All I want for Christmas is...

wrapping paper!

Zachary played with this pile of wrapping paper for hours. I am always amazed at how children find enjoyment in the simplest of things. Seriously, we should have just bought Zachary wrapping paper for Christmas!

Frozen

As a special treat, Matt's parents took us and Matt's brother Adam's family to watch the new Disney movie Frozen. Elizabeth was so excited to be able to watch the movie with everyone, especially her grandma and cousins, Kena and Kate. 

The movie was really cute and had a couple of amazing songs as part of the soundtrack. I love how the storyline focused on the importance of family and on self-acceptance. In the movie, Elsa's journey is to embrace her unique abilities and accept herself for who she is. I love the way in which this lesson was introduced and taught. During the movie, the two sisters are tested and the storyline explores how far family will go to protect one another. I love how it focuses on the love between sibblings. I hope my two little munchkins were touched by this lesson and will feel the importance of sticking together and loving each other no matter what!

Speaking of Elizabeth and Zachary, I asked them each about their favorite part or person in the movie and Zachary immediately exclaimed, "the snowman!". I already had a feeling that he would say that because each time Olav the snowman came on the screen, Zachary could not stop giggling.

Elizabeth absolutely loved the sisters, Anna and Elsa. However, Elsa is her favorite because she can build castles with ice and because she has a beautiful voice.

I am so glad that we were able to enjoy this movie together as a family. It is always fun to get together and create fun memories. Thanks Karla and Kelly for treating us to a wonderful afternoon at the movies!

Chocolate Muffin

Who knew that a chocolate muffin could cause so much trouble!

For breakfast this morning, I was eating a yummy chocolate muffin from Costco. During breakfast I received a phone call from my mom and ended up going upstairs for a minute to talk. While in the middle of our conversation, Zachary came upstairs and had a distraught look on his face. I asked him if he was okay and he said, "No. I have a really bad owie!" I asked him where his owie was and what had happened. He immediately snuggled up to me and said, "a chocolate muffin hit me in the face!" I asked him to repeat himself because surely he did not just say that a chocolate muffin hit him in the face...but no, he repeated the exact same thing again "a chocolate muffin hit me in the face!"

After discussing with Zachary that he would not be in trouble but that I needed to know if he ate the muffin...he finally confessed. As I rushed around getting him the needed medicines and ointments, I asked "Zachary, why did you eat the muffin?"; He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes and said, "because I like chocolate."

Break....My....Heart.

Within minutes, Zachary was covered in welts and was violently scratching all over his body. His little voice went hoarse and he started vomiting. Luckily, that was the worst of it and the misery has since passed. I am so grateful that my little man is doing better.

I am not gonna lie...food allergies suck!

Crazy Hair Day!

Elizabeth did her own hair for Crazy Hair Day! I would say that she did a great job!

Going On a Witch Hunt!

The Witch Scavenger Hunt at Gardner Village has become an annual tradition for our family. The kids get so excited and love running around the grounds searching for all of the different witches. This has become one of my favorite things to do in the Fall. I love enjoying the fresh Fall air searching for witches with my munchkins!

Elizabeth was excited when my good friend, Emily offered to do her glitter eyes...for free!

Zachary thought it was awesome that this witch was cooking a hot dog. He exclaimed, "I can have hot dogs...and the witch is having a hot dog!"

Elizabeth's favorite witch is the one that is holding an eye-phone. She thinks that it is hilarious that there are eyeballs all over the phone. I am not even sure that she realizes that it is a play on words!

I cannot believe the amount of detail that goes into creating each of the witches. This owl looked pretty realistic sitting on a witches shoulder.

I love spending my time with my two, little sweethearts. I am so lucky to be able to create such fun memories with them.

I am happy to report that we successfully found each-and-every witch from the Scavenger Hunt. We even found a couple of extra! Elizabeth and Zachary ran from one end of Gardner Village...to the other...and back again! I could barely keep up!

We love going to Gardner Village. It is such a fun place and they always have it decorated so cute! We cannot wait until next year, when we can go huntin' for witches again!

Top Eagle

Each week a student from each class is selected to be the Top Eagle of the Week. We are so proud to announce that Elizabeth was selected as the Top Eagle from her class. Mrs. Rogers selected Elizabeth because "She is working hard and building up her confidence!"

As the Top Eagle of the Week, Elizabeth was able to eat lunch with the principal, Mr. Howe, at the Top Eagle Table!

Way to go Elizabeth!

Another Lost Tooth

So...Elizabeth lost her second tooth last night, while she was eating, and she didn't realize it...so she swallowed it. When she realized what had happened, she broke down in tears. Seriously, the poor girl was completely traumatized. She exclaimed, as she was bawling, "now I cannot give it to the tooth fairy until I poop it out!"

Oh my...the drama!

We are happy to report that the tooth fairy delivered a one dollar bill during the night. Needless to say, Elizabeth is thrilled!

Update on Talon...

I am filled with gratitude for a loving Heavenly Father who answered the many prayers said on my nephew, Talon's behalf. Talon is doing extremely well and was able to leave the hospital yesterday. Modern medicine continues to amaze me. It is incredible to think that this smiling, happy boy was enduring brain surgery just 5 short days ago!

You almost don't believe it...until you get a look at his gnarly scar! It is quite a doozy! The doctors minimized the scarring by entering his skull through the same incision point that they used nearly three years ago. Luckily, the scar will be hardly noticed once his hair grows back in!

The doctors mentioned that Talon will need approximately 6 weeks of radiation treatments. They will let him heal a bit and then begin radiation in about 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately, he will need treatments 5 times a week...so it will be quite a bit of time and quite a lot of driving from Lehi before this is done!

Ride-and-Stride Parade

This morning Elizabeth and I were able to participate in the Ride-and-Stride Parade at Neil Armstrong Academy. This event challenged each of us to walk or ride our bikes to school. Leading up to the event, the students were taught about the difference that they can make in their own lives, and in the lives of others, just by making small steps in the right direction. They learned about how walking or riding a bike to school is one small step towards and active and healthy lifestyle. Additionally, they learned about the environmental impact this has on the Earth. The main lesson was if each of us take one small step...together it makes a HUGE difference!

An added bonus of attending the Ride-and-Stride Parade was that we were the first ones to meet the schools new mascot, Buzz the Eagle! Elizabeth was a little disappointed that it was not a real Eagle, but quickly perked up when she saw this eagle shaking a tail feather and dancing along with the crowd!

We met at a local parking lot and followed Buzz to school. It was amazing to see the amount of families that attended this event. There were easily 500 or more people walking and riding to school.

It must have been quite a sight. We even had the West Valley City Police blocking off the roads and patrolling all of the crosswalks! Once we arrived at the school, we were greeted by the PTA Board. They were waving and cheering and invited all of the children to come forward and place their footprint on banners that they will hang throughout the school.

What an amazing experience! I am so grateful for the time and effort dedicated to making this event happen. It truly is wonderful the things that we can accomplish when we all work together!

Under the Knife...again

Today is a day that we have been dreading for the last six weeks. My four-year old nephew Talon had to undergo brain surgery today to remove a brain tumor. We have been through this before...but it sure doesn't make it easier.

After 6 hours of surgery, the surgeons are confident that they have removed all of the tumor. Sweet little Talon is resting comfortably in the ICU; where he will remain for the next day or so. Hopefully they can keep on top of the pain so he will be able to heal. If all goes as expected, he will be able to go home on Saturday.

We are praying for a speedy recovery!

FARE Walk for Food Allergy 2013

This weekend our family participated in the FARE Walk for Food Allergy at Sugarhouse Park. FARE, the organization who hosted the walk is an organization dedicated to Food Allergy Research & Education.

FARE’s mission is to ensure the safety and inclusion of individuals with food allergies while relentlessly seeking a cure.

 

We do this by:

• Providing evidence-based education and resources,
• Undertaking advocacy at all levels of government,
• Increasing awareness of food allergies as a serious public health issue, and
• Investing in world-class research that advances treatment and understanding of the disease.

We walked to support our sweet little Zachary who suffers from life-threatening food allergies. We registered for the walk and sent the word out to our extended family and friends...and boy did they deliver! As a team (Super Zac's Allergy Squad) we were able to raise $155.00 in donations! We really appreciate all of those that were able to donate to this cause, which is near-and-dear to our hearts!

Before the walk, we were able to visit with many vendors and sponsors. I learned so much and even found some new foods that Zachary is able to eat! We were even given coupons for free Epi-Pens! Zachary and Elizabeth loved watching the magician, playing with allergy-free play-doh, and meeting with all of the characters that had shown up to show support.

Zachary was grinning from ear-to-ear as he spoke with Batman!

Elizabeth was thrilled to meet Merida and even got an archery lesson from her.

Zachary is such a flirt and totally stole Merida's heart! We are gonna have to keep our eye on him!

The 2013-2014 University of Utah Gymnastics team lead us in a warm-up and stretching routine before leading us on the walk. We learned that 2 of the girls on the current gymnastics team have severe allergies. It was nice to hear the girls speak about not letting allergies determine what you are limited to in life. I am grateful for their words of encouragement.

It was so nice to be able to walk for our Zachary. I hope that he feels our love and support. Even though he is so young, I hope this walk showed him that he is not alone and that he has a team of people around him that will support him and do whatever we can to help him and keep him safe.

We love our little man and are so grateful for all of the love and support that we have received on his behalf! Here's hoping that they find a cure for food allergies!