The picture of Piper gave us alot of laughs because she is starting to potty train and was so proud of herself because she was pulling her pants up herself, but she didn't realize she didn't quite finish the job! She played for quite a long time before she realized her pants weren't up all the way!!

Brandon's birthday happened before 10:00 a.m.!! And this was much later than Alizah would have liked. I guess I need to learn to not show the cake except for 10 minutes before the party. The kids had picked out the BLACK and blue flamed chocolate cake the day before and Alizah woke us all up asking for cake!! One picture shows the tiny corner that we gave into just so we could get a little more sleep...Hanna won the present contest with her homemade card that Dad loved. Mom lost the contest with the wii that she couldn't find even though she called every store within in 75 miles every day for the past week!!! Hopefully we'll find one this week. We've had a good weekend with Grandma Nelson here with Aunt Megan. This was the first time we've seen Grandma since she started chemo and lost her hair. Alizah was the funniest and would wake Grandma up and tell her "Go put on your hair". Piper calls Megan "grandma" and Megan hopes one more day with us will change what Piper calls her! They have to leave on Monday and we will be alone again. I've enjoyed the extra hands around here. I really miss being near more family. We hope to make a trip sometime this summer to Idaho. Oh one more thing....please everyone take notice in the picture that I have a clean kitchen counter!! This is something to document because it doesn't happen very often!

Bowling for cousin Beck's #2 Birthday

"The shear agony of not enough sleep!"

Piper is a third child who gets hauled around everywhere with no consideration of her needs as in sleep, food, attention, etc. And then at night she lets us know her frustration!! Sometimes I wish to be 1 1/2 years old again and able to let people know how I feel!!
You can see in the picture that Piper is a child you LOVES shoes. She sleeps with her shoes on and would even like to bathe with them on if I let her. She loves her popsicles and hates anything in her hair (i.e.-ponytails). She also is beginning to "fight back". We will have to post Alizah's war wounds, which look identical to the scratches that Hanna had on her face from Alizah's tiger nails only a few months ago. So I guess what goes around, comes around, Right?? The cat fights that we have at our house are pretty comical. Oh Brandon and I can't wait until we have three teenage daughters!! Oh Joy for us! WE LOVE OUR GIRLS!!

Well our life can continue this week. The first annual "Flip Flop Hop" hosted by our A.I.M. Gymanstics is finally over!! The pictures are of Hanna and her scorecard, her team, and the dramatic pose with her rose from a teammates' mom. Hanna had fun, got a ribbon, and most importantly to her -got to pass out the goodie bags to the other teams. Mom was afraid she would be sad she didn't earn a medal. What was I thinking???? The past two weeks, we've been working at least 70 hours/week at the gym trying to get ready and also trying to keep daily life going. I didn't realize the equipment that had to be moved, the build out upstairs to hold concessions, the computer work that had to be done, awards to ordered and most importantly cleaning that had to be done. We had about 80 gymnasts and their fans squeezed into our almost too small building. The weather postponed us for an hour for the out of town gyms to get there and the blown electrical circuits almost stopped us from having concessions and music, but we pushed through and we are done until next year! YEAH!! This has been a week too, Monday my car broke down and at 10:00 at night I had to carry two of the girls to the nearest house to call Brandon for a ride, because my cell phone had been left at home. The Bakers (the neighbors) were actually kind enough to borrow us their suburban for the next few days so we didn't slow down too much! And on Friday, the water pump on our well broke and we didn't have water to clean-up Piper's throw up all over her and the car on the way to take Hanna to school. So off we went to a friends to get clean! Whew!! The week is over and I don't have to work tommorrow so our goal is to find a floor to our house, clean clothes, and clean dishes. My past week seemed so terrible at the time, but I have been humbled tonight by a phone call from a sister who's family lost their 16 year old nephew, and another sister who is on bedrest to prevent another pre-mature baby, so I guess I am humbled to think of the many blessings that I have, three beautiful girls who's kisses and hugs touch me to the core, a business that brings so much happiness to so many children, and a house and things to allow me to live comfortably. I am grateful to be healthly and able to enjoy so many things! I will be thinking this week of those who need extra comforting and peace in their lives.........