The Erickson Family

Oh brother.

2011-06-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

Conversation between Tatum (4) and I while Grant was in the bath.

Tatum: Can you get him out so I can dump the water from his tub?

Me: Just a sec, I need to wash his bum and penis.

T: It's called a weenie, mom.

Me: Oh really? Who told you that?

T: Hannah. (her cousin, 3)

Me: Hmmm. Why was she talking about weenies?

T: Because Colby has one. (Hannah's brother, 1)

Me: Oh. Well, where was Colby?

T: Taking a nap at Grandma's house. We were upstairs in Grandma's bathroom.

Me: .......

Yikes.

From BABY girl to BIG girl :(((

2011-06-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

------>>>>>>>>

My baby girl is growing up! :((( She is my only girl that doesn't have her ears pierced. I have never let any of their hair get this long before the first trim. I don't want her to grow up! But, since I haven't invented that time stopping machine, I guess I will have to let her.

Before

During

After

She was a little freaked out by holding her hair at first.

Oh my gosh, she looks so much like Megan!!

Oils

2011-06-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Will, Grant and I flew to Kansas City, MO to see my brother, Ross, graduate from medical school (KCUMB).

It was so much fun to go and see family.

My sister, Megan lives in St. George, KS (near Manhattan, KS).

They are only about 2 hours apart from each other.

Chelsea, Hannah, Colby, my parents and us all flew out there on the same flight and Paula flew out at the same time from Vegas.

We flew into Kansas City, MO and then drove to Megans in a rental and Ross and Lindsay's other car.

We got to stay with Megan for 2 nights in her house and explore her cute little town.

My favorite part was going to the Friendship House and getting their home made breads and cinnamon rolls!

If it weren't for the scary tornado's that would be a really great place to live!

We headed back to Kansas City where we met up with Jay, Mike and Jackie at Ross and Lindsay's. Dad, Mom, Mike, Jackie, Megan, Adalyn, Ellie, Claire, Paula, Will, Grant and I shared 2 hotel rooms (yeah, it was a little crazy).

Jay, Chelsea, Hannah and Colby stayed with Ross, Lindsay, Braden and Cashel at their little apartment.

It was such a blast to hang out with everyone.

There is always a lot of laughing involved!

It sure does make it nice that all of can easily laugh at ourselves.

It makes the teasing a lot more fun!!

Ross's graduation was on Saturday morning and was such a great commencement ceremony!

I am very proud of Ross (and Lindsay, too) for making it through this difficult time of schooling.

On Sunday, we visited Liberty Jail visitor's center and went to Independence, Mo. Liberty Jail was very moving.

Independence was also very interesting!

On Monday, we went to Far West, MO and Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Those were both very spiritual experiences.

Will and I both really want to go back again and spend a little more time.

At around 4 am on the Saturday morning,

Grant fussed and so I fed him and went back

to sleep, when we got up to get ready for the

graduation, he would not nurse at all.

He hadn't been feeling well since we flew out.

In fact, he had projectile vomited all over

Will the morning we flew out (around 4 am)

and then again on the plane. He had a fever too,

poor guy.

He didn't nurse that day for hours.

I don't think he ever fully nursed that

day or the next day. I was so engorged

on Saturday night that I had to hand

express, since I didn't take my pump.

That was not fun. I did that several times

on Sunday and a couple times Monday.

He just did not want to nurse. He did

eat some baby food throughout the day and

would snack on cheerios, but that's it.

By the time we flew out on Monday night,

I was so uncomfortable and one spot

was starting to burn on the right side.

As soon as we got home around 10 pm,

I pumped a full 16 ounces!

But the burning only intensified.

The next morning my skin was red and

hot to the touch and swollen in that

spot. Grant was still not wanting to

consistently nurse, so I pumped each

time I tried feeding him. He didn't really

want to take a bottle either.

That day, I rubbed 1 drop of my doTerra 100% CPTG Melaleuca oil on the red spot. A website I looked at recommended Melaleuca for Mastitis. I really did not want to have to go to the dr and get an antibiotic, but it did not look promising. That night, I rubbed it again with 1 drop.

I was planning to do it again on Wednesday morning, but when I woke up, the redness was almost completely gone and so was the swelling. It was still a little tender, but not as bad as it had been. I decided not to use the oil and see what happened. By that night, it was completely back to normal in looks and only minutely tender in that spot AND Grant nursed for a complete session!!!

By Thursday, my skin was completely healed and no pain at all!!! I am so totally convinced. I love my doTerra oils!

(If you want to learn more, visit my doTerra store page. If you want to buy some oil at wholesale prices, let me know!)

JA Biztown

2011-05-04T19:49:00.001-07:00

On Monday, Will and I volunteered to help out with the 5th Grade JA Biztown field trip. It is SO cool! The kids prepare for weeks ahead of time learning how to keep a check book and interviewing for the job they want, etc. They even hold elections for the town mayor and for the news anchor. Mariah ran for news anchor of BZTV against 10 of her classmates and was the campaign manager for her friend that ran for mayor. Neither of them were elected, but they had so much fun making signs and things! Mariah ended up scoring her 2nd choice job as camera operator at BZTV!

The town consists of 19 businesses that are sponsored by businesses in the area. I oversaw the Best Buy in town and Will oversaw Intel. Each of the kids had to open their Key Bank checking and savings accounts and manage their own money.

Each student had their own job. Each business had a CEO and CFO and they had responsibilities all laid out for them. The kids earned a salary and got paid twice during the day. They were given 2 break periods where they could use their JA bucks to purchase items from the stores in town. There was also a little cafe that they could purchase a cup of soda or popcorn/chips all run by the students!

Best Buy sold small electronic things like light wands, calculators and light up jewelry. The kids could buy things to take home from NW Sports store, like a full size basketball, soccer ball, etc. They also had water bottles and things. There was also an Animal Shelter where you could adopt a "pet" that you got to keep. (Stuffed, of course.) Mariah bought a virtual pet from Best Buy and then bought a soda on each break.

It was such a fun day and all the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. During Mariah's first break, we were eating (the lunches we brought with us) at the cafe and this boy comes to the counter and orders his soda and then turns toward us and says "This is SO COOL! Kinda like a birthday party....only 500 times BETTER!!!"

Mariah's 5th Grade class with her teacher, Miss Cuddy. Mariah and BF's Svetlana and then Alex

The mayor giving a speech at the opening town meeting

Young Women in Action

2011-05-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Mariah's school started up the annual YW in Action club. They are about "empowering young women to realize their full potential in all aspects of life".

Today they got to take an after school field trip to a local cosmetology school where they each got their hair styled by a student. Then the school gave each girl a "swag bag". It had lots of free stuff in there to encourage personal hygiene, etc. I was really surprised and so grateful for those that took the time to put all of this together. These 5th graders need some encouragement!

ok, just one teaser

2011-05-03T22:57:00.001-07:00

Maybe I'll get it sent out one of these years!

To blog or not to blog....

2011-05-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

I went through a really weird time during my pregnancy with Grant. I don't know how to explain it without writing a novel, but I have been feeling much more like myself over the last month or so and have been getting the itch to blog again.

With my type A personality, I have the urge to go back and play catch up, but I have convinced the inner me to let it go and start from today and go forward. I am not making any promises, but here goes.... (ok, maybe tomorrow. It's late and I'm tired. LOL!)

Roxelle

2010-08-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Roxelle has the most unique sounding "baby voice". She is actually kind of low register monotone most of the time. And she RARELY shows any emotion or influx in her voice when she speaks. She is very straight forward. Her words get mixed up, but she says things so pointedly and looks right at you like you should know exactly what she's talking about.
We just have the following "conversation":

(all the kids are outside) Roxelle saunters in the back door (in her pigeon-toed stride), by herself, without shoes, with Brinlee's pink and black plaid painters hat on, backwards. Snot crusted up and down her face. She says something unintelligible, but I take the fact that she came in by herself to mean that she needs to go potty.

I was listening to voicemail on speakerphone and she asks:

"Who dat?"

me: "..."

R: "MOM. Who dat?"

me: "a message"

R: "Oh... I go aaside (outside)"

And she goes to the door, so I follow.

She starts to walk out the garage without shoes.

me: "Hey, you need shoes."

R: "O-goss." (Oh gosh)

I put on her shoes.

me: "Where's Brinlee?"

R: "Oh. Bimbee up-ee da hill."

She says as she saunters (deliberately swinging one arm faster than the other) out of the garage.

Me watching amused.

R: "See-ya mom"

I follow her quietly to see where she's going because I don't hear the other kids. She saunters (arm still going) to the end of the driveway before she realizes that I'm several feet behind her. She turns around and says:

"What, mom?"

I laugh and call to Brinlee. She is, indeed, at the "top of the hill". I tell her to watch Roxelle and so Brinlee calls her to come.

R: "Comeen, Bimb."

These are the times when I wish I could download the video/sound memory in my head so I can replay it over and over again. Only a baby girl with 4 older sisters could have that much deliberate attitude!!

Baptism By Fire...

2010-07-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I was released as the Young Women's Laurel Advisor. This also meant that I would not be attending Girls Camp this summer as had been planned.

Today, the girls met at the church from all over the stake to have their personal items loaded into a U-Haul to be taken to camp. Several groups of girls were following the U-Haul to camp in a bus, one day early, in order to complete a 6 mile hike.

They were traveling north and near Castle Rock, WA, when Brother Crebar (the U-Haul driver) "smelled something funny". Then he lost his brakes as smoke started coming into the cab at his feet. He tried to get safely to the shoulder, but then flames started shooting into the cab at his feet. He opened the door and stood on the side rail trying to steer while standing outside the cab, but then lost the ability to steer. The truck headed toward the cement median and he bailed out onto some grass and watched the truck as it continued on, until scraping along the median to a stop. He is so lucky to not be hurt more, let alone be alive.

The firefighters had to put out the flames with the flame retardant powder, since there is so much oil involved in a vehicle fire. I am told that a lot of stuff was thrown into a garbage trailer on scene and deemed completely unsalvageable.

While I was at the church, girls were allowed onto the parking lot 15 at a time to watch an adult, wearing gloves, go through their chemical covered belongings to decide what can be professionally cleaned and what is garbage. Some girls couldn't find any of their stuff, meaning it had been trashed on scene.

Scriptures, journals and pictures were the most treasured things lost. Everything else was mostly toiletries, etc. The stake presidency said to throw away EVERYTHING that goes in the mouth or on the skin. This leaves a lot of girls without prescription medications, retainers, and other imperative items.

The other big loss was all the food. One whole weeks' worth of food for the entire stake was lost. Thankfully, whomever picked up the U-Haul this morning felt impressed to purchase the additional insurance package and every last damaged/lost item WILL be replaced.

The girls are set to leave again in the morning at 9:30. I am praying that this will be a great testimony building experience. That this will teach them to show the adversary that all cannot be lost when faith comes into play. He is playing on these Young Women's emotions right now and my hope is that they will all persevere.

When I initially arrived, I expected things to "look" much worse. And I expected a horrible smell. Things didn't "look" or smell bad, but everything that was anywhere inside the van had to be completely sprayed with the retardant and should not be touched by bare hands.

Some items that had to be thrown away were brand new and never been used; including sleeping bags, cots, blankets, etc. It was really sad to see water logged sets of scriptures and journals be thrown away.

Several of the girls were very disturbed by seeing the head of "Annie" (the CPR dummy) all charred to bits...

BIG trouble

2010-07-25T22:09:00.001-07:00

I know I'm in trouble when I still have 10 weeks to go and none of my maternity clothes will fit... :(

For the last few Sundays, I've had to try on several different dresses to find one to fit. I don't "feel" bigger than my other pregnancies, but I feel different. I've actually gained less poundage thus far than the other 5 pregnancies, but I guess I am carrying this one differently and everything is SO tight around my tummy.

These were taken last Sunday. That was the last time I could squeeze myself into one of my favorite maternity dresses. I got this dress when I was pregnant with Asia in summer of 2004 for Ross and Lindsay's wedding. It's such a comfortable dress (when it fits right, LOL!).

I'm getting kind of sad that this is my last one. At times, I am so miserable and uncomfortable that I KNOW I never want to be pregnant again. Still...it's hard to let go.

Seaside

2010-07-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

The girls have been begging us to take them back to Seaside, OR since we went over this past spring break (I know, I haven't posted about that, yet, but I'm trying to get caught up..PROMISE! I will get the pics uploaded to the journaling SOON).
Anyway, I looked at the weather and saw that it was supposed to be nice, so we went! First, we rented one of those Surrey bike things for an hour. We had wanted to do it last time, but ran out of time.

Too bad they don't offer 1/2 hour rentals because we only last 35 minutes!! LOL! Those 5 kids, plus ourselves, were HEAVY to pedal around! It was so much fun, though, and we all had a blast!

The Whole Fam Damily!!

At a stop light

On the Move!

We stopped for a Pronto Pup and ate on the ride. After Will and I were completely DEAD, we returned the bike and headed to Carousel Mall to look around. The girls drooled over all the cool toys in the shops. Then we got a couple of Elephant Ears at the corner shop. (SOOO SO GOOD!)

After we finished that, the sun had finally burned all the clouds off and it was warm enough to hit the sand.

After they dipped their toes in the water and I beached myself like a whale on the sand (that bike ride about killed me!), we cleaned up and went to The Candyman Store. It's turning into a tradition to hit that shop on the way out of town. We all got our fill on "samples" of salt water taffy and picked our assortment's and then stopped in the attached ice cream shoppe. I got my favorite!! 2 scoops; 1 pumpkin and 1 "haupia" (coconut). MMMMM!

They didn't have any non-dairy options for poor Roxelle, but she tried... She stood below the glass counter case shouting "I. WAN. CHOCKET!!!" at the guy taking our order. She wasn't crying or mad, but was insisting that he get her chocolate ice cream. POOR THING! That KILLS me when she has to sit and watch us eat something she can't have. I packed cookies and candy treats for her to have in situations like this and she was satisfied with a Dum Dum sucker.

We stopped in Rainier at Grandma E's coming and going. It's a great 1/2 way pit stop for potty breaks. We had invited her to come along since we have 8 seats in our "new" van, but she is on doctor's orders to stay in because of a bad kidney infection.

First Day of School?

2010-07-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

Mariah had her first day of "Summer School" today. She was so nervous last night that she kept saying her tummy hurt and that she didn't want to go. She was so afraid that she wouldn't know anyone and that it would be boring. We tried to tell her that she would know lots of people and that it wouldn't be boring, that they would play fun games and stuff.

It's a 3 week program that runs 4 days a week (M-Th) from 9:15 to 1:30. It's free and they provide both breakfast and lunch.

As I dropped her off, we saw lots of familiar faces and I think that helped ease her nerves.

When I picked her up, she couldn't stop talking about all the fun stuff they did. She said that her good friend, Kimberly, from her 4th grade class was also in her summer class. After being home for a couple hours, she announced that she was "SO bored" and couldn't wait to go to school tomorrow! LOL

Lake Merwin

2010-07-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

The girls popped their fireworks on Sat. night. They had so much fun and are still talking about the very first one we lit. We had decided to do them in the back yard since the sun was still up and very hot in front. They had gotten this bumble bee one and we thought it would spin and crawl on the porch. After Will lit it, we all back up and were staring at it until it suddenly took off into the sky about 2x higher than the house and come down in the neighbors yard. We all busted up! We decided to move back out front.

Sunday, we had a very fulfilling and spiritual sabbath. Our testimony meeting was the best one in a VERY long time. And, the girls were all VERY good. It's been a while since we had an uneventful 1st hour, especially when I'm alone (Will had to work). Roxelle even went to nursery without crying! I kinda felt like I was in the twilight zone...

On our way home from church at noon, I talked to Will and he said he was about to leave work, that they let him go early!!! I was so stoked! Especially since I was dreading packing up and driving fpr an hour to the lake by myself.

We spent the night up at Lake Merwin with Will's family. It was a crazy good time. We were a tiny bit ill-prepared, but it was a total trial run. The girls LOVED it up there! We were trying to stay again last night, but Will had to work today and wasn't able to switch shifts with anyone. We were going to stay through FHE and dinner, but after I took a nap yesterday, I started "spotting". I wasn't having contractions and the baby was moving periodically, but I didn't want to chance it, so we packed up early and came home. Grandma E said she's keep Mariah and Brinlee for one more night and bring them home today.

I called the Dr. on our way home, since we don't get cell service up there, and she said to get home, take a warm bath, lay down and drink a lot of water. She said if I started contracting or the spotting didn't stop to go into the labor/deliver at Southwest. After I showered, I realized that I had gotten a small tear and that was what was bleeding, not from the pregnancy. I was so relieved! Will and Bryan had given me a very nice blessing before leaving and I knew everything would be fine!

As we were leaving, I realized that I hadn't taken a single picture. Luckily, Brinlee had taken her little digital camera up there and here are the only 4 shots we got.

Brinlee and the view of the lake from the porch

Another picture from the porch

Daddy inside the RV

Tatum in the RV

Journaling

2010-06-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

The girls finally finished school this week on the 22nd. It feels like the summer is 1/2 gone already with them getting out so late! In other ways (weather-wise) it feels like summer has just begun. It's been SO rainy here for the past couple of months, we were worried that the sun would NEVER show up again.

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary.

June 26, 1998

We didn't have any plans because, until a couple of weeks ago, I was heavily involved in the 2010 Youth Dance Festival (A Firm Foundation). We went today with Will's family to watch the 2:00 performance. I can't imagine how anyone can logisitically coordinate nearly 2,000 12-18 year olds?! They pulled it off and had a complete BLAST! Sister Cook from the General Young Women's Presidency came and also a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, whose name I can't remember right now, but I'll try to find out.

For the very last number; ALL the youth came out onto the field to sing "How Firm A Foundation" and for the last verse, all the full-time missionaries (about 120) came marching out in 2 lines, holding white flags to join in. It was AMAZING! By far my favorite part of the whole thing!!

The missionaries are on either side of the group with the white flags.

Afterwards, Mary Lou took all of us to Wendy's for lunch/dinner. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted, but it was all worth it!

Future Roomies

2010-06-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

With the incoming family member appeasing the Erickson Family Corp. EOE group, we have to make some rearrangements to the home office.

A couple of months ago the girls asked where the new baby brother will sleep and I told them; "In the nursery." Then where will Roxelle sleep? In the bonus room...and then I happened to suggest that possibly Asia could move in with Brinlee to make it even and we experienced a total meltdown. I don't blame Brinlee. She's had her own room for 2 years now and she and Asia are not always the best of pals. So I said we'd think about the arrangements later and that the bonus room is big enough for 3.

Over the last several weeks, I've been thinking about it and it's silly to put 3 kids in one room while the other 2 have their own. Mariah's bedroom and closet are barely big enough for her and her stuff now. It would be crazy to try and put another person in there, even with bunkbeds to save space. So, I decided that it would have to be Asia to move, but decided to not break the news just yet. I wanted to try and make it special, so I budgeted a little money to find some cute furniture (possibly from Craigslist as my budget was itty bitty). Long story short, I was lucky enough to find these darling "bedroom in a box" sets for almost exactly the amount of my budget!

I decided to go ahead and set everything up now, but not have Asia move in until just before school starts. I don't have a twin bed to put in there yet anyway and this will help Brinlee ease into the idea of sharing a room.

Now I'm trying to decide on which comforter to use out of the 2 I found. I could have gotten the exact same thing that Brinlee has, but the furniture is already SO matchy-matchy, that I wanted to mix it up a little.

Between the 2 on the floor, which one do YOU like the best? (I realize they are wild from the get-go, but they LOVE it and says it's "very Taylor Swift". LOL!!)

Here are pictures and a video clip of Brinlee's initial reaction(s).

Brinlee was.....a little shocked (maybe disappointed, too), but after the camera stopped, we had a little heart to heart about her concerns with having a roommate. She cried for a few minutes and then after we talked I told her to look her in new drawers and that was the end of the tears. Then we called Asia up for them to look at the new comforters. I think it will all turn out ok in the end.

The "before" pictures

p.s. You'll get the full "after" pictures once Asia gets all moved in ;)

BMS Update

2010-06-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

Back when I was pregnant with Roxelle in 2008, I was having such severe "hot mouth" that I wanted to cut my own tongue out. I finally did some heavy researching (after living with "hot mouth" for about 10 years) and discovered that I have a "real condition" called Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS).

It's starting to flare up pretty bad again, so I did some more searching to see if there has been any more research on it and if there are any new treatments. I found this video and article to be pretty clever and will try a couple of the suggestions.

I've never known anyone else that has BMS, but if you have it or know someone that does; please pass along the info!

Burning mouth syndrome
Overview

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a complex, vexing condition in which a burning pain occurs on your tongue or lips, or over widespread areas involving your whole mouth, without any obvious reason.

The disorder has long been associated with a variety of other conditions — including menopause, psychological problems, nutritional deficiencies, and disorders of the mouth, such as oral thrush and dry mouth (xerostomia). More recently, some researchers have suggested dysfunctional or damaged nerves as a possible cause. But the exact cause of burning mouth syndrome is often difficult to pin down, and pain may continue for months or years.

Treatment is highly individualized and depends on your particular symptoms and on the underlying cause or causes, if they can be identified. Most people with burning mouth syndrome can decrease their symptoms through tailored treatment plans.

Other names sometimes used for burning mouth syndrome include scalded mouth syndrome, burning tongue syndrome, burning lips syndrome, glossodynia and stomatodynia.

Signs and symptoms

Burning mouth syndrome affects up to 4 percent of U.S. adults — women seven times as often as men. It generally occurs in middle-aged or older adults. But it may occur in younger people as well.

The main symptom of burning mouth syndrome is a burning sensation in your tongue, lips, gums, palate or throat. People with the syndrome may describe the sensation in the affected areas as hot or scalded, as if they had been burned with a hot liquid.

Other symptoms may include:

Dry mouth
Sore mouth
A tingling or numb sensation in the mouth or on the tip of the tongue
A bitter or metallic taste

Some people with burning mouth syndrome don't wake up with mouth pain, but find that the pain intensifies during the day and into the evening. Some awake with a constant daily pain, while others feel pain on and off throughout the day.

Causes

The possible causes of burning mouth syndrome are many and complex. Each of the following possible causes applies to only a small portion of all people who complain of a burning mouth. More than one-third of people have multiple causes. Identifying all of the causes is important so that your doctor can develop a treatment plan tailored for you. Possible causes include:

Dry mouth (xerostomia). This condition can be related to use of certain medications, including tricyclic antidepressants, central nervous system depressants, lithium, diuretics and medications used to treat high blood pressure. It can also occur with aging or Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes dry mouth and eyes.

Other oral conditions. Oral yeast infection (thrush) is a common cause of a burning mouth that may also occur with other causes, such as diabetes, denture use and certain medications. Geographic tongue, a condition that causes a dry mouth and a sore, patchy tongue, also may be associated with burning mouth syndrome.

Psychological factors. Emotional disorders, particularly depression but also anxiety and fear of cancer, are often associated with burning mouth syndrome. Although such problems can cause a burning mouth, they may also result from it.

Nutritional deficiencies. Being deficient in nutrients, such as iron, zinc, folate (vitamin B-9), thiamin (vitamin B-1), riboflavin (vitamin B-2), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and cobalamin (vitamin B-12), may affect your oral tissues and cause a burning mouth. These deficiencies can also lead to vitamin deficiency anemia.

Irritating dentures. Dentures may place stress on some of the muscles and tissues of your mouth. The materials used in dentures also may irritate the tissues in your mouth.

Nerve disturbance or damage (neuropathy). Damage to nerves that control taste and pain in the tongue may also result in a burning mouth.

Allergies. The mouth burning may be due to allergies or reactions to foods, food flavorings, other food additives, fragrances, dyes or other substances.

Reflux of stomach acid (gastroesophageal reflux disease). The sour- or bitter-tasting fluid that enters your mouth from your upper gastrointestinal tract may cause irritation and pain.

Certain medications. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, used to treat high blood pressure, may cause side effects that include a burning mouth.

Oral habits. These include often-unconscious activities such as tongue-thrusting and teeth-clenching (bruxism), which can irritate your mouth.

Endocrine disorders such as diabetes and underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). Your oral tissues may react to high blood sugar levels that occur with diabetes.

Hormonal imbalances, such as those associated with menopause. Burning mouth syndrome occurs most commonly among postmenopausal women, although it affects many other people as well. Changes in hormones may affect the composition of your saliva.

Excessive irritation. Irritation of the oral tissues may result from excessive brushing of your tongue, overuse of mouthwashes or consuming too many acidic drinks.

Often, more than one cause is present. Despite careful evaluation, doctors are sometimes unable to find the cause of burning mouth symptoms.

Dry mouth
Sjogren's syndrome
Oral thrush
Geographic tongue
Depression
Vitamin deficiency anemia
Heartburn/GERD
Bruxism
Diabetes
Hypothyroidism
Menopause

When to seek medical advice

If you have persistent pain or soreness in your tongue, lips, gums or other areas of your mouth, see your doctor. Your doctor can search for the possible cause or causes to guide treatment.

Screening and diagnosis

Your doctor will review your medical history, examine your mouth and ask you to describe your symptoms, your oral habits and your oral care routine. In addition, he or she will likely perform a general medical examination, looking for signs of any associated conditions.

As part of the diagnostic process, you may undergo some of the following tests:

Complete blood cell count (CBC). This common blood test provides a count of each type of blood cell in a given volume of your blood. The CBC measures the amount of hemoglobin, the percentage of blood that's composed of red blood cells (hematocrit), the number and kinds of white blood cells, and the number of platelets. This blood test may reveal a wide variety of conditions, including infections and anemia, which can indicate nutritional deficiencies.

Other blood tests. Because nutritional deficiencies are one cause of a burning mouth, your doctor may collect blood samples to check blood levels of iron, zinc, folate (vitamin B-9), thiamin (vitamin B-1), riboflavin (vitamin B-2), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and cobalamin (vitamin B-12). Also, because diabetes may cause a burning mouth, your doctor may check your fasting blood sugar level.

Allergy tests. Your doctor may suggest allergy testing to see if you may be allergic to certain foods, additives or even substances in dentures.

Oral swab culture or biopsy. If your doctor suspects oral thrush, he or she may take a small tissue sample (biopsy) or an oral swab culture to be examined in the laboratory.

Because burning mouth syndrome is associated with such a wide variety of other medical conditions, your doctor may refer you to a specialist for screening and diagnosis and possibly treatment. Your health care team may include a dermatologist, dentist, psychiatrist, psychologist or a doctor who specializes in ear, nose and throat problems (otorhinolaryngologist).

Treatment

Treatment triggers improvement in symptoms for many people with burning mouth syndrome. But the type of treatment depends on the underlying cause.

Dry mouth (xerostomia). Treating the cause of your dry mouth — Sjogren's syndrome, use of medications or some other cause — may relieve burning mouth symptoms. Drinking more fluids or taking a medication that promotes flow of saliva may help.

Other oral conditions. If the cause is oral thrush, treatment is with oral antifungal medications such as nystatin (Mycostatin) or fluconazole (Diflucan). If you wear dentures, your dentures may also need to be treated.

Psychological factors. For a burning mouth that may be caused by or associated with psychological factors such as anxiety and depression, your doctor may recommend tricyclic antidepressants or benzodiazepines, or psychiatric therapy, or both together.

Nutritional deficiencies. You may be able to correct nutritional deficiencies by taking supplements of B vitamins and minerals such as zinc and iron.

Irritating dentures. Your dentist may be able to adjust your dentures so they are less irritating to your mouth. If your dentures contain substances that irritate your oral tissues, you may need different dentures. You may also improve symptoms by practicing good denture care, such as removing dentures at night and cleaning them properly.

Nerve disturbance or damage (neuropathy). Your doctor may suggest medications that affect your nervous system and control pain, including benzodiazepines such as clonazepam (Klonopin), tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline or nortriptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl), or anticonvulsants such as gabapentin (Neurontin). For pain relief, your doctor may also suggest rinsing your mouth with water and capsaicin — the active ingredient in hot peppers, which may also be called capsicum.

Allergies. Avoiding foods that contain allergens that may irritate the tissues of your mouth may help.

Certain medications. If a medication you're taking is causing a burning mouth, using a substitute medication, if possible, may help.

Oral habits. Tongue-thrusting and teeth-clenching (bruxism) can be helped with mouth guards, medications and relaxation techniques.

Endocrine disorders. If a burning mouth is associated with conditions such as diabetes or hypothyroidism, treating those conditions may improve your symptoms.

If doctors can't identify the cause of your symptoms, they may still recommend trying oral thrush medications, B vitamins or antidepressants. These medications have proved effective in treating burning mouth syndrome.

Coping skills

Burning mouth syndrome can be painful and frustrating. The good news is that it's a treatable condition. Although it may take time, you can usually improve your symptoms by working with a team of health professionals to find a treatment plan that's right for you.

In the short term, you may gain some relief by avoiding irritating substances, such as alcohol-based mouthwashes, cinnamon or mint products, and cigarette smoke. Chewing on ice chips or sugar-free gum also may help. So can keeping your dentures out all night and brushing your teeth with baking soda instead of toothpaste. Ask your doctor for other tips to manage your pain and discomfort.

©1998-2005 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "Mayo Clinic Health Information," "Reliable information for a healthier life" and the triple-shield Mayo logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Released

2010-06-15T12:03:00.001-07:00

I was released as the Laurel Advisor to the Young Women in church on Sunday.

I sort of had "that" feeling that it was coming, but I thought it'd be after the big Dance Festival that is coming in

a couple of weeks or closer to my due date.

I've been very reluctant to say out loud that my gut is telling me that I'll be in Primary next.

I've only been in Primary one time since getting married and was only there for 1 year before going back to YW.

I still wouldn't even say my "guess" out loud, but after they anounced my

release in sacrament meeting on Sunday, Brinlee says to me; "I guess that means you're gonna be in Primary with me now, huh?"

ZOINKS!

Hard to Believe!

2010-06-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

I had an OB appointment today and she informed me that after my next appointment, which will include the glucose test and my first shot of Rhogam, I will start going to see her every 2 weeks! That's when you know the time is getting closer.

I'm not nervous for the birth. I am always excited and anxious for it to come. This feels like my first pregnancy all over again. It's very weird. I have to think about things in a different way. I'm worried that I won't know what to do. I'm also worried, more so than with the others, that there will be something wrong with him. These darn hormones! It makes it hard to distinguish between real reality and what my mind is making up.

I'm doing well and I feel really good. This pregnancy is going as well as the others. Each have been different in their own way, but nothing bad. The mood swings get a little out of control at times :*). Even I can't stand myself half the time. LOL! But, all in all, I feel great!!

Zoo Field Trip

2010-06-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

I went to the Oregon Zoo with all the Kindergartners at Roosevelt, including Asia's class. The morning started out promising with blue skies and sunshine, but as soon as we arrived at the zoo around 9:30, it began to sprinkle.
We walked around until about 10:30, when it started to rain harder. We were at the Cougar Den, when the kids declared they were hungry, so we hurried around the corner to the Family Farm petting zoo, where we found 2 other teachers with a group of kids huddled under the big wrap around porch, eating. We joined them and I turned to ask Asia if she needed help and she wasn't there. I looked across to the petting barn and thought she must have gone in there. I asked the teacher to watch the other 2 while I checked...no Asia. So I came out and told them I was going back toward the Cougars to see if I could find her. It was POURING by then. As I rounded the trail to the Cougars, I could see her boots standing in front of a zoo worker, who was just about to call Mrs Garton's cell number that was printed on each child's name tag. I called her name and the lady looked up and asked if she was with me. EMBARRASSING! I thought for sure Asia would be crying and I was listening for her very distinct cry as I hurried back toward where I'd thought she might be, but she was just standing there with a long, sad face. Poor BABY!
As we finished lunch, the rain slowed to a drizzle and then stopped! It didn't rain for the rest of the trip. By the time we were ready to leave, Asia was in tears because her legs were hurting. I felt for her, because mine were on fire too. She still says she had fun, which is all that matters.

Asia, Alexia and Emilio on the bridge by the bears.

Asia and Alexia in the petting zoo barn on "barrel horsies"

Asia climbing on one of the newly opened exhibits in Africa.

Different?

2010-06-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

I've had people asking me since

I announced that I'm pregnant if I

"feel different".

All of my pregnancies,

except the first two have all been pretty

different.

So much so, that when Tatum was born,

I actually asked if it was a

boy.

(The nurse looked at me like I was crazy).

So, this pregnancy hadn't been so different from the others, until now....

I think I must be turning into a temporary

man.

The testosterone level

must be too much because I am sweating

ALL THE TIME,

even when I don't "feel" warm.

I feel like I need to put absorbant

pads under my arms.

And I cannot eat

ANYTING

without it giving my tummy gas bubbles.

It's painful to be a man.

I'm finding just how glad I am to be a girl.

If my voice starts to lower, I am going to have to freak out a little bit!

Horseshoe Lake

2010-06-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

Will just got his fishing license renewed for the year and had the day off, so we packed up Tatum and Roxelle and headed to Horseshoe Lake.
It's a really cute little park with a playground and lots of places to sit and relax. Will caught a small (non-keeper) fish right off the bat, but then NOTHING the rest of the time.
We took a picnic lunch to eat and just as I gave Roxelle her sandwich, she stepped into a small opening near the water and tumbled into the edge of the water, sandwich hand first. She was fine. Will grabbed her and only her sleeve got muddy and wet, but her sandwich had gone completely under water. Oh, well..they got to feed the ducks with it!

They LOVED the playground!

Roxelle is my ULTIMATE animal lover. She could NOT figure out why those darn ducks wouldn't let her get close. Plus all the "bunnies" (squirrels) and "boogies" (birdies) were more than she could have imagined in one day. She was in heaven!!

Watching Daddy fish.

The mud hole she tripped on and got her shirt muddy and wet in the water.
(Lucky she wasn't wearing her jacket when she got wet. We put that on her after the pics.)

Cravings

2010-06-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have not been able to pinpoint a craving over the last 23 weeks AT ALL. For a while I thought it was peanut butter, but that only lasted a couple of days. Then I thought it was cheese...and I still do get a small craving for it every now and then, but I think I finally pinpointed THEE craving. Cinnamon Toast and/or Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Most of you know that I don't regularly buy cereal, but Mary Lou showed up here with a Costco box of CTC cereal last week, and I had to limit myself to once a day! LOL I ended up snipping the $2 off coupon from the Costco booklet for CTC and bought another box this week.
Cravings are a funny thing during pregnancy. I have had different ones for every pregnancy.
Mariah = McDonald's kids hamburger and small fries. And Taco Bell Bean burritos. I would take off during lunch from Bon Losee and hit McD's or Taco Bell if I had gotten any tips that day from clients.
Brinlee = Partially frozen RED (any red except raspberry or plain strawberry) Kool-Aid in a freezer mug. One time I came home from work to find that Will and Mariah had drank the rest of the last package we had for the month and I was devastated! LOL
Asia = Potatoes, cooked, fried, baked, poached, microwaved, french fries, potato chips, hash browns...you name it! We had baked potatoes several times a week and the family was always like "Potatoes AGAIN?!" My friend, Dotty Walsh, who was also my visiting teacher at the time brought me this potato shaped notepad one month. I hadn't realized until then that it was so obvious!!
Tatum = Spaghetti and baked goods. We lived in Hawaii at the time and had basically unlimited access to the grocery store. I would go practically every other day and get a dozen donuts from Foodland or bake some type of cake. Cake mixes are VERY expensive there (like $2.75 for a Betty Crocker one), so that was a rare treat, but I also loved spaghetti! We had spaghetti at least once a week, which wasn't so bad because we all love it.
Roxelle = No cravings AT ALL! It was SO frustrating! I just wanted to crave something that would satisfy that "craving" bone. For a while I thought it was carrots and ranch or green salad and ranch, but it was fleeting. Then we moved here and stayed with my parents. I never pinned down a craving the entire pregnancy.
So, now that I have found one for this pregnancy, I can rest peacefully at night.....J/K!!!!!!!

The Heir

2010-05-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

The heir to the Erickson Throne, LIVES!!!!
We are so thrilled that we are having a

BOY!

I am still in shock...to say THE LEAST. Will had to work today (bummer), so I texted him from the ultrasound.

When they first called me back, I got situated, tummy bared and the tech started asking general questions. Then I looked at the monitor as he hit "begin recording" and noticed that wasn't my name....it said Tracy something. I told him that's not my name and he said that he had called "Tracy". I was so embarrased!! I got all tucked back in and headed to the waiting area when he said "You know what? We should just do yours since you're already back here."So I went back in and got all situated again. He asked how many pregnancies and I told him this is the 7th pregnancy, including 1 miscarriage. He asked how many of each gender and I told him all girls. *SHOCK* Then he asked if I wanted him to keep the suspense for a while or just go straight to it. I said straight to it and as he started probing around I said "Well, we kind of feel like it's another girl and we definitely will NOT be disappointed if that's the case!" And then I saw IT....I gasped audibly and squeaked "It's a boy?!?!" He didn't answer right away and I looked at him and said "Is it??" and he grinned and said "Yes it is!!" *SHOOOOCK!!!!!*

The whole time I just laid there in literal shock. I just kept saying, "I can't believe it! I don't know what to do with a (gulp) BOY!!" I texted Will right away saying "it really is a BOY :-O", they were really busy and he called me toward the end of the ultrasound asking "Are they sure? Are you SURE?!!" I said "Yes, I'm sure, I noticed it myself right off and these pictures don't lie". He said "I'm gonna go write it on the break room wipe board, RIGHT NOW!!!"

I know there have been mistakes...my own sister just had this happen to her, which I explained to the tech and he re-assured me with a bunch of different angles and showing me that "here are the arms out to the sides and here are the boy parts right down here". LOL!!! You can see for yourself......

We knew before I was even pregnant that this would be our last baby, regardless of the gender. We really felt like our family was complete already and we honestly would have been just as thrilled with another little girl. We even minutely agonized over the notion that "if it is a boy", we would have to "start over" with our LAST ONE! But we couldn't be more thrilled! (Even though I have to paint over my dream nursery. LOL!)

Oh yeah, they officially changed my due date from 10/12 to 10/2. After the tech measured the tummy he said "I need to measure that again cuz that was quite generous" and after he measured again he said "Man, this is one chubby kid!" Both of my ultrasounds now have estimated my due date as the 2nd and so the Dr. decided to change it officially. Kinda bummed that I won't get my 10-10-10 baby. :D

"Shhhhhhhh"

"Giggling"

hand

Profile

Even more doubt

2010-04-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

My sister, Megan, had her ultrasound 4 weeks ago and she was 19 weeks along. Hers revealed that she is having a boy after having 2 girls.
This afternoon she had another ultrasound and the dr. is now telling her that it's a girl! She is 23 weeks now. They compared the pictures of the first ultrasound with today's and one picture clearly looks like a boy and the other clearly shows girl. They showed another OB in the office and he was completely baffled as well.
So the news I received earlier is now even harder to swallow. I cannot even imagine. I still can't wrap my head around any of it!! These next 6 weeks until my next ultrasound are going to D.R.A.G.!!

90% sure....

2010-04-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

This morning I had my "first trimester screening", which is basically an ultrasound that helps to check for signs of a genetic disorder, such as downs sydrome.
During the ultrasound, I chit-chatted with the tech, hoping he'd take a guess as what the gender is. When I casually asked him, he said; "Well, I've been doing this for 10 years and I've only been wrong 3 times. All 3 times were early gestational guesses. So I've decided not to do that anymore. Sometimes the specialist will be brave enough to take a guess, though." I understood and let it go. After all, I am only 12 weeks and 6 days along.
The screening took about 45 minutes and I enjoyed watching our little peanut wiggle around the probe and wave it's arms and legs. The tech even commented that baby will NOT hold still!
When he was done, he left the room to pass the images along to the specialist. After another 10 minutes, the specialist came in to say that every thing looks great and after the blood work comes back, they'll call with all the results.
I told him that I'd joked with the tech to make an early guess at the gender and the specialist commented that it may still be a little too early. He said he noticed that I have 5 girls already and asked if I was hoping for a boy. I told him that we'd be thrilled with a boy, but that it would almost be easier to have another girl because everything we own is pink and/or flowery, etc. Plus, we already know what to expect with a girl. Boys are just weird! LOL
He said; "Well, I think you'd better get ready for a boy."
I just stared at him, stunned and unsure how to react. He looked at me expecting me to say something and I told him I wasn't sure what to say and that I didn't want to get my hopes up just yet. He said; "If I had to say; I would say that I'm 90% sure that this one's going to be a boy."
I am still in shock and a little bit of denial. We've been saying for so long, even before I got pregnant, that we are pretty sure that we'll have another girl. And we are actually ok with that. I'm not sure how to make my brain think "boy". I'm still not going to "get my hopes up". I need that other 10% certainty before I can allow myself to take that path. Doesn't he know that he can't tell a mother of 5 girls something like that without being 100% sure?!!!!! That's just cruel.

Unexpected House Guest

2010-03-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors, JR and Kathy Roberts (he grew up in the house that's for sale behind us) up the street have a really large property and basically a mini farm over there. They came over and surprised the girls with a baby goat. They LOVED him...of course Roxelle couldn't get enough and kept calling him a "goggie". She would look at him and clap her hands and try to coax him over to her. Even Tatum held him a couple of times and if you know her well, you know she is beyond TERRIFIED of dogs. He is 2 weeks old and they are calling him Starbuck.
My darn camera memory was full, so I only got one tiny video clip and these couple pictures, but they invited us over in a few days to see the rest of the babies and the other animals, too. Plus, they have a really cool tree house.

Roxelle loved the goat, but not so sure of "Uncle JR". LOL!!

18 months old

2010-03-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the official day that Roxelle turned 18 mos, but I didn't take a single photo, even though it was St. Patrick's Day.

She is such a fun little girl to have around. She is a cruiser and will keep herself busy most of the time. She thinks the sun rises and sets with Tatum and can be found following her around most of the time. She loves her baby dolls and LOVES books. We also think she might be our only animal lover. She loves her "doCKee's". And pretty much everything that moves on 4 legs is a doggie to her now. She has not started potty training, yet (I know, right?!!), but SOON!

She has 6 teeth on top and 2 little lone teeth on bottom. I think more are coming soon because she has been unusually fussy and drooling a lot.

10-12-10

2010-03-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

Last April,
we decided that we were ready to start thinking about adding to our family. I went to the doctor to talk to her about how long it took to get pregnant with Roxelle and possible options that we have if this one starts to take as long.
(Yes, I am VERY impatient! HA HA)
In August,
I was already frustrated and called the doctor to get some advice. She decided that I should try the fertility drug Clomid. I did 3 rounds of that, to no avail.

At this point, I was tired of hanging in limbo. I wanted to lose some weight, but didn't want to
"go to the trouble"
if I was going to be pregnant anyway.

Thanksgiving Day I started my cycle AGAIN and was really frustrated. I knew that we were 5 weeks away from a trip to HI, which meant I was going to be in a swimming suit with about 15 extra lbs still hanging on.

The Monday after Thanksgiving, I decided to try a 7 day free trial at 24 Hour Fitness that somehow turned into a 3 week free trial and I ended up losing 11 lbs before Christmas! I was happy to be on the road to better health and that I'd look decent on the beach,
but still longing for another baby.

During the last couple of days of our trip to HI, I got that un-friendly cycle again.
I was SO sad.
When we got home from our trip, I told Will that if
I am not pregnant this next time around, I was going to
pay for a gym membership,
lose that last 5-8 pounds,
and be done trying.
I kept "asking" Roxelle if she was going to be "the baby" forever. I decided in my head that we must be done. I didn't want to get any older. My body has endured 5 1/4 pregnancies already and it's telling me
"You're DONE!"

I was laying in bed one night in mid January after the girls had gone to bed and before Will had gotten home. I was upset that I couldn't just have my way and be pregnant already. I told myself, that's IT! I am done! I don't want to hang in limbo anymore. I don't want to face another month of disappointment. I want to take my body back. I was laying there lamenting and feeling sorry for myself, when as clear as if someone standing next to me I heard
"Just be patient....."
It took me aback.
I wasn't sure if I'd just imagined it. I have never had anything that poignant happen to me before. I was sure I had made it up, until I realized that I hadn't and that I was being selfish and spoiled and just plain un-grateful for the beautiful daughters that I already do have and the good fortune I have already had in my previous pregnancies. I knew that Heavely Father wanted me to know that it would happen, but that I needed to be patient and wait until He says the time is right.

A little less than 1 month later, this is what I discovered....

I dropped to my knees in prayer to thank Heavenly Father for this wonderful blessing and I immediately took that picture with my phone and texted it to Will. He was elated! We decided to wait just a little while to tell anyone, to make sure that everything was ok.

I had my first official appointment today and everything looks GREAT! I am due on
October, 12, 2010
(but I am totally shooting for 10-10-10!!! LOL)

In case you're wondering, we'd be thrilled with a
boy,
but it would almost be a relief to have another girl. I'd hate to have to start completely over with our last baby and, YES, this is our last. :)

Gateway Produce

2010-03-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to go check out Gateway Produce on Andresen since we moved back here in Oct. '08. I pictured the store to be very Farmer's Market-ish or a Ma and Pa type place with displays of their home-grown goods. I get their mailers in the Val-Pak coupons and lately, I have not been able to find decent produce in the area without spending an arm and a leg at Safeway.

So today, I decided to go. It looks like a decent, clean place from the outside and when I saw the outside marquee it said; "Banana's .39/lb and Pears .09/lb"; I got excited!

I have to say that what I expected to find
and what I actually found were 2
TOTALLY
different things.

enlarged photo off their mailer

Starting with the great things.
The banana's were, indeed, .39/lb.
The selection was small-ish and most of the selection was already very ripened. I picked through and found some small somewhat greenish bananas.
(I like banana's to be very small in size).

The pears were .09/lb,
but all 3 ginormous bins of them were very un-appealing.
There were a lot of ones on the top that were
rotting/molding
and starting to smell fermented. I dug through and managed to find a handful of decent ones.

Another great thing is they have a "discount grocery" section. Most stuff looks very old and questionable (completely smashed boxes of brand name cereal for $1.00), but there were these 3 gigantic bins, overflowing, with ALL different kinds of candy, candy bars, and gum.
Everything in the bins was
4/$1.oo!!!!
I got 4 packs of Orbit gum
and
4 rolls of SweetTarts!!

(Side story about the SweetTarts. I LOVE them, but I only like the ones that come in the rolls. The ones in the box or in shapes just aren't the same texture. Every time I really want some I have to go to a random gas station and pay anywhere from $.99 to $1.20 for 1 ROLL! I was SO stoked to come across them in the bins during my digging.)

The bad thing
is that 89%-ish of the produce was wilted/molding/slimy/too ripe or just plain ugly. The inside of the store was not "farmer's market-ish" at all and looked worse than WinCo or Grocery Outlet.

I would go again for fruit and to dig in the bins for treats, but I'd need to go with some time on my hands so that I can dig.

The one pear that Asia and I just shared was pretty good. It had good texture and flavor. The bananas are fine, too.
(Pretty hard to screw up a banana, imo. LOL!)

The Fuji apples were .67/lb (not that great, imo)
Gala apples .33/lb
Cucumbers .67/ea (I know that's not a good deal, but I needed them)

This is the front and back views from last month's mailer

SIGH

2010-02-26T18:24:00.001-08:00

I love it when they do this!!

They got "Bolt" from Netflix and

were just settling in to watch. I thought it was so cute, that I

had to get a picture.

This is the only one I got

because as I was snapping it,

Roxelle

accidentally poked

Asia

in the arm with a sharp pencil (that's her saying "OUCH!").

Brinlee

ripped the pencil out of

Roxelle's

hand and on the back swing, clocked

Tatum

square on the nose. Then

Mariah

started yelling at them all to BE QUIET!

*SIGH*......

"Drama Week"

2010-02-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

I don't think my mental status can take one more emergency or piece of bad news or argument with ignorance.
The week actually started off with an AWESOME FHE on testimonies on Monday. We talked to the girls about what that means and how to share one properly. Then each of us took turns bearing simple testimonies standing in front of the family. I could definitely feel the spirit and it seemed like the older girls could, too. Even Tatum and Asia stood bravely in front of everyone and, with some help, shared their young beliefs. I can't say as though we've EVER had a "spiritual" FHE.
Tuesday morning started Will's work week and the drama, in all different forms, that hasn't stopped yet.
Tuesday morning, we were running unusually late for school by about 5 minutes. We arrived in the parking lot with about 7 minutes to spare (at 8:23) before the tardy bell. (If you know my girls, you'll know that's just barely enough time for them to do anything...)
After I dropped them off with an exchange of "I love you's", off they ran. As I was pulling out of the school, a police cruiser came flying into the parking loy with lights flashing. This school shares the same complex with Vancouver School District Offices and so I didn't think to seriously about it.
I needed to go to the grocery store, so I headed to 4th Plain Rd. As I turned, I saw 3 more police vehicles screaming down 4th plain with full lights and blaring sirens and I watched them turn down the street toward the school. I stayed pulled over and dialed the school. Lisa, the attendance person, answered and I asked her if everything was ok at the school and if I should come back to get my girls who I had JUST dropped off there. She said not to worry that they were in a lock down. I asked if it was real or a drill and she put me on hold to find out. When she came back a few minutes later, she said they were being told that it's just a drill. I hung up thinking "Yeah, right" The police wouldn't be screaming down the street, so I turned back.
By the time I got around the block, there were already, at least, 15 different types of VPD vehicles and the SWAT van. I saw the school counselor, Mr. Royster, standing outside, keeping bystanders back. I heard one parent asking what the H was going on and why there were SWAT members running INTO the school with assault rifles cocked and ready.
After waiting and wondering for about a 1/2 hour, hearing live reports from local news, who was on site, about what was going on, they finally called an "all clear" over the school intercom. I walked casually toward the school, passing the SWAT guys with their ENORMOUS war weapons, to make sure the girls were ok and not freaking out.
Turns out that 2 Kindergartners reported that a 2nd grader had pointed a gun at them and "fired", but all they saw was "smoke". It was determined that this 2nd grade boy had brought a bright orange cap gun to school. I still don't know the outcome of the punishment.
I am EXTREMELY grateful to the school staff. It pays to volunteer at the school. I was able to sign in and wear my badge and wander around with no questions asked. I went to Asia's class first and everything was business as usual. The teachers kept the students calm and collected and they were carrying on with their day.
I feel like the staff absolutely did the right thing and that VPD acted swiftly and completely. I feel safer now than ever before, knowing that Roosevelt Elementary takes these things seriously.
Wednesday, the kids were off school all day for a "semester break" and Will was working again. That creates enough drama all by itself. I decided to take the girls to Build-A-Bear to use their own $5 free accessory coupons. However, the RUDE girl at the counter would not accept the coupon, claiming that I had already used them. I printed them from an email that I was sent from BAB, AND it didn't say ANYWHERE on the coupon a limit of times to use the coupon. In fact, the gal at the Clackamas store gave me back the coupons to use again. This girl tried to tell me "Sorry about that" and I said "No you're not!" as I walked out of the store. SO IRRITATING!
Thursday, Will got called into work, which is great for the OT, but not so fun to not have him home 4 days in a row, as he is scheduled to work again tomorrow.
Apparently, Tatum, Roxelle and I made the front page of the local newspaper, The Columbian, on Wednesday. A reporter was outside the school on Tuesday and asked me what I had heard/seen. I haven't read the article, yet, but the reporter supposedly only posted some "choice phrases" that I had said and it all came off as negative. He didn't quote ANY of the positive and glowing things that I had to say about the staff at Roosevelt or the VPD. When I went into the school office to drop stuff off for Mrs. Garton, the 3 darling secretaries, whom I absolutely adore, were less than warm to me. I couldn't figure out why until one of them mentioned "noticing 'my' article in the paper". UGH! I feel really bad and I need to see this article to know exactly what was said.
Friday was Mariah's birthday. I had SO much to do and not NEAR enough time to do it. I had to bake brownies for her class and be to the school by 10 to help with the PTA popcorn day on top of cleaning the house and getting myself ready for tonight and still decorating and creating the cake.
During the popcorn event, a gal that I've been working with on fundraisers throughout the year pulled me aside and told me that the PTA president had stepped down and that she just got out of a meeting with the regional PTA board and they were pressing her for a name to replace the old president. She asked *GULP* me to stand in. Say what?!!! *looking behind me* Are you talking to me?!?? *pointing to self*......... I said yes. YIKES!!!!!!!! What is WRONG with me?!
The main reason I said yes is because she said that I don't really have to "do" anything more than what I'm already doing because the rest of the school year (school ends the first week in June) is already planned. They just need a name for the roster and someone to attend 2 regional board mtgs......... Still a little scared, though. :-O
When we got to Build-A-Bear for the birthday party, the gal says to me right off, we can't take any more of those coupons from you. I'm like, WTHk?! I am here for my daughter's birthday party. So, I was talking to my mom while the girls were shopping and she read the coupon and agreed with me. So she took it to the front with the little girls and they wouldn't take it from her either! So we got into this big long discussion with the manager about it being illegal, yada-yada. And even though Mariah's 2 little friends had never even been in that store, they wouldn't take the coupons from them either. SO MADDENING! I asked the mgr, "So you're gonna stand there and tell these 2 little girls (that have NEVER been here before) at my daughter's 10th birthday party that they can't use a $5 coupon??! She said "NOPE!" BAB Corp. is sooooo getting a call from me.
THEN (getting ridiculous now) after we finished up the party here at the house (which was really fun and I will blog it later with pics, btw) I was driving Mariah's friend Lauryn home and I went to go around the barricade that blocks our street off and some car came over like they were going to come through. So I backed up to let them through and they just sat there, so I pulled into my neighbor, Lola's, circular drive that goes all the way behind her house and comes out on the other side of the barricade. By the time I got around the house, the car had backed up and was blocking the end of the driveway. A lady, that I recognized as the neighbor that had the barricade erected illegally to stop traffic from driving in front of her house (ridiculous, I know), got out of the car and came to my window. She said she just wanted to let me know that I'm not supposed to go around the barricade that I needed to go around the block the other way. I said that I understand that she had the barricade put up illegally and I have been given permission by Lola, who owns the piece of land directly to the side of the barricade, to drive on her property. This woman, Danelle is her name, said, but I own this piece of land (pointing to the road) and I have asked the general public not to drive on it. I told her that I know it's illegal to do that and that you can't connect 2 public roads (ours and the other side of "hers") with a private one, unless in an industrial area. She said, but I OWN this piece of land and if you go on zillow.com you will see that it is part of MY property (yeah, like I'm gonna trust a site like zillow). She said you can call my lawyer and the commissioner and tried to give me their names. I told her not to worry that I've already contacted the commissioner and there is already a neighborhood backed lawsuit forming. She said, can I get your name so that I can have my lawyer contact you and I said "It's KRisty WITH A K ERickson and I live in that house RIGHT THERE!" and pointed to it. She said ok and walked away, turned off her car and yelled, you can turn around and go back the way you came now and went into her house, leaving her car there to block me in. I yelled..."but I can't see!" It's pitch black in Lola's yard. I wasn't about to try backing up in the dark. So I called 911. The sheriff took her address from me and tried to call her. While I was on hold, I got out of the car and realized that if I drove a little bit on the "grass" (which is dead and non-existent anyway), I could get around her car. So I did, and she comes running out the door trying to stop me, but I was off and gone. UUUURRRRGGGGH!!! What is it with people altercating with me lately?! SHEESH!
I was on hold with the sheriff for another 5 minutes or so and he came back on the line saying he tried to call her 3 times and it was busy. I told him that I was able to get around her vehicle safely and got out. He told me that if I have any more problems whatsoever to call them and they'll take care of it. (Maybe I'll post the other long and drawn out story about the blockade business another time)
But the drama doesn't end there...... (SERIOUSLY.)
This morning at 6:40, Mariah came running into our room saying that there are flashing lights at Joe's house (the empty farmhouse behind us). I told her not to worry about it and to go back to sleep. I got up to check on the other kids and looked out Brinlee's window at the front of the house and saw our ENTIRE STREET lit up with emergency vehicles. At least 3 fire engines, many more police and fire marshall and ambulance.
Lola's house BURNT DOWN! Our friends, Trevor and Wendy Narvasa, from our ward that live directly across from Lola, got a call from Lola (who's 91) this morning early and she was saying that she was burning a fire in the fireplace and now there was smoke coming into the house. So Trevor, threw on his shoes and RAN over there to see flames coming out the fireplace. Her house is SO OLD and there are old photos, papers, newspapers EVERYWHERE that it was starting to light up that he couldn't find anything to put out the fire, so he grabbed Lola and ran out of the house screaming "FIRE! FIRE!"
Wendy called 911 and by the time they arrived there were already flames coming out the front windows and glass breaking. OMGsh!!!!!! Trevor is a HERO! He totally saved her life. If she'd just called 911 directly..they would have never made it, ESPECIALLY with that DANG barricade making life difficult.
This is ALL why I am going to be having a nervous breakdown soon. LOL!!!!

Ring Around the Rosey

2010-01-29T20:28:00.000-08:00

It's Friday night and we Erickson's are VERY bored. Oh, the memories we're creating! LOL

Savings Account

2010-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Since I was pregnant with Mariah, Will and I have been talking about opening a savings account for her. Then came Brinlee and we talked even more. And, well, 10 years later, I finally did it. SAD! (that is took this long)
I have actually been putting money aside every single month for a little over a year now for each child. Today, I put that money into 5 different accounts with each girls' name on their own account. I divided it up so that the older 2 girls have just a little more to start with than the younger three. These next 8 years are going FLY and Mariah will be off to college before we know it.
I also talked to the gal at the bank about having another account to start saving up for weddings. This one won't be a top priority, but just knowing that I have a little bit put away will ease my stressing mind. She said that I could come back and talk to their financial advisor about all my options.
I am open to all suggestions! :D

9 am church

2010-01-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

So, apparently, since our ward is so absolutely

GINORMOUS,

they have been "forced" stay in the 11

am time slot for church. This allows them full use of all

the larger rooms for classes, etc.

This year someone,

somehow worked it out

that we are able to go at the

9 am time.

Most people seemed pretty excited.

Others were grumbling and unhappy.

I am neither here nor there.

There are pros and cons to every time slot for me.

Anyway, we haven't been privileged to attend

our ward since "last year" since we were in HI for

2 weeks. Will had to work today, so he

was off and gone by 6. I got up and fed the

kids taking account of the time, until it hit me that

"OH. GEEZ!

We have 9 o'clock church!!!"

This was at exactly

8:01 am.

UUUUUUgggggHHH!!!

I literally threw the 3 middle kids

into the shower while Roxelle sat on the potty.

Got them out and helped Mariah hurry through.

I was, by some miracle,

able to get them all showered, dressed

and hair fixed by 8:25, and then I had to shower.

We got ready to leave at 8:50 and it was only

then that I realized that I am supposed to

teach today.

Now, (I sheepishly admit), I have prepared a lesson or 2

during the 2nd block of church and that is

what I would have done, except that I

didn't have the new manual for this year.

We arrived at the church at 9:05

and planned on sitting in the foyer until after

the sacrament so that we could occupy

the benches that the priesthood uses for passing the sacrament,

but it seems that there quite a few people aren't

accustomed to the earlier time slot and

there was actually a bench available!

We've been blessed for a good long

while to have Will attend church with us.

The kids aren't perfect with him there,

but at least we can tag team if needed.

Today was one of those

"I really want to drag all 5 of you out of this chapel and hide"

kinda day.

Our friends,

Mike and Arianna Rees,

who just moved into our ward a

couple of months ago, spoke today.

Arianna talked about (of all things)

"The JOY of motherhood".

LOL!

That was all I could do.....laugh at myself.

Thankfully,

only 1 of the 2 lasagne's that

I made to take to the priest/laurel activity

on Friday got eaten, so I didn't have to

think about dinner.

KAILUA!!!!

2010-01-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

Obama is GONE and we finally get to go to our FAVORITE beach park in Kailua. It's called Kalama Beach park and it's a total diamond in the rough.

On the way out of Ewa, we stopped at our old favorite 7-Eleven on the corner of Ft. Weaver and Renton Rd. The girls each got a slurpee and I got a bigger one for Will and I to share with Roxelle, but as you can see, we didn't get much of it. LOL!

She is in HOG HEAVEN!! (Ross)

One of the things on our to do list was to go up to the Pali Lookout. So we drove to Kailua over the Pali Highway. We absolutely LOVE this place. The wind is amazing up here. We have some pretty unique memories of this place and today we got another one. (see below)

And it's ALWAYS freezing, no matter the temp
everywhere else.

When we pulled into the Pali Lookout parking lot. There were emergency vehicles everywhere. At least 2 ambulances, 2 fire engines, and 5 HPD cars. When we got to the top of the lookout, there were emergency crews all over and a news station. The bottom half of the lookout was police taped off and there were emergency climbers all hooked up and looking over the edge. I wish I could've gotten a pic of just how steep and far down it goes.

(Just tonight on the news we learned that an 80 year old O'ahu man was there with his wife. She watched as he climbed through the safety rail and walked along the rail on the other side a little ways. Supposedly he lost his grip and fell to his death. The rescue crews had to climb down 250-300 feet and it took them over 3 hours to carry his body back to the top. Such a senseless tragedy! So sad!)

I got chicken skin as we walked down the path to our favorite beach. I LOVE this beach. I miss it SOOO much! I wish we could go there every single day until we leave. The ocean was pretty flat, but just enough for the girls to think they were catching some "sweet waves".

Can you tell why they call it "Turtle Rock"
(way in the background)

Mariah caught one!!

So did Brinlee!!!!
(I was so excited for her I wasn't
watching my camera..LOL)

Sandy baby!

Gorgeous water!

At the end of the day.....you get to go home with some "beach hair". YEEEES!!!

Shopping

2010-01-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

Today, we really did need to stay out of the sun, so we decided to go shopping at the Outlets in Waikele. I didn't have anything good to wear to church tomorrow, so that is mainly what we were shopping for. We scored some awesome winter weather wear at Old Navy. I got some cute sweaters for $10. They had their $80 Wool Pea Coats for kids marked down to $20, too. Such a smokin' deal!!
After shopping we ran a few errands and then went to Dave's Ice Cream. MMMMMMmmmmmmmmm!!!!!! Heavenly! It was everything I remember it to be. :)

Will and Brinlee ordering

Sharing!

Mariah and her coconut shave ice... (ooo, but she has pumpkin
flavored ice cream under it. MMMMM!)

Such a GOOF!

Roxelle trying to steal a bite of Asia's with the

spoon in her hand (she had just pulled it away

when I snapped the pic, so you can't tell she

has one in her hand)

OOOOOO!!! Dave's Ice Cream is the BEST!!

Tonight, Kauwe and Kapua wanted to go out one last time before he leaves on Monday. We kept all the girls here so that they can spend some quality time together. It’s going to be so hard to be a single mom for 4 months. 5 girls is a lot of work!!
I decided it would make tomorrow morning easier to get ready if I braided the girls’ hair tonight. We are going to try and take some family pics at Ko’Olina in the morning before church. The meeting starts at 1, so we should have plenty of time if we can get through the morning o.k. I didn’t think it would take as long as it did to braid 8 heads of hair, but at 10:15, I was just finishing up. (We started around 7). It will be worth it in the morning though. I’m exhausted today. I need to get some more sleep! (Sleep, schmeep, right?! We’re in HAWAI’I!!!)

Beach

2010-01-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

We had planned to stay out of the sun today since everyone got fried crispy yesterday, but the Kai's had decided that they were going to pack up and go to the beach, which happens to be a rare occurance. So, we decided to go, too. Brinlee went with a rash guard on and a warning to stay in the shade as much as possible. We went to Ko'Olina, AGAIN, cuz Obama is still here for the holidays and our favorite beach in Kailua has been shut down because that's near where he's staying. :( BOOO!

Sweet Sisters

Fun in the sand

Baywatch? LOL j/k

Friends

Random shots

Not sure of the big scary sand turtle

Do you like it? NOOO! Do you like it?? WAAAAAHHH!

Tiny surfer girl! (Aleena)

Naysa (Sweet n Spicy!)

Upset because she was told to stay out of the
sun for a little longer.
"BUT, hmph, it's NOT faaaaiiiiirrrrrr!"

Kauwe let them each take a turn launching off his shoulders.

Her beloved coral

Roxelle and Kristy

Brand New

2010-01-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

My first "tweet" on Twitter this morning is:
"Well, I guess 8 is sleeping in for my kids.
GOOD Morning! It's a new day, new leaf,
new start, new year. Make it count!"

We had such a fantastic time last night. Too bad it rained off and on, but that didn't damper the firework popping. The kids didn't care that they were soaked. We were up in Mililani with Kapua's sister, Keli's in-laws. Mililani is more up in mountains, so we got some rain and it is much cooler up there. Lucky all our girls are 'similar' in size or thereabouts, so we could borrow some long pants and light jackets for the kids.

The food and company was amazing! Keli's in-laws are Filipino, so there was so much good food! Love it! Naturally, it was potluck, so we took a pumpkin-haupia pie from Dave's. It actually didn't get eaten since there was already so much food, so we brought it home for Kauwe's going away party on Sunday.

There's so much to say, so I think I'll let the pictures do the talking. (Everyone, except me, got burned so bad at the beach yesterday. :( It's owie!)

Mariah (The Tween-ager)

Brinlee in action

Asia is freezing as usual!

Tatum avoiding the water at all costs.

Roxelle, the cruiser.

Beach Babe :D

BURIED!

We were at the beach for over 5 hours. Will and the girls got a little (actually, a lot) sunburned :(. Roxelle fell asleep on the beach about a 1/2 before we were planning to leave and I couldn't bear to wake her. She ended up sleeping for over another hour past our planned departure. The girls were SO ready to go home and get ready for the party. I felt bad for making them wait, but I feel even worse now that they are burnt crispy.

Sleep is a precious commodity on this trip.

We stopped at Foodland (our regular grocery store, around the corner from our old house) to grab the Pumpkin Haupia Pie. I couldn't resist snapping these pics. It's hard for me to believe the prices when I'm standing right there looking at them, let alone trying to tell someone about it later.

Milk has gone up from $7.97 since we lived here....RIDICULOUS!!

Seriously, who buys sushi that has been sitting out on a table for who knows how long??!!??

There were too many pictures from last night to choose, so I decided to put them together on a slide show. Enjoy!

on the cusp

2009-12-31T08:32:00.000-08:00

We are on the cusp of a brand new year, decade and life, if it so be. I was reflecting on the last decade this morning and thought about where our lives were 10 years ago. We were living in Orem UT. Getting ready to have our first born, Mariah. Will was in school at BYU and working for PowerQuest (a computer software company). I had just finished my 2nd stint at Bon Losee Academy (which I hear is no longer) and preparing for the new chapter of motherhood.
In the year 2000, we had a very full and exciting year. After Mariah was born, it worked out that in some way, we got to see my parents every other month. We took a trip with them and all my siblings (except Paula) to the UK to see Amy Mayall marry Malcolm Young when Mariah was 4 months old. That was such a fantastic time!
As we start this new decade and I think about the next 10 years, it is scary to think I'll have 2 daughters go away to college and possibly get.... *whispers*... married. EEEK!
In the year 2010, the only resolution I have made so far is to be a better visiting teacher. That is something I have been lacking in since we moved back to the mainland and I want to strive to do better.
So far, the decade is starting off great because we are in one of our favorite places with some of our most favorite people!! I couldn't ask for a better jumping point!
We are headed to the beach again today! Should be some exciting pics to post tomorrow! Got a long and busy holiday ahead today.

Swap Meet

2009-12-31T00:50:00.000-08:00

We braved Aloha Stadium Swap Meet today with all 10 girls (Kauwe had to work, so Will was all alone...poor guy). I went armed with my list that I'd been secretly keeping for the last couple months, so as to not give away the travel plans. I was able to get everything on my list except the Christmas tree ornaments I was hoping to add to my collection for next year.

Mariah bought this Hello Kitty
necklace at the swap meet

After we left the stadium, we hit the H3 freeway and went over to La'ie to go to BYU-H bookstore and see the temple. I thought that I'd seen a Dave's ice cream over there before, but it turns out there isn't, so we stopped at Angel's ice cream for a cup with ice cream and shave ice. It was pretty good, but Dave's is still my favorite (even over Matsumoto's).

I missed these Ko'Olau Mtns. So majestic!

We went to the temple to see the grounds. The temple is currently closed for some major renovations until next summer, but the grounds are still as beautiful as ever. They even still had their life size marble nativity still set up and the visitor's center is still open. The girls were in awe of everything there.

Outside the La'ie Distribution Center

Peek-a-Boo!

Visitor's Center

Gorgeous La'ie Temple

The Nativity next to the VC ("Nice Doggie"...LOL!!)

Then we went up the road to the BYU-H bookstore and let the girls wander around the bookstore. They love looking around stores like that. It kind of cracks me up how excited they get about such little stuff.

We decided to take the "long way" home and drive over the North Shore. We made a stop at the Dole Plantation to get Pineapple Whip. YuuuMM!!! And it's dairy free, so even Roxelle got to have some. She totally dug it!

Front Entrance

Look at the Brinlee and Tatum in the back ground. LOL!

Penny Flatener. Mariah has sort of made this a tradition to do when we go places that have it.

Poor baby is EXHAUSTED!

Ko'Olina again

2009-12-31T00:45:00.000-08:00

First thing this morning, I went for a run and then a walk with the girls on bikes. We went past our old house and Keoneula Elementary School. The sun was shining through the clouds in the most beautiful way.

Our place on Kai'Oli St. and the girls school just to the right of the front gate.

Taylin picked this ENORMOUS hibiscus flower just outside our old house. I remember admiring them. There are usually pink ones too. SO pretty!

I thought the sun looked cool.
(These were all taken with my phone..sorry for the poor quality)

Then the girls were given the go ahead to eat the gingerbread houses. They dug right in!

LOL! Tatum thought this was hilarious!

We went to Ko'Olina again today. It was cloudy today and a little bit of a cool breeze was blowing. The girls didn't care, though. They threw themselves into the water like it was 90 degrees out. They came out an hour later with slightly blue lips, but they didn't seem to care at all.

I'd have to say that Roxelle gets the brownie award for the day. The poor baby didn't get her 9am or 1pm naps and we didn't hear hardly a peep out of her all day. She toddled around on the "straw" mat and munched on snacks and cooed at the the birds. She was just happy as can be!

On the way home we stopped at the new Costco/Target complex in Kapolei. I so missed Target when we lived here and, of course, only about 6 months after we left, they finished building it.

We are going to call it a night earlier tonight than last night. I am closing my eyes as I type. I am exhausted!

Tomorrow: Aloha Stadium Swap Meet

Out to Dinner

2009-12-30T23:24:00.000-08:00

Kauwe's brave dad, Gordon, agreed to keep all 10 girls home, while we parents went out to dinner. I put Roxelle and Tatum to bed and then we left. We couldn't decided where to eat, so we ended up at the Ho Ho "Chin" Buffet in Kapolei (supposed to be Chinese, but the 'ese' lights were burnt out so it looked like 'Chin').
Totally ghetto place to eat, but the food was actually pretty good. We chatted and enjoyed each other for the evening. We don't have many more days with Kauwe, as he is getting set to leave on Mon. t0 AZ for 4 months on a military training thing-y.
We love the Kai's so much! It's like looking at a very tan mirror image of ourselves. They totally get the dynamic of 5 girls under age 10. We joke that we must be building our mansions in heaven very close to one another to house all these girls and all our posterity to come!

AlooooooooHaaaaa!

2009-12-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

We are finally here after an eventful night! We got to the airport in plenty of time to take it easy getting through security with 7 people and 11 pieces of luggage. We boarded the plane on time and taxi'd out to the runway in decent time. Then we sat there for a while. The girls kept asking if we were already flying (cuz it was dark outside and they couldnt' see that the ground was right there). Then the pilot came on and said that one of the flap indicator lights had come on and that we were turning around to go back to the gate to have the mechanics take a look. They said if there really is something wrong with the flap, that we will have to change planes, but if it's just a false indicator, that we'd take off because they don't need the indicators to work once we are in the air.

After we had sat at the gate for over an hour, it was announced that it was just the indicator light.

Once in the air, the kids slept most of the time and were, over all, pretty good.

The kids and I wore masks for a good part of the time to try and avoid the sickies.

Baby's 1st plane ride!!! (AWWW)

We arrived 2 hours late at 11:40. When we exited the airplane and walked out of the terminal into the open air, Tatum pointed to the palm trees and shouted "LOOK! It's Hawaii!!" They were so excited to just be here.

We grabbed our one checked suitcase and headed out to the car rental bus waiting area. We waited for over an hour and watched a bunch of the other company buses come and go 2 and 3 times. We used the courtesy phone (4 or 5 times) that direct connects to Thrifty and it kept telling us that someone would be there shortly to get us.

Us waiting...and WAITING! (1 am-ish)

Finally at around 1:10 am, the guy at the taxi stand next to us came and asked us if we needed help and we told him we were waiting for the Thrifty bus and he said they'd closed at 11:30. WHAT?!

So we called Kauwe, whom we'd been keeping updating since we landed, and he came to get us. We finally arrived in Ewa around 2:15.

I'd say the thing that has changed the most is that they finished the 3rd lane on Fort Weaver Rd and there is NO more traffic in Ewa!!! That is totally unfathomable to me. I can't comprehend there being no traffic on Ft. Weaver Rd.

We spent this morning getting our rental car figured out and then we all went to Ko'Olina to hang on the beach. The girls are playing so well together. I thought my girls would enter the ocean with some trepidation at first, but they hopped right back in like we'd never been gone.

Will and I agree that we feel like we're in some kind of weird time warp. It's almost as though we never left, or that we haven't been gone that long.

Tomorrow: We beach it again!!!

The first glimpse of the beach!!

Baby's 1st toes in the sand experience!!

Not all together sure of this, yet.

Don't really like the grass, either.

Called to Repentance

2009-12-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

This morning while I was dressing Roxelle, Tatum came into her room with a concerned look and said;

T: Jesus doesn't like that one.

Me: Which one?

T: That one, it makes Him and Daddy sad.

Me: I'm not sure what you're talking about. What doesn't Jesus like?

T: That one you say. Jesus and Daddy very angry.

Then I realized she was referring to me saying "freakin'" a little while earlier because she was holding a flashlight over the toilet and I told her to "Close the freakin' lid" before she drops it in the toilet.
I know that isn't a curse word to most, but I don't like it and try really hard not to use it. I didn't use to care, but the first time I heard one of my kids say it, I didn't like that very much, so I told them that it's not a "curse" word, but that it's not a very nice thing to say.
Tatum was so concerned that I had said a swear word and that Jesus and Daddy were going to be very mad at me. I hugged her tight and sincerely apologized to her and told her that I promised to try really hard to never say it again. Funny girl!!

An act of kindness

2009-12-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

Last night, I decided to just bite the bullet and go shopping today for the girls "Christmas dresses". I decided to hit Clackamas Town Center because it's in OR, so no sales tax, and it has the best selection of stores that is closest to me.

I decided to go to Target, which is across the street, first. I actually found a couple of cute dresses there and decided that since they were such a great price that I would just go for it. So I paid and left.

When I got in the car, I was organizing my bag. When I pulled out of my spot, I realized that someone had been waiting for it and I felt bad that I'd taken so long, so I waved an apology and she smiled and waved back, which I thought was a nice gesture. As I was driving away, I realized that my Target receipt, which I had put into my wallet after paying, was on the edge of my driver's seat. I went to slip it back into my wallet and realized that my check book (with all my credit cards) was missing. I frantically searched the sides of my seat and the back while stopped at the stoplight, but could not find it. So I flipped a U and hurried back to where I was parked. I knew that since it wasn't in the car, and I know I put it back into my wallet after I paid, with my receipt, that I had to have dropped it in the parking lot.

I didn't see it in the spot where I'd parked (I recognized the car still in it that had parked there after me). I went into Target and no one had turned it in. I was FRANTIC! I kept thinking that I wouldn't be able to make the 30 minute drive home fast enough to cancel my cards and checks before someone might start doing their Christmas shopping on my dime!

On the drive home, I kept going over it in my head and kicking myself for even going shopping in the first place. I knew this was my "punishment" for spending unnecessary money. I was praying that it would be found by someone honest, that wouldn't use my identity or spend our money, and I promised that I would return the dresses and they could go without this year. They don't need them anyway.

After I cancelled my debit card, checks, and credit cards, I was sulking on the couch when my phone rang and an angel was on the other end. The gal asked for me by name and told me her name and said she found my wallet in the Target parking lot. I thanked her vehemently and asked her if she by chance had turned it in to Target. She said "No. Honestly, I used to work for Target and I've seen what those 'girls' behind the counter do to lost wallets. So I thought I'd take my chances and try to find you myself. I was the one who pulled into the parking spot you were in and when I got out of the car, I saw it on the ground. I hope you don't mind, but I had to go through your checks to find your number." Of course I didn't mind. I told her that the funny thing is that just a couple of weeks ago I had gotten new checks and my old checks had my HI number on them. She said "Well, when I was looking, I noticed that you made a check out to a ward. Are you LDS?" I laughed and said "YES! Are you?!" and she said "Yes!" We both laughed. I told her she was a direct answer to prayer. I thanked her a million times over and we agreed to meet back up by Clackamas Town Center, which is where she lives.

I had made these little baskets with a candle for my visiting teach-ees for Christmas and I had an extra, so I put a thank you note inside and took it to her.

I have such a strong testimony of the power of prayer already, and after today it is strengthened 10 fold. I know that He hears and answers all of our prayers. Sometimes those answers don't come as immediately as we like, but if you live righteously and listen to those simple promptings, you will hear your answers.

"Xmas"

2009-11-30T17:38:00.000-08:00

So, I have been the "Xmas" police for years now. I am not afraid to scold anyone for "taking Christ out of Christmas". I thanked a friend for NOT taking Christ out of Christmas in her Facebook post today and it started an interesting conversation. One of the people pointed me toward an article on the origin of "Xmas" that helped me understand it better. So I thought I would share.
p.s. I know I have been doing a lot of non-personal blogging lately. I'll try to get caught up with my pics ASAP.

http://www.thehistoryofchristmas.com/trivia/xmas.htm
Xmas is an abbreviation for Christmas. It is derived from the word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, transliterated as Christos, which is Greek for Christ. Greek is the language in which the whole New Testament was written.
Originally, Xmas was an abbreviation where the X represents the Greek letter chi, which is the first letter of Christ's name. However, because of the modern interpretations of the letter X, many people are unaware of this and assume that this abbreviation is meant to drop Christ from Christmas.

Also, here is a relevant excerpt from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas
"Xmas" is frowned upon in modern guides for writing styles. Style guides at the New York Times,[2] The Times, The Guardian and the BBC all rule out its use, where possible.[3] Millicent Fenwick, in the 1948 Vogue's Book of Etiquette states that "'Xmas' should never be used" in greeting cards.[4]
The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage states that the spelling should be considered informal and restricted to contexts where concision is valued, such as headlines and greeting cards.[5]
The Christian Writer's Manual of Style, while acknowledging the ancient and respectful use of "Xmas" in the past, states that the spelling should never be used in formal writing.[6]

So I suppose I should stop telling people not to use it in forums like Facebook and Twitter. LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder, John, in desperation threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said......"I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2009-11-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

Will's mom read this poem to us at the first Christmas after Will's dad passed. I just dug it up to give to a grieving friend and thought there might be others who would benefit from it. Merry Christmas ALL!

My First Christmas In Heaven

2009-11-24T11:36:00.000-08:00

I see the countless Christmas trees
around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars,
reflecting on the snow

The sight is so spectacular,
please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year

I hear the many Christmas songs
that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can't compare with
the Christmas choir up here

I have no words to tell you,
the joy their voices bring
For it is beyond description,
to hear the angels sing

I know how much you miss me
You know I hold you dear
And be glad I'm spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year

I sent you each a special gift
From my heavenly home above
I sent you each a memory of my undying love

After all, love is a gift
more precious than pure gold
It was always most important
in the stories Jesus told

Please love and keep each other
As my Father said to do
For I can't count the blessing or love
he has for each of you

So have a Merry Christmas
And wipe away that tear:
Remember, I am spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year.

Sack Lunches

2009-11-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight.. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read; perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.

'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan.

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base. His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.'

She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq, it's almost like you are doing it for him..'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.

She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. This is your thanks.

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat-belt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.'

I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers. Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who looked 20 was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to depart. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

That's my girl

2009-11-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Tatum was playing with this little animal puzzle that Roxelle got for her birthday and she kept insisting that the hamster piece is called a "Lommster". I tried to tell her otherwise, but she would not hear it.
This morning after we dropped the girls off at school, she said she wanted to watch "Scooby, Scooby Doo" and that she can't find it. I knew it was in the car so I started handing her all the DVD's from the car. The first one I handed her was "Barbie in the Nutcracker" and when she looked at it she exclaimed "OOO! It's the 'Buttcracker' one, Mommy!" I asked "It's what?" "Buttcracker", she said like DUH MOM!
She is killing me with her mixed up words and phrases. I can remember doing that as a little kid. (ok, Jolene. I know I still do it. LOL!! "Beth hairs" ha ha ha!!) That's my girl!

Top Story

2009-10-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Katu Channel 2's
Anna Song
tweeted me on
Twitter
saying that someone sent her the link to
my blog after reading what happened at WinCo.

Anna and her camera guy came over on

Thursday morning and spent about

an hour talking to me and filming the kids

(Tatum and Roxelle).

Then they asked me if they could meet

me at my

dr appointment

that I made earlier that morning for Tatum.

She woke up with a red, bloodshot eye.
They came to Evergreen Pediatrics and filmed the

entire appointment and also spoke to

Dr. Fuchs

(the girls Ped. pronounced like fyou-ks) on camera.

It was CRAZY!

And also fun.

They aired tidbits on the 4 and 5 o'clock

news and then a full story at 6.

It was the top story on the 5 and 6 airings.

Must've been a slow day!!! LOL

Mask

2009-10-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today I had to go grocery shopping.

I don't like going when Will's working because

I HATE taking kids with me.

I went to Wmart and Winco and because

Tatum and Roxelle both have

sneezy, goobery noses,

I was doing my part to keep them covered.

The masks help A LOT with

keeping their hands away from their mouth, too.

Believe me I wouldn't have gone

and taken them if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

But you gotta do what you gotta do.

So I am hurrying in Winco, because Roxelle has had enough. I am bagging as fast as I can and I say (kind of to myself)

"OO I hate to be the mom at the checkout with a screaming child. he he"

The woman across from me bagging in the lane facing me just kind of glared at me and I thought,
OH.Kay.

Then she says

"You know your kidding yourself

if you think that's gonna work. The

mask has to be sealed tight to prevent sickness.

So you might as well take it off and make 'him' happy".

I said (humbly) "Oh, well it does help a little."

She said "No it doesn't if it's not air tight."

I said (humbly again)

"Oh. Well, my

husband's a nurse and he insists I have them wear it".

She says, (GET THIS)

"Well maybe he should be the one at the grocery store instead of you."

THE NERVE!!!

Then the checkout lady called me over to ask a

question and gave me a sympathetic look.

When I went back to my business.

She was glaring again and so I said;

"Well, you know, they have icky noses and are sneezing, so I'm just trying to save everyone else from getting their germs. The masks will at least keep the snot from spraying everywhere."

She didn't respond. RUDE!

Several people at both stores made comments like "That's smart" and "Good for you" and "Thank you for sparing me the germs". One older lady in Wmart in one of those electric carts had on a mask, too. I told Tatum "look, Aunty has a mask, too". The lady was so nice telling Tatum how cool hers looked with Mickey Mouse on it. Their Peds office gives them out for free, so I snagged a couple when I was there last. Glad I did! The girls were both really good about leaving them on. Roxelle got over it toward the end and refused to leave it put, but for the most part she didn't even bother it. Tatum didn't take hers off at all.

baby steps

2009-09-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Roxelle just took her first steps about 20 minutes ago!!! We were sitting on the floor watching tv and Will says "Mommy! Mommy, LOOK!" I turn to see Roxelle take 1 and a 1/2 little steps toward me, giggling all the while. FINALLY!!! She's 12 months and 10 days, already!!

I am so proud of you, Honey!!

2009-09-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Check out these 2 letters that Will received from the hospital today. One is from the Director of Human Resources and the other is from the Head Hospital Administrator.

If you click on the letters individually, they will open up into larger view.

These letters are to inform Will that he is being named the hospital wide Employee of the Month for October!!! His manager said that they will give him a party at the hospital and present him with his award. She said to invite his family, friends and well anyone that cares to come and celebrate. He needs to pick a date that he wants the party on and I will let everyone know when he does.

His floor manager, DJ, told him that this is a pretty big deal and will probably only happen once, maybe twice in his career so plan big! He even gets to choose what food to have! I am so thrilled for him! He, of course, is being very modest about the whole thing. Congratulations, Honey! You deserve it!!

Always a day late and a dollar short...

2009-09-12T01:39:00.000-07:00

I know I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I thought all day yesterday about 9/11. I will never forget.

The footage is very real. Don't watch if you can't stomach it.
If you can, then grab a tissue and we'll watch it together.

My memory of that day is not out of the ordinary. I was doing the same thing as everyone else when I got a phone call from my sister Paula telling me to turn on the tv and my world came to a screeching halt. Mariah was 18 months old and I was pregnant with Brinlee.

I was working part time for Caldera Systems as a receptionist and I was just getting ready to leave for work when the 2nd plane hit.

I remember watching the replay of the 1st plane and trying to play out in my mind what could have possibly happened, but when the 2nd plane hit, is was horrendously obvious what was happening.

I can still hear the eerie quiet-ness of the skies and streets that day. I remember the sense of hopelessness in the days after and then the slow building up of unity across the nation.

I am proud to be an American and I send my prayers and well-wishes to those that have made and still make my freedom possible.

I am forever indebted.

billy bob

2009-09-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

Look MOM! I have teeth!!!

(You have to click on the picture to make

it bigger and get a better view)

Oh, Asia.

2009-09-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

That girl gets me laughing and angry all in about a 30 second span!

This morning she just had me laughing, though. She came up to my room and discovered her money purse. I was getting ready and she was on my bed. She suddenly says:

A: "Ughh! I don't want $2 dollars!"
Me: "OOO! I'll have it then!"
A: "Nooo-wuh! I want more dollars!"
Me: "Well, then you'll have to go get a job to earn more dollars."
A: "What?! Why?"
Me: "Because money doesn't grow on trees like the fruit."
A: *Thinks for a minute* "What if I find a dollar, no, a LOT of dollars in the street and I just start picking them all up? Then I'll be RRrrrich!!" *laughs her funny little giggle*

p.s. I finalized everything for her to start Kindergarten. After all my effort, I still couldn't convince VANSD to let her into public school, so she is going to a private school (Kindercare Learning Center). Much to my relief, it's not going to be quite as expensive as I was told it would be. It's actually not that much more than putting her in preschool for another whole year. She is over the moon excited!!!

delayed reaction

2009-09-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

I guess I spoke a little too soon. (BOOOO!) After about a week and a half of Tatum being on cow's milk, this morning she woke me with her trademark "dairy" hacking cough. She's been fine with everything else since last April at Easter time. I guess she wasn't ready for straight milk yet. I am still happy that she can have pretty much everything else. I'll just have to keep her on Almond Milk for drinking for a while, I guess.

Dairy Ice Cream

2009-08-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

Every summer, my girls' pediatric dentist has an ice cream party. This was our first year and the girls were in heaven!! He rents an ice cream truck and gives each kid a set of tickets for different stuff and one ticket is to pick 1 treat (anything they want) off the truck. Since we've been easing into letting Tatum eat dairy, I let her choose what she wanted. She was practically giddy and knew exactly what she wanted...."DORA!".

Dr. Brandon has these token machines in his office and each visit the kids each get 1 or 2 tokens to get a prize. This day, they earned the tokens by playing the little "carnival" games they had set up.
At the end of the day, they got some airbrushing.

FREEEE the "Dairy Free-k"

2009-08-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

We've been battling an annoying dairy allergy with Tatum since she was about 9 months old. She has a serious respiratory reaction to any type of dairy ingestion and so we've been pretty careful about reading labels and letting caregivers (i.e. nursery and babysitters, etc.) know about it. Plus the older girls have been really good at knowing what she can and cannot have.

Each year at Easter, we make sure that the bunny knows that she can't have chocolate and she gets stocked with appropriate treats like Skittles and Starburst (and Oreo Cookies...they don't have milk. I know. Go figure!)

Anyway, this past Easter, Tatum kept hiding behind the couch and eating the other girls chocolates. She just couldn't resist. The poor kid LOVES chocolate. She would come into the kitchen with a thick ring of chocolate around her mouth and I thought for sure we were gonna be seeing the ER in a few days, but about a week later, I noticed that she hadn't had ANY reactions to it.

Over these last few months we started with letting her have hard cheeses. She loves Mozzarella sticks. A few weeks ago I let her eat a 1/2 of a gogurt. Nothing. Then we had an ice cream party at the their dentist's office and I let her have "dairy" ice cream (that post is on it's way with pics). Nothing, again. A few days ago, I started putting "dairy milk" on her cereal. Still, nothing.

HALLELUJaaaah...

......oh. wait. Roxelle was born with the same allergy. She got her first runny nose at about 9 days old. I couldn't eat dairy while nursing her and that was HARD! Hers manifests a little differently than Tatums. Her first symptoms are goopy eyes. Tatum would always start with the wheezing and hacking cough. Roxelle has only worked up to the cough once or twice after someone accidentally gave her something with dairy. I can only hope that she grows out of it as quickly as Tatum did!

Tatum turns 3!

2009-08-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tatum wanted to have her party at the "water park". Luckily, downtown Vancouver has Ester Short Park with this great water feature and it's FREE!
Tatum was in her own world most of the day! She wasn't going to let anyone or anything bother her! She even got to see her favorite cousin, Hannah. They are like 2 peas in a pod, but couldn't be more opposite at the same time!!
We let the kids play in the water for a good long time and then we had cupcake cones, snacks and juice.
Will had to work, but I had my mom there to help and lots of friends, too.
When we got home, we did another cake and sang Happy Birthday and then she wanted to jump on the tramp, so she did just that!
She is such a funny girl and so much fun to have around! She is our family "clown"!

Mom's Salon

2009-08-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Clockwise from Roxelle: Mariah, Asia, Tatum, Brinlee

I decided to give each of the girls a "real" pedicure and paint their finger and toe nails. They thought they were real princesses getting the royal treatment. They didn't even mind having to take turns in the foot soak bath.

They each chose their own colors for their fingers and toes. Tatum insisted on black polish for both fingers and toes. Silly girl! LOL!!

She loved the water!

and now here's.....the rest of the story

2009-08-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

Today is Will's birthday so I thought it would be fun to take a cake to his work. While I was getting ready upstairs, this is what the girls were doing downstairs...

Don't they EVER learn?! SHEESH! I guess I
didn't scare Asia enough with horror stories
of chopping her own little fingers off with a knife.
I even put it up and she dragged a bar stool over
and got it anyway.

Going to see Will at work was fun! The girls were so surprised to see him at a hospital "where babies come from" ~Asia. The girls created quite a stir among the staff. Sadly, this is the first time we've been down to see him at work and he's been there a year this month!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

Will's Birthday Surprise

2009-08-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Will had to work today and it's his birthday, so we decided to surprise him with a cake at work. He has worked at Providence Milwaukie Hospital for a year now and we have never been in to visit him. His co-workers were beginning to think we didn't exist! LOL!

The Great Watermelon Massacre

2009-08-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Asia and Tatum were banished to their room until they cleaned the entire thing. They were in there from 9 am to 6:30 pm with only 1 break for lunch and 1 for dinner and the room was still not clean at bed time. I made them share a bed because I am tired of clearing a spot on the floor to drag the trundle out for Tatum to sleep on.
This morning after breakfast, around 9, I sent them back up there. At 11-ish, Asia came to report that the dress ups were all put away. I congratulated her and gave them a small snack and sent them to clean the rest.
At 1, they came down whining and I asked if it was clean. "Nooo." So I took them back up there to find that a Barbie doll and accessory explosion had occurred. Plus the Polly Pockets and all their teeny weeny pieces were still out along with other random toys and books. (It's been a long standing rule in our house since Mariah was very little that they are not allowed to mix and play with their toys. They can play Polly's, but have to put them away if they want to play Barbie's or dress-ups, etc. If they break that rule then those 2 or more sets of offending toys are banished for any given number of days).
I yelled a little (ok...a LOT) and told them to clean. it. up.!!!!
So Asia came down around 1:45 to report that the Polly's were all picked up. I told her I would cut her some watermelon, but she had to go put the bin in the closet first. So she hurried off to do it. Well I didn't hear her come back down and a little while later Mariah came into the living room and said "Asia made a mess of the watermelon".....

It was whole with only the very end cut off. And,
YES, that's the knife she was using. And, YES,
they ate what is missing. UUUGGHH!!!!!

National Neighborhood Night Out

2009-08-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

The first Tuesday in August each year is National Neighborhood Night Out. I had asked around to find out if our neighborhood does it and no one had heard of it, so I decided to put one together for the people on our street.

We had a pretty good turn out and my neighbor, Lola Downs, let us use her big open field as the staging area. It was potluck and we had a great time!

Lola Downs, Roxelle, Kristy

Our next door neighbors Vitaliy, Elena and baby Angela (Alvena not pictured)

"Uncle" JR Roberts brought some friends for the kids to see.

Erickson girls manning the sign in table (Artem and Vitaliy pictured)

After all the festivities, we were cleaning up and I caught 10 mo old Roxelle, who barely even crawls, trying to climb the stairs. She actually makes a pretty good attempt!

Tatum's Pics

2009-08-02T18:37:00.001-07:00

I took Tatum yesterday to get her pictures done for her 3rd birthday (Aug 24). She did pretty well considering we had to wait about 2 hours. It was a struggle at first, and I am NOT a fan of prop in pics, but after I relented to letting her hold that bear, she was all smiles and goofy expressions. I'd have preferred she not hold the bear in every pic on the first background, but she would not smile without it. Oh, well....
www.kiddiekandids.com always does a great job!

IN charge

2009-08-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

After only 8 months of working with Providence Milwaukie Hospital (in April), Will was asked if he'd like to start training as a charge nurse. He excitedly agreed and absolutely loves doing it! He has been on his own for a couple months now and has received a couple emails from the head nurse at PMH praising his efforts. WAY TO GO, Honey! I am so happy for you!

1st cavities

2009-07-31T17:15:00.001-07:00

The girls had their bi-annual dentist cleaning yesterday. They've all been twice a year since they were about 2, except Tatum who's been going since 15 months. Anyway, we've never had cavities until now. BOO! I thought it'd be Mariah, but it's actually Brinlee. She has 2 small cavities on 2 baby teeth. They still want to fix them even though they are on baby teeth. DANG! No FUN! I have to make her an appointment in the next couple months.

soooOOooory!

2009-07-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry for the lack of posts....my drafts are getting a little out of control.

I have had quite a few people asking me lately why I don't post for a while and then all of a sudden they will look and there's a TON of posts up. It's because I always start a "draft" so that I won't forget things that I want to blog about in detail or write a blog and then tell myself that I'll come right back on to add pictures, but never come back to finish them until I have time and then I publish them all in one afternoon and they post on the date that I originally started the draft.

Did that even make sense? Idk, I'll try to get 'em all up....

Lincoln City

2009-07-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

It's been SO HOT these past few days. It was about 108* in Woodburn today, but luckily we went to Lincoln City and oddly, it was cloudy and chilly there.

We went to the outlet mall, where Tatum got lost. She didn't keep up and there were so many kids, that it was easy to loose track. A lady was standing by the restrooms with her (that's where she got left) and was about to call for help when Grandpa spotted her. We also went to Depoe Bay and looked in shops and got salt water taffy and played on the beach at D Sands. I didn't stay to play on the beach, I went home with a car that wasn't staying. Roxelle was a little fussy and I wanted to get her cleaned up and fed.

The mall

Depot Bay and baby Cashel "low riding". LOL! (poor baby!)

We also stopped for lunch at BK

S'mores

2009-07-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Mike and Jackie are in town for Jackie's HS reunion, and Ross and Lindsay are here and so are Megan and Adam!
We are staying in Woodburn for a few days to hang out and tonight we started a fire in Grandma's fire pit and made s'mores!

Asia, Brinlee, Mariah, and Audrey Hathaway

Ava Hathaway, Asia, Hannah and Chelsea Jones and Kirsten Hathaway

Asia, Kirsten Hathaway, and Brinlee

Kirsten, Brinlee, Mariah and Audrey

MMmmmm! Marshmallows!!

Multnomah Falls

2009-07-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

We went to Multnomah Falls with Grandma Erickson and Mike, Monica and Rennick. I am embarrassed to say that I have never been and we only live about an hour away from it. It was breathtaking! So beautiful. The girls had a BLAST!

Roxelle is just along for the ride.

Mariah squishing her penny

After the falls we stopped in Troutdale at the outlet mall to shop and little and had lunch at Wendy's. It was a great day!

Aren't Grandma's the best? Mom would never
spend the .75 cents on this!

10 months old

2009-07-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Roxelle is 10 months old today. I decided to join our ward play group for once at Esther Short Park, but when we got there, I didn't see a single person from our ward. So, I either got the wrong day, or the wrong park.... Oh, well! The girls LOVE this water feature at the park.

Artem and Vitaliy

2009-07-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

Our cute little neighbor boys are such hard workers. Artem is Mariah's age and Vitaliy is Brinlee's age. Frequently when we are out working in the yard or garden, Artem will show up and start pulling weeds without being asked. Vitaly will also join him on occasion. I usually make cookies or give them some kind of treat for the hard work they show. They love the cookies and I think they really just need someone to pay a little attention to them for a minute. Plus, it makes my job go a whole lot faster!

Flaming Gorge and Good Bye

2009-07-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time to head off into the sunset. Literally. Our last stop this evening was in Sunset,UT! LOL!

We have really had such a fantastic time in all the places that we've been. I am biased, of course, but seeing my Jenny Penny has been the highlight of my trip! I miss her so much!

The girls have been, over all, great travelers! So much so, that we want to do this again next year. We thought that travelling in the car for hours on end in the heat would be too much for anyone to handle, but it's not been bad at all. Even baby Roxelle has done really well.

This morning we had breakfast and the Rouska's took us up Flaming Gorge to have a picnic lunch before we set off. It was GORGEOUS! I wish we could've spent more time there and gone camping. We're gonna try to plan it for next time.

Again, we took so many pictures, that I had a hard time choosing. This slide isn't as long as the last one, though.

After we said good-bye and were driving away, Mariah burst into to tears in the back and sobbed that she didn't want to say bye to Madi. :(

We decided to take a new route from Vernal to Salt Lake Area. Sunset is north of SLC, so we took the roads through Wyoming. It was a really pretty drive. I never thought I'd say that about Wyoming!

It was so much fun to see Uncle Stanley and Aunt Carole Erickson. Stanley is Will's dads eldest brother. He reminds me so much of Ray! They have the same smile. Aunt Carole is the sweetest thing! We arrived in late-afternoon and near dinner time, I told Will that I was going to run to Wendy's and grab the kids dinner. Carole said she wanted to ride with me and then insisted on paying for our food. So sweet!

We really enjoyed our short visit with them. The girls even started to get used to their cute little dogs. They loved throwing balls around their good sized back yard, too.

It's starting to get dark and I'm starting to worry about Will driving all night. He insists that he's fine, but we'll see how it goes. I love having mobile internet through Verizon. We get internet on our laptop where ever our cells phones get service, which is nearly EVERYWHERE!

We're getting ready to stop for gas in Burley, ID and I have tired "screen" eyes. This will all feel like a dream tomorrow when I get to sleep in my own bed again...

As we were saying our "bye's" to the Rouska's, Jen and I were talking about a photo that we had taken together at a picnic in Provo Canyon when the girls were about 2 months old (April 2000). We decided to reinact that moment. LOL!!

Boating with Rouska's

2009-07-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

We had the most fantastic time boating with the Rouska's today!! We were out on the water ALL DAY. Almost till sunset. The kids had a blast and all the girls tried the tube. When Jen and I rode with Tatum, she was having a great time and then all of a sudden we it the edge of a wake and all 3 of us got bumped off. Luckily we all had life jackets and I was already holding on to Tatum's. She was a little freaked out, but she was a trooper!!
Kade (15) is such a good kid. He was so good with all the girls and he's an awesome wakeboarder! I can remember when he was a baby...I can't believe he'll be driving soon.
After we cleaned up from the lake, we got the kids pizza and Kade agreed to baby-sit so we could go to dinner. We went to Wingers down in Vernal. Great food and conversation as always with Jen and Bryan. I wish they'd move closer to us. :P
Between Jen and I, we took so darn many pictures it was hard to decide. Sorry the slide show is a little lengthy. But all the shots were so good and different!

Twilight Zone & My SOUL SISTA!

2009-07-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

We decided to try and make it to our old ward, Suncrest 2nd. There were actually quite a few people that we knew, including the Bradley's and the Folsom's. We only stayed for sacrament meeting. It was so wierd being there. I can't believe we were in that ward for 5 years. It doesn't seem like that long AT ALL!
We changed our clothes and packed up from Mac's and headed to Vernal. Mac was a MORE than gracious host. Thousands of thanks to him for letting us stay with him on such short notice!!
It was a nice day and a long drive and we passed through the shortest most random thunder and lightening storm on the way. They always say.."If you don't like the weather in Utah, wait 5 minutes".
As soon as we got to the Rouska's, Jen and I ran to each other's arms!!! It was SO fantastic to be there. They have a beautiful (quiet) home and they let our circus move in for a couple days! Kade (15) was so great with the little kids and Mariah and Madi (9) were like old roomies!
We got settled and hung out for the afternoon.

Seven Peaks? and Sautter's!

2009-07-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

We woke up to gray skies and warm misty drizzle. We were going to take the kids to Seven Peaks Water Park in Provo, but decided not to. Mac let us use the key to his apartment complex pool place and we took them swimming there. It started to get a little breezy and chilly.
After we swam, Mac picked up Vienna and brought her home for the day. She was a little freaked out by all these strangers in her house, but warmed up quickly. She is a little dolly face!!

After they got dressed, we went and visited with my Grandma Woolsey again. She really wanted us to come over again. I took pictures today.

We also went to visit Uncle Carl and Aunt Glenna Wilson. Carl has been very poorly for a long while. We are sad to say that this may be the last time we get to see him alive. And DUH! I didn't take any pictures. UGH! I don't know where my brain is...

We finally got a hold of the Sautter's!! YAY! It was so much fun to visit with them for a short while. Elle and Mariah are like old pals again!!

Me and Crystal Elle and Kate

I wish we could've visited longer, but we promised Grandma Woolsey that we'd go to my cousin, Matthew's, wedding reception with her and my uncle Kent tonight. (And, no, I didn't get any pictures :*-) !!)

We'd originally planned to try and take the girls to Temple Square today, but it didn't happen. We just can't fit it all into one trip. We want to do this again next year!!

Good Friends, Family and Maggie Moo's

2009-07-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

We ended up staying with my cousin, Mac Jones, in Pleasant Grove since we couldn't get a hold of the Sautters. His wife is in France on business and their daughter, Vienna, is staying with her grandma while Mac works. His apartment is really nice! We are so thankful to him for letting our crew crash his place. Sleeping in the van wasn't sounding very nice! LOL
We visited my Grandma Woolsey in American Fork today. I don't think she really remembered who I was at first. She is getting old and repeats herself a lot, but it was really great to see her and the kids LOVED all the treats she has stashed everywhere (even though they were stale, as usual!! LOL).
Then we met up with our friends, the Bradley's from our old Suncrest 2nd Ward. We had a picnic with them at Orem Rec Center park. The kids had a lot of fun playing together! They have a girl, Madison (9) and 2 boys, Ethan (7) and Aiden (4). I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures.. BOO!
After we left the park, we met up with my other cousin's (Mac's siblings), Andi, Holly, and Phillip and their families. (Rachel, his sister, lives in FL) We met up at one of my favorite places in UT...Maggie Moo's ice cream. It is set up very similar to Cold Stone, but the flavors are just richer! MMMmmmmmmm!

Their mouths match the walls!

Aunt Mary, Ryan Price, Holly Williams (holding Kenna Price, Mary's daughter with back to camera in pony tail), Caden Price, Cohen Price (Brynley Williams behind Cohen), Mac Jones, Andi Jones-Price, Phillip Jones and his new wife (Laura, I think). And Asia jumping into the shot.

Utah

2009-07-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

Today, we set out on our journey again. This time it was a familiar path that we've traveled lots of times! I forgot how much I missed those mountains. We had such a fabulous time in Vegas. I could probably be happy living there, but Will says "NOT a chance! Too HOT!"

We stopped in Cedar City to visit Will's Aunt Rhea and Uncle Sterling (Church's). We visited with them for about an hour or so, but then the kids were hungry and restless, so we decided to grab something for lunch, since it was lunch time. We stopped at the Walmart to get some bread. I had brought PB and Jam with us on the trip, so we stopped off in a nearby neighborhood and had sandwiches.

As we headed north, the girls watched some movies and slept and I enjoyed the scenery. I still can't believe that the posted speed limit between Cedar and Provo is 80 mph! That's CRAZY!

As we entered Utah Valley, I couldn't get a hold of our friends, the Sautter's who we were supposed to hang with for a night or 2. So I left them a message and we hit BYU. We walked through the Wilkinson Center and Will told them how he went to school there. The girls were awe inspired! LOL

We walked through the bookstore and each of the girls spent some of their own money that they got to bring. Mariah got some pom-poms and Brinlee (painstakingly) chose a cute little pink notebook with the gold foil BYU logo on it and a pen. The little girls got these hair tie pom-pom things.

Then we went to the BYU Creamery on 9th. The girls had corndogs and Will had a burger and then we all had ice cream. Our favorite part (besides the ice cream) was the Red Creme Soda ON TAP!!!

Sandrailing and 4 wheeling at Apex

2009-07-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

We hooked up with one of Mike's buddies, Trevor, and went to Apex to use the sandrails and all the 4 wheelers.
When we first got there, we parked in this dirt lot and there were huge red ants EVERYWHERE! I got in the sandrail with Jackie and something started burning my thigh (I had long jeans on). I tried to rub at it, but then it started to spread. I jumped out of the sandrail and and un-buttoned my pants and reached down my leg, just as something brushed my fingers. I pinched it and threw it out. There was a HUGE ant up my pants on the front part of my right thigh and my skin was burning! It didn't stop itching for a long while and when we got home, I had about 5 or 6 red welts on my leg.
At the dunes, I rode in the sandrail with Mike first and I thought we were going to die! He is CRAZY! It was so much fun, though.
After that we traded up and Jackie and I took the 4 wheelers out by ourselves. We had been out for about 1/2 hour and were kind of going in a little bit of a circle, lost, but then we saw the guys on sandrails a couple of dunes over, so we headed in that direction. I was just about to come over a blind ridge and didn't realize that it was a straight drop (about 6 or 8 feet maybe??) on the other side before it was too late. I got flung forward face first and the 4 wheeler took a nose dive right behind me and then fell on my back, upside down. I could see Trevor racing toward me in his sandrail and could hear Jackie on my tail. I didn't want them to think I was hurt, so I threw the 4 wheeler off me and stood up in one motion. Luckily, I had a good helmet and didn't feel hurt. I could tell I bumped my knee on a rock or something hard, but I didn't have any scrapes or anything. They rushed over to me and I said I was fine, and by then Mike was there. He and Trevor turned his quad back over and asked how I got it off me. Must have been the adrenaline?! I was shaking so bad after that...I wasn't "hurt", but I was so shaken up! I feel really lucky to have not been hurt more.

These pics were taken after we got back to the trucks.

The "mountains" in the back drop is where we were riding.

The Strip

2009-07-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

We went out to eat with just Mike and Jackie at On the Border and then decided to take the all 10 kids to the strip. It was already late, but we wanted to go at night so they could really experience it.
On the way there in the car, I was so full from dinner that when I sneezed and burped at the same time, I threw up on the dashboard a little. EWWW!! TMI, I know. LOL!!!
The strip was crazy, as usual. And navigating with all those little kids was interesting, but we made it and they LOVED it!
We parked near the Bellagio so they could see the water fountain show. They were thrilled! We also got some pictures of this indoor art display they had going on.

Haylee babysat while we went out for dinner and curled all the little girls' hair for us. So cute!

Lake Mead

2009-07-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at Lake Mead with Mike and Jackie on their boat. Butch and Paula are already gone to Hawaii, so we took Zack, Haylee, Josh, and Alexa with us. It was such a gorgeous day and the lake was awesome!

The bad part was that something happened to the propeller when we parked the boat and so we had to go very slow on the way in. It took a long time and then we had to catch a ride to our cars with one of Mike's buddies in his Dodge Magnum. We managed to shove 12 of us in that car! It was hot and interesting, but didn't spoil the fun we'd had!

Sunday

2009-07-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

We got up SUPER early and got ready for church. We went to Sacrament Meeting at Butch and Paula's ward (Butch is Bishop right now). After that, we went straight over to Mike and Jackie's bldg for their Sacrament meeting.
Our friends from Vancouver (from when we lived there before), the Nordstrom's, now live in Mike and Jackie's ward in Vegas. SO RANDOM! It was so much fun to see them and visit. Their kids have gotten so big. I didn't even recognize 13 year old Christian as he passed us the sacrament. He is SO TALL.
The kids went to primary with their cousins and we went to our other meetings. I went to YW with Jackie and that was really fun to listen to another person teach. I got some pretty good ideas!
We had Sunday dinner at Butch and Paula's. They leave tonight to go on their annual trip to HI (dirty dogs!! I am SO jealous). We're sad that our trips overlapped, but it was such a fantastic time getting to see them.
We have already mentioned a few times to each other that we'd like to do this again next year if we can. We are having so much fun! The kids are getting along with each other so well. It almost does make me *think* about wanting to move down here. Will says NO WAY. It's TOO HOT!! It's true, it is. We are N'Westerners, for sure!
Right now we're trying to decide if we should go boating tomorrow. Mike is checking on weather and wind conditions. Hope it works out!!

Fireworks

2009-07-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

The fireworks show last night was amazing! Jackie and Mike's next door neighbors had TONS of illegal aerial ones. They were so cool and really loud, which I love! Tatum, on the other hand, does not like them loud or crazy. Poor girl kept her hands on her ears almost the whole night. Roxelle was just wide-eyed, trying to take it all in. The other girls were just enjoying it all and being in the middle with all their cousins.
After looking at these pictures, I had forgotten that they went swimming after going to the strip and before doing fireworks. It was still so warm outside while doing fireworks. Made me miss HI.

AWW! Our little "star"

Tatum

Asia

Mariah

Brinlee

mesmerized

Uncle Mike and Evan

Will, Tatum and Roxelle

Jackie, Paula and Kristy

Tatum, Kristy, Roxelle, Brinlee, Mariah, and Asia

On the STRIP!

2009-07-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

We thought about taking the kids to Hoover Dam today, but decided that none of us were up for an hour's drive in the car, so we decided to take them to the strip to M&M World. We parked in the MGM Hotel parking garage and decided to wander around that hotel for a bit, just to show them what a casino is like. They weren't too thrilled with it until we got to the live lion exhibit they have. We got there just as they were getting ready to feed them. A guy walks around with raw hamburger and throws chunks of it onto the windows and the lions eat it right off, showing people their enormous teeth and mouths. I tried to get a shot of one right in front of Asia, but my blackberry camera was too slow and I just missed it eating the hamburger, but here's a shot of it's body and the back of her head.

If you look closely, you can see the smear on the
window where it licked the meat off.

Then we went to M&M World, which is basically next door to MGM. That place is WILD! There is so much M&M stuff there. The girls' heads were spinning trying to see everything. We had given them each $10 of their own money and told them they could buy whatever they wanted.

There were 4 levels to this place. One level had this wall at the back that had every color of the rainbow you could imagine! The girls wanted to buy some really bad, but they were seriously SO expensive. We were standing there looking at them all and I look down and Asia is eating the M&M's off the floor that people had dropped while dispensing them out. LOL! EEW!

There was a movie thing-y that we could have watched, but the line was really long and we would've had to wait about 40 minutes. The girls were already starting to get restless, so we decided to move on.

Mariah was the only one that ended up buying anything. She chose a steel M&M water bottle. All Asia wanted to buy was Skittles. I'm like, we are in the M.and.M. Factory. You are not getting skittles for a million dollars. I will take you to the corner store and let you buy some for .50 cents. Then I bought them each an M&M ice cream treat, which was SO DELISH!!! Oh yeah, they each ended up squishing a penny in the little penny machine. They thought that was pretty cool.

a candy store at MGM

After we left there, we were pretty well spent. We headed back to the car and went to In N Out for lunch. That place was INSANE. There were so many people there that it was standing room only, inside and outside. We were standing in a corner waiting for our order when this really nice couple came over to me and asked if we wanted their table after they cleared it off. I was so glad. The food was SO good, but I felt like I needed to go straight home and exercise. LOL!

The girls are really looking forward to fireworks tonight. It's going to be another late night and so I'll probably post those tomorrow.

hanging out

2009-07-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

We didn't do much today that was exciting. I took some video of Roxelle in the pool though.

I did make dinner tonight for everyone, "Kauwe style" (because we learned it from our bestie, Kauwe Kai). I brought some of our favorite Korean BBQ sauce with us. It's so good and you can only get in it HI. We brought a whole bunch with us when we moved back. Butch and Paula are leaving for HI soon and going to pick us up a bunch. The food turned out really good and the kids enjoyed BBQ'd hot dogs and swimming.

Fireworks

2009-07-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

UGH! We got home MUCH later than expected (it's about 10:30), but the fireworks display was definately worth the wait. It was AMAZING!

Here's a few pics and then I have to go to bed before I can't open my eyes anymore.

Brinlee, Asia, Kirsten, Mariah, Haylee, Alexa, and Audrey

Tatum, Asia and Evan

Jackie (yellow shirt, glasses), Evan, Haylee
Audrey, Alexa, Mariah, Kirsten and Asia

They had a bunch of local businesses
and the city offices set up booths with
freebies. One booth gave out these popsicles
for free. It was stinkin' HOT out there and no
shade anywhere. Still a ton of fun and it didn't matter
once it got dark. :)

Las Vegas, NV

2009-07-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

We are finally here!! It is so beautiful here! I forgot how much I love this place. Our drive last night was long and tedious, but we got to see some beautiful places that we might otherwise have never gotten to see, like Lake Tahoe. I got the sweetest pic of the lake, but my blackberry was connected to the laptop at the time and so it wouldn't save for some weird reason and then we passed it. BOO!

We had told the girls that we would try and stop for dinner around 6:30 and at about 6:20 we passed a sign that said the next bk was in 115 miles. o_O An hour later at 7:20 we passed through this tiny 1/4 mile strip of a town in CA called Mina and the only place to eat was a topless bar. Asia said she needed to go potty, so we stopped at the gas station/minute mart. We walked in the door and the gal behind the counter was talking to this guy that I thought looked homeless. She said "Oh sorry, we're closed." I was like "Oh, well can she just use your bathroom real quick?" She said "Sorry no, you could try Jake's (or whatever it was called)". I looked to where she was pointing and started to go there until I realized that it was the topless bar. UGH! I can't take a child in there. WTHk?! Why couldn't she just let us use hers?

FINALLY, around 8:30 we found a McDonald's (BARF) in Tonopah, NV. We were all starving.

As we got closer to Vegas, we could see the "glow". I forgot how much I miss that drive down I-15 into the city. It's breathtaking. When we came into view of the city lights just minutes before midnight, my heart skipped a beat.

We got here to Jackie's just before 1:00. HOLY GEEZ! She lives in a flippin' mansion!! Their house is so beautiful!

This morning at 7:30, I woke to the sound of 7 little girls all talking a mile a minute. Audrey (7), Kirsten (5), and Ava (3) plus my 4 were all in the living room giggling and chatting. It was so cute.....though I wish I were still sleeping.

We went to Paula's early this morning to say hi to everyone. They recently remodeled their house and it is absolutely AMAZING! I love love love her new banister. She also had her entire kitchen re-done. It's beautiful! They really did a great job with it.

We've just been hanging out and soaking up some much missed sun. Ewa Beach always reminded me a lot of Vegas and now Vegas is doing the same for Ewa. I am missing HI a lot.

Tonight we are going to the N. Las Vegas city fireworks display. The kids are so excited to see the fireworks!!

This morning we went with Jackie's girls to a neighbors
house for swimming lessons. The gal that teaches is in their
ward, so she didn't mind that my girls were playing in the water
during the lesson.
Tatum, Ava, Kirsten, Asia, Brinlee

Sacramento, CA; Beale AFB

2009-07-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

We left Megan's a little while ago. We intended to leave earlier, but we were so tired from last night. We didn't arrive to her house until about 2 am. We crashed and slept till about 8.

It was so much fun to see Adam, Megan, and their girls, Adalyn and Ellie. I am so glad that we made it down here to visit them on base. This is a really interesting set up. Their base is out in the middle of the desert with nothing for about 45 minutes (I think) in any direction. They fed us lunch and then gave a little tour of their base, which is pretty big and then we hit the road.

We were hoping to get into to Vegas a little earlier in the evening, but it looks like a late night for us again.

This is their back yard.
Brinlee, Adalyn, Ellie, Mariah, Tatum and Asia
I'm not sure why this is the only picture I took. LOL
Probably just too exhausted to think.

High Rise Livin'

2009-06-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

Several hours ago we

pit stopped in Sutherlin, OR and this is

what we saw at the back of the service station.

RV.

Up on blocks.

Carport.

Built in porch and awning.

HIGH RISE LIVIN'!!!!!

On the road

2009-06-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we were supposed to leave tomorrow on our 15 day road trip, but Will got MDO'd and so we thought we'd get a head start. The bad news? I hadn't even started packing! I raced around all morning throwing things in and checking my lists. We got hung up at the Wal-Mart pharmacy on the way out of town. I had to have a couple of things filled before leaving. We were there for 2 hours! It was frustrating, but we finally got on the road around 2 pm.

We headed directly south on I-5 toward California to see Megan and Adam first. We just stopped in Medford for dinner. I thought we could save a little money by eating on the Oregon side and not have to pay sales tax. Well that back-fired because Medford has something called "city sales tax". The people of the city of Medford vote for it every year. BOOO! Oh well, it was only a couple bucks.

We are hoping to be at Megan's around midnight or 1. The girls are doing SO WELL! They've slept some and watched movies. They've switched seats a couple of times to keep it interesting and Roxelle is just chillin' in her carseat. Hope this keeps up!!

Mini Picnic

2009-06-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Even though Asia didn't finish out the school year at Mini School, we were invited to attend the end of the year picnic. (She didn't finish because they weren't out until the 24th and the other girls were done the 17th and I knew I'd be too lazy to get up in the morning just to take Asia to school AND we saved $120 bucks!)
Anyway, it was really cute. They had it at Hazel Dell park and the entire school was invited. There were a TON of people there and a TON of food! It was a potluck. DELISH!

Mariah, Asia, Brinlee, and Tatum

We were getting ready to go and I kept calling Brinlee from across the
playground to stop spinning and come on. When she didn't after a
couple of calls, I went over to find that she couldn't stop. LOL!
She was SO DIZZY when I finally stopped her.

Bloody Mess

2009-06-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

Will and I were outside working and I came in to get something and discovered Tatum on the stairs screaming and there was a trail of blood all up and down!

The video is kinda long (over 2 mins), but the last 45-50 seconds when I start talking to Tatum is pretty funny and it explains what the heck happened!! Poor baby.... :(

baby daddy

2009-06-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

We ended up spending the night in Woodburn because my mom had a surgery earlier in the week. Since she was supposed to stay down in bed we thought we'd bring her a little entertainment...US! LOL
Will had to work on Saturday, but thankfully had Sunday off. Woodburn 1st Ward gave a cool hand-out. The youth read a scripture with the word "sickle" and then they handed out these bottles of liquid soap with a hard plastic card shoved inside with quotes about "hands". Around the neck of the bottle was a tag that said for each "Pop" in the ward to go to the kitchen after the block of meetings and recieve his "sickle" and they handed out popsicles to all the dads. CUTE!
Will is a dedicated and hardworking husband and father. I feel very blessed to get to share eternity with him!

9 months old

2009-06-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

Roxelle turned 9 months old yesterday. I only got one picture of her and it was on the scale at the Dr. office. She weighs 17 lbs 10 oz and is 27 1/2 inches long

Here are some shots I took of her today.

High Fashion

2009-06-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

We have been struggling for years with our girls wiping their noses and their faces all over their shirt. It's been especially hard to break Asia of the habit and now she's got Tatum doing it. The new punishment for getting caught wiping ANYTHING on your shirt is having your shirt removed and a napkin (if it's food) or a tissue (if it's your nose) taped on as a replacement.

She had to eat dinner like this and she
was NOT happy. (Sorry the photo is so
grainy. It was taken on my blackberry)

Plant a tree....

2009-06-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

We have started planting the trees that were so generously given to us!! Asia has proven to be the hardest most committed worker in the yard. It's shocking that it's her and actually quiet a pleasant surprise. She is always ready to "dig in" no matter what she's wearing...notice the shoes (white, glitterly, high heeled, church sandals). Mariah was in a helpful mood in that moment, too.