Boy's out Roughin' it!

On May 2nd and 3rd, Jake and I went on our stake's Father/Son camp-out. We went to a campground called camp Dakani. We got there first and picked out a prime spot for our camp site. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing catch w/ the baseball and kicking around the soccer ball. We went exploring on the trails, climbed tree stands and walked out over a river on the suspension bridge. We saw turtles and all kinds of birds. They had a "wetlands observatory" w/ a walkway through the marsh where we could see minnows and tons of tad poles.
I purposefully did not bring any PB crackers for Jake. He took it like a champ, we had a tinfoil dinner and smores for dinner. Eggs and bacon for breakfast and brisket for lunch. Major breakthrough!
It cooled down to the 40's at night but we slept like babies in our tent. The next day we all helped clean up the camp which had a lot of downed trees from this winter's ice storm. It was a fun camp out!

The Zoo!!!

My friend Janna and I and all of our kids went to the zoo yesterday. It was supposed to be the coolest day this week so we hurried and got ready to go. Well, needless to say it was STINKIN HOT!!! We tried to do all the indoor things because it was so humid! Not fun! I am ready for the fall already!

Fun Times at Grandma and Grandpa's House!!!

I took Lily and Leif to Utah for hospital visits and this is the fun we had at the Hansen's house! They loved being pulled in the wagon, kissing a wood frog, and hanging out in the hammock with Grandpa! Lily and Grandpa actually took a long nap in the hammock together. It was so cute!!

Sundance!!!

Lily would not stop asking the entire time we were in Utah when we were going to go up in the mountains. She loves the outdoors and especially the mountains. So Grandpa decided we needed to ride the chairlift up at Sundance and it was freezing!! Lily did not care how cold it was, she was in heaven in the mountains. Thanks Grandpa!!!

AQUA MAN NO MORE!!!

Well, Leif is no longer the Aqua Man everyone so loved to call him!! On Thursday, May 22 he had his pinky and ring finger cut apart! Here are some before pictures of his cute little hand and then pictures in the hospital before surgery. The after pictures will be in one month after the cast is taken off! He did very well in surgery and did not need a skin graft as thought. He did have a hard time coming out of anesthesia and did not sleep more than about an hour the first couple of nights! All is well now and we are home from Utah with the very dirty cast. It is actually a soft cast. It is just taped up really well with coban around the tape so he can't undo it! Grandma Hansen was there as usual! She is such a great help with all of my trips to Utah! Thanks Grandma!!

OUR FAVORITE DOCTOR IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!

This is Lily's doctor in Salt Lake. His name is Dr. D'Astous and we owe everything to him!! He has treated our daughter Lily since Aug. of 2005. We have seen him every 3-4 months since then and have been lucky to have found him! He has changed Lily's life in ways we could not have imagined. Upon finding out she had infantile scoliosis and bi-lateral hip dysplaisia the outlook was not good. The doctors here in Oklahoma told us she would have to have major spine surgery sooner or later and this would be a life long battle. After long nights on the internet and lots of prayers hope was not far away. Dr. D'Astous was one of two doctors in the U.S. at the time that was trying a new approach to treating infantile scoliosis. It was fairly well known in Europe but finally brought to the States by an amazing young mother who would not take no for an answer. We have met her and she is wonderful!! We have been able to participate in some conferences nation wide to spread the good news of this treatment and are now happy to say there are around 12 doctors doing it today. Lily was in a total of 7 unique body casts helping her body derotate and learn to grow straight!! So far this has worked wonders for Lily and she is now considered to not have scoliosis! We are so excited to have avoided surgery and help spread the need for this casting procedure throughout the U.S. Dr. D'Astous is a wonderful and caring man. He is amazing with children and our family will be forever grateful for the blessings he has brought into our lives! Thanks Dr. D'Astous for giving Lily a happy and pain free life. We are forever grateful!!

How Can She Sleep Like That?

This is how we find our sweet Lily sleeping every night when we go in and turn off her night lite! She tolerates her hip brace so well and has not once complained about wearing it in the almost three years she has had it! What a trooper!!!

Butterflies!!!!

Grandma Hansen mailed us some caterpillars that we could grow into butterflies at home. It was a fun project! The kids loved watching them change into cocoons and then butterflies. When I got them in the mail and opened them I was explaining to Jake what it was and he quickly interupted me and said, "duh mom, you mean metamorphosis!" It was hilarious. He sure put me in my place. Lily, Leif and I were in Utah when they hatched so Mike took some pictures for us! Jake was very proud!

Lily's Little Buddy!

Jake and Lily have a cute little friend a couple of doors down! His name is Ethan and he is the cutest. He wanted to bring Lily some flowers the other day! My little Lily is stealing the boys hearts already. What am I going to do when she gets older!!!

What A Great Team!!!

Aren't they the cutest little pooper scoopers you ever did see!!!

Jake's Season Ending Soccer Party!

We had an "End Of Season" soccer party to give the boys their medals and have some fun! Three of the boys were not able to make it to the party. Anyway, Jake has been on the same team for the past two seasons and we plan on staying together for awhile! There are some really great families on our team and the coach is great! Jake got his first goal this season and we thought he would be totally excited about it and he just looked over at all of us a gave us the thumbs up with a silly grin on his face. What a goofball!!!

A beautiful day at the neighborhood park!!!

We have had some very pretty days lately! At least on the days we have no tornados!! The kids love playing at the park in our neighborhood!

The training wheels are finally off!!!

Yeah!!! He finally did it. Granted Jacob does not ride his bike very often but as Mike was with the kids the other day walking to the park he noticed Jake was not really even using the training wheels. He told Jake as soon as they got home he was taking them off. Jake has not looked back since!!! He was so excited to be a big boy!!




Lily and I were cheering him on the whole time!!! Lily was funny at how excited she was for him!!!

Just some pics of our everyday life!!!

Not much has been going on in our family lately. Spring soccer season ended a couple of weeks ago and Jake is getting sad that this is the last month of school. Jacob and his dad are going on a father son camp out tonight and the two of them are very excited. I am sure pictures will follow!


Jacob and Leif love watching cartoons together every morning!! Leif will just sit right next to Jacob and cuddle with him! It is so cute!



Lily and Jacob love Sundays. Church is so much fun for them. I hope they are getting something more out of church than just fun and games!! HAHA


This is Lily in her pretty "Mackshlet"! We have absolutely no idea where she came up with this word. She calls all of her dresses this. She has been calling them that for about two years now! Funny girl!!!