Alyssa is doing Great!

Alyssa had surgery on March 12th to remove the cyst on her head. The surgery went very well and took about an hour. It was a little more complicated than what the doctor first thought when she started the procedure. The cyst had grone large enough to where it was over the soft spot instead of the bone. The cyst was attached to the dura (the lining of the brain) more than anticipated.

The doctor was pretty sure she was able to get all of it out and that we shouldn't have any problems afterwards and it should not grow back again. Alyssa is happier and more talkative now than ever before. We think that it was actually putting more pressure on things than what we knew. Maybe she had a headache that just kept getting worse until the surgery.

The nurses kept telling us to be prepared for when she comes out of anesthesia. They told us she will probably be upset and crying and not to be alarmed. When they brought her back into the room with us she was alittle dazed but she was calm. She was looking about the room and real quiet. Definately not what the nurses were expecting. We brought her home about an hour later.

She had her stiches taken out 5 days later. The wound is healing well, although it is still swollen. Hopefully the soft tissue swelling will continue to decrease until her head no longer has a big lump.

We are grateful that the surgery went well and that all is well with our little girl.

Count Your MANY Blessings

Today was another reminder about how truely blessed we are. I was headed to work this morning when I began to see thick dark smoke ahead of me. I knew it was a house fire but I could not tell at that point what house. As I got closer I could see the flames pouring out of the upstairs bedroom of my Uncle's home. I stopped as quickly as I could safely and saw the back side of the house engulfed in flames. I parked my car and ran over to the house to make sure everyone was out of the house and were safe. No one was in the house and everyone was safe. The house is a total loss. A few of the family pictures were saved and some other items but that is about all. How grateful I am for my family and the safety that was provided. The love and support that we have as a family unit is irreplaceable and priceless.
I am so grateful for all of the many blessings that we have...they are far too many to even begin to list. I am grateful for the Gospel in our lives that helps us get through times like these, for the support and comfort it provides. I am grateful for our Savior and the trials He went through for us. I am grateful for the generosity and love of those neighbors, church members and community members who have already stepped forward to help in any way they could, even in the simple prayers they have offerred in my Uncle's behalf. I pray that we may see the positives and the blessings that will come from the events of today.

Beautiful girl!

Alyssa is such a joy in our family. The boys all love her. Ryan is especially protective of her. She is growing so fast. I can't believe she will be four months old next week. Time sure flies.
I was pressing my luck with these photos as she was hungry and not wanting to take pictures. We did get a couple pictures before she got mad at me. You can see in these pictures her "unicorn bump". It has doubled in size the last three weeks. We will be going back to the neurosurgeon on Wednesday (Feb 20). She will be having surgery soon after to remove the tumor/cyst? from her head. It doesn't seem to bother her at this point but we are getting comments from everyone who sees her now. Some times it is rather upsetting when people look at her and make comments. I have found some cute hats for her to help limit the comments and stares. I will try to remember to take some pictures of her in them.
What a beautiful little girl we have! Her eyes just light up when she smiles.

X Games

Tyler and Lanny spent the day in Aspen at the X Games. Tyler absolutely Loved it. You can see the tower behind Tyler in the pictures. They watched the snowboarders on the half pipe, the snow mobiles on the jumps and the track, they saw the down hill races and they got a lot of free stuff at the vendors boothes. Tyler came home with a foam hat that looked like a taco from taco bell and a foam hat that looked like sonic the hedgehogs head - he is holding it behind his back in one of the pictures. It was a very long day for them both.
I stayed home with the other children and we played around the house all day.

Alyssa's Blessing

Alyssa was given a name and a blession on January 12, 2008. We had quite the crowd. What a day it was. We had just come fromthe church and Tyler's baptism back to my parents house for the blessing of Alyssa and Grant. Here is a picture of Alyssa in her blessing gown. It is a beautiful while gown with lace bonnet. She was beautiful in it.


Tyler sat with her on the couch for a while. They were able to share this special day together. Tyler is so wonderful with her. You can't ask for a better big brother. All three boys are very protective of her.


















Here is Alyssa and cousin Grant on the couch following the blessing.

Tyler's Baptism

Tyler was baptized on January 12, 2008. What a special day it was. You could just see the joy, excitement and pride in Tyler's face the whole day. The Spirit was so strong no just at the church during the baptism but throughout the whole day. Almost all of the family was there to share in the important day. We missed Dan and Babbel gave the opening prayer. Nana Babbel gave a talk on baptism. Lanny baptized Tyler. Cody gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Seth gave the closing prayer.
I am so grateful for the gospel in our lives and the direction that it gives us. I know that the gospel is true. I know that Jesus was baptized and that we are baptized by immersion like He was to enable us to return to Heavenly Father. I am grateful for Christ and the example He is to us. I am grateful for my family and the love and support they give us in all we do. I am grateful that Lanny Sr and Barb could make the trip to be here with us on this special day.
We are so proud of Tyler and the choices he has made.

Benjamin goes home!

I had to share our events of the day from Wednesday. I would never have thought that a 5 year old could pull something like this off...
Benjamin woke up Wednesday morning and was tired and did not want to get up. We get up at 5:45 a.m. every day and he did not want to go to sleep the night before so he was a grump. Anyway, He told us that he did not want to go to day care or to school. He was determined to stay home. Well, he went to day care and then on to school. At 11:00 we got a phone call from the day care that Benjamin was not at the school. We did not know what had happened. We then found out that he got on the bus to go home. The bus driver drops Benjamin off at our front door then waits until he gets into the house before she leaves. That way she knows someone is home with him. Well being the smart little boy that he is he went around the back of the house and found a way to get in, then opened up the front door and waved the bus driver off. The bus started to pull away and Benjamin thought he was home free and could be home by himself instead of going to the day care. We in the mean time had contacted the bus services who then radioed the bus driver who then stopped the bus and went up to the front door to get Benjamin and bring him back to the school. We picked him up there, got him lunch and then took him to day care. I was amazed how thought out the whole thing was and that he had pulled that much off on his own. We had a long talk when we got home from work that night. The school and the bus drivers all know that Benjamin and Tyler both are not to get on the bus to go home unless they have a written note from myself or Lanny stating that they can take the bus home that day. What fun adventures we have at our house.

RYAN - RYAN - RYAN

We were taking pictures the other day for our passport applications and having a blast with our little character. Oh how his personality shines in this series of pictures. We are so grateful for the color and life he adds to our family. We love our Ryan!

Christmas PJ's

A Family tradition is to get new pj's on Christmas Eve. Growing up we would get pj's for Christmas and we have carried it on with our own children only they get them on Christmas Eve. (You just have to love Ryan! What a ham.)

Here is Grant and Alyssa in their matching pj's.

Alyssa and Grant

We went shopping the other day when Tia and Seth came to Grand Junction. Lanny and Seth carried the little ones into the house. We found the babies asleep side by side in the living room and the men watching football.

Aren't they cute!?!

Brotherly Love

The boys all love their little sister. Ryan spends a lot of time with Alyssa and loves to hold her. It is not uncommon to see him lying beside her, holding her hand, kissing her cheeks and talking to her. Tyler also enjoys holding her. They enjoy lying on the floor together to watch movies like in this picture.

Tyler's last soccer game 11-3-07

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

Home Depot

The first Saturday of every month Home Depot has a project for kids. This past month the project was to build a pirate ship and for October it was a fire truck. The three boys love going to build the different projects. They each have their own aprons to wear and when they complete the project they get a pin to put on their apron with a picture of the project that they just completed.

Ryan is a little dangerous with the hammer at times...

This past Saturday each of the three boys had their own personal helper, Grandma and Grandpa Cutler were here visiting and went a long to help.

Here is the finished project.

Tyler

Benjamin

Ryan

Next month the planned project is a "treasure box". I don't remember what the project is for January, but I do know that Lanny is already excited about it.

Holloween

This year I did not do very well taking pictures of the kids in their halloween costumes. I did get a couple pictures...Ryan was our little monkey.
Benjamin was Zorro! and Tyler was Harry Potter. He really looked a lot like Harry too. What fun the boys had at the church for our ward party and then trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.

Alyssa Marie Johnston

Alyssa Marie Johnston - Such a sweet baby!



All she does is sleep - she hardly wakes to eat.



But how sweet she looks as she sleeps.



A brief waking moment caught on film.



Back to sleep again.

Bringing Alyssa Home

We checked out of the hospital Tuesday afternoon. We actually stayed in the hospital less than 24 hours from Alyssa's birth. It was a quick stay, but the boys were sure happy to have both Mom and Alyssa home.

Benjamin couldn't wait to hold his sister as soon as we walked in the door to the house.

Of course if Benjamin got to hold her Ryan had to hold her as well. He was so cute. "Me hold her, Me hold her" he kept repeating until it was his turn. He held her very nicely. It was a good thing I was sitting right next to him because when he was done holding her he was done...he pushed her right off his lap as I quickly got a hold of her so she did not go flying. After I had a hold of her Ryan stood up on the couch right next to us and decided that he wanted to wrestle with Alyssa. He laid right on top of her and wrapped his arms around her just like he does with the boys when they are wrestling on the floor. Alyssa is definately going to grow up being tough with him for a big brother. We haven't had any more of those incidents yet - knock on wood.

We didn't get a picture of Tyler at home with Alyssa so I added the picture from the hospital. I guess I did not take another picture of tyler and her because he holds her so much I always think I can grab the camera next time. I need to stop making excuses and take more pictures. Itis not uncommon for Tyler to pick up Alyssa and hold her while he is watching a movie, cartoons or just because. The other day we had to run an errand and I brought the snuggly to carry Alyssa around in since we do not have an infant carrier and Tyler actually ended up carrying her for the time that we were out and about.

Alyssa is here!

Alyssa finally decided it was time to join us. We welcomed her on Monday October 22 at 3:13 p.m. At 39 weeks she weighed in at a healthy 9# 6oz. Can you imagine how much she would have weighed had she waited one more week! She is 20 and 7/8 inches long. We were grateful to have Nana Babbel at the hospital for her birth. She was able to break away from work for a couple hours to be there. After work she drove over to Utah to be with Tia when Champ was born. What timing!

Tyler and Benjamin both out weighed Alyssa for birth weight, but Alyssa weighed more than a full pound more than Ryan. We definately grow them big in this family.

Tyler came right on up to the hospital after school. He was so excited he could hardly wait to see his new little sister. He stood by her the whole time the nurse was taking the measurements and while Alyssa had her first bath. Tyler was so intrigued by everything. Not much distracted him from the scene involving his little sister. He could not wait until the nurse was done and he could sit and hold her for a while.

Alyssa has her own look. We are not really sure who she looks more like. She is the first to have dark hair at birth. The boys all had red hair when they were born. We are so grateful to have her in our lives! It is nice having another girl in the family now. We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for the wonderful addition to our family and that everything went well and we have a happy healthy baby girl.