Guess Who is Coming for Lunch????

Well I just got word that in a couple of weeks I will be welcoming Valerie Bertinelli into my home. She is coming to spend the day with me and my family. Oh My Heck!!!! I am a little in shock right now and am at a lost as to what I am supposed to do to get ready. This is even crazy for me. Apparently she will be spending time with Chad and I and then with our kids. Then they (the producers) think it will be alot of fun for her to spend some time with all of us. Holy Cow even our

Family Home Evenings don't last that long, trying to get the kids to sit still for five minutes much less a couple hours!

What a crazy time for our family,

WHAT A BLAST!!!!!

Start Spreading the News...

Well it is official, we are going to be on the Rachael Ray show. The producer just called me and they are flying out Chad, me, Raegan and Kalli in three weeks. They are paying for it all. We think we will extend our trip by a couple of days to be able to see all that we can.
WOO HOO!!! Who would a thought? Not me. Chad asked me at the beginning of the year if I could go any where, where would I want to travel this year. (he was just curious, not alot of $$$ prevented much traveling this year) Anyway I told him I really wanted to go to NY! Our neighbors left today and invited us to go with them but we just couldn't afford it this year. But hey lo and behold Rachael Ray happened and we are getting to go for free!!!!
(yes at a cost of looking ridiculous, but FREE)
Yippee!!!! I will let you all know when the show will air.
(Well that of course depends on how ridiculous we actually do look)

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER A DULL MOMENT!!!

Brother Spencer, Bishop Kerby, Brother Norman

Today I lost my husband...To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!!! Chad was set apart as the bishop of our ward. We have known for a while now but had to keep it hush hush. We belong to what I think is the best ward ever, we really love our neighbors and our ward members. This ward reminds me alot of the Lyn Rae ward I grew up in, in AZ. We have a ton of youth (over 100) and a large primary as well. The people are really good, kind members of our church. I am grateful to have a husband who is willing and able to serve in this capacity. I love Chad and am happy to be his wife. People keep asking me how I feel about it and my answer to them is "I am so excited for the blessings, everyone prays for the Bishopbric and their families, I can't wait for those prayers!" My kids have mixed emotions, some believe that they will never see him again and then others are so excited for this. Kalli said that she already told a boy that if he doesn't leave her alone she will talk to the Bishop about him! (good ole Kalli)

Needless to say this past week has been by far one of the craziest we have had at our home.

Whew, What A Day!!!

Tyler getting his microphone on ready for his interview

The kids swinging in the backyard, camera crew taping it all.

Max found a buddy in the lighting guy, he loved those big lights.

Chad taking a breather between "takes" during his interview.

Raegan during her interview.

We had quite the day. Today was the day that the film crew came and filmed our family for the Rachael Ray show. They showed up at 7:00am and left at about 5:00pm. We are exhausted! The kids were very well behaved and really listened and followed directions until towards the end, they were all getting a little pooped out. So was I! They did interviews with each one of us and then filmed our crazy family and the crazy things we do. I do not know yet when it will air or what happens next, maybe New York? Keep your fingers crossed, I will keep you posted.

Family Fun

On Monday evening we decided that for family home evening we would take a drive up through the Alpine Loop to see if the leaves had started to change their colors. The drive was beautiful even though the canyon was still pretty green, the air was clean and crisp. We stopped to have a picnic at a lookout point near the top. It was fun to just enjoy our little family and get away from the hustle and bustle of our life. We plan to take this drive in a couple weeks, by then the leaves should be perfect,
I love fall!!!

He is still a mystery...

Today I went up with my parents to Huntsman Cancer Center to meet with the tumor doctor. Well after the biopsy last week they have determined that he will need a total hip replacement because the cancer has eaten away at the bone. He (the doctor) said it looked as though there had been termites in there. The bone is so bad that they have to create a new part out of cement and something like re barb but not. The Hip Replacement Surgery will be on October 15 up at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital. He will be admitted there for about 5-7 days. At that time they will also remove the tumor. They also discovered that the tumor is not the source of the cancer and so they are passing him onto a new doctor. A "Gut" doctor. They believe that the cancer is somewhere in his GI tract. But are still unsure where it is. So next Monday he has an appointment with that doctor and a possible scope that will go down his throat and check all through his GI tract from above. So here we go again...Hurry up and Wait! We are still feeling positive, this appointment today went well, we feel like they are at least narrowing the search down. But we are quickly beginning to dread Mondays since that is when every appointment is. My dad is recovering pretty well from his biopsy, still pretty sore because where the tumor is they had to move around some muscle and make a great big incision. It is located near his Sciatic Nerve which makes that nerve "angry" and causes some pretty bad discomfort. But he is off his pain meds and is looking better.

Quick update on Rachael Ray: They (film crew and field producer) are coming to my home Friday at 6:30 am. They will be doing the interviewing and filming here until about 12:00 then we will head over to the elementary school for some filming there. Pretty Crazy!!!!

WELCOME TO OUR HOME RACHAEL RAY!

Wow my life is busy lately, I mean really busy. I feel like I have a whole lot on my plate right now with my dad's health, kids, carpools, budgets you know just crazy day life. Well let me back up a bit. I enjoy Rachael Ray, I always have. I have enjoyed her shows on the food network and I especially enjoy her daytime talk show. Well one day during the summer I decided to check out her website. On her website there were some questions posted so I decided to answer one of them. The question was
"Do you have embarrassing parents,
if so tell us about them"
I thought this was kind of funny because I don't have embarrassing parents but my kids sure think they do, especially Raegan. So I write a response and tell them about how Raegan thinks Chad and I are SO embarrassing. (what 10 year old girl doesn't think her parents are embarrassing?) Well that was that and I didn't think much about it, until I received a phone call a few weeks later from Meredith, the senior producer of the Rachael Ray show. She wanted to know all types of info on my family. She wanted names and ages of my kids as well as recent photos emailed to her. Then she wanted to know specifics on how we have embarrassed our children. She had me email her whatever stories I could think of. Then she called Raegan and talked to her for about 15 minutes. That was about 2 months ago. Well we hadn't heard much else, so I kind of put it in the back of my mind. Well last week I get an email from Meredith telling me that things are in the works and would it be ok if her crew came here to my home in a couple of weeks.
WHAT...AHHHHH...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!
(my mom asked if part of the deal was to send a cleaning crew first, gotta love her)
She also asked if she could get the principal of my children's elementary school's phone number so she could set up a time to film my kids there. So next Friday, in one week we will have a camera crew in our home filming our family. They want background stories of our family. We will have to reenact our embarrassing times. Then there is a possibility that we will be going to NYC to be on the Rachael Ray Show. I know this is wild!!! I will post more as I know. I just hope the saying isn't true about the camera putting 15 pounds on you, because with all of my stress these days I've done that to myself and I don't need any other help with it.
So wish me luck and
PLEASE SEND A CLEANING CREW ASAP!!!

Update on Dad

Today I went with my parents up to Salt Lake to the Huntsman Cancer Center. It really is a big, beautiful facility. After finally seeing the Dr (we only had to wait 4 hours) he has decided that he will do an open biopsy on the tumor on my dad's pelvic bone this Wednesday. He (my dad) continues to be a mystery to the Doctors. Because they found cancer in my dad's lung but it is NOT lung cancer they have traced the cancer cells to his liver. But his liver looks clean and healthy. Then they find this tumor (11 centimeters long) on his pelvic bone. So the doctor thinks he needs to go into that tumor and get some tissue from it and see if they can trace it to the lungs. I think they labeled him "super complex". The doctor/surgeon he is working with now is the best. He is the number one tumor specialist for Huntsman. So we feel he is in good hands. After the biopsy then the surgeons and doctors will meet on Monday and have a "Treatment Planning Conference" where they will discuss his case specifically and see what they think the treatment and plan should be. So we know nothing more now but feel very confident in who is working with him. Now we are on to the waiting game...again. Thanks for your prayers and support...Keep them coming!

BYU Cougars Vs. UCLA

Wow what a game on Saturday. 59-0 It was crazy! Chad and I just kept looking at each other and saying "you have got to be kidding me". Any way we had a great time and Chad's brother Lance and his wife were able to join us this weekend from AZ.
Lance didn't think those cougars were half bad.
GO COUGS!!!

Fun Times

With everything that has been going on with my dad I haven't really been in a mood to blog but I need to. This week we kind of get to sit on pins and needles until we know more concerning the cancer. But I need to do things to keep my mind off of it, INSTEAD of Baking! It's pretty pathetic, my sisters and I are TERRIBLE emotional eaters, When I get stressed, I BAKE.

I BAKE really bad things for your body like brownies, cookies, cakes, muffins (all with chocolate of course) whatever new recipe I have been wanting to try, I try them all. I have gone through so many chocolate chips in the past two weeks its ridiculous. I am not talking about the little bags of chocolate chips I am talking about the primo, large, massive bags from Costco. So to keep me OUT of the kitchen I am blogging.

We had a great time going to the Real Salt Lake soccer game with friends and neighbors. My kids thought it was so cool and had a blast with all of their friends. Chad was able to get about 20 tickets from a friend so we all went and took the kids. Last Sunday evening while Chad was in meetings the kids wanted to do acrobats in the front yard (the weather has been beautiful here) I love it when my kiddos play together and find things to do that include each other. I do enjoy having my kids so close in age for this reason.

Then finally Andrew started preschool. He goes three days a week with two of his best buddies, Isaac and Gabe.Happy Baking!!!

A Heavy Heart

I am writing this with a very heavy heart. As some of you know my parents returned home from their mission in New York in February of this year. Since they have been home my dad has had numerous health issues. A blood clot in his hip, constant coughing, weight loss just to name a few. Well this past week his Pulmonary (lung) Dr. requested that he get a biopsy on his lungs to find out what was there, she had seen some unusual spots on them and was concerned. Well the report is in and the spots are Cancer. Not lung cancer but another form that is coming from another source in his body. So this next week he will be undergoing some more x-rays as well as more testing to find the source of the cancer. He is scared. My dad has always been the picture of perfect health, he exercises, eats right. I hate that he is going through this. My mom is a trooper. She is being so strong, he has always taken care of her and now she is taking care of him (he hates that).
I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows each of us and is aware of what we are going through and that he is there to comfort us during hard times. I feel peace. I know our family will be blessed and taken care of during this time. Please keep him in your prayers and hopefully this next week the doctors can figure out a way to "ATTACK IT" (the cancer) as my mom puts it.
Hug your family, love your parents, kiss your kids!

What do ya think????

OK everyone I am debating something. I am trying to decide whether or not to make my blog private. It has been an inner battle with myself for a while now. There are lots of reasons to go private but it's been so much fun reconnecting with old friends and new friends. AHHHH what should I do? If I do decide to go private I would need all of your email addresses to invite you to it, but do I really want to?
Give me your input and let me know what you think...

MY VOTE IS FOR SARAH PALIN!!!

I don't know about anyone else but I am SO excited about John McCain's running mate. SARAH PALIN seems like a winner. She is a breath of fresh air. For the FIRST time in a long time I find myself fascinated with the presidential election. Sarah is the Governor of Alaska, mother of five her youngest is only 9 months old and has down syndrome. Her oldest son is about to be deployed to Iraq on September 11 of this year. She is a super conservative. Strong values, anti abortion-pro life, pro drilling for oil and resources in Alaska and many more admiring qualities. I think these next few months will be very interesting. The greatest part is that Mr. Obama gave is "glorious" speech just yesterday and yet NO one is talking about it, in fact NO one seems to care. This new announcement about Mrs. Palin has seem to have taken the wind our of his sales. FINALLY someone to really watch and get excited about!!!

Auctions for Christian and Nie Nie

Today is "Nie Nie Day". (check out www.cjanerun.blogspot.com) There are over 100 auctions going on today to help support Stephanie and Christian Nielson. So many wonderful, generous people are donating items as well as their time to help with Stephanie and Christian's medical bills and house hold expenses (which will reach into the millions) as they lay waiting to recover (months) in a burn hospital in Phoenix, AZ. If you get a chance check out www.designmom.com to see all of the amazing things that are being auctioned off. These people are truly inspiring!!!
Happy Bidding!!!

Up Up and Away

Today we took our kids and went down to the Kiwanis park in Provo to launch helium balloons for Stephanie and Christian Nielson. (for more info about them check out cjanerun.blogspot.com) It was so neat to see all of the support for this family. They actually ran out of balloons but luckily enough we were able to get a couple. It was such a neat site. Tons of colorful balloons floating to the heavens.

Up Up and Away!!!

Back To School...

My cute back to schoolers!

Sydney looking so cute in her polka dots,
I can't believe she is in the first grade!!!

School has begun!! I can't believe that I have four full time schoolers. They were very excited, some were very nervous, you know "my stomach hurts, I have a lump in my throat, for some reason I am not very hungry". (They get the nerves from their mother.) They looked so dang cute in their new back to school gear. I can't believe my Sydney is in the first grade. She just seems to little. Any how they are there and I am here in my somewhat quite (I still have Max and Andrew home) house that desperately needs to be cleaned. So the inner debate is on, do I clean my house now that the kids are gone or give myself a break now that the kids are gone? Hmmm, lets see or should I wait till the kids get home to help me clean (but doesn't that defeat my purpose of having no children here so I can clean?) I know that all of my super organized, anti clutter friends are thinking that this is not even an issue. Of course you clean! Maybe I will read a self help book to help motivate me and teach me how to properly clean and organize my home. But probably not. I do have a few hours to make my decision. Any how here's to a brand new school year. Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Our Summer is coming to a close...

Well school starts on Monday and that means the end of summer. At times it has gone by fast but then other times it seemed like it would never end. We really didn't go anywhere as in a summer vacation but we did some fun things. Having Andrea's kids up here for the whole month of July helped alot. It was also fun to have Shellie's and Staci's kids as well as Tara. My kids have had lemonade stands, Birthday Parties, clubs, water parties, out door movie nights and even a beauty shop that they advertised and people came and paid for their services (toe nails painted, makeup and hair) We have had slip n slides, trips to the pool, EFY, day trips to Salt Lake, Dance workshops, Thanksgiving point, movies and tons and tons of friends. (I could do without the video games, but I pick my battles) We've gone through bottles of sunscreen and lots of otter pops. We have hiked to waterfalls and hiked to caves. We have seen lots of fireworks as well as set off lots of fireworks. Whew that sounds exhausting!
I do love having my kids at home as long as they are happy and not whining at me. (I am sure that I am not alone in my thoughts here) I will probably cry the first day of school. I do every year. So heres to another great summer!!!