Adventures in Vegas

This Thanksgiving we chose to visit my homeland-Vegas. Here are some of the memorable things that happened in no particular order.

1. Left unexpectedly really early Tuesday to beat a storm that from the account of others was not "the storm of the century" as predicted. I obviously was not here so I can't vouch for that.

2. Getting to Vegas early since we left early only to have to take Creed to an insta-care because he had a fever of 103.2.

3. Getting to said insta-care and find out that the Dr. or P.A. there didn't see children under 2. What? They told me I had to take him to the emergency room and it wasn't until my mom and I protested and my mom stated that we were out of town and didn't have 6 hours to wait in a Vegas emergency room that a Dr. magically appeared and agreed to see him. Apparently the Dr. was only in to do some paperwork but felt bad for us and felt Creed needed to be seen ASAP so it all worked out. The whole experience was surreal. To the no children under 2, to the office staff acting like they had never seen a baby. I am not kidding. They didn't know how to weigh him, or get his oxygen levels. It was crazy. Then the topper was the guy asked me if 7 month olds threw up a lot. I then asked "do you guys never see babies" he didn't have a response for me. Needless to say I am so grateful for competent medical care where I live and people who know how to deal with children.

4. After getting prescription from the Dr. I went to a Walgreens to get it filled only to find out they didn't have that dose of amoxicillin. What? Isn't that like the most prescribed antibiotic. So we went to another Walgreens and had success.

5. Visited the Dam and the new bridge that takes you to AZ. Way cool.

6. Went to Circus Circus with the kids.

7.Went swimming in 42 degree weather. It was awesome in a heated pool!

8. Walking threw a casino and Coen pulling a slot machine while someone was sitting there and they won and looked to see who did it and saw a little 2.5 feet kid smiling. It was classic!

9. Going to Serendipity and getting their famous frozen hot chocolate. It was sooo good.

10. Going out to eat for Thanksgiving was great. No prep, no clean up and no leftovers to overeat on. It was AWESOME!

Close Call

As many of you know there was a fire in our neck of the woods last Sunday. It was actually pretty scary at times. We actually had no idea there was a fire until Julie called us and asked about it and I went outside and there was smoke everywhere. It all went down hill from there. Our house started to smell like smoke a little while after and we noticed the fire was moving at a very rapid pace. John went to take a look at the fire and came back and said he thought we needed to leave. I thought he was overreacting at the time. We went outside and talked to neighbors and they said that we were to be the next neighborhood to be evacuated. So we started to get our things together in case this happened. Luckily the winds moved and our neighborhood was spared. There were others that were not so lucky. But it really was a miracle that there was not more damage. This fire was so crazy. I have never seen anything like it and hope I never do. The firefighters that fought this fire were amazing. The fact only three homes were lost is really a miracle. Firefighters throughout the state and other states came to help. We saw a Lake Tahoe fire truck, that's crazy. The first few days no one who didn't live in our area could not come because they didn't want extra traffic so we had road blocks to our house. I definately will never forget this and I think my kids wont either. It definately gives me a new propective on being prepared! All those specks in the pictures are ash. No wonder they had to cancel school because the air quality was so horrible. We were breathing in that stuff!

(The day after)

(1 of 3 barracades we saw leaving our development)

Paige's Baptism

A know this is a little late. My little girl got baptized at the beginning of this month and she was so excited. She is the first to be baptized on John's side and the second on mine. It was her special day and it was special. She was so excited to get her own set of scriptures and has been reading them daily. She really is a good kid. I just love this little girl.

Johnny's Lost Tooth

The tooth fairy came to our house last night!

Black Eye Coey

(You can barely see the shiner due to the light, but this is Coen's attempt to take some pictures showing his black eye- what a ham)

Last week Coen was outside playing and came in crying. Paige just happened to be home from school with pink eye and ran to tell me that Coen was crying and looked like he had been stung by a bee. When I examined Coen sure enough he had been stung but not by a bee but a wasp and three times right by his eye. He was barely crying more like a wimper and I couldn't believe how well he was handling this. The next day he had a shiner. Poor little guy. At least he is tough!

Kennecott Copper Mine

Yesterday we went up to the Kennecott Copper Mine for our Pack meeting activity.I took the older kids and the baby. I left Coen home because I didn't want to be a feature news story about a kid that feel over the edge of the canyon. The kids loved it. Johnny especially like the movie they showed. Some of the other leaders couldn't stop from laughing when Johnny commented loudly about the movie. He could not contain his enthusiasm. The baby was good as always and Paige just loved reading all the facts in the Visitors Center. A good time was had by all.

Great to be 8!

We recently celebrated a big birthday at our house. Paige turned 8 on the 13th. I can't believe I have a child that is old enough to get baptized. Time sure goes by so quickly. So many people have told me that before I know it I will be watching her get married(that's a scary thought). I am so glad that 8 years ago we had our only little girl. She is so smart and analytical just like her dad. She is such a good student. She loves to read and write stories. She loves to jump on the trampoline and ride her bike. Paige we love you and in 8 more years another big thing happens... Driver Beware!

Yummy

He's just so cute I could just eat him up!

What we have been up to the last few months....

The last few months have just flown by. I have been busy with four kids and trying to remain sane. Tomorrow is the last day of school for my kids so I will have all four home for the next few weeks. At least they go back to school at the end of the month! That is one nice thing about year round school. Creed is growing a ton. A month ago he was 12 lbs and in the 50% for weight and 90% for height. He is getting to be a really good baby. He has his days but don't we all. Coen is talking more and more. That kid cracks me up. He can sing an entire Justin Bieber song and Taylor Swift song with the kids. I really need to get it on video it is hilarious. He wants to be so independent and do everything himself except for one big thing and that is going potty by himself. He can tell me to change him diaper but not tell me in time. We will be working on that in the next few months. Johnny is getting so big too. He will start kindergarten this month and is so excited. He loves to write and draw. He actually is pretty good. His teachers have told me he has excellent penmanship. I had a friend tell me that he actually writes better then her 3rd grader. Then there is Paige. She is finishing up 2nd grade and will be in 3rd. I still can't believe I have a 3rd grader. And next month she will be baptized. She is so smart and good in class. If only she could be that good at home. She loves to read and is above her grade level in reading. She loves to write little stories that are so funny. I will just find them laying around the house. That is pretty much what is going on the last few months. Here are some pictures that we have taken the last few months. Hope you enjoy.

(The kids on Lars Larson's grave-Coen is named after him)

(Johnny at his preschool graduation)

(Coen on Lars Larson's grave)

(Johnny)

(Creed at 2 months)

(Paige)

Red Hair?

In the last few days I have had several people tell me that they think Creed may have red hair. My Dr. actually commented on it the other day. Now it is not flaming red like my sisters but it definately has a reddish tint. I knew having children that there may be a chance that one of them might have red hair since my father had auburn hair, my great grandmother had red hair, my sister has red hair, and my sister has two children with red hair. I just hope that he keeps his blue eyes. But if history repeats ifself this will not be so. My other two boys have brown eyes and I like that because everyone in my family has blue but it would be nice to have one of my boys have my color eyes. If not oh well. I guess only time will tell.

He's Here

Creed Whitlock Black

Born April 9th at 5:25 pm

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz

Length: 21 inches

Are they just being nice??

I officially have four weeks until my due date but I will be getting induced in three. I am measuring big again, surprise surprise. Last week I had to go into the Dr. to have an ultrasound to make sure I wasn't carrying too much amniotic fluid. He had told me on a previous apt. that if I was 20 or over (not sure what the measurements are) that I would have to have ultrasounds and be monitored more closely every week until my baby was born . Guess what my number was....19.5. As my Dr. said at the visit "You barely squeaked by!" He also measured me and I now am measuring three weeks ahead and the baby already weighs 6 lbs (this of course is an estimate). Given all this information you can only guess that I feel and look big. But for some reason when people ask me how long I have to go and I tell them they seriously looked shocked and say"really? you look so good to be that far along". At first I thought they were being nice. But there have been several and I mean like 10-15 people that have said this same exact thing. Normally I would just assume they are being nice and they don't want to come out and say "Oh, you look like you are due tomorrow". But thinking back on all my other pregnancies no one ever said anything remotely as nice as all these people have said. We are talking about people at the store, bank, Johnny's teachers, Paige's teachers, and friends. Some of these people comment on the fact I look so good to be that close to having the baby every time I see them. I really don't know what to think of this. Because given the numbers I gave and the way I feel I really look like a dump truck. Maybe people have just gotten more complimentary over the years. Who knows but for whatever reason I really won't complain because even if they are just being nice and they really think I look like a cow it makes me feel a little better. And right now with all the aches and pains and sleepless nights I could use a little pick me up!

10 Year Anniversary

Today we celebrate 10 years of marriage. I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years since John and I got married in the Manti temple. The years have just flown by. So much has happened in those years. Here is somewhat of a timeline of our marriage.

2000- We got married and were both BYU students. We were so poor. We made less then 10k that year but life was simple and fun. I remember we were so poor that John's sister Sarah had to pay for us to go to the dollar theater one time. But being poor students really taught us about needs and wants and put things in perspective. Little did we know then that we would be living the poor college life again a few years later.

2001- In January John got a job offer in San Francisco so we headed to the Bay Area. I was in my final semester at BYU and had to drop out and leave. This was so hard for me. I was so close and I was determined to finish up. I refused to be one of those mom's that only had a few classes and never finished.

2002- In August we had our first child Paige and what a change that was. The first little bit was very a hard. There were some kinks that we had to figure out because Paige was not gaining weight but once that was settled it was smooth sailing except for the part of her not sleeping. I remember when I would tell family Paige never slept they really didn't truly believe me and honestly I probably would not have either. One time when Julie came to visit she pulled me aside and told me that she believed me now that Paige never slept. Now Paige is a great sleeper and I have learned a lot through trial and error and have never had such a horrible sleeper since.

2003- In the middle of this year John applied to the BYU MBA program on somewhat of a lark and got in and received a scholarship. We were both so surprised. He applied very late like in June and by August we were packing our things and heading back to Utah. This is where our poor college days started again. John was not able to work the entire first year so we had to live entirely on our small and I mean small savings and student loans. Good thing we didn't really have student loans before. I also was able to get back into BYU and finish up my classes. I was so excited about this. What a relief to know that I was going to really finish!

2004- I graduated in April and soon after we moved to Phoenix for the summer. John got a summer internship in Phoenix. Also I was pregnant at the time with Johnny and this was not the best place to be pregnant, living on the third floor apt, and carrying a 20 month old up the three flights of stairs everyday multiple times. But we had a lot of fun in Phoenix. There was one great thing that came of Phoenix. We became great friends with the Broderick's and Dana and I have remained friends and have kept in touch ever since. In November we welcome John Jr. into the world. John always tells me that Johnny is actually a mini me but with his name. I guess John's clone would come with our next child Coen.

2005-John got a job yeah! And starts working before graduation which really helped out financially. In Feb. right after the job offer we start building our first home!! In April John graduates with his MBA and we start to live a somewhat normal life again with real money.

2006-We started the year off on a good note. We moved into our first home and have lived here ever since. This is a big deal to us since we had moved around so much before this. This was our 9th move since we had been married. I was beginning to think we liked to move or something but that has proven wrong since we have lived here 4 years this month.

2007- We welcomed our third child Coen to our family in October. He is by far our easiest child and that is a good thing since Johnny is somewhat a challenge at times.

2008-In April of this year we went on our first real trip together. We never had gone on a big trip together so this was a lot of fun. We went to visit the Broderick's in NYC. It was so much fun. We took Coen with us since he was still a little one but that was no biggie. We had the best time. This is by far the best trip we had and have taken. It was so great to see all the sites and visit with friends and eat at great restaurants. I wish we can go back someday but probably not soon since our free hotel is no longer there! As soon as we got back from NYC John switched positions with his company and departments which John was really excited about and is still in that position now.

2009- This year was the year of splurge for us. We never really spend a lot of money on big purchases. So at the beginning of this year we started it with a bang. In one months time we went to Disneyland, bought a new car, bought a big screen TV, bought a new table and bought a king size bed. Most of those except for Disneyland and the TV were actually really and I mean really needed. Good thing we don't spend like that all the time. I can now see how so many people get themselves in trouble with debt. I am just so glad that we were able to pay for all of these without debt except for the new car obviously. We have been so blessed.

2010- This year has just begun but we were able to get away for the weekend and spend sometime together just John and I. We have never been on a trip without at least one child since we had kids. It was so nice to be able to do what we wanted when we wanted and not have to worry about kids. I love my kids don't get me wrong but it is nice to be able to spend time with John and talk and just relax. It was a much needed respite because coming this April we will be having our fourth child and third boy. I am sure fun times await us. We are really blessed. We have the gospel in our lives , John has a job that pays him well, I am able to stay home with my children and not work, we have a nice home in a nice area, we live near both of our families and we all are in relatively good health. What more can we ask for. Everyday I thank my Heavenly Father for the blessings in our lives because I know that we really are so blessed and we owe it all to him.

Here's to another 10 years!!!