Saying Goodbye

I really dislike saying goodbye - especially to friends that have been with us since we moved to Parker...9 years ago!  She started as my visiting teacher, broke into my house to bring us suitcases at the airport, watched my kiddos while I worked, planned a sweet trip to Chicago, was my therapist at the gym, understood my heart when I lost John, and understood my kids so very well.  She taught me the true meaning of friendship, patience, unconditional love and loyalty.  This was the friend I could call for anything, who would talk me through any situation, who finished my sentences and knew me better than I knew myself.  My kids adore her kids and we lost a lot of 'best friends'.  Little William was so patient and fun with Blake - when Blake went off on a tangent he would always say "Bwakey!!!".  So precious! 

These kind of friendships are rare - this kind of person is rare and I will always cherish her!  Now to figure out how to get to Seattle more often...

Labor Day 2012

 Labor Day 2012 was a blast!  We got together with our good friends and booked some cabins in Grand Lake, CO, right outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.  The cabins had heat and electricity and showers along with a playground, little store and lots of visiting wildlife :).  It was luxury camping - the perfect mix for a long weekend with little ones.  The great outdoors mixed with some conveniences. We made the miracle happen of getting work/callings off for 2 holiday/weekend working dentists & and RN and RS presidency & bishopric members.  But we did it.  And was it ever worth it!

 We divide up the meals so each family had one breakfast and one dinner to cook for everyone & lunches were on our own.  It made it delightfully easy & the food was delicious.

 

We divided up our weekend there to include a day in Rocky Mountain National Park, a day hiking/fishing, time on the Grand Lake beach, an afternoon of crafts & games, and a fishing trip for the daddies.

 

Thanks to some advice from a friend we found an absolutely beautiful fishing spot in the Park.  Absolutely breathtaking.  And boy were the fish biting - there wasn't one person who didn't catch a fish (thanks to Steve's very good baiting of the poles).

  

We had a scare when little Cameron slid into the creek down a slope I couldn't see disguised by long grass.  Luckily I think it was Kali who first realized he'd slid down and the only damage done was a major mud bath.  We cleaned him up the best we could & I took off my outer layer shirt to put on him for a few hours until we were home.

 We went on a lovely hike and packed lunch - these are the kiddos helping Cameron along.

 One morning as we were eating breakfast we saw some visitors in the camp - a beautiful mama elk and her twin babies.  Just a few yards away!  They were just majestic.  We kept the kids a good distance from them and watched them peacefully munch on willow bushes.  Then we watched mama not so peacefully chase a dog, then jump up on her hind legs on the above RV.  Don't mess with mama.  We also had a lovely visitor every night after dark - a bear that (luckily) was only interested in the trashcan.  Man alive -was this thing strong and fast.  We watched it flip over the trashcan like a toy ball for almost hours through the nights.  There is something absolutely surreal seeing an animal that huge and limber just 20 yards away from you with no barrier between you and the bear.  We kept this little secret to the adults in the group.  No one wanted to be awoken by kids having nightmares.  No, thank you very much.

 Each night we had a little devotional, which was a perfect close to the days.  There is something about being outdoors that brings you a bit closer to heaven and the spirit.  We spoke of the creations of Heavenly Father, looked up and the stars and spoke of how He has worlds without end, but He knows each one of us and knows our potential.  We also brought some memory making games and did crafts.  LOVED getting away from electronics and screens.  It is SO good for the kids.  So very good.

 We spent lots of time on the beach and just happened to have these three girls in matching shirts on the last day.  How fun is that?  We also went into the park and the kids did a little workbook and got sworn in as Junior Rangers.  They took their oaths to never feed animals, pick flowers or litter very seriously.  It made Steve and I want to take them to every National Park and earn a junior ranger badge (FREE!) from each park.

 We loved spending this time with our dear friends who are like family - the Shermans.

 And the Lawsons.

  As we were leaving camp we drove under this rainbow and without words everyone shared an understanding of & gratitude for a beautiful ending to a simply beautiful weekend.

Summer 2012

 I wanted to recap the Summer of 2012 before Christmas arrives :).  It was a monumental summer with lots of activities, family, serving and fun. It deserves to be documented!

New Additions

The summer started with a wise, thoughtful super dad moving heaven and earth (literally) to bring a couple additions to our backyard.  He has talked about utilizing the upward slope of our backyard putting a zipline in the backyard.  He spent HOURS digging holes, pouring cement, ordering zipline parts and working his magic to install a zipline across the backyard.  It was a hit and has made our backyard a haven for the neighborhood kids.  So far the biggest injury is a tooth getting knocked out that was due to come out anyway.  We have yet to receive a letter from the HOA, but I watch for one every time I check the mail.  So far, so good.

We have also talked about getting a play-set for years and have been watching Craigslist.  Steve finally found one that looked sturdy and fun, at an incredible price.  We enlisted the help of good friends and home teachers and anyone who offered (or accepted our plea for help) to disassemble this bad boy, transport it and reassemble it.  Whew, what a project! We spent days sanding it as a family before we reassembled it. For the month of July we asked our visiting teachers and home teachers if their visits could include assistance in staining it - thank goodness for their help.  It has been wonderful this summer.  The kids have not tired of it - they love the picnic table, the clubhouse on top and the monkey bars.

 Pinewood Derby

Trenton participated in his first Pinewood Derby.  Steve was great about researching tips and methods of building the car and Trenton was right by his side, sanding, painting, nailing and spinning.  It was a team effort that paid off with a second place finish - first missed only by .002 seconds.  So close!  But Trenton has his trophy proudly displayed and we had a great time.

  

Luke & Mary's Visit and the Hailstorm of the Century

Luke had some business in CO and much to our delight Mary and Max came along for the trip.  How we love this family!!!  Siblings are the best.  The night they drove in happened to be the night our first ever Legend Ward RS Activity that I was in charge of. About 30 minutes before the activity was to start, a storm started that quickly turned from heavy rain to marble, then golf ball sized hail.  It stopped right as the activity was starting as it usually does, but then started again with a vengeance, accompanied by a Tornado Warning.  At this point we had a good 25 sisters and were being instructed to go home d/t the Tornado warning.  We walked out to look outside and it became very apparent that no one was going anywhere.  The little creek with a walking path had a 30 foot high river flooding through it.  The river almost was overflowing into the parking lot - it is a sight I will never forget.  Most of the older ladies just laughed, firmly planted their feet down and said I'm not going anywhere!  So there we sat - quilting, eating crepes and trying to stay in touch with our families as they were losing power and being pummeled by the storm.  Luckily Luke and Mary drove safely into the garage right as the storm started so they sat it out with our children which allowed Steve to go to his Home Teaching family's house (5 kids all alone) while their Mom was stuck at our activity.  

What a night.  

To make a long story short we (along with a majority of Parker) suffered major damage on our car that was at the church ($5,000 worth), our rental home ($13,000 worth), our home ($18,000 worth).  This has led to hours figuring out insurance, claims, repairs, new roofs, decks, paint jobs, etc.  Thank goodness for good insurance coverage.  Between the damage and the high gas prices it also led us to sell the Denali on Craigslist (once again Steve's magic, we got a very good price for it) and purchase our first minivan - a Honda Odessy.  I miss the space in the Denali, especially the trunk, but it is so much nicer on our pocketbooks.  And compared to the Denali, driving the Oddessy feels like driving a sports car.  It just zips around.  It really was the best choice.

So started a very fun week with Luke and Mary.  We loved up on the Max & celebrated his b-day just a bit early, BBQ'd, went to our favorite summer discovery - a free outdoor waterpark/playground, and went to the Parker Days Fair.  We really keep trying to convince them to move to CO.  

Did I mention we adore them?

 

 Youth Conference

The timing worked out so that Mary & Max were able to stay another couple of days and watch the kiddos so that Steve and I could drive up to Lake Wellington and speak at Youth Conference.  The Billats asked us to speak back in Feb and we were happy to.  We love teaching the youth - they are stellar kids.  Our topic was Be True to Yourself & Be True to Others.  We were able to speak with this stunning lake as our backdrop.  As we were preparing, Mary helped us find some great object lessons.  When any of the youth thanked us afterwards for our talks, the thing that was brought up the most were the object lessons.  I'm not sure they remembered a thing we said, but those object lessons were a HIT.

 

 Girls Camp

Last December I got a phone call from a High-Councilman asking to meet with me.  I started to panic thinking it was a call to teach Early Morning Seminary and when he came over and asked if I would be the nurse for Girls Camp I was so relieved I about jumped out of my seat with a resounding yes!  What better thing to do - I love the outdoors, love being a nurse and love the youth.  Perfect combination.  As we closed the door behind him I turned to Steve, realizing I had missed something in my relief, and said "Oh wait.  I might still be nursing Cameron.  Probably will be nursing Cameron."  I called the Camp Director and in her wisdom suggest we call someone to split the week.  Rebecca Sherman was called and we prepared together for the week.  We were a brand new stake, so we had to build our supply list from the ground up.  We were both nervous that something would happen beyond our scope of practice, but we were comforted knowing the Camp Director had been a camp nurse for years.  The Stake Priesthood Leadership almost didn't let me go since I was still nursing and at one camp meeting President Ure turned to me and said "How will you do this?"  I didn't think he wanted all the details, so I tried to discreetly explain I had a great pump, my baby takes a bottle and there was a freezer at camp :).  They let me go.

It was a blast.  I got to know some of the girls so well who hung around my tent with me.  I offered Steve's Oralabs Samples each time they brought me an empty water bottle to try to keep the girls hydrated and I must say I thought it worked very well.  We hardly had any issues with dehydration.  We had a bear sighting in camp, strep throat, a couple of asthma issues (that one was a bit scary) and lots of headaches, bumps and bruises, but the excitement ended there.  I loved getting to know the leaders on the Stake Level and was very grateful to have the experience.

Science Camp

The week of Girls Camp I enrolled Trenton in a camp called Science Rocks with his friend Hayden Sherman.  It was 3 hours a day for 5 days for only $100.  They did some pretty great experiments, brought home a lot of new vocabulary & understanding and seemed to have a blast.  It was good to break up the summer a bit for big-brother-patient-with-his-younger-siblings Trenton, too.

We'll be doing it every summer. 

The Hughes

I was so touched that my college roommate Jeanette and her husband Zack and their precious baby Zander (just a few months younger than Cameron) drove down from Ft Collins to see us while visiting Zack's family.  We had a great time catching up.  I am in awe of how much I love the children of these college roommates of mine who I loved and learned from (and still do) for the years we lived together in college.  Each child is a miracle, but my heart does a special jump for those children of my wonderful roommates.  I love seeing a piece of them in their children and watching them as mothers.  I just adore this girl.

 

 4th of July in Lander

There is nothing like a small town 4th of July.  When you combine it with a family reunion it becomes awesome.  We drove out to Lander the afternoon of the Hughes visit, and arrived at a very excited Aunt Deb's home.  I should add here neither one of my aunts were able to have children (Aunt Deb adopted my cousin Courtney) so I have been blessed to feel love, support and encouragement from those two as second mothers.  I love talking with them, they remember EVERY birthday, holiday and anniversary in our lives and they are just wonderful.  

We had a great week eating, playing games, going to the park, fishing, hiking, watching the wonderful 4th of July Parade, getting sprayed by the fire trucks, swimming and did I mention eating?  We also celebrated every summer birthday, including mine and Mary's on the 7th (more on my favorite gift EVER later).  It was so good to be with  Great-Grandpa Poljanec.  How blessed we all feel to have him and his wisdom with us.  Cameron was just happy to have his walker to waddle around with all week :).

 

 As a little follow up, poor Aunt Deb caught a cold the last couple days we were there (possibly from all the late nights and early mornings!), it spread to her eye, she rubbed of a layer, lost her vision, had to have surgery, missed a bunch of work, and is just gaining her sight back.  

Oh lands - the lot of us did her in!

 Laramie Stop

 On the way home from Lander we asked Grandma if we could stop in and spend a day with her.  We celebrated her birthday a few days early.  We picked up dinner and a chocolate birthday pie and spent a delightful day in her wonderful home as always.

 Across the street from Grandma's house is Laramie High School.  It was set up as a central command center for the firefighters fighting the wildfires in WY.  We were all impressed and enthralled with the comings and goings of the men and women fighting the fires.  The pulled up in busses covered in soot and ashes, use the restroom, shower in the high school, then sleep in shifts in these tents.  No easy life I say.  I've always felt gratitude for the firefighters, but seeing it live certainly made it more real.

 Family Fun & Cousins

As we mapped out the summer I realized things wouldn't calm down until about mid July, which left us 3 weeks before school started to relax and enjoy the summer :).  We decided to go to Water World here in Denver for the first time in years and had a delightful time.  We were able to juggle rides and baby Cameron pretty well, and took him on all the ones we could.  He clung to me during the Pharaoh ride while going through the cave - it was the first time I've seen him really scared of something.  He enjoyed the other rides, and especially the splash park and slides made for kiddos just his size.  My little 12 month old would crawl as fast as he could up the stairs to the top of the slide, climb on mama's lap and clench his little fist in sheer delight as we went down.  It was so precious.  We had a BLAST and will definitely make it a summer tradition. 

 

We had our cousins, Christi and Lyndi, out the last week before school started and knocked off a few things on our summer list.  It was fun, busy and exhausting all at once.  I was amazed what adding two extra children does to the dynamics in the home. We went to the zoo, went to the pool, did Casa Bonita, played at the water park and spent lots of time on the zipline.  It was all worth it when I asked Kali what her favorite part of the summer was and she said "when my cousins stayed at our house."  Poor little Christi got sick with 2 days left and spiked a fever the next day.  We spent lots of time talking to Aunt Tina, hydrating, giving Tylenol and debating what it could be.  Tina took her in when she got home and it was a UTI and strep.  Poor little thing - to be so sick away from home! We gave her lots of TLC, but it's just not the same as home.  She was a trooper and wanted to come to everything - we brought pillows & blankets and the poor little thing spent a day and 1/2 in the double stroller with Cameron (as pictured below at Casa Bonita).

 

I bid farewell to summer, digging my heels in.  The end of summer is always bittersweet - we're ready for routine and structure, but not ready for alarms and homework :).  Which is why amidst the work, arguments, "I'm bored"'s, and lack of down time, I tried to just enjoy every moment.

Precious Cameron

 Our precious little Cameron turned one this summer.  I cannot believe it has been over a year that his little spirit has graced our home.  I have so enjoyed every moment of this baby's life.  I have taken time to soak in every smell, giggle, kiss, snuggle, grin, tear, first and last.  He has been an easy going baby, so very loving and just wonderful in every way.  I tried to press the pause button on his growing up because I have so adored every moment of his babyhood.  I know there are many other wonderful moments ahead of us, but I honestly felt like crying all day on his first birthday knowing that his babyhood was over.  It's been heaven on earth to have this little baby to love.

His birthday started with breakfast in bed provided by big sister Kali.  She brought up a bottle of water, applesauce and goldfish snacks.

That evening we celebrated by inviting our family away from family over for dinner and birthday cake - the Norris's, Walker's and Willis's.  I wanted to be surrounded by the people we loved on this day and stay busy.  Really - I felt like I was bidding farewell to his babyhood.

He had no desire to touch the cake and when he finally did with some encouragement from Katie and Kali he just wanted to get that sticky frosting off of his fingers!  He may have never tasted the cake if Katie hadn't fed him a bite.  Once he got a taste he enjoyed quite a few more bites.

A few things about Cameron's first year:

*He hit his milestones right on time.  He started smiling at 4 weeks, sitting up at 5 months, crawling at 8 months and surprised me by walking at 12 months.  Both of my boys walked at 14 months, so I thought he'd be a bit later, but having a couple of fun push toys to push around the house (and more space to actually practice walking) got him walking a bit quicker I think.  Not to mention 3 older siblings that are just too fun to not keep up with.

*He was sleeping through the night at 9 months, once we moved him out of our closet into his room (after Aunt Anna went to school) and now sleeps 13 hours every night.  Would he have slept through the night earlier if he'd been in his own room?  I'm pretty sure he would have.  Or we just wouldn't have heard him.  Never mind that Steve discovered the monitor was off after his second night in his own room.  Whoops - that might have done it!  Although his brothers and sisters who sleep close to his room definitely hear him if he cries.  So I like to think he was sleeping all through the night.  I was a new person when I started getting 6-8 hours of sleep in a row.  It had been almost a year since that had happened.  Remembering the exhaustion makes me shudder. Angel baby.  He likes to go down with a story, a Primary song and his pacifier.

*He is almost 15 months right now and we are still nursing (just 2x a day) due to his milk protein allergy.  I am also soooo sad that is coming to an end.  When he was diagnosed at 5 months, the thought of making it to a year overwhelmed me.  I can't believe we have made it 15 months.  Nursing has gone really well.  He's a champ at going back and forth to the bottle with work, Girls Camp, Youth Conference, callings....miracle we've made it this long.  He's taking Almond Milk with a bit of Canola Oil (to make up for the fat in whole milk he would need for brain development) 2x a day & eating protein every meal and will go to that exclusively when nursing is over until 18 months when he can try whole milk without a risk of going into shock.

* His first word was "dog" (gog-dog-gog-dog) followed by "da-da" "ma-ma"& "hot".

*He understands so much and is quick to obey - close the door, fold your arms, put this in the trash.  I love it.

*He was fascinated with his hands - ANY hands - as a baby.  He would stare, turn his hands back and forth slowly and just watch and watch.  My hand slowly closing and opening was better than any rattle.  Popping fingers up and down kept him enthralled for minutes at a time.

*He adores his siblings.  He still seems to find the most fun & humor with Blake, trust and learning with Trenton and nurturing & consoling with Kali.  We love watching them interact.

*He was also enthralled with my iPhone - he could swipe it on and off with his thumb at 9 months.  I am happy to say he has lost interest in the iPhone since Steve put a lock with a password on it.

*His favorite foods are mandarin oranges, green beans, bananas, eggs,  broccoli-cheese-soup...he's a really good eater.

* I am so happy and excited to see him every morning.  I love him so deeply it hurts sometimes. We are forever grateful to have this little spirit in our home!

Blake's 4th Birthday

I can't believe I am posting about Blake's Jan birthday in June - but there is so much I want to remember about this little charmer it must be done!  The day started with breakfast in bed, of course.  I love his little toe poking out of his jammies.

He wanted a space birthday party, which was so fun and easy to plan (especially compared to Egypt last fall for Trenton - that was something else).  Here is the crew all ready to go!  Cameron's astronaut outfit from Halloween still fit, so he was our little mascot.

The kids and I made all the different planets on paper plates, and when the "astronauts arrived" they got their space packs and began astronaut training.  I made these out of cereal boxes and duct tape.

Oh man we love this little Cameron!

A few things about our 4 year old Blake:

*He is the loudest child I have ever met.  In the past month, I had 3 friends ask me if we have had his hearing tested.  We have, but we will do it again.  He only knows one volume and that is loud, SO very loud.

*He is also the fastest child I know.  He runs everywhere he can, include away from us as fast as he can when he is in trouble.  Which is more often than my other 3 children combined.  I keep telling myself after a long day of chasing him all over the house/store/neighborhood, someday I will watch him on some athletic field and be proud, very proud.  But right now he exhausts me.

*He is incredibly street smart.  He can make a friend, charm anyone, manipulate a situation, sneak a treat like I've never seen.  One of my favorite looks is his little wink, smile and nod.  Then a triple eyebrow raise.  Watch out world.  One morning Anna came down and couldn't find her keys.  We questioned all the kids, called a locksmith, AAA, searched high and low, gave her rides....no keys.  Finally one day Steve checked in between the BACK seats of the Honda and there they were.  Blake had snuck them out there and laughed about it for days.  Three days later Steve's iPad was missing.  We check there right away and sure enough, he had hid it from Steve!  He finds people's buttons and boy does he hit it right on!

*He loves to run into the street at full speed.  Loves it.  Ever since he was walking.  He sees those double doors at Walmart (Target, church, you name it) open and he dashes full speed ahead.  Hence, he is the first child I have purchased a leash for.  We call it his 'special' backpack.

*This is the year his little feelings started to get hurt when we called him "The Master of Disaster" (the name Trenton's Kindergarten class gave him when he was 2, which is actually quite fitting).  His little eyes would well up with tears and his chin quivered, so I put a quick stop to that nickname.  Even though he fits it so very well.

*He is so sensitive and loves so deeply.  He is the first one who RACES into Daddy's arms when he comes home from work and throws his arms around his neck so tightly.  Over this past year he has had to have & give a "Kissing Hand" at every separation.  And he watches you when you walk away saying, "Don't drop it!  Did you drop it?!"  He also does this little thing Anna taught him - blowing a kiss with one finger...lots of them :).  So precious.  He loves to be rocked, held and snuggled.  He is also our little guy who will start crying if he sees anyone else crying.  He is so sensitive.

*He is a most loyal friend - in preschool I got many a phone call that biggest issue with Blake was that he wouldn't play with/sit by/include friends unless it was/included William.  Oh how he loves that little William.

*He has to know the plan for every day.  And have it repeated about 10 times.  It is unwise to tell him about an event ahead of time, unless you want to describe it 200 times in the 2 days leading up to it :)

I can't wait to watch this little guy develop - if I can channel all this energy, love, smarts and speed the right way.  He'll do great things!!!!