Prayers

On Tuesday, April 28, 2015, we attended the open house at Oliveira, the elementary school the kids attend.  Peter was in Miami Beach for the week, so I took all 5 kids all by myself.  First we spent some time in Emily's classroom learning about birds... specifically robins, which is what she did a project on this year.  Then we headed over to Josh's classroom.  He showed us around for a grand total of about five minutes and then we headed out.  Nick managed to scoot out the door before anyone else while there was still a flow of people heading in.  I wasn't too worried.  We were at school and everything is always plenty safe there.  However, when I got out of the class myself, probably not even a minute later, he was nowhere to be seen.  My initial response was to say a prayer, so I did.  Normally, I would have probably asked for help in finding him.  But I didn't.  I believe that the Holy Ghost inspired me to pray for something more specific.  Instead, I asked that my Heavenly Father would bring Nick back to me.  As soon as I was done praying, the other kids volunteered to go run around and look.  They ran off before I could suggest that they meet me back where we were and that they should wait for me if I wasn't there when they got back.  So, I felt like I needed to stay put.  I wasn't too worried, I just didn't know where to begin to look and I couldn't go anywhere.  One of my friends, Leona Broberg, noticed that I was missing someone, so she started looking with me.  Then just a few short minutes after all this started, I looked up, and around the corner walked another friend of mine, Jeanna Ward.  She was holding Nick's hand.  She saw him walking backwards toward the road and noticed that she didn't see me, so she asked him to come with her and find me.  In doing so, she was the answer to a very specific prayer that I had said just moments before.  I know that the Lord answers our prayers.  Sometimes, if we are open to the inspiration from the Spirit, He will let us know what we should pray for.  Sometimes his answers come in ways we hope or even expect, but many times, they come at times and ways that surprise us. BUT, the answers always come.

Mini Golf

We haven't gone mini golfing as a family in years.  I think the last time we went, Emily sat in the stroller while we played.  So, we finally decided to make up for that. Yesterday, on Martin Luther King, Jr Day, the kids were off school AND Peter was off work, so we loaded up the kids in the van and headed to GolfLand.  It was super fun.  But I am thinking 18 holes may be a bit much for the little ones.  Maybe next time we'll find a half course.  :)

Emily and Josh examining the playing field

Nick found a special way through one of the obstacles, made just for someone his size

Charlotte didn't putt much, but she had fun anyway

Here's Nick coming out the other side

This hole was very, very wide.  Well, not the hole, but the "green."

Charlotte got warm

Jessie - Lining up her putt

Daddy and Nick watching Nick's ball

Maybe this putt didn't go as Emily had hoped

Emily trying one more time

Is it going to go in?

I Know My Savior Loves Me - By Emily

This month, the primary kids are learning the song "I Know My Savior Loves Me."  Apparently they will be signing this song for the program this year. Emily is super excited.  She even recorded herself singing and signing it.  

Urgent Care

Since Josh was born 8 1/2 years ago, we have paid no visits to the Urgent Care Clinics or Emergency Rooms for any of our kids.  I figured this couldn't last forever.  Odds are against us on this one with having 5 kiddos.  Today, our luck ran out.  Poor Jessie.  Every time she rides her bike, I think she's going to get hurt.  She is such a daredevil and rides super fast.  I try not to bother her about it too much. She doesn't listen anyway when I ask her to slow down a bit.  Oh well.  And then today...

I was inside helping Charlotte finish eating a snack, Peter was in the garage working on a project and the kids were in the front riding bikes and playing with their friends.  All of a sudden, Peter heard someone crying. He listened a moment to make sure it wasn't just playing around.  It didn't take long to verify it was a real cry needing some attention, so he hurried outside to see what was going on.  As he was heading out, he heard someone say they were going to get her dad, so he picked up the pace and when he saw Jessie he ran right over to her.  Fortunately, our neighbor down the street had seen what had happened and ran over to Jessie immediately, picked her up, and had already started bringing her home.  Jessie had been riding her bike.  She decided to turn, but did so way too sharp and crashed to the ground.  When Peter got to her, her face was covered in blood.  She had hit pretty hard on the lower half of her face.  Peter brought Jessie inside and he got her cleaned up.  She had a pretty sizable gash inside her lip that looked like her teeth may have cut all the way through, so we called the doctor.  It was too late to see our doctor in the clinic, so we were told to go to the Urgent Care Center.

Peter took her there, where they determined that while the cut did not go all the way through, it was too big to leave alone, so stitches were needed.

She was a champ for the first stitch, which was on the outside.  Apparently she wasn't completely numb and felt it as they took care of that part.  She didn't cry out, but Peter said her eyes got super wide, so when they tried to go inside her mouth to take care of the rest of it, she was having none of it.  Finally, they suggested that Peter should take her to the ER where they could fully sedate her so they could safely finish the procedure.  As Peter climbed in the car to take Jessie to the ER, he called our dentist, because the doctors had also wanted to get some x-rays done to check out her teeth.  He was just a couple minutes from his office at the time.  He said he could take care of the x-rays and the stitches in his office right then.  He didn't even have to put her all the way under.  He just used a local anesthetic, which was effective enough she didn't even feel the needle with the more thorough numbing medication.  Jessie allowed our dentist, who is also a friend of ours from church, to take care of the stitches inside her mouth without any problem.  Well, almost no problem.  When he used the suction tool to get the blood and saliva out of her mouth while he was working, it startled her and she jumped when she closed her mouth on it.  Funny, I never thought of it as startling, but I guess when you don't know what's about to happen when you close your mouth, it could be a little unsettling.

After the whole ordeal was over, Peter took Jessie to Jamba Juice... she can't chew anything for a few days while the swelling goes back down.  We thought she should have something special.  But, her mouth was so numb she couldn't drink it. Bummer.  When she got home, Peter gave her a few spoonfuls, but she was so tired, she just wanted to go to bed.

It was a tough day for her, but there were several blessings here.  Peter was home when this happened so I was able to take care of the other kids while he took care of her and gave her a blessing.  Ryan, our dentist, was able to take care of everything they couldn't handle at the urgent care center, without further waiting time at the ER, and the x-rays showed her teeth are fine.  They were back home less than four hours after they left.  Jessie's brothers and sisters and friends were all so concerned about her that the whole time she was gone, they were making cards for her and doing detective work on the crash site to figure out what had happened.  When she is awake enough to understand, she will feel very loved by all that everyone did for her today.

The Exact Same Person

I wish I had a picture for this post.  I need to ask my sister if she got one this summer that would be appropriate.  In July this year, my family had a reunion in Branson, MO.  It was so much fun.  We stayed at a ranch house outside of town. It was huge, and gorgeous, and super comfortable and relaxing.  The best part, though, would have happened no matter where we stayed.  The best part was that the kids had so much fun playing together and getting to know each other.  Nick still talks about his cousin Sammi.  In fact, every time he wears his reunion shirt, he mentions that Sammi has one just like it.  :)

During the reunion, Josh and Kaity really hit it off and found they had a lot in common.  In fact, they had so much in common, they decided they were just alike.  Several times during the week we could hear them talking about how they "are the EXACT same person."  I can't remember what things were so similar... that's the problem with posting things 2 months later...  Oh well.  Heather, if you can think of anything, let me know and I'll update the post.  

I definitely miss having the cousins all together and can't wait until it can happen again.

Jessie

The other day I had an experience that I want to make sure Jessie learns about someday.  So, I decided to blog this story for her benefit, since I plan to print up this blog, so she can read it later when she can understand what it means.

On Friday, March 8, 2013, we were following our normal routine of picking up Josh from school.  He's in first grade right now.  We always park on a loop street near the school and walk in and wait for school to get out.  That day, Jessie, you had asked to park on the other side of the loop, so I did so.  This meant that we had to cross an extra street, but a very quiet street that has little traffic.  You tend to like to be extremely independent.  Anything you can do on your own and differently, you will.  When I crossed the street with the other three kids, you continued to walk along the sidewalk so that you could cross the street in a different spot all by yourself.  I had walked around to the back of the van with Nick still in the stroller, even though I usually go to the side and put Nick in his car seat before taking the stroller to the back.  I could see you very well from there.  Even though I knew I needed to put Nick in the car, I felt the spirit let me know that I needed to keep an eye on you.  I hadn't noticed the people getting in the car in the driveway you were about to cross.  But I listened to the spirit and watched as you slowly made your way over to where you planned to cross the street.  Just as you started to come into the street and across the driveway, the car started to back out.  You never even looked.  The driver of the car couldn't see you.  But because I had listened to the spirit and kept an eye on you, closer than I normally would have, I was able to yell at you to stop.  You didn't understand me, but the lady in the car heard me and stopped.  Jessie, I am so grateful that the Lord wanted you not to get hurt that day, and that I was able to hear him tell me what I needed to do to keep you safe.  I know that He watches out for you and that He loves you.  He has a plan for you, and I can't wait to see what He has in store for you.  I hope that you will always turn to Him for guidance in your life, so you can stay safe, and you can do what he wants you to do in this life.  I love you very much.

Love,
Mommy

Cold or Hot?

This morning, as we were climbing into the van to head to church, it was a bit chilly outside.  The kids hardly ever realize that it's cold outside.  At least until it would be too late to do anything about it, so I usually grab their coats and throw them in the van with them.  They usually get ignored, but not this morning.  Today, Emily grabbed her coat and started putting it on while emphatically stating, "Wow! I'm pretty cold!"  Joshua is funny.  He really likes to irritate the girls by saying random things back to them.  Today, he was into opposites.  His response?  "No!  You're pretty hot!"  :)

Somehow, I don't think he'll appreciate that he said this to his sister within the next few years, but I sure found it funny.

Pictures By Kids

Our camera started having issues.  After turning it on, I had to push a certain button a few times before I could see anything on the screen and take any pictures.  I don't know what is wrong with it.  If I take a picture while the screen is black, the picture is just black as well.  So, we bought a new camera, but during the switch, the kids got a hold of the old one.  Here are just a few of the pictures they took.

Nicholas

Mommy and Nicholas.  Obviously, Nick was not behind the camera here. :)

Joshua and Mommy

Joshua - I have no idea what this expression is for, but I thought it was worth sharing

Ardenwood Farm

In July, our neighbors invited us to go to Ardenwood Farm with them.  That's a historical farm on the edge of Fremont.  It was a lot of fun.

Jessie loves to look at animals.  This bunny was perfect, because it's cute, but she couldn't touch.  She doesn't really want to touch the animals very often anyway.  Perfect for my little Jessie.

Josh is petting a goat.  What fun!

Emily is absolutely the animal lover in the family.  I think she would love to live on a full blown farm.

Emily even found a cow to pet.

The farm has a few blackberry bushes that they let people pick from for a little snack while at the farm.

This is as close to the action as Nick gets most of the time.  Well, at least he can enjoy it.  What a cute smile.

July 4th Remnants

On Independence Day this year, we went and watch a really spectacular fireworks display by a family just outside of Bartlesville.  The next day, my mom had arranged for us to help clean up the mess from the festivities, so part of our family reunion was spent on a service project.  I thought that was really great.  It was truly amazing that with all the people that had attended, there wasn't much mess left behind by the spectators. Most of the mess was from the fireworks themselves.  That's awesome that people were willing to take care of their own stuff at the end of the celebration.  Somehow, I ended up with only one photo from the effort.  It is cute, though, so I had to share.

My nephew Wyatt, pulling his sister, Sammy.  Jessie's in the background with her little green skirt on.

My mom had bought some glow sticks for the kids, and we left them at the house that night.  Oh well.  So, we got to bring them back to California with us.  The first Family Home Evening that we had after the kids discovered them, we used them for the activity.

The three kids playing with the glow sticks in the dark.  The pictures didn't come out quite like we'd hoped.

So, we tried it with the flash.  That made things a little too bright.  But they had so much fun anyway.

Camping

We love to go camping.  But we usually don't make it out more than once a year.  This year, we had a chance to go camping as a family the first weekend of August.  It was our best camping trip ever...  or least complicated at least.

The kids all getting ready to go to sleep.  Sleep is so exciting when you are anywhere but your own bed.

Nick was even excited

About the "least complicated" part?  Yeah, that's our backyard.  :)

It was kind of nice not having the travel and all the preparations, and the fire to keep the kids out of, etc.  Oh!  And there was a nice crib for Nick to sleep in.  He was so mad when he had to go to bed in his own bed.  Not so exciting.  :(  Poor little boy.  

Did you notice how HUGE our backyard is?  Don't let the tent filling it up fool you.  It's just a really large tent.  ;)

Voting?

After taking these photos of Emily, I realized she looks like she just participated in voting in Iraq.  (Unless it's really some other country where they get purple fingers for voting)  Anyhow, Emily had a little mishap on her scooter.  She was speeding along, and attempted to make a turn a little too sharp and too fast.  She caught herself with her hands, but somehow landed in such a way that badly bruised the tip of her finger.  I thought maybe she had broken it, but she could bend it and everything.  The doctor's office, when I called, suggested that it was probably just a bruise.  Sure glad I didn't take her in to find out she had a bruise.  :)

Sure is a pretty color of purple

I seem to remember seeing pictures of people like this just after voting in Iraq(?).  Except they were generally not trying to pretend to frown.  It was a good effort, though.

Pushing the Stroller

So, I was going to share a video, but I apparently don't know how to do that.  Instead, you get a picture.  Nick's favorite activity now a days is pushing the toy stroller.  He's getting pretty good at it.  Will he walk soon?  Who knows?  But, to keep up with Josh, he'd have to start walking this week.  I think Josh's Family Record is safe. 

One more try at the video...

 

I hope it works for you

Spiderman

On July 27, Josh's friend had a birthday party for his 6th birthday, and we were all invited.  It was quite an experience, to say the least.  There was pizza, a Spiderman bounce house, and a real live DJ to get it all started.  (I missed the first half of this because Nick was taking a nap.)

After it all got going, a couple pinata's were brought in for the kids.  The first one was Woody from Toy Story for the youngest kids.  Apparently, there were only 2 kids there for that one, and neither of them knew what to do.  Jessie was second, I believe, and got some help.  After a moment, she gave it a real good whack.  Everyone cheered, and she stopped.  She had no idea what was going on.  After that pinata was done, they brought in the one for the big kids.  It was a Spiderman, of course, and it was bigger than Emily.  This was a bit too much for Jessie, and she started crying.  So, Peter got to hold her for a little bit.  When she saw the other kids start to whack this thing, she really started to freak out.  At that point, Peter took her with him to come get me.  She didn't realize it wasn't a real person, and all these people were hitting him.  Poor girl.  At least she got a nap in the car, and we had a talk about the pinata when we got a chance.  But we shall never be able to revive her relationship with the hero again.

Later, the "real" Spidey made an appearance.

Emily was the only one of the three who was willing to go near him

Jessie wouldn't even look at him.  Poor girl.

   

At the beginning of July, my family had a reunion in Bartlesville, OK.  On July 3, we took a trip to visit Woolaroc.  It was a nice place to visit.  The kids got to pet some animals.  And there was a nice little museum to explore.

Emily is always excited to see animals. She would have been more than happy to get IN the pen with this little guy if she had been allowed to.

Jessie's a little more cautious, but she still loves to look at the animals... leaving a little more distance between herself and the creature whenever possible.

Here's a random picture from in the museum.  I'm not sure who had the camera at this time, but it was obviously not me.

Here I am, holding Mr. Nick.  He was a bit tired, but very happy to be out of his stroller for a few minutes.

After taking those couple pictures, my Dad asked me if I'd seen the sign that indicated they'd prefer you not to use flash photography.  Oops!  Totally missed that one.

But, the most exciting part of this visit happened just before the museum while we were exploring outside.  We found a nice tower above a building, so several of us climbed up to get a view.  I was lagging behind, so I decided to pull out a camera to get a picture of everyone up there.  This is what happened next.

I looked up to try to get a picture, and heard Jessie start crying.  If you look close, you'll see Jessie's head sticking out through the bars.  Those are Nathan's hands above her head, trying to push the bars apart to help her out.

After several minutes, and with the help of a real firefighter, (my brother-in-law, Travis),  and several other grown men, (Peter, Nathan, and my Dad) Jessie was freed from her captivity.

She came down and sat in my lap after the whole ordeal was over.

  By the way, so you notice how red we all were?  That's the product of super low temperatures in the upper 90's that day, and nearly 100% humidity.  I guess I just need reminders why it's okay to live so far away from home. We have great weather here in the bay area, even if we have to fly to get to see grandparents.

Swimming Lessons

During the last couple weeks of July, the kids got to take swimming lessons.  The pool was nice and warm.  Thank goodness for that.  Who'd have thunk that the highs during the middle of July would have been in the 60's?  And I thought it was cold when I took them as a kid. 

Joshua hanging on the side of the deep end of the pool

Emily about to jump off the diving board.  Emily is like a fish in the water.  She loves the diving board, and by the end of the class, she was able to swim back to the side without help from her teacher.

Jessie was so happy to be in swimming lessons.  On the last day of class, she even went off the diving board, too!  Go, Jessie!

I was going to try to tell a little more, but this new format on blogger is really confusing.  It will take a bit to get used to.  Until then, I will try to at least get a few more pictures up.