Random Thoughts....

I realize that I spend way more time reading every one else's blog than actually updating my own. I keep thinking I have to wait for something spectacular to happen before I post about it, but then realize every day is spectacular in this crazy family!! I wish I was as creative as Stasha is...and could see the things she sees every day in her life. I really admire that about her.

We are only one child away from a full family again!! Jamie came home on Thursday last week and it has been great to have one of our boys back! We are still missing Kai, but will get him back this weekend! I can't even think about how much I miss him, because it physically hurts! This time with grandma was so good for him, but HORRIBLE for mommy!! Did I say that it hurts?? I can't believe he's been gone almost 6 weeks...what was I thinking??

Jamie got to spend a month with his mom in North Carolina. He had a great time with his new step uncle? Robyn is his grandma's new husband's son...Get it? They are very close in age and got to hang out every day. It was good for him to have a buddy and be able to do alot of things he couldn't do with his mom. She's very sick right now with Lymes disease and is trying to get better. I know Jamie really enjoyed spending time with her and helping her as much as he could. He is such a good boy! I can't believe how much he grew in a month. He is almost 5' 10"
I'm glad he's getting tall....and sooo handsome. We are trying to figure out how to let him date without freaking out and going with him as chaperones...I really can't deal with these things very well! I am too young to be having a teenager dating and driving! This is going to age me very quickly...

Slowly but surely I am feeling better since my surgery. I'm still waiting for my emotions to catch up with my body...I keep forgetting that it was major surgery and feel like I should just be back to normal mentally, and that's not really happening. I finally started taking some estrogen to try and feel normal again. I guess my ovaries aren't working even though they were left behind to help my brain, they've decided to freak out and freak me out. I hope things will get easier as time goes on. I am a little overwhelmed with all the requirements of motherhood and career. I wonder how I did all this before my surgery. I hope I can deal with this...any advice??

Malak's Surgery

On monday morning we woke up a the crack of dawn to get Malak to Summerlin Hospital to get his tongue clipped. I was so grateful that we were finally getting it done after our insurance denying it once already. I have been fighting since he waw 2 weeks old to get them to clip it but nobody would. I've been worried that it would delay his speech and create problems for him as he got older. So far I think he's pretty good at being on track, but I couldn't understand why something that seems so simple would be so difficult to do. I finally found a doctor that my insurance likes. He's the same doctor that put tubes in Madelyn's ear when she was small so I trusted him already. The actual surgery only took about 20 minutes to do, but we had to be there early so that we could sign paperwork and get him ready for the anesthesia. He was so cute in his little hospital gown that didn't remotely fit him! He couldn't eat after midnight the night before so he was hungry and kept signing for "more" all morning. It was hard to not let him eat. But he did very well during surgery. They didnt have to give him an IV or anything. He didn't even wake up cranky from his anesthesia. I went back there and he points to me and says, "who's that?" It was so cute! I just held him and tried to feed him a little food and popsicles and wait until they would release us. We finally were able to go home so James came back and helped us get him ready and we took him home! So far since Monday he has been pretty good. A little cranky but we kept him drugged with Tylenol and Ibuprofen to take the edge off. He's done remarkably well and I am so grateful that it's over! He can move his tongue anywhere now and stick it out...I don't know if that's good or not:) I am relieved to have it over and have him healthy!!

Madelyn's Performance

I put Maddy in a theatre camp for 4 days that her singing coach was hosting. She had a lot of fun with learning new things and being able to do a performance. They smashed 10 hours of learning into 4 days and they worked hard to get ready to perform . There were 5 girls in her age group and they were all fairly new at singing so it was fun for them all to learn together since they were on similar levels. I really felt like Maddy was comfortable with performing and she remembered all the words and most all of the moves! She actually projected her voice very well and surprised me a little. I'm watching my little girl come out of her shell a little bit and I think it's so great! It was inspiring for her to watch the older girls and see what she can be if she works hard. The older girls voices were really developed and beautiful so it gave us a lot of excitement and dedication to work hard so she can get better. She had a lot of fun!

Vacation in Vegas

James surprised me on Tuesday with a little mini vacation! He got us a hotel room at the Hilton for 2 nights! It was so much fun. I love how you can go on little vacations in this town and never have to leave. James and I went to the hotel on wednesday night alone and went to a delicious dinner at Benihana. I never get sick of Hibachi Table food. We ate ourselves sick and then went to the Sports Book and watched the All-Star game.....I know I'm a good wife. It wasn't my first choice of things to do but he couldn't pay attention anyway knowing that the game was on...so what the heck. After the game we went up to our room and had a good night's sleep for the first time in a long time. We had to get up early the next day because James had to go into work, but I needed to get stuff done at home anyway so we could go back that afternoon. We let Madelyn bring her friend, Taylor. We took them to the pool and let them play for a couple of hours. Malak I think had the most fun! He just loves the water...just like all the kids did at that age. Abuela took him back to the room when he tired out and put him down for a nap. She's been such a lifesaver since she's been here. We went back in and got cleaned up and went to Benihana's again with the whole family to see what Malak would think. He really enjoyed himself...screaming all too often. Thank goodness it was a loud place to begin with.:)
We had a great time and enjoyed our time alone and with the kids. Thanks James!

Memories...

I saw this on one of my friend's blogs and I thought it would be fun to try...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

4th of July

We've had so much fun over the 4th. We traveled up to Utah as a family because we had to bring Kai up for preschool and I wasn't strong enough to drive him up myself. We decided to make everyove go with us. We left friday mid morning after the church program. We arrived at Grandpa's house around 6 pm. Everybody was there to eat dinner and enjoy the evening. We had a great time visiting with everybody. All the fam was there except Dougie and Stasha and they were really missed. It was fun to have all the grandkids together and see how much they love each other and enjoy playing with one another.

On Saturday we got to go out to Utah Lake and try out Grandpa Kieth's new boat! It was so much fun! Maddy and Kai got to drive the boat....Kai was a little dangerous, he liked to turn really fast and try to give Grandpa Kieth a heart attack. :) But the kids just loved being out on the water. It was fun to play around the boat dock in the water. I didn't want them to get in the water because it was so dirty...but I lost that battle. (Crazy mom!) Malak had so much fun in the water..I think he was supposed to be born a fish because he absolutely loves to be in the water! He was high stepping in the water trying to walk on top of it which cracked us all up. Hariella was very patient when she got all wet from Kai splashing her. And Madelyn went in all the way including her head and was swimming like we were in a pool...yuck!

We loved seeing Ella, Carl and Danielle's new addition. We were also able to see Carl bless her on Sunday. He gave her such a beautiful blessing. Carl has turned into such an amazing man. I am so proud of him and who's he become...you can just feel his spirit and know that he is special. We ate at Danielle's family's house in Nephi after the blessing and that was so fun to spend time with her sweet family. James, Madelyn and Abuela went back to Las Vegas after the luncheon and I decided to stay in Utah for another week with Kai and Malak. I felt like I needed to get Kai comfortable with preschool and enjoy him while I could because he'll be gone for a month going to preschool. He's growing up so fast and becoming a little man...I'm going to miss him!

Happy Birthday James!

These pics are of him when he just joined the Air Force....hasn't changed much has he? OK just the mustache....thank goodness!!

Well my sweet husband is getting very old! He turns 36 today and I coulda sworn it was 35....he just keeps getting better and better with time! I have to say I feel bad because I wasn't in much condition to be celebrating with him. I wanted to do so many things for him but time just got away from me having to have surgery. But I wanted to let him know how grateful I am that I've been able to spend the last 10 years of my life with him. We actually met 10 years ago this weekend here in Las Vegas! He was trying to put the charm on and luckily Hariella caught it because if it weren't for her there would be no Pemberton family. My mom was such a sucker for James...she still is! He just grins at her and she melts. (Ladies man) He has his way with most people because of his sweet personality and tender heart. I married a huge teddy bear with a chocolate smile!! He is an amazing father and husband and I knew by watching what a good daddy he was to Jamie that I couldn't go wrong if I married him. He has proved me right! I couldn't ask for a better man to raise our children with. I love the way he treats Madelyn and shows her every day how she should want to be treated by her own husband. The boys look up to him for so many things. I know he is Jamie's hero...and well deserved. Kai thinks he is one big jumping bag and Malak is learning the way to his dad's heart. He is so kind and tender to our children and patient....he is way more patient than me. Heavenly Father knew I needed him and I am so grateful that he sent James to me!! He is the ultimate gentleman. He ALWAYS opens the car door for me and any door in my path. He walks on the outside of the street to shield me from harm and always pulls my chair out. I am so amazed by him every time and never take it for granted because I always feel special to him. He has such blind faith. He knows our Heavenly Father and loves him. He respects his priesthood and always honors it. I look up to him in so many spiritual ways and learn from him regularly about how to love unconditionally and accept what we don't always understand. He is my rock, my strength and my happiness.

I hope that his birthday is fabulous and that he always know my life is blessed because of him. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Jamie's Triathlon

Watch out ladies---he's only 15!! You have to wait until November 17th for him to be legal to ask out on any dates....and you all have to go through ME!! I will be his event coordinator!!

Jamie and his Teachers quorum have been training for a triathlon!
It's part of a scouting merit badge and seemed to be something these boys enjoyed so for the last couple of weeks they have been training for this race. Jamie is the new president of his quorum so he's been the one encouraging every one and getting them ready for this event. I sometimes try to figure out if this stuff is for Jamie or James. I think big James enjoys this just as much as his son does.( if not a little more.) Anyway last saturday they headed out to the base to actually have the competition. I thought the leaders were going to compete-I would have paid money to see all the old fatties trying to do this but they "had to clear the course and make sure the boys were ok." Whatever...:) Jamie finished 1st in overall time but each event was won by a different friend of his. They had to compete in running, swimming and biking. Not to mention in at least 106 degree weather which made it very hard!! I am always proud of Jamie- he amazes me quite often and for his reward his leaders bought him an awesome knife that he can use at Scout Camp! Good Job Jamie!!

Thankful

I wanted to let my family members know how grateful I am for all their love and support. The weekend of Maddy's pageant was so stressful and without the help of my family, it wouldn't have been as fun and exciting for us. Grandma and Kieth helped so much. They just did everything to keep my house running....alot of work!! They also kept the kids happy and laughing all the time. Malak had his first taste of coke in a sippy cup!! Who does that?? Liz and JaNae were so much help with the kids. My children love their aunts so much. We all fight about who is Kai's favorite when they are here, but we all know JaNae is his favorite when it comes down to it. I think Liz is building beautiful relationships with my kids and I am so grateful for her. I know she really loves them.

Grandpa and Richard always help out so much as well. Richard is our personal computer guy and we really put him to work over the weekend. Everything has broken since he moved- so he definetly put in over time for us and we are grateful. Grandpa just helps wherever is needed...mostly holding babies and playing with the kids. He tells great stories and they love his imaginary characters. He takes them to the world of make believe and they love that!

Carl and Danielle are always so good to support us in everything we do. It's wonderful to have family that we know we can call anytime and they will be there no matter what is happening in their lives. I am grateful to them for their unconditional love and support and hope to be able to return the love always. I missed the siblings that couldn't make it and realize how important it is to take advantage of any time that we can spend with them. I love you all and am so grateful to be your sister and daughter. Thank you all for your love!!