Sunday, December 21, 2008

It Continues...

Well, the snow continues :) The kids had a great time with the back door neighbors. Was hularious to hear them stomping through the ice that formed last night. The kids were able to pick up sheets of ice off the top of the snow. The back yard now looks like water waves have frozen back there from all the ice they tore up and threw around.

Rob and I went for a walk last night. Was nice to get out in the dark and quiet. I took some pics of the lights on bushes now under snow. It's all so very pretty. I wish we could drive around and look at other homes. There aren't too many with lights up in our neighbor hood. The freezing rain started falling while we were out and by the time we got home our coats were covered in a very thin covering of ice. Just made me laugh.
You can tell how much it snowed and drifted, that tree has at least 18 in to 2 ft of trunk under all that snow.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

SNOW!!!!

Today is great!! Snow, snow and more snow!!! I love it :) Ok one of the reasons we moved out here was, yes, to get away from the snow but it's nice when we do get some of it. Really helps to make it feel more like Christmas is around the corner. We have not seen this much snow since we moved here in 2001. It has been so relaxing to get some baking done today and just stare out the window and see the snow coming down. It is even starting to form little drifts outside our front door.
The following pics are from a week ago when the snow first started then a couple from today.
Seth preferred to watch from the comfort of his high chair. He will NOT walk on the snow or ice, just sits there and screams and clings to our legs or arms. He doesn't like the fact that he slips all over. I mean, really, he just got the walking thing down then we throw him on the ice? He was having none of it!
After the kids came in everyone got Crunch bars. Seth really, really enjoyed his :)
Believe it or not Rob fell asleep here. He tells me he got under the table to plug in the vacuum and then decided to lay there for a sec. He was out in no time :) Next thing he knew he woke up to a camera flash in his face and his wife laughing at him.
Notice there is a lot more snow on the ground compared to the other pics with the kids. This was taken earlier today.
This is the mini drift forming out our front door.
And from a few weeks ago, the kids decorating the tree.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Today is Good

Today is a good day :) My talk is over and I think it went well.

The best news is as I was pulling out the rice cooker to get dinner started I looked down into the pot and sitting there was my wedding ring!!! Yes, in the rice cooker!! I started bouncing around laughing and crying. I was so sure it was gone for good. For those who don't know I lost it two weeks ago and was certain I had lost it up at the church during a pack meeting. Then this past week we have been busy trying to clear out each of the rooms and I never came across it. I look back now and realize I was cleaning like crazy the day after pack meeting and part of that was getting all the pieces to the rice cooker together in one place. I must have had the cord in my left hand and when I went to slip it in the pot part of it my ring went with it. I had gone back through every area I had touched that day, just not the cupboard with the rice cooker in it. I forgot I had even been handling it. So, sigh of relief. And finding it again makes this a very good day :)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Remembering Christ at Christmas

I have to give a talk in Sacrament meeting at church tomorrow. It's been hanging over my head all week. But last night I actaually sat down and wrote it all down. First time in my life I've had a talk written TWO nights before I was to give it. It usually gets written very very late the night before, maybe even the morning of if we have afternoon church :)

Anyway, the following goes along with my talk, which is on how we can each personally remember Christ during the Christmas season. I found a site that does a scripture Advent for Christmas. It comes from here. We will be starting this with our family this week. I'm excited to start it and have a discussion every day with the kids about the prophecies and birth of Christ. I hope you can use it with your families, too.

Day 1: The Pre-Mortal Realm Moses 4: 1-4, Moses 5: 6-8
Day 2: Abraham is a type of Christ Genesis 22: 7-13, Jacob 4: 5
Day 3: Prophecies made to Judah Genesis 49: 8-12; JST Genesis 50:24-27
Day 4: Look to Christ and live Numbers 21: 4-9, 1 Nephi 17: 41, Alma 33: 19-22
Day 5: Lord will raise up a prophet like Moses Deuteronomy 18: 15-18
Day 6: A virgin will conceive a son Isaiah 7: 14-16; 2 Nephi 17: 14-16
Day 7: For unto us a child is born Isaiah 9: 6-7
Day 8: I know my Redeemer liveth Job 19: 25-27
Day 9: Christ is of the Stem of Jesse Isaiah 11: 1; 2 Nephi 21: 1; Matthew 1: 1-17
Day 10: 600 years & the Messiah comes 1 Nephi 10: 4
Day 11: Prophecies of time before Christ 2 Nephi 25: 12-13
Day 12: Christ will be wounded for us Isaiah 53; Mosiah 14
Day 13: Salvation cometh to all Mosiah 3: 1-14
Day 14: He will be born of Mary in Jerusalem Alma 7: 7-14
Day 15: He cometh to redeem the world Helaman 5: 9-12
Day 16: Out of Judah will come the ruler Micah 5: 2-4
Day 17: Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecy Helaman 14: 1-9
Day 18: Annunciation to Zacharias Luke 1: 5-25
Day 19: Annunciation to Mary Luke 1: 26-38
Day 20: Mary visits Elizabeth Luke 1: 39-55
Day 21: John the Baptist is born Luke 1: 57-64
Day 22: Prophecy of Zacharias Luke 1: 67-79, 65-66
Day 23: Mary returns to Nazareth Luke 1: 56
Day 24: Annunciation to Joseph Matthew 1: 18-25
Day 25: Birth of Jesus Christ Luke 2: 1-20

Sunday, November 23, 2008

What Have You Done?

Sitting here finally catching up on some friends' blogs and came across this list on Julie and Vaxhacker's blogs so thought why not? Not much going on these days to report on and I'm avoiding going to bed as I've been in pain for the past three days with my back out and sleeping just tenses everything back up. So, the less I have to sleep lately the better :)


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

Try this out. It's fun to see what you've done. It also makes you think about what you want to do, I think I need to get out more :)--so just copy and paste, then bold the things on the list you have done.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sleeping like a baby?

Seth was having a hard time tonight. Sundays are hard as church falls right in the middle of nap time. We don't bother trying to put him down anymore before hand so by the time dinner rolls around he's pretty cranky. After dinner he was just beyond grouchy and couldn't stop crying and screaming so off to bed he went. Well, he wanted nothing to do with that either so after letting him cry it out off and on for an hour I took him back out. Seth didn't want anything to do with being held either as he continued to scream and cry. Rob took him and couldn't comfort him either so we set him on the chair and let him sream it out. About 20 mins later we realized he wasn't making noise anymore and went downstairs to see what he was up to. Dead asleep on the chair where we left him :)

Friday, November 7, 2008

Brotherly Love

I was sitting here working with Elizabeth when I noticed behind her Nathaniel and Seth sitting together quietly looking at one of her readers. I had to get some pictures :) Nathaniel is so good with Seth. Always watching out for him and playing silly games with him. I love to watch them interact.





Friday, October 31, 2008

The Last Week

The last week of October was a busy one. We had Elizabeth's birthday, Nathaniel had his cross-over ceremony from Cubs to Boy Scouts, and then it was Halloween.

First, Elizabeth's birthday. Can't believe she is six now. Because she was so small for so long I was able to maintain the illusion of her being a baby for longer then usual. She definitely is not a baby anymore :) She is a very bright little girl who is trying to be more grown up then she is. I'm grateful for every birthday we do get to be with her and that every birthday has seen her happy and healthy.
Here are some photos from her small family party:






Before this party, we had the cross-over ceremony for Nathaniel. He finished up his Cub Scout years with his Webelos rank and his Arrow of Light. Two other boys, Luke and Jonathan C., also received their rank and arrows and I'm very proud of them all. I wish I could take some credit but that goes to their moms who have been amazing working with them at home :) Steve Willoughby did a great job leading the ceremony. He always does :) I know he very much enjoys being with these boys and seeing them advance and that shows at every pack meeting. Thank you, Steve, for always trying to make pack meetings special for the Cubs!
I have to admit I almost shed a tear when Nathaniel walked across the bridge to his new leader, Brother Campbell. I get way too emotional. To me it wasn't just Nate walking across a small wooden bridge on the stage. I saw it as one more step in his life that he takes away from me towards independence and growing up. Sigh, like I said, too emotional :)

And, last of all, our week ended with Halloween, our family's favorite holiday. Only because all of us are candy junkies :)I guess it didn't take Seth long to figure out the process. After three houses Rob said he was running to the next door to get more candy.
Have to show Lori's costume, Bride of Frankenstein. Can't believe she had enough hair to style it like that!! And to use her words, she looked "fabulous"! She was good enough to stay with me and hand out candy as I wasn't feeling too hot last night.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Award, for what I'm not sure :)




Well, a dear friend sent me an award, for what I'm not exactly sure. These are new to me. But hey! Nice to know someone is thinking about me :) Thanks, Quawana!!
This one comes with a requirement. I have to post 6 things I value and 6 things I don't value then pass it on to 6 other bloggers.

6 things I value (in no particular order)
1. Family
2. Good friends
3. Chocolate
4. My religion
5. Sleep
6. Quiet

6 things I don't value
1. Expensive cars
2. Conformity
3. The world's definition of success
4. An immaculate house
5. Martha Stuart
6. Pedicures

Ok now the award goes too:

Unmask the Cure

Friday night Rob and I had the chance to get our feet wet in the pool of volunteering for the CF Foundation with the Portland chapter. We signed up to help with the yearly dinner/auction. We were instructed to dress in all black and given these vague assignments. Vague only because we had never attended one of these. So needless to say we were a bit nervous as we had no idea what to expect.

We didn't have a great start to the evening as we left Aloha at 4:15 and barely got to the Marriot in downtown by our expected arrival time of 5:30. Grrrrr. One wrong turn in Portland completely threw us off. But we made it with a few minutes to spare. The theme this year was "Unmask the Cure", it was a masquerade. They had fun masks for sale and everyone started showing up in ritzy black suits and dresses. Talk about feeling uncomfortable. Rob and I come from hick roots and have never been comfortable around glamour. However, it was fun to sit back and watch just how the rich behave :) Haha! Pretty much like "normal" folks just with fancy clothes on LOL! I wish I had grabbed my camera out of my purse. One lady, I found out later is one of the head haunchos for the Portland Chapter, was completely decked out in masquerade attire. A gorgeous Elizabethan type dress with this elaborate mask. She was very pretty.

Rob and I were in charge with a couple others to walk around the silent auction tables and keep on eye on the bids. At the close we were to grab the bid sheets and run them to the front desk. It was disheartening to see that at least 1/2 of the items offered received no bid at all. The ones that did, those people received some awesome deals as no one tried to outbid anyone. It's hard not to take that personal as this is the money that is being raised to find the cure for my daughter.

Following the silent auction was the live auction. That got better. Still, I'm sure after recent economic events, people were feeling a bit less rich :) At one point they stopped the auction to let three families come forward and talk about how CF has affected their life. I was not prepared for that. Not only am I super emotional when it comes to this stuff but I was stuck right up front. During the live auction it was my job to run the bid sheet to the highest bidder and have them sign it so I had to be right in front so I could pay attention. I had to bite my tongue the entire time they were speaking to keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks. It's so heartwrenching listening to how others have learned and then dealt with their child being diagnosed with CF. One family lost their daughter just a few years ago. She was only 25. A rant for a later post is the fact that all these families discovered their child had CF during the first few months of life. We waited 2 1/2 years before we found out what was wrong with Elizabeth. But like I said, I'll rant about that later.

During this time we got to talking with a really cute couple. Lindsay and her husband Jon. Lindsay actually approached Rob at one point and asked if he was Elizabeth Beasley's father. They started chatting and then he brought her over to meet me. Come to find out our daughters were up at Doernbecher at the same time for a regular routine appointment. They both have the name Elizabeth. Pat, the nutritionist, had come into their room and got things confused with our daughter who she had just seen. That's when they found out our daughters have the same name of Elizabeth Rose. They both have red hair. They are a year apart but their birthdays are within weeks of each other. And they both have CF. Lindsay is on the committee for the walk that happens in the spring, Great Strides. I was wondering where I had seen her before. We went to help with the walk this year. Anyway, the biggest let down to all of this is the fact that these two little girls can't be friends. We could let them meet but they have to stay 3 ft away from each other. Of all the stupid things we have to go through with this disease this one saddends and angers me most of all. So, I'm hoping to get in contact with Lindsay again and maybe at least exchange pictures and keep in touch.

As the night progressed you could tell the alcohol was starting to loosen people and their wallets up :) LOL They restarted the live auction and there were a lot of funny moments. The auctioneer was ingenious. A set of car keys, Lexus, were left in the bathroom and then found. He actually started to auction them off and people started bidding on them!! The owner had to pay $100 to get his keys back!! He did that with several items later in the auction. Didn't even miss a beat, took advantage of every situation he could to raise money. All in all I think the Portland chapter did pretty good. I think I'll write Danielle and ask just how much was riased.

It was fun to go help out. I very much want to be more involved. Danielle had contacted me last year but I had just had a baby and didn't feel up to it. Now that everyone is a little older I'm feeling like I can be more involved and I'm looking forward to more chances to help. It is for my daughter after all :)

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Halloween Party

We decided this year we would have a Halloween party. I've been waiting for Elizabeth to get old enough for us to do one for all their friends. We had so much fun and I hope the kids that attended did also! We split the kids up into three age groups just to have smaller group sizes and to work with similar ages. Beth was wonderful as always and came to help us out. I love that she is always so ready to jump in on my crazy ideas and offer assisstance. The kids showed up in fun and scary costumes. I would have to give most creative to Riley Short. I am so sad I didn't get a picture of her in her costume. She ended up taking it off so she could participate. She had a "mom" figure starpped to her back and then a baby front carry on her front. She was the head to the baby and her legs were the "mom" legs. So it was supposed to look like a mom with a baby in a front carrier.

Getting ready for it was nuts but it was worth it to see the kids having so much fun together. I love doing parties for the kids :)


Now it's our turn. In just a little bit Rob and I get to attend an adult costume party. Gypsies is the theme. Should be interesting!! We get invited every year and this is the first year we were able to say we could make it! I am so excited :)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

CF Woes

Elizabeth had her quarterly CF appointment this morning. Not a happy one. As many of you know Elizabeth is very skinny. Pat, the nutritionist, gets after us at almost every appointment about her weight. Half the time we don't know what to do because Elizabeth just doesn't like to eat. I know, weird. So we've tried a couple strategies and despite these her BMI has steadily made it's way down since December of last year. If it goes down again by the next appointment we get to look at having a feeding tube inserted into her stomach and she will be fed through that at night while she sleeps. Weight is so important with CF. They want as much fat as they can get on these kids not just for growth but when things go wrong and they get really sick they need fat to lose and not waste away. Elizabeth did get really sick just a few months ago and refused to eat for a week. By the end of one week we could see bones sticking out and she looked awful. We are STILL trying to gain that weight back. This is so incredibly frustrating. Most days we go about our day and don't even think about this stupid disease and then we have these days where we are reminded yet again we can't do that. At first I was thinking "OK, a feeding tube, can't be all that bad" until I asked Pat how long they have to keep them in. In most cases if one has to be inserted now at this age it stays in until they are 18-19. If she can't get a grip on eating now she won't as a teenager so they'll just keep it in. All I can think is lovely, one more way she has to be different. Elizabeth loves to swim and while I'm sure she can swim with the thing it will just poke out and others will always be asking what it is. Same with any cute tops that are tight fitting around her middle. And I know Elizabeth, she's going to hate it. She doesn't even like band-aids on her skin. The first thing she begs the doctors to take out after her sinus surgeries is the IV. She could care less that they just roto-rootered her nose and it's dripping blood, just get the darn IV out of her arm :) So yeah, let's add a permanent one to her stomach. I know the tube is better then wasting away from malnutrition but these added little bonuses sure get tiring to deal with. I can't imagine what other parents go through with children who are so much worse off. Elizabeth is very healthy, too skinny, but healthy lungs. We do a lot to keep her that way. And just when you get a handle on one thing something else pops up. Sigh. As always, we'll do what we have to. Doesn't mean we have to like it. As for the next three months we will be creating a chart that will help her count her calories. The poor girl has to eat 2340 calories a DAY to get back up to where she was last December. 75 g of fat and 50 g of protein. I figure we are doing good these days to get 1800 cal in her. So, counting calories to gain weight, never thought I'd have to deal with that :) She loves anything with numbers and loves to chart things so this is where we'll start and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Maize

We had a great day yesterday as a family. We took the kids to the Sauvie Island Maize at the Pumpkin Patch. It is a yearly tradition for us now. Lori, my friend from Idaho, has never been to something like this so of course we took her with us to show her the fun :) We all had a ball together! The weather was beautiful and the mud was managable in the Maize. Last year we got about 20 ft in and had to turn around and ask for our money back. We did get it back but we notice this year they have signs up stating no refunds. I'm guessing they had a lot of refunds to give out last year.

We usually let the kids lead the way. They are pretty good about finding their way around these things. I generally have no idea where we are at but the kids can usually guess which part of the "picture" we are in. Usually only takes us a 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes to get through the whole thing.

After we conquered the Maize we hopped on the hay ride that takes you out to the pumpkin patch. There we spent much time each looking for our perfect pumpkin. Lori found hers right away, a nice big green one! Green is her favorite color and she couldn't pass it up. Usually our rule is if you can't carry it yourself you can't have it. She heard us reminding the kids of this and at first wouldn't admit that maybe the pumpkin was too heavy for her to carry. But we could soon see it was a bit of chore to haul it back to the waiting area for the tractor back to the barn. She refused to let us help her carry, it was the rule after all :) She just makes me laugh. We ended up breaking our own rule anyway as the boys found their perfect pumpkins which just happened to be 3x larger then last year's!! How can you turn down a kid who has found his perfect pumpkin? So Rob and I helped them carry theirs back to the tractor.

Then it is usually customary to go in the store and buy some fresh corn. After that it's on to the refreshments stands where the kids get caramel apples and the adults get elephant ears. It was funny watching Elizabeth trying to eat hers as her mouth is so small. She was having a hard time getting a bite of apple.

We went home totally worn out and sore but we had so much fun. It's always worth it to see the kids out there having so much fun!