In Memory of Joan Frier

29 January 1939- 5 July 2009

We had the great honor to see Joan Frier, Dustin's mom, one last time before she passed away quite suddenly- for us. Joan had been fighting mouth cancer this last year and a half. She was going through chemo and radiation. In December, she told us it was pretty well gone. She had one last round of chemo but it kept being delayed because her white blood cell count was low. The doctors kept waiting for the numbers to go up. We kept planning trips to Kingman and would have to cancel the last minute because Jodi would keeo getting sick. We didn't want Jodi getting Joan sick. We kept in touch with Joan. Our last few conversations were really short. She told Dustin her chin was swelling and had an indection in it. We didn't realize the severity of it, nor did she want any of her children to know.

We finally managed a trip to Kingman to celebrate my birthday and the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time, and were in a little shock at how old and sick Joan looked. Her chin was so swollen; it was like there was a tennis ball stuffed into her chin. She also was suffering from congestive heart failure- her legs were swollen as well. She was all wrinkles on top and smooth on the bottom.

Despite her looks, Joan still had plenty of laughs. She enjoyed the little firecrackers we brought- my children as well as the real ones. The kids made her laugh. She enjoyed watching them play in her fountain, Daniel play with her stuffed bird, Jodi sing and twirl around her house, Noah playing GI Joe on the floor, me yelling at the kids and chasing them around, and fun conversation with her baby, Dustin.

We had a wonderful babrbecue with Dustin's brother Scott and his family and then enjoyed the fireworks display. We said our goodbyes and drove back to Phoenix after the fireworks. We got the phone call the next evening that Joan passed away.

We had the great honor to see her one last time and to see her smile with the joy that she always had. We are grateful that she was able to see her grandchildren and her son one last time. The funeral was this last Sunday. Dustin officiated at his mother's funeral and did a beautiful job. He was the calming hand, the rock of faith his brothers needed.

I will miss Joan's singing and laugh and tickles. My children will miss their grandmother very much. Dustin is now an adult orphan, but he is happy knowing that his parents are together again in the Spirit World. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that families can be together forever. We loved Joan and will miss her dearly.

A Little While

OK, So I think it has been long enough since I last wrote an update. The end of the school year became quite busy for us. Dustin was plowing through another semester- he passed and we are on to the last semester in August. Noah had so many end of the year programs, parties, and a try at T-Ball. Noah liked TBall when it was his turn to hit, or when he was the catcher. He did not like playing the outfield. He did not like TBall when the temperature reached 100 degrees either. It was good fir him. Daniel and Jodi enjoyed playing in the dirt each game. Bath, dinner, books, bed was our moto for the month of April and May.


I spent the last weekend of May at Flute camp. I went to it all excited and left quite deflated. I have not practiced my flute once in a month. I lost the drive for some reason. I have gotten back into my summer reading and have read many books with more on my to-read-list.

I honestly have no idea where the month of June went. It was here and now it is gone. I feel like I don't have much to show for it. The kids have taken awhile to learn how to play with each other all day long again. The days seem longer to me. I understand how parents are very much ready for their children to be in school again. I wish that at times as they are pestering, fighting, or yelling at each other. Where did the love go?

We have had to take Jodi into an immunologist. She gets every little infection and it always ends in her chest and on antibiotics and breathing treatments. Her blood work turned out normal, but they are keeping her on the breathing treatments twice a day for the next 6 months. It is really hard to keep up with it, but hopefully the infections will stay away because of it.

We are going to Kingman for the 4th of July to spend a few days with Grandma Joan- Dustin's mom. It will be good to see her again. It has been too long since our last visit and the kids miss their Grandma. I love going to smaller towns to watch the fireworks as well. Craig, CO or Kingman, AZ sure is a lot cooler than here and less crowded as well!

So, Happy 4th of July to everyone. I love this country and the liberty and freedom we enjoy. I love the spirit of those founding fathers and hope we can all find that spirit again. Happy Birthday USA!

Good Job, Daniel!

We have been working really hard with Daniel and his behavior. He just loves to torment his siblings- and his parents!!! We have been doing incentive charts with him for quite some time now. Sometimes I wonder why we are even doing it, but then other times I see Daniel trying so hard to do what is right. We had a break through day on Monday. I don't know if it was because we started our ward's "media fast," or if it was because I had that specific prayer in my heart that day, or that Daniel just decided to try to be good. Whatever it was, Monday was a great day for us. Daniel listened, was ever so polite to Jodi, was wonderful at preschool. He truly earned those last 2 stickers. He was working for a "Build-A-Bear" and he earned it after a month of 1 step-forwards/2 steps back!





We had fun removing the stickers for his next project- a Happy Meal with Mommy.

Spring Break and Acupuncture

I have so much to share, so excuse the length of this post. I don't get to the computer as often as I would like thanks to a wonderful husband who is doing a great job of studying a lot!

We decided to go to Los Angeles and San Diego for our spring break. We first visited my younger brother in L.A and enjoyed the fun of the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. We had a great time with "Uncle Lief." The kids really liked the Nat. His. Museum. They had a life size baby triceratops moving puppet. It was really neat.






They loved all the animals that they never get to see in a zoo- walrus, hippos, buffalo, etc....










We went to the San Diego Zoo the next day. I loved watching the kids get excited over the animals. Daniel loved destroying every pretty flower that came across his path. Noah loved all the monkeys and the sky train. Jodi loved fighting with Daniel over which side of the stroller was "hers." I was so ready to go back to the hotel and soak in the hot tub-which we all did! The kids really had a great time. We loved the animals and just being together as a family- for the most part :)
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We had planned on spending the whole next day at the beach and the USS Midway. But, Noah's throwing up and scorching high fever after the zoo, and Dad's fever put a bust on our plans. We did go to the USS Midway. The kids, Dustin especially, loved the air craft carrier. They had a good time and they did so good despite not feeling good.








We also went to the beach and stayed long enough to build a real sand castle and for Daniel to destroy it. We came home with a very sick family.


Noah finally was feeling better by Tuesday. Dustin got strep throat and tonsilitis at the same time. Daniel has the sickies now and Jodi is bringing up the rear! Noah has been so burnt out this week with TBall. He loves it and is doing good- if we can get him to pay attention to the ball when the other team is at bat.

I made a leap of faith and decided to try acupuncture to try to eliminate my pain. It hurt having the needles in my leg. The Dr. said it was because my back was so tender. Then, she did a cupping therapy. This was really trippy. She took a flame and heated up glass balls with openings and stuck them on my back. My skin was sucked into the cups and left like that for 10 minutes. When she came back my back was free of pain- enough to have a little massage. I can not tell you the last time I have been able to have someone rub or even brush my back without me wincing in pain. It was a miracle for me. I may have looked like I lost a fight with an octopus, but I am feeling amazing. I go back in a week for more torture and then sweet relief!

That's a quarter taped to my back for comparison. It looks nasty but doesn't hurt at all!

Daniel's Portraits

Ok, So I have been terrible about keeping up with the kids portrait pictures. It has been 2 years since we last took some of Daniel. So, now we have finally taken them and here they are. He is quite the cutie!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Ok I have a couple phrases the kids have blurted out that I have to share.
Jodi: I love hearing Jodi pray. Whenever she says, "Heavenly Father" it sounds just like she is saying "Harry Potter." It makes me snicker every time. And just some good news with Jodi: She is now a BIG girl. She is fully potty trained- even at night!!! Yeah!! No more diapers- EVER. Also, we have all been sick and Jodi has NOT gotten sick. This is huge for her!!




Daniel: We were eating the cheap frozen pizza for dinner (well the kids were) and Daniel said, "This is deee-lish!!!" I have no idea where he picked that phrase up from, but it was hilarious!!

Noah: I think Noah hears Mom and Dad get angry and frustrated a little too much. We were eating something hot and Noah said, "That is freaking hot." I don't always think about what comes out of my mouth as much as I should. It sure sounds different coming out of your 6 year old's mouth. It was funny but it sure made me stop and think about the words I do use and how I use them!!

Noah's Birthday

We had a fun celebration with Noah for his birthday- I know it's been forever since I updated! We took Noah to the toy store a few weeks before his birthday to get an idea of what he wanted. He fell in love with this huge Army/Rocket Launcher. He is so into the Army thing. I went abck a few days later and bought the huge thing. I hid it under our bed. I kept asking Noah what he wanted besides the rocket launcher. He would get really upset and say that was what he really wanted and it would be such a sad day if he didn't get it. We put all his other presents on the table and we started opening them. He got really sad as he kept opening them. He got some really neat books and some fun games, but as he said. "I just didn't get any toys." We sent him Dad's closet to get slippers for Dad, and there it was the biggest present he has ever seen and we got the biggest grin from him! He loved it and had a great day. Dad also took him to the Build- a Bear workshop where he got a monkey that he named Dexter. (We got a coupon for $12 off a bear- it was over half off!) He had a great day and we had fun celebrating with him. I can not believe my little "noodle" is now 6! I tried getting pictures of him for the computer and for this blog, but have not been able to go through all the negatives we have of his baby days yet. SO here are the ones we could get. Happy Birthday Noah. We love you and think you are truly one special little boy!