Happy Thanksgiving . . . and so much more

This will be a totally random post because there were lots of little things in the last couple weeks that were worth jotting down. And, being that it's Thanksgiving, it was worth reflecting on the things in my life and in our lives that we are oh so grateful for. We had a wonderful and quiet Thanksgiving with my dad, which was a welcomed break from the crazy days of life in general.

After a very rough week at work, I'm grateful to have a day to remember my blessings. My job is so rewarding, but it can also be gut-wrenching. A week or so ago, I had the shift from hell. Excuse the language, but it was really that bad. All three of my patients decided to puke in unison, one had a IV blow right in the middle of a blood transfusion and one was just so critically ill that she made me nervous all night (it was her first night out of the ICU). I cried on the way home and then forced myself to let it go. Thankfully, most nights are just super rewarding and not so eventful! Unfortunately, the critically ill little girl passed away two night ago and I had to cry on the way home again. I kissed my own babies when I got home enough times that they started looking at me like I was nuts. I get to start working 3 nights every two weeks instead of every week starting in January! Hallelujiah!!

Working at Children's does have it's perks though. Last week, both Jay Cutler and Will Smith visited the hospital. I didn't get to meet either, but many of my patients did. How cool is that? Of course, I wasn't working that day. But last night, I met the Avs right wing, Ben Guite. He was amazing and gave me a signed autograph to give to Cooper.

Speaking of Cooper, his golf instructor started giving him lessons at an indoor facility that is equipped with video cameras. It's golf gone high tech and Cooper can't get enough of it.

Miss Kaiya lost another tooth this week and each time she does, she leaves a note for the tooth fairy. Here was the note.

It says, "Dear t-fairy how do you get the money that you give to us? Please reply. " The tooth fairy replied, "Hello Kaiya - I also collect teeth from old people. I melt the fillings out of them and sell the gold. Eat your veggies! T-Fairy." Tee hee.

When she woke up, the first thing out of her mouth was, "See! I knew it! The kids at school told me that the tooth fairy is just your mom and dad, but I have proof that it's not!"

And, finally, Miss Kinley's latest beauty in the form of another bedtime prayer. It went something like this: " . . .and please bless my family and help me to sleep good, please bless that tomorrow . . . (whispers to Doug, 'What is tomorrow?' to which he replies 'A stay home day with Daddy' to which she pumps her fists and says, "YES! Can you please try to make me a glass slipper pancake tomorrow morning? I know it will be hard, but I know you can do it dad.') . . . and please bless that dad can try really hard to make me a glass slipper pancake."

What a week!

Monkey Girl turns 8

Miss Kaiya a/k/a Monkey Girl turned 8 today and she has had a heck of a weekend! I was telling her the story of her birth this morning and realizing that she is growing up so fast. Eight years ago, I was at home with Cooper while Doug headed off to a church meeting. He had planned to stop at the grocery store and then go to his meeting, but Kaiya had other plans. My water broke right after he left and after repeated attempts to get him to answer his cell phone, I finally resorted to having him paged over the intercom at Safeway. It worked and just 6 short hours later, Kaiya was born. We should have realized then that she had albinism (for those who don't know, Kaiya is mildly albino, which means she lacks pigment in her skin, hair and on her retina) because the nurses nicknamed her "Snowflake" in the nursery with her head that looked exactly like a Q-tip with white fuzz on top. See for yourself.

White-haired baby Kaiya

We let Kaiya have her first slumber party this weekend for her birthday and it was a hit. She and five of her closest friends had a great night. They decorated sugar cookies, made personalized pillowcases, watched a movie, ate pizza and crashed a little after midnight. They were up at the crack of dawn, but I was pleased they got as much sleep as they did. Good thing I work nights and am accustomed to being up late since Doug had to work on Saturday.

Then, today, we celebrated her birthday with my family in Greeley. Uncle Brandon and Aunt Erika hosted dinner and she got spoiled rotten with some new clothes, games, her own scriptures (she will be baptized in Utah with cousin Anna on Dec. 6th) and a bedroom makeover. She wanted homemade brownies for dessert instead of a cake and I had to stop her at 2 huge brownies. I think we are ready to call it a weekend! Doug will be a helping dad in her class tomorrow and she is excited for that. Right now, I'm just grateful for our family policy of a birthday party every other year! Whew!

R U impressed?

Those of you who are sports enthusiasts know that November 12th is a big day in the world of college athletics. It is early signing day for the NCAA and I'm proud to announce that my highly recruited little bro signed a letter of intent today to play Division I baseball for ORU--Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. They are a top 30 program and they play Division I schools all over the country.

ORU is a small school with a student to teacher ratio of 13:1, which suits a kid from a small town just fine. Their coach is world-class and Bennett has been told he will be their starting catcher. Bennett turned down offers from UNC, Pepperdine, the University of Nebraska, and many others. And, now the letters from pro scouts are starting to flow in. He got one from the Chicago Cubs last week. With a little luck and good timing, he expects to be drafted at some point in the next four years. Holy crap!! All this and he wants to try majoring in mechanical engineering.

I'm so proud of this kid, I could just bust! And, I'm mostly proud because he's just a great person, brother, and Uncle B to my kids. For the full story on this big day, click here. Oh, and don't panic if you hear me talking about how much we love Oral. Get your minds out of the gutter people. ;)

Letter from the Chicago Cubs scout

The baseball field at ORU

A pint-sized revelation

Kinley's bedtime prayer 2 nights ago . . . .

Kinley: " . . . and please bless that I can sleep good, and please bless my grandmas and grandpas, and please bless that the oowies on Cooper's stomach will go away (she doesn't realize the scars are here to stay now), and please bless that . . . WAIT!!! DAD!! DAD!!!"

Doug: "Shh . . finish your prayer first."

Kinley: "But, dad!! It's important!"

Doug: "Kinley, no. Finish your prayer and then tell me."

Kinley: "OK. . . and please bless that I can stop sucking my thumb. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Doug: "What is it?"

Kinley (tenderly and 100% serious): "See that sign on my wall over there? It says NO BOYS ALLOWED and you are a boy. I'm so, so, sooooo sorry, dad. You can't be in here. You can't tuck me in anymore." (grabbing his face sweetly and giving him a big hug) "Goodbye, dad."

This sign has been on her wall for 2+ years

Come and get it!

It was a busy week of Halloween festivities around here. I'm exhausted today, but it was a fun week. We carved pumpkins on Monday and roasted the seeds--always a family favorite (though not the same this year without my nursing school buddies).

Thursday, I went to a girl's night out party where 20 of us dressed in full witch costume garb went out to dinner. We were quite a site and drew lots of strange looks.

Yesterday, I squeezed in three school parties for all three kids (whew!) with none of them overlapping. The highlight of Cooper's school party was the banana decorating contest and banana split party that followed. He had to write a creative story to go with his character--pretty clever way for teachers to engage the kids! Thanks to a great idea from my brother, Brandon, Coop created Joe Banana Montana.

In the evening, the kids trick-or-treated with friends. It was almost 60 degrees when they left and it was so nice not to have to bundle them beyond recognition!

Kinley did two full cul-de-sacs before coming home and deciding she wanted to be the candy hand-out person at our house. Have I mentioned how stinkin' funny this girl is? She sat on the porch with her big bowl of candy and yelled to kids passing by just like a beer vendor at a sports arena . . . "Candy! Get your candy. Fresh candy right here! We got chocolate, we got Hot Tamales, take your pick!"

The classic moment of the night was when one kid came to the porch step and forgot his manners. Kinley dropped two pieces of candy in his bucket (the kid was at least 12) and he left. She stood up, but her hands on her hips and said, "HEY! I think you forgot to say thank you, Mr. Man!!" The kid whirls around and was so stunned, he took off running. Ha!!!! What a crack up that girl is. :)