The Goddard Five

2009-09-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

The Big Day

2009-01-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

A New Baby Boy Arrives To James, Morgan and Rheagan.

Morgan is just tickled to have the delivery over with.

A New Family of Four is Formed

The snow house is a work in progress.

My "Main Man" and "Right Hand Man".

Our Front Yard after a recent storm.

Colin and Owen suit up at the Air Force Museum

Party At Blake's

2008-11-02T20:51:00.001-08:00

At Blake's winter home in northern Utah. Seven Grandbabies in a row, oh look how they.....get bigger.

Kristal's craftiness

2008-10-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

I just have to show off my wall art for Avery's bedroom. It is actually just 12x12 pieces of scrapbooking paper mounted on foam squares and lined them with ribbon on the sides. It turned out cuter than I thought, as well as more work than I had planned.

Have a Spooooky Halloween!

2008-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

mwaa haa haa. It's Halloween!

Have a happy Halloween!

a new blog

2008-10-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

I was only going to make this blog for my family to use, but as I think about it maybe there is someone else out there who might benefit from some ideas, however humble they are:

www.goddardsfhe.blogspot.com

I am really interested in what is working for you, too.

DUCK HUNTING OPENING DAY

2008-10-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Better house footage

2008-09-10T21:14:00.001-07:00

Here's the basement. You can see the unfinished portion on the right and the boy's room straight back.

Here's the kitchen/dining area. The back door is at the end of the dining room and the stairs to the left lead down to the basement.

here's the laundry room

2008-09-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm way behind in this blogging thing, but I just found out how to make a slideshow. I am hooked!

Goddard-eese

2008-09-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

As Colin got his "responsibility" out of the car today, and Owen put his "fuca" on his "responsibility," I realized that we have actually developed our own language as a family. If you would like to understand our talk, here's a short lesson on Goddardeese

responsibility - booster seat for the car
fuca - Colin's word for "accessory"
fings - night time necessities - sippy cup of water and deedee
deedee - a silky "lovey" blanket that each of the kids have
bacon - any kind of meat
bean beans - green beans
nana - banana
french fry park - Carl's Jr that has a play park in it
play day - any day that's not the Sabbath day
Sabbath day - not play day, means we can't watch play day movies or play outside

Double Corner Time

Avery and Cali (Megan's baby)

Look Ma

The American dream has finally come true!!

2008-09-04T09:32:00.001-07:00

Announcing Evan and Kristal Goddard - homeowners!!

After 8 years of apartment dwelling (and support from family - thanks all), we have purchased our own home. Last night we signed paperwork and closed on our own beautiful home!

Here's the specs for all of you who are curious: $154K, 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, on .2 acres, a NICE neighborhood (no scary San Bernardino neighborhoods), built in 1973, move in ready (realtor speak for it doesn't need any work).

We are moving in next Saturday (on Kristal's 29th birthday - the best birthday ever) as we are letting the sellers stay until they close on their house. We have some rough footage, but will post better pics next week.

living room

kitchen

backyard

2008-08-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

2008-08-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Owen showed us his Austin Powers bed at IKEA.

July Photos

2008-08-25T21:49:00.001-07:00

Future Paramedics of Los Angeles County award goes to Colin Spencer Spence.

Camping In Little Cottonwood Canyon

2008-08-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Owen said the best thing he loved about this trip was experimenting with grape Gatorade and 100% deet with just a pinch of dirt.
Owen says he wants a pony for Christmas

Colin and Owen along side the Little Cottonwood Creek
Owen loved throwing rocks in the water and watch them float to the surface.
Colin decided he was going to be a "Big Boy" and sleep all by himself. He even wanted to stay in the tent during the rain and thunderstorms that night.

Owen felt right at home with his Lightning McQueen pillowcase and Sierra Designs hot coco sling.

Fly Fishing at Lake Blanche

2008-07-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

MY FIRST FISH CAUGHT ON A FLY. JUST LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BROWN TROUT.

THE LAKE BLANCHE TRAIL WAS IN FULL BLOOM

SUNDIAL PEAK WITH MOUNT SUPERIOR IN THE DISTANCE.

Lake Blanche, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

Colin And Owen Riding Bikes

2008-07-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Owen Riding His Tricyle

Colin Riding His New Bike

4th of July Weekend Festivities

2008-07-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Dad, Blake and Evan fishing East Canyon one day and then Willard Bay the next. The fishing was good and so was the swimming, just ask Evan.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2008-07-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

"IS THAT UNCLE D?"

Out with the family enjoying a "AAA" Salt Lake Bees baseball game. Evan kept his heckling to a minimum.

Kristal got Avery smiling.

Owen gets crazy dancing to YMCA

The Blessing

2008-07-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we blessed Avery. I always look forward to blessing my children. I love to hear what our Father in Heaven would say to these new spirits who only just left His presence. We had Poppy and Grandma and Grandpa Goddard come out from California, and Megan and Jack (note in the group picture that aparently Megan was the only one who got the memo. Are we sisters or what!), and Blake and his family. Mary Ann and some of her kids came , and she (being as wonderful as she is) threw a blessing luncheon for the whole crowd at her house. Wow! All in all, it was a beautiful day.

Look at that proud daddy. This little girl already has her daddy wrapped around her finger.

I can't wait until the next day I get to dress her in white... and then the next white dress...

Hiking in the land of Big Cottonwood

2008-07-02T21:24:00.001-07:00

Last week we took a family hike in the Big Cottonwood Canyon. As we were walking Colin wanted to know about the king and queen that lived high up in the rocks, so we spent the whole walk learning about King Daddy and Queen Mommy and their royal knights and princesses and all of their adventures. It's days like this that make all of the long tireless nights worth it. These days are truly magical for our family.

We knew one of the kids would eventually take after daddy!

Liberty Park

2008-07-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Grandma Bunny told us about a park that she visited as a teenager, and we found it! The carousel is still there, but looks pretty beat up. They have a fountain called the Seven Canyons Fountain for the kids to run in. Very cool!

The Condo

2008-06-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Isn't she beautiful!

Here are Colin and Owen visiting the real live (well actually dead) liger. It's pretty much our favorite animal right now.

So Evan and I had a really cool confirmation today that the Spirit is really guiding us. Everyone knows about the condo that we went into escrow on, and how on the last day we felt really strongly that we weren't supposed to buy it, even when a lower price was offered... Well, that condo has lost $120K in value since we left for Utah in October. We would surely have been bankrupt if we didn't listen. Especially with the medical bills that have come up.

This is so cool to us because even two years after the condo incident we didn't really know why we both felt so strongly about not buying it, and now here it is. This helps us now as we are adjusting to Utah to just trust Heavenly Father. He knows all, and sees much more than we can see with our limited perspective. It makes me think about what his purposes are with Colin and his condition.

Diagnosis!!!

2008-06-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our specialist gave us a diagnosis! It is lipophagic panniculitis of childhood. It is a rare disease of the fat, and we don't quite understand it yet. All I know is that it looks like this will be long term, maybe several years and that they treat it with a daily dose of steroids (not fun!). I will post more as I find out more about this.

Baby Avery Talks

2008-06-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

Avery Madison is just starting to coo.

We are so proud of how far her language

skills have developed and really proud

of how dedicated she has been to phonics

as a whole.

Retro Video Update

2008-06-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

Weekend At The Cabin

2008-06-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

We found the moose about 100 yds. from the fire road. She was estimated at weighing 14,000 pds. or so. What a sight to behold.

At the center of the shot you'll see a real, live, deadwood, beaver house. That's right beavers still roam the plains of the American continent. I was just as surprised as you are.

Here we are in June and the heavy winter is still very evident.

Colin and Owen take out the first timer (Auntie Emily) to show her the fundamentals of extreme off roading. Good luck Emily.

Upon returning from their off road adventure the boys are beaming with pride.

Uncle Blake forgot to "Just Add Water" to his raft prior to embarking on their voyage. Just a minor detail for the seasoned mariner.

Here Evan is trying to soak up a 360 degree view with very limited 140 degree human vision.

Colin was excited to include this shot into his portolio of millions of photos. This was his first time working with an all organic wooden sign.

2008-06-06T21:26:00.001-07:00

Here's Avery and Mommy

Avery is the smiliest baby!

The boy's just love their sister

The latest news on Colin....

The very up to date latest is this... Primary's has confirmed everything that the other specialist has: He has lumps on his legs that no one knows how to define. We actually got results back in 2 days, which is amazing considering the month we waited with the other specialist. The blood work came back good, no problems or infections. The biopsy showed that the lumps are made up of mostly T cells, but they don't know why. We are now starting on steroids to control the swelling, meanwhile Primary's is sending the boipsy out again for yet another second opinion. Someone has to know what this is!

Here's Evan's new hobby. He has spent the last month studying fly fishing so that he could get a new fly fishing pole for his birthday.

Tonight Daddy and the boys are celebrating Evan's birthday this Monday by camping at the Baker's cabin. The boys were absolutely thrilled to be out camping with their daddy, as he has had to work a lot lately. They were hoping to see a moose while they were there, which is totally possible. At home, Mommy and Avery are having our first Mommy-daughter date.

Here's a pic of Colin's legs. The red spots are the lumps.

And our character Owen, hiding from Mommy

Last but not least we want to wish Uncle D a happy 27th birthday today. Wow, is he really that old today!

update on Colin

2008-06-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we had our first visit to Primary's yesterday. Again, two different doctor's came in to look at him and one even took pictures. Well, this doctor didn't promise anything. She just took another biopsy (from his calf this time, and deeper than before. This time she took muscle, too). Colin handled it like a champ, and brought home a brand new Transformer for his courage.

So, next Monday we'll hopefully have some results and an action plan for treating this (hopefully with a diagnosis). He's doing ok, but the lumps are still spreading.

On a lighter note, Evan and I are competing in our own Biggest Loser competetion. The prize will be $200. Evan has already picked out his new fishing gear, but I will definately need a new wardrobe once all of this baby weight is on, so it's on! The competetion goes for 8 weeks, and then we'll see who the biggest loser is!

2008-06-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

2008-06-01T19:57:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our blog!

Tomorrow Colin is finally going in to Primary's for a specialist visit. He has been having a problem with spreading lumps in his legs, and the last 8 pathology labs weren't able to diagnose what they are. He has been pretty sick with daily fevers and fatigue. We are hoping this new doctor can find out what is wrong with him, and that it isn't serious.

Here are some pics of the family right now. Aren't these kids beautiful?