Happy New Year!

Have a safe and fun New Year's night everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone!! We love and miss you all. Hope you are having a great day!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful day!

Christmas Party 2009

Last night, we had our Walker Family Christmas Party at my house. Steve & Kathy, Gary & Sharlene, Mike & Bobi and their kids and Scott & I and our kids all came to eat and visit and play Rockband. We missed everybody that couldn't come and those who wouldn't show up - YOU missed out on some great food and laughs! We ate a Hamaker's Roast Beef (delicious!), pasta salad, potato salad, rolls and a delicious carrot cake in the shape of a Christmas Tree..so cute.

Here are a few pics from last night:

Steve on guitar

Gary on drums
Scott, Kaden, Jessica, Sharlene and Jalen watching Rockband

Bobi on drums and Gary on guitar and Mike singing along
Steve trying to get into the rhythm

Kaden on drums
Sharlene on drums
Kaden on guitar
McKenna on guitar

Mike still singing

Lacee and Bobi singing

Every year our cub scout pack takes part in a parade in town-the scouts build "soapbox" cars. The cub cars get more creative and tricked out each year-it's so much fun. This year was the 3rd for Durham and the 1st for Luke.

This is what a snow day in Texas looks like! Look carefully! It snowed for half an hour last Friday. It melted as soon as it landed, but the kids thought is was awesome!!

BRRRRRR......

It's cold!

Happy December Birthdays!

Happy Birthday this month to Kathy, Jessica and Gary :)
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to all three of you, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!

Black Friday :(

If Sharlene, Shay or I ever (EVER!) decide that it would be really fun to go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving again, would somebody please remind us not too! Thanks and have a good day ;)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm grateful for the best family ever! We do have a lot to be thankful for! Love and miss all of you!
We are in Mesquite now. The weather is beautiful!

Back to Primary Children's.....

Fooled ya huh? We just had to go up yesterday to Primary Children's for a follow-up appointment and we have good news! He gets to get his PICC line out today! YEAH! No more antibiotics and he can take a real shower. The Dr. said on paper he looked good and in person, he looked great! He now weighs 135 lbs. Starting to fill back in again. The CRP level that they have been watching, which is the level of inflammation was back to normal Monday. On October 21st, when he arrived at Primary Children's his CRP was 23. Normal is 1 or below. When he got discharged on the 28th, it was at 15 and then Monday it was Point 6 (.6)! Awesome.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this year. We have so much to be grateful for!

New Moon!

I finally got to go see "New Moon" today! Loved it! Jessica and Kaden went and saw it at the midnight showing Friday Morning. Jessica fell asleep through half of it and Kaden didn't like it at all. It's a guy thing I guess. We found out that the new Nephi theaters are open on Sunday, so I said lets go over so I can see it. The theaters were really nice, stadium seating and everything! Jessica said she liked it now that she has seen the whole movie. So now I'm waiting for a kid movie to come out so I can take Lacee.

Ramblings........

Hello family! I downloaded the pictures off my camera and I thought I would post a few.
This is Cassady and Jessica and their friends at the FFA Sweetheart assembly. Cassady was in the top ten and won the cake decorating contest (way to go Sharlene!) and the catch a pig the fastest contest! Her cake was a "Rockband" cake. I will have to get Sharlene to post a picture of it, it was really cool.This is Hannah Montana aka Lacee on Halloween. I found those awesome boots on the internet. So excited! Those are tattoos on her face that her and her little friend put on the day of Halloween and then they wouldn't come off! She wouldn't wear the Hannah wig, but I figured she already has long blonde hair.

These next pictures are of Kaden's stay in the hospital. I wasn't going to post them, but they are a part of his life now so I will share. The first picture is right after they got the chest tubes in on the Thursday night.
This was the container thing that the infection stuff drains into from his left side chest tube.

And the right side drain...

Jessica was the Urine Nazi, as we started to call her. She was obsessed with make sure his urine went through the tube and into the pouch.

Kaden when he came out of the anesthesia and was checking his text messages! Even in sickness you can't keep a teenager away from his phone :)

First time sitting up. He said it felt so good to get out of that uncomfortable bed!

Anyway, just a few pictures. He is doing really well. He has been going all day to school, so that is good. Now he is just trying to get caught up with all of his school work. We are still going in every Monday for labs and a chest x-ray, and so far they have been good. We go up to Primary Children's on Tuesday, the 24th to see what they want us to do next. He is hoping to get the PICC line out, but we will see!

And today is November 17th, which is the day 5 years ago that Dad decided to leave us and go see Mom. I miss them so much!

Back to school......

After 10 days home from the hospital, Kaden was begging me to let him go back to school today! He was getting so bored and tired of sitting around the house. I called the Home Health Care nurse and she said if he felt up to it, then to let him go back. I'm a nervous nelly today. I sent him with a bottle of hand sanitizer, his clamp in case somebody pulls his picc line out and my permission to punch anybody who sneezes or coughes on him! I'm sure he will be fine, but I just don't want to end up back in the hospital again and neither does he.

He put pants on for the first time today and they are so loose! He had to go punch another hole in his belt so his pants would stay up today. I better get a couple of smaller sized pants for him today.

Scott called this morning to see how peaceful and quiet my morning has been, but then he has called twice after that. I told him he was ruining my peace and quiet!

We had a nice weekend. Sharlene, Shay, Jessica, Lacee and I went to the craft fair on Saturday and I spend too much money. But I am justifing it by saying that some of it is for Jessica's birthday and for my Christmas! There, I feel so much better :)

November Birthdays!

Happy Birthday this month to Kevin and Cassady! Happy Birthday to You!

All's Good Here

We are still doing really well. We went in today for a chest x-ray and to give blood and the chest x-ray showed improvement. That is a great sign that the antibiotics are doing their job. The labs weren't back yet so we will have to wait and see what they said. Dr. Shamo took his stitches out of where his chest tubes were and he can now shower! He is excited :) They weighed him today and he has gained 2 pounds since being home - up to 129 from 127! But he has a little way to go to get back to his normal weight of 145.

Kaden took a walk around the house yesterday and dribbled the basketball a little bit. The weather was gorgeous here and will be all week - YEAH!

Jessica took him into the football game Friday night and they sat in the car and watched the last half of the game.

So we are slowly getting back to normal around here and that is a good feeling :) Scott went back to work today so maybe I'll get something done now. I'm going back tomorrow to relieve a very stressed out Sharlene!

Mike and Bobi are in Washington D.C. all week. Bobi had a conference to attend on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so Mike got to tag along and they are excited about seeing all the sights me and Kaden have been bragging about!

Nurse Jodi

After 1 day of training, I gave Kaden his antibiotics this morning and he is still alive! I was so worried that I wouldn't notice the air bubbles in the syringes or put them in in the wrong order. I am so impressed with myself! Even Kaden breathed a sigh of relief.

He is doing great, but a little on the bored side - but Jessica is bringing him home lots of homework to do tonight so I think he will actually be glad to have something to do for the next few weeks.

I went to Lacee's school today to watch her class do the Halloween parade. They looked so cute all dressed up. Lacee is Hannah Montana this year. I will have to post pictures later.

Anyway, guess I will go try and get caught up with everything so I will update later!

We are Home!!!

Kaden and I arrived home at 9:30 pm last night. The lights of Delta were awesome to see coming home! It was a long day of going back and forth with Dr's and everybody else in the hospital if we were coming home or not. Finally, we got the green light at 7:00 pm. His chest x-ray that they did Tuesday night and then the one they did Wednesday afternoon had not changed, so that is why they let us come home. If it had shown 1 oz more of fluid in his lungs, we would still be there.

Kaden still has fluid but we are going to do an 8 week course of antibiotics to try and get it out of there. He has to do lots of deep breathing exercises and blow into his "sucky" thing. Getting his strength back will also help him tremendously. He is really glad to be home. Kaden has to have his antibiotics at 8:00 am and 8:00 pm, so Home Health Care met us here last night and then she came this morning and will be here again tonight to train us so we can do it ourselves and then will just come out on Mondays to change the dressing on the PICC line and where they put the chest tubes in. Primary Children's also want blood work done every Monday, so she is going to do that also, since I refuse to take Kaden into the Dr's office or hospital here with all the other sick people of the town.

We will probably keep him home from school for a few weeks and then they told him he could go back when he felt up to it. So that means he will get to do all his school work here. He was worried about having to repeat 9th grade, but I told him he would be fine.

He can have visitors, but please don't come out if you are sick! We really don't want to end up back at Primary Children's!

Anyway, we are glad to be back home and even more thankful that Kaden is doing well. Tell your kids and family you love them everyday, you never know what the day will bring.

Thanks, more update later!

Update 7:30pm

Jodi just texted to say they are on their way home! Yay! It will still be a long recovery but we are so glad Kaden is doing better!

10:00 pm 10-27-09

Well, the verdict is we are going to go with the 6-8 week course of antibiotics. The Drs said that he has a very good chance of this working. I asked them on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best, what were the chances of this working? And they said 8. So we are going with our gut feeling and getting him home, in his own house and in his own bed. I just feel that we can do this at home and he will be more comfortable and will lift his spirits. When they gave us the option of antibiotics or chest tubes again with another week in the hospital, he said I'm going home.

The put the PICC line in today about 5:00 pm and so that is were they will administer the IV antibiotics. We will probably keep him home for a few weeks to get his strength back and make sure he is okay. Oh, and FYI - Kaden did not have the H1N1 or regular flu. This started out as Rhinovirus that grew into a bacterial infection. He is not contagious. When we are home and we have visitors, we will be putting a mask on Kaden just for his protection.

Bishop Porter came to see him tonight and I just want to thank him for sneaking in a Wendy's hamburger and a Frosty for Kaden and for taking my car and getting my tires checked and aired up.

Hopefully if everything goes well for tonight, maybe just maybe we will be home tomorrow night. If not, I think on Thursday. Cross your fingers!!

Thanks everybody!

10:30 am 10-27-09

We are still waiting for the doctors to decide what is our next course of action. The chest x-ray this morning showed a slight improvement over yesterdays x-ray, so that is good. We have been going for walks around the floor to try and get his strength back up. Our nurse today is named Travis and he said he was going to have him doing sprints up and down the hall soon.

Kaden wanted me to thank everybody for the cards, candy and the picture of the football team. He thinks that is really nice of everybody to do that for him. We have them hanging up on the wall in his room and everybody that comes in looks at them.

Anyway, guess we won't know anything till this afternoon. We have a window in our room and we are just watching movies and watching the snow fall.

Thanks!

10:00 pm 10-26-09

Ugh..I spoke too soon. Kaden is running a fever tonight and doesn't feel to good. They did a chest x-ray and it is showing some more fluid. The Dr. is going to consult with the Infectious Disease Team and see what they suggest they do next. He said three things: iv antibiotics, which he is already on, putting 2 new chest tubes in again but in different places or surgery to go scrap it out. So basically we are at square 1 again. He is really down in the dumps tonight so I took him for a ride in a wheelchair around the hospital and then we are going to walk for awhile. I hope there is good news tomorrow. This is a hard road to go on. Your emotions are all over the place.

I had to go find a store tonight to buy some stuff and this really nice U of U student let me use her Smith's Fresh Values card and get 5% off. That was really nice of her and I so appreciated it.

I am staying with Kaden tonight in our little room. I can't say enough good things about the nurses here at Primary Children's. They are awesome.

Anyway, I will update tomorrow when we find out what we are doing next. We were hoping to be home at least by this Friday, but I'm not even going to think of home yet. Let's get Kaden better and then get him home.

Thanks everybody :) Pray for Kaden .... I think we need all we can get.

Update 3:15pm

We are moved out of ICU and into Room 3027. They are weaning him off the oxygen right now and he is doing really good. It seems that he is getting better just as fast as he got sick. He had macaroni and cheese and a peach smoothie for lunch and then fell asleep for awhile and then they came and woke him up for a chest x-ray. No rest around here..he will probably want to sleep for days when we get him home.

Thanks!

Update 10-26-09 10:15am

Kaden is doing great this morning. They removed Kaden's left side chest tube just about an hour ago and it came out with a little "lung snot" they call it. It was so gross. Good thing Scott wasn't here to see that. Kaden said we should have recorded it. We are being moved out of ICU today! YEAH! He is so happy. One more step till HOME! He had a good breakfast this morning - scrambled eggs and bacon and a bowl of Frosted Flakes. I think he inhaled his breakfast.

Last night, they wanted to keep the feeding tube in so they could feed him overnight to up his caloric intake and so they got him all hooked up to this delicious looking formula stuff and he said I can taste it and the nurse said, "Oh you are probably just burbing it up a little." But then he started getting a little sick to his stomach and so she decided to stop the feeds and pull the tube out. So she told Kaden he could pull the tube out and so he pulled and the end of it was in his throat! He was tasting it. They figured that he must have coughed up the tube or something because it wasn't in his stomach anymore.

Anyway, I will let you know our new room number when they get us all settled. We are shooting still for Friday to be home and hoping for Wednesday!

Thanks!

Update 10-25-09 7:45pm

Today has been a good day. At about 12:00 pm, the surgeon came to remove Kaden's right side chest tube. He said the only thing that hurt was when they took the tape off the dressing. Good thing he doesn't have chest hair yet! He said the tube felt weird coming out. It was in there about 8 inches. Weirdest thing I've seen! Scott couldn't watch, he went out by the nurses station so they wouldn't have to pick him up off the floor. We are hoping that they can remove the left side tube tomorrow. He is getting his feeding tube out tomorrow also, but he has had french toast and macaroni and cheese today and has held it down. Poor kid has been starving! He is in pretty good spirits tonight because they got him up and sitting in a chair today. He said it felt really good. He scared me and the nurses though because when he decided to get back into bed he tried to do it by himself and stood himself up and then called for help. We went in there and he was already standing up and his nurse about went nuts! He just wants to get out of ICU and then they will move us to a private room with a little more privacy for a few days. The doctor told us it looks like Thursday or so before he will let him go. Kaden is trying really hard to do everything they want him to do so he can come home. Scott left today so he can take care of Jessica and Lacee for a few days. I have been reading magazines and doing word search puzzles...I'm starting to be an expert word searcher :)
He is watching the Yankees and Angels game tonight and the nurse let him have his phone, so I have seen him texting...he must be feeling a little better!
Anyway, thats all for tonight..Thanks for checking!

Sunday, Oct. 25 9:30am

Kaden had a rough night last night but just because he is uncomfortable and he can't really move alot. He has had it with lying on his back now for a week. We are going to get him up and sitting in a chair this morning and I'm pretty sure that will put him in a better mood.

He is still requiring oxygen through his nose, but they have discontinued feeding him through the feeding tube in his nose. The nurse said they would be removing the tube this morning. He has been having jello and apple juice since last night and has tolerated it. He wants some real food soon, he says he is starving.

They also plan to take out the right chest tube today, as it hasn't drained anything since yesterday morning.

We appreciate everyones thoughts and prayers...they are helping. We are on the way to recovery.

11:15 am

Scott just called and the tube is out and everything went really well. He has had his teeth brushed and Scott says he is in a much better mood.

I'm getting ready to go up so I will update when I can.

Thanks!

Update 10-24-09 10:00 am

I just called Scott and he is waiting for the Dr. to come in and tell Kaden that he can get that breathing tube out of his throat this morning...hopefully!

Jessica and I came home last night with Bobi and Scott drove up last night to be with him. He said Kaden had a restful night and so we are now just waiting, waiting and more hurry up and wait!

I will update as soon as he calls me. I am headed back up today with Gary and Sharlene.

Thanks everybody!

Update 3:00pm

Kaden is doing really well this afternoon. He is sleeping and resting, just what they want him to do. They are turning him from side to side every two hours to get that stuff to move on out of him. He hasn't run a fever today, so that is good news. That tells us that the antibiotics are working.

When he woke up a little while ago, he wanted to write something on the write board. He wrote "what was the score?" and "when do I get this tube out?" Hopefully tomorrow!

Anyway, we are doing good. Scott and Lacee are spending the day together today. He is probably showing her how to change the oil in the equipment, but that's okay :)

Thanks!

Update 10-23-09 10:00am

Kaden had a really good night and slept well the nurses said. He has drained off 1-1/2 liters of "spam-like" junk out of his chest tubes. That is what the Dr. said it looked like! He still is breathing through a ventilator, but the nurses said they were going to do some trials today with him breathing on his own for a while to see how he does and hopefully we can get that breathing tube out of him tomorrow. The Dr. says his lungs look great, its just that the infection is around the lungs, in between them and the "plura." I hope I get this medical terminology right! He is on heavy doses of antibiotics, so hopefully they can do their job.

Jessica is here with me today so Scott could go spend some time with Lacee, who is feeling pretty neglected by her parents. She got have a sleepover at Shay's last night. I hope Shay got some sleep :)

When the anesthesia wore off last night, he was gesturing to Jessica and she thought he was gesturing "I love you" and she said "I love you too" and he shook his head No and continued to gesture like he was throwing a ball and then patting himself on the chest, so I thought he wanted to know if the Yankees won, so I told him "no they lost" and again he shook his head no, so I said "your football game?" and he nodded his head yes! So after all that, he just wanted to know if his buddies had won their football game. We have been laughing about it all morning.

So today I is just a wait and see how he does day. Thanks everybody for everything and I will keep everybody updated.

Update 9:15pm

Finally, some good news. They put in bigger chest tubes, which are finally able to drain the gunk from from lungs. They are really optimistic and excited about this.

I'll post more as I get the news..... thanks everyone!

Update 10-22-09 7:50pm

We found the computers at Primary Childrens so I thought I would update while we were not allowed in to the ICU.
Please let anyone that wants to know whats going on to this blog and me or Bobi will update as we go through this journey.

First of all, Kaden is doing ok. He is comfortable and does know who we are and gestures to us. The nurse got him a write board and the first thing he wrote on it was "When do I get to go home?" So he still has his wits about him! He is on a ventilator but they have it so it makes him breathe on his own along with the machine.

Um... I just heard from the surgeon and they are going to remove the one chest tube and put in two new chest tubes - one on each side. Pray that this works, because if this don't work, they have to do surgery to scrap it out and we don't want this to happen. They told me that I couldn't go back till 8:30 pm to see him now so I will let everyone know if this worked.

Primary Children's Hospital is an amazing place. This is where he needs to be. We are struggling to understand how come this happens to a healthy, strong 14 year old kid. We have had phone calls and text messages all day from people who are concerned about Kaden and it makes me feel so great that we have such good friends and family.

I will let Bobi know so she can update as soon as I can get in there to see him! Thanks everybody!

Update on Kaden

Well, a lot has changed for Kaden since Jodi's last update wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon he took a turn for the worse and was life flighted to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake. He is in the intensive care unit. He has a chest tube in to try to drain some of the fluid from his lungs and is on a ventilator, however, he is breathing on his own, the ventilator is just giving him some support right now. They have decided that the fluid in or around his lungs is too thick and isn't draining the way they want it to, so they have consulted a surgeon and are waiting for him to decided what to do next. The doctors say his vital signs continue to look good and they are optimistic. Jodi, Scott, Jessica and Lacee seem to be holding up well and are thankful for any and all thoughts and prayers.

Cell phones don't work in the hospital so I will try to keep the blog updated for Jodi. I can be reached at (801)-710-0657 if anyone has questions.
Pray For Kaden!

Thanks!
Bobi

Update

Kaden is doing much better today. He wants to come home! He has to get this breathing gadget up to where they want it and then he can come home. He is trying really hard to blow it up to where its supposed to be. He is eating and getting some strength back. He told Scott he wanted to get up and take a shower today, so that tells me he is feeling better. Dr. Shamo said he will probably let him come home tomorrow if he shows a little progress and I think he has.

Talk to ya soon!

Update #2

Kaden is feeling a little better today. He had a CT Scan done this morning to determine if we were going to be sent to Primary Children's Hospital or not. Thankfully, he didn't have an abcess (?) around his lungs just plenty of fluid so they are keeping us here in Delta unless he doesn't progress towards getting better. They want him to cough and breathe deep, but it hurts him really bad so he won't. He just holds everything in, including his pee because he doesn't want to move! He didn't sleep at all last night so I'm hoping he gets some rest today. I have been staying overnight with him on a little cot in his room and I am never complaining about my nice comfy bed ever again :) Lacee is missing her big brother very much and made him a really cute get well soon card for him today. They won't let her in to see him so she feels pretty sad.

I will try and keep everybody updated.....

Update on Kaden

Hi everybody...just wanted to let everyone know that Kaden is in the hospital with pneumonia. He was admitted Sunday afternoon and it looks like he will be there a couple more days. He is having alot of trouble breathing and is in alot of pain, but hopefully all that gunk in his lungs will go away soon!

I will update tomorrow with any news.

Cool clocks Shay! I'm impressed.... I'm almost thinking of getting one without the hands!! :)

If anyone wants to, you can see clips from Jalen's last football game, which they actually one. The first clip shows Jalen throwing a screen pass to the receiver who ran it in for a touchdown. Just search Ogden vs. Kaysville on youtube.com. It will say Jr. Pee wee division.


Pictures of Pace kids playing sports to come later...

More Clocks...

This is the clock that Shay made for her roommates. It has "Walker" and "Be true to who you are and the family name you bear" in gold vinyl lettering. It turned out so cute.

This is the other clock she made for her fellow employee. It also turned out way cute! So who wants one? Let us know :) And in case your wondering, the clock hands haven't arrived yet...will be here soon!!!

Some Awesome Football!

Delta beat Millard tonight in a hard fought game! Those boys played their hearts out and it was so awesome to see them get a win!

Kaden got to play both offense and defense tonight. He made a few great tackles and he played really well. I don't know the exact name of the positions he plays (I promise I will learn all this football stuff by the time he is a Senior!) but he is on the line.

The varsity came and watched the game after their practice and I think it helped alot! They were cheering for the team and they even got the crowd more into the game. It was alot of fun to watch, especially 'cuz we beat Millard!!!! There is nothing better than a football game in Delta! Go Rabbits!

A Very Crafty Shay

Shay made this clock for her friend that is getting married. The clock hands aren't on yet, but we got the vinyl on and it looks great! If any of you would like one of these clocks - and she can make them in any size - just call her and she would love to do one for you. They would make great Christmas presents too!

And, we got Lacee's blanket all done and it turned out fantastic! Lacee loves her new warm blankie :)

Happy October Birthdays!

Happy Birthday wishes go to Steve, Whitney, Texas Kevin and to our Mom, who would have been 81 on her birthday! Have a wonderful day!

Updates from the White house!

The school year is off to a great start. Durham is in 3rd grade, Luke is in 1st and Hudson goes to a Mother's Day Out 3 days a week. He is loving preschool!

Luke is playing t-ball for the Sidewinders (they are using minor league teams this year). He's playing great and still loves it. Durham's soccer season starts this weekend. So far they've only held practice-Durham is one of the fastest on his team-he's like a rocket!

Cub scouts has started up again for the year. We are very involved in scouting. Durham is a Bear cub, Luke is a Tiger cub, Hud provides the comic relief at the meetings, Kevin is the Tiger Den Leader and I am the Pack Treasurer. Whew! We keep really busy, but life is very fun at this stage!

To Manti For Football

Happiness was short lived as the Delta Freshman got beat by Manti last night :( Hopefully they can get it together soon and have a reason to celebrate! You can tell that fall is in the air because we all had to have jackets on when the sun went down last night. The cold is coming....

Oh Happy Day!

We Won!

Happy Day at our house!

Mike and I took tuesday off work to celebrate our anniversay, so we decided to go mountain biking... and it kicked my butt!!! literally! I have scratches, scrapes and bruises! My legs are dotted with bruises. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Oh well, it was fun anyway. Next time we'll probably go on an easier trail!

Brendan had his first soccer game last saturday. He had so much fun. He even scored a goal and had the biggest grin on his face. He really loves his preschool class and was so excited to go on a school bus to a field trip this week.

Jalen is busy with football. They have only won one game but they are improving. He had 3 or 4 completed passes this last week.
McKenna is busy with soccer and school and hanging out with friends, and whatever else 14 year olds do!

Someday I'll learn how to post pictures :)

Go Florida State this weekend!!

A summary of the last few weeks....

Park City game

On Thursday, September 3rd, we travelled to Park City to watch Kaden play football. The highlight of the game was that they scored their first points! Fourteen of them! They ended up getting beat 35 to 14. My friend, Amy, from high school lives in Park City now and so I called her and she came to the game and we had a great visit. She is just a talkative and funny as ever! Also Bobi, Jalen and Brendan came over from Ogden to watch the game. They missed McKenna's soccer game to come see us, so a big THANKS for driving over!

South Summit Game, Kaden #57

The next Thursday was a home game for us against South Summit. The boys started out really good and scored 7 points in the first 5 minutes, but it didn't go so great from then on because of some turnovers and they ended up beating us 38 to 14. This Thursday is another home game against Moapa Valley from Nevada. Kaden was pretty down about not having won a game yet after the last game, so I gave him a little motivational talk. I told him that when I was a freshman playing volleyball, we didn't win 1 jv game that whole season. Not one. But the next year, we came back and we won a few and lost a few, and by the time I was a senior playing varsity, we were unstoppable and ended up taking state. So I hope that lifted his spirits a little and I hope we don't have to wait that long for a win!

Lacee has decided that she only wants to go to half a day 1st grade next year. I asked her why only half a day and she said because she just wants to go to school in the mornings and then play with her friends in the afternoon. I think she is going to have a big wake up call next year! She is doing really good in Kindergarten and has lots of friends to play with. She has already informed me of who is coming to her birthday party in February, but I'm still reeling from the last birthday party so we will see if she even gets one! She is taking dance and tumbling this year and dances and tumbles her way every she goes. I wish I had her energy.

Jessica is doing good. She likes her job at Hogi Yogi and really likes getting a paycheck! We went and opened up her own checking account for her and she was excited to pick out her own style of checks. Now, hopefully, she is responsible about it!

We went camping over Labor Day weekend up to the Pace Ranch with Mike and Bobi. We had alot of fun, except when Brendan and Lacee got in a little accident on the four-wheeler. Luckily they had helmets on, but it didn't stop Brendan from getting a head injury right in the middle of his head. We are still trying to figure out how that happened when he had his helmet on! But after Bobi got the blood cleaned off him, he was out running around again. Thank goodness they were both okay and no serious injury happened.

Anyway, that's about all that is going on here. Talk to everybody soon!

Happy September Birthdays!

Happy Birthday wishes to Brett and Ginny this month!
Happy Birthday :)

Football 8-26-09

On Wednesday the 26th, we traveled to Cedar City to play Hurricane. The boys were really excited to be able to hit somebody besides their own teammates! They played pretty good for their first game, but ended up getting beat 38-0 to a bigger, stronger and faster team. Next week we go to Park City to play the Miners.
Go Rabbits!Kaden is #57The offensive line

A Few Weeks in the Life of the Stephensens

School started on Wednesday the 19th, summer went by soo fast! Jessica is a junior this year and Kaden is a freshman. Wow, two kids in high school. Lacee is in half-day Kindergarten this year. She actually started school on Thursday. She was so excited to go! This picture was taken on Lacee's first day, not the other two, because they wouldn't let me take a picture of them on their first day! But I made them take a picture with Lacee :) I don't know where my kids got the tall gene from. Jessica is 5'8" and as you can see Kaden is now passing her up. I think they are all going to be taller than me!

The high school has switched to a block schedule this year, where they go to four classes one day and then 4 other classes the next day. So far I think they like it. Jessica and Kaden even have 1 class together.

I sold my minivan and got me a Chevy Malibu. I so love it:) and I'm not a minivan mom anymore!!! YEAH! On August 13th, which was our 21st anniversary, Scott, Lacee and I went to Provo to go out to lunch at Ruby River. On our way back, I got pulled over and he gave me a speeding ticket! How rude! I guess I'm going to have to learn to use the cruise in my new race car!

Jessica got a job (YEAH!) at Hogi Yogi. Cassady also got hired there, but they haven't got to work with each other yet. They were really excited and I'm sure their parents are just as excited for them :)

Kaden is playing football this year for Delta High. He really likes it and is playing on the defensive and offensive line. His first game is Wednesday the 26th in Cedar City against Hurricane. Go Rabbits!!!!

Since I have until 11:00 in the mornings to myself now, I went and got me a membership to the fitness center. My goal is to become healthy and fit and to run a 5K soon!

Not too much else is going on here. Just keeping busy with work and the kids.

Flagler Beach Vacation

We just got back from our vacation to Florida. We had such a wonderful time, but it was way too short. The boys LOVED the beach-they didn't want to do anything but play in the water! We stayed in Flagler Beach; it was heaven! We got to spend time with everyone: Grandpa and Grandma Suzy, Granny, (Great)-Grandma Fisher, Aunt Storm and Uncle Brett, and we got to meet Rhett for the first time (what a cutie!). I was so sad to leave-it seemed like we just got there and it was time to turn around and go home. The weather was perfect and from the house we saw the most amazing sunrises and sunsets. What I wouldn't give to fall asleep to the sound of the waves again! Distance does make the heart grow fonder-being in Texas all these years made me miss those ocean views I never appreciated before. Isn't this a great picture of Grandpa and Grandma with all their grandsons?! Hudson especially enjoyed his cousin Rhett. He was so excited to finally be bigger than someone! He still calls Rhett "that little guy", because you know, 4 is SO much older than 1! I have many, many more pictures-check out our Shutterfly page at: kadlhwhite.shutterfly.com.

Whoops! Imeant Cassady!

You're it!!!

Amanda's List

OK-Here's some not so interesting things about Amanda!!!!

Jobs I've Had:
1. mom
2. Accounting Assistant/Texas A&M (Whoop!)
3. bank teller
4. ice cream scooper/Baskin Robbins

Places I've Been on Vacation:
1. Flagler Beach, FL (It was WONDERFUL!)
2. Louisville, Kentucky
3. Delta, Utah
4. Bahamas

Movies I'd Watch Over & Over:
1. Chicago
2. Evita
3. all the Harry Potters
4. Fear of a Black Hat

Places I Have Lived:
1. Round Rock, TX
2. Bryan, TX
3. Tallahassee, FL (briefly!)
4. Holly Hill, FL

Favorite Places to Eat Dinner:
1. Dos Salsas (Georgetown,TX)
2. Dia Thai (Georgetown, TX)
3. Manny's Pizza (Flagler Beach, FL)
4. Beach St. Chicken (Jacksonville, FL)

Places I Want to go on Vacation:
1. Alaska
2. Pacific Northwest of USA
3. Redwood Forests of California
4. New Zealand

Things I'd Rather Be Doing:
1. playing on the beach in Flagler
2. camping & hiking with the boys
3. swimming in the pool
4. lying in a hammock, in the shade, with a cool breeze and cold drink

Things I Look Forward To:
1. traveling-seeing North America from coast to coast and top to bottom
2. building Legos with the boys
3. being skinny again one day!
4. watching my boys grow into good men

What Are My Guilty Pleasures:
1. dark chocolate
2. enjoying a drink (or two or .....) with good friends and family
3. Legos
4. tattoos

OK-that's me in a nutshell! I tag.........Cassidy

Happy August Birthdays!

Okay, I'm a little late in posting this but Happy Birthday this month to Amanda, Sam and Mark! Happy Happy Birthday to You!

Lacee's Blanket

Ever since I've moved home for the summer, I've been making a lot of baby blankets on my spare time. I would always show them to Jodi and Lacee and she would always ask me if it was for her. So finally I made one just for her that will actually cover her whole body! And I'm just so proud of the way it turned out I decided I would post it on here to show everyone!

Steve's List

A little trivia about Steve:

Jobs I have had:
1. Maintenance Manager
2. Electrician
3. Truck Driver
4. Heavy Equipment Operator

Places I'd rather be right now:
1. At a baseball game
2. Camping
3. Traveling to Florida (winter time only)
4. Riding my bike anywhere

Movies I will watch over and over:
1. Lonesome Dove
2. Man from Snowy River
3. All 3 Bourne movies
4. 8 Seconds

Places I have lived:
1. Delta
2. Salt Lake City UT
3. Ferron UT
4. Provo UT

Favorite place to eat out:
1. Ruby River
2. Olive Garden
3. Cheesecake Factory
4. A resturant in Florida that serves rock shrimp

Places I want to go on vacation to:
1. Jackson Wy
2. San Diego
3. Florida
4. Alaska

Places where I have been on vacation:
1. Florida
2. Branson MO
3. Louisville KY
4. San Antonio

Things I look forward to:
1. Going on vacation
2. Riding my bike
3. Hunting
4. Going to Baseball games

What are my guilty pleasures?
1. Beer
2. Beer
3. Beer
4. Beer

Okay, I tag Amanda! You're it!