Meet Jack

This is Jack.

Isn't he adorable! We are doggy sitting him for a few days. The kids are in heaven, I am enjoying it, David is putting up with it.

If we ever get a dog I want one like this. But don't bother asking me what kind of dog Jack is because other then cute, I have no idea!

Why, Oh why???

Why is it that our medical group thinks they are smarter than a neurosurgeon? No matter how hard I try, I just can't figure it out.

Robert's MRI has now been scheduled..... and canceled twice.

The first time they said we want you to to see a neurologist first, and even though that made sense to no one (not even the neurologist) we jumped through their silly hoop.

So we schedule another MRI only to find out the day before that insurance only covered a partial MRI. And so now I have to call them stupid, and ask again WHY do you think you know more about tethered cord syndrome than a neurosurgeon? STUPID, STUPID people!!!

The doctors are trying to sort it all out and get him what he needs and I am grateful for that! Anyway, I apologize for the venting, and I know everything will be fine and it could always be worse and all that other stuff, but sometimes it just feels good to vent!

More fun in the Sun

Yesterday we met our good friends, the Stevulaks, at the beach. They moved away a couple of years ago and we miss them dearly! Our girls especially miss their girls! They are such a fun family to hang out with because there is someone for everyone to play with. I can honestly say that the 4 hour drive home in traffic and the sunburns were worth it!

I'm cute!

William walked down the stairs a couple of days ago looking like this and tells me with a big grin, "I'm toot!" Oh, the joys of having big sisters!


Robert came down a little later dressed up, but was smart enough to run as fast as he could when he saw me going for the camera!

Another Project

Another project marked off the honey-do list! (And believe me, it's a long one!) And I actually remembered to take a before picture. So here you go....BEFORE....

....and AFTER! (still waiting for the closet doors to go back on though)

Thanks hon! I love it!

Yesterday

Here are some images from yesterday. Anna and Alahna decorated the house for Davie's b-day. They had these signs and hearts and cutouts of 5's all over the house. I mean they must of used a whole roll of tape and pack of construction paper. They even had Robert and William coloring pictures to hang up. I loved it. It was like their own present to their brother.

And Aunt Crystal's family send us these beautiful flowers! Thank you!

And this is just a really cute picture of Robert! Who, I just have to mention, probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't' for his big bro.

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to our first little boy!

Davie would have turned 5 today! Can you believe it has been 5 years since we said hello and goodbye! I can't. He would be starting kinder this year! It seems like it was just yesterday and yet it feels like a lifetime ago.

It has been a good day. We all watched Davies video, looked through his scrapbook, and shed a few tears. Okay, really it was allot of tears! But then we went to the store, rented some movies and went to Johns Incredible Pizza (like Chuckee Cheese but better, if your not from around here). Then we went swimming together and tonight will have some birthday cake and release some balloons like we do every year on this day.

We love our little boy and we miss him, but we also realize the many blessings his brief life has brought to our family. We still talk about him often and think about him even more, but usually not with sadness. I would go through it all again if that was the only way to have him in our family, for he is still a part of us and always will be.

We made this video for his first birthday. We also wrote his story, but don't read it unless you need a good cry! I don't want anyone to be sad today!

Some Goings On

I haven't posted in a couple of days so thought I would just post a little update on the week. This is mostly for grandparents who like to hear about these trivial little things.

Summer time is project time at the Petersen household and we have been plenty busy. We finished laying over 200 paving stones along the side of the house, painted a bathroom, made some curtains, and lots of other smaller projects, with a long list still to go! I love it! It feels good to get things done!

This last week Anna and Alahna had dentist apts and neither are happy with the results. Anna has her first cavities and Alahna is getting braces. (Hopefully she will have them on before school starts back up.)

William is finally figuring out this big boy bed thing. He took his first nap in it yesterday and stayed in it for the first time last night.

I took Anna to the doctor yesterday and she has swimmers ear. Of course that means NO SWIMMING! Looks like I am going to have to get creative and come up with some things to keep her busy.

And on the agenda for today. . . PLAN SHARING TIME!!!! Anyone out there in primary have some great ideas for this weeks theme?

Fun at the Beach

Yesterday we hit the beach!
Here are some pics from the day.

a rare picture of all 4!

Sisters and best friends.

William spent hours quietly playingg in the sand.

The chosen activity for Anna and Alahna was gathering up absurd amounts of seaweed.

Robert got in on the seaweed action a little bit too.

The Grand Finale!

This is it.

The last post from our 16 day 7 state vacation.

If you were to ask the girls, this was the best day of the vacation. The day we saw THE JONAS BROS at the Stadium of Fire. I have never seen them so excited! It was hilarious! And thanks to our good friend Justin, our seats were amazing!

Glenn Beck and Shedaisy were also there so there was something for everyone. It was a great show and we had a blast!

There is something very touching about being in a stadium with thousands of people and with one voice singing the national anthem. Then a little later hearing nothing but your own heart beating as your country's flag is reverently carried into the stadium by service men and women to be retired.

And the fireworks were nothing short of spectacular!!!

What a night!

Robert fell asleep for most of it, but woke up in time for the fireworks!

We sat with the Durfey's.

Dancing the night away!

Some Independance Day Celebrations

We spent the night in Tooele at David' parents before the 4th and saw the movie UP (which everyone loved!) and had some fun with fireworks! The kids especially loved the sparklers!! Then in the morning we went to the Tooele parade, which is like all small town parades, only exciting because they are throwing candy at the kids.

Only one more post to go and I will be all caught up!!!

A Chocolate Pill?

Something about Robert triggers a chemical reaction in me that makes me need chocolate.

Today we had hot dogs for lunch and when I asked Robert how he wanted his he said on a bun with no ketchup or mustard. Okay, I thought, that's easy enough. Well, What in the h-e-double hockey sticks was I thinkin!! Nothing is ever easy with that kid.

I hand him his hot dog on a bun with no ketchup or mustard and he tells me "I want you to tut it". How do you want it cut, I ask. He grabs the hot dog and shows me how to tut it. So, I take a knife and put the knife where he showed me and ask, like this? And of course that wasn't right and this goes on in similar fashion a few more times.

Then . . . . He grabs at the bun to show me how one more time . . . and it rips down the seem. Oh, no! That was the end! He starts screaming and crying, "You tut it the won way, you tut it the won way!!!!"

Of course at this point there is no sense in trying to reason with him or even talk to him for that matter so he's off to his room. And when he comes out he is still upset about the "tut" bun and after a little ultimatum by mom, chooses to just eat the hot dog plain.

All through this I am half way between laughter and tears and my body is screaming CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE! I NEED CHOCOLATE!

So I have had my chocolate fix and am feeling much better and Robert seems to have moved on. . . finally.

But my question is, wouldn't be easier if there was just a chocolate pill we could take daily or something?

Oh Happy Day!

After four years of serving in the bishopric David has been released and is now the ward mission leader. So. . . today we sat together as a family and I could not help but smile all through sacrament meeting!

At the same time I will miss seeing him sitting on the stand in his suit jacket. I always thought he looked cute up there.

And who knows what ward mission leader will bring. . . . missionaries for breakfast Sunday mornings, more time away during the week? I'm excited to find out!

Ah well, changes are good. As someone told me today, the only thing constant in life is that it's always changing!

Big Boy

It's official William is now sleeping in a big boy bed! He is enjoying his new found freedom a little too much though, he came out of bed about a dozen times tonight. Looks like I'll be doing a little bedtime training for awhile!

Go Cougars!

In our efforts to make our children BYU fans we decided to hike the "Y"! So much fun and so much nicer that when I hiked it as a freshman many years ago. We left the little boys with Grandma Force and at the beginning felt quite guilty as we saw other families with little kids, but the closer we got to the top and the more we watched other families with little kids we decided we had made the right decision. I don't think my nerves could have handled Robert trying to climb around on the Y. Yikers, I go crazy just thinkin' about it!

Anyhow,while we were sitting on the Y enjoying the view we let the girls in on our little secret. . . We had tickets to the Stadium of Fire where the Jonas Bros were performing! Oh yeah, they were lovin' us that day!

Yellowstone

We love going on "a trip within a trip" which is why we went to Idaho to see our newest nephew Ty. Who, by the way, is super cute! And since they were only an hour and a half from Yellowstone, we just kept on goin'! We went with Grandma Petersen who had found a cute little historic hotel in West Yellowstone. There were some crazy moments with cranky, tired kids who had had there fill of the car, but overall we had a great time!

Some of our favorite moments of Yellowstone:
-almost hitting an elk as it came bounding down the mountain side
-getting charged at by a bison! (luckily we were in the car!)
-Anna and Lahna becoming junior scientist at old faithful
-watching the Beehive Geyser, which is even more impressive than Old Faithful.
-Anna and Lahna going into the bear habitat at the grizzly bear and wolf preserve to hide food for the bears. (and no, the bears were not in there at the time.)

And I hope you are not getting sick of the slide shows yet, because here is another one.

Happy 4th Little One

On our way up to Salt Lake we stayed a night in St. George with Crystal and her kids at their new house. While we were there we were able to decorate Davie's grave for the 4th.

(These posts are not in chronological order, I know, but I am just feeling good about getting them out at all!)

An unexpected gift

The morning of William's birthday it was raining and Anna said a prayer asking for good weather for his party. The sky cleared just in time for his party and then started raining again right afterward. Then later in the evening we saw this amazing rainbow! It doesn't get much better than that!

I Can Fly!

Birthday slide

Here are some pictures from William's birthday.