•Idaho Native•

Another Appointment

2008-01-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

I had another doctor's appointment today. Nothing new to report. Everything seems to be progressing fine. The results from my ultrasound are good. I guess they didn't find anything out of the ordinary. That's always a relief. I reached 21 weeks today. The next thing I have to do is my glucose test. I'm expecting that to turn out fine but we shall see.

We're Having A...

2008-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we had our 20 week ultrasound on Monday and we found out what we're having. We're having another boy! We're very excited! We were hoping for a boy. Of course, we would have been just as excited if we were having a girl but this was the news we were hoping for. Having another boy evens things out. Now the girls won't outnumber the boys anymore.

The doctor's office called today with the results of the ultrasound. The nurse said everything looked good. That's always a relief to hear. My next appointment is on Monday.

I can't believe I'm already past the halfway mark in my pregnancy. The ultrasound put my due date on May 21st but my official due date is still May 26th which is Memorial Day. I'm expecting the baby to come before my due date just because that is my history. So, a little over 4 months to go. He'll be here before we know it!

Happy Birthday!

2007-12-29T21:53:00.000-08:00

Happy 4th Birthday to my baby girl! Love you lots!

My Rant For the Day

2007-10-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

I was watching The O'Reilly Factor tonight and he did a segment to promote his new book "Kids Are Americans Too". I haven't read his book but I am more interested in it now that I saw this segment on his show. He sent a reporter out to the streets of New York and he asked teenagers questions like "Why is it great to be an American?" and "Why is America great?" I don't remember if that is exactly how the questions were worded but they were along those lines. Hardly any of the teenagers could answer the questions. The reporter approached two teenage boys and asked one of them if he would ever serve in our military. His answer: "Hell no! What have they ever done for me?" My mouth literally fell open. I couldn't believe he actually said that. What has our military ever done for him? It only gave him all the freedoms that he enjoys today. It has only protected us from our enemies over the years.

I guess I shouldn't be too shocked that those teenagers couldn't answer simple questions about why our country is so great. Our public school system spends so much time teaching self-esteem and sex education that it forgets to teach history and civics. So many kids today have this attitude that everything is owed to them and they don't need to respect anyone. I know that not all teenagers are like that and many know why our country is great but it just made me sick to know that so many in this younger generation don't respect their elders or our country and it's history. They don't understand how great our freedoms are or what it took and still takes for us to enjoy those freedoms. It was frustrating to watch these kids and I pray for our country's future.

Happy Birthday!

2007-10-05T19:03:00.001-07:00

Happy 31st birthday to my wonderful husband, Stephen! I hope it's been a good day for you and that you have a great year ahead of you. I love you very much! :)

Big News!

2007-09-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I don't even know if anyone still checks my blog on a regular basis since it's been two months since I last posted but I thought this bit of news was blog worthy. We're expecting another baby! We found out a week ago and I went to the doctor today and got it officially confirmed. I'm five weeks along and my due date is May 26th. We're very excited but also feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of having 4 kids. But we know we'll be okay and God will take care of us. I just hope he grants me enough patience. :)

I'm going to try to blog more regularly now. It was a very busy summer with my family visiting from India and the last few weeks have been busy with getting back into the routine of school. I'm homeschooling again this year. Our oldest daughter is in 1st grade, our second daughter is in preschool and I'm busy trying to keep our son occupied during school hours. It's a lot to handle but I know it's worth it. Now, we're adding another baby to the mix. Ahhh! It's all good though.

Hope all of you out there are doing well.

Happy Anniversary!

2007-07-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to my hubby of 8 years! Wow! Part of me still can't believe that Stephen and I have been married that long and another part of me feels like we've already been married for a lifetime. I can't even imagine what it feels like when you've been married for as long as our parents have been (almost 29 years for my parents and 35 for Stephen's).

We've had our share of ups and downs but mostly ups. We rarely argue and I am so thankful for that. We have 3 beautiful children together, 2 of which caused us great stress when they were born prematurely. We have been through deaths in the family and a heart attack that almost took my dad from us over 4 1/2 years ago. But it's situations like those that have caused us to grow closer to each other and have made us stronger. We've seen each other at our weakest and most vulnerable states and we've cried on each other's shoulders. We've also experienced the happiest times of our lives together. We've traveled the world together sharing our faith with others.

The most important part of our marriage is its foundation. Christ is the center of our marriage. Without Him we would be like so many others. We're still learning new things about each other but we know each other better than anyone else does except for God. I look forward to this 8th year of marriage and I pray that we will have many more to come.

I love you Stephen!

Btw, the traditional gift for the 8th anniversary is bronze or pottery. Just thought you might like to know. ;)

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th to everyone. Hope you all have a fun and safe holiday. We have a busy day ahead of us. Barbecues, fireworks and all kinds of fun things!

Jeff didn't get enough time off to make it home. We're all bummed again. He is planning on using up his saved leave to come visit sometime in August. Hopefully, that will work out.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great day!

Really Bummed

2007-06-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Remember that in my last post I was really excited because Jeff was going to Hawaii and he thought that the chance of him going to Iraq was smaller? Remember that? Scroll down and read it if you don't. Anyway, that is not the case. Shortly after getting to Hawaii he found out they are sending him to Iraq in February. I have not heard from him since he got there but he did call my parents to let them know. We're all really disappointed. Obviously, February is still a ways off and a lot can change between now and then. He will get to spend about 3 weeks here with us for Christmas so I am very happy about that. But I would definitely trade spending time with him at Christmas if it meant that he didn't have to go to Iraq. What can I do though? He knew this was a possibility when he signed up. We all did. I think he is accepting it more readily than the rest of us though. Oh well. I know he is in God's hands.

By the way, my family is now here back from India for the next couple of months. It looks like this summer is going to be a busy one.

Aloha Jeff

2007-06-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

My brother, Jeff, got his orders last week for where he is supposed to report to when he graduates from SOI at Camp Pendleton next week. He is going to Hawaii! How cool is that?! I know he is really glad that he is going there and so are the rest of all of us. He didn't really think that he was going to get sent to Iraq but there was always that possibility. There still is a small possibility but the chances are smaller now.

Now, Stephen and I are talking that we will eventually have to plan some kind of trip there to visit him. Jeff says that he will most likely be stationed out of Hawaii for his whole 4 years. I guess it will be his home base or whatever they call it. Anyway, we've always wanted to go so maybe we'll be able to sometime in the next couple of years. Our 10th wedding anniversary is coming up in 2 years so maybe we'll be able to plan something around that if Jeff is still there.

Well, anyway, Jeff graduates from SOI in a week from today and then he's off to Hawaii that same day. He's hoping to get liberty around the 4th of July and he's going to try and come over for at least a few days. Our family is heading back from India in a few days and they will get here on the 25th and will not leave until the 11th of September. Jeff is going to try to get Recruiter's Assistant while he is here so maybe he'll get to be here for a month or so. That would be really cool because then we wouldn't all be trying to squeeze in all of our time with him in a few short days and we'd all get to spend a lot more time with him. We'll see what happens.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

2007-06-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

I just overheard my 3 year old daughter singing her version of the song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". This is her revised edition:

"The ditsy, ditsy spider la da da da da spout."

And repeat over and over again.

Pretty Sad

2007-06-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking how sad it is that I got excited about only paying $2.94 for gas today at Costco. And yes, I was at Costco again.

Wondering...

2007-05-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

I'm just wondering if being told by the Costco greeter/card checker at the door that she doesn't need to see our membership card means that we go there too much.

A Proud Big Sis

2007-05-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting sooner but the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me. We got back from our California trip over a week ago but my brother was here on his leave from the Marines and my family was here visiting from India for 8 days. Jeff left for Camp Pendleton yesterday and the rest of my family left this morning. I already miss all of them but my parents and the kids are planning on returning in July for a couple of months and Jeff should be done with SOI by the end of June and he thinks he might get some leave around the 4th of July. He is also hoping that he might be able to get Recruiter's Assistant for a little while so he can have more time at home. That will all depend on if he has more training after SOI and when it begins.

Our trip to California began with a 2 1/2 hour flight to LAX (after spending a couple of hours at the airport). H decided that she didn't like flying so well (she was afraid we were going to fall out of the sky) and she cried off and on for the first half of the flight. E got tired and fussy for the last half of the flight and finally fell asleep about 10 minutes before we landed. After we got our rental car we went and visited Stephen's aunt and had lunch with her. Then we met up with my family in Oceanside. It was good to see them after not seeing them for about 4 months.

The next day we went to MCRD San Diego and watched Jeff's company do a moto run. They stopped in front of us and did a chant and then continued on their run. We easily spotted Jeff and I got teary eyed when I saw him. He later told us that he saw our sister Kelly and it was hard for him to control his emotions. He didn't know if we were going to make it to Family Day so it was a nice surprise for him. A couple of hours later we got to watch the ceremony where the recruits are given their Eagle, Globe and Anchor pins and become Marines. I was so proud of Jeff. We all were. After the ceremony was over the Marines were given the next 5 or so hours to spend with their families. We rushed down to the Parade Deck and found Jeff. Mom said that she got first hug since she's Mom but I got the second hug. I can't even begin to describe how happy I was to see him and hug him and how proud I was of what he had just accomplished. The time for visiting went by much too quickly and we had to say goodbye. The next day was the official graduation ceremony. Again, I was so proud to see him standing out there. He had become a real Marine and a man.

We spent the next 2 days at Disneyland. It was extremely crowded and therefore not always that fun but we did enjoy ourselves overall. This trip was a family reunion as well. I got to see an aunt that I hadn't seen in almost 19 years and cousins that I hadn't seen since Stephen and I got married (almost 8 years ago). There were some rough times when the kids were extremely tired and whiny and fussy. E threw his biggest temper tantrum ever during our second day at Disneyland. I don't blame him though; he was exhausted and still suffering from croup which he had before we left. I got sick with a really bad cold while we were there and I'm still kind of recovering from that.

I'll admit that I was kind of worried that Jeff would come out of his boot camp experience changed in not a good way. I was wrong. He has changed in some ways. He's more polite and he's just different in some ways. But he's the same too. He's still my little brother and we were still able to goof around together while he was here. I know that things won't ever be the same for our family but I have to accept the change. I'm not really welcoming it but I think it will be a good change.

In case you get some computer time soon Jeff - Happy 19th Birthday! I love you and I miss you and I am so proud of you!

More Airplane Adventures

2007-04-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the next new adventure is about to begin. We will leave for California tomorrow morning at o'dark thirty. We have to be at the airport at 4:30 (an ungodly hour if you ask me) so I will have to get up at 2:30 (an even more ungodly hour). We are all very excited! Especially the girls. This will be their first time on an airplane. Luckily, we have a non-stop flight to LAX. The way back will take a little while longer. We still hope to go to Disneyland for a couple of days while we are there. I'm hoping that the weather will be nice while we are there. It would be our luck that it will be rainy and cold while we're there. That always happens whenever we take a vacation. :( I'll post all about our latest adventure when we get back. :)

Back From My Latest Adventure

2007-04-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back. My sister, her kids and I got back yesterday evening around 5:30. That was after a 14 hour drive. We are all very tired but we had a great time.

I arrived into Miami about 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. I didn't hardly sleep at all on the plane so I was awake almost all night. Erica took me to our hotel so I could shower and clean up and then we took the kids to her friend's house so that she could take me to Miami Ink to get my tattoo. She found out the day before that they are open during the day during the spring break season so that was great for us. We got to the shop after 12:30 (I think) and there was hardly anyone in there. My tattoo artist, Dan, later told us that it was an unusually slow day. I didn't mind because it meant that I got in right away. Anyway, when we got there I showed Lee (one of the tattoo artists) what I wanted and he quoted me his price. Dan was standing there and said he would do it for less because he wanted the work so I went with him. He got set up and then I endured the pain while he did the outline. We took a break and then he did the color. It took over an hour but the time and pain was worth it. I think it is a beautiful tattoo and Dan did an awesome job. He is going to be on the show next season which I believe they are filming now. All of the guys at the shop were great. They hung out with my sister and I and just visited with us while we were there. I had really wanted to meet the main guys on the show but I wasn't able to. I did see Darren Brass when we first got there but he was on the phone and then talking to people and he left before I could say hi. Chris Nunez also came in but he was on the phone for awhile as well. When he was done he stood by me at the counter for a minute and smiled at me while we were both talking to one of the other artists but I guess I was too starstruck or something to say hi to him. Like I said earlier, I really wanted to meet Ami, Garver and even Yoji but it was not meant to be. We did get to meet one of Garver's friends that makes tattoo machines and has been on the show before. It was an awesome experience and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go there and meet the people in the shop and get a tattoo.

After we left Miami Ink we went down to South Beach and put our feet in the water. It was beautiful there and the water was nice. I, of course, could not swim after getting my tattoo. After awhile we went back to the car and cruised the A1A. How could I not go to Miami and cruise the A1A? We didn't have a ragtop so we just had our windows down. It was so much fun and it was a great time of bonding for my sister and I. She had never been down to that part of South Beach and she had never even been in a tattoo shop let alone seen a tattoo get done so it was a day full of new experiences for her too.

We left town the next day at about 5:30 a.m. We had a pretty uneventful day and made it to Atlanta around 6:00 p.m. We would have made it there sooner but we ran into quite a bit of construction along the way and horrible stop and go traffic outside of Atlanta.

We had planned on just driving to Columbia, Missouri the next day but we decided to go all the way to Kansas City instead. Stephen had called the night before and said that he had talked to my dad and found out that we could probably make it home from Rapid City in one day if we could make it there by the next day. That way we would maybe have time to see Mt. Rushmore. Anyway, we traveled through 5 states that day. Tennessee was the prettiest out of all them. We drove through Nashville and saw Titans Stadium. I got some city driving experience in St. Louis. Erica was busy taking pictures of the Arch and I didn't really know where I was going but we came through okay. We hit heavy wind and some rain on the way to Kansas City.

We left Kansas City by 4:30 a.m. the next day and reached Mt. Rushmore sometime after 2:30. We even stopped at the world famous Wall Drug on the way there. Mt. Rushmore was really cool. We were there for over an hour. I wished that the kids and Stephen could have been there with me but maybe someday we'll be able to take a trip there with the kids when they are old enough to appreciate it. After Mt. Rushmore we went out to dinner and then retired early to our hotel room. We decided that we would try to make it home by the next day but it would all depend on the road conditions in Montana. The weather report that Stephen had given us was that there was a chance of snow throughout the state. At any rate, we knew it was going to be a long day even if the roads were good. We had over 900 miles still to travel.

We left Rapid City around 4:30 and hit heavy fog for about an hour. Erica drove for the first 3 hours and then I took over. I hit some light snow and more heavy fog outside of Billings. I was able to make up some time after Billings and then we hit a very heavy storm before Livingston. By the time we got to the mountain pass before Bozeman the snow was covering the highway and the plows were out. We followed them up the mountain and then they turned around to go back up. I drove very slowly down the mountain because Erica's car didn't have snow tires. They are pretty much just street tires. By the time we got to Bozeman the storm was pretty much over.

We made good time to Butte and got some lunch. We were cruising along again when about 75 miles out of Missoula the car lost power and I pulled over onto the side of the road. Some weird light that the owner's manual didn't even explain the meaning of came on. We finally got the car started again and running fine and determined that we would find a Dodge dealer in Missoula to find out what the problem was. When we got there they told us the problem and said we shouldn't have any more problems on the way home. Erica just needs to get the car in to have something replaced.

We hit another snow storm coming over the 4th of July pass here in Idaho. It was snowing harder here than in Montana but it wasn't sticking to the road too much yet. We got through it fine. As we came over the last mountain overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene we saw a semi truck loaded with potatoes overturned on the side of the road. We joked that we could have mashed potatoes for dinner and then laughed because we realized that only in Idaho would we see a potato truck overturned.

We made a trip that we were expecting to take at least 5 days in 4 days. We thought that was pretty good considering we had 2 small kids, snowstorms, sightseeing, construction and car problems. It was a wonderful experience that I am so glad that I got to share with my sister. We got to see the country and rock out to my iPod along the way. We are exhausted now and glad to be home but I look forward to my next adventure when Stephen and I take the kids to California in 2 weeks.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

2007-03-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well, the day has arrived. I am leaving tonight for Florida. I'm flying first into Seattle and then I am taking an overnight flight to Miami. I don't get there until about 7:00 a.m their time so that's 4:00 a.m. our time. I'm going to be tired. We haven't decided if we're going to hit the road tomorrow or if we'll hang out for the day so my sister can show me the sights. I really would like to get a tattoo at Miami Ink so maybe we'll hang around so I can do that. They're only open from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on weeknights so it could make for a long night. We'll see.

I'm not exactly looking forward to the long drive back home but I know we will have some fun times too. We're still going to try to make it in 5 days but we'll see how that goes. The reason we are going to try to make in 5 days is because we're strapped for cash and time. My mother-in-law and grandma are watching the kids on the days that Stephen has to work and it would be nice for them not to have to watch the kids anymore than planned and we don't really want Stephen to have to take any time off work since we are going to California later next month. Plus, any extra time on the road means more nights in a hotel which costs more money. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

Please keep us in your prayers. Please pray for health, safety and no car problems. Also, please pray for Stephen who will be playing the role of Mr. Mom while I am gone.

Countdown to Florida!

2007-03-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

A new countdown is on. I'm going to Florida in 3 weeks. I'm really excited about it! The purpose of the trip is to drive across the country back here to Idaho with my sister and her 2 kids because they are moving back. I'm leaving on the evening of Wednesday the 28th and taking an overnight flight from Seattle. I'll get to Miami at about 7:00 a.m. their time and then I'll have a day to rest up and see some sights. We'll leave on Friday the 30th. We're planning on taking 5 days (hopefully) to drive back across the country. I'm excited because I've always wanted to drive across the U.S. It looks like the route that we'll be taking is going to take us through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and then of course into Idaho. It will be 5 very long days of driving (especially with a 4 year old and a 2 year old in the car) but it will be good to spend some quality time with my sister. We haven't seen each other since last July.

I wish that I could take our laptop along so that I could blog about our daily adventures while on the road. But, I'll just have to tell all my stories when I get back. Please keep us in your prayers if you think about us. I'm going to be a little nervous about driving that far without Stephen, but I know that God is in control. Plus, my sister joined AAA. :)

Another Letter

2007-03-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

I got another letter from Jeff on Friday. He sounds like he is doing a lot better. He sounds more upbeat. He made it to Pendleton and is doing field training, hikes and sending some rounds down range. He has to do the Crucible in a couple of weeks which I have heard is very tough. He misses his truck and fast food. If you read this Jenny, he wanted me to tell you that the eggs aren't green. He said that you would know what that means. He's going to try to get Recruiter's Assistant so that he can stay here for a month when he gets done with boot camp and before he goes down to Twentynine Palms for Advanced Infintry Training. He also said that he's heard that there is a high chance that he'll get stationed at Okinawa since he is going to be a part of infintry. Before he left he had said that that was one of the places that he wouldn't mind getting stationed. Of course, time will tell where he gets stationed. We are all very excited about our upcoming trip down there. The girls have been telling me that they miss Uncle Jeff. Only 6 1/2 weeks left!

A Letter From Jeff

2007-02-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

I got a letter from my brother on Saturday. He is doing well. He sent it the same day that he called me so there wasn't really anything new. Just pretty much the same things he told me in his phone call. It was still nice to hear from him. His spirits did sound more "up" since his last letter. He mentioned getting over bronchitis and that he had a three mile run on Friday and other physical testing that same day. If he passed those then he was actually supposed to get sent up "north" to Pendleton on Saturday. I thought he was already there but I guess not. He said that up "north" is where the real training begins. He also said that he has heard that up "north" is harder and the DIs (drill instructors) get harder and meaner. But he has also heard that time goes by quicker. I hope for his sake that it does. He has about seven and a half weeks left. I can't wait to see him. I think I'll try to sit down and write him a letter tonight.

Finally

2007-02-22T12:28:00.000-08:00

I know I have been promising for a couple of months to write about our India trip. As time has gone on I have found it harder and harder to sit down and try to express my feelings about the trip. But here goes...

I guess the simplest way to put it is that we had an awesome experience. I feel so blessed that God has allowed me the opportunities that He has for short-term missions trips. Each one has been a different but rewarding and blessed experience. I have also been blessed to be able to experience each trip with Stephen. The trips are spiritually, emotionally and physically exhausting and it is so helpful to have someone that you are close to there with you to share everything with.

Traveling to and from India is long and tiring. Going out and doing the evangelism is hot and tiring. But I still loved it. Experiencing a completely different culture and meeting new people everyday is awesome. One thing I have discovered after traveling to Cuba and to India is that people all over the world are essentially the same. Personalities and characters are the same. And I'm beginning to think that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world. I saw so many people on this trip that either looked like or at least reminded me of someone back here at home or someone that I have met in the past. It's weird.

I'm glad that we were able to stay with my family while we were there. That way I didn't have to experience a third world hotel. They have a nice comfortable house and we felt at home there. It was nice to have home-cooked meals. We did go out to eat at a couple of different Indian restaurants though. I ate some Indian food while we were there but it is a little too spicy for me. One of the Indian men that lives near my parents made a barbecue out of an old rusty barrel and my dad barbecued chicken for us a couple of times while we were there. My parents invited another missionary family that they have gotten to know pretty well over for one of the barbecues. We enjoyed meeting them.

I enjoyed the trips to the markets. We went to a couple of nice stores and we went to some street markets. The biggest market we went to was the Hong Kong Market. It was so crowded and we had to learn to dodge the rickshaws and bicycles but once we learned that I actually kind of enjoyed it. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was quite an adventure. The chicken market was another story. There are live chickens in cages and you go and pick out which chickens you would like to have. They catch them for you and butcher them right there on the spot in front of you. I turned away because I didn't really want to see my dinner being killed. After they cut off the head and feet they stick them in a box until they stop flopping and then they skin them. No plucking off feathers one by one. They just pull of the skin and feathers in a few tugs. It was interesting to say the least. One thing to remember while at the chicken market; don't open your mouth too much or you might get a mouthful of flies. Just a word of warning in case you ever visit an Indian chicken market.

Of course while we were there I missed our children greatly. I couldn't wait to get home to them. But since I have been home I have found that I actually miss India. I mostly miss the people but I also just miss India. It's hard to describe what I mean and you might not understand unless you've been there yourself. I don't miss Kolkata and I would love it if we could avoid that city on our travels but we can't. I wasn't too fond of Kolkata. The people there were generally more rude and it is so crowded and I just always felt like we were in a herd of cattle everywhere we went. We also had a couple of stressful situations while we were there on our return trip. Oh well.

Like I said earlier, we had an awesome time. We hope to go back next fall and we might take one or all of our children. We're still praying about that. It would be very difficult but it is also very difficult to leave them here and be gone from them for 2 weeks. We'll see what God has in store for us.

A Call From Jeff

2007-02-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight, while we were at Youth Group, my brother Jeff called. We had finished the study and my phone rang. I could not get to the phone in time and so I checked who called me. I saw that I had 5 missed calls and they were from a 619 area code. I didn't recognize the number. Then, Stephen's phone starting ringing but I couldn't find the phone in time to answer it. When I found his phone I discovered that it was the same number and he had 3 missed calls. It seemed strange that somebody with a number I didn't recognize was calling both of our phones so many times. Then, my phone started to ring again. This time I answered it and I was so surprised to hear my brother's voice. He said that they were given special privileges to make a phone call but he couldn't talk long. I asked him if things are getting any better. He said that they are a little bit. I asked him how his knee is doing (in his last letter he had said that his knee had been hurting) and he said that it was doing better but he is now getting over bronchitis. I feel bad for him because I am sure it is very tough to be battling that while going through grueling training. I also asked him how he is doing spiritually and he said that his faith is very strong right now. I was very glad to hear that. He also said that he sent me a letter today so I should receive that in the next few days and I'll post any updates that I get.

I was so happy to get to talk to my brother, and I'm sure it was a relief to him when I finally answered my phone. Please continue to pray for him that he will have the strength to endure the training and that his faith will stay strong. Please also pray that his body will be healed quickly. I will let you know when I hear more.

No News Is Good News

2007-02-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been wondering I haven't heard from Jeff for a couple of weeks now. I did receive a couple of letters about 2 1/2 weeks ago. He seemed to be doing as well as can be expected for someone going through the first few weeks of boot camp and knowing that it was only going to get worse. I was glad to know that he had been going to chapel since he had been there. He said that during the first service he went to that 25-30 guys out of a company of 250 men accepted Christ as their Savior. That was awesome news to hear. I have written him a couple of times and I eagerly check the mail everyday hoping that I will hear some news from him. Right now my feeling is no news is good news. I will let you all know when I hear from him.

We are all anxiously awaiting our trip to California in April to see Jeff graduate from boot camp. We decided that we're going to fly down there with the kids, attend Jeff's graduation and then spend a few days visiting family and possibly going to Disneyland. The girls are very excited about flying on an airplane for the first time. Stephen and I are not as excited about flying with 3 toddlers but that option looked better than spending 2 1/2 days in the car each way with them.

Stay tuned for news about Jeff...

Time of Change

2007-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

I know. I know. I promised that I would write about our trip to India. I still plan to. I just haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately. I guess I've been on a blogging vacation. I'm not blogging about our trip right now though. I'm going to share what has been on my mind the most this week.

My brother, Jeff, has been on my mind the most this week. He left for Marine Corps Boot Camp on Monday afternoon. Our oldest daughter and I took him to a hotel by the airport on Sunday. For some reason the Corps makes all recruits stay there the night before they leave. It was very hard for me to leave him there. Since our family left for India I guess I assumed a little more of the "mom" role. I don't know if he felt that way but I know I did. He spent a lot more time at our house once our family left. He would come over and have pizza with us and play 360 with Stephen for hours or we would just sit and talk for hours. I even made him home-cooked meals a few times.

I hate change. I have experienced a lot of change in the last 6 months. First, my sister moved to Florida in August. Then my family left for India in October and now my brother is at Camp Pendleton for 13 weeks. Nothing is the same as it used to be and that is very hard for me. Our family has always been very close and now we're spread out all over the globe. There's a good chance that my brother will get sent to Iraq or someplace like that and that is very hard to even think about. He's my little brother and I just want to take care of him. And now he's off experiencing boot camp and becoming a soldier. Things will never be the same and I know that he will never be the same. He will be a grown man the next time I see him.

I'll admit that I broke down as soon as he was out of sight in the hotel. He's my baby brother. I don't want him to be put in harm's way. I don't want him to go to boot camp and have drill instructors screaming at him all day long. I know why they do it but I don't want someone breaking my brother down.

I miss him dearly already. I realize that I sound selfish. I want him here with me but I need to let him go and let him go out and experience the things he wants to experience in life. I am anxious for the end of April though. That's when he will graduate and Stephen and I are hoping to be able to go down to San Diego for his graduation. And I will get to watch my brother with pride as he becomes a Marine.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2006-12-29T22:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd birthday to my beautiful baby girl! It's hard to believe she has already been in our lives for three years. Wow!

I know some of you have probably been wondering where I have been since we returned from India. I've been very busy getting ready for Christmas and just getting caught up around the house. I promise I will post soon about the rest of the trip. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas.

Adventures in India

2006-11-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

Isn't modern technology great? Here I am on the other side of the world and I can keep people updated on what is going on while we are here in India.

I think I finished yesterday's post by promising to talk about our trip to Hong Kong Market. It was quite an adventure. Let's just say that when my dad told his driver that we wanted to go there he chuckled and had a look on his face that said "silly Americans". Thus began our adventure. I do want to point out that I think Indian drivers are the craziest drivers in the world but they are also probably the best. I now know why my dad has hired a driver. If my dad won't even drive here there's no way I ever would. It's scary at first but I'm starting to get used to it. Enoss, my dad's driver, is a very good driver and more patient than most. Anyway, back to the market adventure. After we found a place to park we joined the throng of people in the chaos of the market. One shop after another lined every street you looked down. We went down there to do some salwar shopping. Luckily, we had Sonja, a woman from the LTC, with us to guide us where to go. We went to one shop where I saw some that I liked but I still wanted to look around some more. At the next shop I found some fabric that I liked but it was not sewn yet. The man quoted me a price of Rs 630 (which works out to be less than $15) and I agreed. Next, I picked out the style I liked and my measurements were taken. In the meantime, my mom picked out the same fabric but in a different color and decided to get the same style as me so that we would match. We were told that they would be ready today. Now, we were done with the Hong Kong Market.

Our next stop was the Sunflower Market. This is actually not really a market but more like a shopping mall. I guess this is where the wealthier class of Indians shop. It was nice to get out of the noise and pollution but it was not much of an adventure. After we finished up there we took Sonja back to the LTC and then went and had dinner at the Khana Kazana. By the time we returned home we were all very tired.

Today was the first day of our door-to-door evangelism. This is the real reason we came to India. It wasn't for the shopping, although that is fun. We separated into 4 teams and went through a tea garden village. My team consisted of myself, my brother Josh, Chandan, my translator, and our guide. We visited 2 houses and saw 10 people accept Christ as their Savior. After lunch my sister Kelly came with me instead of my brother. We were blessed to be able to lead 6 more people to Christ. I was so excited to be out in the field again. It had been too long. Of course I was nervous to start but I don't think that ever really goes away. Even my dad says that he still gets nervous and he's been on over 20 trips. The entire team led 27 people to the Lord. I am so thankful that God has given Stephen and I the opportunity to be here to share Christ with these people. We have 2 more days of evangelism if everything goes according to plan. I know I'll be nervous again in the morning but I am also excited.

This evening we went back down to Hong Kong Market to pick up our salwars. We had to wait about a half an hour because they weren't quite ready yet but we just drank chai and had fun with the shopowners. Afterwards, we went to a local hotel and had some dinner. Now, I'm getting tired and will be heading to bed soon. I'll post more as time allows and maybe I'll be able to get Stephen to post some pictures on here for me. Please remember to keep us in your prayers.

We Made It

2006-11-29T00:21:00.000-08:00

We're finally here! We arrived in Bagdogra yesterday afternoon around 1:00 and got to my parent's house a little after 2:00. My family lives on the 2nd floor of a soon-to-be 3 story building. They have a very nice house, or I guess apartment would be a better word. It is a lot nicer than I expected it to be and very comfortable. Except for the cold marble floor. I think I should have packed more socks. And another sweatshirt. Stephen and I didn't expect to come to India and be cold. The house was pretty cool last night. The outside temperature is getting down to the low 50s at night. That gets pretty cold in a house with all marble floors. Stephen and my dad went out last night and bought a little portable heater. I slept with flannel pants, a long sleeve shirt and socks. Today the temperature is comfortable in the low 70s. I expected it to be a lot hotter so I'm not complaining about the cooler winter temps.

Travelling here seemed to take forever. The flight from LA to Tokyo took around 12 hours and then another 6 hours or so to Singapore. We spent close to 18 hours in Singapore. Our hotel wasn't very nice so we stayed long enough to get about 6 hours of sleep and shower and then we checked out. Singapore is a beautiful city. The first thing we did was go down to Clark Quay and took a boat tour of part of the city. It was neat. After that we hopped on a bus and went to another part of town for lunch. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and then decided to hang out there for awhile because it started to rain while we were having lunch. And it kept raining. After it stopped we left and decided to walk around and look in the stores. It started to rain and rain and it rained some more. It must have been a monsoon. We decided to make our way to Starbucks to get out of the rain. We ordered frappucinos and the girl asked us if it wasn't cold enough for us. We told her where we are from and explained that there is snow right now and that this wasn't cold at all for us. She understood. Finally it stopped raining and we decided to catch a taxi to the airport so that we wouldn't get wet anymore. The Singapore airport has a big mall in it but we did get a little bored because we spent so much time there.

All of our flights were uneventful but I couldn't sleep very much. I just don't sleep very well on planes. Needless to say, I am still trying to catch up on my sleep. We went to bed a little before 9:00 last night. That is early for Stephen and I.

This morning we visited the school. We went to each of the classes and talked a little bit about ourselves and where we are from. The kids here are so cute but very shy. They loved Stephen though because he had the camera. After we got back to my parents' house my dad joined us and we went to the Leadership Training Center and met the workers there. We got a tour and we got to see my dad's office. They are working on building a new sanctuary and it should be ready for the Sunday morning service.

7:20 p.m.

We just arrived home from dinner. This afternoon we went salwar shopping at the Hong Kong Market. That was quite an adventure! I will post more about that later since I am tired and I'm going to sign off soon.

Please continue to pray for us. Tomorrow is the first day that we will go out to do evangelism. We will also go out on Friday and Saturday. I'm getting nervous. This will be my first time going out alone.

The Countdown is On

2006-11-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

We're now counting down the days and soon the hours until our trip to India. We leave on Saturday the 25th at o'dark thirty. My brother, Jeff, is the lucky one to drive us to the airport at such an awful early hour. Our plane leaves at 6:30 so that means I will be up by about 3:30 and we will leave probably around 4:30. Yuck!

I spent some time packing yesterday. We're taking 2 suitcases with stuff for my parents and 2 suitcases with our stuff. The suitcases for my parents are pretty full already. I'm sure the security people at the airports are going to be scratching their heads when they see those suitcases. We're taking along a stick vac, wire baskets with suction cups (for their bathrooms), food and various odd things that most people probably don't normally travel with. Stephen and I will pack our suitcases when departure day draws nearer as I will have to do a lot of laundry before then. I will also have to pack for the kids because they will be staying with Stephen's parents the entire time we will be gone.

Part of me just wants Saturday to get here so that we can leave and I won't have to worry any more about preparations for the trip. I also won't have any more sleepless nights (thanks Mom for the insomniac gene) worrying about the upcoming trip. The other part of me doesn't want Saturday to arrive because I don't want to leave the kids. That will be the hardest part of the whole trip for me. Don't get me wrong--going door-to-door sharing the Gospel with people I don't know is hard enough. But, leaving my kids behind is the hardest part for me. We are going to take them to my in-laws' house on Friday night since we are leaving so early on Saturday morning. Leaving their house that night without the kids is going to be so hard. Not being able to tuck them into their own beds that night will be hard. Not seeing them in the morning before we leave will be harder. I get kind of emotional every time I think about it. I've left them twice before when we went to Cuba but I know this will be a little different because we will be gone 2 weeks this time (the longest we were away before was 9 days) and India is on the other side of the world. Not exactly a quick trip home if something were to happen. I can't think like that though. I have to remember that they are in God's hands.

I am very excited about the trip though. I have wanted to go to India for almost 6 years. This has been my first opportunity to go though because I have always either been pregnant or nursing a baby when my dad has led teams there. I'm excited to see what God has in store for us there. I'm curious to see what my family's living arrangements are like. I really want to meet all of the people that I have heard so many things about over the years. I'm sure it will be an awesome experience.

I will try to post more this week about the preparations if I have time and we are taking our laptop with us so I might even post from India. I know Stephen plans on posting to his blog while we are gone, so even if I don't you can keep up to date with our adventures from his perspective.

Surprise!

2006-10-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got him and I got him good. I threw Stephen a surprise birthday party on Saturday. It was fun to plan and a lot of fun to finally have the party but I am SO glad it's over. He never suspected a thing. At least that's what he says. And I really don't think he did.

We were supposed to have our monthly youth leadership meeting that night and it's usually at our youth pastor's house. My helpers and I got Chris (our youth pastor) involved with the planning for the party and he did my dirty work by telling Stephen that the meeting was going to be at the coffeeshop at church instead of his house. I invited over 60 friends and family members and started planning the food. I had to completely rely on other people to pick the food up and get the coffeeshop all set up for me. I couldn't have pulled this off without their help. We showed up a little after 6:00 that evening to a pretty empty parking lot. I saw the scout run into the coffeeshop when we pulled up. I had asked people who wouldn't normally be at our meeting to park on the other side of the parking lot so that Stephen wouldn't see their cars when we got there and get suspicious. When we walked in there were only a few people visible right away and then from out of the far corner of the room came a loud "SURPRISE!!!" At first you could tell that he didn't know what was going on and then as it sunk in he turned very red. He turned to me and asked "Did you know anything about this?" I smiled and said "I did this." He looked completely shocked. I still don't know if he was shocked that I did that for him or because I was actually able to pull it off without him even having a clue. Maybe it was a little of both.

Stephen set off visiting with the guests and I went and got plates of food for the girls. His mom started the VCR and played home movies while we ate. I had also asked her and Stephen's sister to bring old pictures of him and those were set out for all to see. I don't think he was very happy about that, but oh well. After eating, all of the kids that were there started running around and playing with the balloons that were all over the floor. Cake was next. I didn't realize that you have to specify which colors you want the roses to be when you order a cake from Costco. When I ordered the cake the display showed roses in autumn colors so I thought they would make his cake with autumn colors. Boy, was I wrong! They made his cake with yellow and pink roses. PINK! And, the cake said "Happy 30th Birthday Stephen!" right on it. Who makes a cake for a guy with pink roses on it? I guess it wasn't really that big of a deal. It was more funny than anything else because it would only happen to Stephen.

After a couple of hours people were starting to head home and we cleaned up. We have a lot of extra food still and we finished off what was left of the cake last night. It was a fun night and I'm so glad that it went off without a hitch. I couldn't have done it without all of the help of family members and my good friends. Thank you everyone!

Happy Birthday Little Boy!

2006-10-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my little man! This is a bit of a late birthday wish since his birthday was actually on Sunday but he can't read so that's okay I guess. Our son turned one. I can't believe it's already been a year since he came into our lives. I think that has been the fastest year of my life so far. We had a little party for him with my family on Sunday and we will have a party with Stephen's family next weekend. He enjoyed his birthday cake. I think he was cleaner than both of the girls were on their first birthdays.

So, now we have a one year old, a two year old and a five year old. I have my hands full!

Happy Birthday Old Man!

2006-10-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband who has reached the ripe old age of 30! Of course I have been giving him quite a hard time about leaving his 20s and turning 30 but I know he'll give it right back when I reach that age. He'll always be older than me though. :)

I love you Stephen!

Big Changes

2006-10-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

I was just noticing that it has been awhile since the last time I posted. We have been very busy in our household.

My dad left for India on Saturday. I went to their house on Friday night with the kids to spend one last evening with him before he left. Steve and I will see him again in a couple of months when we make the journey over to India but I don't know when the kids will get to see him again. It might not be until my family comes back for a visit next summer. It was hard saying goodbye to my dad. He's only been gone for a few days but I already really miss him. Whenever he's left in the past I always know that he's coming back soon. This time he's not. This time he was going home instead of leaving home. The sale of their house closes on the 16th and my mom and brother and sister will be leaving on the 21st to join my dad in India. That will be hard as well.

Another big change that will take place in our family is that my brother, Jeff, has joined the Marines. He will not leave for boot camp until January or February because he has to finish up the semester at NIC. I will really miss him when he leaves too. Steve and I are hoping that we will be able to make the trip down to San Diego when he graduates from boot camp next spring. My family is also going to try to fly back from India for that event as well.

All of these changes are very hard for me. I have never liked change. My family is going to literally be spread out all over the globe. My sister is in Florida with her family, my brother will be in California for several months for training but then who knows where he'll end up being stationed and the other half of my family is going to be on the other side of the world. I will be the only one left in Idaho besides my grandparents. Somedays I feel like I'm being abandoned but I realize that everyone is doing what they feel that God has called them to do. And, I have my husband and kids here with me so I am happy. It's just going to be so hard for me when I can't go over to my parents' house to visit on a Sunday afternoon or call up my mom to babysit for me. I will miss just seeing everyone on a regular basis. We have always been a very close family.

I do have to admit though that I am anxious to see what God has in store for all of us in the future. And, I am excited to see how He will use everyone in the situations that He puts them in.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!!!

2006-09-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday B!

Today is our oldest daughter's 5th birthday. I can't believe she is already 5 years old. Where has 5 years gone? I can't believe that I am a mom of a 5 year old in kindergarten. Wow! She came into our lives early weighing only 4 lbs. 5 oz. but you would never know that by looking at her now. She's not even a toddler anymore. She is a kid.

We went to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner last night because we have youth group and a bake sale at church tonight. We are going to celebrate her birthday with my family on Sunday. She wanted a Disney Princess theme this year. We picked out her cake last night. Stephen and I went shopping for her birthday presents the other night. Everything has something to do with the Disney Princesses. I don't know when we're going to celebrate her birthday with Stephen's family because his dad just had surgery yesterday but I'm sure we'll do something with them soon. I had been hoping to have her first birthday party with friends this year but I have been so busy lately and I just didn't have time to plan anything. Luckily, she hasn't asked about having a party with friends. Maybe next year.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

First Day of School

2006-09-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school in our household. I started kindergarten with B and preschool with H. They both enjoyed their new school books. I also had fun with them. I kind of felt like when I was a kid. I was always excited for school to start but after about a month or so I was not so excited anymore. H was really excited to have her own school books. Her subjects are numbers and art so it's pretty much just a lot of coloring. It's cute to watch her. It's cute to watch both of them. It's so hard to believe that B is already in kindergarten. I'm the mom of a kindergartener. Wow!

Camp Has Come and Gone

2006-09-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can see from the title camp has come and gone. We had such a fun and awesome time! Camp lasted from Tuesday of last week until Friday. The weather started off nice on Tuesday but got much colder on Wednesday and by that afternoon it was pouring down buckets of rain. The weather was nicer the next two days but the mornings and evenings were very cool.

I am so glad that I was able to get to be a part of serving and ministering to the kids in our youth group at camp. The games were so much fun, the chapel sessions were really good and the worship was awesome. To lead worship for the week our church brought up a band called Shachah. They are from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in southern California. Shachah is a Hebrew word meaning to bow down and worship. They are an awesome group of musicians who have a heart for serving Jesus. They did a concert on Thursday night with their own music. It was fun to get out there and dance around with the kids. Steve was their sound person for the week and when their drummer found out that he is also into photography he asked him to take pictures of them during the concert. Steve got some really good shots that their drummer liked a lot and some of them may end up on the band's website. That would be cool.

Like I said earlier, I am so glad that I was able to have the opportunity to minister to these kids. I shared a cabin with 7 high school girls and the other girl's high school leader, Gina. It was nice getting to know the girls better. I don't know many of them very well since we haven't been helping with the youth group for that long so I try to take advantage of every opportunity I have to talk with them and get to know them better.

I thought it was going to be really difficult to be away from our kids while we were at camp but God's grace got me through it. I was so happy to see them when we got home. These 3 nights and 4 days were just a warm-up for our trip to India in November when we will be away from them for almost 2 weeks.

Time For Camp

2006-08-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first day of camp. We are going to be counselors at our jr./sr. high camp this week at Lutherhaven. We're excited about it. This is our first year helping out at our church camp. The only thing I am not looking forward to is being away from the kids for three nights. Sometimes I long for a break from them but I don't really want a three night break right now especially since we will be going to India in a few months. Oh well. I'm sure it will go by quickly. I know that we're going to have fun at camp and I'm looking forward to getting to know the girls better. I just hope the weather isn't bad. I guess it's supposed to cool off to the 60s for a couple of days with a chance of rain. I sure hope it doesn't rain. I'll post more about camp when we get home.

VBS

2006-08-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

We had Vacation Bible School at our church this week. It was a lot of fun. I was a leader for the 9 and 10 year old kids. We averaged over 30 kids in that age group everyday. I think we usually had between 170 and 180 kids total everyday. This was my first year helping with VBS at our church. When I was a teenager I used to help at VBS at the church that I attended. Steve helps with VBS every year since he is on staff at our church. Usually he helps with games but this year he mostly took pictures. He did help with games a little bit though. This was B's first year in VBS as well. The program is for kids 5-12 years old. She is not quite 5 yet but she will be in less than a month so they said that she could take part in it this year. I think she really enjoyed it. She is always walking around the house singing the songs that we did and if she's not singing she's talking about what she did at VBS. My little sister also went and she really seemed to like it. She made a few new friends but she's kind of bummed because she won't have much of a chance to get to know them because she is leaving for India soon.

I got to meet some very sweet kids this week. I hope that I was a good witness to each one of them and that I was able to help them enjoy their time at VBS. It was a lot of fun to be there helping but I am glad that it is over. It is very tiring.

Seattle Trip

2006-08-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip over to Seattle for a few days. We left on Saturday morning and came back home on Monday night. We went over there with my parents so that we could help my sister get the rest of her stuff moved out of her house and help her get her house cleaned up.

I think we got to her place around 2:00 and we spent the next few hours cleaning and packing stuff up. Then we went and got checked into our hotel. We decided it was probably too late to go to a restaurant for dinner without having to wait too long so we just decided to eat at the hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Lynnwood and it was such a nice hotel. They have a free cook-to-order breakfast and reception at night (I suppose you pay for it in the room rate though). We ordered pizza from the restaurant that they have inside the hotel. We were all pretty tired so we retired kind of early.

The next morning we all met for breakfast downstairs and decided that we would head into downtown Seattle and visit Pike Street Market. Steve and I had never been there so we wanted to experience it. It was really nothing very special but we still had a good time. We walked up the street a few blocks to Game Works where my dad bought a few game cards and we played some games. After awhile E got fussy and so my mom, my sister and I took our kids down the street so they could have some cookies and I could feed E his lunch. Then we took a walk down to a deli so the kids could have some frozen yogurt and we could get something to drink. After about an hour or so all the boys met us and we headed back down to Pike Street so we could go back to the hotel to let the little kids rest. We decided on The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner that night and it was delicious. After we got back from dinner we spent some time at the reception downstairs visiting while my youngest brother and sister watched the little kids upstairs in my parents' room. It was kind of sad because we realized that that was going to be the last time we were all going to be able to sit in the same room and visit for quite some time since my parents are leaving for India soon and my sister was leaving for Florida. We took the kids swimming in the hotel pool later that night and they had fun. B and H stayed in the water until they were purple.

The next day we met for breakfast again and then Steve and I took our kids to a local mall while everyone else headed for Erica's house to do some more cleaning. We met them there after a little while and helped out some. At about 1:30 or so we decided that we needed to get on the road but we needed lunch first. We stopped at Burger King and had our last family meal together for awhile. After that my younger brothers and sister drove home with my mom in Erica's car and we drove in ours. My dad stayed with Erica one more night so that he could take her and her kids to the airport on Tuesday night. My brother Jeff and his friend are going to drive Erica's car down to Florida in a couple of weeks.

It was sad saying goodbye. I don't really know when I will see my sister again. We are hoping to have a family reunion down in Florida when my parents come home to visit next summer, but I really don't know how Steve and I will be able to afford a trip down there. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I am so glad though that we were able to make the trip over there to see my sister and her kids one last time. I will miss them very much.

Girls Camping Trip

2006-07-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I got back from the first camping trip I had taken in nearly 5 years. I went on our youth group girls camping trip which lasted from Sunday afternoon until yesterday afternoon. I had a really fun time and I think the girls did too. Eleven girls from ages 13-18 and three of us female leaders went on the trip. We camped at Albeni Cove near Newport. It is so beautiful there. The campground facilities were nice and we had the best campsites there. They were right on the water and secluded from all the other campsites. That was probably a good thing for the other campers because we did tend to get a little noisy from time to time.

We arrived there between 3:00 and 4:00 on Sunday afternoon and immediately got to work setting up camp. After that we started getting dinner ready and then cleaned up while the girls went swimming. It was a very hot day. We didn't need a campfire that night but we had one anyway so that we could make smores. What's a camping trip without smores? I shared a devotion and then we sat around and visited for awhile. I don't remember what time we went to bed but one girl from my tent and I stayed up visiting until about 2:30. I was tired but I enjoyed getting to know her better. I didn't sleep very well and woke up for the last time around 6:30. I finally crawled out of bed at 7:00 to go take my shower. That morning we went out to breakfast at a little restaurant called The Mangy Moose. They had huge portions of delicious food. After we got back we went swimming and out on the boat. The girls took turns tubing and I took pictures. About mid-afternoon we took a break for lunch and then the girls went back out again for more swimming and tubing. That evening we barbecued again and then started another campfire. We made smores and had another devotion. That night more of us stayed up and talked until a little after midnight. I slept much better that night. Probably because I was so tired from the night before. After breakfast the next morning we started to clean up camp and then the girls went our for more swimming and wakeboarding and tubing. One other leader and I stayed behind and cleaned more. After lunch we finished cleaning up camp and then I headed down to the water to cool off a little before the drive back home. Brrr! I was surprised that the water was not warmer then it was since we have been having such hot weather around here. We left a little after 4:00 and arrived back at the church around 5:00 so the girls could be picked up by their parents. By that time I was exhausted and dirty and sore. Steve and I went to pick the kids up from his parents' house and then took my parents' Yukon XL that I had borrowed for the trip back up to their house. It was a good thing I borrowed it because girls pack a lot of stuff. After that we picked up Subway and headed home. We got home around 7:00, had dinner and then I took a shower. It was so nice to shower in my own shower again. Ahhh. I relaxed for the rest of the evening and then Steve gave me a nice massage when we went to bed to relieve my aching muscles. He is so sweet.

This trip was the first time I had ever been away from our son for more than half a day. It was hard and I missed him. Of course I missed Steve and the girls too but it's always hard leaving your child for the first time. Steve had special daddy time with the kids while I was gone and that was good for them.

Now, after being gone these past couple of days I have to turn around and get ready for our trip to Seattle this weekend to help my sister get moved out of her house so she can move to Florida. This is one busy summer.

First Ebay Sale

2006-07-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm about to do it. I'm about to finish my first ebay auction where I am the seller. My auction closes in just a few hours and I finally have some bids on it. I ran a 7 day auction and nobody bid until today. I kind of expected that but it was kind of discouraging as well. I'm not discouraged anymore though. I actually have a second auction going right now. Click here to see my auctions. I will be putting more auctions up in the next few weeks.

I have also added a link on the side of my page for all of my ebay auctions.

What Beatle Are You?

2006-06-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

What Beatle are you?

Paul McCartney

You have a soft heart. You love animals, nature & quite evenings with good friends.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
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An Old Friend

2006-06-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good day. I met up with a friend who I have not seen in 7 years. Last week I found my friend Rachel on myspace. I had looked for her on there in the past and was not able to find her but last week I decided to try again and voila! I found her! We started emailing back and forth and she told me that she was going to be in CDA this week visiting her dad and she wanted to get together so we could catch up and our kids could meet. Of course I was up for that. I gave her my number and told her to call me when she had the chance and we would try to work out a time to get together. Well, she called me yesterday afternoon and we agreed to meet today at the Ft. Sherman playground. It was so great to see her again. And, it was kinda weird to introduce our kids to each other. Our 4 year old daughters hit it off right away. Her son is almost 2 and so him and H stayed pretty close to us since they are both kind of shy.

Rachel and I first met when we were both 11 years old and in the 6th grade. We were best friends through jr. high and the first couple of years of high school. It was about our jr. year of high school that we started to drift apart. I don't really know why we drifted apart. We never had a falling out or anything like that. I guess our lives just started taking us down different paths. The last time I saw Rachel was at my bridal shower about a month before Steve and I got married. So, that was 7 years ago this month. I had heard through the grapevine that she had moved to Oregon shortly after that and so I lost track of her except for the little tidbits of information that I or my mom would get from her family members when we ran into them around town.

It was so great to see her! I think I already said that. In a way I was a little nervous about seeing her again. It had been so long and I was worried that it would be awkward. But, it wasn't. We were able to talk just like old times. I wished we could have seen each other longer because we still have a lot to catch up on but she has a busy schedule this week. At least now we can keep in touch because we have each other's email addresses and phone numbers. We have no excuse now for not keeping in touch. She tries to make it back over here every couple of months so hopefully I'll get to see her again soon. I am just so happy that an old friendship has been restored. :)

Did You Miss Me?

2006-06-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been a long time since the last time I posted. I have been busy. Not with anything really exciting. Just busy.

We took a trip to Newport, Oregon right after Memorial Day weekend. It was fun except that the weather was not too good. We took the kids to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and they really seemed to enjoy that. We were disappointed that the weather was not better because we really wanted to take the girls down to the beach so they could see the ocean up close. Hopefully, we will have another opportunity to take them to the coast.

We have spent the last two weekends celebrating H's 2 1/2 birthday. Two Sundays ago we spent the afternoon celebrating with my family and we spent last Sunday celebrating with Steve's family. I know it sounds kinda weird when I say that we celebrated her 2 1/2 birthday but we did that because her birthday is December 29th. It is so close to Christmas that we thought it would be better to spread things out a little bit. It's easier on the checking account too.

Last night Steve and I (along with a couple of other adults) took some of the youth group kids to serve dinner at the Union Gospel Mission. Our youth group goes once a month but this was the first time that Steve and I had gone. The other youth leaders and most of the youth group are in Greeley, Colorado this week doing Vacation Bible School for another church so we had a very small group with us. We had a lot of fun though. The youth group that I went to in high school used to serve dinner to the homeless once a month at City Gate in downtown Spokane and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing that. Most of the people are so grateful and it really is a blessing to be able to serve them.

This summer looks like it is shaping up to be a pretty busy one. We have a lot of youth activities planned and just trying to make time for our family is getting more difficult. We are happy though and God is taking care of us. We couldn't ask for anything more.

Scavenger Hunt

2006-05-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Steve and I helped with the youth group's video scavenger hunt. It was a lot of fun even for us adults. The kids were divided into 4 teams with about 5-7 kids per team. Steve and I were the leaders for the blue team. We had a team of 5 girls. To be honest with you we didn't think our team was going to do that well because it was all girls and we had seen the list of the things that the teams had to do on video to get points. We didn't think they would even attempt some of the things. It turns out that we were wrong. The girls on our team did awesome! We didn't get first place but we came in at a very close second.

I wouldn't have even been able to do some of the things that the girls did. One of them swallowed a goldfish. Yuck! Another girl attempted to eat a whole can of anchovies in 45 seconds. They smelled nasty. There were other odd and random tasks that the kids had to complete to get points. One of the funnest parts was probably tp'ing the youth pastor's house. That was great fun!

After the time limit was up we all met back at the church and watched everyone's videos. Steve and I hung out for a little while after it was over but we finally left at about 9:30 to go pick the kids up from his parents' house. We had a lot of fun and I was very proud of the girls on our team.

Which 24 Season 5 Character Are You?

2006-05-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

Which 24 (season 5) charactar are you?

Jack Bauer

You are the one and only Jack Bauer.

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Awana Awards Night

2006-05-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last night was Awana Awards Night. Our oldest daughter got her award for finishing her second Cubbies book. I went up with her when she got her award because the parents of Cubbies get a diploma for all of the work that they do to help their kids finish their books. B is very proud of the ribbon that will go on her Cubbies vest under the Cubbie bear that she got last year for finishing her first book.

My family was well represented last night at the awards ceremony. Both of my younger brothers and my youngest sister also got awards for finishing their books. My brother, Jeff, was awarded the Citation Award which is the highest award you can achieve in Awana. I guess its kind of like being an Eagle Scout or something like that. To earn the Citation you have to have finished 10 books from 3rd grade through 12th grade. I believe you recite well over 1500 Bible verses and you read the entire Bible through at least once. It is a lot of work and a lot of dedication for 10 years. Jeff is the third person in our family to earn the award. My sister, Erica, and I both earned the award as well when we were his age.

After the awards ceremony there were refreshments and we were able to visit with friends. Some of them we probably won't see until next fall when Awana starts up again. We'll see some of them next week because there will be a dinner for the Awana leaders. After that our Tuesday nights will be free for the summer. Ahh. That will be nice.

Slow Going

2006-05-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

It seems like I have been busy lately but nothing has really been blog worthy. I haven't even posted anything yet this month until now and I still don't really have much to talk about.

We have been enjoying the nicer weather that we have been having around here lately. Today is supposed to be in the upper 60s and we are supposed to reach the mid 70s by the weekend. I can live with that.

Steve and I have decided to start helping with the high school youth group at our church. It's 2 nights a week plus extra activities so it will keep us plenty busy I think. We're excited to see how God will use us in our new positions. There seems to be a really great group of high schoolers at our church.

Awana is winding up for the year. Last night was the last regular night. Next Tuesday will be Awards Night. B finished her Cubbie book so she will get an award. It will be so cute to see her go up and receive it. I am so proud of her and it still amazes me what little 3 and 4 years olds can memorize and retain. She has such a sweet childlike faith. She is very excited that next year she will get to start Sparkies. That is for kids in kindergarten through 2nd grade. Steve and I have decided that we are going to take next year off as Awana leaders (I pretty much took this year off) since we are starting to help with the youth group at our church. We will still keep B in the program but H will still have to wait one more year before she can start Cubbies.

Well, I didn't think I would have anything to blog about but I guess I had a little. Until next time...

My Personality

2006-04-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

You Have A Type B+ Personality

B+

You're a pro at going with the flow
You love to kick back and take in everything life has to offer
A total joy to be around, people crave your stability.

While you're totally laid back, you can have bouts of hyperactivity.
Get into a project you love, and you won't stop until it's done
You're passionate - just selective about your passions

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Sick Again

2006-04-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

So, the girls and I are sick again. Yuck! On Saturday our oldest daughter woke up with a cough. She wasn't too bad during the day but by that night she had very watery eyes and a runny nose. The next morning I stayed home from church so that she wouldn't expose all of the kids in her Sunday school class. She ran a fever that day and her cough got worse. Yesterday she was doing a little bit better but our younger daughter started to cough. This morning when she woke up she had a fever and her cough was worse. Luckily, our older daughter has been feeling better today. I have had a scratchy throat since yesterday and now I am starting to feel worse. Why do we keep getting sick?

I have begun to notice that our oldest daughter is a lot like me when she gets sick. It seems like no matter what she gets (even the smallest cold) she gets a cough. I have been like that since I was a kid. Our younger daughter has a cough this time but she doesn't get a cough as often as her sister and I do.

I am praying that Steve and our son don't get sick. I know that our son has a stronger immune system because I am still nursing him but I hope that he takes after his dad and has a stronger immune system as he gets older than his sisters do. Steve doesn't get sick that often. I wish the girls and I were like that. We seem to catch everything that goes around. Our son has yet to catch a cold. I know both of the girls had had colds by the time they were his age. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that they were both premature.

Well, anyway, I hope that we get better soon and this illness doesn't last as long as the last one which was only about a month and a half ago. I hate when the kids are sick and I hate it even more when I don't feel well.

Late Easter Greetings

2006-04-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone out there had a great Easter. We did but it was a very long day for us.

My Easter Sunday started at 4:15 a.m. The reason I got up so early was because our church had a sunrise service at 6:30 at the Greyhound Race Track. Steve had to be there at 5:15 for the sound check and I had to get myself and all of the kids ready. When the alarm went off I remember thinking that I was crazy for getting up that early and getting the kids up early as well.

The sunrise service was nice but Steve was busy overseeing the sound board so I had the kids with me the entire time. That fact alone might be the reason that I may not go to the sunrise service next year. I like to go but that is a long time for the kids to sit still and not talk.

We got home a little after 8:00 and a little while later I got all of the kids down for early naps. Then I took a short nap myself. The only one who didn't sleep was our second oldest. I did feel bad for Steve because he had to stay behind and take the stage down at the race track, set it up again at church and do sound at the 11:00 service. So, needless to say, he didn't get a nap. As soon as he got home a little before 1:00 we had to leave to go to my parents' house for an egg hunt and dinner. We were so glad that the weather was nice for the egg hunt. At 6:00 we went to Steve's parents' house for another egg hunt and dessert. We stayed there for a few hours but we decided that we needed to get going because it had been such a long day for everyone.

We got home a little after 9:00 and got the kids to bed and then a little while later we got ourselves to bed. It was a long day but a good one. With being so busy I had to remember to stop and take time to remember the reason for the holiday that we were celebrating. That Jesus died for my sins and the sins of the world and rose from the dead. I am so grateful for that sacrifice. We made it a point to explain the reason for Easter to our oldest daughter as well. She seemed to understand.

I always kinda consider Easter to be the beginning of spring and it looks like nicer weather is on the way. I hope the warmer weather is here to stay.

My Bling and Glasses

2006-04-12T22:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who may have been curious what my new nose ring and glasses look like on me...here you go. Steve and I had a photo shoot earlier this evening so he could practice his taking pictures of people skills instead of just random objects and nature pictures. He is starting to get clients lined up for pictures and he needs to practice giving directions for photos. I guess I get to be the guinea pig. :)

Birthday Roses

2006-04-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

These are the beautiful roses that Stephen got me for my birthday. It's sad that they don't last forever. I had a great birthday and thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. And, if you didn't, shame on you. Just kidding!

My Sweetie

2006-04-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

My husband is the sweetest guy in the world. He just stopped by our house a little while ago on his way back to work after his dentist appointment and he brought me a bouquet of 2 dozen roses of various colors. They are so beautiful! My 25th birthday is tomorrow so they are another early birthday present. The first early present was the nose piercing. Although, I am still wondering if that was more of a present for him than for me. I am the one that went through it. :)

I would post a picture of the roses on here but I don't know how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer. Maybe I'll be able to later. Steve has always been good about remembering flowers for special occasions and even for occasions that aren't special for any particular reason. He knows how much I love roses and he does a very good job at making me feel special.

Now, if only we could afford diamonds... ;)

What Is Your Movie Personality?

2006-04-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

What is your movie personality?.......`

Casablanca

You are a romance. You're life is filled with love and passion.

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New School Books

2006-04-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today I ordered school books for next year for our two daughters. Our oldest will be starting Kindergarten in the fall but we have already been doing preschool this year and last year. We plan on homeschooling our children.

I always get excited when it comes time to order the new books. I'm not really sure why. It gets more expensive each year. One of the reasons that it got more expensive this year is because I ordered some books for our 2 year old daughter. I just got her an art book that focuses on following directions while coloring and other age appropriate things and a book to help her learn her numbers. The curriculum I use doesn't offer much for 2 year olds but that's okay. A 2 year old doesn't have a very big attention span. Once she starts speaking better I will start to teach her her letters. Right now we're just trying to get her to talk more. She has been doing much better over the last couple of months and she is catching up to other 2 year olds little by little.

Our oldest daughter loves doing her schoolwork. The curriculum I use is fairly advanced. She has been doing K4 work this year and we have been working on word blends so that she can start to read small words. I am actually amazed at what she can learn this young. We're a little behind since I had the baby earlier in the school year and then we got a little more behind when we were all sick for so long but we are trying to catch up. That's the beauty of homeschooling. It's not that hard to catch up. Especially at this age.

I hope that we will be able to continue to homeschool our kids. I was homeschooled from 5th grade through high school and I enjoyed it and thrived. So, we will keep doing this for as long as we feel it is the right thing for our kids and for as long as we feel like it is what God wants us to do.

OUCH!

2006-04-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I got a piercing I never thought I would get. I got my nose pierced yesterday. Steve had been trying to talk me into it for a long time and I wouldn't do it. I just didn't want to do it before. I don't know what made me decide that I wanted to yesterday. I had started thinking about doing it a few days before. Steve had told me that it could be my birthday present. I guess that gets him out of shopping for me. ;)

I'm not going to lie and say that it didn't hurt. It did. My eyes watered really bad. I wasn't crying but when you've just had a really big needle go through your nose it makes your eyes water. I figured I could handle the pain since I have gotten my ears pierced 7 times, I have gotten a tattoo and I have delivered 3 children. It still hurt though. I don't get a thrill from the pain like some people do. The girl that did it first started off by cleaning the area. Then, she put some numbing stuff on my nose. After that she showed me the metal tube that she was going to stick in my nose so that she wouldn't pierce throught the other side. Nice, huh? Next, she told me to close my eyes. I did because I didn't want to see the needle. Steve watched. I guess she missed the metal tube but she didn't pierce the other side of my nose. After she pulled the needle out she stuck the screw in. A nose screw doesn't sound very pleasant does it? Luckily, I didn't swell too bad but I am a bleeder. It's just a little red today though. The little bit of swelling that I did have has pretty much gone down. It does get sore after I clean it.

So, now I have my nose pierced. I honestly never thought I would do that, but I really like it now that I have it. The screw that I picked out has a light blue stone in it. So, now I got me some bling. Now I just hope I don't get it caught on anything or I don't get a cold. :)

Getting Glasses

2006-03-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

So...I am getting glasses. Does it make me feel like I am getting old? No. Does it mean that I am getting older? Probably.

Steve and I went and had eye exams on Monday. Our youngest daughter broke his glasses a couple of months ago and it had been 2 years since we had last had our eyes checked. At our last exam I was told that I had 20/20 vision and that I didn't need glasses. I couldn't really understand why the doctor would tell me that I didn't need glasses since I knew that I couldn't see as well as I had before and when I put Steve's glasses on they actually helped. So, I didn't get glasses last time.

This time we went to a different place. We didn't really like the other place too well. Anyway, I explained to this doctor that I would like to get glasses for driving at night and for church. I don't like squinting at our pastor. She could understand that and was fine with giving me a prescription for glasses. When I asked her what my vision actually was she told me that it is still 20/20. I wasn't really surprised. I could read the bottom of the eye chart with both eyes. She said that I probably used to have 20/10 vision and now I just notice that I can't see as well. I guess it is a good thing that I at least notice it. She said that she has a lot of patients whose vision is a lot worse and they think they can see fine. I have decided that if this is 20/20 vision then I don't like it. I want my 20/10 back. I hope the glasses will help with that. I don't want to become dependant on them and have to wear them all the time. I am just planning on wearing them when I need them.

We should be able to pick them up in a couple of days. I picked out a couple of what I think and what Steve thinks are cute pairs but we'll see what everyone else thinks.

What Brady Are You?

2006-03-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

You Are Marcia Brady

Confident yet kind. Popular yet down to earth. You're a total dream girl.
You've got the total package - no wonder everyone's a little jealous of you.

What Brady Are You?

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia...

Girls Nite Out

2006-03-28T13:40:00.000-08:00

On Saturday night I had my first Girls Nite Out in what seemed like forever. I don't think I can even remember the last time I went out with friends. I have been to home parties and things like that in recent months (well, not since the baby came) but I hadn't gone out with friends in a very long time.

Last week some of us had talked about getting together on Saturday night and watching a movie or something. No husbands and no kids. Well, it turned into a surprise birthday dinner for their new pastor's wife (these few friends go to the church that I grew up going to) and so I decided that I wasn't going to go because I don't really know her very well. On Thursday my friend Jenny left me a voice mail inviting me to come and telling me that some of us might still go out and do something after dinner. She told me to come have fun and get out of the house. I decided that that's what I was going to do. So what if I didn't know their pastor's wife very well. I knew her well enough to know that I like her and I knew I would have fun.

We ended up having dinner at Elmer's. There were over 20 women there and of course there was lots of picture taking and laughing. We had a good time. After dinner a few of us decided that we wanted to go bowling. So, we headed on over to Triple Play. Only 3 of us ended up showing up there but we got 2 games in and we had fun. We bowled next to a group of high schoolers and it was kind of funny watching them try to impress each other with their antics. I guess it wasn't that long ago that I was like that although it almost seems like it was a lifetime ago. I am so glad that I am not that age anymore. My 2 girlfriends and I just enjoyed ourselves and we didn't have to worry about impressing anyone.

As we were walking out of the bowling alley Jenny and I decided that we need to have Girls Nite Out more often. It was nice to get out of the house and let our husbands spend quality time with our kids while we spent quality time with friends.

An Update

2006-03-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Jb3ll3 of Notes From the 'Kan fame asked for an update on the kids. I guess I haven't said anything about them in awhile. So here goes...

We are all finally healthy! I don't like being sick (who does?) but I hate it when my kids are sick. Our oldest was really the only kid that got sick. Our 2 year old just got a little bit of a runny nose that lasted for a couple of days. Nothing too major. And, our son never got anything. He still has yet to catch a cold. Quick! Where's a piece of wood?!

I will admit that the last few days have been trying ones. The girls have been driving me nuts. I love them dearly, but oh boy. I think they are anxious for nice spring weather to arrive too and are tired of being cooped up in the house just like I am. The weather is getting somewhat nicer but still not quite nice enough for me to send them outside to play for a long time. We get a lot of wind at our house, so even if it is not windy anywhere else it is at our house. The wind always makes it feel so much colder than the thermometer says. Steve took them to the neighborhood playground the other day and they really enjoyed that but they were so cold when they came home. We are really seriously thinking about buying the kids a swing set because it would be so nice to just send them outside to play with something that will keep them occupied for a long time. They have a sand box and they enjoy that but I know they would really like a swing set. It would give them something else to do. We don't let them play out front without one of us out there because they are still too young (although we have had neighbors who have let their kids who are just as young play out front and in the all of the rest of our yards without supervision) but we have a 6 foot fence in the backyard so it is safer. So, that's what we're thinking about purchasing. Maybe it would make a nice Easter present.

Yesterday, our 2 year old decided that she wanted to help brush the dog. Only she didn't use a brush. Just her hands. We have a black lab and of course he is starting to shed his winter coat. I have to vacuum the house at least once a day. Anyway, when I got out of the shower and came out to the living to check on the girls there was black dog hair everywhere. And I mean it was everywhere. I should have taken a picture. The entire living room floor was covered with hair and so was the hallway and dining room. It was all over the couch too. I had to vacuum the living room twice just to get everything up. It was such a mess. I was so frustrated but when I talked to Steve on the phone and told him about it we both laughed because it was kind of funny.

Anywho, there's not much new to report about our family. We're just taking each day as it comes. Some days I think I am going to go insane because the kids just drive me nuts. I always tell Steve that someday when he comes home I am going to be like Goldie Hawn in the movie Overboard and I will be sitting in the chair going "Ba ba ba ba" while the kids throw grapes at my head. But, other days, like today, are not too bad and I wonder why some days they decide that they want to act better than other days. Ah, kids.

Hurry up spring and turn into summer.

Go Away Winter

2006-03-14T13:47:00.001-08:00

I can't believe the weather. It's making me sick. It is snowing today. Yuck! I am so ready for spring to be here. We had a pretty mild winter and I loved it. And now that spring is almost here winter decides that it wants to hang around little bit longer. Grrr.

I'm ready to pull out the flip flops and the capris and shorts. I want to be able to pull the cushions for the porch swing out of the garage and grab a book and swing lazily while the kids play in the back yard. I want to be able to eat dinner on the back patio.

I just looked out the front window and the poor robins are pecking through the snow trying to find food. I'm sure they're anxious for spring too.

I think I was made to live someplace tropical. I do like snow but I get really sick of it by about December. I love warmth. I actually really like the weather in Cuba. It does get very hot and humid there but there is something about that kind of weather that I like. Maybe I should live in Florida since I can't live in Cuba. Nor would I want to with the government that they have in place there right now. I would love to go back there though. And, I really want to feel the heat right now.

Well, it's getting hard to see the grass now. I hope this snow doesn't hang around too long.

Which Seinfeld Character Are You?

2006-03-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Which Seinfeld Character are you?

Elaine Benes

Elaine Benes is the only female member of the main characters. She provides a woman's perspective on things as well as her own view of the world. Elaine goes through boyfriends like most women go through cereal. Whenever she encounters someone she can't stand, which happens very often, she's bound to complain to Jerry all about it.

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Feeling Icky

2006-03-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here feeling very icky right now. My throat hurts, my head hurts and my body is achy. Nice, huh? I hate being sick. The one bad thing about being a stay-at-home mom is that I don't get a sick day. I still have to take care of the kids all day long. I want to just go to bed and sleep while someone waits on me hand and foot. I know Steve would be here to take care of me if he could, but he's got his job to do. Hopefully, I will get over this soon.

A Big Scare

2006-03-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

We had a bit of a scare today in our household. Steve took our oldest daughter to the doctor today because she has still been battling this cold-like illness. Actually, today she has been doing a little bit better but she was still coughing this morning so I made an appointment for her to see the doctor. Our usual doctor was all booked up so she got in to see another doctor in the same practice. Shortly after Steve took her I got a call from him saying that he was on his way to the hospital. The doctor thought she might have RSV. Anyone who is a parent knows that you don't want to hear that. RSV is highly contagious and can be very serious in young children and babies. Poor girl. She had to go through more awful things at the ER. She is going to grow up hating the hospital.

Anyway, the nurse from the doctor's office called a little while ago and said that the test results for RSV came back negative. Praise God! And, the doctor just called a couple of minutes ago and said she probably just has some kind of virus that just needs to finish working its way through her system. I am just so glad that she doesn't have RSV.

But now I am the one feeling sick. I woke up this morning with a dry throat and as the day has progressed I now have a sore throat and a really bad headache. Oh well. I knew I was bound to get it eventually. Steve was the one that brought this one home. Our second daughter looks like she might be battling a small cold. Hopefully, it will just stay that. And I hope that our son stays healthy. So far we have been very lucky that he hasn't even caught a cold yet.

Well, I better sign off. I have to go start dinner. Steve has to go to Awana alone tonight but we still have to eat early so he can get there on time.

The Great Debate

2006-03-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

Whew! Just a little while ago I got caught up in a debate over at Huckleberries regarding abortion. There was a World Net Daily poll asking whether or not you believe Roe v. Wade will ever be overturned. I put in my two cents and shortly after that the fireworks started.

I am pro-life but many of the commenters on Dave's blog are pro-choice. Abortion is an issue that is very close to my heart and I have some very strong opinions about it. Anyway, it was a good debate. It didn't get out of hand or turn into a flame war like so many debates over there do. It was a civil debate for the most part.

It was nice to be back debating at Huckleberries. I haven't done it in so long because I just haven't been in the mood to. In fact, I hardly ever comment over there anymore. Too busy I guess. Most days I just check in and see what's being talked about. But, I enjoyed myself today. I just felt like I needed to stand up for what I believe in. Non-Christians usually do not understand why I believe the things I do. I believe the things I do because of my faith. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ or have faith in Him than you can't understand where I'm coming from. It's as simple as that.

Anyway, it was a good debate.

First Birthday Party

2006-03-06T15:29:00.000-08:00

Our oldest daughter went to her first birthday party yesterday that wasn't family related. She was invited by one of her little girlfriends that she goes to Awana Cubbies with. She was so excited for days about it. Everyday she would ask me "Do I get to go to the birthday party tomorrow?" She almost didn't get to go because she has been battling a cold for the last several days but yesterday she was doing a lot better so we let her go. I would have felt really bad if we hadn't let her go because she had been so excited about it. I do think she might have overdone it yesterday because she is not feeling as well today and I hope that none of the other kids that were there get sick.

When she came home she had to show me all of the candy she got and the princess crown that she got to make. It's really cute. She talked about the games that they played and eating cake and ice cream and opening presents. She had so much fun and I think she felt really grown up.

We've decided now that we will probably do a birthday party with friends for her on her 5th birthday. Luckily, that is still 6 months away. I'm not ready for her to turn 5 yet.

Completely Wireless

2006-02-25T12:20:00.001-08:00

Well, we've finally gone wireless for our internet. The cable guy came yesterday and hooked us up and we got everything installed last night, so this is my first post on our new laptop with wireless internet. It is so great and I don't know how I lived without it before. I would love to have broadband but we will see how this works first. We still have our land line for now because Steve had to send his phone back yesterday because it had some dust behind the screen. Once we get his phone back we will cancel our land line and then we will live a completely wireless lifestyle.

Which Polyhedral (what?!) Are You?

2006-02-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

This survey is completely scientific. Despite the mind-boggling complexity of mankind, the billions of distinctly different personalities found on Earth can easily be divided into seven simple categories that correspond to the five Platonic solids, a pseudo polyhedron, and whatever the hell a d100 is. The results of this quiz should be considered not only meaningful but also infallible, and pertinent to your success as a fully realized individual. If you feel the results of this examination do not match your perceived personality, you should take whatever drastic measures are needed to cram your superego back into proper alignment, as described by the quiz results.

And if you believe that, we have some really great critical-hit insurance to sell you.

Razr Sharp

2006-02-21T13:55:00.000-08:00

I got my new pink Razr phone yesterday! Steve got a black one but I like my pink girlie phone. At first I didn't like it because it's a Motorola and I am used to using a Nokia phone which is much more user-friendly. I've pretty much figured out the important stuff now so I like it much better. I like having a camera phone too.

The reason we got new phones was because we decided that we are going to go completely wireless in our household. We got a new laptop because this computer that I am using now is extremely slow. On Friday the cable guy is coming out to set up our wireless internet. We're not going to get broadband yet because it is a little expensive so we are going to try 256k to start with and see how we like it. Anything has to be better than the dial-up I am using right now. For our phones we got a family plan. I have always had a cell phone but Steve has only ever had his through work so he can't use it as freely as he would like to. We have both always liked the Razr phones since they came out and so when I found a deal on the internet to get them for free with a new family plan account we decided to get them. I guess I shouldn't say they are free yet. We had to pay $200 to get them and then we are supposed to get a $200 rebate on them. When Steve got to work today and printed out the rebate forms he found out that we can't send for our rebate until the middle of June. What?! He called the company that we got the phones from to find out why we had to wait so long and its because they want a copy of the bill that we will get in May to make sure that we actually follow through with Cingular and set up an account. Geez. I have dealt with this company before and I didn't have to wait that long to send for my rebate but I guess they have changed their policy. Luckily, we are getting our tax refund soon so it isn't a problem for us to pay that money up front and wait that long to get our rebate.

Now, I have to go bug most of the people that are in my address book and take their pictures so that I can see their lovely smiling faces when they call me. :)

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

2006-02-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

Your Eyes Should Be Green

Your eyes reflect: Striking attractiveness and danger

What's hidden behind your eyes: A vivid inner world

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

I guess God knew what He was doing when He really did give me green eyes.

The Muppet Personality Test

2006-02-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.
You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.
Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.
Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Growing Up

2006-02-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

My baby boy is growing up. I can't believe how big he is already. I have no idea what he weighs or what his length is right now but he's getting big. That reminds me that I need to make an appointment for him to see the doctor for his 4 month checkup. He is already going to be 4 months old on the 15th. Whew!

I guess I can safely say that he is no longer a newborn. Last week he started rolling over from his tummy to his back. And, he can roll from his back to his side so it looks like he might start rolling over the other way pretty soon. He loves to play with his toys. We have this little gym that we set over him and he loves to reach for the toys that hang from it. And, he can now reach for the toys on the tray of his swing. He is also drooling all over the place. But, if he is like his sisters that doesn't mean that he will start getting his teeth anytime soon. The girls both started to get their teeth kind of late. They drooled for months before they got any teeth.

I hope this post doesn't sound like I am bragging about what my baby can do. I'm just trying to give an update of what milestones he has reached lately. It's neat but in a small way it also makes me a little bit sad because he is no longer a helpless little newborn. I do love this age though because he is not just a lump anymore. He is developing quite a happy personality and he is more like a member of the family. I love to hear him laugh and it melts my heart every time he looks up at me and smiles.

Crazy Weather

2006-02-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the weather we have been having lately. You would think it was spring here already. Today is cloudy and not as nice, but we have been having some pretty good weather lately. Monday was a very nice day. When I went out in our backyard I actually felt warmth. The high for next Monday is supposed to be 47 degrees and we had a day last week where the high got close to 50 degrees. I know that may not sound warm to somebody from California or other warm weather places, but for North Idaho in February it is warm and weird. My dad was telling me the other day that the lowest temperature that he recorded at his house for the whole month of January was 25 degrees.

I am definitely not complaining about this weather. I love that it has been warmer and I can't wait for spring. I hope we don't have any more cold spells because we already have flowers coming up and Steve said the wisteria is starting to bud out. Oh spring, won't you come soon?

They're Back

2006-01-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

Well, my family made it back safely from India. I picked them up from the airport on Wednesday night. Their flight was a little delayed so it didn't arrive until after 10:00. Steve was originally going to be the one to pick them up but I was anxious to see all of them so I went instead.

They were all very tired and a little disheveled after 30+ hours of non-stop traveling. And, that was just the travel from Singapore. They spent about 24 hours in Singapore so that they could rest a little before the long trip home. The journey actually began a few days before that in Siliguri. They were supposed to fly from Siliguri to Calcutta but there was too much fog so they had to take an 11 1/2 hour train ride to Calcutta. From the details that I have heard about the ride, disgusting is probably an understatement of that part of the trip. Now they all feel like "experienced" travellers. My mom said it reminded her of an episode of "Amazing Race". I don't know how my 9 year old sister handled 3 weeks in India because I don't know if I could have done it.

I have been anxious to see my family and hear more about the trip but we have not been able to go to their house since they got back because some of them are now battling some kind of stomach bug. I don't know if it is contagious or not but I really don't want to take the chance. The kids and I might go over there tomorrow because Steve will be busy helping his parents out. Maybe then I will be able to get more details about the trip. We'll have to wait and see how everyone is feeling though.

Go Seahawks!!!

2006-01-24T11:33:00.000-08:00

Whoo-hoo! They made it! The Seahawks are going to the Superbowl for the first time in their 30 year history! I have never been a huge football fan but I have always been a Seahawks fan. Every year up to this year has always been disappointing but now they are going all the way. It should be a very exciting game to watch.

We watched most of Sunday's game against Carolina at my grandma's house. With just a few minutes left in the game I heard my cell phone ring. I ran to answer it because I thought it might be my parents as they had already started the journey back home from India. Sure enough, my phone said "Dad Cell". I answered it and it was my dad calling from Calcutta. He was calling just to see how the Seahawks had done. I told him they were going to the Superbowl and he was very happy to hear that. After I got off the phone we laughed about the fact that my dad didn't really call to talk to me, he just called to find out how the Seahawks did. Right after that, my mom called. The reason she called was because my dad forgot to ask who the Seahawks were going to be playing. Calling from the other side of the world just to find out how their football team did. I guess those are loyal fans. I'll have to give them a hard time when they get home tomorrow night. :)

Newborn vs. Infant

2006-01-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

This is my question. When is a baby no longer considered a newborn? When are they considered an infant? I know this is not an important question but my sister-in-law and I were wondering this a couple of weeks ago and I just thought I would throw this question out there for my legions of readers. Okay, all 3 of you. :) Our son will be 3 months old tomorrow and I was wondering if that is when they are no longer considered newborns. Or is there even a specific time? Just a thought.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2006-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Dad! I know your birthday isn't until the 15th but it is the 15th in India and I wanted you to be able to read this on your birthday if you are able to get online. I hope that you have a great day and that you guys are all doing well. Say hi to everyone for me. See you in about a week and a half.

"24" Marathon

2006-01-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

Last night marked the beginning of our "24-Season 4" marathon. You see, we just started getting into "24" last summer. We borrowed the first 3 seasons from friends and became totally addicted to the show. Season 4 was just released on DVD last month. We didn't buy it because it was kind of pricey for something that we would probably only watch all the way through only once. Luckily, someone that Steve works with bought it and we have finally made it to the top of the list to borrow it. We have to finish the entire season, all 24 hour long episodes, by Sunday night because that is when season 5 starts and season 5 supposedly starts where season 4 left off. We don't want to have to wait another year to watch season 5. Technically, with commercials left out, each episode is only about 42 minutes but that is still a lot of "24" to watch in just a few days. We got through 4 episodes last night and we were up later than we should have been. Then I couldn't get to sleep because of the wind. I hope we can make it. We're crazy, aren't we?

And the Wind Blows On

2006-01-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! I can't believe how much the wind has been blowing at our house. It started early yesterday morning and has hardly stopped since then. We got a little bit of a reprieve late yesterday in the afternoon and early evening but then it started pouring rain and by the time we got home from Awana last night the wind had started up again.

I didn't fall asleep until after 1:30 a.m. because the wind was so loud. That makes for a very tired Erin today. When the wind hits the side of our house it sounds like our house is going to come tumbling down. Our bedroom is on the side that receives most of the wind and there are all kinds of vents on the outside wall so it gets really loud. Steve went outside this morning to inspect if any damage occurred. Last June when we had a big windstorm part of our fence broke so he wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. So far I think the only damage that we received is that our satellite dish has been knocked off the satellites. That happened yesterday morning though.

A couple of springs ago we planted six hybrid poplar trees along our back fence to create a wind break. Now I think that we should have planted them along the side fence because that's where most of the wind comes from. It creates a wind tunnel through our yard. You would think after 3 1/2 years in our house I would be used to all of the wind we get out here but I think I hate it even more now than I did when we moved in. Maybe once the area gets more developed there will be a little less wind.

On to other news. My parents called from Calcutta, India this morning. They are all doing well. They took my 2 little brothers and my little sister on a 3-week trip to India with them. They spent a few days in Manipur and tomorrow they leave for Siliguri. They will be there for 10 days. On the way home they will stay in Singapore for a day, and then begin the long journey home. I have never been to India but I know from Steve's and my parents' stories that it is a hard trip to make and you get very sick of airplanes. I am praying that the rest of their trip goes well and that they return home safely.

Which Action Hero Are You?

2005-12-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

You scored as Maximus. After his family was murdered by the evil emperor Commodus, the great Roman general Maximus went into hiding to avoid Commodus's assassins. He became a gladiator, hoping to dominate the colosseum in order to one day get the chance of killing Commodus. Maximus is valiant, courageous, and dedicated. He wants nothing more than the chance to avenge his family, but his temper often gets the better of him.

William Wallace

67%

Maximus

67%

Captain Jack Sparrow

63%

Lara Croft

63%

El Zorro

63%

The Terminator

58%

James Bond, Agent 007

54%

Indiana Jones

50%

Neo, the "One"

46%

The Amazing Spider-Man

38%

Batman, the Dark Knight

38%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

Happy Birthday!

2005-12-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

Today is my baby girl's birthday! I still call her my baby girl even though we have another baby. She is 2 years old today and I can hardly believe it. As I always say, time flies.

I think we are going to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate the occasion. She doesn't understand that it is her birthday but Steve likes any excuse to go out to dinner. What does that say about my cooking? Hmmm. Anyway, we have been tossing around the idea of celebrating her birthday on June 29th instead of when it actually is. That way when she gets older she won't feel like she is getting cheated on her birthday since it is so close to Christmas and she can get summer clothes and all other things summery and not just a bunch of winter things. I know of a few other people who have birthdays close to Christmas and they have always felt like they kind of get cheated out of their birthdays. I don't want her to feel like that. Right now she wouldn't even know but it would be nice to wait to celebrate it. She just got a lot of clothes for Christmas and it would give our checking account (or credit card) a little bit of a break.

We had a nice Christmas and I hope that all of my regular readers did as well. We spent the morning here at home. The girls opened up their gifts from us and Steve and I opened up our gifts from each other. We usually don't get each other any thing but we decided to this year. We went to my parent's house early in the afternoon after they got home from church and exchanged more presents. Then we ate dinner with them. We went to Steve's parents' house in the evening and again exchanged more presents. After a few hours there it was definitely time to head home. Our two oldest kids and Steve's sister's oldest were getting quite cranky. Two days with little or no naps had finally caught up to all of them. All in all it was a good day.

Steve has had all of this week off. It has been nice having him home but I think we are driving him nuts. Now he gets to see what I put up with on a daily basis. Yesterday him and my brother put in our garage door opener. We have lived in our house for over 3 years and just now got a garage door opener. We were probably the only people in our neighborhood who didn't have one. Well, now we are modern like everyone else.

I should probably be signing off. The baby is starting to fuss. Oh, I almost forgot. For those of you who are interested in his stats he just had his 2 month doctor's visit on Monday. He weighed in at 11 lbs. 13 oz. and was 23 3/4 in. long. He was 6 lbs. 7 oz. and 21 in. at birth and he will be 11 weeks old on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Tis the Season

2005-12-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is almost upon us. Just a few days left. I am almost ready. I still have a few presents left to wrap. I haven't decided how much Christmas baking I am going to do. Steve and I have been trying to lose weight. I know it's Christmas. We should be enjoying ourselves. We are. The problem is that I have quite the sweet tooth and I would be home with all of the baked goods all day. That's a HUGE temptation for me. Plus, I know there are plenty of good things to snack on when we go to our parents' houses. Anyway, I'm sure I'll make some fudge or something. I have a great recipe for low-fat fudge. Christmas cookies would be good but they take so long to decorate. Rice Krispies Treats are good and easy. Great. Now I am making myself hungry.

On to another subject. My sister and her kids came into town on Monday. Her husband is in Iraq so she is spending Christmas over here with all of us. She has been living in the Seattle area since last summer. I went and saw them last night at our parents' house. Steve and our oldest daughter were at Awana. My niece and nephew were very excited to see our youngest daughter and our son. It was nice to visit with my sister. It's weird to only get to see her every couple of months now. We keep somewhat in contact by phone and through myspace.

I am excited for Christmas. We will go to the Christmas Eve service at our church and I'm not sure what we are doing afterwards. I'm also not sure if we are doing anything that day. We're not having a Christmas morning service at our church so we will spend the morning here with the kids and they can open up their presents from us. In the afternoon we will go to my parent's house and open presents there and eat dinner with them. After that we will go to the in-law's and open presents with them and probably have dessert there. It will be a busy day as it always is because we have to split our time between two families. But, it's all good.

Myspace

2005-12-14T19:10:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, I have added a new link to the right. It is for my myspace account. I have been on there now for a little over a month and I've found that it is a good way to keep in touch with family and old friends. Go ahead and check it out if you want to learn a little bit more about me.

Me From A to Z

2005-12-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Erin from A to Z:

Age: 24
Best friend in high school: Rachel
Chore(s) you hate: Any and all
Dumbest thing you've done: Can't recall right now
Essential start of your day item: Feeding the baby
Favorite color(s): Blue
Gold or silver: Gold and silver

Height: 5'6"
Instruments you play: Djembe
Job title: Mom
Kids: 3
Living arrangements: Husband and kids
Music: A little bit of everything (even a little country, sorry Steve)
Never: Say never
Overnight hospital stay other than birth: The births of my 3 kids
Phobia: Spiders, snakes, heights (I sound like a wuss)
Quote: "You're fired!"
Right or left handed: Right
Siblings: 2 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers
Time you woke up today: 7 am
Unique habit: Hmmm
Vegetable you hate: Lima beans
Worst habit: Where do I start?
X-rays you've had: My pinky finger in 3rd grade
Your most valuable gift/possesion: My salvation
Zero to 100 (favorite number): 8

Which Lost Character Are You?

2005-12-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

Which character from LOST are you?

Jack

Brooding doctor, good leader, you claim to hate being in charge but won't let anyone else, and you fancy Kate

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

I have to admit that he is one of my favorite characters and the best looking. I don't care too much for Kate though.

Slow Days

2005-12-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

I just noticed that I hadn't posted anything in about a week. I just haven't had anything interesting to post. Nothing exciting has been going on in our household.

The weather has been really cold the last few days. I guess it is supposed to warm up a little by the weekend. My grandma just left for a 6 week vacation to Arizona and Hawaii and I'm kind of jealous that she will be experiencing warmth. I wonder what it would be like to spend Christmas in a tropical place. I don't know if I would like it or not. I get disappointed when we don't have a white Christmas here. But, there is something appealing about the thought of spending Christmas where it's warm and sunny. And, on a beach no less. Oh well. I hope we have a white Christmas. I just hope that it is warmer by then.

What Late Night Talk Show Host Are You?

2005-12-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

What late night talk show host are you?

David Letterman

You do everything in lists and have a gap tooth.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

I don't do everything in lists and I certainly don't have a gap tooth.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2005-12-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

Well, its finally here. Snow. I always get excited about the first big snowfall but by about January I am usually pretty sick of it. We got about 6-8 inches (maybe more) of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday. Another storm is supposed to arrive this afternoon. We have a snowblower now and that is really nice. No more shoveling! I haven't used the snowblower yet. Steve still has to show me how it works.

I do have to admit that the snow has put me more in the Christmas spirit. We were going to set up our Christmas tree this weekend but I couldn't wait so I dug it and all of the Christmas decorations out of the garage yesterday. I turned on the Christmas music and the girls and I decorated the tree and then I put out some of the decorations. I didn't put out as many as I usually do because we just don't have the room anymore. Steve would probably say that we don't have room for what I did put out, but he is not big on Christmas decorating. His thing is lights. He got the Christmas lights up before Thanksgiving. They didn't get turned on until the night before Thanksgiving though. I don't like it when they are on before then. I had told him that I didn't want them on until Thanksgiving but he didn't listen to me. Why am I not surprised?

I really can't believe that Christmas will be here in a little over 3 weeks. It seems to sneek up on me every year. My mom called me today to find out what she should get for the kids for Christmas. I wasn't much help to her because we don't even know what we are getting them yet. We do know that we are getting the girls bunk beds but we also want to get them presents that they can unwrap.

It looks like the storm is starting to move in. It will be interesting to see how much snow we get from this one.

Which Napoleon Dynamite Character Are You?

2005-11-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

You are Pedro Sanchez and love holy chips.

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

My First Thanksgiving Dinner

2005-11-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Two days left. This year I am preparing my first ever Thanksgiving dinner. I guess after 6 years of marriage it's probably about time I did. Growing up I usually helped my mom out in the kitchen but she was always in charge of everything (especially the turkey). Since Steve and I have been married we have always eaten Thanksgiving dinner at his parents' house. Christmas dinner is spent with my family. Anywho, the original plan this year was to yet again spend Turkey Day with the in-laws, but last week we got a call from Steve's sister inviting us and their parents to spend the day with her husband Jim's parents. I thought this would be a good opportunity to make dinner for our family instead. It's not that I don't want to spend the day with Jim's parents. I really like them. But, I would like to finally make dinner for my little family. Plus, my youngest sister is spending this week with us because our parents and brothers are in Cuba until Sunday. I know that she would be more comfortable here.

On Sunday I did all of the shopping for the big day. The menu will include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, fruit salad and crescent rolls. For dessert I am going to try my hand at making Marble Pumpkin Cheesecake. The 2 things I am nervous about are the turkey and the cheesecake. I have never cooked a whole bird and I have never made a cheesecake. It will be interesting to see how everything turns out. That is why I am taking this opportunity to make my first Thanksgiving dinner. It will just be my husband, kids and little sister. If things don't turn out well they won't mind too much and neither will I. If it was going to be a big group of people I know that I would be stressing out big time.

Tomorrow I will get my special occasion dishes out of the garage and use them for the first time. I have never had a good enough reason to unpack them but I think this will be a good time to get them out. I am also going to make the cheesecake tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night I will start to prepare the turkey.

I know that it will be a lot of work, but I am counting on a lot of help from Steve with the baby and my little sister is good at keeping the girls occupied. I am actually excited about making the dinner. I think it will be a good day.

Robitussin Is My New Best Friend

2005-11-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

For the last few days I have been battling a cold. It has not been fun and of course they never are. I got it from my oldest daughter. She started coming down with a cough last weekend and by the middle of the week our youngest daughter had a runny nose and by Friday night I felt like I was starting to come down with it. I felt fine most of Saturday but by that evening I was starting to feel it again. That night we forgot to run the humidifier and when I got up with the baby in the middle of the night I knew I had it. It didn't help that he kept me up for 2 hours. I spent yesterday trying to rest but that can be difficult with 3 little ones. Steve is very good about helping me out though. Our son has had a slightly stuffy nose. Nothing too serious yet. So far Steve is the only one not affected by the illness in our household. I have been feeling a little better today. Enough that I was able to do some grocery shopping. Hopefully, the baby will sleep well tonight and I will get over this thing soon.

A New 'Do

2005-11-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

I got my haircut on Saturday. This isn't a big deal to most people but it's the shortest I have ever cut my hair. It is actually above my shoulders. I have had it close to this before but never quite this short. My hair had just been bugging me so much ever since the birth of our son and I thought it was time for a change.

I always get my hair cut after I have a baby. I don't know why. I know other women who do as well. I know my mom always did. I don't know if it is a fear of letting myself go or if I want to prove that I can still be stylish and attractive even though I just had a baby. Who knows? All I know is that my hair was bugging me and I wanted something different. I might let it grow back long, but for now I like it at it's current length. And, it dries so much faster after my shower. :-)

2005-11-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

erin asked me to post a picture of b's original artwork. the drawing is a sailboat.

My Blog is Worth...

2005-11-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

My blog is worth $2,822.70.
How much is your blog worth?

I don't know what good this does me. It's not like I'm selling my blog. Unless someone is interested. Any takers? I could use the extra money. :-)

I'm Back

2005-10-30T15:59:00.000-08:00

For all of you who have been anxiously awaiting my return, here I am! ;-) I decided that after a 2 week break I needed to get back to blogging. I don't know if I will be blogging as regularly, but who knows.

Some of you may have read the details of our son's birth on Steve's blog but for those of you who haven't I will tell you how it went down. I went into labor the evening of the 14th. Everything started our very slowly and irregularly. At about 10:00 I started to have regular contractions (about 5 minutes apart) but they weren't very intense. At about 11:00 I called my doctor and told him that I was in labor and also that my blood pressure was a little high. He told me to go ahead and go to the hospital. I think we got there a little before 11:30. By that point my contractions were very regular (every couple of minutes) and getting more intense. My doctor got there about 12:15 and checked to see how far dilated I was. I think I was dilated to 6 cm. at that point. Then he broke my water. That sent me into hard labor. Sometimes it felt like the contractions didn't end. I just went right into the next one. That's when it gets very hard to relax. Around 1:00 or so I asked for something to take the edge off because I couldn't relax. The nurse said she could give me Nubane (?). First, she wanted to check me to make sure I wasn't too far along to give me the I.V. It seemed like it took forever for her to get everything ready. I was still only at 6 cm, so she started the I.V. That was at 1:20. After a few more contractions I started to relax and she checked me again. Now I was dilated to 8 cm. Just a few minutes after that I felt like I needed to push. The nurse told me I couldn't push yet and she went and got my doctor. He got there and they let me start pushing with the next contraction. By that point I was wishing I had gotten the epidural, but I know there wouldn't have been enough time. I pushed for maybe 10 minutes and our son was born. They handed him to me right away and Steve cut the umbilical cord but he was purple and not breathing so they took him away to get him to start breathing. After a minute or so we heard his first little cry. Then we breathed a sigh of relief. They brought him back to me after a little while and we got to look him over for the first time. He was so precious and I was just relieved to be done with labor. Three and a half hours is not too bad though.

After an hour or so the nurse took him to weigh him and bathe him. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 in. long. Tall and skinny. Later they took me to my post partum room. I had a semi-private room (2 beds) because they were completely out of private rooms but luckily I never had to share with anyone else. I think I got about 1 hour of sleep that night. That afternoon the visitors started to roll in. My in-laws brought our daughters to visit. They were amazed by the new baby. Steve left that evening so that he could go home with the girls. The next morning my doctor came to check on us and said that we could go home that day. I couldn't wait.

Two weeks later we are doing well. Our youngest daughter has finally accepted the new baby. I am still recovering. It is harder to recover when you have a 4 year old and a 22 month old at home. It is very hard to take naps. The baby sleeps well most nights. Sometimes he only gets me up once for about and hour and other times maybe for a short second feeding. So far he is a good natured baby. We got him circumcised last week and that hardly affected him. Not much bothers him. I hope that is a sign that he will be an easy going child. I don't know what it is like to have one of those.

Well, I better go. It is almost time for another feeding.

New Look

2005-10-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you like the new look of my blog. All of the credit goes to my hubby Steve. He has been learning more html and stuff like that. He wanted to experiment on my blog so I let him because I have no idea how to do any of that stuff. I think he is going to do a few more things, but I am not sure what.

I really like the picture that he used for my header. Steve took that picture last April when we were in Havana, Cuba.

More Waiting

2005-10-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

I am still pregnant. I can hardly believe it. 14 days to go. Hopefully, I will not go that much longer. This weekend would be nice.

I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday because she called to recommend that I try sitting on the exercise ball to see if that would start anything. Well, it didn't. I might try it again tonight but it is not very comfortable. She understands how I feel about wanting to go into labor but not wanting to. If anybody would understand it would be her. She had 5 kids after all. In between pregnancies you kind of forget what the pain and discomfort are like. Believe me, it is on my mind a lot lately. I really just want to get it over with though.

In my dream last night I had had the baby. He had Steve's nose and he had dark hair. Steve asked me what his name was but I don't know. We didn't call him anything in my dream. A nameless child. A lot of people keep asking what we are going to name him, but we aren't telling anyone. Those close to us know some of the names that we have tossed around in the past, but we are not telling them what we have decided. For all they know it could be something that we have not mentioned to them at all. We have gone back and forth so many times that it may change when he is born.

Well, I need to go because I just looked at the clock and realized that Steve will be home soon and I need to start getting dinner ready so him and our oldest can go to church tonight. I will not be going because our youngest has a cold still. She has had this cold for almost a week. Wiping her nose is getting really old.

How Normal Are You?

2005-10-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

You Are 55% Normal

(Somewhat Normal)

While some of your behavior is quite normal...

Other things you do are downright strange

You've got a little of your freak going on

But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself

How Normal Are You?

It's nice to know I am somewhat "normal".

What Cute Animal Are You?

2005-10-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

You Are A: Kitten!

Cute as can be, kittens are playful, mischevious, and ever-curious. Like you, kittens hate getting wet. Kittens are often loving, but are known to scratch or bite when annoyed. These adorable animals are the most popular pets in the United States--37% of American households have at least one cat. Whether it is your gentle purr or your disarming appearance, you make a wonderful kitten.

You were almost a: Monkey or a Pony
You are least like a: Groundhog or a Turtle What Cute Animal Are You?

Thanks to Kristin Hoppe/Not So Fast for finding this very informative quiz.

The Year I Was Born

2005-10-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

In 1981 (the year you were born)

Ronald Reagan becomes president of the US

Minutes after Ronald Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days

President Reagan is shot in the chest by would be assassin John Hinkley

Space shuttle Columbia, the world's first reusable spacecraft, is sent into space

A suspended walkway in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapses, killing 113

A female former lover files a "palimony" suit against tennis star Billie Jean King

President Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first woman on the Supreme Court

The Pac-Man video game is introduced in the US

Alicia Keys, Elijah Wood, Kelly Rowland, Anna Kournikova, and Britney Spears are born

Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series

Oakland Raiders win Superbowl XV

New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the top grossing film

"Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes spends the most time at the top of the US charts

MTV debuts on cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day

Gimme a Break premieres

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

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