Just keep swimming

One of my favorite lines from a movie is Dory from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming". That seems to be my mantra lately. My head is just above water but that's the side that I want it on.

I have been so ridiculously busy and blogging hasn't even been on the list of things to do. 4 weeks left of school WOO HOO!! So here are pictures of some of the happenings the past few months.

Hunter is getting so big.

He is so smiley and really a good baby

He looks a lot like Hayden but I also see my dad in him too

Hayden turned 8 in February, I'm a horrible mom and didn't post anything about it. He was baptized on March 20th. We also blessed Hunter that day. Hayden didn't even mind sharing his special day with his brother. A special little story about his baptism. We had originally planned on doing the baptism/blessing on Hayden's actual b-day. At the beginning of February my dad let us know that he was having neck surgery and would have to be on bed rest for 6 weeks so would not be able to come. When I told Hayden that his grandpa couldn't come he immediately said, "Then I'm not going to do it. I'm not getting baptized without my grandpa. We'll just wait until he can come." Can I tell you how proud I am to be his mother. He truly understands the importance of family. We had so many show up to support us and I am truly thankful for our wonderful family for the love and support given.

Dad & Hayden

Hayden & Hunter in their matching

outfits on their special day

Hadley decided to cut her hair. I have to say that

when I saw the hair fall to the floor after the first

cut it took my breath away but we love it.

She also lost her first tooth!

Here are some pic's from our Easter egg hunt

at Grandma & Grandpa Humpherys

Hallie had a blast this year

Madison & Carter hid the eggs

Here is my amazing Mother-in-law She is a saving grace. I cannot say enough about the woman that she is. She has helped so much during the past few months by feeding my family and helping watch kids etc. She also has the funnest traditions for our family like the easter egg hunt where she fills eggs with $ for the kids. What an amazing example of unconditional love she gives to us all.

Cousin Trae, our little Easter bunny

Shawn & Trae snuggling. This does not usually happen

so I had to get a picture of it

We had to put our sweet, old dog Lloyd down last week. He had cancer and was in pain. It was so hard on our family and we are thankful for the time that we had with him. Lloyd was 11 years old and we all loved him so much.

We went camping at Downata at the end of March. It was cold but a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the kids. We didn't get the camera out until after Shane & Nicole left so we didn't get any pictures of Nash & Sloane but they were there too.

Hadley in her bed. She loves that silly hat

Shawn and Hallie dancing in our trailer

These are from a baby shower that my friend from work, Jessica, threw for me and another co-worker who is expecting in April. Here is the super cute cake that she made. What talent...

This is Jess holding a game that we played

So I know that I am missing a ton but these are just a few pictures that I got off my camera in a hurry. May cannot get here fast enough. School is done for me on the 6th. Cross your fingers that I can endure to the end.

Egg Decorating 2009

We decorated Easter eggs at Tena & Gerald's on Saturday night. This is a competition and Tena always provides prizes. We had a fun time and there were some pretty eggs that came out of it as well. I would announce the winner, but I don't want to gloat- again.

Madison showing her winning egg

Carter & his egg

Hallie playing peek-a-boo

Hayden and his winning egg

Hadley eating her candy necklace prize & showing her egg

Tena showing her decorated ostrich egg

The work/mess center

The winners (from L to R)

Front row: Hilary, Hilary, Hilary, Linda

Back row: Tena

This is always so much fun and we are so thankful that Grandma hosts it each year. Shane, Nicole, Nash & Sloane are gone for the summer selling again and missed the festivities from a late Easter. We sure missed them when they are gone, especially during fun times like these.

"Making the decision to have a child- it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." Elizabeth Stone

We attended the City of Blackfoot Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Last year we were late and missed it so we were rushing to get to the area on time. Hayden and Hadley were in the same age group looking for eggs. They are just sectioned off squares with the eggs scattered on the ground. Parents are not allowed to help their children so I sent them to the front of the group and waited for the horn to blow. At 11 the horn blows and the mayhem begins. Kids running in every direction, the lady on the P.A. telling the parents to get out of the hunt area and parents ignoring the P.A. lady and helping their kids anyway. I'm in back of a wall of parents. Here are some pic's of me holding my camera up above the crowd and taking random shots after the horn was blown.

The eggs are gathered and here comes Hadley pulling her friend Abby out of the crowd, right back to me. Where is Hayden? He must be looking for me so I wait, and wait, and wait. Now I'm getting nervous. I have not moved from the place they left me and afraid to move. I'm scanning the crowd and absolutely freaking out on the inside. I cannot show this concern to my two girls because this will not help the situation in any way. The lady on the P.A. is telling everyone to get the items out of their eggs and return the plastic egg shells for next year. I decide to expand my line of sight and move so that I can see both where I was standing and the line to the egg return. Still no Hayden. Internal freak out increasing by the minute. I finally go to the Chamber of Commerce stand and talk to our friends, Curt & Maureen Green who are there. I ask them to help me look for Hayden. They put out the word and start searching for my son. I also talked to one of the officers there, who both Shawn & I work with, and tell him that I can't find Hayden. I'm dragging the girls all over this park looking for Hayden and trying not to let my internal freak out become external. I finally decided to go check my car because Hayden would go back there if he couldn't find me. I leave my cell number with Curt and tell the officer that I am going there & if when they found Hayden to take him to the Chamber of Commerce stand and call me. I take off to the car. Now, I didn't park the car in the Grove, I parked several blocks away, across one busy street and behind a restaraunt. That is why the car wasn't the first place that I checked. Hadley finally got on the stroller because she couldn't keep up with me. I was almost to the busy street when I see Maureen and a posse (including her children and Jon Croxford) walking with Hayden. I almost broke down right there.

When Hayden couln't initially find me, he decided to go and play in the toys on the other side of the park. After a while he got worried that I hadn't found him so decided to go to the car. Maureen saw him crossing the busy street and found him sitting on the grass near the car. Officer Rowland gave Hayden a little lecture (thank you) and we headed back to the car so that I could cry. Hadley was upset because she didn't get a picture with the Easter Bunny or get a balloon because we had been too busy looking for Hayden. We went back to the park and let them get a picture and let Hayden return his egg shells. Unfortunatley, they were out of balloons. Here is a picture of the kids with the Easter bunny. Hallie would not let me get within a 2 foot radius of the him so she is not in the picture.

Well, part of my heart was gone for a bit and I hope that I never have to feel that abscence again. I think that this was the worst feeling that I have ever felt. I am so thankful to the many people who helped look for him. I was amazed at how many people dropped what they were doing and started to look. I keep thinking of the parents who's children are lost or have been taken and I ache for them. I have been looking at ways to get involved in the center for missing and exploited children. There are tons of little things that can be done is registering you phone to received real amber alerts, not just the fake ones that get sent through your area. The site to do this is:

http://www.wirelessamberalerts.org/

I have also posted a link for Idaho missing children. If you google the National Center for Missing and Exploited Chilren there are several links that you can post for yourself as well.

Christmas catch up- better late than never

Christmas came and went, New Year's came and went, yet my blogging never came. So I'm way behind. So here goes a lot of pictures with a little caption. I worked a lot during my Christmas break and now am back in school with no time on my hands so here I am up at midnight blogging. It's worth it though.

Santa visited Grandma & Grandpa Humpherys house. Here is Hayden & Santa (not a good picture but believe me its him)

Hadley & Santa (her sweatshirt glowed with the flash-I seriously need to take a photography class)

Hallie not liking Santa (again crappy picture)

she recovered fantastically and even took a ride on a reindeer later

Cousin Nash riding the horse after a traumatic encounter with Santa (isn't he so darling?)

Christmas morning

These are literally the only pictures that I took. The rest is on the camcorder but I'm lucky to get these uploaded so I'll just deal with it.

The kids peaking around the corner at the presents. We had to wake Hallie up so she was asleep in my arms at the time.

Hayden on the move towards the presents

Jackpot!

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I am thankful

It is Black Friday and yes I did participate in the festivities. IT WAS HORRIBLE!! I got the things that I went for and was able to be finished shopping and home by 9 am. People were already angry just standing in line. They were cursing the store and its employee's. While I got a good deal or two it just saddened me at what the Christmas season meant while there at the store.

Enough of that. Since I didn't post yesterday, I thought I should take the opportunity to be thankful. Obviously I have so much to be thankful for. First off, I am so thankful for my husband, Shawn. What a great man. He works hard, he plays hard, and he is such a determined person. Shawn is the best father. If anything were to ever happen to him, I would be so sad for myself but just devastated for my children. They deserve to learn all of the wonderful things that he will teach them. Shawn excels at everything that he tries. Seriously, nothing can hold him back once he's got it in his mind that he is going to succeed. It started when he was just a baby. Spinal menegitis took his strength, his hearing in his left ear and nearly took his life at just 9 months old. He made it through and became a strong, happy child. His hearing loss never hurt him, he just adapted and became better. In high school when he cut off his arm, they weren't sure if he would make it from Star Valley to Salt Lake, but he did. They suggested amputation but he wouldn't let them. He just adapted and became better. He can fix almost anything, he just finished siding our house- by himself. I am constantly in awe at the man that he is.

Hayden is my miracle. While it seems like so long ago that we had all of those miscarriages. It is amazing to me that we made it through those two years- and then Hayden came along and gave me a purpose in life. He is truly my miracle baby. Hayden is an amazing brother. He loves his family and has such sweet spirit towards others. I can always count on him to help me when I need it, to love me when I need it and to flash that brilliant smile just when I need it.

Hadley is a turd- but she is my turd. She is my best friend. There are times when she walks in to a room and her beauty literally takes my breath away. While she loves to cause problems, she is also a caring little soul. She tries so hard to make sure that everyone is OK and doing the right thing.

Hallie is my little angel. She is my heart walking around outside my body. I love feeling her love- if that makes sense. It is so wonderful to be wanted and needed and Hallie totally fills that for me. Hallie has her own distinct attitude that makes me laugh. She is not like her brother or sister. She likes to sit on the sideline and watch, while the other two like to run in and do. She is a little tease and has a smile that lights up her entire face.

I am thankful for my family. The family I was born in to and the family that I have acquired along the way. I am so thankful to be a member of the Humpherys family. What an amazing group of people. I have never felt anything but love from any of them. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Tena & Geralds and it was so nice. There were members of Tena's family and Gerald's family there. Heather came and it was not awkward in any way. It was just family no matter where they came from. What amazing examples they have been to me of unconditional love.

I have been so blessed with education and jobs. We have been able to provide for our family. We have a home and decent health. We have several good friends who help us out emotionally and spritually. I am indeed thankful for my many blessings.

Halloween

Halloween is always way too crazy. I run around all day trying to make sure that everyone gets to see the kids. Hayden had a Spook Parade at school. He chose to be a scary grim reaper and had this yucky mask that had blood flow in it. The school does not allow masks so I had to paint his face. This would all be fine and dandy but I lack in the whole Halloween make-up department (any make-up department for that matter). He looked scary but only because he is such a great little actor. Here are some pictures of him during his spook parade.

Hayden and Jay were right next to each other in the parade.

Hadley was "Dorothy" she looked so cute.

Hallie was a scarecrow. She had a cute little hat that went with the outfit but she wouldn't keep it on. She also did not like pictures on Halloween. She cried and ran to me everytime I tried to take one. Example:

I didn't get any pictures of Hayden with his mask on. I'll post one when my mom sends one to me. ** Thanks Mom, for the pictures. Here is Hayden in his mask

And one more of Hallie. Again sans the hat (it's sitting next to her on the couch)

All in all it was a fun day. Hadley is a trick-or-treatin fool. She ran from house to house like a little trooper. She would have gone all night if we had let her. I think she got double the candy that her brother got. It was a nice night and will always be happy memories.

and the winner is

The annual Humpherys pumpkin carving contest was last night. I filled in a shift at the dispatch center so I had to carve mine early and send it with the kids. For the first time in four years I didn't win. I came in second to Shawn. Linda was third and Tena fourth. I guess that's not bad, huh? At least the title stayed in the Shawn Humpherys family. Shawn and I have taken 1st/2nd for three years now. I'm mostly bummed that I missed the festivities. It is always so fun and the kids look forward to it every year. Here are a few pictures of the pumpkins entered (Taken by cell phone, so not the clearest).


1st place (Shawn's):

2nd place (Hilary's- see my cute epitaph, not part of the pattern, my own design)

3rd place (Linda) - sorry no picture

4th place (Tena's)