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Cat attack!

A very interesting thing happened to poor Preston today. My brother, Tyler, and I took my boys to the pet store today. We do this pretty often because, unlike me, the boys like animals. I would not be exaggerating to say that we have been to this pet store at least twenty times without incident. We always start out looking at the cats that are in cages awaiting adoption. Today we went in there and Preston went up to one of the cages and said, "Hi, Kitty, hi, kitty, hi, kitty..." in a very sweet 2-year baby voice. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the cat reached out from inside the cage and scratched his eye! I would feel completely different if he had provoked the attack or was bothering the cat, but he was at least 8 inches from the cage and being very sweet. He cried for a second, and then swiftly moved on to the other cats and greeted them just as sweetly as he had the 'mean cat.' He has a couple of scratch marks on his face, but is otherwise fine. And unfortunately for me, he still likes cats. :(

Our Easter weekend

We had a great, adventure-filled, Easter weekend.
Our neighborhood held its own Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. Our nephew, Tyson Spann, joined his cousins for the festivities. It was pretty chilly, but the kids had a good time.
Chandler was given a Blaze hat by his uncle, Devin to keep his head warm. Devin even said he could keep it! Preston got to wear an extra jacket of Tyson's that was in the car. Obviously, Devin and Heidi were more prepared for the cold than we were.
Easter morning, Preston headed out to the backyard to find the eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden in the backyard.
Chandler made a good haul in the backyard.
All cleaned up and ready for church. Easter and Christmas are about the only times that I dress my boys alike.
After church, we went to the Tucker home for a treasure hunt. Melissa's kids (Connor, Jaxon, and Hailey) were also there.
While getting ready for Easter dinner at the Hemmert's, the actual Easter Bunny made an appearance. Chandler and Preston were very excited. Their cousin, Mason, could not take his eyes off of the Bunny. (Probably because someone very close to him was inside the costume!) Joyce also had a really fun treasure hunt for the kids to follow that led them to some fun Easter treats. One of the best parts of day, in my opinion, was the delicious dinner we had, and I forgot to take a picture. Ham, creamed potatoes and peas, homemade rolls, and carrot cake. Yum! It was great to be around all of our local family and share the special day with them.

My gorgeous Mia Maids at D.I.

Last night for our Mia Maid class activity, we took the girls to Deseret Industries for a fashion show. We, of course, had to give them the talk about being respectful towards the store and not offend anyone who is there shopping because they can't afford to shop anywhere else. We learned some awesome facts about D.I. and the service they provide to the public. Then, the girls were set loose to find an outfit to model. The funniest part was that some of the things they were picking out because they were so hideous could have been found in my closet at earlier times in my life. Don't worry, that didn't apply to all of the outfits! My Advisor brought along her video camera and filmed them the whole time. It should make for some fine viewing at a later date. Aren't they adorable! And shy too! :)

Attitude of Gratitude

I've decided to regularly post about things I'm grateful for in an effort to pay better attention to the great blessings I have in my life. I'm going to try to do this often, so if it's been awhile, REMIND ME! Here are the first five...
1. I am very grateful to have a husband who works very hard each day so that I can stay at home with our kids. I know some people choose not to do this, and I truly respect them for their choice. I am always in awe of the amazing balancing act they do. I'm just glad that we have the opportunity to choose what we have chosen.
2. I am grateful that we live so close to both of our families. It truly is a blessing for Chandler and Preston to have grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins so close. It's also very convenient when you need a babysitter in a pinch. :)
3. I'm thankful for our amazing ward. I know a lot of people probably feel this way about their own wards, but it feels so amazing to worship with SO MANY amazing people each week. How did they all end up right here?
4. I am grateful to be serving in the Young Women's organization. I've had a lot of callings before and they have been fine. I've learned a lot and they have all been good experiences. But for some reason, I just LOVE Young Womens. Maybe I'm just 15 at heart and feel like I finally fit in. :)
5. I am thankful for Spring finally starting to make its presence known. My bulbs are just starting to poke through the ground and a couple even have flowers on them!

That's it for now. There are many more, but I'll save those for next time.

Help for a friend

The following post is copied from our friend, Cassie, who used to be Jared's office manager in Sandy.


We love your Guts!
Kidneys especially.

About 5 years ago, Tim was diagnosed with Kidney Failure. We were surprised, but not shocked because 2 of his siblings also have kidney failure and have had to have transplants.

Over the last 5-ish years, Tim has been seeing a nephrologist regularly every 3-6 months as requested by his doctor. They've monitored his B.U.N. and creatinine levels closely and determined late last summer that transplant time was getting close. We then met with a transplant coordinator, social worker, financial coordinator and surgeon. 13 vials of blood were drawn and labs ran. The goal for Tim during this time was to have him ready for transplantation before it became necessary for him to go on dialysis. This included, for us, finding a living donor.

We've talked to many people about donating their kidney to Tim. Not asking anyone specifically, but just throwing it out there so people know what's going on and if it's something they would be willing to do, we'd be willing to take them up on it. So many have said it's something they would think about, and we appreciate SO MUCH that they would even consider it.

At Tim's appointment today, his doctor had his name put on the waiting list for a kidney. Within the next week or so, we'll have the results of his blood work to know if he'll need to start dialysis. (His last labs read that he was at 12% kidney function, dialysis usually starts around 10% funcion.) As he has been feeling pretty good, we're hoping dialysis will be put off for a few more months.

This is where you come in.

Have you seen the billboard on the highway that says something like "Donate a kidney/car to the kidney foundation"? Well, if you've been thinking "hmm... I have this spare car lying around, but I also have a spare kidney.... what to do... what to do..." We'd like to encourage the kidney donation. :)

Here's what you do.

Call Cathy at 801-507-8311 or 801-507-3380.
Cathy is Tim's transplant coordinator. She'll schedule a time for you to get a work up done to see if you're a match for Tim.

What you need to know.

Tim's blood type is A+, however, if you are A+ OR A- you can still be a match. If the sub-grouping is necessary, it will be determined later on.

Recovery time for the donor is 4-6 weeks on average. You would be in the hospital for 5-7 days. You can't drive for 2 weeks or lift anything over 20 lbs for 3 weeks.

Either our insurance or Medicare covers both the donor surgery and the recipient surgery, so there is no out of pocket cost for you.

That's it. So now if you're thinking "I only have one kidney... I'm diabetic... I'm the wrong blood type... I hate hospitals... I'm terrified of needles... Tim? Who's Tim?" I have one more teensy weensy favor to ask to help us out. For all you bloggers out there. Link us! Copy this and post it to your blog, put a link, copy and email to friends and family, whatever. But please help us spread the word and find some new guts for my hubby.

If you do decide to be tested, please e-mail me at tim_and_cas@yahoo.com so we can follow up with the coordinator.

Whew! If ya got through all that, THANK YOU!

Jared's perfect day

Saturday could be described as a perfect day for Jared. It started out with a ski trip to Sundance with Chandler. Jared's parents spent the weekend at a cottage at the Sundance resort for some medical meetings and were able to get them free lift tickets (huge bonus). Chandler's highlight was scoring a new ski helmet. He has been wearing it non-stop since he got it. Even at home.
Experimenting with Dad's poles before hitting the slopes.All set to go. Since Chandler has only skiied a few times, he wears this red harness that connects to some lines that Jared holds. This helps keep him in control while he's learning. He should be ready to ski without it next year.
On the ski lift.
This was taken outside of the cottage where Wynn and Joyce were spending the weekend.
After skiing, Jared and Chandler got to have lunch with Wynn & Joyce. Notice Chandler is still wearing the helmet. :) After returning from skiing, we worked in the yard a little bit trying to get things ready for spring. When evening rolled around, we left the boys in the capable hands of my brother, Tyler and his wife, Amanda. (Thanks again, guys!) I gave Jared tickets to the concert of one of his favorite bands for his birthday in January and it was time to rock out! We actually got the 'middle finger salute' by someone on the freeway on our way up there. We couldn't even figure out why, but it was a good start for a rock 'n roll night.
Jared in front of Linkin Park's tour bus. Note to reader: this is definitely a 'Jared' night. This is his kind of music and not really mine at all.
Self-portrait on Jared's cell phone camera. In case you're wondering, that is an earplug in Jared's ear, not an earing. He used those and I used my noise-reducing headphones to protect our aging eardrums. It worked great and our ears aren't even ringing today.
Linkin Park's ensignia on the rotating screens above the stage.

Live action during the concert. I recorded a little clip on my camera, but haven't been able to get it to upload, so that may be on here in the future. Jared loved rocking out and singing along during the whole thing. Our only complaint was that we had to wait through 2 lesser bands and almost 2 hours before the real show began. I even watched an episode of Friends on my iPod during one of the bands. All in all, it was a fun night out for us!

Easter Bunny

Yesterday, we went to the Provo Town Center Mall to eat dinner at Red Robbin. As we walked in we noticed they had the Easter Bunny there to see kids. Preston has been fascinated with an old picture of a very scared Chandler with an Easter Bunny when he was about 1. I had told him several times that the Easter Bunny was very nice. When he saw the Easter Bunny he bolted right through the line and up to the Bunny (who was trying to take a picture with some other kids) and gave him a big hug and "5" and tried to sit down by him. I took longer than it should to pull him away and wait his turn. Finally, he able to have the Bunny's full attention. The interesting thing about seeing the Easter Bunny as opposed to Santa is that the Easter Bunny doesn't talk. He just waves and gestures. I don't know why kids like him. He's kind of creepy if you ask me. Anyway, this might have to be a tradition like seeing Santa is for us. The kids thought it was great! Grandparents, we have a copy for you!

Family News

My brother, Tyler, dropped by last night with an Easter basket filled with plastic eggs. It also included the following 'riddle.'

Inside each egg was a letter or a number. We had to piece them all together to discover what the big secret was. It was made more challenging by the boys trying to pick eggs and running off with letters. As it turned out, I ended up with an extra 'r' but I figured it out.
Congratulations, Ty and Amanda! We are so excited for you! The boys are thrilled to have another cousin on the way. They, of course, are hoping for a boy! Amanda is very creative (obviously). Check out the cute way they told her family on their blog. Click here.

ABC Tagged

I know what you're thinking. Two 'tagged' posts in a row? All I can say is that I am a responsible person and I can't just ignore it when someone tags me. Don't read if you sick of this stuff. I, personally, think it's kind of fun. :)
A- Attached or Single? Attached
B- Best Friend? Jared and my boys
C- Cake or pie? Both, please! Pie if I have to choose one; specifically my sister-in-law, Natalie's Peach pie!
D- Day of choice? Friday--it's preschool and Jared is usually off.
E- Essential Item? Cell phone
F- Favorite Color? Pink
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms; except when they slither down causing you to almost choke.
H- Hometown? Orem
I- Favorite Indulgence? Bubble bath with a good book
J- January or July? July--Again, I've had it with winter!
K- Kids? Two--Chandler 5 and Preston 2 1/2
L- Life isn't complete without? Beach vacations
M- Marriage date? May 17th-- Norway's National holiday (Syttende Mai!) in honor of Jared's mission
N- Number of brothers and sisters? 1 younger brother and 2 younger sisters
O- Oranges or Apples? Apples-Honeycrisp variety--can't wait til fall!
P- Phobia and fears? Dying and leaving my boys motherless
Q- Quote? "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!" Courtesy of my Grandma Tucker. I most remember this phase as it applied to bring a large black garbage sack (in case of rain) to BYU football games.
S- Season of choice? Spring, Summer and Fall
T- Tag three people? I didn't have the best of luck last time, but I tag Tyler, Heidi and Amy
U- Unknown fact about me? I've never been stung by a bee! (knock on wood)
V- Vegetable? zucchini, summer squash and spinach
W- Worst habit? correcting other people's grammar and spelling
X-Ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y- Your favorite food? Sugar cookies with frosting
Z- Zodiac sign? Virgo

Purse tag

I have been "purse tagged" so here is a picture of my purse with its contents. On the plus side, after dumping everything out, I decided it was time to pull out one of the many purses I have in the basement and switch to a new one for spring. It's even a white one (I know, it's before Memorial Day, but I don't care). If that's not optimism, I don't know what is.This is my purse that has now taken up residence in the basement.
Contents: Costco coupons (essential), make case full of different lipsticks, wallet, checkbook, pen, wadded up Kleenex (gross!), bandaids (essential with 2 boys), camera (just the case as the camera itself is in use), Luau tickets, and boarding passes from our Hawaii trip. There was also some crumbs and a penny that didn't make it into the picture. Everyone else I know who has a blog and would be likely to respond to this has already done it, but I will 'attempt' to tag my sister-in-laws! Amanda, Julie, Heidi, Megan and Natalie, the ball is in your court!

It's done

After last weekend's unsuccessful attempt at finishing the airplane teeter-totter, we were determined to do it this weekend. Friday afternoon, in the very warm 60-degree weather, it was finished! The wings of the airplane are the teeter-totter (if you can't tell from the picture). I think the boys will have lots of fun on it this summer, and I'm sure the first injury (probably Preston) is only days away.