The year of the high deductible insurance

Note to self: Never get high deductible insurance when you have four little (and one big) kids to deal with.

Broken teeth, broken arms, stitches, tonsils & adenoids, ADHD meds, flus, colds, not to forget allergic reactions to who knows what. Scratches, bruises, bumps, tears, Tylenol, and sleepless nights.



The last trip to Primary Children's Hospital, the admitting nurse said, "Weren't you just in here? Only this isn't the same kid?" Yes, same mother but different redhead. Me and the staff at the emergency room are TIGHT!


We met our deductible the second month. I'm hoping they're getting it all out of their systems. This is getting ridiculous!

A weekend at the lake

Martin and Jenefer lead the way, getting reservations at Pineview for as many of the Wilson's who were in town. The Watsons are always fans of throwing a bunch of food in your car (or boat) and making it happen. We could probably have a caption contest with the highlights...

While Mom was away

Rosanne had to go to Youth Conference and then to California to help out with her nephew Andrew's wedding reception so I had the kids for the weekend. We had Employee Appreciation day at Lagoon, where the Dorrances came in bigtime to help while I had to cook. Then work decided to get crazy so I get to thank our friends for play dates. We ended up hiking to Catherine's Pass up near Albion Basin, where the flowers are rockin' hard right now.

Diapers Done!

After almost NINE years of constant diaper changing, I am DONE. Nate-the-great is in his Diego underpants full-time!

The thought crossed my mind that I might cry. Because, honestly, it's the end of an era. My baby isn't a baby anymore. He can get dressed himself (if he wants). He can wipe is own butt (if I let him). He can punch his brother hard enough to cause tears (when he thinks he can get away with it). And he knows how to use the word "actually" in full-coherent sentences. He won't even take a nap, (he gave those up a year and a half ago!)

So, I think I need to have a good cry. I loved my babies. Now they're all gone. They just aren't as cute now when they say "No" to me.

There are a lot of things to look forward to. I sure love those stinkin' kids!

You win some, you lose some.

Clay had this GREAT idea. "Let's call the Dorrances and go down to IBEX and show them all the cool stuff we do down there. The weather will be great." We thought we would buy the best cheese curds in Delta, show them the lake bed & play games, go to the sand hill, search for fossils, and go to a mine shaft, among other things.

And so we went. We got down past Delta and it wasn't getting any warmer than Salt Lake (38 degrees). It wouldn't have been so bad but the wind chill factor, I swear, put it at -20.Some of us had more fun than others. (This is Jonah who, right after this picture, puked up a bunch of sand & stuff from rolling all the way down the hill. Hayden, being "the Man" held back the barf. Bravo!) The Dorrance's were troopers, especially Dad Dorrance (who had to save Nate from himself).

If nothing else, it was some quality time with all NINE of the kids strapped in their seat belts for a few hours while "Top Gun" was playing in the Dorrance-mobile and Armageddon was being PLAYED-OUT in the Watson-mobile!

I think we were all relieved when we were sitting in the Five Guys burgers & fries in Salt Lake (because the In-N-Out line was WAY too huge!).

Snowbird Tram Rides & Poky-pines!

Every fall Snowbird hosts free-tram-ride days where you bring a can of food and get, you guessed it, a free tram ride. We bundled up, got our grocery bag of cans, and headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon for some good times.Here they are staring at the big motors that will pull us to the top of the world! Front-row-joe, I mean Pete! He wanted to be front and center with the wind in his hair and his spit out the window! We literally live just down the road behind us. I must say it again, we live in a fabulous place!On our way back down the canyon, Clay's keen eyes for the bizarre noticed a dead porcupine on the side of the road. We unstrapped the kids and ventured across the road to see the poor thing. Nate probably assumes it has its name because you're supposed to "poke" it, and because Pete kept calling it a poky-pine. (He still has issues saying his R's.) Never a dull moment...hehe, get it?