Treatment #15

CANCELED

Yes.

We went to Colorado as usual and were prepared for Gabi's treatment the following morning.  We had a lot  fun the day before going to Avatar 3D, Build-a-Bear, Subway, Waffle House, and of course swimming!!

Gabi giving her lucky unicorn (Layna) a nice bath.


Sunday night Gabi made a wish on her unicorns horn; a secret wish, that came true the next morning.  She wished for NO TREATMENT, and it came true!

She woke up with croup.  So Dr. Quinn (Anesthesiologist) was not going to take the risk of intubating her with an already irritated throat and also considering the massive swelling that would occur after treatment on her facial VM.

We did however still check into the hospital.  It was hilarious when Dr. Quinn canceled the treatment because Gabi said, "Let's Bust out of here!"  and she ran down the halls of the hospital and right out the front door.  And we all went swimming again!

Looks like next time Layna (the magic wishing unicorn) will have to stay home.  So we can finish these treatments and finally "BUST OUT" of the hospital for good!

Snow Day

This winter has been pretty mild considering the snowfall that we have received.  The temperatures are another story.  We enjoy the snow, and try to take advantage of each storm!

This storm Gabi and Ben built a Snow Fort.

Gabi tackled Izze in the snow a few times, which would have been slightly more enjoyable for Izze had she kept her gloves on.

All-in-all WE LOVE THE SNOW!

It's a shame that it melts so quickly.

Swimming lessons

Gabi started swimming lessons with uncle Casey 2 weeks ago and she LOVES it!!

She can't wait until Friday evenings to jump in the water.

(we do go swimming a lot during the week, but to her it's NOT the same)

Spending time with uncle Casey.

The first week she had no problem putting her head back in the water but this week there was an issue with water in her ears.  I can't believe how much she enjoys swimming and how well she listens to Casey, AMAZING!  She is doing so well!!

Gabi's first book

Gabi has been very excited about learning this last year and I haven't been as helpful with her as I could or should be.  We have however spent a little time every now and then do fun learning activities.  This book was the result of one of those times.

*(the dots all over dad's face are his whiskers)

*(Mom has very lady eyelashes)

*(Izze has short hair and a tiny nose)

*(I have long hair and a birthmark)

The illustrations were ALL her own.   No suggestions of any kind.  What she drew is what we look like, seriously!  It's funny to see the funny details she included with each one of us.

*The specifics on the photo details given by Gabi.

Take a moment

It was one of those days,

The laundry pile was as tall as the bed.

The kids were wild.

Mom was tired and cranky.

Dad was working another late night.

Dinner was crusting in the kitchen.

Naked, wet children were streaking through the house.

Children throwing and unfolding the piles of laundry that did get done.

I was at my end.

I put the girls in their jammies, brushed their teeth and asked Gabi to PLEASE stay away from the laundry pile, I didn't want a bigger mess to clean-up than I already had.

I laid Izze in her crib and came back into my room to see Gabi sitting on the pile throwing clothes behind her.  Yes, I was upset.

 I took her to her bed and told her, "No stories tonight."

 "Mom, I was trying.."  

"I have a huge mess to clean up, I asked you NOT to touch the laundry and you disobeyed, Good-night."

I went back in my room to find

She had been working fast and hard to find the things she knew how to fold to help me.

I know, I felt HORRIBLE!

I turned around to walk back into her room and she was standing in my doorway crying.

All she said was "I love you mom."  And RAN back to her room.

Of course I apologized and tried to make it up to her, and tell her how sorry i was. I tried my best to make it up to her.

Slow down, and take a moment of your time..

What'll happen

If you talk back to me...

It'll happen to you too.

Cherry Jump

JANUARY 09, 2010

We went out to the Camp Williams Drop Zone to watch Ben's little brother complete his first jump home from Jump School with his unit, the 19th Special Forces. They call this your CHERRY JUMP, as it is your first official jump with your brothers.

His unit will be deploying for Iraq this year.  They are preparing in every way to be able to complete the mission they are given, and they are proud to serve you and me.  They are proud to put their life in harms way so that their families at home may enjoy the safety and freedom so many of us take for granted.

This particular jump was out of a C-17 also known as the "flying warehouse".  To get an idea of how large it is, you can drive two Hummers side-by-side up the tailgate, three deep.

It was an awesome day to watch these men and women jump.  The ground was covered in snow and the sky was full of fluffy white winter clouds.

It's not everyday you see such a large group of soldiers jumping.  It was especially fun for the little kids!  Izze thought that they were balloons, and kept shouting, "Momma! bawoon! bawoon!"

Justin had a safe lading and got to free a little of his nerves now that his Cherry Jump is officially completed, and successful.

HOOAH!

Graduate

Gabi is a graduate!

Miss Gabrielle graduated from the nursery and has proudly moved on to primary as a Sunbeam! She made her own cap and received her graduation certificate on December 27, 2009. Her last day of nursery.

CONGRATULATIONS GABI!!

We survived..

You read correctly. We survived the earthquake of 01-05-10. This was the first earthquake I have lived through. So yes, it's the only one I have encountered, but I still lived.

It may have only been a 2.9 magnitude quake, but it shook my house enough for me to JUMP out of bed and stand in a squatted 'ready' position.

At approximately 01:08am MST my bed began to shake and I thought a passing train must have crashed into a vehicle trying to cross the tracks. So I jumped out of bed and stood in a very stable stance until the shaking stopped. Which was only 5 seconds or so. Ben sat up out of bed and asked if our garage wall had fallen down, then quickly fell back to sleep (not remembering a thing in the morning). I on the other hand checked out the window to make sure that everything I could see looked fine; that no houses blew up, or that the train didn't derail. Everything looked peaceful. I checked on the girls, who were sound asleep. Thought it must have been a dream? And went back to bed. This morning is when I heard the truth...

We SURVIVED an 2.9 magnitude EARTHQUAKE!!

(yes, it was very small, and a lot of people didn't even feel it, but I did!)

Our Christmas..

This Christmas was especially fun!

Gabi had known what she wanted Santa to bring since the day her cousin Addi walked in her door with a PINK Leapster and the Tinker Bell game to go along with it. I was sure that her mind would change before Christmas came since that was back in September; but it didn't. She told Santa the same thing every time she sat on his lap (5 times). "I want a Tinker Bell game like my cousin Addi..."

Luckily Santa delivered!

Excited but VERY nervous. It was very important for her to get her special request to him in person, but it took a lot of courage to sit there.

Trying to get one photo with Santa and the girls. This is the best one, I promise.

After a lot of family Christmas parties and gifts the day was finally here..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Some of Santa's treasures.

Izze opened most of Gabi's gifts, along with hers.

Izze's new ride.

After the gifts Ben made us breakfast. His parents and little brother joined us for Ben's delicious homemade Christmas waffles.

I needed a rest because Ben woke everyone up a 0630, he was too excited.

UGH! The girls and I didn't last long before we needed a nap from the early morning and all the excitement.

Just trying to kick the headache.

Later that evening I had the great idea to make our gingerbread house since we didn't manage to find any time to make it yet.

Perhaps 8pm is not the optimal time to start such a project with young children and an exhausting day prior. But I figured it was Christmas, and tomorrow it would all be over. So we pulled it out and started creating. We had a lot of help which threw Ben into a quizzle, and he took over from there...

He began blobbing on ALL the icing and dumping on ALL the candy until..

The roof started sliding off and the tree broke. Candy was flying everywhere. Yes, it turned into quite the mess, and it was ALL MY FAULT.

Next year we will be doing Gingerbread houses BEFORE Christmas night.

All-in-all Christmas was a blast!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!