Cody"s Surgery

Cody had to have tympanoplasty surgery on April 9. After his second set of ear tubes had fallen out, one of his eardrums never healed and had a hole in it. To fix this he had to have a tiny skin graff behind his ear to use to fix the hole. I am amazed that a doctor can perform a surgery like that done inside such a tiny spot like an ear! Every thing went well, Cody was pretty dizzy and in pain imediately after the surgery but that didn't last long. The next day you would never know he had surgery. I was very proud of him! Being in the hospital sure made me feel grateful that my kids are all healthy and being in and out of hospitals is not a regular way of life for us. I have great respect for parents that have children with illness and diseases.
Cody just had his IV put in. He was so brave, they didn't even have to use gas on him, he just let them do it with out any trouble (he definitely does not take after his dad when it comes to needles!)

Post surgery, taking quite a snooze, it took him a while to wake up, that medicine is some good stuff!

Later in the day after the pain pills kicked in and the dizziness subsided Cody got to go out to Uncle Richie's and choose a puppy. He has been waiting forever for these pups to be born. I got out voted and I guess we will be having another dog soon!

Long Over Due Post!

Is it too late to post about EASTER!? We went camping out at the Sands with Kyle, Lori and their family. Grandpa and Grandma Stubbs' came too. We had a great time. We did have to dodge a little bit of rain off and on but it was still fun and the kids had a blast!

Found a good spot to have a chilly picnic!

Nothing like a good SANDwich!

We did several hikes Saturday afternoon and these kids were all troopers! We were looking for dinosaur tracks on this hike, it took a while and a little rain but we found them.

Becky, Kyle, Brandon and Larry waiting out the rain in Kyle's trailer.

Las Vegas Bday

Brandon had a seminar in Las Vegas that happened to be the weekend of my birthday, so my mom and dad came and stayed with our kids and we headed to Vegas. Brandon suprised me with tickets to see a show (thanks Anthony and Krista) on Friday night. We saw the show LOVE, music of the Beetles, CirqueduSoleil (I have no idea how to spell that). It was AMAZING! What incredible performers and athletes! I loved it and Brandon really enjoyed it too. We stayed out in Henderson and the next day Brandon headed to class and I lounged in the motel room and read and then I went shopping for a few hours, alone! It was so relaxing and fun for me. While I was doing this, my Mom and Dad were back home taking care of my 4 kids plus my niece and nephew, having picnics in the park, doing science projects, dragging kids to church, cooking, cleaning, and hopefully recieving lots of hugs and kisses! I appreciate you so much Mom!





Cody lighting my birthday cake that my Mom and kids made for me while I was gone.

Bailey at the 4th grade science fair. Bailey, with the help of Kelli Dawn and Grandma Judy, did this project while I was gone. I did make it to the science fair. Way to go Bailey!

Brandon and I out side the LOVE show.

Go Beetles!

Day With Cousins

On March 14th we hosted our Little League wrestling tournament here in Kanab. It was a lot of hard work but it was successful. Grandma and Grandpa Stubbs' came and spent the night and took care of my little ones so Brandon and I could run the tournament. I don't know what I would have done with out their help. Also Kyle and Lori came and stayed, and Amy and Brian came for the tourny. After we had a BBQ and let the kids play and play. Then the boys headed out to go shed hunting. Brandon found the other side to a shed he had found the week before, they were pretty cool. It is so much fun getting to hang with family!
Tavyn, Lexi and Dreyden making a choo choo train down the slide!

Kylie, Kenadee, Mckaylie and Bailey enjoying lunch.

Cody and Brendon daring stuntmen on the trampoline!

Tavyn, Lexi, Landon and Laynie having a picnic!

This is our baby horse, he is already getting so big! The kids call him Dusty but we have not officially named the little guy yet.
Bailey after one of her ball games. It was so fun to watch her games.
I could never get a good shot during her games but this is Bailey #41 doing what she likes best, defensive guarding!
Cody at the Panguitch tourny, I chose this picture because I love when he is ready for a take down!
This is from the Parowan tourny. The boys just love to get up on the podium and get their medals!

I have been a very neglectful blogger this last month. So I guess it is time to do a little catch up. We have been as busy as ever. I finally got my husband back! State wrestling was the second week of February. We had 5 guys go and one placed. Brandon is already anticipating next season and hopes to get some more freshman next year. A few days after state we started the little league wrestling. We had over sixty kids sign up. Can I just say how much energy there is in a wrestling room full of little boys! We have traveled the last few weekends to tournaments and the kids are doing well. Cody of course is loving every minute! Next weekend we have our tounrament here. Bailey played on a Jr. Jazz basketball team this year. This is her first year, she learned how to play and I think she had a lot of fun. So between basketball, wrestling, piano and dance practices, homework, my two jobs and my busy little ones I have been pretty busy. I did manage to squeeze in a great horse ride with my husband and no kids!

And The Mother Of The Year Award Goes To...

Not Me! Last Thursday I got a phone message asking me to send 24 uniced cupcakes to school for Valentines so the kids in Miss Grimms class could decorate them. Well Miss Grimm is Bailey's teacher, but somehow I got it in my mind that it was for Cody's class. So that night Cody got to choose what kind of cupcakes and he helped me bake them. I told him that we didn't need to ice them because another mom was bringing icing and they would get to decorate them in class, how fun! Well the next day I get a frantic message from Bailey's room mother wondering where the cupcakes are! By the time I got the message and called back it was too late to do anything. She had them decorate gramham crackers instead. I felt so bad, I was sick. And when Bailey came home she said she almost cried in class. They asked her where the cupcakes were that her mom was supposed to send and the poor girl didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Mean while Cody happily takes his lovely uniced cupcakes to class and asks the teacher if the other mom brought the icing to decorate. His teacher probably thinks I'm and idiot! Cody didn't mind, his class ate them with the pretty iced cupcakes that another mom sent in and he told me "Mom our cupcakes were really good and chocolatey!"
So I really don't think that I will be up for any mother of the year awards for this one!

Our Weekend

This weekend the kids and I went to Cedar, Cody had an ENT appointment with Dr. Pearson. He still has a hole in his right eardrum that has never healed after his tubes fell out. So he will be going in for surgery to fix it. I think we will do this in April after little league wrestling. Cody is so excited for it to start. He loves that his dad is his coach. Last night he set his alarm 15 minutes earlier so he could get up and practice some moves. When I got home from work this morning, he had made a list of the new moves Brandon had taught him, written in crayon. I thought it was so cute!

When we were in Cedar we got to spend some time with Dawn and Jill and their kids. We also finally exchanged Christmas gifts with Sherri and her girls. Dawn and I took the kids, including Jill's three kids, to dinner. It made for a group of two adults and 10 kids! I was proud of the kids, they all behaved well!

We visited with Grandma Stubbs for a little while then we headed to Minersville and stayed the night at Amy's. The next morning Amy and I and our NINE kids drove to Richfield where both our husband's were coaching. It was the 2A state region tournament. When we walked in we were laughing at our "large" group and I told Amy good thing we are in Utah, no one will notice. I had no sooner said this when a boy walked by, and I quote, "Holy crap, you have a big family"! I thought that was funny. Anyway it was fun to spend the day with Amy. She is a good mom and a great sister-inlaw! Thanks for letting us stay.

We have 5 wrestlers going to state this weekend. It has been fun watching them improve over the last two years. They are all a bunch of great guys.

Maple Snickerdoodles

These are the best ever snickerdoodle cookies. Brandon said these have that little something that most snickerdoodles are missing.
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. margarine, softened
1 c. sugar
3 Tbls. maple syrup
1 egg
_____Sugar mixture_______________
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 maple sugar (or brown sugar)
dash of cinnamon
Combine sugar and margarine, then add egg and syrup. Add dry ingredients. Roll dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar mixture. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min.

Best Buddies!

Drey and Sage snuggled up ready to watch a good movie. "Hey, want to trade binkies?"

Bathtime is always funner with two.

What do you do when you have to be somewhere in 10 minutes and you are trying to get ready in the bathroom? Shut the door and leave your devastated children on the other side, open the door and this is what you get. (the door was shut for maybe 2 minutes)

Drey is always super sweet and lets Sage cuddle him. This was right before bedtime Sage was feeling snuggly!

I am so glad that we had one more baby after Dreyden. Now he has a buddy and our family is complete!

A Few More Pics From New Years

If anyone is ever up for a rodeo, just head on over, there is always one at our house!
Famous bull riders, "Tuff Hedeman" and "Ty Murray".
This bull, we call "Bodacious", can handle anything!
Ride 'em cowboy!

Happy New Year 2009!

My sister and her family came and spent New Years with us. It was so much fun, I didn't want them to leave. Thanks for coming Christensen's!

Chris, Cody, Bailey and Kelli bringing in the new year!
We played games, ate too many snacks, and had a great time!
Sage woke up right before midnight, just in time to help bring in the new year.
The Christensens brought their playstation karaoke and we sang ABBA and country for two days straight. It was so much fun!

A couple of weeks ago, before Christmas, we decided to take the kids out to the Sands to go tubing. Well it was after the big snows and we ended up getting stuck. It was dark, snowing and blowing and Brandon ended up walking/jogging(in snow boots) seven miles out until someone picked him up and gave him a ride to town. The kids and I waited over two hours in the truck until he got back with a good friend who helped pull us out. So on New Year's day we ventured out to the sand dunes again, no we didn't get stuck this time, and went tubing. It was so much fun. The hills out there are huge! Perfect for tubing. We thought Brandon and Gary were going to kill themselves a couple of times. And Drey took off on his own just sliding on his bottom down a hill. Judilyn and I were screaming, he made it almost to the bottom and then started going head over heel. I thought for sure he broke something, but he got up and gave Cody a high five! Drey catchin' a ride on Gary's shoulders. He sure likes his Uncle Gary!

Dreyden with his "Aunt Momma". Drey loves his Aunt Judilyn, I have to watch out or one day he'll become a Christensen!

Brandon convinced Bailey to go down the big hill with him. We could hear her screaming the whole way down, "I'm scared!".

Cody loves tubing, he just tries to keep up with his dad and has no fear.

Kelli Dawn and Bailey after a big wipe out!

Stubbs' Family Christmas Party

On Christmas night all the Stubbs' clan gathered at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Cedar. We had so much fun, all seven siblings and families made it this year. We stayed up until about 3 a.m. everynight playing games. Lots of laughs and lots of fun! Thanks Becky and Larry for having 35 of us for the weekend!
All 19 grandkids! Aren't they cute?!
Just a glimpse of what it is like when we all get together. I don't think anyone had to sleep in the laundry room this year;)
Dreyden was so excited about getting this blanket and pillow he had to immediately lay down with it.My sweet sister-in-law Krista giving Sage her first hair cut. I think she ended up cutting or trimming every girl's hair! Thanks Krista!

Christmas 2008

We had a great, white Christmas this year! This year we drew names and had to make a secret homemade present. My kid's loved this, they were like busy little elves! They couldn't wait to give their present away so we ended up doing it on Christmas Eve. I think this will definitely be a tradition.
Christmas morning, waiting to go upstairs and see if Santa made it. We didn't get up until 7:30, nice!
Santa made it!
Visiting with Santa on Christmas Eve. Santa also made a special visit to our house before the kids went to bed. Thanks Santa!

Griffin Family Christmas Party

The Griffin family Christmas party, hosted by Jill, thanks Jill! We had a dinner and a great time!
Sage and her aunt Judilyn! Aren't they cute?
Cody getting to sit with Grandpa Griff for a minute!
Dreyden's turn to get his present! My mom had each grandchild sit on her lap to recieve their present. She also started out by telling everyone how much her and Grandpa love each one of their family.
Bailey getting her present from Grandma Judy. Each grandchild had to tell her something exciting from their year.

More Party Pics

My cute nieces, Lexie and Jordan.
My sister Dawn and her hubby Jason.
Sage and her cousin Berkley.
Jaden and Cody.