Am I a Fireman Yet?

My friend emailed this to me. I wanted to post it on here, it's a really cute story. You might want to grab a tissue....

In Phoenix , Arizona , a 26-year-old mother stared down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up & fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dream to come true. She took her son' s hand and asked, "Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?" Mom, "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up." Mom smiled back and said, "Let's see if we can make your wish come true." Later that day she went to her local fire Department in Phoenix , Arizona , where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix. She explained her son's final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her son a ride around the block on a fire engine. Fireman Bob said, "We can do better than that. If you'll have your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning, we'll make him an honorary Fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you'll give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat - not a toy -- one with the emblem of the Phoenix Fire Department on it, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They're all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast." Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the Paramedic's' van, and even the fire chief's car. He was also videotaped for the local news program. Having his dream come true, with all the love and attention that was lavished upon him, so deeply touched Billy, that he lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible. One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept - that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a Fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition. The chief replied, "We can do better than that. We'll be there in five minutes. Will you please do me a favor? When you hear the sirens screaming and see the lights flashing, will you announce over the PA system that there is not a fire? It's the department coming to see one of its finest members one more time. And will you open the window to his room?" About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy's third floor open window ---16 fire-fighters climbed up the ladder into Billy's room. With his mother's permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him. With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, "Chief, am I really a fireman now?'' Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand," Billy smiled and said, "I know, He's been holding my hand all day, and The angels have been singing." He closed his eyes one last time.

The smell of home made bread...

For the last few months Matt and I have been making bread. We use his Mom's recipe, which we love. It's so good and the best part is... it's easy! Especially right out of the oven! yum.... Warm bread with butter & home made frozen strawberry jam! One batch makes 4 loaves and normally lasts us a week. My bread pans are my Grandma's, that's what I wanted when she died. We first bought a wheat grinder, then some wheat and we had to get a Bosch since there is no other way to make bread (easy that is) with out one. Now I need to get creative and make something other than Honey Whole Wheat Bread and Banana Bread. :-)

Honey Wheat Bread

5 1/2 c. hot water

2/3 c. oil

2/3 c. honey

2 Tbs. salt

3 Tbs. Instant yeast

11-14 c. whole-wheat flour

-Optional -

The bread turns out a little less crummy if these are added...

2 Tbs Vital Wheat Gluten

2 Tbs Dough Enhancer

Mix first 4 ingredients. Add 1 or 2 cups of flour before adding the yeast, in case the water is to hot - so it doesn't kill the yeast. Add flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of mixing bowl. It is better to have dough a little sticky than too dry. Turn to speed 2 and mix for 10 - 15 min. I grease the pans with Crisco while the dough is mixing. Oil the counter top, divide dough, shape into loaves and put in pans . Cover with a dish towel and let rise on counter for 30 min or until doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min.

Sledding!!!

Saturday we went Sledding at Monte Cristo with some friends and neighbors. We had a great time and the kids wanted to stay longer! It was a really nice day too, not to cold.

One more Christmas Pic...

Our Christmas Jammies! Matt's Mom took this, so I

stole it off her blog!

Sledding at the Park!

Josh made it down the hill without falling!

Jessica having as much fun as her brothers! The hill was perfect size for all of them, not to big and not too small. I got to stand and watch most of the time. :)

Justin was hilarious!!! Watch at the end when he rolls.

Justin again... jumping on his board, then rolling!!! Funny Kid!

Jaren found a little jump:)

Pictures...

Hi Mom!

Jaren showing us some moves!

I took this when we were leaving.

Our Christmas...

The Saturday before Christmas we went to Temple Square with Matt's little brother and family, Nate, Sara & Krew. Jessica was cute... she said this is a 'differenter' temple. We always drive by the Rexburg Temple when we go to Matt's Parent's house and that is when they know we are just about to Grandma's. After a cold visit to temple square we watched a movie with Nate and Sara and hung out the next day. Sara & Krew went home Sunday night and Nate stuck around so he and Matt could head to San Diego Monday Night. They braved the icy roads and made it in time to watch the Boise State game then turned around and headed back to Utah, where they picked the Kids and I up and we headed for Idaho to spend Christmas with Matt's family.

~Click slideshow to view bigger pics~

G-ma & G-pa drove the grandkids around to look at Christmas lights. We opened our Christmas Jammies, and after the kids were in bed we played a white elephant gift exchange. Christmas morning, Grandpa was up shoveling the driveway before the kids woke up! We had fun hanging out, eating and playing with new toys:) We all went to watch Bedtime Stories at the movie theater that night. It's a really cute/funny show. We went sledding the next day, it was cold! I'm pretty sure it wasn't above 10 degrees and there was a lot of snow! Before we knew it, Sunday came and after church it was time to head home.

* Sledding Videos *

Finding things to do...

Josh and Jaren are off track so I've been finding things for us to do online. These are a few of the cuter pages I've found. They've been off track since the 25th of November and go back on the 5th of January. They've helped decorate the house and we sorted through the toys, threw some away and gave some to D.I. Played outside, but it's not as fun when it's cold and there is no snow. They have watched more TV than they need. I need to get some green crape paper so we can make a cute wreath I saw online. Justin has preschool twice a week and Jessica is already asking when she can go to school. :) Just wanted to write something so you knew we were still alive. The kids are very excited for Christmas to come... I wonder what Santa will bring!!!

4 x 4

--Rules --

1. Go to your pictures

2. Go to your 4th folder and upload your 4th picture

3. Post and tell about your picture

4. Tag 4 of your friends

This is Justin and this picture was taken on Saturday 4/2/2005. He turned 10 months the next day. We were living in TN and were on our way to Opry Mills Mall. Doesn't he look so cute?!?! I have a few more pics of this day....

This is one month I will always remember.... My Grandpa died on 4/6/05, four days after these pictures were taken. I flew home with the boys on the 10th (was stuck at the Denver Airport for 8 hours because of a snow storm) finally flew into SLC late that night... Deena (my sis) drove down to pick me up, but picked Lori (another sis) up and her husband stayed behind to wait for me. We stayed the night at their house and left the next morning for my G-pa's funeral. I took turns staying with my family and Matt's family for that month because Nate (Matt's little bro) was getting married in May. Matt was also offered a job in SLC in April that he interviewed for in March. He and his Dad packed up and moved all of our stuff the first part of June and Matt started his new job on June 6th. It was weird leaving TN with only a couple days notice and not going back. Funny how just one picture brings back so many memories.

Here are the boys at the airport. Being little and talkative they made quite a few friends that day. One lady had been to visit her grand kids and had bubbles in her purse!

If you're reading this... consider yourself tagged!

Leaves!

I was mowing the lawn today and the kids and I raked some leaves into a pile. You can see what they did next! Matt was busy cleaning up the garage and hanging Christmas lights.

Will this do for our family picture this year?

Pretty cute if I do say so myself... make one for your family here.

Happy Halloween!

Here's a few pictures of our crazy kids! It was a nice night so we went around to more houses than usual and when we were all finished the kids said their legs hurt from walking. :) They filled their bags and were excited to go threw them....Last Saturday I went with my friend, Joleen, to a trunk or treat then to our Ward Carnival that night. We had tons of fun! The boys had a class party at school too. I was actually in charge of Jaren's. Luckily for me Joleen was in charge of her daughters too. So I stole her ideas!

Field trip to the Pumpkin Farm!

Justin's Preschool went on a field trip to Black Island Farms on the 7th, Jess and I got to go with them. They had a lot of fun, but it wore them out.....we were there for 3 hours!




This is pretty funny... notice the pigs have a colored strip down their back.

Playing at Lagoon!

Our friends Mike & Jenise came down with their kids to go to Lagoon on Saturday. This was our first time going. The kids had a blast!

New Floor!

We've had white carpet in our living/dining room and with 4 kids it does not stay clean. Matt & I have talked about ripping the carpet up and putting in something else for quite a while. Here it is... We love it! Good thing I've got a handy (and cute) husband!!! Sometime in the future we want to put tile where the linoleum is and paint.

Just playing in the snow...in October!

It snowed on Sunday! The kids were excited to go out and play in it! In this picture Justin and Justice (his friend & neighbor) are burying Josh with snow.

Looking out our front door.

What was left of our snow today...the boys each made a snow man.

Josh & Jaren's younger days...

The days of High School

A friend from High School tagged me a few weeks ago. One of my favorite things about blogging is finding old friends!!!

1. Did you date someone from your school?

Tara: Yes...and am now married to him. :)

Matt: Yep... I tricked her into marrying me.

2. What kind of car did you drive?

Tara: Either a brown & tan Ford Bronco II or a red Ford Escort, yes my Dad is a Ford guy. :)

Matt: 1968 Chev flatbed truck primer brown and white with a hint of rust.

3. Did you pass your driver's license test on the first try?

Tara: ummm, I think you could only miss 5....I think I missed 6. If I remember right. It's been a while, I can't really remember!

Matt: Yes

4. Were you a party animal?

Tara: nope.

Matt: I would call myself a moderate here. More then some, less then others.

5. Were you considered a flirt?

Tara: no, I wasn't very outgoing....pretty shy.

Matt: There was this one girl in my 10th grade biology class... I doubt she remembers me.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?

Tara: Band in 6th grade - I played the alto saxophone, then choir in 7th and 8th....nothing in high school.

Matt: Trombone in 6th and 7th, I wasn't very good.

7. Were you a nerd?

Tara: No....not really popular either though.

Matt: Wasn't then, probably am now though.

8. Were you on any varsity teams?

Tara: No. I tried out for the softball team with my friends Mandy and Mindy. Mandy and I didn't make it and Mindy did...Mandy and I wanted to make it and I don't think Mindy was trying but made it....go figure.

Matt: No

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?

Tara: no

Matt: let me see...

10. Can you still sing the fight song?

Tara: not sure I even know it now???

Matt: Most of it.

11. Who were your favorite teachers?

Tara: I might have to think about that one...

Matt: Mrs. Fullmer, Corey Telford, The Chemistry teacher (i forget his name) there may be a few others but I guess they weren't good enough to be remembered. Do you want my list of unfavorite teachers?

12. Where did you sit during lunch?

Tara: Wendy's, McDonald's or Subway.

Matt: Parking lot behind Kmart...

13. What is your schools full name?

Tara: Madison High School

Matt: Madison High School

14. School mascot and colors?

Tara: Bobcat - red, white and gray.

Matt: Bobcat - red, white and gray.

15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with?

Tara: Yeah...I went to most of the dances. I went with Matt my senior year.

Matt: Yes, with Tara.

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you?

Tara: Do I want to, No - but would I change anything, probably.

Matt: Nope, probably didn't do it best but don't mind where it got me.

17. What do you remember most about graduation?

Tara: nothing really stands out.

Matt: That they gave us a pat down before we were allowed to be seated.

18. Where did you go senior skip day?

Tara: We didn't have one.

Matt: Huh?

19. Were you in any clubs?

Tara: No

Matt: No

20. Have you gained some weight since then?

Tara: Yeah...

Matt: Yes

21. Who was your prom date?

Tara: Matt!

Matt: Tara

22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?

Tara: Probably, If I don't have anything better to do.

Matt: I may come up with something better to do.

23. Did you have a job while in high school?

Tara: Yes....I was a waitress at Frontier Pies

Matt: Yes

Tara: I tag Mandy, Tayla, Lynsey, Sara....and anyone else who wants to!

Matt: I tag my dad

Family Adventures!

We went for a drive after church on Sunday to the ATK plant 20 miles west of Corinne.They have a cool display of the different rockets and motors that they make there. ATK makes the primary rockets that are used to launch the Discovery shuttles (or something like that). The kids really liked to play in the hollowed out body of a rocket they had on display but were a little disappointed when Matt finally let them know that we weren't going to be taking one of them for a test drive.

After the ATK display we drove out further to a see this thing called Spiral Jetty. Some guy named Robert Smithson built this "sculpture" using black basalt rocks and earth from the site. It is a coil 1500 feet long and 15 feet wide that stretches out counterclockwise into the salt lake. Pretty neat, not sure why he did it though... I guess when the water is a little higher it looks cooler, something to do with the water turning different colors in the spiral. The water was so low that it was nothing more the a nice smooth sheet of very salty sand (or maybe it was just salt). To insure a good nights sleep, Matt organized several foot races for the boys around the spiral. As we walked back up to the truck we saw several lizards and probably didn't see hundreds of them as they tend to blend into the rocks.

Camping!

We began by leaving 3 hours later than we had hoped...this made us late for a Fisher family get together at my brother's house. We visited with my family for awhile, then headed over to Nate and Sara's (Matt's little bro and his wife) to see their new house (very cute guys). By this time it was dark, so we stayed with Matt's parents.

The next morning Matt and the boys went to Warm River in search for a camp site (since Matt was too lazy to actually reserve something). They had two available! (this was good cause we only needed one) It was packed that night (The Sunday before Labor Day), but everyone left Monday. It was so nice to have the whole campground to ourselves!

Matt's family came up Monday night and his Mom and Dad made dinner. We had yummy dutch oven chicken and potatoes, Fresh from Grandma's garden corn on the cob and of course smores!

My sister let us borrow her raft and the kids really enjoyed floating down the river… We aren't quite sure why they called it Warm River though. The water is freezing! We went on a couple great bike rides up the old railroad grade, I was pretty impressed with how well the kids did. I think it was about a 3 mile ride up to the old railroad tunnel.

On one of the colder days we drove out to Cave Falls and then up the road to lower and upper Mesa falls then turned around and went to Green Canyon for some swimming. A long day in the car (longer then we expected) which we capped off with dinner at the Frost Top in Ashton (yep, we are hardcore campers).

We bought a few silly toys for the kids that actually kept them quite entertained (something we were worried about… no computer, no tv, no Wii etc for over a week). Anyway we gave them a silly telescope, binoculars, compass and bug catching kit (a net and some tweezers with couple plastic cups) and they spent countless hours hunting for grasshoppers and various other multi legged and eventually no legged (aka snake) creatures.

We went fishing - but didn't catch anything, I decided that relying on Matt to provide food for the family would be great if we wanted to loose weight. Because Matt could not catch a fish and this was our first time out with the trailer. We made a few trips to the stores (hardware, grocery, clothing… you name it we went there). I don't think we can technically call it a camping trip… it was more like a BYOB (bring your own bed) vacation.

Our friends Mike, Jenise and their kids came to hang out. The kids had fun riding bikes and playing by the river (yeah we checked on em a few times). She showed us something cool, you use Keebler Fudge Stripes Cookies (instead of graham crackers and Hersey's) for smores. It's pretty good that way! (Matt didn't think so).

After we packed everything up on Saturday we stopped at Big Judd's to get the 1 lb burger. It is huge and the kids thought that was pretty cool. If you eat the whole meal (burger, fries and a drink) you get your picture taken and put on the wall (yep that's right, you become famous) I can't imagine...I'd be sick for a week.

After stopping at Big Judd's we went to Matt's Parents house for a much needed shower. The kids got to stay with G-ma and G-pa for the weekend while Matt and I headed off to celebrate our Anniversary. We stopped at the Blackfoot Fair on our way home. Then I guess we took the scenic route home (Matt set the GPS to "avoid freeways" and let it pick the route) It was not so scenic some of the time (because I was sleeping) but it was fun! We were almost to Logan around 1 am and two deer meandered into the road right in front of us....luckily Matt's a good driver (that is what he tells me anyway) and somehow drove right in between them. The fact that Matt was checking sports scores on his phone made it all the more exciting!

The next day we stayed at Alaskan Inn for our anniversary and just enjoyed a quite weekend alone.

We were a little worried about how the kids would be camping for a week, but they were great and I can't wait to go again!

*** Matt added a few things (here and there)... he edited my rough draft. He's quite the comedian isn't he?!?!

You've had a birthday, shout hooray!!!

Jaren is 7 years old! We gave him a bike yesterday. Matt, Josh and Jaren went for a bike ride, to get cup holders at the bike store, 3 miles there and 3 miles back! Matt said they did pretty good, only stopped a few times. Then we went to Fat Cats last night. Ate Pizza, played miniature golf, rode bumper cars, played arcade games. This building is huge! There is more..... they have Flowrider - indoor surfing, iFly - indoor sky diving, even a Gold's Gym and bowling. The iFly was really cool to watch! http://www.salomoncenter.com/ this has all the info. (it's by the Ogden Temple, I hadn't been over there in a while, it's looking really nice) We had a great time! My camera didn't like it when I turned the flash off.....that's why some of the pictures look weird. On Sunday, Jaren got a candy bar from our bishop at church, he picked a butterfinger. He picked what he wanted for dinner, meatloaf! We made it into circles with a cookie cutter and Matt sculpted a crown for Jaren. He asked if he could have Strawberry Shortcake too! Then he opened more presents....... Every other year we have a friend party, then a family party the next year. Happy Birthday Jaren!!!

Yum......

I was a little jealous of Tauna's garden pictures....and I was driving to the store and noticed someone up the street from me had extra veggies for sale! I stopped and got tomatoes, zucchini and a green pepper for $2.00. Then at the store I got cantaloupe, peaches, strawberries and plums. Later, Matt felt like salsa, he went to the store to get jalapenos and a habanero! We made some salsa, his was pretty dang hot, so I made peach salsa, it was pretty good!

School Pictures...

Look how big they are getting! Next Friday they'll go off track for 3 weeks. We're going camping the 30th - 6th! We'll visit family during that time too. Then Matt and I's anniversary is on Sept. 9th. Grandma & Grandpa said they'll watch the kids for a couple days!!! You guys are the best...Thank you! :)

Josh - 3rd Grade - 8 years old

Jaren - 2nd Grade - 6 ½ years old

Justin's Toe...

Last Monday Justin hurt his big toe. We had just gotten back from the park, had a snack and filled Jaren's classes Monday folders while we were there. Justin wanted a drink of chocolate Milk and didn't want to wait for me to get it. He got the bar stool to get the chocolate, it was on the top shelf in the pantry, but right when he got the stool - it fell on his toe! Sad thing is, is that this happened 2 years ago to his other big toe. This time it started bleeding immediately and the toe nail turned purple. I loaded him and Jess in the truck and we went to Wee Care. It hurt him right at first, but by the time we saw the Dr. he was OK. They cleaned it up, took x-rays, and the toe nail was so loose that the Dr. pulled on it just a little and it came off. It looked really gross. I didn't even take a picture until today. It's doing much better. It actually has skin there now. His toe didn't get broken this time. Two years ago it did. I didn't take him to the Dr. right when it happened last time. It didn't bleed, I called G-ma Tauna and found out they don't do anything for broken toes anyway. There was a lot of pressure under the nail though and because of that hurt more than this time. After a few days though it looked red and infected. So I took him in then and we got a antibiotic. They wanted to take x-rays, not that they did anything for it. His toe nail took a week or two to fall of last time. The stools are now in the garage.....I'm thinking the ones that are attached to the counter are pretty nice right about now.

Driving, Hiking & Fishing

Matt took the boys fishing on Saturday. I'm not sure how much time they got to fish, I think they spent a lot of time driving around and hiked some too. They fished a little but didn't catch anything. *Maybe Matt will write more about their day*

Jess and I went shopping after her nap. Tried to find a shirt for my new skirt but didn't. Jessica doesn't like shopping either.....G-ma Tauna, did she get that from you?! We met the boys at Famous footwear to get new shoes. Josh and Jaren picked what they wanted, but they didn't have Justin and Jessica's size. So we'll have to try a different store next week sometime.