11 years ago...

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband, I love you now more than ever! Thanks for 11 great years!

FYI

The sun did come out yesterday in between the rain showers, but at least we got a glimpse and we even woke up to some faint sunshine this morning! YAY!! I love this quote from Elder Bednar, "the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them."

And one more, "I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."

If we look for the Lord's hand in our life we will definitely see it. I really want to read this new book,

Here is a quote from it, " Sometimes the Lord sends his blessings in such a highly unusual, dramatic, or precisely timed manner that it's as if the Lord 'signs' the blessing personally so we know with certainty that it came from Him."

Doesn't that sound so good?

Anyway, Happy Friday to you all and look for the Lord's hand in your life today!

Wanting....

Chas wants one of these:

Brooklyn wants one of these:

I want one of these:

And every year for Christmas Brady asks Santa for one of these:

Too bad our yard is only this big:

But I would soooo LOVE some green grass and sunshine right now!!! Someday we will live out of town and get some of those things, but for now green grass and sun is all I am wanting! (Although my family in Canada still have 3 feet of snow!)

Throwin in the towel.

This will inevitably be long, just a warning...
Sometimes don't you just feel like throwin' in the towel? Throwing your hands in the air and sayin' I am done!? I hope I am not the only one who feels like this ocassionally. The thought that has crossed my mind 100 times a day lately is " I'm down, stop kicking me!" But this week I have felt a lot better about things so there is a silver lining, well it still may be a little gray, but a lining none the less.
Last week we went in for our first OB appt. and found out that there was no heartbeat, again, and that they needed to do further testing. So long story short, I had a partial molar pregnancy, which I had never even heard of, (look it up online, it's to hard to explain myself.) found that out on Tues, Wed went back to the Dr. and set up a D&C for Thurs. Talk about a crazy week. It was much more involved than the last one I had back in 2005, they had to knock me totally out and had the whole surgery thing going on. I had to be on some medication for 3 days that made me have really bad cramps, trying to get everything back down to normal size again, I guess it was twice as big as it should have been, let me tell you that was not fun. So I laid on the couch for 3 days, which was not fun either! Definitely made me feel so grateful for my health and that I can get up and work and exercise and do whatever I want. So there have been a couple real bummers about this whole deal: 1. obviously we no longer have a baby coming in Sept.
2. as soon as my HCG levels are back down to 0 they have to remain at 0 for 6 months, which translates to no getting pregnant at least for 7 more months. My levels were at 560,000 and as of Friday were at 3290, so they are going down which is a good sign. (which explains why I have been on an emotional roller coaster ride!)
3. A couple more weeks and I would have been over the morning sickness!
This has actually hit me a little harder than I thought it would. Today in church there was a baby blessing and I got a little teary- eyed thinking about what has happened. I really have taken for granted the ability to have kids when I wanted. Now I don't even have the choice for awhile, makes me sad. I definitely have a new found empathy for those women who have such a hard time getting pregnant and have to wait a long time for their little one to arrive. Makes me feel very grateful for the ones I do have, and I guess when number 5 finally gets here, whenever that will be, we will be even more grateful for him/her. What a blessing it is to have children! and the joy that they bring into my life.
After all that Chas has been through in the last couple of months and then this to throw in the mix, I have felt a little overwhelmed. But it is reassuring to know that the Lord is in control and can get us through the hard times. I am grateful for wonderful friends who have helped me so much the last few months! and for all the prayers and support we have felt from family and friends.
Now I know you are waiting to hear about the silver lining... We went to meet with the cardiologist on Monday and he said Chas' heart looks good and we don't have to come back for 6 months! YAY!! We are so glad his heart is not trying to jump out of his chest anymore and is actually calming down a little. He only has 2-3 small episodes a day and that has been so nice, not to have to worry about that anymore. So there is always something to be grateful for, and as long as we are doing what we should the Lord promises to bless us. We have felt his Hand in our lives and acknowledge all the blessings we receive from Him.
This has been long and kind of depressing, but it always makes me feel better to get things written down and then I feel like I can move on.
So I guess one good thing is I will still be skinny during the hot summer! ( well skinnier than 7 months pregnant anyway!) It will be a lot more comfortable to go camping with the kids for sure. Enjoy your children, the ones you have or the ones you may be getting soon, they are such a blessing from our Heavenly Father and make our lives so much the better.

2

How can my baby be two already? So glad that he still loves to snuggle and play with my hair. They really do grow way too fast, love you Beckett.

Update on Chas

Chas still has good days and not so good days, but is getting used to it now and so his outlook seems much better. They've had him on a heart monitor that he wears 24/7 cause his heart has been doing crazy things. That has given us both peace of mind, not having to worry if we have to go to the ER, as it is always monitored and then sent to his DR. in Boise, technology is sooo wonderful! They have him on a high blood pressure med. to try and calm his heart and vessels in his head down, hopefully that will help. I think he is doing better everyday which is so nice! He is finally getting back to his normal self.
Me, well I just can't wait for spring! I have decided that I only love winter if there is snow on the ground, if there isn't then it might as well warm up and be nice out!! Enough of the cold, raining dreary days. I know is only January, maybe some new snow would cheer me up?! AT least we could go out and play in it. ALthough the kids were able to go out and jump on the trampoline today, yay!! We are going to the church tonight to play ball with some friends, I thought that would be a fun, cabin-fever-beating activity. We signed the kids up for baseball a couple of week ago so we can't wait to get our gloves out and start getting ready for a new season, (don't worry we have SOFTballs.) Should be fun, it might have to be a new Friday evening activity. I remember going to the church with my Dad on SAturday mornings to play basketball, it's kind of exciting that my kids are getting to that age, although kind of sad as well.
CHas kindly brought up the other day that Brooklyn has already spent half of her time with us as she will be 18 in nine more years, thanks honey!! I hope the next nine don't go as fast as the first nine, but I think that may be wishful thinking!
Have a great friday night!

Dentist

Today we went to the dentist for the kids cleaning. Last week we went in to the ODS shool here and they tried to give Brady x-rays, oh my that was quite the ordeal!!!! Brady is FREAKED out about the dentist for some reason, so we had many tears and fights and they still didn't get the one they wanted. So today we went in again, not knowing what they were going to do. I had a babysitter planned for the younger ones since the appt. was at 8 in the morning, but alas no babysitter came so I quickly hauled everyone to the clinic and checked the kids in. Brooklyn was only in for like 15 minutes, just had to replace a sealant. An hour later I was getting worried about Brady, and kept debating with myself if I should go and check on him. He finally came out with his lopsided smile and they said he did great! 2 fillings later. I was amazed to say the least that he let them fill them and didn't throw a huge fit. So my lesson learned today, DO NOT go into the room with Brady, he is much tougher when I am not there. Fine with me. He didn't get finished for another hour, after a cleaning and sealants as well. Beckett was at the end of his rope as was I. Thank goodness we don't have to do that again for awhile!

Baby Quilt and Christmas Parties

Brooklyn decided she wanted to make a 9 patch quilt like Laura, (little house on the prairie) and so she sewed almost all of the squares together and I did the back, it turned out really cute, can't wait to meet the little niece who its for! Kasen and Layton hanging out on our couch at Christmas! Oh they are just soooo cute!

Beckett wasn't too sure about Santa, but did sit there for a minute when he found out he got candy!

Matchy. matchy!

Brady telling him his VERY expensive list of a snowmobile and a 4 wheeler, sorry not this year buddy!

Beckett and Emree are best friends, he calls her Joje, which is so cute. The first person he asks for in morning, is "where's Joje?"

Beckett is almost 2 can't even believe it! I know his hair is very long for a Hutchins boy, but I really do think it is cute, but before long, it will be short again I am sure.

Girls getting ready for the ward party, they are getting so big.

Brady's school party, they got so many presents and treats, it was a lot of fun.

Brooklyn's class had a pinata, it was hilarious to watch them try and hit it.

Brady and his good friend Cristian.

Brady got an award at his school for outstanding reading, good job buddy!

December

Well we had a wonderful Christmas and so enjoyed having Kayla, Thomas and their boys here. We got to go sledding, watch movies late into the night and play a couple games of settlers, we had a great time! Christmas is such a wonderful season, we enjoyed having the missionaries with us while we had our little Christmas program, there is something so powerful in the story of the birth of Christ, that gets me emotional every time. Humble, meek, lowly, mild, all of these words bring the image of the Saviors birth to mind and I can't help but feel the spirit.
Jared and Gina came the next week and were nice enough to watch the kids for us while we went to Boise for Chas' surgery. It was a long couple of days, where I just hung out in the hospital, thanks to Ezra for getting me the Hunger Games so I had something to do! It went great and now we are just waiting for him to get over his cold and whatever else he has! We really enjoyed a girls night out as we all went to Beauty and the Beast at the Elgin opera house as always it was fantastic and we had a great time.
Chas is still trying to get a handle on what "normal" is like after his stroke and is having a hard time with dizziness and headaches still, hopefully with time those will go away. If we could just keep him healthy it would be great. We feel so blessed that the surgery went well and now it will just take some time. The roads were bad coming and going to Boise, one thing that is bad about this valley in the winter, sometimes you can't get in or out. But I can't complain we got some new snow and it is beautiful! and now we are home to stay for awhile.
The kids started school today, which is a bummer, I wish we had a couple more weeks to stay home together. Emree and Beckett were ornery all day long, they have to get used to playing by themselves again. They were so excited when they got home and Beckett couldn't stop giving them hugs.
Of course we had our annual New Years Resolution family night and we all got some good goals written down and hope to be better this year than we were last. Thank goodness for the Savior and the opportunity we have to keep trying to be better and become more like him, which for another year is the ultimate goal. I am greatful for another year to try, another year to be with the ones I love and enjoy the blessings of the gospel in my life.

recital

Well I really didn't want my picture first, but I am too tired to fix it. So I had my first recital last sunday, it went really well and my students did a great job. Shari and I finished with a rendition of Sleigh Bells, which was really fun to play. I haven't played a duet since high school with my cousin Karli! I was soo proud of my kids. I love Brady's face in this picture, doesn't look like he is having fun? He played Jolly Old St. Nick, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Man, I love that kid!

Brooklyn just looks so old and professional in this picture. She played Pop! Goes the Weasel and O, Christmas Tree. She did great!

the big 9!

Of course, December couldn't start without Brookie's birthday. She had a great birthday, and from her own mouth, " I LOVE my birthday being in the winter because when we go out to Denny's for dinner, I get to have hot chocolate with whip cream on top." So there you have it! She is a joy and we can't imagine life without her.

9 things about Brookie that you may or may not know:

1. The girl LOVES to read, she has read, Little Women, the American Girl series, half way through Little house on the Prairie (Farmer Boy is not quite as interesting as the other books!) tons of magic treehouse and pretty much anything she can get her hands on

2. She is a pack rat! She like to keep everything and stashes stuff all around her room

3. She wears size 12 pants, her legs are forever long

4. She is up to my shoulders now. I think she might get as tall as her aunt Mandy

5. She loves to get dressed up.

6. She loves to sing in the church choir, and comes with me EVERY sunday so she can sing.

7. She loves vegetables, even more than vegetables, RANCH dressing

8.She is a good friend

9. She is an awesome cook, she can even make Lasagna from scratch! Awesome I know, even better she loves it!

We love you our little Brookie!

Christmas Tree and Sledding

We are so loving all the snow up in the mountains, I am soooo glad the kids love the snow as much as I do, maybe it's because they all have been sledding before they are two! Here is Emree with her friend Isaac

We always have fun getting our tree, especially when it is snowing out

Emree and Beckett enjoying riding in the sled while we scout out the perfect tree.

Brady, just lovin life!

Where to begin...

Well this past month has been an emotional roller coaster. We have had some great times and a lot of... humbling times. We had a great visit with Jared, Gina & family, also Ezra, Lindsey and their family for Thanksgiving. We went sledding and ate way too much food, which is to be expected! We are so glad that they were able to come and enjoyed their company.
The Friday before Thanksgiving Chas went in for a MRI on his head because he still had not been feeling well since his visit to the ER a month before. We found out on Tuesday the 23 of Nov. that he actually had had a stroke. Then all the doctors and everyone was gone for the holiday weekend, talk about a very stressful and emotional weekend. We are grateful for the support we felt from our family that week while they were here. So the last month has been full of tests and more tests, dr's apts. etc. We feel we have learned a lot along the way and can recognize the Lord's hand in this hard time we have been faced with. It's hard to imagine that you can feel prayers from a long ways away, but it is true. We are truly grateful for all the prayers that have been offered in our behalf, and can feel everyone's love and support. We are so thankful for family and good friends who have spoken of their love and offered help. We feel so blessed to live in such a good ward where we have felt so much love and definitely know they are our family away from home. We are also deeply grateful for friends who helped us get into some awesome dr.'s in Boise. All in all we recognize the Lord's hand and are so grateful for the gospel, family and especially each other.
So I guess I should give kind of a time line on what has happened so far and the results they have found.
Oct 15- ER Visit
Nov 19- MRI
Nov 23 - Found out it was really a stroke
Nov 30 - Blood Work and echocardiogram scheduled
First week of Dec - Echo done, ultrasound of legs done
2nd week of Dec - Call to get some references and appt.'s with Dr.'s in Boise
Dec 12- Miraculously we were able to get in to see a Neurologist and Cardiologist in the same day,
Mon the 13. We spent the whole day going to various appt.'s. We stayed with some friends in Middleton, thanks to Jenny for watching our kids while we went to our first appt. Then we dropped the kids off in Kuna at my brothers house. And went to see the Cardiologist, he is an awesome Doctor he got us in on Tuesday for a Trans Esophogeal Echocardiogram, (I know sounds lovely eh?) ,then blood tests and then we finished off the day with an MRA (like an MRI).
Dec 14 - Spent the morning with Lindsey and the kids, did a little shopping and then went to the Hospital at 1:30, had to wait 2 1/2 hrs. then got the T.E.E done. Dr. said that definitely he has a P.F.O ( you'll have to look that one up if you really want to know, basically a flap that doesn't seal properly and lets things like blod clots through to go straight to the brain, hence the stroke.) So coincidentally, if that's what you want to call it, the Cardiologist and the Neurologist that we went to see are both on the stroke board there at St. Al's and they were having their weekly stroke conference with many other dr.'s the next day.

So now that the verdict is in the consensus was to go in and patch the hole. YAY!!! We now know the problem and that it is fixable. I can't even explain the relief that I feel, like a big burden has been lifted and I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father for all of the blessings he has given us this past week.

We are planning to go in the week after Christmas and he can have the hole patched. IT really isn't too bad of a surgery, he just has to be in there for 24 hours and then he can come home.

Again thank you to everyone for your prayers and love, I will keep you posted on the surgery and such. Especially thank you to my wonderful sis-in-law for watching all of my kids for 2 whole days!! We love you!!

Conversations

Here is a conversation between Brooklyn and Chas today.
"Brooklyn, how come you got so many math problems wrong? You need to take your time and get them done right. You're trying to hurry through and not double checking your work. Do you know why you should get all of these right?"

"Because you are my parent Dad."

I about cried I was laughing so hard. Chas is pretty much a math genius, who else knows how to figure out flow of water, and how to keep fish safe all by doing math calculations? But I thought it was HILARIOUS that Brooklyn could tap into that and think that was what he was referring to. In reality he was trying to get her to check her subtraction by doing the addition to see if her answer was right. I LOVE that she is getting older and is so much fun! (and her little sarcasm, she has such a personality!
Thanks for the laugh today, Brooklyn!

Halloween

Halloween this year was so much fun! We decided to do a theme and these are the costumes we came up with, can you guess the movie? Beckett decided to throw our camera down the hall, so the pictures are not great. A big shout out to Brooklyn, for being so excited for me dress up and so I actually did it, and I had a lot of fun. She is such a hoot! I love her!

Emree was the cutest Lucy!

Brooklyn made a great Susan, and Brady loved wearing all the gear for Peter, and of course our little Aslan. We had a great time!

Kasen and Layton

Chas, being the great guy that he is kept the kids for a long weekend and I got to go to Rexburg to see my sisters new little twin boys. They are so adorable, and so tiny, my biggest baby was 3 LBS heavier than her smallest little guy. crazy! I had tons of fun visiting, holding, shopping,eating, sleeping and all of those kinds of things. It was great to see so much family and enjoy each others company, let do it again soon!

Grandpa and Initial Point

My Dad stopped by for a couple of days on his way down to Rexburg to see Kayla and her little boys. It was so nice to have hime come, he doesn't get to very often, so we really enjoy it when he does. Beckett and Tacey chillin with Grandpa. While we were in Boise we went hiking up to Initial point with my brother and his kids, it was a fun hike, but man were there a LOT of flies, yuck!!

Now I have proof that they do like each other! If they are outside they can hang out and play all day long.

Family shot at the top of Initial point, we also went down to some view points along the snake river and had a nice picnic. We saw some guy reeling in a HUGE fish, he said he'd already been trying to get him in for over an hour, so after about 10 minutes we kept on driving, would've liked to have seen the monster!

Beckett waking up Emree one morning and ended up snuggling in bed with her instead, so cute!