What is going On?

You may wonder what is going on in this picture...well, Abby was getting potty trained...Madison was all about it since she got a treat too whenever Abby went. Madison was always asking, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" and quickly saying, "If you do, you get a treat." Madison would then take Abby, who then claimed she needed to go, to the bathroom and entertain her while she sat on the toilet until she went. Then Madison would be her biggest fan praising her and telling her how great it was and then Abby would squeal in delight. She loved the attention from Madison and then to get a treat on top of that! Needless to say it only took a week to get Abby potty trained. She even naps in underpants. I can't take credit on this one, I must admit that Madison did a lot of the potty training on this one.

Cute Girls...

This is what we do when Brian is on call!!!! Fun huh? Well, there are so many photographers here and people who want to learn that I feel we get to play and do shoots all the time together. I always wanted to do shoots with another photographer. Liz is so fun and knows here stuff! It's great!

Railroad Fun!!!!

I was teaching a friend some tips concerning photography and in order to do that I needed subjects. Madison willingly let me curl her hair, and do her chap stick, put on her necklace, and pose for Liz and I while we practiced. It was so fun and Abby actually got into it a bit. She usually hates the camera and getting her picture taken, but since Madison was having fun and liking it, so did Abby.

Ohio Fun!!!!

These two had so much fun. They are like two peas in a pod. They were pretending to fish at the lake using cat tail leaves. They both slipped into the pond once or twice...I can't be for sure and were covered in this stinky, black, mud. You might be able to see how Elizabeth's dress is wet in one of the pictures and if you look closely at Madison's hands or feet they are pretty dirty:-) They had a blast! I'm am so glad they live only three hours away. It's like having family almost:-)

Best Friends! It's so nice for Madison to have friends that she will always remember!

Ohio Visit

We went and visited Michelle, Paul, Elizabeth, and John for a day and a half and had so much fun! We played at the bunny fountains, went to the mall, McDonald's play place, backyard, built a fort, watched movies, talked, and relaxed. Michelle had my favorite for me...Oreo's with milk and Salmon for dinner. I was totally spoiled and loved it. We even had homemade whole wheat waffles for breakfast. It was a break I needed badly and to be in the company of Michelle was even more relaxing. She is so soft spoken, laid back, and thoughtful. It made me want to be a better mom just being around her. Thanks for a great trip Michelle. We will hopefully do it again or host you next time. These are some pictures from our photoshoot. More are here.

This is little John:-) Isn't he adorable? I couldn't wait to take his picture. His eye lashes and chocolate brown eyes with the cute cheeks was irresistible!


These three played so well together and loved having a sleep over in their fort in the bedroom. They didn't fall asleep until around 10:30 that night! Talk about a fun night for them!

Where do you want your milk? In a bag, in the cart, on the floor?

The entire family went shopping to Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and as I was loading the groceries in the cart I grabbed the 2% gallon of milk off the turning grocery bag thing and somehow it slipped out of my hand and in slow motion I saw it miss the cart and land on the floor exploding and creating a lake in the middle of the store. Then the man who just checked out before us turned around and said, "She meant to do it." I was pretty embarrassed to say the least. This of course isn't the first time I have dropped something in a store, but this was by far the messiest. We used 7 heavy duty towels to try and stop the spreading of it, but it hardly touched it. A mop and bucket came next and they were nice enough to get us another gallon of milk. Brian was in shock since this has never happened to him and he kept asking, "so they just give us another gallon of milk for free? We don't have to pay for it." I reassured him this happens often and they never charge for it. Like when I dropped a huge container of hummus at Costco, the jar of pickles at Albertsons, the fruit countless times, etc. With how many times we go shopping, it's bound to happen.

Silly Abby...

All Abby wants is to hold my hand and walk while holding Panda Teddy. A thumb in the mouth is an added plus, but since we are trying to get her to stop, that's not an option outside of nap time and bedtime.




This is the face I got when I asked her to come outside for a picture. My life is tough as a photographer...

Saturday Rainy Day Fun!!!

All Madison needs is an umbrella, rain boots, and rain. It's a good time to be outside for sure! Abby on the other hand loves the rainboots, at times, and would rather be sucking her thumb and holding a teddy bear. What more could an Abby want?

What's out of the ordinary in the picture?

Can you see anything funny about this picture? I'll post what it is later after you've had a chance to look:-)

Dexter Daze Parade

They even got popsicles at this parade!

Abby and her stash at the very beginning. She didn't even have to get up or work for her candy.


The ears are being plugged because of the picture above. They would have their horn go off and it was really loud when you were sitting so close. Our girls loved it, the Shakespeare's girl's...not so much:-)

This was such a fun parade. They gave tons of candy and all Abby and Madison had to do was sit there and look cute and they would walk up to them and dump a handful on their already growing pile of sugar:-) The girls loved it! It was a fun small town parade with a marching band in white shorts (any kind of white short) and a yellow t-shirt, baton twirlers, fire trucks, miss Washtenaw County, train, small girl dancers, etc. It was fun to be with friends. Brian surprised me with a day off Saturday and so we all got to go.

Some Days

Some days I feel like this...I don't have a picture of me when I'm losing it, but here is about how I feel. This rotation Brian is on is tough! He is gone for 12+ hour shifts or 30 hour on call shifts (every fourth night) at the hospital 6 days a week and sometimes 7 days a week. He hasn't and won't be able to make it to church all month and then when he is home he is so exhausted he just sleeps or falls asleep while I am talking to him. It's so tough for him because he has this patient...I'll just call him Mr. Mean. He has punched a nurse in the face, thrown his urine at a nurse, squeezed a nurses hand so hard she had to go to the ER, and then to top it off grabbed Brian's tie one day and yanked him down to his level while yelling, cursing, and threatening him. Brian of course didn't wear a tie the next day and Mr. Mean noticed and apologized to him for what he did. They put him on new medication, but he still orders everyone around like he owns the place and expects you to get whatever he wants pronto or else he starts into this cursing fit. It's enough to ruin ones rotation. It wouldn't be so bad if he was leaving soon, but he's stuck in the hospital. No assisted living place will take him and his family won't put up with it, and his girlfriend of 25 years left him and called 911 two weeks ago and that is how he ended up in the hospital. I'm just glad his girlfriend got out of there...A nurse has even filed a charge against him. Well, that is how this rotation is going. Just had to vent and post it for posterity or for me to read during the better times and remember and have sympathy for all doctors going through training and their wives. I remember saying I went through Medical School with Brian, and I did. But I can honestly say this is harder! I feel his pain more and the loneliness when he is gone or home and asleep is tough. I do get out and there are some amazing women in this ward. I know we are suppose to be here and that the Lord knew what I would need while going through this with Brian. We have so many people praying for us and I can feel it. What a blessing to have the gospel while going through this. I just talked to another residents wife for an hour and she said that I am allowed as many melt downs as I need. Here is to one down and many more to come. It's so great to have other women to talk to who are going through or have gone through this. I now see why those who adopt have a strong bond, and those who's children have disabilities bond, etc. I guess that is where Christ comes in also. Elder Bednar spoke at our Stake Conference and shared how the Atonement is not just for those who sin. It's that enabling power one can ask for to help them accomplish something that they normally couldn't accomplish on their own. He used the example of when Nephi was tied up and prayed and his bands were loosed. Elder Bednar commented that he believes Nephi had to work at it and twist and such. He was able to break the bands because the Lord gave him strength beyond his own. He said, "I don't think the Lord sent an angel with a sword to cut the bands or miraculously they fell off. Nephi had to work at it, but was given strength beyond his own to get them off. That's the power of the Atonement!" I rely on this often. In life I feel that alone I can not get through the day or week or such, but then I remember this and pray for the extra strength beyond my own and I always get it. My problems don't go away, but just like in Mosiah when they were blessed with the strength to carry the burdens thrust upon them so can I have that blessing. Beautiful words of doctrine to comfort me in my time of need...not a day too late or a day too early. I feel that Elder Bednar came for me. I rely on his words daily right now.

Abby says...

"I'm Abigail, so I love you."

"Will you blow this up" instead of "Will you blow on this."

Michigan and sick people...

Today we were reading about Ammon and how he teaches King Lamoni about the plan of salvation. So, I asked Madison if she knew where we lived before we came to earth and she said, "We lived in New Hampshire and then we moved to Utah, and now we are here." Simple and true to her:-) I did explain the truth to her and we will see if she remembers tomorrow:-) Gotta love having kids!

Abby the other day at the dinner table said, "Daddy's at the hospital helping people."
I said, "Yes he is."
Abby: "Why"
Me: "Because people get sick or hurt and have to go to the hospital."
Abby: "I can help people."
Me: "Really? How."
Abby: "I can help people who are crying or sick."
Me: "How?"
Abby: "I will put medicine on them."
Me: "What medicine will you put on them."
Abby: "I don't know."

Then when daddy got back from the hospital she announced to him that he helps people get better at work.

Insectaphobia

Before she thought the specks were bugs...

She thinks the specks are bugs...

After I managed to wipe them ALL (took three attempts) away...
I'm not sure if this is even a word or not, but Abby has it. Intense fear of anything that crawls, flies, or looks like a bug. In this case there were small black specks on her chair and she lost it. She was convinced they were bugs and they were "going to get me". I had to wipe them all off and missed a few. She wouldn't stop crying until I got them all. She will find the smallest spider, ant, fly anywhere and freak out about it until it is either dead, out of sight, or gone. I love this little girl who has woken up more than once from naps crying with paralyzed fear over a spider on the wall in her room. I wouldn't have ever seen it myself. I just have to kill them and then she is back to normal chatting away about something else.

Fun with Abby...

This one is my favorite! It's Abby as she really is. She is such a peaceful, fun loving girl. She has told me three times today at random "I love you." She said it going into the pool after I told her she got to swim and not just watch Madison's lessons, at the store, and in the car. I just love this little ball of love!!!!

She is so silly. I don't remember why she did this, but this captures the feel of the shoot.

To get this smile, I had to pretend to fall off the chair I was standing on. I did it on accident and first and got a laugh, so I had to keep on doing it. It was just one of those things and if it works I keep on doing it:-)

Abby has such a hard time sitting a watching Madison do her swim lessons so I took her and we had fun taking pictures. She was so fun and loved to laugh. We had a good time. It amazing how diferrently my children act when they have one on one time. Abby was so cooperative and loved the attention. When I took her with Madison she was defiant, silly, wouldn't even look at the camera, crazy like. This was fun and a bonding time for us.

Sink or Swim:-)

Madison's buddy who takes lessons at the same time.

Abby was so sad she wasn't in lessons. She practically cried the entire time. We just didn't have the funds and I'm not sure she would get much out of it anyway. She insisted on wearing her swim suit to the pool and wore her goggles around the house all morning. Poor girl. She did much better the second day and we decided to get a pass so she can go more often:-)



Madison loved it and was in heaven as you can tell. Mesia is taking lessons too and Madison feels she is just like Mesia now. She just loves being in the water. She is doing well and listens most of the time.

Quote from Becca's blog!!! I love it!

“You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experiences.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley