Backus

Here are a few highlights from the week: Pinata making. Blake was a big help with that. Camping in the family room, Blake cut Tyler's hair, Blake split his chin open, Lacey poured out 1/2 a bottle of dish washing soap on the kitchen floor, I tried to unclog my bathroom drain, didn't work, so I attempted to take apart the pipes, gross water sprayed me and the entire bathroom, Lacey played in the fireplace ashes twice. But the best part was CINCO DE MAYO! I don't know why but I love Cinco de Mayo. Probably because it is an excuse to make lots of Mexican food. Yummy. This year we went up to Rexburg where Nicole, Brad, Noelle and Nellie and their spouses are. It was fun to visit and party with them. 

Camping indoors

Playing in the ashes

Tyler trying to break the pinata. I know it looks like a Halloween pinata, but it is actually animal print cupcake liners.  There wasn't much of a selection at the store. 

My nasty clogged sink. FYI- use vinegar and backing soda to unclog your pipes. Takes about thirty min., but if they are really bad could take a few hours. don't get impatient and take out the pipes!

Albrecht update

I am now officially 27 years old... yuck ;). Spring is always crazy around around our house. We just finished AIMS testing at school and (hopefully) this is my last year EVER proctoring!! Our 7 year anniversary is on Monday and we will be going to Disneyland soon to celebrate!! I have 20 school days left!!! I'm not looking forward to emptying out my classroom, but I am looking forward to summer. My friend at work will be going out of town for June/July and I will be watching her pool so that is where I plan to spend my days. Let me know if any of you ever want to join (AZ people).

Dal is in tumbling, swim lessons, and soccer right now. He will continue swim and tumbling in the summer and will probably do soccer or t-ball in the fall. I figure I need to keep him involved since he's an only child haha. He LOVES interacting with other kids and plays a lot with his little ward friends.

Aaron's job is still going really well. We were planning on moving into a rental in July but now we are not sure. We might be renting a friend's parents house while they are on a mission (which won't be until late fall) so our plans are kind of up in the air right now. I'll keep you posted once we figure it out ourselves.

I think that's about it, check my blog for pictures since those are the only ones I've taken lately and I'm too lazy to post them here too :).

Backus update

Just a quick update, we have moved to Utah! I'm excited to be close to Rachael and Stacey, we need to get together ladies. Matt got a job with a tax firm called Ryan and this is his second week of work. Next week he goes to Dallas. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm glad it's just a one week and not four! Lindsay you are amazing. The kids have been keeping busy, some of this weeks activities include turning the kitchen floor into a lake, soaking each other with hand sanitizer, locking their little sister in a room that we do not have a key for, walking on the rain gutters, and being best frienemies.. :) Hope everyone is doing well.

Frost Update

Here is a very quick update of what we have been up to the last month.  Lets see, Meili is now 2 months old and sleeps through the night (YEAH!) and smiles all the time.  Brian's dad and sister came for a short visit in March.  We had fun showing them around Little Rock for a couple of days.  We went to Branson MO for part of Spring Break.  While we were there we went to Silver Dollar City theme Park for two days and had a great time there together.  We also went on Ride the Ducks.  That was fun as well.  We have celebrated Easter with friends and by doing a egg hunt with lots of candy.  I am currently a lone for 4 weeks (except for Fridays and Saturdays) while Brian is on a business trip in San Francisco.  I will be going to Ohio next week to visit my sister Ralae for a week. Excited to see her and spend time with her kids.  Um, I think that is about it.  We are all doing well and have adjusted well to Meili.  Being a family of five is definitely challenging but also very enjoyable and comical all at the same time.  I feel like I laugh a lot, especially when all three girls decided to have a melt down in the middle of the store.  What else can you do but smile and laugh especially to all those that give you those glaring stares.  I love my three girls and love how the love each other.  Hope you are all well.  Happy Easter! ( a day late)

Riding Update

Hello all! Time for an update.


Max's cough continues and thankfully, the breathing treatments and steroids did nothing. At least now we know it isn't asthma. Cooper and Max went to the ENT last week and he recommended surgery for both...tubes for Max and tonsils and adenoids removed for Cooper. We have scheduled Max's surgery, but are hesitant to schedule Cooper's. This is going to sound horrible, but Cooper's surgery will cost us approximately $9,000 out of pocket and we can't afford that, especially right now! Am I a horrible mother for postponing his surgery?


Cody is doing very well. He finishes his first set of classes tomorrow night and are fairly confident that he got A's in both classes. 6 credit hours down, 30 more to go! :)


We finished the family room addition and can now use it! It is so nice to be construction-free for the first time in six months (since we bought the house). I have a lot of caulking and painting to do on the baseboard, trim, molding and bead board, but for right now I am just letting myself enjoy the family room.

 


I did the Ragnar Relay two weeks ago. I had done it before a few years back, but being the Team Captain this time was stressful! Next time, I'll let someone else take that responsibility. I ended up running just over 20 miles total (leg 1 - 6.7 miles, leg 2 - 6.8 miles, leg 3 - 6.9 miles) because one of my friends had a muscle strain and couldn't finish her last two legs. I split one of her legs with another runner which added a couple miles. It's a good thing the Ragnar is more of a competition against yourself. At the finish line, Massage Envy was giving free chair massages and stretching, so I took advantage of that one!

Sydney (Cody's sister) asked us to come to California to visit them for Spring Break the day after Cody's accident. I'm so glad we took her up on that offer. On Friday, I will be dropping the boys off at my parents house and Cody and I will head to San Diego until Monday night. We will celebrate our 7 year anniversary on Saturday, March 10th. Crazy that it has been seven years! 

Meili 2 weeks old

Meili is now two weeks old almost three and doing really well.  We had a follow up appointment with a cardiologist about her heart murmur and it has resolved on it own.  We felt very blessed for this since the doctor said the type of heart murmur Meili had usually takes 6 months to correct itself.  We know Heavenly Father heard our prayers.  Bekah and Elena still find her to be the greatest thing there is right now.  They can be a little suffocating.  But I rather them love her then want nothing to do with her.  I am doing well and feel like I am healing nicely.  I decided to formula feed Meili since nursing wasn't the most comfortable with the other two and I have to say it is nice getting 3-4 hours of straight sleep at night rather then 1-2 hours with nursing.  Just thought I update ya'll while I had a moment. Now it is time for a nap :)

The Riding's

Thank you Lindsay for setting this up! I know it is not an easy thing to manage. 


Here are some updates:

before

after (still need grass and to remove extra cement)

Cody is doing very, very well. He has been in hand therapy for two weeks now and is encouraged by the progress he is making, especially with the thumb. The swelling and sensitivity both continue to decrease. Despite counsel from others to delay his Master's program, Cody decided to continue as planned. Because of his 'disability', NAU pays for a note-taker in each of his classes as well as accommodations on tests. This has been a real blessing as Cody was a horrible note-taker anyway. :) We discovered at Cody's first appt with the hand surgeon that the second surgery would only be needed if the transplant from his pointer finger didn't produce the desired result: feeling. Unfortunately, the area of the skin that was laid over the top of his thumb isn't. We are gearing ourselves up for another surgery in the hopes that it will not be needed. His next appt with the hand surgeon is Tuesday morning, so we are crossing our fingers (no pun intended).


The family room addition on the house is progressing. Thanks to our friends and family in the ward, we have been able to continue the progress despite the set back of Cody's accident. This week will be sanding of drywall, painting, the last city inspection and other miscellaneous items. 


Max and Cooper both go to the ENT on the 28th. Max for ears and Cooper for tonsils. We'll see what the specialist says, but our Pediatrician was recommending tubes and a tonsillectomy. Hopefully we can plan both procedures on the same day. Max also started on breathing treatments to hopefully help his cough which he has had since Thanksgiving. We are hopeful they will work since he coughs so hard that he throws up at least twice a day. The above picture of the boys was taken at Costco after we were locked out of the car. I was getting Max out of his car seat and he began to cough, then throw up. I dropped the keys in his car seat and held him over the bushes (poor bushes). Cooper jumped out of the car to help and shut the door. Oops!


I am gearing up for the Ragnar relay in less than two weeks and doing very well.

Nebraska

Hello. Not too much has happened since I last posted but We're all doing well here in Omaha. The last few weeks the weather has been amazing! It's been in the high 60s and I've been able to take the kids outside to play everyday! Unfortunately, last friday night we went to bed and woke up to about 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground and have been stuck inside ever since. The kids and I are going crazy!! Luckily in a few weeks we will be in sunny AZ. Anyway, Jon has had the last few days off and we've been able to do a few home projects and the kids have had lots of daddy time. It's going to be hard to see him go back to school on Monday. Anyway, that's about it for us. Hope you are all having a wonderful week!!

Backus

Not to many exciting things have happened to us this week. But I'm not complaining. Friday Matt took the day off from looking for a job and we took the kids on a picnic at the park and then to Bass Pro Shop. They loved seeing the fish and all the stuffed animals and antlers on the walls. Then this morning we went on a very child friendly hike with Noelle and Nellie. 

Last Saturday I was able to see Naomi participate in the Distinguished Young Women's program, formally known as Junior Miss. She did fantastic and it brought back a lot of memories. Melanie do you know that now if you win the spirit of Junior Miss you get a $500 scholarship! Oh and this year the girls knew what question they would be getting ahead of time! That would have taken off some of the stress. 

Anyways, that about sums it up. Thanks for all the kind words and messages, we are all doing much better.

Meili Jane Frost

We feel so blessed to have Meili Jane Frost join our family on January 31, 2012 at 7:57am.  She was a big girl at 8lbs. 14.5oz. and 21 inches long.  I never knew I was capable of having such a big baby.  She is almost a pound and a half bigger then Elena and 2 1/2 pounds bigger then what Bekah was.  Look at those cheeks. :)  She also has really dark brown hair, not sure what that came from either.  She is such a good baby.  Both Bekah and Lena are completely in love and are great big helpers.  We are so happy she is finally here.

Backus

First of all, congratulations to Lindsay and Stacey! It's so exciting that you both had little girls! I haven't heard if Melissa  has had her baby girl yet, but it should be any time now.
Last weekend I went to Ami Baldwin's wedding reception. While I was there a man came up to me and asked if I remembered who he was. He looked so familiar to me, but for the life of me I could not remember who he was. I felt bad that I had to tell him no. He then informed me that he was Mr. Blum. For those of you that didn't go to Burk elementary he was the principle there. It was fun to see him, but I hope I didn't make him feel bad. Like" oh, great I obviously didn't make any impression on that child". Hey, can I help it I was so good and never got sent to the office! ;)
This has been a bit of a roller coaster of a week. I went to the doctor on Tuesday, and the baby didn't have a heart beat. By how big the baby was they think he died at 13 weeks. I was scheduled for a D&C the next day. The doctor had given me some meds to help soften my cervix (sorry tmi). Well it really did it's job and I ended up miscarrying at home. It was a very long night, but we were able to find out that it was a little boy and I am grateful I didn't have to have the D&C (I'm not sure why, but I really didn't want to do it). It has of course been an emotional time, but we feel Heavenly Father's hand in all of this.
Matt got another temp job during tax season and has some more interviews coming up for something more permanent. One looks like it could be in Texas. It is kind of exciting to wonder were we will end up. My first choice is to stay here, but there is always something fun about discovering new places. I guess time will tell. I just hope it tells us soon. :)
I can't wait to see pictures of those cute babies and hear how everyone else is doing!

Backus

This week has been a good week going to parks, story time and spending a lot of time over at grandparents house. Last night Matt and I went to the temple for date night. We saw Joy's mom, Mindy's Grandpa, Claire's dad and Kristen Allen Shclink (I have no idea how to spell her last name.) It was fun to see them. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to Claire's dad, he was already surrounded by lots of people who wanted to talk to him as well. We also went to one of my favorite restaurants. Mango's. I have decided that Horchata is my favorite drink. I honestly could drink it all day everyday. Anyways, is has been nice to have sisters near by who are engaged, but their fiances live out of state. They are always asking me if I need a babysitter. We are definitely taking advantage. 

My boys are in a "pack rat" phase. They are constantly hiding their toys so Lacey won't play with them, at least that is what they tell me. I find piles of toys in the strangest places. They haven't quit figured out that when they hide their toys, they can't play with them either. So now they are always bored. 

Blake is convinced that I am having twins and has Tyler thinking the same thing. Tyler wants to name the babies Deodi (De-oh-de) and Luke walking sky. He is really into Star Wars but since he has never seen the movies he can't get the names quit right. He means Yoda and Luke Sky Walker. Even though I am already in maternity pants I am hoping it is because I am just fat and not because I am having twins. I guess I 'll find out when I go to the doctor in a couple of weeks. Here's hoping I'm a fatty. :) 

Woolleys

Hello Ladies! I'm so glad we are doing this, Thanks Lindsay for putting this together!! We are into our second year of Physical Therapy at Creighton. I never thought I would say this but I love it here! Not enough to stay forever of course but I am really enjoying it here. Olivia just turned three and she is crazy tall!!! She is already in size 4t! She is constantly talking, singing and dancing. Literally. Her mouth and legs do not stop moving ever! She's a lot of fun and I love playing with her. Trevin just turned one:( I'm still a little sad about that one. I just can't believe how fast he is growing up! He walks around everywhere and gets into everything! Jon and I are just trying to survive the last year and a half of school and figure out what the future holds for us. Jon is considering the air force or Alaska so I fear we are going to be away for along time. Anyway, Life is good and I am hoping to see you girls in March when Noelle and Nellie get married.

Frost Update

Well, there isn't too much to update on since I last saw you all.  A little over two weeks until Meili is born and I am ready NOW.  I don't remember my back and hips hurting this much with Bekah and Elena.  With the anticipation of Meili's arrive we decided it was time to purchase a larger vehicle.  So, this last week we bought a 2006 Honda Pilot.  It is in good shape and I am loving the extra room.

Brian has made the decision to take a semester off from law school.  He is working full time as a contractor for the company he worked with before law school.  He is doing really well and it is nice to have a full time income again. :)  We will see what his decision is for next fall.  He decided to take a break since Meili is coming and he thought going to school and work part time, plus new baby may be a little too much.  We enjoy seeing him at home more often.

Bekah is now 4 years old and loves to sing and dance.  I just cut her hair to her shoulders and it is amazing how much older she looks with shorter hair.  She is so excited to meet her little sister soon.  She is always trying to feel Meili move and loves to sing to her through my belly.

Elena will turn two next Friday and is currently recovering from the stomach bug.  It has not been a fun week with illness for her.  She is quite the talker.  We can understand about 85% of what she says and it is fun to see Bekah and her interact a lot more together.

Well, there you have it.  My next update probably won't be until after Meili is born and I will post pictures up then.

Backus

Thanks Lindsay for putting this blog together! We have officially moved back to AZ. We are in an apartment for at least 3 months and then we will go from there. Matt is still working hard looking for a job and has found some side work while looking for something more permanent. We really love the weather right now and are happy to be so close to family. I think most of you have heard, but I am expecting baby number 4. I haven't been feeling fantastic, but amazingly I am not throwing up like I usually do. YAY! I am due sometime end of July and I am declaring this baby as the last one. Matt's not so sure. :) That is about it for now. Can't wait to hear the rest of your updates.

Albrechts

Hi girls! What a fun idea for a blog. I have a couple other blogs I already do, one being a family blog(as most of you know). I keep it updated regularly with all of our family happenings, so I will probably cut and paste for the most part :). I just did a general recap of 2011 here: http://joyandaaron.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year.html

Teaching is going well. I have 25 students this time around, but quite a few behaviors and special needs. I am the team leader, student council sponsor, and a mentor for a 1st year teacher this year. My principal wanted me to have another student teacher for this semester but I had to draw the line somewhere ;). Although I would rather be at home I do love my job, and there is never a dull moment in my classroom which makes for some awesome stories! Stay tuned for those!
 -Joy

Powell Family Update

Hey ladies,

I'm SOOO excited to get this started! Here's our update:

Nick is still busy with work :) HUGE blessing considering it's winter time. Do we have winter time in AZ? He is still working at the same company doing commercial heating/air conditioning. He does residential work on the side if someone calls and asks. He teaches the 17 year olds in Sunday School.

Allie is 5 going on 16. That girl worries me sometimes! She is such a big helper and so sweet sometimes, but other times she is mad that I won't let her listen to "I'm Sexy and I Know It" on the radio or let her wear a spaghetti strap undershirt around the house without a shirt over it. YIKES! Nick asked the other day if I thought she was bipolar :) She is in her second year of preschool and will start kindergarden next August. She has done t-ball and soccer a couple of years, but hasn't really gotten into it. So today she starts dance! We will see how that goes. I always pictured my girls playing sports like me...not dance! This should be interesting.

Brooklynn is 2 and talking up a storm. She will be 3 in July. She has full conversations with people and loves asking why :) The other day she was talking with my mom and my mom had a frog in her throat. Brooklynn said, clear as can be with her hand on my mom's shoulder, "Grandma, do this..." and cleared her throat. My mom laughed and cleared her throat and sounded normal again. Brooklynn said, "See Grandma!" with a big grin on her face. She is quite the social butterfly, such a big helper at home (sometimes a little too much...poor Dallas) and loves nursery at church.

Dallas. Oh Dallas. We LOVE having a boy! He is 6 months old in two days! He is such a sweetheart and so chill. I'm hoping his "chillness" continues and isn't all about drama like the girls. He can sit on his own and play with toys, rolls every now and then, and such a snugglebug. He always is smiling. Nick is so happy to have a boy and has already made plans for golfing, rappelling, and camping when Dallas is older :)

I am working at the hospital...still in Labor and Delivery and LOVE my job. It is hard leaving the family, but so exciting for me to go and be nurse Mindy and help get those new babies here. I am so grateful a pool position opened up right before I had Dallas. I work 6 nights (7p-7a) a month and can pick up more shifts if I want instead of my full time position working 3 nights a week. It is the perfect way to be a mom and still keep my license current. We decided to try and not have a babysitter since I was only working a couple times a month. So...I work my shift and then come home and be with the kids all day. Sometimes I go over 40 hours straight without sleep and I'm sure it shows :), but it sure beats paying a babysitter and having to leave the kids. Heavenly Father has really blessed us. I just got called to teach in Primary over the 6 year old and am realizing I need to brush up on my scripture stories. Those kids are smart!!

Ok, I promise my next post won't be this long! I think I have you all up to speed and now I can just add tid bits here and there. I can't wait to hear about your families and keep in touch better!! Love you girls!

Mindy

Riding Family Update

I will start the updates going since we have had an eventful and a bit overwhelming past few days. 

On Saturday, the two boys and I were outside helping Cody with some if the trim work. I can't go into details, but Cody turned off the table saw and reached over it. Unfortunately, he did not reach high enough. He cut off his right index finger just below the middle knuckle and thumb just above the middle knuckle. 

Cody had surgery Saturday night, but they were unable to reattach the fingers. We were in the hospital until last night because they were unable to control the pain and Cody kept vomiting. 

We have an appt with the surgeon on Thursday to see how the hand is fairing and to schedule his second surgery which should be in about 3 weeks. 

Cody is taking this week off of teaching, but begins his masters program a week from today. 

Through all this, we have realized our blessings. We have amazing family and friends that don't wait to be asked. Within an hour of the accident, several people from the ward came and cleaned up our backyard and put the tools away without being asked. Our ward fasted for Cody on Sunday. His name was put on the prayer roll at several temples. 

Our good friend, a surgeon at Good Samaritan hospital, interrupted a surgery to ask that hand surgeon if he could come do Cody's surgery at John C Lincoln hospital. Dr. Reed, instead called his partner who was in a surgery at our hospital and asked him to make our surgery a priority. Because of this, we moved ahead of four other surgeries. 

Through everything, Cody has been very positive and optimistic.

Claire