Rachel

Today I am laying beside my wonderful Rachel's hospital bed waiting for her to wake up from her open heart surgery she had last night.

Last night the nurse who took Rachel into surgery had to pull us aside and let us know how sweet Rachel was as she rode the red power car to surgery. Rachel let the nurses know she would be fine because so many people were praying for her. Rachel was right, we have had such a comforting outpouring of people saying they were praying for our daughter. That gave our family so much strength.

Rachel is now laying in bed sleeping. Her recovery nurse let me know Rachel is doing well and was very conversant this morning. Rachel's biggest concern was how much she missed her two younger brothers. :)

Rachel is in good spirits, she wouldn't let the nurse close the blinds this morning because she said " I love the rays of sunshine on me". When the nurse was trying to asses Rachel's pain, Rachel told her she didn't mind hurting because it means she will live longer. Such wise words from such a little person.

Puppet Theater

A couple months ago I got the calling in my ward of Activity Days leader. Girls ages 8-11 come to my house every other week and we just do fun activities that they planned, It is a real fun calling. I work with another lady, who is fantastic. For our last activity we made hand puppets and then put on a puppet show using Aesop's Fables. Jennifer, Adam, and Rachel helped me make this puppet theater to surprise the girls with. It ended up being a great hit and we all had a wonderful time being the audience for their shows. :)

Here is one of the shows they did it is called "The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bats." :)

I guess it has been quite a while since I have blogged and a lot has changed. Eric got a job as a managing attorney at a law firm in Las Vegas. He moved to Vegas in February for work and the kids and I stayed back in Leeds till we could save up enough money to move. It was a long and very difficult 7 months for me. I was so thankful Eric was able to come home weekends. I did learn a lot about myself during that time but it is something I would prefer to never do again!

We moved to Summerlin in August, which a suburb of Las Vegas. I truly love it! The people are kind and friendly our ward is

absolutely amazing. The kids are fitting in very well and there is a large home-school community for my children to be a part of. I can definitely see myself calling this place home. :)

And as I am finding my groove and life is finally somewhat settling down I am hoping to frequent this blog more to document more of what is happening in the lives of the Earley family. TTFN

Gram Cracker Houses

We had a great time making gram cracker houses this year. Jennifer and Adam got out their artistic abilities and spent hours perfecting their houses. It was so much fun watching them get so detailed with their designs.

Jennifer's wintry wrap around deck house.

Adam's inviting open door and take a seat house. Adam was going to take his house out and shoot it with his air soft gun until he ended up spending hours putting it together. :)

Eric even had fun making one because he knew he could dunk his in milk and eat it when he was done. :)

Joseph and Rachel both had a great time putting their houses together with little help. We were pretty amazed with Joseph's he put his together using only frosting (because he wanted to eat it later). Joseph insisted on doing his all by himself, five year olds are so independent I love their initiative. :) Jacob had a great time eating the gram crackers, frosting, and candy. I am paying for that now with him running all over with super hyperactivity but it was still a fun activity.

Eric and Rebekah

In the last 7 months we have had a couple big changes. Eric decided to take the Nevada bar which happened to be the same time we were due with our sixth baby. It all worked out, I was induced a week early and I was relieved to only have a 3 1/2 hour labor with her (probably because I had pre-term labor for five months). Rebekah Rose (named after her Great-Grandma Rose Day) was born July 15. Something that really amazed Eric and I was, when Rebekah was born she seemed to be born smiling. Now at 5 months old she still is smiling and she has such a wonderful personality. With five other siblings she gets lots of cuddles and hugs. It is so wonderful to watch them with her.

After Rebekah's birth Eric left a few days later to go back to Las Vegas to finish up his studies for the Bar and prepare to take the Bar the end of July. The Bar came and left, Eric felt he did good on it and packed up his things to come back home, we were all so happy to have him back. He was in Las Vegas for almost three months (I was SO thankful for all the help my mother in-law gave me. Looking back I don't know how I could have gotten through it, on bed-rest, with out her. She was amazing!) Then the waiting happened we wouldn't know the results till the beginning of November. That was a very long and painful 3 months the results came back and Eric passed the Bar with a pretty high score too, we were all very proud of him. I thought the rest would be a cake walk but it has proven to be a lesson in patience for me as Eric puts in lots of applications in a very competitive market and we just wait for someone to reply. It has only been a couple months since we found out he passed the Bar so I am sure he will find something soon.

We are all so happy to have our new baby girl Rebekah, to have Eric back with us, and to know he passed the Nevada Bar.

Mother's Day Redo

Mother's Day this year was kind of a bomb. We woke up at 7:00 a.m. to get the kids ready for 9:00 a.m. church. Since I'm still on bed rest I stayed home with Jacob. The rest of the kids woke up on the wrong side of the bed and started fighting as soon as they woke up. Eric and I were amazed at how hard it was to get them all dressed and out the door.

When every one was gone I took Jacob upstairs to try to catch my breath and settle my frazzled nerves but Jacob of course had a different idea. He tried to flush nonflushable things and dump out pretty much anything he could get his hands on. I put him down for an early nap around 11:00 and went to go take a nap myself, hoping when I woke up things would be a little easier but when the kids and Eric got home from church Eric thought it would be nice for Mother's Day if the older kids made grilled sandwich's for everyone but that wasn't such a great idea because they both just fought over why the other one should have to do it and then they both took off upstairs when Eric went to get undressed. GRRR! Not a great day!

Eric Gracefully, and lovingly made a late wonderful dinner (cheesy chicken, rice, gravy, and veggies.) and due to what seemed like constant fighting all day we put all the kids to bed early--they needed extra sleep.

The next morning I was woke up at 6:30 am (we do scripture study as a family before Jennifer heads out to school) to CHEERFUL children singing me happy Mother's Day and to a decorated angel food cake (that was meant for the night before but I wasn't in the mood for it the night before) with lots of strawberries and whip cream, it was really sweet of them. The whole rest of the day the kids all worked so hard to be kind to each other and do their own chores without fighting--That's a BIG thing at our house. Monday was a much better Mother's Day. Thank heavens for redos. :)

Joseph Lost a Tooth

The other day I was looking at Joseph as he smiled up at me and I noticed his once straight teeth in one place on the bottom weren't so straight anymore so I had him open his mouth and there stood, behind his baby tooth, an adult tooth. I was pretty shocked just because he is only 4 years old and the rest of my children were solidly five or six before they had a loose tooth.

Joseph was ecstatic to know he was going to loose his first tooth. He has had such a hard time because Rachel (now seven) has been loosing lots of teeth and getting many visits from the tooth fairy and Joseph has felt totally left out.

Eric helped Joseph's tooth fall out by flicking it a few times. Joseph proudly held his tiny tooth, went to the kitchen to put it in a baggy, and go put it under his pillow so the tooth fairy could come. It was so fun to watch how proud and big he felt.

I Can't Believe This!

A couple days ago we woke up to a huge crash. Eric ran up stairs to find Jacob, our 2 year old, had thrown his computer on the wood floor and bend the power cord. Wew, Eric was able to fix the cord and the computer was still working. Yesterday night as we were working on Eric's Nevada Bar application he noticed his computer (which has almost everything he needs for his application saved on it) was freezing up more than normal so he restarted it and we called it a night and went went home to go to bed or at least tried to. We both had horrible insomnia--too many worries about getting this application post marked by Saturday (Feb 28th).

We got up early this morning, feeling a great deal of pressure, we only have three days left to finish up everything and Eric found Jacob laying on his computer POUNDING on it! Talk about panicking. Eric got him off the computer only to find it would not load up. We called my mom, who knows lots about computers, and she told Eric how he could get his Bar application document and the other vital information saved onto a memory stick. (Thanks SO much mom). It took us about an hour to get the computer to the point he could get to the needed documents, and thank heavens Eric was able to save them to the memory stick.

Eric's computer is out of commission for now :( and this computer problem set us back half a day but hopefully, somehow we will still make the deadline! :-/ After this is all over I need a spa visit or I will at least dream of having one. :)

It's a . . .

Well I haven't been real great at blogging lately. I have felt so tired and sick so a lot of things have fallen to the waste side but things are looking up and I am feeling much better now. For those of you who we haven't been able to reach about our great news, we are expecting our sixth baby, we are all pretty excited about it.

It has been wonderful for me being back in Utah to have a baby again. The doctors are so thorough here and pay such great attention to the problems I have. I will be seeing 3 doctors during this pregnancy, our regular doctor, a perinatalogist/high risk doctor--due to my age, which isn't that old but I have had some pretty scary pregnancies, and a neurologist due to the mini stroke I had a few years ago. It feels like I am in a doctors office all the time. I can't complain too much though it is wonderful being back in a place where they pay such great attention to any health problems that may arise.

Yesterday, Eric and I went to our Perinatalogist appointment he does an ultrasound every time we see him. Now that I am almost 17 weeks we were able to see if we were having a boy or girl. As a family we always take bets to see who can guess what the baby is and this time it looks like our little Rachel was right we are having a girl. Rachel has been adamant from the beginning of this pregnancy that she would have a baby sister. I remember when my mom was pregnant with her fourth I was sure I was going to get a little brother but my parents were sure they would be having their fourth girl. Wewhoo for all of us, we got my little brother Rob.

We have picked out a name and it looks like we will be naming her Rebekah Rose. Adam picked out Rebekah and I wanted to name her after my Grandma Rose Day who has been such a wonderful, loving influence to me throughout my life.

It will be so wonderful having a baby around again. Our little Jacob is turning two next week and although we all refer to him as our baby he talks up a storm and does all the great things a little two year old does. We will all love having a new baby girl to hold and love.

The Reason For The Season

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Jennifer

Life really can get away from us sometimes. Eric and I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately. I think it all happened about a month ago when we took Jennifer to the DMV to get her learners permit for driving. I had mixed emotions about the whole thing--freedom, she can now take herself to school activities that are 22 miles away and oh my, my baby is driving! I have to admit she is doing very well in her driving but wow where did all the time go.

We live in a tiny town in southern Utah that is perfect for young teens who are learning to drive. Main street runs the length of the town and is about a 1 1/2 miles long it is great for the hand full of 15-year-old kids who are practicing to get their drivers licence. The towns people are all pretty patient when they figure out it's one the the towns student drivers, I do love living in a small town. :) Eric had her drive home from wal-mart the other day (13 miles, they took the back roads and avoided the freeway). Her experience with that wasn't as wonderful. People didn't like having to go 30 mph, oops. She was pretty nervous but she did it!

We put Jennifer in High School and one of the classes she is taking is art. The students semester project was to draw a large picture for an in-school art show, Jennifer drew a wolf. Eric and I were amazed as we watched her drawing come together. When all the students drawings were finished her teacher framed them and had them placed around the school for the art show. Jennifer's drawing won the student choice award, She is pretty excited about it.

She also is taking a physics class where the students built mouse trap cars and then raced them. She had so much fun building it. On the day they raced them Jennifer's car won the Longest distance award. She worked so hard on it and had great ideas!

I wish I had pictures of her drawing and her mouse trap car but they are still on display at her school so I will post them when we get them back.

Chicken

Some of Jacob's favorite words to say are hi, bye, and chicken (he loves fried chicken.) He has been talking up a storm lately and is having so much fun putting words together to make phrases. Well, lately he's been putting his three favorite words together so he will say "hi chicken" or "bye chicken" and wave at us adorably. I know he has no idea what this phrase means in our culture, to him he is just putting two of his favorite words together to make a 'fantastic' phrase.

For Thanksgiving we are going up to Northern Utah. I am so nervous he will see our loved ones and say "hi chicken". I can imagine the puzzled looks on their faces as we work hard to explain his exploration of phrases.

Toddlers really make me laugh!

Wonderful Weekend

Eric and I had a fantastic weekend! A couple weeks ago we got a call from one of Eric's closest friends wife.

Scott was going to be turning 40 and his wife Sarah wanted to throw him a surprise birthday party. We of course had to go. Scott Shupe's family took Eric in to their home to live with them in the mid 80's. Eric left for his mission from there, came home, met me, and only left their home when we got married in 1992. He has so many wonderful memories with the Shupe family and they hold a very special place in my heart as well.

Eric and I decided to go up to Ogden for the party alone, no children. My mother in-law very lovingly offered to check in with the children and take them to church on Sunday. So Saturday early afternoon we packed our little beat up Geo Metro and made the 4 1/2 hour journey up to Ogden. It was a wonderfully quiet trip and Eric and I had a great time talking and actually finishing conversations, oh it was great.

Scott's surprise party was at the Timbermine restaurant in Ogden. Eric and I hadn't been there in almost a decade but it was just as fun as we remembered. Scott was very surprised to be led back to a place where he was greeted by many old friends and all his close family. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up on what Eric's old friends were doing now.

On Sunday morning we knew we had to get home but Eric and I had to stop by Temple square before we left. We were really hoping to be able to make the broadcast of music and the spoken word. We were so excited, we made it a half hour early so we were able to hear the choir practice. The program was absolutely amazing. I have always loved the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but I have never heard them live. It was so moving to hear them sing praises to the Lord. :)

After the broadcast we walked around Temple Square, ran into many wonderful missionaries, oh how I love the Lord's missionaries, and watched a film about forever families. We left there feeling so up lifted, revitalized, and ready to get back to our children.

The ride home was not as smooth as the ride there. The weather got pretty bad and being in a tiny, light geo metro did not make things any easier. We hit strips of freeway where we were right next to enormous semi's and the hail and wind blew so heavy we could not see at all. EEK!!! We were so thankful for the clear skies of southern Utah.

Our trip really was wonderful though. We were able to reconnect with good friends, spend some great time together as a couple, and be reminded of Gods plan for us and how our family can be together forever.

Joseph's Birthday

Joseph turned 4 and he was so excited his birthday finally came. He had such a hard time as everyone else had their birthdays with presents and cake. He always said his birthday was never going to come. He was so overjoyed when we told him his day was finally here.

He said he wanted a car cake so I decorated a cake to look like a road and grass and then put an orange match box car on top (he loves cars and the color orange).

Joseph was also really excited to know his Grandma Pat and Grandpa Reed were coming over to wish him happy birthday and share his birthday cake with him. Since Joseph was only 10 days old when we moved away he has never had extended family over for his birthday so this was an extra special day for him.

We had taken lots of pictures but since we are still unpacking I can't find the cord to attach the camera to the computer so I will put pictures on later.

All Moved In

It feels so good to be in back in Southern Utah. There were times along the way I really wondered if we would ever make it back. We were almost a month later than we had planned and our things made it a couple weeks after that. Life sometimes gets really complicated!

We used a navigator on our cell phone to make the trip. We thought it would be wonderful except we didn't get any paper maps and the navigator cut out a few times along the way (after the second cut out we stopped off and picked up a map). It was pretty scary to be in the middle of the US and not sure which way to go.

The navigator took us up to St Louis instead of along the coast so our plans changed and we made a stop at Nauvoo and spend a couple days there. That was our first time visiting Nauvoo we had a great time! I loved the Nauvoo temple, I ended up walking around the grounds quite a bit. It was wonderful to see where so much of our church history happened. We also stopped by Carthage and took the tour of the Carthage jail. It was very humbling to be in the stuffy cell where they put Joseph and to see the room where Joseph fell from the window and the bullet hole in the door where his brother died.

Along our way we unfortunately saw many houses that were flooded by the Mississippi River and then a couple days later when we were watching the news one of the towns we had stayed in had been badly flooded. It was really strange to know we had just been driving through there a couple days before. We were lucky to not have troubles like that.

We also stopped off in Northern Utah because Eric's brother Charles was very sick. We are relieved to know he is doing much better now. I was also able to to visit with my family and spend Father's Day with my Dad. It was so awesome to see my parents, sisters, brother, nieces and nephew and talk with my grandparents. For me it felt like a wonderful family reunion. There truly is nothing better than a loving family.

Now we are earnestly unpacking and enjoying talking with people we knew from before and getting to know many new people. It does feel wonderful to be back. :)

Ode to Florida

A lot has happened in the last last six weeks. Rachel turned six. We had a little family party for her where everything was pink, Rachel loves pink! Jennifer is our cake decorator so she made a beautiful cake for her. Rachel loved opening presents and was so excited to see the new dresses her Grandma Pat sent to her.

Eric finished his LLM program in real property law from the University of Miami. We are all so excited for him! Our four year law school adventure is finally coming to a close and we are ready to get back to real life. May 31st we pack up our moving van and make our trek from Miami to Southern Utah. I am so excited to be back around friends and family and the wide open space of the west. I love the desert!

Here are a some of the things I am really looking forward to:

1st, a very hot shower! Here in Miami because it is such a huge city the power company regulates the amount of power that goes to your large appliances so our water heater only turns on briefly to conserve energy. Unfortunately I have only found two times during the day I can take a warm 15 minutes shower before the hot water is all gone. GRRR! No wonder every one is so grumpy here they all need a nice relaxing hot shower. :)

2nd, a good hair cut! I have had my hair cut four times since we moved here and every time I come away sad, crooked, and with a different hair style than I asked for. I think part of the problem is most people here only speak Spanish and all I can say is, no hoblo espanol. I really should have learned Spanish when I was young! I really am looking forward to my old hair stylist in Leeds, she was great!

The third thing is a big plate of wings at Wingers. Now Miami can't be blamed for this. Wingers is only found in the western states. We have enjoyed the tropical and Cuban cuisine here. I think it is always fun to try new things but I love the sweet and tangy taste of wingers wings, mm mm good.

And last, a lot less traffic and less people cutting me off and running me off the road. Oh how I love smaller cities. Living in Miami has taught me that I am not an Urbanite but instead a person who likes smaller cities with friendly people. :)

Now, Miami hasn't been all bad. We love the beaches, I was only able to see them a few times but they are amazing. I also loved the Florida keys, they really are incredible. We also loved the Everglades. Seeing a real alligator up close, without a fence, is a pretty cool experience. The kids got pretty excited and the little ones got a bit nervous about seeing the gators. There are so many wonderful things to see here. I do look forward to coming back on vacation . . . just not to live.

We have also met some wonderful people and enjoyed our ward very much. We learned a lot about the Cuban culture and that helped us to understand why things are the way they are here. Although I can't deny my excitement to leave I do have some wonderful memories to hold on to.

Wonderful Visual ASL Site

As a family we have been working to learn ASL to help Jacob better communicate with us. I bought 'Baby Signing Times' a while ago, it's a DVD that teaches simple signs for your baby. We really have loved it but we wanted to learn more signs to teach Jacob.

I was searching the Internet today for an ASL site and came across this one that's put together by Michigan State University. It is wonderful because it has a video for each sign so I know I am doing it correctly, pretty cool stuff!!
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/Sites/aslweb/browser.htm

Easter

This is our last major holiday away from family. We are getting excited for all our future family filled holidays. We had a very relaxing day with church in the morning and then an English style roast beef dinner in the afternoon. The kids ran around and played with each other and Eric and I just sat back and soaked it in. It was nice to have a quiet Easter at home to reflect on the gift my Savior gave to me with His Resurrection.

Relaxation

One thing I really enjoy and find very relaxing is working with glass beads. My favorite thing to make with them are ornamental bookmarks.

For Easter I wanted to make something nice for Eric and the older kids and since they all enjoy reading I thought a bookmark would be good.

Hide and Seek

We had been searching for Jacob all over the house, we looked under beds, in closets, and in most of the other rooms in the house just to find him playing under the sink in our master bathroom. He was so happy playing with the package of toilet paper and the box that holds our hair trimmers. He thought this new place to play was the greatest! We of course have learned to tie off many of the lower cupboards to keep him away from all the dangerous cleaning supplies.

The latest place we found him was all nestled in the bottom bookshelf in our front room. He was having a great time just laying there resting. When he caught us watching him he had to show us, over and over again, how he could get in and out of this tiny spot. :)