Umm. . . where are we?

wow I think I'm still in Texas. But it sure doesn't look like it! The kids have been out playing in the snow since about 5 AM. Animals!! What a fun way to wake up!

A little humor for today.

Little ones

Today is Sunday and is not good for me health wise.
It is also Fast Sunday, as I listened to Ben say "AGAIN!??????" I understood what a sacrifice my family has been making for me. Especially the little ones. It is so hard for them not to eat one meal but two? ARE YOU CRAZY? hahaha I thank you all so very much. Your precious babies willing to fast for me and pray for me is overwhelming. Hearing these stories helps get me though the day. I hate being a burden to anyone. I do not like depending on people to go in to another room. Maybe it's to teach me humility, i don't know. One thing for sure is I am very very grateful to each one of you and your children for your thoughts and prayers. I hope this is over soon.
You know what this blog was to help us keep in touch better. TA DA it did! Hug your babies their faith is the strongest!
Love ya-
Juli

no E in JULI

Finally!

I FINALLY have an appointment with a real neurologist! YEA! Not, some kook who says, "yep you had a stroke have a good weekend!" Never to see him a again. So, Wed. I will be going to Houston and finally figuring all this out. My husband and kids have been so wonderful! I on the other hand have been a complete spaz. I cry all the time. I worry about so much.
Now, we have to figure out what to do with the kids. I really miss living in Humboldt where we had so many people who would help out if needed. Oh well. It will work out. I Have a real doctor!!! =) oh happy day!

Update

I had another mini stroke on Wednesday night. When we called the doctor he said don't worry unless I have a big seizure. ie- don't interrupt my holiday!
Besides there was no way Reed was getting me back in there until I was practically dead anyway.
If I get too tired or excited I have a mini seizure. We are praying that this week when I go see the Dr. they will be able to find something definite. I want to thank all of you for your prayers and fasts too. I can't tell you how much it means to us! We love you all so much. Maybe San Fran. really is in our reach. :)

Making the best of it

This is my wheelchair. Ben thought it looked boring so he decorated it for me. Isn't he a sweetheart! Our last name barely fit!

Update

Sometimes I am just fine. But, most of the time when I am talking I stutter on words I want to say. I shake a lot. Like I have Parkinson's. Mostly my left leg.I can't walk across the room. The scariest part is I faint a lot! I don't remember what I was doing at the time.Reed and the kids hover over me all the time. They are so sweet. Like it's no big deal. I no it makes them crazy following me around the room. To lighten up the day Saturday we decorated my wheelchair. The Doctors are still wondering if it is MS. I don't know how they will figure it out if all the do is tell me to go home to go home. This is a time I wish I lived closer to my family. I miss you all!!

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Ahhhh Life!

I had a stroke on Wednesday. It was super scary. As you can tell from the picture I had many many many tests done. Kristi kept me from going crazy by helping me under stand everything that was going on.
My left leg is weak and the only real side effect I have. Well, and I can't get my thoughts out sometimes. My heart is great. Yea! I will be seeing the neurologist for awhile until we can determine if I am going to have another one. So, yea life is great. I'm just so glad to be home. A week in the hospital is NEVER fun. Thanks for all your prayers!

I got a new job. I now work at Target. Being a sub was getting old. The kids are so rotten to subs and I wanted something different. Plus I get paid more. That's always good. :)

We had a fun weekend. We went to our ward trunk or treat, then went to a friends for pizza and more trick or treat.
Ali was a sexy devil- far too pretty to be evil.
Ben was a hobo with a cleaver in his head. That is Caleb, Ben's friend from church.
It was fun watching them play.

Lauri

Okay, just go to Lauri's blog. She said exactly what I feel! She has always been the better sister. Everyone remembers her. She is funny, honest, and blunt. A wonderful combination to have.
Oh Lauri! I love you so much!!!

How is life?

I have noticed that a lot of you have the 52 weeks of blessings. I love to read them and think what a great idea. So I thought, I want to share what I am thankful for. SISTERS! You are the best! You get me. Each one of you are so different, yet so wonderful. My mom has the best sister/ friend I have ever seen. It has always been so fun for all us girls to watch them. I often wondered if any of us would be like that. Yep, we are. Isn't it great. Thank you for supporting me on that day I was so frustrated.

I voted. Sent it in on Monday. Now i need to have faith that it will all work out.

I know most of you do not have your children far away from you yet. But, this is something that has really made me think. I have always wanted my children to be independent. We have always told them that they can do anything. Isn't that our job as a parent? My in-laws have most of their children still living with them and it drives me crazy. Now that my girls are away at school. I miss them so much! I worry all the time. Did I give them enough to survive on their own? Did I teach them how to cook, clean, budget, stand up for themselves well enough to make it in the "big bad world"? :)
Boys! UGH! They are bad stay away from them. hahahahaha right. like that will happen.
You know what the hardest part is? When they need a hug and you can't give it to them.

My children are so much a part of my life that I'm kind of going through an identity crisis. What do I do now that they are growing up? I am at a cross roads.
It all really hit me when Em went to school, Cassia broke up with her boyfriend, and I had to look up to talk to Ali! That was the day I realized how fast the years zoomed by. Conrad is taller than Reed! Ben is up to my eyes. Yea, that's a little bragging. :) I am going to try and get a picture of them, not easy.

Aaaahh! Cassia has auditions on Friday. I am so excited for her! cross your fingers she does great. I so know you can do it Cash!

Emilie is an Archaeologist well, working on it. How cool is that?? She works at the museum on Thursdays.

Conrad is in the band this year and still playing tennis. He is so funny! I always laugh when we talk.

Ali. Ahh Ali ! What a dolly! She is dancing too. She loves ballet but is just doing jazz for the exercise. The sweetest person you will ever meet.

Ben! My baby. He is just a real cool kid. Easy going and fun. He plays the clarinet. Because it looks cool. How funny is that!

Reed is my strength! I love him! We get to spend a lot of time together now that he is an officer. We get to have lunch everyday. It has helped our friendship grow. It's great!

So there is what is going on with us.
I love you! This blog is a great idea!
To my sisters- Cari, Shelli, Lauri, Janeal, Dani, Suzann, and Kristi
I love you and am so thankful that you are a part of my life! Brothers- thanks for marrying such amazing ladies!

::mwah::

Venting

Okay, I know that I do not always voice my views, but I have been trying to decide who to vote for and what all these propositions are about. I have actually been thinking about just not voting. It all annoys me. I get so tired of all the mean things people say. Plus, it takes too much energy. Yes, I'm lazy. Usually I let people think how they want and keep my opinion to myself. Abortion and Gay marriage are huge right now. Being gay has become a fad. Kids of every age thinks it's cool to say "I'm gay." I see this every day at school. Usually I just roll my eyes and keep doing my job. But you know what? I'm tired of having to step aside for other peoples beliefs! Why are theirs more important than mine? Why can't I say "no, that is not right." I don't believe it, you are a freak." Because I would be wrong. I would be sued, sent to jail. What the heck! AND why is it so bad to kill in war but NOT an infant??? In war, the people have shown they are evil. True not always but at least they can SAY how they feel about it! Let's protect the drug addict that just killed a whole family for a hit and let millions of innocent babies die because "Oops, I made a mistake." So, yea, I'm mad and am venting about the injustices of the world. Honestly, will it make a difference? I think that's what makes me the most mad. It sucks!!

My Ali girl

My camera broke so I don't have any pictures to go with this blog. Ali is taking dance. She does ballet and jazz. It makes her so happy! She has grown up so much this year. She is taller than me. I am going to be the shortest one! Ben is catching up quickly. Ali has made a few good friends this year. I am so glad, because she loves being around people. She is a lot like me and doesn't like to be alone. :) We spent the weekend together just doing girl things. The boys were all gone on a camping trip with scouts. It was so fun! She is such a sweet girl! Hard to believe that she can be so sweet and almost 14 too. I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend time with her and get to know her one on one.

LOVE IT!!!!

Don't you love my blog?! Mom learned all the fun tricks from Lauri and then did mine for me. How cool is that! I love it! It is fabulous! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Mom!! You are the best!

Hurricanes and Neighbors

Most of our neighborhood is retirees. Reed and Conrad try to help them out by mowing the front lawns. In our city you will get fined if your lawn isn't maintained. Stupid! Luckily our house was not damaged by IKE. We got home Saturday afternoon. Our yard looked like there never was a storm. All the branches, leaves, debris, etc. I expected weren't there. How wonderful! Mr. Kimball is our next door neighbor. What a character!! He wasn't going to evacuate because he didn't want to pack all his guns. hahaha The cops finally forced him out. He is quite old, about 75 or 80. He can hardly walk and everything he does takes him forever. Mowing his lawn takes him about 8 hours! Which is why Reed and Conrad do it for him. Anyways, he got home on Monday. He has been cleaning up our yard all week!!! He cleaned up the branches that fell off the tree. He nailed the mailbox back on! Then he mowed the yard so I wouldn't have to deal with it!! He knew Reed was out of town. He wanted to surprise us. I am surprised!!! A friend from church came by on Monday and told me we would have "a bit" of yard work to do but the house was fine. He even saved our mail!! And I thought we didn't have any friends here. I am so humbled. Every time I think about it I start to cry. So now when I complain about Texas I will remember that it isn't ALL bad. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father keeps giving me little reminders that we are not alone, and He knows where we need to be better than we do. :) Love you all!

Talking to your wife

Hurricanes

Good grief! I have no idea why people choose to live in Texas. I am so frustrated with all this!
IKE hit late Friday night and caused a lot of damage. We had to evacuate on Thursday. The CG has a hotel in Tyler,TX which is near Dallas. We heard from friends that the house is fine, no damage for us. yea!!
The bad news is we are stuck in a hotel for 2-4 weeks! OH MAN!!! With 2 dogs, 2 birds, 1 cat, 1 hamster, 3 children and one very crazy mama! Reed is in Virginia (Yorktown) at school. Even though they knew IKE was on it's way. i don't even pretend to understand. He will most likely be done with school before we get to go home. They have to clear the roads and turn the power back on before we can go back.
We lost power hear in the hotel this morning. I just got everyone in the car and ran away. Shopping therapy! :) It always works. hahahaha
Now we are back and I actually have internet so I thought I would catch you all up on my crazy life. I'm sure there will be more later. Does it ever end?????

Here we go again

Well, I am finally home. I took Emilie to BYU. She is starting to like it. Then I had to stay a few extra days because of a hurricane. Oh man! Life is crazy! I have no idea why people live down here in the south. Another hurricane is heading toward us. We will find out if we have to evacuate tomorrow. This time instead of me being gone, Reed is. We are waiting to see how much more we have to deal with before we get out of Texas. Yea, I'm a little stressed.

Emilie's summer job!

Did I tell you Emilie worked construction this summer? She made some great money. hahaha and got really dirty! She used to love painting now I think I'll have to pay her a lot to get her to do it again. We will be leaving for BYU on Sat. and the younger ones will be starting school on the 25th. I am trying to get some more pictures for you. I'll try one more time then I'm going to bed. :)

Negative or Positive??

We have been in Texas for 1 year now. It has been a very long year and pretty hard on most of us. I've been thinking about it a lot. I know I complain a lot. But, today, I want to say how thankful I am for friends and family. We are truly blessed! Leaving Ferndale was the hardest thing ever! But, our friends have shown us that even though we might have moved we are still loved. Ben and Ali had their best friends, Julie and Tenaya, come visit for a whole week. Just to connect and keep that friendship alive. I for one am so glad!
My family is wonderful. This has been a quiet summer where we spend most days in the pool just to cool off. I find they love to talk while we are out there. Some of my favorite discussions have been while we are racing around in that little pool. I will forever treasure being able to spend this time with my children. Getting to know them. This blog is another reason my family is so wonderful. How else would all of the sisters keep in touch? I love you all so much and miss you. have a blessed week!

So they spent a week at the beach. In an amazing house. Best friends made summer bearable!!! They had so much fun! Still just as goofy as ever!

Best Friends are what help keep us sane!

Friends

This weekend is an exciting one. Ben's best friend, Julie, from California is coming to visit. They rented a beach house out in Galveston and invited Ali and Ben to stay with them. I am so excited for them to have friends to hang out with. Texas has been so hard for them. We should seriously look into buying a beach house!! Oh how wonderful my summers would be. :)
Conrad and Emilie will be going to Youth Conference next weekend. Conrad had 2 moles removed from his cheek so he'll look hot for all the girls! ;)

This was much easier than I thought.
We had a great 4th of July. Spent most of the day in the pool. It was great having the weekend to relax and be together as a family.

Blogging

Okay, so I'm going to try this.
I'm not sure exactly what to do. Life is pretty boring here in Texas. So let me know if this works and I'll get Mom to help me make it cute! :)