Day at the beach

Each year we try and make it to the beach at least once with all the kids. It takes some work to get there but we are always glad once we make it. It was a beautiful day with friends and the kids had a great time.

It was a little cool that day so all the men built a "hot tub" complete with seats and cup holders. The kids played in the hot tub most of the day so it was well worth the effort.
Here is a picture of just some of the people that joined us that day. I was not great at taking pictures this trip...maybe it was because I was too busy trying to make sure my 5 kids did not drown.
It was a great day and I should get all the sand out of my car just in time to go again next year!

Carn Family Reunion 2010

We arrived home a few days ago from a wonderful Carn family reunion. The trip began when we all met at the Carn compound and made our first trip of many to our favorite restaurant Portillo's! The cousins were all excited for a fun filled week ahead.

We had the opportunity to bless our not so little baby Logan at Charlie's parents home with all of his brothers. Logan's little cousin Finley was blessed as well. How did we not get a picture of the two of them together? Oh yeah, there were 35 people squished in one little room...I guess it was too crazy for pictures.
Here is Logan with his proud papa. What a special day it was to bless Logan with so many family members around.
Then the packing began. It took us 5 vans and a truck filled to the top to get to our destination. We were headed to The Grand Bear Lodge and brought enough food with us to feed a small village.



This was where we stayed. We had two lodges to fit 35 of us. They were a great place for us to all gather together and spend some family time.





The lodge has a great indoor water park with a wave pool, lazy river, and fun water slides. The kids had a blast here and we went at least twice a day if not more. One of my favorite memories was our family train of tubes floating around the lazy river. There were so many of us that the tail end of the train almost reached the start of the train!

The lodge also had a great little amusement park and mini golf but we also spent plenty of time at the lodge with fun planned activities. We played a great round of family feud, made bottle rockets with Grandpa, played bingo for the grand "Fanta" prize, and we even had our very own talent show. The talent show was quite a hit. My favorite moments were Spencer singing and dancing to," Eye of the Tiger" and believe it or not I really enjoyed the all girl act singing to ,"I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair." Charlie promised to get it on video but he ended up messing with the baby. Someone did get a cute picture of it though and if I get a copy I will post it later.

Here is a picture of the overall craziness of the lodge. When you get 35 Carn's together you can hear us from miles away. I was glad no one was in the lodge next to us!

Here are the kiddos on the way to shoot off their rockets. It was REALLY hot but the kids had a blast...literally!

This is how we all felt at the end of the trip.

A great time was had by all and I am grateful to my in-laws for putting it all together. I loved almost every second of it :) and I am glad my kids had some good quality time with family that they do not get to see very often. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Below is a clip of what our family did for the talent show and just a small bit of Spencer's awesomness!

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

I opened my email this morning after 5 days alone and 4 more ahead still to go. The kids were all screaming and fighting and it is 9:30 and I am already tired and I got to watch this. It was just what I needed. Thanks Charlie...I miss you!

Cedar Point

Charlie got it in his head a week or so ago that he was determined to go to Cedar Point. It had been a LONG time since I had been on any big roller coasters so it sounded like fun. We got a babysitter for the entire day and took off with some friends for a day of terrifying fun.

This was right before our first ride and before I knew what I was getting myself into! We rode Millennium Force first. This ride has a 300 foot drop at 93 mph!

We also rode Top Thrill Dragster. I honestly think I died a little on this ride. It accelerates to 120 mph in just 3.8 seconds. It sends you right up a 90 degree incline and sends you straight back down a 420 foot hill!

Another big one was Maverick. This one drops down a 105 foot hill at a 95 degree angle...yes, that is 5 degrees past vertical!

Here are some videos of just a few of the rides we went on. None of the videos were taken by me. Trust me I was holding on for dear life and closing my eyes and going to my "happy place".

This was our last ride and the only ride I put my arms up on. It was the train ride around the park with a top speed of 10 mph!

Did I have fun???? Yes, after all I had no kids for 11 hours and spent the entire day with my hubby. Am I thrill seeker????? No, I have decided that I like the ground and if I am going to splurge on a fun filled day again I think I will pick the spa next time :)

June

The summer is moving way too fast so I thought I would put up a few pictures before I get too far behind.

I have been very bad at taking any pictures of my little Logan. I always swore that I would never end up with one of those kids that only has two pictures of them because their parents just got too busy but here I am on number 5 and I seriously am lacking in the picture department. Here are two new ones of my little man. He is smiling ear to ear and cooing up a storm. He is sleeping a little better and we are just loving him.

Here is my attempt to actually be in a few family pictures. I am always the one behind the camera so I don't get in many pictures. So this is me and my five little kiddos. The pictures are far from perfect but they are real life and I love being their mommy.

Sam is always keeping me busy. He has decided not only is his body a temple, it is also his canvas. If this boy gets his hands on markers watch out...he colors anything he can get his hands on including himself.

We have been working on our little garden again and Sam loves to go and play with the bubbles. Here is a shot of our planting day. He was covered in dirt from head to toe. Apparently marker is not his only medium!

This is our garden after only 1 week. The kids love to see how fast everything grows.

We have had a great summer so far and look forward to some more long fun filled beautiful summer days!

Ethan's 7th birthday

My little boy just turned 7! He had a great few days and says that this was his best birthday ever.

We went to a really fun place in our town where the kids played mini golf, rode bumper boats, played laser tag and even rode a roller coaster. Ethan invited a little neighbor girl who has been in his class the last two years.

Here is Ethan on the bumper boats. The kids got soaked and had so much fun.

Here is the group playing laser tag. Ethan and Marlee gave up after only a few minutes because they got scared but Abby and Morgan played the whole time. Sam even ran around with Elmo as his protective shield the entire time.

We also went to a baseball game the night before which is one of Ethan's most favorite things to do. They put his name up on the big screen and we got the entire outfield to sing happy birthday to him. Abby also was in a cheer camp that week and got to cheer at the game. She loved it and it was fun for Ethan to have her cheer at his special game.

Yet another birthday down and now our month of birthdays has come to an end until next year.

Here is some video of the roller coaster ride that the kids loved...it scared me half to death but little did I know that much bigger roller coasters were in my future, but that is for another post!

Pittman Trip 2010

We are so lucky to have had some great friends since we were first married. The Pittman's have been with us through all of our ups and downs and we love them. They just came for a visit with their 4 adorable kids and we had a blast!

The trip started with a journey to Niagara Falls. The kids had a great time swimming and getting wet in the falls.

We stayed at our favorite hotel that has the yummiest breakfast and an amazing view of the falls.

We had a date night at the gardens. It is so much fun how young and care free we feel when we are together. I don't know if it is because our friendship started before we had kids but when we are together we are silly and in love just like we are newlyweds again.

This is me and my beautiful Cher. What an inspiring and amazing friend she is to me.

Here are the boys bowling. We had so much fun.

Here is Charlie teaching Kira how to eat like a piggy. They laughed so hard and made quite a mess.

It has been so much fun to have our kids grow up together. Here is Abby and Leah when they were still little girls.

Here are our big girls today.

Ethan and Luke were born just a few days apart.

Here are our cute boys now!

The kids had lots of time to just play outside and get to know each other again. We love how much they love being together and how well they play. We can only hope they are college roomies someday.

Here was our last group shot with all of us before they headed back home. We are quite the group.

It was a crazy few days but I would not trade it for anything. Mike and Cher thank you for being our friends and thank you for making the trip out here. We love you and your kids and can't wait to see you again!

Catching Up

The last few weeks of insanity seems to have come to an end and now it is time for me to do some catch up blogging. I was gone for the last day of school so I did not get any pictures but here is one of the kids that I love. I wish we could have gotten Logan in there but I don't think it would have been very safe.

I somehow managed to not get a single cute picture of Sam on his 2nd birthday so this next shot will have to suffice as a cute birthday picture. We had a little family party and he loved blowing out his candles and opening presents.



Abby had her 9th birthday and had a big celebration. She had a friend party which is a rare event at our house and she was allowed to have her first ever slumber party. The girls were all super cute and stayed up late and had a great time. I can't believe I have a 9 year old!


I left the next day for Utah to attend my Grandmother's funeral. It was a special few days and I was so glad that I was able to go. The first day I got there we were going through a ton of old photos. I had flipped through many books when all of a sudden I came across this.....


The sight of the pink oven brought me to tears. If you read my last post you will know the significance of the pink oven. It was the only picture they had of their old kitchen and it was in a random book and no one else had seen that picture. My Grandpa kindly allowed me to take it and I will cherish it forever.
Another sweet moment out of the many we had was seeing this cute corsage my Grandpa got for my Grandma. He always got her a gardenia for every dance they went to together and so he got her a gardenia for this last special occasion. It smelled beautiful and out of all the flowers in the room I think you could smell that one the most and my grandma would have LOVED it.

It was wonderful to see family even if it was not under the best of circumstances. We shared a lot of tears, laughs, and great stories. It is always a special time to have my family all together and always difficult to say goodbye.

I am so thankful to have been there to say goodbye to my sweet grandma. It was no suprise that the moment I felt her the closest was during the family prayer right before the funeral. She loved nothing more than being surrounded by family and in that moment all of her family that loved her so dearly were gathered around her all in one room. I am thankful of my testimony of the gospel and thankful to know that I will see her again one day. It was a beautiful celebration of a beautiful life!

Grandma Bev

Last night I got the news that my sweet grandmother passed away. Since I use my blog as a journal I thought there would be no better place for me to share some of my thoughts and memories that I have of this dear woman. I spent most of the night last night wide awake thinking of her life and her legacy. If I had been there last night to say goodbye these may be some of the things I would have quietly spoken to her.

Dear Grandma Bev,

I wish I had been among the family surrounding you with love last night as you went back home. Please know that I feel it an honor to call you my grandmother. You were a strong example in my life and are part of the reason I am the woman I am today.

When I think of you many memories and feelings flood my mind. I thank you for passing your love of family history and genealogy work on to me. I have no doubt that you were greeted last night by many of your ancestors that you may have never met but you knew their stories and loved them. I now as well know them and love them.

You made your house a home. I always felt at home walking through your door. I remember as a child playing in your yard. I remember many family meals around your table by the piano. I remember LOVING cleaning your pink oven with brillo pads. I wish you were still here so I could ask you how you convinced a young child that cleaning an oven was a fun task.

I will always remember how you loved to feel pretty. Even as you aged it was still important for you and I love that. I will remember your hands, especially your beautiful nails that always looked so nice. I love that you loved getting your hair done and having your "face put on". You were a beautiful woman in many ways.

I will remember your smile. It lit up your face and made others around you want to smile.

I am so thankful that you were able to visit me in my home that I love so much. I am glad you were able to be within these 4 walls and experience some of the beauty I experience each day. I loved sitting around the fire with you singing with my mother and my daughter. That will be a night I always cherish.


I will remember your beautiful singing voice. I can hear the song too-ra-loo-ra-lo-ral being gently sung by you in my mind as I write. There was always something so comforting about your sweet voice singing that song.

I will remember that you were there at my baptism, the day I married my sweet husband, and the day we blessed our first child. You were there for so many of my life shaping events.

Most of all I am grateful that you were a strong and faithful woman in the gospel. I am thankful to know where you are. I am thankful to know that this is not goodbye, it is just see you in a little while. The world already feels a little more empty with you gone but I feel blessed to know you will be looking over our family.

Thank you for the amazing woman you were and the blessing you were in my life. I will miss you. Until we meet again!

Your Grandaughter,
Brook

An Orchard A Day

We have all heard the term an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but that phrase does not apply to us this week. We are at orchard status! And for all of my good friends reading this who think they have heard the whole story...keep reading there is more!

It all started on Thursday. I went to the dentist for a tooth that was bothering me. They took an x-ray and said I for sure needed a root canal and sent me off to the endodontist that same day. I arrived at the endodontist who took his own x-ray and he informed me that I for sure did not need an x-ray and sent me on my way. I am glad I did not need a root canal but I wasted an entire day at the dentist and now have to go back next week again to get my problem fixed which they now think is just a broken tooth.

Then Friday hit. Charlie left to go out of town for the week. Logan's little face was looking terrible. It reminded me much of when Ethan was a tiny baby and got his first round of eczema. I knew it was more than infant acne but the doctor assured me that was all it was and to not treat it with anything. By Saturday it looked like I had dropped a bottle of acid on his face. He was miserable so I started to treat it on my own with aquaphor and hydrocortisone cream. Within 24 hours his face was almost completely cleared up. So much for listening to the doctor!

On Saturday night I was hit with a major UTI and by Sunday I was in a ton of pain and everyone I knew was at church. The pain was so bad I started calling neighbors but no one was home so I just had to wait it out until my friends could help. Two angels showed up finally and took my kids so I could run to the urgent care. I got all my medication and headed home hoping to not return...boy was I wrong!

Tuesday night Morgan came down from bed crying about her ear and continued to scream in pain for 2 hours. This is after I had given her all the medication I could and tried to calm her down with chocolate, a movie, warm compress, and a back rub. Nothing would work. So I called our home teacher to come give her a blessing. He arrived with another friend who just happens to be our doctor as well and he called in a prescription for her since he thought she had an ear infection.

So Wednesday...I was up first thing to the pharmacy to pick up her medication. At this point I was thinking the craziness had to be over. Wrong again. By Wednesday afternoon Morgan's eyes were swelling shut, bright red, and oozing green crap down her cheeks. I called her doctor who informed me that they would not be able to get her in until next week and my only option was to take her to urgent care. What! Urgent care! Not again! So...back in the car again...back to drop off all the kids at my 3rd angels home and back to urgent care.

We found out that she has some bacterial infection called haemophilus! They now have her on 2 oral antibiotics and another one for her eyes.

At this point it was Thursday and Charlie got home. HOORAY! I managed to survive one of the longest 6 days of my life. Now for sure things must get better right? WRONG!

Sam woke up on Friday with a 102 fever and the tell tale barking cough of croup. If you have never had a child with croup before it is not fun at all. Usually it can clear up on it's own so we thought we would just keep an eye on him and see how he did.

Currently Charlie is on his way to Urgent care for trip number 3 this week! My little man is miserable and having a very difficult time breathing. We hope they give him the steroids he needs to help his little airway open up.

As if that was not all enough, Charlie has to go to the hospital tomorrow for and endoscopy because he can't swallow and I have my 6 week baby check-up on Wednesday.

So....over the last 10 days we will have gone to the doctor 8 times!!!! And that is if no one else manages to get sick and at this point the odds are not in our favor.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we are at the tail end of all this illness. It has proven to be a very difficult week or so and throw in a new baby and no sleep and 5 kids to all of it and I am pretty much exhausted. I am forever and always thankful to my amazing friends who jump in and help when I really need them. When one of the doctors asked if I had family who could help I paused for a moment and thought and my answer was YES. We have made our own little family out here and I don't know what I would do without them.