The way to a man's heart...

"The way to a mans heart is through his stomach", boy have I underestimated that statement, till recently. Brent loves new and different dishes I experiment with. Some people like to stick with the food they're familiar with, not Brent, he would rather have a new thing everyday. The best part is I seem to get the best compliments when I try something new, not just pertaining to food either. He gave me the best compliment the other day how I was the perfect woman and listed why, during another new dinner, of course. Now I know what to do when I'm feeling down...watch out Brent. :) We don't always have the same taste for food, he likes the more exotic stuff. A couple of days ago I made , a rather good, Greek Gyros and Salad. I'm always amazed with how simple these tasty recipes are, whether I stick it in the crock pot that morning or make it that night. Here are some of the meals we've had.

Swedish Crock-Pot

(this recipe is from 'Saving Dinners' cook book round steak strogonoff on wheat noodles with a side of steamed carrots and broccoli)

Penne alla Norma

(A delicious and simple Martha Steward recipe, that I got from Nikaela, with tomatoes, onions, eggplant, penne noodles, ricotta cheese and a side of garlic french bread)

Hazelnut Crusted Chicken with Gorgonzola Cheese
(This is a Rachel Ray recipe. ok so I used almonds instead, but this was a DELICIOUS meal! The chicken was so flavorful, esp with the sauce. I added Herb angel hair pasta with a spinach salad)

Chipotle Shrimp Taco with Avocado Salsa Verde

(A recipe I found online. Brent loved it. It's all homemade baby. We learned how to make tortillas at my mom's house the other day, the salsa is made from the recipe I got and after seasoning the shrimp Brent grilled them for me. Just assemble everything and Vwalah)

***To check out my new blog with more of our FAVORITE recipes click here***

He FIXES...She BREAKS

Brent is so good at fixing everything! I don't ever have to make a 'honey do' list because he goes and fixes is right when I mention a problem. Procrastination is something I'm working on, but getting better with such a great example from my husband. Anyway, Brent fixed the brakes on out '02 Ford Focus yesterday, Porter was very excited (he loves LOVES cars) and was going around saying "Daddy fix car!!". So we drive to ASU (our hour commute) and everything is working great, yeah Brent. Before I drop him off he realized he had left his phone at home, uh oh. I get about 1/4 of a mile away, and am about to turn left onto Rurul from University (very busy area) when car stops excelerating and stops, but wait the gas tank is over half full. I, the mechanical genious that I am, put the car in park turn the key and push on the gas repeating several times. Nothing. Not really sure what to do, in the middle of heavy traffic, two kids in the back, no way to get a hold of Brent and it's getting hotter and hotter, since the AC is now off. I call my dad (who is always ready to drop anything anytime to give someone a hand, esp me, or that's what it feels like :) ) and is on the other side of town but heads over to my rescue. Sweet Michelle is also on her way to pick us all up. I have by hazard lights on but am extremely surprised how long it takes for someone to ask if I needed help. I mean it was a good 5-10 mins, but I had not gotten ready, since I had to pack the family up in 15 min to get out the door, so I was a little embarrassed to have someone stop. He and his friend told me I had a ton of gas leaking and not to start the car. Great. They went and parked their car and then walked over to the middle of the street to see how they could help. I was very relieved since I didn't want to juggle both boys accross the steet. The girl grabbed Porter and I went and got Mason out. Someone else joined us by now and said he could help push the car. Boy was it hot outside! So the two guys went over and decided it was too dangerous with how much gas was everywhere. One had a similar thing happen to him recently and said DPS had to come out and then the fire department to check it out. Soon Michelle got there, we transferred the kids and then the cop showed up. He got my information and called for the fire department. Then the fire department showed up followed by dad. They stopped traffic, moved the car to a parking lot and stopped the leak. The firefighters (michelle was excited they were there) then cleaned up the gasoline, asked if I was ok and then left. The cop stayed till I had the tower on his way, helped us move the car again and then said goodbye. I'm sure that was definitly not an exciting part of his day but it sure goes down as that in by book. I finally got a hold of Brent online and we got it fixed. 8 hours and $500 later we were on our way home! Never assume it will be just an ordinary day. THANKS Everyone for being there for us. We love you all!

Mason LOVES that bunny!

We go over to the Curtis home once a week and the boys just love the newest addition to the family...their bunny. It's so soft and fun to follow. Mason just cuddles up to it like it's his blankey. Well, the other day I went to my car to get the diaper bag and when I came back in Mason was in the cage with the bunny. He fit. I took a picture with my phone and sent it to people. Heidi pointed out that you can tell your a mother when you go for the camera before your child...so true

ABC's

Porter loves his ABC's! I'm such a proud mommy. A while back we got Porter an ABC book and ABC bath foam letters. He also loves his ABC Signing Time movie. He knows all the letters (and has for quite some time now) and loves pointing them out. For a couple months now he's loved finding the letters in his hands (sign language). It's so funny to watch, he'll wiggle his fingers and then all of a sudden say "B..B...it's a B, I found it", or whatever the letter is that he finds that time. He'll also help us shape our fingers just right to match the letter he has made. What a smart boy!

**Can you find the hidden message he wants to share with you?

A mothers intuitin...or maybe just a coincidence

I was refreshing my mothering knowledge by reading and something caught my eye that I actually told Brent, thinking how weird it was. A couple days later we were having dinner with the missionaries and I was trying to sooth, my normally very content, Mason, when I looked down and noticed the top of his middle toe was very red. Turns out, that was what I had just read, to physically check your baby if he is fussy because there was a mother who found one of her long hairs around her child's toe and after removing it he went right to sleep. I thought it odd at the time, but was just what I needed to know since it was so tight and we couldn't see that it was a hair till we really started digging, even made it bleed a little. It turned purple and somehow we got it out and within a few days his little toe was back to normal.

Medical Mysteries and Summer of Surgeries

We have had quite time as of late with doctors and hospitals. First we have our medical mysteries of Porter and Mason. Porter started it off with all his spots. Mind you he's already had the Chicken Pox, but one day these red spots started appearing all over his body. They didn't seem to hurt or bother him except when he saw them. Small scratches and bug bits seemed to really react to it too, they just got huge. It wasn't scabs or pimples, just spots. I took him to the doctor and the Nurse Practitioner brought in a few more doctors, including an epidermal specialist, but no one could figure out what it was. They ordered several tests but everything came back normal. They took pictures to document it and had me come back several times but with no new information. Was a mystery and will always be a mystery.

Now for Mason's mystery. Mason was sick with a high fever and red eyes for 3 days, then broke out in a rash. The same signs and symptoms for measles and there happened to be an outbreak in Tucson and crazy enough our health insurance called with a generic message to immunize the kids for measles right when he was breaking out. I called the doctor and they said to meet behind the office. The doctor (who has seen and been around measles in Africa all the time) met us at a picnic table and said it looked like measles. So a nurse came out and drew blood. They then contacted the Department of Health who sent the head of Epidemiology to our house within 30 min to talk to us for 2 and 1/2 hours about where we had been the recently (where it could have been spread) and to talk about the seriousness of a measles outbreak in the U.S. where there hasn't been one in years. It took a while telling him everyone we were in contact with because of course, because of Murphey's Law, it had been a busy 4 days. We had visited out of state relatives, had a big family dinner, Nana's funeral, Stake Conference and overnights at both sides of our families. The tests ended up coming back negative , but then they wanted to be sure so they sent a nurse from Coolidge to Mesa to draw more blood. She was unsuccessful so they drove Mason and I to Phoenix to the clinic there . It all seemed like this top secret government operation. It came back negative again. All that work for nothing. Just glad he's ok.

On to the Surgeries. It was April 19, 2008. Brent was out on a quading trip with his dad when I got this call from him telling me that Brent was in an accident, they were at the hospital in Eager. He said it was his Spleen and would call me once they knew anything. He let me talk to Brent which was such a relief. Next thing I heard they were flying him in a small plane (just for him, costing $30,000) to Sky Harbor Airport so an ambulance could talk him to Good Samaritan Hospital. I got to the hospital and was met by his mom and aunt, Lisa, and uncle, Mark. We got to see him briefly rolled by, once he got there with the ambulance and then a few minutes later Mark and a friend we able to give him a blessing. He didn't look bad on the outside but I could tell he was hurting internally. He motioned for a kiss a few times and would hold my hand reassuring me he was okay, which was really sweet. His mom and I stayed through the surgery in the waiting area, which seemed like forever. Finally the trauma surgeon came out to talk to us, he said that they were able to get the internal bleeding to stop and did end up having to take out the spleen, it was obliterated. His other organs were checked while they were in there and everything looked fine. There was one minor complication concerning scar tissue between his bladder and ureter preventing them to place a normal catheter. He ended up calling one of his Urologist buddies (we later learned that all the urologists at that hospital were on strike, for about 3weeks, because of pay)who walked him through how to place a super pubic catheter, which is where they cut a hole in the bladder through the abdomen and place a tube through there with some stitches. Brent had to stay in the hospital for a week, including the ICU for a night. I was there from open to close (of visiting hours) to comfort, support, feed, bath and kiss him. It took him a few days to get up and take a few steps. But of course the nurses didn't mind...they loved him. Both families were great, he had daily visitors and the kids were watched and well taken care of so I could be with him. (I don't know what we would have done without our families...they were truly wonderful). The fun didn't end when we got home. We didn't have insurance or a urologist but Brent still had a tube coming out of his abdomen. Doctors wouldn't see us and quite frankly we couldn't afford to be seen, but the catheter should have been out within 10 days. 3months, 7 doctors, acquiring insurance and a lot of pain later, Brent was finally able to have another surgery to have it removed and check out the area. He wasn't totally catheter free but was able to take that one out on his own after 10days. We were all kind of sad to see 'Mr. Bubbles' go (that's what Brent and everyone else called his lovely catheter bag). He is still regaining his strength, has very low blood pressure and back problems but all in all is doing great now. Looking back we can see how very blessed we were physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially. But what an experience.


Okay this one won't take as long. A couple months ago we had put the boys down for bed and I started to have horrible back pain. I blew it off at first thinking it was cramps. When it kept getting worse and felt more like constant back labor ( and I wasn't due with another baby anytime soon) I knew I was experiencing another kidney stone. This had happened each time I was pregnant at about 6months along. So Brent called Grandma and Grandpa Calhoun to come over and watch the boys while we rushed over to the emergency room. The pain was excruciating by this time and I couldn't hold still or stop crying (this got Brent really worried because with epidurals I didn't get like this when I had kids). They got us in fairly quick, took me back to a room and started giving me pain meds. Thank goodness for modern medicine.It took 5 hours though. After taking a CT scan the doctor came in and informed us I had 2 large kidney stones piggybacking each other. The only thing to do was to have surgery. Brent went home and I stayed the night. I was put on a waiting list for surgeries the next day and finally around 7pm I was taken back for surgery. It was amazing to not remember a thing. I woke up burning though. I had to stay till the next night and even got my own 'Mrs. Bubbles' to keep me company, although I really didn't want it. My urologist was amazed I had no symptoms before, said that I must have a high tolerance for pain because my kidney was 3times the size and my ureter was the size of a sausage because of the blockage! He measured one kidney stone to be 6mm and the other 7mm, so together I had this 13mm dam. He also had to put a stint in to retain an opening.


What a Year...what a year!

When you live out in the Desert...

When you live out in the desert you just might find a frog eating a snake...oh wait that's our rubber snake! Yup it's true. I went outside to take out the trash and found this. These big frogs are always a surprise, they look like statues and then will suddenly jump. But to find it eating a snake was crazy. THEN I realized it was Porter's rubber snake (left out there by Brent to scare people)! I was really worried and Brent was too tired to get out of bed to save it. Don't worry though, I saved it...but not before I took a picture. I scared it enough so it would jump away and there was a lot of snake in there. YUCK.

Out here we've also acquired a few pet tarantulas. I caught one on our porch and then Brent caught a bigger one a little while later by our house. We have plenty of crickets for them to eat out here. In fact, Porter is getting really good at catching them and putting them in the tarantula cage. "I got it, I got it!" as Porter will often say, and "for spider?!"

Cousins!

The four of us cousins with our 6 boys (Camille, Brayden, Logan was down for a nap, Alicia, Tanner, Delight, Tate, Kathryn, Mason, Porter)
Two friends joined us with their boys. 9 boys between the 6 moms
Mason and Tate meeting and playing together with a little help from their moms

I grew up with my cousins, and of course sisters, as my best friends. Delight came into town recently with her little boy Tate (who is 5 weeks younger than Mason) and Alicia just had Tanner (who is 6weeks here), so we all got to hang out. It was quite a party, there were 6 little boys (Brayden, Porter, Logan, Mason, Tate and Tanner) between the 4 of us girls (Camille, Delight, Alicia and I). We got some good pictures but I don't think everyone was awake at one time, with that many naps it was impossible. The boys had so much fun playing with each other and we got to talk for hours! It's always nice to catch up. Porter absolutely loved holding baby Tanner.

Tired Porter

Brace yourselves this is funny. We woke Porter up from his nap the other day and as always it takes some time for him to wake up. Well, after a little while Brent went in our room to get something and saw tired Porter, with his blankey, half on the bed asleep. Look close and you will see that his feet are resting on a bar on the side of the bed Ha ha. It sure gave us a good laugh...now that's what I call tired.

Family Campout with the Olsens

Every year just before school starts we all go camping to escape the heat one last time and enjoy a few days being together as a family. Since Brent is currently a full time student with no job and it was in between semesters we went up early and had a blast together and. We went up to Christoper Creek it was so fun to camp around water. I haven't been there since I was little. Our camping spot was just close enough to the creek that we got a little work out but did not have to worry about Porter wandering that far. Porter LOVES being outside. Camping is so his thing! I get excited to go camping because it's too hot to go outside with him much at home but he can soak it all in while we camp

Brent had the best time making a dam. I laugh because we go camping to relax and here he is spending all his time working on making this, quite impressive, dam. Porter really loved helping daddy throw as many rocks as he wanted into the water. It was so fun getting mommy all wet! Mason did so good too. I think this was his first time going camping (he was 9 months...old compared to porters first time at 2 months) and he LOVED it! He was all about getting down and dirty. Sure is all boy just like his brother. As a mother you just got to let them get dirty and remember that they'll be clean again...someday. Mason was crawling everywhere and eating everything, yum yum. A little dirt can't hurt right...I just don't know about the leaves and rocks and bugs and wood and everything else. :) Oh well. Other than freezing they slept really well too. Mason slept through all Porter's cries and screams (which he is getting better at but still wakes up a few times a night with nightmares and terrors and not enough light). I got some R&R time in which was nice. I loved staying up and playing card games with the fam and just hanging out. We all went to a parade in Payson and then to a fish hatchery together. It rained everyday which was a nice change. All in all we had a wonderful time and I'm always surprised how much stuff we have to pack with 2 little ones. It's definitely worth staying a few days when you have to pack the same amount of stuff for one. We love camping and can't wait till next time.

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Finally...Family Pictures by Nikaela!

Well I've needed to start blogging for a while now, what better time than after I have some great family pictures to show off. Nikaela is an Amazing photographer. We had a lot of fun taking these pictures. The session was unlike any family pictures I've taken. We'd drive around and stop to take pictures at interesting places she picked out with her artistic eyes. They turned out beautiful! Thanks Nikaela!

Porter and Mason are adorable. These pictures show their personalities off perfectly.





SOO CUTE!! I love my boys. They are so adventurous!

"All because we fell in love"

Ok ok, enough with the family photos :)

Click here to go to Nikaela's site and check out more of her beautiful work.