Our Eventful Weekend

The family that was able to be there

Ashley and Elora on Sunday

Elora in her blessing dress on the blanket that one of my best friends made special for the day

Derek and Ashley right before her baptism on Saturday.

This labor day weekend was a fun, spiritual, and eventful weekend. On Friday my in-laws flew in and we picked them up from the airport. Then Saturday was Ashley's baptism. What a great day it was to see her so excited to get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. Then Sunday we blessed Elora. Ashley wanted their dresses to match so I tried very hard to make them as close to the same as I could. I am so happy to have these to beautiful girls in my life.

Elora's 1 month

Part of me can't believe it has been a month already. And sometimes it feels like she has been here forever though. She is a beautiful girl and we almost have her on a schedule so the nights are getting better. She is growing and has almost gained a whole pound. Which still makes her smaller than any of my others when they were born. We love her lots and are so glad she is part of our family.

Our Moving trip to AZ

The Moving Truck that was filled to the top and from front to back.

Circus Circus the hotel we stayed at in Las Vegas

Walking the strip

Tanis and Ashley in front of the water show at the Bellagio

The Hoover Dam

Our trip took us 4 days. The kids did really great with that many days in the car. we got to see Grandma Grandpa Great Hegstrom, Uncle Glenn, Aunt Debbie, Chelsey, and Micheal. Then we got to spend a day in Vegas what an adventure that was. We ate at a nasty buffet and then wanted to see the water show at the Bellagio and didn't realize how far it was from Circus Circus so we didn't make it to see the show. 2 Miles in the heat 13 days after having a baby was nuts and so we sent Derek back to get the van while the rest of sat in front of Ceaser's Palace looking like bums and getting really weird looks. Of course this was at 12am in the morning. So the next day we drove there and parked in the parking garage to see the water show. It was still beautiful even in the day time. Then we headed out to my parents and got as far as Hoover Dam and they told Derek he couldn't go over the Dam with the moving truck b/c he couldn't show them 80% of his load. I was already over the Dam and not turning around on a Friday night when the traffic was bumper to bumper for like 5 miles. So we waited in Kingman, AZ for 1 1/2 hours for him , his dad, and Tanis while they went a different way. But we did all make it to Peoria, AZ safe and sound. It was hard to take the in laws to the airport and see them go but at least we know we will see them again soon.

Hospital Photos

IT'S A GIRL

Elora Gene was born Friday June 5th at 10:25pm. She weighed 6lbs 6oz and was 19.5in. We are all very glad she is here after 22 hours of labor and not stop puking. I am so happy this is the last one.

Graduation Weekend

So this has taken me a while to get posted but we had an awesome weekend over Mother's Day weekend. First Ashley had her dance recital and did an amazing job. They did a tap routine to Girl's just wanna have fun and she loved it. Then the next day was graduation for Derek. As you can see my dad fell asleep (it was pretty boring) but we are all so proud of Derek for getting his Bachelor's Degree and to be moving on to the next step in his life. We all then went to Red Lobster in Lewiston for dinner and had a wonderful time together. The kids loved playing the Wii with PopPop all weekend and then going bowling on Monday with Nana and PopPop. They decided though it was much easier to do Wii bowling then the real thing. Now we are on to the next adventure of life with finding a full time job, having a baby, and moving all in the next 3 weeks.

Two Events for One Night

Tanis was involved in 2 events and they happened to get scheduled the same night so it was a very busy night for us. The first one was called the Wax Museum where all the 4th graders chose a scientist and became that person. Tanis was Roy Chapman Andrews who discovered dragon eggs and the velociraptor. They wrote a speech and had to memorize it and we would push on their hand and they would come alive and say their speech. It was a really neat night and Tanis was very excited to do it. Then we had to run over to the middle school for his orchestra concert. He has been playing the violin this year and has done very well. I am not sure that he wants to do it anymore but the exposure was really good for him. And we all know what a concert sounds like with those that are first year players. It has been fun for me though to see him develop in this talent and him making the decision to keep it up or not at the end of the school year. He truly is an amazing boy.

Struggles

So I don't normally chose to vent about anything on here. Mainly because I feel embarrassed to show that I/my family actually have issues just like everyone else and the fact that I cry while writing the entire blog but I really appreciate when others blog about theirs so I thought maybe someone out there would have some real advice for me on how to handle all of this. So many of you know that I really have a hard time with my Ashley. I just struggle with being her mom and feel guilty all the time that I am not a better mother to her but she frustrates me so much and in so many ways. This last thing was getting into the Easter candy which I put in my room so she wouldn't sneak it and she still did. Not just a little bit of it but almost all of it is gone. That fact that it was in my room and she went in there really irritates me but the worst part is the fact that she is sneaking around getting into things. It is like stealing to me because only 1/3 of it was even hers. I have talk to her over and over again about getting into food that is in the pantry or fridge without asking but it doesn't seem to even matter to her she just keeps on doing it. So today I asked her about the candy and she told me she got into it and I tried to explain that it was stealing and that people that steal have the police come and arrest them and they go to jail. I thought maybe if I put a scare tactic into it she will actually get it but who knows. And this probably wasn't the best way to teach her but I am at my wits end with her. I just have noticed more and more this last semester how immature she is for her age and I don't know what to do. I did have a girlfriend over the other night that told me she stop praying for her daughter to make the right choices and instead is now praying for her to be the best mom for her daughter. I thought that I should really try that. We will see what happens. Along with all of her issues I am dealing with a 2 year old who can't talk, has severe frustration issues, is aggressive, and going through multiple test right now with Early Learning Services. For me at home I am use to his ways but taking him to these tests has been hard to have to watch him throw a tantrum which is above and beyond a 2 yr old tantrum and not do anything so that the professionals can see how he reacts. And then yesterday after the test was done some stupid counselor in the next room who has nothing to do with ELS came to ask what we were doing to this child. Because she had a client who could hear it all and it really bothered the client who had been abused as a child. Are you kidding me. I found it very offensive that this counselor would divulge that kind of information about their client. Why didn't they come and knock to make sure Wyatt was ok and then let the client know the child was fine. With all of this I know things will get better for Wyatt because he will get the professional help he needs, it is just another stresser in my life when I have 3 major things right now as stessers that are here or coming in the near future. A new baby, moving and finding a job for Derek. I have realized though that I don't think I will ever have a time in my life when I don't have a trial. I guess I just have to be refined that much. Sorry this is such a long post for me but I really needed to get it all out.

Happy Easter

Thought you all might like these. I couldn't get one of the 3 of them without their baskets because my 2 year old is very stubborn and has major attitude. I know you can't tell from this picture he looks like an angel but really it is the truth. We had a wonderful time Saturday hunting for eggs and it was very sunny so we were very happy and then on Sunday we had a wonderful lunch/dinner with Linda and Kent and it was Kent's 65th birthday. It was a great weekend for all of us.

Tanis's Science Fair Project Trials

So now that Tanis is in 4th grade he has to do a project for the Science fair. He decided to do one were we saw how many books egg shells could hold. So he 1st started with 2 eggs and found that only 2 books would balance on them. So the next one was 3 eggs and then 4 eggs. We found out that 4 eggs obviously could hold more books then the others. It was lots of fun.

Design Team Layout

So I haven't blogged in a while about any of my scrap booking layouts and I loved this one so I thought I would share. The line of paper is Carolee's Creation Fern. Carolee's is probably my 2nd most favorite paper line or I guess I should say that it is the 2nd most bought in my paper boxes after Basic Grey. I was really scared as I started to look for ideas and found basically nothing except the one layout on Carolee's site but it was so easy to work with and I did these 5 cards and my layout in about an hour which is really fast. Hope you all enjoy.

Liz and Ben (aka Jimmy) White's Sealing Day

Derek and I had the privilege Friday February 13th to be in the temple with Liz and Ben while they took out their endowments and then the next day we went back to the temple and they were sealed and had Heidi and Hans sealed to them. What a spiritual and exciting couple of days it was. I also got to make Hans's sealing outfit and then hold him at the alter while the children were sealed to them. So even though Derek got me nothing for Valentine's Day we were in the most special place we could be for that day, a sealing room watching to of our dear friends make the highest commitment to our Father in Heaven.

3 events for January

So this month we had three great events. First Ashley had her ballet recital and it was the Peter Pan Production. Then Tanis had Pinewood Derby which he had fun making his car. I would say this was probably the hardest year of it for mom though. Derek wasn't around to guide Tanis at all so I had to take him to get it weighed in and it had no weights on it and the wheels weren't attached. To say the least after that night I was in tears watching all these dads with their boys and their perfect cars come into get weighed. I really hate those dads out there who do the entire thing for their boy. That is what makes the boys who do their own cars sad (and their parents) because they aren't ever winning any of the races. How do you teach your children creativity, about winning and losing, and good sportsmanship if you are the one making the car. So we had a few boys who's dads did their cars and of course they are the ones going to districts. I guess I now know how Derek has felt these past few years about it all. Our last event for the month was Wyatt's birthday. He turned 2 on the 24th and I can't believe he is that old. We had his party at McDonald's and just let the kids play and then had cake and presents. It sure is fun to watch 2 yr. old's learn about birthday parties. He loved everything he got. All in all we had a great fun month.