In Loving Memory of Kamberlie Ann

Friday, our family was forever changed, when my cousin's two year old daughter, Kamberlie, was found at the bottom of the family's pool. They still have no idea how she got in. There is a fence around the pool and the gates were shut tight. Her mother and father did CPR until paramedics arrived. They tried to revive her before they transported her to Banner Baywood Hospital. Although the doctors tried and tried to save her, they could not bring her back. Little Kamberlie had been called home!

Even with the understanding we have as members of the LDS church, our hearts are still broken. We know that families are forever and believe that Kamberlie will be reunited with her family again one day. Right now, though, "one day" seems really far away. All we can do now is pray for strength and comfort!

Kamberlie was such a little angel. To see her and her sisters was always a treat. They were always dressed in such cute girly clothes and always had bows in their hair. Kamber always had a smile on her face and was in the middle of whatever was happening. She always wanted to do what the older cousins were doing and followed her big sisters around, obviously looking up to them. She will be dearly missed by all of us. Jen and Ethan -- our prayers are with you! We are thinking of you every minute of every day!

"Look what we made!"

Today, while the twins took a nap, I got out the paint and touched up some wonderful little areas in my family room and kitchen. Really, the entire house needed to be painted, but who has time for that? Of course, Matthew and Micah got up before I was ready for them. I assumed that if they didn't know that the walls were wet in places, they wouldn't touch them. Of course, I was wrong, and within minutes Micah had paint on him. After cleaning him up, I decided that they could use some fun.

I buckled them into their booster chairs and covered the table with a tablecloth. I taped down some posterboard and got out the paints. Dalin and I had so much fun helping them learn to paint. They used paint brushes and everything!! Of course we made a terrible mess, but it was one of the best times we had all summer. The twins seemed so grown up as they worked on their pictures and Dalin is so patient with them.

After they dried, we hung their pictures up in their room. Now whenever we go into their room they point at their work. I know that if they could talk, they would say, "Look what we made!" Apparently they are ready for more arts and crafts. Hmmm! What will be next?

Visitors in the Pool

Everytime it rains, we get little visitors in our pool. Frogs come accross the road from the water retention area and somehow end up over the fence and in the pool. We usually find them swimming around the next day enjoying the water. Well, probably not, I'm sure they don't like the chlorine.

Since Dalin was little, he worries about the stranded little frogs that come to play. He catches them, with the help of his daddy, and plays with them before rescuing them. We used to simply put them back over the fence, but after finding some dead frogs in the road, now we have to find a safe place for the frog to be freed. This year, his baby brothers got to be involved in the yearly frog rescue!! They loved to see it hopping around and were jealous that Dalin wouldn't let them hold it. It definitely became a family affair this time because we all piled in the Rhino to go with Dalin to drop it off. I love my boys!! They are definitely "all boy"!!

Camping Again

This weekend, we headed north again to camp. We took Dalin's friend, Richard, with us for the weekend, because his family wasn't going to be able to come. The boys were planning all the things they were going to do: ride quads, fish, play with walkie talkies, and shoot. As we arrived to the camp site, and unloaded, Dalin laid down and said he was too tired to play anything. I knew then that we had a problem. I took Dalin's temperature and sure enough, he had a fever. Poor Richard now had a sick buddy and nobody to hang around with. Luckily, his family decided to come up at the last minute, so at least his brother and sister were on the way.

We gave Dalin lots of Tylenol, so he could feel well enough to enjoy the camp out. He did go on several quad rides. Well, when he could convince his brothers to get off his quad, he did. They love his quad and can't wait until they are old enough to ride it. Aren't they too young to be addicted?

Dalin was also able to go letterboxing with Sierra, Richard's sister, in the pouring rain and hail. We thought the storm had mostly passed by us, but we were very wrong. We stayed back at the car with the twins, so Bryan went to find them once the hail started. He carried Dalin back who was probably too sick to be out in the rain.

He even found some energy to play in the fire, but he spent most of the weekend sleeping. His brothers were lost without him. Richard, Sierra, and their little brother, Hunter, had to step in to entertain the babies. They enjoyed the company but still checked on their brother a lot who was always annoyed when they bugged him.

Bryan and I were reminded how much work it is to camp. There were definite moments when I wondered if it was worth it, especially with all the rain we got this weedend. But to watch our little boys experience being in the forest makes it all worth while. It is also a lot of fun to have friends like the Jacobsens join us. We had a good time around the camp fire swapping stories and getting to know each other. So, even with all the fevers, rain, dirt, and hard work, we will definitely camp again soon. With a house full of boys, I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time camping in the future!! And that's OK with me!

Daddy's Little What??

Dalin got a BB gun for his birthday! I know, I know, he'll "shoot his eye out," but when your dad takes a gun to work everyday, a little boy can't help but be fascinated with guns and shooting. He has a couple of 22 rifles but has lost interest in shooting because Bryan so rarely has time to take him or knows where to take him because all of the good shooting areas have been closed off. So we thought the BB gun would allow him to practice at home in the back yard. Bryan can always find time for that, so Dalin will get to shoot more often.

It was so fun to watch them through the window the first time they shot the gun. I think Bryan was more excited than Dalin. He has always dreamed of shooting in Father/Son Tournaments with Dalin and was excited to teach him. At one point, Bryan came in the house for something and I asked how it was going. Bryan said it was great and that he was training "Daddy's Little Assassin!" Obviously, he was kidding, but I could not stop laughing.

Bryan loves his boys and it is so fun to watch him and them together. There is such a special bond between a father and his son. It is something I can never truly understand, but can treasure each time I see them together.

Mommy's Little Helper

Since Dalin has been home with us this summer, our normal schedule has been thrown off. I cannot wait until the twins are asleep to do chores around the house. That is Dalin's time and it is sacred! So, I have had to learn to get things done with twins in tow. Sometimes it gets really interesting, so really I have had to learn to accept that most days my house isn't anywhere close to being clean and that is OK because I'm playing with my boys and giving them what they need.

With this change, Matthew has become fascinated with housework. He follows me around and wants to "help" with everything. Today, he was so funny as he followed me around. I gave him his own Swiffer Duster and he used it on anything he could find. He dusted his toys, his brothers, the wall, the toilet, and even the bathtub. He thought he was so grown up as he helped with the chores. Hopefully he'll keep this love of cleaning and his wife will thank me someday.

Dalin and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It's hard to explain to a 7 year old that sometimes, you just have a bad day and no matter what you try to do, it just gets worse and worse. Last week, Dalin had just one of those days. I had a doctor's appointment at 9 AM. My mom was going to watch the kids for me, so we raced out of the house at 8AM. That's when the trouble started.

* First, the new movie Grandma bought, Ice Age 2, didn't work right. It would play for a while, then skip back to the beginning. You had to watch the first section over and over and never got to see the rest of the movie.

* Then, after my appointment, Grandma and I took the boys to swim lessons. Dalin doesn't have lessons, but is allowed to swim in the practice pool during the twin's lesson. I forgot to pack his swim trunks and goggles, though, so he pouted on the edge of the pool most of the time, even though I told him he could swim in his regular shorts.

* When we arrived back to Grandma's house after swimming, he decided that he wanted to check on his virtual webkinz pet, Snakey. He tried to log in on Grandma's internet, but the webkinz site was down and told us to try again later.

* My brother had the week off work and called to see if we wanted to go to lunch with him. Of course we said, yes, and I told Dalin that his cousins were coming. Boy was I wrong! My brother came alone and Dalin was again disappointed.

* We went to Red Robin and Dalin took several minutes picking out balloons for his brother and himself. As we left the restaurant, however, his balloon got snagged on a cactus and popped.

* And finally, as we got into the truck, Dalin realized that he left his stuffed webkinz pet, Snakey, at Grandma's house.

That was it for him!! He burst into tears and I didn't blame him. What a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

My boys have always watched and learned from each other. When Micah learned to crawl, Matthew watched him for a couple days and then, too, was crawling. When Matthew started walking, Micah watched and quickly joined in. Most of the time, this is a very good thing.

I knew, however, that there would be a time when this imitating behavior would get them into trouble. Now when one of them gets into trouble, the other watches and gets into trouble, too. They work together and conspire against me. Some times I just have to stop and laugh because yelling, time out, and spanking are obviously getting me nowhere.

Happy 7th Birthday, Dalin!

Seven years ago today, our lives were forever changed. At 5:11 AM, Dalin was born! After spending five years struggling to have a healthy baby, he was finally here. He had ten finger and ten toes and was adorable. Now came the hard part...raising him. For us the problems started early. He was born five weeks early and was not ready for the real world.

Seven hours after he was born, he was intibated and air evaced to Banner Desert's NICU department, where his lung colapsed. He was a sick little boy and I worried if I would ever get to bring my baby boy home. I learned quickly that worrying about your children is a life long thing that never goes away. Dalin came home 19 days later and has been going ever since.

Dalin loves to be outside and stays very active. He loves to be around other kids and is always calling or going door to door to find a friend to play with. He loves all of the things boys love, like riding his bike, camping, action figures, guns, riding quads, being dirty, and saving frogs. He is an amazing boy who is now seven years old. You would never know what a rough start he had. It just made us realize how lucky we are to have him in our family. We no longer take the people in our family for granted, especially not Dalin. We love you, Dalin! Happy Birthday!

Where did my baby go?

Some Days I Wonder Why I Even Get Out Of Bed

What a lovely morning we had around here. Today is Dalin's birthday, so there was a lot to do to get things ready for his birthday party. I was a little frantic as I tried to get everyone fed so that I could get things set up. I made Dalin sausage because he loves it and I usually don't make it for him because it takes awhile to cook and makes a big mess in the kitchen. But since it was his birthday, I splurged and made him his favorite breakfast and was real excited as I put a candle in one piece of sausage so I could sing to him and make him feel special.

As I lit the candle, I yelled down the hall, "Dalin, come eat your breakfast." As he came into the kitchen he told me that he had poop all over his hands. I couldn't figure out what had happened. I, of course, assumed that he had an accident and there was probably poop in the bathroom as well. That's OK, I thought, I can handle that. Then Dalin explained that there is poop all over the play room. Sure enough, I went around the corner and saw that Micah had taken his diaper off and there was poop everywhere. Some days I wonder why I even get out of bed!!

It's A Twin Thing!

There is something magical about twins. One of the "twin" books I read said that as twins grow up, their parents begin to feel that everyone should have a twin because of the incredible bond that forms. Now that my boys are almost 17 months old, I see that happening. It's amazing to watch them interact with each other. There is something happening between them, even though they are so young, that is hard to put into words.

For example, they are very aware of what the other baby is doing. The other day, Micah was chasing around the cat trying to "pet" it. A better word would probably be "maul" it. He got a hold of the cat's tail and would not let go. Obviously, the cat went crazy and started growling and meowing at Micah. Bootsy was trying to get away and he drug Micah to the ground in the process. Matthew was in the other room, but realized that Micah was in trouble. He ran to Micah's side and started beating on the cat. The twins won that battle, and I watched with tears in my eyes. They are going to always having someone looking out for them wherever they go.

Last week, Matthew got in trouble for pushing the buttons on the TV, a common occurrence for both babies around our house. I slapped his hand and told him, "No!" which hurt his feelings. He then began to cry. Micah saw the whole thing and ran over to me and started hitting me. They notice when the other is hurt and try to fix the problem.

Another example happened yesterday. Matthew has figured out how to drink from a straw and loves it. He wanted a drink, so I gave him one of Dalin's cups that has a straw attached to it with some cold water in it. He took a few drinks and then ran to Micah who has not figured straws out quite yet. He offered the cup to Micah who did not reach out for it, but did try to drink from it. Matthew was very patient with him, then when Micah was tired of trying, Matthew drank some more, and then immediately offered more to Micah. They went back and forth for about 5 minutes. When they discover something new, they want their twin to experience it, too.

The last example happened just today. They obviously have noticed that they do everything together, so when they played with something, they brought one to their brother, also. Micah was looking at some books alone on the floor. After a few minutes he got up and took the book to Matthew. Then he went and got a different book for himself and went to sit by Matthew to read it. In the pool, Matthew was holding little cups that stack on top of each other. When Micah got near him, he handed one of them to Matthew. They both smiled at each other and began playing with the cups in the water. All day long this happened! Not only do they share, but they enjoy each other's company. Raising twins has opened my eyes to a whole new world and I agree the author of my book, Everyone should have a twin!!

My Little Sparklers Celebrate the Fourth of July

We had a great 4th of July. The fun started early because we had back to back parties scheduled. This morning, we went to my brother's home to swim and barbecue. The twins were absolutely crazy in the water. They would walk to the edge of the steps very carefully, then get a huge smile, and jump off the step to whoever would catch them. They are like little fish now! They spend more time under the water than on top of the water and are beginning to understand holding their breath. They've always enjoyed swimming but were never crazy like this before. Dalin had fun with his cousins and didn't want to go home. He was a little disappointed that some of the cousins were out of town. He always hates it when someone is missing.

After that party, we took very exhausted babies home for a nap. They slept for about two hours before Bryan's family came to our house to swim and have dinner. They just got to town after selling their house in Colorado. They don't move into their new home until Monday, so we will have company all weekend. Dalin absolutely loves Bryan's sisters. We have a "house full" when they are over which means plenty of people for him to play with. The girls all love to swim, so after we visited for a while, we went out to the pool. Again, Matthew and Micah were crazy in the water. Everyone loved to watch how brave they are. When we finally went in to eat pizza, everyone was tired! Dalin, Bryan, and his sisters went to watch the fireworks after dinner, but the babies did not make it. They were in bed before the fun began.