Monday, April 20, 2009

Spring Break!!

Ok... I am so far behind on blogging that you better sit down and relax...this is going to be a LONG one!

First on the agenda: SPRING BREAK!!
There is soo many great things to post about Spring Break...that I don't even know where to begin. Oh...yes I do. I am starting with my VERY favorite part of Spring Break. I mean my VERY favorite part!








Is she not the SWEETEST baby you have seen? Maybe it's because it's been a few years since a baby has been around...but I could not get enough of little Aftyn! I spent the whole week fighting with my girls, and Heather for snuggling time with Aftyn. I really hope we didn't ruin her for Courtney...because this little angel did not get put down in the 6 days we were there. Thanks to Mom, Becky and Courtney who let us hog her the whole time! They do get to see her every day though! She is such a sweetheart and it she truly was the highlight of the trip!

We did a lot of other fun stuff besides baby snuggling. We took the kids to an apple packing company, which they thought was really cool. sorry no pictures of this :( I was probably holding the baby so I forgot to grab the camera!

We had 2 great Easter egg hunts. At Grandmas, there were 2 golden eggs (with $5 inside) and 2 silver eggs (with $3 in) for the kids to find, among the 255 eggs the Easter bunny hid. Sydney found the first golden egg and Aftyn (really Courtney!) found the second golden egg. The kids had so much fun, and were completely LOADED up on candy! We also went to a nearby resort that had a Easter egg hunt, and even got to visit with the Easter Bunny. It was great weather, and boy were we glad to be out of the Utah snow for Easter egg hunting! That really didn't sound fun.


Tyson and the Easter Bunny


The "big kids"


Our little kids rocked!


Tyson bumming hard with NO golden egg!


Kylie and her golden find!

Monday night we went to a stake play that I had 2 cousins performing in. It was Beauty and the Beast. My cousin Mel's husband, Milo, played the bookeeper, and my cousin David played Lapoo. They were so great and the kids LOVED the entertainment. I never knew acting was in our blood! Thanks for inviting us Mel!

The kids loved driving Grandpas golf cart around the yard... the bushes and trees in the yard did not enjoy the under experienced drivers, however. Hopefully everything will survive the "few" accidents.

It was such a great trip. Thanks to Mom, We are very glad we made the 12+ hour drive to visit my family. Getting back to real life is challenging, yet refreshing!

Next up: WOMENS CONFERENCE!
A few good friends and I decided to head to Womens Conference this year at BYU and stay in the dorms. If you have never done this before...let me just say. DO IT!!! It was sooo much fun. I truly needed this little get away full of spiritual enlightenment. The classes were fabulous, and my friends are the best. We really had the best time. The ONLY sad part was that we somehow left the weekend without a BYU mint brownie that we had been soo looking forward to. I guess BYU was not prepared for the amount of brownies 20thousand or something women could consume in a few days, and they ran out. Sad times...but don't worry we are going next year. First thing on the agenda will be grabbing a brownie while they are still around! I didn't take enough pictures...another reason to go back next year!
Here we are at one of the fabulous classes


Here we are at Los Hermanos...YUMMY!


Oh I have so much more to post...like a Lagoon day with Brian and Kylie, Dexter's first soccer game (I'll let Heather do that one...it is good!), Brian and Brett taking all the kids to jump on it with no serious injuries,a trip from Becky's gang, which included a sleepover with 11 kids (CRAZY!), and lots of other fun stuff...but I am feeling blogger overwhelmed...so this is it for now. Except one last story that I just HAD to share. My sweet hubby needs your prayers.
Last week Brian was doing a hardwood floor for a neighbor and friend in our old ward. He is a 74 year old man, but is young in personality, and spirit. He collapsed in front of Brian with a massive heart attack. Brian did CPR for about 10-15 min until the paramedics arrived. It was a VERY chaotic and awful scene, with the wife watching the whole thing, completely hysterical. (I don't blame her ONE bit!) Anyway, the paramedics took him away still unconscious and not breathing on his own. He did have a little pulse but a very irregular heart beat. He lived on life support for 3 days until the family knew it was his time to go, and there was going to be no coming back for him. The funeral was yesterday. Brian has really struggled with this whole event. He was able to meet the whole family yesterday at the funeral, and that helped a lot. All the children thanked him for his efforts in keeping him alive, even just for a few days for the family to gather and say goodbye. They are such a gracious and wonderful family. Several years ago this man was given 6 mos to live from a previous heart attack, so they were glad for any remaining time they had left with him. I am so proud of Brian, and how he was able to stay calm, and do absolutely everything he could for this man. All the paramedics and police said he couldn't have done ANYTHING better. Anyway...give a little prayer for Brian, he needs them right now. He is doing better every day though, and I know it will be just a matter of time and this will all be behind him.

Tomorrow I get to spend the day with the 5th graders at the BYU Marriot Center, getting ready for their Hope of America performance tomorrow night. Wish me luck on the bus ride...but don't worry there will be BYU mint brownies for sale once I get there. I am pretty sure it is going to be a good day!

8 comments:

melanie said...

Great recap Holly. I love baby Aftyn too, she smiles so much at so young. It's adorable!

I really, really want to go to Women's Conference one year. Maybe next year we should plan a cousin get together and all stay in the dorms. I have to plan that one day cause I don't have sisters to plan one with! I know I could use the get away AND the spiritual boost.

Your mom was telling me about Brian and this man. How hard!! I'm proud of Brian too, I'd lose it right there with the wife. I'm sure that's not shocking. You guys are in our prayers.

I was so obsessed with wanting a BYU mint brownie because of reading them on people's blogs last year, I googled around until I found a recipe. And my old babysitter said they are close to the real thing. I loved them. I'll have to email it to you.

Hope the concert goes good and you get the biggest brownie there, YUM!

(longest comment ever..... sorry!)

Brenda said...

I've been thinking about what a hero Brian was that day. I'm so glad you posted about it, I was almost going to call you to force you to! We'll definitely be thinking of him and hope it gets better with time.

I'm still bitter about the Washington trip and all the baby holding you got to participate in. Guess I'll just have to have my own to make up for it;)

Love and Miss you!

Granny DeeAnn said...

Loved your post Holly. I must say it was long overdue. Now don't look at my blog, cause it's older than yours. So sorry Brian had to experience such a sad thing but I would pick him for an emergency too. He's always so calm and collected. Chin up! Maybe the cousins will invite their old mothers to BYU WC too....... We could have the turn in early room!! Love you guys! AD

Heather said...

Love the monkey theme! Glad Brian is doing a little better- we are praying for him. He is amazing- I admire his strength. Love ya all!

Louise said...

Love the pictures Holly. It's almost as fun to look back at the pictures as it was to take them. Hope Brian will realize soon how few people can respond to that type of situation like he did. Too bad the ending wasn't what everyone wanted.
I'm with DeeAnn, I want to go to WC too, eat mint chocolate and sleep in the quiet room!

Behling Family said...

This is Autumn, Tiffs sister. I just wanted to thank you for letting your girls come to the temple and tend for us, they were such life savers, especially since there ended up being a few more kids then we had though and had told them and they just took it and acted like it was not a big deal. They were so cute with the kids and so sweet. They are such cute girls. My son keeps asking when we will see those babysitters of Corbins again. We couldn't have asked for better. Your lucky to have such good girls. Thanks again.

Becky Noftle said...

Love you Brian--how fun would WC be with Aunt Dee Ann and Mom--let's see how many relatives we can get to go.

Anonymous said...

Sydney you look so good with a baby in your arms lets go to bed and make one, i would love you to feel mecumming in your 11 yr oldpussy