First I'll be a mother

Our Home
Some houses try to hide the fact that children shelter there
Ours boasts of it quite openly, the signs are everywhere
For smears are on the windows, little smudgies on the door
I should apologize I guess for toys strewn on the floor
But I sat down with the children and we played and laughed and read
And if the windows do not shine, their eyes will shine instead
For when at times I'm forced to choose the one job or the other
I want to be a housewife, but first I'll be a Mother.

Loved this little poem!

I have been putting off posting anything for a long time now because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say... Life keeps going. The kids are doing well, Criag's job is good, and my life still seems a little like a whirlwind. I spent last week at home in Denver decompressing and preparing to come back here to Utah to be with dad. It has been difficult to be here. It is extremely emotionally taxing, for everyone involved. Caring for someone you love who is dying is exhausting to say the least. It takes a team of family, doctors, nurses and my guess would be angels too, to keep everyone from breaking down or falling apart. We have all had our moments where we couldn't hold it together anymore. We have all cried and cried. And we have all prayed for the end to come quickly. And right now, we are waiting on the Lord, to decide when it has been enough, and take dad home. It can't be much longer now. He doesn't eat, and drinks very little. He is very weak, and doesn't have strength to speak much anymore. Soon enough he will be free from this mortal existence and be at peace.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, for us, and for my dad. I pray that you will each be blessed for your kindness. I love you all.

Coming back home

Well, my stay in Denver was short, and after 2 1/2 weeks, lots of boxes and really fast unpacking, I am back in Utah with the kids. Dad's condition has worsened significantly and he needs constant care. The hospice nurse that comes in to take care of him says that he has weeks left, not months. So, instead of staying for a week like I had originally planned, we will be here until the end. Craig's boss kindly offered to fly Craig out next weekend so he can be here with us for a while, and that will be nice. I already miss him terribly. The drive out here was good, and the kids have been great. A special thanks goes out to my sister in law Susan, who has had the kids (minus Nathan) at her house the last 2 nights, and she is planning to keep them until Friday so that I can spend some time with Dad, uninterrupted.

Life doesn't always go the way we wish. God calls us home in his time-frame, and not ours. And through all of this, I am constantly being reminded that He is aware of me, and He knows me, and He loves me. He has answered numerous prayers that were seemingly unimportant to the outsider, but that were significant to me at the time. He has been good to me and my whole family. I am thankful.

Welcome back!

Friends I know it has been a long time! Too long actually! It was just yesterday that the technician from Century Link came out set up our internet! 10 days with no email and no blogging was difficult. Not to mention the fact that I needed to pay bills and couldn't :) So, here is an update on our little family in our new home in Denver.

We arrived in Denver at midnight on Friday the 4th of May. We pulled into a motel, slept for a few hours, and then got up at 6:00 stopped at McDonalds for a nice healthy breakfast and then drove to our new house. We all felt immediately at home here. The house is beautiful and fits us well. The yard is miniature, but for now, will be just fine. We are all very content. Craig is loving his 15 minute commute, and we are all loving having our daddy around more. My stress level has diminished almost completely as I am finally unpacked, and don't have nearly as much to worry about as I used to.

Here are a few pictures of the new house, and the kiddies...

My new kitchen...

The family room...

living room...needs some more furniture.

Front of the house, and yes, the neighbors are as close as they look. :)

Nathan's room....since Craig had such a hard time finding a place for our family, and since we were running out of time, this house was perfect except for 1 thing...it only has 2 bedrooms, so Nathan sleeps in the kids HUGE walk in closet. It works great for him because he like it really dark when he sleeps.

And here is the kids room....cozy, but everyone fits.

This is the loft/toy room. If it weren't for this room, the kids would never fit in one room. :)

This is how I cook lately. Logan is almost always sitting on the counter while I work in the kitchen, but lately, Nathan wants to be part of the action too...

This one is just because he is SO cute. Love that face. He's getting so big, so fast!

For those of you who are interested in my dad's condition, here is an update on him. He has had a hard time eating the last 2 weeks, throwing up what little he eats. Went to the Dr. today and had lost 15 lbs. in 15 days, so they are changing his medication, and putting him on a pain patch, instead of pills in hopes that will help him feel better. I will most likely be coming out on Monday to visit and help for a few days. I will likely have more updates then.

Grandpa with Nathan on Easter Sunday.

Denver here we come!

Well, it has been rumored now for a while that we have been looking to move, and as of yesterday, it is official. Initially we were planning a move to Bountiful or North Salt Lake to be closer to Craig's work. However, in a somewhat dramatic turn of events, the regional manager at Craig's work approached him and asked if he would be willing to transfer and take a position at their Denver location. We have worried and worried about this moving idea, and when this opportunity came up, it just felt right. It is extremely difficult to think of leaving our home here in Mapleton, and all our fruit trees and the garden and berry patch, not to mention all of our good friends. There have been hundreds and hundreds of hours of blood, sweat and tears spent making this house our home. The thought of someone else living in this place that I love makes me anxious. I hope we can find just the right family, who will love it and cherish it as we have. If any of you know of anyone who is looking for a place to rent and loves to can and garden, tell them to give us a call. :)

Milestones

I never seem to remember from one child to the next how old they were when they did what, so I figured I would do a post about some recent milestones so that I could remember them later.

Nathan is now 3 (and a 1/2) months. And in just the last 3 weeks has come up on some pretty big milestones. At 3 months almost exactly, he started sleeping through the night. YEAH!!!! for everyone!!! In the last few days, he has learned how to roll from his stomach to his back, and how to scoot himself all the way across his crib. And what I love the most lately, he has started to giggle. Baby laughs are always my favorite!



Logan has had a few milestones himself. Last week, we kicked the binky habit. For any of you out there trying to do the same things, I sliced a hole in the top of each binky and in 2 days, he didn't even pick them up anymore. And secondly, he is potty-training! We have only been at it a few days, but today, we made some huge progress, and hopefully by the end of the week, we will be done!

Bye-bye binky and bye-bye diapers! But the little stuffed lamby will be around for a long time I am sure!

Lettuce wraps

I have a good friend, (Thank you Heather!) who shared this recipe with me and I adapted it slightly, and wanted to share it with all of you. I love the PF Changs lettuce wraps, and I am not sure without a side by side comparison, but I think these are every bit as good as theirs, if not better. And if any of you are calorie counters, which I am not, but I was curious as to how many calories were in each lettuce wrap, so I used a calorie counter website to figure it out, and if you make 8 wraps, each is only 135 calories!

Here is the recipe:

3 T. Canola Oil
3 Chicken Breasts

2 cans water chestnuts (chopped)
1 8 oz. pkg. mushrooms (chopped)
3 T. onion (chopped)
1 tsp. garlic (minced)

3 T. soy sauce
3 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. vinegar

8 leaves iceberg lettuce

Cook chicken in oil, add chopped chestnuts, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Cook 5-10 minutes. Mix together soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar to make sauce and pour over chicken mixture. Spoon into lettuce leaves and eat. YUM!!!