Our kids

We think they are pretty amazing.

And pretty stinkin' cute.

50 years

Today, September 15, 2011, marks 50 years that my parents have been married. All 10 of their children, most of the spouses, and quite a few grandchildren were able to come from all over the country and even Canada. It has been 10 years since we were last able to all be together. What a great experience it was. We were able to celebrate as a family, and we also had a reception where so many of their wonderful friends came to celebrate and show their love and appreciation. My heart was truly full, and still is as I reflect on it.

How grateful I am for such fabulous, giving parents. Their isn't anything they wouldn't do to help someone out. They have always set such an amazing example of love and charity. They sacrifice so much for others. They work, they play, they love their family. Deeply. And beautifully. I feel so blessed to be a part of their family.

Mom and Dad, Happy Anniversary! Congratulations on 50 years of happiness and here's to many more. We love you!

Three spouses were missing from this pic. Our plan is to put them in.

10 kids. Crazy...

...but fun. Right?!

This fabulous cake was made by Jay's mom, Tammy Johnson. Isn't she amazing? Love her.

Baby Gracie

I love these girls. They are so beautiful and sweet. They have super fantastic parents, as well. This little baby was so good. She was so patient through my manual focusing, which I'll be honest, I haven't done in awhile. Thank goodness we got that fixed. :)

Thank you for a great time, and for the opportunity to capture this precious time in your lives.

When It Rains, It's Gross

WARNING: The following account contains graphic descriptions of gross things involving bodily fluids. If such things are overly disturbing to you, do not read this account! Also, don't have kids.

WARNING NUMBER TWO: It's also pretty long, but worth the read!

You are probably familiar with the saying, "When it rains, it pours." This adage refers to the fact that when something unfortunate occurs, it is usually accompanied by many unfortunate occurrences. If we were to use that phrase to describe last night and this morning, we would have to amend it to say, "When it rains, it pours vomit, urine, and blood." That would be a very good description of our last 24 hours.

We were on our way home from a great day spent at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Iowa. Jay was in the middle of recounting to Sherrie the epic awesomeness that is The Empire Strikes Back, when suddenly we heard the sounds of Partially Digested Dinner Strikes Back coming from the back seat. Our four-year old, Rock Star, was in the middle of what doctors call "sporadic fits of gurgling geyser-like up-chuck coughs." Acting with the alacrity only seen in the finely honed skills of a mother attempting to stop the flow of vomit, Sherrie found a puke bag and thrust it into Rock Star's hands. He, of course, simply held it off to the side as he continued to spew forth bits of hot dog and Doritos all over himself. Rock Star's technicolor yawn happened within sight of our neighborhood. Of course.

We got home and immediately went into full-blown "clean-up-this-nastiness" mode, which involved stripping a screaming, puke-covered boy down to his skivvies right there in the front yard. It also involved a mountain of Clorox disinfectant wipes. It was late, and we were trying to get kids into bed and disinfect every surface in sight, all while we had tired, cranky, and (at least one) vomit-covered kids. Fun.

We thought that was the end of our adventures, but when we got up to get everyone ready for church, we found Rock Star sitting in the living room with dried puke on his shirt. This was not the shirt he had been wearing home last night (see the above reference to stripping him in the yard). This was the nice, new, clean shirt he went to bed in. Jay asked, "Did you throw up again?", to which Rock Star innocently replied, "No. Oh, I did at night. You have to throw away my pillow."

Rush down to the boys room to survey the damage. What do we behold? The expected chunks of semi-identifiable food and "ick" all over the top bunk (including the pillow). The unexpected surprise, however, was our two-year old, Buddy Boy, sleeping sweetly on the bottom bunk, looking for all the world like a beautiful cherub--floating in his own pee. Nice.

You know that sensation when your mind simply refuses to accept what your eyes behold? Yeah, it was like that. One bed covered in sick-up, one bed (and associated boy) covered in urine, and the clock quickly ticking before we had to leave for church. Why did we even bother bathing our kids last night?

We stripped the bedding off of both beds and rushed to the laundry room to put last night's puke clothes into the dryer to make room in the washer for this morning's puke and pee clothes. And what to our wondering eyes did appear? Wet clothes in the washer that still had vomit on them. Great, now the washing machine doesn't work. (Incidentally, we now have a lovely pile of grossness on the floor of our laundry room; guess we'll have to figure that out!)

Rush, rush, rush and we finally have everybody (somewhat) clean and ready to go to church. As we load them into the car, we noticed the strangest puddle of what looked like blood under the back of the car. Putting that puzzle aside for another time (what in the world could leak red from the back of the car?) we load the kids in and tear out of the driveway. We're running late, but we will only be a few minutes late for church. Not bad considering our adventures.

As we are heading down the road, Sherrie suddenly asks, "Did you get the steaks out of the back of the car last night?" Gross. Mystery solved. Back home to grab more Clorox wipes. So guess what leaks red out the back of a car. Three large rounds steaks that have had all night to thaw out, that's what!

On the way to church (now considerably later), Sherrie suddenly bursts out laughing uncontrollably. Wiping away her tears, she says, "This is going to make a great blog post!"

It all started with this.

I'm Jacob!

Our youngest son, Buddy Boy, has a magic hat. Not the kind where you find rabbits or that make snowmen come to life, but one that transforms him into a new person: Jacob. Every time Buddy Boy puts on his Power Ranger hat he declares, "I'm Jacob!" In fact, he even refers to his hat (or any hat, for that matter) as his "Jacob." He tells anyone else with a hat that they are wearing their "Jacob" as well.

Why Jacob? It all started when our oldest son, Wizard, began going to Cub Scouts. There is a boy in Wizard's den named Jacob. Buddy Boy initially declared that anyone wearing a Scout uniform (including the Cub Scout hat) was Jacob. This eventually progressed to just any ball cap, but especially his Power Ranger hat.

Whenever he wears it, and we call him by the name we gave him, he corrects us, "I'm Jacob." If we ask if he's cute, he responds, "I'm not cute; I'm Jacob." If he takes his hat off, however, he informs us that he is not Jacob. Well "Jacob," we think you're pretty stinkin' cute anyway!

This is "Jacob" saying "Wussup, yo!" Which he repeatedly shouted in the middle of church a while back. Did we mention shouted? And repeatedly?

We rarely find "Jacob" in bed at night without his "Jacob" on. Or his shoes. Or even in his own bed (he prefers Wizard's top bunk). Shoes in bed. His "Jacob" in bed. What's next?

Kenzi & Tyler: WEDDING

Tyler and Kenzi started the rest of eternity together on July 1st in the Bountiful LDS Temple (yes, we are a little behind in our blogging. We have no real excuses, so here's a fake one: ALIENS!). We had a great time spending the day with this truly amazing couple. Sometimes you can just tell that a couple "gets it," and this is one of those couples. Tyler loves and cherishes Kenzi. You can see it in the way he looks at her and his every action around her. He loves her! And Kenzi is head over heels in love with Tyler. You can just see how much she admires and respects him, and that definitely comes out in the way she talks to and about him. And as you can see from these pictures, they do not have a hard time getting each other to smile and laugh. They love each other, and they love life. They have a bright eternity ahead.

Kenzi and Tyler, thanks for letting us document this special day!

Kenzi, you're beautiful. "Fo' Real!"

Love School Alumni

One of the best parts about our relationship is that we are very affectionate with each other. We really like each other, and we like to show it. We often hear our boys shouting in disgust, "Ewww! They're kissing." Several times one of them has asked, "Why do you guys always kiss each other every time you see each other?" Our youngest son, Buddy Boy, even gets in on it by demanding, quite clearly, "Stop kissing!"

Our oldest child, the Princess of Awesomeness, has been wondering how on earth people end up like us. She tells us she thinks that there must be some secret school we attended that teaches people how to be in love. In fact, she has declared several times that we are lying when we say there is no such school. She is convinced that there is, in fact, a "Love School."

On the way home from church today, she was again asking how on earth we learned to be so in love. We explained that you read your scriptures, say your prayers, and regularly attend the temple. The Princess of Awesomeness exclaimed in wonder,

"That's where you learned to grab each other's bottoms???"