Do Not Read This Book

 

So mad at this book!!! I have wanted to read it for a long time and so I was really excited about it.  It started off great and really had some suspense that kept me wanting to read more.  Then he dropped the F bomb a few times.  Then from there it just got worse.  It went from casual adultery to horrible assault and brutality of women.  The perpetrator was a sadist pervert and it just made me ill even trying to skip over the horror.  I just felt icky reading it and just stopped.  There were statistics at the beginning of each chapter talking about the huge percentages of women in Sweden that have been assaulted one way or another.  What was up with that?  It wasn't like the author was trying to protect these women in the book.  They were just victimized extremely graphically.  It got great reviews and was actually translated into English because it was written in Swedish.  The author died right after delivering the manuscript to his publisher.  He may have been struck by lightning because of the content of the book.  Why why why do people have to write absolute trash??  That seemed to be the theme of my book reading last year.  "Books I Can't Read Because They Are Garbage"  I hope this is not starting a tread for this year.   When I read and the books start to get graphic or really scary or the language gets really bad I find myself getting agitated and then everything seems to just bug me and I have a really short fuse.  Hmmm could that be the spirit?  I hope I can keep listening.  It's not like I don't need all the help I can get in the not being agitated department.

No More Brace Face

Cayden got his braces off today after just over a year of having them on.  He  gagged and about barfed when they were taking the mold of his mouth to make his retainer but on the second attempt we had success.  He looks so cute with straight teeth and no braces.  It has been a trial for him and a pain for us but it is good to have straight teeth.  Caleb is about finished with his braces but he has 2 teeth that are still really high up in his gums that won't come down.  The orthodontist lasered away some gum tissue in front of the tooth that was not coming through at all so that they can see the tooth.  Then they attached a bracket to that tooth and hooked a power chain up and around it to start bringing it down.  They also put on a tighter wire on the bottom so he is not a very happy camper tonight.  He wanted a milkshake after that ordeal and I felt that was in order.  Hopefully he should get his braces off during the summer if these two teeth will cooperate.   I get so frustrated living here when we have to constantly hit the road for at least 30 minutes but usually an hour to see a doctor or in this case the ortho.  He usually comes down to Overton once a month and uses our dentist's office but the stuff that the boys needed done today could not be done down here.  Well we got Cafe Rio and Iceberg milkshakes out of the deal but also some major neck pain.  We hit another doctor while we were up there just to make wise use of the time and effort.  That will be shared at another time because I think that this is like the 7th post I've done tonight.

Bibbity Bobbity Barf

 

Funny picture-I wanted just a picture of Don and me but Cayden really wanted to be in the picture too.  Don is gently pushing him down the bench. 

Ok so in the past 12 months we have spent 11 days at Disneyland.  We have had it!! I don't want to see any rodents or waterfowl or unidentified long eared whatevers or another $17 Monte Cristo for a long long time.  We have had lots of fun running ourselves ragged there but this time was a little less exciting and I wanted to leave after the first full day.  Cayden was absolutely beside himself and actually did not stop talking from Barstow to Anaheim.  This trip was different because Cody stayed home by himself with the keys to the kingdom because he had play rehearsal that he could not miss.  Then once Connor found out that Cody was staying he wanted to stay and Grandma's house instead of go.  So Don, Me, Caleb and Cayden loaded up Don's car and headed out Thursday morning.  The kids had a 3 day weekend again but we pulled them for Thursday.  We drove to Barstow and did a bit of shopping as usual and then got into Anaheim, checked into our hotel and were at the park by 5pm.  We stayed until about 9:30 while waiting for the fireworks show that they did not end up doing.  I was freezing the whole time we were there but Don and the boys were fine.  Cayden woke up early Friday morning and since I can't sleep worth a dang in hotels we headed out and got to the park around 10.  We left Caleb and Don sleeping.  Cayden and I had pancakes at the River Belle Terrace and then went back and forth from Winnie the Pooh to Small World with a few stops in between at Pirates and Peter Pan.  Don and Caleb got there around 11:30 and had corndogs for breakfast.  Cayden and I stayed together alot and did the things that he wanted to do and Don and Caleb stayed together alot and did the big stuff that I don't like and neither does Cayden.  One of the good things about going so much this past year is that the kids have gotten braver on the rides.  Cayden went on Pirates and Soarin this time and did not even throw a fit and Caleb even tried California Screamin which he immediately regretted and informed his dad of upon take off.  It was cloudy and cold to me the whole time and it did start raining at 9pm on Friday night just like the weatherman predicted.  We were prepared though with ponchos and umbrellas that we stored in a locker.  We also had extra shoes and socks back at the hotel for us since we learned the hard way last year that ponchos do not keep your feet from getting wet. The fireworks show was pretty amazing and they did it even though it was dumping pretty good.  Tinkerbell still flies from the top of the Matterhorn but now they use the castle like a screen to project lights and visual effects onto and then the fireworks themselves are pretty cool.  Cayden loved it and Don even held him up-all 85 pounds of him-so that he could see.  We ate ourselves sick on way overpriced popcorn and Coke.  Because we had the annual passes we were able to go back to the room in the late afternoon and rest a bit before heading back for the night without feeling like we had to stay in the park and get our money's worth.  Connor found a book last time we were there that talks about and gives you clues to all the hidden Mickey's in the park.  They are all over and you have to really look hard and fast because if you are on a ride you might miss it.  We spent our time looking for those too even though we left Connor's book at home.   By 5pm on Saturday all of us had had quite enough of the people and the lines and cold.  We went back to the room and ordered room service for dinner and stayed put until morning.  I was really sick of eating out and so around 9 I just wanted a bowl of cereal.  The giftshop had cereal but no milk. DUH!  My husband went on a milk hunt for me so that I could eat my Frosted Flakes before bed.  He is so nice to me.  This time around we did not buy any souvenirs.  Seriously how much Disney stuff do I need around here?  The novelty has worn off and I don't know if we will go back for a while.  Our passes expire the very first day of their summer season but that is when they start the Electrical Parade.  That is my favorite thing about Disneyland so it's possible that we may go for that but once the passes expire we won't be doing that again.  It was fun while it lasted and I would like to thank Anaheim and the Anaheim Hilton for being such good hosts.  I highly recommend the Hilton.  We did see one grumpy park worker which was a first.  She was one of the conductors on the train that goes around the park.  She more or less yelled a few times at some people for not sitting down.  She even singled them out by saying "you in the red jacket-SIT DOWN!"  When the train stopped again we did see her getting a severe tongue lashing from the engineer.  She needed a nap or something.  To work there has to be maddening at times because you are at the happiest place and earth and therefore you have to be happy and not fuss at the guests because then they won't be happy and then it won't be the happiest place on earth.  Phew!  We also rode the horse drawn trolley around main street and Cayden got the close up view of the horse's behind doing what behind's do.  It was pretty funny how the driver just nonchalantly tells the riders that we are coming to a short stop but will be on our way quickly.  "You don't see anything!"  Oh wait wrong production company.  I did enjoy holding Cayden's hand all the time.  He wanted to and wouldn't hardly let go at all even when I needed my hand to answer my phone or put on my gloves or wipe the cinnamon sugar off his face.  He really is a sweet boy and probably the only one that loves his mommy and will admit it.  Disneyland has about run it's course for us I think.  The beach is looking good for the summer!

I Like To Look For Rainbows

Cayden was baptized by his brother Cody on his birthday February 6.  Grandma Penny, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Suzanna, Abby, and Owie came down Saturday afternoon. We had the baptism at 4pm at the Stake Center and we were with our recently released Bishop's family and their son Luke Barlow who was baptized as well.  Cayden was a little nervous as was Cody but they both did a great job and as soon as Cayden came up out of the water he wiped his face and gave me great big smile and wave.  It was so sweet.  Grandpa Don gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and then Cayden's dad confirmed him.  Uncle Chris Gessel, Uncle Chris Zundel, Uncle Ryan, Grandpa Don, Bishop Barlow and the new second counselor in our new Bishopric Brother Mark Prisbrey were in the confirmation circle.  After the baptism we headed back to our house for a super dinner of Carne Asada, black beans, lime rice, green salad and the traditional white I Am A Child God cake.  Some of our family could not come to the dinner and some could not come to the baptism.  Mawmaw was not able to come down or Granddaddy Larry.  Granddaddy Larry went to the baptism of Alan which was on the same day but not at a time that could get him down here so he could go to both.    Cayden got many gifts for his birthday and his baptism from his family.  He received the traditional new set of scriptures with his name on them from mom and dad and a carrying case for them from Grandma Penny.  he also got a tie, a tie tack, a couple of books on baptism and the Holy Ghost and a cute CTR statue pictured above. It was a rainy day after many rainy days which is quite unusual for Logandale and we did not see any rainbows but it was a great day and Cayden was super excited. On Sunday at church the Bishop presented him and Luke as the newest members of the church and gave them both a little hymnbook. That was a tradition started by Bishop Barlow that Bishop Evans wants to continue. Cayden wanted me to go with him up on the stand but I told him he could do it. While they were up there Luke recited the First Article of Faith. The the Bishop asked Cayden if he wanted to di that and he looked terrified and gave a very persisten shake of the head indicating that he did not want to do that. It was pretty funny and everyone laughed. I was feeling terrible by that time and went home right after the Sacrament to see all of the family on their way and then to my lovely bed.  

You've Had a Birthday

 

Cayden turned 8 on February 6.  On Friday we took him and the family up to St. George to go to Red Robin and to get haircuts for him and Caleb.  We met Uncle Chris, Aunt Anne, Lexie Lou and Aunt Calley for dinner because they were coming down for Cayden's baptism on Saturday.  Cayden got to open his presents on Saturday morning and eat some of his Pooh Bear cake. 

NHS

On Thursday, January 28 Cody was inducted into the National Honor Society at the high school.  There was a light dinner and a short program.  Cody keeps looking for good things he can do or participate in so it looks good on his college applications.  Yes, you heard me college applications. 

A Month of Ear Infections

On the Saturday of Cody's birthday in between lunch and cake Dr. Chris and Nurse Anne took us down to the hospital to see if Uncle Chris could look in Cayden's ear before we spent $100 at the Urgent Care.  Cayden  had been complaining about his ear hurting since the day before when we were on the way up to Provo and was crying at lunch because it was hurting.  Dr. Chris could not see anything with his handy dandy ear looker so Nurse Anne called up to the NICU to see who was on call.  It happened to be a pediatrician and he was nice enough to check Cayden out.  He could not see anything because Cayden's ear was too full of wax.  He told us to go home and clean it out and then come back and he would look again.  After 30 minutes of flushing Cayden's ear with hydrogen peroxide and water we thought we were good.  Well the doctor still could not tell a whole lot but he gave us a prescription for Amoxicillan to fill if the problem continued.   Cayden was still complaining about it on Tuesday so I filled the RX.  9 days later he said it was still bothering him so we went to the doctor here in town who said it was still really bad.  We got 2 new RX's and only paid $150 for them.  Thank you beginning-of-the-year deductible.   Later in the day I took Connor to the same doctor because he had started complaining about his ear the Saturday after Cayden and I had an Amoxicillan RX that we started him on.  His ear infection was not as bad as Cayden's but still not good especially for being on the meds for 5 days.  Plus his blood sugars had been horribly high all week since he had started saying that his ear hurt.  So he also got a $130 RX.  Because Cayden's ear was so bad we went back to the doctor once a week for 2 more weeks and THEN even though the bad infection part was gone his ear did not look the way the doctor thought it should.  We even used an ear cleaner kit a few times a day for a week to clean it out really good.  After the 3rd time to our local doc he sent us up to the ENT in Mesquite.  We went up there on Monday and the ENT used his magic sucky vac to clean out Cayden's ear for the billionth time.  He said there was still an infection in there but wait for it...............and skip ahead unless you want to be grossed out.........................it was a fungal infection.  Ok that is just yucky.  He said it could have happened because of the amount of antibiotics he had been on or that he had gotten water in his ear that never drained out.   He squirted a thick cream in there and said to come back in a week to make sure the infection was gone.  So let's add that all up
3 trips to the local doc for Cayden and 1 for Connor
2 antibiotics for Cayden and 2 antibiotics for Connor
1 antibiotic ear drops for Cayden
1 trip to the ENT and now
1 more trip to the ENT
So much for cutting down on our medical expenses this year.  I feel bad that Cayden has had to deal with this for so long.  He was so good about it too.  Poor boy!
Incidentally I got sick on February 7 and after flushing my ear it got plugged and I could not hear out of it for 2 days.  It was maddening!  I spent numerous times on Friday and the whole morning of Saturday the 13 trying to get it unplugged. Finally about 1pm it worked and I could hear again.  I only had to deal with not hearing for a few days.  Poor Cayden has had to deal with it for over a month.

Cody's Birthday

 

Cody turned 17 January 16 while we were in Provo for our late Christmas.  We took him to lunch at Texas Roadhouse with all the family and then he opened his presents and enjoyed his Lemon Bundt Cake at Grandma Penny's house.  The candles add up to 17.  8+2+2+5=17.  This is the way we do candles.