Clones....

Spencer 9 and half months old.....

Ian exactly 10 months old.....

Bryce about 6 and half months old......

For some time now I have been asking Mike to find the pictures of Bryce and Ian when they were little guys. They were on the computer somewhere, but when we bought a new computer, the Vista program wouldn't let us use our Kodack program. Anyhow, by miracle today, Mike was able to find the photos and transfer them to a the program we use now that Vista will recognize. Anyhow, I was looking at their baby pictures and reminiscing, they all look so much alike, and yet I have always thought they looked so different. I thought I would share a few pictures....

A Visit to Santa....

Yesterday, Ian had an appointment at Primary Childrens. Of course we had lots of questions. We asked his doctors if it would be alright to take him out once in awhile so long as he wears his mask and so long as the place we take him is not busy with lots of people. In addition, we have to pull him in his own wagon and he can't get out. They don't want him to touch anything that might be dirty or have germs on it. Anyhow, I have been wanting so bad to take the boys to see Santa, but I had pretty much just decided it wasn't going to happen. So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised and happy I was to get the okay to take him on short errands by following all the rules.

So this morning we got the boys all ready and we left for the Layton Hills mall so that we could be there when Santa got there. The line was short and the mall wasn't super busy yet. We were able to get a picture of all three boys sitting on Santa's lap. I am so happy!

Of course, we can't tell if Ian is smiling under his mask and Bryce looks goofy because just before they took the picture, he was busy eyeballing a HUGE Santa sack full of candy canes to his right. He looks tortured to have to look at the camera. He normally takes such cute pictures. Oh well, I guess we all have a few not so flattering photos of ourselves if we're going to be honest.

This was Spencer's first time visiting Santa and I am so happy that he smiled. Spencer has never gone through the whole stranger anxiety, everyone's his friend. His personality so far is a lot like Bryces'.

Since we got home, Ian keeps asking me when we are going to go see Santa again. It's a HUGE change from last year when we couldn't even get him to sit on Santa's lap.

Thanksgiving....

From Left to Right:
Ashley 12; Stephanie 18; Spencer almost 11months; Bryce 4; Ian 2; & Sean 15

Dave and Stephanie got a hold of the camera

and left us a cute picture

We had a great time at Thanksgiving. Mike's older brother Dave and his family joined us along with their foreign exchange student from Germany. We ate LOTS of food and played games and watched movies. I actually got to go see a movie with the girls. I am so glad they came and I am so happy that Ian stayed healthy. Everyone was so good about washing their hands and keeping things tidy. It was so much fun watching the cousins play. Daves kids are the oldest of the cousins and Mike's and my kids are the youngest. It was neat to watch the older kids play with Bryce and Ian and love on little Spencer. I sure hope the cousins can get together more often.

Mohawk Time....

So Bryce woke up with his hair all messed up and so I decided to do a mohawk. We actually let Bryce go around like this all day. He's such a good sport! By the way if you haven't already noticed, he's preparing to go alien....

Happy Thanksgiving....

Since I am not sure if I will have a chance to write tomorrow, (highly unlikely!!) I wanted to take a moment now to share with all of you some of the things that I am grateful for. I have so much to be grateful for and if I should be required to list everything I would not have space enough here to do it and I am positive that I would not be able to do it complete justice! So I am going to stick with just a few of the most important things to me!
Without overstating the obvious, I am so grateful for my family. Specifically, I am grateful for my husband and my three sweet little boys! I can't imagine how I got so lucky. Despite the fact that I am woefully imperfect, they love me unconditionally! I am grateful for their perfect love. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Anything and everything that is a blessing in my life is as a result of my membership in the true church. I have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament every week, I enjoy temple blessings, I had the priveledge of serving a full time mission, a knowledge of the Plan of Happiness, and plenty of opportunities to serve in the church.
One of the blessings I am grateful for is the power of the priesthood. I have always had faith in priesthood blessings and yet over the last 6 months my testimony has grown, I have witnessed miracle after miracle as a result of worthy men exercising the priesthood power on behalf of Ian. I know without a doubt in my heart, or mind that it is the power of God to heal and to bless, bestowed upon worthy men to act in His name.
I am grateful for loving friends and family who have prayed and fasted for our family. I am grateful to a loving Father in Heaven, who has not left us alone through this scary time. Truly we have not been required to shoulder this burden alone. All of you have carried it with us. Thank you! It would have been unbearable without all of your love, thoughts, prayers, kindness and service. I look forward to the day that Mike and I can be on the other side of the fence, serving and loving others in need and not having to think of this challenge.
I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. I know that They know us individually and that They love us with perfect love. I know that the church is true, that the gospel has been restored in its fulness. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and I am so grateful for my knowledge of the truth. I love you all and I hope you all have a very wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!

No more "Hank".....

Well, Ian finally did it....did what you ask, he yanked his NG tube (aka: Hank) out this morning around 4am. He woke me up calling for me and by the time I got to his bed, he had already thrown up all over his pajamas and his bed. So I turned off the pump (aka: Fred) and held the puke pail for him to finish. Anyhow, when he throws up, his tube usually comes out a little, no big deal I just push it back in... not this morning... it came out quite a bit and as I was trying to gently put it back in, I must have hit a tender spot because he slapped my hand away and yanked the tube all the way out at the same time. I just looked at him and laughed. To be a little honest I am kind of glad to have it out....

Of course I called his doctors this morning and explained what had happened and to my complete delight they said we could see how he does over the next few days without it. I am so happy! He ate really well this morning and when I say really well, I mean for a kid who has undergone chemo and transplant. At any rate, I hope he doesn't have to have the tube put back in. Now all I have to do is convince the doctors they can have his Broviac line (aka: Gertrude) taken out. YAY! That probably won't happen for awhile though. It's amazing how just having the NG tube out has brightened my day.... it's hard to see my little guy walking around with a tube coming out his nose and not think "he's sick".

Bryce

Computer time for Bryce
Bryce all ready for bed after a nice warm bath


Bryce helping grandma Jackson carve a pumpkin

Bryce playing pilot at the Air Museum here on Hill AFB

Pilot in training!

Yesterday, Bryce and I went to see Madagascar 2. The movie was good and the company was even better. It has been so long since I have had the opportunity to go do something with just Bryce. I really enjoy spending time with him, he's becoming so independent and he loves to hold a conversation and he asks tons of questions. What a neat kid! The last six months have been hard on him and he has had to give up so much. He kept asking me yesterday if I was going to take him to school. I love to see his enthusiasm for school and so we talked about it for awhile, why he likes school and why he wants to go. He asked me "Will my teacher love me?" I assured him that his teachers would love him. On the way home from the theater Bryce was quitely singing one of the songs from the movie ("I like to move it move it, you like to move it move it"), he was so quiet about it and so I asked him to sing louder. That is one of the things that I love about him, he loves to sing, and he has a beautiful voice, of course you realize I am biased. He loves to play on the computer at DisneyPlayHouse and he is really good at figuring out how to play the games. One of his favorite activities of late is to go with his grandma Jackson to the Air Museum here on base and try on flight suits and get into the planes. He continues to have a TON of energy and is all over the place, laughing and running and most of the time not following directions. Sometimes I wonder if he will ever learn to follow directions the first time...??? Most of all I love to see him playing with his brother Ian and asking me if he can hold Spencer. He loves being a big brother. I remember when I was pregnant with him, I asked Heavenly Father to bless me with a little boy with a great sense of humor, and I got it. He has a great sense of humor and more often than not he cracks himself up. LOL! To Bryce everyone is his friend, while I love that he is not shy, I certainly hope that he learns stranger danger. I am so blessed to have Bryce as my little boy and I love him so much!