MIKE AND JANIE + 4 LITTLE RASCALS

2010-06-25T09:12:00.012-06:00

I'm seeing my father in me!! Craig really loves his daddy. He can't wait till daddy is home so they can play. I love these pictures. He is such a little man. 6/17/10

2010-06-25T09:10:00.002-06:00

We had so much fun last Friday (6/18). Aunt Sunny, Antalya and Victoria are hear from London. Uncle Jason had to stay in London. We wish he could of come to. We couldn't wait to see them, so we asked them and grandma to come out to our house to play. Daddy, the boys and papa went to the fathers and sons camp-out (They had lots of fun camping). Grandma brought out pizza and some yummy cookies and ice cream. We had so much fun playing in the pool and in the toy room. We love having our cousins over.

2010-06-25T09:05:00.000-06:00

One of the kids favorite things to do for daddy on Fathers Day, is to take him breakfast in bed! I think daddy likes it to!! 6/20/10

2010-06-24T07:55:00.008-06:00

We wanted to help the kids earn money, and teach them to pay tithing. We let them each decorate a jar and we keep track of what they earn. They can earn $.05 to $.25 depending on the job. There is a $.05 fine for whining. We remind them 3 times to do a job, if they have not done it after the 3rd reminder they still have to do the job, but they don't get paid. Saturday they don't get paid for jobs, its a day of service and to help the family. We hope that this will help them not get to greedy or only do things so they can get paid. Sunday they can only earn money for good behavior at church. I know this probably sound crazy or extreme. So far it works pretty well. We have been doing it for about 12 days. The kids like it and hopefully they learn if you want something you might have to wait to buy it. Usually we will pay them on Saturdays so they can pay their tithing at the same time, but we did it for family night on Monday. They had so much fun. Daddy was the banker. He helped them figure out how much they needed to pay in tithing, and how much to put in checking and savings. They have glass piggy banks, that is their savings accounts ( they can't get into those unless they break them). We try to encourage them to put some money in saving, it's their choice. The boys wanted too, but they girls wanted to keep all their money in their checking (jar) account. I know it sounds silly, but its been fun.

2010-06-12T16:34:00.004-06:00

Brittney, Aiden and Matt came to visit on Friday June 11th. We got our hair cut. We had fun playing with Aiden and his new Buzz Lighyear toy. Aiden had fun with our Woody toy, he even took him for a bath. We had lots of fun and were very sad when they had to go.

2010-06-12T16:17:00.003-06:00

Kids play on 6/10/10:

We had fun today!! Rylee came over to play. We swam, played with Play Dough, played house and watch movies.

2010-06-12T16:02:00.006-06:00

We started potty training Craig on Thursday the 10 of June .
He is doing really well with number 1, number 2 he still thinks that
is done best in his pants. He also likes to be silly and put his
underwear (poo free) and his pants on his head, he is very silly.

2010-06-06T21:31:00.005-06:00

These are some cool pictures we took of Sunday night's storm.

June 6,2010

2010-06-06T21:01:00.003-06:00

Brooklyn wanted to take pictures by herself these are her masterpieces.

She actually did a great job.
June 4, 2010

2010-06-03T12:37:00.007-06:00

OK, folks here is my entry to go with the pictures below. We started Friday May 28th out with Brooklyn's School program, Daddy came, but he had to get back to work so he could get off early to go camping. Brooklyn did great on her program. She loves to sing and be silly. She had fun and was happy to see us all.
We left about 5:30pm to go camping once Matt Harris was home from work. Melissa (Harris) told us it was about an hour drive, but like most of us when we are not the one driving you don't really pay attention to how long it take you to get somewhere (at least I don't). It was more like 2 1/2 hours to get there, as long as you don't get lost which we did. They were doing road construction and changed the area you turnoff to get up to the stake property. We had a fun even thought we were lost, Daddy started a fun game of "I spy" and the "quiet game". We finally got on the dirt road and about 5 or 10 minutes into it Bolt got sick and barfed on Mike's pants. We didn't even hear him. It looked awful but luckily it didn't stink. Mike just laughed and said "I wondered what the warm sensation was on my leg". I felt bad for Mike by the time we got up to the camp sight it was dark, cold and now even colder because of the gift Bolt left on his pants. He just scraped it off his pants and went to work put up the tent
(the road was to narrow so we couldn't take the camper). We had a really good time. We went hiking, the kids road their bike, played with sidewalk chalk, the dad's had fun playing horse shoes. We went to the lake and let the kids play in the water. On the way home Craig rode in the Harris's car, so Mason could ride with us. Craig got car sick and yes you guessed it he barfed in their car. I guess puking was our thing this weekend. We had a great Memorial weekend and can't wait to go camping again.
On Tuesday we went to Grant's class performance of the gingerbread-man. Grant played a horse that chased the gingerbread man. It was very cute. The kids help write it and help make the backdrops for it. It is so much fun to watch kids with special needs do things. They very seldom get embarrassed and they have such an energy about them, it was fun. I love his teacher and the aids he had working with him. He received an award for being a great reader and being able to keep up with the 3 graders in his class. He is in 2nd grade, but they have 1st , 2nd , 3rd and some 4th graders in his class. We are very proud of him, he works so hard.
That is it for now.

2010-06-02T10:31:00.022-06:00

2010-05-25T21:24:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone I am back to the land of blogging... I think? I have had a few people tell me to get my act together and get back to blogging. I have not blogged since last April WOW! I will try and update you with a few highlight of the last year. We got a dog in August named Bolt from my parents he is a pug/peakinees mix. The kids love him, he is a good dog, except when he gets out the front door then he lives up to his name Bolt. Grant was baptized the first of October. Brookie turned 6 on October 8th and started Kindergarten as well. Grant had ear sugary the first of Nov. to fix a whole in his ear drum. We almost were blessed with baby Number 5, but they Lord decided that 4 is a good number for us, we are sad but we are blessed with 4 other cute kids. We have had a lot of teeth lost in our house between Grant and Brooklyn. We had a great Christmas. We went to St. George for New Years and Easter and had a great time. Craig turned 3 in January. Grant took First place in his first pinewood derby. I don't think he understood he got first though, I think he was just so glad he got to keep his car he had worked on. Our sweet Grandma Marian Stringham returned to her Heavenly Father on Feb 25. She was a wonderful lady and is missed very much. On a happier note Rylan Neve turned 10 and Dad Stringham turn 60 on Monday May 24th. We threw dad a surprise party on his birthday, he thought he was coming out to our house just for dinner with us, but we had 15 more people hiding in the kitchen they yelled surprise and he said "what the honk", it was funny. I really think he was surprised. Mike made a DVD biography of his life it turned out great. It was a nice tribute to his dad. Grant also received his bobcat in scouts. Brinlee graduated from pre-school she is an official kindergartner after July 23rd. That is about it. I have pictures below enjoy, the last pictures with the hose is how we get our pool warm in case you are wondering. Hope you all stayed awake for that.

2010-05-25T18:45:00.024-06:00

2009-04-23T22:49:00.008-06:00

April 23rd, 2009
Hello everyone we are still alive. I have gotten really bad at keeping our blog updated. I will try to give you a quick run down of the last two months happenings. Let see, I fell and broke my tail bone the end of Feb. ouch …..It still hurts if I sit to long in one spot, so I have to rearrange my hinny off and on. I am a bad friend and forgot to call my friend Jamie on her birthday. I really did think about you on your birthday. The phone and I just didn’t do it at the same time. I‘m sorry, Happy very belated birthday. It is Mike's brother Scott's birthday on Saturday the 25th. Happy birthday!! My Dad, Mom, Angie, Nick, Britt and Aiden came up the first part of March. Angie had entered her body sculpture project in the state art competition and had won an award and $400. WOW!! If anyone wants to see it, it is on display at Gateway until the end of June, it is pretty amazing. Way to go Angie! It was really nice to have them up here for a visit. We got to go to DISNEYLAND in March with the kids, Grandma Jan and Papa Stringham. Craig got to spend the time in St. George being spoiled by Aunt Nat and Grandma Jean. We had a great time. It’s even better because with Grant disability, we got a special pass, we didn’t have to wait in the regular lines, we got to go in through the wheelchair entrance or the fast pass line which was way cool and a lot more fun. Some people looked at us funny because Grant looks normal, but I didn’t care. I guess I have gotten use to it. LOL! We would get there as the park opened and just for those of you who didn’t know, if you have a Disneyland credit card just show it to them when you rent your strollers and you get two free stroller rentals a day, pretty sweet. The strollers really were a life saver. I don’t think we would have seen half as much if the kids had to walk. Also thanks to my Aunt Kay who gave us these great arm leashs for Grant. If we didn’t have it we would of lost him with in the first 10 min. Not to mention the whole trip would not have been as enjoyable, so thank you, thank you. Mom and Dad where a big help in more then one way we couldn’t of done everything with out their help. Thank you and we love you. We stayed at the Carousel Inn across from Disney so we could come back and eat and give the kids and us a break. We went swimming one day and let the kids unwind the next it was great. Grant had his heart set on a Maleficent dragon (black baby dragon as he would of put it) but they didn’t have a Maleficent dragon. This little obsession he had went on for two days. It was driving me and I’m sure everyone else nuts. When he has his mind set on something it is all he can think and talk about. We did find a purple Webkinz dragon that worked for the most part. Brookie’s favorite ride was Star Tours, her and daddy had to ride it twice. Brinlee’s favorite ride was Dumbo she would of road that 20 times if we let her. Mike's favorite ride is Buzz Light-year, mine is Souring over California (this was one of Papa’s favorites too) and Splash Mountain. They were great troopers. We were really worried about flying especially with Grant because you never now how his little body will react to change. But he did awesome! He only had a little bit of trouble with his ears, the girls did great as well. All and all it was a super fun trip. Easter was fun. The Friday before Easter we went to Kangaroo Zoo (I have talked about it in my past blogs, it has a lot of bounce houses and slides) with all the Stringham grandkids, their mommy’s and Grandma Jan. Then we went back to Grandma Jan and Papa’s to dye Easter eggs and eat pizza. The kids always have fun with their cousins, it was great. Sunday we had dinner and a fun Easter egg hunt. We celebrated Steve and Courtney birthdays we had a great time. This past Saturday Mike, Steve, Dad and Grandpa Jack all went fishing for the day. They didn’t have much luck with the fish but from what Mike said they had a great time. We also planted our own seeds for are garden this year and they are growing, well not all of them but some, wish us luck. We are also extending our garden. It is going to be twice as big, hopefully for twice as much fruits and veggies. Wish us luck with that too. Well that is it for now, love ya all. I will try to do better with my updates. Love Janie

P.S. If you have time check out some of our new pictures below. Thanks

2009-04-22T21:25:00.001-06:00

Easter Morning Our House 2009

Prof the Easter Bunny came!

Craig's basket.

More prof!

Brinlee's baskey.

Grant's Basket

More prof!!

Brinlee's basket.

Here we come!!

I found my robe.

I found my light.

Poor Emmie, did we wake you up !!

I found my book.

I found my art set.

Craig found his basket.

Brookie found her basket.

Grant found his basket.

Brinlee found her basket.

Look at our fun stuff.

Yummy!

Easter Sunday at Papa and Grandmas House 2009

The Easter Egg hunt

Craig making pancakes!!

The pan was unplugged (it was cool) and I hadn't put the pancakes away yet. Craig had climb up on the counter and put the pancakes back on the pan so he could cook them himself.

He was very proud of himself.

2009-04-22T09:16:00.000-06:00

Our Trip to Disneyland 3/25 to 3/28/2009 Waiting for the airplane really early in the morning.

We are in California. Ya!!

Waiting for the shuttle to take us to our Hotel.

After we dropped off out bags at the Hotel we came to right to Disneyland!

I'm so excited.

So are we!!!

The kids loved the Lego store.

The boys all bought matching red hats.

We took a break from Disneyland to check into our rooms and get our stuff.

Back to Disneyland.

Are you scared Grant?

Toon Town

They let us out because I have such cute kids!

It's Goofy!

Minnie's House

Its Bear Country.

Zip line

High School Musical Show

Grant got to be a part of it. Cool!!

Bugs Life
Making friends with Hopper.

OH NO!!! We are all turning into BUGS.

Surfs up dude!!

Our Hotel

Its time to say good by to our vacation.

We sure had a great time!!

Planting seeds for the Garden.

Time to water.

Craig giving Nala love.

2009-02-20T09:17:00.038-07:00

Craig being silly.

He wanted to try on Grant's pants.

The girl's made bag's at their party on Thursday 2/12/09

Grant and his Dino Valentine Box for school. 2/10/09

We made it out of this fun book.

He was excited about his mailbox for school. They had a dinosaur Valentine party,

pretty cool!

Grant trying on Brookie's headband, cute!

Our Valentines cards from Grandma and Papa Neve. 2/11/09

Grant's hat he made at his school party, and his Valentines from his friends 2/13/08

Waiting for the Valentines party to start. Friday Feb. 13 2009

Its party time!!

The pizza crust yummy!!

Making our heart pizza's

Time to decorate cookies. YA!!!

Having a little fun and being a little worn out.

We are getting new couches so we moved Grandma C's couch down to the spare bed room and are giving the recliner to a family in our ward.

Craig doing a little reading.

Mom and Dad Stringham are getting new couches and that means so do we.

We got their old couches but they are almost like new.

Before unwrapping

almost done.......................................................................TA DA

all done.

Our Valentines date. We had some pretty cute and handsome dates. 2/14/09

We all started out happy but...

Mike's dates were much happier them my dates by the end. The divers scared Craig and this is

how he was almost the whole time at dinner, fun !

Sunday Feb. 15th

Grandma and Granpa Brought Antalya out for dinner and to play with the kids. Earlier that day, as you can see ,Craig got him self a shinner.

1st day 2nd day

2009-02-07T21:42:00.004-07:00

I found some more pictures of Christmas.

Pictures of Christmas eve and Christmas morning. 12/08

The kids waiting on the stairs to see what Santa brought them.

We didn't take to many picture on Christmas morning it got so crazy we forgot.....whoops!

Christmas eve at Grandma and Papa Stringham's 12/23/08

Craig and Grant with their Christmas present from Grandma and Papa

The Shepard's.

Grandpa Virgil Grant

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Marion

2009-02-04T23:00:00.004-07:00

Hello, for those of you who have been wondering, yes we are still alive and doing fine, we have had a crazy month. Christmas was wonderful. The kids got spoiled like normal. We went to St George for New Years and had a great time. Our baby turned 2. He is getting so big.
Mike went out of town on the 18th of January for a few weeks to Vegas with work. Before he left I surprised him with a night out. Mom and Dad Stringham watched the kids for us. When Mike got home he told me he fainted in Vegas. He says it's because he got out of the hot tub and his body cooled off too fast. I was not happy he waited until he got home to tell me. It really worried me. I guess that is why he waited to tell me. He hit the bathroom stall and really gashed his back . We made him a doctor's appointment mainly to make me feel better.
We took Grant to the doctors because we thought he might have diabetes, because he drinks and pees a lot. The kids and I got to take a field trip to the U of U last Friday. We had lunch in the cafeteria at the U. We had to wait for the results to come back on Grants blood and urine it was an eventful day. It all came back good, but we are still trying to figure out what is up. Why we where there the Doctor could only find one of his testicles, I am sure you all want to know that, but come to find out not just for the obvious reasons but if we don't have it taken care of his chances for testicle cancer increases. I didn't know that. We are having to keep track of how often he pees and drinks and take him and the log back into the doctors on the 23rd of February to look at both issues . I have been busy planning our ward adult party in March. I think it will be fun we are going to have a fiesta night with a pinata, a couple in our ward salsas (dances) so they are going to be the entertainment and for dinner...a taco bar. Grant also went snow shoeing and rock climbing with his school class last month, there is a group called Splore that works with special need kids and they picked a few schools to work with and Grant's school was one of them. He loved it. I was worried about him doing it, but Mike said I need to let him branch out a little.
I was able to go have a girls day with my Friend Stephanie after two weeks with 4 kids and only going to Arctic Circle and the store. I needed a girls outing with an adult. We had a great time. Mike watched the kids. It was very sweet of him. Mike had been working on the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and was able to bring home some of the marble rock they used to build it. The kids thought it was cool. It was Nags (Stringham) birthday on the 2 of February and it is Brittney birthday on the 8th. Happy late and early birthday. Well that is it narrowed down as much as I could. I won't wait so long next time. I'll put some pictures up from our Christmas and New Years and other fun stuff from the last month Love ya Janie

2009-02-04T22:45:00.017-07:00

Aunt Brittney and Aiden came to visit the weekend of Craig's Birthday.

Two guys enjoying their fries.

Aiden enjoying his spaghetti!!

Brittney and Aiden watching the kids sled.

The kids out sledding in the front yard. Grant, Brookie, Brinlee, Craig, Daddy and Rylee

Stringham's family dinner and Craig's Birthday dinner

1/11/09

Craig got a pig for his birthday and Brookie had fun turning the box into a cow and a barn.

1/09/09

Craig's Birthday dinner. 1/08/09

Grandma, Papa, Aunt Brittney, Aiden and Jessica came. Jess got sick and

they had to leave a little early. We wont mention she left her mark in the drive way.

The kids house they built or tower very creative.

Playing at papa and grandma Neve's

Craig helping Grandma with daddy's quilt.

Hanging out at Johnny and Sarah's New Years weekend

Nice face Johnny!!!

Braxton helping a brother out by keeping his nose clean. Kylie enjoying her popcorn

2009-02-04T22:40:00.007-07:00

New Years Weekend hiking 1/09

It was such nice weather we couldn't help but go hiking.

The kids playing fairies they even got Craig in on it. 1/09

Graig Sniffing the markers, silly boy!!

Eating Breakfast in his boat!!

Kids playing and sledding in the back yard. 1/09

The kids bike's they got for Christmas 12/08

2009-02-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Stringham Family Christmas party at

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Marion's house. 12/25

The Girls Doll house they got from Santa. 12/08

2008-12-23T02:30:00.002-07:00

Hello it's us again, 12/23/08

I can now announce it on my blog, now that I know Sunny and Jason have posted it on their blog. They are expecting their 2ND baby in July, yippee! A big CONGRATULATIONS, we are so excited. Antalya is going to be a big sister.

Christmas is sooo close. I have to say as you get older you don't have the same excitement you had when you were a kid, but when you have kids to spend it with or to even be around kids, you feel their anticipation and excitement. It's great! It makes me feel like a kid again, but a much funner level. I get to play Mrs Clause. (I don't think funner is even a word, oh well) We have a little elf that is invisible to my children, his name is Guss. He is very helpful to Mommy when I have children being more naughty than nice. Guss has a direct line to Santa , so if my angels need some help being good I let them know Guss could be hear right now watching and if I have to, I'll tell him that we may have to put some toys on hold and to let Santa know. It works great! Well another week has come and gone. We have had a fun week going and seeing Christmas light going to Zoo light, baking and getting things ready for Christmas. Grant's last day of school was Friday but on Thursday they had his school program. Each Grade got to sing two songs. Grant came out with the Kindergarten class a smaller group, he did great we had fun watching him. Daddy made it and Grandma Jan, and Rylee came. Steph was really sick with Strep (wonder who she caught that from, hum?) so we where watching Rylee for her. Grandma couldn't come with us to see the Zoo Lights she had a wedding, but we all went even Rylee and froze to death it was great fun... for the kids, even thought its was cold!!! It will be fun to have him home for a few weeks, I say this now because I know by next Monday I may be a little frazzled with my demanding, inpatient little angel who I love dearly. Well we will post an after Christmas up date next week . I posted some cute pictures of the kids. Pictures we took with the Stringham grand kids and of Grants program, if you want to check them out. Thanks for all the Christmas cards. I get so excited to get them in the mail, I know pretty sad. Merry Christmas! We love you all.

2008-12-23T02:27:00.004-07:00

Our new clothes from Grandma and Papa Neve. We look so cute!!

Thank you!!

2008-12-23T02:25:00.002-07:00

Grant's school program 12/18/2008

Kids waiting for Grant

He couldn't see us at first, the lights were so bright. He was very happy when
he did. In the first picture you can see his teacher Miss Mairs next to him.

Here they are doing the actions to the song, it was so cute!!

2008-12-23T02:10:00.003-07:00

What cute kids. 12/13/2008

OUR GIGGLEY LITTLE BROOKIE!!

OUR FUNNY LITTLE BRINLEE!!

GRANT OUR HANDSOME LITTLE CHEESER!!!

OUR CUTE SILLY CRAGGIER!!!

2008-12-23T01:56:00.004-07:00

OUR CUTE COUSINS!! 12/13/2008

MEGAN, SPENCER, COURTNEY

LINDSAY, ANTALYA

2008-12-15T14:40:00.005-07:00

12/15/08
So much has happened since my last post. I survived my first activity as Ward Activity Chairman (the ward Christmas party.) I got a year older, the kids all had Strep ,Grant hurt his foot and had to wear a shoe cast for 4 days. we had our first real snow storm. We went and had the kids pictures taken with the Stringham grand kids. Santa has been busy working on the girls doll house as well, WOW what a week. Natalie and her roommate Shellie came in town on the 4th just in time for Shellie to go to her friends wedding reception and in time for Nat to watch the kids why we took Grant to Instacare for his foot. He hurt his foot I guess at school the doctor at Instacare thought it was a break, but I guess it was not all the way through, so I don’t know what they call that. Why we were there they wanted to swab his mouth and told us he has Strep. We find out all the kids had it. They also wanted Grant to stay off his foot for a few days so I got to carry him or he crawled all over, fun fun. The ward Christmas breakfast was on Saturday Dec. 6th and I think it went well. My birthday was great we went to Red Robin for dinner the night of the 6th with Natalie Shellie, Mom and Dad Stringham and all the kids. I like to say it went pretty well, the kids were great. Grant was a little anxious for his food and wanted to go help in the kitchen. The rest of the week went great. I can’t really tell you everything I did which is a good thing. That means nothing too crazy happened. We had Stringham’s Sunday dinner at Mom's and Dad's house and celebrated my birthday (on the 7th), Sunny’s birthday (on the 19th) and Brynn’s Birthday (on the 21st). We had a good time. We played a fun Christmas game and won some fun prizes. Well that is it for now Love Janie

Happy Birthday to Sunny on Friday and Brynn on Sunday!!!

2008-12-15T14:32:00.003-07:00

The Birthday Girls 12/14/08

December 4th

2008-12-04T17:30:00.001-07:00

Today is December 4th.
We have had so much fun this week. Aunt Kandace, Kramer, Kasey, Kort, and Kensington all came to hang out with us last Monday the 24th of November. We went to lunch and up to see Grandma’s grave. The kids were not able to come to the funeral. They were excited to go see it. They left her a cute Christmas tree and some roses. We left for St. George Tuesday night. We got to stay with Aunt Natalie. It was lots of fun. Grandma and Papa took all the grandkids to Bear Mill (its like Build a Bear). We had such a great time. We had a great Thanksgiving too, lots of yummy food and we got to play with all our cousins. The morning of Thanksgiving all the guys went and played turkey football (Uncle Kris is an avid player every year), why the women got the feast ready. We swam in the hot tub and for those of us brave enough (Brookie, Daddy, Kramer and Uncle Nick) swam in the pool at Granma and Papa’s house. The water was a nice 64 degrees. We went to the Tuachan Theater Saturday night and saw the play “The First Christmas” rode on the train and saw Santa. We lost Grant for a few minutes, but Angie found him, yeah! Aunt Natalie and Kramer were sick, but they were troopers. We visited Santa’s work shop (that was more for the mommy’s). Daddy and Uncle Nick came to the rescue and took us back to Papa and Granma’s house to play. Thanksgiving night mommy and the aunts went to Twilight and they all really liked it. We had a fun party with my moms Uncle Bill, Aunt Janet and most of their kids and Uncle Roger at Aunt Natalie’s house; we split up into teams and decorated ginger bread houses. I think the guys get pretty competitive, it’s funny. We came home on Sunday, it took some time. There was 3 accidents and Brinlee threw up (I think she got a little car sick we had a lot of Cheetos and root beer). We were stuck in traffic so we had to pullover to the side of the road and strip her down and the car seat. She got to ride on a pillow on top over her car seat and we got to enjoy the sweet smell all the way home it was in a bag in the back. Then it was Craig’s turn to through up but traffic was going so slow mom just changed him why we drove and tried to clean up his seat. He also went number two so we got to enjoy that aroma too the rest of the way home. We left at 3pm and made it home around 9pm. Mom and Dad were just glad we weren’t in one of the accidents. Monday Brookie swallowed a penny, so mom and dad have to wait to see if it passes ugh. We decorated the house and tree on Monday too. Tuesday we went to the dentist (except Grant he goes on the 16th) and we had NO cavities. YA! Mom was very glad. Mom is in charge of the Ward Christmas party this Saturday so she has been a little crazy. This week Aunt Natalie is coming up on Thursday. Her roommate Shellie has a wedding to go to. The Cosas in our ward are blessing their baby on Sunday and Aunt Natalie served with her in YW so she came up for the blessing. Well that is it for now. Love the Stringham’s

2008-12-04T13:53:00.027-07:00

The Tuachn

Rolling down the Hill

Gaig and Santa. None of my other kids wanted to sit on his lap.

The play

The train Ride

Tub Fun at Natalie's

Decorating Ginger Bread houses.

BEAR MILL

Miscellaneous pictures of Thanksgiving Day

Big tube fun!

Papa and Craig

Papa letting craig raid the fridge.

Brookie and Zack

Aiden taken a ride

2008-12-04T13:38:00.004-07:00

POOL FUN!

2008-12-04T13:25:00.002-07:00

Craig taking a bath in doll tub!

2008-12-04T13:16:00.003-07:00

When the Hornings came to spend the day with us.

2008-12-04T13:11:00.002-07:00

Grant helping me make an apple pie.

2008-11-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Today is November 19 2008.
It has been over a week since my last journal post, so it will most likely be a long one. Friday Nov. 7th Mike and I made it to the temple. We have not been in almost 3 years it was really nice to finally go. The kids went to Mom and Dad Stringham house for the evening; they always have a good time with Grandma and Papa. Sunday, the kids had their primary program and Grandma and Papa Stringham came to watch, Brookie did such a good job on her part. She had it memorized. Grant did a great job too. In the middle of his part he said “hi Grandma” and keep right on with his part. Everyone laughed and told me it was the best part on the program and that Grant rocks. He is so funny, he never gets embarrassed or self-conscious, which we love about him. He has no concept of the words. Saturday Nov. 12th Mike went up and helped his dad with his deck. He enjoyed spending time with his dad. Monday Nov. 10th Mom Stingham had surgery on her other shoulder (the left) we saw her on Sunday; she seems to be doing pretty well. Wednesday Nov. 12th we had to rush Brookie into the dentist she hit her teeth on Brinlee’s head (Brinlee didn’t even cry she must have a hard head) and it was bleeding so much. Normally I don’t consider myself a mom who over reacts to things and rushes them to the doctors, but it looked pretty bad to me. I didn’t even want to touch her teeth because I was afraid she had knocked them out or really loosened them. There was a lot of blood. It was in the hall and on the bathroom floor; I know mouths bleed a lot but WOW!! Anyway so I called the dentist and they told me I better bring her in. I was on the phone with Steph when it happen so I thought I better call her back because she will worry and she told me to bring Brinlee and Craig to her (she lives right by our dentist office) . We found out she did chip one of her bottom teeth, her roots are fine and her gums have some trauma done to them. She will have to eat soft foods and not use her front teeth for a week or two. I told the dentist I probably over reacted. The dentist made me feel better, he said “it was a good thing I brought her in because some times there it damage to the roots that can cause problems and they can swallow their teeth during the night and chock on them.” She was so brave, she cried a little at first but did really well I was amazed. I will post some pictures of her wound. Nov. 13th was our 9 year anniversary. We went to Grant’s school that night for the PTA movie night and watch Kung Fu Panda. We had fun! We took blankets, pillows, drinks, popcorn and treats. Brinlee earlier that day had had about 5 Fiber One yogurts we came home from the movie and well the fiber kicked in on our stairs. Yucky! She had some pretty green diarrhea. No more yogurts for awhile. Well most people post such cute things for their anniversary and I just didn’t have time and diarrhea is not that romantic. Well better late then never. A little history: Mike and I met 9 years ago the middle of June on the internet. Our first date was a double date with his friend Andrew Feil. People thought I was crazy giving a guy I met on the internet my home address for our first date, I thought well if I don’t come back at least my family would have a good descriptions of the guy. His family thought he was a little crazy because he didn’t know what I looked like (I didn’t have a picture posted). Our first date was June 25th (I think) we went to The Red Butte Gardens and had a picnic (we got subway). I felt as though I talked the whole night and you know Mike, a man of few words. I thought he is never going to call me again. I told the guy I was kind of dating I didn’t want to see him anymore. He also thought I was crazy because Mike hadn’t asked me out again. I had a good feeling and guess what, he called that night. At the end of July we were unofficially engaged. Now fast forward 9 years and we have 4 wonderful kids and a strong marriage. I have learned a lot about working together. I have learned a whole new way to love deeper and more real than when we first were married. He is my best friend. I am very grateful to him and his mellow easy going willingness to help anyone personality. A funny story about Brinlee, I had cleaned the bathrooms and put the blue tablets in the toilet and Brinlee was going bathroom and she got so excited she said” mom, mom I peed blue” I had to burst her bubble and told her it was stuff mommy put in the toilet to keep it clean, ha ha. Saturday Nov. 15 Mike enjoyed going and helping his dad with the deck again. Mike loves to build and do things with his hands. He always says its fun to see the end result and know you did it. Sunday is unofficial Thanksgiving, birthday celebration dinner with the Stingham family. The turkey turned out great, my apple pie was edible and everything everyone else brought was yummy. So all and all it was a great feast. Grandpa Jack and Grandma Marion came and we talked about Grandma G.G.‘s book. Grandpa Jack told some stories of his mom and his Aunt Jane. Sunny and Jason couldn’t make it they wear getting ready for Antalya’s surgery on Monday. Her surrey went well from what I hear you can check out their blog for updates. Natalie and Shellie are coming up to visit on Tuesday for a few days. She took me to Spaghetti Factory Tuesday nigh it was yummy. Well that is it for know. Love Janie

2008-11-19T10:27:00.006-07:00

Stringham's early Thanksgiving dinner and birthday party. 11/16/08

The Grant and Brookie were surprised with some presents

from Uncle Matt and Aunt Brynn. Thank you!!

The girls playing tea party with Bell.

Happy Birthday Cindy!!

The girls playing dress up!!

Each year Grandma and Papa get the kids matching outfits to get their pictures taken in. Here is the picture of the boys. I forgot to get one of the girls. oops!!

2008-11-19T10:13:00.005-07:00

Brookie's ochie 11/12/08

Craig's art work!! 11/12/08

2008-11-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

Snow Day Nov. 2008

Craig looks like the boy from the Christmas Story ha ha.

2008-11-06T21:30:00.006-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Let me update you on a few of our highlights of the last week. Last week we were getting things ready for Natalie, Brittney, Aiden, Angie, Angie’s boyfriend Zack and Shellie to come visit us on Halloween. The girl’s Halloween party was Thursday they had a great time. I moved the fridge in the Garage to give us more room to park the cars in the garage. I went visiting teaching Thursday night (nothing like waiting to the last minute) the first lady I went to visit was not home , the 2nd group of ladies I’m not sure if I’m suppose to visit all of them, I think just the one sister, but they are so much fun to visit. There is 3 sisters (in their late 30’s or early 40’s, I think and their mom who is retired) I was there for an hour and a half they are so funny. The other gal I never got a hold of so, I went home and made some enchilada casseroles with red sauce and froze them for dinner on Saturday, to make it easier with everyone here. I will have to post the recipe it is quiet good. On Friday we went to Grants school for his Halloween parade but before we went my blow-dryer broke and I had 15 min to get my hair dry and get the kids in the car and get to Grant's school ugh, so I plugged in the kids little heater and fan to try and dry my hair it was pretty comical to watch. But we made it. Then we ran to Wal-Mart to get a few more things I needed for the Halloween party. Brookie made a big fuss because she wanted those baby bottle suckers with the powder candy, it was not pretty, but I was not buying her candy when she was getting so much trick or treating. She got over that in about 10 min. Then we headed to Harmon’s to get bread bowls (Wal-Mart didn’t have any) then we went to Macy's for dry ice and ice-cream (they had them on sale). When we got home Mom Stringham called to tell us Grandma Delsa Passed away. Sad!! I thought it would be nice to have Mike write about his Grandma Delsa…..............................................
..................................................WAITING................................................................................................................. Any of you who are married you know sometime trying to get your hubby to do things (in your time frame) is like trying to nail jello to the wall. I really needed to get this posted, so I hope Sunny doesn't kill me but I copied her entry on Grandma Delsa I like the way she words it. Mike said he will post his thought this weekend.

SUNNY'S POST :
" My grandma Delsa passed away last Friday. She was actually my step-grandma, but that didn't matter - to me she was always my grandma. I remember spending Christmas Eve with her and my grandpa, summer lemonade in her front yard, birthday gifts, the way she always looked so beautiful, the candy jar in their home, and how excited she would get when we went to visit.

The last ten years or so have been difficult for everyone as my grandpa and her have needed to move into a facility that offered more care. They both have dementia. With this, and my getting older and more observant, I came to realize the extreme negative feelings of her children in regards to my grandpa and my family. These feelings have led them to some pretty extreme actions - including legal battles with my mom, and fighting to keep my grandma in a different facility from her husband (this was taken so far as to suddenly move her across town one day without notifying anyone - imagine the distress my grandpa felt when suddenly his wife was gone and no one could tell him where she was or if she was coming back).

Despite all this, she was still my grandma and I was looking forward to attending her funeral this week and remembering her life. Alas, it is not to be. Our family just found out that her family decided against having any sort of funeral or memorial service for her. In fact, they have already buried her. How sad that her own children and grandchildren weren't willing to make a small sacrifice in order to honor her life and allow others who loved her the same opportunity."

Sunny said it so well, I know this is how Mike and I feel, it is a sad way to end your life with no celebrated for living.

Halloween late after noon and night:
The crew (Natalie and everyone in her carpool) got her about 3:00 and we had so much fun getting ready for Halloween and our mini Party. You have to check out the pictures below. We had dinner in a pumpkin (bacon and rice soup you cook in a pumpkin) and Broccoli soup for those who dint like the other soup (in bread bowls my favorite). Witches brew (root beer and dry ice) I stole this Idea from mom Stringham spider web bean dip. We ate so much food and candy. Then we got ready to do a little trick or treating. It was such nice weather it has been cold the last 3 Halloweens I can remember, the kids had a great time and so did the older kids too. Brinlee was walking with Angie and she held up her finger and said she had a burger Angie thought she said boo boo and kissed her bogey finger it was pretty funny. On Saturday we went to Grandma’s grave again so Natalie and Angie could see it why they were hear. Then we went to temple square per Angies request so Zack could see it. It was fun just walking around temple Square we have not done that for some time. Then we went back to our house for some early dinner and just hung out played some games. Mike fell asleep before we started the games. we missed him. We had a good time. Brookie was sick so we stayed home from church. They crew all left about 11:30. We all took a good nap that afternoon. When we woke up we thought we would put Grant bed together ( My mom sent up one of there old beds) why we were doing this I thought it would be cute to set the cauldron trick or treat bucket on Craig’s head. Well I didn’t think he would pull it over his head. It was stuck we couldn't get it off so we tried to cut it off with scissors, no luck so Mike had to get his wire snipers to get it off. Craig was screaming he was so sweaty by the time we got it off (all of 2 minutes or less) I felt soooooo bad, but it was kind of funny. I'm a great mom ha. I got a fun package from my friend Mary in Idaho. I watched her kids for her why she did her student teaching and her kids had these really cute aprons. I'd been bugging her to make me some and she did, we got them on Saturday. I took a picture so Mary could see how cute they look. Any way sorry it s so long love lots Janie

2008-11-06T20:19:00.002-07:00

Cauldron we had to cut off Graig's head and the
cute aprons Mary made for the kids.

What is Autism?

2008-11-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have had some people ask me, what is Autism? I thought this would be a great way to explain it. I'm not real good at explaining things so I copied this off of two different websites.

What is autism? Autism (sometimes called “classical autism”) is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS). Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females.

What are some common signs of autism? There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling.

The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement.

Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack empathy.

Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.” Children with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking.

Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.

Children with autism appear to have a higher than normal risk for certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood. While people with schizophrenia may show some autistic-like behavior, their symptoms usually do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. Most people with schizophrenia also have hallucinations and delusions, which are not found in autism.

How is autism diagnosed?

Autism varies widely in its severity and symptoms and may go unrecognized, especially in mildly affected children or when it is masked by more debilitating handicaps. Doctors rely on a core group of behaviors to alert them to the possibility of a diagnosis of autism. These behaviors are:

impaired ability to make friends with peers
impaired ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
absence or impairment of imaginative and social play
stereotyped, repetitive, or unusual use of language
restricted patterns of interest that are abnormal in intensity or focus
preoccupation with certain objects or subjects
inflexible adherence to specific routines or rituals

Doctors will often use a questionnaire or other screening instrument to gather information about a child’s development and behavior. Some screening instruments rely solely on parent observations; others rely on a combination of parent and doctor observations. If screening instruments indicate the possibility of autism, doctors will ask for a more comprehensive evaluation.

Autism is a complex disorder. A comprehensive evaluation requires a multidisciplinary team including a psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, and other professionals who diagnose children with ASDs. The team members will conduct a thorough neurological assessment and in-depth cognitive and language testing. Because hearing problems can cause behaviors that could be mistaken for autism, children with delayed speech development should also have their hearing tested. After a thorough evaluation, the team usually meets with parents to explain the results of the evaluation and present the diagnosis.

Children with some symptoms of autism, but not enough to be diagnosed with classical autism, are often diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Children with autistic behaviors but well-developed language skills are often diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Children who develop normally and then suddenly deteriorate between the ages of 3 to 10 years and show marked autistic behaviors may be diagnosed with childhood disintegrative disorder. Girls with autistic symptoms may be suffering from Rett syndrome, a sex-linked genetic disorder characterized by social withdrawal, regressed language skills, and hand wringing.

What causes autism?

Scientists are not certain what causes autism, but it’s likely that both genetics and environment play a role. Researchers have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder. Studies of people with autism have found irregularities in several regions of the brain. Other studies suggest that people with autism have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters in the brain. These abnormalities suggest that autism could result from the disruption of normal brain development early in fetal development caused by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how neurons communicate with each other. While these findings are intriguing, they are preliminary and require further study. The theory that parental practices are responsible for autism has now been disproved

Social interaction:

Does not make friends
Does not play interactive games
Is withdrawn
May not respond to eye contact or smiles, or may avoid eye contact
May treat others as if they are objects
Prefers to spend time alone, rather than with others
Shows a lack of empathy

Response to sensory information:

Does not startle at loud noises
Has heightened or low senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste
May find normal noises painful and hold hands over ears
May withdraw from physical contact because it is overstimulating or overwhelming
Rubs surfaces, mouths or licks objects
Seems to have a heightened or low response to pain

Play:

Doesn't imitate the actions of others
Prefers solitary or ritualistic play
Shows little pretend or imaginative play

Behaviors:

"Acts up" with intense tantrums
Gets stuck on a single topic or task (perseveration)
Has a short attention span
Has very narrow interests
Is overactive or very passive
Shows aggression to others or self
Shows a strong need for sameness
Uses repetitive body movements

*Symptoms very from child to child no one child with Autism is alike!

2008-11-05T10:35:00.009-07:00

Angel Foundation Halloween Party! October 27 2008
My sister-in-law Sunny told me about this foundation. They originally were just for kids with Down Syndrome, but they have opened it up to all kids with special need. They do all sorts of fun stuff for families. We registered to be a member (it’s all free). I signed up to volunteer. I am a little scared to do this (out of my comfort zone) but hey why not. I'm not sure how much good I will be. They may ask me once and never again, ha ha. Sunny made all the sugar cookies the kids are decorating. Everyone helping are volunteers WOW!! We all had a great time. I need to get more involved with stuff for Grant. Sunny does such a great job with Antalya, I am always amazed by her. I am trying to find the web address so if any of you want to check them out you can. They do take donations if you wanted. Or you can just sign up, to say you support our angel Grant.

Decorating Cookies

Decorating their bags.

Brooklyn and Antalya coloring.

Craig loved the balloons.

Face painting

cool bat!!

Brookie got a spider web.

Do you think he is mad?

Mike and Jason having a manly chat!

Grant enjoying himself.

2008-09-30T23:22:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Daddy!! 9/30/08

The cake!!

Brinlee wanted to put the candles on by herself.

Admiring her work or maybe....

getting ready to sneak a taste!!

Happy birthday .....

I am trying to get a picture of the kids all looking at the camera.

Not much luck.

Make a wish !!!

2008-09-30T22:52:00.003-06:00

Enjoying the last few days of summer. 9/30/08

Brookie, Brinlee and Rylee enjoying the nice weather.

This is great!!!

Daddy spraying the girls with the sprinkler.

Daddy getting them good and wet.

Daddy showed Brookie how to move the sprinkler.

Now she is getting Rylee with it.

Wee!!

Three musketeer's.

Is it getting cold!!

Cheese!!

Having a good time!!

2008-09-30T09:04:00.008-06:00

A BIG YA!!! Mike came home last night. They need him in Park City and at the U more then they do in Logan. We are all very excited when Daddy comes home. We spent family night decorating for Halloween. The kids have been bugging me to do decorate, but I wanted to wait for daddy. It was a fun night. It’s my cute hubby's Birthday today; we have no big plans for tonight, just getting ready for our getaway on Thursday to Vegas. We love you XOXOXOX. I will write more soon. Love Janie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY.

2008-09-29T22:38:00.002-06:00

Aunt Natalie at our house.

09/28/08

Aunt Natalie was keeping us entertained why my mom got her hair done.

We played airplane and animal rescue.

We had fun saying mayday, mayday!

She sent Grant on some wild animal chases too. We had a great time!

2008-09-28T22:18:00.004-06:00

Sunday September 28th,
Well folks it looks as though my hubby will not be coming back home until Wednesday. He has a job in Logan he has to have done by tomorrow, so he will be driving strait on through and waving to us has he goes by. Then he has another job he has to do in Logan on Tuesday and Wednesday so he will be staying until then. If I am not committed by tomorrow evening I will be by Wednesday. He will be gone on his birthday sad:(. I told him we could celebrate when we are in Vegas for the weekend. I did get my hair done tonight that was a plus. Thanks to Natalie for keeping the kids happy in the back yard, and playing some fun airplane game with them. We are sure going to miss her when she moves to Curious George (that what he kids call St. George). You should of heard Grant when she left tonight, he was not happy she had to go. It was sad:( . It will be hard having most of my family far away. But it will be fun when we all get together at Thanksgiving. Love Lots Janie

2008-09-27T21:48:00.004-06:00

This is a compile of a few days so the dates are from the 23rd to the 27th of September. My cute hubbies birthday is Tuesday September 30th Happy Birthday. We love you.
Yes ladies and gentlemen its going to be along one again. Sit back and enjoy:) Monday afternoon I had Stephanie’s daughter Rylee over while she was on her way back from Idaho. They all wanted to go swimming and I told them it was too cold, so they decided to go swimming in the bath tub. Then we made Stephanie a birthday cake to take home when she came to pick up Rylee. I know Steph's husband loves her and all, but I knew, being a guy (no offense) he wouldn't even think about a cake. Then Tuesday Craig threw up in the car after I picked up the girls from preschool. I had some places to run and I gave him a bag of fruit snacks to keep him happy. I think he had about 10 too many because they all came up... yuck. I was going to stop at Steph's house and let the kids play, but we scratched that idea and came home. So we got him cleaned up and the car seat washed. We have nice neighbors, but they can really be hard sometimes to deal with. I'm not sure how to explain it, but their little boy who is 2 comes over and rings our door bell all the time, at least 5 times in a row. She will be sitting in her front yard and I will open the door and she just thinks its funny and cute. Well Wednesday night I was in the backyard playing with the kids and I could here the door bell going and I knew it was him, so I ignored it. Then next thing I know he is coming out our back door. So I was going to take him back home cause I thought his mom must not know he was at our house and sure enough she was out watering her lawn. She acted like it was cute and no big deal. Then he started crying and I felt bad so I asked if he could come play. I new she would say yes. About 20 minutes later she brings a ladder over to the fence and wants to chit chat. Sorry but with 4 kids and one extra I didn't have time to. I really needed to get the kids in and get then ready for bed with Mike gone it takes a little longer to get them all ready. She just didn't get the hint. Then finally we made it in, but then she came to the front door to borrow some sandwich baggies. I didn't mind, but then he wanted to play and she couldn't get him to leave. I had to help her get him out the door. Then she asked me what time would be a good time for him to come over tomorrow and play. Ugh I wanted to say never, but I didn't. Her older kids (8 and 10 years old) always wants to play with the kids (well their toys) and they don't always use the best language. I try not to let them come over very often. I don't want to sound like I am not trying to be Christ-like, but it can be very hard. Her little boy was at our house playing in the front yard, I told my kids it was time for lunch and we came in. Well he followed us in and helped himself up to the counter. I felt bad with his dad being out of work, so I made him a lunch too . She came over and said is he in here and I said, "yes, he is having some lunch." Then he starts saying holy sh-- I know she was trying to get him to stop with out me noticing, so I acted like I didn't notice, by the 4th time he said it she finally said out loud stop that that's not nice. I feel bad for them, but I don't know what to do. I feel kinda mean because they can drive me crazy. Sorry if you think I am rude. I try to be nice. I did take a some of Grant’s old clothes over for the little boy. I know he needed some. There is some goodness in me. Ha ha. Natalie is coming over tonight to give rexy another arm . She said he looks funny. I didn't even notice he only had one arm. Shellie, her roommate, is going to do my hair and Steph's as well. I told Steph last year for her birthday I would get her hair colored . She has wanted to have it done for so long. So I guess better late than never.............Well Steph got her hair done on Thursday night. My night was a little crazy so, they didn't get the chance to. Craig was a mama’s boy and wanted me to hold him all night. I had a hard time getting dinner done because of that. The other three made it a little difficult with the tantrums they created. So, it just didn't happen. But they said they could do it on Sunday. Friday was kinda like the night before. Craig was needing some extra attention. I was trying to get the rest of Grant’s furniture out of his room so I could attempt to lay the carpet. CRAZY on my part to think I could do this while Mike was gone with four kids home (Grant didn't have school Friday). But I did, its done and I am a little more nuttier than I was before. I was up until 12:30 cleaning and getting everything back to normal. Today was not too bad. We had a birthday party for my cousins kids, Cooper (4) and Morgan (1). The kids had fun. Before I left to go to the party I got a call from Mike saying he was not going to be coming home until Monday. This almost put me in the nut house. I guess there was a problem with getting into parts of the prison, a guy that had the keys that never showed to let them in etc etc. So my prince won’t be home now until Monday evening:(. Well if you made it through with out snoozing thanks. The bates and the ghost if you click on them you can read their messages bubbles, for fun. Till next time this is Janie signing off.

2008-09-27T21:46:00.002-06:00

September 22nd

Making Stephanie's birthday cake.

Having a little taste of the frosting.

WOW!! That a lot of sprinkles.

What do you think?

Now for the leftover frosting mmmmm.

We even put the candles in ourselves.

2008-09-27T21:43:00.003-06:00

Swimming in our indoor pool.

9/22/08

It had been raining and too cold to go swimming,

so the girls decided to go swimming in the tub.

If you look close Brinlee has her bathing suit on backward

its kinda funny looking. I hope she figure out how

to wear them before she is 16 ha ha.

2008-09-27T21:42:00.001-06:00

Stephie's new hairdo.
9/25/08

This is a great blackmail picture. Ha ha

2008-09-27T21:41:00.002-06:00

Craig 9/26/08

Graig loves to stand, sit and bounce on the

dishwasher door. And likes to take everything out of

it when I just loaded it. I think he does it to drive me crazy.

Its working!!!

2008-09-27T21:39:00.002-06:00

Cooper's and Morgan's Birthday Party

9/27/08

Aunt Linda (Grandma) and Uncle Lee (Grandpa) are BIG

race car fans so, its only right for Linda to make Cooper a

race car cake. WOW!!

Aunt Linda has been making teddy bear cakes since I was little.Now she make them for her Granddaughter Morgan.She made me one just like this when I was little.

The birthday girl and Craig.

Craig has a candy bar hanging out of his mouth and another one in his hands. Never can have to much of a good thing.

Uncle Lee having a bit to eat.

Don't bother me I'm eating.

Kayla and Aunt Linda

Here I go!

Cooper was a little mad and needed a huge from his daddy.

Cooper beating up his Grandpa.

Brookie waiting for her balloon.

Grant and his snake balloon.

WEE!!

Hey watch out Brinlee.

Its present time!

Brinlee and her fairy wand.

Brookie with her fish and fishing pole balloon.

Morgan and her Grandma.

The kids getting a little grub.

Getting ready for a little cake.

Girls decorating their cupcakes.

Is that good Morgan?

2008-09-22T08:52:00.003-06:00

Hello its just me again. Today is September 22nd.
Just wanted to give you an update of our fun weekend as you can tell by the pictures. We went up to grandma's to help with bottling peaches. She was smart and did the freezer peaches the night before so they would be frozen , so I could take them home. I helped her bottle peaches for Sunny. We had a good time. Sunny and Antalya came up just before we had to leave to get Grant off the bus. She ran in a marathon on Saturday in Logan and did great. You can check out her blog, she did a good job recreating it all for us. Natalie came over Friday night and started painting Grant's room. She is amazing and so talented. She is very modest and says it no big deal, but she made a little boy very very happy. We are so grateful for her time and the love she put into it. It was funny on Saturday when Natalie was over painting, Brookie was playing in Grant's room. I asked her to take her stuffed animals to her room and put them to bed (she was kinda in the way) she told "me mom they are not tired and I know what is best for them". We started laughing, I don't think I have every said that to her. Natalie was fixing Rexy's arm and Grant came in and said what happen to his arm and Natalie said I'm going to put it back and he said darn it Natalie and shook his head. I was not there but Nat said it was funny. Brookie and Grant kept telling Natalie how perfect his room was. We had a good time with her here. On Sunday we went to church and finally got are recommends renewed they have been out for a little while. It amazing how good it feels just to have your recommends renewed. Natalie came over and finished it up on Rexy. Grant calls him his pet and will pet the wall, it's cute. Mike left today for Vegas. We will be excited to have him back home on Saturday. Today is Steph's Birthday and she is in Idaho with her mom, so she asked me to pick up her daughter from school today. Other than that not to much is going on. Like I said this is all probably not that interesting to you but its kinda my journal so just indulge me please ha ha. Love Janie

2008-09-21T17:06:00.002-06:00

Rexy in the making.

It's going to be scary.

Artist hard at work!

I'm a VERY happy boy!!

Wow...she works fast.

Do you like his tongue!

Oh... no teeth on top...

yaa... teeth on top!

Check out my teeth,

but whats missing !

Don't know? Check out my back.

He is all done!! Isn't he cool.

He is one awesome dinosaur!

This is my pet.. Rexy!!

I LOVE HIM!!

2008-09-21T16:45:00.007-06:00

Hanging out with grandma.

Mommy went to help Grandma bottle some peaches and we got to come too. We played and ate lunch and had lots of fun. Aunt Sunny came with Antalya but we had to get home before Grant's bus came so we didn't get to play much. 9/19/08

Craig playing on the chairs.

Grandma reading a book to the girls.

Brinlee eating some lunch.

Grandma working in the kitchen.

2008-09-18T18:29:00.007-06:00

September 18th 2008
Hello family and friends,
Tomorrow is Kensington's 1st birthday. Happy birthday.
Hope you get lots of fun noisy stuff to drive your parents crazy. :) XOXOXO
Stephanie Stoddards birthday is on Monday the 22nd. Happy early Birthday
It has been a good week, the usual cleaning, laundry, preschool, shopping, etc. As you can all tell we changed our blog again. I hope you like it. I wanted a bigger type space and more room to add fun things, like a new slide show. We met with Grant's teacher today. I think it went well. She is working on some things for us. We are going to be adding somethings to his IEP. She was very understanding. She let us know that the parents of the other boys had been contacted and they where working with them as well. So hopefully this takes care of that... I pray. I am going up to Mom Stringham's house in the morning after Grant goes to school to do freezer peaches. I am excited to get them done. I feel really bad our neighbor next door got layed off from his job. I wish I knew how to help them! Its times like this it really help put things into perspective. I am very grateful Mike has a good job. We are not millionaires, but we have what we need, I am very grateful for that. We are all very rich in our own ways. I added a food for thought column. My friend Jamie emailed me some good things so... take a read. Thanks again for all your support with Grant. Kandace, thank you for letting me talk your ear off today why I folded laundry. I hope you got all your stuff done. I didn't Ha ha. Natalie is going to come over tomorrow night and Saturday to see if we, or should I say she, can get the volcano painted on Grant's wall before she leaves us and moves to St. George :(. I will take pictures. Mike is going to Vegas for another job on Sunday or Monday for a week :(. But we get to go together with Stephanie and Alan on the 2ND of October with no kids, what will we do with our selves for 4 day. I'm sure we will think of something ha ha. Well I thinks that is about it for know. Love lots Janie

2008-09-18T13:04:00.005-06:00

Our Family In Ohio

We love and miss you very much!!!

Kandace and Kensington

I took these pictures off their blog :) thanks

Kris and Kensington (Lu Lu)

Kort, Kramer and Kassey

Having a little fun.

Kensington (Lu Lu)

2008-09-17T11:11:00.005-06:00

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR!

9/15/08

Brinlee wanted to hold her grass head instead of a veggie.

Our tomatoes, bell peppers and

squash did pretty good this year.

The eggplant, cucumber and pumpkins

didn't do so well maybe next year.

This is suppose to be a straight neck squash.

Looks like a pear. HUM!!

This is the biggest zucchini we

have picked this year.

And the strangest straight neck.

The kids wanted to help pick tomatoes.

See how helpful they are!!

We asked them to wait until they are

RED, next time.

2008-09-15T10:31:00.004-06:00

9/15/08 10:45am

Another Grant update. Mike called his teacher today and we are going to be meeting with her on Thursday. Its is the soonest Mike can work it out with the job he is on. Not real happy we have to wait. I wanted it yesterday. She said they had separated the boys and had taken some other action. I'm not sure what that means. I guess we will find out. Shelly, my cousin called me this morning with some concerns and advice that really helped. We are going to have them add some new bathroom goals to his IEP. We hope by them working with him, he will understand what should and should NOT happen in the bathroom. Also to work on helping him with his pants and other things he struggles with. Keep him in your prayers.

Thanks again for all your concern. Love Janie

2008-09-15T08:42:00.006-06:00

9/15/08
New update.... for those of you who read the post below about Grant and had concerns like we did. After talking to family and my good friend Thalea (her and her husband are school teachers). We decided it was best if we went in and talk to the teacher. Mike and I both. We are not sure what will come of it all , but we will let you all know what happens . Say a prayer it will go well. Thanks again for all the love and concern for our little angel.
Love Mike and Janie

2008-09-15T08:40:00.004-06:00

Dinner at our house with

the Stringham clan, to

celebrate Grants Birthday.

9/14/08

Craggie loves to help his big brother.

One of Grants favorite things is........

presents!!

He loves books.I find him all the time

sitting on his bed surrounded

with books. Its GREAT.

Steve, Cindy, Lindsey, Scott

and Natalie Stringham.

Watching the wrapping fly.

All the Stringham Grand kids.

Thanks for all the great gifts!!!

Jason, Dad and Sunny.

Brinlee, Courtney and the

back of Spencer.

Cute little Antalya.

Cake time!!

Triceratops Cake.

In case you couldn't tell:)

Happy Birthday to you!!

still singing.... they sound great!!

Make a wish buddy!!