Rutherford Happenings...

2011 Review for the Rutherfords!

2011-12-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

Dear family,

What an eventful year! Oh, where to begin. I know! How about the beginning?

In January, Karsten and Adon embarked on a new adventure called Joy School, an overpriced curriculum that helps mothers watch and instruct each others’ children two days a week. The boys really learned a lot of new things, including some new words their parents have since been trying to get them to unlearn. This of course means that Jess began teaching Joy School as well. It was a bit difficult watching seven children at one time, but it was nice to also have a break when it wasn’t her turn to teach, and she did enjoy it. Amara mastered that tricky walking that she had begun the previous October. She finally started growing some pearly whites, beginning with her bottom fronts, and taking her sweet time growing the rest throughout the remainder of the year. Jon worked at an awful job; he’d been working at a fantastic company called Pantano Behavioral Health Services, but due to changes in how behavioral health was run in that region of the state, the company had to pack its bags and a new company called Arizona Counseling and Treatment Services rushed to fill their shoes. The experience was traumatic and Jon prefers not to talk about it. He still wakes up screaming in the night.

In February, the boys began to master the potty training they had tried more than once before. It was a challenge for poor Jess who had to take both boys (who hate being alone in another room) plus Amara all into the bathroom at once to get them to do their thing, but they finally caught the vision of a diaper-free life and used the potty regularly. Jess played soccer for a team of chicas with the really…interesting name of Prankstars (sic). The team was comprised entirely of LDS girls; you might think the Lord would bless them for being so righteous, but when you look at BYU football, you understand that the Lord doesn’t always allow his sports teams to win every game. Jess also would run like a maniac, always trying to improve her time and distance, leaving her poor asthmatic husband home with the kiddos. Jon deserted the jungles of ‘Nam, I mean he quit his job with no job to move on to. It was a bit scary, but prayers reassured everyone that this was the right thing to do. Jess also left her poor jobless hubby home with the kidlets as she undertook a spontaneous expedition to the exotic and mysterious Peru. She even was lucky enough to get mugged on her first day. Her mother however took immediate action and saved them both. No joke! However, the trip was a wonderful experience where Jess was able to finally visit the country of her mother’s birth and youth. Another exciting part of the trip was the visit to beautiful Machu Picchu. It was all a dream that had finally come true.

The Prankstars

Beautiful Machu Picchu

Peruvian Jon.

In March, Jon had a job interview at the Easter Seals Blake Foundation. A program within the company called AzEIP tried to grab him, but it turned out that a different program fit better, not to mention paid better. This is the job he holds to this day, and he really loves it. He serves as a bilingual clinical liaison, the only in the program, in spite of his Spanish shortcomings. Jon also submitted his nursing paperwork to Cochise College and signed up to take the entrance exam called the HESI. Jess returned home from Peru to the open arms and empty tummies of her family. She was sorely missed. The family took part in the March of Dimes, an event that is personal to the family since Karsten and Adon were born prematurely. They really helped during the walk by providing their daddy with some needed weight in the stroller.

March of Dimes Walk

In April,the Rutherfords enjoyed General Conference. They always love hearing from the Lord’s prophets and leaders. They also took part in an Easter event at the Veterans’ Memorial Park. The boys fell in love with the Easter bunny, and everyone took part in a lame egg hunt; afterwards, they had to turn in all the empty plastic eggs they gathered for a single worthless prize. It’s a good thing Easter has a more important spiritual side to it. Jon took the HESI this month and did very well. He tries to be modest, but everyone knows he is just fan-stinkin’-tastic.

Easter bunny and hunt.

May was a nice month of birthdays. Jon treated Jess to a birthday evening on the trampoline, complete with homemade Red Baron pizza and homemade Wal-mart cake. It was a nice night for her, as she also had had a soccer game earlier and scored the first goal of the game. It’s not really fair that Jess’s birthday always seems to come before Jon’s every year because she always knows how to outdo him. She treated Jon to a Star Wars geek birthday (his golden b-day by the way), complete with a Yoda pizza, Star Wars: The Clone Wars DVDs, Star Wars background music, Star Wars decorations, Star Wars costumes (Jon was Darth Vader, Jess was Leia), and more. Jon feels he’ll never be able to come close to being this thoughtful, but he always tries. Jon also learned he was admitted to the nursing program this month. Amara started nursery at church, and she has never given her parents a hard time when they drop her off. She really loves nursery. Adon and Karsten completed their first semester of Joy School and got diplomas and those nerdy square hats at graduation. They also celebrated Mother’s Day this month, and Jon got Jess a bunch of neat presents that suspiciously seemed to benefit him as well, such as a memory foam mattress top and a 1 terabyte hard drive to back up all her pictures (and hopefully get them off the computer—shhhh).

Jess's birthday.

Jon's golden birthday!

Acceptance letter! Woohoo!

Joy School graduation

June was a scary month, as the mountain range immediately to the south of Sierra Vista caught on fire. It spread to parts of Hereford and approached Sierra Vista, even coming amazingly close to the beloved stake center. Many kudos and thanks go to the firefighters who preserved this little Arizona hamlet. On a happier note, Jon’s childhood friend John Fahey came for a visit. As youngsters they loved to talk Star Wars and Star Trek. Remaining nerdy but on a more mature level, they instead talked politics and history, with some Star Wars and Star Trek still thrown in there. Nice to know a friendship between nerds can last through the years. Jess also had her 10 year high school reunion. Even though she didn’t participate in the actual reunion she and a few old friends and their kids got together at a nearby park. There were 11 children 10 boys, making Amara the only girl. Unfortunately, some of them had to leave early since their neighborhood was being evacuated due to the fire. Father’s Day came around this month, as it tends to every year, and Jon got some neat gifts, the best of which was a shirt that read, “Best Dad Hands Down,” and had handprints of his three children. Jon wore this shirt proudly to the movies shortly thereafter.

Monument Fire
(View from our backyard)

10 year reunion-get together.

Father's day!

First came the fire, then came the flood. At least that’s how the Rutherford’s summer ended up. In July, due to the loss of so much vegetation from the fire, the summer rains were very damaging to the homes that had been spared by the fire. On a better note, though, Jess was able to make all her jogging pay off by running in a couple of 5k races. In the second 5k, she even received an award for coming in 7th place among the women. Way to go!

First 5K!

August was an exciting month. Jon entered a whole new world of pus and mucus and broken bones, and it all began with Jess breaking her ankle. The evening before Jon’s nursing school started, Jess took a misstep off the slightly sunken living room step and fractured her ankle. For the second time in their marriage, Jess ended up casted on her left foot, only this time she had three kids to look after, with Joy School beginning again. Due to her fracture she was no longer able to play soccer. What a bummer! The good part was that Jess was able to pick the color of her cast. Jess picked hot pink since there was no way of hiding the fact.

September was a month of blessings: Jon and Jess headed up to Mesa in order to see Jon’s sister Karyn and her hubby Brock get sealed. The kids stayed home with grandma and grandpa Strong, but they were present in spirit while Jon and Jess were there bodily. As the month wrapped up, Karsten and Adon celebrated their 4th birthday, which always seems to end up being the same day every year for some odd reason. They received several Berenstain Bear products, which they had recently grown to love. Now that they’re 4, they officially can do anything and know everything. Their parents thought they had another nine or ten years before that started. Next thing they know, the boys will be asking to borrow the car to go to Kindergarten. But however it ends up, mommy and Daddy are extremely happy to have them in their lives.

Boys turn 4!

In October, Amara’s, Adon’s, and Karsten’s great-grandmother came for a two week visit while Grandma and Grandpa Strong traveled to a Santa Claus college in Michigan. “Abuelita” speaks almost no English, but the children loved having her around and explaining things to her. “Look Mom! She understands! She’s shaking her head ‘yes!’” They had so much fun with her and were very sad when she had to go. The poor little 95 year-old women had to cut down on her naps throughout the day so the kids could play with her. It really was a treat. The fam had the opportunity to listen to General Conference again, and found themselves renewed and inspired. Karsten and Adon took part in their first Primary program (not their first opportunity, but their first actual participation), and they were insistent that their father not miss out on the fun. He joined them on the stand, hiding as best as he could. Since last Halloween Jon and Jess decided that they were going to do a Star Wars theme. Jon was Darth Vader, Jess was Leia, Amara was Yoda. They were going to buy Ewok costumes for the boys, but couldn’t find any well priced. So Jess came up with the clever idea to make some. She made Adon an R2D2 costume out of poster board, a silver cooking bowl, some Styrofoam, and construction paper, Jess then decided that C3PO would be too difficult so she came up with the idea to make an AT-ST for Karsten aka: “Walker” which she made out of a box and some Styrofoam bowls. Jess has done other crafts throughout the year. This was just one of Jon’s favorites. For Halloween they went to one of the local nursing homes, the mall, and the city park to participate in the festivities.

On a walk with great grandma "Abuelita"

Karsten & Adon ready for the primary program.

Star Wars fam

November was a month of loneliness for poor Jon. While he slaved away at school and work, Jess, Karsten, Adon, and Amara were able to go to Colorado. There they visited Aunt Angie, Uncle Derek, and Cousin Cassidy, while travelling with Grandma and Grandpa Strong and Abuelita. They had a blast, and the children did remarkably well, both on the lengthy car trips, as well as in the unfamiliar home. They visited a number of tourist attractions, including the North Pole. Jon has spent hours since trying to figure out how that works geographically, but he still doesn’t understand it. It reportedly didn’t even snow! Jon thought perhaps he might have more free time to do things that are otherwise difficult with children scurrying about. He still laughs to himself for thinking he might have free time then. And as Thanksgiving treat, Jess and Jon felt especially grateful for Amara, who turned 2 on the same day. It was a special day with lots of family. Jess also started going to a local gym with a friend. She is taking it easier since her ankle is still healing. Jess is really enjoying her time spent there.

The year has flown quickly, and December seems like it’s going to be a nice way to tie it all up. Jon made it successfully through his first semester of nursing school with passing grades and few new health problems. Yay Jon! Only three more to go! Karsten & Adon also ended their second semester of Joy School. Awesome job guys! St. Nicholas came for a visit on the eve of December 5th, and on the morning of the 6th everyone found a little treat in their shoes that they had laid out by the fireplace. No, they didn’t find dirty socks, but rather chocolates, oranges, and bouncy balls. The kids were able to color St. Nicholas coloring pages, listen to a little Dutch music (till Jess put a stop to that about 2 minutes into it), and learn about the kind deeds that the real St. Nick may have done. It’s a fun tradition. The family plans to take part in a few more multicultural Christmas-type traditions before the season is truly over. Jon and Jess were able to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary, celebrated with a nice dinner and a 3D movie. They feel it’s a blessing to be celebrating their love and life together of 5 years. On Christmas Eve the Rutherfords were able to have some missionaries known as Elder Rutherford and Sister Rutherford along with Michael come over to sing christmas songs. They also had another special visitor come to visit the children, Santa Claus. Did you know he's a relative of theirs?

Nurse Jon

Way to go Jon! Only 3 more semesters left!

3D movie

Karsten, Amara & Adon with Santa.

Well, going from month to month made for a fun format, but a few things remain to be mentioned:
Amara is an amazing talker, advanced beyond those even older. While some three year-olds can only say three or four word sentences, she can construct 7-8 word, grammatically correct sentences…and she’s only barely 2 years old! The boys also show their remarkable intelligence, already able to count over a 100, do some basic addition and subtraction, sound out words, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and seem to be able to easily handle activities that are harder for their Joy School classmates. They are all doing so well. Jon taught Sunday school all year where he dazzled his class with gripping lessons and deep doctrine. Jess was his sidekick for most of the year until she decided to let Jon have all the glory and move into Young Women’s as one of the Laurel advisors.

That sums up the year for the Rutherfords. We hope you had an equally wonderful year and enjoy your Christmas. Never forget to keep Christ in Christmas. This is a wonderful season where we truly have and opportunity to be like him, always in service to others. We love you and your family.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Love The Rutherfords,

Jon, Jess, Karsten, Adon & Amara

:):):):):)

Father's Day 2011!

2011-08-01T15:48:00.001-07:00

I feel so blessed to have a holiday to show our love and appreciation to all the wonderful men in our lives as well. I am blessed to have a wonderful father and father-in-law. They each are unique and special in their own way. Our family owes these two men so much. We love our fathers and appreciate all that they do. So, if you're reading this, we just want to say, "We love you dad! Thanks for everything!"

For Father's day Jon told me he didn't want much since I had done so much for his birthday so we both decided that he would get more practical things.

For his card this year I put a picture of him and the kids on the front of some cardstock.I think cards are important for occasions like this, but I don't like to spend a lot on them since I never know what to do with them. Cards are thoughtful and sweet, but in the end we just end up throwing them away. So, in order to save money I usually make homemade cards. I'll look up poems, or sweet sayings off the internet to put in them along with my own message.

Reading his card.

After Jon read his card he opened his presents. I bought him some new clothes for work. Clothes are always a practical gift. Boring, but practical. Just what he wanted. ;)

Modeling his new clothes.

Modeling our beautiful little girl.

Good form.

Jon has always thought the 20?s gadget was pretty neat so I bought this brand new one for $2. I know Jon liked this Star Wars shirt so I knew I couldn't go wrong buying that.

Some yummy Twix chocolate (which he had been craving) and a new reversible belt.

Showing the kids the 20?s thingy.

I wanted to post some picture of Jon being a daddy since he's one 24/7.

Daddy with Karsten.

Daddy with Adon.

Daddy with little miss Amara.

Lastly we gave Jon the shirt the kids and I had made for him. The kids were excited to give it to him. They couldn't wait to see his reaction.

I wasn't expecting Jon to really wear it out in public, but he insisted and wore it that night when we went to the movies. He's such a good sport and father.

Father's day was a good day, despite how bad the Monument fire had gotten. We are so grateful that all of our friends and family were safe. We are so grateful to have a special day dedicated to the wonderful men in our lives. Happy Father's day to the best father!

Star Wars Birthday!

2011-06-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

For Jon's birthday this year I did the traditional breakfast in bed. This traditon never gets old in our family. We love being pampered by having breakfast in bed. Jon loves food, and loves to sleep so it was perfect!

A couple of weeks before Jon's birthday I asked Karsten & Adon what they wanted to get daddy for his birthday. Karsten said he wanted to get him some hot sauce and an onion because he likes them. Adon also wanted to get him some hot sauce and an onion, but then he mentioned getting some M & M's to go along with it. If you know Jon these are some of the things he really loves. After Jon began eating his breakfast I had the boys give him their gifts. Jon laughed when he opened them. He thought they were hilarious. The boys were pretty proud of themselves for making his birthday extra special!

Jon loving the boys gifts!

A whole onion just for daddy!

Coming out of our room to get ready for church.

This year for Jon's birthday I also wanted to do something extra special. It wasn't any ordinary birthday, it was his golden birthday. For those who don't know what a golden birthday is, it's when your age and the date of your birthday are the same. For example if your birthday is June 13th and you turn 13 that year then it's your golden birthday.

I had a few ideas of what I was going to do. I looked online for some additional ideas. I had the idea of doing a birthday with all sorts of gold decorations, I also had the idea of having a candle light dinner in some exotic place like I did last year, but then I got the idea to do a Star Wars theme dinner. (We pick out our family Halloween costumes a year in advance and had decided on a Star Wars theme so this was perfect.) I figured we could use our costumes for this occasion as well.

At first it was a bit tricky. I had to figure out how I was going decorate for a Star Wars theme and at a reasonable price. The first place I always go to shop for occasions like this is the Dollar Tree. I love that store! It has so many fun items. Plus, it's all for a dollar! You can't beat that. I looked around the store to get some ideas for decorations. I found a pack of gold paper stars. It was perfect. Then I found some vinyl planets and stars. I thought about the glow in the dark plastic ones, but I didn't want to spend more than a dollar on stars. I had imagined everything in my head as I thought out each detail carefully. All of the other decorations I already had at home. These items included; fishing string to hang the stars from the ceiling, a lava lamp, a dark blue sheet, a string of white Christmas lights, candles, plates, place mats, cups, and napkins. I also decided to print up the different spaceships from Star Wars such as the Millennium Falcon, An Xwing, and a Tie fighter. When Jon was in the boy's room getting them ready for bed I started decorating our dining room.

I wanted to make a Star Wars birthday cake, but didn't want anything too complicated since I knew I wouldn't have the time. So, earlier that day I made Jon a pizza with Yoda on it. After I was done making it I covered it with foil and hid it in the fridge. After I was done decorating the dining room I told Jon to wait in our room for a few minutes. On our bed were two costumes the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. I told Jon to pick one of them and put it on. I then asked him to wait until I knocked on the door to get him. Jon got dressed and waited patiently as I got dressed. Right before I got Jon from our bedroom I set up some Star Wars music to play in the background as we ate our dinner. I then got Jon from the bedroom and we both had a good laugh seeing each other dressed up as Star Wars characters. We wanted to remember the moment so we took some pictures. After having some fun with the costumes we had a nice dinner and opened presents.

Princess Leia tries to out run Darth Vader, but gets caught.

Princess Leia is then interrogated by the evil Darth Vader.

Unexpectedly Leia pulls out her light saber. Vader is trapped.

With one swing of her wrist Leia cuts off Darth Vader's head.
That teaches him to mess with a woman who has the force. ;)

The room set up.

Yoda Pizza

Jon liked his pizza so much, that he didn't want to eat it. :)

Table set up

Opening his card.

A Star Wars card. It was perfect for the kid in him. ;) I couldn't resist.

Jamming to the music.

Laughing at the message.

I gave Jon some silly gifts that I tried to relate to Star Wars somehow.

A Yoda mug that I made and a "wanna be" Ewok.

Jon really appreciated his birthday surprise. I had a lot of fun putting it together for him. He definitely deserved it! It was such a simple thing to me, but it meant all the world to him. I am so grateful to have him in my life. Happy Birthday dearest Jo!
I love you!

Early birthday present!

2011-06-14T15:35:00.001-07:00

On Friday May 27th Jon received a special envelope in the mail. We were both a little surprised to see it in our mailbox so soon. We were told we wouldn't be expecting anything until after June 1st. So, Jon opened the mysterious envelope eagerly, yet cautiously. Hoping it lead to good news.

Drum roll please!

Was it good or bad news you ask?

It was the most exciting news we've heard in awhile!

It was a dream come true! Jon was accepted into the nursing program.

He was super excited!

Jon then read the rest of the letter carefully.

Look at that smile of self gratification.

The kids were so excited that their daddy was going to be a nurse. They gave him a round of applause. Little did they know it would take years of preparation. They thought he was one, just because he received a letter. Sillies!

A big group hug for their daddy the nurse.

I am also a proud wife!

This was a special moment for our little family. It's the start of the next chapter in our lives. All the time of waiting and hard work has paid off. We know it isn't the end, but only the beginning of these next two years. It was the best early birthday present he could have received. I am so proud of Jon for working so hard for our family. His love, support and effort are very much appreciated. I know he'll be an awesome nurse. Way to go Jo!

18 months = nursery!

2011-06-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

On the morning of May 29th we told Amara that it was time for her to go to nursery. At first she didn't seem too excited. She was nervous and didn't know what to think or expect.

Trying to ease her mind (like any good parents) we started telling her how fun nursery was going to be. She leaned in closer and closer to listen. She was all ears.

We told her that she was going to get to play with lots of toys, learn new songs, and even get a snack. Amara really liked what she was hearing. She couldn't hold back her excitement. And then it happened, a huge smile came to her face.

Later, arriving home we asked Amara how nursery went. She told us she learned about Jesus. She then showed us the picture she colored. She was proud of her artwork. We told her she did a wonderful job coloring Jesus.

She then told us she loved nursery so much that she couldn't wait to go back. She started day dreaming of the day she would return. We reminder her that it wasn't too far away.

Amara then sat up and looked us straight in the eyes and said, "Mommy & Daddy do you want to come to nursery?"

Amara did a wonderful job going to nursery. She didn't even cry. That's our big girl! She really enjoyed her time and loved playing with all the other little people. She especially enjoyed playing with the other little girls. We can't believe our little girl is growing up. We love you Amara, and will miss having our baby girl on our laps!

Friday the 13th!

2011-06-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

For my birthday (exactly one month ago) Jo made me his traditional breakfast in bed. I always love having breakfast in bed. It makes me feel loved and spoiled. I especially love how Jo adds something extra special to his breakfasts. This time he bought cranberry juice along with blueberry bagels. We don't usually buy bagels since they are so fattening. They're yummy, but fattening. After breakfast I quickly got ready and helped Jo get the kids ready so he could get ready for work. My day went well. The kids were good and we had a good day. It was fun recieving calls from family as well. I always appreciate their thoughtfulness.

Morning faces

Jo's sister Karyn and husband Brock came to visit for the week to watch Michael while my in-laws were at the MTC. We wanted to spend some time with them so we invited them to my soccer game. The kids really enjoyed spending time with them. To add to making my birthday special my teammates wished me a happy birthday. It was also Camille's birthday, and Kara's was on Sunday so we had plans to go to Olive Garden after the game. Some of the ladies from the other team also wished me a happy birthday. I asked them if they could let me score for a birthday present, but they just laughed. The funny thing is that within 10 minutes of playing I actually DID score! We again just laughed. I thanked them for the birthday present even though it was accidental. After our game Karyn, Brock and Michael went home while Jo took the kids home. I then went with my team to Olive Garden. It was fun eating and talking. I didn't stay long and hurried quickly home to be with my family. By the time I got home the kids were in bed.

The Prankstars

Jo had a surprise and told me to wait in our room until he was ready. I waited for about 5 minutes and then he came to get me. Jo had some pizza on some plates he then walked me out to our backyard. Jo lead me to the trampoline and helped me get on it. Jon had blankets, a disc player, a flashlight, and a board game all ready for us. We then had a pizza picnic on the trampoline. After dinner, Jon brought out the cake and sang to me. After cake Jo brought out presents to me one by one. It was a fun birthday party. It was fun sitting on the trampoline under the stars. I was surprised how cold it was for being May. I liked the cold though. I love how being on the trampoline made me feel so young. It brought back so many memories. Like the time my entire family (including our dog) slept on the trampoline one night. It was a blast!

Our pizza picnic set up

(Sorry it's sideways, blogger was acting up)

Making a birthday wish

Yummy, Chocolate pudding cake!

My sweet gifts

The sweetest gift of all!

Jon was so thoughtful to make my birthday special. I always look forward to what he'll do next. He's so creative and fun!

Mother's day!

2011-05-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

I am so glad we have a holiday to show our love and appreciation to all the wonderful women in our lives. I am blessed to have a wonderful mother and mother-in-law. I couldn't have it any better. Jon and I owe so much to these women, and now our kids will too. We love our mothers and appreciate all that they do. So, if you're reading this, we just want to say, "We love you mom! Thanks for everything!"

This year for Mother's day we had the privilege of going to Tucson for our brother-in-laws ordination of the priesthood. We woke up early and left around 7:15 AM in order to make it to their 9AM sacrament meeting. It was a great meeting. The talks were about mothers. The primary children had a special music number. They sang songs about mothers. It was a beautiful meeting. At the end of sacrament they presented all the mothers with a cup cake. Jon and I joked that that was the real reason why we came to Tucson. Our ward wasn't going to do anything extra special for the mothers-that is other than talks and the primary singing. We just laughed about it. (I was spoiled for sure and it was a yummy cup cake.)

After sacrament we took the kids to their classes. The boys went to Sunbeams and we decided to let Amara try out nursery before she's officially 18 months (May 24th). She did amazingly well. She didn't cry one bit and walked right in without turning back. The highlight of church was sitting next to Jon in Sunday school and holding his hand. We don't usually get to be together during this hour so it was a real treat for me! During Relief society and Priesthood Brock was ordained an Elder. We were really excited for him!

After church we went to Karyn & Brock's for lunch. It was so nice to see the old apartment complex again. It brought back so many memories. Plus, it's wonderful seeing how much Karyn & Brock are improving things. They really are doing a wonderful job. We are so glad they were able to get our old job. It has really been a blessing. After lunch we chatted and by 3 we headed home. It was a really special mother's day being with family.

Later that night Jon made me dinner and showered me with presents. I got a foam mattress which we both love. He got it so I would sleep better at night. I think it was really intended for him too. ;) A tradition that Jon started on my first Mother's day was giving me a children's book about mothers. So, this year he got me a book called, "Mars needs mothers" it's such a cute book. I love it! I hear they are making a movie about it as well. I can't wait to see it. I also got the movie "Tangled" not for the kids, but for me. I love that movie. He also got me a hard drive so I can store all of my photos (which are many) in one place. Also, so I don't have to worry about having them erased from the computer accidently. I've been wanting to get a pedicure, but don't think it's practical to pay to have one done. So, Jon made me some coupons for three pedicures, and massages. It's perfect since I already have a foot bath, a foot massager, fingernail polish, and back massage chair cushion thingy. I can't wait to use them, but especially to see Jon busy at work. I'm excited for him to paint my toes. ;)

That isn't all, a couple of days later we got a message on the answering machine telling us that I had won a digital photo frame for being nominated as the best mother. Jon turned in a letter about why he thought I was the best mother, along with a picture of our family. I was surprised I won one of the prizes. It was so sweet of him. I thought his letter was so sweet that I decided to put it on here so I can remember what it said years from now.

Jon's sweet letter:

Dear Head-to-Toe Makeover folks,

I know of a mother who does not deserve a makeover. She is already far too beautiful, her features far too lovely to be spoiled by any cosmetic enhancements. And her loveliness extends so far inward that I fear any makeover would make her vain. That being said, I am certain that she would love to win such a grand prize as this. So let me take a step back, re-examine my reasons, and perhaps justify why this woman could possibly deserve a makeover from head to toe.

In 2007 this woman gave birth to twin sons, giving up the one-to-one time with her husband she treasured a mere nine months after tying the knot. She worked from home as an apartment manager while her adoring husband worked on his education, splitting her attention in so many directions that she felt inadequate in all roles. And only two years later, she gave birth to a daughter, leaving this work-from-home mother with three children in less than three years of marriage. Still, her husband was usually gone, either taking classes or working another job.

This man chose a field of work that was not, shall we say, particularly lucrative. But this woman was quite determined to always remain home with her children. She has sacrificed activities she enjoys with passion in exchange for time with the children she loves with passion. She does not shop at the mall much because she cannot really afford to do so. Yet, she had never complained, feeling all sacrifices worth the far more substantial rewards of devoted full-time motherhood.

If you cannot guess, this woman is my wife. Allow me to correct my earlier statement. I know of a mother who does not need a makeover. But as for deserving some reward for her 3 ½ years of being a mom, I cannot think of a better candidate in all the world than its most beautiful inhabitant: Jessica Rutherford.

A crazy in love husband,

Jonathan Rutherford

I really appreciated Jon's sweet kind words. I know I am not the world's best mother, but it feel great fooling my husband into believing so. ;) I really appreciated this letter. Jon made my Mother's day extra special! Being a mother is the most wonderful and difficult blessing I've had in my life, but you know what, I wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world. It's who I am. I am a mother, and there's no better calling.

Reflection!

2011-05-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

I have so much to do right now. I have projects around the house that need to be done, but I just needed to write about how thankful I am feeling right now. Last night I was thinking about life and how I've been so blessed. I feel like I've never had any really, really hard trials in my life. I'm not saying I want any. ;) I was pondering and thinking about some of my friends and how some of them go through hard trial after hard trial. It's really hard to understand why some people seem to get hit with so much.

A specific person then came into my mind. Jon and I both knew her before we were married. She has 5 children and 4 of them have autisum. Just last year this family lost their loving father and husband in an automobile accident. When we heard the news ours hearts ached. How can one family suffer so much? It's hard not to question why things like this happen. This family really needed him. As I sat on the couch holding Amara, I looked at her and thought how blessed I am to have her in my life, and how sad I would be to lose her at any moment or any of my children. Life is so precious. I couldn't help to feel gratitude and sorrow all at the same time. I was happy yet sad. I felt so grateful to be with my family, but sad for my friends who are not able to be with theirs. I also felt sad that I haven't been appreciating or taking advantage of the time I've had with my family like I should. Things that are here one minute could be gone the next.

This was a reminder and wake up call to me to not take my family for granted. Some days it can be really tough raising three little kids especially when I'm tired or sick. It's easy to lose the perspective of what matters the most. Being a mother is tough work. It's a full-time job, without any days off.

I never really understood what motherhood was until I became a mother. I appreciate my mother more now then ever. I now understand and know just how much my mother has sacrificed. Something else that I've learned is that it depends on the attitude you have. When I have a good attitude I have good days, but when I don't have such a good attitude I have bad days. When I was little I bought my dad a mug that said, "Attitude is everything!" Since then I've always remembered that saying. When I bought it I didn't know I was actually buying if for myself. I have to remind myself that when things get tough, they can always get better.

The little every day things I am grateful for:

I am grateful for Karsten & Adon's silly laughs when they make up silly songs. It's so fun seeing them play and interact together.

I am grateful for how Amara yells, "Amen!" as loud as she can after every prayer. It's great having a little girl who loves to pray.

I am grateful for how Jon wakes up first every morning to get Amara so I can sleep in a little longer. I have a wonderful husband who loves me.

I love being able to say, "Double the trouble, but double the blessings!"

I am grateful for when my children hug me. It makes me feel good especially when they've had a hard day.

I love when I go out to run some errands and when I come home my kids run to me happy to greet me. I feel loved and missed.

I love having a husband who comes home early to be with his family a little longer.

I love living by good friends and family.

I love living in a country of freedom.

I love knowing who I am, where I came from, and where I am going.

I love having a washer and dryer. I love having clean clothes when ever I want.

I love being able to say, "Yes, they are ALL mine!"

I love counting my blessings and recounting them over and over again.

I really don't have anything to complain about. Being a mother is special. I need to remember to count my blessings! (Which are many!) I know one day I'll think back to these days and say, "Gosh, I miss those days!"

*Sigh*

This is what motherhood is all about!

I am so very BLESSED!

Pima County Fair!

2011-05-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

We decided to go to the Pima County Fair a couple of weekends ago. It was their 100 year celebration! We had never been to this fair before so we thought it would be a good time to go. We had a great time. The neatest thing was that it had plenty to do. It didn't just have rides, but it also had lots of different shows throughout the day, livestock, auctions, a petting zoo, old tractors, automobiles, stingrays, sharks, exhibits, and much more. The kids really enjoyed it, but were really exhausted after 6 hours of fun. Even then we didn't get to see it all.

My mom really wanted to ride the elephants so we rode one together. It was so cool! I've never rode an elephant before and didn't think I ever would. I'm glad we were able to take these picture together with "Kitty" she really was a sweet girl!

Riding Kitty!

One of the shows we were able to see was "Wild about Monkeys". We all enjoyed it. Jon and I laughed a lot. It really amazes me how they can get animals to do all sorts of fun and cool tricks. The man told us that some of these animals were in some movies like, "Mighty Joe Young!"

Showing off his teeth.

Doing flips.

The man asked for a volunteer, so this lady volunteered. He asked her to stand up and hold out a folded 5 dollar bill. He then brought out this bird and told it to find her in the crowd and fly to her to get the money. He did exactly that, and quickly returned to the man with the money, then put the money in his pocket. He then told the bird to give the money back to the lady.
There were lots and lots of livestock. I took this picture because I thought it was sweet. The kids really enjoyed looking at all of Old McDonald's animals.

"Ten Cowmandments!"

The boys loved going on all the rides. It was a great way to use up their energy. ;)

I love how happy they look! They were really loving life.

Me on the drop tower. This is really a silly picture. I was pretending to be scared. The ride hadn't even started. It was the first time I had done this ride. It was fun, but also thrilling. I can do this, but I think sky diving can wait.

The boy's first time on the dragon ride. They enjoyed this the first couple of times around but then...

...by the 3rd time around they had enough. Poor guys were yelling, "Stop the ride!" I think we won't put them on the back end next time.

This time we chose a slower ride and made sure they were in the front.

We had to let "Little Grandma" have a turn too. She looked adorable and she loved it!

Adon & daddy!

This full grown Sugar Glider was cute, but the babies were adorable.

Petting the Stingrays

Amara also wanted to touch one, but when one came her way she didn't want anything to do with it.

Shark display

Some of the objects that were found inside sharks' stomachs.

This is a replica of a huge prehistoric shark's mouth.
Aka: Grandpa Jaws

"Live bait!" :)

"Bruce"

Old bumper car

Old airplane rides for kids

Back in the day

Rustic old limo/station wagon

We couldn't forget the red fire engine.

Sweet Amara waiting patiently.

Karsten & Adon

"Billy Goats Gruff"

"Bessie"

The ride home.

We were all really hot, exhausted, and a little sunburn, but we had a great time. We are so glad we decided to go , and that my mom & abuelita could join us. We are especially greatful for their unexpected help. On our way home we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset. It was a great way to end our day. Out of all the things in the world I enjoy spending time with my family and creating memories the best! Life is good.

Easter!

2011-04-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

The week before Easter our town had their annual easter egg hunt. My parents came to watch the grandkids hunt for eggs. My mom was nice enough to help Karsten find some eggs while I took the pictures. Later they played some games, won some prizes, and got to meet the Easter bunny. They weren't too sure about him at first, but then they got comfortable with him. On the other hand Amara didn't like him one bit. She cried the entire time. I tried to take a quick picture. Poor little Amara. It was a great way to get us more excited for Easter.

Adon with daddy

The boys with Grandma

Showing off their finds

Amara's turn

Hugs from the Easter bunny

Unforgettable moment

My sweet grandmother was also there enjoying the festivities. She is the cutest little lady. She was enjoying the festivities so much that she didn't notice how she put on her sunglasses. We thought it was the cutest thing. We couldn't help laughing at her cuteness. We really love all the fun she brings into our lives. We're blessed to celebrate another Easter with her.

I think she should be rewarded the cutest grandmother award for this.

The fam

After the egg hunt Jon had to work for a couple of hours to help at a fund raiser. I put the kids down for naps and afterwards we went to our ward's Pioneer party. They had lots of games that the pioneers used to play, an auction to help the young women earn money for girl's camp. Jon and I bought a few babysitters, since we are always in the need of one. We also bought a family photo session. We thought it was a great way for the young women to earn money. Later we ate some yummy stew, homemade ice cream, and rootbeer.

Adon helping make some ice cream

The week before Easter for Family Home Evening we read about the last week of the Savior's life. Each day for the week we read what happened that day. On Easter Sunday we read about his resurrection. We got the idea from the Friend. The kids really enjoyed learning about his life and enjoyed looking at the pictures. Jon and I also really enjoyed it. We are going to make it a new family tradition.

I've been going to a recipe club. For our first meeting we had an Easter theme and I volunteered to do the dessert. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, so I looked up some recipes and found these egg nests. I thought they looked cute, plus they got some good ratings so I decided to try them. It was perfect! It wasn't a hard recipe, it was cheap, and it was perfect for Easter. I decided to make them for our Easter dinner. My parents, Abuelita, Michael and Jon's parents joined us for our Easter feast. The food that the other ladies brought to the recipe club were also yummy. So, I made a special punch, & tomb rolls for our Easter dinner as well. They were all a big hit. We also had another egg hunt and the kids got to enjoy their baskets.

Egg nests

One day the kids played dress up for the holiday so I took some pictures.

Adon & Karsten with the duck that Jon sent to me while he was on his mission.

Happy Karsten

Cute Adon

We've had this costume since the boys were little so I decided to try it on Amara. I think she made the perfect bunny. She had the teeth and all.

Our cuties

On Easter Sunday we took some pictures of the kids. We took what we could get. Three hours of church gets long and your patience runs out when you're 3 & 1.

Adon

Amara

Karsten

By this point she thought it was funny to run away and hide. Here she is laughing after I caught her hiding behind the chair.

Shy Adon

Laughing Karsten

The kids were all good sports for allowing me to take their pictures. We had a wonderful Easter. The best part was celebrating the Savior's resurrection. We are so grateful that we have a Savior that was willing to give his life for us so that we can live with God again, and as forever families. That is what Easter is all about!

Easter gift!

2011-04-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

My mom came over for a few hours on Friday to spend some time with us. She was also waiting for her friend. They had plans to go out to lunch. When Terry arrived she visited with us for a while, and then told my mom what her plans were. She told my mom and I that she would like to watch my kids so that I could get out and have some time to myself. It was so sweet of her!

Since it was almost time for the kids to take a nap I asked if it would be ok to do it later that evening so Jon and I could go on a date. My mom and her friend agreed. Around 6:30PM they came to watch the kids. Jon and I went to dinner and had a wonderful time. The kids also enjoyed their time being watched. Plus, they liked the idea of gaining another grandmother!;)

We really appreciated their thoughtfulness, kindness, and willingness to give up their time. I was so grateful and touched by their act! It was the highlight of my day! It really made me feel special and loved! Thank you so very much mom & Terry for the wonderful Easter gift! We are blessed to have you in our lives. You're awesome!

Nursing program...

2011-04-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

The main reason why we moved back to S.V was because we were offered a house to live in, we have family in town, and because Jon decided to go into nursing. We looked at other schools, but the best school was here since he already had all the prerequisites out of the way. Jon applied at the beginning of March and took the entrance exam 2 weeks ago. He did really well. His lowest score was a 90% in Math and his highest was 100% in grammar. I wasn't surprised since he is always correcting me on my grammar. ;) Overall he got a 94.46%! I am so proud of him and I hope he gets into the program. If so, then he'll be starting in August. I know Jon will be an awesome nurse! He has a compassionate and kind heart! No matter what happens I am so proud of how far he has come. I know our family is in good hands!

New Blog!

2011-04-08T15:06:00.001-07:00

So, I started a new blog a couple of days ago. I'm really excited about it. It's called, "You Can't Catch Me!" It's about running since I've been so into it lately. Check it out if you're interested and feel free to add any information or insights that you may have. Thanks!

Here's the website:

http://www.youcantcatchme-j2ak.blogspot.com

Occupied, Busy, and Engaged!

2011-03-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of months I have been busy with potty training, Joy school, playing soccer, training for a 10k, projects around the house, hanging out with family and friends, changing jobs, taking a trip to Peru, and the March of Dimes.

So, I can now finally say that my boys are potty trained!!!!! We have been working on having them potty trained before Amara was born. Our first attempt was tough. They would go #1 in the potty, but not #2. It was a difficult task since I was about 8 months pregnant plus I had to manage the apartments all by myself. what made it so difficult was that people were constantly coming to the door. We went straight to underwear. That wasn't so bad until I had them having accidents at the same time while having people come to the door. We decided they were a little young and needed more time. So, back in the drawer the underwear went.

After Amara was born we tried our 2nd attempt. This time it went better. They would do their business in the potty, and eventually did #2 after much convincing. We tried pull-ups this time to try to avoid all the accidents and messes, but they just used them like normal diapers. So, we stopped using the pull-ups and went back to underwear. They were doing really well, but then they got sick. It was a bummer because we were trying to have them potty trained before they started Sunbeams and Joy school which was only a few months away. Poor little guys were sick for an entire month.

Karsten

Our 3rd and final attempt started in January. The boys picked it up so quickly. It was amazing, and within a couple of weeks they were potty trained. Hallelujah! The hardest part was potty training them together along with Amara. Everyone was in the bathroom. I had each boy sit on his potty while I held Amara. It was like a party in there. Then the problem of having them go by themselves was the next thing. I had to bribe them with a treat to go by themselves. That problem never occured to me. They always have to do things together so I should have known. I am so proud of them. They are getting so big! Way to go big boys!

Adon & Karsten

Karsten and Adon have really been enjoying Joy school. They started in January and really love it! They love learning and spending time with their friends. I can see how much they have matured since they started. I also enjoy when it's my turn to teach. It makes me happy to see them interact with the other children. I especially love all the children's little comments and questions. Kids say the funniest things! It's so fascinating to me to see what goes on in their little minds. They make me laugh! I love how they remind me of how we can be happy with the simple things in life. At times it can be a little stressful, but in the end it is totally worth every minute. It's especially worth seeing my boys so happy and having fun! We love watching our baby boys turn into toddlers! They're such good boys! We love all the excitment, exhaustion ;), happiness, and joy they bring into our lives! We couldn't ask for a better set of twins!

Adon exploring & Karsten making homemade butter.

"Jon, the great Danton...

and the evaporating penny!"

Amara is now 16 1/2 months old. That means we only have a little more than a month before she goes into nursery. She is growing so fast and learning new words every day. She has quiet the personality. She speaks her mind and let's you know what she she is thinking and wants. Her hair has grown so much too. I'm excited that her hair is growing, but I still find it hard figuring out what I can do with it.

Amara has a few favorite things that she loves to do. She loves dancing. One of her favorite things is wearing shoes. She always wants to wear shoes around the house. Hers or anyone else's she doesn't care she would wear them to bed if we let her. She also enjoys wearing a diaper and nothing else. She gives us a hard time when we put clothes on her. She would be content if she could wear her diaper and a pair of shoes.

Since Amara was 3 months old she has been a very colicy baby. She would always wake up in the middle of the night until just recently. We think she might be Lactose intolerant. We are really enjoying our sleep! Amara was a late bloomer when it came to getting her teeth. She now has 10 teeth. We are excited that we can feed her all types of foods. It makes feeding her a lot easier. The boys started getting teeth when they were 5 months old and had all of them by the time they were 18 months so having a late teeth bloomer was unusual for us. Another one of Amara's favorite things to do is play outside. She especially loves to play in the sand. Now that we have a trampoline she loves playing and jumping on it. It has been so much fun to see this little girl grow up! We are so grateful she is a part of our world!

I decided to continue playing soccer. I am on a team called the "Prankstars". I love my team! We all get along really well and have fun. We want to win our games. We are competitive, but our main focus is to have fun. I am so amazed at the hard work and dedication a lot of my teammates demonstrate considering many of them have never played soccer in their entire lives! They are great awesome and play well when times get tough on the field. I am just loving my time playing and I'll be sad when it all ends. For now I'll be taking all the playing time I can get.

Our wild awesome uniforms!

Another thing that I have been doing is running. I ran cross country in high school and ran some in college, but it has been a long while. I want to lose weight and get back in shape. My goal is to do a 5k and 10k which I have never done before. I've been running for a few months now and I'm loving it. It feels so good running! I feel great accomplishing a good tough run. There isn't anything that brings greater self satisfaction. I've am so excited about it that I've recently started a new blog. You can find it under my profile, if you're interested.

Since we've moved about 9 months ago we have been trying to clean out the garage and spare room. Yes, we are STILL unpacking! We've had four yard sales in the last four months. We have been doing it with my parents since they were also trying to get rid of some things that they've had forever. It's been nice getting things organized while earning some extra money. The journey of organizing doesn't stop there. We are currently going through baby clothes,games,toys,etc. that we no longer use or need. We have also been gardening. We are looking forward to the fruit our fruit trees will be producing in the next few months. We are also in the process of planting a garden and flowers. I'm really excited about it!

After some long thought and lots of fasting and praying Jon made the decision to quit his job. It wasn't a good job and things continued to get worse.(It's a long story.) He applied for a few jobs and was offered a few, but the one he wanted wasn't available for 6 weeks. During that time Jon helped around the house with different projects and allowed me to have a few girl nights while he watched the kids. I was able to spend some time with a few friends that I haven't been able to spend with in years. It was wonderful being able to develope and strengthen our friendship. I went with my mom to see "Tangled" and even had a daddy daughter date. We had a good time. For our daddy daughter date we went to a high school basketball. We really got into the game. It was so exciting to watch! I really love and appreciate all that Jon does for me!

Right before our Daddy daughter date.

With my sweet hubby!

The biggest thing that Jon allowed me to do during this time was to take a last minute trip to Peru. Peru is where my mother is from and has always been a dream of mine. All my life I have always heard about Peru. I have always wanted to see where my mom grew up and wanted to learn more about my heritage. I was so hard leaving my family behind, but I knew this might be my one opportunity to go. So, off we went! We were in Peru for a week. It was awesome! It was a dream come true! I wish we could have stayed longer, but I needed to get back to my family.I had a wonderful time with my mother and really appreciated her desire to show me her country. It is a trip I will never forget! (I'll have another post about our trip another time.)

On Machu Picchu!!!

Peruvian Jo with some gifts I brought back for him.

A week after my return Jon started his new job. Jon really enjoys his job and is happy where he works. We have been so blessed! Even though Jon wasn't working we were blessed to have money saved up, and I was able to take a dream trip to Peru! I know the Lord really watches out for our family! For that we are so very grateful!

As a family we participated in the March of Dimes. Ever since our boys were born we have been doing it. I wish we would have participated in it before they were born, but we really didn't know much about it. We had a good time doing the walk and enjoyed the festivities that followed. We look forward to next year! It is always a rewarding experience!

Every weekend we try to do something fun as a family. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Children's museum. My mom and grandmother joined us. They had activities outside the museum as well. It was fun watching my mom and Jon hula hoop. It was hard to distinguish the adults from the kids. ;) Afterard we stopped by our old neighborhood to say hello to a couple of friends from our old ward. It was great seeing them. It was a great visit!

He can move it!

Go mom!

Daddy had lots of fun!

Thing 1 & Thing 2 in the Giant Dr. Seuss book.

It has been a wonderful last couple of months!

Thankful!

2011-01-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot these past few days about a lot of different things. Something that has been constantly on my mind is all of my blessings. I am thankful for so many things in my life. Some times I take those things for granted. Which I never wish would happen, but I know it's another part of being human. I think we all go through phases where we start reappreciating something because we are reminded just how much that specific thing has blessed us in our life.

One of the things that I am reappreciating and have always been thankful for, but also take for granted at times is my husband! There are so many people who have touched my life, but the person who has made the biggest difference is my spouse. Not only have we known each other forever (almost 14 years), but we have also been through a lot together. We have had good times, and hard times. We went to high school together, some college, waited for each other as we each took a turn serving a mission, (which wasn't the easiest thing on both of our parts), going through illnesses, and other health issues, pregnancy, getting through school, raising children- having premature babies, serving together in callings, etc. The list goes on and on. We have only been married for 4 years and already we have accomplished so much. So, I want to dedicate this post to my husband and reflect why I am so thankful for him! I want him to know that I appreciate him!

1.) Jon is always so willing to help me out. He takes care of the kids at night especially when they are having a difficult time sleeping.

2.) When I am sick he insist on taking care of me (along with everything else) and tells me to go get some rest.

3.) He always encourages me to have a "girl's night out." He wants me to have fun with my family and friends.

4.) He works very hard at work to do a good job to support us. Even when his job isn't exactly enjoyable.

5.) He helps me make a Thanksgiving dinner by helping me prepare the turkey and other dishes-when he's healthy or sick.

6.) He spends many hours researching the history of Christmas, the different Santas from different cultures, etc. so we can start some new family traditions.

7.) Jon postpones some prior engagements to spend more time with us. He feels he didn't get enough family time.

8.) Watches sick kids while I spend time with my family or do other things.

9.) Comes home for lunch so we can have lunch together, and so we can spend a little more of the day together.

10.) Watches the kids so I can go to early morning yard sales.

11.) He eats and compliments me on my not so yummy meals. *Bonus points*

12.) Teaches Sunday school more often since he knows I have a harder time teaching. (I think it's partly because he feels guilty since he is part of the reason why we were called in the first place. He happily volunteered!) ;)

13.) He takes care of the boys when we go out so I can take care of Amara and focus on her needs.

14.) He comes home quickly so we can go on a walk or go to the park with the kids before it gets too dark.

15.) He holds Amara during most of sacrament meeting, and still takes turns holding her during Relief Society and Priesthood (each week).

16.) He let's me play soccer for the local women's league and will take care of the kiddos while I'm gone.

17.) He'll let me do a photo shoot which involves taking lots of pictures. (He hates having so many pictures taken.) *Double points*

18.) When he comes home from work he will graciously help with dinner, the dishes, get the kids ready for bed or whatever is needed.

19.) He will help me fold laundry if I haven't finished folding it.

20.) Even when he wants to watch a specific movie he will always want me to watch what I want to watch. (This some times causes problems because I want him to watch what he wants to watch. This leads us in circles until we can compromise or until one of us lies about our preference.) :)

21.) He makes sure I get enough servings of food at a buffet while he waits with the kids at the table.

22.) He eats some of our "junk" food and finishes it off before I have a shot at it. I am grateful because that means less calories and less weight gain for me. :)

23.) He always takes time out of his busy day to spend time with the kids. He always tells them and shows them how much he loves them.

24.) He is always so thoughtful of our family's needs!

25.) Jon is a very selfless and giving person!

The list could go on and on. These are only some of the reasons why I appreciate and why I am very thankful for my husband. He is a wonderful man! I love him very much, and I am so thankful for the reminder of how blessed I am to have him in my life! Thank you for all that you do Jo!

Sicklings!

2010-12-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

I am so glad we took the kids home after our Thanksgiving meal when we did. It turns out that Adon had pink eye like we suspected and within a couple of days Karsten got it. A couple of days after Karsten had it, Jon ended up getting it, and within a day after he got it, Amara finally got it! I fortunately was the only one who never got it! I had really dry hands from all the handwashing I had to do, but in the end it paid off. :) We suspect the pink eye came from the cold that we had. It wasn't fun being sick for the Thanksgiving holiday especially since Jon and the kids missed out on the Ramsey Canyon hike and a couple of other events. Jon also ended up missing four days of work. He missed two due to the bad cold. The day he was going to go back to work was the day he woke up with pink eye. So, then he missed two more days. I guess you can say it was a few rough weeks for the Rutherford family.

My poor hubby with pink eye!

Amara felt so sick and was running a fever that she fell asleep on the floor.

The one who started it all!
Poor Adon had it the roughest.

I think the toughest part about being sick is seeing your kids suffer. It's especially hard when they can't express how they feel or where it hurts. I love being a mother, but some times it's tough and at times you feel helpless. I'm just so thankful that overall we have good health. Especially since my boys were premature. It's times like these that I especially remember to count my blessings!

Fall everywhere!

2010-12-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving we all went to Ramsey Canyon. I went alone leaving Jon and the kids behind. All three of them weren't feeling well. Jon was so thoughtful and kind and insisted on me spending time with my family. Especially since they were only going to be here for a short time. The canyon was still beautiful with all of it's fall colors. We did the easier hike with the kids, but my mom insisted on going up to the overlook. I thought this might be my only chance so I decided to go with her. On our way up the trail my mom took a rest on a bench next to an older couple. They noticed my MTC sweatshirt and asked us what training center it was. I then explained we were members of the church and that it was a training center for missionaries to learn more about the gospel and if they were required to learn another language. They told us they had some Mormon friends, and thought highly of the church. It was neat to share a little about my mission with them. I never would have thought I was going to have a missionary opportunity on the side of the mountain. I was thankful for the opportunity to share what is most valuable to me.

As my mom and I started the trail again within a minute I ran into a high school friend and old soccer teammate. We chatted for awhile and caught up. It was nice seeing her after all these years. My mom and I continued on our hike. It was a beautiful trail. We then finally made it to the overlook! My mom, being the determined person that she is, wanted to keep going so off we went. We hiked for another 20 minutes or so down the trail until we reached a stream. It was a beautiful sight. We took some pictures and decided it was time to head back. I was thankful for the opportunity to see the overlook and be able to take the time to appreciate the beauty that our Heavenly Father has created.

This picture reminds me of the "First Vision".

The overlook!

The continued trail.

Dave & Rylee

Cute Jackson

Red all around.

Mom, me, and my nephews Matt, Cooper, and Austin

Walking the trail and enjoying the scenery.

We finally made it to the stream.

Yay!

For being in her 60's my mom did awesome!

Looking up from the valley.

There were more trees with yellow leaves by the stream.

Hooray! We made it!

I really enjoyed the beauty.

On our way out the canyon.

I can never get enough of the great outdoors. I love the mountains and all that they have to offer. Especially my mountains!

Thanksgiving!

2010-12-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we had all of my siblings (except one) with their families come to visit. My parents had a full house, but they loved it! My parents always love to have their children home for the holidays. Since we had a full house we had to have separate tables for the different age groups. We had a table for the kids, another for the adults, and one for the toddlers. Below is a picture of most of my nephews, but not all of them. It was neat to see them all together enjoying their Thanksgiving together. They were little men enjoying a big feast!

(Cooper, Jackson, Samuel, Phillip, Branden, Carter, Hunter and MaKay).

The adults working hard making some final preparations on the food.

After we ate our yummy Thanksgiving meal we had a talent show. The kids had been practicing and preparing to share their talents. I was amazed to see just how talented they all are. It was special to watch (the little parts that I saw). :)

Austin playing the guitar as Cooper and Makay sang.

Phillip playing the violin.

Since no one was willing to go next my boys thought it was an opportunity to show off their stuff. Which involved a few keys being pushed and some banging here and there. They were so proud of their talent.

Afterwards we went home and took some naps and I returned alone later that night. Unfortunately, the boys had gotten a little sick. We felt it was best for them to stay home and not pass on their illness. When I returned we celebrated my grandmother and Amara's birthdays. It was a fun Thanksgiving. It is always so nice to see family for the holidays!

Our baby turns 1 !

2010-12-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

We can't believe our baby is 1! Amara is such a delight to have in our family. She has been so much fun! She has grown up so fast. A little too fast! Two days before she turned 11 months she took her first steps! Unfortunately, Jon and I missed it while we were on a date, but we are so glad my mom, dad, grandma, sister, and niece were all there to see it. Within a few weeks she was walking all over the place. There was no way of slowing her down. :)

Amara has grown so much. She only has two teeth, but she has four more coming in. Amara is a very social baby. She loves to be with people. If I am sitting next to someone in church she will touch or grab at them, trying to get their attention, and she won't stop until she does. She also does this really cute thing where it seems like she is talking to you. She will nod her head, point, and say some baby rubbish, she will then get wide-eyed as she waits for you to respond. She seems to think we understand what she is saying. Not wanting to hurt her feelings we respond and make something up. She then gets a big smile of satisfaction on her face.

Amara especially loves to be with her older brothers. She follows them all over the place and copies what they do; good and not so good. ;) I have been working with her on signing. She can sign: please, more, sleep, baby, goodnight (she blows a kiss), good-bye, eat, milk, fish, and she knows how to pray. We are currently working on learning more. Amara also loves to watch the Wiggles-She loves how active they are. She really enjoys the music and dancing. She loves to dance! Every time she hears music she will dance by slightly bending her legs and bouncing up and down. She will also turn around in circles.

One thing she loves most is eating. She is definitely a Rutherford! She has a huge appetite and loves food! Even after she has eaten a big meal she will still look under the table for scraps that Karsten & Adon have dropped. One of my favorite things about Amara is just how affectionate she is. Throughout the day she will run up to me and give me a big hug. She loves to cuddle and be held. It always makes my day! Amara is one special spirit in a little body. We love her and are so happy to call her ours! We love you Amara, and have enjoyed having you these past 12 months. We look forward to sharing eternity with you!

"Hi mommy!"

Grandma made her this beautiful hat along with a white one.

Opening presents.

Amara loved opening her presents.

Zoe puppet

Since Amara's birthday was the day before Thanksgiving and since family would be in town we decided to celebrate hers and my Abuelita's 94th birthday. My mom wanted this to be special for my grandmother so she bought her this cute hat and blouse. It made her feel special and beautiful!

The birthday girls!

Amara got a baby doll and stroller from the Strong fam.

She couldn't wait to hold her dolly! It was love at first sight!

She loves to push her baby around.

The other adorable hat my mom made.

Some of Amara's sweet cousins made her a boat for her birthday. It was the sweetest thing! Thanks guys! :)

(Hunter, Branden, Samuel, and Jackson)

Grandma R. made her this cute blanket.

This turtle was from the Lush fam. It was perfect! She loves to ride it!

My grandmother got this cute little basket of goodies.

After all the presents were open, we sang.

It was so nice to have everyone there for their birthdays and Thanksgiving.

Our sweet 1 year old!

We are blessed to have these two wonderful people in our lives! Happy Birthday ladies! Thank you to everyone for making Amara's birthday special and for all the sweet gifts! We appreciate your time to travel to visit us, your love, and endless support!

Ramsey & Mikey!

2010-11-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend we decided to go to Ramsey Canyon again, but this time with daddy. Plus Saturdays are FREE. On our way there a deer crossed the road in front of our van. When we looked closer we saw a second deer. We were surprised that it came in front of us like that, but we were so glad it did! The canyon was very beautiful!

It was so beautiful because there are even more trees that have changed color since last time. While we were on the trail we were able to see two more deer! They were wandering around at the beginning of the trail. We were also able to get pretty close to them.

We did the entire trail this time and it took us a little more than an hour-that includes stopping for pictures,throwing rocks in the stream,throwing leaves, etc. The boys always enjoy going "up the mountain". It's a great place for boys to be boys! ;) Jon really enjoyed it as well. He really thought it was beautiful, but especially liked the trees with red leaves and seeing all the wildlife. Those were also my favorite things as well.

Why did the deer cross the road?

To scare the living daylights out of the Rutherfords, since we could have hit it!

Starting the trail with their favorite person.

*Sigh*

Such beautiful fall colors.

Bambi and his mother.

It was a perfectly gorgeous day!

The boys loved throwing all the fallen leaves!

This was their favorite part.

Adon being his cute self.

Look at that smile! :)

Pure happiness!

Don't you miss being a kid? I envy these guys! ;)

"Oh, hey mom & dad, we forgot you were here!"

I love these cuties.

Since we had no one to take our picture. We had to improvise.

The witch threw Adon & Karsten in the fire pit.

Where are Hansel & Gretal when you need them?

*Double sigh*

Finally, someone to take our fam pic!

We had a good time and look forward to trying out the San Pedro River walk some time in the near future. This weather is great and we are going to take advantage of the outdoors while we still can. ;)

Later that night we celebrated Jon's dad's birthday. We ate a yummy dinner and it was so nice to see family and friends. We have a lot of birthdays this month: a couple of sisters, a brother, father, nephew, and Amara's 1st birthday. November is a wonderful month!

Speaking of birthdays on Sunday we had Jon's family over for dinner to celebrate Michael's 31st birthday! Mikey is a very special person, and we wanted him to know it. So for dinner I made broccoli and cheese soup, a chicken casserole, salad, and a cherry cheese cake for dessert. We had a simple, but fun celebration. It was worth it because Michael is totally worth it! What can we say? We love the guy!

Cherry Cheesecake. YUM!

Michael blew out his candle. Good job Mikey!

Adon loved the dessert. Or should I say Rudolph did!

His gift.

The boys wanted to show Michael their caterpillar and compare the two.
They were so excited that Michael had the same one.

We love you Michael and hope you have a special birthday! You deserve it! We love you very much!

"Off to Neverland!"

2010-10-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we went to the local nursing home to go trick or treating. We weren't planning on going because we didn't know the nursing home was going to do anything for Halloween, but when Jon was on his way home he saw that there was a long line outside so we decided to call to find out what was happening. Once we heard they were going to have trick or treating we were on our way. Amara was a mouse and Karsten & Adon were cats. These costumes were perfect for the occassion since there wasn't much to them. They were easy to put on. Jon and I decided to be super sized fries. These were super easy since they were pullovers. The nursing home had a nice set up of some games and a haunted house for the kids. They were also having a food drive-unfortunately we weren't aware of it so we didn't bring anything. We hope to next year.

Jon and the boys did the cake walk and won their first try. I guess that happens when you have 3 people on 3 of the 10 numbers. :) The boys were excited to have won. They enjoyed the ring spiders that were on top of their cupcakes more than the actual cupcakes. We didn't mind. ;) After we did a couple of games we visited with the residents and got some candy. It was a really nice activity and we appreciated all the hard work they put into making it fun and special for the kids.

Adon, Amara and Karsten all ready to go.

Waiting patiently in line.

Candy! YUM!

Just won the cake walk. :)

Family photo

On Saturday we went to our ward's trunk or treat. As a family we did a Peter Pan theme. Which we have been planning since last year. We found Jon's costume for only $2. We couldn't pass up such a great deal. So, Jon was Peter Pan (which was perfect since he still doesn't want to grow up ;), I was Wendy, Amara was Tinkerbell, and Adon & Karsten were the twin racoon Lost Boys. There was a really good turn out. It was great for little kids since there wasn't too much walking involved, and plenty of candy. The entire activity went by quickly so it was perfect. Not too short, but also not too long. We enjoyed seeing all the fun costumes and decorated trunks.

Peter Pan ready to take flight.

Jon is a REAL man for wearing tights. :)

Peter and his crew.

Wendy

Wendy with her favorite Lost Boys.

Group hug.
(Peter and his homies.)

Tinkerbell & Wendy
(They can get along just fine)

The cutest Lost Boys I've ever seen!

Peter with his little sidekick Tink.

Fairy Tale Bliss!

It was a wonderful night! Peter found his shadow, the Lost Boys were found, Wendy and Tink became good friends, and Tinkerbell got Peter all to herself! But they had to return from the second star to the right and head home straight on till morning!

Futbol!

2010-10-30T22:13:00.001-07:00

Something that I love doing is playing soccer! So, I joined the local Women's league. It's has been so much fun already. Soccer is our family sport-I first started playing when I was 5 years old. I wasn't the best at it, but I always enjoyed it. I also played in High School. I haven't played on an actual team since then, but I would play every time I had the chance. I played indoor while I was on my mission (which is very different to U.S indoor), and I even played some after (that is until I broke my ankle from playing). So, I haven't played in about 4 years. The funny thing is that all of my siblings (but one) are also currently playing. Our family sport will always be soccer. It feels really good to be playing again. I even scored in both games! I surprised myself. I have more conditioning to do to get back in shape and I need to work on my skills, but my heart is the same....I love the game!

Ready to go to a game.

Angie & Cassidy watching my 1st game.

Guess who? #24

Jon & Cassidy playing on the bleachers.

Cassidy & Grandma snug in a blanket.

With my little/big sister. :)

We were even able to play together. It was a blast!

I made the kids soccer scarves.

The boys trying theirs on. They really love them!

It is so nice to get back in shape and have some fun. I especially appreciate my family coming out to watch and support me. It makes me feel loved and special!

"Pumpkins, critters, and bats oh my!"

2010-10-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Another craft that I decided to make for the kids before Halloween was homemade t-shirts. I went to the Salvation Army to look for some cheap white t-shirts. Luckily, I found a couple for a dollar. I also found a white onesie for Amara. My sister liked the idea and wanted to do them together so we had all the cousins in town make similar matching t-shirts. It was a challenge at times, but we managed to get through it. The shirts were all cute and unique.

All busy at work.

Cousin Rylee, Aunt Angie, and Aunt Brianna + baby :).

Making Amara's first homemade onesie.

Karsten loved getting messy! His little devilish grin!

Cassidy getting ready to make her spider.

We used fabric paint and a fabric pen to paint the shirts. We used the kid's palms to make the pumpkins, and their thumbs to make the stems. We also used their hand prints to make the spider and bat.

Karsten's shirt. He's really into bats lately-so he wanted a bat on his shirt.

Adon's shirt- He likes all kinds of bugs so he wanted a spider.

Amara's onesie- to illustrate that she's our little pumpkin.

Karsten smiling with his Cheshire Cat grin.

Adon trying hard to smile for the camera even when he wasn't feeling well. Luckily I took the picture just in time to miss the flying vomit. :( My poor bub!

Amara our little poser.

Abuelita.... our BIG poser.

All the great grandkids made a shirt for their great grandma.

It made her feel good and loved.

Even though we had a difficult time keeping the kids out of the paint, keeping them from touching wet shirts, being patient waiting for their turn, keeping their hands still to make the perfect print, we would do it all over again. The shirts turned out super cute and all the cousins were able to enjoy making them together.

Ramsey Canyon!

2010-10-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last Monday we went on a hike to Ramsey Canyon. I haven't been to Ramsey Canyon in years. It is such a beautiful place. Some of the trees have already begun to change colors. We were even lucky enough to see some deer. The kids really enjoyed seeing the deer along with some other wildlife such as lizards, butterflies, a couple of squirrels, and a hawk. We were also able to see some abandoned cabins. Karsten and Adon loved the outdoors. Amara also loved it. She didn't fuss a bit-she was just taking it all in. So was I. :)

Before you start the hike they have a room that has lots of information about the Canyon. They even have some artifacts such as bird wings, deer antlers, pine cones, fossils etc. for the kids to observe and touch. We were told that during the summer if you come along with children you can get in free. We look forward to taking advantage of that next summer. Right now there is a small fee of $3 for all Cochise County residents and $5 for those who are not. Children under 16 are FREE, which is a plus. The neatest thing is that the pass is good for a whole week! Unfortunately, Jon wasn't able to go with us this time, but we look forward to doing this with him real soon. After the hike, we had a picnic. There's nothing like a yummy meal after a good hike.

Info about the river and canyon.

Cassidy showing us the different bird wings.

Karsten holding a large pine cone.

Bugs! Ugh!

The boys especially liked the bugs.

It was a fun family outing.

Adon holding Grandpa's hand.

Running up the trail.

Having lots of fun, but missing daddy!

One of the deer we saw.

We saw lots of lizards.

There were a lot of beautiful spots.

Karsten with Grandma and Adon with Aunt Angie.

The boys enjoyed their time with them.

Adon with Aunt Angie.

Karsten, Adon, and Cassidy looking for some lizards.

My cute grandmother!
(Thanks for sharing Ange.)

Karsten walking on a fallen tree.

With my adorable grandmother.

Angie carried Amara for half of the hike.

Amara loves her aunt.

An abandoned cabin.

Beautiful!

Best of friends!

Grandparents with 4 out of 18 grandkids (with 2 on the way)!

We are so glad we took the time to appreciate the great outdoors. We loved it! We are so thankful that we live in this beautiful world that has so much to offer. We look forward to our next visit. It was definitely worth it.

Pumpkin pickings!

2010-10-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we did our annual tradition of going to the pumpkin patch. This year we went to one that we have never been to before. It was very small and not to much more other than pumpkins and a small hay maze for the kids, but it was enough for our little family. Plus, it was only 20 minutes away from home rather than a two hour drive, which is definitely a plus with little ones. :) Karsten and Adon each picked out a pumpkin and I picked one out for Jon and I to share. We have been doing this tradition for about 6 years and we're still going strong. I can't wait to have pumpkin pie, and bread. Yum!

After the pumpkin patch we went to Tombstone to enjoy the festivities of Helldorado. We all had a good time walking and looking around. It was especially nice since my sister and her daughter are here visiting for the week. It's always so good to have family come visit. The boys really enjoy having their cousin here. They always want to be with her. Now, only if we could convince them to move here. ;) I'll Keep my fingers crossed.

The beautiful scenery!

Adon, Amara, and Karsten loved riding in the wagon.

Grandma R. hip and cute in her pink cowboy hat and sunglasses!

Daddy taking the boys to the hay maze.

On their way.

Trying to make their way back to daddy.

Jon, Grandma R. and I were all trying to help the boys find their way out of the maze. We realized that there was a spiritual lesson to be learned from this. Jon and I thought and compared the maze to how the boys represented "us" and how Jon, his mom, and I represented our parents, church leaders, the Prophet, the Holy Ghost, and many others who try to help us make good choices and help us find our way back to our Heavenly Father.

It's neat how such little things can teach you such big lessons when you least expect it-like a hay maze at the pumpkin patch. ;) We are blessed to have been raised in the gospel and to have the guidance we needed to make the right choices to get where we are today! Of course we haven't made it out of our maze yet. :) Thank you to all of you who have touched our lives this far. ;)

Daddy helping Karsten with his pumpkin before he dropped it. :)

My mom wanted to take a mommy/daughter pic.

Adon pulling everyone along.

Cassidy trying to pull the boys into the maze.

Sisters, daughters, grandmas, and friends!

Me, Amara, Grandma R., Angie, Grandma S.

and Great Grandma "Abuelita"

Amara couldn't resist smiling!

We thought this was a good time for a family photo.

Thanks Ange!

We love our munchkins!

Tombstone's Helldorado

Abuelita dancing with the Music Man!

"She likes to move it, move it! She likes to move it, move it! She likes to move IT!"

You gotta love her!

Lots of people in the streets were all dressed up.

It was neat to see all of the different dresses and attire from that era.

They also had some gun shows in the street.

Getting "shot."

It was a good weekend. I don't remember ever going to Tombstone's Helldorado when I was younger. It was fun to see what it was all about and discover something new. We had an enjoyable time and loved being together. That's what it's all about.

Boo!

2010-10-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

I love the month of October. It's the beginning of all the fun holidays. I want to make these next few months last longer and more enjoying for my kids so I've come up with some crafts we can do. Here are some that we did last week. They were very simple and a lot of fun. (We used paper plates, white paper, a black marker, and toilet paper since we didn't have any white steamers. :)The pumpkins were made out of construction paper and markers.) Very easy.

Adon and Karsten love looking at the ghost "flying" and love to see the pumpkins on our door. I love to see how something so simple can bring a large smile to their faces. We love this holiday and all the fun things that come with it! :)

Karsten & Adon coloring their ghost.

BOO!

Guess who!

The finished product.

If you want some craft ideas you should check out: http://familyfun.go.com/ it's very helpful and full of ideas.

Birthday Bubbas!

2010-09-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Since we had a party for the boys for their birthday we decided to keep the day of their actual birthday low key. In the morning I made the boys a birthday breakfast of Mickey Mouse pancakes. They loved them, and thought they were yummy. At first they didn't want to eat them because they didn't want to ruin them. I'm so glad they appreciate my hard work. :)

So, for dinner we decided to go to McDonald’s to have a bite and so they could play on the playground. The boys had a really fun time.

There was a little girl at McDonald's celebrating her first birthday.When they started singing to her the boys ran over to where the party was because they thought everyone was singing to them. They were a little confused. It was sweet and funny. This is the first birthday where they really understand what a birthday is. Later the little girl gave a cupcake to each of the boys. It was a nice gesture especially since it was also their birthday. The little girl had no idea it was their birthday too. When we got home we gave the boys Toy Story fleece blankets, which they loved. It was a simple fun day!

Birthday Breakfast

Adon & Karsten love books!

Playing with balloons

Amara also had a good time playing with the balloons.

Karsten's silly face.

Adon also being silly.

Amara having a good time celebrating her brother's birthday.

Enjoying their cupcakes!

We love you Karsten & Adon. Happy Birthday!!!! :)

10 Months!

2010-09-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

The newest and smallest member of our family hit 10 months today! For being so small she has accomplished so much! You go girl!

Ready for church!

Being loved by daddy!

Having FHE with the fam. Being held by Uncle Mikey.

Loving her crib especially when she bounces in it.

We love you Amara, and & love you more every day! Happy 10 months!

XOXOXOXO

Birthday Roundup!

2010-09-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

So this year we decided to have a bigger birthday party for the boys. We had it at our house a few weeks early since women's conference is the weekend before and General Conference is the week after. So the 18th was the best time. The boy's really love Toy Story so we decided to have a Toy Story theme. The party was a great success even though it was a lot of work and we put more work into it then we usually would have. We had a good time making the cake, pinata, and games. It was worth it because the boys had a good time and really loved it!

This is the second cake I made after the first one ended up being a complete disaster. It crumbled as I was trying to take it out of the supposedly non-stick pan. :( I didn't have any cake decorating supplies so I had to manage with a toothpick. This took me a couple of hours. The boys loved seeing Woody and Buzz on their cake.

We loved having cousin Rylee and uncle Dave at the party. It's so nice to be close to family!

Adon coloring some Toy Story coloring sheets with Jacob. We love Jacob! He is such a sweetie! We are so glad he was able to come. Especially since uncle Michael wasn't able to.

Jon and I drew and colored this Buzz & Woody portrait. I always planned on making one of these years ago when I worked for the city's Kids World, but I never had the chance. Then our friends reminded me of the idea. So, Jon & I thought this would be a good opportunity to try again. Thanks Beals! :) The kids had their pictures taken in it. So did some of the parents. :)

Trying it out!

Karsten got to the sunscreen and thought he needed more.

At least he didn't get burnt.

Playing with their friends in the pool. This is where all the action was.

Some of the moms chatting. Sarah, Jessica & Logan, Cheryl & Kiera.

My mom & Abuelita were a huge help with the food. My mom made candy apples. Thanks so much mom & Abuelita!
We can't thank you enough. You were our lifesavers!

Everyone enjoying their food.
By this point Karsten had a hard time staying awake.:)

Pin the eyes, nose & mouth on Mr. Potato head!

We were sure we wanted to have a pinata so we decided who would be best then the enemy Emperor Zurg. I made him out of an oatmeal container, different boxes some cut up, newspaper, construction paper, and packaging tape.

The birthday boys got to go first, then it was from the youngest to the oldest.

Karsten trying to get Zurg.

Adon taking a turn.

Abuelita even took a shot at it. We were all very impressed. She managed to give him a good wack!

Go Abuelita! Almost 94 and going strong!

None of the kids managed to break Zurg so we gave the dads a shot at it.

It only took one daddy, to brake him, luckily! ;)

All the kids running to the candy.

Karsten & Adon being sung to.

Blowing out the candles!

Admiring the Woody & Buzz decoration.

Time to open presents.

Books and a blanket from Grandma, pa R.

Stick horses from the Kemptons. Yee-haw!

A town square carpet for their cars and train from mom & dad.

We bought these PJs awhile ago and thought this would be the perfect occasion for them to wear them.

Adon-Woody & Karsten-Buzz!

Adon wrapped in the blanket Grandma R. made.

These matching shirts were from Grandma, pa S. along with the Toy Story 3 book.

This easel was from the Strong fam!

It's perfect for two!

Adon & Karsten also got Thomas the train mega blocks, walkie talkies, flashlights, the soldiers from Toy Story, a movie, and connecting building blocks. Thank you for all of the gifts! The boys love all of them. We had a really great time! Thank you to all of you for making our boy's birthday special. We appreciate you, and are blessed to have you in our lives. We missed all of you, friends and family that live far away. We would have loved to have you there!

We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate 3 years together! We love Adon & Karsten so much. We are so happy they are a part of our world!

2 months too long!

2010-09-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a really long time since I've posted. I wish it hadn't been so long, I have a lot to catch up on. We have been busy the last 8 weeks getting settled in our new home, having fun in the sun, busy with work and enjoying our time here with family and friends.

We love it here! We aren't quite done unpacking, but we have all the essentials unpacked. So we're good for a little while longer. It is definitely harder to do things with 3 little ones running around. We are still in the process of decorating and arranging a couple of rooms.

We had a good ending of our summer. We had the boys run through the sprinklers and play in a kid pool a couple of times, we went to lots of different playgrounds, we made fun crafts, played in the sand, etc. It was a good summer. We also had a great monsoon this year. We loved all the rain we got except for all of the weeds. We can't complain this is definitely easier and a lot less work than the landscaping of the apartments.

The sugar cookies the boys and I made for fun.

We delivered some to Jon at work so he could give them to his co-workers.

This is what we made for Jon. He was surprised when we delivered it to him.

We just wanted to tell him:

The boys and Amara in plastic bin full of water.

This was before we got the pool.

We've been able to have FHE with both sets of parents, watch my Abuelita on occasion, Jon & I have been able to go on more dates while my parents watched the kids, we've been able to share the fruits and vegetables we have from our trees and garden-we’ve made some yummy food with them, and we've also been able to celebrate a couple of birthdays and will be celebrating a few more in the next few weeks.! ;)

Adon playing the piano for FHE with Grandpa R.

I wanted to pamper my Abuelita when we watched her for the day so I painted her fingernails and curled her hair. I had a lot of fun doing this. I used to do it for the women at the rest home I used to volunteer at. It was so neat to she how excited and happy she was. She especially liked the jewel stickers I added. She felt so beautiful and like a princess! I loved pampering her!

After I curled her hair.

Reading with their great grandma, Abuelita.

They love when she comes to visit.

This watermelon is from my parent's garden.

These plums and peaches are too.

The zuchinni too.

This might not look the yummiest, but I made a yummy zuchinni soup.

I also made some bread.

Jon loves his job. He loves working with children. He took a test to determine whether he qualified to be a bilingual case manager or not, and he passed! That's my hubby! I am so proud of him. :) The good news is that he gets paid more than he did, he has more flexible hours-he can even work from home if he needs to, he only works 10 minutes away from home, and his job isn't as stressful and as demanding as his last. All pros! We can’t complain. We are so thankful that he was able to get this job especially in this economy! It has greatly blessed our lives so much already.

One of the things that I have been up to is trying to get back into shape and lose some weight. I have already lost all of the weight from Amara, and even some from the boys, but I want to lose another 30 lbs. In order to do this I’ve been running 3xs a week, the other days I do a video of yoga, go bike riding, or do cardio and lift weights and then rotate, and I’m also watching my diet and portions. Something I’ve learned to watch and be more aware of since the lactation diet that I was doing for the U of A. My mom and I are also taking a yoga class together. I have also been going to my ward’s playgroup once in a while. The kids have been a little sick the last couple of weeks so we haven’t gone.

Another thing that I enjoy is bargain shopping. No matter how rich we may become I just can’t ever see myself giving up bargain shopping. Why pay more when you don’t have to? I do believe in exceptions, but overall you can find what you’re looking for, for so much cheaper. It’s great especially when you’re on a budget. I’ve bought clothes for 25 cents for myself and my kids. I bought Jon a pair of nice slacks for only a buck! Did I mention I love to bargain shop?!?

I bought all of these tops for only $.25 each!

One pair was $.75 and the other $1.00!

Karsten and Adon are learning more everyday. They love to color, draw and do any type of craft. They also love anything that has to do with water. We have been continuing to review the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes so they don’t forget them. I’ve been working on teaching them to count better to 30. Instead of skipping some numbers, their counting usually goes something like this….21, 23, 26, 30! I’ve also been teaching them when to use singular and plural Ex. man vs. men and mouse vs. mice. They are doing very well and are learning them quickly. We have been working on differences and similarities. We have some cards that we got at Target for a $1 that have been rather helpful.

They helped me make these for their cousin Rylee and Grandma S. for their birthdays!

Playing in our backyard in the sprinkler with daddy!

Going for a joy ride.

They still love to learn about the gospel. It’s so funny because whenever they build tall towers with their legos they still call them temples, or whenever they see a large building whether they see it in a book or magazine or anywhere else they call it a temple. When they feel like singing they always sing “I Am a Child of God” whether we’re going on a walk, sitting and eating dinner, in the bathtub, in bed together when they should be sleeping they love to sing it. It’s the sweetest thing! It’s so neat to see how they can find anything related to the gospel in one way or another. The other day when I gave them a piece of bread Karsten excited yelled out, “The Ten Commandments mommy!” The bread had the shape of the Ten Commandments tablets, it made me laugh. Adon saw some shadows on the wall and said, “Look mommy angels.” I was talking about some of the boy’s friends and when I mentioned his friend Jericho, Karsten said, “Jericho’s wall.” I laughed. They have a great perspective and at times they surprise me and keep us in awe with how they perceive things.

Karsten showing me his Ten Commandment bread! :)

The boys' birthday is coming up soon. We can’t believe they’re going to be 3. The time has flown. It’s sad to see them grow from babies to toddlers, but it is also exciting to be able to do more with them because they’re capable of doing more. Adon and Karsten continue to keep us on our toes and heels. Especially when they managed to break 3 windows in the last 2 ½ months! What can I say they’re boys! I know I’ll look back at these moments and laugh and miss them the most! We love our boys to death and love how they are so full of life. We are so glad they have been with us these last 2 years and 354 days!

Happy Amara!

Amara is also growing quickly. She will be 10 months soon. We can’t believe she’ll be 1 in a few months! She's almost 10 months and still doesn't have any teeth. Just from the time we’ve been here she started army crawling to cruising and now standing for a couple of seconds without holding on. She loves to play with her brothers. She follows them all over the house. She eats everything off of the floor. Just today she found two beetles and managed to get them in her mouth. :( YUCK! Fortunately Jon was here to get them out. It grossed me out, but I probably would have spazzed out too. So, it’s a good thing that he was here to save the day and my baby! We have to watch her like a hawk.

She actually caught this one alive!

"There was a young lady who swallowed a beetle

I don't know why she swallowed the beetle

I guess she'll kick the bucket."

Amara is a very determined little girl. She has been trying to climb up the slide on the boy’s castle for a while. Jon and I were in the kitchen when she was in the playroom when all of a sudden we heard her laughing. When Jon went to see why she was laughing he found her almost to the top of the slide! We couldn’t believe it! She can’t even walk yet, and she’s already climbing up slides!

Amara is a very happy baby. She’s always smiling. She also loves to wrestle and snuggle with anything soft and cuddly. She always laughs and gets excited when she does. She knows how to clap and does all the time. I am also doing signing with her. She is learning quickly and knows how to say please. Amara loves to put things together. She isn’t suppose to touch the plug outlets, but when she manages to get to them before I get to her she will take out the baby proof covers and will try to put them back in. She has managed to take them off so now we have packaging tape on top of the baby proof covers too. Amara keeps us busy, but we also love her so much! We are so glad she is a part of our family! A mother needs a daughter just like a father needs a son! ;)

I would like to mention a little about the house and where we are living. What I really love about living here is the weather; 10 degrees can make such a difference. The climate is great! The sunsets are so beautiful! AZ has beautiful sunsets, but it's so much nicer to be able to enjoy them without so many large buildings, etc. in the way. I love how the house has a lot more space; a backyard is a huge bonus, it's also so nice not having anyone living above or beside us--we don't have to worry about anyone being too loud or about disturbing our neighbor. It's nice having a dishwasher-even though we haven't used it yet ;) we just don't go through that many dishes in a day, the washer and dryer are heavenly- we use them quite often-I love doing laundry now that it's this easy, the garage is wonderful-to keep our cars safe and also to provide extra storage. The kid's play room is my favorite-the boys & Amara love it and can play in there for hours.

The boys sitting on one of many loads of laundry.

This little house meets our needs and is everything we could ever ask for our little family. We couldn't be any happier! So, that about wraps up what we have been up to these last 8 weeks!

My NU DU!

2010-07-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

So for the last six years I have been growing my hair out. I haven't been growing it out for any particular reason, just that I like having long hair and I think it goes better with my face shape. I've always wanted to try something new, but never really had the courage to do so. I'm boring. I know so many people who try new looks all the time. I wish I could be like them. I guess you can say I've been afraid of how it will turn out in the end. I would some times think, "I really like their hair cut, but that would never look good on me. " (Also, including an excuse of why it wouldn't).

I've been getting tired of my long hair lately and decided I wanted to try something new. Plus, my hair has been getting harder to manage. I've been ready to have it cut for some time. So, on Saturday I had the courage to try something new, more than just my usual trim. I wanted to do something I've never done before. I also thought this would be a good time to donate it to Locks of Love. So I did! It makes me feel good knowing that my hair can help someone in need. I also like the fact that all the hard work of growing and maintaining my hair isn't going to waste. ;) That's definitely a plus!

BEFORE pics

So here's my NU DU!!! I was experimenting to see which way would look nice and would be easiest to manage with my three young kids.

AFTER my daring moment!

Curled w/the curling iron

Natural curl/wave

Straightened

Curled with mousse

I've been enjoying my new look, especially how much cooler and lighter it feels. I'm happy with the way it turned out over all. I think I'll either wear my hair with the natural curl or use mousse. They were the easiest! I'm glad I tried something new. Hey, it wasn't so scary after all! :)

"A Moving we will go."

2010-07-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

It's offical; we are moving! We are moving back to our hometown! I'm excited, but also sad to leave. I will miss this city very much. I'll miss the people I've met, our ward and callings, having a variety of things to do, the variety of places to shop and eat, our swimming pool -especially in this heat, and also many aspects of our job. :)

We have lived here for 3 years, 6 months after we were married. This is our second apartment, but we consider this our first HOME. All of our children have been born since we've been living here. This was the home they came home to when they left the hospital. It's going to be really hard to leave. Even though it's going to be hard we know it's the best decision for our family. Jon needed a job where he could gain experience in his field and earn more money for our family. He was doing this while I managed, but I was having a hard time spliting my time between work and my kids. I didn't feel like I was being the mother I wanted to be, and the kind of mother my children deserved. Karsten & Adon would start saying, " No more apartments, no talk to man, no more phone, etc." I knew it was affecting them, but once they said this it was comfirmed. This job has blessed our lives in so many ways. We have saved money to pay for our cars and other expenses. We've learned new skills, we've made great friends, I was able to work from home and support Jon while he was going to school. This job has had a signifcant part of our lives, but now it's time to move on. We are going to miss all of you from here, and thanks for everything!!!

I'm a very sentimental person so I know I'm going to cry. Jon isn't going to be surprised if he does too. :)

I want to share the experience of how we decided to move. Jon had been looking for a job since December just after he graduated. In February he was offered a job at La Frontera. He began working in March. I continued to manage while he also worked. Shortly after Jon accepted the job my parents offered us their rental home to live in. Jon was looking into attending a nursing program. The best one happen to be in our hometown where our families are and also where the rental home is. We prayed and fasted about moving there. We felt it was the right thing to do, but now the only BIG problem was that Jon needed a job. Jon applied to many places and had a few phone calls, but nothing promising.

Right before I went to TX to see my nephew before he left for his mission, I had a strong feeling from the Holy Ghost that we needed to do better in certain aspects in our lives. They needed some improvement. We weren't doing anything wrong, we just needed to do better. I told Jon how I felt and what we needed to do. We made improvements right away, and right before I left to TX . Before I left Jon and I decided to have a goal of how many jobs he would apply for while I was gone. The goal was 10 jobs.

When I went through the temple with my family I said a prayer in the Celestial room telling Heavenly Father how I felt about not feeling like I was being the mother that I wanted to be and who my children deserved. I expressed all of my concerns, hopes, and wishes. I prayed that we would be blessed with a job soon, and that I would be patient. As I was saying my prayer I felt a feeling of comfort and love come over me telling me that everything was going to be ok. The Lord knew the desires of my heart and knew what I needed. I started crying feeling relieved that he understood and knew what I was feeling. I haven't forgotten that feeling.

When I got home I asked Jon how many jobs he applied for, he told me 8 since that's all they had available in his field and would meet our current income. I knew Jon did his best, and was very grateful that he did. Within a week our prayers were answered. Jon got called for an interview. The following Monday he had the interview and on Friday that same week he was offered the job!

Now three weeks later we are moving. I know that prayers are heard and answered. Someone is truly listening. The Lord wants to bless us, but he's waiting for us to do our part and ask him. That's all it takes. I am so grateful that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and my family. Through the Lord dreams DO come true!

Jo's and my 2010 birthday!

2010-06-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

For my birthday Jon made me a special breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It was very delicious and very much appreciated. I thought it was very thoughtful and unique. He wanted to save me the work by not cooking. Later we had ice cream cake and I opened presents. I got the game Boggle, some movies-The Ultimate Gift, and Emma. It was a special day! Thanks hunny for making me feel special and appreciated! :) You're the best!

Breakfast in bed! It's tradition!

My kids playing well together on my birthday!

What a great birthday gift!:)

What I had for dinner - Arroz con pollo! My favorite Ecuadorian dish!

For Jon's birthday I wanted to do something fun and different. I decided to make him a gift basket that I would delivery to work and surprise him! I put different gifts that reminded me of him in the basket, or things that he likes. The gifts included; a picture from each of the boys that they drew, a history book- because he loves history, a wooden puzzle that is similar, but different to a rubics cube- since he loves to solve them, a light that attaches to a book so he can read it in the car or in bed-he really enjoys reading, a really cool screw driver-for all his handy work around the apartments and at home, some treats like-cookies and candy, etc. I also included a birthday mug and a giant birthday hat.

The most important gift was a picture frame with pictures of the kids and me for him to put on his desk at work. Lastly, I made him a big cookie with a candle in it for his co-workers to sing to him at work, and some cookies for him to share with them. I enjoyed making and putting this basket together. It was a lot of fun, personal to Jon, and a lot cheaper than buying one. When I delivered it to work I tried getting away before Jon realized it was me, but as I was getting ready to backup he stopped me and thanked me. He really appreciated my gift, I am so glad he enjoyed it! It was worth all the work.

Jon's homemade gift basket.

Jon wore his birthday hat all day at work. What a good sport!

The picture frame that I put together.

Later that night after the kids were in bed, I gave Jon a gift bag and a card. The card said, "Let's take a vacation to Hawaii. Maybe we can even swim with the dolphins. So, put these on, so we can be on our way! Hawaii here we come!" Jon opened the bag and found his swim trunks. I was already to go. I took him outside to the pool and told him welcome to Hawaii. Pretending isn't just for kids! I had an inflatable beach ball, whale, and shark floating in the pool. We went for a swim and had a great time. Jon enjoyed wrestling with the whale and shark the most! :)

For dinner I had a special surprise. As I prepared it, I had Jon take a shower and get dressed. While he was getting ready and waiting I set up our living room to look a little like Hawaii. I had Hawaiian music playing in the background and lit candles. Jon was so surprised when we came out! For dinner I had made Hawaiian haystacks. We had fruit nectar for drinks, along with Hawaiian punch. To add a bit more I bought a coconut for dessert.

The water was cold, but Jon kept warm by wrestling the whale.

LOOK OUT! The shark almost got us!

The sharks in Hawaii are agressive!

Jon showed him!

Get him Jon! Jon kicked that shark into the next ocean.

He wanted to make sure the killer whale wasn't going to try anything.

He likes to play things safe!

On the beautiful shore of Hawaii.

Jon enjoying his Hawaiian haystack dinner!

Sipping from a pineapple on the beach.

Dancing the Hula!

Giving me a big kiss for the birthday vacation!

We look forward to our next trip to Hawaii!

It was a really fun night and evening! I wanted Jon to feel special and have a fun time for his birthday! I love to make his day special because he is special to me! I look forward to his next birthday! I'm so glad we could have a good time and create fun memories together!

"Double the Fun..."

2010-06-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

If any of you are interested I've started another blog. It's called, "Double the Fun and then some." You can click on the picture of the boys in black and white (identical to the one above) or you can visit our list of our other blogs. Or better yet, just click here:

http://www.doublethefun-j2ak.blogspot.com/

This specific blog is about our experiences raising our twin boys. If you want, I would love to hear any of your experiences raising your kids, twins or not. I hope to have more posted soon, but there is a lot keeping us busy at the moment.

Jon also has a blog about different gospel topics that he started with his brother and friend a couple of years ago. If you're interested check that one out too!

7 months!

2010-06-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

7 Months ago!

7 months today!

Amara is 7 months today (June 24th)! We can't believe how fast she is growing. She has changed so much in the last 7 months. I don't think she even looks like the same baby. She is a skinny tall little girl. She weighs 15 lbs. 14 ounces and is 27 1/2 inches long. She must have gotten Jon's genes! :)

Amara is sitting up and starting to crawl. She's taking her time with crawling, but I'm ok with that. I'm in no hurry to chase around three little ones quite yet! ;) She is such a happy baby and loves to smile. She can make anyone happy once they catch her smiling at them. We are so thankful she is a part of our family. Every child is different, and special!

Amara,

We are so glad Heavenly Father sent you to us!!! We love you girlie!!!
Happy 7 months!

Love,
Us

XOXOX

A few rough weeks...

2010-06-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

In the last month our family was hit with different illnesses. First, Amara and I both had ear infections. Then Jon had some sort of allergic reaction. We still don't know what to. It all started when Jon came home with part of his upper lip swollen. He noticed the day before his lip felt a bit funny, but didn't think too much about it. His symptoms weren't getting any better. We thought it was time that he went to the ER. Jon was at the ER for about 5 hours. When he came home he said that they thought it was a staph or strep infection and gave him antibiotics and some ointment to help the swelling.The next day he woke up with an even BIGGER upper lip,and he had some swelling around his eyes and was itchy all over his body. So, Jon went back to the ER. This time they gave him an IV and treated him as if he was having an allergic reaction. After his IV the swelling in his lips went down almost completely. The swelling around his eyes and itching continued, so on my birthday he went in to see the doctor. His doctor gave him the right medicine for allergies and within a few days everything cleared up! Jon was relieved to feel better and have smaller lips again! ;)

Our fun didn't stop there... a few days later Adon got some sort of 24 hour stomach bug. About a day later Karsten got a fever, and within 24 hours it turned into a bad cold and cough. We ended up taking him to the ER because he was having a hard time breathing. After taking some x-rays it was confirmed that he had pneumonia. He was sick with a bad cough for a about 2 weeks longer. Adon also got the bad cold, but luckily it didn't go to his lungs like Karsten. Our boys usually get sick with the same bad cold about every 3 weeks. We think it has to do with an allergy being triggered, which then turns into a bad cold. For now on we are going to make sure to give them some Claritin once the runny nose begins in order to stop the symptoms from progressing. You just gotta love allergies.

(Don't worry I got his permission to put these pics on here.) :)

Jon right after work.

After his first visit to the ER.

His BIGGER, sexier lips! :)

On Mother's day. Jon still made me breakfast in bed despite how he was feeling. I have such a sweet guy!

Weeks later, back to his old self!

Unfortunately, the fun didn't stop there. Within those same 2 weeks Amara got pink eye. So,it has been a few rough weeks for our family, but we are now all doing much better. It's times like these that help remind us of how blessed we are to be healthy over all!

TOY STORY 3

2010-06-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

At our house we are all excited and looking forward to seeing TOY STORY 3! Which comes out this weekend! So, in order to get ready we have been watching the first two. We look forward to taking the boys to the movie theater! We are certain they're going to love it! I'm sure we will too! :)

Mother's day weekend!

2010-05-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! To all you wonderful women out there! Thanks for being mothers and for making a difference in other people's lives! Mothers are special! Especially our mothers! ;)

This weekend was a fun and memorable weekend (mostly). On Saturday we went to the Gila Valley temple open house. At first we didn't think we would be able to go because on Thursday Jon was having some sort of redness and pain on his lips. Friday morning his top lip was swollen, but he went to work anyway. Later early Saturday morning around 1 AM I told Jon that it didn't seem like the swelling was going down and that he should go to the urgent care. So he did. He was there all morning and didn't get home until around 5 AM. They told him it wasn't an allergic reaction like he thought it was, but that it was an infection. Either caused by Staph or Strep, so they gave him some antibiotics and an ointment to help take care of it. Jon knew that if he didn't go to the temple open house then he wouldn't be able to go at all. He really wanted to go, so he made the decision to go and make the best of it even though it would be difficult. He did really well and even though I was fine with staying home, I am grateful for his sacrifice for going so we could have a spiritual time together.

So, we continued with our plans and met my parents, Abuelita, and brother and his family there. My parents had gone a couple of times already since they were ushers, but this was my brother and his family's first time going. We know it was not very convenient especially with a little one, but we are so glad they came. We enjoyed our time together!

It is a beautiful temple! The boys did pretty good despite not having a nap. Adon had a more difficult time. During the temple video he was talking a lot. A little too much, even though he was cranky at times it was neat to hear him name all of the things in the movie, from the art work on the temple walls to angel Moroni on the steeple. Something that impressed me during the movie was what Elder Holland said when he tried to describe heaven. He wasn't sure how to exactly, but something he knew was that heaven wouldn't be heaven if he couldn't be with his wife and children and forever. This really touched my heart. I felt the spirit really strong and knew that what he was saying was true. I feel the same way. Heaven wouldn't be heaven to me either if the ones I loved weren't there with me. If anyone can speak with such power and conviction it's Elder Holland. :)

We were so glad we were able to attend, and be able to participate in such a special event. Thatcher finally has it's temple after waiting for so long! The pioneers sacrificed so much to make the prophecy of having a temple in the Gila Valley possible. Now, finally that day is here! The prophecy has been completed. I imagine them cheering and shouting for joy in the spirit world! It is such a neat thought to me. We are so happy for them, and are grateful for their great sacrifices!

Gila Valley Temple

My bro, sis and niece

For Mother's day Jon made me breakfast. He wanted to make me breakfast in bed, but I told him it was ok since he wasn't feeling the greatest. I appreciated his thoughtfulness and willingness to serve me. Jon made me strawberry pancakes with eggs. It was very delicious. Especially the pancakes! He also gave me some gifts later. It was a sweet mother's day!

Hello delicious

I try...

The little ones behind the holiday...

Karsten & Me

Me & Adon

After church with my "mini mes"

Dog pile

I love my kids and I love being a mother! Here's to celebrating my 3rd Mother's day!!!

P.S

Unfortunately, Jon's infections seems to be getting worse, and has started spreading to his eyes. Or we think he may be having an allergic reaction to his medicine. So, we thought it was best for him to go back to the urgent care. Right now, I am waiting to hear how he is doing. My poor hubby! He felt bad about leaving me on Mother's day to go to the urgent care. I have such a sweet hubby for caring so much about making me feel special on my special day even though he feels crummy!

So, could you please keep Jon in your prayers? It would be greatly appreciated! :) Thanks!

Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Zyrtec have been RECALLED!

2010-05-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard already.... some children and Infant medicines have been recalled. They are Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Zyrtec.

Subject: Children's Medications Recalled; Poison Center Urges Parents to Check Home Supplies

See below the recall on children's medications.

The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center

(http://www.pharmacy.arizona.edu/outreach/poison/ ), located at theUniversity of Arizona ( http://www.arizona.edu/ ) College of Pharmacy (http://www.pharmacy.arizona.edu/ ), urges parents to check theirchildren’s medications and seek advice if they have any recalledproducts on hand.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, in consultation with the Food and DrugAdministration, announced April 30 that it is voluntarily recallingcertain over-the-counter (OTC) children’s and infants’ liquidmedications because they may not meet quality standards. Anyone who hasthese products should not use them.

The medications include:Infants’ and Children’s Tylenol, Infants’and Children’s Motrin, Children’s Zyrtec, Children’s Benadryl

Parents can learn more about the recall by visiting McNeil’s recallwebsite ( http://mcneilproductrecall.com/ ) or calling the company at(888) 222-6036.
Anyone who prefers to speak to the Arizona Poison and Drug InformationCenter or who has questions after checking McNeil’s resources may callthe poison center at (800) 222-1222 for advice from expert pharmacists.Additional information can be found at the center’s POISONology blog (http://www.tucsonhealth101.com/news/kids-meds-recalled-dont-use-these-products/ ).

Cancer clusters in S.V? (Continued)

2010-05-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

I was told by some of you that the video link on the previous post has expired. So, I've included the article from the Tucson Weekly. You can read it here or go to their website if you are interested.

It's: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/Search?cx=007795122824118118431%3Ae8lwp9yeiia&cof=FORID%3A9&q=Cancer+cluster+investigation+continues#878

(There are two different articles on the website.) This one is pretty long! :)

If you do read this and if you're interested (especiallythose from S.V.) I would still like to know your thoughts and if you knew anyone with leukemia while living there.

Durkit family

Death by Study
Scientists keep fighting to explain high instances of childhood leukemia in Sierra Vista—even as the government has given upby Tim Vanderpool

Its politicians want Sierra Vista to be known for scenic mountain vistas, and not for being a cancer town.

It's late in the day, and I'm on the phone with Pat Durkit. We have never met. But immediately I know this: She's one of those people whose steadfast pleasantness is actually brute resistance, a refusal to accept just how hideous the world can become.

Consider the details: In 2001, Durkit's granddaughter, Jessica, then 2 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia. In 2004, Jessica's half-sister in Phoenix, Kellie, was given the same diagnosis.
Their father and Pat's son, Dale Durkit, a heavy-equipment operator on Sierra Vista's Fort Huachuca Army base, grew obsessed with finding a cause for the disease. There is a reason for this: By then, at least 12 Sierra Vista children had developed the ugly affliction that ravages their fledging blood and bone marrow. (See "Cancer Wars," Feb. 12, 2004, and "For the Kids," May 18, 2006.)

Since then, the cluster continues, with one case in 2006 and another a year later. Four years ago, after much prodding, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined Arizona's Department of Health Services to investigate the cancer cluster.
Government scientists came up with nothing. Many people were not surprised by this. Disappointed? Yes, bitterly so. But not surprised.
In the spring of 2007, Dale was picking up railroad ties at work. One tumbled onto his hand and shin. He didn't even turn in workers' compensation papers; it was just a scrape. But the scrape grew infected, and the infection spun out of control.
He went to the doctor. He'd learn that he, too, had leukemia. Ten days later, Dale Durkit was dead. He left behind his three girls and his wife, Kelley.
Pat Durkit explains everything to me as though it were normal conversation. She is gracious to a fault, even though I've clumsily intruded on her family's pain.

"It has been incredible for us," she says quietly. "We've really been hit hard. Dale was really active in investigating the cancer cluster. And then when we lost him, I said, 'We're not doing that anymore. It hurts too much.'"
Pat Durkit is among those who are not happy with the government's attempts to either explain this outbreak, or worse, to whitewash it away.

"Why would Dale get leukemia?" she asks. "He was a health nut. He was a body-builder; he was as strong as an ox—the strongest man I ever knew in my life. Why would two of his three children have it?"

Mark Witten is an enormous man, with the pile-driving manner of the righteously possessed. He is a research professor in the UA College of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, and for years, he's chased the ghost behind these bursts of leukemia—first in the small town of Fallon, Nev., and then here, in Sierra Vista.

Each year, this disease strikes only about 3,000 children in the entire nation. The incidence of childhood leukemia in Sierra Vista is triple the normal rate for a city its size. And Fallon is home to the nation's worst per-capita outbreak, with 16 cases over less than a decade.
Mark Witten has a theory. It is this: A hard, steel-gray metal called tungsten is behind the outbreaks. It exists in the mountains around Sierra Vista, and in a Fallon metals-processing plant. Ongoing drought means that windswept dust gets into everything.

Witten has nothing but contempt for government's failure to make this connection. So the work falls to him and to Paul Sheppard, a UA tree-ring researcher. Sheppard gathers atmospheric samples off sidewalks, squeezes them from leaves and retrieves traces from tree corings. In Sierra Vista, he attaches atmosphere-sucking lichen to the rocks.

For many years, Witten drove a beater car. Several times, he and Sheppard nearly drained their own bank accounts shuttling between Fallon, Sierra Vista and their UA labs.
These days are less lean. Over time, Witten has garnered upward of $1 million in grants to study the effects of tungsten, and the possible role of military jet fuel, in outbreaks of childhood leukemia. Today, he and Sheppard dominate the scholarly literature on this topic.
"The CDC came in and did their botched up, half-assed Sierra Vista study after they had been at Fallon," Witten tells me. "Unfortunately, not many of the leukemia families in Sierra Vista participated, which certainly hurt the study."

Nonetheless, the CDC found that 25 percent of the people they tested had higher levels of tungsten than the national average.
But not even the state took this seriously, he says. "The Arizona Department of Health hasn't done squat down in Sierra Vista. They don't have the money; that's part of the problem."
Nor could Witten get any traction with political leaders. "I went to (former) Gov. (Janet) Napolitano's Southern Arizona coordinator several years ago and told her about those tungsten hotspots," he says. "I said, 'We know where these hotspots are. One is behind Sierra Vista Middle School, and the other one is in the northeast section of Sierra Vista.'"
He had ore veins assayed in the Dragoon Mountains north of town, and the Huachuca Mountains to the south. Tungsten concentrations in both places were nearly identical. "What that tells me," he says, "is there's a vein running between those two mountains."
But he had more for the governor's assistant: "I told her, 'I want the state to go out there, take soil samples—we just don't have the money to do it—and prove that our air sampling was correct. Dig out those tungsten outcroppings, and get rid of that stuff so people won't continue to get cancer down there.'"

He heard nothing from the governor. He contacted the offices of Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, and got no response from them, either. "They brushed me off," he says. "They don't give a **** (This is a G rated blog) :) about these kids."
When I called both senators for comment, neither one replied.
The ******** :) continues to this day. "I go every semester and give a talk in one of the (UA) College of Public Health classes," Witten says, "and they bring down somebody from the Arizona Department of Health to give their song and dance about their 'study' they did in Sierra Vista. And then I get up there, and I have data and published papers. So you tell me who's doing the work."

The most striking aspects of Sierra Vista are its soaring mountain backdrop and the meandering San Pedro River to the east. Otherwise, this is just a bustling base town, largely indistinguishable from any other, with its squat, uniform base housing and throngs of military retirees who stick around for the weather and commissary discounts.

But because this is Arizona, Sierra Vista is also a growing town, with shiny box stores and subdivisions and a real estate industry. So it's not surprising that many in local business and political circles are not enthusiastic about Sierra Vista also being labeled a "cancer town." When Mark Witten was busy meeting families here several years ago, some questioned his motivations. One accused him of "using anything he can to obtain a large federal grant to continue his work with a possible leukemia cluster."

Even now, the issue remains raw. That seems evident one morning when I meet with Sierra Vista Mayor Bob Strain in his big, hushed office. We sit at a conference table, and a city public information officer joins us, to ensure that the mayor's words are not misconstrued.
Mayor Strain, it seems, is not a fan of Mr. Witten's work. Nor does he harbor much patience for kicking this old cow. "I'll tell you right off the top," he says, "that I haven't heard it mentioned since the last report, which was three or four years ago from, I believe, the Centers for Disease Control."

In an earlier phone conversation, I had asked the mayor about Witten. "I have heard absolutely nothing about this researcher, who thought he found it in his best interest to research it," the mayor told me. "There's nothing going on. No effect on the community, and no conversation about it."

So are Whitten and Sheppard just chasing the money—especially since the CDC found nothing? "I think probably they're a little desperate, searching around for accusations with no foundation," said Mayor Strain.

Today, the mayor seems a bit defensive about even discussing the matter. He uncrosses his legs and crosses them again. "They are researchers trying to prove their thesis," he says, "rather than keeping an open mind. The fact is that in Fallon, Sierra Vista and probably a half-dozen other cancer clusters in the United States, nobody has ever found anything."
Mayor Strain pauses, and his eyes harden slightly. "To be perfectly frank," he says, "if they continue to try to prove their thesis, even though the CDC has decided to let the case go, I would say that they should go find something else to look at."

When Witten learned of the CDC's intent to visit Sierra Vista, he said he welcomes the agency's input. "The bottom line is we don't want any more kids getting sick with leukemia," he said. "I think it's about time the CDC made Sierra Vista a priority."

—The Sierra Vista Herald, February 5, 2004

"We have a list of questions we plan to ask them," Dale Durkit said. "We want to know what they're planning to do to get to the bottom of this problem."
Kelley Durkit added, "I'm glad they're coming here to talk to us. I think they've ignored Sierra Vista's cluster long enough. They're (CDC) going to be getting an earful from us."

—The Sierra Vista Herald, February 23, 2004

In late February 2004, CDC officials rolled into Sierra Vista on a "fact-finding mission." It had taken three years to reach this point, as the pressure from families with afflicted children became impossible to ignore. By May 2005, CDC researchers began gathering blood and urine samples from some of the affected children, and from a control group of healthy families. Their analysis method, it is said, can detect chemicals at parts per trillion.

The investigation was applauded by Cochise County Supervisor Pat Call, who took time for a little chat with CDC officials. "When I asked them why they were involved with Sierra Vista, they said it was because they received so many letters asking them to get involved," Call told the Herald. "I was pleased to hear that. This community has made a real effort to address the cluster issue head-on. We don't bury our issues, and that's something we should be proud of."
By November 2006, results were in: The researchers had uncovered no environmental smoking gun. "We analyzed a number of substances and really found nothing of medical significance," CDC epidemiologist Beverly Kingsley told the newspaper. "Some individuals had slightly elevated levels of tungsten in their bodies, but it was so slight that it was not something that would be of concern."

According to the CDC's report, most substances—some 128 in all—detected in study participants were lower than the national average. The agency also zeroed in on a gene that revealed a variation in how unsafe chemicals are converted by the body.
"The data were carefully collected and analyzed," the report concluded, "and although we did not discover an environmental exposure that explained the cluster of cases of leukemia among children in Sierra Vista, we collected information and laboratory samples with vigor. We envision that the analytic results and stored biologic samples may be useful in future studies and aggregation of data among similar occurrences of leukemia."

But many residents heard only this: Blah, blah, blah.
"I've been in Sierra Vista for a long time, and I've been watching both kids and adults die of leukemia since 1974," said one parent. "We just keep attending these funerals. There's something wrong here. Everyone knows someone who has leukemia or cancer. This has been going on for a long time."

In the end, Dale Durkit kept his family out of that study after watching a similarly limp investigation unfold in Fallon. "I knew the findings would be 'inconclusive,'" he told a reporter. "They were inconclusive in Fallon, which has 10 times the leukemia problem we do, so I knew they'd be inconclusive here. I just was not willing to put my family through all that poking and prodding for no reason."

Four years later, CDC spokeswoman Vivi Abrams defends her agency's Sierra Vista excursion. "We had to keep going until the science is exhausted," she says. "If we thought there was a chance that we would find answers for people, of course we would continue to pursue it. But sometimes it gets to the point where you've gone down all the paths that you can, all the paths that are reasonable."

Abrams suggests that the CDC is sometimes the victim of unrealistic expectations. "I understand peoples' concern about not being able to find a cause," she says. "But you usually have only a small number of cases, so it's hard to get statistical significance. Also, people move away, or they move into the site, which makes it really hard to compare one person's exposure to another. Also, you can get cancer from so many things that are not environmental. It's those things that make it so challenging."

But the lack of concrete answers does not surprise veteran CDC watchers. Among them is Renée Sharp, senior scientist and California director for the Environmental Working Group. "Of all the cancer cluster cases I've seen," she says, "when the federal government comes in and does a study, it almost always comes up with no environmental connection.

"Part of the reason is that it's honestly hard to do those kinds of studies, because there are so many potential environmental factors. But the other thing is that the government doesn't really want people to get scared. So (researchers) are incentivized to find nothing."
Others argue that the very structure of testing is skewed toward failure. They point to Inconclusive by Design, the seminal 1992 report by Sanford Lewis, Dick Russell and Brian Keating that cast a cold eye on CDC and its sister organization, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

"Two federal agencies, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), bear the primary responsibility for safeguarding the nation's environmental health," the authors wrote. "They are responsible for studying communities exposed to toxic pollution and wastes and making recommendations for public protection.

"Instead of ensuring a margin of safety and recommending measures to end public exposures to toxics," the report continued, "both of these agencies have routinely funded and conducted studies of effects of toxic pollution on public health which are inconclusive by design. These intentionally inconclusive studies have been used by polluters and government officials to mislead local citizens into believing that further measures to prevent toxic exposures are unnecessary.

"In systematically engaging in such practices, the two agencies are violating sound public health policy."
According to Stephen Lester, very little has changed in the nearly two decades since that report was published. Lester is science director for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, an organization founded in 1981 by Lois Gibbs, a former housewife turned activist.
In the 1970s, Gibbs lived in Niagara Falls, N.Y., where her own children suffered from rare illnesses. She eventually discovered that her home in the now-infamous Love Canal neighborhood sat next to a 20,000-ton toxic-chemicals dump. Soon, Gibbs had organized her neighbors and forced the government to relocate the contaminated area's 833 residents.
Lester says that story and Sierra Vista's current saga reveal the inadequacy of government studies. While conceding that environmental causes for illness are tough to pinpoint, "what's not fair or appropriate are the methods (agencies) use to do the investigations, and the hopes that they raise in communities—when the truth is that they have very little hope or possibility of ever finding anything."

He says the way study participants are gathered dooms any research from the outset. "Sometimes they use zip codes or a census or something like that to define the exposed population. And that's just totally inappropriate.
"There are two steps: You want to identify whether there's an increased rate or increased risk of the illness, and the other step is finding what it's attributable to.
"If you're trying to link illness to a cause, then you have to truly identify a population at risk or a population that's exposed," he says. "For example, if you think the risk might come from a certain drinking-water supply, that the groundwater is contaminated because of leaking from a landfill or discharges from a military base or whatever it might be—then you need to identify that plume, where it is, and specifically who is exposed to it."

That could include a small fraction of people identified through census tracking, or it could include 90 percent of them in a given area. Ferreting participants out—not simply linking them through a particular zip code or census profile—is the only worthwhile approach, says Lester.
And that requires plenty of shoe leather. "But it's very, very rare that (researchers) actually go door to door now," he says. "That's a very expensive proposition, and government won't do it anymore."

Unfortunately, Lester says, residents are led to expect much more—and that's the true tragedy. "There's really a lack of disclosure (by the government) about the ability of their studies to distinguish or identify a problem. If the scientists were more straightforward about what they can and can't do, then I don't think people would have so much expectation.

"They go through with these studies knowing that they're useless, but they won't say anything like that to anybody—except to their friends around the bar or their colleagues at a meeting."
Still, such inept research practices persist, he says, because they are useful—if for all the wrong reasons. "They're useful to the politicians, because they have scientists addressing the question that the public wants to ask, and yet there doesn't have to be a resolution. They're useful to the responsible parties—the companies that have polluted and created the problem—because there are no answers. And yet it appears as if you're doing something.

"It's also useful to government, which (has the appearance of) being responsive and not ignoring the public's interest. But all of those stakeholders are served by useless studies. And the public that has the exposures, that has the health problems—that really needs some answers—is not served."

The Sierra Vista report likewise contains what some see as obfuscation, particularly regarding an emphasis on possible genetic factors. The report mentioned genes for an enzyme called SOUX, or sulfite oxidase.
"One locus in SOUX was significantly associated with case status," the report said. "... We do not know the function or significance of this gene variant. ... Although genetic studies did not provide evidence that a common agent or genetic susceptibility factor had caused the leukemia, the association between a SOUX gene locus and disease status warrants further investigation."
Terry Nordbrock is co-founder of Families Against Cancer and Toxins, a group formed after her son Linus was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001.

She finds the genetic theory ludicrous. "I spoke to a researcher," she says, "and he told me that this genetic variation is as common as blue eyes."
Ultimately, she says the CDC study left Sierra Vista families with a sour taste. "Now there's a real lack of optimism about government and society, just a real disappointment. When the kids are first diagnosed, their parents tend to be pretty optimistic. It's like, 'Yeah, let's shine a spotlight on this.' Then there's all this foot-dragging and promises and delays."
After a while, the parents start to sound like conspiracy theorists, she says, talking as if the government wants to kill their kids. "I feel so full of dismay when I hear that. But I see it happen. I see the progression."

However, Nordbrock can't entirely dismiss the conspiracy theories, given that one detail from the study sticks in her own mind. "The airplanes weren't flying when the CDC came to do the Sierra Vista bio-sampling," she says. "They were grounded. And the only ones that were allowed to fly were the ones that didn't use radar. Did they do that on purpose because the CDC was here?"

I made a call to Fort Huachuca to find out, but fort spokeswoman Tanya Linton didn't call back.
Its chamber of commerce pitches Fallon as the "Oasis of Nevada." The bucolic burg of 8,000 souls was once known for "Hearts o' Gold" cantaloupes and expansive turkey farms. After 1942, it was known as home to the Fallon Naval Air Station.
Located 60 miles from Reno, Fallon is also remarkable for its cancer cluster, considered the worst per-capita in American history.

An internist named Dr. Gary Ridenour came to Fallon in 1982. Some three decades later, he calls it "the Mount Everest of leukemia clusters."
Not that government scientists would approve of that designation. "When you start talking about clusters, they lump you in with the UFO people," he says.
One day, a father and daughter walked into his office. The daughter had leukemia. "But they told me they weren't being included in the Fallon study because they were 'out-of-towners,'" Ridenour says.

They had moved to Fallon from Sierra Vista.
So he grilled them on what he considered the most likely culprits in Fallon's leukemia cluster. "I asked if they had a (fuel) pipeline and a military base in Sierra Vista. And they said yeah. It turns out that a pipeline supplies that town with JP8 jet fuel also. So I alerted Mark Witten."
But how would any doctor discover whether those common elements were truly so common in the air of both cities? "Mark said, 'We happen to have the tree-coring center of the world right here on the University of Arizona campus," Ridenour recalls. "So he brought Paul Sheppard in. Consequently, Paul opened up a whole new field of environmental studies by coring trees and opening up the tree rings.

"We started sampling our tree r

ings up here," Ridenour says. "And once Sierra Vista started popping, Paul and Mark went down there and did tree-core samplings also."
In Fallon, as in Sierra Vista, government scientists largely deny any link between JP8 jet fuel and acute lymphocytic leukemia. Nor were they eager to investigate tungsten, though there was a metals plant in the middle of Fallon.
Political pressure from Sen. Harry Reid and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton convinced them otherwise. The pair held a press conference in Fallon in 2001, and by the fall of 2002, the CDC was releasing a series of reports on the plagued town. Those reports showed high levels of tungsten in the urine of residents.

But the government played down its findings. "We really can't interpret what the levels mean," Dr. Carol Rubin of the CDC told a gathering of Fallon residents. Dr. Randall Todd, Nevada's state epidemiologist, agreed. "It's another piece of the puzzle," he said. "It's like when you work a jigsaw puzzle, and you get a piece that's kind of unusual, and you wonder, 'Where does this fit?' We don't know where it fits yet, but it sure is an interesting piece."
Ridenour considered it a charade. "When the CDC came and laid out what they were going to do, I told them, 'You're laying out an eighth-grade science study,'" he says. "In fact, it wouldn't even pass an eighth-grade science class. They didn't even have a hypothesis. They were just going to draw blood and things. But I told them they should be gathering these people and doing genetics."

He says a standard gauge of studies, called a p-value, or probability value, reflects how accurate the research is. "And when the CDC started presenting their findings, the p-values were so low that you'd have to throw them out.

"At one point, I stood up and said, 'Do you really think you can publish this junk?' And they said, 'Oh yeah, of course we can.' It was a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing."
All of which doesn't leave him optimistic about finding a cause for these cancer clusters.
"You run into such resistance," he says, "that it's just unbelievable."

Paul Sheppard stands in his concrete office in the bowels of the UA's West Stadium. He's holding a piece of Canary Island pine, retrieved during a recent trip to Long Beach, Calif. Sheppard says the core sample reveals 60 years of climate and elements in the atmosphere. He couldn't resist carrying it back to Tucson. "Let no cut log go to waste," he tells me with a smile.
Beginning in 2002, Sheppard joined Witten's efforts and began sampling trees around Sierra Vista to learn what they were absorbing from the air. Later, he moved to the lichens.
This seems an odd match, the aggressive Witten and the soft-spoken tree-ring researcher. But the team works smoothly. "It may seem illogical," Sheppard says, "but it's not. Actually, it's a perfectly logical arrangement."

He won't speak directly to a link between tungsten and leukemia. "However, I would say that, in Fallon, there's at least a correspondence between excessive amounts of leukemia and the presence of elevated levels of tungsten in the atmosphere.
"But I'm warned again and again by others that that doesn't mean there's a linkage—that exposure to airborne tungsten causes leukemia. That work needs to be done in the lab, by people like Mark."

In some parts of Fallon, specifically, he found high levels of airborne tungsten and cobalt. "As an environmental result, it seems quite clear, and multiple lines of evidence indicate that," he says. "We have various monitors from the environment like lichens and surface dust and airborne dust and even tree leaves showing the same thing. And all in a town that has too much cancer. The question is: Are they related?"

The greatest concentration of airborne tungsten is found in the center of Fallon. That's also where you'll find the Kennametal processing plant. "But (the plant owners) steadfastly deny that they're the source of any airborne contamination of tungsten and cobalt," Sheppard says. "And I acknowledge their denial. But I have to be careful with that. So does Mark. We're both under subpoena." (In 2003, Richard and Pilar Jernee filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Fallon and several companies, regarding the leukemia death of their 10-year-old son, Adam.)
Even if the Sierra Vista study was unsatisfying, the question remains: Why did it take so long to happen at all? To find out, I called Dr. Tim Flood, medical director of the state cancer registry at the Arizona Department of Health Services. But when I reached Dr. Flood, he told me that he wasn't permitted to talk until I first contacted the department's public information officer. One day and much hullabaloo later, I was allowed to chat with the good doctor again, this time with the PIO listening in.

If this seems a bit Orwellian, it is. But it also appears to reflect the defensiveness of this state agency regarding the Sierra Vista cancer cluster.
Dr. Flood insists that we not call it a cluster, though, since such a term does not exist in epidemiological science. "Significant event" seems more appropriate, more sterile.
Regardless, he calls the Sierra Vista leukemia significant event "elevated but statistically similar to Arizona and the U.S."

Regarding parents' concerns that some affected children were not included—such as the girl who moved to Fallon—Dr. Flood says sticking to the rules is critical. "When we calculate rates and compare our rates to other areas, there are very strict guidelines and rules as to how it's to be done. We followed those rules in order to allow a comparison to other areas."
That's how the count was tabulated. "It totaled 11 cases," he says. However, in response to residents' concerns, he did include six more cases in the analysis of various factors, though they weren't part of the rate analysis. "I included them in just to see if adding them in would give us a better pattern or some suggestion of what's going on there. And it didn't seem to matter if they were included in or not included in."

Which leads to the tungsten question: "I don't think there's enough evidence to suggest that it's causing the problem," he says. "I know there's another doctor at the University of Arizona who's analyzing that, and he's doing some interesting research. And we certainly hope he can come up with an answer one way or another.
"But right now, in my opinion, there's not enough to point any fingers at tungsten. ... There's no known route of exposure from tungsten to people. If that had been different, we may have thought about it differently."

In April, Mark Witten presented his latest findings to an experimental biology conference in New Orleans. He thinks he may have found the bedeviling, missing link. It lies in exposing lab mice to tungsten plus a respiratory syncytial virus. The researchers have since replicated the study; about a month ago, one of the mice died of leukemia, confirmed by the huge number of white blood cells in its bone marrow.

He says Dr. Ridenour told him there was a herpes-virus outbreak in Fallon right before the leukemia cases began to appear. Then one of the women working on Witten's project—her own son sick with leukemia—became acquainted with the Sierra Vista parents. When Witten came back from Fallon and told her about the herpes, her eyes "grew big as saucers," he says. "She told me that the parents from Sierra Vista told her their kids had had an outbreak of herpes, too."

Now he's begun a new $120,000 grant project for the Army to see if jet fuel also affects the immune system. "The Army knows that Army personnel always have a higher cancer rate than the normal population," he says. "Is it because they're around jet fuel all the time, or because they're around tungsten? Or is it a combination of the two?"
On my second call to Pat Durkit, I explain that I'm visiting Sierra Vista. I ask if I might stop by. But she doesn't think so. Her youngest granddaughter—the one diagnosed with leukemia as a toddler—is now in the hospital with pneumonia. "She's going to be in there until at least Thursday," Durkit says. "And I have the other two kids here. So I'm going in circles."
There's silence.

These days, Pat Durkit thinks the cancer cluster may have been caused by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Russia. Radiation could have drifted in the upper atmosphere. "Before then, nothing was happening here," she says. "And since then, everything is happening. So I think that's where you guys need to look.

"That's why I wasn't behind Dale in any of his endeavors to accuse military bases and all this and that."But paranoia remains, too. "Every time one of the kids gets sick," she says, "Kelley goes into a panic and says, 'I'm moving away from here.' But I tell her, it's everywhere. It's everywhere."Silence again. "Down here," she says, "there was a lot of fear in people, you know. ... I've lost my son. He was my golden boy. I don't know the cause."
Then Pat Durkit cries a bit. Just a bit. And just as quickly, her pleasantness returns.
Resistance is everything.

Calling ALL Sierra Vistans!!! (Cancer Cluster Investigation Continues )

2010-05-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

WATCH THIS VIDEO!

Cancer Cluster Investigation Continues KVOA.com Tucson, Arizona

So, this was on the news last night. My friend watched it and called me this morning to share what she learned. I'm not sure what to think about it. I want to know what you think about this video. Especially those who grew up in S.V. Did/do you know anyone that had/has cancer who is also from S.V? Or did it ever seem like there were a lot of people with cancer more than usual in S.V? I hope they find out for sure if there is really something in the environment or mountains down there contributing to the increased number of children with cancer, and I hope they find out soon!

Men in Pink!

2010-05-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

After church today we decided we would take some pictures to update our family photos since all the kids are growing up so fast, especially Amara. We always enjoy taking these simple family shoots. Enjoy! :)

Lucky #3!

2010-04-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

TODAY is 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days since we've been married, and since Jon caught me for good. ;)

Plant with faith

2010-04-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

For FHE tonight we talked about Alma 32: 28-43. So, in order to help the boys better understand and participate in the lesson we had them plant a couple of seeds in a cup. They both really enjoyed this activity. The cutest thing was that Karsten was expecting a flower to pop up any minute. :) Now we just have to wait and see what happens. ;)

Later after all the kids were in bed, when I was tired and washing the dishes I filled a large pot full of water and soap to soak, but Jon and I couldn't help ourselves.

We had a good time spending the evening together!

What's this!

2010-04-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning I woke up and was getting ready for the day, when I could hear the boys talking and laughing in their bedroom. When ever Jon and I hear loud laughter coming out of their bedroom we can't help to think, "Oh no, what's going on in there!" We always know they are up to something, because they always are. When I opened their bedroom door this is what I found....

Two undressed little tykes!

They had both climbed into the crib, undressed themselves, and took off their diapers so that they could get into the dresser to put on some "big boy pants." They were trying on all their different underwear. Jon and I couldn't help laughing. They thought it was such a good idea that they did it the next morning too. They're such funny little boys. We love them so much! They never cease to make us laugh.

Maybe we can try potty training again sooner than I thought. ;)

Easter!

2010-04-09T16:12:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful and very busy Easter. Around 6:30 AM Easter morning my friend called to tell me she was in labor and was going to go to the hospital. I quickly put some clothes on and rushed over to get her 21 month old daughter. So, for the rest of the day we had Romey with us. We watched General Conference and enjoyed all that we were able to hear :) (while watching and taking care of 4 kids under the age of 3. :) Around 11 AM (a little over 4 hours later) I got a call that Maya had her baby. We were really excited for her! What a perfect day for her baby to be born on. It's nice that it won't be Easter every year, but it's a great day to make a grand entrance into this world. :)

Adon & Karsten really enjoyed having Romey over. They were really good with her. We all enjoyed her company. Jon and I couldn't help thinking how easy she was. She was a piece of cake compared to our boys. :) (We know our boys can be a handful sometimes. ;) We don't know if it's because there are two of them, they're boys, they're two and a half, or it's just their personalities. We think it's a combination of them all. No matter what, we love them to death, and wouldn't trade them for anything. They keep our lives busy and full of life. We were just surprised how easy she was. It's something we're not use to. :)

Later we all went for a walk and took the kids to a field to find some eggs. It was very simple and low key. It was funny because a lot of people would look at us and you could tell they were thinking, "Wow they have a lot of kids!" (That's what you get for living in today's world where most couples only have an average of 1.5 kids. Don' t ask me how they came up with that average. :) We all had a good time spending time together.

Every 6 months we always look forward to hearing what the prophet (Lord) has to say and all the leaders of the church. It was a wonderful conference and we look forward to the next one in October. We're just sad it's already over. I am thankful for the Savior and his great sacrafice. I know that he lived and still lives today. I am thankful that we can all live again, especially as eternal families! I love Easter! What a wonderful holiday!

My hero!

Karsten and Adon reading to Romey!

My little friend, Romey. She's a cutie!

Picking up some eggs.

Adon loving Amara and whispering "sweet nothings" to her.

Our Kids!

Later, that night I took Romey to see her mommy, daddy, and new baby sister. It was great seeing them and seeing their newest addition! She is a beautiful baby girl, but the hardest thing was saying goodbye to our little friend Romey. We really enjoyed having her, and will miss her!