Update

It's been a long fun summer and with TONS of adventures at the Gates' home. I will attempt to do a short version update really quick so hang on here we go :) We all decided to be Pirates for Halloween. It was lots of fun. We also decided to put our own costumes together. So we headed for good old reliable DI (Deseret Industries) We found boots, belts, pants and old shirts. It was a lot of fun for to see the kids creative sides come out a little. Jeremy and Jonathan were the ship mates while the girls and I were buckeneers.

We got lots of compliments when we trick-or-treated around the neighborhood, school parades and trunk-or-treating. Halloween is our families absolute favorite holiday. We decorated the house to look like an old pirate ship with spider webs, pirate booty, gold dubloons, pieces of eight and our old dead Sea Captain "Mr. Bones" looking over things in the corner, with his map and treasure. We carved a lot of pumpkins and I mean A LOT. We LOoovVVE it! Halloween reminds me of when I was a kid and Mom would go all out with decorations, parties and costumes Ooohh and we can't forget old Aunt Hagatha! October was always the time that I would never get out of bed when the house was dark :) Aunt Hagatha was always standing in the corner watching EVERYONE!! Heidi and I got this brilliant idea that we wanted to process apples. So we found two neighbors who were willing to let us come pick some of their apples and we set the girls to work picking apples. And we picked and picked and picked. I'm not sure what we were thinking but we ended up leaving with 75 lbs of apples give or take a few. We spent an afternoon peeling, coring and slicing. We had the Girls work the fancy peeler, which they loved. They got to be pretty fast at it and really good helpsers. After a few apples we bottled 17 quarts of applesauce. Throughout the next week we processed the rest of it into apple pie filling and more applesauce. It was a LOT of hard work but we built up our food storage and made some fun memories. Our family also started another new adventure toward the beginning of the year. We bought chickens.... I know right, chickens for real??? But we had the room for them in our yard, we wanted to give it a try and the girls wanted "pets" if you can call them that So we got chickens, 9 of them and the kids ABSOLUTLY love them. In the first few hours they all had names; Lesheay, Chicky, Velvet, Carmel, Fluffy, Chicken #1 and Chicken #2, Sprinkles and I can't seem to remember the other but Jeremy calls them dinner :)

The Girls have turned out to be really good Chicken farmers. The do it all. Gather the eggs, scoop the poop, clean the nests, feed, water and of course theres the holding, petting, swinging on the swings with them and hypnotising them as well. If you ask me they are crazy but they love it and they make them happy. Chickens are funny things and fun to watch. They each have their own personalities. Pretty low maintenance with great rewards. We visited the Hogle Zoo quit a bit during the year. Thanks to Uncle Joe and Aunt Heidi for the year membership. Truely the best Christmas gift ever. This particular trip they had the fire department there. We got to go throught the fire engine, see the fighters gear and Jonathan even got to wear the captains singed helmet.

The Girls also started another school year. I can't believe how fast they are growing. I can't even begin to tell how much I love them and how proud of them I am. I couldn't have been blessed with a better family. Jeremy has been busier than ever this year with work. I got a new job and am so happy to have it. I get to get the kids off to school and be home when they get home from school. It's been a huge blessing. Best of all I don't have to work 10 and 12 hour days during the Holidays!! Hal a lu ya "It's a Christmas Miracle" Thanks for stick through that with me didn't really end up being a quick update did it. :) Thanks for reading our family blog and checking out our fun pictures.

4th Habitat for Humanity Fundraiser

The band that played this year was "Mid-Life Crisis" They sounded great! Jeremy introducing Ed from Habitat for Humanity

Jeremy trying so hard to keep it all together. He was on a lot of drugs from his kidney stone and weak from no sleep and not eating for two days.

This is when the wind started to pick up and the thunder started to roll closer and closer to us. Than we started seeing the lightening.

And this year we had a GREAT, GREAT turn out of friends, neighbors and family and the rain had to ruin our fun. We thought the rain would just come, sprinkle and go away....BUT we where wrong so wrong. Not only did it rain it down poured for a good hour. We made a mad dash to get everything in the house, people, games, raffle prizes and bands. We managed to pull it all together and finish the raffle in the house. The second band "The Wolf Gang" didn't get to play but we are greatful to them for being there and supporting us and such a great cause. Thanks to ALL our fab friends and family who helped to pull off another GREAT year of helping those who are less fortunate than us. We hope to see you all there next summer.

Trama at the Gates House

Jeremy ended up in the ER the weekend of the 20th. He woke up with a strange pain the grew progressively worse as the day went on. By noon he needed to go to the hospital. With his families history with their "guts" not working we worried it was his apendix or galbladder but it was a very large kidney stone. The pain was so different than the one he had in the past so he wasn't sure what it was. After 5 hours of being at the hospital and lots of tests, ultra sounds etc. They sent him home with LOTS of meds. 10:00 p.m that night I made a 911 call because he passed out and stopped breathing twice while sitting on the couch. I was scared to death. He turned white as a ghost and all limp. I tried waking him up over and over again. I pushed on his chest, I smacked his face, yelled his name. While I was explaining to the dispatcher on the other end of the phone, Jeremy took a really deep breath and than turned deep red and started sweating SO bad. He wasn't awake but he was breathing but only for a second and than he passed out again. The parimedics got there in no time at all even though it seemed like forever watching Jeremy go through hell. When they got there they checked his vitals, he was awake and telling me I over reacted! I think not.... he didn't want to ride back to the hospital in the ambulance so after calling my father-in-law to come stay with the kids I took him back to the ER. More test, EKGs and more test but he wasn't feeling better so around 4 am they finally admitted him to the hospital to monitor him more. I went home to

relieve my father-in-law and try to sleep. When Jeremy saw the Uriologist the next morning he was shocked at the type of meds the ER docs had givin him. He gave him the RIGHT meds and sent him home at Noon. It was a crazy few days and I feel truly blessed that Jeremy is better and that he is still here with us. And it's a good thing too because our 4th Habitat for Humanity concert was that day!! And he wouldn't let me cancel it. He is so stubborn!

Fun Summer Family Activities

One Sunday Afternoon after church we decided to go for one of your "drives" and we ended up down town at Temple Square. Okay so it wasn't a coinsidence that we were there that particular day. It just happened to be mine and Jeremy's anniversary that weekend and the Conference Center was were Jeremy proposed. So I purposely drove us there to spend the afternoon. :) sneeky I know. Any way we had a great time. We toured the Conference Center and the Visitor Centers. It was a great afternoon and the kids loved it.

We also spent lots of time at The Hogle Zoo. Thanks to Uncle Joe who gave us the best Christmas gift ever. Jonathan LOVES dinosaurs so this was a special treat for him. The Zoo just happened to be having the dinosaurs visit for the summer. They scared him a little at first but he seemed to warm up a little by the time we left. The first few he would close his eyes and cover his ears with his burp cloth (he is kind of like Linus from Peanuts who carries around his blanket every where only it's a burp cloth for him)

This dinosaur sprays water from his mouth. The others roared or were hidding in the bushes. The Zoo is such a fun place and I love that it changes from time to time so that we can have a great time everytime we go.

Lemonade for Sale!

This was one of Julia and Maia's favorite SUMMER afternoon past times. This particular day Julia made Maia a lemonade hat. It was so cute right down to the little umberella sticking out of the cup. Kind of like the crazy hats at the hot dog on a stick place in the mall. Julia is SO creative and Maia loves being the drama queen.

They are pretty good sales girls. I think they made $10+ dollars this afternoon!

Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum

We spent the afternoon at the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum one August afternoon. We had a FABULOUS time. If you haven't been we would highly recommend going. It's amazing, so much to see and do. The kids had a great time!

After we spent all the time we wanted wandering inside we headed outside to dig for Trilobites. We got our gloves, goggles, hammers and buckets and found a corner of the quarry to find our very own fossils to take home. ALL the kids walked away with lots of rocks and even with trilobite fossils in them. Jonathan LOVED it!

It was a super hot and sunny day, but so worth watching the kids.

Hannah and Julia digging in the rocks.

I think I spend more time choosing the perfect background for the blog than I actually spend updating the blog. I will be better I promise. Our summer has been jam packed with fun and exciting adventures that I will updating you on :)

Summer

It's been a long but fun summer so far. We've vacationed at grandma and grandpa's in St. George, visited with my brother Mike and his wife Kimmy in Vegas. We've been to movies the Zoo and swimming. And playing with friends ALL day long is the highlight of the Girls days. We have til the end of August until school starts again. Some days that seems like a long ways off but I'm sure it will fly by. We have also been trying to keep everyone busy so the summer time bordom doesn't set in. I tell the kids if they are bored than I could find them something to keep them busy (usually chores) when I say that it always reminds me of my mom :) She used to say things like that when we would play that game with her. And just like my kids we would find something to keep ourselves busy.
We are also trying like crazy to get our 4th annual Habitat for Humanity fundraiser put together. Saturday August 20th is the big day. It's always a fun time and would love to have the biggest turnout this year.

Celebrating Me

Ok so this month I am celebrating "Me"or "Moi" in the words of Miss Piggy. Not only because it's my birthday this month but it also marks my 1 year journey to a happier, healthier me. I started this amazing program in the end of February of last year (2010) and 10 months later I was 100 lbs lighter! I know 100 lbs.... I couldn't believe it or be happier, I didn't have to starve myself , and I didn't have to kill myself in the gym. All I had to do was eat, I'm pretty sure I knew how to do that! And eat six times a day. AND it WORKED!!! Just look at me now. I'm sorry if this sounds concieded but I'm just so excited and proud of myself.
My kids give me hugs and love that they can reach all the way around me with room to spare. They think it's so cool and so do I. My hubby was inspired and has lost 80 lbs. I'm so proud of him. Even the kids are making healthier choises, it's changed our whole family. I can keep up with my kids when we play and I have more energy than they do now. Meet the "New and Improved" Heather :)