I sat down to blog this morning and thought to myself, "hmmm, wonder if I have any new pics to share!" So I started up my camera and looked at the pics and remembered, "Oh yeah! We went to the park this week!" Seems like months ago. I can always tell when school is getting ready to start back up, cuz the busyness (a cool word) of the summer seems like a day in paradise in comparison to the busyness of the school year. But, I digress. I went to upload them to the pc and realized, oh heyll, I've already done that (the computer tells me so)! HAHA Wow.

Any hooters (thanks, Joni!!), here are a few pics from our day at the park with friends earlier this week..Tuesday to be exact.

Ash and Nikki on the tire swing..Ash really got her goin good!

J & Aaron on the swings. Aaron is infatuated with Jaden.

Ash & Nikki on the swings. Ash pretended she was in a roller coaster the whole time. Screaming and waving her arms in the air. It was hilarious. I later told both girls that those swings are meant to be used by children with special needs (true). They were humiliated. HAHA! Oh well, it was fun to watch them.

Jaden, my super cool guy, making a super cool face as he came running over to me (growling).

Aaron giving the tire swing all he's got! J's lovin it.

We had Bruce n Robyn and their girls over last night for dinner and Rockband. It was fun! We were going to take video of it but spaced it. NEXT TIME! We ate lots of cake, just as a bonus. It was supposed to be poker night, but thankfully my hubby cancelled that. Bruce was gonna come out for poker anyway so they thought, what the heck, let's still come out! Woohoo for us! :) I'm pretty over poker anyway, I have to tell ya. I love having the dudes over, but it just takes away from quite a bit of family time. BUT BUT BUT, my honey enjoys it..and I enjoy listening to the stupid stories our men tell! haha. Who'd a thought that at a poker night, all the men would talk about was their wives and kids! I guess I always imagined them talking about trucks or dirt or something..not these guys. :) At any rate, I'm happy with the way it is. I'm always happy to have people over who are proud of their families.

Today Chris and the kiddos are gonna go see Clone Wars (new Star Wars cartoon movie thing, I think) with Bruce and Collin (Bruce's step son). Then later this afternoon Chris' Mom, Barbara, is comin out to watch the kiddos for us while we go to a wedding! (Happy Wedding day, Jess and Jason!!! WOOHOO FOR YOU!!) Then she's thinkin about staying the night.

Sunday, we'll get up n go to church in the mornin and then back home to shove our faces full of food (we'll be super hungry by then). And, then relax for a bit before we go out to Nampa for lil Brooklyn's birthday party! She's growin up so fast. What a beautiful lil angel she is!! I'll be sure to take lots of pics. And, as a super huge bonus, they're making chicken tacos and homemade salsa and all the other goodies for the party! Oh Heavenly days. And, Kristi says Mike is making the birthday cake! My mouth is already watering. AND, Kristi got a jumphouse for the party, too!

Dave says the boys are at their Dad's house this weekend (who lives down the street from us), so hopefully we'll get to see them and hear all about their trip to the coast!

Well, at this moment, I need to start doing my part of the Saturday chores. The kids have already been cleaning for an hour and a half. "Bless their hearts" LOL. Funny how they can take a set of chores that should involve no more than an hour and drag it out into 5 or 6 hours. Oh well..it's their day to waste! Until it starts interfering with ours and then it's not so cute anymore.

Sure do love you guys. Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy the blessings and the challenges..there are joys to be found in both. :)

Well, you're lookin at the new Hospitality Coordinator for the Crimson Point Elementary PTA..I just didn't have enough to do. So, I decided to take that job on! LOL. I also might be filling in for the Treasurer while she recovers from surgery..and then putting together a few more events. Haven't heard anything from the middle school yet, but I've volunteered there for everything under the sun, so we'll see. Hopefully they enjoy parent involvement as much as they said they did earlier in the summer.

Ash is excited cuz they're having a "lock in" at church for the teenagers. They all get to spend the night at the church and play video games and board games and karaoke, and eat their hearts out...etc. Of course the alarm is set so if any of those lil buggers try to sneak out the alarms will sound! She's also looking forward to joining the Teen Bible Quiz team. Because they get to travel together. Last year they went to Arizona and Montana among other cool places.

My Auntie and her family come in today from California. I will go see her for a few hours after work tonight. Haven't seen her since Matt's wedding! I love my Auntie, can't wait to hug on her!!! Oh, and our friend Neil is also in town. His brother is the one we talk about who is the doctor in Africa..remember? And his father is the one who married us, and my parents. Anyhoo, it's always great to see him. He has an awesome family, always a great example.

Squeezing in a Mother Daughter trip to the fair on Monday night. As in ME and MY Mom! Chris and I used to take the kids every year but it's just gotten way too expensive. So last year I started just goin with my Mom. It's GREAT! We just go, get a snack and then walk around and look at the exhibits & ANIMALS!! WOOOHOOO!!! I LOVE piggies and cows :)

I promised I would make blueberry pancakes this morning for my sweet hubby, so I better get on it. Have a wonderful day! OH, and congrats to Armstrong on her big win for the US and Boise!

Love you love you

All the latest and greatest....

Howdy y'all, hope everyone is doing dandy. Lots and lots of happenings lately. We took Ash to her new middle school last night and she got her class schedule and locker assignment. Then we toured the school and found all her classrooms. She also signed up as a volunteer at the school store and picked up some info on joining the Pep Club. Still shying away from sports but whatever, maybe she'll decide later that she wants to do them again...if not that's fine too. We have an open house on the 21st where she can go around and meet all her teachers and move into her locker and then D-Day is on the 22nd. I can't believe summer is already over and the kids are starting school again.

J starts the same day and is also supposed to be having an open house and class list postings soon, although no details yet. Actually I should check that now that I think about it, hold please.........

..........................

...........ah well guess what? His open house is the exact same night and time as Ashley's. HA HA, perfect. Well we have a two hour window so I guess we'll just have to split the time between the two. J's probably won't take as long since he only has one teacher and we already know the school so we can probably afford to dedicate a bit more time for Ash. Looks like elementary class scheds will go up this Friday as well. Cool stuff.

So besides school and work, we have a TON of stuff going on this month. We are pretty much booked solid. Some highlights:

Sarah's aunt visits this week. Sarah will be heading over to see them on Thurs. and then proceeding to go shopping for wedding/b-day gifts and a dress for this weekend's festivities.

Friday is poker night

Saturday I take the kids to see the new Clone Wars movie, then Sarah and I have a wedding to go to that evening. Mom will come over to watch the kids and then I think stay the night.

Sunday I guess I was volunteered to make a big breakfast, then church, then our friend's daughter's b-day party

Monday continues birthday week. Sarah goes out with her buddy Jess on her b-day that day, Wed is our friend Leanne's b-day (you may remember her from the Rock Band vid), Thurs is Amber's b-day

The weekend of the 22nd, after the kids get out of school and Sarah gets off work, we are (hopefully) going camping. YAY! Our first, and seemingly only at this point, family camping trip of the year. I really hope everything pans out and we get to go.

Last week of Aug will see school getting into full swing and our schedules switching back out of vacation mode. All new adventures and the such. Last weekend of Aug we have plans for our 13th anniversary. Nothing fancy, just dropping off the kids and going out to a nice dinner. It'll be great to get out together and spend some time alone, its a rare commodity. I can't believe we've been married for 13 YEARS already!! Hooray for us!!! Sheesh....look how far we've come it after all, sure wouldn't want to be without you (that's an inside one for you babe, ha ha).

Well that's about it for us...for the time being anyway. But wait, there's a whole wide world out there too. In case you've been in a cave, you've probably heard about the Olympics. We've been watching them off and on...not religious or anything, but enough to keep up. Big happenings recently.

Michael Phelps won his 11th gold medal yesterday making him the winningest gold medalist in Olympic history now. Way to go. The dude is a machine. Still trying to break the record for most golds in a single Olympics so we'll see how that goes.

Not so great night for the "women's" gymnastics team. I say "women's" cuz most of them are still teenagers, but no less talented. Came down to the US vs. China (as usual) and the US team just couldn't hold it together. They made some costly mistakes and allowed the underage China team to take Gold. US won silver, but in a less than stellar performance. Hopefully soon the true ages of the kiddies on China's team will be revealed and the gold will be stripped and given to the US. Might sound harsh and I'm sorry, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO F-ING WAY that the girls on that China team are at least 16. One of them looked like she was still losing baby teeth for crap's sake. Everyone knows it, but China has produced "documentation" to prove their age....yeah, whatever. The truth is out there.

Oh, big news for Boise. A Boise woman triathlete won a gold medal in cycling at the Olympics last night. Super cool, we're on the world map now! Congrats to her.

Well that's about it for now. Have a great humpday and I'll catch everyone on the flip side!

This is my lapdog, Sadie Lady :)

Well, she doesn't really understand that she's a 60+ lb dog. She's happy to be held n cuddled. And, has no problem whatsoever climbing up into your lap, even if she is suffocating you with chest hair (that's usually all you can see if she does this..a wall of chest hair). She's just a sweet lil girl and I love her to death.

When company comes over I want to kill her, though. She has to be center of attention (as is the norm for goldies..whatever). As in she wants you to pet her AT ALL TIMES. She must be loved on. And she slowly walks from person to person..pacing around..until someone gives in. Drives me INSANE. But, it's my own fault. Because when no one is here, she gets constant love and attention, and I do stupid things like encourage her to sit on Momma's lap. Hmm..I guess that's a fair deal. I'd rather have a loving dog than one that is scared of or hates people.

Our new goal this week is to not let her get up on couches downstairs. They are fabric. And they are covered in her hair. I vacuum them, but it doesn't help it much. When we first got her she was never allowed on those couches. But then as the whole house filled with hair, I figured, what the hell does it matter. The hair is on the couch anyway, might as well let her on them, it couldn't be THAT much worse. WELLLL That's like saying, "I'm already dirty from camping and not showering for a week. Might as well never shower again. Couldn't get much worse". Now they might as well be fur couches.

SO begins the battle.

She goes out and sneaks up on them, and we go out and tell her to get down. We repeat this several times every 2 minutes. We're contemplating becoming alcoholics so that we will be too drunk to care that she disobeys and messes crap up.

Well, that's my update for the moment. Now I'm off to watch Jurassic Park with our tiny son while Ash is upstairs playing with Nikki.

Love ya!

ROCK BAND NIGHT!!!!

Apparently there was some kind of brouhahah last night. It seems that there was an "event" of extraordinary magnitude in our small town. Something of such epic proportions that its hard to completely fathom what really transpired. Details are sketchy but from all reports it seems that a most amazing phenomenon ocurred. We have managed to get our hands on some ultra top secret footage and it is.....sensational. You will not believe your eyeballs (or earballs) but everything you are about to see is true.

Due to the extreme amounts of awesome rocking and overall supreme nature in the following footage, I caution you to proceed at your own risk.

Don't forget to stay through the credits. Enjoy!

Out of all the pics I got at the farm today, this one was by far my fave. My little niece, Monet, sleeping like an angel. Awww, she's so sweet.

Church was great today. Mom n Dad came out and went with us. Nice to find a church where people are alive and allowed to clap/dance/raise hands, etc if they feel like it, or just stand and have either one be ok. Ahhhh, what a breath of fresh air. And more than that, to be in a place that embraces our beliefs, is fantastic. Hard to find churches like that here in Idaho.



Anyway, after we got home we got ready and I took Ash back out to the horses. Jon and DeAnna, Monet, Mom and Dad were all out there. Terry n Lana were home this weekend, too. So it was nice for me to have people to talk to while Ash had her lesson and rode around. Plus, it was a perfect day. Not too hot, not to cool..jusssst right.



Now we're back home. Chris is going to make us up some homemade fried food tonight. It was Ashley's idea. It's called "FRY FEST". He's going to make fried zucchini (fresh from my neighbors garden!), onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and chicken nuggets. I'll be making up the ranch to dip it all in! And then as we're enjoying it, we will all take time to pray safety over our bodies from all the crap we're ingesting..that we don't fall over from heart attack after eating! Joni, what was that we were saying about us eating in moderation and healthier? Hmm..guess I'll get back on the wagon TOMORROW! heehee ;)



Oh, last night was so much fun. We bbq'd with Leslie & Ryan and baby Cooper and then after that Jeff & Leanne came over and we all went upstairs for our Rockband festivities. Ash got some of it on tape, Chris is putting together a video of it now. I'm sure it will make an appearance to the blog very soon. :) Kept hoping that all of the noise and moving around would make Leanne go into labor..but no luck! Oh well..anyway, when everyone had had enough we came downstairs and ate some lemon bars that Chris had made earlier and then they all packed up and left us. As they were getting in their cars I thought it was the perfect opportunity to prune back one of my bushes as it is completely covered in bees all day. Had to chop off the flowers. Ryan thought I was crazy to be pruning bushes at 11:30 at night. Well, maybe just a little :) But anyone who knows me, knows that I do my best work at night! AND, this morning there was only one bee on the bush, so I call it MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! But, anyhoo..here's a pic from last night. Captures some of us at least (Jeff & I didn't make the cut)!





Hope you've all had a great weekend, and that the week to come will be wonderful, too. Love you!

Left side of face won't cooperate as it is numb. Dentist drilled on 3 teeth. Dentist didn't try to kill me like the last dentist did. All went well. Eating egg sandwich proved to be a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. Look like I've had a stroke when I try to swallow. This makes Chris laugh. Chris promised to bring me tylenol but never did. Must have forgotten. Hmm. Taking Ash to get school supplies in a minute. Hoping I don't drool while shopping. If I do, it will be fine. We'll be at Walmart afterall, so I'll fit right in. Thinking of getting a Jamba Juice later, they are my favorite. Need to quit biting the inside of my lip. Hoping you all have a wonderful day. I plan on having super loads of fun. Still trying to find someone to vacuum for me and/or shave the dog bald. Chris is now running upstairs to get my Tylenol. And..he's already returned..must go take them now.

Love you

Update on Joshua:

Joshua is doing well. His platelet count was 117 last week and it was up to 308 this week! woohoo!!! So excited about that. Unfortunately his hemoglobin was down to 1.2, and they like for it to be about 11-14. So, he is considered neutropenic this week which just means he is VERY suseptable to infection. Good handwashing and hygene is a MUST!

Two years ago today Chris' Aunt Kathy died suddenly. Exactly one year after Aunt Kathy passed, our dog Tess died suddenly. I'm praying nothing tragic happens today on the one year anniversary of Tess' death. I'm not superstitious, it was just a weird thing to have happen. Still miss both of them everyday.

Anyway, just wanted to post pics of them today and remember how wonderful they were in our lives!

Aunt Kathy always brought a smile to my face and I enjoyed all of our chats, especially when I was living in Texas. She & Uncle Tim were always there to let me know that even though we'd moved so far away, we still had family who loved us.

And, Tess..well, Tess and I fought like only mother and daughter (dog) can! But, we loved each other like crazy, too. She was a quirky lil dog..Chris would make fun of us b/c one of us would do something to offend the other and then we would quit talking to each other for sometimes weeks at a time. But, sooner or later we always came back to each other and cuddle time resumed. I'll never forget the last 2 horrendous days leading up to her death (she was gone within 4 days), or how she looked at me, how she couldn't eat or drink unless I spoon fed her..she couldn't walk unless I helped her. I'll spare you the other details..but it was just horrible.

I guess we all hope that the ones we love will go peacefully in their sleep, and at an age we deem appropriate. That didn't happen for Aunt Kathy, or for Tess. But, in both deaths we learned to hold those in our lives very close to our hearts and to not let anything stand in the way of our relationships. Because we truly never know when our last moments with them will be.

Unfortunately there are always a few relationships where you hit walls and won't be let in, for whatever reason..or sometimes for no reason (seemingly). But, even if some are shut off to us, it doesn't mean we can't show love to them, right? I guess it's just like the Lord with His children..even when we shut Him out and act as if we don't need Him or want Him around, He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. He loves us unconditionally. And, we can do that for our family and friends, too. In fact, that is what we are called to do in His word..Love one another, as He has loved us.

I hope that today brings you joy, and that even for those of us who are still mourning..that we will also be able to find the happy memories coming to mind throughout the day. Every time I see a beautiful garden (or a squirrel!), I think of Aunt Kathy. And, every time I look to the side of my bed, I think of Tess and how she'd lay right there while I slept..always there.

Sending up balloons to heaven and doggy heaven today as we remember our 2 girls!

Love you guys :)

Woohoo! I put it in a slideshow instead. Enjoy the pics from our day at the farm!

For some reason I can't post pictures. I'm angry. I wanted you to see my picture of Tex, the Texas Longhorn :( Well, maybe tomorrow. Been trying for two days. If you got my email with the pics in it, then you've already seen him.

I got lots of really fun pics the other day while Ash was riding horses at our friends' house. I feel like I may have already blogged about this, so I'm gonna stop. But, hopefully as the days go on I can post a few of the pics for you.

As Chris told u, we went down for our yearly trip to the Roaring Springs water park. We take the kiddos one time every summer during their vacation. He's right, for some reason this year the vacation just zoomed on by. Can't believe they're almost back in school already! It was a great day, though. Wish I could have had a highly qualified assistant with me to take all the pics! No matter.. I'm not entirely sure that I would have posted pics of me with a tank top and beach capris all wet and suctioned to my body like the intestine casing on an italian sausage.

Worked all day today and then went out to Nampa to water Jess' lawn, they're at church camp. I was trying to get home in time for us to go to church, but it didn't happen. We will, however, be able to go out and get some ice cream very soonly :)

Went to the plastic surgeon yesterday morning for my shoulder. He agrees with the other 2 docs I've seen, thinks it's a lypoma. He says he believes it's the size of a baseball. Woohoo! Either the RM-10 is working and it's shrinking, or the other 2 docs I've seen are idiots b/c they both told me it was the size of a softball. At any rate, he wants me to go get an ultra sound done so that we can be positive that it is indeed a lypoma and not something else. He doesn't want any surprises when he cuts me open! That's a good sign. LOL So, I think I'll shoot for having the surgery done on the 3rd Friday of October. He also says that he believes the other docs and the folk I've talked to are exaggerating a bit on the pain level after surgery. He said it's definitely painful, but that I will have pain meds and that I shouldn't lose any sleep worrying about it. So, woohoo! All good news there.

Having a Rockband night with our buddies this weekend. We've been trying to schedule this get together with the 6 of us for months now. Excited it's finally happening. Will be sure to take pics and post them (in theory).

Trying to think if there's anything else exciting goin on, but I'm at a loss.

This month is CRAZY. I know I always say that. But, really, it is. Maybe I should start posting pics of our wall calendar so you can see our insanity! Oh well, I'd rather have a busy life than one that is dull.

Love you all!!!!!!

Rip "Roaring" Good Times.....

As summer begins to come to a close and we start counting down the days until the kiddies go back to school (16 in case you were wondering), its time to start making good on all the promises we can no longer put off. One such promise was to take the kids to our local water park, Roaring Springs, before school started. So that's what we did yesterday afternoon.

Jaden's kindergarten class all received a free day pass last year and ever since he brought that golden ticket home, he's been bugging us regularly to take them. We kept saying "we'll take you guys sometime before school starts again", and for a while that coasted us by. Well the other day we were looking over our calendar for August and we realized that our time was almost up. August was filling up fast and we were running out of days to fulfill our promise. It actually came down to only two or three days that would work before school started. As it turned out, Sarah got off work early yesterday after she went in early, and my afternoon schedule was pretty clear so we decided we'd head out and enjoy some watery goodness.

I didn't tell the kids our surprise....I just made them lay down and take a nap after lunch then we woke them up when Sarah got home and told them to put on their swimsuits. They immediately got excited and hurried around to get ready. The day was pretty warm but it was overcast so the sun wasn't punishing. We headed out around 2:45 and arrived a little after 3 to take advantage of the 3-8pm specials. Ticket prices are comparable to Disneyland (ok, not THAT bad but close) so its always best to go when they have one of their promo's running.

As we drew close, we saw that the parking lot was packed, as was expected. That place is always busy. After finding a spot in one of the satellite dirt lots we trekked over, got our tickets and entered the aqua paradise. Both Sarah and I had forgotten sunscreen, but the kids were coated so we were set. Fortunately, as I stated before, it was overcast so we didn't burn to a crisp.

The kids were bursting to go play but first things first, we had to secure a life vest for Jaden. After that was secure our first stop was the wave pool. We hung around in there for 10 minutes or so and then the kids wanted to hit the rides.

First up was Pipeline Mines. We gathered up our 2-man rafts with J and me in one, and Sarah and Ash in the other. Pitch dark, enclosed tunnel with waterfalls, twists, turns and drops before blasting out into the pool. Jaden hated it and screamed all the way down.

Then it was on to the Viper's Vortex. Another 2-seater with me and J together, and Sarah and A in the other. This one was "meh". You drop down a 4 story tube (which was fun) then shoot out into a sprialing vortex bowl (we call it "the toilet") where you casually drift in a circle or two before going out the drain into the pool. The first part was fun but the slowness of the spiraling kind of detracted from it.

Next we hit the Racing Ridge. A 350 foot slide down on a foam mat, racing all the way to the bottom. I won due to my awesome aero-dynamicity. Kids loved this one!

After that it was onto the standard drop slides. Ash and J went up together but then Sarah sent me up to accompany J since the drop at the end was into a 10' deep pool and J's swimming skills are still developing. We waited through the line but I couldn't go down with J, so we walked back down and A took the plunge.

Then the kids were off to the kiddie play area while Sarah and I lounged in some chairs for a bit. J wanted to hang around a bit so I stayed with him while Sarah and Ash went and got into the Endless River. J took a kiddie slide then decided he too wanted to get in the river.

The Endless River is the perfect way for parents to enjoy the water park. Its just a huge circling river of water that moves around the park. You can swim or float and just lounge and relax. If you are lucky enough to grab a tube then its close to perfect....all I needed was a tropical drink to seal the deal. Its got a couple swift parts and some waterfalls to keep the kids interested. We hung out in there for a while and then Ash decided it was time to move on.

Our next stop was The Avalanche. Sarah and J refused to go on this so I took Ash. Its basically a giant water half-pipe that you ride on in a 2-man raft. However its like 5 stories tall and is pretty much a 180 degree drop straight down. Ash had been on it before with her aunt and she was still totally scared to go on it again. It was pretty thrilling for sure, not for the faint of heart. The best part is the drop down when you and your raft actually lift off the ground a bit and free-fall.

By now our trip was winding down so we had only two rides left. Sarah was done so I took the kids to the Mammoth Canyon which is still one of my favorites. This is the ride that scared the crap out of J the last time we went, but he was ready to go this time. This one always has the longest line but you go down in a multi-person raft so it moves pretty quick. By the time we got to the top however, J was rethinking his decision. He toughed it out though and ended up loving it. You start with a little waterfall then go about half way down in a dark tube, spinning the whole way, around some twists and turns before coming out into the open tube. A few more crazy turns and then out into the pool. Fun times!

After that was one last trip on the Racing Ridge with the kids and then it was time to pack it in. We had to swing by the gas station so Sarah could get herself a fountain drink and she grabbed a surprise Icee for the kiddos. Then we headed home and showered. The kids didn't understand why they needed a shower since they were just in the water...but Sarah explained (quite graphically) how the water is so dirty at those places and why showers are needed. By the time we got home they were arguing over who got to shower first.

Sarah and I whipped up a tasty dinner of guacamole-bacon-cheese turkey burgers, tater tots and special sauce. YUMMO! Then we all sat down and relaxed to watch one of our favorite shows, Wipeout. Well, THEY got to watch it...I am still on call and of course I got phoned and had to work. Anyway, all in all it was a pretty great day. Everyone had fun and enjoyed hanging out with each other which is all we can ask for. Its nice to get out and do things like that as a family...gotta enjoy it while we can since the kids are growing up so fast. We tell them to stop but they just don't listen. It was also a nice way to start closing the summer down. It'll be our last big family outing before school other than our camping trip at the end of the month, so I'm glad we were able to finally do it.

Well that's it for us, now its back to the grind. Hope everyone is having a good week so far! Talk to all you dudes later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!!!!

Today is my dad's birthday so this blog is dedicated to him. I won't embarrass him by publicly stating his age, but let's just say he can probably vividly remember the 60's. I love my dad very much and I wish we could all be there to help celebrate his special day with him. Just know that despite the miles that separate us, we are always there in spirit and you are always in our hearts.

So here's to you dad! Enjoy your day and I hope you get pampered and spoiled rotten cuz you deserve it. I'll expect a full report on the festivities in your blog. Love you tons and wish you the very best birthday yet....and many more to come.

Here's a little something for you to drool over too....after all, what's a birthday without cake?

WHY IT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD THING NOT TO LISTEN TO YOUR HUSBAND

Turns out that my pictures were never in danger of being gone for good. (heehee) This morning I was asking Chris questions about the new external hard drive (he got it yesterday), and how that would affect my Picasa program. Then he asked me to see where the pictures were located (b/c he had moved all of them to his pc). I did and it said they were located on MY pc! He then asked, "Well didn't you delete them off of your pc after I copied them all to MY pc like I said?" Uhhh..no, that sounds like crazy talk to me. I don't remember him telling me to delete anything..I thought he took care of all of it. So then I said, "Well..so I guess none of my pictures were ever even deleted then, right?" He says, "Guess not." LOL!!! Ahh all that stress this week for nothing. Wow..we are two magnificent tools. HOWEVER, the valentine's video was NOT on my pc (until now), so that WOULD have been gone along with all of our tunes. So, he is still an extraordinary hubby (who btw happens to look extra fetching at the moment).

We just got back from church, tried a new one out here in Kuna. We all really liked it (which is a miracle in itself). The older youth stay with the adults on Sunday's during service, so we'll have to take Ash back on Wednesday night when the youth meets separately from the adults. Want her to meet some kids that she'll be goin to school with in the middle school and high school grades.

Prolly gonna take Ash over to the horses here in a minute, Jon's out at Terry n Lana's with his horses so it's not too far from us. Chris is gonna work in the yard at some point. I'm highly anticipating having a nap today..not sure when I'll fit it in, but I surely hope I do! J is finishing up his video game time for the week. Yes, that's right folks, he actually did his required chores on Saturday and therefor is allowed to play his 1 hour of games!! Neither kid has enjoyed that privilege in about 3 weeks. So today they are chomping at the bit. Ash is sort of patiently waiting for her turn at the brainsucker (aka video game).

We still have Nezka with us, Mom n Dad will pick her up later tonight probably, after they get back from camping. Or maybe they'll be too tired and let us keep the little beauty a day longer. We sure love having her here. Sadie does, too. Well, mostly. Although she doesn't appreciate when we give Nezka too much attention..she's a bit like a child with a brand new sibling. Eeensie weeensie bit of jealousy goin on there. She'll get over it. We don't play that game.

Well, have a great rest of your Sunday. Enjoy your time off from the daily grind.

Love ya!!

Here's the famous video we've been speaking of that my hubby made for me a bazillion light years ago..Ok, it was actually Feb 14th 2002..but that seems like light years ago! Anyway, as you can tell the quality of the pics is horrendous, but this was before we entered into the digital camera world! Regardless, it's the best video EVER and I hope you enjoy it :)

OH, and there's music that goes along with it, so be sure to go to the bottom of our blog to mute our playlist before you hit "play" on the video!

Call me Data Retriever Extraordinaire!



As you probably know from Sarah's last blog, one of the hard drives on my pc totally crapped out yesterday. Completely out of the blue. I hadn't changed anything, hadn't installed anything new....nothing. In fact, we had just been watching videos stored on it the night before with no problems.



So anyway, I had gone out of the office to make lunch for the kids and when I came back I saw that my pc had blue screened. Not the BSOD thankfully, but a message just telling me that a problem had been detected and that my pc needed to reboot. I thought "uh, ok...strange but whatever".



I rebooted and when Windows started to load it stopped and went into a disk check screen. It was saying there was a problem with one of the drives and a disk check needed to be performed. So I let it run and it started scanning my storage drive. So glad it wasn't my primary drive...I totally hate re-installing the OS and then re-installing all my programs.



So the disk check was chugging along nicely and then it started throwing up all these record unreadable errors. Not good. When it was all done I had a ton of unreadable/corrupted/damaged sectors on my storage drive. The first thing I thought of were Sarah's pictures. They are all stored on that drive and if I lost them I better start looking for a boys choir that needs a freshly minted soprano. I still remember the threats I got when Dave lost Amber's pictures, and that didn't even involve us. Sarah made me very aware that nothing like that better happen to us, which was one of the reasons I had moved them all to my pc in the first place.



With a new found fear for my loins I quickly went into disaster recovery mode. The pc was able to boot after the check which is good. I checked out the disk manager and both drives still showed up....still good. The primary drive looked fine, however the secondary drive was not showing as being formatted and was showing 100% free space....in other words it was empty. This is not good.



A small amount of crap may have entered my pants.



So I thought, ok well the check completed and the drive is still visible. I'll try to reboot again and see if it all comes up ok this time. So I did. And it didn't.



Again it went into disk check mode flagging errors on the secondary drive. All the same record unreadable messages came up. And then it finally booted up and started Windows. At the same time I had been scouring message boards and help sites on my laptop to see if there was any avoiding the inevitable outcome....all signs pointed toward the same conclusion I had already arrived at. The drive was completely tits up (technical term...seriously, look it up).



With this in mind and thoughts of ways I could break the news to Sarah that would involve the least amount of bodily harm, I moved back to my pc. Checked the disk manager again and saw a change. Now the secondary drive was no longer visible at all. Ooh boy, that is not good. Not good at all. Considering that all of the possible software options I could use for data recovery needed to be able to access the drive, having it not appear as available anymore put me up that proverbial creek we all love so much.



Now I was starting to sweat a bit. Before I was still in the realm of "ok" as long as the drive was available, but now I was rapidly entering the "soprano zone" yet again. With nothing much else to lose at this point, I just employed the old Microsoft cure all and rebooted. I swear, if Microsoft were around during the days of elixir panhandling, its Reboot product would be touted as a relief for every possible ailment to man, both known and unknown.



This reboot played out much the same as the previous ones...however this time the disk check took a lot longer, flashed up a lot more errors and seemed to be updating several different logs and tables. I had hope, but also fear. I could be fixing things or speeding them even faster toward irrevocable damage. I prayed for the first thing.



Finally it finished and booted me into Windows. When I opened the disk manager there was my beloved secondary drive again. My nether regions did a quick dance for joy as they descended back to their normal position. The drive still showed empty and unformatted but at least it was recognized again. Now to test my software.



I had downloaded a couple of different apps to help with my recovery. The problem is that the makers of these apps know how important your data is to you. And knowing that they have a product that you will require when you find yourself in such a dreary situation as I did, they also know how to exploit it. Nothing is free as we all know. So the "free" demo's I found, while seeming to be quite promising, only hinted at salvation. In fact they are meant to entice you and then force you to pay dearly for their services by first showing you that, yes, they can indeed find every scrap of precious data that you so longingly wish to cradle in your arms again. And after they show you, they hold it for ransom and demand that you pay in order to get it back. They are virtual kidnappers. Or possibly virtual drug dealers...they give you a taste for free but when you want the main course you gots to pay brother. Either scenario applies...but in the end they are still money hungry assmongers preying on those in dire straits. Fortunately, I am not some helpless babe on his first journey to the pc world. I have tricks up my sleeves too.



For legal reasons, and so that you don't think lesser of me, I will spare you all the details. I will simply say that I have ways around this bait and hook stuff these companies try to swing. Bottom line: I obtained working versions of the software and was ready to try the first one.



So, I install the first program with no problem. Start it up, easily traverse the menus and in a few minutes it had read my damaged drive and found a complete list of all the data I needed to get back. SWEET! So I moved onto the recovery phase. My biggest problem was disk space. Since my storage drive was blown, the only other drive available was my primary drive. Typically I avoid storing much data on the drive other than the OS and apps, but in this case it was my Obi-Wan Kenobi (my only hope for all you readers not versed in Star Wars). Since I had a lot more stored data than my primary drive would accomodate, I was forced to pick and chose only the most critical stuff. Sarah's pics were first, followed by all of our tunes. Those together came out to about 40gb and I had about 43gb free space to save it to. Pretty tight fit. The nice thing about this program was that it allowed me to zip all the data to reduce the size. Very handy. I queued it all up and executed. The software took off and the process was underway. And it ran better than I expected it to......for a while.



I left it to run and came back and checked it a bit later. My hopes were quickly dashed as I returned to software errors and found that the program had terminated. It had actually gone through about half of the data and recovered it but since the program terminated abnormally it was all corrupt. I deleted it and tried again. Same thing. So it was either a problem with the software, or a conflict with something else, or both. I didn't really have time to play with it since I was under the gun. I still had not told Sarah anything about this yet. I was trying to determine if I could get the data back or not before I broke the news otherwise she'd just be upset and stress over it. I now had a little over an hour left before she got off work and would be calling me, so I had to rush.



I removed the first program and installed the second. The second was a much more rudimentary program that did the same basic thing, but did it very.....basically. While the first had all the bells and whistles and was the Rolls Royce version, this second one was its poorer cousin....the Pinto on cinder blocks if you will. But it was now my last shot at avoiding the first class seat to unich-ville. After it was loaded, I rescanned and found most of the same data. There were some things that were reporting as too damaged to recover in this version, while they had shown as available in the other version. But I put that on the back burner cuz the meat of what I was after was still there. Pics and tunes.



Now this being the lesser version, I had no option but to direct copy to a new location. That means no zipping. That means no reduced size. I cleared as much junk off my primary drive as I could and was able to free up a couple more gigs. Still it would be a close fit and my drive would be pretty much full afterwards. I kicked it off and...........it didn't work. Told me I needed to buy the full version. CRAP!!!!!!!!!



The method through which I obtained this program had included everything I needed to run it with no additional cost. But it seemed that was not working. Images of high pitched singing while adorned in a blue satin robe and attending Christmas concerts flashed through my head. Then I remembered that when I first installed the program, I had gotten a message stating that a newer version was available and I had accepted it. AH HA! The code I had probably only worked with the original version. Quickly I uninstalled and reinstalled the software, this time passing on the update. I set everything up again, started it off and this time it ran flawlessly.



VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!



The data was being retrieved from the damaged drive and stored on my primary. I verified that the files were there and were accessible and then breathed a sigh of relief. I tried calling Sarah but didn't get an answer. Tried again, no answer. She must be talking on the phone to someone more important than me (happens more than you'd think). So I left a message. When she called back I told her what had happened but not to fear cuz I was getting it back. Crisis averted. Nuts will remain intact. Sorry choir, I won't be joining you this time.



Now that the immediate dangers were past, I went back to review the data that had reported as too damaged to retrieve. Searching through the folders I saw nothing of much consequence. Some temp files, some old crap I didn't care about, yadda yadda yadda. Until.....I came across one folder that showed a video valentine I had made for Sarah several years ago. Its a basic slideshow put to music and has pictures of us from when we were dating up to current as of when I made it. Wedding, kids, stuff like that. It was one of my first attempts and was pretty rudimentary but it took me a while to get all the photos, find the music, time it all out and all that jazz. It was a labor of love and Sarah totally adores it. Lots of sentimental value. And now its sitting in a possible no man's land never to be seen again. Hello, we're the Vienna Boys Choir and we have an opening in our soprano section, would you be interested?



I left the program running along merrily while we got ready to go to Kailey's party. I filled Sarah in on the day's frustrations and she was relieved that it appeared to be working now. We had to rush to unload and put away groceries when she got home though so I didn't really get too in depth on the details of everything. Once we were in the car and on the road we started talking about it again. She asked if there was anything I wasn't able to get back yet. I told her there was some things I left off for now due to space issues and I would try to get them later once I had someplace to store it all. For the time being, my priority had been the photos and the music. Then I told her about her valentine being in the possibly unrecoverable category. Not good news. She immediately started crying and I promised I would do everything I could to get it back. Suck. I worked so hard all day to prevent her from freaking out or getting upset and here we were with her bawling over her lost valentine. I felt pretty bad and vowed to try my best to save it. After some comforting she pulled it together and we went on to the party.



When we got home I checked the process and it was still chugging along, although much more slowly. I feared that I might be running into disk space issues and that the speed decrease was probably due to the fact that the drive was nearing capacity. But I had already gotten the pictures back and was only working on the music now. That could wait if it had to. I decided to let it run through the night and follow up in the morning.



This morning everything was done and recovered nicely. HOORAY!!! It was a pain in the ass but in the end it was all worth it. Saved the photos and all the music. Still have some extra stuff to get back when I have the space, but it can wait. Now we need to find a new hard drive and replace the old one. I'm thinking of going with an external but we'll have to go out and look around this weekend. Not too happy about having to spend extra money since we're trying to save for school supply shopping, doctor/dental visits, camping and whatnot, but dem's da breaks sometimes. Could have been much worse and it gave me a challenge to overcome. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything moved to a new device and sorted out this weekend. It'll be a nice little project for me and nowhere near as stressful as what led up to it.



Oh and in case you were wondering, I was able to save the valentine video. It still works fine and a copy has been sent to Sarah for safe keeping as well. I'm sure duplicates will find their way onto all of her video/photo storage sites in the near future.



Until next time loyal readers!



Regards,



Hero For The Day





Almost my peeps.......

Hey sweeties :)

Just finished a dark chocolate Haagen-Daz ice cream bar. My honey got it for me when he ran down to the store. Mostly cuz he loves me. I would say that he was uber cool, but my brother informed me that I'm not allowed to say "uber" anymore. Possibly I'm too old? (I'm only 31 for craps sake!) hmm I was laughing too hard at his comment to ask him why.

Anyway..had a play date with Kristi & Kim and their lil kidlets this morning over at our stellar Kuna park. It's kind of a neat place, minus the bazillions of daycares who fill it. I got to hold baby Berkley the whole time, dang she's a cutie and a half! Perfect little girl. It was nice to see the girls again. With gas prices as they are, I've had to cut down on play dates, as in cancel them all together. I miss my buddies!! It's always nice to make time for things that really matter. And, they do!

On the way to the play date Corinne called and asked if I could come into work early b/c they needed help with the website. Um I ain't no website master people! But, I guess the willingness to learn and spend time figuring things out qualifies me. So, I went in at 12:30. Then once work was done at 5, I rushed to WallyWorld to get 2 weeks worth of groceries and a bday present for little Kailey Sue (my niece). And then needed to be to the birthday party by 7! Yeah, we were a little late. If the check out gal didn't feel like completely rearranging my items before bagging them I would have been home on time. As some of you know, I already put things on the counter exactly as I want them bagged so when she told me she needed to find and bunch together "specific things" I almost went postal. But I thought, hey, if it makes her go faster, fine. Put the eggs in with the cans, I care not. Just get the crap in the bag and let me go! But, as I said earlier..it didn't speed things up. Oh well, she was a sweet girl. A little nutty, but sweet.

Kailey's party was nice, the kids had fun. We got her a little outfit that she loved. The party had to stop momentarily so Amber could put it on for her. Cute. Can't believe she's already two. She still had no clue who we were, that's a feel good moment. Oh well..not much I can do to change that. Just love on her as we are given the opportunity.

Came home and Mom n Dad were waiting for us, we are watching Nezka (their dog, mini schnauzer) for them while they go camping. She's a princess..she doesn't camp.

Now I'm down here in the office listening to my blog music (at this moment that happens to be You are Everything by Matthew West) and Chris is upstairs playing with his buddies. I went through that phase where I enjoyed his game nights cuz it gave me time to do whatever I wanted, remember? Well, that time has passed and now I hate it and wish every game console we own would blow up. And that the part of his brain that craves that junk would dissolve. But, no.

Speaking of my wonderful husband, who I adore, he's been working ALL day to fix his computer. The computer that we transferred all of my pictures over to in fear that my old computer couldn't take much more and would eventually lose everything. WELL, MY computer is totally fine. But now his computer all the sudden out of the blue decided to completely meltdown. WITH ALLLLLLLLLLLL OF MY PICTURES from the last SEVEN years!!!!!!! And, yall know I take a TON of pictures. I have thousands. When he told me (over the phone) I had to just sit there and say ok. Thankfully the Lord had placed me in a conversation with my Mom (she was waiting on hold while I heard the news from Chris) that made any other bad news seem like nothing. The good news is, Chris was able to (just before we left for the party) retrieve my pictures!!! Woohooo!!! :) Good man. He hasn't been able to retrieve a video he made for me one year for Valentines Day yet though. When he told me about that I started crying. That video means so much to me. I pray he can get it back. He promises he will. He's such a sweetie. Did I mention that it was a COMPLETE meltdown? Meaning that all of our music is also gone? Do you know that we dont own hardly any CD's b/c we uploaded them all onto our PC and then sold the actual discs???? Hope he can get that back, too. Oh LORD you never realize how much of your life is on a computer until it goes tits up.

But, on the phone, my Mom was telling me about a little 8 year old boy who is here from the Philippines who watched his whole family be massacred in front of his eyes. His grandma had custody of him but gave it up in order to get him out of that situation. So, he's here now in foster care. I guess he's an absolute sweetheart, that he is loving and a great artist. That he was able to talk about what had happened instead of shutting down. That he is just a well adjusted wonderful miracle of a little boy. I pray he finds a family who loves him unconditionally very soon. The lady told Mom that it has been extremely hard to place him just b/c of people knowing what he's been through. They love him until they find out his past. So sad to think about children who are tossed from home to home, just hoping that they will be "good enough" to be loved forever by the family..hoping that they won't mess up and be rejected again. I can't even begin to tell you how that breaks my heart.

Well, I guess I'll go for now..gonna go up and relax and watch my story and my Project Runway..and my Bounty Hunter! YEEEHAW, Dog is back! Hopefully he's cleaned up his filthy little racial slurring mouth so that I can love on him again. We all make mistakes, his just happen to be broadcast. Still..there are just certain things you don't say..whether in public or private. Hopefully he's learned his lesson and changed his vocabulary.

I have a super long day tomorrow so I dont know if I'll blog again b4 the weekend. Gotta clean the grandparents' house in the morning then go maybe visit with Beth for awhile then to work then to the Edens family girls night (will have Ash with me all day b/c of this) and then rush back to Kuna in time to go see the fireworks that they're doing for Kuna Days! Oh and somewhere in all of this I need to figure out a snack to bring to girls night. hmm

Love you! Enjoy the rest of your week. Look for the beauty and don't forget to take time to pull the weeds!

Ashley's eye

Jaden's eye

Chris' eye

Sadie's eye

Thought I'd finish off the eye pictures tonight :) I had to leave the birds out, damned things won't stay still long enough to get a good one. Not that I tried. Anyway, all the dudes (except for Sadie) got to pick how they wanted their eye pic to look. Hope you enjoy them! I still like mine the best, but then again we all like "ours" the best!

What you see here is children pulling weeds. I bribed all of them. It was a joke, but they jumped at the opportunity! I know, I was equally surprised. But, hey..

So, I told them, whoever wanted to pull all of my weeds would get a popsicle every day for the rest of the week. Woohoo! I think I got the good end of this deal. Well truthfully, Cody, Andrew and Ash were super excited to do it. J and Brandon just went to his house and got free popsicles. Hmm.

Anyway, it's a good day!

Got this email from Jenn this morning:

"He is doing well, tired some days etc. He had a blood transfusion Friday, and had no bad reaction, so that's good. Got home Sat. afternoon and he is doing well taking his meds. We go back tomorrow (Wed) for another round of chemo and another bone marrow test to make sure everything is going as it should....
...Thanks to you and your friends for the lovely cards, words of encouragement and gifts."

Have a great week everyone
~Sarah

Ever have the feeling you're being watched?????

Anyhoo, I felt like taking eye pictures..this one is mine. Maybe I'll post some of J and Chris later. I'd post one of A, but she's not here. She's still with Mom & Dad.

We're just hangin out, relaxing. Day dreamin of payday which will also be gas day and grocery day. Oh, please Lord, let that day come faster than humanly possible!! The 1st just isn't soon enough!

Had to return the popcorn maker I bought last December for Chris' birthday, today. The $70 popcorn maker. I got it for $58 with a coupon. It was a Cuisinart. Should have lasted forever, but no. Pieces continued to fall off of it at increasing speeds. So, I called the 800# telling them that I had no receipt, no box, just a shitty popcorn maker and asked what they could do for me. The guy said, "No problem, just take it to the store and give them the card you paid with, they will look it up." I said, "Even though they had to order it for me online b/c they didn't have it in stock?" He says, "Yes, Ma'am, you'll be fine." I say, "Ok, sweet! Thanks!" Then I promptly call the store I bought it at to see if they'd sing the same tune. They did! So, today before work I took it down to return it and hopefully get some gas money....

After I explained everything, Elizabeth (my clerk) said, "No problem, just let me see your debit card." I gave it to her, she couldn't find it in the system, asked if I could have used another card. I informed Elizabeth that that is the only card we have to our names. She said, "Hmm ok, well I'm gonna have to give you an in store credit, is that ok?" I said, "Umm, no, not really." With a nice smile on my face..half of my smile saying "but I'm sure you'll do something else for me" and the other half of my smile saying "I'll burn this store down to the ground if you don't give me my cash". She looked at me, and quickly said, "Ok, let me get a manager." I said, "Alright!" The manager (Jennifer) came up, asked Elizabeth what was going on..Elizabeth nicely explained, although a little flustered, that she couldn't find my info, etc. I again told them at this point, "Could it be because I had to have your manager order it on the computer back in housewares?" They look at me and excitedly (as if I've just given them "the golden ticket") & say, "Yes!!" Mmmhmm, I think to myself, Mmmhmm.

She calls the manager, he says he'll try to find a receipt on the system b/c all that they will show is that I paid for it, not HOW I paid for it. (Are you bored of this yet? Then go to another blog cuz Momma just got started! LOL). I say, "I will give you some time to figure this out, I have 10 minutes before I have to leave for work. Just page me when you have figured it out." I smile and walk away, they thank me for my patience as I do. I walk around, praying for the Lord's favor, and call Chris asking him to pray too cuz brotha let me tell you we really need the money.

A few minutes later they call me back up to the register and tell me that the manager can't find the receipt but that they know we bought it there and they can see the receipt online (although not the form of payment) that they will go ahead and give me the money back. ANNNND, queue the heavenly choir! HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH!! I happily give them my debit card, they credit back the amount, I thank them for being so willing to help me even though I didn't have the receipt with me (their policy states you do not need it for cash returns as long as you have your original form of payment with you, but still)..the girl thanks me for being so patient..I begin to walk away and then think, hmm..how long do I have to wait for that credit to appear? I ask her..she says it should be quick but it could take up to 30 days. THIRTY DAYS!?!?! Um, Lord? Is the choir still singing, cuz I can't hear them too clearly now.

Anyway, I leave..get in the car, look at my loverly gas gage showing at 1/8th of a tank as I start the car..I'm thinking JOY! SO excited to figure out how I'm going to make my daily hour long commute on 1/8 tank of gas for the rest of the week. Suddenly it sounds like the heavenly choir is singing, "your screwed!" instead of "hallelujah". But, I ignore it. I know the Lord will provide..and sometimes the way he provides is through me selling crap to Hastings! Which is where I will be tomorrow before work. LOL!

Have I mentioned that I am NEVER going on vacation again? And that I am NEVER going over on my cell phone minutes by $200 dollars worth? AND that I'm never scheduling 40 doctors appointments in one month? Well, I'm never doing that again.

The good news is, I'm home..hubby mowed the lawn and it's gorgeous..He also made a fabulous dinner that we all enjoyed. And now the boy, the pup, the hubby and I are sitting in the office relaxing and having fun together.

The moral of the story..yes, we are being watched..and I do have the feeling to go along with that. But not the feeling of fear, the feeling of safety. The Lord is watching, and He is taking care of every little thing. I have no need to worry, just need to believe.

Love you guys, have a great night!

"Look at the size of those roots!?!" (well, they were either saying that, or they were having heart attacks from all the digging..not sure which)

J and Daddy diggin

Unca Matt getting ready to rip that sucker out

Me & Dad fillin the hole back in

Matt & Chris planting the tree in our yard!

Laura & Josie lookin at our purrty tree!

Ta-Da!! Here she is this morning in all her glory :)

--------



Our new tree is planted!!!! Chris and Matt worked their tails off, for sure. We got to their house around 6:30, they started digging pretty much right away and kept digging and digging and digging..and cutting and cutting and cutting...... Turned out they had planted the tree on top of some other tree stump so I guess this one was growing into the roots of the old one (or something..I don't really know LOL) So anyway, Matt was cutting out huge chunks of big tree roots just to try to get to where they could dig out our new beauty! Then towards the end Mom n Dad showed up to get Ash, and Dad started helping..they ended up yanking it out with one of Matt's trucks. Woohoo!! We left their house around 9, got out to Kuna around 9:45. Then Chris hopped out of the car and went over to start getting the hole ready for the transplant! Matt n Laura showed up at 10, and they worked until almost 11 to get it in. But, all the hours were worth it! She's absolutely beautiful and we LOOOOVVVVVE her!! Dad gave us some fertilizer stuff that helps reduce shock for transplants, so hopefully the tree won't shrivel up and die on us :)

This morning I took up Tylenol and water to my hubby in bed..he's a bit sore. LOL! Ok, it's not funny..but it is, sort of. That was a TON of work they did last night! He's gonna relax today, and rightfully so. :)

Thanks again, Matt & Laura for telling us about the tree opportunity, for not letting me give up on getting the tree when it seemed like too much hassle, and for spending your Saturday evening helping us dig when you could have been relaxing! We love you and are thankful for you! :) Oh, and thanks for the fertilizer and the help, Dad!! :)

Well, enjoy the pics. And, have a great Sunday!

Love ya :)

Mornin my little turtle doves! ;)

Having a nice Saturday mornin', are ya? Surely hope so.

I'm sitting around, doing nothing. Might do some Origami with the kids later today, we got a book for it at the library yesterday. It's a book on KIDS Origami, so I should be able to do it ;) heehee

We're still supposed to go get our tree from Matt & Lauras' neighbor tonight..I've been fighting off some joyous stomach bug so it was up in the air..but I think I'll be good to go by tonight. And, Chris (and maybe Matt if we smile at him real purrty like lol) will be digging out the tree..I just have to sit and watch. I should be able to do that, no problem.

I was supposed to go to Jess' this morning to help with her garage sale..but here I am, at home. Oh well..maybe next time! Don't wanna risk getting those little kidlets of hers sick if I DO still have something hanging on...at any rate we've been texting back n forth all morning and laughing..so it's like I'm there, only not there.

I'm hungry. HUNGRY. Feeling the need for breakfast. Wondering when my knight in shining armor will be greeting me with his sweet self..hopefully soon.

Have a wonderful day guys, take time to love on each other and enjoy your surroundings..even if the surroundings and circumstances are less than you'd like. There are always reasons to smile, if you look. :)

Loves!!!!!!!!!

Got this update this morning from Jenn's sister, Alicia.

"Joshua is doing a lot better. He got the port put in, he was in a lot of pain yesterday morning which was a bummer because it was his b-day but last night when I called he was doing a lot better and actually got on the phone with me and the boys. This morning Jenn called and told my mom that they might be doing a blood transfusion because his hemoglobin was really low, but they still might let him out this afternoon so its all good news. I know its from all the prayers from all over this country."

She also said that Jenn had talked to her Mom last night about setting up a CaringBridge site, so I'll let you know if they do. Many of you probably remember that site from when Jon's friend Alex was in the hospital.

Thanks for the continued prayers, the family appreciates all of you.

Dandy good mornin to ya

It's a nice breezy somewhat cool and a tiny bit humid mornin here in Kuna, ID. Kiddos are out back. A is playin with Sadie in the pool and also having a small soccer game with her. J is sitting out at the table with his Batman Laptop, trying to figure out why the "OSS" has denied his access to the computer and why they don't think that he is doing his job when "HE IS!!". So, it's a normal day in the Mendiola family. :)

Chris is sitting here an another meeting, 2nd one of the day. This one is at least entertaining for me, too. So that's nice :)

Got a text from Jenn late last night that they were doing well and that she would call today. So, so far, so good. Today is Josh's 6th birthday, hope he finds reasons to smile even in the muck of the situation.

Chris finally got the stump out of the front yard last night. Holy crap it was quite the task! Turns out it had some sort of metal stakes in with it, not exactly positive as to WHY, but it did. And they are still in the ground. BUT, the stump is gone! WOOHOO!! Now we just need to go dig up the other tree and bring it on over. "Easy". Yeah RIGHT But, it will be beautiful in the end! Nothing fabulous comes without work..usually.

I've gotten extra hours this week so that's been nice..will help pay for the cavities I have to get filled soon! Eeek!! And, it will help for that pesky surgery I have to get, too. Speaking of that, I really should call and get the name of another surgeon. Maybe I'll do that here in a minute.

Well, have yourselves a great day! Love ya

Hi guys :)

The pictures above are of my dear friend Jenn's son, Joshua. We're asking that you all please join us in praying for her sweet little man. He was diagnosed with Leukemia today, after being taken into the doc for a very swollen gland and a high fever. Jenn and Darrell are understandably in shock as this news has come out of left field, but are going full force ahead to do all they can to save their son. Joshua will turn 6 on Thursday. The doctors have given him a good prognosis so far, saying that with how early they've caught it and with the type they think he has (will no more tomorrow), that he has an 85% chance for recovery. He has the port put in his chest tomorrow and also starts chemo tomorrow. They say that depending on how his body reacts to the chemo, he could go home in a week or it could be a month.

He's such a sweet boy, and as you can tell, looks a lot like our Jaden! Anyway, my heart is heavy tonight as I know my friend is fighting this without her Mom and Dad being able to be near her as they still live in California and she is in Georgia. But, Jenn is a strong woman and she knows that we serve a mighty God and believes that He will heal her son. Joshua has 3 siblings, Mason, Emma and Owen.

----

Father, You say in Your Word that where two or more are gathered, there You will be. So we come before you and ask that You hold Joshua in your arms tonight, let him sleep in peace. Fill him with your spirit Lord as he prepares to face this battle. We know You are the Healer and the Provider and the Deliverer. And we know that when we call on You, You are there. That You know everything about us, even the number of hairs on our head. You know our needs before we know them. And so, Father, we thank you in advance for healing Joshua and for letting his healing be a witness to others. Father, we also ask that You would comfort Jenn and Darrell, Mason, Emma and Owen. We thank You that you are placing the perfect people in their lives right now, that the doctors and nurses and staff are all being hand picked by You, and that You are watching over Joshua and ministering to his spirit. We rebuke any feelings of doubt or fear or panic in Jesus name. We command the devil to flee. We thank you Lord that you are putting a hedge of protection around Joshua and his family, and that You are blanketing them with peace right now. We thank You that finances will be taken care of, that their home will be taken care of in their absence Lord, and that their family will grow closer together through this trial. We know that You turn all things for the good, that you have plans for your children, plans for good, not evil, and we are excited to see those plans unfold. It's in your precious name we claim all things Lord, Amen.

-----

I will post updates as I get them, she says she will try to call every few days at least.

Thanks again everyone.

Love you