Two Months....

Wow! I can't believe it has been 2 months since my last post. You would think things are boring around here...quite the contrary. We have been having soooo much fun! I went on a pioneer trek for youth conference for 4 days in June, and then girls camp for a week the 2nd week of July. Kim and Tom + 4 came into town for some major family fun, and then we had a weeked in St. George with lots of sisters and even more cousins. I'll try to post only the best pics.

Cousins

Best purchase ever! Thanks Grandma Pam for the birthday money for Jo!

Favorite thing to do every morning is to look for snails

Duane's Syndrom

You never know anything like this exists, until your child is diagnosed with it.  I figured Jo just had a lazy eye, that would correct its self over time.  Maybe we would have to patch it or she would get glasses.  Not the case.  

Duane's syndrome (type I) is made up of three parts: an inability to move an eye laterally away from the nose with widening of the eyes (palpebral fissure), retraction of the eye when attempting to look close or towards ones nose; and retraction of the eye. In the picture above the left eye can not look left while in the picture below, the eye moves back in the socket with narrowing of the aperture of the eyes. There are two other uncommon types of Duanes: Duane II where by the eye has trouble looking toward the nose (opposite to Duane's I); and Duane III made up of a combination of I and II. A patient with Duane's is likely to have an eye turn inwards at distance.

What Jo has is Type 1.  I took her to the ophthalmologist this morning and after 2 hours, that is what they were able to come up with.  It isn't something there is a cure for, or that you can fix.  Typically people with this disorder find ways to overcompensate, simply by turning their head. I shouldn't affect her in school, or any other aspect of life.  Just one of those things.  There are actually some funny videos on you tube of people with "crazy eyes."  Maybe one day Jo can do her own.  What a firecracker this girl is.  Nothing is ever going to slow her down!

Here is a picture of me and the kids at the schools "Moms and Muffins."

Silly Girl.

Jo was crackin' me up the other day as she was eating her mac & cheese.  

Apparently the spoon wasn't getting the job done fast enough.

Gingerbread

I was so happy when my 11 year old son Max begged me to make him gingerbread. You don't have to ask me twice, because it is one of my favorite treats. It definitely carries some nostolgic qualities, reminding me of going to my Grandma Edie's house. She always seemed to have special cakes, cookies and candies around her house. Her counters and cupboards seem to have an endless supply of canisters and jars of every kind, each housing a unique and tasty treat. You know, like the sesame sticks, or chocolate mints, ginger snaps or sugar cookies, zucchini bread or gingerbread. Most of the fun while at her house is going through, one by one, to see what she has hiding. Gingerbread has since become one of my favorite things to enjoy at her house. It is never quite the same when I make it, but nonetheless, I think of my Grandma Edie every time I sit down to enjoy a piece.  Below is the recipe in case you feel like indulging!  Enjoy! 

Gingerbread
Edith Steele Huff

Mix together:
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup boiling water
1 cup molasses

Sift:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves

Combine and bake in 9x13 pan at 350.
(no time was listed on recipe, i probably baked it for 35-45 minutes)
You could also bake in mini loaf pans.
At Christmas time we bake this in a train cake mold 

and decorate them instead of gingerbread houses.  

"Whitney"

Jo LOVES to go to her Aunt Whitney's house. It only took one visit before she came home saying "Whitney."

This is REDICULOUS!!!

Seriously, 2 in 1 day?

As I am going through my google reader, I come by my friends post with this:

2 cups butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 T vanilla
4 eggs
6 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
4 cups chocolate chips

Then a little further down the page, another yummy post on this friend's blog:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temp if possible)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

So...guess what I am going to do now?

Yup! I'm gonna make me some cookies. Thanks girls. I've been trying sooooo hard to be good and then today's posts have ruined me! It was those stinkin' good-lookin' pictures. They do it every time! So which do I make........?

I'll never tell!

j/k, I will, but they are both crazy similar.

So jump on the bandwagon and go make yourself some COOKIES.

Happy Again!

A year ago Christmas, Marshall got a really nice, new bike.  Last summer while he was at a friends house, someone came into his friend's garage and STOLE it!  He was so sad and upset.  Both of the other boys have a bike, so when they all went out to play, Marshall was stuck riding his scooter.  He has been begging Jeff and me and get him a new bike.  I refused, knowing how much "santa" spent on the other one, ($180). I looked on craigs list yesterday and found 3 that seemed to be possible candidates.  1 sold, 1 was donated to charity and 1 was STILL available.  The boy who it belonged to has 3 bikes and this one just didn't ever get used!  What a find!  We jumped into the van and went to pick it up.  Marshall was elated!  I cannot even begin to portray how happy he was to have a bike again.  $45 is such a small price to pay for this grin.  Here is a picture of Marshall on his new set of wheels, not even 2 minutes after we got home.

Still not done

I know there is still a lot to be blogged about.....but our family vacation will have to do for now. It is almost 8pm and I am ready for BED! Just so it is clear, I absolutely LOVE my family. They are so great and I had such a great time in California with them all. Also, I LOVE my friends! I really am lucky to have some of the greatest people in the world as friends. From the good ol' BYU days in Chipman Hall, to Bloomfield, NY, and not to be forgotten, my great friends here in Las Vegas. I'm sure I don't tell any of them enough how great they are and how lucky I am to have them around. You all know who you are, so thank you and I love you!

Fun with family at Disney Land.

 

Preparing for Disney Land

 

Bug's World, Brother Bear, Grizzly Run, We just couldn't get enough!

 

California Adventure Here We Come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids playing on the beach, Jo making a cute face in the hotel room, everyone ducking for cover after a serious gas attack. Which one looks guilty to you?

Our last day, Huntington Beach

 

 

Jo holding on for dear life to Jeff's ears as handles:)

 

 

Here we are trying our best at the beach, even though we couldn't get very close to the water due to the huge swells. It didn't matter. The kids still had a great time and it was so peaceful. We gotta make it back to the ocean again soon, although Jo definitely wasn't very fond of the sand on her feet.

Lincoln Gets Drilled!

At California Adventure, Lincoln waiting to see our family come down the final drop of Grizzly Run, only he was a little too close.