Merry Halloween!

So, I'm a little behind. Whatever. The kids had a great time with their halloween costumes. James went to a theater yard sale with me (poor kid still has to go nearly every where with me), and there was a clown suit, just his size. So he decided he could shelf the Iron Man idea until next year. He makes a pretty cute clown!

One of our favorite movies for the year was Despicable Me (thanks Uncle Jesse!) As we were running through the costume ideas, after about 20 "no's" to my ideas, we finally struck gold (hee, hee) when I mentioned the minions from the movie. I looked online at premade costumes, but I just can't spend that much for two hours on one night. So we made our own. Perhaps my boys will look back and think their mother was just a cheapskate, but they didn't seem to mind in the moment! We discovered that many people had not seen the movie, so they didn't quite get it. Some people guessed that they were Spongebob Squarepants (oh, the horror), or Bob the Builder. We had fun with it anyway! D.J. is the top picture, Spencer is the bottom.

D.J. Turns 8!!

D.J. turned eight-years-old this year! He has been reading the Harry Potter books, so he decided to have a Harry Potter birthday party complete with quidditch match, potions class and wand making! We had a great time! Three weeks later, D.J. was baptized with lots of friends and family around!

Great Grandma Wheeler, Aunt Kaye and Uncle Riley and all of the Wheeler cousins were there! Many of the Davis families were there and many of D.J.'s friends! What a lucky kid! He is so loved!

Our family was so excited for D.J., especially because he seemed so ready and understanding of the choice he made for baptism.

Mark baptized and confirmed D.J. a member of the church. D.J. said he liked his baptism day because, "I was lucky enough to have most of the people I know come to my baptism."

My Baby is in School!

This is the year. The year when all of my children are in school. Many people say that half day kindergarten doesn't count. But believe me, I'm making those 2 1/2 hours count! I still enjoy having James home for half of the day. It's nice to have a buddy for some of the day, though I think he might be getting bored of me!

JAMES!!!

D.J.!!!!

SPENCER!!!!!

All three of my boys with their back packs, ready to go. Every year we have a neighborhood breakfast on the first day of school. James was so happy to be one of the school kids this year! I didn't think I would cry when I walked him into his classroom, but I gotta say, I got a little choked up with the realization that I'm starting another new phase of life. . . . HOMEWORK times THREE!!!

99 Loof-bloof-faloof

That's all I remember from the 99 Red Balloons song in German (or something). I thought of that song when Mark and I got to go on a hot air balloon ride this summer while at an attorney retreat. We spent the weekend in Park City (thank you Grandma Wheeler! x2) There were many activities we could choose from, but when Hot Air Ballooning is one of the choices - that's a no-brainer! We started early in the morning and were assigned basket groups. Our basket could hold eight, but there were some that would hold 12!

The balloon pilot began filling the balloon with air using a large fan, then when it seemed full enough with regular air, he began filling it with hot air. Our ballon had a smiley face!

Mark had to hold up the material, so air could get in and the ropes wouldn't get burned. Mark did a great job because our ropes didn't snap when we lifted off!

Our balloon pilot said that this is a "ballonar elipse"!

Proof that we were high in the air! See that tiny lake in the distance?

After an hour of a very peaceful flight, we landed safely in a field by the freeway. The balloon technicians essentially rolled up the balloon like a giant sleeping bag! What a great experience! Park City from up high was just beautiful, with views of mountains and lakes. I can check this off my bucket list!

2 1/2 Month Blog Vacation and Wacky Ads

I just got an email from a friend who asked me if I thought things are getting ramped up in life. The answer is: YES!!!!! It's not like I signed up for a million things this summer, we were just busy having fun and making sure the boredom stayed away, particularly in August. We really did have a great summer and I will post pictures about them. But this post is going to be about two ads. I'm raring to go after 2 1/2 months:

There is a billboard on the way from Davis County to Salt Lake. It is a black and white picture of Jennifer Aniston. She is somewhat covered in a bedsheet and holding something up in her hand. What do you think that product is? Perfume? Fabric Softner? Cotton? Air freshner? Wrong. THE AD IS FOR "SMART WATER"!!!

To make the ad even more unbelievable, the ad says "My Secret Revealed." Does this strike anyone else as a little off-the-mark? What this says to me is: Jennifer Anniston drinks Smart Water, which makes her so smart she advertises bottled water in something that must make total sense to her: sheets. I'm thinking the ad executive needs to dip into some of that Smart Water. Which, by the way, makes you no smarter than regular water. In fact, buying the stuff actually makes a good case for a low I.Q. because if you think that fortified water will make you smarter you may as well lay around in sheets all day.

Here's another great ad that comes to my mailbox every three months or so. It says:

"Life is too short to clean your own house." It is an ad for a maid service. So, does this mean that for the maids advertised, life is long? If so, should I look into maid service as my own employment? Forget finding the fountain of youth, I'll just clean other people's houses and I'll live long. So, why can't I clean my own house and live long? Maybe it's because I know the people that belong to the socks I pick up every day and with each sock a gray hair emerges because I know I've told them a gazillion time to pick them up, but I end up doing it!!! Then I wonder how I'm going to pay for the things that are more fun than cleaning my house when I'm paying for a maid to clean it. I suppose the maid service is banking on the chance that the person who cleans house picks up the flier and exclaims, "you know, you're right! life is too short to clean my house! I've wasted my life away! Well, that's going to change here and now." Then six months down the road after paying the maid bills and deciding it wasn't worth it, this person still thinks life is too short to clean the house and then we get reality shows about hoarders.

I'll actually posts interesting pictures next time.

A Few Pictures From a Few Trips-Four Months Later

We took a few vacations this summer. Most were to parks and natural places. We've decided that we will try to visit as many national and state parks as we can. Granna gave us PBS documentary on National Parks that I have been watching while I exercise and one of the commentators said something to the effect of: Nature has a way of humbling you because it reminds you that you are not the biggest thing in the world. Amen to that! We could all do with some humbling. Well, I could.

We went to Colorado this year to visit the Ames', David and Lieve, and Jesse. With David and Lieve we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked to many lakes which were so beautiful! James decided he would be our GPS and took the front of the hiking line and D.J. was right behind him as a self-proclaimed "navigator." Both jobs helped them get up the mountain without too much murmuring.

A great hiking help was age appropriate booklets given by the Forest Rangers that the boys completed along the way, identifying flowers, animals, erosion and other natural occurrences. At the completion of the booklets an official Park Ranger gave them their own badges and they recited a pledge to care for nature as official Jr. Park Rangers.

One of the beautiful lakes with lily pads behind us. D.J., of course, stepped into the muddy banks and had to walk with gushy sandals for a while.

Denver has a great Science Museum that we visited with the Ames' family and David and Lieve. Favorite activities were trying to find the garden gnomes painted into the scenery (only found one after help from an employee), making our own sand craters, dancing in heat sensitive cameras and finding our house with a spinning table and satellite GPS thingy.

The Michael and Libby found an awesome baby sitter to watch all six kids while we went to Cheddars for dinner! Anna, Spencer, Eli, James, Peter and D.J.

We went to the perfect size water park for keeping track of kids. We had a great time with big slides and little slides and splash pads everywhere!

At the beginning of the summer in June, we went to Marysvale, UT a small mining town, with the Wheelers and stayed in an Old Town hotel-ish/cabin-ish place. We had great fun riding four-wheelers (discovering that you can pull start a four-wheeler after Mark and I towed one back- we are such city people), playing horseshoes, mother may I, blasting air rockets, talking around the fire in the rain and just letting the cousins play. It was very cold and wet, but very, very fun!!!

Happy Anniversary To Me!

25 years ago today (4th of July) I was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. 25 years! For all the hubbub and caution and scare tactics that we were introduced to when I was diagnosed, I thought I wouldn't live past 20! And here I am, 25 years later, with three kids, a wonderful husband, an active lifestyle and relatively good health. Here's why:

I have a Father in Heaven who listens to all my pleadings for help with self-control, patience and perspective, and then He actually helps me! He has blessed me with a body that bounces back fairly quickly from low and high blood sugar. A body that gives me warnings about low and high blood sugar. And has blessed me with a Savior that offers hope and help while dealing with all my issues, as well as hope for a perfect body someday.

I have incredibly wonderful parents who raised me to be strong and independent (if I do say so myself) but reliant on the Lord. They both taught me to work hard and not give up, how to set and achieve goals, and how to work through mistakes. They have spent countless hours in worry and prayer and care and hope for a normal life. I have great brothers and a sister who have always had concern for me, which has given me strength. I love you!

I live in an age where scientists, doctors, nurses, technicians, engineers, computer techs and all others associated with them, have invented exogenous insulin, blood sugar monitors, insulin pumps, glucose tablets, glucagon, A1C tests, test strips, shot needles, lancets and much, much more. It's unlikely that those mentioned above read my blog, but if you know someone in those categories, please, please, please tell them that I thank God for them often in my prayers. Without these things I could not have had the healthy babies I did or enjoy life as I do.

I have a sensitive, caring and charitable husband who holds me close when my blood sugar is low, when I feel so insecure and shaky. He listens to me during bouts of frustration when I'm having unexplainable ups and downs with blood sugar levels. He reminds me that my health is top priority and no product is too expensive if it will help me have better control. That he wanted to marry me despite me having the sixth leading cause of death in the nation is a continual amazement to me. Thank you for improving my life, for being brave and following the Spirit! I love you!

I have three amazing boys whose existence reminds me everyday that my life is not just for me. The control I have of my blood sugar determines how long I get to spend with them and all others I love. No matter how much I want the freedom to eat whatever and whenever I want without having to check my blood sugar level multiple times a day to monitor the effects, that desire is dwarfed by the desire to live longer. I have ups and downs and times when I lack self-control, but they bring me back.

I am so blessed! I'm happy to have made it 25 years with all the help I've been given. Here's to AT LEAST 25 more!