"Oh my heck Lynette........everybody hold on"

December 27, 2010 is a day we won't forget. I rolled our van on its side 4 miles west of Meacham, Oregon around 6:30pm on our way home from spending Christmas and attending Andrew's farewell(going on a mission to Brazil) with Joshua's family in western Washington . I won't bother you with my three page journal entry but I do want to mention just a few tender mercies that still bring tears to my eyes when I think about this day and the days following.

No one was hurt or injured in any way

Good Samaritans who stopped(one of which was a mechanic from La Grande)and helped and took us in to a hotel in La Grande.

Having Joshua's cell phone on him(didn't have to find it like we did mine)

Rear window blowing out not in so there wasn't glass inside the van

No losses, except for a damaged DVD case(DVD is fine) and some earings of Joshalyn's
(all replaceable)

Finding Joshua's Duty to God coin that has been lost for a few years and out of nowhere turns up(I don't recommend finding something by getting in a wreck)

Kind waitress at Pizza Hut in La Grande who let us stay in the restaurant all afternoon who brought out books for the kids to read and activities to keep them busy since we were basically homeless with no rental cars to get home to Boise

Kind man at the hotel with gorilla tape who helped Joshua cover up the rear window

Joshua having cash and change on him to use at the hotel for laundry and snacks

Willing friends and family members to do what they could to help - your prayers got us home and in our wrecked van even.........AMAZING!


So here are a few pictures of the van......................apparently taking pictures of our wreck wasn't on our mind because these are the only ones we have and they were taken after we got home to Boise. But trust me the inside of the van was quite a site and the kids got a laugh at the coins and cards and papers stuck to windows from milkshakes we had bought in Pendleton just before the accident, not to mention all of the luggage that was tossed to and fro.

Funny Things Kids Say

I was reminiscing and looking through the scrapbooks for each of the kids that Lynette has created and I saw a section in each called Forget-Me-Nots. There is some funny stuff in there and since I got a kick out of them I thought you might also, I thought I would share.
Joshalyn:
For some reason she would always call the lawn mower "Daddy's Grass".
In January 2004 she was 3 1/2 years old she said, "We have to say 'Excuse Me' when we fart because our bums don't know how to talk."
Lynette nursed each of the kids so one day when Hyrum was hungry and crying Joshalyn said, "Mommy, Hyrum is hungry. Can you feed him with your shirt?"
Hyrum:
He was eating a hot dog one day and told Lynette "My hot dog needs a napkin around it because it doesn't want to burn me.
One day in June 2005 I had honked the horn on the van and he said to me "Daddy, I don't want to you Honk, It scares my ears.
Probably my favorite from Hyrum is this... One day again in June of 2005 we were visiting with my dad (the kids call him Papa), and Papa asked Hyrum what his shirt said. He replied, "Mariners lost again."
Shadrach:
This kid is really funny to me. I just love him. One day in August of 2007 Shad was 2 1/2 he told Hyrum "You have a brain in your hair."
One day Lynette was talking to him but can't remember what was going on but on asking him a question Shad replied, "I can't! Daddy is going to be in trouble at me."
When looking at his scrapbook of baby pictures he said "I got back big and then I got back little again."
Kayla:
One day in February of 2009 (Kayla was 1 1/2) I was rocking her to sleep when she looked at me and said "the clock is heavy." I don't know what that was supposed to mean but she promptly fell asleep.
When someone was holding her and she felt like she was falling she would say, "I'm heavy! I'm heavy."
She told Lynette one day, "My tongue hurts. It needs a bath."
One day when she was upset about something and Shad wanted to talk she said, "Don't talk to me Shad, I'm crying" I think she is starting way early for that.
When I brush their teeth, I always brush their tongues and I do that last. So one day I told Kayla to stick out her tongue so I could brush it. She said "you haven't brushed my cheese yet." I just laughed so hard. She calls the different parts of brushing her Ah, Cheese, and tongue.
Apparently when Lynette was cleaning up a mess one day Kayla said, "Mom, if you make a mess it's my job to clean it up." Too bad all the kids don't feel that way huh? Lynette says that Kayla really means it too. She gets upset if Lynette doesn't let her clean up those messes.

I know to most of you this isn't a big deal since you weren't a part of them but hopefully they will make you remember the times when your kids, nephews, grandkids, etc said the funniest things you ever heard. I hope you get a good laugh out of it.

Have fun and enjoy the little things or as Toby Keith calls them "the curtain climbers".

Joshalyn and the Violin

Joshalyn has decided she wants to play the violin in orchestra this year at her school. She has only had the instrument three weeks and hasn't learned to play yet except for a friend of ours who plays the violin and showed her a few of the notes and taught her "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She was so excited that she couldn't put it down and taught herself "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "I Am a Child of God." She has a good ear and I believe will do well this year.

Sorry about the lighting. It really is Joshalyn even if it is hard to see her.

First Day of School

The kids' first day of school was on August 25th.  Joshalyn  is in 5th grade, Hyrum in 2nd and Shadrach in Kindergarten.  They are all very excited about school and love their  teachers.  We are looking forward to another great year.

Joshalyn's 10th Birthday

Joshalyn turned 10 on August 7th.  I can hardly believe that she is 10 and starting 5th grade.  She is a very happy girl and had a fun birthday.  She wanted to make this phone cake shaped in the number 10 so she picked out the colors and candies and I helped her decorate it.  It was fun explaining to her that we used to have rotary phones like these that had cords on them.  It was hard for her to fathom that we had to stay in one place or could only walk as far as the cord would allow when talking on it.   I wish I had an old one to show her because it took some explaining the way we had to dial a number as well.  Anyway she had a great day and she received lots of nice and fun things.

E.R. for Independence Day

Our good friends Jim and Anita Smith always invite us out to their place for their annual Independemce Day Celebration in Fruitland. If you recall last year Hyrum was severely burned on his foot from a bamboo sparkler(needless to say we didn't buy those this year). So we are out having a BBQ, the kids are playing on the slip-n-slide and Shad wraps up in his towel and heads up the stairs on their deck and he falls on his face and of course his hands don't catch him because they are wrapped in his towel. He gets up and says he's okay and the next thing we see is blood gushing out of his lip. Anita picked him up and brought him inside and we put ice on it and checked it out. Sure enough his tooth went through the inside and the outside of his lip hit the stairs so the pressure of that caused it to split open. It almost went all the way through. Jim and Joshua rushed him to the E.R. in Ontario. He was a tough kid. He sat there very still and watched the doctor put 2 stitches on the inside of his mouth and 6 stitches on the outside and didn't move a muscle. Jim gave him 1,000 man points and Jim's son who is Hyrum's age gave him 1million man points for being so tough. They were only gone about an hour and a half and when they got back we set off fireworks and Shad didn't miss a beat. He was out doing sparklers and snaps and snakes and the whole bit as if nothing happened. We had quite the eventful 4th, but realize it could have been much worse. He got his stitches out on Thursday and it looks like he will have little or no scarring. This kid has been to the E.R. 3 times in his 5 short years of life. We hope it is the last.

Kayla turned 3

Yes it's true our baby is 3 years old believe it or not. She doesn't look to happy in some of the pictures, but it is because she doesn't like her picture taken usually. She had a fun birthday and I thought it was sweet that each of her siblings made a card for her and read it to her. I made her a doll cake just like my Aunt Becky did every year for me growing up. In fact my Aunt Becky sent me a picture recently of me with two doll cakes she made me when I was 3. Fun memories!!