Little Laughs!

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's off to bed we go.




Hunter Power!!!

True Confessions

Okay so here is the 1st true confession. Meet Pip. Well the truth is this is the 2nd Pip. First let me begin by telling you that Pip is a guinea pig that Uncle Dan gave the kids. He had it and did not like it so he actually tried to give it to me for my birthday, then he offered me money to take it off his hands, then he finally talked to the right man and Mr. Hunter wanted Pip. Hunter loves his guinea pig Blackie. His 1st guniea pig passed away this summer so Blackie is his new best friend. I was not so sure about having another guinea pig because we already have two dogs, a rabbit and then the one. But the kids wanted Pip so he came home with us this summer. Well while we were in Utah for Uncle Dan's funeral Pip passed away. It was very sudden and we have no idea why. (Actually, I believe that he is in heaven chasing Uncle Dan right now and laughing about it. :>) Anyway, Jay and I could not bring ourselves to tell the kids that something else they love had gone to heaven. They have lost two great grandmother's , a guinea pig, and then an Uncle. So Elizabeth and I went in search of a Pip replacement. This is the best we could do in the amount of time we had. And how did he get to Utah you ask...... and why is he a slightly darker color you question..... Here are the answers. Pip climbed into Grandpa Kearl's suitcase and ended up in Utah so we had to take him back. At least that is my story and I am sticking to it. And Hunter has the answer to the other question. (Glad I did not have to figure that one out too.) The reason his color is darker is because since he was in the suitcase for days he did not get enough oxygen. And due to the lack of oxygen his brown color is now darker. That kid may be too smart for even me. What am I going to do when he is older? Too cute. As for the kids they are just happy to have Pip back home with Blackie safe and sound.

As for confession number 2. This one is harder for me. We just found out that Jay is being deployed from around Thanksgiving until mid Jan. So he is going to miss all of the holidays and Tanner's birthday. Again, I cannot bring myself to tell the kids yet. They are so worried with Uncle Dan being gone that every time Daddy leaves he will not come home. So we are going to wait until closer to his leaving and break the news. But let me say, being a parent is the hardest job I have ever had. When you have to watch the pain and sadness that the little ones suffer you want to do anything to make it better and sometimes that is harder than one might think.

On a funny note. Since Hunter broke his right arm writing has been a real challenge for him this week. He brought home his spelling list that he had tried to write. I was having him spell the words out loud for me. When I got to the 2nd to last word I giggled and had to have him tell me what it said... the word I saw was sex.... actual word set. Have a great day and keep smiling!!!!

Fun at Grandma's

Aren't kids the best!! Despite the reason we went to Utah, our kids managed to have so much fun how could you not smile and love life. They are able to remind us that even though we suffer loss and disappointment that we can find some happiness each day. While in Utah we saw Fall, summer and yes, Winter. Because we live in AZ, my kids do not get to see snow. So they loved this. They did not wait to get shoes, socks, jackets or gloves on, they just jumped into the white wonderland.





Who would have thought that a little snow could make for an entire day of fun. How I miss the days of no worries!!!





We had sleepovers, movie time, play time, and naturally some "loud" times. I am always so amazed at how when we go to Grandma's house that her walls just seem to bend and we can fit so many people in. Family is so very important and a huge support system. I am so proud of the way our family rallied together to get through this difficult time. Extended family included. My father in law flew to Az to help Jay drive the kids over to Utah for me. They did the trip in 2 days, with only a few minor bumps in the road.



They managed to keep all the shoes together at the hotel, but did lose the keys. They got up ready to leave and spent two hours searching to no avail. Luckily, Jay had a spare hidden so they were okay. We did eventually find them packed away safely in the suitcase. It was an adventure that Grandpa Kearl survived but I am not sure he wants to relive it again anytime soon. LOL.

Uncle Adam got sucked into driving back with me and the kids. It was a great roadtrip. We left at 4:00 am and only forgot his phone that we did have to go back for and my day planner. Which was not found until about six hours into the trip. So there was no going back for that. And let me tell you, that is something that no mother of six should ever lose. I have been lost all week and having to call mom to find out what appointments I have and that I am missing. Oh well, not too bad. The drive home was pretty uneventful.... thank goodness. It took us 14 hours but with Adam along for the ride it went very fast.

We are now home and trying to catch up from being gone for two weeks. It has been a busy time and I think that today we are finally getting a handle on things. We also finally get to get a cast on Hunter this afternoon so that will be good.

Before I end this post I must say how very proud I am of my sister Elizabeth. Through all of this she has remained so strong. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to lose your husband. And through it all she has held her head high, been positive, gracious, kind, and truly an example to me. I know that she has her weak moments and that times ahead will be hard but I just hope that "when I grow up" I can be just like my little sister. I love you Elizabeth and I cannot wait for you to come to AZ for Thanksgiving. We will have a blast. And I also must pay tribute to my wonderful parents. They never think twice about jumping in and offering a place to stay or getting on a plane to help with surgeries etc... They always come with open arms and smiles on their faces. Watching their kids come together was truly a tribute to them. They clearly did a great job raising us because no one skipped a beat to join forces this past two weeks. I only hope that I can be as good of an example and parent as they were and continue to be for us!!!

Are you Kidding?!

Well we were supposed to be heading back to AZ tomorrow morning. However, it is not in the cards for us. :> We went to the cemetery to visit our great grandmother's gravesite and the kids were being kids. The only one that was truly minding mommy was Bryan. He was minding his own business running around. The other five were climbing on the cannon after being told not to for the second time. Tanner started to fall he took down Jayson, Nathan, and Hunter. Jayson and Tanner lucked out without a scratch. Nathan bonked his gorgeous little head and thought he broke his arm. Hunter did in fact break his arm. I loaded them up in the van and headed back to the grandparents house to drop the others off.

I have to say that Hunter is a brave little man. He cried until we left in the car but once we got to the hospital he was the smiling little guy. No one could believe he could have possibly broken the bone. But the x-rays showed in fact it is broken. So they put him under to straighten it out. He cried and screamed but they assured me that since he was sleeping he would remember nothing. Too bad they could not have done something for me because that was something that I will never forget. They did have to offer me a seat. :> So here is to my little man that was so very brave. We will get it cast next week after getting home. So we get to spend one more day in Utah just to allow a little healing and make sure that he will not struggle too much on the long drive. Rest well everyone.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Hug everyone you know!!!

I am sorry for not updating sooner. I am just quickly going to let you know that we have decided that Canada is not in our immediate future. There were too many unknowns and so we have decided it is in the best interest of our family to stay put for now.

I also want to quickly post to everyone to take a moment today and hug those around you and tell them how much you love them. Let them know how much they mean to you. Remember that silly little fights are not worth holding onto. This past weekend my dear sweet sister lost her husband. I immediately flew to Utah and have been here trying to help her organize and survive. Her wonderful little girls ages 8 and 6 need your prayers. Please take a moment to pray for them. I will post more later. Elizabeth and girls we love you very much and will always be here for you. Dan..... you will always be remembered for how much you loved all of your girls and that wonderful "nervous" laugh when we got together. We will meet again!!!

To Move or Not to Move

That is the question of the hour. We have had a very interesting situation arise in the last two days. Jay got a call from the guy in charge of assignments. They want him to move to Cold Lake Canada for a three year assignment. When he told me on Thursday I thought okay, this summer we will talk about it. Well the details came in later in the day. They want him there in Dec. , Jan at the latest. It would be a three year assignment, however after one year we would leave Cold Lake and relocate to a different place in Canada above New York. The worst part is they wanted an answer on Friday. We convinced them to give us the weekend. So we are in the midst of frantically talking to everyone from realtors, to commanders , to schools and teachers. We have come up with many pros and cons and are still at this point undecided. I find that part of me thinks this would be a great, fun new adventure. And yet another part of me, the part of me that finally settled this week, not wanting to move again already. I just got the kids in dance, yoga, and martial arts. Oh well, we will let you know what we decide.

We are also very lucky this weekend to have some great friends in town for a visit. The Goodman's are here. We met them in NC. Katie was an answer to our prayers when we arrived back with the babies. She came in four hours a day and watched the babies so that I could have time with the older boys. I honestly do not know how we would have survived without them. We have been lucky to have kept in touch and see each other about once a year. Rick has just become a new member of the Thunderbird team. Yeah!! It is great to see them and spend time catching up.

Keep us in your prayers as we make the decision on what would be in the best interest for our family. We will let you know what we decide.