Welcome Home, Uncle Ben!!

We have been anxiously waiting for this week to arrive. (Little) Uncle Ben returned this past Wednesday from serving a mission in Chile. In some ways it seems like he has been gone for years and in other ways, it seems like he just left. We have been so excited to have him home again and are so proud of him for serving so faithfully for 2 years!

Tuesday night, the kids all made posters to hold up at the airport. 

 They were proud of their signs. Especially Gwen. Adam's sign says, "You missed my first game!!" (His first soccer game was the evening before Ben got home.)

 Some of the Welcoming Committee. 

We waited for what seemed like forever to see Ben. There were like 15 missionaries coming home, so the airport was busy!

 Such a happy site! She was a happy Mama to have her boy back!!

 Gwennie was just a baby when Ben left. She wasn't too sure about him at first, but now she loves him!

 Ben says Mattman has changed the most since he has been gone. He isn't used to seeing Matt with hair. 

 Adam was so excited to see Ben again! He is excited to have another sports buddy around. Adam is our sensitive boy and cried when he hugged Uncle Ben. These 2 boys look so much alike!

 Meeting Caleb. 

Caleb just wanted to grab Ben's mission tag.

 Tessa was shy, but happy to see Ben. 

 Gwen was tired of being at the airport and not in the mood for pictures. 

 Sometimes I feel like these brothers of mine are my own children. I am a protective big sissy and am so grateful they have all returned home to us safely. 

 He came home all grown up! He's a good looking Elder!

 We had to stop at In-n-Out for lunch on the way home. No one complained about that!

 They wasted no time we got back to Ma and Pa's house. Adam is so happy to have uncles to play with!

 Mommy got to go with some of the family to meet with the Stake President and participate in Ben being released from his mission. It was emotional as always, but I loved hearing his testimony and seeing the growth in him. I am so glad he was able to serve the whole 2 years, despite a lot of health problems. It was a hard 2 years for Ben, but they are 2 years he will never forget or regret!

 The boys never like this part. They take their picture off the missionary wall and Mom gets to remove their tag. 

 Dad got to remove the tag off of Ben's shirt. 

It was an emotional day for all of us and totally overwhelming and exhausting for Ben. But, we are so proud of him for serving so faithfully and we are so grateful to have him home with us again. We have a few years to gear up for our next missionary, which will be Adam. But this Mommy can't handle thinking about that yet. I know it will go by so fast!

Caleb's Surgery

Last week was a rough one for our Little Man. On Thursday, he had surgery up at Primary Children's Hospital. We've know this was coming for a while and we are glad it is finally over. When Caleb was born, he had what they call a High Scrotal Attachment or a Webbed Penis. Basically, his penis and his scrotum were too close together. So, the surgery was necessary so he can be a happy, functioning adult. 

Thankfully, the doctor we were referred to was wonderful and took good care of Caleb. Mommy was far more worried than anyone. The surgery itself didn't bother me, but knowing that he would be put to sleep and have a breathing tube made me nervous. 

He couldn't eat anything after midnight and his surgery was scheduled for 8:45am. Luckily he could care less about eating and so he was as pleasant as could be that morning. 

 The nurses took us back to the prep rooms and we got him washed down and changed and they took his vital signs and did some other assessing. He looked adorable in the little hospital clothes. 

 While we waited for the Surgeon and Anesthesiologist to come get Caleb, he watched Mickey Mouse and tried to eat his hospital tag. A productive morning for a 7 month old.

 It was awful to just hand him off to strangers and walk away. His surgery lasted about 45 minutes, but we didn't see him for a while after that . When we finally got to go to him, he was coming out of the anesthesia and was not a happy boy. He was screaming mad and there was no consoling him. The nurse said the mad part of his brain woke up, but nothing else. Mommy finally got him calmed down and back to sleep, but not before he kicked his IV out and bled all over everything....including Mommy.

 He woke up a while later after sleeping for a bit and getting some food. He was a bit groggy, but was happy and acting totally like himself. We were relieved and so grateful to have our happy boy with us again!

 The nurse gave him a little book as a prize and he LOVES it! It's his new favorite thing to eat. Thankfully his recovery has gone well. We have seemed to manage his pain fairly well and he has been good-other than not sleeping, but that's nothing new. 

I am so grateful for modern medicine and for skilled doctors and nurses who took such good care of us on Thursday. Most of all, I am thankful for 4 healthy kids. It was sad to sit in the waiting room with other parents that morning and listen to all the other surgeries taking place. Caleb's surgery was a minor one and we are grateful. Having a healthy family is something I hope we never take for granted.

Mommy's Night Out

Mommy got to sneak away for a bit on Wednesday night with all the the girls in the family to see Sheri Dew speak at UVU. Sheri Dew has always been one of my heroines. I want to be more like her!

She spoke on the importance of women being leaders and what qualities and attributes we need to be good leaders. It was an inspiring talk and I felt the power of her message. I felt a great responsibility to not only be a leader, but also to teach my daughters to be leaders. It was a great evening!

Mommy and Jodi

 Aunt Katy flew in for Spring Break and made it just in time for the event!

Ma, Aunt Katy, and Mommy

 Sheri Dew-one awesome and amazing lady!

St. Patrick's Day

The kids had no school on Monday and since Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, we decided to get crafty. The older 3 made some fun rainbow art with pots of gold at the end. And we made some mint truffles for their teachers.

 Gwen was totally annoyed when she realized her picture looked nothing like a rainbow.

 Caleb played happily and watched his big brother and sisters do their thing.

They decorated their treasure box for the Leprechaun to leave his treasure. Tessa even left him a note on the box.

 Our Leprechaun was super sneaky this year and hid the treasure box in the washing machine. 

 But he filled it with lots of fun things!

 He also left a big, green maze of ribbon all over the house.

 Adam and Tessa were up bright and early to see what had happened while they slept. They found their treasure box rather quickly!

 They went through all of their loot and then put it away so Gwen would be surprised when she woke up. 

 Caleb's first St. Patrick's Day was a pretty lame one. Mommy didn't even have anything green to dress him in. But he liked chomping on the green frisbee they got.

 We had rainbow pancakes for breakfast.

 We had yummy Ruben Sandwiches for dinner with green drinks. They kids tried out their silly straws they got from the Leprechaun.

Missionaries and March Madness

On Sunday evening, we had the Missionaries over for dinner. These Elders were from Mexico and Chile. We had fun talking to them about their countries and families. They told us after dinner that they liked being at our house because our kids were so well behaved. (They came on a good night!) They both wanted to hold Caleb so badly and they loved Gwen's nonsensical stories. 

 Since neither the kids or the Elders could go play soccer in the backyard, they opted for a game of Chess. 

 Monday night for our FHE activity, we filled out our March Madness brackets. Adam knew this was our activity and could hardly wait. I love him in this picture. He is so intense about his sports!

Daddy printed off all the team logo's for Tessa to make her bracket. She loved cutting and pasting her chart together. They are all being displayed on Adam's bedroom wall so he can keep track for everyone. He is not at all happy that we no longer have cable. He is dying to watch these games!