Catch Up Time!!

A lot has happened in our family in the last month. And I am behind on my journaling of it all, so bear with me as I try to catch up! We might have blog overload in the next few days! :)

One Year... And One More Toddler!!

Spencer officially (as of 15 days ago) has one year under his belt and at the same time has doubled the toddler population in our house! This time last year, my Christmas shopping was done, my Christmas cards were out, and I was enjoying many hours of relaxing with my newborn son. Whether it was feeding, cuddling, or just admiring, those peaceful times have not been forgotten. They have, however, been replaced. Now my hours are filled with other activities that are no less enjoyable, just more exhausting!! My days now consist of replacing all of the contents of my lower cupboards over and over, cleaning up the bomb that goes off around the highchair three times a day, and keeping toilet lids and bathroom doors closed. I shouldn't forget to mention kissing boo-boos as Spencer, in his attempt to walk, falls constantly.

I would also like to take the time to say (as cliche' as it is) "Time Flies When You're Having Fun"!! Spencer is really a fun, happy boy who is very nice to me. :) And, as soon as he gets rid of his pacifier and bottle, I think he'll be able to keep up with Bella! If she thinks she can boss him around forever, I think she has another thing coming!! :)

Here are some pictures of the birthday festivities at our favorite, cheap, party venue...

P.... P.... Pizza.

Here is the traditional "I can eat my own cake at one year old!" ritual.

Who invented this mess anyway?

Above and below Spencer is enthralled with his presents and ripping the paper.

Now (with Big Sis)

Then. ... Awwww!

Samantha's Mission Possible!!

"Did you do a poke yet?" was the question my amazing brother asked his 10 year old daughter after about 3 miles of walking in 80 degree heat. Since her diagnosis 5 years ago with Juvenile Diabetes, I am sure this is one of the more commonly uttered phrases in their home. It is second nature to them, but when he uttered those words, a tingle went up my spine as I caught another glimpse of what they deal with on a day to day basis.

Along with her diabetic status, my sweet niece and her sweet little sister also suffer from a condition called celiac disease. This is where the body has an abnormal immune reaction to gluten so it has to be completely eliminated from her diet. I have a great deal of admiration for my brother, his wife and their little family. They are pillars of devotion, stability, and accuracy as they handle these less than ideal circumstances in the most ideal way possible. They are always aware of what needs to be done to manage their daughters’ health and always prepared to do just that. One example of this effort is another incident I witnessed on Saturday. My sister-in-law was carrying juice boxes (incase her daughter was low and needed a quick dose of sugar). But when approached by a frantic, unprepared stranger who had a diabetic relative that was passing out due to low blood-sugar, she freely gave him the juice that his loved one desperately needed. That is sympathy and understanding at its best.
Well, on Saturday my kids and I had the privilege of spending the day with my brother and his amazing family and some other family members as we participated in the JDRF 5K Walk. About 25,000 people showed up to trek up and down in the heat to try to raise funds to help JDRF find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. It was an honor to participate and something I will never forget. I worried about my niece during the walk (especially after seeing another person suffering so badly) but she was incredible! She even worked a little harder than me at times because she pushed my stroller for about ¾ of a mile!! And she had fun doing it!! What a trooper! We were all hot, sweaty, and tired, but the kids ended the walk by running to the finish line with big smiles on their faces. Here are some pictures…

(sorry they are in reverse order)

Me and my kiddos at the end of the walk. Spencer crashed out at about mile 2.

Do we look tired? Well, the bad news is that we still had another mile to walk to get back to our car!

Here's the whole gag... Samantha's Mission Possible was our theme!

You guys ROCK!!

The kids are all grabbing for treats at our resting place.

Chansey and Bree walking hand in hand... all smiles!

Eathan and Caleb... not a word of complaint out of these two!

It sure feels good to know that you are a small part of something huge that has the potential to help so many. I only wish I could do more! Too bad I am not a millionaire or a biological scientist! :)

Happy Halloween!

I am typically a very positive and optimistic person. But, I can't lie... for the last several days I have been a bit of a scrooge about Halloween. I spent a great deal of time wondering why we celebrate Halloween...?! I know it is many peoples' favorite holiday. But I just don't get it... On Halloween, we endorse activities that directly contradict what we spend the other 364 days of the year trying to teach our children to do. Just to name a few... 'be yourself' ... 'eat healthy'... 'go to bed early'... 'don't talk to strangers'... do you get what I mean?!
So, the reason for me explaining this all is because I finally see the light! For all you Halloween lovers out there, I get it now! The reason for Halloween is to HAVE FUN!! That's it!! And that's what we did. We spent time together as a family and had fun! It is still not my favorite holiday, but fun nonetheless. Here's a brief recap...
On Thursday, we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat. That's where people line up their cars in the parking lot and decorate the trunks with Halloween gear. Then the kids trick or treat to everyone. This year we had a chili cook-off and some really fun games. The most exciting attraction was the pain-stakingly crafted 'Spook Alley'. Todd, with a couple other awesome ward members, spent about 6 hours turning the nursery rooms into an amazing haunted house. It was a hit!! He even stayed in there the whole time and caringly jumped out and scared all of the little ones! :) In the end, he was thankful that it only took about 30 minutes to take down. :)

The big night though was, of course, Halloween!! Without further adieu, here are the costumes...

Spencer didn't really have a costume. I couldn't find one that wasn't girly, constricting, or made of fleece. So I bought him this cute little outfit to wear. It says "hair wolf" (which I thought was funny) so we spiked his hair too. And his teeth match the hair-wolf's! :)

This is the Dark Spider-man climbing the wall.

Raggedy-ann (otherwise know as Raggedy-ansey) posing like a good little girl!

Bella was a black cat (who looked a little cuter before her make-up was smeared)
BTW- It took 8 shots to get a good picture of her. AHHH!

I just thought this was funny... Eathan is playing with Bella and Spencer at Grandma's house (as he often does) but he didn't take his mask off to do it! He's a die-hard I guess!

Our Halloween festivities included, going to visit grand-parents, hanging out at my brother's house for his block-party, trick-or-treating in my brother's neighborhood, and spending time with some super-fun friends after all of the festivities were over. Last but not least, the night would not have been complete without home-made caramel apples (at the above stated friends' house). YUMMY!!

The end result you ask?!... The point off all this madness?!... A TON OF FUN!!

(And four sticky, exhausted children!)

P.S.- The coolest thing this year was that Todd dressed up too! I don't have a picture, but I will get one and post it later. He was a 70's dude and it was pretty sweet! (You can catch a slight glimpse of his polyester garb and butterfly collar in the background of the first picture of my post.)

A Lesson in Free Enterprise

Our neighborhood had a "Community Garage Sale" on Saturday, so our family decided to join the "fun". We cleaned out our garage... which is a joyous event because now I can park my car in there! And we sold a few things that we no longer need.

" One man's trash is another man's treasure!"

The bigger purpose though for participating was to teach our kids a little business lesson. On Friday, they helped me make cookies and muffins and then sold them to people who came by. Todd also bought them some water bottles and soda to sell. We were going to sell hot dogs, but there were no people left when it was lunch time. Anyway, we taught them to pay us back for the supplies we used to make their products and then they could keep the rest. (It turned out that they helped us clean up afterward, so we told them they could keep all of the money) But, they understood the concept nonetheless. Even though I could have easily reached into my purse and handed them $16 (that's about how much they made) I thought this was a lesson better learned. They learned that they have to work hard to earn money. And they better understood the value of money as they counted each quarter and each dollar that came in. They also discovered that if they were eating the cookies, they were "eating money". It was fun to teach them. To my suprise, they were quite the little salesmen. They explained to everyone what they had and how much it cost. They captivated total strangers with their conversation and interest in earning money. It was fun to watch!

Here are the entrepreneurs patiently waiting for their next customer.

Even though I am sure we could get a pretty penny for him, Spencer was not for sale!! But, the big red truck was. He sure had fun in it before it was snatched up!!

Please Vote!

As we all know, the condition of the country we live in directly affects our ability to endure and is critical to the quality of our temporal lives. It is my hope that we all can take the time to become educated on the issues that are before us and decide for ourselves what we believe to be true and correct. Then use that knowledge to affect change in our country. Simply put... PLEASE VOTE!!! If you ever wondered why our right to vote is so sacred and important, watch this video...


http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1352578267/bctid1749436976

If you haven't registered to vote at your current address, you can do so here...

https://servicearizona.com/webapp/evoter

Hurry! The deadline is October 6.

If you are afraid you won't have the opportunity to go to the poles and vote on election day, you can request an early ballot here...

https://recorder.maricopa.gov/earlyvoteballotnet/evbrequest.aspx

Tip: If you need to update your voter registration and you want an early ballot, time is of the essence. After updating your info, you have to wait a day or two for the system to update so you can request your ballot. So, do it soon!

No excuses!! :)

Our Personal "Bail Out" Program

In this world full of turmoil, once again, I am filled with a deep sense of joy and purpose. Everywhere we turn we are bombarded with doom and gloom... questions about our economic future... and mixed messages about where our country is headed and what we can do about it. I know it is easy to be overwhelmed by all of this. I also know that all things in life occur to teach us lessons and help us progress towards our ultimate goal of eternal life. We simply must choose to follow the spirit and let the Lord guide us through the seemingly never-ending trials. This global financial crisis is no exception to this theory. As I have contemplated all of this in recent months and weeks, I have drawn some parallels with what is going on in Washington D.C. to my own personal life and my beliefs as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

First of all a quick recap... Over the last several years and because of some very bad choices by many people in high places, we have a financial crisis in this country. The people at the crux of this complex mess are looking to the government for a "bail out" program that will rescue them from their woes and pay the looming debt. This can and does affect all of us. But since this is not an economics lesson, or a political opinion column, I won't expound on that now ;)

What I have come to realize is that this situation is not very different from the cycle that we are all prone to in our own lives. We all make decisions that are less than perfect everyday. Sometimes, patterns of bad choices put us in situations where we need to be "bailed out" spiritually (or otherwise). We need help getting back to higher ground so we can try again to do what is right. The good news of the Gospel is that our "bail out" program has already been approved and executed!! The debt has been paid! All we have to do is take advantage. The Lord has already paid the price for our mistakes and our pain. And through him, we can find comfort and relief from those things that bring us down. The offer never expires and it is never too late. In other words, we can't look to the world for happiness or stability. We have to first look to the condition of our own personal lives to find joy and comfort. If there is no joy or comfort to be found, all we have to do is ask and the Lord will help us find it. (May I suggest starting by counting our blessings) We have to do the best we can to better ourselves and our family and not let Satan's workings consume our thoughts and affect our actions. Easier said than done... I know... trust me. But, when those clouds of err hang over, our reprieve is easy to find. The Atonement is eternal.

Along with this I have discovered an additional "metaphor" if you will. As I briefly listen to political banter on the radio or news from time to time, I have learned a bit about this "bail out package" that is being contemplated by our government. I am no expert, but apparently, there are many details of the countless page program that are being argued within the halls of government. There are clauses that ride on the coat-tails of this package that are irrelevant and self-serving to politicians. In contrast, the atonement is flawless! There are no strings attached... just blessings for following along. That is not to say that it is easy, but profoundly pure and simple nonetheless. And definately worth it for all we can attain both in this life and the life hereafter.