Christmas break pictures

Here are some pictures of the boys during their extended Christmas break...there aren't too many as we were all having too much fun to take pictures :)

An Idaho Christmas

Our Christmas break started a few days early. We had some massive winter storms come through so we had oodles of snow. The boys had a great time playing in the snow while I dreaded the roads and the travel that was going to happen.

We left a couple days early between storms...so we didn't get the house clean like I had hoped, but we did make it to Idaho safely so that's a good thing :) I had to drive as Tim was already in Idaho. Aaron and Brandon were great side seat helpers looking out for other cars on the side of the roads and other things. The younger boys were great at behaving while I was driving.

While we were in Idaho, we had some wonderful visits with friends and family. We have missed Idaho, but enjoyed the time we spent there this past two weeks. We were even able to house shop...look anyway as our hands are tied until we have a buyer for our house in Hermiston.

Christmas was simple but was so filled with loved ones. We had Christmas eve dinner with Kaylena and Richard Frates and some of their family...There were babies there so I was in heaven :) Tim worked Christmas day so we helped Grandma and Grandpa until dad came home from work, then we had our Christmas. Christmas night, we went to Higley's and Brissettes to play games. We spent a lot of time playing games and enjoying company.

New year's eve again was spent in Emmett with Higley's and Brissettes.

We were all sad to have to leave on New Year's day, but all the fun had to come to an end so we can get on with things and sell our house. We have several showings this weekend so we're working on cleaning the house more and getting it ready to show again :)

This Christmas was a truly blessed Christmas and will be remembered always. I shortened the details of what we did while in Idaho, but you get the point :) We look forward to reuniting with those friends and family soon.

A Most special Christmas memory

I know the title sounds a bit corny, but hey :) I wanted to share a Christmas memory from a very special Christmas past. Everytime I think of this certain special Christmas and the angels who helped to make it special...I start to cry....

A few years ago when we were in transition from New Plymouth to Hermiston, Tim was in Hermiston and I was in New Plymouth trying to sell the house. We had hoped to move together and not be apart, but Tim had the transfer before we sold the house :( Tim's transfer date was December 12th so there was no way that we could have Christmas with him.

I had dreaded Christmas that year and was not looking forward to the sadness that would come from being without my husband.

On Christmas eve, we had an angel drop something at our door. There, at the door, was a bucket FULL of Christmas cheer... We were SOOOOO excited... and yes I cried. Someone loved us so much that they wanted to share some cheer with us. In the bucket were some Christmas presents for each of us and some Christmas snacks.

I think about our present situation and remember the overwhelming feeling of love that came from that simple act that Christmas. I am encouraged by the generosity and love of that family and find strength in them.

There are many more Christmas memories, but this one particular memory is and always will be near and dear to my heart.

May we all find those Christmas memories and make many more. Merry Christmas!!!!

8 things

Okay, I said I would do this Monday, but now it's Friday.... So many things happening this week, life has escaped me.

Here's a fun tag... Thanks Ang for tagging me...I'll see how well I do :)

8 Favorite shows... when I had time to watch TV...
1. Biggest Loser
2. America's Got Talent
3. American idol
4. Deadliest Catch
5. Ace of Cakes (Duff is so good)
6. Cooking challenges with cakes
7. Next Design Star
8. Next Food Network star

8 things I did yesterday
1. Took the boys to school
2. Went to the store for stamps
3. Visited a friend at work
4. Delivered invites to my open house (anyone want to come)
5. Got Kyler from school
6. Cleaned the house for Tim to come home
7. Got the boys from school
8. Relaxed with the fam :)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Johnny Corinos (I miss that one)
2. Sweet Tomatoes
3. IHOP (great kids deals)
4. Great Wall of China buffet
5. Applebee's
6. Golden Corral
7. Chen's
8. Hallam's home cookin

8 things I look forward to...
1. MY HOUSE SELLING!!!! You knew that was coming huh :)
2. MOVING!!!!
3. Christmas
4. Moving :)
5. Getting an offer on my house
6. Moving somewhere that I can hold a baby since i can't have one ;)
7. Christmas break...we get to go to Idaho :) YAY!!!!!
8. Getting back to being more physical....great stress reliever :D

8 things on my wish list
1. Hello????/ My house selling SOON!!!! I love you guys in Hermiston, just want to be with my hubby again...not just the weekends
2. To loose more than 10 pounds
3. To have more time than I know what to do with so I can get EVERYTHING done that i want and need to get done
4. My boys would be overly nice to each other
5. To be able to get together with old friends from all over the US
6. To increase our family number by two little girls :)
7. The home that I have plans for on some land
8. To go on a couples mission with my honey

8 people I tag
Well, I can't tag Ang or Linda...hmmm...
1. Jennifer
2. Alisha
3. Melissa
4. Wennona
5. Jodi
6. Tressa
7. Shila
8. anyone else who wants to join the fun :)

Give Thanks

There is still so much to be grateful for. I taught in RS sunday. The lesson was on Pres. Eyrings' talk "Our Hearts Knit Together". The lesson went very well and I had a lot of participation and help. It was also my visiting teacher's last sunday as she is moving to Boise.

I never thought in a million years that I would ever have such a kinship with someone here, but I did, in the last two months that we've been here. I found another angel among us. She was going through similar situations as I have been going through at the same time. Her husband was away during the week working and home on the weekends. I'm so grateful that their prayers were answered and that their family can be together in Idaho now and have some peace in their lives.

I have been so blessed in my life to have such wonderful, sweet, caring friends who are so true and sincere that my heart is overflowing with thanks and love for each of them. Friends make the journey sweeter.

I was also reading the next talk for December's lesson....another good one. The bishopric has done a wonderful job in selecting these talks for the lessons each month. This next one is Pres. Uchtdorf's talk... "Infinite Power of Hope" How perfect is that for this time of year and this season in the worlds history? A few thoughts on Hope...... It comes as a three part blessing... faith, hope and charity.... They all work together to bring us closer to our Lord and Savior. Without Christ and His infinite atonement, we would have no hope of being with God again. Christ's atonement encompasses so much more than just a forgiveness of sins; it brings us hope of eternal life. That hope stirs us into action and following Christ's example and being charitable. We are on the Lord's errand in helping our brothers and sisters in this life to grow closer to our Savior.

No matter what our challenges in life we are never alone. We must not give up hope, but must forge onward and upward in our quest.

I am also so very grateful for MUSIC!!! The music that touches my heart and soul... it hits the spot for sure so many times. The Lord knows our needs and I'm so grateful for that :)

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. May your life be blessed with love and friends and all that is good.

One year ago

It's been a few days since I've blogged about gratitude. I want to share what I'm most grateful for this week :) A year ago, Brandon had another episode with his ITP and he was in the hospital for a few days...this time his platelet count was lower than it ever has been, even in the beginning....this time a year ago, Brandon's platelet count was below 1000. Before I share my gratitude, I will share what ITP is.

ITP or immune thrombocitopenic purpura (sp?) It is a disorder of the blood that is present when someone has luekemia and sometimes, just because. ITP is when the body fights against itself and the platelets. A normal person has between 150-240 thousand platelet count.. if a count goes down to 50 thousand or below, then hemoraghing can happen. When the platelet counts get that low, then brusing happens, in big dark bruises and/or little tiny pin pokes called petechia (sp). The treatment for ITP is expensive antibody treatments and a treatment called IVIG..immune something.... They are supposed to help raise the platelet levels in the body so the bruising goes away and healing begins.

When Brandon was in 3rd grade...2003/2004, he came home from school with some really bad bruising, which we thought he was getting from kids at school hitting him. Well, the school thought he was getting them from home...no one knew where the bruising was coming from. We took him to the dr. in Ontario and they suggested that it might be ITP...those dr.s are so amazing :) We had Brandon's blood tested and his platelet count was all the way down to 3000. The dr. called and suggested that we safely and carefully get him to St. Lukes to be checked out and get his counts back up.

In Boise, another dr. did some testing to see what they could figure out... nothing... they did a bone marrow test to check for luekemia...which thankfully he didn't have. After several months of expensive treatments that only worked for a few days, we had to put him on prednisone (steroid) and it got his levels up a bit higher, but still, he had to have constant blood tests every week or so.

For the past few years since the initial start of his ITP, we have been blessed with the wisdom to know what to do...two years ago, when Brandon had just started 5th grade, he had another episode where his count went down and he had to do the prednisone again. We decided to take him back to boise and check again...the dr.'s there said that they needed to remove his spleen... which is needed for proper immune function. I didn't feel comfortable with this idea, so we decided to see a kineseologist. We went to Emmett to see the one there and she did some muscle testing on his body to see what was wrong... AMAZING!!!! His left tendon in his foot was twisted all the way up his spine, limiting his spleen. She put his body back in the proper place. We saw some amazing transformations at that time :D WOW!!!!!

Since then, Brandon has only had one episode requiring hospitalization which was last year. So far, this year, he has been healthy and had no bruising...we're keeping our fingers crossed.

At the same time Brandon was in the hospital last year, we had another incident where I had Aaron watch Kyler while I took Josh and Dallin and went to relieve Tim at the hospital. It was Thanksgiving day so I put the turkey in and woke aaron up to watch Kyler and make sure he was safe. When I got to the hospital, I called to see if aaron was basting the turkey...the police answered my phone.. I WAS SHOCKED!!! Kyler had woken up and Aaron went back to sleep :( Kyler thought I had taken Dallin and Josh to the school, so he decided to go up to the school to find me. Well, I wasn't there and thankfully that whole ordeal ended peacefully with my baby back with me and our family back together.

So, the things I'm grateful for this week are my family's safety. Brandon's health. The wisdom we were blessed with to know what to do for him and his health... and I'm grateful for the kineseologist who knew what to do for Brandon and knew how to teach us about the body. I'm also grateful for good insurance to take care of expensive hospital costs :)

Remember your blessings and be grateful for them :) Tell your family you love them and appreciate them. Cherish the time you have right now...don't wait :D

More reflections of Gratitude

These past few days has been an emotional roller coaster... so many things have happened in the past 72 hours and I'm not going to speak of them, but I am going to share the things I'm grateful for.

I am so very grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. I have felt bouyed up by His love and concern for me as I've gone through the trials of the last few days. These trials, I know will make me stronger....which leads me to my next thing of gratitude.

I'm grateful for the wisdom and knowledge that our trials are ours to help us grow and learn. Sometimes they are to help others as well.

I'm grateful for my integrity and for my YW leaders when I was younger for teaching me about integrity.


Here's a shocker...but I am grateful that I can have the opportunity to teach the RS lesson next week...the conference talk, i'm teaching on is Pres. Eyring's sunday morning talk... Our Hearts Knit as One... it is a MUST read...again and again... It is about unity and helping others and much more... read it and share your thoughts with me PLEASE :) I would love to have some more insight for my lesson next week.

Today, while we were in Tri-cities to take care of Aaron's clarinet and have it serviced, we stopped by the book store to get a Conference ensign... I found several books that I've added to my mental wish list :) I am taking a great liking to books and have enjoyed reading. One book that I bought was on the same idea of Pres. Eyring's talk of unity.. .I started reading it on the way home...so far it's a great read :) I'll post the title of it later as I can't remember what it is right now.
I know that I've said this before but I want to share it again as I dont feel that it could ever be said enough. I am so grateful for all of my dear friends and family who have been praying for our family and who have stood by us through so much trial and joy :) I love you all and pray that you're all enjoying November.

Reflections day 11

I'm grateful for family vacations and family reunions. I love the places we go and the people we see :) We've been so blessed this year to be able to go to Idaho several times...to go camping/cabining at Emmigrant springs state park. To spend almost three weeks on the oregon coast and see so many things and spend time with some dear friends. We've seen so many amazing wonders and enjoyed the family time immensly. Those memories will forever be with me.
We may not have gone on any expensive fancy vacation, but that's not what it's all about..it's about spending time with family and making memories. Those memories will help us get through the tough times that life throws at us.

Reflections of gratitude

Day number 10 :) I'm grateful for the temples that are dotting the earth.

I'm so excited about the new temples that were anounced in conference..especially the one in Philly... I MUST make plans to go see that one...

I'm anxious to see exactly where near Philly it's going to be...can't wait.

It's so exciting to be a part of this amazing church history in the making.

It's such a blessing to live close to the temple and be able to attend. We haven't been able to go as much as we would like to have gone. We also can't wait until we can be in Idaho so that we can go more often...when the boys are all in school :D

Reflections of Gratitude

It's November now,,... we have a wonderful tradition in our family in November to reflect at the past year and look at the things we are grateful for. Each day one person in the family shares something they're grateful for. I'm going to do that on here to share with all of you some of the things I'm most grateful for :)

1. I'm grateful for my sweet husband of 15 yrs. He brings me so much joy and laughter. We've shared some tough times, but we've also had some wonderful times.

2. I'm grateful for my handsome boys. They are a handful, but they are good kids. I love each one of them and their talents. 3.Speaking of talents. I'm grateful that the Lord has blessed me with some wonderful talents that I can use to help and lift others :D
4. I'm grateful for my sight.... that one is taken for granted by so many... however, when I was young, I was told that I would be blind by the time I was 8.... each day I'm grateful for my sight. I thank my Heavenly Father each time I am blessed to see the ocean waves, the stars in the sky and even when I see my children smile and play.5. I'm grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and for His love and sacrafice for me.
6. I'm grateful that I'm a daughter of God and to feel His love for me. I am comforted to know that He feels my pains and knows my potential and has so much in store for me and my family.

7. I'm grateful for my birthday...which happens to come in November :) and for my parents who love me and have taught me.

8. I'm grateful for dear sweet special friends. I have been richly blessed with them...my quiver is full of dear friends all over the country.

9. With those friends... I'm grateful for the technology we have been blessed with to be able to keep in touch with so many of our dear friends and families.

Today is the 9th so I will post something I'm grateful for each day this month until Thanksgiving. :)

I love this time of year and pray that all of you reading will take the time to look at your blessings the Lord has blessed you with this year :)