I had taken the kids to Carl's Jr for lunch and a play date with my friend Melissa and her kids. I had fed the kids before we went because they are never ending pits. I also got them chicken nuggets and fries with drinks when we got there. Kendra came up to ask me if she could have some more fries. I told her no because she has had enough to eat. Needless to say when I wasn't looking she got into my purse and took my credit card and ordered herself more french fries. I was SHOCKED!!! Not that Kendra would steal my credit card, but that Carl's Jr would accept it from a child. When kids want something they will do whatever they can to do it. I was really stern with Kendra at the time. But when she walked away from her timeout Melissa and I couldn't help but laugh. It was very funny!! Good thing it was only a couple of dollars. I think she learned her lesson.

Courtney had her MASSIVE birthday party. She was really worried about not inviting someone and hurting their feelings. So the list grew to around 32 kids. There was only one kiddo that didn't come. I was surprised that everyone came. I was counting on about half the kids not showing up. We normally do pizza, but Courtney hates pizza and our family was really into soup. So I suggested that we make homemade soup and tomato soup. Then we added more to that. The once small planned party slowly turned into a LARGE event. We couldn't just have soup for the soup we needed to have bread bowls. Then Courtney's favorite things I've been making a lot of is banana bread and pumpkin chocolate cookies. So we took two days of baking to make her favorites. She was in heaven baking with me. The kids were so excited for Courtney's birthday, they talked about it for weeks before it happened. It turned out so good for everyone and Courtney had a great time. Jake and I were exhausted. He was such a big help through the whole party. It was a group effort. I think he knew how much I needed his help and didn't even need to ask, he just jumped right in. He was even great about getting all Courtney's favorite music on an Ipod for dancing. After the party was over I asked Courtney if she had a good time and if she ate a lot of food. She said that she had a great time, but never ate anything. I was a bit mad about that, but knew she was busy with all of her friends.

The girls are slowly getting over their surgeries and getting stronger everyday. Their physical therapist is planning on taking the girls swimming in about 3 weeks. That will be when the girls incision can be submerged. The prosthetics can be submerged and that is the reason they are going to start with the swimming.

Justin and Austin just finished soccer, we were proud of how hard they tried, but they really weren't that into it. So we got a flier about a wrestling class they could take, so we thought why not have them do something they do everyday anyway, over and over and over and over. So they started wrestling this week. I don't think they knew how hard they were going to work. The coach had them do 100 pushups during practice, and showed them actual wrestling moves. They really liked it. Jake helped coach their little group. One of the kids in their group started hitting another one while they were wrestling, so Jake had to make sure he knew that was not allowed. We will try it for a month and see how well they like it.

Jake and I were also going to the BYU vs Wyoming football game the day after the party. It was freezing and there are two things I hate, being cold and football. So as you can understand I wasn't excited for this date. We dressed warm and headed off for the hour drive to Lavell Edwards Stadium. Jake has to get there an hour and a half before the game starts so that we don't hit traffic. I started getting sick in the car, I hadn't eaten and was so exhausted from the day before, things just weren't going my way. We finally get to Orem and I'm very sick. We stop to get some food because I'm sure that's why I wasn't feeling well. We got parked and ate in the car. The rain and wind was really heavy, but my stomach was feeling much better. We bundled up and started walking toward the stadium. Before every game there is an alumnus that will come and talk for the pre-game. It's just happened to be in a really warm room with nice bathrooms. We warmed-up and waited for the game to start. We had blankets that turned into ponchos, but really have never used them before. But this day we had to use them. Jake was so sweet!! We were sitting in the pre-game room and he wrapped me up with these blankets and making sure I was warm. He even told me how glad he was that I come with him to these games, and how he knows that I hate football. It was incredible to have such a great man making me feel like I'm his world. It was a great day to freeze. We had a great time.

We have also tried to have cheaper ways to have our date nights. We have a place called Hopekids that is a life saver for our family, but there was recently a event for the parents to go learn how to ballroom dance. Jake doesn't really enjoy dancing, but he knows how much I love it. So he RSVPed for this event. It was such a fun night with other adults that have children that are sick or dying. It was really fun to meet these neat parents. The parents of Ellie were there, and we learned about their challenges. They told us that there little girl was diagnosed with cancer when she was 2 months old and when she was 6 months old they found out that she has a bad heart and needs a transplant. Ellie is 2 years old now and they have been through so much with her. Many times almost loosing her. What an amazing couple that have stuck together through thick and thin. Ellie is unable to have chemotherapy or radiation because of her heart, so I'm not sure how they are going to help her. But the paren'ts faith will help them and their family through. It was neat to share our story with them and to hear theirs as well. Life is so short and hard at times, but if you have a strong enough support you can make it through anything. Thanks to Hopekids for making life easier and finding support through other parents.