Surprise!

I have a very sweet husband when it comes to special events! He is always very good to me and this year was no exception. Since we will be focusing on Taylor this year with his baptism being on his birthday, I thought I would generously give up my birthday and just stay 29 one more year, sure sounded good to me, but Joseph had surprises up his sleeve.

He insisted we go to lunch together before all our family got here to celebrate our birthdays. Olivia has had ear infections this week and RSV so I tried to back out, but he insisted we just go to lunch. When we got there I found out why, he had invited a few of my friends and they had cake, balloons, gifts, the whole deal. I haven't had a surprise party since my mom threw me one in high school and I was so surprised I was almost embarrassed. I really hadn't expected this at all, but it was so great! It was very sweet of everyone to come and really made me feel special!

THANK YOU JOSEPH!!

January Update!

I am sad to report that I have forgotten my camera on almost every thing we have done this past month and the couple times I remembered I had dead batteries! So since I picture is worth a thousand words, and I don't have any pics, I guess you get the thousand words! Just thought I would recap our January! 2010, has already been kinder in the health department for our family, which we are so grateful!! Here are the highlights of our month:
*Emma had her third set of ear tubes put in! Did great!!
*No one had a cold or sickness the whole month!! I can hardly believe it!
*We painted our family room! It is in african decor and we love it. Thanks
to
my dad and mom for the decorations that add so much! And, Jacey we have
finally
found a place for Landon's wonderful painting, yeah!!
*Madelyn drove me crazy the first three weeks with tormenting her baby
sister,
until I wised up and realized she is just so very bored being ready for
Kindergarten now, but still not going for 1 1/2 years!!
*To solve Madi's bored problem, she enrolled in Swim lessons and loves it!!
*Emma did basketball. They only had 2 girls and 1 boy from her school sign up
so Taylor got to play again with the 1st graders! They both loved it!
*Olivia learned to pull herself up on things and now won't go to sleep because
she would rather stand up in her crib! So fun!
*Had a whole week of 40 degrees which we got to use our new bikes!
*Joseph and I rotated going to the gym at 5:00am!

We had a great month. Usually I am really depressed in January, but this month has been good and we are loving normal life. As we struggled the past year, I kept saying I just want our normal routine back and now that it is, I need to express my gratitude! Hope January was good to you all as well!

Taylor's Baptism!

We are so excited to have Taylor's baptism coming soon. He is such a good boy, and although I know all parents say that about their kids, he is. His primary teacher the other day at church asked me if I knew how amazing he was. He said he couldn't believe Taylor knew so much about the scriptures. He has always wanted to read and discover and we are very pleased with him and his decision to be baptized. We told him to think about it, because getting baptized was his choice and he didn't have to, but that we really wanted him to. I laughed when I overheard him telling Emma that she didn't have to be baptized at 8 if she didn't want to, she could wait until 10 or 11 or whenever. Anyhow, most all of you who check this blog live far away, but we want to annouce his baptism as it is a very special time for our family and invite any who would like to come.

Models for a Day!

My friend Kimberly Noble is starting a photography business and asked if she could have the girls come over and try out some of her new equipment. They had a really fun time and we got some really cute pictures from it. If you want to see more, her website is pocketfullofposes.webs.com and in her portfolio under tutu pics are our girls. Here are a couple of my favorites!

Belated Halloween Pics

Emma went back to school Friday the 29th after having hand, foot, mouth disease and an ear infection, and Olivia ran a fever on Friday and again on Sunday night, but luckily, Saturday everyone was healthy and we had an enjoyable Halloween together. We all went to the ward trunk or treat and carnival and then Joseph took the kids trick or treating door to door. 3 kids times both activities gave us way more candy than we could want. Taylor was a grave digger, Emma was Miss America, Madi was a fairy ballerina, and Olivia was a cute cheetah! Joseph and I had fun with the photo shoot option at the carnival!!

Fall Sports

Emma chose to do sports and singing this year, instead of dance. Nothing against dance, but Joseph and I were happy about this decision. She really enjoyed being on the team. Of course she is more concerned with who is watching and how she looks than the actual plays of the game, however, she had fun and I think will play basketball this winter!


Taylor really loved playing football this year. Joseph helped coach which was another fun thing for Tay. It was all quite new being the first year that he played, but he had a great time.

She's Home!

Thank you all for your comments and concern. We brought Olivia home Saturday night. The doctor wanted to keep her until Sunday or Monday, but her vein collapsed during her Vaco dose around noon on Saturday and they didn't want to have to start another IV if they didn't have to so they decided to let us bring her home and see what happened. After putting a warm compress on the sore and a nap, she awoke and we found puss oozing out, finally!! This is a very good thing. As she kept pulling her legs up playing, more puss kept coming out. Probably a teaspoonful was released and ever since she has been improving. Yesterday the doctor said it looks much better. She was so glad to come home and be able to roll around again! We are so grateful for this answer to prayers and glad she is okay and home!

Pictures of Olivia's Stay

I will have to back track for Halloween, fall sports, and Madi's birthday, but this is our focus this week. First an update: Yesterday morning didn't show any improvement with Olivia's abscess so here it is Friday and we are still at the hospital. She is doing very well though and all we are waiting on is the antibiotic to do its job and get rid of the abscess. This morning, it looked much better, but that is all the doctors will say. Hopefully we can bring her home tomorrow! Here are some pics of her stay!

Update on Olivia!

Thanks for all the prayers and support. I really appreciate your comments, it gives us strength. Olivia looked much better today and started acting like her happy self again. The redness is going down and is now confined to a small area now. The doctor said we may be able to take her home tomorrow or if not then probably Friday! I have some pics from her stay, but I having trouble uploading them to my computer. I guess they will have to come later because I am heading to bed!

In Need of Your Prayers!

Dear Friends and Family,
Although I do not have all of your e-mail addresses, I know many of you check our blog. We put Olivia in the hospital yesterday afternoon after her having a small blemish that become infected and grew. She has been running a high fever and now is in the hospital with cellulitis which in my non-medical understanding is an infection in her cell tissue. She is improving today after having been put on 3 antibiotics through her IV. We have faith that she will make a full recovery with time, but would love your prayers on her behalf! We love you all and hope all is well with your lives!
Joseph and Amy

Experiences for our Good

"That all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." Doctrine and Covenants 122:7

Wow! I can't believe it has been 2 months since I last posted. Well, actually I can believe it. Much has happened in our lives and the quote above has come to mean a lot to me. Most already know the details and I don't want to go into detail here, but I have been facing probably one of the hardest things I have had to go through to date. After having surgery a month ago, I had complications and ended up nearly flat in bed for almost 4 weeks. Hence the lack of posts, I didn't come downstairs where our computer was. Not being able to take care of my children and husband and having to rely VERY heavily on others has been a true trial for me, not to mention the toil it has taken on those around me. However, this experience has been for our good, probably in ways I still don't even know. But here are some of the things I have learned:
-To be truly grateful for good health
-To understand the incredible blessing of loyal family and friends
-To learn to be humble and trust in the Lord, even when things aren't
going well
-To trust that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and my family
-To be patient and let things work out in the Lord's time frame!
I am very grateful and pleased to report that I am getting my strength back and beginning to feel like myself again. I look forward to putting my life back together again, (esp. my disorganized house!)and I really look forward to spending time with my husband and children again. I have missed being a part of their lives. Tay says he wants his old mom back and Madi says she can't wait until I can run with her. I can't wait to run with her too!

THE Main Reason for this post is to thank once again the many family and friends who called, came, or offered prayers on our behalf. Most esp. thank you to Joseph's parents and to My parents and sister who without whose help we never would have gotten through the past month. We are truly blessed with amazing parents and siblings!! Also, I wanted to send an encouragement to all of you who check this who I love so much. I know you are all going through your own very difficult trials. At times they seem too much to bear and all you can do is cry. I encourage you to have a good cry, get it out, and then pick yourself up and push through. These things will be for your good as this experience has been for mine. If there is anything I can do to help, please call. I have learned that we are each others angels, and a big, big thanks to those of you who have been my own PERSONAL ANGELS this past month!

Following a Prophet's Counsel

How pleased I was when my children came home from church one Sunday and were insistent that we go to the temple. They told us that their primary teachers had told them that President Monson had asked all the children to go to the temple and touch it and have their picture taken there. They were so excited the day we headed off to heed the counsel and it was really a special moment to see the joy following the prophet brought them. After touching the temple, Joseph headed in to do a session and I took them in to the little waiting area for a few minutes. We discussed what it means to go to the temple and why they needed to wait until they were older. I hope this experience made an impact on them, it sure did on me. I am continually taught by my children's simple obedience.

Beautiful Baby!

Backyard Campout!

The kids were begging to go camping, but with me still recovering and the new baby it just didn't work out this year so we did a backyard campout. It started pouring rain right as we were going to set the tent up so we ate our tin foil dinners inside. But then the rain stopped and we were able to roast marshmallows and get the tent up before the rain started again. Joseph slept inside with the baby and I spent the night in the tent with the kids. We all stayed dry and it was a lot of fun!!

Girls Haircuts!

It took a lot of convincing, but after seeing a picture of Selena Gomez' hair cut, Emma finally decided that she could cut hers too. It has been such a blessing. We have not had one fight over hair this year. Madi also loves her hair cut too!

First Day of School

Family Reunion!

What could be better than a fun filled four days with family? Honestly, four days on the beach in Hawaii would probably be better, but this was a close second. We had a great time visiting family and the kids couldn't get enough of their cousins. It makes me so happy to see how close they all are because that is how I was with my cousins growing up. A big thanks to Joseph's brother and his wife. She has become the older sister I didn't have and we really appreciate them opening their house to us. We had a great time!!

Jackson Hole!

I really didn't want to got with Joseph to CE this year. Madi was sick, Olivia was still so little and I wasn't feeling well. 2 days in a hotel with the 5 of us while Dad was at class didn't sound appealing. And although it wasn't nearly as fun as last year, we still had a good time. We were esp. glad to get to see one close couple from School and meet their new baby.

Besides swimming and shopping and the alpine slide which we did last year, they had added the jumping trampolines. The kids loved them and I couldn't believe how brave Madi was. It was great to see our little 30 pound girl flying up in the air with a huge smile on her face!
Chuck Wagon Dinner as a family

Madelyn doing the trampoline

Taylor and Emma both in different cables!

Olivia's Blessing!!

I know I am very slow in posting this, but I really want to give a big thank you to the family members that traveled for Olivia's big day. Esp. grateful to my grandparents who made the trip out. It was very special to have her dad, grandpa, great grandpa, and uncles in the circle. Mom, thank you for all your hard work on her blessing dress. It is beautiful and something her and I will treasure always.
Joseph's sister and her family made the trip to represent his side and we really enjoyed having them. And to our siblings who endured awful circumstances on the drive back, thanks for making the trip out, sorry the trip back was so miserable!

A Few of Olivia!

Olivia has become one of the family now. She is smiling and it is quite humorous what we will all do to earn one of those smiles. As I was uploading I realized I haven't taken any of her smiling so I will have to post them soon.

She is such a doll and is already sleeping from 10pm-6am at night. She enjoyed the trip to see family, but hated the car rides. She started to get so she would cry when we put her in her car seat. Below are a few pics from the past couple months. One on her blessing day, one with Grandma Katschke at the reuion, and one swimming in Joseph's brother's pool. I let her knowing it is clean and only has had family in it, she loved it and stayed in for about 20 min.