PRIVATE!!!

I am making our blog private, at the request of my husband!! It is so much fun to keep in touch with everyone, so please leave me your email so I can add you to our blog list. If you are not on our list already, but like to look at our blog, go ahead and leave you email. I will switch over in a few weeks!!!

Pioneer Day!!

We had such a fun day. The day started with the PARADE, which was fun. The kids loved it and Adi broke out of her shell. She was dancing and giving the clowns HIGH FIVE!!! After the parade we headed to Grandma Olsons and made a slip and slide out of tarps. It was a lot of fun, but after 6 hours in the sun, we had some tired kids. It was a great day, except for the sunburns!!! I love this Utah tradition.
(We went to the Rodeo on Wednesday night which was a lot of fun to. Adi covered her head for an hour and a half of it though due to some fireworks.)

Mean Mom!!!

So, apparently I am the MEANEST MOM EVER, or in the WORLD, denpending on the day. I wish I could type that phrase as dramatic as it is said to me. When told this I just laugh it off, which makes her even more upset. Sometimes I pretend to cry, which in return I hear "No, your the nicest mommy, I promise I love you mommy!!" Well, I have decided that being the Meanest Mommy is a role I will glady accept. To my girls, mainly Avery, being the meanest mommy, include the following mean acts by me.

- Not letting Avery play outside in her underwear.
- Not letting them watch Sponge Bob.
- Not stopping at the Slushy stand EVERYTIME we pass it.
- Not letting them take toys away from each other and Not letting them hit each other (go figure)
- Making them go to bed before 10 p.m.
- Not letting them eat candy before they eat breakfast.
- Timeouts
- Not letting them run through the neighborhood on their own.
- Not letting Avery go into a public restroom on her own.
- Getting apple dippers sometimes with happy meals instead of fries.
- Not letting them drink their dads Mt. Dew.

I hear you are the meanest mom atleast once a day. These are just a few examples that to Avery warrant that phrase, and looking at them, I have decided, yes I will be the meanest mom if it means keeping my kids SAFE, HEALTHY and NICE. (Sponge Bob does not teach them to be NICE.) I love my kids and we do have a happy home, even if mom is being mean.

KNOCKED DOWN!!!

Has anyone ever been to Parowan, Utah? UGH!! I don't recommend it. Let me just tell you the story. We headed to St. George on Monday afternoon to finish up a few little details for our BIG move coming up here in about 3 weeks. We stopped in Beaver to get gas. About 30 miles into our drive, yes I was driving, I heard a "Dinging noise" and noticed that we were over heating. I ofcourse get and instant stomach ache, because I was driving. Luckily, there was an exit close. I pulled off to a safe place. Tyler opened the hood and let it cool down. Mean while we let the girls walk around in the grassy area. You know what made this even more fun? It was about 100 degress plus out and for some reason, I allowed Adi to eat pretty much and entire bag of grapes on her own. Because of that she had a tummy ache and atleast 5 "stinky diapers" in a 15 min. period. Back to the story. We sat there for about 15 min. and it did not help. So we pulled forward to a DIRT road under a tree. SHADE IS WONDERFUL. Yes, a dirt road right off the freeway, just to show you we were in the middle of NO WHERE. A few people stopped, one guy had coolant, which we thought would solve the problem. We put the coolant in, and sat for about 30 more min. Meanwhile, I was able to eat some very yummy dirt cakes served to me by my two girlies in bottle caps. I wish I had thought to take pictures, but between my tears and frustration I forgot. It would have came in handy when Avery was laying in the middle of the dirt road making a SAND ANGEL. My girls were FILTHY, but were having fun. We got back on the free way and thought all was well. That lasted about 1 min. and it took us 45 min. to make it to the gas station 5 miles up the road. We had to pull over about ever 2 min. to let it cool off. So scary sitting on the side of the freeway. We made it to the gas station and sat there for 3 hours. Did I mention it was a truck stop? My girls heard words they have never heard before, so don't blame me if they repeat them!!! We finally realized the car was not fixable and 5 hours after it started over heating we said goodbye to the TRUCK STOP and the many bats flying over head and hopped into the BIG triple AAA truck and were towed to ST. George. Adi was scared to death to get into that truck, but with in 2 min. both girls were out. They were ABSOLUTE angels. They were such troopers and who knew that a HUGE flat bed truck could get us safely to St. George going 85 mph. The whole ride there I was thinking of different ways I could hold onto my kids when the truck rolled down a cliff. I was terrified.

P.S. The title of this post came from a cute conversation I had with my 3 year old neice as we sat at the truck stop. "Why aren't you here yet aunt Cole, are you still KNOCKED DOWN?" It was so cute. We did have a fun but stressful few days in St. George. I will post pictures later. I need to thank my WONDERFUL mother-in-law who came down to get us. She saved us. And thanks to Mike and Janille for letting us crash at there house. We made it home safely, but our car is still there.

Baby Poke!!!

Adi calls her new cousin Baby Poke. She saw the IV's in one of the pictures and since then she has called him baby POKE, usually in a sad little voice. "OOOHHHH, little baby Poke". Well, Jack, or Baby Poke, whatever you want to call him is doing great. My sister Heather was able to hold him yesterday for the first time, because as of yesterday, he is completely off oxygen and as of today, no more feeding tube. As soon as I saw the picture of Heather holding him, I started to cry. I was so excited for her. I just wish I had been there to see it for myself. I know how hard it has been for her leaving him at the hospital everyday, not even able to hold or touch him. Now if he can maintain his body wait in a normal crib, he can come home. We are so excited for them. It has been very rough on my sister and brother in law these past few day. He is doing great though and will be home soon. The first picture of Jack, to me looks just like my dad, his grandpa, whos birthday Jack so luckily shares. (did that make sense?) Keep getting better Jack.

Improvements!!!

This tough guy is making some improvements. They were able to turn Jacks oxygen down to 94% and they are increasing his feedings.
Look at his big eyes. Doesn't he look so sweet staring at his mommy and daddy!!! He is coming along and will hopefully be going home soon with his family. We love you Jack!! We love you Heather, Bernie, and Grace, he will be home soon.

A Tough Start

Sweet little Jack is having a tough start and could use a few extra prayers. When he was born he swallowed some muchonium (not sure on spelling). He was doing ok, but this morning he aspirated and had to be put on 100% oxygen. They also found a hole in his lung. He was transported to a neighboring hospital. My poor sister is worried sick. She is in a different hospital and has seen him a total of 20 min. and has not yet held him. He will be ok, but will be in the hospital for atleast 7 days. Just a quick update.

P.S. He is the most adorable baby ever. I love him tons already.

Baby Jack!!!

Baby Jack finally made his arrival 6 days late. We are excited to have him born on the 4th of July and his grandpas birthday. He was born via c-section. His cord was wrapped around his neck 2 times. He is doing ok. He had to spend some time in the special care nursery for some testing. He was 7 lbs 15 oz. and 20 in. Both mom and baby are doing ok and I think he looks just like his mommy and big sister.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Did I ever mention that I had the BEST dad in the world? Well, I did, DO!!! He would have turned 50 on July 4th of this year. Where does the time go? It is hard to believe that in August it will be 7 years since his passing. Not a day goes by that he is not in my thoughts, not a day goes by that I don't miss him like crazy!! Luckily for me, I have the 2 cutest distractions in the world. I am always trying to think of new stories to tell my kids. When I was pregnant for Avery, and OVERDUE, by several days, everyone kept saying "She is having too much fun with her grandpa up in heaven." Probably true. Now my sister, who today is almost 5 days overdue, is hearing the same thing. He would have been to best grandpa to Avery, Adison, Grace, and hopefully soon JACK!! I wish everyday that my kids had there grandpa here to grow up with. Luckily for them, they have a grandpa watching over them from heaven, and they are even more lucky to have wonderful grandpas here on earth. I know he has visited Avery in her dreams. She has woke up a few times telling us that her grandpa Kaiser was singing her songs during the night. Maybe that's why she likes to listen to AC/DC with me. JK. I like to think thats why I hear Adi giggeling in her sleep, her grandpa is visiting her.
Growing up, I was not the "ANGEL" child that my sister was. My brother and I often got in trouble for making fun of the "GOLDEN CHILD". Yes my dad and I butted heads on a regular basis, yes my dad took my door off the hinges when I slammed it too much (don't you worry, I hung every blanket I could find over that door, but got in trouble for putting unnessisary nail marks in the walls.) yes, he woke us up at 7:00 a.m. almost every saturday morning one summer to move rocks and to build a rock wall at our new house, yes, I had to BEG to do anything with my friends, but with all of that he was the best dad, and did so much for us.
It is so fitting that he was born on the 4th of July. We used to have so much fun going to the Saginaw fire works as a family,and extended family. How we ever survived that part of Saginaw is beyond me. (My family will know what I mean by that.) My dad had this loud whistle he would make that sounded just like a firework, it would make everyone around us look around trying to find who let the firework off!!!
I have so many regrets from when he was sick. I lived in Utah at the time, and because he was such a good dad, he kept telling me he was OK, because he did not want me to give up my life in Utah to come home. I believed everything would be ok. One of my best memories was 2 monthes before he died. I went back to Michigan to be in my cousins wedding. My dad made arrangements for all of us to stay in a beach house on Lake Huron. It was so pretty. We just spent 2 days as a family. It was so much fun. That was the week we found out his cancer was back, and there was not a whole lot they could do for him. I was in denial I think, he was so strong and positive about it. You never think anything is going to happen to your parent. They are always supposed to be there.
Unfortunatly, 2 monthes after that great trip, a trip I will be forever greatful for, my dad passed away. That was the toughest week of my life. I lived at that hospital for 4 days. We all did. My dad did not really know who I was the whole time, and when he did, I would just talk and talk. The last time my dad was really coherent there were about 30 people in the hospital room. Way too many people. It drove me crazy. Anyways, my dad decided to say a prayer while we were all there. Keep in mind, my dad had not really been with it up to that point. He said the most beautiful prayer that day. We all kept looking up to see if it was really him talking. It was AMAZING. I wish I could remember it. After his prayer he asked for his girls. Heather and I were the only ones there. My step mom had decided that my little sisters Danielle and Cassidy were too young to be there. He talked to us for a few min. then said goodbye. He then talked to my brother Nathan, his only son, and said goodbye to him. He then said He was ready to go. I ofcourse lost it. He closed his eyes, and for about 10 mins. we all watched him in silence. He opened his eyes and said "Are you kidding, I am still here." He gave us all a good laugh. That afternoon, he went to sleep and never really woke back up. Two days later he passed away with none of his 5 children in the room. That was the first time in 4 days he did not have one of his children in the room with him. I know he did not want his children to see him pass away. So much happened in that hospital that I will never forget. A lot that I do not feel needs to be shared on a blog. I am so greatful for the knowledge that I have, that I will be with him again.
I worry so much about my little sisters who lost a dad at such a young age. They were only 10 and 3 when he passed away.
My intentions of this post was just to honor my dad on his 50th birthday, and to let everyone know how funny, smart, and handsome my dad was, and how he was the best dad in the world. Not to go on and on with the sad stuff. I just could not stop typing. It is stuff I never want to forget about him. I love him so much.
Now here are a few pictures of my dad. The top picture is just him. I love that smile. Isn't he handsome? The second picture was taken of him when he was called as a stake missionary. The third picture is of the house he "built" (he did alot of work to it.) We all loved that house. I had a huge KILLER yard to mow, and a big pond in the back yard. Notice the rock wall in the front, that we woke up so early every Saturday to help with. The fourth picture is of his headstone. The back says Famililes are forever Craig, Kathy, Nicole, Heather, Nathan, Danielle, and Cassidy. Ironically, his headstone was placed the day before Fathers Day in 2003. 10 monthes after he passed away. We went to see it on Fathers Day.

Averys First Craft Class

We signed Avery up for a few craft classes this summer at Roberts Arts and Crafts. Today was her first one, and she had so much fun. Today she made a T-shirt. They had ribbon, buttons, gems, paint, flowers, and more. It was so fun to watch her create this all on her own. The t-shirt is a little "BIG", ok, very big, but it was a lot of fun for her to do this and she was so proud of the finished product, so was I. In the next few weeks, she will make a Bug Catcher, which is perfect for her BUTTERFLIES, which she catches daily, and she will also make Bead Necklaces and Bracelets.
Here are a few pictures of her t-shirt class!!!