Well after all the fun and excite-ment with Gracie's birthday parties last weekend, this past week turned out to be kinda rotten. On Saturday we had a little party with friends from her school. Nothing fancy, just pizza, cupcakes, ice cream sundaes and a couple rounds of pin the paw-print on the puppy and musical chairs. (We've really got to get a little more original next year) And if 8 little girls squealing and giggling for 2 hours straight doesn't test your nerves I don't know what will. On Sunday we had the family party. I always love it when both of our sides of our family have a chance to get together. Again, nothing fancy. Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad etc... Unfortunately Chandler had been up all Saturday night throwing up but I assumed it was because she had eaten too much popcorn that night so I thought we were okay to go ahead with the party. Not the case because then came the diarrhea along with the horrible diaper rash that always accompanies the runs with babies. So first I got it because of course I'm the one who ended up with throw up all over my pajamas, hair, and pillow from poor Chandler and I was down for 3 days, then Greg got the diarrhea half of it(TMI I know), then Hayden threw up in her bed, then the phone calls came from all my family thanking me for the fun party and the stomach flu. It's no wonder they don't visit often! Then just when i thought we were in the clear and everyone was getting well, Chandler's left eye started looking super red and gooey! I took her to the doctor and yes you guessed it, PINK-EYE!! And not only that, but also an infection in her left ear. I wasn't aware that ear infections often show up with pink-eye. So as of right now we are all well and hopefully not harboring any disease. Luckily Gracie had a really good time and didn't get anything. That would not have made a very good birthdy present and she doesn't do sick very well. She moans the whole time and says "Why, why, why do I have to be sick" over and over. So sorry to everyone who came to our party and left with the gombu. Not a great party favor.It's a good thing we don't have another birthday until July. Maybe by then everyone will have forgotten and want to come to Chandlers party.

Today Gracie Jo is SEVEN!

I can't believe she's so old! It honestly seems like it was not that long ago that we were living in Logan and walking across the street from our little apartment to the hospital for a scheduled c-secion. Gracie was the ideal first child. She was always such a good baby and continues to be a good girl to this day. She is such a sweet, loving, caring person. One of her very favorite things to do is spend time with her entire family. She loves to play with all her cousins and her sisters are her very best friends. She has her moments when she isn't entirely pleasant but most of the time when you see her there's a twinkle in her big brown eyes and huge smile on her face. We have been so blessed to have Gracie in our family and watch her grow into the wonderful young girl that she is . She is such a good example to her younger sisters and is such a big help to her parents. We love you Gracie!!!!!

Today is also another important birthday! Gracie Jo was born on her Grandpa Joe's birthday. Which is why her middle name is Jo. He says he's turning all of the birthdays over to Gracie but we wanted to give him a shout out anyway. Happy birthday Duffer! This is him and Gracie on the day she was blessed.

Happy Birthday Greg!

Well today is Greg's birthday but It's pretty much going to be just another Tuesday. He is so busy these days that I'm not sure if we are even going to see him much today. He got to kiss the girls goodnight last night but that's about all that they got to see of him yesterday. I'm glad we had the chance for a little St. George mini-vacation last weekend. It was hard for him to get away and he was on the phone a lot but we had a good time hanging out in the warm sunshine. I'm not sure how much he really enjoys spending so much time watching baseball but he does it anyway because it's what my family likes to do and he humors us. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. He works soooo hard so he can provide for us and especially so that I have the opportunity to stay home with our girls. He is the best husband and father that anyone could ask for. I get mad at him a lot because he's gone so much with work, town council and the farm, but I know he does it for us and if he could he would spend more time at home with all his girls. So happy birthday sweetie!

When will I learn?

Well they say that silence is golden but not when you have a toddler running around. Then it usually means trouble. You would think by the third child I would have learned that. The other day the big girls were both at school and Chandler was running around and playing which is awesome because she hasn't always been that way. She use to be attached to me most of the time but she is getting better and better at entertaining herself. So to get to the point, I was in one room, she was in another and then it was quiet. I walked into see her squirting "woshie" all over the place. It's a good thing I stocked up on baby magic when I found out they weren't going to make it anymore because there was at least half a bottle down the drain. I'm still finding greasy little hand prints on stuff. It was too hard to stifle my laughing to scold her so I just got my camera instead. She sure smelled good though.

A break in the boredom

Since my last boring post a few fun things have gone on. My nephew Jordan got his mission call to Boston! He's the one who plays football for BYU. He could not have hand picked a better fitting call for himself. He is a huge Red Socks fan and has always wanted to go to Boston. He also wants to name a son Boston and was worried someone would beat him to it. We weren't able to be there when he opened up the call but we heard it was quite a party. There were tons of friends and family there to support him and everyone was so excited when he announced the Massachusetts, Boston mission. We were on speaker-phone but there was so much noise we only stayed on long enough to hear the big announcement so they sent us some pictures. He has a late birthday and most of his friends have already left for their missions so he is excited to get gone. Here's a cute picture of him and his youngest sister Ally who apparently cried most of that night because she thought he was leaving that night. She loves her big brother! I think he will make a great missionary.

On Thursday we went to a party for Greg's dad Eric who is retiring from the Summit County building department after 23 years. It was a really nice lunch get together with lots of people coming to wish him and Dixie well. He was the head of his department with the county and now will still do inspections for Francis and pretty much be a full time farmer. Something I think he's waited a long time to do.

Then on Saturday we had a surprise party for my mom who is also just retired from BYU after 20 years. She has gone back and forth about retiring for a while now and since my dad retired about 2 years ago I just don't think she could stand it anymore. It was too hard for her knowing she had to get up and go to work knowing he was at home without her everyday. The party turned out really nice and she was totally surprised. We almost thought she knew at first because it took her a minute to react. She thought she was going to dinner with my aunt and dropping off a flower delivery for a surprise bridal shower on the way. I hope she wasn't too disappointed she didn't get to go to Red Lobster. It's her favorite place to eat and she had starved herself all day because she was so excited to be going there. She seemed to have a good time though. Now she has plans to learn to golf, learn to scrapbook, and volunteer at the elementary school where my sisters kids go. We'll see. So far she's taken a lot of naps. (hee hee love ya mom). So there it is. We go from boredom to busy back to boredom. Still watching the snow except it is slowly melting. It's not fast enough for me or my kids. It snowed all morning here on Saturday and an hour away in Salem my dad was mowing his lawn. Crazy Utah weather! The kids had so much fun playing outside on the grass down there we couldn't get them to come inside. We all definitely have cabin fever and are soooooo looking forward to our trip to St. George next weekend . The weather better be dang nice!