The Concert

Today had a very interesting ending. All of the sudden, Kaylee told us that she had a concert that she was putting on at 5:30. It turns out that the girls put posters and everything around town for there "concert". Oh my! I was going to nix it and tell her to forget about it, but I figured I needed to indulge her this time. I am glad I did. It was fun watching them. They took it SO seriously! They sang all original songs, and you know what.. they were pretty good.

This is them all signing autographs. They said it was for when they become famous they will have something to look back on.

Afterwards we all went to Taco Bell for dinner. We even went INSIDE to eat (which we never do). The kids loved it. This is our best and only attemp at a self portrait.

Olivia's CHICKEN POX

Olivia has CHICKEN POX! Poor girl, doesn't she look sad and awful! She is THRILLED!!

I was surprised on Monday when she started showing signs of a rash. I thought it was because I had changed laundry detergent. The only reason I thought it might have been Chicken Pox was that my sister's kids, Dalton and Shayla, just came down with the Chicken Pox about a month ago. We actually spent 2 hours with them when they were breaking out. I was doing their family pictures outside and I didn't think it was a big deal. It turns out Dalton and Shayla had both had their Chicken Pox booster shots. Livy has also had both shots.

I decided to take her to the doctor's office, just in case. As soon as I took her in they told me to get her out of the waiting room and said she had to stand by the door, not touching anything. A nurse came out to see her and said that it could be the beginnings of Chicken Pox. Then she said we had to go out and wait in the car and that the docter will come see us out in our CAR. Sure enough the nurse came out and took her vitals in the car. After waiting about 15 minutes the doctor came out and examined her and said it was Chicken Pox. The doctor said the incubation period for Chicken Pox is between 10-21 days. We saw my sister's kid's over 28 days ago. Yikes!

Olivia was very excited, after learning that she didn't have to have a shot, that she had them so she can stay from school for 10-14 days. She has a pretty mild case and they hardly even itch. It has been difficult to have her home because she feels fine. She has already done 10 days worth of homework (the first 2 days) and wrote a letter to her teacher requesting more. I can't take her anywhere because she is still highly contagious. She has been home a week already, but I am hoping to send her back to school on Wednesday. Here is to HOPING!!!

Finger-licking Good!

Kaylee and Carter have something in common which drives me absolutley CRAZY!! They both bite their nails. Kaylee's New Year's resolution was to stop biting her nails. As for Carter, his hands are constantly in his mouth and it seriously grosses me out. It wouldn't be that be if he didn't insist on touching my face all of the time...ugh!

So I decided to get some nail polish that is called 'No Bite'. After you put it on, your nails taste absolutely disgusting. This is both of them having a taste.

HAHA! I had to laugh at first! They said it tastes like trash.

I actually did feel really bad for Carter. It is such a habit to put his hands in his mouth that he was having a terrible time. He got so mad and he wouldn't even eat lunch. He just sat in the corner sulking. He would put his hands in his mouth and then it would taste SO bad that he would keep putting his hands in his mouth to try to get the bad taste out. POOR GUY! I had to cuddle with him for a long time....but I am not giving up! The only bad thing is that you have to apply it daily. So hopefully he will let me.

A Visit to Great Grandma & Grandpa Brown's House

Barbara & Richard Brown (My dad's parents). New Year's Day we loaded everyone up and went to Winslow to visit my Grandparent's. We hadn't been to their house since my parents left on their mission. My brother Ben, Heidi and Elizabeth came with us. We had a wonderful visit and the kids loved playing with the animals.

The kids love going to Great Grandma's & Grampa's. They love playing with their little dog Fritzey, their bassett Princess adn their 3 cats. They also LOVE the 2 turtles. They were hibernating this trip, but when they are out Grandma lets them feed the turtles strawberries and other yummies.

Here is Carter trying to get Princess's attention.

Carter usually is very nervous around dogs because he doesn't know what they are going to do. You gotta love bassett hounds because what ever they do-they do it SLOW!

They took us out to a pizza place in town. My cousin Brandi and her kids, Summer, Kierstin & Cassidy all came along. It was so fun to visit and catch up.

Great Grandma brought a handful of quarters for the kids so they can play games.

Yikes!! Girls with guns!

Kaylee & Great Grandpa. He was the tallest guy I knew when I was young. I was always amazed when I saw him! Love you Grandpa and Grandma! Thanks for letting us visit!

Lion King

For Chritmas we gave the kids tickets to go see the Broadway show, "The Lion King". We went with David and Nicole's family and Cyndy and Scott Mickelson's family. We had a great time. The kids LOVED it, especially Carter. We had to sing Lion King songs all the way home.

After the show had ended we took a field trip down to the stage and saw the orchestra pit. It was very cool. We finally got kicked out and went home.

Happy New Years!!!

We spent New Year's Eve up at my sister Lena's house in Flagstaff. My Twin brother, Ben and his wife Heidi came. The only ones not there were my brother Lance's Family and my parents, of course, because they are on their mission. We missed you guys, but we had a good time!

Heidi, Elizabeth, Janae, Olivia, Ashlyn, Lena, Shayla & Kaylee

We ate yummy creamy chicken noodle soup with rolls. It was freezing and their was a ton of snow on the ground so it warmed us right up. My parents sent us all a Christmas package.

They sent all of the girls these FUN and CRAZY socks, along with a charm of the Croatian flag. These socks are all the rage their and will soon be in Clarkdale, AZ and Flagstaff, AZ. Thanks Mom and Dad! We love them!!

The boys all got these cool shirts. They are soccer jerseys and shirts from the Olympics. Carter got one, too. It looks like Ben's. He loves it!

This is my cute niece, Elizabeth Janae Brown. What a cutie! Unknowingly, we decided to dress alike. Of course she pulls it off better than I do. I wonder if it has anything to do with the name:)

Well we did have one mishap..DOH! Mike had to run to the store and didn't see that Ben and Heidi's car was parked behind him. He backed up into it. Dang it!! Oh well... that is a start to a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is Ben and Elizabeth cuddling.

Here are Dalton, Shayla and Kaylee giving me some attitude!

Heidi, Elizabeth, Shayla & Kaylee

Carter, Ashlyn, and Olivia are having a good time playing the wii. The only other negative thing about our trip was that Livy was throwing up all the way up to Flagstaff and all that night. Sorry everyone to expose you to that! We got a hotel room instead of staying and Ben's house. Way to ring in the New Year, Liv! Poor girl!

We all sat down to play a little game of BS. Livy won, of couse. I was the ultimate LOSER! It was fun to play with everyone.