Our beloved Curly Dog.

Our dear old Curly Dog.

Doing what Curly did best. Last spring.

This was our last camp out with Curly. This hike was pretty hard on him, but he loved it.

An old family photo back in the spring of 2007.

Izzie and Curly.

Several years ago when we built the tree house. He was supervising.

This was a camping trip that we took in the summer of 2007. He was always trying to keep an eye out for the kids.

Or beloved Curly dog has passed away today. He has been a part of our family since Anna was about 2 years old. We have had him for 10 years. It was his time to go, he was sick and miserable. Now he is in a better place. Three of children have not known life without him.

Curly had the stuffiest personality. I would have to compare him to an English butler. He loved the kids unconditionally. He always knew about what time the kids would get home from school and wait for them. Curly wasn't the most active dog on the planet, but where ever the kids were, he was right there with them. He didn't like Troy wrestling with the kids and would growl at him. About 3 weeks before I gave birth to my kids Curly would follow me everywhere, even the bathroom. I was always tripping over him. He sensed that something was going to happen and was protecting me. What was truly amazing is when I had My last, Olivia. Without fail Curly started to be my shadow 3 weeks before she was born. I was thinking he was starting this behavior early because I was not due for another 6 weeks. She ended up being born 3 weeks early. Curly knew, I don't know how he did. Then after the babies are born he would sleep under the crib or where ever they were. If they made the tiniest squeak he would come and get us, his tail wagging.

He was scared of the dark, lightning, fireworks and rain storms. Anytime he got scared the kids would all make sure that Curly was comfortable and snuggled up with someone. These past few weeks since Curly had been sick the kids were always touching and talking to him to make sure he was OK. He got really sick these past couple days. Troy was going to come home from work today to take him in to be put down. I took the kids to a picnic at a park across town so they would not be here when Troy came to get Curly. by the time that Troy got here Curly had passed away. I am thankful he is no longer in pain and suffering. We will miss him more that I can even say. We have already shed a lot of tears. All of us except for Soren who wanted to know if he could be the one to bury Curly.

We have 2 new little puppies that are keeping us occupied. Izzie seems to know what is going on. She has been laying around today a little sad. We can never replace Curly because he was a one of a kind dog. The kids best friends. They will have many dogs over the years, but there will only be one Curly.

Young Marines go swimming and more.

Right before they left.

The Sandoval county Sheriff let them all take rides on the boat.

Ella getting done with her swimming test.

Anna was complaining how cold the water was so Gunny Glass decided to help her get used to the water by throwing her in.

Sunday I took Soren, Logan and Olivia up to play in the lake. Olivia did not want to get out of the water. She is such a little fish.

She had food all over her sweet little face. Typical.

At the end of the encampment the had a flag retiring ceremony. Anna helped raise the flag, she was so proud of herself. We were proud of her too. When I went up on Sunday I left Logan there with the group. He is the one without the uniform. By the time they all got home on Monday they were tuckered out. I have to just sit down when they all get home because they all have lots of stories to tell, most of them funny. I love how they come home with such respect for the country and such a sense of accomplishment. The leader are all so wonderful, I can't ask for more than that. Troy is able to be one of the volunteers and has such a great time.

Meet Mollly and Fred Dunow.

Fred is the little boy pinning his sister down. He looks more like a coon hound.

Molly is the little butterscotch that is being bullied by her brother. Get used to it little girl.

This is Fred's Elvis look.

Oh my lucky stars, is there nothing in this world cuter that sleeping puppies?

Troy and I went and picked up Fred and Molly yesterday. The kids were so excited they could hardly stand it. Of course there have already had battles over who is going to hold them. They are both about 8 weeks old and half siblings. Both their moms are Labs and they have the same father which is a Coon Hound. Fred looks more like his dad and Molly looks more like her mom. Izzie, who is our golden retriever mix dog is so happy to have other dogs to play with. It has been fun to watch her with them. She was fixed when she was a puppy and has never had a litter herself but she is very motherly toward the puppies. Curly, our Shihtzu mix is indifferent toward them. He is getting old and cranky and doesn't even want the kids to play with him. He is always hiding and sleeping. When the puppies go near him he growls telling them to leave him alone. This is one of the reasons I wanted to get another dog. Our family is huge dog lovers. We love having them around us all the time, to play and snuggle. They have become companions to the kids and Troy and I. I am afraid that Curly will not be with us in the near future and wanted the kids attention on something else. Also Izzie needed someone rambunctious to play with her.

I think having dogs are wonderful for the kids most of all. It teaches them compassion for other living things and responsibility. It also keeps my kids active. With Izzie we have had to walk her everyday so it makes us get out and active. This fall I will be taking a class to teach Izzie how to train with a backpack. Hopefully when Fred and Molly get older they will be able to learn that also. As a family we love to camp and hike so this will be a plus.

I know that they are going to grow up so fast. I am relishing this time that they are babies because there is nothing cuter in the whole wide world than puppies. Oh my Lawzie I am in love with these babies. Last night they cried a lot because it was their first night away from home. I felt so bad for them. The only thing I am not looking forward to is house training them. So far so good, no accidents. Yay! If anyone has some really good advice on this, let me know.

My most embarrassing moment in my life.

When I saw these pictures I realized that she was a month old when this happened. Boy was I pathetic.

This is the story about my most embarrassing experience EVER. I had been a couple of weeks since the birth of my third child and I was trying to get ready for her blessing. My life was a mess due to a new born who wanted to nurse all the time. I was desperately trying to get my life have some sort of routine, no such luck. There is no such thing as a routine with 3 small children, especially for a mother who has no organizing skills. The day before her blessing I found myself trying to fit into anything in my closet. I was getting so desperate to find something; I was temped to wear one of my husband’s suits. My husband found me face down on my bed sobbing my eyes out complaining how huge I still was, how I would never be the same, none of my clothes fit me, although I was in love with the size of my breasts. The only time in my life when I have perfect breasts is when I am nursing. My wonderful husband hugged me and told me he loved me and my beautiful body that just gave birth to his daughter and that he really loved my breasts. He calmed me down and told me to run to town and find something for me to wear.

I fed my daughter so my husband wouldn’t have a screaming baby to take care of while I was gone, and then I was off. For me, the first week after I have a baby is pretty tuff on my body. I sweat profusely, my breasts are HUGE, I leak milk everywhere and I am in pain. I ran into Old Navy and I mean ran. All I could think about was trying to get home before my little new baby needed me again. I grabbed an armful of clothes and was off to the dressing rooms. After trying on what seemed like a thousand things and I couldn’t find anything to fit me right, I threw on my clothes and my coat and went out of the dressing rooms. As we all know at Old Navy they have a member of their crew at the dressing rooms to help if you need them. The one at the dressing room that day happened to be a teenage boy. I handed him all the clothes that didn’t fit me and looked up to his face and he was a red as a beat. “Um Mam, I think you forgot to put something on” he said. I looked down at my self and ran back into the dressing room and started to cry. I had walked out of the dressing room with out my shirt. All I had on was my pants, shoes, coat and nursing bra. The thing about the nursing bra was that I was so engorged that I couldn’t snap the top closed and the flaps were just hanging there. To top it off, I had big ol’ cotton nursing pads stuffed in my bra. That poor boy probably didn’t know what to think of that freak who just flashed him.

I called my husband while I was sitting there sobbing in the dressing room and told him about the whole terrible experience. I had no idea how I was going to get out of there without anybody noticing me. All of those dang employees have little headsets to talk to each other and the whole dang store was having a good laugh. Sure enough, by the time I composed myself, checked myself in the mirror a thousand times to make sure I had all my clothes on I walked to the front of the store with every employee watching me. I cried the whole way home and for the next two months. I stuffed my bloated body into an old dress of mine for the blessing because there was no way in hell I was going to go back into a store anytime soon. To this day I have serious issues about trying clothes on in stores and that was 9 years ago.

I laugh about it now and tell this story to a lot of new moms. They usually sit there thinking “ I’m glad I am not that pathetic.” I have had two more beautiful children since then and always kept my closet stocked with “Big Clothes.” Being a mother of 5 is not easy but I would never change one thing about the whole experience. Maybe I would change the fact that everything in my house is sticky but other than that…….

Memories of childhood.

I just recently connected to a friend on Facebook that I haven't seen or talked to for about 20 years or so. Heidi Elledge and I spent our tender young years tearing up our neighborhoods. I was so excited to hear from her I could hardly contain myself. It was rather a surprise because I had been trying to locate her for several years now. Raising children of my own now and seeing the friendships they are forming has brought back memories of my own special bonds that I had with friends. Heidi and I were very close to eachother. I had my very first sleepover at her house. She had two other sisters and it was a lot of shrieking and giggling going on. I thought it was amazing that she had so much GIRL stuff at her house to play with. I had 6 brothers and 1 sister, so there was more boy stuff that girl stuff. One of the most memorable things we did was riding down the "hill" in the red wagon. The hill I am talking about is not some "little"out of the way hill. It's the main road into the neighborhood and it is steep. I am amazed that we were not hit by a car or had any bones broken.

I can't remember how old we were when her parents divorced the they moved away. It was still in grade school. I was devastated that she had left. I saw her over the years at different functions, but have always thought of her over the years and wondered how her life had turned out. I saw her Dad at a restaurant a few days before I got married. My Mom had always stayed in contact with Heidi's Mom so I had updates about her through that.

I've had kids and stayed busy trying to raise them. I am using the word TRYING very loosely. Always thinking about my best childhood friend. I am thrilled to know that she is happy and healthy and getting on in life. Now that we have reconnected I hope that we will have more chances to visit and hopefully see one another some day. Thanks for the memories Heidi!

Wellness Wednesday.

During the school year the kids have a wellness Wednesday were they run laps around the field. The class that runs the most laps gets that weeks flag or prize. The P.E. teacher started this to improve the kids health and outlook towards life. Well, I am going to start my own wellness Wednesday. I am going to do something in my house to make me happy and feel good about myself. I have piles of laundry to do, I finally did the breakfast dishes and I don't even want to think about the kids bathroom. As a stay at home mom, it gets all very overwhelming. For me I need flowers and music to stay sane. I could have the house crumbling around me and be content if I just have a few fresh flowers. They usually are from the local market or from my yard, it doesn't matter. Next is the music. I have something on all the time. Of course there is Michael Buble, Sarah Brightman, Celtic Woman and Josh Groban just to name a few. It makes everything easier to deal with, even the kids are happier with music on in the house.



Take some time today to put a little light into your home and soul. Put on some good music, sit back and relax for 5 minutes. For me it is more like 23 seconds before I have some little elbow poking me and little knobby knees all over me. I don't mind because that is what my life is all about. Sticky walls and door knobs, crusty dried oatmeal on the table, muddy shoes being tracked through the house, pee all over the toilet seat, and gum in the carpet. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I do need a little bit of flowers and music in there too.

Happy Birthday to me, a very scary one.

This is the day Mom and Dad brought me home from the hospital. Grandma Sorensen came to help Mom out.

The front of the card the girls made.

Everyone signed it including Izzie with a slobbery kiss.

The roses Logan cut for me. This is a big deal for a 13 year old boy to do!

The scary part is waking up to this. Just kidding, I am just not used to it yet. I never will.

I don't want him to ever do this again. I want his hair back!

I can't see, the glare-helllllp my eyes.

Troy had been asking me lately if I would shave his head for him. He has always hated his hair and wishes daily that he would go bald. I wish daily that my hair would grow thicker and faster. So not fair! So last night to the surprise to all our kids I shaved Troys head. Olivia thinks it is so funny. I think he looks down right scary. Troy is a tiny 6'5"tall. Sometimes he does not think that he has the capacity to scare people. These photos will prove it otherwise.

Also it is my birthday to day. Yay me. I got out of bed this morning just to have all my kids scream at me telling me to get back in bed. Troy had gotten up early and made fresh from the oven banana bread. Yummy! The kids all made me a card, even Izzie licked it for me. Notice the marker running and smeared, that would be Izzie spit. Gotta love that gal. Logan went out in front and cut me fresh roses to put on the tray. I had a very nice breakfast in bed thanks to my wonderful family. I am feeling a little on the yucky crappy awful side today so I have spent most the day in bed. Good thing it is my birthday.

34 years ago I was born to parents who already had 1 girl and 5 boys. My parents are the best in the world and I can only hope that I turn out to be just like them. Thanks Mom and Dad for bringing me into this world.

I think my kids are cute.

Our little Miss Muffet, Olivia.

The top picture totally captures who Soren is.

Our Ella Enchanted who has the most enchanting blue eyes.

Anna is going to knock all the boys down with those dimples.

On the first day of the Cub Scout Day Camp my 4 younger kids all went to a room that was for the kids of the helpers. Troy and I were the helpers, thus the need for someone to watch our kids. Logan was also helping with the Cub Scouts. Carla from the Rivers Edge Ward took these pictures of the kids. She had so many crafts for them to do and keep them busy. They loved it. Needless to say, we ended up coming home with a lot of hand made kid crafts.

Happy Independence Day!

This morning the kids sang for the ward breakfast. The sang two songs, one was "My Country tis of Thee". Soren taught them the hand movements to the song last Sunday. It was so cute. Olivia was excited to sing with the big kids this year. There just was not a lot of kids this year, it was kind of sad. The kids that were there sang loud and proud!