Basketball Star

Alexis is on the 6th grade super team!   She has had a lot of fun this season and has some great friends on her team.  It has been so fun to go and watch her play this year.  She is so good!!!  It is amazing that kids at their age are able to play as well as they do.  They won most of their games and took third in the last tournament.  It was a very close, only winning by one point in the last minute.... it had me on the edge of my seat.  Alexis has worked so hard and has improved over the season so much.  She is such a great little athlete and I look forward to continue to watch her in whatever she does!

It's a miracle

For the last year Adison has had this little lump on her neck right where her thyroid is.  I have taken her in with me to the doctor and they were watching it.  When it didn't go away and it was there for so long he sent me to a specialist who told us that it HAD to be removed and that it was only going to get worse and it was more dangerous to leave it in than it would be to have the surgery.  So we were planning on doing it a few months after Max was born.  I still didn't want to do it and had so many fears and worried about all the what if's.  I looked on line and saw there were a few risks.... one was the nerves in your face being damaged, and I worried about the scare, and the bleeding, and I just felt so sick about the whole thing.  I have this perfect little daughter who is so beautiful and I have to go in and make a scare on her neck... So I started to pray and I fasted and I prayed that she wouldn't have to have surgery, and that it would go away on it's own.  And I looked at her neck a little while ago and it is completely gone.  It is funny how your mind works because one of my thoughts were, "oh that is just a coincidence"  But I know that it is a blessing and that my prayer was answered.  I am so thankful for the power of prayer.  I know it works, it may not always work the way we want it to, but it always ends up the way we need it to be.  I am so thankful that this has happened and that Adison will not have to have surgery.  She is still my baby and I want to protect her and not see her hurt in any way.  She is so funny, she just came up to me and said, "I like my pink one, and purple one, and I like warm hugs!"  Ohhhh I don't know what I would do without this little princess.  She is so funny, and sweet.   Miracles still happen! Miracle

Max's Blessing

We had Max Blessed on February 9th.  He was exactly one month old, and he did so well.  I was blown away by how many of our family members were able to come and support our little boy on his big day.  It was so nice for everyone to make the trip and come, it sure made me feel loved!  This is my Grandma and Grandpa Mueller.  They are such a fun couple and are always so happy.  My Grandma is such a strong woman and is a amazing example for me in my life.  My Grandpa is also a amazing person and I love him very much.  My whole life everyone has always talked about helping him be baptized and how great that would be.  He still has not been, but he does go to church with my Grandma.  I had to give him a hard time before we had Max and I told him that if he was baptized I would name our boy after him.... and as you can see, that didn't work.

My Grandma Merrill.  She is such a sweet woman.  It has been almost three years since my grandpa passed away.  I know she misses him.   She is so proud of all her grandchildren and loves to talk about them.  She always tells me what number of grandchildren my kids are for her.  I think Max was #50. (grandchildren and great grandchildren)  That is amazing to think that because of her and my grandpa there are that many children already. 

It was so nice to have some sister time.  I don't know when the last time was that I laughed so much.  It felt so good to laugh and have a little fun.  I am so blessed with brothers and sisters (and my parents) that are so amazing and I just love so much.  I love to hang out with all of them, and they really are my best friends. 

Summer is such an amazing girl.  She is so sweet, and beautiful.  It feels like just yesterday that she was as small as Max in this picture.  That just shows you how fast time really does go. 

My Amazing Parents!!!  I can't even put into words how much I love these two.  They are so amazing and I know they would do anything for me.  They are so good to me and our family, and to anyone they know.  They are so giving and just all around amazing people.  I am so blessed to be born into this family.

Ryan's sweet Grandma Thomas.  She is an amazing lady.  She is in her 90's and still gets around without a problem.  Her health is great and she is doing great.  She loved feeding Max and was laughing at how he was holding it to his mouth so she couldn't get it away.  Max really loves his bottles!

Ryan's parents are so amazing also.  I not only was so blessed to be born into a great family, but I was also blessed to be married into one.  It is so funny how similar Ryan's family is to mine.  I really did luck out when I married him!

I can not believe how grown up all these kids are.  They were so board because they are at the age that that is what you do..... but I am so glad that they were able to come!

I am so glad my brother Greg and Jackie were able to come.  Greg had to drive all the way from North Dakota the day before the blessing, and it was so sweet of them to continue driving to come and see us.  Brad also came to the blessing  and I think it was the first time that all of  them have made it to a blessing at the same time.  Max must be pretty special! (and it meant a lot to me to have everyone come)

I love this picture!  Jackie looks beautiful and Max is looking up at her.  So cute!

He is so sweet!

Annette and I tried to set up our own little photo shoot, and we found out that is a lot harder than it looks, and that we are not very good at it.... But this one and the one above didn't turn out to bad.

I love this picture.  Ryan is such a sweet dad and loves his kids so much.  I love to watch him with them!

I love this picture also!  Ryan's dad is also so fun to watch with our kids.  He loves to play with them and is such a great grandpa. 

Ryan gave such a great blessing to Max.  It is so neat to me that we are able to bless our babies with the things that really matter in life, and with what we want for them.  I know that blessings are a gift and that they work.  I am so grateful for the gospel and with how much it helps me in my life and with my family.  I feel like knowing about the gospel makes me such a better mom and helps me everyday on how I should be raising my family.  I know the Gospel is true and that helps and blesses our lives!  Some of the things I remember from Max's blessings I wanted to write down are, to have a sound mind and body, be missionary minded, have a love for the Lord, to Serve a mission, Be married in the temple, find joy in your family, be happy, and grow properly.  Ryan always gives our kids amazing blessings and I am so happy that he is such a great man and can do this for our family. 

January

This girl is so funny.  I was bathing Max and she was watching us with her feet in the water, then she was standing in it, and little by little she kept getting in so when I took him out she tore her clothes off and jumped in. 

this is so mean I know but I just wanted to see if Max looked like any of his sisters... As soon as Ryan saw what I was doing he took it off.

Max is five weeks old in this picture and is still not a very good sleeper.  He still wakes up about every two hours.  He does good at eating and then going back to bed, but it is so hard to get up that many times a night. 

But when I see this precious little face it is all worth it.  How could you not just love this little man.  He is so sweet!

the last time we weighed him he was 10 lbs and he was 23 inches.  He is growing like a weed.  He has started to make a few baby sounds that are so cute, and he has laughed a little for Alexis. 

Adison is always on the go.  She keeps everyone very busy and loves to get into all the girls things.  Elizabeth has had it and doesn't think it is very cute that she will not leave her things alone so now we have to have the girls lock their doors if they are not in their rooms. 

Adison is so full of life and so happy.  She always tells me I look so beautiful, and when she gets dressed she says, "look at me, I am so pretty, I look like a princess!"  I love that she feels that way about herself and pray that she can keep that with her through her life.  I wish that for all my girls.  Because they are all so beautiful and they are princesses because they are daughters of a King, (our Heavenly Father)   Adison also has a obsession with "jackets."   Every day she has to wear some sort of sweater, cardigan or shrug over whatever she is wearing.   It is hard to get her out the door in something I want her to wear most of the time, but it is her style and she loves it.

Little Max LOVES his swing, and so does his mom!  It is so nice to be able to put him down and get a something done when he is being fussy. 

 

My Brother

I have not been able to stop thinking about my brother Brad.  He has always been known for being a little wild and crazy when it comes to playing with his "Toys"  (snowmobiles, dirt bikes, ect.)  and everyone always talks about how good he is and how fun it is to watch him.  He has always had no fear and has a great talent for those things.  This past week he was watched over by Angels and was blessed so many times.  It is crazy to think of how the spirit speaks to us and helps us in times of need.  I am going to copy a little of what Sara wrote about it and then I will add…..

Brad will probably be mad at me but I am feeling very grateful so I need to share my gratitude, right? Brad was in a huge avalanche on Monday. He almost made it to the top of the hill when the whole hill broke and slid. He very quickly became engulfed in a huge amount of roaring snow. He said that they always teach you to swim your way to the top but he knew if he did that he would die so he put his feet out in front of him and tried not to roll and get caught on the undertow. He was able to come up for air a few times but the snow kept pulling him under. As things started to slow down he was prompted to raise his hands. When everything stopped only a few fingers were sticking out of the snow. His friends Jeff Evans and Keith Evans saw his fingers. They had watched him come up for air a few times so they knew kinda where he might end up. They got to him pretty fast and dug him out. The snowmobile (Greg's sled) is gone buried somewhere under the snow in Bedford, WY. I am so grateful for his friends and the fact that they stayed so calm and watched for him bobbing red helmet. I am also so grateful that he wasn't buried with the snowmobile. I'm not writing this so everyone will give me there condolences and woe is me pitty. I'm writing this cause TONS of our friends snowmobile and they need to know avalanche danger is real especially this year. Be careful. Be smart. Be safe. I can't even imagine how horrible it would have been to tell my 4 kids that daddy wasn't coming home. I will thank The Lord everyday. 

He said a few things that I really believe was the spirit telling him what to do.  Like when he said he had a feeling not to swim and just slide down.  And then when it all came to a stop he had a feeling to put his hands up.  If he wouldn't have listened to that they wouldn't have been able to see his fingers in the snow to dig him out.  There was a few other cool things he said and I know that he was watched over and protected.  He has some important things left to do on this Earth and is still needed by his family.  Brad is such a strong person and a huge influence to others.  I don't know if it is possible to not love him!  He has the personality that is fun and outgoing and everyone loves to be around him.  He can always make you laugh and is just an amazing person.  I love my Brother and I am so thankful that he is alright.  I keep thinking that it is crazy that they found Brad so easy and they STILL have no idea where the sled is.  I am so grateful it wasn't the other way around!   I know this was a miracle and It has just made my testimony and faith grow.  

I am not a vet……

I was just looking over my blog and realized I didn't write about a experience that was a little crazy.  Our amazing neighbors the Cordner family had a brown lab that was going to have puppies.  On mothers day they were so excited because when they went out to see her there was a cute little puppy with her.  That whole day the dog was in labor and still just had the one puppy with her.  So the next day they went out and the dog was still in labor and there was still only one puppy.  So I called our friend that is a vet and asked him what they should do.  He said to feel and see if there was any puppies stuck where they should be coming out and if there was to get it out.  So MaryAnn and I went out and put on our rubber gloves and played vet.  There was a puppy stuck and you could tell it had died.  The dog that had gotten their dog pregnant was a large dog and so the puppies were bigger than they should have been.  So I did what the vet told us to do…. I pulled and tried to get the puppy out.  The poor mom dog was getting so worn out and every time she would push she would throw up.  So for a few hours we tried to help her and it was not going anywhere.  So I called the vet to let him know and he said that if we didn't get the puppy out of the way that the rest of them would also die.  So we went out another time and this time I just grabbed on the puppies head and pulled….. I could feel the little neck pop and it freaked me out… but they said to keep going.  So I did another pull and when I pulled it out it was only the puppies head…. it had popped right off.  So I scream and then threw the baby's head as far as I could and then almost threw up.  After that they took her into the vet and he had to do a c-section on the dog.  She ended up having 10 puppies and as soon as the vet took out the last little puppy, the momma dog died.  She had been through way to much pain and for way to long.  We were all really attached to Sadie (the dog) and so when the girls and I found out we all had to cry a little.
I have to say that after this experience I have had a few nightmares and am still a little in shock that the whole thing really happened.  I was trying to help a friend… she was pregnant and didn't really want to do the dirty work, and I don't really mind that kind of stuff….
Anyway, I am not a vet and I will no longer try to be.  It is just like the time I tried to bottle feed a little kitten and somehow I drowned it instead and it died.   I am just not good at these things.  Ryan on the other hand can bring a drown kitten back to life after giving it CPR, and warming it up…. go  figure.
We have become such great friends with the Cordner family and I am so glad that we have been able to live by them for the past two and a half years.  Our kids are also great friends and I hope they stay that way.  This past week they ended up moving to a different house and we are so sad.  I am going to miss seeing them all the time, but I don't think our friendship will change.

Christmas time

I am so behind on blogging and just noticed I never posted anything about Christmas.  We had such a great time this year at Christmas.  The girls were so sweet and decided that they would like to help out someone else and have a small Christmas this year.  So they all said they only needed one gift each and then they wanted someone who needed presents to get the rest.  They all wrote letters to Santa and asked for one gift and then said to give the rest of what they would have gotten to someone who needs more.  Elizabeth was cute in her letter she wrote, "but my sisters are really good, so if you want you could give them more than what they ask for."    It is such a good feeling to see your kids being kind to one another and getting along.  They can be so sweet every once and a while! 

These pictures are funny.  They were fighting so I put them in a time out and they had to cuddle for ten minutes.  Some how it turned into a photo shoot. 

Such fun girls

Adison was so funny, and she kept showing off for the camera so I had to keep going and going.

I don't know how I cut Liz out of this one, but she is pointing a gun at Brytlee and that is why she has her hands up.... I love Adison's kissy lips.

and the selfies begin with Alexis. 

Adison was wore out and fell asleep.  The girls all had to jump in and pretend they were asleep also.  Adison is so funny when it comes to sleeping.  She wakes up early, and will not take a nap.... I wouldn't mind the no nap thing if she would just sleep in.

Christmas morning.  They were all so happy to see that Santa stopped at our house.  Adison was so excited and LOVED her dolls. 

Elizabeth got her cotton candy maker. 

Alexis got her DISCO ball!!! 

Adison is so in love with playing barbies.  She was so thrilled to get more!   Brytlee was very spoiled this year and got a I pad mini.  (Ryan calls it a I pod maxi)  The day after Christmas Brytlee lost her I pad and we looked all day for it and couldn't find it.  Ryan had a app on his phone that is able to find it and see where it is and it said it wasn't in the house.  The girls kept texting it over and over and it was nowhere to be found.  The next day we looked for it again and Ryan started to wonder if someone came in the house and grabbed it off the kitchen counter and stole it or something.  Brytlee was so sad and we were about to give up on looking for it when Ryan told the girls we needed to say a prayer and see if H evenly Father would help us find it.  So Brytlee said a great little prayer and right after it the girls went looking for it.  Within three minutes they found it.  It was such a great experience to see what the power of prayer can do for them.

We went ice skating with some of Ryan's friends and the girls had a blast.  Elizabeth has decided that is what she wants to do.  She loved it and was very good. 

Alexis liked it but she fell down a lot so she was ready to be done when it was time to leave.

Adison was not a fan of the skates.

Brytlee did good, but then decided to grab the little helpers so she wouldn't fall anymore.

They had one for grown ups also so Alexis had to try it out.  We had a good laugh....

Adison said she was done so we went and took off her skates and put her shoes back on.  But then she ran back out on the ice and had even more fun running around in her shoes than she did in the skates.  It was really funny….

Santa made it to our ward Christmas party this year again.  

We had a great time this year for Christmas and New Years.  We were able to go to my parents before Christmas and have our Christmas party with them.  Their ward had a really cool program they did of the nativity that was outside and live.  They brought in real animals and even had two camels.  It was to bad that it was windy and freezing outside, but it still was a great idea and helped teach the meaning of Christmas.  We had a great time and I wish now that I would have stayed longer.  I was afraid I was going to have our baby early and so I made sure I was close to home.  I thought for sure I was going to have the New Year baby because I was having so many pains and not sleeping at night because I was having contractions.  But not the case.  My whole family went to the Ball's cabin for the week of New years and it would have been so fun to go and let the kids play outside and have fun, but we made our own fun at home.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family.  I am even more blessed to have married into a wonderful family.  I really do believe that I have the best parents in the whole world,  and know that they would do anything for me.  Along with my brothers and sister.  They are all so amazing and so good to me, and I love them all so much.