This Is Us

  Can you believe Brichette is 13 years old.  It's crazy how time just seems to fly by.  We had a party for her today, even though it's Nick's birthday.  He doesn't mind. We had a lot of family and friends come to celebrate her! She loves Music so much that we got her a cake with Music on it.

  It's been hard on all of us since we got the news about  Lorena's Cancer .  I h ave been going with her to all her appointments and doctor visits. Today we came to an appointment so they could put the port in for the chemo therapy. As I was waiting for her to come back from the procedure, I decided I would take a picture.  I didn't know how long it would take, so I brought my tablet and crocheting with me to keep myself busy.  They had a TV in the room, so I turned it on because I hate it being quiet.

  We eat boxed mac and cheese.  I know a lot of you are like ewww... do you know what's in that?  Homemade mac and cheese is so much better.  I know I've heard it all.  With having five kids and so many different ages, needs, wants, etc. boxed mac and cheese is so much easier.  We like the kraft one, but Winco is our favorite... and bonus, it's cheaper. What I do is cook the noodles as the box directs.  Then I dump them into a strainer and let them sit in the sink.  I then add the butter and milk to the hot pan so the butter can melt and mix with the milk.  I add the noodles back in and mix them around in the butter and milk until they are well coated.  Then I add in the cheese packet and mix.  Doing it this way makes the cheese packet easier to mix in and I don't ever have lumps.

  We found out that Lorena's stomach problems are due to colon cancer.  I hate cancer.  It's an awful thing and so many families have to go through it.   We spent some time with her today while she was in the hospital.  I got this picture of our kids and Maren & Eric's kids looking out the window at the Salt Lake Valley.  WE LOVE YOU LORENA!

Xander created this sword out of duct tape, a toilet paper roll, and a paper towel roll.  He did an awesome job.  These are memories I hope they remember.

  Nick and I decided to take the kids to the aquarium today. We had so much fun.  They all enjoyed seeing all the different animals and being able to interact with some of them.  They have a couple of touch pools so you can feel some of the sea animals.  My favorite is the rays.  I love rays! Here are some pictures from our trip.

So I have been thinking lately how often people say "I'm not having kids, because I don't want them to have to grow up in this awful world." Or they say "I'm glad I don't have to raise kids now days." Well, I'm glad to. We are grateful for our children. We are grateful for the opportunity to be parents. Is it easy, no. There is so much hate, violence, and suffering right now and it's only going to get worse.  Our hope is that we can raise our children, with help from Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, so that in this troubling world, there can be some shining stars to light the way for others and give hope. We hope we can raise them to become good people rubbing off on others and spreading happiness, hope, and love! We hope that we can do our job teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they know they have a Heavenly Father who loves them, that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins so we can repent and that He died for us so we ...