Baby Animal Days

The month of May was a bit crazy.  Luke bounced in and out of the hospital quite a bit, and it makes my memory a bit of a blur.  On May 10, Luke was back in the hospital for something.  I remember, because Grandma Candy took the kids to Baby Animal Days during one of her famous sleep-over Fridays so that Danny and I could sleep.  We're going to have to take the kids next year too, because it looks like they had too much fun!

Jenny and Matt brought their kids, too, which made it all the more fun for our kids.  They love spending time with Isabelle and Eli!  They really some of our kids' best friends.

Baby Animal Days was held at the USU Botanical Gardens in Kaysville.  Among the baby animals the kids got to see and hold were baby chicks. 

Johnny told me when he got home that the baby chicks were his favorite.  That's my sweet little boy!

Claire really loved her baby duck.  When she was just a baby, she got small stuffed duck that we kept in her crib with her.  By the time she was 6 months old, her and Duckie were inseparable.  Claire has a thing for baby ducks!

And then there were the bunnies.  Who doesn't love cuddling a baby bunny?!

Because Grandma Candy is Grandma Candy, she splurged on all the good stuff!  Face painting, cotton candy, snow cones...the whole nine yards!  What an amazing Grandma, right? :)

After some sugary refreshment was the highlight of the evening.  Riding a horse!  I never would have thought my kids would be so willing to get on the back of an animal they have had no exposure to.  But according to Grandma, they had no problem at all!  Even Johnny just jumped right up on this big ol' horse and rode off into the sunset...

Sophie loved her horse, and thought it was the most beautiful horsey she'd ever seen. :)

And Claire loved her paint.  I'm honestly most surprised that Claire rode the horse.  She's usually so cautious! 

Maybe it wasn't so big a deal because she couldn't see anything!  I suspect she was too nervous to let go of the saddle horn to push her bangs out of her face.  Silly girl... :)

Talk about an awesome night with Grandma Candy!  We look forward to going again next year, for sure.  Thanks, Grandma Candy!

The Downs Are Back In Town

It's crazy how kids grow.  Seems like not that very long ago my older sister was in labor with her first baby, and my first neice.  Fast forward through the years and I've spent holidays, vacations, and entire summers taking care of little Megan.  Somehow, she grew up!  She's now on her own, and headed back for another term at BYU-I.  The entire Fam was dropping her off in Rexburg, so they took an extra night in their travels and stayed in Salt Lake so we could have a quick visit.  But mostly so they could see Luke. :)

It was April 20th, the morning after our amazing Princess Party.  Everyone was exhausted, not the least of which were Danny and I.  Danny got a nasty stomach flu the night before (and actually missed the Princess Party and instead stayed near the bathroom), and I was definitely losing the battle to that same bug.  But we don't get to see the Downs enough, so we woke up early and packed the kids in the car and headed to the hospital.

We are so glad we did!  It was awesome to see Jeff, Jami, and the kids...and Grandma Candy came, too! We were much too big of a group to all descend on Luke's room at once, so Grandma Candy set up base in the Forever Young Zone so the kids that weren't with Luke could play.

The first group to see Luke was Rose, Ace, Tali, and Jami.  Everyone was a little nervous about what to expect.  With the exceptions of Jami and Megan, no one had seen Luke in person since he got sick.  They were all pleasantly surprised by how healthy he looked, and that he was okay to be held.  I think it made them all feel better about Luke to see him like that.

  

Rosie

Ace

Natalia

Jami

While we were upstairs with Luke, the group downstairs was having a blast!  Claire, Sophie, and Johnny were delighted to see their cousins again.  Claire and Sophie were particularly excited to get to be with Lily again.  And I love watching my nieces interact and love my kids just like I did with them when they were that age.  Ah, the circle of life... :)

The next group to come spend time with Luke was Lily, Bowen, Chance, Megan, and Jeff.  Luke didn't even know he had this many cousins!  Chance and Luke really haven't had the chance to play, but I'm sure they'll appreciate each other when they both get older. :)

Lily Mae

Bowen

Chance

Megan

Jeff 

It was too brief a visit...for everyone.  But Megan needed to get back to Rexburg in time to buy books.  Oh, the life of a college student!  We all went down to the Forever Young Zone to gather the children, but they were hesitant to leave.  They were having too much fun!

Lily noticed the Wish Tree while she was playing in the Forever Young Zone, and that sweet little girl made a wish for our Luke.  I love these kids so much...

Thank you, Lily!

Family is such a wonderful thing.  We have needed the strength from the relationships we have with our family so much during this time.  It is a strength that is only rivaled by that of our heavenly family.  We are so grateful that the Downs took some extra time on their trip to stop and see us.  We miss them a lot, and wish we could spend more time together.  It's always the best of times!

We love you guys!!

A Royal Celebration

April 19th was a big day!  First of all, Luke turned 11 months old.  He's so close to being a big boy!  Unfortunately, he spent this monthly birthday in the hospital, still trying to resolve his pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart).  Secondly, we had the very special opportunity to party with the Princesses!  A wonderful company called "Enchanted Events" volunteered their time to come throw a party for Claire, Sophie, and Johnny to commemorate Luke's successful bone marrow transplant.  Really, it was a chance to bring some magic back into our older kids' lives, if only for an evening.  They, too, have given up so much to get Luke better.  This party was for them.

The party was held at the preschool, and it was a beautiful spring evening.  We invited some friends to join us, and instructed all who could to come in princess or super hero attire.  Friends from Grandma Call's ward helped with the cotton candy machine and refreshments, Aunt Julie manned the popcorn machine, and some cute young women from Grandma's ward helped with face painting, tattooes, and the fishing game at Ariel's Grotto.  Mrs. Rowley, our favorite preschool teacher, came with her daughter to paint nails.  It was an amazing party!  Grandma Call was able to sell some of Luke's bracelets to help raise a bit of cash for us to help pay his mounting medical bills, and we are so humbled by and appreciative of people's kindnesses.  

Now, before we launch into a series of adorable pictures that really show the magic better than I could ever write it, I have to say how amazing these princesses were.  They all stayed for three solid hours, answering every question from every child, playing games like "Princess, Princess, Frog (a royal take on Duck, Duck, Goose) and "Rapunzel Says", dancing, and allowing themselves to be at the beck and call of 20 little kids.  Seriously, these princesses had stamina!  It did my heart good to see the pure joy in Claire and Sophie's eyes as they got to interact with their heroes.  It really was a wonderful night.  Saying thanks is not enough, but thank you to all who helped with this amazing party.  Thank you from the bottom of an exhausted mother's heart.  Thank you.

Eventually, the clocked chimed midnight (or 8:00 pm in our case), and it was time for the princesses to head back to their castles.  It was hard to see them go!

We're so grateful to Grandma Call and Aunt Julie who really put this whole night together.  We love you guys!

And, of course, we had to give a shout-out to Luke!  As a thank you to our Princesses, we gave them each one of Luke's bracelets, and a thank you picture from Luke.  I'm sure he would have absolutely loved the party...we'll throw a big one when he's completely recovered.

I can't say enough how much fun the kids had.  They talked about nothing else for weeks!  Even Johnny, who wasn't too into the whole Princess thing, had the time of his life.  It's a rare thing for Johnny to stay asleep from car to couch.  I don't think a freight train could have woken this boy up. 

Best.  Night.  Ever.