The Year Ends

Christmas Morning dawned bright and early!  David woke us up at 8 am (the earliest we said he could wake us) and we headed down stairs to begin the Christmas Fun.  I got the obligitory stairs picture - including some "I don't want to be awake yet" kids!  We called family and opened presents and stockings and ate breakfast and then spent the rest of the day having fun together - playing games and playing with toys and just enjoying the relaxing day!  

James had fun all week working on his many lego sets.  He was super excited to build them!  It's been so fun to have all the kids together and having fun together!  

Anna and Eileen had fun making shirts together.  They got this fabric and were able to make two different shirts from the pattern - one for each girl! 

Saturday, the kids had the new years dance - the church did it a day early since New Years Eve was on a Sunday - they went and had a blast!  Mom went to open polo and also had a blast!  

In the evening, we went to the Olsen's for a New Year's Party.  David has been looking forward to this all weekend.  He was asking every half hour after church if it was time to go to the party.  So when we finally went, he found all his favorite people and hung out with them.  The adults played a fun game of Charades with "The Dude" and we all had a blast being silly and talking.  Dan and I took the younger two home around 9.  David went to bed and James stayed up playing games while Eileen, Dan and I worked on our National Parks Puzzle.  Anna, Aaron and Evelyn all stayed at the party with their friends until a bit after midnight.  Dan and Eileen and I managed to finish the puzzle - they go a lot faster when I get some help!  

Christmas Break Begins

We've had a busy week of Christmas fun!  On Monday, Sandi and the kids came over to decorate Christmas cookies.  We had fun together and made a big mess together.  :)  Anna and Evelyn also had an Encore performance Monday evening, so they missed a bunch of it, but we saved cookies to decorate with them.  After decorating, James went to spend the night with Taz at Sandi's house.  

Tuesday was my day for finishing off the last of the Christmas shopping.  So I took my friend Shelly to the max station, then played with David until some of the other kids got up, then I headed out to hit a few stores and do some shopping.  In the evening, I went to play water polo and Dan came too.  He's been joining with the masters group in the evening and it's been fun playing with him.  :)  

Wednesday was a day of cleaning and cooking and getting ready for Bagna Caulda night.  We had a great time with friends and family eating lots of yummy food and singing songs!  

Thursday was pretty chill.  Aaron had a couple parties with seminary friends this week - and the kids had optional swim practices that they went to when they could.  Dan and I had water polo again and he's getting less tired after!  

Friday afternoon, Sandi and the kids came over one last time to exchange gifts.  They had a blast playing together and opening presents.  Jon has the kids for Christmas and Sandi is heading out to Utah to be with James for Christmas.  The kids also got gift cars from Sandi - David used his right away to get a nerf gun that looks like Thor's hammer, but expected that it wouldn't arrive until New Year's Eve.  

It arrived Sunday afternoon....  He's been shooting our wall with "sticky darts" ever since.... 

Saturday was full of water polo and making sweets for our Christmas cookie plates.  We went to parkrose masters and had a blast, and the kids and I went to Open Polo and had a blast too!  We got Spritz cookies, shortbread, and peppermint bark all made up and ready for Sunday!  

Sunday was the big church Chrismtas program.  The girls and I did a musical number.  The girls did an amazing job and I accompanied them.  I also played the organ and Anna led the music, but getting asked to play the organ was a bit last minute, so I didn't play very well.  :(  It was still a beautiful meeting though.  After, we headed home and had lunch and got cookie plates ready (and mom took a nap) then we headed out to give out Christmas cookies and sing carols.  We had a fun time together and loved singing and giving out cookies!  

The boys were VERY eager for their Christmas Eve gifts, so we had an early dinner once we got back, then cleaned up and did scriptures - which was reading the Christmas story in Luke - then we opened our gifts.  Dan got Anna and I matching pajamas - not realizing that they were matching until too late, but we have fun being twinsies!  

Here we all are except Dan who took the picture since he got slippers and they are hard to see in a picture.  :)  

After, we played games for a bit, then sent kids off to bed so we could get Christmas ready.   We finished off the last of the wrapping and brought stuff downstairs, I stuffed stockings and we set everything up for tomorrow morning.  Now it's time to sleep and wait for tomorrow! 

Exciting Adventures

Monday we finally got to decorate our Christmas tree.  We had fun drinking egg nog and hanging up our favorite ornaments.  James found an ornament of his that had a piece of ribbon in it that was as long as he was tall when he got the ornament, and is now about 6 inches short - it's fun to see how much he's grown.

We are watching Popcorn this week while Sandi is down in Texas with my parents.  She's been great and the dogs are getting along great!   She loves to sit on my lap to get petted.  

The weather this week has been mostly nice in the afternoons, so we've been able to stay and play after school.  We also helped a friend this week picking up her son from school.  He stayed and played with us after school, then walked home with us, then we drove him to his house.  He and David had lots of fun playing together and chatting on the way home and being silly.  

On Thursday, the kids had a swim meet.  It was fun to watch them swim and they all did well.   It was a meet against Aloha and it was fun to see a bunch of friends there!  

David has had a loose tooth for a while now.  This week on Wednesday, David had a dentist appointment.  He walked in with a loose tooth, and walked out with a tooth in a box.  He was so excited and scared to death that James would steal his tooth....  Funny thing was that James lost his first tooth exactly 5 years ago.  He said it didn't hurt at all and it just popped out!  

Late Thursday (really early Friday) Eileen's flight got into PDX.  I picked her up and brought her home for her Christmas break.  It's been fun to have her back home again!  

David has been super excited all week for Friday.  It was an assembly, his class party and PJ day!  He was so excited!  His friends mom sent me some pictures from the Christmas party.  He had so much fun!  

Saturday, we did some Christmas shopping with the kids and then I went to watch Anna in Tuba Christmas, then met up with Dan and Aaron at Parkrose for water polo.  In the evening, I went with Aaron and Evelyn to Open Polo and Anna met us there after a Encore Section Leader meeting.  

Me and the other two wives of bishopbric members planned together to get our husbands matching Christmas ties.  We picked them out and each sent them with their tie on today with out them knowing they would all be matching.  They found out when they went to meetings in the morning and got a kick out of it!  :)  The ties came in a pack of 4, so we gave our sons the other ties.  We had our sons match up with their friends.  It was fun!  The choir also performed today and did a great job!!  We had a little holiday party with primary and the kids did great! 

In the evening, we went to the Encore concert - they did an amazing job!  It was so neat to go hear them and even better to get to sing with them for a couple numbers!  I'm so grateful that they get to be part of this program!  

Holiday Fun - finally

Dan was out in Texas for the first couple days this week helping my parents.  My dad is getting better and was loving being able to get outside to walk, even if it was just a little bit.  There are still ups and downs and I'm glad Sandi is going out next week, but it's good to see the progress.  And good to see him happy.  

The week has been crazy busy.  Between school and work and sports and music, finding a time to go get a Christmas tree has been hard, and it was feeling like it was hard to feel like Christmas time with out a tree.  

Thursday Anna, Aaron and Evelyn all had their first swim meet of the season.  They did an awesome job and it was fun to watch them and see my other polo players too.  Aaron was supposed to get out of school early to get a bus to the meet, but missed it, so he called me and I had to get home from picking up David really quickly to get him to his meet, and he still missed the first event.  

Friday evening, we went to Home Depot to pick out a tree. We've got it up in the house and on Monday we will decorate it, but it's finally feeling like Christmas!  

Saturday morning was the ward Christmas party.  We all had a lot of fun eating and playing and chatting and singing!  

After, Dan took a nap while I spent some time cleaning up, then we went to Parkrose for water polo.  There was a great turn out and we had lots of fun!  We got home with time to shower and dress for Dan's company party.  We had a fun time chatting and eating and won some prizes in the raffle.  A good time was had by all, then we headed out.  Dan dropped me off at open polo on the way and I met the kids there.  There was a good turn out and we had lots of fun.  Plus I was playing better than last week which was great.  :)  

Sunday was crazy busy.  I went to a different ward where I had been asked to sing as part of their relief society Christmas program.  It was fun to be able to go to Relief Society and it was a wonderful meeting.  After, we had ward choir practice, and stake choir practice, then dinner and the Stake musical event.  Anna and Evelyn had an Encore concert tonight also, it was sad to miss it, but since I was singing in the musical event and directing the choir, I needed to be there - thankfully there will be another one next week to see!   Now it's time to rest and get ready for next week's busy-ness!

Texas And Home

 Last Sunday, at midnight, I flew out to Texas.  I slept on the plane and got to my parents house around 6:30 am.  My mom was up and told me to nap for a bit, then meet her at the hospital.  I got there later that morning and we chatted a bit about how things were going and how I could best help, then I stayed and chatted with dad for the rest of the day so my mom could get a bunch of things done.  All signs pointed to him being released from the hospital on Tuesday.  He was up and moving and hating to sit still, but he really seemed to like his doctors and nurses and other hospital staff that came in to visit him.  He seemed to know them all by name and was always glad to see them!  My mom seemed really glad to have someone else to listen to Dad and keep him company.  I sat and listened to all his new stories and some of his older ones and crocheted.  I even learned some things I never knew before - it turns out that my grandpa was a boxer as a young man!  It was a nice quiet afternoon and my mom was able to work out and be at the house for the garage repairman.  Then when he was headed to sleep for the night, we headed home and headed to bed ourselves.  

Tuesday morning was filled with all the bustle of getting him checked out of the hospital.  Then getting him loaded into the car and home and settled at home.  He was resistant to parking on the couch because he said his Dad had died watching TV on the couch.  One of the big problems for him has been getting him to eat.  He has been nauseous and had a hard time finding any food appetizing.  So my mom and I have been spending a lot of our time trying to cook food he loves, but trying to do it with in the "low fat, low carb, low sodium" restrictions.  He at least seems to like our cooking more than hospital food, so I guess that's something!  He started small with some protien peanut butter stuff he likes.  Then progressed to chicken and broccoli which he ate all of.  Tuesday night, he fell asleep on the couch, but wasn't comfortable there and struggled to get a goodnight sleep.  

Wednesday morning he showered, which took him and my mom nearly 2 1/2 hours, he ate a great breakfast, then mostly had a good day, but in the evening we had a bit of a scare.  He was feeling pretty poor in the early evening as we were getting dinner ready, then when it came time to go to the table for dinner, he was staggering over and even mom's help wasn't enough to steady him, it took both of us to get hime safely to his seat.   We started to wonder if the medication he was taking to keep his blood sugar from going too high had made it drop too much, so we gave him a fudgesicle to eat - that was about all he could stomach at the time anyway.  He ate it and right away started feeling much better.  He was able to eat a little dinner after that, but still not much.  We tried to get a hold of his doctor, but couldn't.  We decided that he should skip the medication for his blood sugar until we heard from the doctor.  Then we tried to get him into bed.  He had decided that he didn't want to sleep on the couch, and was determined to get into his bed.  The problem was that his bed is WAY too high for him to easily get into.   So it took both my mom and I the better part of 2 hours to get him settled into his bed.  Then my mom and I took shifts sleeping so that we could help him if he needed to get up in the night for any reason, since he was totally unable to get out of bed on his own.  

Thursday we finally heard from the doctor and had some travelling nurses come to check him out and try to figure out just what had happened.  They were really nice and he really liked them.  They ordered some tests and took some blood and gave some good advice.  Advice that my mom and I had been trying to tell him all along, but now that it's coming from a nurse, he believes it.  :)  We've had a hard time finding the balance between letting him take care of the things that he is stressing out about getting done and not letting him stress his body out.  He's having a hard time admitting that his body shouldn't be doing the things it usually does.  

Friday, I took a walk down to the donut shop to get some Kolaches and donut holes - every once in awhile, I wonder if I was just imagining how much better Texas donuts are - I wasn't.  They are just so much better than even the best donuts here.   My mom got in a Costco run and we got some thing set up around the house for my dad so that he can get some things done with out having to walk upstairs to do them, then it was time for me to pack and head to the airport.  

The flight back was long but easy.  I napped part of the time and hand a nice time chatting with the other people in my row for the last bit.  The kid next to me had recently joined the Marines and finished boot camp and the older gentleman on the end was an Army vet.  The Marine was a sweet kid and asked a lot of questions and told some of his story.  I got home around 8:15 and went in to give David a hug and kiss, then got an hour with Dan before he headed to the airport to take that same midnight flight down to Texas.  He arrived safely Saturday morning.  

Saturday was nuts here.  David had a primary party in the morning with his class.  He had a blast with his friends and teachers!  Anna and Evelyn had an Encore rehearsal in the morning to get ready for their concert on Sunday.  I had a water polo mini-tournament in the afternoon, then we all went to hang out in Portland area for a bit after.  It was a fun evening with friend and a fun time playing water polo - though I didn't play very well.  :(  

In the evening, the teenagers had a fireside while I got David and James to bed, then Evelyn got a ride home and Anna and Aaron met me at Tigard for open polo.  It was a fun group there and we had a blast - I was still playing poorly, but it was fun at least.  

Sunday was also busy.  Church was wonderful.  James had his temple and priesthood preview meeting - I can't believe he will be in young mens in less than a month.  After church, we had ward choir and stake choir, and I had a practice with some ladies for a musical number.  James and David went to the Provance's house for Frankie's birthday.  Then we went home for dinner and scriptures.  I had a fun time chatting with Eileen and crocheting for a bit - now I'm tired and it's time for bed!   

Dan says things are going well in Texas.  My dad is still having his ups and downs, but overall, the progress is upward.  I think having Dan there has been good for everyone's sanity, but I'll be glad to have him home!!!  

Thanksgiving

This week we headed out to Idaho for Thanksgiving.  Tuesday morning, we packed up and headed out east!  Weather and roads were good and we got in that evening and stopped by Gene and Ann's house for a bit before heading to the air bnb for the night.  

Wednesday, I headed out early to go pick up Eileen.  I got to her place around 1, and we packed her stuff into the car, then headed back to Meridian.  We stopped for a quick dinner at Chick-fil-a and got back in time for me to put David to bed.  While I was driving and getting Eileen, Dan and the kids had fun with Grandma and Grandpa.  They had fun at the park playing together.  

Thursday was full of cooking and eating yummy food!  John and Melissa and their kids were there and Sarah and Rob and their family were there and it was wonderful!  It was so fun getting to see them and hang out and play games with them all!  

Friday, we were still eating and recovering.  Dan and most of the kids went ice skating and had a blast.  David especially was in 7th heaven and was so proud of himself when he was able to go with out the skating helper thingy by the end!  Everyone came home sore and tired and blistered up, but they had fun!  

Eileen and Ann and I went out shopping.  Ann wanted to take Eileen out shopping for her birthday and I wanted to see if I could grab something I had forgotten.  I really hadn't packed socks or anything for ice skating, and didn't want to be in pain with blisters, so I was happy to spend the afternoon with Eileen and Ann!  

Saturday morning, we got Eileen on a bus back to Rexburg, and then we packed up and cleaned up and headed back to Oregon.  The trip went quickly, at least in part because I slept a large chunk of the way (I had not slept well on this bed!)  We got back in plenty of time to eat dinner and get kids to bed, then Anna, Aaron, Evelyn and I went to open polo!  After, I headed down to Sandi's to pick up Koopa and bring him home!  

Sunday we had a special Sacrament meeting where people could bear testimony of a hymn, then we would all sing one verse of the hymn.  It was wonderful!!  The spirit was there and it was beautiful!  I'm so grateful for sacred music!  The ward choir also performed and did a wonderful job!  

After, we had stake choir practice for the Christmas concert, then in the evening, Encore practice!  Lots of amazing music!  

That was all the wonderful parts of this week - family, food and fun!!  Unfortunatly, there were other parts that were less wonderful.  On Monday, my dad went in for a procecdure to try to figure out what was causing the burning in his chest.  They found several 98% blockages and admitted him to the hospital and scheduled him for multiple bypass open heart surgery.  As usual my mom didn't want to ask for help, but we felt that it would be a good idea, so we got me a ticket and I headed out on a midnight flight to Texas on Sunday night to help my mom with getting him home from the hospital and helping out with thing around the house.  

And Endings and Family and Friends

We've had a busy week.  My first full week as a lifeguard and it went great.  I'm certainly busier now, but I've been enjoying the work and enjoying the people I work with.  

Tuesday was a super fun eveing!  Sandi and I went out for my birthday!  She took me to a beginner West Coast Swing class!  Then we grabbed some quick food at a bar that was doing Karaoke, so we each sang a song.  Then we headed out to a socal dance.  James was DJing and I got to meet a bunch of Sandi's dance friends and dance and had a blast.  Everyone was super nice and patient with my limited ability.  Plus even when I wasn't dancing, it was a lot of fun to watch!  

Anna has been working hard with her friend to finish up a cosplay outfit that the two of them planned and executed on their own.  I'm amazed at how well it turned out!!  

The Fall Band concerts were this week.  Anna was helping out with the Concert Band, so all three kids were in the Wednesday night concert, then Anna also played with the wind ensemble on Thursday.  They all did an amzing job and I'm so glad that they have the opportunity for this amazing musical experience!  

Friday night was the Water Polo End of Year Banquet.  I spent most of Thurday evening working on the slide show for the banquet.  I think they enjoyed it - and I think the parents did too.  It was a lot of fun and I was actually able to hand out all the metro and letter awards this year!   James has been drooling over Anna's new snuggly ever since.  :)

After the banquet, Dan and I went out to meet with some of James and Sandi's friends for a farewell party for James who is heading out of town for a couple months to be with his brother who is sick.  It was fun since I had met the friends when I went out dancing with Sandi and Dan had met them playing games with them.  We had fun playing Dominion and getting trounced by James.  

Saturday, Eileen had a craft fair that she went to, she had been working hard to get things ready for the fair, but she was very disappointed with the number of sales she had.  :(   

The Boys had fun doing some yard work and raking up leaves.  David mostly just wanted to jump in them and Aaron was mostly just trying to be helpful - James fell somewhere in between :)  But they got a lot of work done and had fun enjoying the nice weather!  

Saturday afternoon - Dan, Aaron and I went to Parkrose to play polo - we had fun and there was a great turnout.  Full court, 6 on 6 and subs!  Plus Thea was there - they haven't been around for awhile so it was awesome to see them again!  

Saturday evening, Anna and Evelyn had an Encore social that they went to.  Aaron and I went to Open Polo.  

This weekend was also Stake Confrence.  Dan and I went to the evening adult session Saturday (so I was late to open polo) Then the older kids went to the youth session this morning.  Finally, the general session today.  I was directing the music and the choir.  The choir did amazingly well and it was wonderful!  The messages and music and everything were wonderful!   Plus it was so awesome to hear my arrangement performed!   

After, we headed home to finish getting things ready for our early Thanksgiving dinner.  Since we will be in Idaho for Thanksgiving, we still wanted to get together with Lisa and Sandi, and tonight was the day that worked best for everyone.  It was so great to get together and eat yummy food and talk and play games.  We played Hues and Cues.  Steven gave a set of clues that netted him 8 points - I think that's the best we've ever gotten!  

New Beginnings

So Monday morning, James headed for Outdoor school.  All the 6th graders get to have a week of school outside with cabins and learning and fun.  James had been a bix anxious the day before, but Monday morning, he got to meet one of the leaders at drop off and we knew right away that James would have a blast.  We missed having him around, but he was so excited and when he came back he told us all about the amazing time he had learning and playing and making friends.  He especially said how he missed his leaders! 

Tuesday, I started my new job.  The only jobs I've had in a long time are coaching jobs, so this was a big day.   I'm only working a few hours a day for 4 days a week.  I'm lifeguarding at THPRD.  Yes it's mostly a teenagers job, but they need some people during the school day to lifeguard the lap swim and the adult swim team Barracudas.  It's something to do and it's been fun so far!  Scanning a pool isn't really much different than scanning the playground to keep tabs on my kids.  Dan insisted on taking this "first day" picture of me on my way out.  :) 

Wednesday and Thurday were much the same - work and school and family and friends.  Now that the High School season is over, I'm back to playing with the Masters team again which has been nice.  Now that I'm working for THPRD, the whole family has access to free lap swim and open swim at the pools, So one night while I was at masters, Dan and Aaron came too and did laps for a bit.  Aaron was highly impressed with Dan's ability to move both backward and sideways while trying to flutter kick.  Dan and Aaron had fun together and Aaron was glad to get out and get some exercise.  

On Friday, the kids were off school for Vetrans' Day.  David and Evelyn went to one of Sister Shum's music camps and had a fun time with friends. 

In the evening, Dan and I headed down to Salem area to watch Seth in his High School Play.  They did Peter and the Starcatchers.  They all did an amazing job and we had a lot of fun.  Plus after, they let the audience come and take pictures on the set with cast members.  It was a lot of fun, plus Dan and I enjoyed a yummy dinner before the show!  

Saturday the older kids had a youth service project.  They did yard work for some people in the ward.  Then in the afternoon, we went to a wonderful baptism at the church.  I played piano for the musical number, and it was a really sweet experience.  After, Anna, Aaron, Dan and I headed out to Parkrose to play polo.  It's been fun having him come, and while he can't swim, he plays a decent shallow goalie.  The kids also really like getting to play with him.  Then back home for dinner and family time.  In the evening, I took Aaron and Evelyn to open polo and we had a blast.  There were a lot of Mountainside kids there too.  

Today has been crazy, but amazing!  We had church which included a youth musical number which I directed and Anna accompanied.  The talks were amazing!  Primary went well, and after lunch at home, I played with James and David for a bit.  Then we had ward and stake choir.  They sound amazing and it's been so fun to direct them!  After dinner, Anna and Evelyn and I headed to Encore practice, then I came home after the family part to play games with Sandi and James.