Update - "I lost a tooth!"

We spent Thanksgiving day with our friends and neighbors, the Adamsons and the Ostlers. We had so much delicious food and we all ate until we were ready to explode. Then the kids ran around while the adults played an intense game of Shanghais Rummy.

Tiffani’s house has carpeted stairs that go to the basement – more fun than a sledding slope. I warned Morgan to be careful but in the middle of the fun she forgot about her mouth. You guessed it, she bumped her front teeth AGAIN. This time she loosened the other front tooth and with her gums swollen and bleeding I had to call the dentist. He calmed my fears and asked me to bring her in on Monday. Once the bleeding stopped and the swelling went down she looked much better. (Her lip isn't even that swollen any more.)

Then on Friday we went across the street to the Hunt’s house for sweet potato fries and games. Morgan decided she wanted some bubble gum. That lasted about 5 seconds before she said it hurt her tooth and she spit out the gum. That is when I noticed her loosest tooth was hanging crooked in her mouth. I reached in and it literally fell into my hand. She cried. She laughed. And then she exclaimed “I’m gonna have a Tooth Fairy under my pillow!”

There is no tooth visible in the hole so she will most likely be toothless for quite a while. There are two more VERY loose teeth that will probably be coming out soon as well. I guess she was so excited for the Tooth Fairy that she decided to knock her teeth out instead of waiting.

(Zane and Scott couldn't miss out on making faces for the camera also – silly boys.)

{Crazy Day}

What a crazy day! It seams that we coast along with some pretty mellow days, a few busy afternoons, and then all of sudden everything has to be done in the same day.

Yesterday I picked Morgan up from school and ran a few errands. (She was really mad because we dropped of the library books without checking out new ones.) Then I dropped her off at Speech Therapy while Zane and I picked up Brittany’s dental x-rays and went to the store to find boots for Scott. We zipped back to pick Morgan up and then headed home for lunch.

After lunch, I dropped Morgan off to play with her friends then Zane and I went to get Brittany out of school. We rushed her to the Oral Surgery Center in Pocatello for a consultation with the doctor. She will have her wisdom teeth removed on December 29th. She insisted on waiting until after Christmas so as not to ruin her Christmas dinner. (I told her I would run it through the blender for her but she declined my offer.)

Then we stopped at the store for a few things. Two days before Thanksgiving a quick trip to the store is never quick. After searching every isle for the Frenches French Fried Onions, we safely set off for home.

We stopped at Kyndra’s house to get Morgan and, of course, had to visit for a minute. The kids were running and being crazy then suddenly Morgan slamed into the back of the couch and came up with a mouth full of blood and eyes full of tears. After pushing her front tooth back into place I got her to hold ice on her mouth while I put her shoes and coat on her.

Dinner was late and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. Scott thought we needed to take Morgan in to the emergency room but I convinced him that there was nothing more they could do. I got the bleeding to stop and the tooth is staying in place but she was one FAT lip.

What a day!

(The picture is an older one. I couldn’t take one of Morgan’s mouth. It is just too gross.)

High Mountain Adventures

(WARNING: This post is long and a little sappy.)

It’s kind of crazy that I had to travel miles from home and climb almost 9,000 feet to fall in love with my husband again. Friday we loaded the camper, borrowed a 4-wheeler, and left the kids behind for a weekend adventure with our friends Jonathon and Tiffani. We crossed the border into Alpine, Wyoming then headed into the Caribou National Forest. There was snow on the ground and a chill in the air but we had so much fun!

Jonathon and Tiffani slept in a wall tent with a toasty, warm stove.

Scott and I slept in our camper with full-body polar fleece jumpsuits and lots of blankets.


We rode the 4-wheelers some but spent most of the time hiking up and down the mountain. Scott can blaze a trail through thick trees and dense underbrush on a steep mountain side while looking for elk and keeping track of which direction to go. I spent most of the time watching his feet and my feet, hoping we weren’t lost. Scott was kind enough to wait for me and let me rest often. I thought I was in shape but oh boy. . .



The hunters were anxious to find the elk. We saw 2 bull moose, a buck, and a doe. We saw lots of signs of elk but none were to be found. The mighty hunters were a little disappointed to come home empty handed. (They weren’t smiling this big when we headed home.)

When we weren’t hiking we were sitting around the fire eating and talking. It was so much fun to get to know Jonathon and Tiffani better. And it was really nice to have time to talk to my husband without the interruption of the kids. We missed our kids and thought of them often but it was nice to have a few days of peace and quiet.

I would even go again!

{Happy Birthday Brittany}

Seventeen years ago I was holding this little girl in my arms, wondering if I really knew how to be a mother. I promised her then that our life together may not always be easy but I would forever be there for her.

7 weeks

We have been through a lot together and she has always been my angel.

9 1/2 years

Now she is making plans for college and living on her own and I wonder if I have taught her sufficiently. Have I prepared her well enough?

1 year

I cherish every moment we have together.

Christmas 2006


Brittany didn’t want a big birthday party this year. She went to the football game with her friends in the afternoon and then Scott and I took her to dinner in Pocatello. We came back and had cake with our friends and kept the celebration low key. (I did get her a coat for her birthday so she won’t freeze running to catch the bus in the morning. )


Happy Birthday Brittany! We love you!

Spray Paint & Pumpkins

With the short growing season most of our pumpkins were still green. Last year I painted all of the green ones black but I decided to try a different color this year and painted a few almond as well. It takes a lot of almond paint to cover a dark green pumpkin.

Morgan really wanted to carve all the pumpkins. She kept asking if we could take all their “guts” out. I was okay with just one carved, which was tossed the day after Halloween because it was rotten.

I am seriously craving pumpkin pie!

{Trick-or-Treat}

Morgan decided early that she wanted to be a pirate for Halloween this year. When I went to her school party I noticed that all the girls in her class were princesses except for a butterfly and a Wonder Woman. But she wanted to be a tough pirate. As they marched through the school, in their Halloween parade, Morgan said “Arrgh!” to everyone she passed.

The orange bag is full of gold coins. Morgan thought she needed to "throw" them at the kids when they marched in the parade. I explained that it was her pirate treasure and she had to keep it safe. Then she wouldn't let anyone touch it or see the coins.

I dressed Zane up as a cowboy this year. Was it a cop out? Yes. But he looks so adorable in his hat! He loved it too. The only issue we had was trying to convince him that he was not going to be riding a real horse like Dad. On the way home from the Trunk-or Treat he had a small melt-down because we were not going to the feedlot so he could be a cowboy like Dad.

Zane was thrilled to have MANY suckers in his sack of candy but his favorite treat was the sticky, purple spider. Scott threw the spider up and it stuck to the ceiling. Then slowly its legs let go, one by one, until it suddenly dropped to the floor. Zane and Morgan thought it was the funniest thing they ever saw. It kept them entertained for almost an hour.