You're a Good Dad

Chauntel and Makayla have been going to the Rec Center on Monday nights to the Tai Kwon Do class for a while now, so Monday nights have become the boys' night to do boy stuff. It's been fun to hang out and we'll usually jump on the trampoline, wrestle in the front room, or just throw balls at each other and try to make each other fall over. It's great to do manly things on Monday nights. Our Family night has switched to Thursdays for the time being. Tonight, while we were jumping on the trampoline, we hear the infamous tune of the ice cream truck and Isaac just completely froze on the trampoline and his eyes shot wide open as he listened. With all the excitement of a 6 year old he just yelled "Ice Cream Truck!" and began to run through the house and the front door. Jackson and I followed. I ran inside and got some money, and we headed out the front door to find it. As we started to run down the street, I noticed that Jackson's shoes were untied. I told him to hold on and I began to tie them up for him. As I was tying his shoes, Jackson reached down, patted me on the back and said, "You're a good Dad" and then followed it up with his signature grin that completely will melt your inerds.

I put the kids to bed tonight and gave them each hugs and a kiss like I do most every night, and Jackson's words are still with me. Everyday I work at my office to try and grow our business to bring as much success to our family as I can. I teach Seminary and have been told that I do a good job at that. I play ball twice a week to try to stay in shape and make Gabe Trinidad eat his words when he is guarding me and says, "no way" when I throw up a shot when he doesn't think there's a chance of it going in the hoop. I'm pretty passionate about a lot of things, as my wife will attest to. But the something that I have learned that brings me the most joy in my life are the relationships that I have. I have learned that no matter if our business is doing great, I am in the best shape of my life, but my relationship with my wife is not as great as it could be, I feel anything but successful and completely vulnerable. On the other hand, if times are hard and I may be facing immense challenges in whatever aspect of my life, if I feel as if she knows I am doing my best to serve her and help her understand how much she means to me, I feel bullet proof. Her words of encouragement can mean more to me than anything else.

The same holds true with my children. I hope that I will always be able to hear from them that I am a "good Dad". Many nights Chauntel and I have stayed up late talking about each of them and how in the world we should handle whatever the situation of the day is. Being a Dad is one of, if not, THE hardest thing that I have ever attempted. (I did one time try to sign in at what I thought was an orthopedic doctor for my knee, but it turned out to be a gynecologist. That was pretty hard to convince them it was a mistake. The doctor happened to walk out at that very moment, and I looked at him and said, "So - you don't know anything about knees, huh?") It has been said that no other success can compensate for failure in the home. I hope to always remember to put my family first; to have my wife know that she will always be first to me, and our kids will feel from Dad that he is always available to them. If it ever feels otherwise to them, I pray that I will be able to realize it and fix it right away. When I think of my Dad growing up, I think of him always being in the stands or on the sideline. He always supported us in whatever we were doing. Just being there meant so much to us.

It could have been that we were going to get ice cream as to the reason why Jackson said I was such a good Dad. I hope that it was for other things as well. I bought a painting of the Savior holding a little boy's hand, walking across a field not too long ago. The picture helps me remember my responsibility as a Dad. I want to hold my Kaylagirl and boys' hands through life and hopefully teach them by example all that our Heavenly Father expects me to. I can't say enough how grateful I am for our family that He has entrusted us with. I plead every day for guidance to know what and how to do what I am supposed to.

We never did find the ice cream truck. We made at least four trips to the end of the street as we could hear the ice cream tune going further away from us, hoping for the miracle that it would turn our way. We ended up hitting Mom's stash of fudgsicles and watching TV till bedtime. I also don't know where my $5 is that Isaac had for the ice cream truck.

Celebration Park

We had a lot of fun on Saturday. Makayla wanted to go to Celebration Park. We really didn't think the water would be on yet, but it was. What a beautiful day. I think it was in the 80's. The boys had fun playing ball with dad and Makayla had fun roller skating around the park (oh and of course they had fun getting wet)

If you notice the last picture is of Isaac pouting. He wanted ice cream from the ice cream man but mom and dad never have cash on them. He was so upset. What a sad ending to a fun filled day.

WASHINGTON!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I bought plane tickets for me and the kids to visit Kennewick this summer. This will be my first trip without Jeremy since my terrible experience during hurricane Rita. I'm a little nervous to fly without Jeremy. But the kids are older and should do better. Jackson is the difficult one now. He has more energy than any kids I've ever seen. If I can get him to sit still then it will be fine. This will also be my first trip home during the summer since makayla was a year old. Eight years! Wow. I'm excited to enjoy WA summer, boating, picnics....... It should be a lot of fun. I will be gone 10 days not 7. I guess two of those days will be traveling so I'll be in WA 8 full days. Aug. 10 -19th.!!!!!!! I can't wait to see everyone.

SpRiNg iN tExAs

Spring and Fall in Texas is so amazing. The weather has been so great this last month. Spring and Fall here make summers bearable.

Jeremy took the kids to the park yesterday. They found some new friends there, catching Minnows. The kids really enjoyed that. Jackson and I have been on lots of bike rides and walks. Come this summer, the only thing we'll be doing outside is swimming.

5 1/2 weeks of school left. I can't believe how fast the school year went. Most of all I can't believe Makayla will be a 3rd grader, Isaac a 2nd grader, and Jackson a preschooler. I'll have MWF from 9-12 totally kid free. It will be really great, weird, wonderful. I'm sure it will give me anxiety just trying to figure out how to use that 9 hours a week.

Jackson is doing very well. He seems to be almost completely back to normal. If he would quit having major falls on his back, I'm sure he'd feel 100%. I took him to the Dentist yesterday and I could tell he was more scared than normal. The Dentist was wondering what was up. Then I explained that he just had back surgery two weeks ago. He said that made a lot of sense. Jackson needs a bunch of work done. His dentist would like to get it all done in one visit. So the first week in June their going to put him under and get it all done in one sitting. Sounds a lot better than 3 or 4 visits to me (maybe a little more expensive, but less traumatic). They said he has something called hypoplasia where the enamel on his teeth didn't form properly which makes him more suseptible to cavities.

Everyone is doing great here. Makayla and I are taking a karate class once a week together, Jeremy is in a flag football league, and Jackson will be heading back to gymnastics (once a week) in two more weeks. We're not keeping too busy and it feels good to be able to breath and enjoy life.

O.K.

Jeremy mentioned that I should go ahead and write a little about my experiences at the hospital.

Jeremy and I were both able to be at the hospital when Jackson went into surgery and when he came out. We weren't sure we'd both be there until they moved his surgery back a few hours. (Isaac also got a fever the night before, Jessica watched him for us because we couldn't send him to school and we both really wanted to be there. I felt really bad leaving Jessica with our sick kid, but it really meant a lot to us) I was so glad to have Jeremy there. While Jackson was coming out of anesthesia, he totally freaked out. Well he was doing fine- until he saw me and then he went crazy. It was really scary because they wouldn't let him be held, sit up or anything. So comforting him was a lot harder than his other surgeries. After Jeremy and I held him down and the nurses pumped him full of meds, I layed down with him and half-held him as much as I could. The next few hours were hard because he wanted to be held and we couldn't. He kept trying to rip his IV's and cords out. He also kept yelling to go home and yelling at everyone not to touch him.

Jeremy went home to get the kids to bed and see them off to school the next morning while I stayed the night with Jackson. I was so afraid for Jeremy to leave me alone. I layed in bed with him most of the night to keep him laying down and stop him from ripping anything out. It was a long hard night, but the next morning everything got a lot easier. Jeremy brought up a Kilan movie (the only t.v. he'll watch) and Bella (his very best friend) came to visit, both really helped raise his little spirits. He kind of had a big attitude so it was nice to have my cute sweet Jackson back.

His most favorite thing at the hospital was the playroom. He loves bowling. He loves bowling with my kitchen cups, on my cell phone, and at the bowling alley. The playroom had a Wii and of course our little bowling protege loved bowling on the Wii. It's all he wanted to do there. When it came time to go home, he didn't want to leave the Wii or the wheel chair. He really wanted to take them both home with us:)

Jeremy spent the last night with Jackson and I stayed at home with the older kids. When I was leaving to pick the kids up from school the nurses had him standing up and taking steps. I was so sad to leave and miss all that.

Now we're home and he's a little timid to do anything. He keeps wanting to do things but is afraid to stand and walk. I don't know what we'll do for the next 6 days. I'm scared to let him do anything also.




See the Popsicle I'm enjoying in recovery? They kept trying to give Jackson Popsicles in recovery while he was totally out of control. There wasn't anywhere to put it so I got to enjoy a Popsicle while trying to hold him down real good. I just thought it was funny, when they kept trying to give it to him and he was so ticked off.

EVERYTHING WENT FINE

I'm home for the morning, getting the kids off to school and now getting ready to head back to the hospital. Jeremy called this morning and said that the nurses think he'll go home today. So, I'm going to make this fast. I need to get back down there and get them home.

The doctor said everything went well. He fixed the problem with his spinal cord and he should be back to normal in a week. Just no trampoline for four weeks:( That will be hard to enforce.

Makayla and Isaac went to visit Jackson last night and Bella and Jessica came and visited yesterday during the day.

Jackson had to lay flat for 24 hours. That was the most difficult part of the after surgery experience. He was so mad at me mostly for making him lay flat. He took a few good swipes and kicks at me. Of course mom gets all the anger and all the loves.

I'll let Jeremy blog everything. He does such a great job at telling the stories of our family. He's able to add detail and interest where I'm just trying to spell everything correctly and use as few words as possible.

Tomorrow's the BIG day

Today is Jackson's Pre-op. I'm going to meet with his surgeon and see if Jackson's still on for tomorrow's surgery. I'm a little concerned, because he had a sinus infection that we're not sure is gone or not. He's been through two rounds of anti-biotics, but his pedi can't tell if it's gone or not. The only way we knew he had one is because it showed up on his MRI. I'll see what the doctor says.

"No, Moses was in my Sunbeams!"

We had the sweetest experience with Jackson on Sunday.
Jeremy dressed up as Moses for Primary sharing time. He visited the Jr. and Sr. Primary (so all our kids got to see Dad dressed as Moses)
One of the Primary teachers let us know that Jackson was the first person in Jr. primary to guess who the visitor was going to be. Jeremy was in the hallway and they were giving clues to what prophet was going to visit and our little sunbeam was the one who guessed:)
That's not the sweet experience. That was just me bragging on my bud.
The sweetest thing was at dinner after church when the kids were trying to convince Jackson that moses was really Dad dressed up as Moses, but Jackson wasn't having it. He kept saying "No, Moses was in my Sunbeams!"

I used to have this quote in my scriptures but lost it. I was blog jumping and read this on a friends blog.

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time rail journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Life maybe full of endless and crazy amounts of laundry and dishes, but it sure is worth it for all the little vistas, and thrillers.

JaCkSoN AbRaM LoGsDoN

So we had our appointment with Jackson's neurosurgeon today. He said that Jackson does have a tethered spinal cord, however it's not severe. That does not mean that he doesn't need surgery. Jackson will need surgery within the next two or three months. He let us know that Jackson will be in surgery for two hours and then be in the hospital for two days after surgery. He'll have a two to three inch scar on his back. I'm so relieved to finally know what's going on with him. We feel so blessed that it's not as bad as it could be and that our crazy pedi (who turns out is a genius) found it so early. Jackson will gain all his bladder control and bowel control back pretty quickly and will not have to worry about this happening again or losing control and function of his legs.

His doctor said that the fluid in his spine would more than likely go away or stay the same once he has surgery so it should NOT be a problem.

We will still need to see a urologist about his kidney being abnormal in shape and size but I'm not too worried about that. (He has two and only needs one, right?)

For those of you who don't know, he will probably need some cosmetic surgery in the next few years on his head and face and has a deveated septum which will probably need surgery also (i don't know when)

Next week Jackson will have two root canals done. I'm beginning to think that his pedi was right and that Jackson's LITTLE body just didn't form all the way in my belly.

Thank you for all your fasting and prayers. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Tomorrow we take Jackson to see his neurosurgeon. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Yesterday for all of you who aren't in Dallas, we had so much snow yesterday. Texas has the craziest weather. Yesterday was crazy cold and then today the weather is amazing.

Church was cancelled because of the snow. We had such a wonderful experience having sacrament meeting at home. each of us prepared talks and musical numbers. I played the opening, closing, sacrament hymns for my musically number and spoke about Jesus' example. Jeremy sang and played the guitar and then spoke about the reason for the sacrament. Makayla sang "I am a Child of God" and shared her testimony. Jackson sang "Give Said the Little Stream" and then spoke about why he loves our family, and Isaac spoke on preparing for a mission. They kids had a good time. They even asked if they could prepare primary.





THIS IS A PICTURE OF JACKSON. HE FELL ASLEEP ON THE GROUND:)

horse shoes and basketball

Dad played a little horse shoes and basketball with the boys while we were at the horse park. Makayla and mom where off working on a splinter makayla got on her hand, while the boys played

Petting Zoo

There was also a petting zoo. We couldn't get Makayla anywhere near the goats. Isaac fed them from the other side of the gate and Jackson went in with them (but only if I was holding him).

I completely understand because while we were there, the birthday boy of a party that was there at the same time got drug around by his cowboy hat and thrown around like a rag doll. It was a little crazy scary. Also while Isaac and I were feeding the goats, one jumped over the fence at us to get our food. The goats would go completely crazy around anyone holding food. I would have been a little nervous too if they were bigger than me also.

pony rides:)

We took the kids to a horse ranch here in town the other day. We had a lot of fun. Makayla has been asking (begging) to go on a horse back ride. I really am proud of her for being brave and getting up on the horse. She was way more scared of the dogs and goats than the ponies.

2 MIGHTY MUSTANGS IN OUR HOUSE

Makayla and Isaac were both student of the week for their class. They were on the morning announcements this morning. I'm so proud of Isaac for getting mighty mustang twice in the last month. Could it be the new and improved Isaac on Meds:)

Makayla was dressed up to show her friends the outfit she thinking of wearing for the talent show. I tried to hint that she should wear something pretty today but she was really excited about showing everyone her cowboys outfit.

They got CiCi's pizza coupons so maybe we'll go there tonight for dinner to celebrate:)

Just so you know

Here's a picture of Isaac filling out the donation slip, before turning it into a member of the bishopric. I'm sure you all trust us, but just so you know it's been turned in.

I also add a very funny picture of Isaac. I just love putting pictures of my boys in their underwear on my blog:)

THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone who pledged our kids bike-a-thon. What a neat experience it was for them. We've collected almost all the pledges. We have $422 in cash and more that people donated through their tithing slips (about $75 more) Almost $500. That's not counting what our friends raised.

It was really neat to hear that the church is sending out 600 temporary homes to Haiti. With cement for foundations, hurricane straps, wood walls, and tin roofs. I'm so happy to hear all the amazing things the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is doing to help out in Haiti. The kids enjoy hearing about it and knowing that their helping.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP EVERYONE!

Let is snow let it snow let it snow!!!!

I can't believe how much snow we've gotten the last three days. It's completely crazy. Jeremy took the kids sledding. I stayed home because I'm not feeling good. They had a great time. School was cancelled today because of the snow. Isaac was so excited. Well all the kids were, but Isaac was extremely happy.

(you can tell Jackson was cold and ready to go home, poor baby)