Family

Family

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Highs and Lows

The highs for the week are ...
1. I found a good specialty doctor for one of my kids.
2. I get a free day on Saturday when hubby takes the kids skiing to Big Bear.
3. Two different people actually thought my oldest daughter and I were sisters ! Brianna was not too happy about it but, I was. Maybe it was the boots but, I will take it!
4. The kids all did fabulous on their grades this semester.

The lows for the week are ...
1. Nothing new on the adoption front except that 17 high ranking officials in the Kyrgz government have been released from their positions.
2. My dad had a serious fall while walking into the church and broke his pelvis in three places.It is expected to take several months for his recovery and will need to be in a rehab center for up to 8 weeks. Looks like I will be doing some traveling.
3. A not so fun Kidney infection for me.
4. Everything in the house seems to break all at once like the refrigerator,toilet,back door, and gate outside due to our lovely winds.What is up with that?

We will see what next week brings!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Universal Studio Hollywood Fun.

Bryce and Victoria waiting to get into their favorite Jurrasic Park ride at Universal studio in Hollywood.It is a very wet ride so they were covered with their raincoats.V is so exited she is finally tall enough to do the big rides!
Looks like Dad got a shoulder rub from one of the Mummies on the way into the Mummy ride.

Looks like the Shark got Victoria. She is just enjoying exploring the inside of the Sharks mouth.They had a great time and all were tired at the end of the day.


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Emergency Preparedness

This time of year it is our family tradition to prepare for earthquakes and other emergencies! On January 17th 1994 our family was living in Northridge ,California when at 4:30 am we were literally jolted out of our beds.The noise and shaking is something I will never forget!! Outside we could hear and see the fire from gas lines in our neighboorhood exploding.Some how we all got out of the house without a scratch! About an hour before the quake hit I woke up and felt an very urgent prompting to get Brianna out of her crib(she was 1 at the time) I had no idea why but,the feeling was so intense that I did it and brought her into our bedroom.Little did I realize a huge heavy bookcase would land right in the middle of the crib where she was sleeping !I will never forget since then to ALWAYS listen to the spirit.Our home suffered such damage we were no longer able to live in it.The bookcases were thrown to the ground, glass was everywhere around us,windows broken, walls severely cracked and nerves shattered! We found out later that we were less then a mile away from the epicenter of the Northridge Quake.

From this experience we always try to be as best prepared as we possibly can.Each year we check our 72 hour kits, our water storage, food storage, flashlights, batteries, matches, first aid kits,radios, etc. We also check and make sure anything heavy is bolted to the walls or ground .We can NEVER be too prepared! We never know when our preparation will pay off.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Watching,Waiting,Wondering and Warm Weather

The last few days have been beautiful here in southern California with the temps being over 80 degrees.The kids had pool fever so I heated up the pool and they had a blast swimming away and warming up in the jacuzzi.

As I am watching kids swim I am wondering what this next year will bring our family.How fun it will be to get out all those baby pool toys and teach another little one to swim and enjoy the water.In regards to our adoption we are watching the developments,waiting patiently (sort of ) for things to get moving again after all the lengthy delays and wondering when all this waiting will end! We have always felt on the right path. Like many other families we will wait it out and see what happens in the next few weeks .Not having specific time frames or expectations does seem to help in this process now so we are not always dissapointed.We have certainly learned the meaning of "rolling with the punches". Let us pray most of the punches are over and the referrals start rolling!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Sweet Caroline is 13 !

It is hard to believe my sweet Caroline is an official teenager! We started out our birthday celebration earlier in the day when Mom made her famous homemade ham,potato and leek soup.It simmers all day and by evening it is so good that I ALWAYS catch someone doing
THIS ! Brianna got caught this time.

After the healthy stuff we went to the sweet stuff.Caroline has always been anxious to have a celebration even before it was her time to be born.Despite doctors efforts she took charge and made an early debut in this world. She had many physical hurdles to overcome but has grown into a beautiful , talented , smart , daughter ofGod. I am now realizing we have 3 teenagers !
It is not an easy task to raise teens these days and feel very blessed that they are really good kids!

Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!