10 years

February 15th was our 10 year anniversary date from the time we were engaged. We typically don't celebrate this date but, Evelyn bought me a picture book of me and the kids, and I took the family out for fun at Chuck-e-cheese. There is something about that place that the kids just can't get enough of. My favorite part is there photo drawings (as you can tell), I just wish we saved all of them from years past. For our real anniversary celebration we are hoping to take the family to Disneyland.

The picture book


Two Years ago.

Feb 15, 2010

Just plain life stuff

On my personal blog, I've been sharing stupid love stories about myself in honor of Valentine's Day. I need some love over there, cause no one reads it, so here's the shameful plug for Love Lynches and Love Lynches 2

So....updates on the family. Buddy Boy's been on the waiting list for the Carmen B Pingree school for children with Autism since his diagnosis a year and a half ago. We just found out that the wait is over!!! We're thrilled and scared at the same time. He has to go through some more testing (yuck) and his eligibility will be determined. Keep him in your prayers. He NEEDS this! Our pediatrician recommended that he get once a week Occupational Therapy and once a week Speech Therapy, but when we tried to make the appointments, we were informed that it wasn't covered by insurance because he wasn't going because of an injury. If he'd been hurt, they would cover it, but since it's Autism, and "Autism in incurable", they WON'T COVER IT!!! Argh!! Which is why we need this schooling for him. The annual tuition just for the preschool is $27,000, and because we got on the waiting list so long ago, a FREE opening has come up for us!!!

Munchkin is as cute as ever. The other day she was blessing our food and she said "We thank Thy for thy children who are us who fought in Thy war so that Thy children could come to earth, even the bad guys who are in jail today, they still fought in heaven in Thy war. And please bless thy people in jail that they will know that Thy loves them and that Thy, I mean their mom's love them, even Thy Heavenly Mother and Thy Son, Jesus. Thy are wonderful and we are thankful. Oh, and please bless the food." When she was done, she said "did you notice that I learned the word Thy?"

Do ya think I noticed, Munchkin?:-)

Gotta love these kids!

Cutie Pants

Keeping it Real?

I've heard a lot of discussion and talk about different blogging styles lately, and I don't know, I wanted to blog about it and clear my head:-)
I hear people say that they don't like reading "fake" blogs; they're so peppy it's cheesy. I also hear people say that they don't like reading "real" blogs because they are always so down and a bummer to read.

So...I don't know. I know I don't want to have a "fake" blog, but I don't want to be a downer either. The truth is, I don't blog a ton about the crummy stuff that goes on, but my life is FAR from perfect.

I posted on Facebook how much I missed my boy when he started school, but I didn't mention how the next week I was counting down the days until he was healthy and could go BACK to school. I haven't ever mentioned on here that Buddy Boy has a meltdown EVERY SINGLE day, and that every other day I cry myself to sleep not knowing how to deal with some of his issues. I don't post about our financial struggles, and how UNfun being frugal is! I don't relive the days that Munchkin has an attitude with me or about the times that I struggle with my testimony. Why is that? Am I a fraud/fake?
(photo credit)

I'm thinking that this blog has two purposes: 1, to keep in touch with family and friends; 2, to be a "journal" of types for my family to remember things by. I want to remember the bad ONLY if I am able to see the good that is also there. I don't want to look back on my life and see only negative. Sure, negative exists, and I don't want to deny that, but I want to remember how I overcame negativity, triumphed over challenges, etc. Sooo...I'm gonna try harder to keep this blog "real", but the spotlight will be more on the positive.

Speaking of real, did y'all know I gained a bunch of weight after having my gall bladder out? (if you've seen me, you know) There. That's real. So I'm trying REAL hard to count my calories and lose the weight, and I worked out today. (spotlight on positive:-))

January Trip

We went to Bloomington ID, for the funeral of Evelyn's Grandpa. It was a very spiritual event. I will let her, if she wants to, go into more details about that, but with this post it will be more of the trip.
Buddy Boy loved the trip. He loves going places in the car and looking at all the new surroundings. Buddy Boy gets upset with us when we go short places because he wants to be in the car longer, so on this trip he had plenty of time in the car. Buddy Boy (and all of us) enjoyed meeting his cousins, aunts and uncles. Buddy Boy was very excited the entire time. He wanted to run around constantly to get that energy out.



The weather was so cold, a little foggy, but beautiful. The trees are covered in frost, and everything was frozen. (even Buddy Boy's wet wipes that were left in the car were completely frozen) The kids were so excited to be far away. To them it was a short vacation with a lot of people we knew and a bunch to get to know. It was wonderful to see all the family and the love generated to celebrate Grandpa.


Our family has enjoyed going up to Bloomington and visiting Grandpa, and Grandma. Hopefully we will still be able to go up to Bloomington in the future and have more good memories.

Grandpa Findlay

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to drive up to Idaho to visit my grandpa in the hospital. The weather was good for the drive, and I had forgotten how beautiful the canyon is with snow!


Anyway, he's not doing too well. We all have known this day was coming, but it's still emotional seeing him so weak. He was crying out for his sweet wife Monday night, Dr. Wolf said. He's pretty much out of it most the time. He would wake up when he was uncomfortable and try to let us know what he needed, then he'd fall right back asleep. His breathing is labored. We would give him water to help, but a lot of the time he would choke on it. He requested a cough drop at one point, but of course we couldn't give him one for fear of choking. He was hard to understand, but we understood enough, I think.


He had a LOT of visitors. It's easy to believe he touched so many lives, but to see SO many coming out to show support and getting emotional was very touching. Every person who came to visit told us the same thing: "He was so good to me; so good to my family." And I don't doubt it. Grandpa is that kind of guy. He's good to everyone, and really knows what it means to serve. Okay, there is one aspect of service he's not great at...receiving service and help! Even now he's still being stubborn and not wanting pain meds and things. He doesn't want anyone inconvenienced on his account, and that's why one thing that happened meant so much to me.

At one point he woke up and we could see he was uncomfortable but couldn't understand what he was saying. I picked up the word "massage" and my mom picked up that his feet were bothering him. We asked him if he would like his feet massaged and he said yes. This might sound silly, but that moment of taking my dear grandpa's foot, rubbing lotion on it and massaging it in meant SO much to me. Such a small act of service, but it was a very special, tender moment. I couldn't help but think of Christ washing his disciples' feet. It was a small, simple gesture, and yet it meant so much more. The ultimate show of respect, honor, and love. And my grandpa allowed me to do something similar for him. I'll never forget that sweet moment....never.

Well, now I'm emotional, so I'll stop. Kind of a long ramble post, and I apologize. I love my grandpa so much, and I can only imagine the beautiful reunion he will have soon with so many loved ones.

*Grandpa passed away at about 7:15 pm Wednesday evening. We love you, Grandpa!