Monday, March 28, 2011

Fun with Grammy and Grampy







Danny's parents came to visit and we had a great time. Their train took 26 hours to get here due to weather. Once they were here, we had a relaxing weekend filled with hanging out and catching up in person. It was rainy, but we managed to have a great time. On Saturday, Scott wanted to go bowling. Scott has a hard time trying new things by himself and wanted me or Danny to help him throw the ball. He doesn't like the learning process of anything and takes it so seriously. Tyler would watch his ball roll as slowly as possible until it got to the pins. He might be the worlds slowest and most concentrated bowler. Afterwards we went to ice-cream. We dropped the kids off at the Saturday night co-op and went to a German restaurant. It was quite hidden in the middle of Concord and was really good! It is so fun to have a date once a week without kids. Sunday we went to Church, went on a bike ride, visited the Bogners and got to hear an amazing conversion story from Dan and headed home for dinner. It was a great day. Grammy brought fun crafts for the boys which Tyler especially loves. He is my child who will sit and craft as long as he can. Monday was a BEAUTIFUL day and we went to Castle Rock to soak in some Vitamin E and enjoy the beautiful outdoors before they headed home for Utah. Great weekend!


Tyler and the Guinea's

Tyler loves his Guinea Pig! He wants to do everything with his guinea pig. It has actually been really good for him to have something quiet to do that takes no energy. They say that pets are really good therapy. It has been so true for Tyler. When he get tired he doesn't usually have the patience to just sit. He now asks for his guinea and sits, petting him and has an excuse to relax. Last week I went upstairs to change Kira and we came outside to this.... It was funny and stayed entertained in the cage for a really long time.


Disneyland

Tyler went to Disneyland with my parents, Heather's family and her in-laws. He had a great time riding the rides and being spoiled with Grandma and Pop's love and attention. We stayed home with Scott. He felt so crummy he had no desire to even go to Disneyland. Hopefully our family will make it to Disneyland together soon. What special memories.











Thursday, March 24, 2011

Volcanoes

This is what Tyler learned in school: CH3COOH + NaHCO3 = volcano!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Kira Turns One!

Kira turned one today. She is such a beautiful girl. Happy birthday, Kira!




Thursday, March 17, 2011

March pictures

The boys in the hot tub. This is before I cut Tyler's hair.

Heidi's profile picture for Mormon.org

Tyler's haircut--not bad for a dentist, eh?

Kira has been sick this week but we got a smile out of her

Mom

Tyler is a funny kid.

Nice set of teeth on that boy

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Sunday...A day of....

Rest...right?

Today in Sunday school we talked about some Paradoxes in the scriptures. Christ teaching and healing on the Sabbath. In reality, Sunday is a day of rest from the world and work in the service of God which for many means meetings and work to keep the Church going.

We talked about paradoxical "inconveniences" of the gospel. As I was walking in late from doing things for my calling that should have been done the day before, cleaning the smashed gold fish in our Sacrament pew, and given details about an upcoming event, I replied, "sacrament meeting with kids."

Everyone laughed, but I was kind of serious. It is a lot of work to get out the door in Sunday dress by 9AM and have the kids be reverent (all relative) for 80 minutes. It takes patience, prayers and work, but it is 100% worth it. Our family is blessed. I look forward to it.

I have thought a lot about work and the gospel. Progression revolves around work. Whether in school, professions, at home, at church other areas of your life, the more you work, the more you progress and usually the more fulfillment you get in life.

One of the greatest things about the Church is that everyone is asked to work. I have realized that the more you do for the Lord, the more you receive in return. Your time is multiplied. Your love for others grow. And your relationship with the Savior grows.

I am in compassionate service in our relief society and it has been my favorite calling and taught me a lot about service. I basically get to visit people or ask others to help serve the sisters in my ward in various ways.

I am uplifted and humbled by peoples willingness to serve. I recognize the Lord is involved in all of our lives, needs and worries. I have been able to form friendships with all ages and people that I sadly might not have formed otherwise. It is humbling how as I find tiny amounts of time in my day to serve, the Lord magnifies and blesses my time and life of my family. I love my relief society sisters and all that it stands for. It really is an amazing womans organization! I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Purchasing Thoughts

I love searching Craigslist for mini-vans. It is fun. As you can see, we are in no hurry, which is nice because I have done a ton of homework. I never do this much homework and actually feel a little educated in a domain I know nothing about. Not nearly as educated as someone who knows cars, but enough to carry on a decent conversation with the seller.

For instance, we were looking at a car that seemed great, until I did my homework to see that it was coming up on a new timing belt, which also means a new water pump. The seller was trying to sell it saying it was perfect and didn't need anything done. I quickly informed her that in a couple months it would need $1000 worth of work and wished her luck in selling her over-priced car. She didn't believe me, called her mechanic and told me that he honors a coupon and I could get it done for about $800 instead of $1000. Yeah, without the other things that go with a new belt, I thought. I would have never done homework like that in that past. Danny has taught me to educate myself and it is empowering. The internet is such a great tool. It really is AMAZING!! A car dummy like me can even become educated on cars.

We are leaning toward the Sienna 8 seater. If we are going to get a mini-van, we might as well get the extra seat to haul around more kids. Eventually, the more kids I can fit in a car, the more info I can find out about the lives of my kids, right? But seriously, I am purchasing a car for more seating, so might as well get as many seats as I can.

Why Sienna? The 8 seater can be arranged and rearranged making it roomy and practical. Danny likes how the Sienna feels when driving and it seems to outlive the Honda's with fewer major problems.

Cons---doesn't come in leather, which I really don't care about. Danny thinks that leather smells nicer, which is probably true. I have had leather seats that get destroyed with sun. He says I don't take care of my cars which is true. I am sure his leather seats would do much better than mine.

So that's that...we have narrowed our search to the '04 Sienna and newer, 8 seater.

So tonight at work, my co-worker and a parent were talking. Both mini-van drivers; one Sienna and other Odyssey. I told them we wanted a Sienna and they both agreed with the Sienna over Odyssey. Makes me kind of sad for Honda, however, I couldn't argue after hearing their stories. The '99 Sienna of my co-worker has over 300,000 miles and still going strong. Has also carried a U-Haul across country. That is awesome! It is also a '99 and I have a feeling the newer cars can't do that. Why are older things made to last.

Can you believe this is Heidi and not Danny. I can't believe I have this much to say about looking for a car. I can't believe I actually have opinions on a car. What a change. I guess this happens after years of marriage. I mean who does this much research about a car? I have become this way after buying our condo and love it.

In retrospect, it wasn't the best time to buy a condo, and used to really frustrate me. Now, as time has passed, I am able to see some incredible blessings and life-long lessons that I learned.

Patience. You never need to feel rushed. People make you feel rushed or impatient.

Do your Homework. I never fully understood what it meant to really do your homework. The Internet can teach you about anything and everything. Classes, books and friends who are experts in a particular field are at your fingertips.

I can fix things. Like moulding, floors and just about anything if I have the guts to do it and Danny to fix it if I can't.

My dream home. Cozy and small one story with a yard. We were always together which I loved and less to clean and heat. Not kidding, I think our electric bill was about $100/month.

Move Forward. I dwelled for a long time on how much we lost instead of moving forward. We rent it out and it is a nice little place to have. It isn't that big of a deal in the scheme of things. Really quite insignificant in the scheme of things. Sometimes I laugh about what I spend time worrying about. What a waste of my time and energy. I want to do better about that.


A long time ago I had a conversation with my sister-in-law, Lisa. Her husband started a really cool long board company that was successful but not "make a living successful". However, it taught him to run a business and he now has a "make a living successful" contract business. In life, things that don't turn out exactly as planned, but can always teach us incredible things and be really big blessings in our lives. I am so grateful for life and the opportunity I have to learn and grow and become a better person.

Next Best Thing to Disneyland


Long story short. We had a trip planned to Disneyland with my parents, my sister's family and her in-laws. Day on my aunt and uncles yacht they just built, day at the beach, day with friends and of course Disneyland fun. Scott came home from school Friday morning with a fever. That night when we were getting ready to go, he didn't want to go. You know a kid is sick when they don't want to go to Disneyland. Luckily, my parents were about 10 minutes away and we called them to pick up Tyler with plans to meet up with them the next day if Scott was feeling better. He was still kind of sick and didn't want to have a miserable 6 hour car ride, so decided on the next best thing....Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Don't laugh, it was fun. We let Scott choose where he wanted to go and so off we went.

Scott and Danny went on a lot of rides. Scott's favorite was this indoor ferris wheel that spins. He went on bumper cars and was so focused on staying close to his dad. It was pretty funny and very cute. Kira even got to go along for some rides. It was a lot of fun. It was so great having time with just Scott. Kira doesn't really count because she is so young and soo easy.

When the boys were done with rides, we went to the car to get out their toys and played at the beach for 2 hours. My favorite part was watching Scott and Danny ride rides and collecting sea shells with Scott. We went up and down the beach looking for cool rocks, shells and mullusks.

It was a fun family day! One we should do more often since it is so convenient and fun.








Prayers for little Joshua

Joshua and Tyler had their first two open heart surgeries together and we have grown to love him. He recently had his Fontan (last of 3 open heart surgeries) and could use some prayers while he is recovering. Please keep Joshua and his family in your prayers. He is doing well, but having some bumps along the way. He is a miracle!!


Kira


Kira at 11 months.

Danny does the pictures. I will do the update. Kira is a sweet heart. She just loves affection and recognition from others. A simple smile and hug lights up her day. Dada is her first word which describes the love of her life. She loves her Daddy and he loves her. The other day Danny was outside, so she went to the window and started to call for him. It was cute. I wish I had it on tape.

She loves to stand but rarely takes steps. She likes the convenient way of things which is nice. She loves her brothers. She likes playing with them and stealing their toys. Tyler pushes her away and Scott tells her matter of factly, "Kira, this is my legos...You will ruin them." Scott is more the parent figure and Tyler the brother that she laughs and gets into trouble with. I can see the future relationships staying the same. Sibling relationships are great even though two boys so close in age with lots of energy has given me some gray hairs lately.

Back to Kira....that is the story of her life. The boys are so much work and in actual activities, that Kira is often the third wheel. She is so easy to please and such a sweet, dainty, calm, peaceful baby. She babbles a lot (all relative to my family). She will have these conversations with you that you can see her thinking and gesturing and know that she is thinking something while speaking baby. She continues to feed herself and will sit in her high chair as long as she is hungry. We just love her so much and are so grateful for her in our lives!!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Labored another Stone

I am asked is if kidney stones or labor is worse. I have had two natural labors and two with epidurals. Kidney stones are WAY worse than an epidural labor and comparable to a natural labor. I had a kidney infection with my first stone years ago that was the worst pain that I have ever ever experienced and don't wish it on anyone. Passing stones just depends on how long it takes and how long it is trying to get out of your kidney. It is like back labor. The best part is when you pass it, you have immediate relief but nothing to show for it. At least after a labor you have a cute kid.

For some reason I form stones. I think it is a combination of holding my pee, not drinking enough and being pregnant for five consecutive years. They did tests to see how many more I have and I am not sure if I am going to call for the results. X-rays show I have them in both kidneys but why would I want to know. It is like knowing you have future pain with no reward.


Ms. Julie's Baby Shower

Scott's teacher had a baby girl last month so the class threw her a surprise baby shower. It was so much fun. I love a good surprise that makes someone happy. I made sure each kid got at least one present to open and it was fun to see them participate and got to guess how big her tummy was. We went to school together at Walnut Acres 20 years ago. We miss Ms. Julie at school.