My New 2nd Favorite Movie!

As if you couldn't guess, I LOVE the movie Mama Mia! I saw it in the theatre, and now I have watched it 3 times since it came out on DVD. It is soooo funny!

Can you imagine when Twilight comes to DVD?!? Man oh man I can hardly wait!

Welcome to the World Liam!

My sister Mary and her husband Chad had their baby on Wednesday. I haven't seen him yet, but from the pictures he looks cute. Congratulations Mary & Chad!

Date & Time of Birth: 12/17/2008 @ 1:53 p.m.

Weight: 6 lbs, 12 ozs

Length: 20 in

BRRRRR!

Man it is cold outside. I have been freezing my buns off the past 3 days. It has been cold, wet, and raining. I though Arizona was supposed to have mild winters. I don't like the cold, that is why I live in Arizona, specifically "The Valley of the SUN" I sure hope the weather warms up again soon. This precious delicate flower cannot stand the cold. I'd rather be hot than cold, at least when you're hot you can jump in the pool and cool off!

Also, I am includign a pic of the girls when we met up at the temple lights. I didn't put this one on the blog and Alesia got after me. She said it has to go on the blog because it is so cute. So here you go.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Alexander's Adventure

Okay, so he's just laying on the couch... what is so adventurous about that? Well, lets turn the clocks back about 16 hours and start there.

An anonymous family member showed Alex how to make a blow dart with a straw and a toothpick. Innocent enough right? WRONG! Martin and I stepped out for a bit to do a little of our Christmas shopping. We got home about 8:30p and were surprised that the younger 2 weren't in bed. Alex had been practicing with the blow darts, and wanted to show Martin how far he could get it to go.

So he put the straw to his mouth, took a deep breath in, and sucked that toothpick right down his throat. He started coughing and immediately told us he swallowed it. Martin and I just looked at each other and nodded our heads. The thought on our minds was obvious... This did not just happen! After a quick call to the pediatric ER near our house, I took him in. They looked down his throat to see if they could see it there, no luck. They took neck and chest x-rays to see if they could see it in there. Nope. Evidently wood does not show up on x-rays very well.

The nurse practitioner that was taking care of him decided they needed a pediatric GI doc to come in and take a peek down there to see if they could retrieve the toothpick. Bottom line was, the doc couldn't come in until morning, so Alex was admitted overnight (if you can call it night. We didn't make it up to his room until 1:30a. Then the IV decided to slip out, and it took 3 more tries to get the IV going again. Alex's veins like to play hide and seek, it's a good thing he's a healthy kid! We finally got to sleep around 2:45a. I evidently was dead to the world, I didn't even hear them come draw blood or check his vitals.

Alex was awake by 5:30a, he's an early riser. He wanted to get this procedure over with and go home. Unfortunately, the doc had other plans, the procedure wasn't until 8:00a. I had a very hungry 10 year old who did not want to hear that he could not eat or drink anything, boy was that fun! Martin got someone to help him administer to Alex, then before we knew it he was being taken down for his scope.

They gave him some sedation and took a look with the scope. To every one's surprise, there was no toothpick in his throat or his stomach. Back in his room, the hospitalist scratches his head and says he is going to go personally talk to the radiologist for a few minutes. When he came back up, he said they decided to do a CT scan of his neck and chest to see if the toothpick was in his lungs or wind pipes. Thankfully, a quick CT scan didn't show anything so we got to come home.

Alex was so happy to be able to come home, he was crying tears of happiness because he missed home, and the dog. Although, when he reflected upon his adventure on the way home, he decided that it was cool to be in the hospital because he got spoiled rotten. The hospital gave him a teddy bear, a game, a puzzle, and a Christmas stocking. Not to mention he could turn on the lights, adjust the bed, get the nurse, and change the channel all without getting out of bed. He thought the blood from the nurse starting the IV was cool too! He had never seen his own blood like that before. Then, there was breakfast... french toast, chocolate milk, Trix, and juice. He ate it all!

So what about the toothpick? Well, the theory is that it either came up when he vomited in the ER (BTW both the nurse and I checked it and saw no toothpick, but we didn't exactly do a detailed examination) or it has already made it past the stomach and will pass in a few days. So we watch for signs of infection, fever, or pain and follow up with our pediatrician. WHEW!

Temple lights

This past Tuesday, 4 out of the 6 of us went see to the temple lights in Mesa. Nikk and Alesia went with the youth for a combined activity, and I got to go with MacKenzie's Activity Day Girls. Of course we ran into each other. It was fun, but a bit too cold for me! Alex had Weblos that night, so Martin was sweet enough to stay home with him. They enjoyed some Alex & Dad time. It is hard to get some one on one time this time of year, so they were glad.

MacKenzie is the one with the pink hat on in the middle.

Inside the Visitor's center, we got to see Luke II, then we walked around the room of nativity scenes from different places. This was a nativity quilt someone had made. I would love to have one of these, it was soooooo beautiful!


Here is another nativity that was made of paper and was in a frame. I really liked this one too! People have so many great talents, it's wonderful that they share them with those of us whose talents lay in other areas.


Here is MacKenzie with her friend Kjersti and her mom Pam. They were looking at the nativity they had on the temple grounds.

Here is Kenzie, my beautiful baby! (Okay so she's not a baby anymore, but she will ALWAYS be my baby!)

Alesia has a job!

Alesia just started her first job last week. She gets her first paycheck tomorrow. She's so excited, (and we are too!) She has a lot of fun at work. Now she's saving for a car, and college. Here's a pic of her on her first night.

More pics from Twilight

K, so here are pics of Martin and I with Stephenie Meyer...




















Martin and I waiting for the movie to start.














My friend Laura and I before the movie started.



















Martin and I after the movie in front of the Twilight signs

AZ Twilight Premere

All I can say is WOW!

Tonight we had a wonderful experience going to the Harkins Theatre in Scottsdale for a private showing of Twilight BEFORE it comes to theatres on Friday (okay 12:01 Thursday night).

How you ask?

Well, Martin and I know (okay, so the whole family knows) Stephenie Meyer and her wonderful family. She had an "Arizona Premiere" for her family and friends. It was so nice to see Stephenie and her family again, and to celebrate her success. They threw a great premiere. It was so awesome!I can't believe that we got to see Twilight before anyone else in the valley. The movie is so awesome, you've all got to see it! For those of you who love the Twilight Series, the movie is pretty close to the book, I was very impressed. If you're a die hard Twilight fan, watch for Stephenie's cameo appearance in the movie. I'm not going to tell you what part, you'll just have to look closely.

Alesia, Nikk, Martin, and Nancy standing in line at the Arizona Twilight Premiere.

The Galbraith Family standing in line waiting to get into the premiere.

Martin on the red carpet...

Alesia with Stephenie Meyer at the Arizona Premeire of Twilight

October Birthdays!

We have had 2 birthdays in the past 2 weeks. Nick turned 16 on the 9th, and Alesia turned 18 on the 18th. Wow, how can my kids be that old? Not possible I say!

We had a small birthday party at home for Nick, at his request. He's not in to the big party thing. My favorite thing about him is his willingness to help me out when I need it. He is great at cooking too! Nick didn't want any pictures taken, so I gave him that, since he did get a haircut the day before he was ordained a Priest. Here is a random pic just so you have something to look at...

Alesia however was a different story. She wanted a party bigtime (and lots of pictures). She has been described by our Bishop as a "Turbo-charged butterfly" One of the things I love about Alesia is that life is a verb to her. It is something she has to taste, feel, experience. She has always been that way! For her party, our friends Bobbi and Doug agreed to throw her a suprise party. The numbers were small, but we had a great time, lots of fun! Thanks Bobbi and Doug! Here are some pics from Alesia's party...

What a hamm!

We let her open her gifts from us at home. She wanted a new comforter and sheet set, so that is what she got.

A New Start

I have forgiven myself for not getting pics from Girls Camp and Trek on here. I've decided just to move on. It's not like I haven't had anything to keep me busy or anything.

In case anyone doesn't know yet, Martin was laid off from E-Instruction the end of June. Let me tell you, the economy really stinks right now. There are not very many jobs out there right now. We're going on 3 months now without a job for Martin. Everytime we pray, we both get the same answer... "I am aware of your needs, you are being blessed; hang in there." I think Martin and I would both be insane by now without prayer!

I've been working extra as I can to try and bring in more $$, it's hard with a house to take care of and 4 kids. I am tired. Lucky for me I get a 6 week vacation if you can call it that. I go in this next Friday to have a hysterectomy. I've been waiting since July for this to happen. I feel blessed that Martin will be here to take care of me, and get the kids to school while I'm down. Things are unsettled at my house to say the least.

Well, here are a few more pics from the D-backs game. Love you all!

A Little Fun...

Alex and Kenzie had a fieldtrip on Sept 16th to Chase Field. They had a lot of fun with the AZ Science Center, and got to see the baseball statium. They had a blast. Part of the cost of the fieldtrip included 2 tickets to Tuesday night's game against the Giants. We got 2 extra tickets free so we took the whole family and headed to the ballpark. I think it was just what we all needed. We had a lot of fun eating peanuts and CrackerJacks... just like the song. Alex and Kenzie had a blast yelling to all of their school friends that came to the game too.

Time for cake and ice cream!

Wow, 8 candles!

Oops, 1 boyfriend!

Kenzie being silly

Posing with Stitch

OUR BABY IS 8 YEARS OLD???



MacKenzie posing for a picture on her birthday.

MacKenzie waiting to open her presents,
and Alex trying hard not to be in the picture

"Take my picture Mom!"

IT'S GREAT TO BE 8!


Here are some of the presents MacKenzie got...

Too bad she is so camera shy!

I'd say the MP3 player was a hit!

Nice presents!

More Pinewood Derby 2008


Alex getting his 2nd place trophy
He placed 2nd in the bears. Koby one 1st place again this year...
better watch out next year Koby!

Alex & his cousin Jacob displaying their trophies.
Jacob placed 1st for the wolf den, 2nd over-all (Losing to Koby)
As to whose car was faster... we raced them after the official race.
Alex one one race, Jacob won the other. I guess we'll never know.


Alex with his car "Gold Lightening" and his trophy.