Happy Halloween

As always the obligatory Halloween pictures. Lauren had to be piglet this year because she's the last to fit in it and then we are done with it. Morgan was a jack-o-lantern because she has lost 3 teeth since school started! Shannon wanted to be the care bear. We've had that costume kicking around for years, but no one wanted to be the care bear until now. Some of the paint has worn off their faces because we dressed them up THEN had dinner. I was in a time crunch. Erin went as the 50s girl; not sure she wanted to be that for Halloween. She always wants to be the spooky villian. Last year a vampire, this year she wanted to go as a devil; what happened to my girlie girl? I went as tigger but no pictures here. Shannon had to tell everyone her life story and pet their dog and so forth while we were out! I looked at Derek and said "Who's child is this and where did she come from?" Those of you who know Shannon well, know she can be rather quiet when she doesn't know you well ( and that's putting it gently)







Just some fun pictures we tried to take before all the leaves fell from the trees because we have had no time to do any of this stuff lately. But the sun went behind the mountains, the leaves weren't as bright and the girls were getting cold. I thought these turned out fun though; just need a little brightening up! Lauren was playing peek a boo with Daddy while he was trying to get her to look at the camera!

Morgan is 6!

My girls are growing up too fast! Morgan Louise Kobe turned 6 yesterday and had a great birthday! She has been asking to get her ears pierced and I told the girls they have to show me they are responsible enough to take care of them and Morgan is a pretty responsible kid so I gave in. I took her to the mall after school yesterday and just the two of us went. It was fun to do a one on one with my girl! She was sure that this was what she wanted. She got into the chair and I asked her "Are you sure?" She nodded her head yes and the girl pierced the first ear. Morgan didn't make any sound, but they look on her face was a little shocked! After we finished I told her I didn't want to hear anything about flu shots ever again!
We had a family dinner that night and I had been working on her birthday cake for two days because I had other things going on at the same time. I had an itch to make a "fun" Halloween cake for her birthday....let's just say that I am cured of that itch for a while. I am far from getting the fondant making technique down (I struggled for some reason, even though I followed the recipe) I don't know how you do it Lauri! And I had a lot of unsolicited "help" wanting to make "dough"! The cake got a little heavy on the front due to the rice crispy mummy so it started to droop, but the kids loved it and that was all that counted! I tend to pick my projects apart too much instead of enjoying the effort! My bad. I figure I need to take advantage of Morgan enjoying the Halloween themed birthday as long as I can because I remember Kellie getting sick of it after a while.

Labor & Delivery here I come!

A little over a week ago I was sent an email, out of the blue, asking me to apply for an L&D residency at Jordan Valley Hospital. I wasn't even thinking of working any more than I am and put it on the back burner for a couple of days. Derek and I talked about it extensively and prayed about it. We felt good about my interviewing for the position. I interviewed and was offered the job on the spot! The supervisor that I interviewed with said she hardly ever does that but when she saw someone who had something to offer the team and would do well in this position she wanted to offer it to me. They are only taking on 6 new RNsa and she had already hired 3. I will be starting my training in November and I can't wait. I will get to scrub in to C-sections and tubal ligations; some emergency hysterectomies. This is the reason I went into nursing and now I have the opportunity to do what I've gone to school for. It is a long commute, but after 2 years I will be able to transfer somewhere up north closer to home. So thank you, in advance, to those who will be helping me to realize my goals!

Hip Hip Hooray, Kobe Family!

Erin, Morgan, Mari and David started soccer today and all did a great job winning all their games! Especially amazing since none of them have played before! David scored several of his teams goals, Erin was an amazing kicker and aggressive. Her coach kept asking us if Erin had ever played before! Mari and Morgan pretty much towered over all the other kids on their team and the opposing team. It was a little comical! They both scored points for their teams and we where proud of them all! Our girls kept asking when they would get to play again and decided they really liked playing soccer! I said "Of course, what's not to like?"

TADAH!

We did it! Mom and I finally finished the cake for her Enrichment auction night. Lauri, Keli, and Grandma K came up and put the base of the cake together for us so we had a nice canvas to work on. Then we spent an evening and part of a day finishin it up and this is the finished product....




I think it turned out pretty cute after we left it for a while and came back to it! To say Mom was worried about it is an understatement! Sorry Mom! Ignore the mess in the back ground. I had to leave to get Morgan to school and we didn't have time to clean up for the pictures, but what the hay!

We've already started the training bra! AHHH!

So we were eating lunch as a family this weekend and Lauren needed to be changed because she had made a mess as usual. I proceeded to undress her and this is what we found under her clothes.....




We did not readjust for the picture! This is how we found it! It's a headband the girls had been playing with and Lauren added it to her wardrobe. Lauren is way ahead of her sisters in the chest department apparently and didn't feel she was getting the support she needed! Hehe! But this is the typical training bra for us Jensens and I dare say Kobes too! The girls thought this was pretty funny too and laughed a ton. Lauren just wanted to join in the fun so she started laughing with the group!

Is there another baby in our future?

Shannon seems to know more than her parents do. She informed Grandma Jensen, one day, that she knew why I was going to the doctor's office. My mom asked her why and Shannon said "because she went to pick up the baby they have already paid for." Interesting! I had no idea! Now if she could only tell me if it was a boy or a girl. If it was only that easy, I may have had another one by now, but alas, we are done! It worries me a little that my children have been so psychic; Morgan told me when Lauren was coming before Derek and I knew. I do know for sure that we are not expecting at this time!

Bath tub pictures

This just makes me laugh! This is for you Aunt Kathi!

Flaming Gorge

Our trip to Flaming Gorge was fun. The girls went fishing for the first time and were the only ones to catch fish out of our group. Erin wouldn't hold her fish so Morgan held up their fish for pictures. Morgan however wouldn't gut the fish and the horror on their faces while Grandpa gut their fish was priceless! Shannon was enjoying the worms. Grandpa was very patient with the girls and helping them with their lines. You can tell that he has done this before with 3 other little girls!


Both of their fish look the same so I'm only putting this one up!




Shannon was naming our worms "mommy worm and baby worm"

Zip Sled!

Our girls are learning how to water ski this year and are having a blast! Erin and Morgan are getting to be little pros at riding the zip sled their grandma Kobe has. Erin has even started out in the middle of the lake, while laying on her stomach on the zip sled. She gets onto her knees and slowly works her way up to standing! It's impressive! Morgan does well just hanging on for dear life, but continues to go out when asked if she wants to ski again! I think maybe there is a little sibling competition going on here. Shannon is content staying on land and I'm ok with that. No need to rush things! And Lauren...well let's just say we are happy if she just sticks her feet in the little wading pool at home. She's not happy with moving water on the beach!



Erin



Morgan

Cedar City and Fun

We just got back, Sunday, from a visit with Laura and Adam in Cedar City. Mom and Dad tagged along and we all had a blast! We got to see Laura and Adam's apartment and how cutely decorated it is! They were the perfect host and hostess! We all ate very well and were always on the go! One of the things we did was take the three oldest girls on a hike south of Cedar City. Sorry, I can't remember the name of it, but it was fun and the girls, especially Shannon, were troopers because this was not an easy hike for little ones!




It started out easy and then we started to follow a creek up into a canyon that turned into a slot canyon. There was a rather unstable ladder (if you could call it that) that we had to climb up and that was an adventure in of itself!






Our destination was a natural waterslide that we promised the girls they could go down and true to their word, they went down the slide! And that water was FREEZING! Everyone went down the slide except for me and Dad. We enjoyed the warmth of our clothing! Shannon wanted to go down so badly! So Derek took her down, but she jumped into his lap which he wasn't ready for and they went right down into the water! Derek didn't have a chance to prepare himself so he could keep Shannon's head up out of the water, so she got a nice brain freeze and couldn't help but cry! I was impressed that she even wanted to go because, like I said, that was cold water!
Before her dunk!


Erin


Morgan
We had a little trouble getting back to the car without some protests from the girls, but overall it was a good hike! And thankfully Mom kept Lauren back at the apartment. Neither one of them would have enjoyed this hike!

summer ouchies

Wow this summer has flown by and I haven't been posting so here is a little update on a few of the things we're up to. Erin, apparently, reacts poorly to any kind of bug bite. One ,evening while I was at work, the girls went over to their cousins house and Erin was in her swimming suit still from swimming in our pool. So she took her shirt off and ran around in a swim suit and shorts. Not smart in Morgan county at dusk! This is the result.....





Then just a few days ago she was stung on the ear by a wasp and it gave her this result....




Not to be outdone, Lauren fell of a bench and split her ear open on Tuesday. It looked bad enough that I took her into the doctors and she ended up with 6 stitches! Poor thing! The doctor gave her 5 dumdum suckers for it though, so she made out like a bandit!






You can't tell from these pictures, but she took a chunk out of the rim of her ear and it's rather swollen. She won't hold still any more for me because she's a little leary as to what I'm doing. I was literally on top of the girl to keep her still so the PA could stitch her up. I layed my head on her while he was working and he asked if "mom was ok". I said I'm fine, I just had to work the night before. I have no problem with blood and stitches. I thought, "I see more blood than this at work!"

Hopefully we are done with the swollen body parts for the year and school starts next week, even though that doesn't guarantee an emergency room free year!

Adventures in babysitting!

This last weekend my sister in law was riding a motorcycle and broke her leg. She was taken to Davis Hospital and then transported to U of U to see a surgeon who specializes in the kind of break she sustained. This all happened Saturday and her husband was leaving town Tuesday for work and not getting home until the following Saturday. Guess who was going to be home? Me and my poor sister in law, Elise, who is expecting in Aug, here on her vacation time and sick. Lucky for us, we weren't the only ones feeling "under the weather". Almost all of the 11 children, we were watching together, had the cold in some form or another. We had 4 babies that were 1 year old and younger, one two year old, two 3 year olds, one 4 year old, two 5 year olds and then an 8 year old who was in school for most of the week. We were giving drops to 5 out of the 11 kids. All the babies were sick and wanting individual attention. Luckily, some good samaritans took a few kids out of the equation two days out of the week. This helped some, but we still felt overwhelmed! By the end of the week we were throwing in movies left and right...and PROUD OF IT! I'm pretty confident in saying that that was not how Elise imagined spending a good chunk of her vacation time. But we survived and, by a higher power, so did all of the kids!

more pictures of my girls.....

I had to take some updated picture of my girls a couple of weeks ago because they are growning up right before my eyes! The sunset and weather were perfect so I had to take advantage!

I love my new job!

I've had two days orientation so far, but I already know that I am going to love this job! I've started IVs on kids ranging from preemie, new born that day, to 17 years old. And apparently I'm pretty good! I seem to be better at it under pressure because we've had several kids who have already had other nurses try to get IVs on them and been unsuccessful. They call us in and as soon as we step in the room, the child is crawling up the wall! There is always two of us, because we usually need someone to hold the arm, leg, or head of the child so we can get the IV in. On a couple of cases we have needed two people holding the child down while I put it in! And the parents are there watching the whole thing. Luckily I've been able to get it in the first try! I actually had a room full of family, when putting in an IV for a 4 y/o, and just as I was about to put the needle in, the grandmother stood up and snapped some pictures! Not something I would think you'd want to put in the kids scrapbook for the memories!
I've been oriented on placing PICC lines which go from the forearm into the superior vena cava. I'll get to use ultrasound to place them, scalpels, lidocain, and then I get to suture it into place as long as the tip of the catheter is in the right place. We have to get an x-ray done in the patient's room to check that. I'm excited to try my first one, knowing full well that anything can happen! The one I saw placed went so slick that I got excited to try my first one. I know this probably sounds a little (or a lot) morbid to some, but I get a rush everytime I see that flashback of blood in the catheter and I'm able to advance it into the vein with ease. I know Annaleigh will agree with me, it's COOL!

I joined the work force!

I got the job I wanted at Primary Children's this week! I had an interview every day last week except Friday and was at the end of my rope trying to find sitters for my girls while I drove north to these interviews. PCMC was on Monday and I didn't think I had interviewed well. I don't do well with 3 other people on the other side of the table asking me questions about how I would handle stressful situations that I may come upon. I answered the best I could, but didn't feel well about it. I didn't hear from them until Tuesday, this week, and by then had told the hospice/home care center that I would take the PRN job as a case manager. I was worried about the scheduling for my family, but thought we might be able to work it out. When PC called I was ecstatic! It was scheduled time, and I could work my way into a full time position if I wanted to AND keep up my skills! I will be on the IV team and we are responsible for placing about 95% of the IVs and PICCs placed in the hospital. This is evidently a very respected team at the hospital and I'm really looking forward to improving my skills in this area! Yeah! I'm really excited to start! And I should be able to work night shifts on weekends and then sleep while Derek is home with the girls. Again, so excited!

Erin is baptized and lovin' it!

We were excited that Lauri, Jay, Kyle and Mark happened to be in town at the right time!


Most of the cousins that were there


The proud family of Erin N Kobe


I think Erin is glowing!


Erin was so excited for her day!

Today Erin was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! She couldn't wait for this day to come. She was up before 6:30am because she was so excited! Her daddy was able to baptise her and confirm her on the same day. Derek gave a very short talk, (they say to keep it short for the kids, but I think the parents appreciate it too) then Erin's parents, Aunt Laura, Aunt Erin, Uncle Kyle and Uncle Trevor sang Dearest Children, God is Near You. There were three other children being baptized that day, one from our ward (another Aaron). Erin was the third to go and she looked so nice all it white (I need to get a picture or two from you Dad). We really appreciate the family support and love shown to Erin on her day! She was born into a great family if I say so myself! We then went to, as Morgan lovingly calls it, Chuck A Grandma, or as the rest of us would call it Chuck a Rama, at Erin's request of course! We were having an open house today and wasn't able to entertain at home afterwards. I have to say... I'm ok with that! I may just do it that way again for Morgan's...we'll see. It's been a good day, but everyone is beat! We did manage to go home long enough to change clothes. I sent Shannon upstairs to change her clothes and went to change mine. I then went upstairs to check on Shannon and she had fallen asleep on the floor in fetal position with one arm in her dress. I woke her up and she told me "I can't get my dress off!" So we'll just take a rest on the floor until Mom comes to help me! I should have taken a picture, but we were in a hurry to get out. Again, thanks to everyone who came and everyone who was there in spirit. It made Erin's day even more special for her! We love you all!

TEN YEARS AND STILL TICKING!

Derek and I celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday and can you believe it, we still like each other! Just kidding! I love him more today, than the day I said "yes"! So for those of you who don't know Derek very well, or at all here is a little taste of the guy I call "babe"!

1. Derek has been blessed with 4 girls (sorry Derek no boys in your future)
2. Derek loves to get out doors and go...snowmobiling, motorcycling, boating, camping...you name it he likes doing it outside!
3. He can't stand not being busy. He needs to have something to do all the time.
4. He has a very sweet tooth! He loves chocolate when he has the munchies!
5. His favorite color is yellow.
6. Derek's dream job is to own a charter service and fly jets.
7. He likes to sleep in...a lot!
8. He loves spending time with his family...yah us!
9. Derek is 6ft 4inches

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST..

10. Derek is an awesome and loving husband and father!

I LOVE YOU BABE!

I've been inspired!

Watching Kara and Karli becoming quite the pros at the ol' camera thing has inspired me to dust off my camera and take those pictures of Shannon in her "not-cowgirl boots"!

A true "not-cowgirl" learns to sleep anywhere!


At least it's not her sleeve!