David Wadley Family

Ever feel this way?

2010-01-08T10:10:00.001-08:00

Do you ever feel like no matter what you do you are constantly hitting those brick walls that pop up in life?

There is always going to be that "crying fit" when the answer is "no." Always going to be that heart race when you anticipate heartache or pain. There is always going to be that decision of what to do next. Always going to be that question of how do I teach my children. And there is always going to be that feeling that you are failing your children, and no matter what you do you can't protect them from everything.

My mother-in-law informed me about a new drug that has recently been targeted to elementary age children. This drug, Meth, is offered in the form of pop rocks candy. I didn't want to have to introduce these things to my 1st grader yet; but felt the necessity. So she and I sat down and had a very open and informative discussion about this and other drugs. After telling her the effects that these drugs have on our minds and bodies, she asked me "why do people do drugs if they know what happens to them when they take them?"

My answer was ready thanks to a great conversation with my sister-in-law Tara.

I told her that we all have to make up our own minds and make our own choices. We have the choice to make a good decision or a bad one; and that is really what our life here is for. With all our personal struggles and those temptations biting at us, it comes down to what we will choose to do.

That is the beauty of agency.

After only 10 years of trying. . . finally!

2009-10-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

After only 10 years of diligently drawing out for the deer hunt, he got one. Middle of October Dave and a his family (boys only) get together and set up their posh little camping village, complete with; kitchen sick, carpeted tents, heated showers and big screen movie theatre. They spend who knows how long doing what up there, but I can attest to what takes place before they go. For Dave it is: Curing and drying 8 pounds of meat, which takes close to 10 hours (for the hunt), filling propane tanks, buying enough food to feed at least 4 people. Making sure he has enough snacks for at least 10 people (6 pounds of gummy bears-of which only 1 pound came back), and packing. So on the first day of the actual allowed hunting days Dave ventures out into the hills above squaw creek near Strawberry. . . wait, wait wait, Dave wants to tell the real story, so here goes. It all began at 6:30 am on a chilly Saturday morning, October 17th to be exact. We head out from camp and drove to our predetermined destination at which point the party separates, while my two brothers drive up the backside of the hill. Pops and I walked up the hill. It was decided that I would sit on a hillside overlooking a valley, but as I sat I realized I was not in a very strategic location, I noticed that if I moved a little farther back down the path that we had come up I would have a better view of not only just one valley but several different locations that deer might be pushed through. I found a good spot and sat there for about 45 minutes or so, quietly observing, by this time it was getting close to 9 o-clock. I figured it was a good time to move around and look for a better location. So I put on my gear, and started up the hill towards the ridge. As I was walking up I noticed ahead of me that my dad was moving east along the ridge. I also made my way to the ridge and began walking North, down the backside. One thing I remember was that the wind was blowing and the sun had risen giving off early morning light. It was a lovely Aspen grove. As the wind was blowing and the leaves were falling off the trees it was a very beautiful and serene experience, to be there. As I continued walking I noticed a skull on the ground, I went and picked it up and noticed that it belonged to a young buck, not too big. It was then that I heard the tell tell sound of deer walking briskly through the forest. I looked toward the sound and noticed, about 100 yards out, three deer walking my way, they were weaving thorough the trees, it was then that I noticed that there was a buck in the midst of a doe and a young deer. So I bent to one knee, made sure my gun was off safety, shouldered my rifle and followed the deer in my scope. I remember saying to myself. "wait for the right shot, don't rush it." All this while they didn't notice me, they didn't get any closer than 50 yards, they were walking in a west to east direction towards me. I had that buck in my scope, adjusted my magnification to ensure the best shot. I continued to follow him keeping my cross hairs square on his chest, waiting for the best shot. When I felt the time was right I squeezed the trigger. I quickly chambered another round. I noticed he hadn't fallen but seemed more confused, he wasn't running but he hadn't stopped either, he was more looking around. In his confusion I took aim and fired a second round. By this time I could tell he was definitely wounded by the way he was acting. I chambered one more round and just to be sure I took aim and fired a third time. I watched him as he fell. I chambered one more round just in case he jumped up as I cautiously started walking over to him. My thoughts were "I can't believe this just happened, I can't believe I just killed my first deer." When I came up to him, I noticed he wasn't dead yet, he was struggling for breath, making a gasping noise, but he quickly expired. Then all was quiet. With my ears ringing from the shots, I stood there and thought to myself, "this is what i came out here for, now what do I do." First order of business was to cut his throat, and allow the blood to drain. I then took out my deer tag and attached it to it's antlers. At this point, my dad having heard my gun fire, came over with a big smile on his face, gave me a high five and said "alright! Dave, you did it." I also saw, coming from the other direction, my brother Jon who was making his way towards us. Having never killed a deer let alone cleaned one. My dad immediately took out his knife, put on his gloves and instructed me to do the same. He then showed me, step by step, how to field dress a deer. (details will be spared during this part of the story, for obvious reasons, blaaaah). I than posed for the "Happy hunter got his kill" picture. Jon and I each grabbed an antler and drug him down the hill where my uncle was waiting. Boy was he heavy. He was a good 4 point-probably 150-200 pounds of solid dead wait. We then took turns dragging it back down to the truck. We hung it up back at camp, skinned it and then I proceeded to call my wife and tell her the good news. He says the end, but that is not where it ends. He came home hung the dead carcass in the drive way, unpacked his stuff, and that night began cutting the meat off the bones. It was really windy that night, but he and Jon toughed it out and finished the job. Since then Dave has had this fabulous idea (not) of cleaning, boiling, and bleaching the skull to a brilliant white complete with antlers still attached, just perfect for hanging in an unpopulated location, to revel in his victory. We figure that, the meat was at least 50 dollars a pound. After 10 years of paying to draw out and camping expenditures that was the most expensive deer ever. But hey, he did it and no doubt he will do it again. Until next year. . .

My little blue eyes family!

2009-08-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest pics of my little family.

We have been super busy this summer. Mckenna is excited to go to 1st grade where she will stay all day and eat lunch in the cafeteria. Oh the bliss of childhood excitement. Josh will be attending a joy school this fall and attending music and movement at the library. Ian is growing super fast. he is already crawling on hands and knees and is pulling himself up on things (knees not feet). I have been selling aprons, and flowers at the local farmers market and it has been fun to see what I can create. Dave has been taking good care of our growing garden and we are now enjoying the fruits of his labor. He has also been going on high adventure hikes/campouts with the scouts, where he has develoved a new love for repelling.

Tell me this how can I have three children and all have their daddy's blue eyes? I figure we will just have to wait to see if the forth one has blue eyes, cause if he/she does then I will really be concerned with the punnet square philosophy. NO I AM NOT PREGNANT. In case you were wondering! Happy day!

Our little guy just keeps on growing

2009-04-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

The growth of Ian Porter Wadley

4 months old

Length 25.5 inches
Weight: 15 lbs 9 oz

Ian is a very good baby, he sleeps well, eats well and is
content wherever he is most of the time.
He seems to be a little more contemplative and an observer,
though he has the cutest giggle and a smile to die for.
He is very expressive with his face
and he does very well being tortured by his siblings
(they can't help touching him all the time.
Especially Josh who rubs his head
and face any chance he gets
Maybe for good luck. Who knows!)
He is working on rolling over and has actually done it once or twice
but they may have been flukes so we won't count them.
He reaches for things and brings everything to his mouth.
He is funny, because if you bring your his face towards your face
he will inevitably open his mouth,
it is so funny, because he does it over and over!

Our little guy just keeps on growing!

In Real Time

2009-04-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

April Snows bring may Rains!
Is that how it goes?
Well it does this year, but maybe,
just maybe we will skip to the flowers.

Once upon a time. . . . . . .

2009-04-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a beautiful valley where the sun shined and people were happy. There was a beautiful family who spent much time outside, they laughed and played and soaked up some ray. And then. . . .

the beautiful family had to come home.
And when they got home despair spead across the land.
WAAAAAAAA, Sniffle, sniffle

Freaky February to March Madness

2009-03-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

You know how there is an old saying that goes "when it rains it pours?" Well that is how our past two months have been. As I have been flabbergasted by our bad luck, I have personally told many of you these tales, so I won't recount all of the details here. If you would like to know more, let me know and I will expound.

All of these events have happened within the last 3 weeks.

1-Josh throws a stick into the air, without a destination in mind, it hits the vans sliding glass

window and shatters it. The impact on the window also made the crack in the windshield spread like a wide "V" down the drivers and passenger line of sight.

2-Josh, so excited to see Mckenna's valentines box, grabbed it and dropped it, in which case it flew open and the can of soda pop inside exploded and showered the walls and carpet with pop.

3-Josh falls off the bunk bed and lands on his head, afraid that he had a concussion, we cancel our evening plans. Alas, no concussion!

4-It is a beautiful day, so we send the kids out to play. They decide to play baseball. Joshua pitches, Mckenna bats. She connects, throws the bat behind her it hits the basement house window and it cracks. YEAH!

5-We have had to replace 3 of our windows of our vehicles in the past couple of weeks, and just so you know, the glass deductible idea is a joke. I called to see if our insurance would help us out, but our insurance dude told us that the deductible is per car/per incident. Meaning we would have to pay the deductible 3 times. What a crock!!!

Now you tell me! Does a window count as a mirror? Are we in for 7 years of bad luck? Lets hope we have the luck of the Irish on our side. Happy St. Patty's day!

2009-03-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Blessing Day!

2009-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Ian was blessed on Jan 18th along with his new cousin Bridger. He was given a beautiful blessing by his father. Thanks to all who could attend. To all those who could not attend, we missed you!

Ian's grandma "B" made his cute blessing outfit. Didn't she do a great job?

We were so excited to get a dual baby picture with the babies grandparents, I have been wanting one for Bridgers whole life. Ha Ha

After the blessing we enjoyed 4 different flavors of bundt cakes. A big thank you to my mother-in-love Debbie for her help in making some fabulous bundts.

Among many of our kind attendees, my Californian sister Amy was among them, thanks for coming.

Ian is doing very well, and is sleeping through the night (most the time). He is really getting into the smiling thing (for the past month) especially after eating. He gives us big grins. The best is when he catches my eye from across the table and gives me a big grin, without be googled at. The hard thing is trying to get him to smile, when the camera is poised in front of him. Instead of smiling he stares at it with pursed lips. Just my luck! Oh well we will catch him sometime.
It is so fun!

Funny story: The other day Mckenna was trying to make one eyebrow raise while the other lowered. She was having a hard time and asked me why she couldn't do it. I replied that is takes practice to strengthen those muscles. She wasn't too appeased by my comment but stopped asking. She went over to Ian to look at him, and would you believe, he looks at her and makes the exact facial expression she was trying to accomplish. She said "Mom, how come Ian can do it." I just laughed and said "I don't know."

The many faces of Ian-1month old!

2009-01-04T11:08:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Ian Porter Wadley

2008-12-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Born: December 4, 2008

4:01 pm

6lbs 14oz

19.5 in

We are very glad for Ian to share his birthday with Grandma Audene Porter, Great-grandpa James Chadwick, and Great-grandpa Barrington. We know they were in heaven handing him down to us.

The Delight of Joshua

2008-11-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

More fun stories from the home front - 4) Josh's amazing jello check stand throw

We were at the Walmart self-check out stand waiting for the lady in front of us to finish. As I was putting my items on the belt, Josh decided that he wanted to help. However, since we were in one of those very large shopping carts where the kid seats are far away from the basket, Josh couldn't reach the basket or the belt very well. So, he decided to throw the items onto the belt starting with a box of jello. However, his throw went over the belt and into the other lady's grocery bag. We both had a laughed and applauded Josh's badly aimed throw as she handed the box of jello back to me. After she had finished her transaction and was getting ready to leave, she looked at her receipt and realized that Josh’s box of jello not only had ended up in her bag, but the jello had scanned itself on the way. Embarrassingly, I didn’t have any change to give her to pay for it and I insisted that she take the jello (as she had paid for it). Instead, she graciously gave it to me and said that it didn’t cost that much and wasn't a big deal. All I could do was tell Josh not to throw any more items and shake my head.

11) Josh and the 1000 pound pig

At the Macey’s BYU tailgate party, a carnival type area was set up with different booths and games for the children (blow up bouncy toys, donut eating contest, football toss, etc). There was also a massively smelly pig located inside a horse trailer. It was so big that it couldn't move much and was really, really ugly. A man was feeding it vegetables and water out of a water bottle and Josh was so enthralled with the pig that he stared at it for 20 minutes. I constantly tried to get him to play other games, but after one, he ended up going back and just staring at the pig. When asked later what Josh thought of the pig, he said “it had dirt on it's bottom” and he liked watching him being fed. The true character of Josh was seen as he was willing to give up treats and games for a truly awesome viewing experience.

A couple of stories!!

2008-10-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

2) Mckenna's neck stabbing:

Last Saturday, I was at my mother-in-laws while the boys were out doing their final hunting. Mckenna had heard that her cousin William was in the 1000's club at school, which I guess means he could write all the way up to 1000. She decided she wanted to do it too. Of course, she got distracted and started jumping on the couch with the pencil (newly sharpened). When she landed she put her elbows on the couch and leaned forward, quite forcefully, because the pencil tip went right into her throat. She was so embarrassed, especially with her uncle Buddy in the room, that she dropped the pencil, and ran to find me. I was in the kitchen, and very quietly she says "mom, I stabbed myself in the neck with a pencil." My eyes got huge and I ran to look at her, she began crying as my concern grew. Her grandma came in the room, as well as uncle Buddy, and would you believe she was so embarrassed that it happened that she wouldn't even let them or me look at it anymore. By this point it was bleeding and she was getting blood on her shirt. I could not get her to let me look, so I gave her a paper towel to put on it and we left and drove home. It looked quite gross and there is a little graphite coloring to her wound. She asked if it could be gone by the Halloween party tomorrow. I told her no, but that her costume would hide it," she was very relieved.

6) Josh's observations on life:

a) A utility worker came to the door the other day, and when he left Josh said "Mom, that man was black."
b) Josh loves to come into our bed in the middle of the night and squeeze himself between me and the edge of the bed. This particular night, we refused to let him stay, he went to his room crying, so I went in to ensure he didn't wake up Mckenna. He said "I want to sleep in your room," I said "but Josh, you can't, mommies bed isn't big enough, and I get squished." He said "I understand" I was so shocked, I asked him to repeat it. Then he asked if I could sleep in his bed with him? I said "no, I need to sleep in my bed, but he seemed so sad and I was still reeling about his last comment, that I plunked into his bed." After a couple of seconds later he said "I knew you would lay down with me!" Gall, what do you say to that, I obviously am not sticking to my word, too much.
c) One night, when Josh was in our bed, I asked him to get between me and Dave. He said "NO, DADDY STINKS." I don't care how late it is, that was so funny.
d) David was scolding Josh for hitting and he said "Josh, how many times have I told you not to hit?" Obviously a rhetorical question. Josh pipes up and says "20 times." That stopped Dave's lecture, because the audience was laughing.
e) When asked why he hit his sister, he said "she was hitting me and I just couldn't take it anymore."

10) Alissa's 3 pregnancy pet peeves:

a) I must have lost all hold with my fingers, because I drop things over and over again, forcing me to bed over and pick them up, it is horrible!
b) Memory loss. I could be in the middle of a sentence and totally lose all train of thought. I also can't remember the proper names of things. Like, sewing machine. Very frustrating!
c) ? would you believe "I can't remember" Grrrrrrrrrrr

8)Dave's mouse in the bag adventure (In Dave's own words):

As I entered the kitchen one dark night, I couldn’t help hearing the pitter-patter of tiny paws. It startled me at first, but I soon realized what we had here was a rather impressive specimen of the vile household vermin more commonly known as a mouse stuck in a rather large bag. The opening was down so he was confused and couldn't get out. He was running back and forth in the back all scared like. Finally, when I got up the gumption to ignore is attempts to attack my finger through the plastic, I worked him over to the other side and picked up the bag, quickly flipping it around so now the opening was on top not really thinking straight, I didn't close the bag.
I was kind of holding it at an angle thinking it was trapping him more effectively, but what resulted was the luckiest escape attempt in the history of large sandwich baggie escape attempts. I was just about to the door, for my plan was to trap him in the bag outside as the temperatures dropped below freezing (cruel I know, but my more barbaric side was calling the shots). As I reached for the door, the little rascal made his way up the side of the slippery bag, and despite the good 5 foot drop, did a peter pan and landed on the upper landing of the stairs that lead to the basement. At first he found sufficient hiding among the countless shoes and hats stored in this particular location, and he effectively dodged my numerous ill-planned attempts to squash him with whatever I could get my hands on. Finally, when my attention was draw away, he broke the long jump record by clearing most of the stairs, sliding down the rest, and disappeared around the corner. I walked away in disgrace, much like I imagine a mighty hunter feels when returning to his hungry family empty handed. Let’s hope things don’t get so bad that we rely on mice for sustenance. Well, he got it in the end. Might have been too fast for me, but he couldn’t escape the swinging steel bar.

Which one do you want to hear more about?

2008-10-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

1) Dave's deer hunt
2) Mckenna's neck stabbing
3) Mckenna's loose tooth experience
4) Josh's amazing jello check stand throw
5) Alissa's belly growth plus a picture
6) Josh's funny comments and observations on life
7) Mckenna's adventures at Hee Haws
8) Dave's mouse in the bag adventure
9) Alissa's amazing Macy's shopping deal

10) Alissa's 3 pregnancy pet peeves

11) Josh and the 1000 pound pig

The long awaited update!

2008-09-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all, sorry for the long leave of absence. We have been busy as the end of summer break came and went and we plunged right into the school year. As of late we have been making salsa with vegetables from our very own garden (we are very proud), bottling peaches, and school shopping.
In August Mckenna began kindergarten. That's right we have an almost 6 year old can you believe it? I have a hard time thinking that just 6 years ago we started our family, where has the time gone? She has a boy teacher and at first was not excited about it, especially because we are having a boy baby-she feels boy locked, but luckily after her first visit with her teacher he had won her over and she loves being in his class. I get the opportunity of assisting in her class every week and helping in the classroom with the 26 children, yikes! Mckenna is also in gymnastics and does an awesome back-bend, and is working on her cartwheels and handstands. She tells me that she wants to change her name to read Makenna instead of Mckenna and she has even begun signing her name like that, we tell her it is not the same, but having started to read by sounding out letters she says "well that spells Mckenna" and I say yes, but that is not your name. She didn't get it and I didn't know how to explain, so all we could say was sign with a "c" not an "a". Lame reason, mom!
David started a new job just over a month ago where he only works 3.5 miles from home; compared to the 80 mile round trip he was making before, we are very happy. Dave, on days he is not at the gym, comes home for lunch and walks with us to take Mckenna to school, that is a lot of fun and will be really helpful when the new baby comes.
Joshua turns 3 in a couple of days and let me tell you I think he missed terrible two's but is making up for it now that he is on the brink of 3 years old. Sheesh! Luckily he is fully potty-trained and so we get a little break from the diapers for a little bit. He is so excited his grandma Deedee is taking him to build a bear for his birthday and he can't stop asking, if today is the day. He recently had his speech assessment with Alpine school district to see if he qualifies for further assistance in his speech progression. After a grueling 1.5 hours of testing, in which Josh was exceptionally patient, they concluded that he passed with flying colors and was right on track, if not above, for his age level. The ladies who tested him were raving about him by the time we left and were amazed at how well behaved he was. Good job Josh!
I have been working on making bedspreads for Josh and baby Laverl, thanks to the help of family it has been a quick process. In addition to assisting in Mckenna's class, Josh and I get a chance to work together and learn new things while she is in school. I am sure I do other things, but talking about what everyone else is doing is a lot easier than talking about the things that I do that seem so monotonous and boring. You know, clean the house, get fat, take care of the kids, keep getting fatter, necessary shopping, spend time with family, etc. Anyway, we are all doing well and are excited for the fall to come. The leaves have started to change and we love to be by the mountains at this time of year.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

2008-07-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Mckenna and Josh painting a bird house that daddy brought home, they made a mess and ended up painting their shirts (Dave's shirts).

Grandma "B" and Josh on the mule at Yellowstone.

Mckenna and Josh on the four-wheelers with Grandpa "B".

Mckenna and Josh riding the ponies at Thanksgiving point while attending a Kids on the Move activity. And touching a fake sheep while looking at the animals.

Mckenna and some girls from her dance class the day of rehearsals.

Out of sight out of mind!

2008-07-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

So, I feel bad for all you avid bloggers that look at my site and are constantly annoyed because of my lack of regular postings. Let me tell you it is easy to forget about doing it when I don't have Internet at my house and it doesn't look like we will be getting it in the near or distant future. Now I would love to have it but due to our current housing arrangement it is not possible. So I can't say that there will be any improvement in the days to come. Today I will update you on our recent adventures and activities.

Dave- He is loving having a garden and the progress that we see excites him (this being our first). He has recently trenched the garden and spends hours every 3 days making sure the water gets to the trenches. We also recently celebrated our 7th anniversary, which was fun. Are we past the hard part yet? At work, Dave's station is being sold and so we are anticipating with bated breath to see what that will entail.

Me- I spend most of my days chauffeuring children around to all their various activities that I put them in. Also, as many of you know and many don't. We are expecting our third child! SCARRRRRY! But we are excited and plan to have a good Christmas with this little one. We get to find out the gender in 10 days! The kids are really excited and each attest to having babies in their tummy. (Josh has two!) So besides trying not to be grossed out by weird smells and trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid constant jabs at my stomach everything is going pretty good. Also, I am the secretary in our ward primary and I am loving it. I have to say that it is probably one of the best callings.

Mckenna- She has been really busy this summer, she has recently finished her swim lessons and was ecstatic that she passed level one and can now progress to level two. She is also doing gymnastics and piano each week. She is really excited to go to kindergarten this coming fall. She is ambitiously learning new games and working on her cartwheels. She loves to hold the new babies that have come to our family. Just recently she found out that one of her great-aunts was feeling ill and promptly asked "is she was having a baby?" She was told "no" and then Mckenna continued to say "my mom gets sick too cause she is pregnant, because she is having a baby." Many people have found out from her blatant honesty and curiosity that she is going to be a big sister a second time. She will be lots of help, I hope!

Joshua- I am really proud of him. Joshua is deathly afraid swimming! I asked him why and he says "I will go under the water." We took Mckenna to her first day of swim lessons and Josh watched with rapt attention. The second day he was begging to do swim lessons. So I signed him up, a little reluctantly. The next day he was so excited to get his suit on and go stand in line but when it came to going in the water he began to cry. With a lot of coaxing and the help of his teacher he walked into the water. The first day they tied a noodle around his waist and floated him to the deep-end, that did not go over well, he cried almost the entire time. The second day he didn't want to go and reluctantly got his swimsuit on, and I again helped him into the water. From that day on he really progressed, he got into the water by himself, he let them hold him without screaming in the deep end. By the last day he was getting his hair wet, doing the dive hand motions on the side with the class and loving it, he even went down the big slide with his teacher, once was enough. They passed him to level 1 so I hope by next year he has progressed even more. Josh is still doing his speech therapy and transitional classes, and if you have interacted with him you can see how much he has progressed.

Anyway, sorry about the length of this post but that is, for the most part, what is going on with our little family. Hope all is well with you and yours!

It's all fun and games till someone gets hurt!

2008-06-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Am I right or am I right?

With the onset of summer we have seen the opening up of new areas for exploration, desires for new skills and the polishing of old ones and new ways to have fun. Of course with fun comes danger. The kids have enjoyed the following past-times.

Joshua is getting stronger and stronger on his bike and isn't getting as frustrated on it, plus he is doing somersaults like he was supposed to be on his head.

Mckenna is learning how to do cartwheels and becoming quite a speedster on her scooter. She is also big into recycling hard plastics and will go into hysterics if you suggest throwing them away. Also, she is learning to ride a two-wheeler. Her ambition astound me.

And of course we can't forget about enjoying our food!

Unfortunately with their fun they have received a couple of boo boos.

Mckenna sliced her finger when she ran out the door at Deedee's and left her finger behind. Joshua scraped his elbow while riding his bike on Sunday-that'll teach him. ha. He got his forehead owie while jumping off something and smashed his head into the ground. (this is a couple day old pic). Unfortunately all of these accidents happened within a couple days times, not to mention the scraped knees and stubbed toes. Today actually Mckenna jumped off her bed and smacked her cheek and forehead on the wall, leaving her a couple of nice sized red marks.

And of course in summer you can't forget the occasional bouts of boredom!

With summer just barely starting my kids are going to look like a couple of beat-up kids. "But it's fun mommy!" Sometimes they just don't listen. "I told you that would happen."

Mckenna Graduation

2008-05-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

What we have been doing, lately!

2008-05-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well it has been quite a while since my last posting so I thought I would do a quick update on what has been going on at our house.
1-Josh has learned to pedal a two-wheeler (with training wheels). Shanell and Ryan gave him a bike for his second b-day and he has just barely learned how to pedal. He loves it!
2-Mckenna is graduating from preschool tomorrow and she is very excited to start her summer days of fun. She is going to be taking gymnastics & swim lessons. She is also very excited for our little summer vacation to Yellowstone, and is even more so now that she received a package of fun summer stuff from Amy.
3-Dave and I are working outside. Cleaning up the yard, planting our first garden and trying to get the watering cycle just right.
4-This past Monday (which is really our Saturday, because Dave is off all day) we took everything out of Mckenna & Josh's room to get new carpet. Also with the change Josh got a twin bed. He loves it.
5-Josh and I will be taking a Mom and tot swim class this summer, he is not excited, for some reason he is terrified of the water. Also, he is doing well with his speech therapy and so will be going to a transition class this summer to prepare him for preschool.

I know I keep promising pictures so I won't this time but I will try to remember, since all these fun activities have documentation.

5 things you may or may not know about me.

2008-04-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not but I have been thinking about what I could write about myself for a while and this is what I have come up with.

1-I love to throw things away! That exhilarating feeling that things are being cleaned out and less things are going back into storage gets me all excited. Just ask Dave, when we have a ward DI drive I make him go through his things to find something to give away. Don't tell him but sometimes I go through his stuff without telling him. I guess I should feel bad, but he hasn't noticed anything missing yet!

2-I have a lack of sentimentality- Probably from my love of throwing things away I don't have a lot of sentimental things. There are things that I keep just for the principle of keeping things that someone might think is important someday, but most the time I will throw it out. I hate to say it but I have inadvertantly forced this onto my kids. Most kids have a special toy or blanky that they can't do without and brings them comfort but, I never nurtured this in my kids. Mckenna and I differ in this belief, when I begin my DI rampage, she cries about how much she loves each and every unplayed-with toy. My mother-in-law can attest to this. This last Christmas season, I was helping her clear out her Christmas stuff, and I would pull something out of the many boxes and say what about this (with a screwed up face) and she would begin to tell me who gave this to her and when, etc. I didn't understand most of her sentimentality (she has a lot) and therefore convinced her to throw away more of the outdated stuff but alas some went back. Is this a bad thing?

3-I love cold water, but I do not like ice in my water. I feel like it inhibits me from taking a big gulp. I have to sift the water through my teeth while trying to hold back the ice. Of course you can only do this so long before your teeth are freezing. Yeah, hate it! Although, I will accept ice in my cup if I can have a straw!

4-I love to read young adult fiction books. You know those stories that are not reality and mostly involve some sort of magical powers; vampires, talking bears, powers, flying abilities, etc. I love to lose myself in an adventure that doesn't resemble real life, but can keep me going back for more. Just recently I met a fellow YA Fic reader and we had a lovely time discussing all the same books we have read. To be honest this is a little embarassing because, I guess I should be into more adult books, but I just can't seem to get into those real life, documentary, doctrinal books. Her are some recommendations. Midnighters by Westerfeld, Twilight Series-Mayer, East-forgot the author, The Great and the Terrible-The brothers-can't remember the author-this is not a YA FIC. If you read this series of 4 let me know what you thought.

5- I don't understand the magic of Disneyland. I have had this discussion with a couple of people all have which disagreed vehemently with my synopsis of the place where all your dreams come true. I just don't understand what is so great about it, it is a little kids place, right? My mother-in-law loves to go as many times as she can-and she doesn't even take kids. Actually she is going this next month. She told me that it bothers her to see parents getting mad at their kids at Disneyland, because it is the happiest place on earth and it is wrong to do that. Dave said that the next time he goes with his mom and our kids he will be sure to get mad at them. From this you can conclude that Dave and I agree on this point. I do agree that the next time I go I am going to budget a good amount of money and not come home till it is gone. I am guessing that part of the magic is being able to experience the atmosphere. The food, the shops, etc. Every time I go I have to act like a prune and not buy anything in the park and be sure to take my own food. This mentality comes (I think) from how I grew up, those of my siblings reading this, you know what I am talking about. Anyway, if you think otherwise about Disneyland or even the same as me let me know.

Well if you knew these things about me then I guess you can call me an open book.

And Life Goes On!

2008-04-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

This past week has been quite uneventful as far as activities, due to Spring break, but the exciting (not) weather changes have been interesting to watch. The term "Utah weather" has really shined through this week. Monday was 80 degrees and we got sunburned working in the garden. Tuesday it was a warm morning and then turned colder with lots of wind. Wednesday it was even colder with more wind. Thursday was nicer, Friday and Saturday were lovely with mild winds and we were able to do more yard work. Of course, here we are again on Sunday, sunny skies but cold, snow was in the forecast but alas nothing. I am pretty sure that we will have snow, chilling rain, whipping winds & hot days in the near future, possibly in the next week or even all of these in one day. It would not be foreign to Utah. Anyway, they say when you have nothing to say talk about the weather. Ha Ha. Like I said this past week has been slow, school was shut down, dance was closed, play group was postponed and many people were out of town. I hope to post pictures soon of the past month, so stay tuned!

Thanks to you!

2008-04-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who posted a comment on my problem with Mckenna's inner anxiety issue. I thought I would update you on her progress. First things first; what I learned. The first thing that I have learned is that when young children are having turmoils (unless it is abuse) it happens to be a spin off of the parents emotions. For the past three months I have been experiencing an overload of emotion, anxiety and stress. I thought I was hiding this fact very well, but alas, my children picked up on it and experienced their own similar emotions. The second thing I learned was that when we think children don't understand what is going on; we are wrong. Children are very smart and they either learn how to take advantage of you or they display an outward showing of fear hidden as an action. (ex. hiding things, overeating, etc.) I came to this realization (with some help) 2 Sundays before we moved. I was overtired, I was on the brink of a major breakdown and I (sadly to say) was not a very good mom. I was trying to cope myself and was not realizing that my children were hurting too. I cry just thinking about what I had been reduced too. Constant frustration , yelling and a lack of patience. There was no positive validation for my children. As you can guess Mckenna displayed her emotion through the actions I have discussed and Josh was more clingy. To make a long story short, upon my realization that this was happening I cried and couldn't believe it. That very next day our life changed. Dave would work at the house and I got to play with the kids. Each day he would work and I would play. Let me just say that I was amazed at how fast her anxieties went away. She stopped overeating and stopped hiding things. We are still working on the biting the fingernails but I think that may be an age thing too. Anyway, thanks to everyone for your support, love and concern.

2008-03-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

WE'VE MOVED AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME WE DO NOT HAVE THE INTERNET YET! I KNOW WHOA IS ME! NO WORRIES THERE IS HOPE ON THE HORIZAN, SO I WILL BE BACK TO BLOGGING SOON.

Under Construction

2008-03-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Due to a high volume of stress and recent sickness in the Wadley's home there will be a delay in posting on this website. Please check back soon for more updates. Until then, answer this question? How do you calm a child's inner anxieties that only show through little nervous habits. For example; biting fingernails, overeating, chewing on clothing & blankets, etc? You know there is something going on, but the child may not be able to tell you, how do you help them?

NEWS FLASH

2008-02-26T17:56:00.000-08:00

We have been given the okay to paint the bathroom! Give me a big whoopee! And we are getting new carpet in the bedrooms. Yes, these new additions may delay us a scosch but we are happy with the new plans.

House Pictures

2008-02-24T17:38:00.001-08:00

1st-Bathroom 2nd-Front room and opening to piano room 3rd-Front of the house

Closet in the master bedroom-The kids call it the playroom. More interior pictures coming soon!

5 Things you may not know about Joshua!

2008-02-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

Taking after my baby cousin Cade I have decided to make a post about 5 things you may not know about me.

1-When I wake up in the morning or at nap time I can guarantee you the one and only thing that I am thinking about is food. Let me tell you, if there is a delay in the food getting to my belly I begin a series of fits. I whine, scream, kick and hit until I get my food.

2-The word "snack" is my most favorite word in the whole world. I wake up and I say "snack," I go to a store and I ask for a snack. I would rather eat a snack then real food any day. Many of you may not know what the meaning of the word "snack" refers to. It means a fruit snack. If you even try to offer anything else like yogurt, apples, bananas, or practically anything healthy or of substance, I will immediately throw a fit. So don't even try it buster.

3- This one is a little embarrassing, but it is for me too. Somethings are to be done in private where a little man can express himself and have full control of his surroundings, and should under no circumstance be interrupted. Yes, I am talking about experiencing a bowel movement, I consider this to be a moment of privacy and wish to not be interrupted. I warn you that if you do try to move me or interrupt me, I will throw a fit and maintain my position. My mom, luckily, has learned to recognize when I am having a moment, and will reassure me that I am okay to finish my business and will not be interrupted. Wheeew!

4-I love to be outdoors. I have this particular trike at my great-grandmas that I love to ride. I am not quite tall enough to use the pedals so I ride after my sister using the tips of my toes. It is a lot of fun! Come to my new home and you can see what I am talking about!

5- This a secret I am only willing to share with my closest friends. Yes, it is a phase and I just like the color. My sister introduced me to this but I am telling you I just love the color! I dress up in my sister's blue princess dress. I call myself a prince but in essence I am wearing a princess dress. I will not display a picture of this event so that it can be left up to your imagination.

Well there you go, things you didn't know and may not have wanted to know about me, but here I am.

Update! Update! Update! Update! Update!

2008-02-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to thank everyone, whether in deed or encouragement, for their help on our kitchen makeover. I keep forgetting to get pictures, but I thought I would let you know the update on what is going on. So here goes. . . . .visualize. We have put bead board in the front of the cabinet doors, and painted them (thanks mom), we have painted the kitchen walls and nook walls (thanks Stan-dad w.), we have moved practically everything from our storage unit to the garage (thanks to-Dad, Shawn, Shanell, Ryan & Tyson) We have cleaned the carpets in the front room areas (thanks Mom and Debbie-mom w.) The kids have successfully made a mess with packing peanuts in the master bedroom(thank Mckenna & Josh). Thanks do Dustin, Amy and Sally for the show of interest and ideas, it has been most helpful! If I have left someone out I am so sorry. I will get pictures soon and let me just say I think it is looking super-de-duper! Our next order of business is to paint the door frames and the cupboard frame, put up bead board and molding and move-in. Hopefully by the beginning of next month. We shall see! Also, thanks to Grandma for her kindness and the opportunity to enjoy her home. It is a great blessing to us.

He loves me. . . He loves me not! Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

This year Dave and I decided to celebrate Valentines with a 5 dollar budget. I am glad that we did because it has been great! The opportunity to be creative, sneaky, and frugal while trying to work with a budget was quite fun. This morning I woke up to this masterpiece.

I know you can't see it very well but he made me oragami flowers and candy- bar flowers, which he attached with hanger wires that he bent at the stem to attach the Andes mint leaves. He also added some cilantro-but it died before I could see it fresh. It was very sweet. We gave the kids a box of yo-go's, a light-up pen and a card. They were very excited, especially with all the decorations.
For the evening we ate heart shaped pizza and watched the Disney show "Game Plan". We had lots of fun

Josh & Speech Therapy!

2008-02-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

For 6 months now Josh has been getting help from a foundation called, kids on the move. For the first 5 months his speech therapist would come to our house and play with him while trying to get him to strengthen his mouth muscles and utilize his tongue. He has really come a long way and is better understood by more people. We now attend playgroup every week, where he gets to interact with other kids, sing songs, practice words/sounds, and eat yummy snacks. When his therapist comes over she brings fun toys that we have never seen, so instantly he is interested. She gives him a piece of the toy if he attempts to say the sound or word she is trying to produce.

She is working on first and middle sounds of b,m,t and putting them with ee, ei, o, u, a, etc. He is doing well and willing to repeat the sounds. She is also teaching me fun tricks to try with him throughout the month. We love being able to understand most of what he says! Go Josh!

My favorite song to sing to Mckenna!

2008-02-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

Make sure your volume is up, I love to sing the chorus of this song to Mckenna. She can be a major worry-wort! Also, I added pictures to the end of my slideshow, be sure to check it out! (I would of added more, but it was late.) Nothing but smiles now!

A hard days work!. . . .and we're not done yet!

2008-02-04T16:20:00.000-08:00

As we begin our journey into living on our own, again! We re-realize how stressful the move can be. For those who don't know, we have been blessed with the opportunity to be caretakers of Grandma-Great Wadley's home here in Pleasant Grove. She has also graciously allowed us the opportunity to do a little painting and fixing up. We have decided to do this work before we move in, so we only have to clean the dust up once. Here are the pictures of the house before we started stripping the wallpaper.

As you can see we are working on the cabinets and the walls in the kitchen and the breakfast nook. We had to peel 4 layer of wallpaper and wipe off the glue. The walls are plastar so we had to be careful not to scuff up the walls. This is what it looked like. As you can see the ceiling has some water damage. That made it a hard to get the paper off too. It only took us 14 hours (those are just my hours) to get the paper off! Even the ceiling was papered.

Thanks to all those who helped us in our first of many arduous tasks. We are now in the process of sanding the walls, filling holes, and sanding the cabinets getting ready for paint. We are going to put beadboard on the bottom of the nook walls and on the cabinets (in the middle-there is an indention). Any paint ideas would be great. I was thinking green tinted walls in the kitchen and cream antiqued cabinents, but what color should the nook be and the beadboard? We will keep you updated as we go along. We also started moving our stuff from our storage unit over into the garage. It was so cold today that we could only take one load. I have so much crap and to think I have been paying someone to store my crap! Sheesh. Any suggestions? Bring it on!

Tub doodee's. . . . . . . yuck!

2008-02-02T09:01:00.001-08:00

So you are all lucky that I didn't get a picture of either of the three instances where Josh has had an accident in the tub. As we speak Mckenna is laughing at our title. What do you think do this gross you out or are you laughing? Each time this has happened to little Joshy, I have been in the other room and I hear Josh say "here mom, poo poo." Luckily they are solid, but there are little nuggets everywhere. Happily for me, Dave was home and I knivingly got him to clean it up. Thankgoodness! Any advice on how to get a 2-year old, non-potty-trained child not to poop in the tub?

Ode to Mckenna!

2008-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Mckenna turned 5 on Sunday the 27th and has enjoyed 3 days of fun! Saturday she went to build a bear and made a pink poodle named Sara. On sunday, she was treated like a queen. We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, a princess cake and a fairy pinata. The place was decked out in pink, blue and purple decorations. She recieved some roller blades, shoes, and a skirt. I think her favorite was the rollerblades, she puts them on a couple times a day, just to wear them.

Later that evening, we went over to Grandma "B's" and opened presents and sang songs. After cake is when we found out that our dear President Hinckley had passed away, I felt a peaceful sorrow upon hearing the news. He was a great man!

On Monday, we went to Mckenna's well check appointment to make sure she was growing properly, she didn't think that was too fun, especially while getting her blood pressure checked. She flipped out which didn't help the reading. That evening we went and picked up Mckenna's friend Sydney and we went to Chuck E Cheeses. We ate pizza and played lots of games, it was a lot of fun.

4 things we love about Kenna

1-Witty remarks

2-Beautiful Eyes

3-Friendship with Josh

4- The funny names she makes up (doodle-grandma)

There are of course many more, but help us name more things we love about Kenna!

What to do when the questions come!

2008-01-26T20:52:00.001-08:00

So, I pose this question to all of you, with or without kids, in hopes of some good advice. As a parent I have asked myself, usually during the event, what I would say to my child when asked certain questions about life. Some of these questions include the following: 1-How do babies come out? 2-How did Jesus make the world! 3-How do you know it is October? 4-Where does Jesus live? 5- Why are some kids mean to me? and 6-How do you know it is tomorrow? Is it just me or do kids tend to ask the questions that we don't quite know how to explain? Each time one of these questions come up I stutter, hem and ha, and end up feeling like an idiot, because I don't know how to explain in terms that they would understand or in a way that would appease their curious minds. For example, while we were in California, Mckenna asked me "why are there crows in this world," and I said because Jesus put them here, she asked "why?" and I said maybe he thought they were beautiful. She responded, "well I don't." I said, well when you make your world you don't have to put them in. She thought about that for a minute and asked "when will I make my own world" so I told her if she was good, obedient, and followed Jesus, she would go back to live with him and become a queen and then she could make her own world.
Since I have been home she has asked many questions about making her world. She even asked me how Jesus made this world, and I have to say I didn't know what to say. I guess I could of gone into the combining of the elements and all that, but even then I don't know. Unfortunately, I have resorted to answers like: I don't know, because it just is, or changing the topic all together.
On the other hand you just don't know what kids are going to pick up on. For example, if you were to get into a conversation with Mckenna about having a body, she would tell you that she chose Jesus' plan and not Satan's, and that all of us in this world chose Jesus because we have bodies. I am proud to say that she and I have had many discussions about what that means and she even deduced that not everyone knows that we chose Jesus' plan because they are not always making good choices. I think the hardest part is the anticipation of more questions that I don't know the answers to upon the answering of the current question. At this stage in her life she is very interested in our pre-mortal life, and I am sorry to say that I don't always know what to say. Kind of disheartening, don't you think?

California Fun!

2008-01-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

So, it occured to me that maybe not everyone would be interested in a boring dialogue of our trip. Those to whom I inteded this for have already seen it. Therefore, I will give a picture description, and hope a piecing together will tell the story.

At Amy's house in Loma Linda, CA. Shanell making cookies & Mckenna playing wack-a-mole!

At Dustin's house in Poway, CA. Mckenna loving on baby & cute pictures of baby Cade!

La Jolla Beach-a beautiful day on the beach.

Baby rub down by Shanell, fun family photo at Old Poway park, Shanell and Amy doing a crazy puzzle.

Shanell posing with a naked Cade (whom tinkled on her soon after this picture), Divas Amy and Mckenna, Mom and baby Cade, Daddy and baby.

Shanell and I overjoyed by Mckenna (RMS) finally falling asleep.

We think we documented our vacation throughly by taking over 600 pictures, the above are just a couple of my favorites. We had such a blast and would like to thank all our California family for a fabulous time and we are excited to see you soon.

A mothers folly!

2008-01-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, so something they don't tell you when you want to start having kids, is that kids sometimes "WILL BUG YOU!" Not that, that would have stopped me or anything but at least I could of read a book and thought: "see they told me so, this behavior is normal." I just happen to be in that moment right now!
Underneath my cool exterior I am screaming and yelling for a reprieve. The constant questions, the interrupted sleep, the talking and talking and talking. Now don't get me wrong I love being a mom but sometimes, just sometimes, I just want to scream and run away and hide. The patience I think I had once is slowly dwindling. My mother-in-law says I look so calm, but inside I am screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily, these symptoms will eventually go away and I will realize how great my kids are and how lucky I am, but for now I am in survival mode. Mom says not to lose my sense of humor, but when there is nothing remotely funny I can't help it. Any good advice? Let me know! (ps. I chose this picture not because of Josh but because I look half-way decent.)

To hunt or not to hunt?

2008-01-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I was feeling a bit bad that our whole blog has been child-ridden. So, to upstage that a scosh here is Dave in all his hunting glory. This is a picture of him and his rifle this past October during the deer hunt. He along with many male members of his family (no girls allowed) take a week to live in the wild. Well, the word "wild" is all relative, if you consider carpet in the tents, a big screen TV and yes even the kitchen sink "wild" then he is really roughing it. Though he has not yet nabbed his own deer, he enjoys the atmosphere and the thrill of the possible kill. This past year the weather got to be so bad, that trucks and trailers were sliding down the mountain. Dave experienced his own weather troubles when he not only had to clear his camp site of debris and tree branches, but snow as well. Through thick and thin he still loves it! Go Dave!

I'm a big boy now!. . . . Well maybe

2008-01-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

Joshua experienced a monumental situation today! He not only tried on his first pair of big boy underpants but he also dropped his first adult doodie in the porcelain pot! I caught him today grunting and hiding, so I did what any good toilet training minded mommy would do I grabbed the kid plopped him on the toilet and told him to push. He did not think this was a good idea and immediately squirmed to get off! I held on for a couple minutes and seeing nothing in sight, introduced him to his car underpants. He liked them and for the next couple of hours I spent asking him every 10 minutes if he needed to go potty? He would of course say no, and I would occasionally put him on to see if he would do anything. Well this routine got old for me, so I got a little preoccupied with a project. All of the sudden I realized Josh was nowhere to be found, so I raced to find him, knowing that if he was hiding he was trying something. Sure enough there he was grunting and squatting in the play room, so once again I grabbed him and we ran to the toilet, and would you know it the doodie was coming out, and he was terrified! He was screaming and squirming and I held him in a hug (while he sat) and I told him how proud I was of him and that is was okay. When he continued to scream I began bribing him with treats and snacks of all kind. After 5 minutes he dumped his little log, and the excitement from me was all over the place. Little did I know that he had more coming, soon enough the screaming started again. After talking to his dad at work Joshy got up the courage to let another couple logs drop. Yeah! Though this experience has shown me that he may not yet be ready for full blown big-boyhood, he is on his way. The day ended with Josh wetting his underpants and having an early bath. But thumbs up to Josh for giving it a go. From a loving, tired of changing diapers, mommy! Ps: don't feed your kid corn when it comes to potty training time!

Joshua David Wadley

2008-01-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

Joshua is our little two-year old, and he is all boy! He loves cars, balls, football and the color blue. He also doesn't know his own strength-when he gets frustsrated he comes out swinging. From first hand experience it hurts! On the other hand he is a little lovey-dovey boy. He loves to give hugs and kisses and is usually very sweet to think others. Josh is currently in a speech therapy program with kids on the move and showing improvement. His increased speaking abilities has helped cut back on his violent outbursts. He enjoys reading books and watching signing time. Josh likes to act grown up and follow around with the grown-ups, but when it comes to doing anything too risky he is glad to be left out, he gets nervous quite easily. For Christmas Josh recived a crash and shake race car and a punching bag, both are getting good use and he is having lots of fun. Josh is entering his 2nd year of nursery and is becoming an old pro at going in without a fus. (thank goodness)!

McKenna Lyn Wadley

2008-01-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

Mckenna joined our family in 2003, almost five years ago. She is a very active child, not only in actions but also with her mouth. She loves to talk and ask all sorts of why, and how questions. She attends school twice a week and loves it. She has never been nervous to try new things on her own. On the first day of school I had to beg for a hug and kiss goodbye. She also is in Dance showcase company, where she performs twice a year. This last December she was the best rootin-tootin cowgirl dancer. She is excited to turn five and has made a list of her new years resolutions. They include:
1. Learn to ride a two-wheeler
2. Learn to read
3. Learn to do a cartwheel
4. Learn to tie her shoes.
She came up with these all on her own, and I don't anticipate she will forget about them. She is a joyful child, full of both, life and drama.

Happy new year

2007-12-29T15:14:00.000-08:00

To all our friends and family we wish you a very Happy New Year! May it be one full of fun times, stretching times, happy memories, and joyful occasions. Make realistic goals and stick to it! Words of advice from a habitual resolution breaker.

Mckenna's Birthday is coming up on January 27th our little girl is going to be 5. Though she enjoys preschool now she is looking forward to starting kindergarten. Yikes my little girl is going to start her schooling career this year. Can I really be that old? (don't answer that)