Good News

 

Three weeks ago today, Katelynn had her 15 month well check.  At that time, we learned that she had a heart murmur.  Even though they thought that it was just an innocent murmur, they gave us the option of getting it checked out just to be safe. Since Aaron had the heart problems that he did, I couldn't help but worry about it, so we opted to have it checked out.  Today was Katelynn's appointment at the pediatric cardiologist.  I am glad to say that things went well.  The doctor that we saw was nice.  She had a son that was Katelynn's age.  Katelynn was very good and still during her exam and she was able to get a good listen.  The doctor said that she was definitely able to hear her murmur.  She also said that all of her other heart noises were normal.  Her blood pressures and pulses and oxygen were also all fine.  She couldn't hear anything else that would give her reason to worry.  Katelynn is obviously growing and thriving and otherwise a healthy baby girl.  She said that it was possible that she could have a hole between her atria and that was what was causing her murmur.  That was her guess.  She said that they give that particular defect time to heal on its own and wouldn't even considering doing anything to fix it unless they could still hear a murmur at 3-5 years of age.  So, in the meantime, Katelynn's pediatrician will continue to monitor her murmur.  If it is still there in a few years, then they will reevaluate her at that time and do further testing.  She said not to worry.  Most times these things resolve themselves!!  I was so relieved to hear that!!!  I had been worrying for weeks even though I knew it would probably be fine.  I am kind of crazy like that. But, all is well that ends well!  I am thankful for good news!! 

Morning at the Park

 The weather has been so nice here lately.  Fall is definitely in the air around here!!  Evan was sad that we went to the park without him the other morning, so we went on both Friday and Monday mornings.  :)  Monday morning I remembered to grab my camera and I was glad that I did.  Here is Evan riding his bike to the park.  Now that he is pretty good on his bike, he was so excited to ride it all the way to the park and be just like his big brothers!!

 And Katelynn was on the hunt for doggies, so she could growl and point at them.  She growls for every single animal and it makes me laugh every single time!!  :)

 Once we got to the park, we set our waters down on the bench and got started on the business of playing!!  :)

 Katelynn and Evan wanted to swing first. 

 They both love to swing.  And they had so much fun as I gave them lots and lots of under-dogs!! :)

 Evan was in a picture taking mood!  Every time I turned around he was saying, "Mommy, take a picture of me here!"

 He is getting to be so big!!  I just love that sweet smile!  I miss him too when he is not around, just like Katelynn does.

 I know it doesn't look like it, but she is actually yelling in delight here!! :)  She loves to swing and she is getting very vocal these days.  Now if only she would actually start saying some words too!

 "Take a picture of me up here on the slide Mommy!" says Evan.

 It is amazing to me how much these two love each other and are so happy to be together.  I thought that since they were farther apart in age that they wouldn't be as close.  And perhaps as they get older, they may not be, but for now they are the best of friends.  Evan takes such good care of Katelynn and is so patient with her even though she can be a pill bug sometimes!!

 She is an independent one for sure!  Well, as long as it is just us.  When other people are around that she is not sure of, she sticks to my side like glue!

 

I am so thankful for all my sweet children.  My car broke down yesterday at the preschool when we went to pick up Evan from school and turned into quite the all day affair (and of course Barth was out of town- because that is always what happens to me!), but little Evan and Katelynn were troopers.  They sat and played and didn't complain a bit.  Even though they had no lunch and I finally got a friend to come and get them at about 3 (preschool was done at noon), they were happy as can be.  I am thankful to have children with a naturally happy disposition!! 

 Checking out something in the trees.

 My little baby girl is getting so big!

 Evan and Katelynn both love the big fast slides at the playground.  We stayed on Monday for over an hour until we were just too cold in the shade to stay any longer.

 Look at that sweet smile!

 "Cheese Mommy!" says my KatieLynn!

 Evan made me some delicious food at his "restaurant".  It was very tasty!

 Katelynn trying to decide if she wants to try this big ladder thing that Evan loves to climb.  She did try it, but didn't get past the second rung before she climbed back down.  I bet here in a few weeks she will be able to climb it like a pro though!  She is one strong little baby girl!

And even though it was lunch time when we headed back, we decided to stop and have a snack on the benches under the little covered area by the park.  We decided to sit in the sun because it was pretty chilly that morning.  The kids thought that it was fun to have fruit snacks before heading back.  I love these kind of beautiful, carefree days! :)

Fun with KatieLynn

Miss KatieLynn has been having a hard time on the days that Evan goes to preschool.  Most days she cries from the time he gets out of the car until we go to pick him up.  So, on this past Thursday, we did all the things that she loves.  Once she got back home, she took a bath for almost an hour and played and had fun.  Then we went for a walk.  While we were out walking, we stopped at the park for about 45 minutes before heading back home for a little lunch before picking up Evan.  Katelynn was so happy at the park.  We had a great time swinging, sliding on the slides, and climbing everything in sight.  I snapped these cute, cute pictures with my phone!!  It shows just how happy she was while we were out!  :)

 

My Fun Family

 By Aaron Yorke

     My dad is 37. He doesn’t have much hair. His favorite thing to do is to play with his children. He also likes watching football and other sports. He doesn’t like brussel sprouts to eat. In his office he has a miniature golf set to play with when he has free time. He likes Lindt chocolate whenever we go to the mall. He is a great barbequer, for whenever I eat it, I usually finish whatever is on my plate. Sometimes he goes downstairs in his secret room to watch football and eat candy in his really comfy seat.

        My mom is 36.  She is sad when we leave her. She is almost always home with her children. She is always kind and mostly happy. She loves to cook, but I don’t know her favorite food.

     My brother Weston is 14. He has been in this school before. His favorite food is chicken cordon bleu. He is right now in high school. He has blue eyes. He is very smart. He loves to read any book he can get his hands on. He is very obedient to his parents. His favorite color is purple. One of his favorite desserts is root beer floats.

       My brother Brian has curly hair.  He is the age of 12. His eyes are also blue. He just started middle school.

   My sister Amber is 7.  She is in 1^st grade. She likes school a lot. Like almost all of my family, she has blue eyes.

        My brother Evan is 5. His birthday is in September. His favorite color is red. He likes stroganoff and salad with ranch dip.

          My sister Katelynn is 1 year old. Her favorite activity is to scream. She likes most of her brothers’ devices. Her favorite food is stew and rice. 

Aaron wrote this a few weeks ago for an assignment at school!  It was so funny and cute that I wanted to make sure I had it forever!!!  :)   I have to say that I think my favorite descriptions would have to be Daddy and Katelynn!!  I hope you enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday Brian!

 Brian had a great birthday on Tuesday!!  Twelve years old!!  I can't believe it!!!!  He had a good day at school and then once Daddy got home, we were able to celebrate!  Weston got Brian some football cards because Brian LOVES football!!!

 Amber got Brian some cool glow necklaces!

 Thankfully miss KatieLynn was feeling better by Brian's birthday!  I thought that she kind of looked like Hailey in this picture!!

 Don't you love to cool-aid mustaches?  Brian had lasagna, salad, watergate salad, rolls and cool-aid for his birthday dinner!  YUMMY!

 Evan made his card days in advance.  He wanted to give Brian almost all of his coins too, but he settled for about 10 when all was said and done.

 Evan gave Brian some cool paper airplanes.

 Aaron gave him a cool skateboard!!

 Brian loved the money from G and G Whitley!  He has all planned out what he is going to get with his money!!  :)

 Turning 12 is a big deal!  That means that now Brian can hold the priesthood and pass the sacrament.  That meant he got some new church duds!  He gets to go to his very first fireside and dinner for youth tonight!!  :)

 Brian's big present was a camera!!!  Boy is he LOVING it!!!

 He has been busy snapping away every single day since he got it!  He must take after Grandma!!!  :)

 Brian wanted a round chocolate cake with blue lettering!

Happy birthday Brian!  I am so thankful for such a sweet and kind boy!  He is quick to forgive.  He loves to do what is right.  He is great with babies!  We call him the baby whisperer at our house!  He is a great helper around the house.  He is smart and funny and talented!  I am so thankful for Brian in our family!!!  I love him so!!!  :)

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

 Life has been full tilt here at my house.  All those birthdays and then children being sick.  It seems as if there hasn't been a minute to spare or blog for that matter!!  My birthday day was a nice one.  I went with a friend to lunch with Evan and Katelynn.  While we were there I thought that Katelynn felt warm.  Later, I took her temperature and found out she had a fever.  She got the virus that Evan had earlier in the week.  After school, I took the kids over to the dollar store because they wanted to pick out presents for me.  By the time I got back home, Barth was there.  The kids made cards.  Barth made my my favorite dinner of french toast!  :)  It was very, very yummy!  Especially since I hadn't had bread in the better part of a year!

 The it was time for presents.  That is always a fun time!  :)

Lastly came cake and ice cream!  Barth (and the biggest boys) decorated up the house for me.  And he also made my favorite cake.......lemon!!!!  Yummy!  All in all, it was a good day.  The next day Aaron woke up with hives from head to toe.  Last week it seemed like we just couldn't catch a break between 2 sick children and one of the worst cases of hives ever!  We are still not sure what caused them.  Nutella maybe?!?  Today was the last day of steroids, so we are going to give it a bit and then let Aaron try that again and see what happens!  Goodness me!  Busy, busy, busy!  This time of year is certainly one of our busiest!!!

Happy Birthday Amber!

 Our internet browser has been having all sorts of trouble, but I finally downloaded firefox and this one seems to be working (for the moment) so I will get these pictures up while I can!!  Amber's birthday was Saturday of last week!  She was so excited to be turning 7!  She had a great day!  We played outside for most of the morning.  She got to play video games.  The sister missionaries from our ward stopped by to give her a treat, and she got to talk to both sets of her grandparents!!  What a fun day!!!  :)  In the late afternoon we had presents.  Amber was excited about that part!

 She got a beautiful feather boa from Weston!  She loved it.  She wore it the rest of the day!!  :)  And as an added bonus, it matched her birthday outfit!!

 Aaron was up next.  He led Amber on a treasure hunt as part of her birthday present.

 He got her some purple silly string. I think that it was actually her favorite present of the day!!  :)

 Brian was up next.  He made her a cute card.

 And she got a fun glow in the dark butterfly wand from him.  It actually lasted for several days!

 Next up was Evan.  I love to see Evan shop for presents for his siblings.  He looks and looks until he finds just the right thing that he knows that they will love.  It is very sweet.

 He got Amber this star thing.  She has another one very similar to it that says "It's a girl!" that bought for me when she was born.  She loved it so much that she took it over a few years ago.  So, Evan knew that she would love it.  And she does.  :)

 Amber got a few other things.  She got a new scooter since hers broke a while back as well as a headband decorating kit and a nail art kit!  She was sooooo excited about those!!

 She told me she didn't care what kind of cake she had as long as it had pink frosting.  She got a white Funfetti one with pink icing, pink writing, and pink candles.  Indeed, that cake was very pink!!!

Happy Birthday Amber!!  I am so thankful for such a sweet, loving, smart, independent, strong willed little girl!  She is my faithful side kick in most all things and I love her so much!!!