Merry Merry Christmas!

Well, we are late in mailing out our Christmas cards, but we do have quite a few addressed and ready to go. I thought I would post our Christmas letter for everyone to enjoy. Hope the holidays bring you much joy!!

2009 has brought many changes to our home. Our littlest one, Sean, celebrated his first birthday this October. Ira, 5, has begun kindergarten. Emma, 3, is still our little princess and comedian.

Sean is a delight and a little handful! He enjoys playing patty-cake and peek-a-boo. He recently has perfected his “bye-bye” wave. He also loves to ride on Ira’s lap while Ira drives his motorized play tractor. No steering wheel goes untouched by Sean. We sometimes have to pry those little fingers away, much to his dismay!

Emma is our little doll. She loves to be goofy and silly. You never know what she will say next. Recently, she and Ira attended a winter activity at Ira’s school in which a “Santa” appeared to talk with the children. When she came home, I asked her if she met Santa. She looked up at me with her big, blue eyes and said, “That wasn’t really Santa, it was a teacher.” I asked her how she knew it was not Santa and innocently, she replied, “He didn’t say HO-HO-HO!” Currently, Emma’s favorite things are stickers and purses. And she never tires of crafts.

Ira has begun kindergarten. The first two weeks were difficult. The excitement was over by the first day or two and he was ready to stay home. Thankfully he is now fully enjoying kindergarten. Much of the credit has to go to his amazing kindergarten teacher Mrs. L*. He often comes home singing and dancing. He has learned so much in such a short period of time!

In fact, he loves kindergarten so much he says that when he “grows up to be a daddy” he wants to be a teacher and teach 5 year olds all the fun things his teacher is teaching him! Ira still has a crazy, amazing imagination and is always inventing new games and stories. He eagerly listens to Magic Tree House and Magic School Bus books as they are read to him. He also looks forward to continuing with school so he can learn how to build robots! His current favorite toy is Bakugan Brawlers—little balls that when rolled onto a magnetic card transform into robotic forms.

We have enjoyed our experience in the high desert and in our (relatively) new home. It's hard to believe it has been just over 2 years since we moved! We have lots of room to play (and lots of toys to fill up the room).

We hope that you and yours look forward to a bright New Year! Merry Christmas!!

Dinosaurs, Dragons, and Thumbelina's--Oh My!

More than a month has passed since Halloween, but better late than never! Halloween festivities were a little crazy given the changes in our home. We tried to make sure the kids had their usual favorite activity: pumpkin carving.

Unfortunately we could not find our camera, so we resorted to using Mark's cell camera for pictures. The best shot we got of the three oldest digging into their pumpkins is blurry, but I'll post it anyway. At first we were going to carve on the kitchen table, but then Mark suggested we carve in the foyer so Sean could get in on the action. Sean had a great time. Even Brandon sat nearby for a little while.

I was the designated "pumpkin artist", drawing the pumpkin faces according to specifications. Ira's pumpkin was to have "evil eyes" and "vampire teeth". Emma wanted "pretty eyes" and a "happy mouth with teeth". I kind of winged it when it came to my niece's pumpkin since she doesn't talk much yet.





Ira was able to wear his Halloween costume to school for a Halloween parade. I also sprayed his hair green and spiked it. He LOVED the green hair (don't go getting any crazy ideas, my son!). I put him in a green shirt under his costume, and I think he loved the fact that his hair matched his shirt. Fun times!


As far as costumes go, Ira was a dinosaur. Emma and my niece were Thumbelina. Sean was a dragon. I went far and wide to get Ira's costume. We actually lucked out when I found it in Mission Viejo on our little vacation the beginning of October. It had sold out online and in the local stores (Children's Place). I had all but given up hope of finding it.

For Halloween, we attended the annual "Trunk or Treat" at the church building. If you are not familiar with "trunk or treat" it is when you walk from car trunk to car trunk collecting treats from those with their trunk open. Some trunks are even decked out Halloween style. I usually decorate our trunk, but not this year. Mark had to work so it was a little crazy. The kids got a boat load of candy and everyone was happy. Even my niece warmed up to the idea when she realized people were giving her candy. Ira and Emma really enjoyed the "reading tent". Inside a man was reading children Halloween stories. I think they could have stayed there all night listening!

Times They Are A'Changin'

A lot has happened since my last post. I never got around to writing about the Discovery shuttle landing or Ira and Emma's fun with soccer. I also need to post pictures of our last vacation to San Diego and Mission Viejo, Sean's first birthday, and Halloween. I will try to get to those postings very soon.

But life has fundamentally changed for our little family. We have grown by 2 persons. My niece and nephew have come to stay with us. We do not know how long this stay will be. I am the first to admit that this has been the roughest 3 weeks of my life. My niece is 2 and nephew 7 mos. Add to my children, ages 5, 3, and 1, and you get some major crazy! All the children have had to make major adjustments--especially my little niece. This has not been an easy transition for her.

But every time things get hard someone or something comes to my rescue and things are made bearable again. I have to thank my dear friends and family for their impromptu visits and meals. Just today, I was pulling out my cookbook to get a recipe for dinner tonight when my mother-in-law called to say she was bringing over dinner if I hadn't started something yet.

The roughest night was the day after we picked up the kids. Ira and Emma had a stomach bug that week. I thought I was managing okay. I took care of the four youngest while my mom took Ira to soccer practice. I bathed the little ones and had them dressed for bed by the time Ira and my mom returned home a little after 7pm. As Ira and my mother were eating, my niece who had been laying on a recliner suddenly sat up and started to throw up. Being two, she got up and started to throw up on the floor, around the sofa table and then on me while I was nursing Sean. My little bubble of thinking, "hey I have the hang of this" completely burst.

Mark was at work. I called him sobbing and told him I didn't think I could handle another night. He was far from the office and it would take at least an hour before he could come home. I got off the phone dejected. And then I got to work. Took off my soaked pants. Got out the vacuum, mop, and vinegar spray. I cleaned the couch I was on, the tile floor by the sofa table, and vacuumed the "chunks" in the carpet and on the recliner before I had to stop and finish Sean's nursing.

As I was sitting there, feeling awful and wondering how in the world I could have agreed to this arrangement, the doorbell rang. There were two angels there ready to help! They cleared the dinner dishes and swept the kitchen floor. They were awesome.

Then another angel appeared and gave my niece another bath and held her for quite awhile. Taking care of her when she got sick again and again.

My own little angel, Ira, got towels out when my niece first got sick and then laid towels on her bed in case she got sick again (without being asked).

And she did get sick again--several times over. As I was talking to one of my friends I realized that I didn't feel so good. I ran to the sink and started my night of vomiting too. Mark got home about 2 hours after I first called him so he stayed up the night with my niece and I was able to get some sleep (interrupted a few times by the vomiting).

Thankfully we haven't had too many nights as bad as that one. And the bad nights we have had, I've been able to cope fairly well. I studied mathematics in college. I like order. Mathematics is all about order (and logic). I've been searching for the order in the chaos that is our new life and have found it in varying degrees. It will be a continual process as things will undoubtedly change with time. I feel the Lord is helping me every step of the way. He is strengthening my weaknesses. I am ever grateful to Him and to my dear angels he has placed here to help me along this journey.

Living Water

There are other posts on their way, but I wanted to write this down while it is still fresh in my mind. I am always amazed at the innocent, thoughtful questions my children pose to me. Often, they are the ones that open my eyes and increase my understanding of things temporal and spiritual.

Yesterday, Mark and I were getting our children ready for bed. They had brushed their teeth and undressed for a quick shower before bed. Just as we piled Ira and Emma in the shower, the water came to a halt. Mark and I looked at each other and began to survey what could have caused the water to go out. We tried the bathtub, bathroom faucets, the kitchen faucet--no water. Mark went across the street to a neighbor--no water. He went to the neighbor next door--no water there either. He made a phone call to his parents and they had water, so we knew the water break was not extremely widespread.

As this was going on, I began to get Ira and Emma dressed for bed. Ira was a bit bewildered by all the activity and the loss of water. He said to me, in a bit of a panic, "We have to have water! When will we have water again?" I soothed him and explained that even if it took a few days to fix whatever break there was in the pipes, we would be okay. We would be okay because we have three large barrels of water in our shed outside. I told him that Heavenly Father taught us to be prepared and to store some things like water in case there is an emergency. Ira rested a little easier, but then another thought came: "What about our neighbors? They need water too!"

This question made me pause for a moment. What about our neighbors? I assured him that they will probably be able to get water, but if they are in need, we have enough to help them too. After I said this, Ira smiled and said, "Thank you mommy, I love you."

What about our neighbors? I can help them temporally if there is an emergency because I have supplies. I would willingly share my water with them. But what about the living water that I get to enjoy but many of my neighbors are lacking? Do I share that with them?

I think about what Ira said a few months ago when one of Ira's pals at church was gone for a few weeks due to sickness. When we told him she may not be back at church yet he exclaimed, "But how will she know about Jesus if she doesn't go to church?" His sweet, tender testimony touched my heart. Now it resonates even stronger after this new experience.

I would not say that I am a great missionary. I don't go over to my neighbors homes and invite them to worship with my family or attend church functions. Our neighbors know about our faith, we are very open about our faith and I am always willing to answer questions others pose about our faith. But sometimes I feel that I do not do enough to share the living water I enjoy on a daily basis. I hope that this experience with my son will help me realize how important it is to share the gospel as there are many thirsting for answers and I would be ashamed to withhold water from someone in need of a drink.