Welcome Home Grandma and Grandpa!!

It was a great day! Grandma and Grandpa are home from their mission to Toronto, Canada!! Excitement was in the air as we all waited for their arrival. They pulled in at about 2:30 and all that could visited on the lawn in front for a few hours. They were released this evening but I haven't seen them since to hear how it feels. They did say before that they have mixed feelings about being released and dad said he just keeps thinking about things on the mission and hoping things are being taken care of. Grandma is holding Samuel getting to know him a little and Thomas just came and sat down to visit for a while. Can you see the excitement in all the kids? They couldn't get to Grandpa and Grandma fast enough.
It's wonderful to have them home. It was a wonderful experience to have them serve. And we don't want them to leave yet but we sure hope for another experience of them serving and us getting to visit them. What a great experience that was to visit them on their mission. Something I would love for my children to experience again.
Welcome Home Mom and Dad....Grandma and Grandpa!
When we got home after the visit today, Emily was so excited and said "Mom, I'm so glad they are home from their mission." We all are. We love you so much. It is so good to see you and have you here.

Lessons learned

So I seem to learn lessons for myself when disciplining my children more than my children learn from my discipline.
Emily was getting into things and helping Thomas get into things and I wigged out on her. Later I went back and said I was sorry AND..."just think before you do things." Can you guess what went through my mind right then....hmmm Tawnie, good advice, why don't you think before you do things.
So maybe if I didn't wig out on my children, they wouldn't wig out on others?
I guess I'll try and take my advice and think before I act.

Building Temples

You know how you wonder what your kids might grow up to be (in a career as well as other things). Maybe John will follow in the footsteps of his grandpa and be in temple construction or maybe follow in the footsteps of his great uncle and be an architect and design temples. He has patience like his dad and loves to come up with new ideas, design, and build.
We went to the church museum yesterday for a couple of hours and spent a lot of time in the children's section. John is so excited about his pictures he asked if I could blog them. I don't have time to blog everything but I wanted to at least get this on here for him. I love you John John.

Cute Thomas and Emily

Thomas picked out a new backpack because he is starting kindergarten this year. He couldn't decide which to get because it was all based on what cool thing came with the backpack. The superman backpack with tatoos won! He put the tatoos on by himself as you can tell by the one on his forehead. 4 days later, I am still trying to get that sticky stuff out of his hair. I love him!!

After church on Sunday, Lauren came over for a few minutes while Maria got her temple recommend. They decided to play "church" and were performing their songs for their audience as "reverently loud" as they possibly could. It was really cute.

Fireworks Spectacular

Beginning on July 4th, John thought he'd see how many crackling flowers he could do at once. I think he started with 7 and thought he was pretty cool. Then he upped it to 12 and it was awesome. Well on the 25th, he beat his record and did 24. We did our fireworks in the evening so it wasn't as spectacular as it could have been. Below are pictures of his record of 24.

Well, tonight he decided to finish off the pack of flowers all at once. 39 crackling flowers. It was pretty impressive. After the fact, Nairn had a great idea of getting it on video. We'll have to get it out next time. It was a great show.

JOHN - YOU'RE THE MAN!!

Thanks for the entertainment. We love you!!!!

All In a Days Work (and play)

John's back is finally feeling better and he had to get right back to work. He spent the day cleaning his car and the van....inside and out....top to bottom....spic and span. Thank you John.
Sam doesn't smile for Jack, I think he feels fear when he sees Jack coming but he'll smile for me while Jack holds him.
And...anytime I ask someone to set the table, Jack is the first one there. He takes pride in it. He knows where everyone sits and puts the right size of plates and utensils and the right cups at the right seats. (the kids have cups from Disneyland they use every night for dinner). We have now learned for ourselves that dinnertime is a great time for family time.

The kids are enjoying one of a few if any rainstorms this summer. Jack was thoroughly enjoying himself. Thomas saw Emily sitting there and thought he'd join her. Emily makes friends with all animals. She loves animals and insects. She makes spiders her best friends and ants, ladybugs, and rolly pollys her pets. It's very cute. In the picture of John, I was attempting to get a good picture of his yellow eyes. Didn't quite work. And the picture of all the kids is at Jolie's house. On the 24th, Jolie and Sean made a dutch oven dinner for our family and Sean's brothers family, Nathan and Amy and Kids. It was delicious. They did a great job. The Spencer's came over after for pineapple upside down cake...dutch oven style of course. It was wonderful. Later that evening John took John, Emily, and Thomas to John and Lisa's to watch fireworks. Jack, Sam, and I went to bed.

The kids were shading themselves from the sun while they watched their "snakes". Always a good show. We love them around here. Thomas was the only child who obeyed and stayed home like I asked so he got to do two tall sparklers and started before everyone else. The others joined him later. Emily drew a "stretched Y" with her firework. Thomas, Jack, and Daniel were very proud of it.

Back Update

This is a letter John wrote to his family to explain what is going on. Problem solved.....we hope. He is feeling good finally and we believe this is what the problem was. Now we just have to take care of Emily's broken/sprained finger and little John's pulled muscle/hernia. (more later). And...I received a phone call last night that my dad's heart stopped 3 times and he is in the hospital. It looks like everything will be okay. I'll update on that when I hear more.

Hello everyone,
I thought I would give everyone an update on my back problems I have been having.
Last Thursday night, my back once again started hurting, and I was up most of the night.
I did go in to work on Friday, only to leave early to come home because of pain.
The rest of Friday (including the parade and fireworks) I was in differing levels of pain.
I was happy that I could at least watch the parade and fireworks with Tawnie and the kids.

Saturday was much of the same, with the pain coming and going.

Sunday morning, I woke up hoping I could make it through the day, as I had many meetings to attend and 2 hours of Temple Recommend "switch-overs" to do. I was able to make it through the morning of meetings and interviews, but came home in pain thinking that I would miss church. I was blessed that the pain was very short this time, and I was able to attend all of church, and take care of other meetings after church.

Soon after I returned home, the pain started again, and I returned to my tub-bed-tub-bed process. At about 11:00 pm, Tawnie called Richard and Richard Kay to come give me a blessing.

In the blessing, Richard blessed me that at my next Doctor's appointment, I would understand my body, and have the insight to tell the doctor information that would help him diagnose the problem. He also blessed me that I would sleep through the night.

After a good night sleep, I decided to go into work. At about 9:30, it started hurting again, and Tawnie was able to get me a doctor's appt. at 10:30. Dr. Wilson is my doctor, and he is the best doctor on the planet (even if you do have to wait 3 weeks in the waiting room to see him).

He looked at my MRI scans, and probed my back and immediately began to see and understand what was wrong. But, an even greater blessing happened. When he was about finished with me, I suddenly remembered that a previous doctor had asked if I had ever had Shingles. So, I told Dr. Wilson that I had Shingles as a child. He immediately looked up at me and said (not quoted exactly), "Oh, really....that may explain everything." He jumped up and walked out of the room, and brought back some sample prescription pills, called Valtrex.
He explained that Shingles is linked to the Chickenpox virus, and if you have it, you always have it. But, in some people, it may sit dormant your entire life. He now thinks that my back pain has been caused by this Shingles virus re-emerging, and causing a certain nerve in my back to do wierd things.
So, if this is what he thinks it is, then it is a fairly easy fix.

Anyway, I am hopeful that I am on the road back to full health. It feels good to hopefully know what is going on, rather than guessing and not having any answers.

I feel I have been blessed, and the words from Richard's blessing were very helpful and inspired.
Anyway, sorry this is so long. Please keep praying, as I know your prayers are being answered.

I really appreciate all the love and concern you have had.

I also really appreciate Tawnie and her patience through this all. She has taken care of me, and the 5 kids, all without complaining that I can't help.
She is the best.

I love you all....

Love,
John

And here is more great explanation from Richard:

Hey Ya'll,
Don't want to steal John and Tawnie's thunder, but here is some other interesting stuff about John and Shingles...The virus lies dormant in the nerves where the shingle sores afflicted the body...and they affect one side of the body.Many of you older children may remember the sore on John's the right half of John's back and side just above the crest of the pelvis.As I watched Mother dressing the terrible sore, I remember that there were "rays" radiating like spokes on a wheel up from the worst
part of the sore to John's mid-right back.
When the virus becomes active, it inflames the nerves and causes excruciating pain. I think Dr. Wilson told John that his problem was nerve problems even before he heard of the previous shingles.John's problem has made no sense when viewed in an Orthopaedic or Muscular paradigm. There are no injuries or
triggering events, there is not consistent relief from stretching, corrective action, etc.This seems like the right diagnosis.Anyway, Richard K did a super job on his first blessing!Here's hoping that John will be pain free from now on...as long as he can take his virus knockout medication at the first hint of flare-up!!
Love to all!Richard

Happy Handcart Days!

John said I had to put a picture of me on here. So here you go. This is Sam and me swimming at the REC. Doesn't that look fun?!





The kids are enjoying the parade and on the right everyone is getting ready to enjoy the best fireworks e-ver.

John is pretending to be okay as he lays flat on his back at the fireworks. He couldn't stand missing out. No matter the pain. I love you John.

Thomas and Jack are swimming at the REC early saturday morning during free swim time.

Look at this kid. What a cutie. My mom gave the swimsuit Samuel is wearing to Thomas when he was a babe.

John and Emily are enjoying a little game of ball at the rec on free swim day.

John is on a trek west with the children. He's got everything he needs and all that matters in his wagon.

Jack, Emily, and Thomas are painting rocks at handcart days. We didn't get very many pictures through all the festivities this weekend. But something is better than nothing. I sure do love my family.

Thanks Teresa for saving spots at the parade. It couldn't have been better and it was really fun. Thanks to all those who came to the fireworks. We would love for any and all to join us in our tradition. I don't think John and I have missed what use to be the 23rd of July fireworks throughout our marriage. And for the last three years, we've watched them front and center.

Who you gonna call?

This is Batman. Thomas is so proud of him, he took his picture. At the Handcart Days Parade, Bukoos (sp?) was passing out stuffed animals and things. Emily got a dog collar....woohoo.

The next picture is a ghost or a clown. I don't remember which. Emily and Lauren were putting on Maria's powder. Who knew?!!!

The last picture is Thomas and Jack climbing the rock wall at the REC after swimming lessons.

Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Yeah! They are almost on their way home!
We are excited to see you. Thank you for serving a mission. It has been a great experience for our family.
We love you! Drive safe and we will see you soon! Love, John, Emily, Thomas, Jack, and Samuel

"My Brother and I"

This second picture of Samuel....does that look right to you? This kid loves his feet and I think it is adorable. He is so precious and I just can't get enough of him.

"Guess who likes to play DS? My brother and I". Look at these two. Thomas only had a shirt on and asked where pants were. I told him to go get the shorts like John's (so he knew which shorts I was talking about). So he came back up with the right shorts then took off his shirt and climbed up by John. Thomas doesn't mind if he doesn't play. He is in heaven watching John.

Little John has been saving money for a year because he has wanted a nintendo DS. For his birthday, we gave him $30 to help and my mom gave him a little. Other than that, he has earned the money. Kyle McMillan needs money to pay for soccer and wants to save up to buy an XBOX 360 so he sold his 6 month old DS to John for (I hate to say it.....)$110.00. To get the last $12.00, John sold his gameboy and all the games to Emily for $17.00. He knew when he bought it that Big John or I could take it away at any time even though he bought it. He has to have his room cleaned, his piano done, and any other daily jobs done before he can play. And he trades minutes of reading for minutes of DS time. So far so good. Until next time.....

Swimming Lessons

Jack really is a unique kid. All you hear about him is just the surface of what this kid has to offer. You can plan on him not doing anything unless he decides in his own little mind that it is something he will do. He was excited about swimming lessons until we got there. He didn't like the thought of someone directing him in a class. It was miserable for about 20 minutes. Then with five minutes of class left, he decided it would be fun. Went right in and has enjoyed it since. Little stinker.
Jack is in Preschool level 1, Thomas is in preschool level 2, Emily level 3, John level 4. They are loving it. They all have class at the same time and it just wipes Sam out every day. He falls asleep during lessons each day.
John and Emily are also taking tennis lessons at 9:00 every day for two weeks. They LOVE it. That is an understatement. When I have tried to play as an adult, it hasn't gone so well. So I thought it would be nice for the kids to learn while they are young so they know what they are doing as they grow up.
I sure love my kids. They are my joy.