Day for Judge!

April 7th was a day that Ryan and I have been nervously looking forward to for a while. Ryan's boss Craig Day announced that he would be running for judge around November? October? I don't remember, but awhile ago. At first Ryan and I were pretty nervous, we didn't know what that would mean for our family, would Ryan still have a job if Craig won? Once we found out that Ryan's other boss Eric DEFINITELY wanted Ryan in his new firm we were on board! The "reigning" judge (I say that because he let the power go to his head) is, well, a jerk. Since we moved here I had heard about this particular judge from Ryan. We were so glad someone was running against him! And even happier that it was Craig. I have been so impressed with him since we moved here and knew he would make an EXCELLENT judge!

April 7th came and Ryan and I voted and I bugged all my friends to see if they voted. That night Coreina came over and watched the kids and Ryan and I got to go to the Day campaign party! This was SO cool. I had never been to a political party before. It was at a local restaurant, Dolittles. There was a live band, drinks, snacks, and of coarse a TON of Day supporters! It was cool to see all the people that were there to support Ryan's boss, and a little intimidating. I only knew Ryan and the people in his office. We ended up sitting in the right (or wrong-depending on how the night was going to go) place and were put on board duty.
Craig's children would periodically come in with the news as different precincts reported their votes. They would come to us (we'd get to hear first!) and we'd write it on the board, cheering or booing would occur. It was a lot of fun and very nerve wracking! We wanted Day to win SOOO badly!
Craig and Tess Day talked to the group through out the night



This is the scoreboard total AFTER Platteville's votes were in (Platteville was Curry's strong hold). So VERY encouraging news, but we still weren't sure.



If you can't read it, it say's
DAY curry
2541 2029

Here's Craig checkin out all the numbers! (He was so nervous)



The next set, still without Lancaster's votes (Craig's strong hold)-feeling a little more confident at this point.



DAY curry
3526 2373

And FINALLY Lancaster's votes come in!



DAY curry
5650 3694
in the city of Lancaster Craig won by a HUGE margin
830 192!

At this point we knew CRAIG DAY WON!!!!!!

So exciting! We are so proud of him!

Here he is giving a speech after just finding out he won



And here's the crowd listening. The teenager in the red shirt with the blue hat is one of his sons.



And us just after we got home (almost 11 on a Tuesday night!) from the party.



We had a great time and are so proud of Craig. He will be an EXCELLENT judge and grant county will truly benefit from this.


Soo, a few weeks into this. What does this mean for us? ALL good news! We get a better judge (but not until August) Ryan gets more cases that will be handed down to him, the new firm will be in the same place as the old, Ryan has a job-no worries. I'm so glad that everything turned out well. If Craig hadn't won, it would have been bad for the firm, the old judge would have punished him for running. He really was a tyrant. I'm so glad his "reign" is almost over!

Sunbeams

You gotta love Sunbeams (the 3-4 year old class at our church).
Kaitlyn has been working on the song I Love To See The Temple. It is hilarious to listen to her sing it. Ryan was working with her one night and I couldn't stop laughing. She is so cute. We took a video, but she was getting a little wound up by then. The first half though she does it. Too funny.

Daily life

Had to get this picture of Logan up. How can you not smile at that!



We love Pineapples




Reading books




Family shot (Mindy did this once with her family and we loved it! This is our second family picture like this)



Logan has been the easiest to make laugh out of all our children. It is WONDERFUL. He giggles and full belly laughs all the time. We LOVE it. Here's one we got on video.

"Yes Dear" A Father's Vindication, From Ryan

The wise counsel of my father received apostolic vindication today. For years my father has been wisely teaching his sons that the most important phrase in marriage is not, “I love you.” Oh no, the most important phrase in marriage is, “YES DEAR.” In spite of the rolling eyes of my mother, sisters, and wife. In spite of the laughs and chuckles my father, brother, and I share. In spite of the reactions of “Whatever” and “Yeah right” we receive from the woman in our families upon repeating this phrase; the sagely advice from my father has carried on to the next generation.

In the past, when I have prepared to go into the proverbial dog house, or have tried to get out of it, I too have wisely exclaimed with a smirk on my face, “YES DEAR”, to my own beloved wife. No longer can she react with a role of the eyes and a sarcastic look, for I now have apostolic authority to declare those immortal and eternal words.

Today Elder Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles preached the same advice. Our family attended a regional stake conference broadcast in which Elder Oaks told the sisters in the congregation to write down the following four phrases that he stated their husbands needed to say to their wives more often. He stated that these phrases were sound marital advice. Those phrases were:

1. I love you
2. I’m Sorry
3. ****Yes Dear****
4. We Can’t afford it

So to you dear and wise Father, I and Shawn salute you, honor you, and marvel at your wisdom and foreknowledge before it was preached by an apostle. May the words of “YES DEAR” ever bring peace and humility to the hearts of the men in our homes. May I, as a father in Zion, raise my sons in the correct ways and ensure that they too carry this key of martial bliss with them to their own eternal unions. And, may we always remember that, “IF MAMMA AIN’T HAPPY, AIN’T NOBODY HAPPY.”

Mom, Mindy and Katrina, you now have apostolic permission to accept this kind phrase from your husbands.

Fun, random

After that last post, we need some fun and random pictures!

Logan's first time falling asleep in his high chair. Too cute!




Here we go for random.
I opened up the cheese drawer in the refrigerator and found this from Kaitlyn. She cracks me up! She has been saving her pictures in lots of random places lately, but this one was the best.



And for some mischief (we always have plenty of that!).
I bought a sandwich cutter. The kids thought that was really fun, but it was dinosaurs (boring, apparently) so out came the cookie cutters. The girls are loving their shaped bread. Even if it's just a slice of bread it needs to be a flower, heat, butterfly etc. Well one day the girls were really quiet and playing nicely. It was wonderful and I needed the break so I didn't investigate as quickly as I could have. This is what I found. Half a loaf of bread.






I did some quick math (1/2 of a $ is) .50 cents. That's all the damage. While I hate to see food wasted, I figured this (as a one time thing) was ok. I usually let Kaitlyn get a slice of bread for her and her sister as a snack, they just went a little overboard this time!

Emily

Ugh. I don’t even know how to start this one.
Starting out in November probably, Emily started having issues with balance. She went from walking normally to gradually falling more and more. It got to the point that it was ridiculous, then it got to the point were it was frustrating and annoying. During this time she had her 18 mo check up. This was when the balance was just starting to go, so I thought she had an ear infection. Nope. No ear infection. So I wasn’t sure what to do. There wasn’t anything wrong (i.e. temperature, vomiting, aches and pains) with her, she just kept falling. So it kept getting worse and worse. It got to the point where one morning I counted and in 2 hours she had fallen down 5 or 6 times. That was one of the worst days, but she was constantly falling, at least 3 times a day. I knew it wasn’t an ear infection, but I wasn’t sure if you could take a toddler to the doctor for falling over. I finally gave in and took her. I was SO glad that I did. Our doctor was really great. She listened to my concerns and took me seriously. The main reason I went in was the balance, but there were a few other things I was worried about. She was getting more and more sedate. At first I thought she was just being shy, but then one night we were at home and Em was acting NORMAL. Running around playing and talking with her sister and I COULD NOT remember the last time I’d seen her do either. She was making weird grunting noises, and the weirdest was her spacing out. Sometimes I’d be talking to her, holding her and she would be responding, then all of a sudden she would stop. Nothing. I would have to snap or clap before she would respond again.
So the doctor said she had fluid in her ears, which could cause the balance problems. She prescribed some allergy medicine and she was concerned about the spacing out. So an EEG was ordered. We had to wait a couple of weeks before the EEG. Those were some nerve racking weeks.
My friend Coreina watched Kaitlyn while Ryan and I took Emily (and Logan came with) to get the EEG. I was so glad Ryan was there. He is really good at keeping me calm. So we get there and wait in the waiting room forever. –Oh and I was thinking an EEG was the big tube thing, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to be in there with her and she would be claustrophobic. So they take us back to a small room and it was MUCH less intimidating than I thought. The tech was very nice and explained everything she was doing. She washed Em’s face with a special soap. Then measured and marked Emily’s head where she was going to put the electrodes. Then she glued all the electrodes to Emily.
Emily did an AMAZING job. Most kids her age get really mad and fight her off. Emily just sat on my lap and hugged me. She didn’t like her touching her, but it didn’t hurt so she let her. The hardest part was the gluing. Em couldn’t sit on my lap anymore, she had to lay down (the wires are only so long). I just kind of leaned over her so she could hold on while the tech worked. Right after the tech glued the last electrode Emily fell asleep! I couldn’t believe she just conked out, which actually was what she needed to do. Here’s Em sleeping during the EEG.




The tech monitored Em for about an hour while she slept and then we woke her up. This was the hardest part. Right after waking up she flashed a bright light in Em’s eyes a few times. Emily didn’t like that. Then she had to get all the electrodes out of Em’s hair. Emily was a trouper though. It was a long process, and uncomfortable, but she did it. Afterwards the tech gave her a sucker and that made it all better!

So a week and a half later we got the results (aren’t you glad you didn’t have to wait!-you get to read the results right away) and she is normal, no seizure activity! Yea!

Also the allergy medicine seems to have worked. It took awhile, but Em can actually walk across the room with out falling down. It’s wonderful! And she’s no longer a zombie. She is talking and playing and much happier. No more space cadet. No more weird grunting. She seems to be back to normal. Although there are some moments I wouldn’t mind the zombie. Em’s going to be 2 soon and is definitely hitting the terrible two’s.

Grumpy Emmy

3 Babies in a tub

How cute is this. I was worried at first, but Logan sits really well and the girls were good with him. HALLELUJAH!! We are past the scary baby bath stage!
They are never all looking at the same time.



We were outside playing and Kaitlyn posed and SHE asked for her picture to be taken. This is what I got. lol.





I had a birthday party the girls were invited to and I decided to try making something new. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. This was my first attempt. I think I will make one each for the girls for their Easter baskets. It was SUPPER easy too.




A princess wand. Mya, a friend of Kaitlyn has a wand that Kaitlyn always likes to play with. I looked at it and thought, I could make that!
The hardest part was getting the star the right size and shape. I Googled star stencils and clicked on images and tried a few until I found the right one and printed it off.
I cut out 2 stars (added a applique to one-not a necessity) and sewed them together (inside out) leaving a small hole. I flipped it right side out, stuffed it, and hot glued the stick in and shut the hole. I added ribbons too. It would look cute with ric-rack sewn around the edges of the star, but that is beyond my talents, just an idea for those of you who can.

Coreina had a twilight DVD release viewing party. This is a pic of Robert (her husband). Her kids and a cousin and husband got kicked out during the party and hung out here. Looks like they had fun too.



More to come on the party and the obtaining of the movie. -That is an entirely different post!