I'm having a Day.

I'm having a day. And not a good one either. My positive attitude can only take so much!

Yesterday my van died on the way home from picking Dan and Joshua up from the airport. That all worked out okay, and Dan waited for the tow to take it to the dealer. Today the dealer called to say they couldn't find the problem. Actually he didn't say that. He said it was an "internal issue" which really means they have no idea what's wrong. And since they can't fix what they can't figure out, I need a whole new transmission. And that's going to cost $4466.21, plus taxes.

Awesome.

Then I called to try to sort out my allergy shot issue. They say I can come in this morning. I'm happy. Then they call back and say so sorry, your allergy shot stuff is still in downtown New Orleans- about an hour drive away. I'll have to go there. I should have clarified if they meant I'd always have to go there or just this time? Either way, it means a lot more time and hassle for me and I'm grumpy about that. Whatever it is out here that I'm allergic to, is killing me.

Double awesome.

I stepped outside to see how hot it was. Sadly, there were 2 more baby birds on the porch. Yes, dead. There's a nest under the balcony and those tiny featherless corpses are the 4th and 5th casualties. So sad. I need to dispose o them before Callie gets home. She insists on proper burials.

That's just sad and depressing.

I headed off to Walmart because we are out of wet wipes, and hey, way more fun to go all by myself while the girls are at preschool. Plus there are a bunch of other things I need. As I arrived at the store and was just walking in, my cell phone rang. Preschool was calling to tell me that Rylee had puked up all her lunch and was feeling quite warm.

Yeah, I'm so having a day today. (On the plus side, I did not have to clean up all the vomit!)

I Heart Family!

We've had an exciting week. Less exciting for you to listen to, so I shall not bore you with the ...ahem, boring, details. I shall regale you with the wonderful ones! If you want to see my 2 newest nephews, click on the Fox Flash link and check out my mom's blog. Both my sisters had babies on Thursday! I am so happy for them! While the 2 of them were in the process of replenishing the earth, I was driving out to visit my brother, Andy and his family. It was just me and the 4 girls.

They had a marvelous time. I like that Andy lives close enough to drive over to without too much duress. I love that the kids are getting to know some of their cousins. You may consider yourselves lucky that the camera battery was about dead and I hadn't brought the charger. I only took 10 pictures, and there were so many more I'd have loved to have taken. It really warmed my heart to see the girls playing so well with their cousins.

I looked out and saw these 4 just sitting on the curb. So cute! They had moved by the time I dashed out there with the camera, but were pretty good about sitting back down for me. They each have a leaf, er, I mean a map, courtesy of Delaney and her fervent imagination.

What a face. The best moment (for me, not necessarily for Rylee!) was when Rylee came crying to me and piped out, "I pushed Yaney and I falled down and hurt mysewf." Ha ha ha. That's what you get for shoving your sister!

Delaney showed off her mad tree-climbing skilz. Fortunately, no one fell out of the trees this time!

We went to a super-fun park. The kids spent an hour or so here, digging in the sand before we even made it to the playground area. It was awesome!

Callie and her cousin dug a marvelous tunnel in the sand. You can see Rylee is gleefully getting ready to stomp it. She stomped everything she could and was fairly indiscriminate about it.

This was awesome! Marian wanted to be buried, so the kids helped cover her with sand. Her cousin decided he also needed to be buried, but had fewer helpers to bury him. But you can see everyone having a great time together.

We also went to the Children's Museum. It was fabulous! The kids had so much fun running from one thing to the next. I was impressed. But it was hard to keep track of 9 kids with only 2 moms. Here are Marian and Katie. Despite her expression in this picture, Marian loves Katie and they play really well together.

I really wanted a group shot, but I suffered from a severe lack of cooperation. You can see Rylee on the far left. She's crying because she wants a penny. Delaney is on the far right and I have no clue what she's doing, but it was pretty funny. And I think Charlotte was running away. Sigh. It is still a great picture! I LOVE all the different expressions!

We had an excellent time with them and I'm so glad we went. I'm not sure how Kera felt about it, but I thought it was a wonderful trip. Thanks Andy and Kera for letting us come and visit!!

Gratitude Challenge Day 7

Yeah, yeah, I know. I too was hoping for a more exciting post. However, my camera battery decided it did not have enough power to even let me download pictures. So you will have to wait to see and hear all about my truly entertaining week! But I will give you a sneak peek and tell you that BOTH my sisters had babies on the very same day (they were due 2 weeks apart). I am so happy for them! And I am excited to have 2 new nephews. That makes me an auntie 28 times- 9 times from Dan's side of the family and 19 from mine. Yep, we like that "multiply and replenish" stuff! But today's gratitude list is not about families or sisters or babies, or nieces & nephews. Instead, you get to know the

10 Places on Earth I am Grateful For:

And yes, while I KNOW this is suppose to be an exercise to get me thinking about the other 500 places or things I am grateful for, I have a hard time writing lists like this. Since there really ARE 500 places I am grateful for. How do I narrow it down? Do I go with places that have personal meaning? Specific places or general ones? Places I have lived (cuz there are at least 10 of those!)? Places that are beautiful? Places I want to go? I certainly am grateful for them all. And I feel that some order is ... er.... in order. Maybe I'll just be daring and go completely random. Yeah, that'll throw them off!

1. The Mara. I think that was the single most beautiful place I have ever been. I could not get over how gorgeous it was. I wanted to move there just to see that view every day. I think I could come up with 10 different places on the Mara alone that I am grateful for! Kenya was amazing. I am grateful for Kenya, and especially grateful for the Mara.

2. Colorado. I liked Colorado, but the church there was pretty awful. I am grateful I lived there because it showed me that I can be happy wherever I am and I will go to church no matter if I am alone and no one else cares if I am there. I am grateful for the things I learned in Colorado.

3. An I'm going to cheat, and piggyback off Colorado. I am grateful for The Garden of the Gods. So beautiful! I got to run (and hike later) through there at our family reunion a few years ago and it was humbling and amazing. I am grateful to see something so impressive.

4. BYU. I am grateful I had the chance to go there. I believe every LDS youth at some point needs to go or visit. It is so great to learn that you are not the only one trying to live righteously. I am grateful for BYU and the strong LDS students that go there. And fine, I'm grateful I got my Mrs and my BS there, although it was not an easy road to either!

5. The ocean. I'm not a huge fan of the beach or swimming in the ocean, but I love the majesty of it. And I am incredibly grateful that my in-laws organized a get together for us all 2 years ago at a beach house. My children still remember how much fun they had and they rated it waaay above Disney World! I am grateful for the beauty and memories the ocean has given me.

6. Okuma. For you non-military, Okuma is the "resort" on Okinawa. Going there with my family when I was a teen has special memories. It kind of represents the fun that being together was for us- painful and squabbly, but so much fun! I am grateful my parents dragged us there and we got to watch horrid movies because it was raining!

7. The Temple. Pretty much any temple. I have a special fondness for Los Angeles (you know, because because that's where we got married), and Provo (because that's when I had the chance to go every week for a while). But I love them all and am grateful we have so many. I am also grateful we are less than 2 hours form one right now.

8. Mom and Dad's house. I am so grateful that I can always go home. I am so grateful that I always feel loved and welcomed whenever I go visit my parents, whether it is for a week or a holiday or a summer. I am the kid who keeps returning and every time I show up, they seem happy to have me.... and whatever grandchildren I have with me!

9. The Thrift store. I am definitely grateful for the thrift Store! Do you know that when we moved here, I discovered that I could pay $12 a piece for school uniform shirts brand new.... or I could go to the thrift store and pay $2?!! Sorry, no contest. With 3 kids needing uniforms, $2 is the clear winner! I love saving money. Dan might argue that with all the stuff I lug home, we may not be saving money, but its good for my soul as well! I love having a place I can bargain hunt and find things cheaper.

10. Wherever Dan is. As Dan teases, "Wherever you are, it will be Zion to me!" And it is true. I can go wherever the Marine Corps sends us and I can be happy, as long as we are a family. I am grateful to have a home, and to have Dan. And maybe that doesn't count as a place, but its my list and I say it does!

Josh rocks!

I'm woefully behind on blogging. I have lots of excuses, mainly I've been crazy busy, and haven't taken time to download pictures. Sorry.

Joshua had his Pinewood Derby a week or so ago. His scout leader decreed that this year the boys would be doing their cars with no outside help and without power tools. It was nice for me because nothing was required from ME! Joshua did his car all on his own and he was pleased with the results.

Yeah, other boys in the stake made some stinking awesome cars. The bobsledder guy was my favorite, I confess. Joshua's is the red one on the top right. You can tell who had assistance and who did not!

These were the cars that the oldest group made. I wanted a picture for future reference! Check out the guitar shaped car!

Here's my boy and his car!

Anxiously awaiting the race.

Joshua's car finished a respectable second in nearly every race. They did a good job running the race. With about 15 boys/cars, they ran about 15 heats, so the boys got to race a lot and most of them had the chance to finish well at least once. Joshua won once, came in third twice and ran second the rest of the time. He was pleased. I was happy he had a good time.

Marian's Birthday

Well, this isn't so much about her birthday as it is about her cupcakes. Marian really, really wanted to bring cupcakes to her class. And she wanted to have confetti cupcakes. So we made cupcakes and frosted them. But this was not enough for her birthday! She wanted CHEETAHS on top of the cupcakes. I told her there weren't any cupcake toppers that I knew of that were cheetahs.

Undaunted, she made them herself. She made 30 of them.

Yep. 30 individual little cheetah drawings. She colored them too. Click on the first picture to enlarge it and you'll see that each cheetah is different, too! Then she taped toothpicks on the back and poked each one in a cupcake.

Here are the adorable finished products. I was really impressed with her work! Marian proudly carried them into class and shared them with her classmates and teachers. Such a great girl! She's 9 now.