Our Forever Family

Some thoughts.....

2009-05-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Where does time go. Each day seems to come and go so quickly. Things in our family are busy as ever. There is only 19 days of school left. I can't believe this school year is almost over. It has proven to be a crazy year again. Both districts have encountered some serious financial problems. They laid off 44 teachers from the kids district and 18 from Dan's district. The economy right now seems to be in such bad shape. We feel very blessed that Dan still has a job and that we were able to buy our first home. We have really tried hard to live within our means and save for a rainy day. There has been some terrible acts of violence recently in town. We live about 5 miles outside of town. A couple of weeks ago, there was a shooting where some people went up to a garage where kids were playing video games (it was 9:00pm) and shot them point blank in the head. A 13 year old was dead on the scene and one of Dan's students (18 years old) died a few days later. There is still one in serious condition and two others that have recovered. When things like this happen I begin to wonder why we live here in King City. I have struggled with this the past few weeks thinking that I don't want to wake up in the morning and have to tell my kids that there has been another tragedy. The town only has 12,000 people. There should not be problems like that. Anyway, with these questions going through my mind I have wanted to just tell Dan that we need to move. I decided to take my concern to the Lord through fasting and prayer. Without going into detail about my experience, I can say that there is a reason that we are here. I have learned many great lessons...the most being that the need to trust in God's plan for our family is so important. My kids have good friends, good teachers and great opportunity. Dan has a great work to do here and as his wife I support him in his endeavors. I feel blessed to know that God answers prayers and that through trial we become more like Him. I am grateful for good friends, a loving husband, wonderful children but most of all for my testimony of Jesus Christ. I may not have a complete understanding but am grateful for the glimpse I have recently caught.

Hanna's Tonsil Surgery

2009-05-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

The big day finally arrived. On May 11th Hanna had her tonsils taken out. Ever since she was little she would get either strep or tonsillitis when she got sick. This year alone she had it 3 times (two of which were only 3 weeks apart). We were sent to a ear nose throat doctor back in Feb. We were going to wait to have the surgery when school got out but when she got tonsillitis again we knew that she had to just have the surgery done. She was really brave for the procedure. Here she is outside the surgery center.

We got checked in and they called her back in to pre op. The nurses were all so nice and really put her fears at ease. They asked us some questions and then had her get into this gown and shoe coverings. We weren't sure if the hat was going to fit all her hair. They checked all her vitals and then we just waited until it was her turn. I could tell that she was nervous but she was trying really hard to be brave. They asked her if she wanted to have the IV put in when she was awake or asleep and she chose to do it before they put her under. They put this spray on her hand that freezes the skin so she wouldn't feel the prick. It never is easy to see your child in a situation such as this. I had great empathy for her having recently been through 2 surgeries myself. She was concerned that she would wake up during the surgery. Her fears were put at ease once she talked to the doctor.

By the time they took her back to the time the doctor came to talk to me it was only 30 minutes. I was amazed at how fast it was. The doctor said that we made the right choice to take them out as he said one tonsil still had "gunk" from the last infection. Dan was not able to come with us that day because things at work are CRAZY! My mother in law came with us instead.

We set the camera on the table to take this picture of us. I have had so many people tell me in the last few months how much Hanna looks like me.

When the nurse was checking Hanna in, she said that she would have the option of seeing her tonsils. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see them but after the surgery Hanna said that she did. I had put the camera in the car thinking I wasn't going to take any more pictures but I had to document this one. I ran to the car to get the camera and took this picture. I never realized how big tonsils really were. Hanna found it quite interesting.

After the surgery, Hanna kept asking to have her IV taken out. She kept telling me how she just wanted to go home. It is never fun to have an IV but I told Hanna the importance of keeping it in just in case they needed to give her some medicine. She then would avoid them poking her arm with a needle.

This picture was about 30 minutes after the surgery. When I first got into the room she seemed so confused. In fact, she kept trying to get out of the bed. I looked to the nurse wondering if that was a normal occurrence. I remember after my surgeries just wanting to lay there and sleep. The nurse did say that it was normal for the first 30 minutes to have uncontrolled movements. I tried to tell her to calm down. The nurse kept saying what a good patient Hanna was. She told me that just after the surgery (as they were moving her into post op) Hanna started to wake up and she said that she looked like a princess waking up from her beauty sleep. She even gave them a smile.

What an adventure today was. I feel very blessed to have such a strong child who has a lot of faith. She thought it was great to ride on a gurney and in a wheelchair. We joked saying the nurse needed to take lessons on how to push the wheelchair. She was pushing Hanna in the parking lot to the car and came to a speed bump. She told Hanna to hold on and proceeded to push her really fast. One problem...the place where you place your feet didn't want to go over the speed bump and so crash it went into the speed bump. Good thing Hanna didn't have back surgery! The last couple of days have been rough for her. Yesterday I wanted to take the pain from her. She was able to sleep through the night last night. Today seemed to be a little better. I keep telling her that everyday will get a little better. She really is such a good kid and a great patient. We love you Hanna!

Spring Break Part 3

2009-04-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth in the pool.

Hanna looks so grown up here. She will be 10 in just a few weeks.

Dan will not appreciate me posting this picture but I thought it was so cute! Sam is trying so hard to hold on in the back.

Elizabeth flying in the air.

Spring Break Part 2

2009-04-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

The kids wanted to go swimming at the pool the whole vacation. Dan took the girls to the pool on Saturday. They had a great time swimming and doing tricks. Hanna is doing a flip mid air in the picture above.

Emily says that it is so much easier to pick up Sam in the water.

Here is Elizabeth and Samantha with another new baby cousin (my brother's baby, Ellie). They had a great time holding all the new additions.

The girls faces and hand outlined at the museum.

Emily making a cloud at the museum.

Spring Break Part 1

2009-04-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

We were able to go to Southern California for Spring break. We left last Tuesday night. Dan and I both grew up in Southern California so it is always fun to go back and visit. Each day was filled with fun and excitement. I will be posting different parts of our vacation because I can only upload 5 pictures at a time.

We went to the Discovery Science Museum for our niece's birthday party. Here is Hanna climbing a rock wall. There were so many kids there but all the kids had a great time. We saw an amazing bubble show.

Dan's sister lives in Ladera Ranch so we spent a night at their house. She has three daughters. Her oldest is Em and Liz's age and her second just turned 6 years old. It if fun for all of them to get together to play. Sam and Jesse were having a push up contest.

Dan enjoyed holding his sister's new baby. It was fun being reminded of when our girls were little. How fast everyone goes.

We have a DVD system in our car. It has made traveling long distance a little easier. We try and not turn it on for at least the first hour of the trip. When I was little, we always had to come up with things to do on long trips. I think it is good for kids to enjoy travel without TV. I must admit it is nice when you start to hear "Are we there yet?" for the 100th time.

We saw a beautiful rainbow on our way down south. The weather was crazy on our drive down. The wind was so bad on the 5 freeway in the Central valley that we thought our car just might blow over. There were dust storms everywhere. You would be driving and all of the sudden you couldn't see because of the dust storm. We were able to divert a serious accident (3 big rigs and 12 cars) just before they closed the freeway. It pays to follow big rigs when trying to divert serious traffic. They knew just the right way to go to bypass the stopped traffic. After all the dust storms and a little rain, this is what we saw.

Pulling Weeds and 50's Day

2009-04-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hanna's 4th grade class hosted 50's day at school a couple of weeks ago. At least the poodle skirt I made a few years ago got used again. Notice the waffle in Sam's hand as we were rushing out the door to get to school. Emily chose not to dress up. She actually came home sick from school that day.

Since we've moved into our house, we have neglected the backyard. The previous owners had cut down trees but left the stumps. Dan has been so busy at work, he has not had time to get to the backyard. My friend inspired me to start pulling the weeds that started to grow (actually that had overtaken our backyard). Here is Elizabeth somewhere in the weeds. The kids all earned money to help me pull weeds. I was so sore for the few days after pulling all the weeds.

Emily is about ready to say that she has had enough.

Here is Hanna for 50's day.

Science Fair

2009-04-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hanna, Emily and Elizabeth all just recently participated in the school science fair. They each worked on their project with 2 other kids from their class. We were able to go see their projects Tuesday night after the judging. All the girls won 1st place. We are proud of their great effort and glad they got to learn more about the scientific process. (Samantha's teacher chose not to do a project with her class.)

Family Home Evening....The Laundry Mat

2009-04-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago I went to switch our laundry from the washer to the dryer. When I picked up the clothes they were sopping wet. I thought oh no.... my washer has finally had it. It actually was the day of my birthday (March 24th). Dan and I discussed if we should see if we could fix it or just buy a new one. Some friends said to try this appliance fix it company in town. We thought we would give it a shot. He came out the next day and was able to tell me right away what the problem was. He told me it would cost around $110 to fix. That sounded pretty good to me so I said fix it. His response "I need to get the part." Today our washer is still not fixed. We are STILL waiting on the part. Patience is a good virtue. Last week, we did a couple loads of laundry at my friends house. I didn't want to ask again so Monday night we went to the laundry mat for Family Home Evening. I have never seen the girls so excited to do laundry! I couldn't figure out why everyone was staring at us. Could it be that we used 10 washers all at once??? Or is it our 4 girls??? Or Dan wearing his work clothes??? People really started to stare when I got my camera out to take pictures.

Gotta love laundry! Is this really fun??

Sam helping put my workout clothes in the washer.

Hanna is thinking.."Ok, maybe it could be fun!"

How much more can I carry?

It was fun for the kids to put the money into the slots. Needless to say, we spent almost $25.00 that night on laundry but.........never could I have gotten 10 loads done in less than 2 hours. While the laundry was being washed, we sat on a bench and really held Family Home Evening. We sang, had a lesson and even treat. It was quite the fun night. We may be doing that again soon if the darn part doesn't come. This did bring us back to the days when Dan and I were first married and living in Provo. I was 9 months pregnant with Hanna and doing laundry at the laundry mat. We had a bad experience with the owner of that laundry mat so that next weekend we bought a used washer and dryer. I will forever appreciate my washer and dryer!

Radom Updates

2009-04-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here is Hanna at her most recent 4-H meeting. She gave a presentation on her recent dance experience that I already blogged about. It gives them good public speaking experience.

Every morning it seems like a battle trying to get the girls out of bed for school. We are all happy Spring Break is coming! Anyway, one morning I went into Sam's room and found her like this. Either she feel asleep reading her book or she has found a new form of reading! All of our girls would stay up all night reading if we let them.

Here is Hanna again reading her paper. Doesn't she look cute in her apparel?

At church I teach CTR 5,6 and 7. Each week if they are good, we add a letter to a word they are trying to spell out. Once they complete the word they get whatever the word says. This time it was party. We had a party at my house. This picture is of them right before they were going out for the Easter egg hunt. Two of the kids in my class were unable to make it.

Samantha is quite the artist. She gets her ability from her father since I can't even draw stick people! In town, we have an art studio call Sol Treasures. Samantha has been taking an art class there every Wednesday. She has come home with some great masterpieces. Recently she took a friend with her to class and they make magnets. It was fun for Sam to have a friend because she is always the only girl. Her teacher says that she is so quiet and never makes a peep. She intently will listen and follow directions. I wonder sometimes if we are talking about the same child. She if far from quiet at home!

What a good patient

2009-03-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Last week was a little tough for Samantha. Last Tuesday, she came home from school with a headache. It was warm last week and so I told her to drink some water and rest. She said she felt a little better. She was supposed to have a play date the next day and so I think she was trying really hard to feel good. Wednesday morning she woke up and looked sick. I took her temp and it was 99 degrees which is not super high but it meant that she had to stay home. Needless to say, she was so upset that her friend couldn't come and play. As the day progressed, she looked sicker and sicker. Samantha is such a good sick kid. She just deals with it. Her fever began to rise on Motrin and was up to 102.7. I thought I would watch it for the day and see how she was the next morning. Her fever was still high and so I called the doctor. They said to watch her through the day to see how she would do. I did schedule and appointment for the next day just in case. Boy am I glad I did that. That night and morning her breathing became really labored. I knew that she had more that just a fever. My thought was pneumonia. So Friday I took her into the doctor. He listened to her lungs and could hear the crackling. He tested her O2 stats and they were a little low. I looked at him and said "were off to the hospital for an x-ray, aren't we?" He said "you sure are." The doctors office is right next to the hospital so Sam and I walked over. We were in and out so quickly! Sam did a great job and was excited to see her lungs from the x-ray. Sure enough she had walking pneumonia. The doctor gave us a prescription for antibiotics and off to the pharmacy we went.

Here is the first day of her breathing treatments. She had to this every 6 hours.

Take notice of her patient stickers from the hospital. She is doing so much better now and is happy to have her play date today. She takes an art class and so her friend gets to go with her today. We are so happy she is feeling better. I am grateful she is such a good patient. The poor kid still had to be dragged around town trying to pick up the other kids.

The Ants Go Marching One By One

2009-03-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Every other Friday the kids school has a flag ceremony and classes get a chance to perform. This past Friday was all of the 2nd graders. Emily and Elizabeth have been practicing for the last two weeks at home and in class. They sang the song "The Ants Go Marching." It was even complete with actions. Here you can see Em and Liz singing along.

Here are most of the kids from their class.

I had a few teachers and parents come up and tell me how animated the girls were. As most of the kids just stood there, Em and Liz were singing and dancing away. I wonder where their animation comes from.....

Big Day

2009-03-24T10:59:00.001-07:00

Next month Hanna will be turning 10 years old. For the last few years, she has been asking if she could get her ears pierced. Dan wasn't really thrilled with that idea so he told her when she was 10 that she could get it done. My sister was in town and she mentioned that she thought it would be fun to have all her sisters and some of her cousins there. I told my sister that Dan was adamant about waiting until she was 10. I called him anyway and to my surprise he said that should be ok since it was almost her birthday. Hanna was shocked and thrilled. Not one minute later Dan called back and said that he really wanted her to wait. With my persuasive skills, he said fine just do it but I don't want to be there. We were going to the Monterey that day for the Aquarium so we went to Claire's in the mall after. We had lunch first and Hanna was so nervous that she couldn't even eat.

Here she sits in the chair thinking if she should really go through with it. She kept asking the lady, "Will it hurt? What does it feel like?"

This is moments before she had it down. I was feeling the same way!

Her thoughts, " Oh no, she is marking my ear. Do I really want this?"

Hanna was lucky that a second person was working so she could have them both done at the same time. She knew now that she was committed. I was so nervous for her. I did get my ears pierced when I was little but I don't ever wear earrings.

And, she did it! Don't they look cute? I am mostly responsible for cleaning them because I want to make sure that it is done right. Hanna was so brave. She is happy that she did and even said that it didn't hurt (even though I thought she was being tough). Hanna, we are excited for you. Remember this will be your only piercings. I think your father would have a heart attack if you got any more piercings!

Family Fun

2009-03-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Fun day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Here are the cousins in front of some huge jellyfish.

We had a great time this weekend with family. My mom, sister and her kids came to visit us. The girls were so excited to have their cousins come to visit. It is the first time my sister has visited this area since we've moved. We went the Monterey Bay Aquarium with everyone on Monday. The picture above is the girls and I outside by the bay. It was a really beautiful day.

From the left: Whitney, Hanna, Emily, Elizabeth, Tatum (on Elizabeth's lap), Abby, Samantha and Grammie. They were sitting in the wave crasher. Spencer, the only boy, didn't want to be in the picture. The water crashing scarred him to much.

Grammie and Tatum enjoying some quiet time in the morning.

My sister and I had to run an errand and when we got this is what we saw. Dan was being attacked by all the kids. He was such a good sport. Sam and Whitney said they were going to pull out his hair and I quickly told them to leave it as it seems to be falling out on its own (Love you honey!).

We decided Saturday to wash our extremely dirty car. There is a lot of dirt in King City and the rain had made our car look even dirtier. The day was not to warm but the kids always like to get their bathing suits on so we can spay them. Sam is trying to get away before Elizabeth attacks.

Crazy Hair Day

2009-03-13T17:49:00.001-07:00

YEAH!!!!! The gray is gone. I love being able to get my hair done. She added bangs and a carmel color. I can now celebrate my birthday and not think that I am getting old.

The girls had crazy hair day at school today. In our family, we love the show Pippo Longstocking. We have always joked that Sam should be Pippi for Halloween. Well, today was our experiment day for her Pippi hair. All the kids were looking at her as if she was crazy but she sure looked cute.

Here are all three girls before school. Em and Liz looked like Whoville from "Horton Hears A Who."

The girls must have been excited because I didn't even have to wake them up this morning. Hanna was planning on having crazy hair today but when she woke up she didn't want to. I think it was a case of "not being cool." Other than that, report cards came out today. All the girls did really well. We are proud of their great accomplishments at school. We look forward to a fun weekend. My sisters and her family and well as my mom will be here on Sunday. We are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday. We get free tickets through our public library. It is a wonderful place to visit. Dan is not big about taking kids out of school but they at least will check in so the school will get their money. We are considering it a nice field trip.

Does this mean I am old?

2009-03-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

This month is my birthday. When you get to be my age it seems to be just another day. I will be 34 years old. A couple of weeks ago, Emily said to me "mom, you have a gray hair." I said that was just not possible and I went on with what I was doing. Then one day last week I was looking at something in the mirror and what did I see....... A GRAY HAIR! I wanted to cry right then and there. I couldn't believe that I had a gray hair. It must be all the stress from all the things going on in King City. Needless to say I am off to the hairdresser tomorrow to take care of the other 5 I found.

Emily, Elizabeth and Samantha were able to attend a fun assembly today at school. Em and Elizabeth's teacher at school had a son in law who is a police officer in Salinas. He brought his police dog to show them what he does. I did bring my camera to take pictures but it was out of battery! The girls teacher said she would email me a picture so when I get it I'll post it.

Dan had a rough week at work. He had to help pass pink slips to the teachers that are being laid off. Things are really rough with the school districts here right now. They are having to cut so many positions just to stay a float. The elementary district gave out 47 pink slips. These are tough times for so many. We feel very grateful Dan has a job and we have our needs met.

Fun Weekend

2009-03-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday the kids make a treat to ding dong ditch to people that we know. It is a fun way to keep the kids busy on the Sabbath as well as an opportunity to serve other people. We will usually leave a note with a message from the "mystery givers". Many times the girls are caught but they have a good time. This past Sunday, they decided to ding dong ditch a house in the country. They have a very steep driveway and are in the middle of nowhere (as you can see from the picture). Here is Liz trying to run as fast as she can to get away from the door.

This picture is of the girls running to get to the door. If any of you are "Little House on the Prairie" fans, you would have got a kick out of watching them run. Emily even fell like Grace in the opening part of the show. It was just hilarious. You can tell that Hanna is trying to be all sneaky. They were caught on the way back. They were saying after that they should have just dropped into the big grass to hide. They had a great time.

Hanna is currently involved in 4-H. For those that don't know, 4-H is a club that offers different activities for kids. It is based around the fairs here in Monterey. Many of the kids raise animals to show and sell at the fair. We opted out of doing that knowing full well who would be taking care of the pig---that's right good old mommy. I told Hanna that I didn't want pig poo all over my shoes. Am I a city girl or what! Anyway, she has been taking a dance class through 4-H and they had a performance this past Friday. They did a line dance. Considering they only had been practicing for 2 days they did quite well. In fact, they received a gold medal and a chance to move onto to the next level of competition. It is a good organization for the kids.

Here is Hanna doing her dance.

Last, we had a fun hail storm this past week. Emily was reading to me after school one day and I heard a great deal of noise. We looked out and it was hailing! I haven't seen hail in a really long time. Of course the kids ran out to see if it hurt to stand in the hail. The bummer part of this was that one of the kids had left one side of the car open. The inside of the car was so wet. Thank goodness for leather seats! Did you notice that our grass if finally starting to grow back. When we bought the house, it was brown and ugly. Little by little things come along on the yard. We all had a fun weekend.

Other Events

2009-03-03T11:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was "Read Across America Day" at the girls school. We were able to go into the girls classes to read. Dan has always gone into Hanna's class and I tend to read in the other girls classes. It is a fun day to promote reading. There are many parents who are unable to come to read during the day because they work. PTO decided to provide and opportunity for families to come back to the school at night for an "Green Eggs and Ham" event. The kids were able to make a hat, eat green eggs and ham and be read to by different people. Being on the PTO board, I was in charge of the event. I am not one that really like eggs and to have to make 10 dozen green scrambled eggs was almost to much for me to handle. I will be happy if I never see a green egg again(of course until next year). The kids actually ate them. I had to tell them that it was only food coloring. I did have a girl come up to me and want to know how to make them. We had a great turn out and everyone seem to have fun.

Emily and Elizabeth started piano about a month ago and already had their first receital. They did such a great job. There teacher is actually a high school student. She seems to a great job with them. Hanna take piano from the music teacher at the high school. Emily was really nervous but was able to overcome that as soon as she sat down at the piano.

Elizabeth tells me that she wasn't nervous a bit. We are proud of both the girls. We hope Hanna will be able to join the receital next year.

Emily and Elizabeth were student of the month for February. They are both in the same class at school. I wonder if the teacher picked both of them in one month to make it easy on mom and dad. Hanna also received student of the month for February but her teacher didn't let me know so I don't have a picture of her. I was super sad that I wasn't there for her. It was out of my control. Hanna's teacher has been preparing them for the state writing test. Hanna is actually taking the test now. She is well prepared.

Crazy few weeks!

2009-03-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

I am still not doing very good at this blogging thing. I have had strep throat the past week. I am sure grateful for antibiotics. We have had some fun times these past couple of weeks. I was able to attend Emily and Elizabeth's field trip last Tuesday. We went to the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum. It is such a beautiful area. The picture above is Elizabeth and Emily at Lovers Point Beach after the museum. We were able to talk a walk along a trail by the beach.
The girls were amazed by this eyeball of a whale. Elizabeth mentioned that it was almost as big as her head.

Here we are in front of the museum. Do you see the sick look on my face? That is the day I really started to feel horrible. Thank goodness Hanna was able to care for the girls later that day. It really was a fun day with the girls. We feel blessed to live in such a beautiful area. We may have to drive 45 minutes to get anywhere but it is well worth it.

Another Try

2009-02-19T12:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have tried this blogging thing before and have not done a very good job at keeping up. I am going to try again. My hopes are to share with you how our family is doing and the exciting happenings in our life. Having four girls keeps me busy. Between all their activities, I do feel like a taxi but love every minute of it. It may take time for me to learn all the ropes of this blogging thing but I think it will be good. We recently got rid of our dish network for our tv. We didn't realize how much tv was a part of our life until it was gone. It has been a good move for our family. The main reason we got rid of it was to save money. It has brought a whole new element of happiness to our family that we are grateful for. Dan is still very busy with work. It was a good move for us to come to King City. The kids are able to see him a lot more than when we lived in Paso Robles. I do miss the convience of Target but have saved a lot of money the last 20 months! I think that we are pretty much settled into our new house. We love the neighborhood. It is so quiet being out in the canyon. There was a mountain lion sighting here last week. A big change from Southern California! Each day brings a new adventure. We are still waiting and activily seeking a baby to adopt. It has been a couple of years since we decided to try. We thought we would see what happens in 2009 and then make some decisions at the end of the year if we will continue to pursue adoption for our family. We have always felt that it was the right thing to do so it is with faith that we keep looking. The Lord knows what is best for us and that is why I place my trust with Him.