Day Time Adventures

Last Thursday morning I took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel. It was showing as one of the summer fun movies. We hadn't seen it, and for $2/ ticket, it was worth it. I didn't think it was nearly as good as the first one, but the kids all seemed to enjoy it.

A while back I had bought the boys these t-shirts.
They remembered them and decided to wear them
to the movie. Amazingly they were all clean!


We met up with my friend (and Bryce's respite
worker) Heather and her kids. It was nice
to have an extra set of hands to help with
the little ones.


Today we had to be out of the house for a couple of hours, so once chores were done, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. By far not my favorite place, but the kids love it. It was actually quite nice in there today. Not busy at all. We ate lunch and the kids played for a while. Bryce totally freaked out when we first went in, but after holding him and walking around a little and explaining what all the lights and noise was, he settled down and ended up really enjoying himself. He spent most of his time with Jacob watching him and other kids play the games. Skee-ball seemed to be one of his favorites!

Annalise had a ball! She loved exploring the toddler area and was really good to stay in there with me.








Dancing with Chuck-E-Cheese. This was Bryce's favorite part! As you can see he loved it.






Annalise has developed a healthy fear of
strangers, but a huge dancing mouse...no problem!




Then came the ticket throw. The older boys scored on the tickets!




After the tickets had all been picked up, Chuck-E came over and handed Bryce a handful of tickets. Bryce then gave him a high 5. It was really cute. He was a good sport to pose for a picture with them as well.

Here are a couple of videos of Annalise enjoying the rides. Bryce got to ride some rides also, but I didn't get any pictures of him on them since I needed both hands to hold him.

Hangin' with the Munchkins

Saturday, the boys had a performance at 2pm and then again at 7. Spencer and I went to the 2:00 show. It was nice to spend some 1 on 1 time with Spencer. It just doesn't happen very often. Anyway, Spencer loved it and it was able to keep his interest for almost the entire 3 hours! John had to stay at the theater between shows, but the boys did not have to be back until 6:30, so I took them and we left. We went back to the house to pick up Annalise and Bryce, took the babysitters home, and then went to Chipotle for some quick dinner. The boys had all earned a free kids meal from there through the summer reading program. We ate quickly, bought a burrito to take back to John and arrived back at the theater just after 6:30. Since we hadn't had time to re-do the boys make-up and hair I went in with them. We ended up hanging out in the Munchkin room until 7:00 when the show began. The kids were all so cute.

Jacob on opening night getting his make-up done
by Aunt Sheri.


The munchkin boys were suppose to do something
"fun" with their hair. This was William's creation.


Jacob's is a little shorter, but he got a few spikes
in there too!


Munchkin friends in costume.




Bryce and Annalise had so much fun with all
of the activity and energy in that room.


This little boy, I think his name is Joshua,
spent a lot of the time entertaining Bryce.


There were a lot of games and activities
to keep the kids busy until it was there
turn on stage.


I was told that these are the Wizard signs!




Well, tonight is the last night of the play. I really wish I was there watching it. =( I love watching plays and when my hubby and boys are involved, I just can't seen to get enough. In about 1/2 hour, it will all be over for now. I'm glad they have been able to do it. It has been a wonderful opportunity for them. However, I have to admit, I am also looking forward to it being over and having life calm down a bit. Ha Ha, actually, I guess that isn't going to happen any time soon, since our travels will begin this coming weekend, but anyway, a change in the type of busy is always nice I guess! =) I hope they are all having a great time tonight! I can't wait to see them and hear all about it!

Opening Night

Last night was opening night of The Wizard of Oz at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center. My sister Sheri and I went to see it. They all did a fantastic job. William and Jacob made two of the cutest munchkins ever and John did an incredible job as Professor Marvel/the Wizard. It was a lot of fun to see. Spencer and I are going to see it this afternoon.

Jacob and William with Glinda, the Good Witch...AKA Denise Klein.


John the Wizard, with Glinda, and a couple of cute munchkins. Right after the show, the adults in charge of the Munchkins ushered them right out to their room where they changed out of their costumes and waited for their parents.


Everyone of these characters did an absolutely wonderful job. There is some serious talent there!


Some of my favorite cast members!


The boys were thrilled when The Lion (Valeen Nielson) asked them for their autograph!


John with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em


Good Witch/ Wicked Witch


Beth Benning made the best Almira Gultch/Wicked Witch I have ever seen!


This is William and Jacob's first official play, and they are loving it! They are so different from each other and it is very obvious watching them in this play and seeing how they interact with others in this type of atmosphere. It is nice though, that they have both had a great time and are already talking about how excited they are to be in the next one.

The play ended at 10 PM and I would have thought that they boys would have just fallen into bed, but wow, were they excited. They talked non-stop on the way home and after having a snack, they finally settled into bed. Luckily they slept in this morning later than they ever have. They have two shows today and then one Monday evening. They should be ready for a little rest once this is over.

At It Again!

Well, Annalise is at it again! That girl has definitely found some freedom with her new found walking skills. She is into and onto everything! Today, I looked over and she had climbed onto this box, which had been turned over, and was dancing on top of it while holding onto a marker.




She was just so proud of herself when she realized I was paying attention to her. She is so funny. She spends most of her day walking around from room to room picking things up and then dropping them somewhere else along her path so that she can pick up something else that she has noticed. She always has something in her hand, and often something else in her mouth! I end up with miscellaneous items all over the place. I must admit though, I am so happy that she is able to entertain herself so well and that she seems to be developing just as she should be! Both are such wonderful blessings.

I heard from Make-A-Wish today. They said that if we would like to move Bryce's trip up to July or August we could do that. We thought about it and then I called them back and said that at this point we think it will be better to wait and go later. There is too much going on in July and August and everything about Disney World will be much nicer in November. Hopefully Bryce will be doing well at that point. We have decided to postpone his surgery until we get back from Disney.

I know it is hard to believe, but we have another set back with Bryce's communication device. A couple of days ago it broke down. The screen will no longer light up. So John called the company and they are sending us a UPS number so that we can send it back to them and they will either fix it, or replace it. I'm starting to think that Bryce is just not supposed to use that thing! Oh well, hopefully we will have a new one by the time we have someone here to train us. Crazy stuff!

Father's Day

Happy Father's day to all the wonderful fathers out there!

The preparations for the day began yesterday. I took Spencer, Bryce, and Annalise to Bashas grocery store while John and the older boys were at play rehearsal. While we were there, Spenser was able to decorate a cake for Father's day. He had a great time. Bryce and Annalise enjoyed watching all of the kids there.




This morning, the boys and I made breakfast in bed for John. The boys also made cards to give to him. It had actually taken a little while to get it all prepared, so he had already gotten up and had a shower and then got back into bed so that we could bring him his breakfast. The boys have all decided that they want breakfast in bed on their birthdays.




I was also able to talk to my dad today. It sounds like he is having a good day. We were able to wish John's dad a happy Father's day via computer. We are looking forward to seeing him in person soon. He and my Mother-in-law finish up their mission in Tonga this month. They are then going to visit Tahiti on their way home and we will see them at the Clayton family reunion the beginning of August.

Here are some pictures of Bryce with his new communication device. These were actually taken a few days ago. It looks like the earliest day that we can get training on using this device is in August. So John and I have been reading through the manual and trying it out on our own with him a little bit. There isn't much yet that he can do with the device, but at least there are a few games and things for him to do until someone who knows what they are doing can get around to teaching us! He seems to enjoy it so far!

Early Dumpster Diver!

Today for dessert we had cake. I guess Annalise didn't feel that she got enough. What a resourceful little girl!

Catching up this week

Summer is flying by! Before long, we will be making our road trips and then school will be starting again. The boys have been keeping busy with play rehearsal and reading books for the library reading program. William and Spencer have just made it to the finish line and Jacob is reading to finish up this week. Hopefully all the reading will continue even once there is not a big prize they are working towards. Luckily they all really love to read.

Next weekend will be the performance of the Wizard of OZ at the QCPAC. This is the play that John, William, and Jacob have been practicing so hard for. I attended one of the rehearsals last Saturday morning and got a few pictures of the munchkins. I haven't seen any of John's part yet, so that will be a surprise for me. I am very excited to go watch them perform.



















Today we spent most of the day in Phoenix. Bryce had another MRI. Since Sheri had the day off, she met us at the hospital and took the other 4 kids to her house for a couple of hours and then came back and picked us up. Bryce did pretty well, all things considered. He did wake up pretty cranky though and ended up sleeping all the way home. We should hear about the results from that by next Wednesday.

After the MRI we went to visit Brock Dieu, a little boy about Jacob's age in our ward, who has been in the hospital 10 days now. He has been having trouble with stomach, neck, and head pain. They don't seem to be able to find out what is wrong with him, but this afternoon they were going to be doing a nerve block that will hopefully help with his headaches. Poor kid.

Last Tuesday we got some exciting news. Since Bryce's wonderful speech therapist is leaving the end of the month, she wanted to test Bryce so that she could leave the results for his new therapist. She used a standardized preschool test that goes up to age 7 on cognition skills. When we stopped, because it was time for the therapist to leave, Bryce was at an age 5 level! Crazy. He knows his colors, shapes, numbers, categories, and many other things. The therapist and I were both floored! She said that she will bring the test materials back this coming week and see if he can go any further. It truly is amazing to watch him. Since it is sometimes hard for him to stretch his arm out, he often uses his head to point to the right answer. He is also a little stinker sometimes and will choose what he wants rather than what the right answer is. Funny thing is that he totally gives himself away by looking at the right answer, then he will look up at us with a huge grin on his face and then pick the one he wants instead of the right one. He only did this a couple of times during the testing, so he had to redo those later to make sure he knew the right answer. He did! I am so thankful that Bryce has had Alyson as a therapist and that she was willing to work with him and realize that he does have great potential even if he cannot speak or move as others do. She is awesome and we will miss her greatly!