Quick update

We finally have a furnace!!! It is so weird to just push a button to control the heat instead of waking up all hours of the night to make sure the fire is still going.  Its super nice if we go somewhere and come back and the house is still warm!  The guys who put the insulation did a really good job because the house stays hot and we have the temp set at 70.

We are all doing good except Tim has passed on the stomach flu to Paul, Jake and Brandon UGH.... I am refusing to admit that I am sick to.

Lunar Eclipse

Great day yesterday!!!! Wish I would have thought to take pictures :(  Last night we BBQ with the neighbors the Thompson (should have been the whole block)  Had a good BBQ the boys got in a water fight and then we all watched the Eclipse.  Everyone gathered in the street to watch it.  One neighbor had an exposed x-ray that we bent in half to watch it, some had the glasses, cereal boxes, welding masks.  Paul brought out his welding glasses for us.  I thought that the welding glass made it look better because it was a green.  It was nice to finally meet the other neighbors on the block.  Everyone agreed to do a block party on June 4th.  I guess people put plastic of some kind in the back of their trucks and the kids use it as a swimming pool.  We are trying to pick a movie that everyone will like and use my house to watch it on.  I was so happy that Paul was talking and getting to know the neighbors.  The younger boys already know everyone in the neighborhood, Scott even stayed outside with us and kinda of socialized with everyone.  Even though the one neighbor girl brought her friend who has a major crush on Scott, I felt bad for the kid.  I know my friend took pictures and I will see if she will send me a copy so I can post them for everyone.  This neighborhood is so different from ours, Paul said that it reminded him when he was a little kid.

Fantastic Day

Earlier this morning I was talking to my brother Ken (chatting on FB) it was so good to talk to Ken!!!! I wish we lived closer to each other.  For those who don't know he lives in Hawaii.  One of these days I am going to take a trip out to Hawaii to see him and his family.  I am always so happy when I talk to my older brother.  Not really sure why, we have a HUGE age gap and didn't grow up around each other.  But finding him on FB was the best thing ever.  I really want to get together with Ken, Kevin, and Pam these are kids from my dads previous marriage.  Long story short the only one I really knew was Kevin and I think the only reason why he came around was because of my mom, when she passed away Kevin moved to Oregon and I haven't heard from him since.  I am just so excited to have these older siblings now I just need to get to know them.  Made it a FANTASTIC day, just so happy!!!!!!

This afternoon we are going to BBQ with the neighbors (Thompsons) then watch the eclipse or whatever it is.

House update again....

2 weeks ago it finally passed inspection for insulation!!!!! It only took 7 trys to get it right.  The building inspector was so furious at them.  (I personally don't blame the guy)  Our building inspector is really AWESOME!!!! and takes alot to get him mad or upset.  I for once sat back and enjoyed the show instead of being in the middle.  Last week they got all the sheet rock in, taped and mudded with some kind of design (brain dead this morning) oh yea textured.. Yesterday me, Paul, Scott and our friend Karen went and picked out the paint colors and the tile for the bathrooms.  Love everything we picked out except for the color for the main bathroom.  It was going to be a blue but we decided a brown would look better.  Not sure how we ended up with a brown themed house, not what we had in mind.  I am finally starting to enjoy the process of picking out and designing new things for the house.  Friday we finally ordered our kitchen cabinets and counter tops!!! That was a nightmare, it only took me an hour to come up with the design and be happy with it.  Don't know why the contractor kept putting us off.  It was a huge headache, we got the ok to order them then the contractor called and canceled them. Georja from Home Depot called me to see if the contractor called us to tell us we were over budget and said no and told her to order them anyways.  We will find room in our budget for the upgrade on the counter tops, we went from laminate to quartz.  Since it is so late in the game on ordering we are not going to be out of our rental home by the end of June :(    I really like the neighborhood but I want to go home.....  After seeing the sheet rock up really made all the rooms smaller then what I thought they were.  Its going to take alot of thinking outside the box to do the boys room and to put in our swamp cooler.  I am finally excited to see all the change in the house!!!!   

Super Quick Update on the House

Have really good news but can't share it yet :(  Paul and I are both doing the HAPPY DANCE!!!!!  I am going to be getting rid of alot of our rental furniture so please keep eyes and ears open so we can start replacing what was destroyed in the fire.  We don't even use half of the stuff that was sent over here.  It is also so very expensive.  I am trying to keep my blogs shorter instead really long ones.

Happy Birthday Brandon

I can't believe that it has been 9 yrs since you have entered this world and helped make our family complete. I am so proud of Brandon!!!!  I am the luckiest mom in the world to have such great kids.  This week is Teacher Appreciation and it is also make up day for the Hershey Track Meet so Brandon is going to have a very very busy day.  We want to have a birthday party for him with Mother's Day weekend coming up I just don't know what to do and he has Scouts today.  If anyone has any suggestions on when to do a party for him please let me know. 
Brandon I just want you to know how special you are to us, you are an extremely bright boy, such a cutie pie with gorgeous blue eyes that you and your dad and brother Scott share.  All the little girls in the neighborhood just love you. (little worried about that) You have grown into a fine young man.  My heart just explodes with joy thinking about you and how lucky I am to have you pick me and your dad to be your parents.  I just don't ever want you to forget how much we love you and how special you are to us!!!!!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY!!!!!!!!

Love you so much Mom & Dad

Slowly more progress on the house and an update on Scott

Yesterday me, Paul, Scott, Peg, Kris, Aria and Ben all met a Home Depot with our contractor to pick out cabinets, counter tops and flooring.  We were successful on picking out the cabinet look.  Wish we were smart enough to take a picture of the one that we liked.  Talking to the guy at Home Depot told us that Pergo had a warehouse fire and they are 4-6 weeks out on the floor. UGH!!!  Scott was great on keeping Aria entertained :) After there we had to hurry and take Scott to therapy and Dr. He is not getting better so they want him to go see a neuropsychologist  (don't know how to spell this early) so tomorrow we get to go see our family Dr and get an evaluation I know that it will be good for Scott and all of us (maybe I can get some sleep) I worry so much about Scott with his memory not getting better and his pain is just getting worse on his neck and back.  Today after Scott's Dr appointment I am going to talk to the principal and counselor about Scott to see what our options are.  I know Scott has a huge 40 hour project due that was assigned at the first of the year and he can't remember anything about it.  I hate being so frustrated and not being able to do anything to make my son feel better.
Back to the house we had an AWESOME plumber who finished and now we have everything done on our end that will not get in the way of the contractors.  John the building inspector came over yesterday and was furious with the way that Jeff (Complete Restoration) had done the insulation.   He had to leave early to go to another job (surprise surprise) John made him a huge list on what to fix because he was not going to pass off the insulation.  Tomorrow we are supposed to get the Stucco guys over here.  I find amusing because we have not picked out any colors.  Friday Carpet One is coming over to take measurements again and to do the flooring.  I guess they are doing all out floors except for the bathroom and that is getting tiled.  I think that Paul will end up doing that because of how crappy the Contractors have been.

Paul is telling me that I am being to hard on the contractors but I disagree because we have not seen them for a month.  I told Dan the contractor over us that when they insulate that I wanted the insulation to match the rooms.  Dan started telling me that it only comes in pink and yellow.  I told him that I didn't care I wanted everything to match.  He said that we weren't going to see it my response was that my bra and underwear have to match and no one sees them but I know.  He was getting so frustrated that he was asking people in the office if their were different insulation we could use or if they could color it.  Paul started laughing so hard that Dan finally realized we were teasing him. 

I am concerned that we have not heard from the insurance adjuster or the rental people about extending our contract here at the rental.  I am going to call Tip today after Scott's appointment and see what he says and also ask about if we can get some of this furniture removed so we can start replacing.  It is costing the insurance $1957.61 a month just for the rental that is more then rent!!!! We don't even use half of it, so I am hoping if we get rid of stuff they will extend our contract until the end of June.  Dad talked to Tip last week and my understanding is that we have nothing to worry about.  It would make me feel better if I knew for sure or had it in writing.
I love the house we are in but I can't wait to get back to my neighborhood!!!!!!  My neighbor Jamie gave me a bunch of tomatoes and other plants so I guess I need to finish tilling so I can get them planted. So excited to do that just to get my hands all dirty and in the soil.  I guess I have wrote enough and will get back to laundry and cleaning before people start waking up.  My neighbor just dropped of his son Harley so it won't be too much longer before I lose the quiet house.  Thanks for listening to me, love you guys tons!!!!!

P.S.
When it comes time for Christmas letters can people just read the blog so we don't have to rewrite everything again

Teachers Doors I got the ones that were done before I left

Jake's Classroom

I really want to thank everyone who has helped me and my family with our burned house. One good thing that has came from all this is that I have gotten to know my mother and father in law better. They are not just inlaws to me they have became mom and dad. I wish my stubbornness would have figured this out a long time ago,better late then never. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for the help we have received, disappointed that no one from my family has helped. But I have learned that I just have to let go and find my big girl panties and just deal with it I don't think I have cried so much over the last couple months then I have since my parents died. I really appreciate who ever reads this and listens to me vent, cry, scream and everything else. I am trying to hold it together for my kids and Paul. I know that I have been horrible and when I get stressed I take it out on everyone, I need to learn a better way to deal with it I know that I am not helping anyone out. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I am sorry if I have offended anyone, I truly don't mean to. During this experience I have found out the hard way who my family and friends are. Thank you!!!! Love you guys tons!!!!!

Update on house

We are schedule to be out of our rental home by May 30th, I don't see how that is going to happen. Plumbing and heating is 85% done. framing and a bunch of other things need to get fixed before they can insulate, sheet rock and all that other stuff. I am hoping that the insurance will decide to extend our lease because I don't want to be rushed on moving and cleaning this house but what do you do??? The sheeting is finally up YEA!!!!!! The roof is fixed thanks so very much to mom and Scott for helping and everyone else. I don't know what we would do without them.

Boys and the girls

I have always been more worried about Scott and girls maybe because he is ALWAYS on the phone with them. Well things have changed.... I know of 2 girls who are actively pursuing Tim UGH!!!! I really thought I had more time with Tim because he is so involved with bugs and snakes and all that yucky stuff. These girls are not being shy about it either. One girl came to the door and asked if Tim could go to the movies with her. They are now hanging around the house, I never know who it is for Scott or Tim. Sometimes Brandon and Jake but they are just too little I refuse to believe that these little girls "love" them. I don't think I can handle teenage years again. Just going to sit on the porch in my rocking chair with the shotgun and start stroking saying my pretty oh my pretty and hope that scares them away. I keep on telling the boys that girls are evil you don't want anything to do with them. I need a manual on how to survive teenage yrs for boys. They hate it because I know a lot of people and I always ask who their parents are and when I find out I'm like no way!!! I have a friend whose daughter is the same age as Tim and she already has them married.

Scott's accident

Jan 11, 2012 Scott was involved in a car accident. Scott had hunter safety my nephew was in his class and my cousin took him home that night if I wasn't back in time. I had to go to Sears and get a mattress protector for Jake's bed since everything is rental I didn't want the mattress to get ruined. Hunter safety was being held at the high school which isn't too far from my house. I asked my cousin if he would take Scott home if I was not back in time before they got out. He said no problem he had to go to my house anyways to get boxes for my sister for her move to Payson. Hunter safety got out early :( My cousin was driving an older pickup truck Scott was in the middle and my nephew was by the door. The seat belts didn't work so no one was wearing one. My cousin was confused when they were leaving hunter safety and almost hit a couple people and vehicles in the parking lot. They made a left turn and was heading toward the light to make another left. Scott was giving him directions but he just seemed kinda out of it. Scott repeatedly told him he needed to turn left and he was going to fast by the time it registered that he needed to make a left turn it was too late and he clipped the rear end of the vehicle in front of him and that caused him to hit the car in front of them. Scott and my nephew got out of the vehicle as a County Sheriff was pulling up. Scott called me to tell me that he was in an accident and I hurried there and beat the ambulance. Scott never talked to any cops or fireman, luckily most of the officers and firemen knew who Scott was. I called my cousins son to tell him about the accident they were closer then I was and went to the accident, while I was calling them Scott called his dad. Paul ran all the way to the accident which was a couple blocks away and before Paul could get to the accident my cousins wife was taking Scott home before he could get checked out. I arrived at the accident scene with my friend Karen and her daughter Ashley (they were with me) looking for Scott my sister started yelling at me saying its all my fault. Karen told her to shut up! I called my neighbor Jamie who was just getting off of work from the Dollar Store she went to my house and picked up Scott to get him checked out by the ambulance. The ambulance wanted to transport him but I said no because I didn't want Scott to go to Mountain View Hospital. I was told that I had to take him to the hospital immediately, so I did. We went to Orem Community Scott was diagnosed with: whiplash, concussion, deep tissue bruising across his chest, memory loss, hips, ribs, neck were displaced. Scott has missed a month in a half of school he went from a straight A student to F's Scott goes to therapy and the doctor's every week. His memory his still not where it should be. Scott still has a hard time on helping Jake with 1st grade work. Scott still gets really bad headaches and his neck hurts. Which is affecting his grades and everything else (being meaner to his brothers) because he don't feel good. He gets depressed because he feels stupid now. He still don't think he is smart enough to be in UCAS. Most of his teachers have been working with him, but this still sucks because no matter how much he brings up his grades he will never have a GPA 3.97 that can affect him getting into whatever college he decides to go to. Scott has missed hanging out with friends going to Scout activities and even going to church. The doctor's are just saying we have to wait 6 months to see if he is going to keep improving or if this is going to be as good as he will be. It hurts me and Paul so much to see Scott in so much pain. Then trying to figure out the insurance was a joke. I went to my cousins house to see how he was doing I also needed his insurance information his wife freaked out and started to come after me, the worst part was that my 2 sisters were there and they just left the room instead of standing up for me. I had to call our insurance company to get the insurance information. Finally tried to get the police report and it took 2 months because they did not have Scott or my nephew listed on the police report. When we finally got it they just added their names to it instead of amending it. By law they should have amend the report you can not change the original police report. I went and got witness statements from people who were there and who were at Hunter Safety the police department wants my copy because they never got any statements from anyone. We hired a lawyer to deal with it and we still get calls from the other insurance company no matter how many times we tell them to talk to the lawyer. My cousins have disowned me and so has some of my family by saying its all my fault for the accident. With everything going on with the house the accident I have realized who my true friends and family are. I just hope that Scott gets better, I still worry so much about him. I know that this is really long but it really is a shorter version of everything that happened.

Easter 2012

Easter is never one of my favorite holidays because my mom past away on Easter morning in 1993 and this year Easter fell on the death of my dad's anniversary April 8 2000 I can't believe it has been 12 yrs. Every year we have tried to go camping down at Topaz Mtn. I have done that for as long as I could remember and want to keep the tradition going with my kids. This year was really strange going there because we did not have Jason or LeeAnn with us. The boys still had fun!!!! I am going to try and upload some pictures from our trip.

Garden Snake

1 Gopher/Bull Snake, 1 Collard Lizard, 4 little lizards, 3 Scorpions, 1 baby snake, 1 Jerusalem Cricket, 1 very ugly black spider

Scott's thumb looked like a tasty treat for the Collard Lizard

Collard Lizard hanging from Scott's thumb

Paul holding the Gopher/Bull Snake on a stick

Jerusalem Cricket

Tim holding the baby snake on a stick

Collard Lizard that Tim caught first

Paul and the boys hiking Topaz Mountain

Pictures

One of these days I will actually add pictures to my blog, I will have to get pictures from everyone else who has them of us (hin

Jason with his mission companion and someones dog

The day our life changed from the house fire Dec 21, 2011

It has been forever since I have updated our blog where to begin..... Things were going great at the beginning of the school year Scott has been taking all honors classes and online classes at the same time. Tim is doing pretty good he is still more willing to help other people then he is to do his homework :) I am very proud of how he helps everyone. Brandon is LOVING the 4th grade!!!!! He has an AWESOME teacher Mr Gowans plus all his best friends are in his class. Jake is LOVING 1st grade he has a brand new teacher little worried but she is AWESOME. Paul was getting busy with fixing or building computers again not sure exactly what he does (way over my head) LeeAnn was spending more time with us. Can't wait for Jason to come home!!!! He is doing great out there getting a couple baptism. Our lives changed the day of Christmas break was to start for the kids. Dec 21, 2011 I just had surgery done on both of my toes (NEVER AGAIN) so we had the boys go to friends house after school. Scott came home first and was helping Paul in the backyard and I was supposed to be making room for my cousin who was supposed to come and stay with us over the Christmas Holiday, my feet were killing me so I decided to take a bath when all the smoke alarms went off. Somehow I managed to get dressed and figured out how to call 911. My neighbor Jamie and Nina were there helping me I had inhaled so much smoke and whatever that I was in the ambulance forever because I refused to go to the hospital. Our house had caught on fire, anytime a house catches on fire it is tragic but having it happen 4 days before Christmas :( I just don't even know how to describe the feelings and emotions that were going through me at the time. Angry at the Fire Chief for saving his computer and no one else but then laughing at the same time because the fireman could not figure out why our computers and tv were still on after they turned off the power. They ripped the power meter from the house running around trying to figure out why we still had power they were getting ready to cut the power lines in the neighborhood. I finally stopped laughing not sure why I was went to the fire chief and showed him our solar panels and also reminded him that Paul is a believer of power back ups. The light just clicked on it their head as (DUH) I was so angry and scared for Paul and Scott for going into the house to try and put the fire out and Paul grabbing a propane tank that was downstairs. Even though it has been almost 4 months it seems like yesterday. The Red Cross was AWESOME!!!!!! They put us up in a hotel for 3 days and then the insurance took over the rest. The Red Cross also gave us little blankets and hygiene kits. I don't recommend having 7 people in a hotel room, luckily the insurance got us another room. We spent 15 days in the hotel. The hotel staff were great and they even found swimsuits for the boys. Spending that much time in very tiny space actually brought all of us closer. Tim was great trying to make everyone feel better by saying how many people get to stay in a hotel over the Christmas break. LeeAnn was a great comfort to have around and to help with the boys. People were so generous!!! It really brought back my faith in people. The bad thing is we just didn't have room for the things people were dropping off. We only had a microwave and small fridge, fast food got old real fast. One of my many break downs was on Christmas Eve went to go get dinner for the kids and everywhere was closed early, I went to Smith's and they were locking the doors I was just standing there crying and trying to to figure out how I am going to feed my kids dinner. They were so nice and opened the door for me so we ended up having Hot Pockets for dinner. LeeAnn was great and wrapped all the presents which wasn't an easy task to do without the younger ones seeing what it was. Some of the stuff came wrapped so it really was a surprise on what the kids got for Christmas. Veronica and Kala were so wonderful they organized alot of the help we had gotten. Don't know what we would do without them. They took the boys for a couple of hours so we can do clean up and inventory. Which sucked big time!!! If we had enough money I would have definitely paid someone to do it for us. I remember the first night in the hotel I called Veronica to ask her if she had an extra pair of pajamas for me to wear and she took me to Walmart and got me a pair, I just cried and cried over something as simple as jammies and underware. Afterwards we went to the burned house to check it out and the cops came asking if we were allowed to be here, me and my big mouth told them that its my house that I could be there if I wanted to. The smell was just horrible and it hit me hard seeing everything that has been lost. My grandparents build that house and it was gone in a matter of minutes. There are so many people to thank that I don't even know where to begin. During all this it had made me and my family realize who are true friends and family are. New Year's Eve we spent it with the Heimuli's it was really nice to be with good friends and not be stuck in a hotel room for another holiday. The thing is none of us wanted to "Party" we just wanted to go back to the hotel room. We finally got a call from someone who is supposed to find us temporary housing. I don't care where it was and what it looked like I said YES before we even had a chance to look at it. Come to find out we do love the house and the neighborhood. Its funny because the house we looked at a house in the same neighborhood 13 yrs ago but decided that the lots are too small especially coming from Lindon. Dennis, Julie, Kris, Drew and Peggy have been a huge help on working on the burned house. Our new neighborhood is full of all girls where we were used to all boys. There is so much I could write but its time to go to the burned house

UCAS

Scott was accepted into UCAS - Utah County Academy of Science over at UVU - Utah Valley University. It is basically an accelerated high school. He will be able to graduate with an Associates Degree 2 months before he gets his high school diploma. We are so proud of him. His morning class will be taking high school classes and the afternoon classes will be over at UVU with college students. That makes me nervous because the girls already think he is older then what he is. Guess I will be sitting on the porch with a shotgun... We went to his SEOP's (Don't even know what it was and I was even there) but basically we picked out his classes for next year so glad that he understood them and so did Paul, way over my head. Scott is disappointed for a couple reasons 1. his friends will not be going to school there and 2. they don't offer a German class. Me besides not understanding the classes he will be taking I am not very excited about having to take him to Orem for school. But other then that its an going to be an AWESOME experience for him. The UCAS only offer it to Nebo, Provo and Alpine School District and they take only 140 Sophomores, 30 Juniors and 10 Seniors. So I am bragging about him, we were so scared that he wouldn't get accepted because of the problems from the car accident. Can't wait for the new school year to start for him!!!!!!