Coralee's Eye Surgery

Coralee had eye surgery on October 9. My mom and dad flew in with Braylon and I from Utah to help with the boys while Steve and I went with her. Coralee has estropia and far sightedness. Her eyes were rolling out and the surgery was hopefully going to straighten her eyes, however, her eyes are now rolling in. These surgeries are often times under or over corrected and unfortunately, in Cora's case, that is what has happened after each of her surgeries. She had surgery when she was 20 months. Although she was very nervous, she did great. The hardest part for her was that her surgery was scheduled for 11 and she didn't get wheeled back until 2! The poor thing had been fasting and she was thirsty and hungry! Steve and I tried to help her forget by being silly!

It helped that we had a great nurse. She gave Coralee all sorts of prizes and things to do. Coralee even got to watch Snow White on her own special t.v. while she waited.

The hardest part for Steve and I was watching her wake up from anesthesia. It was horrible! She yelled, screamed, and cried and she was so incoherent. She kept crying, "I want my mommy! I want my Mama!" I was holding her the entire time. Then she would say, "I don't want you. You're mean. I don't like you. I want my Mom. I want my Dad." It brought tears to both of our eyes. She also asked for her grandma and for her aunt Kassi and aunt Rayanne. Oh, the hardest line was, "Please let me go see my mom." She was so polite! It broke my heart. But finally she woke up and she did so well that night.

She had a visit from her friends Brynn and Alexa and she also received cookies from her friend Levi. Thanks for all the support friends and family. We appreciated all your prayers and thoughts. Also, thanks Brian and Annie for providing us with such a yummy dinner!

Coralee's eyes before the surgery . . .

Coralee's eyes after.

The redness was not as bad as when she was a baby and now the redness is completely gone! Ya!

Bray Bray and Grandpa

I love, love, love this picture of Braylon with my dad! It is the cutest! Braylon had fun seeing all of this aunts and uncles and bamma and bampa when we went to see Uncle Bill off on his mission.

We were so happy that bamma and bampa got to fly back to Colorado with us and stay for five days! Braylon kept bampa busy riding the moving escalator at the airport! Too cute!

Billy

Braylon and I got to fly out to Salt Lake to surprise my brother Billy when he entered the Mission Training Center for his mission to Micronesia, Guam! It was so much fun to see his face when he first saw us and to get to share in such an emotionally spiritual event with him.
Arriving at the MTC. Billy kept his composure so well. He was so anxious just to get there and get on with everything. He was nervous giddy in the car on our drive up to the MTC. He was so cute!

Getting the "dork dot" from mom and one last beating from me!

Wow, can I cheese any more! Chillin with the siblings! Tonya and Cameron got to come up as well. It was so fun to be with so many peeps in my fam.

Billy with Braylon. Thanks for being such a great example Bill. Tonya, Braylon, and I.

The MTC was amazing. Billy is the first sibling I've been able to go with. It was so cool to sit in that huge room with all the new missionaries and feel the spirit radiating from all those young men and women. I was truly humbled as I realize the sacrifice and dedication missionaries have. I have learned so much from my sister Carly while she has been serving her mission in England! Missions are tough work! I always wanted to go on one, but I think the Lord new I couldn't hack it and so he sent Stephen into my life! Anyway, I am so proud of my brother Billy who is now in Guam teaching the people and lovin life!

Conference

We went and watched General Conference in October with our friends Stephanie, Matt, Heidi, and Jackson, Shirley. The Shirley's served us belgium waffles and it was delish! We took this family picture to send to Carly on her mission. I can't believe how big our kids are getting! It is so crazy good!

Shout Out to the Young Women!

Well, I was officially released from serving in the young women's program in our ward today. Although it broke my heart, I know that it is a good thing for the young women and for me. I've had mixed emotions as this is the first time I have ever been released from a calling because I have served my time! In the past I have always been released because we were moving or because I was being called to another position. Weird!

Anyway, just want all you girls to know how much I love and admire each one of you. You are all rock stars! Thanks for letting take part in your lives for the past three years! Here's the pics from your untalent show!

Days like today also make me think about to warmer days in comparison to winter, but cooler days in comparison to the summer! I love the fall! The fall brings back treasured memories of growing up and harvesting for winter. I remember snapping green beans, peeling peaches, and husking corn. I have carried on this tradition with my own children and loved their help this fall as we husked our corn in preparation to freeze it for the winter. They were also great helpers when we picked strawberries and raspberries to make homemade jam! Yummo. Thanks mom
for teaching me how to can and freeze!

Days Like Today

Days like today (there's four inches of snow on the ground and it was 3 degrees as we were driving home from church!) make me think back to the warm summer sun! We loved going to our friend Sally's pool this past summer and swimming with her and her kids. Coralee and Landon both turned into little fish and Braylon overcame his fear of the water. Oh, those summer days!

Sobs!

I just found out today that my muy favorito burrito Sally Jane, in whom I share the same middle name, and her cutie patooties Ells Bells and Keags are leaving us to move back to her family in Wyoming! What evs Sally Bo Bally! Oh ya, and Lukey too! I am so sad for me, but so happy for you guyses. At least we have three more months eh?! Congrats on the job offer Lucas Pukas. We'll miss you guys.

And now I am too depressed to post any more tonight. Guess I'll play catch up tomorrow!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

We've gotten quite a bit of snow already. This picture is from our very first snow in early November. The kids went out and played in it before school. Steve thought it was hilarious that Coralee was out making snow angels with grass flying all around her! It wasn't a very deep snow, but it sure got the kids excited!

This was from our snow last week on Coralee's birthday, December 4th! While Stephen took Coralee, her friends, and Landon to the movie to celebrate, I took Braylon out to play in the snow. We got quite a bit that day.
It's beginning to look like Christmas! Yea!

Why Oh Why?!

Why oh why is blogging consistently so hard for me? No clue, but it is. I told my cousin Kelli that she inspired me to blog today and I didn't want to let her down! Hee, hee. So, here is my attempt to get an update in.

Life is good here in cold snowy Colorado. We are busy getting ready for Christmas and enjoying the holiday season. We just got back from Nevada where we were able to spend Thanksgiving with my family and attend my sister Tonya's wedding. It was so nice to be with everyone. The kids are busy singing all over the place with their Sounds of Joy choir. They had their big concert last Friday and they sang at two nursing homes tonight. It is so fun to watch them perform with their classes. Steve is busy with seminary and work and I am busy with preschool and our children. Life is just speeding by way too quickly for my liking, however I am trying to remember to stop and enjoy the journey. Hope everyone is doing well and that you're finding time to enjoy the journey too!