Happy March!!

Been a busy couple of weeks...

Brett has finished driver's ed and now just has to wait 3.5 more months to get his official license. We also have about 46 more hours of practice driving. It has gotten a little less nerve wracking, just a little. He started track this week. This is the first year trying track and so far he's enjoying the practices. He would like to do sprints so is training with that group, which includes hurdles.

Erin enjoys spending time in the kitchen and has helped me make several types of cake pops lately as well as some peanut butter brownies. We are trying different recipes trying to find the perfect one to make for a church dinner in a couple of weeks.

Kehli is gearing up for a dance recital this spring. She is quite flexible and enjoys her Jazz Funk class. She is registered to start Girls on the Run on Monday and is looking forward to Brett being her running buddy for the 5K at the end of the program.

Kendall is also signed up for GOTR and I will be her running buddy for the race. We have a ways to go to get her ready for that!

Evan misses his preschool in Utah and still asks me to take him back so he can learn more Spanish. He will get tested next week to be admitted to the Dual Language program for Kindergarten this fall.

Adam is spoiled rotten...need I say more? He's starting to talk more and the other kids love to show him off after they teach him something new.

Mark is busy at work. I am busy playing taxi driver. We are just about ready to start building another house. We are done with the bids and could go to the bank as soon as we get the okay from the city. Mark spoke to the city planner today to see where they were on the water boosting project. Permit should be issued next week to put in the pump station. It looks like we need to wait another 3-4 weeks before approaching the building department about starting to build and possibly getting our permit amended so we don't have to install fire sprinklers. It's hard to be patient, but hopefully it won't be too much longer and we can be in by the end of the year. Fingers crossed!!

Update on Luke: he is doing amazingly well considering the accident he had. He is beginning to move and say words. He remembers things, but nothing of the accident. He is off the ventilator, but his lungs need to continue healing and he will be in the ICU for at least another 2 weeks. I am on a committee that is organizing a fundraiser for Luke. It is wonderful to have something to do that will help. Up to this point we haven't been able to do much of anything, physically anyways. It will be held on March 24 and will be a spaghetti dinner, bake sale and silent auction. I am in charge of the silent auction so if there is anything that you want to donate for that let me know!

Luke Durst

We have been having a few days of serious reflection. A family from church is going through an unimaginable situation right now. Their 5-year-old son fell out of their bonus room window (25 feet up) onto their concrete driveway. He is doing well considering the accident, but certainly isn't out of the woods yet. It has been a good experience to talk to our children about it and the power of fasting and prayer. Today was the first time that our children have fasted on a day other than Sunday. We all anxiously wait for the text message telling us that there is an update from the hospital. We wish there were more than two each day, but are grateful for modern technology that keeps up up to date on his situation and progress. It is wonderful to hear the faith of a child as Evan prays for his friend that, "his broken head will get better and Luke will not die." He says it so sincerely. As a mother I can't imagine the emotional stress of it all and I have been hugging my kids just a little tighter each day. We continue to pray for the Durst family and the doctors that are watching over little Luke.

It's February already??

Wow, this year is cruising by faster than usual. I realized it may be because I am mentally blocking out most of my days in this apartment. The only thing that bothers me is the noise level. I know that one day I will miss the noise (Mark's mom tells me this), but for right now I wish the volume was turned down just a little! Everyone is adjusting just fine and I am grateful for how quickly we can have the whole place spotless. The down side to that is as soon as Adam carries 2 toys from the bedroom to the family room it looks like we haven't picked up for days. Oh well!!

This last month I have been very grateful for my vacuum sealer. I am able to buy quality meat in bulk at a great price and repackage it into family size portions. It is so worth the time and effort so we can enjoy good dinners. Next time we get chicken I will put less pieces in the bags because I have found that there are too many leftovers. I am also surprised how much I can get into our shoebox size freezer. I got 20 pounds of hamburger and 40 pounds of chicken. I had to put 6-7 bags of chicken in a friends freezer, but everything else fit.

Brett is doing well with Driver's Ed. He has drive #3 today which will include parallel parking...I guess we should have practiced. He is happy to tell us when we do something "illegal" like when Mark doesn't signal early enough (5 seconds before you change lanes - really???) or when I don't hold the steering wheel with two hands. Mark has yet to ride in the car while Brett drives. I guess that will come with time. He has signed up for Track, which starts in a week and a half. He's never done it before, but wants to run sprints. We got Brett registered for EFY this summer. He will go the last Monday in July in Provo. I know it will be a good experience.

Erin is finally growing a little bit, although we are sure she will be our shortest child. Her feet are as big as mine, and much to her dismay, I'm not too good at sharing my shoes. She is looking forward to turning 14 so she can attend the Youth dances.

Kehli is enjoying her Jazz Funk dance class. She can really move that body! Her DARE essay was chosen from her class to read at the graduation ceremony, but she declined because she was too scared to read it in front of the whole school. That made me sad, but she's getting better with her shyness. It has taken years for her to go to dance class because she didn't want anyone watching her. We really try to help with her self confidence.

Kendall wants to do Girls on the Run this spring. It will be good for her. She's a crazy girl!!

Evan is happy to be back with Teacher Michelle, but misses his friends at McKee in Salt Lake City. He will be happy to be back in Spanish learning next year and I'm sure will be very "helpful" there. We attend the Kindergarten meeting next week and he will be tested for the Dual Language program soon.

Adam has turned from my sweet little baby to my little busy boy. He's like a little tornado, leaving a disaster where ever he goes. He and Evan play good together and he is patient with all the kids when they want to tote him around still. He LOVES dogs and pretends to be one often.

Mark is busy with work and we are grateful for his job that provides for our family. We are finishing up house bids and will call the city next month to see if they are willing to work with us on the fire sprinkler issue. If not, we won't start building until this summer. I'm trying not to think about having to wait!!

Ready to grow up?

This week has been one of reflection on accepting that I am no longer 29. It has been many years (9 to be exact) that I have been telling people that I am 29. I think I actually believed it myself. A few things this week have made me realize that I am getting older and that I just need to embrace it.

*Brett started drivers ed. This has been an experience for Mark and I. The day after Brett got his learners permit Mark agreed to take him to a church parking lot right next to our apartment to practice. A couple of days later I let him drive to pick up the girls from school. That was the first time he had driven on the road and I think I grew a few new gray hairs that day. But that's how I learned to drive...by just getting behind the wheel and going. Mark still isn't ready to be in the passenger seat while Brett drives, but I think he's actually doing pretty well on the roads. Parking lots are a different story though.

*We had to go to a parent informational meeting for Kehli to begin middle school. The dual language program is only in its second year at the middle school level and they needed an idea of how many families were willing to commit to another year in the program. So next year we will have two kids in high school, one in middle and two in elementary. CRAZY!!!! So grateful to still have spoiled little Adam at home to keep me company during the days.

*It's been since November that I've had time to get my hair done. Every morning I see more andmore gray hair. I have accepted that my hair is turning colors although I will not discontinue coloring it. I have a two year old. I'm not dropping him off at Kindergarten in a few years only to have the other kids ask, "Is that your grandma?" Accepting my gray hair will have to come another year, probably 20 or so down the road. That's okay, right?

*20 year high school reunion this summer...REALLY?! I totally feel like I just graduated and moved on to college not too long ago. How is it possible that it's been 20 years already? This has blown my mind this week as I see posts on facebook about planning the reunion. I hope I am able to go and see "old" friends. I'm sure at least some of them feel the same way about growing up.

I know I will look back one day and regret "missing" my 30's. So many wonderful things have happened the last few years and I don't want them to be a blur just because I am too vain to accept getting older. I want to associate all the blessings that have come to me and our family at the appropriate time they happened in my life. So come July I hope to be able to admit that I am turning thirty-something. It's a good thing I have a few more months to practice saying the real number because as I write this it's still difficult.

Life's Update

We are so happy to be back in Kennewick even if we are living like sardines in an apartment! It's not too bad but does get quite loud sometimes. I'm sure the neighbors are already asking the manager how long we are going to be here. The kids are getting along better than I expected. And it's easy to keep an eye on the little boys so that is always a plus!

We have started getting bids for the new house. It is actually going quicker this time because Mark can email the construction drawings and get replies back the same way. It is so much faster than driving around delivering prints then having to back a few days later to take them to another business. It looks like we will wait a few extra months to start building though because there are issues with the water pressure on our lot. The neighborhood where we are going to build was annexed into the city of Richland, although our kids will still go to Kennewick school district and the city limits are right across the street. The problem is that their psi for water is different and not up to code for Richland. So, we either have to pay for fire sprinklers to be installed inside the house ($$$$) or wait until the system is updated. We are choosing the latter. We are told that it is supposed to be complete by May but the City Planner thinks July is a more realistic date. If we go in to get a building permit before the system is updated we have to install sprinklers even if our occupancy date is after it is complete. Kind of silly. We asked if we could get our permit ammended if we are still building when the system is updated and they said that no one had ever asked that before. So, hopefully they will work with us. It's so silly to waste that money that we will never be able to recover in resale. If the city is nice we hope to start by March 1, but it looks like it may be later in the spring. Keeping our fingers crossed it is sooner rather than later!

Here is the kids new favorite play place because playing hide and seek in 1300 square feet of space isn't always easy. They even make Adam's bed in there so he can snuggle with his stuffed animals. Whatever makes them happy!!

Grateful for the small things

Last November I had the opportunity to go to Time Out For Women in Salt Lake City. We were given a small, leather bound notebook and I am using mine as a "Gratitude Journal." I have done this in the past, but hope to make writing in it a permanent habit instead of just having a few entries. I want my children and their children to know how grateful I am for all of my many blessings - no matter how large or small they are.

I have committed to recognizing the small things in life that make me happy. Some of them may seem silly, but they make me happy non-the-less. Here is one of them with an explanation following:

I have always liked cereal, but have never enjoyed eating it. When I was young my mom made us drink every drop of milk in our bowl when the cereal was gone. That made me want to barf so I rarely chose to eat it for breakfast. I also HATE, HATE, HATE soggy cereal. So when I do eat cereal I have to add a handful of dry cereal to the top of my bowl with a small amount of milk at the bottom, being very careful to not mix the two until I am ready to take a bite. The kids know to not bother me if I have milk in my bowl because if I had to set it down the cereal on the bottom of the pile would become soggy and therefore uneatable. For Christmas Mark's brother, Brad, gave me this fabulous bowl. Eating cereal has never been so enjoyable!!! I don't even have to hold the bowl up so if I am interrupted by an "emergency" my breakfast isn't ruined. This is one of those small things in life that make me happy and therefore I am grateful for it.

2 1/2 years already?

WOW!! I can't believe that it has been 2 1/2 years since I last blogged. So much has happened that there is no way I could catch up on what was missed. So I will just add photos from 2011 as a year-in-review. They are not in order because I am too lazy to rearrange them. I will try to do better for this coming year! Enjoy:

Kendall turned 8 in May and was lucky enough to have cousins visiting WA for her baptism. In June Brett participated in his first Pioneer Trek.

Adam enjoying the sprinklers at Lagoon.

Bingham Copper Mine

visit from the Birch's

Utah's Hogle Zoo

Halloween

our house we sold in Kennewick :-(

where we lived in Salt Lake City

funny faces before the Orioles game

PG County (white) girls!

Washington, D.C. Temple

U.S. Postal Museum

fun with the Kelley's

National Zoo

Mark & Adam walking on the Mall after the trip up the Washington Monument

in front of the White House

Heath girls

Virginia Beach

American History Museum - Spring Break trip back east

Easter

Evan played on his first T-ball team in the spring

Christmas jammies