The Lion King

Over 9 months ago, before I was even pregnant, Keith and I were lucky enough to purchase tickets to take our family of six to see The Lion King. What great timing it was that the performance we had bought tickets for was less than 2 weeks before I would be full term with the twins. Would I be forced to stay home because I had just had 2 babies or would I have to stay home because I would be big as a house and not be able to sit through the whole play. Lucky for me the Lord's timing is perfect (as it always is) and not only was I NOT still pregnant, but Avery and Kole were spending their last weekend in the NICU. It was also quite fun to keep the fact that we had tickets to the play a secret from the kids until we walked up to the theatre and they saw the marquee. Rachael and Dustin's eyes about popped out of their heads!! The show was amazing, even if Hillary and Claire only made it to the musical number "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." That's when the music got soft and the lights were quite dim. It was a great night and I can't wait until we can see another play as a family again.

First Days of School/Other Pics

Okay, so I'm a week late with the pictures of Rachael and Dustin. But Hillary started kindergarten today and so I thought I'd wait to post pics of everybody's first days of school. Also included is the first photo of us as a family of EIGHT and a recent pic of Avery and Kole.

They're Here!!!

Our little twins decided to make an early appearance on Aug. 15, 2010. They were 33 weeks and 6 days. Luckily I was able to avoid needing a c section. Although it was terrible to leave the hospital without them, I feel so blessed that they are doing so well and to know that my Heavenly Father is watching over my family and I.

Avery Grace was born @ 12:38 pm, 4lbs 4 oz and 15 1/2" long.

Alton Kole was born @ 1:18 pm, 5 lbs and 17 1/2" long.

This last picture is Avery and Kole (left and right) in their NICU bed. They will be there for a few weeks giving me a chance to recover before we bring them home.

Walking on Water

*****

When Peter saw Christ out on the water, he felt compelled to leave the safety and known-ness of his boat, and in a great and desperate act of pure faith, walked out on the water to join Him.

As he walked, he began to think about what he was actually doing. I imagine his thoughts must have been something like this:

I'm walking on water. But.......that's impossible!!! The ocean is so much bigger than I am - I'm going to be overpowered! There are so many dangers, creatures and unknown terrors just beneath my feet! What am I doing?!? This can't be right!

Even though Peter HAD been walking on water, he doubted that he could.

It was when he took his eyes OFF of Christ and looked at the water that he began to sink.

*****

I am constantly reminding myself that my family is in God's hands (a good place to be) and I know what that feels like because Keith and I have felt and seen His hands push us gently (and persistently) to where we are now.

Like Peter, we are already walking on the water. It's only when we take our eyes from Christ that we begin to fail.

Sammie, don't look at the water.

Dear Sammie

{**Preface - The more time goes by, the more I find myself reflecting on the hard times coming my way. If I concentrate for too long about what it is going to be like to care for twins I stress out to the point of tears. So, this is a little note from me to me. Something I can pull up and read when I'm in the thick of it (double diapers, feedings, bottles). Hopefully it will help.}

Dear Sammie,

This is a phase. Life will not always be this way. You will not always feel this way. You will not always look this way. Now, take a few deep breaths and read on.

Before you know it your days and nights will be two separate entities once again instead of one never ending black hole. It feels like it is so far away and will last forever, but in the big scheme of things, it really is a short period of time.

Be nice to Keith. Try not to snap or take things out at him. It's not his fault :) When one of the babies is crying for the fourth or the fifth time that night do NOT attempt to smother him with a pillow because he has the ability to roll over, start snoring and not hear a thing. Remember, you'll need his help with the other 4 kids once morning comes!

If you're feeling down or depressed, do one of the following...these things always make you feel better.

-Call a family member or friend.
-Step outside, even if it's just into the backyard for a few minutes. Sunshine is a miracle worker.
-Strap the kids in the car and get out of the house, a few minutes away will do wonders.

-DO NOT eat away the blues. This is only a temporary high that will result in causing more depression later on.
-DO NOT attempt to go shopping. Retail therapy can only cause grief when you're still carrying around unwanted baby weight.
-DO NOT make a drastic change to your hair...color, cut or style. Chances are you won't like it and because of the unstable hormonal state you are in, it won't be healthy for anyone.
-DO NOT stress when the house is a mess.
-DO NOT stress if the girls head to school with "daddy hair-dos".
-Do NOT stress when there is not a nice hot meal to serve your family at the end of the day.
-DO NOT take your frustrations out on the older 4 kids. Their world has been turned upside down just as much as yours has.

Hang in there. This too shall pass. Before you know it you'll be looking at pictures taken during this time of your life and you'll see pictures of your newborn baby boy and girl. They'll look so unbelievably small and sweet and you'll wish so badly that they could be that small again. And you'll wish they could be that way again, just for a few days. Then you could smell their cheeks, kiss their little feet and rock them to sleep one more time. Please remember this when you feel tired, exhausted and when the babies are fussy and your house is a disaster. Try and enjoy this precious time with your new baby boy and girl.

Love,
Sammie

Staycation

Last week we finally took our long awaited vacation. In the beginning, we were supposed to visit Keith's sister in San Antonio over Spring Break back in April, but I was still sick. So we pushed our plans back to the first week in June thinking (hoping) I would feel better by then. As that day approached, I realized it was going to be too much of an endeavor for me to drive 20 something hours to get to Texas, so we changed our plans again. We chose a destination a little closer to home, San Diego, that way we would be able to visit my sister. Lucky for us we bought a vacation package with a cancellation policy because we eventually had to bail on that idea too because of this fun pregnancy. So, in the end we decided to stay at home and do some fun things around here that we'd never done before. It worked out well. We saved on a hotels, gas and Mom got to sleep in her own bed every night!

Sorry there are no pictures to go with this post. I'll probably regret not taking some later, I just didn't feel like lugging the camera every where we went.

We visited Pirate Island which turned out to be much better than Chuck E Cheese, especially for the adults. Our kids really enjoyed seeing Shrek 4 in 3D and visiting the Living Planet Aquarium. One day we spent up in Heber Valley eating at Dairy Keen, getting shakes at Granny's and riding the Heber Creeper (is it still called that). The last day of our vacation we spent up the canyon roasting hot dogs and eating a yummy dutch oven dessert made by Keith.

I had felt so guilty being the reason that our original vacation was cancelled, and then our next one as well. I really wanted to have one really good, last vacation before we become a family of 8. Lucky for me, we got one!!!

Hillary's Preschool Graduation

BRING ON KINDERGARTEN!!!