Meet Zorro - Our Newest Family Member

Zorro, the Bearded Dragon Lizard has joined our family. He is the coolest lizard/pet we have ever had. He eats crickets right out of our hands and loves nothing more than to hang out on our shoulders and take a nap. Zorro can get up to 2feet long and live 10 years. He is quite the investment already - it was Marks major Christmas present and Grandpa and Grandma Brown contributed majorly to his arrival. Zorro eats about 20 small crickets per day - soon he will be up to medium/large crickets. He is 3 - 4 months old. Mark is quite the caretaker, as he has been with all his other pets: hermit crabs and Rosie the Tarantula.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great holiday - spent Christmas Eve going to church then to the Jones' for Christmas Eve dinner, opening cousin gift and hand-made ornament exchanges, then home to unwrap our Christmas Eve jammies. Mark put out cookies, milk and his little questionaire for Santa. All three woke up at 3am to check out the stockings under the tree, fell asleep for 2 hours and were up again ready to open presents! We were all done by 6am! We had my parents here, my brother and his family, the Jones family and Eric Mendoza and his family here for dinner. I learned how to cook an AUTHENTIC mexican chili verde dish and it was fabulous! We had a great time with their family and I treasured the time I got to spend with Eric. We partnered up for a couple of games of Go Bananas and had a good time playing against Mark, Kaylie, and my two nieces. Life is short, changes rapidly and we all enjoyed our time with the Mendozas. It was a very special Christmas!

Death in the Family / Dec. 2009

Rosie the tarantula has died. She passed away of natural causes. She lived a great life in her 10 gallon aquarium where she resided for the last 3 years, on Mark's bookcase in his room. Rosie was loved by everyone (those that weren't afraid of spiders), especially Grandma Brown, who would hold her and let her crawl on her arm every time she came to visit. We all have wonderful memories of Rosie; some of our favorite being: letting her out to "exercise" on the landing upstairs - she loved exploring and stretching her legs - even climbing up the linen closet door a time or two and scaring Mom once when she actually jumped!; taking Rosie to show and tell in first grade; and watching her pounce on crickets when she was fed was always fascinating to watch! Mark took wonderful care of her and loved her to the end. She was an important part of our family and she will be missed!

Blessings

I have always been grateful for the blessings in my life even through the times where it's been hard put to find those blessings. But I consider myself a person who does try to find the positive in almost any situation. Right now, more than at any other time, I am grateful for being able to stand in my own kitchen, in my own home, fixing banana pancakes for my children who are healthy, and a husband who still has a job, when a mom I know has been living at Primary Children's Hospital with a one week old baby in a tiny room while her son fights for his life a second time in the last 4 years. Eric is a 5th grade student at WVE, battling leukemia again. His first time around was in 1st grade. I spent several hours at the hospital yesterday holding baby Lila and visiting with his parents. This family lost their home and rents out a basement, and the dad was just laid off. Lila is Eric's best hope for a bone marrow transplant and the family is waiting for the results. I am blessed with family, friends and co-workers who are able to help meet a few of the many, many needs of this family. Prayers for a miracle for this family are needed by all.
When visiting this family, no crying was allowed in the room as it stresses Eric out so I was strong, though, throughout the afternoon, a cloud of sadness was hanging over me. It wasn't until I was at James' Velocity training, watching my healthy son do something that he loves, that GOD thought I needed to release all this emotion, which I proceeded to do in front of his soccer coach when he asked how I was! In fact the only time I wasn't emotionally having a breakdown in the two hours I was there, was when I was on the phone with a friend trying to distract myself. Being a mom, watching those boys be able to do so much while seeing Eric in the hospital battling leukemia again, watching his mom so desperately praying her son lives through this just hurts my heart. My heart still hurts to this day for a friend who lost her precious daughter a few short years ago. We all hurt when a friend hurts; when a child is hurting or lost. But being a MOM makes it all so much more personal because we can feel that other mother's pain like it was our own. People say that you don't know what it's like to lose a child, and you can't imagine what that feels like until you've been through it yourself, but I believe a Mom, who loves her children with all her heart, knows what that other mom feels. I, and so many other people are praying for God to give this family the miracle it needs. Lila is Eric's hope. I don't want another mom I know to lose a child that I know.
So hug your kids, be grateful and feel blessed for what you do have right now.
I know I am.

Snow Day

After hurting my back 4 years ago in a horseback riding accident, I'm not much into doing anything that could possibly hurt my back more, but I threw caution to the wind and went with Mike, Mark, his friend Nick and Kaylie to the Hunter Park hill (where I even went down a few times on an air mattress- really fun and I felt safe on it) and took a few pictures before I felt frozen! It was fun to watch the kids, and Bear going down the hill!

Saturday Afternoon Craft

I realize that as the kids get older and life gets busier, that it requires a more conciencious effort to do crafts with them. I used to be so good about doing crafty things with all the kids when they were little - it was a weekly thing, and now I'm lucky if I can get holiday cookie baking and decorating in with them! With that in mind, I made that effort and so this weekend, Kaylie and I went to a craft demonstration at Michael's and decided we just HAD to buy the stuff to make a few holiday clay pot figures. Kaylie, Mark and I spread out the newspaper, assembled all the necessary supplies and had a fun afternoon together making three adorable clay snow people. I really enjoyed that time with them.

Halloween Photos

Halloween was pretty busy this year. Kaylie had Halloween party plans at a friends' house, James was with Jade and other friends, and Mark lasted about 2 minutes trick or treating with Mike and I before he took off with a group of his friends. Mike and I were alone passing out candy (that was something different than we were used to) until time for me to pick up everyone and run Jade home. I had dropped James off at a Halloween party the night before Halloween and when I got back a neighbor asked how the "teenager thing" was going. My only comment was "not sure I like the social part of it" as I seem to be running James to and from all his "social engagements". The kid is not happy unless he's on the go constantly, doing something. When's he turning 16 and driving himself...?

I just have to put this out here - totally unrelated to Halloween - but I have to brag about Kaylie. She got a 4.0 for her first 8th grade report card. She is on cloud nine about it; can't quit smiling about it; and we are extremely proud of her! She has worked incredibly hard to obtain that. I have seen such a difference in her self-esteem and confidence that was hard won after a rough 6th grade year, and an even harder 7th grade year. She has perservered and realized that she CAN do things, and do things well, and survive hard, difficult and mean teachers. And come out on top! Way to go Kaylie! You ROCK! :)

Cyprus High Homecoming

Last night was Homecoming and James' first "official" dance. After a winning soccer game, we dropped Jade (James' friend-girl) off, and ran home to get James ready for his night. We picked up Jade at the designated time - James and Jade suffered through both Mom's taking pictures before finally meeting up with their group of friends for dinner at Appleby's. The boys all looked so handsome - they sure clean up nicely! - and all the girls looked beautiful! They said they all had a great time and as a mom, yes it's hard to see your "baby" growing up, dressing up, going to dances with a pretty girl, do I dare say the "D" (dating) word yet....? But I'm also proud of the way I see him be such a gentleman, nice and respectful and responsible. I'm very proud of him!

In Love with Fall

I just love fall in Utah. It is my favorite season by far. I love the cool air, the changing colors, and my zip up hoodies! I took a quick drive by myself up Butterfield Canyon just to see some fall colors and I was not disappointed. I love the windy road with the dusting of snow on the ground from our first storm of the fall/winter season. It was very peaceful and reminded me of my new favorite quote "To pay homage to beauty is to admire nature, to admire nature is to worship God" ~author unknown. The changing of the leaves at fall is definately something to admire!

Double Victory Soccer Day

I have no pictures to put with this post, but I have to say "our boys" (U-16 team), just SHINED on the field today. They came out strong, and kept it up the whole game and played the game the way the game should be played - as a team! YAY USA! Mark's team won their game, AGAIN...I say it that way as in the 5 years that Mark has played on Ron's team (this year they are the Bloody Bandits - a step up in names from the Slimy Acid Jaguars that they were last year- can you tell it's a boys team? :) they have NEVER lost a game. Mark is our child who enjoys playing soccer for Ron but is not as athletically inclined as James and Kaylie. However, this year something seems to have clicked and Mark has just ROCKED on the soccer field! (Ron's words to Mike) YAY BLOODY BANDITS!

Tahoe + Visit with Grandma

Labor Day weekend was spent up in beautiful Lake Tahoe and Carson City combined. My brother and his family, my sister and her two girls, and our family went to visit my Grandma who is battling Parkinson's disease. She is 93 years old, and has always been in great health and super active. That is now a challenge for her and she is struggling with the effects of Parkinson's and not feeling well and hiking the mountain in front of her house is no longer an option for her. Mike and I spent some quality time with Grandma when we spent the night with her. Grandma and I looked through some old, old photo albums and even though my Grandma thought it was boring for me, I assured her that I love looking at pictures - especially with her and I was not in the least bored. Grandma and I went to church the next morning and sat through a lovely service. One of my favorite photos is one I took of us holding hands at church waiting for the service to begin. We held hands for most of the service and I treasure that one the most. I'm so glad for the time I spent with my Grandma!
We also spent some time with my aunt and my beautiful cousin Caylen. I hadn't seen my cousin in 10-11 years and it was great to see her. We all missed my cousin Asa who wasn't able to come hang out with us all. Caylen spent time with Kaylie and took her and my niece Erin to a skate park which Kaylie just loved! One of the things Kaylie said was "As soon as Caylen walked out the door (to go home), I missed her." Thanks Caylen for spending time with her! Tahoe is such a beautiful place and it was made even more special spending time with Grandma, and seeing my aunt and cousin.

Wood Flooring Is Completed!

Yay, oh yay, the wood flooring is now complete! 3 days of not being able to walk on the floor, no stove, fridge in the living room, and household disrupted and it is SO WORTH IT! We are all in awe of what a wonderful, fabulous job Mike did in putting the rest of the wood flooring in and for his friend finishing it all off. Our kitchen, dining area is all back in place and we are all enjoying the finished product! (now on to the next project....)

Kitchen Floor is Almost Done / Prayers for Grandma

Mike finally finished putting the last few wood pieces in on the kitchen floor and I must say it looks FABULOUS! (I'll post pics after it's all beautified) Hoping to have it sanded and stained this week before we leave for Carson City to see my much-loved Grandma. Keep her in prayer - she's down in spirit, not feeling well, and seems all to ready to leave this world behind. My sister and her two, my brother and his family and our family will all be seeing her soon, along with my aunt and two cousins I haven't seen in a very long time. Thinking about this visit, I'm anxious and scared and longing to see my Grandma, but not wanting to see her not well. She has always been in great health and great spirit and it hurts my heart to hear her talk about giving up. It reminds me of Mike's wonderful Grandpa and how he was ready to see his beloved Doris. My Grandma's house holds such warm and wonderful memories for me as a child, and I am looking forward to being reminded of those memories once again as we stay there. Hang on Grandma, just a little bit longer. Don't give up. We're almost there.

Public Education does NOT come cheap!

After paying over $200 for registration just for James to start high school,(and over $100.00 for Kaylie) I spent an hour last night reading through all his disclosures and making a list of what each of his classes are requiring. $30.00 for this, another $30.00 fee for that, with add'l monies needed for various other items half-way through the year-anywhere from $25 - $75), notebooks AND 3 ring binders AND dividers, AND page protectors for EACH of his 8 classes, pens, pencils, colored pencils, tape measure, safety glasses, scientific calculator (already had that from 7th grade, yeah me!)and other small miscellanous items. Then on to Kaylie's disclosures. Notebooks and 3-ring binders required for all her classes, plus art supplies - another $30.00...the list goes on. And of course, all monies have to be paid immediately before they can participate in said class that has fees required! Now, we had a few things here, but still needed to hit Walmart, which was an absolute zoo -everyone else shopping for the items they needed - and after buying the required binders, and bare minimum of what James and Kaylie needed, I still spent over $50.00! AND I still have to go get more items this weekend! Alot has changed from when I was in high school - no fees other than purchasing a yearbook, were required. (per my Dad). You think having young kids are expensive with diapers and formula, and constantly buying clothes and shoes as they outgrow everything so fast, then they hit Jr. High and High School and WHOA! I won't even bring up clothes as buying school clothes is still LESS expensive than paying for required school supplies and fees! Thanks for listening to me vent. I really don't feel any better tho!

More Summer Pictures

The End of a lazy? Summer

Only two more days of summer freedom left and I find myself with mixed emotions about starting back to work on Monday. On the one hand going back to work is good - a paycheck would be nice; but on the other, I didn't accomplish all the "to do's" I had on my list. Even knowing the time was coming, I still didn't seem to have the time to work on that list. My summer was spent in therapy twice a week for my wrist (yes, it's healing great, but still will take about a year to be completely pain-free, but never will it be 100% - 70 - 80% is the best I can hope for, but I am extremely grateful and happy that I can use it again, so it's all good!); driving back and forth to soccer practices, swim lessons, tennis lessons, and visiting with my parents who were here 3 times this summer! The "to-do" list goes back into my file of "things to do/accomplish over the summer and I'll look at it again next summer! James is starting 10th grade, Kaylie 8th grade with a new - dare I say it -"girly" wardrobe and new haircut (she is not afraid to try new hairstyles - reminds me so much of my niece Ashley), and Mark is going into 3rd grade. All three seem excited to start back up to school....we'll see how long that lasts when the homework starts up.....!