Joseph Smith is in the bathroom?

So this morning, V. was walking around the house playing with her imaginary friends. She started calling out," Joseph Smith! Joseph Smith where are you? Joseph Smith!" Then she answered, in a deeper voice," I'm in the bathroom!"
Bwa-ha-ha! I started busting up laughing! I wanted to make sure I understood what she was saying. SO I asked her if she was looking for Joseph Smith, she said yes. "And where is he?", I asked. " He's in the bathroom!" was her reply.
HAHAHA! I couldn't stop laughing! I'm still laughing now, as I recall this and am writing it down! I LOVE her!!!

***As a side note. For those of you who are not of my religion and may be wondering, Joseph Smith was our First Prophet in this dispensation{time period}. He brought the Gospel back to earth thru personal revelation from the Lord.
So, yeah, V. was talking about one of our prophets being in the bathroom. Again, SOOO funny! And I love that she has a prophet for an imaginary friend!!

Health Update

Hello again everyone! I think most of you know about my brain surgery I had done 10 years ago. But for those of you who don't know the story, here's the condensed version.~
In Feb. 2000 I found out I had an Epidermoid Tumor {a tumor made up of skin cells and skin tissue} on my brain stem. We found the tumor by looking for a cause of my headaches. {I've had headaches for as long as I can remember}. Instead we found the tumor. My dad found a really good neurosurgeon in Salt Lake who was interested in my case. When I met him I felt like I was in a de'ja'vu. I knew he was supposed to be my surgeon. My tumor wasn't cancer, it was something I was born with, but took 18 years to discover. So, Chemotherapy and Radiation would not take care of it. My only option was to have it surgically removed.So the first Monday in May,2000, I had brain surgery. During the surgery, some of my facial nerves were bruised and damaged. I woke up with the right side of my face completely paralyzed. After 2 months, I was able to twitch my cheek ever-so-slightly. I started exercising that twitch and eventually got most of the nerves healed in my face. But not completely,that's why the right side of my face is slightly droopy, my eye squints when I laugh and smile too big. The right side of my mouth is still partially paralyzed, I form my words with my lips pulling to the side. I pucker up and kiss more to the side of my mouth then straight forward. Anyway, I still suffer from migraines, fairly often. The tumor had nothing to do with them. I've had MRI's done every 2 years to make sure my tumor hasn't come back. I had one done last month and yesterday my doctors office called and told me that the MRI was clean. No sign of a tumor! I still need to get MRI's done every 2 years. However, I'm happy that next month is the 10 year anniversary of my surgery, and there is no sign of the tumor! YAY! The longer I go with a clean MRI, the better!
So, just a little personal information on me. I just wanted to share the good news that I'm still clean!!

Catch up!

I'm sorry about not blogging for a few days and leaving you all hanging! I have been soo busy the last couple of days! My sister went into pre-term labor and I had her 3 year old with us for the last few days! My sister is home now, they were able to stop the labor. She will be 34 weeks along this Tuesday. So the baby should be fine when it comes, they know she will be coming soon, but it's still nerve racking! My uncle passed away and we had his funeral yesterday that I was singing at. Cleaning my house and getting beds made up for family that stayed with us{tons of fun too, I might add!}
And of course I've been busy baking desserts for Easter dinners that we've been to.
So that's my excuse for not blogging these last few days!

No, I did not make V.'s Easter dress in the last post. She helped me pick it out online. It was on sale and I had a coupon I used as well for it. Even after paying shipping, it cost the same as a Wal-mart dress would have. We got it at The Children's Place. I LOVE shopping there! Unfortunately, we don't have one close by. So I shop alot online!
I just had my 5th miscarriage. I had some blood work done and we found out I have MTHFR. A blood clotting disorder. My doctor said this disorder is one of the 2 main reasons women in this area miscarry. I can treat it with Heparin, or a daily combination of extra calcium, folic acid, vitamins b-6 and b-12, and a baby aspirin. I have opted to take the supplements and want to see if I can have a baby full term w/o taking the Heparin. Many women take Heparin while pregnant, it doesn't affect the baby. But those of you who know me, know I believe in taking as little medication as possible, especially when pregnant. If I continue to miscarry, I will go on Heparin, but I'd like to try this option first. Even w/ treating this disorder, I can still lose a baby at any point in pregnancy. All it takes is one teeny, tiny blood clot to terminate a pregnancy. And, of course, there may be other things contributing to the miscarriages. But I am hoping my chances of having a baby are better now!

Steve's sisters invited me on a girls only weekend down in Mesa, where his sister lives. It was so nice! I wasn't ready to come home yet, I just wished Steve and V. were there with me! The weather was perfect! We spent alot of times outdoors bike riding,gabbing on the patio, or jogging and such. Speaking of which, one of my goals when I started the year was to train for a 5k. I can now jog 4 miles! And I'm training for a 10k now! It's such a good feeling to accomplish a goal! Plus, I'm just a pound away for a 20 pound weight lose total! YAY! Only about 20 pounds to go to reach my goal, which is to be at a healthy weight!
Oh there is so much more to update you all on. But I think this is good enough for now!

My Easter Girl!

Wow! I have quite a bit I was wanting to blog about, but I just haven't had time! A quick look at what's to come ~ A fun girls only weekend in Phoenix and San Diego, we think we found the reason why I miscarry, cute photos of V. and her cousin who stayed with us for a few days. And of course after this weekend, photos of V. doing an Easter egg hunt and all that fun stuff.
However, Easter falls on our General Conference Sunday this year { A time when the leaders of our church speak to us thru a live broadcast from Salt Lake City, we watch it on t.v. at home, instead of going to church!}. So I had her wear her Easter dress this last Sunday, and the Sunday following Conference, I think I'll have her wear her dress from last year, since she still fits into it!
So here's a cute photo of her in her Easter dress all ready to go to church!

What a cutie!!!

A Disney Tea Party

The day before Valentines Day, the Snake River Choir department hosted a Disney Tea Party for a fundraiser. Steve and I thought V. would really enjoy something like this. SO I bought a ticket for her and I. They had different stations where we made our own Tiaras, had our makeup done, learned to dance, and had a little luncheon. All with students dressed up like Disney Characters. Here's a bunch of photos from the fun time we had!
Here we are holding our tickets for the Tea Party!


We made our own little Tiaras!


V. conferring with Jasmin over the color of make-up to use.


All right, this next photo almost breaks my heart. During the dancing they had some free time, and V. kept watching the Evil Queen from Snow White dancing with other little girls. I could tell she wanted to dance with her as well. But the Queen was always surrounded by other kids. Finally, from across the room I saw V. notice that the Queen was alone. V. made a beeline for her. On the way, she collided with another little girl, and fell down and started crying. I went to her and picked her up. By this point the Queen was, once again, surrounded by girls. I asked V. if she wanted to go ask the Queen to dance with her. She said yes, and immediately started wiping her tears away. I walk with her a short way, then let her walk the rest on her own. I saw her ask the Queen to dance with her. She said yes and took V.'s hand and started taking her to the center of the dance floor. On the way, they rang the bell and said it was time to go to the next station. The Queen could have just said , "Sorry, I can't dance with you" and left. But instead she bent down to V.'s level, took her hands and told her she was sorry, but she was glad that V. had come. Then V. came running up to me all happy. That girl that played the Queen had no idea how badly V. wanted to dance with her. She had no idea that V. had a fall while trying to get to her. I was so touched to see her be so kind to V. and make her dream come true. She had no idea how much that meant to her. It still makes me tear up to remember the look on V.'s face as she came running up to me after this whole little incident.

Here are a few more photos...
V. and Minnie Mouse~


V. and Genie~


V. and I and Snow White~


V. and Pinocchio~


V. and Mickey Mouse~

There are many more photos of V. with Disney characters. She wanted a photo with all of them. But I'll spare you and just leave this post as it is!

V.'s pre-school snack

In V.'s pre-school they take turns bringing snacks and the day they bring snacks they can also bring a show and tell. So, V's turn came the week before Valentines Day. She asked if we could make heart shaped sugar cookies for her to take. So, she helped me cut the dough out, I frosted them, and she put the candy on them. She was so precise and made sure each cookie had the same amount of candy on them.



Working hard on decorating her cookies.



V. with her Valentines snack all excited to go to school!