Merry New YEAR!!

We are hosting Heather, Jason, Emma and Holly and Michael for the new year's party. So far we have eating delicious Chinese - yum honey! Played video games, made brownies and 7 (really only 5) layer dip AND I have uploaded ALL the pictures from our three picture-taking devices.

SO check out the past 10 days- there are tons of new pictures for your end of the year pleasure!!!!

Naked teeth

I am FREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Check it out: my bottom braces (along with the nasty metal tooth holders):

My first picture as a non-metal mouth:


The dental record: I made it done in 20 months on only ONE side of my record!


My shoulder was hurting and I was GRUMPY. Fortuntely we all had naps, check out the girls with the little blankies grandma made them:



And here is the first bite (of your baklava Tammy V.!) with NO METAL!!



Another cute picture of Ellie buried in the snow:


And me and Ashley breathing. I am finish up the yesr 2009 tonight!!!

Um, more than a 'procedure'

So today I went in to have my contuining-to-be-ouche shoulder 'scoped.' I though this would be like a 30 minute thing. Turns out it involved REAL surgery. But they found the problem and fixed it. And I can be back to typin g with two habds in like 2 days! No lifting anything for like 6 weeks so that the tendon can reheal. My WHOLE lefy arm is still completely asllep and it feels very dead and weird.

Girls are great . Ellie has a little cough. Josh is taking great care of me. Drogs good. 'night

(note from late: bad typing because I only had one hand!. If you do NOT like STITCHES - DO NOT LOOK BELOW:

Merry Christmas!

Josh assures me that the computer will be back to normal 'next week.' I realize that this does NOT satisfy your pictures-craving - but I will post LOTS then.

Apparently we are in the final stages of hooking everything up so we can dump the cable - and get everything through the internet/computer. This has involved a LOT of parts, cables, programs and a week with the computer 'wiped' clean. But according to rumor, this will all be fixed 'next week.'

Merry Christmas!!
I made little placemats for the girls' table and their new silverware and place settings:


Little tea party table all nice and set with the Christmas dishes:




Other presenting opening:







The girls got these flashlights that go on their heads (so your hands are free to play): here is a bad picture of them 'exploring for clues' in the dark:


After a lovely rice-pudding Christmas Eve dinner at home, we opened presents and went up to Auntie Danelle' to play with all the cousins, aunties, uncles, grandma/grandpa, etc. A great time was had by all.

We went sledding up Logan canyon:











The little girls and I stayed on the baby slope and then got in the car, ate candy and watched Max and Ruby:

Sledding

Today we went out to get snow-wear for the adults! That done, we went outside to play! And then we decided to go sledding - FUN!!





Here are our first official family sledding pictures:






But the BIG news is that today is adoption day!

Three years ago, on the 23rd we were sealed to Ellie. Last year, on the 23rd, our adoption to Ashley was finalized. YAH!! We LOVE YOU!!

Why we need a boy in our family

In about a million years, me and the girls would not have thought of this:


Picture here of us, with Arch and Saraih sledding down the slide!





Arch thought of it in about 2 minutes - SMART! And FUN!! I even tried it myself!

I am CUTE!

Check out the great pic my sister took!


We just got off the phone with our birthmoms - we love them so much! Merry Christmas!

I love my girls

What a GREAT photographer my sister Heather is turning into with her fancy camera!

Free the teeths!

I am FREE!! (at least on the top) heehhe. AND I can get my top braces OFF BEFORE the end of the year!!! Here are some pictures:

Before:



After:


Girls helping cook: (since I know you wanted a picture of them too!)
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Daddy and Ellie practice reading: (She can 'read' "I am Ellie. I am 3. I am Ellie Herron" - but here she is practicing reading Go, Dog, Go.


Using doing more breathing: (it is a cuddling moment for us all):

Ashley is GREAT

Ashley has finished all her drugs (steriods and antiobiotics) and happily does her breathings and is doing GREAT! She coughs about 3 times a day, total and sleeps ALL night. Everything is good.

My teeth are naked!! AND I get my BOTTOM braces OFF in like 12 days!!! A NEW YEAR with NEW TEETH!!! Still working on the technical stuff of this new camera download - but I DO have pictures - will be posted tonight.

But I DO have pics that Auntie Heather took of the girls with her FANCY new camera:

Drugs are good

We are back to four breathings a day and everything is GOOD. We went to Provo to play with Emma and Heather and they gave me the incomparable gift of A TWO HOUR NAP!!! Since I had been up since 5 a.m., it was GREATLY appreciated. I have NO idea how Josh gets up every morning at 5 and is still alive that evening. (maybe the snoring on the couch is a hint).

We did some errands to day and got the girls flu shots. It would be especially bad if Ash got the flu, so they were VERY brave during the .4 second shot. Then mommy got her two allergy shots. So we all got some chocolate for being brave. We made little necklaces as part of preschool today and Ellie gave hers to the shot-giver- it was really cute.

Having baked potatos with chili tonight for dinner -what for dessert? (the most important part of the meal!!) What are you having?

Freaking 3:48 a.m.

Yep, we have been up a while. We need, I think, the four breathing treatments a day. Ash ate, drank, breathed her drugs, pottied, watched TV and FINALLY went back to sleep. Poor sweetie.

I read my scriptures, cooked breakfast, saw the sweetie off to work, graded the online classes AND exercised and NOW I am going back to bed because my fingers are cold! Everyone should sleep in, so happy day!

A WHOLE year!

One year ago, on Saturday, around 4 p.m., we met Ashley and Gwynn for the first time. It is like our anniversary. We love you Gwynn! We are taking very good care of her - do not worry.

Ash is breathing just fine. And we have cut her down to two treatments a day. One of the side effects of too much drug is vomiting (all over mommy this morning), so we figure the initial inflamation is gone and we are doing follow up.



So Ellie and I went to church (I got to play the organ) and she was VERY good sitting by herself (and some friends).

Ashley now loves to cuddle up and say "I luv you mommy" - just melts my heart!

Josh is out doing his home teaching and then we are going to move around some of the girls toys. (I like to cycle the big toys around every few months). We got them (DON'T TELL!!) a lot of little kitchen stuff for Christmas. hehehehe. And I got Josh a present. hehehehe. This is a fun time of year.

Don't forget that on THURSDAY at 8:50 a.m. I get my TOP BRACES OFF!! A small party will follow in the orthodondist's office!

More pictures of playing in the snow: (be sure to check out the new hats and the long snow-free gloves for LOTS of winter playing)





On Ellie's daddy date - she got her own little shovel!


On Sunday, Ash REALLY wanted to go to the park, so she and I walked down there and she went sliding: