death and I needed to come immediately. He informed me that her liver now completely shutdown, her kidneys had completely shutdown, her heart was failing and her brain was swelling.

It took me a little while to pack the bags for the kids and make arrangements for their care while I was gone. I got on the road and drove as fast as I could to get here. By the time I had arrived they were still working on Rebecca and it was sometime before I was allowed to see her. By the time I got in the room she was in pretty bad shape. She was swelling up all over and her eyes were half open and lifeless. She was non-responsive and not moving. The doctor told me that she likely wasn’t going to make it through the day.

Many family members arrived and we took turns being with her. When the doctors determined that it was safe to move her, they took her down for a cat scan. This revealed that though her brain was swelling, it was not completely herniated which was their initial fear. (A complete herniation would indicate that she had lost all brain activity.) This left us with the waiting game to see what her brain would do. They have told us at this point that her liver appears to be trying to rejuvenate itself. They have lowered her heart medication and find that her heart is doing alright by itself. But we still have to wait for any news on her brain. Everything depends upon this.

We are thankful for your support and ask for continued prayers and faith on her behalf. As we are still just waiting for any change, we ask that no one call or text as we will offer updates as they come.

Love,

Jared and family

**Note from sister, Lisa: We just received an update and the swelling in her brain appears to be worsening. We know Rebecca is in the palm of His hand so we continue to pray for comfort and peace while we wait and sit with her and Jared."

They need our prayers


Becca Leonard (the Mom pictured above) is a long time friend of ours. She had gall bladder surgery Friday night and was air lifted to UCSF on Saturday. She is not in good status.

Please pray for her and her beautiful family.

An Awareness Test

This came from a friend's blog which I got permission to share. She heard Sheri Dew speak last night at Time Out for Women. The writing below is hers.


"Interesting, huh? This was meant to be an ad awareness test, but Sister Dew reframed it a bit by making this point: "What you focus on determines what you see." Her point is that if we focus on the world, we will not see the adversary and his antics. That's why we should focus on the Savior, not the world."

You can read the rest of her post HERE.

5 months old... AND high school

Before I show you what Jonas will look like in high school at the end of this post, look how the twins have grown...
I could just kiss those little feet!

Téa is looking more and more like her Mom.

They look so little in their new high chairs!

They have had nothing but Mommy's milk until now.
Twice a day they also get oatmeal!

I was feeding Jonas tonight (Miss Téa was out with Mommy and her sisters) and I had forgotten how babies open up their mouths like little baby birds. He made me laugh every time!

Sorry for the mess but Jonas got a call right during his dinner.
It was Great Grandpa from Arizona!!

Logan sent me the pictures below, or otherwise I would not be showing them. According to yearbookyourself.com, this is what Jonas will look like in highschool.

Of course we are NOT counting on this.
High school, yes.
Looking like this, NO.


Or, depending on the hair styles in 2027...

Dr. Laura #6

Dennis said this is true. Do you agree?

Cami's unfortunate adventure

This happened last week, written by my son, Brock.



"SEIZURE TWO


She wouldn’t eat her french fries. I should’ve known something was up when the fries just sat there on her plate and she demanded rice. Who the crud prefers rice over fries? Certainly not Cami. Not ever before that night.

“She didn’t get much of a nap in today,” Erin explained.

“No?” I was surprised. Cami uses up twice as much energy as the rest of us doing the simplest of things, like walking and being super cute. She needs her beauty sleep.

“No, she didn’t nap at all, actually.”

“That’s weird.” Weird, sure, but it did explain why she was now eating so lazily. She was nearly nodding off at the table.

I left the restaurant full and guilty. It had been at least two years since I’d eaten one of those pounds of death (supposedly also known as burgers) by myself and I wasn’t very hungry to start with. On the way I home, Erin and Elora decided to watch WIPEOUT before bedtime. Cami was obviously exhausted, so there’d be little trouble getting her to bed right away.

All I wanted was to crash on the couch and read a magazine. If I laid on my back, gravity could do its thing and my protesting stomach and I could make like Europe in 1491. No need be ignorant of the shape of the horizon if you can alter it.

I set Cami down on the ground as soon as we entered the house and she dashed (in her own way) for her bedroom, following her big sister. Erin and I stayed in the living room, discussing my faux pas at dinner (lesson learned: don’t play iPod games at the table).

No, wait.

That’s wrong. We debated my table manners in the car on the way home. The conversation we had in the living room I can barely recall at all because everything that happened after leaving the restaurant is obscured by the memory of Elora cackling in the hallway.

“That’s funny! Hahahaha! That’s funny, Cami!”

Erin and I tried to continue our conversation but in the back of my mind I was curious. What was so funny? Elora just kept laughing. Erin’s curiosity moved more quickly than mine and she finally went to see what was going on. I started taking keys and change out of my pockets for my big lay down.

“Brock! CALL 911!”

“What? Why?” Dang it, was my first thought. I really wanted to play Guitar Hero tonight. Instead of just grabbing the phone, I rushed over to see what was going on first. The Digital Guitar Gods demanded I find out if there was a chance Erin was overreacting.

Erin was crouched low over Cami, panicking. Cami had clearly fallen, having lost control of her body. I knew this sight well. A year ago we’d been on our way to Los Angeles when by chance I looked over at Cami in the backseat, only to see her staring directly into the sun.

“Cami. Cami! Don’t look into the sun, sweetheart. Don’t do that. Cami! …Cami?”

Then I noticed that she wasn’t looking into the sun at all. She couldn’t, not with her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She was shaking, too. Every limb was just flopping about, as though an out-of-water fish had taken up residence inside of her skin. Now, in the hallway, she was doing it again.

I called 911. I had never done that before. Cami’s Doctors in San Francisco told us that if she ever had another seizure then we should call for an ambulance immediately. Sure, the first one was a febrile seizure (a common attack of the brain brought on by a sudden fever than happens to lots of young kids), but with Cami it could always be more than that. A seizure could be the sign of something horrible. A deterioration of her already puzzling physical and mental health.

“911. What is your emergency?”

“My daughter, she’s having a seizure. She’s very small and—“

The operator confirmed my address and assured me that an ambulance would be there in minutes (they were). I gave real-time updates on the phone as Cami stopped shaking after about a minute and then lay very, very still. Erin stayed right with her. Knowing what was coming, she ordered Elora into her room to change into pajamas. She didn’t know where Elora would end up in all this, but it sure wasn’t going to be the hospital. Plus, it kept her busy.

The dispatch on the phone assured me that Cami was progressing out of her seizure just fine. I hung up the phone and went into the hallway. Erin scrambled to get ready to leave, putting her shoes back on. I took over with Cami, scooping her up into my arms and sitting with her on the floor of the hallway while she moaned and cried softly. I hadn’t cradled her with such trepidation since the day she was born. The look of confusion on her face broke my heart.

The dog and the cat were agitated. The sirens were getting close. That’s when it hit me.

“Erin! The dog! They’re here and the dog is out!” Elora walked by, freshly dressed in her P.J.’s and stepping over us to make her way to the drama-free living room. “Elora, put Plato in his kennel!”

“How am I supposed to do that? I don’t know how! Sheesh.”

“Erin!”

“What?” Erin finally shouted back.

“They’re HERE. The DOG!” Plato is a good dog, but he likes to greet all new visitors with a bark and a climb. That wasn’t going to happen. Erin got him into the kennel not five seconds before the men in their we’re-here-to-help-you suits knocked on the door.

Elora answered. “Hi!”

“Hi, sweetie. Can you tell us what’s going on here?”

“My sister fell down. She had a seizure in the hallway.”

They came in quickly, kneeling with speed and care in front of us. I thought of E.T. and how he was lying next to Elliott as the scary men in hazmat suits rushed in to take him away. Cami had just started saying her second word that week. “Da” or “Dada.” Now this? How fair was that? Can your brain be damaged by a seizure? Even E.T. has a bigger vocabulary than her. There would be no awesomely huge tubes leading us from the door of the house to the ambulance. I love tunnels; seems like I always have. At least since 1982. Thereabouts.

Several questions were asked of me about Cami’s current state, all of which I answered on autopilot. I made sure to appear calm, but inwardly there was one thought that overtook all others, Please don’t let this be the one that takes her from us.

As a matter of sanity, we’ve accepted in part that perhaps Cami will not be long for this world. If no one knows what’s wrong with her, then what’s wrong with her could be far worse (or far better) than any of us know. The joke has always been that Cami is just aging slowly—that she’s like some throwback to early Biblical times and this is just what a super long life looks like at the beginning of it. But, if she’s not the missing link of aging, then where does that leave her? How long can a person whose body develops so little and has her attendant complications expect to live? No one knows.

Erin jumped into the ambulance with Cami and I headed back into the house. Elora was on the phone, but handed it over quickly. Kristie had followed the ambulance down the street on the way to her home right behind us. She called as soon as she could after seeing that it stopped at our house and graciously offered her services. I thanked her and asked her to come by and grab Elora.

Elora, bored with listening to one side of a conversation she cared little about in the first place, was on the computer playing a game. After getting off the phone with Kristie, I scolded her.

“Elora! Now…now is not the time to be playing on the computer!”

“What? Mommy said I should!”

“S-she did?” Of course she did. That’s because your mother is a genius.

By the time Kristie had gotten to our house I had called both grandmas. My mom volunteered to take Elora, and Kristie was tasked with taking her over there. I knelt down beside Elora before she left to reassure her that Cami would be okay (as if I knew any such thing) and that she hadn’t done anything wrong by laughing at her. There was no way she could understand what was happening.

The first time this happened Elora was already in Los Angeles ahead of us and spent much of that night sobbing. Now, seeing it firsthand, it was different for her. We said everything was going to be fine and she believed us. I was grateful for that.

By the time I got to the hospital, the ambulance had already arrived, but only just. My Mother-in-law Lynn was there, too. We embraced and waited for our chance to go back into the ER to be with Cami and Erin. When we finally got back there, Cami was lying face down on top of Erin, who was lying on her back on the bed, her face red with the trauma of the past hour.

Cami was still moaning, softly. The seizure had taken her normal behavior and thrown it back about three years. There was a time when she was just a lump. A cute lump, but still a lump that didn’t do much other than sleep and stare. The pain was forcing her back into that. It was just…just the pain, that’s all.

After the doctor and nurses got the I.V. in her (and after a lot of screaming, of course) the lump insisted on sitting up and rising back to life. I pulled out my iPod, treating her to a silent home movie I had edited together in which she is the star. She also got to play as much Awesome Ball as she wanted. With strength that had been beyond her reach just an hour earlier, she shook the virtual ball as hard as she could, laughing as she sent it careening around the virtual room. For some reason, bouncing balls are hilarious to Cami, real or unreal.

“Hi,” she turned to me and said.

“Hi,” I said back.



Postscript: Cami had very low energy for the rest of Labor Day Weekend, but she was lucky enough to finish out her recovery at home as we left the hospital that same night. It turned out it was a febrile seizure. Tonight I got her some french fries from McDonald's. She ate them all."

A Short Video of Cami Playing With the iPod

Do you see something unusual about this picture?

I have no idea who these people are....
This was in today's paper.
Which means this picture was taken yesterday.
Which means this baby was only hours old.
Yet she is smiling and looking at the camera! (or so it seems)

Even though we don't know the family above, this reminded me of the day my nephew Colt was born. He is 20 now and on his mission, but looking back, this is how he made the news:
Update on a post I did a few days ago.
Paul Cardall got his new heart this week!!

Homework Help. Here it is!

If you haven't read Den's daughter Kris' blog, and if you have school age kids, this is for YOU! I think this would totally work! Read on...

Taken right from Kris' blog...




"School is now full-steam ahead, and homework is now a reality...a far cry from our summer of "notta-lotta." So when I browsed through my most recent issue of Family Fun magazine, and found this FABULOUS idea, I knew I wanted to give it a try!

It has worked out SO WELL. Mom wants to do cartwheels! Having your own homework space does wonders.

Last weekend I went to Walmart and purchased those simple, 3-fold boards. You know, the kind that we used to do science projects with! I then just set out a bunch of crayons, markers, glue sticks, and stickers that I already had on hand. They went to town!


I also purchased a thin sheet of corkboard for each of the kids from our local office supply store. They attached them to the boards and now I have a place to leave them notes with a thumbtack such as, "Don't forget you have piano lessons today at 2:45!" or "Thanks for the big hug this morning!" :)

My 1st grader decided to make his corkboard look like a baseball diamond!

Each have their own canister filled with crayons, markers, pencils, etc. (All that back-to-school stuff that we could get dirt-cheap from Walmart this year!) This has helped resolve the, "I-can't-find-a-pencil!!!" ordeal!

I also decided to take this idea one step further and made up 2 lists on the computer that attach to the boards at the top and are changed out each month. One list is their "to-do" list so they can check off each item as they go. The other list is a small chart in which they get a sticker each day they complete the entire to-do list. Once that chart is filled up, a special treat will be in store.

A plastic ruler hangs down from a small hook. An envelope at the bottom of their boards holds the flashcards they are currently working on.


A sense of "privacy" has seemed to really help them focus on what is in front of them, rather than noticing the silly face that little brother or sister is making across the table! LOL


Would you like a copy of the charts I put together for your own files? Here they are! Just customize the way that fits your child! Simply click on the images below and print.


A tribute to honesty

McKay drove last weekend to Billings, Montana with McKenna, a sweet girl he is dating now. While staying in her family's home...someone ran into his car late at night.

So they woke up the next morning ready to drive back to Provo,
to this:
But the amazing, incredible thing is, whoever hit his car left him a note! He was able to contact their insurance, and their insurance provided him with a rental car for 2 weeks. Plus their insurance is fixing his car or paying for it.

McKenna sent me a picture of the note, and while I would like to include it here, I wouldn't be able to block out info, so this is what it said:

"I am so sorry.
I spilled my pop, over corrected and hit your car.

My #__________

My name Jenni.

Insurance_______

Policy #_________
"


We are all thinking it is totaled, but maybe not. What do you think? We bought him this car used from the missionaries here, right after his mission. So it has served him well for 4 years.

We are so thankful McKay and McKenna were not in his car when it was hit.

We are also so thankful the person who hit his car had character. I imagine Jenni (the car wrecker) has a good life. A peaceful life. Well maybe not so peaceful last Sunday evening.

So here are some pictures from their weekend trip:

McKenna holding her niece Hannah who was blessed last Sunday.
Does McKay look like a natural?
Well maybe not, but I know he has it in him.
He told me the morning after they arrived, McKenna brought baby Hannah into his room. I could tell he thought that was such a nice way to wake up.

The Montana skies.
He said they saw some beautiful country.

The rental car


The Amish Newspaper

I recently subscribed to the Amish newspaper, "The Budget."
A 119 year old weekly publication!

I've always been intrigued by the Amish. Living with no cars, no electricity...not only how do they do it, but what are these people like? No TVs, radios, and certainly no cell phones, IPODS, or computers.
I thought their paper would be 2-4 pages at most. Wrong. The first issue that came last week is 53 pages! What kind of news would they have? Well here are a few excerpts:


Imagine the disappointment when he didn't get his S'mores!



I waded through lots of news about baby births, accidents, canning ideas, injured animals, weather reports in those 53 pages. Back to such simple times. The days similar perhaps to my grandparents' time.

They look after one another:

Through out the newspaper there are little sayings of encouragement. Such as this one:
"Rely on God's care, he never disappoints."
or this one:
"The cross you carry may be tied to you with bonds of love."

Making Money for being cute

What is it about twins that attracts total strangers?

My daughter in law, Amy, took me to Olive Garden for lunch today. This older woman came up to the babies and acted totally smitten. She even said to them, "Oh I love you." Her granddaughter who was with her was trying to move her along. Wasn't working.She said her name was Patrina and told us what area of town she lived in. Oh, and she gave us her last name. I think she even wanted to give her address but her granddaughter said they had to go. I wish I did have her address. I would love to send her pictures of my grandchildren, if it meant that much to her.

What a sweet lady! I wanted to take her home with me.

She gave the babies each a dollar.
She told Amy to put it in their Piggy Bank and tell them someday that it's from Patrina.




Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...