He is in a better place....

Hi everyone,

Wow.....I didn't realize that my very last post was to ask for help for my dear friend Lorin, and now I am here to ask for more help, in a different way. His family needs prayers.

My dear friend Lorin passed away last night, after a few very difficult months of fighting cancer. They literally told him just one day before that there probably wasn't any more hope, and that they were going to be sending him home with hospice. And then, as soon as Heavenly Father could, he relieved him of his pain and brought him home to him.

I was so sad yesterday, thinking of his poor family, his poor parents who have this trial to endure, but I am so happy he is in a better place. On Sunday he got to be set apart as an Elder, and I know Elder Merkley will be preaching the gospel in heaven.

On our trek, and just in his life in general, his nickname was Lorin "The Magnificent" Merkley- and he truly was. For him to be taken back to his Heavenly Father so early in his life, he must have truly been a magnificent young man. He was ready.

I think of our Stake Youth Trek motto and know it will apply to Lorin's life....

"The Legacy Continues"

I love you Lorin and I will miss you!

My friend needs HELP...

Hi everyone....

You may have heard, and you may know him, but one of my dearest friends, who is like a son to me....Lorin Merkley....is enduring through cancer right now, and all the trials that come with that. He was my "son" on our stake youth trek back in March of this year, where we came to love him and care so much for him. He was all ready to go on his mission when he found out about his cancer.

He has been fighting cancer for a couple months now and his family is in need of help.


They are selling Gold Canyon candles (which I know we all LOVE) to raise money for his medical bills. If they raise $2500 by November 22nd, they will give half of it to the Merkley's, who desperately need it.


So PLEASE....this is a good cause, and it's a wonderful time of year to buy one of these wonderful candles- for yourself or for a Christmas present.


You can see more at Lorin's blog ....... http://www.lorinmerkley.blogspot.com/


Or you can order directly through Josie Penrod at penrodfam@yahoo.com or 987-3210.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Brent with Lorin on the far right

October 31st!!!

What a wonderful time of the year! I LOVE Halloween...it's my 2nd favorite holiday, next to Christmas of course! We had such a fun time going to our ward Halloween party at the Bowman's and then going to Newell and Jessica's house for the Slade Halloween get together after.....and of course, we mostly go so we can do the annual Slade Ugly Face contest. So if you are wondering what those pictures are in the slide- yes- those are not how they normally look. I'm so proud to have married into a family that is so good at making fun of themselves! :) Enjoy the slideshow! (put mouse on each picture for a little caption)

Silly Livi!

A couple weeks ago I freaked out and couldn't find Livi anywhere when we came home to a babysitter. But don't worry- I finally found her behind our couch in the family just sound asleep!The kids love our wigs we've used for past Halloweens, but this is especially great! This is Livi with her next-door neighbor friend, Zach Ballard. This kind of reminds me of my mom and dad- say......in 1972? Was that the year you had a mullet dad!? :)

A self portrait! Just a cute picture of her today during Stake Conference (while she was in the nursery playing at the end!)

Haircuts & Parties!

So it was just a wonderful weekend....I love Fall!

I decided to chop my hair off on Thursday (many thanks to my friend Julie who coaxed me into it!) and to my wonderful hairstylist- the one and only Jill Ann LeSueur Chipman! She's the best!

But we chopped a good 5-6 inches, so it was scary- but I do love it! It's kind of a choppy a-line cut- LOVE it! And it's so easy to do!

Friday we went to a rockin' Redneck Halloween party- which was totally awesome, but sorry, I'm not going to post those pictures for the whole world to see! It's just too nasty!

And Saturday we had Grandma Packard with us for the day. It's so good to have her down here...and it was so great to have her help me with my laundry all day! Then that night we had a fun street family Halloween party at the John's house. It was a blast! The kids LOVED the haunted house in their garage & they had a fun bounce house & a pumpkin carving contest. It was just perfect for the kids and a fun night for us!

Livi went through the haunted house once and they accidentally got some fake blood on her sleeve. So when she came out she had this horrified look on her face and she said, "Mom! I broke my arm.........but it doesn't hurt!?"

(Anakin from Star Wars, Gramma, Tinkerbell, the Disco Queen, & Jack the Pumpkin!)

fUn aRouNd tHe hOuSe!!!

I just have to document my favorite part of every day.....when daddy "comes home". Technically he is home a lot, since he works here!....but when he's really done with work he "mentally" comes home! And that's the best!

And then there's my cutie pie- Livi Loo. We chopped her hair off! Ahhhh! I was so nervous to do it but it looks so much better. It was just getting way too long and she hates for me to do her hair anyway, so it's much easier! And she LOVES it! It's a-line in the back and way cute.....now I'm tempted to do mine!!!!???

Here's a BEFORE shot, and a classic picture of her attitude as a 4 year old!

And AFTER!

And Jackson loves Livi's bean bag. He drags it around the house, to where he thinks might be a comfortable resting spot for a few moments....and then he's up and going again!

And this picture just had to make the cut. He actually took this himself- probably as the camera was falling to the ground....as that is my kitchen ceiling!

Jack's Talents...

Who me!?.....couldn't be!?

Yeah....he's a stinker! He always climbs up on the counter...but this time he had a purpose. He loves cookies, but mostly just the filling in the middle. Why is every child the same!?

I love these lemon cream cookies....they remind me of Grandma Ferrin's cookie jar (she was like a grandma to me growing up!)

Brothers

Jack loves anything that has wheels on it. He loves his little push car, LOVES going on walks in the morning in the stroller (the only time he doesn't make any noise), and loves trying to get on big kid bikes. So now he's found the scooter...which of course he can't do on his own- so his very helpful and kind brother always is there to teach him the ropes!

Kids say (& do) the darndest things!

So Livi is a crack-up! She's really into bodily parts lately...as you can tell. She found these the other day (not part of my normal wear...) and once she asked me to put them on, said, "Hey...now I'm a mommy!" Maybe I should stop taking showers with her!? And then 2 nights ago at cousin Bradley's football game we were walking in behind a rather big gal.

Olivia had to say (loud enough that she might have heard us), "Why does that girl have such a big bum?!" To which I hushed her very quickly!

Then as she was contiplating on the subject later that night, she said, "If we drink a lot of water then we won't have big bums, right!?" Yes...Livi...you are exactly right!

Such a smart girl!

And this is Jack's new FAVORITE thing! He is obsessed with water....always turning on my bath, etc. So this is perfect....while I do the dishes in the other sink, he sits here & loves it!

And my mom said she would do the same thing with me!

And Oakley is just crazy!!!! (Or Brent is I guess!) Oakley helped Daddy out while he's working on re-roofing my parent's house. Pretty view of the back yard- huh?

SLADE Band's new blog...

Hi everyone!

So Brent opened last night for Lady Antebellum & IT WAS AWESOME!!!
I'm sorry if you missed it! It was a party!!!

They sold their single, "If I Could Only" at the concert for $3, or 2 for $5, but they are going to work on getting an album together over the next couple months.

So if you can, check out their new blog www.brentslade.blogspot.com
and we'll let you know when their album is done- and if you can, add it to your blog!

Thanks!

A Jack Attack...

So it was time...I had to attack Jack's mullet. It was just getting kind of nasty! So I braved the scissors & even did it without Brent. He was pretty good too! What a cute little 15 month old! (Who still won't say "mama"...and that makes me mad!) But he can sing "Ah Dee Dee Dah! Ah Dee Dee Dah!" to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"
It's hilarious!

Here's a before....

And after!

Bringing Back Star Wars!

So Oakley is 6 now! He had such a fun birthday party on the night of his b-day (August 28th).

They didn't have Star Wars party stuff, so I had to settle for Wall-e (which I loved by the way).

But I at least had to get Oaks only Star Wars stuff....(just the little characters....he loved it!)

We had a little swimming party (typical for my 3 summer babies), had pizza

& I made (according to Brent & Callie) my best ever banana chocolate birthday cake.

Watch out Debbie...here I come!

A good cause...

Hi everyone....

So I'm sure most of you have heard about this story, but I thought I should do my part to spread the word. Two of my friends, Christian & Stephanie Nielson (he is my sister-in-law's brother), were in a horrible plane crash a couple weeks ago where they were burned. Christian had 30% burns & Stephanie's were 80% and she is still in critical condition. They will be in the burn center for month & months with many many surgeries (which their insurance won't cover because it is "cosmetic"). They have 4 little kids too. It's been so horrible.

You can check out my button to the right (c jane)...that's Stephanie's sister's blog.

There has been so many acts of love & kindness, but here is one thing you might like.

They are hosting a benefit concert in their behalf...tickets are free...they are just asking for some donations.


It's next Wednesday, September 10th at the Mesa High Auditorium. (I know it's the night before Brent's concert!) But hey...it's free! And my fellow friend & neighbor (who is also Christian's 1st cousin) Aaron Ballard will be singing there too...so it will be great!

Livi's 1st day of Preschool!

So Livi started preschool with Miss Nancy (Aldrich). I just love her! She's a big 4 year old!

I know I'm biased....but I just think she's the cutest girl alive!!!!

Soap, Soap, & more Soap!

So WOW....yesterday I had one of those crazy mom days!

I'll bet you know exactly what I'm talking about! Yes...it was a day of clean-ups....non stop! And with a little 15 month old, I'm sure you can only imagine.

So to start this whole day off, at 10:00 the night before I just....can you guess....a kidney stone!!!
Yep....love those! So I didn't get to bed until about 1, but then I was up every 1/2 hour on the toilet....so that was lovely! But I'm fine now. :)

Okay...so now you can feel really bad for me when everything else came the next day!....


#1...It all started with Jack pulling down & getting the lid off my huge thing of liquid blue laundry detergent....right onto my carpet in my closet! WOW....there could be nothing worse! (Seriously...Livi spilt red nail polish all over downstairs & I'd take that any day over this!)

So I literally spent almost 2 HOURS cleaning that up with a shop-vac, but it isn't even close to coming out. So seriously....if this ever happens to you....just give up from the start...don't even try!!!!! Just put a rug over and say....oh well!

#2- So during the clean-up, I drop part of the vacuum all over (lots of suds) onto my bathroom floor. So I had to go get my mop....and of course, Jack loves to play in that and make a lovely mess!!!!

#3- While I was in my closet cleaning...I realize...hey...where did Jack go!? Lo & behold....I find him in my shower....and he had just dumped out all of Brent's red body wash!!!! Luckily that one was in the shower!

AHHHHH!!!!

So then- I get a last minute call from Oakley's music teacher saying that he got student of the month out of his whole school for music! I was so proud of him!
(That was the only good part of the day!) :) So.........

#4- Right as I'm ready to leave I realize...hey...didn't I just put Jack's shoes on!? Where'd they go!? Sure enough...I found them...and him...outside in a mud pit...his shoes burried & stuck in the muddy water!

Then right when I think I've got things under control & the kids are almost in bed & bathed....

#5- All of a sudden I smell poop....on me! And I realize as I picked Jack up that is wasn't in his diaper, but all over his shirt!!!! After playing detective, I track it down in the bathroom & realize it was Livi's....not Jack's....from a diahrrea accident on the bathroom floor!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!

WHAT A DAY!!!

And I'm so sorry....I just didn't have time to grab the camera with any of these!

(Sorry if this bored you...this was mostly to document my life for my sake!)

You know you LOVE country!!!

I have a kindergartener!!!!

Wow...I can't believe Oakley is almost 6 and in kindergarten now!

I'm getting old! :)

He was SOOO excited...no..ecstatic about going to school! We had a count-down calendar going for a few weeks that he would cross out as soon as he woke up. The morning before school he got to meet his teacher. It started at 9, but at 6:15, he was in my room waking me up asking if we could go right now! Then we waiting in the chair in my room, quietly, til I woke up at 7:00. We were the 1st ones there and his teacher, Miss Arnold said, "Wow...you are definitely going to be the tallest one in the class!"

Then the day of school (Wed. August 6th) he just couldn't wait. Too bad he has afternoon kindergarten! I told him we could leave at 11:50, so at 11:40 he stood by the clock and waited the whole 10 minutes, announcing when each minute came. Then at 11:50 I was on the phone and he said, "Okay, Mom...I'll be in the car!" We picked Hannah & Natalie up and when we got there he just ran away from me saying "Bye Mom...bye!" But I kept saying, "I'm still here!"

Anyway...he LOVED it!!!!

Brent Slade in Concert....

Hi everyone! So this is just a sneak peak but we'll have more coming soon...a website and flyers, etc. But for now I need help advertising for this concert....so here's a sneak peak of the band. Remember tickets are at http://www.qcpac.com/ and then under "KMLE country country series".

You can check out a few more pics through our photographer Helen (Bounce Productions)....

http://bounceproduction.smugmug.com/gallery/5660220_HiKZG/1/348338318_xZVtY#348338318_xZVtY

Hi Grammie & Papa....from Jack Jack!

Just wanted to post a couple cute videos of Jack (& Oakley in one) to say hi to our long (but not) lost Grammie & Papa!

Happy Birthday Brent!

Yes, my wonderful, talented, amazing & drop-dead gorgeous husband is turning 31 tomorrow (the 5th)!  Happy Birthday Honey!  The funny thing is that I'm going to have to tell him to check this because I don't think he checks that often!  

And while I'm talking about how talented he is....let me just say in case you haven't heard that he is opening for Lady Antebellum at QCPAC on September 11 with his country band....yes, he has a band and is actually at "band practice" right now!  Lady Antebellum was the #1 new country group this year and I absolutely love them, so this is a huge opportunity!  

So make sure you get tickets and come see the show!  www.qcpac.com

HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY HONEY!!!

I LOVE YOU!

I LOVE my kids!

As you can tell...my kids are my life!

(And don't worry....I don't usually bathe Oakley with them- but I just had to get that same shot that Mom did of Josh & Aimee when they were little!)....I used lots of bubbles!

This shows you how organized and mathmatical Oakley is. This started as playing "store" where he'd line up all the toys and his friends could come buy something from him!

This is one of his best friends Rider Lines....what a great kid. I want pretty blue eyes....not fair...
Ranger rides in Eager on a beautiful day...

My cutie pie...little Jack Jack!

I just have so many cute pics of Jack that I thought I'd dedicate this to my little boy

who is growing up so fast! Don't show this to Grandma Packard!!!
This is the Slade land in Eager....notice the cabin in the background....beautiful!
Yep....that's his namesake....a serious cowboy from Eager!
His favorite pastime!
His meadow....
He was hysterically laughing from the rain!
He loves the garage....especially the Ranger!
Daddy's Boy!