Twist 'em like a pretzel, show 'em how to wrestle, S-J-H!!!

I have to start this post by saying....AHHHHHHH, I have a teenager!

My perfect little 7 lb, 3 oz blue-eyed, blond haired baby boy turned 13

on February 18., and I'm seriously thinking "Where has the time gone???"! He is such a great kid and has the biggest heart, and this mom could not be any prouder of the man he is becoming. So....this post is all about HIM!

Haden made the Syracuse Jr. High wrestling team, and their first meet was on his birthday! When they started, he was weighing in at about 109-110 lbs. We were thinking going into it that, being a 7th grader, he would be wrestling JV, but the Varsity team didn't have a wrestler in the 115 weight class. So...Haden decided to step things up a notch and wrestle VARSITY and wrestle up in weight class to 115 lbs. Any of you who talked to us during the season or read my facebook know how his willingness to "take one for the team" so to speak turned out. Not once, in all his matches did he wrestle anyone younger than NINTH GRADE! He ended up only winning 2 of his regular season matches and 1 of his North End tournament matches. We felt alot of disappointment, discouragement, and him mom shed alot of tears on his behalf! LOL! So yes, this year's wrestling season was a hard one, but trust me when I say he gave it EVERYTHING he had and next year, he is going to RULE that wrestling mat!!!! I am so proud of him for sticking to it and not giving up, for never once complaining about practice everyday after school and 6 a.m. practices on Fridays (his mom, however, complained about those), never complaining about being tired, sore, or burned out. I am so proud of you Haden and I love you so much!

This pic is at the first meet on his birthday:

Warming up...
Warm up wrestling before the last meet:
Just before taking the mat at the North End Tournament and
getting some last minute advice from dad...

More of North End...

Ok...this pic is blurry because I was screaming and shaking

the camera. He pinned this kid just a few seconds after I took

the picture! Yay!

YARD SALE!!!!!

In my previous post, I talked about my friend Jordan and her husband Thomas and his fight with cancer. On March 26 and 27, we are having a yard sale to raise money for Thomas' Recovery Fund. It will be at 2046 N. Fort Lane in Layton in the parking lot of Robert Love Heating and Air Conditioning. If you have anything you would like to donate to be sold, let me know and I can come pick it up or you can bring it on Friday morning to the sale. Or you can just come and support the yard sale on either or both of those days. Thomas started radiation this week and has to go 5 times a week for 6 1/2 weeks. He is doing awesome and has also returned to work for a few hours a day. If you want to read more of their story and see pictures, go to www.thomasroadtorecovery.blogspot.com

Thomas Kammeyer Recovery Fund

Hey everyone...This is my friend Jordan and her husband Thomas. This past week, Thomas was diagnosed with Sarcoma cancer of an unknown origin. He is scheduled for the first of what I'm sure will be several surgeries next week. As many of you know, cancer treatments get VERY expensive even with insurance. I am asking all my friends and family and anyone else who may read this to PLEASE help if you can.
We have a friend who is organizing a silent auction and the proceeds will go to help pay for Thomas' medical bills. If you have anything you would like to donate to be auctioned off or for more info, please visit this blog http://www.mikeyandlouie.blogspot.com/ .
There is also a donation account set up for Thomas at any Wells Fargo Bank under his name, Thomas Kammeyer. Jordan has also created a blog that tells their story and gives all the auction and donation information. That blog is http://www.thomasroadtorecovery.blogspot.com/ .
I want to thank you all for reading this and for any help you might be able to give, and if nothing else, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Jordan and Thomas are part of an amazing family that means so much to me. I have worked with her mom for about 14 years at Tanner Clinic, and Jordan even worked there at one time too.

A Rough Week...

So, we've had a really rough week at our house. Last weekend, Cody decided he wanted to clean our garage so he could start exercising out there again on his machine. We had the boys that weekend, so they were out there helping. The girls and I were watching Little Mermaid in the family room. I heard a crash and alot of commotion, but thought nothing of it ( I just figured they dropped something), until Haden came running through the door and said Cody had fallen off the ladder and I needed to come. I ran to the door and saw Cody trying to stand up. His face was white as a ghost and he looked at me and said, "My arm is broke!". Me being the stupid person I am, said "Are you sure??". With a couple of choice words, he informed that yes, he was sure and to find someone to take the kids so we could go to the hospital. I called his dad to come take him while I found someone to take all 4 kids. I ended up taking them down to Farmington to my sister, Michelle's house, who I am so grateful to because she ended up having them until 8:00 that night and even brought them home for me. When I got to the hospital, Cody was already flying high on morphine and had been xrayed and I was informed that he actually broke BOTH ARMS!!!!! They told me that the Orthopedic Dr on call was on his way to look at the xrays and would decide what to do.

Well, on his right arm, it is his elbow that is broke. It is broke right in the joint so they decided not to cast it because the sooner Cody starts moving it and using it the better or it will become arthritic. His left arm, however, wasn't as minor. After over 2 hours of surgery to put 5 pins in, he ended up staying overnight in the hospital because they couldn't get his pain under control and his blood pressure kept going way high. He is off work for a few weeks, but may be able to go back on light duty sooner depending on his right elbow. The pins will be in for 4-6 weeks. He's praying they come out before the end of December because he has a cow elk hunting tag he wants to be able to use.

I ended up taking the week off of work to play nurse and take care of the girls. I have always known that Cody does alot around here as far as housework, and helping with the girls, but after having to do EVERYTHING myself this week, I now know just HOW MUCH he really does. I think he's been a little humiliated at some of the things I've had to do for him and he is starting to go a little crazy at being cooped up at home. I want to thank everyone who has taken, or offered to take and help out with our girls this week, and for everyone who brought meals in. I felt bad taking meals because I'm the one who cooks and I'm not injured, but I really have been stressed out and had alot to deal with this week, so THANKYOU!

Despite Cody's mishap, I was still able to go to the midnight showing of 'New Moon' on Thursday night thanks to his sister who came over to babysit him and the kids. THANKS COURTNEY! I really did need some time away to regroup, and it was nice to spend some time with my sisters, some friends and my nieces!

He's really not able to "hold" or "cuddle" the girls, but Maycie is now allowed to SIT AND HOLD STILL on daddy's lap as long as she is careful and doesn't touch his arms. Sydnie looks at him and gets excited, wanting him to take her and then gets sad when he doesn't :(

But on a lighter note...Our Sydnie is now 4 months old. At her well check, she weighed 16 lbs, 3 oz. and was 24 inches long. Yes, she is a fat little girl! She is such a little sweetie, very laid back and really doesn't fuss unless she is hungry or tired. We just love her to pieces!

Halloween!!

We had a very fun Halloween at our house. It's always fun when Halloween falls on the weekend because then the celebrating lasts for more than one day with parties at school and stuff. I took last Thursday off and helped with Gage's class party, it was a little weird to only have 1 class to help in now that Haden is in Jr. High. Then on Friday, I took the girls and Gage up to my work in their costumes for my department Halloween potluck. Then on Saturday, I made soup and rolls and had Cody's family over, then we did the trunk-or-treat in our neighborhood and then went up to Grandma and Grandpa Bennett's for my mom's Best ever Beef Stew. It was really a great few days around here!

My "trunk-or-treaters"...

Maycie was a pumpkin witch and here she is with her "punkins"...
Sydnie ended up wearing 2 different costumes. Here she is as my 'lil lion at my work potluck with my niece, Amber...

And here she is as my "Syd-er Bear". We have said ever since she was born that we wanted her to be a bear for Halloween because she does this little growl that sounds like a baby bear cub. ..

Here is the BYU Coug's. Gage and my nephew, Daxton. Their uniforms were so cute, they even had their last names on the back...

And here's the group with Grandma and Grandpa Bennett...Haden wanted to be something scary, so he got that clown mask and wore a black cape. My nephew Logan was a BYU fan, Boston was a garden gnome, and Tate was Dash from the Incredibles.

And another group shot with my brother, Steve's, kids. Colter was Zorro, Camrie was Little Bo Peep, and Cashe was a spider...