Tub Wins.....

Parker loves to get in the tub and has recently started to take showers. I am not sure what he does in there. But I am not sure it is a good thing. I hear a lot of noise and a lot of jumping around and that cannot be good.(it sounds like a party is going on in there) Well I heard an even worse sound the other day and that was Parker screaming and then the tears came. (Of course while the water was running). Well come to find out he had fallen and hit his eye. I guess that when you get in a fight with the tub, it will win every time. These pics were taken a few days later, it was sorts of fun colors. He was not happy about the black eye.

oops, I forgot a few things

I was thinking about what we did over our vacation and at the time I last posted I could not for the life of me remember what I was forgetting, but today it dawned on me. We went and had a blast with Jeff's cousins. This was one of my favorite nights. We always have a such a great time. We had dinner and then watched the kids make a gingerbread house. For some reason I took it upon myself to make the house....not sure why. The kids were so funny! They kept telling me I was doing it wrong and that we needed to do it this way. Next time we will have to make the house earlier because by the time they finished putting all the candy on the rood the roof started to fall off. They were all fighting for the roof afterwards too. But look at the photo, who wouldn't want it??? Thanks for the fun!! We miss seeing you guys!!

Christmas

Okay, I have been a slacker.....well maybe not a slacker. I have been a busy mom. Parker got a double ear infection this weekend. My life has been crazy since. I thought that younger kids got ear infections not 5 year olds. Anyway, he has been the biggest baby. I am not sure it is because he is a boy or a whiny five year old, maybe both. But I think that we now have it under control and we finally went to church today as a family. It had only been like 2 months for me. Oh my goodness I felt like a new person all over again. There were so many things different and so many new people....crazy!!!

Anyway, I am going to get back to our wonderful Christmas vacation. My parents had the privilege of having all of their kids visiting on Christmas. It was crazy!!!! But my parents loved every minute of it. On Christmas eve the chaos began. We had a family photo taken. It turned out cute. My mom loves it. That is all of us, the whole Carroll clan.

My mom made matching pjs for all the kids and my mom and dad. It sure brought back memories of us as kids. My mom even made her famous slippers. We LOVED these as kids. You can read the journaling on my scrapbook page for more info on all of these. (and sorry mom, I am ruining the surprise...you will understand what I mean in a few days).

After the pjs the kids made cookies for Santa. They had a blast. It was fun to watch them be so careful and make their best cookie for Santa.

All in all, it was a great Christmas. It was fun to be around family and the kids had a blast with their cousins.

That evening we even got to see most of my extended family. We visited with them at my aunts house. It was fun to see them and catch up. Some of them I hadn't seen for a long time. Thanks everyone for the fun times. And a big THANK YOU to my grandparents for letting us stay with them. My parents house was full and they let us stay. We loved staying and hope we didn't make too much a mess.

(remember click on the images to make them larger!!!)

TGIF

I love this photo, I was trying to take one of both of us, I thought I did pretty good.
1. The lesson I learned yesterday was go to bed early, your kids are going to be up all night.
2. My House where friends and family meet.(well maybe not so much as family....hint hint family....come visit)
3. All these years and I just learned that.
4. And she cried when I arrived.
5. The truth is I HATE LAUNDRY.
6. Her laugh is what I remember most from that day.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleep, tomorrow my plans include getting my house in order and Sunday, I want to finally go to church!

Back to our Christmas events

Parker and Addison have these dogs names Mr. and Mrs. Sockers. They are from my mom and she got them at the Build a Bear Workshop. Parker has been saving his money and my mom also wanted to take him there to get his doggie some new outfits. He could not wait and it was probably on the top of his list of things to do. While we were there Mrs. Sockers got to have surgery. I was glad that the hole in the back was going to be fixed. Addison was not sure what to think about the whole process but was sure happy when we got her back. Parker was in awe....he could not make his mind up. He had so many on the wishlist. He did end up with some cute outfits, but by far is favorite was the Darth Vader.....who wouldn't be, it's a Darth Vader Costume. (you know what is funny is that Addison hated the costume, she would whine and cry and try to take off the mask. Then when we got it off she hugged him, as if to say "I will save you!!!!")





She was so glad to get that dog back.....at least there were no tears. You could tell though that she was very concerned about what was going on.

After our events at Build a Bear we went to Zoo Lights....it was SOOOOOO cold!!! I am not sure what the fun of this is. The kids love it!! My mom has a zoo pass though and so we got in for free. Not sure I want to do that again. (part of me thinks that I have turned into a wimp while living in Midland, only because the cold now bothers me. I was such a wimp!!) There are not many animals to see but they have all these lights up in the shapes of animals. The kids also got to ride on the carousel and they got these really cool flashlights that they had a good time with. Thanks Grandma for the fun!! (even though it was cold!!!)





(Remember click on the pics to get them bigger)

Just when things are getting back to normal

So I think that I am finally getting back to normal, the kids are on a schedule again, the piles of laundry are dwindling and the household chores are done.....then Addison gets sick. She has had this little cough since we got home from UT (for that matter we all have), but Addison started to sound really bad. When she coughed it was more of a bark and then when she breathed it sounded at times like she was struggling to get air in. You could hear every breath. It was really starting to worry me. I am not one that will just take my kid to the Dr. for the little things. They usually have to be pretty sick. But when it came to breathing issues I didn't want to take my chances. It just HAD to be a Sunday that this all went down and so to the ER we headed. I am proud to say that this was my first ER visit with my children, ever. We are usually pretty healthy and LUCKILY Parker has never hurt himself to bad. Well not enough to require a visit to the ER. She did really good at the ER. They gave her a breathing treatment and it helped tremendously and then they also gave her a steroid shot to help with keeping the airway open at home. They said that her breathing patterns were called Stridor. But her conditions are a lot like Croup. We had to stay at the hospital for a couple of hours for observation, but after that we were on our way home. She is doing much better and her breathing is much better. But the poor thing coughs all night and then that wakes her up. I feel to bad for her. There isn't really much I can do. And a lot of the day she wants her Daddy and that makes it even harder. We are being home bodies this week and I am going crazy but if she gets better and is back to her normal self I am happy!!

Finally, our Christmas/New Years Letter

There are MANY of you that did not get our Christmas Letter, which actually is more like a New Years letter. Only because life has been crazy and does not seem to be slowing down. Next year I need to plan better. This is the first year since I have been married that I have not sent out cards. I feel awful about it. I am sure no one even noticed but I still feel bad. Don't feel obligated to read this, it is only for those really interested.

Dear Family and Friends,

The last 6 weeks has been a blur and so we didn't get Christmas cards out, so you are getting a Happy New Year's letter. This year has been busy, but good. We have had lots of fun as a family and also got to visit a lot of family. The visiting started in the summer when Jeff's parents came to visit. We did a few summer trips and stayed local. (believe it or not Midland has some entertainment, well you can travel 300 miles and get some entertainment) We then went to Arizona for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a visit with Heather's family. (note to self, need to visit more often). Then we ended the year with a long visit to Utah and Idaho. Heather braved the drive with the kids to UT and survived. Heather's sister just moved back to the states and she moved to Pocatello, ID and so she headed there to visit as well. It had been 3 years since they had seen each other and so it was a much needed visit. They had a great time and Parker and Addison enjoyed playing with their cousins. After the visit to ID, Heather traveled with the kids to Utah and visited with her family.(all of her siblings were home for Christmas) It was a nice visit and we did many things to celebrate the Christmas season. It was nice to be around family for Christmas. Jeff joined us a few days before Christmas and celebrated with us. After that we rang in the new year with Jeff's family. What a great visit. All of Jeff's siblings visited as well. We had a great relaxing visit and then headed home. We are ready to start the New Year.

Here is an update about each of us....

Jeff has been working hard for the family. He stays busy with work, scouting and also has recently picked up doing high school reffing a few days a week. He did this a lot before he got married and so he says it feels great to be back. He also stays busy with the yard. (everyone says he has the best grass on the block) He loves to be outside and takes good care of our yard and house. He has been lucky to only have a few after effects from his accident 18 months ago. He has only missed a few days from work because of it. He says that every day is different and he never knows what it is going to bring.

Heather has been as busy as ever with the kiddos. It is a great blessing that she is be able to stay home with them. She wouldn't have it any other way. On top of all of her mommy duties and her household chores she has managed to pick up a new hobby that she never thought she would. She has started to quilt and sew. She even got a new sewing machine. In her spare time she also does digital scrapbooking. She has started to create pages for designers. They give her their kit and then she creates a page for them and they use it to advertise their new kit. It has been great (Jeff loves it because we don't have to pay for ANY scrapbook stuff) and it is a great creative outlet for her. She hopes to learn how to design her own kits this year. This year she hopes to tackle a few projects around the house. She wants to paint and redecorate her bedroom. Hope all goes well there.

Parker has been having fun in school and just recently got a new teacher. He is loving his new class and really enjoys going. His most favorite thing about school is PE and school lunch. Good thing mommy lets him have school lunch a few days a week. He has been doing really good learning to read and can't wait until he can read chapter books. He took a break from soccer and wants to try his hand at t-ball. He sure is growing up fast!! We enjoy his enthusiasm and love to have him around. Parker is already wanting summer to be here. He loves going outside and this cold weather is killing him.

Addison has had the most change in the last year. She has started walking and is into EVERYTHING. Her newest thing is climbing on top of the kitchen table. She LOVES to climb. She loves reading and can look at books for a long period of time. In just a few months she will start going to the nursery and will for sure keep them on their toes. She is full of energy and is the happiest thing. If we could only get her to stop squealing life would be great. She loves to eat, but is a very picky eater. She can talk a little bit. She can say shoe, mama, wow and dada. She does some sign language too and that makes life a lot easier. She can sign water, please, thank you and also she points a lot. She adores her big brother and gets so excited to go and get him from school. She is anything but a princess, she loves to go outside and play in the dirt. We have enjoyed watching her grow into a little lady. For Christmas she got a purse from Nana and she loves to carry it around. It is adorable!! We know this new year will bring many more things.

We wish you well with your New Year and hope that this year brings you all that you are striving for. You are all in our thoughts and prayers and we miss you all. Our travel plans for this next year are limited and we will not be traveling a lot. We invite you all to our small town of Midland. Happy New Year!!!!

You can see more photos of us on our blog. http://mymidlandmemories.blogspot.com/

We are also on Facebook and you can catch up with us there as well.


Love you all!!!

Jeffrey, Heather, Parker and Addison

TGIF

1. There are places I want to go before I die.
2. Hurry wind, blow those clouds away, we don't want anymore snow!
3. Standing in the middle of the living room, he peed.
4. It is going to a long night, oh boy.
5. He went out tiger hunting and came home with nothing.
6. Please stop my mind from wandering .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finally taking my Christmas stuff down, tomorrow my plans include Organizing my garage (I know don't be jealous) and Sunday, I want to go to church and see my friends again!!!

The never ending fun begins...

After we left my sisters house we then went back to UT and visited with all of my family. My mom had lots for the kids to do and then Parker had his own list of things he wanted to do. We started off by visiting the Aquarium (my mom lives like 3 minutes away) and Parker always enjoys going. Then she took the kids swimming....they always have a good time swimming. I am blessed to have two little fish. They LOVE the water. Addison is showing us that she is just like Parker and has no fear in the water.

This was by far Addison's favorite part. There were jelly fish in there....they are my favorite thing too!! Seriously they are cool!!!


Parker loves the sting rays....he loves to touch them.


Thanks Grandma for the fun trip to the Aquarium!!!

We survived....

Let me rephrase that....I survived. Our three week vacation was almost the death of me, but we are glad to be back and now I am trying to get back into the swing of things. So here is the first to many posts. We were very busy while we were gone. We hope all of you had a great Holiday Season.

Our trip out went very well. I was nervous about driving all that way by myself but we made it. The kids did surprisingly well. We went halfway one day and then stayed in a hotel for a night and then finished out the trip. We then stayed a night at my parents house in Sandy UT and then traveled to Pocatello to visit my sis. If you know me well you know that my sis has been in Japan for 3 years and just moved back recently. She just had a baby as well and so we had to go meet the new addition....plus I wanted to spend more time with my sis more than just a few days at Christmas. (she traveled to my parents for the big day). We had a blast. It was me and my kids and her and her four kids....it was crazy. Her hubby was in UT for training. Seeing us with all those kids was crazy. It took us like a half hour to get all the kids strapped into the car to go anywhere. Seeing us at the store with all the kids was even funnier. We made Gingerbread House Cookies (didn't quite turn out as planned, the cookies went psycho in the oven, they flattened out to nothing, darn pillsbury, and we thought we were taking the easy road by buying the dough), Took the kids to The Popcorn Shop, (loved the different flavors of candied popcorn), and let's not forget the snow....sledding was so much fun!!! Some of the pics are my scrapbook pages....I had lots of time in the car to scrap and so I hope you are not bothered by it. If so, you will just have to deal with it. (remember that you can click on any image and it will become larger. If that is still not large enough for you, after you click on the image you can press and hold ctrl and then press the plus key and it will make it bigger, keep pushing plus and it will get even bigger)

This was the best way to make cookies ever...not a big clean up and the kids loved it!! They each got one cookie and a plate of candy.

Parker picked Caramel Corn....of all the flavors...what a weirdo. The rest of the kids picked tutti fruiti....NASTY!!! I don't recommend it. I had Huckleberry Cheesecake....YUMMY!!! We also tried Caramel Apple...you should really order some, it is yummy stuff.

Addison loved to watch the kids sled, it was so cute to watch. Because my sis just had a baby a week before she couldn't sled with them. The kids were most excited about sledding. We had a blast. At that point in the trip Parker asked if we could move there so we could play in the snow everyday. He loved it.