Thankful

I wanted to do an entire month of things that I am grateful or thankful for, but it's not going to happen. But I think that I can do it all this week. (Hopefully) So today I am so thankful for Kaid and Brock's relationship. This past week Colby was working late and Brock had a wrestling match, his first guy he won and did really well, his next match was a kid who had been wrestling 7 year and this match was brutal. Brock was crying and the kid was choking him, and the other mother was screaming at her son to take him down and pound him. I know its not all about winning but I was really upset that a mother would be shouting that kind of stuff when the other person was crying. Any ways Brock lost that match and he was crying saying that he was never going to wrestle again how bad he sucked, basically just having a pity party. Kaid took him outside and next thing I know Brock walks back in and goes to the 100 lb. class and asks this kid if he wanted to wrestle....I said Kaid he is only in the 60 lb. class he cant wrestle him Kaid says it will be OK don't worry. So they get in line to get to the mats and the ref looks at them and asks Brock if he is really sure that he wants to take on the other kid, Brock says YES! So they go out and have 3 rounds and each round Brock PINNED the kid. I was totally shocked, his self confidence was restored and he decided that he did like wrestling and that he would continue with it.

I was so glad to have Kaid there, and for him to take the lead and help Brock out. I know nothing about wrestling and am not a ton of help. I am glad that I can rely on him to help me out when I am out of my element.

Family Pictures 2010

So it's about time that we get new pictures, I have been trying to get McKaid to tell me when he would be able to do them and he told me that he was booked until like January with hunting.... I told him that was not going to fly and that I wanted pictures now! And that I wanted him to shave. So I guess I only got one of the things I asked for, oh well! But I love them and happy that we are good for a little while longer. I love this one ~Brock really wanted one of he and Kaid and Brett ran in to give them a hug I was happy that she got the shot.

We went up the canyon and had them done, we had about 30 minutes before the rain started coming down. I am glad we got most of the shots that we wanted before the rain. Maybe next family photos McKaid will be clean shaved. I can HOPE right?!?!?

Happy Late Birthday!

I meant to have a shout out to Brett set to post on his Birthday and unfortunately things with school and work got really crazy! But I have to say Happy Birthday to Brett! Brett turned 15 this year! Time files, it seems like just last week I was pregnant with him and now he is taller than me and could take me down. :)
Here is my list of things about Brett:

1. He is the BEST student
2. He is such a great brother, to both of them
3. He is a worrier
4. He hates his curly hair
5. He is strong
6. He loves to tease everyone
7. He is very "book smart" (which we love)
8. He honors his priesthood
9. He is extremely tender hearted
10. He is a great friend
11. He is wise beyond his years
12. He has a great spirit and testimony
13. He is great at sports
14. He loves the Utes football team
15. He is a social butterfly

Brett ~ I hope you had a great birthday, know that you mean the world to us. Your a great kid and you always give 110% in all you do. We are lucky to call you ours!
Love,
Dad, Mom, McKaid, and Brock

Oh and to all of you who live in town--- he will have his learners SOON! So you might want to watch out! :)

He has a brain!

So the past few weeks have been a little crazy at our house, Brock has been having"issues" for the past 7 or 8 weeks. He would kind of pass out. To say the least it was really scary, when we took him to his pediatrician he was extremely worried about what we where dealing with and sent us right to Primary Children's hospital to meet with a pediatric neurologist. They told us that they would be doing several tests to see if they could figure out what was going on. Brock was pretty nervous about if they would hurt or what they would do- the doctor told him that they were going to be looking at his brain and heart. Brock instantly perked up and said so you will see my brain, the doctor said yes we will be able to see all of your brain. Brock then said can we take pictures of it so I can show everyone how cool my brain looks. This is one of the first tests they did it is an EGG, they hook up all of these wires to your head to measure your brain waves. They glued them into his hair, he was not to happy when they went to pull them out. They then wrap your head with gauze so that you can move around and not loose any of the leads. Once he was ready to go they monitored him "normally" then had him exercise, and then go to sleep. Which they said OK Brock you need to go to sleep now- Colby and I looked at him a few minutes later and he was OUT! The last thing they do is to put a strobe light in front of his eyes and have it go off.

We got back his results and his "issues" are seizures, which they think are caused by stress....We are thrilled that this was the outcome for him. It was a true answer to many prayers. We are tyring to keep him from stress to prevent more of the seizures. :)

Special Day.

Like I said I am going to be doing a little bit of catch up in the next few posts! Back in April sometime I was talking to my dad, he said that his sister Marilyn was taking the Temple Prep classes and she would be going to the Temple soon. I could not believe that she would be doing that, I did not think in my life time that she would go to the Temple. Not that she did not want too, rather with her health issues I just did not think that I would see her there.
Well on May 18, 2010 Marilyn Mae Larsen went to the Provo Temple, she asked myself and my cousin to be her escorts. What a neat experience to be able to share such a special day. Marilyn was so worried about things and it seemed that everything just "fell" into place for her to be able to enjoy the time. It was a very neat experience, it was neat to see all of my dad's family come to share in such a special occasion. We don't get to see them much, we all went out to lunch after and got to spend sometime together.
This is a photo taken just after Marilyn got out of the Temple with all of her siblings. L to R: David (dad) Birch, Vic, Marilyn, and Kay. It was so neat to be there and feel the spirit that was in the room. I know that the rest of Marilyn's family was there to share her special day.

Miracles

The past few months have been quite the blur to me, it seems like one thing after another has happened and at times it felt that I would not be able to catch my breath. We got the phone call that one of our nephews had attempted suicide and that he was not going to make it. The family had decided that they were going to donate his organs, so we told the boys about it and started to prepare them for what would happen and told them that we needed to pray for the family. Brock took it right to heart and quickly said a prayer, he went to school and asked me to call him if his cousin passed away while he was at school I told him that I would. He called me as soon as he got home from school and asked if he had passed away, I told him that he was still hanging in there and Brock's reply was "I knew he would not die, I prayed that he would live" when I got home I was talking to Brock about what he "needed" to be praying for, and that he should be praying for the family and that he would be able to pass peacefully. Brock's reply was I prayed that he would live and I know that he will live, and that is what I am going to pray for. I talked to Colby about how we could help Brock to understand the process of what was happening, because I did not want him to be mad when his cousin passed away. I did not want Brock to question weather or not Heavenly Father answers prayers. Colby just said he needs to keep doing what he is doing and praying the prayer that he wants and we will help him understand when that time comes. Brock continued to say his prayers, we went to the hospital to say our goodbye's and knew that the next day they would be doing the organ donation. That was about 7 weeks ago, right before they were going to get him ready for the organ donation he opened his eyes.....He is alive and does have a long recovery ahead of him, but he is alive and able to talk and we hope will be able to have a full recovery.
Here I was so worried that Brock was praying the wrong prayer, he showed me the faith of a child is so strong and real. Brock had the right prayer all along and I needed to just have the faith and know that Heavenly Father would allow my son to see such a MIRACLE.
Our next miracle involves my mom, she had found a lump in her breast and went to the doctor. She had the biopsy and was told that she had stage 2 breast cancer. This would be her 3rd cancer. She was devastated and was told to come into the doctors office that following Monday to schedule surgery and talk all of the options and chemo schedule. We had a fast for her that weekend, she was going into the doctors on Monday. Right before she went in she said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to please allow all of the people that she and my dad had helped with indexing (on the other side) to add her to their prayers. She went to the doctors and they scheduled her for surgery that Friday, she asked the doctor a question about the stage and he said just a second I don't have that right here he left and after about 25 minutes he came back. He said I don't know who you have been talking too (he pointed towards heaven) BUT you don't have cancer.
We took her for a second opinion and they all conquer, she DOES NOT have cancer. What a blessing, and a true testament to those who live worthily and do what the Lord asks them to do. And that there are miracles that happen each and every day. We just have to have FAITH, and in my case I need to be more like my kids, and be able to not question what HIS will is.

Erika

It's Birthday Time...

Happy Birthday! Today is my dad's birthday, he is such a great father and example to have in my life. I am very lucky to call him dad. I have some of the best memories growing up and doing things with him. My dad has always tired to teach me to do the right, sometimes it worked and sometimes I feel short.. :) But my dad was always right there to pick me up and dust me off and help me along the path. For that I will be forever grateful. My dad loves with all his heart and once your in his circle you will always be in it. He is such a loving husband, father, brother, uncle, and grandfather. We are all lucky to have you in our lives! Hope you have a great day and know that we all love you!
Love,
Colby, Erika, Kaid, Brett, & Brock

Reflection

Three years ago I was riding in an ambulance wondering what was going on, how things would be, and praying that Brett would make it. It seems like it was yesterday when I got the call from Brett, I was at work and he was home sick. He called and told me there was an explosion and he was on fire....I remember rushing home and seeing Brett outside looking so hurt, he had no hair and was covered in ash, and already was blistering. He got in the car and we headed to the hospital, we were later transferred to the Burn Unit at the U of U, where we stayed for the next 4 days.

It was there where we learned what had actually happened to Brett, we had a small propane bottle in the basement, which was defective. It had filled the room with propane and when Brett went to put a piece of wood on the fireplace, it exploded. Which caused him to burn 45% of his body with 2nd and 3rd degree burns.

We learned how to dress and care for his burns, we learned new exercises to help his skin so it would not lose it's elasticity. We learned so many things while we were there. But some of the most important things we learned where not taught to us by doctors, nurses, or social workers. They were taught to us by the tender mercy's of a loving Heavenly Father, he once again taught us the power of the Priesthood, Prayer, and families. He showed me that I am never alone, I can remember running down the hall and finding a bathroom and crying and shouting... Why me, why Brett? And then getting on my knees and asking for help, the calm that washed over me was unreal, but I knew that HE was walking hand in hand with me on my journey and was not going to let me go it alone, nor would he allow Brett to go it alone. Heavenly Father sent alot of angles to our family in our time of need, there were friends who took in our other two boys, and never even questioned when we would get them..(This was just a few days before Christmas)There were friends who came and cleaned my house so that I would not have to come home and deal with the smells...People who cooked for us and came by or called to see how things were going and people who just prayed..We know that prayers were answered, because we have Brett with us and he is whole.

There was a lot of recovery, bandage changes, and trips back to the burn unit. But all of us have learn so much. We have watched Brett turn his accident into strengths, I have watched him grow closer to the Lord, and know that he has a purpose here on earth. He has learned lessons that most people never learn. He is much wiser and more caring. We have watched Brett reach out to those who are different and try to build them up. We have seen Brett turn the other cheek to those who made fun of him, he rose above the teasing and still befriended them. Brett is an example to all of us. He has made such progress, it is so nice to have the long road behind us; but we would not trade the trip because of what we have gained.

This is a photo of Brett once he was able to come home, it was taken about 10 days after the accident once most of the swelling had gone down and he was looking more like himself, the white bandages were what we would change twice a day, he was wrapped like a mummy, and Colby and I got to play "cut and paste".

Brett was able to attend Burn camp the past two years up at Camp Tracy, he has been able to be with other burn survivors and learn and experience things with them. He looks forward to this every year. It is very neat to see him shine and be with others who have experienced some of the same experiences. It is nice to see him forget about things and just be a boy...He seems to come back each time with a new attitude, it is neat. It is neat to see they confidence that he returns with.

This is a photo of Brett and Brennon, one of the Junior counselors at Burn camp, this summer. The counselors have either been burn survivors or they work in the burn unit, Brennon is a burn survivor. Brett you continue to amaze me each day in your ability to show compassion to those around you...

Erika

Class Assignment

A few weeks ago in one of my classes we were given an assignment to take our families names and for each letter say one thing about them...I decided that since this is like my journal I would transfer the assignment to this so I can remember what I thought....

C- Compassionate

O- Optimistic

L- Loyal

B- Brave

Y- BYU Fan (Y is hard)

M-Magnetic (he is quite the charmer :)

c- Cute

K- Kind

A- Adventurous

I- Intelligent

D- Daring

B- Brave

R- Responsible

E- Excels

T- Tenderhearted

T- Treasure

B- Bold

R- Respectful

O- Outgoing

C- Creative

K- Kind

I have been blessed to have such a good family. I love all of my boys! I hope they know that, and how proud of them I am....

Brett has a concert tonight I will get photos of this one.....

Erika