A Few of My Favorite Boston Sayings

"It's just not possible."

"Hey Baby. What's goin' on?" (When talking to Hadley)

"I'm Bob." (Apparently he has two identities.)

He is one funny 2 year old.

Smile

Smile. You never know whose day you just might change for the better.

Farm Fun

My Mom and I decided to venture out and enjoy the Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point since they were offering 2 dollar tuesdays. I think EVERYONE decided to do the same thing! Although it was packed with people, we still had a lot of fun! The worst part was when Boston decided that the animal feed looked like a great snack! YUCK!

A Neat Story

This story is about my friends daughter and son. It was in the Standard Examiner, and I just had to share it.

Sister gives kidney, is crowned pageant winner
RUTH MALANStandard-Examiner correspondent

FRUIT HEIGHTS -- There was no doubt in Mallory Wahlstrom's mind that she should be the one to donate a kidney to her older brother, Andy Wahlstrom.

On Aug. 7, doctors performed the transplant. Eight days later, the 20-year-old Mallory was crowned Miss Kaysville-Fruit Heights.

Her platform for the pageant? The importance of organ donation.

Now a sign welcoming the "Kidney Kids" home hangs on the front door of the Wahlstrom home. It has been less than two weeks since the siblings underwent surgery, but they are both active and doing amazingly well.

"It has been a long year for me, but it has a good ending," said Andy, a 30-year-old marathon runner and Davis High world and U.S. history teacher.

In January of this year, his kidneys began to fail. Then in April, they did fail.
"It happened so slowly I forgot what it felt like to feel normal," Andy said.

Eventually he began kidney dialysis, which he describes as "a way to keep people in end stage kidney failure alive. It is not a way of living; life expectancy is cut in half."
For four hours every other day, he was attached to the dialysis machine. The family knew Andy needed to have a kidney transplant.

"Norm and I wanted to be matches," said Andy's mother, Margaret. "We were broken-hearted we couldn't."

Norm has the wrong blood type and Margaret is diabetic.

Although Andy has six siblings, including an older brother with the same blood type, Mallory felt strongly that she must be the donor. She was attending college in Arizona at the time.

Her prayer

"It was hard for me to be away," said Mallory, so she began doing research on renal failure and kidney transplants. Then she prayed about her brother and became determined to donate a kidney.

"I prayed about it for months. I knew I was going to be the donor, I didn't know my blood type or anything," Mallory said. "My dad didn't want me to be tested. He thought my older brother should be. I was the last in line. I wanted him to take me seriously."

So Mallory went to Ogden Regional Medical Center, where her dad is a pathologist, and had her blood typed.

There are 12 antigens in the blood. If six of the main ones match, doctors consider it a perfect match. Mallory and Andy matched in all 12, said Margaret.

"The doctor said he had never seen it before," Mallory said. "I knew they would tell me I was a match, but I was a perfect match, so I was really excited.

"I walked into my dad's office to tell him I had the right type. It took a while to get him on board."

As soon as she got the results she called Andy, who was getting dialysis at the time. Both began crying after hearing the good news.

"I am blessed to have a sister notice my sickness and want to help," Andy said.

The pageant
As Mallory was beginning her path towards donating a kidney, her sister, Mary Ann, suggested she compete in the Miss Kaysville-Fruit Heights scholarship pageant.
"I had never put much thought into it, but I went to the orientation meeting to appease my sister," Mallory said. "After one workshop I was sold -- it was so much fun."

But her hopes of being in the pageant were almost dashed when the surgery was performed just a week before the pageant.

Andy woke up after the surgery feeling like a changed man. "I woke up in ICU and I already felt better. It is like I am alive again," Andy said.

But Mallory's experience wasn't quite the same. There were complications and a nest of tiny blood vessels were accidentally cut. After the laproscopic surgery came an open surgery and more to recover from. Everything seemed to go wrong. Her airway collapsed.

"When a girl from the pageant came to see me in ICU on Sunday, I told her there was no way I could do it," Mallory said. "I have never experienced such pain, but it was such a small price to pay."

Mallory and her brother shared a hospital room after the procedure.
"One night I couldn't sleep and I was nauseated and afraid to throw up," said Mallory. But she stumbled to the sink and began to vomit. "Andy got out of bed and I could hear him pulling the IV cart. He put his arms around me with a pillow in front of me and held me. He was so weak. ... He was taking care of me."

Her platform
On Thursday night Mallory was still throwing up. Friday morning, she felt she could eat something and keep it down, so she went to the pageant dress rehearsal.
"She wanted to do it to promote her platform," said Andy.

During the competition, Mallory tried to stand up straight and not show the pain she was in. She had practiced her talent number on the harp at home and felt she could do it on stage, but having the weight of the harp against her body was more difficult than she had anticipated. In spite of it, she won the talent trophy along with interview, evening wear, platform and Miss Congeniality.

At the age of 16, Mallory had marked "undecided" on the organ donor question on her driver's license application. "It freaked me out," she said. Now she knows the importance of organ donation and wants to teach others about it.

"It is not just marking 'yes' on your license. More people need to realize the need is so great for living donors," she said, adding that a living kidney has a life expectancy that is twice as long as a cadaver kidney. "The biggest reason people don't become donors is education. There is an option for living donors."

Mallory is working with Intermountain Donor Services to educate people on transplants. Her first official appearance as Miss Kaysville-Fruit Heights will be this weekend, where she will help at a fundraiser for a child who needs a kidney transplant.

This week Andy is getting his classroom ready for the beginning of school, although he will need to wear a mask in the classroom because of his weakened immune system.

"I never thought my position could make a difference. I never saw this in my future," Mallory said.

Precious Moments

It's moments like these that I just love being a Mom. Boston is so cute with Hadley. He loves to feed her, and the other day he actually put her to sleep for me!

On Saturday Boston wanted to "sleep" in the crib with Hadley! They were having' a serious party in there!

Hadley makes so many funny faces now!! She is getting to be so fun!

I had to include this picture. Boston totally posed for me! (Rare occasion anymore) He seriously cracks me up everyday. Lately he has been giving "Man Hugs" where he pats our backs when he gives us a hug. It is so hilarious.

A few Things

First of all I am sorry for the huge amout of posts I did today. I had some catching up to do!

Second- I am so excited to post I am doing a 5K with my friend Jennie! We are dragging each other along as we prepare! If you have any advice for us, please leave us a comment!

Third - I can't believe Hadley is 3 months old!

Fourth- I have been without a kitchen for two weeks now and I am going CRAZY!!! It will be worth it in the end! Goodbye 70's yellow!

Fifth- Our blog will be private on September 12th. See the right hand side for details.

That's all of my random things for the day!

Happy 4th Anniversary! (Yesterday!)

We celebrated our 4th anniversary yesterday!! We had a fantastic time being kids again at Cherry Hill. We mini-golfed, did batting cages, and did all the water slides! We then spent the night in Park City, and enjoyed shopping at the outlets the next day! To bad I forgot the camera! It was so nice to have some time together without the kids. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

These pictures are for Jennie, and Nikki, and everyone else who doesn't believe that I had a ding-dong wedding cake. I did, and it was the best cake EVER!

--- Our wedding pictures were taken by Amy who now lives in Texas! So all you Texans (I know there are at least two of you) check out JD Portraits on the right side of the blog under Friends Business' She does an amazing job, and she is super fun to work with.

Good Friends, and a Giant Ice Cream Cone

On Monday I was able to go to lunch with my good friends Emily and Tricia. It is always fun to spend time with them! It's crazy to think we have known each other for 16 years!

While at lunch I order Boston a single scoop waffle cone. Little did I know it was going to be a GIANT ice cream cone for the little guy! He didn't mind the size.

Bartender

Some days I feel like a bartender. I serve drinks all day. Formula, whole milk, chocolate milk (shakin' not stirred!), juice, and water. Then its time for another round.

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Last Saturday, we got together with some of my Dad's side of the family. It was fun to see some Aunts, Uncles, Cousin's and some long lost relatives from Arizona! While we were at the park the wind was just perfect for flying kites!

Boston LOVED seeing his Lightening McQueen kite go higher and higher!

He did a really good job of always holding on to the string and never let it go!

While my nephew Logan was flying the kite I said "Logan your kite is flying crazy!" He responded "Well, that's because I'm crazy!"

Mason also joined in all the fun! I usually think of flying a kite as a spring activity, but we enjoyed the perfect summer night to fly a kite!

Watering the Garden?

Last night, I thought it was taking Jeremy a REALLY long time to water the garden. When I went outside to see what he was up to, I found he was watering Boston instead!
My boys sure have a lot of fun together!

Boston was SOAKING wet, and shivering COLD, but all SMILES!

Websites to Check Out

On the right side of my blog I have a section labeled Websites To Visit. (although some are blogs) I wanted to highlight a few of those sites today.



Bargain Crazy --- My Sister-in-law created this blog to share all of the amazing deals she finds! Visit there today to get a free Red Box Movie, find out about 2 dollar days at Thanksgiving Point, and much,much more!


EZ Food Storage --- This is my Mom's ward's food storage plan. They are really trying to make food storage easy. They give you a grocery list of what to buy each month, and recipes too! Right now there focus is on getting your 3 months supply. It really is EZ!

Give Away Today --- This blog gives something pretty awesome away, EVERYDAY! I have yet to win, but I love seeing all the fun products and companies around... and hopefully someday I will win something great!

S.M.M.A.R.T. ---This is a Mom's blog where she shares fun ideas to help kids learn Science, Math, Music, Art, Reading, and Time-Out for skills.

SugarDoodle- This site is wonderful for LDS members. It has fantastic ideas for lots of different callings in the church! I use it a lot for primary. If you scroll down on the left hand side, they have a section called Free Clipart. Under that title you will find Sugardoodle clipart. If you click on that it opens up to you hundreds of great pictures. They seriously have a picture for everything!

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For you Primary Chorister's out there, these two sites are FANTASTIC!

JollyJenn's --- She has flip charts already created for 150 plus songs. This is so great when you don't have time to prepare anything yourself!

The Crazy Chorister --- She has some great, fun, ideas. Some are a little overwhelming, but some are really fun.

What websites/blogs do you enjoy the most?

Silly Boston

Earlier tonight, Boston picked up a rock and held it high in the air and proudly said "I am a Rock Star!" He cracks me up.

My turn to pitch!!

A few nights ago we were able to go watch a game of baseball! We had so much fun! Boston kept trying to go down the stairs saying "My turn to pitch!" He was convinced he could play! Even though they lost, it was a great way to spend a sumemr night!

My cute parents!

Us

Nephew Mason and I

Big Blue Eyed Miss Hadley

3 of the grandkids riding the train with their Grandma!

My 200th Post = Hadley's Special Day

This past Sunday Jeremy had the opportunity to bless Hadley. Our ward won't let us bless children unless it is a fast Sunday, so in order to accommodate my family, we ended up doing it in our home. Jeremy gave a little thought before the blessing which I loved and thought I would share;

"E. T. Sullivan once wrote these interesting words: “When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.”

"And those babies, I should like to add, will become forces for good or ill, depending in large measure on how they are reared. The Lord, without equivocation, has declared, “I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40). If I may be pardoned for suggesting the obvious, I do so only because the obvious is not observed in so many instances. The obvious includes four imperatives with reference to children: (1) love them, (2) teach them, (3) respect them, and (4) pray with them and for them."

---Gordon B. Hinckley, “These, Our Little Ones,” Liahona, Dec 2007, 2–7

What a huge responsibility I have to raise my two beautiful children in righteousness.

I am overwhelmed by that responsibility, but I am also so blessed to have that responsibility. I feel so lucky to be a mother.

It was a fantastic day celebrating how special Hadley is. It was great to be able to celebrate it with some of our family.

Our Family

Rogers Family

Garner Family

Hadley's Grandma and Grandpa Rogers

Hadley's Grandma and Grandpa Garner

Boston LOVES parades, but HATES fireworks!

We had a fantastic time at the parade!

Boston enjoyed the view of the parade from Grandpa's Lap.

Boston enjoyed playing with all of his cousins before the fireworks stared, but the instant they started he was screaming, and crying, and shaking he was so scared. So Jeremy and Boston watched the fireworks from the car. I hope he can get over the fear by next year, because I love firework shows! As for Hadley she loved the parade, and slept through the fireworks!

Jeremy and I also got to go golfing. It was my first time out this year. I forgot how much I love that sport!

What a fantastic Pioneer Day!

I love...

I love when Boston uses his imagination and the whisks become hot air balloons,

or his hamper becomes his robot costume.

I love when Boston hides in the pantry, and pops out saying "Peek-A-Boo!"

I love when Boston gets a toy and runs to the other room to show it to Hadley.

I love the random pictures Boston takes of Hadley... and of his feet! I love that Hadley is so smiley, and starting to be entertained by toys!

I love when Jeremy comes home and takes the kids out onto the deck while I cook dinner. I love watching Jeremy ask Boston all about his day.

I love what an amazing father Jeremy is to our 2 kids, and what a fantastic husband he is too!