Excited doesn't even begin cover it!

I'm so ecstatic about this! I'd recently wrote that I wanted to do a secret Santa. I'd been kinda bummed because I hadn't gotten wind of anyone in my ward that would really truly benefit or anything like that christmas I had.

And then, last night...I got an e-mail from my cousin Courtney in Arizona. (Dad's side) and she said her sister-in-law had told her of a family that is incredibly poor. The children sleep on the floor, there is no furniture, and they hardly any clothes for their kids. Just the whole story is heart breaking. I almost cried when I read it, honestly. It's just horribly sad. Anyway, my cousin has 3 little kids, and so she is donating alot of her son's clothes to the family. I wrote her back promptly and said YES! Count me in! Leena has tons of clothes she doesn't wear, or that she is growing out of constantly. I told her to call and find out what toys and treats the kids like. I'm going to maybe even hit up Value Village and see if I can score some things there for their kids. (I don't think I've set foot in them because I was really against anything ever 2nd hand, but I guess I'm softening up to the idea of it. I really need to stop some of my snooty traits such as that) I'm elated, full of joy, and counting my blessings all in one.

THIS is why I love Christmas. It gives us a chance to help those who genuinely need it. Take the time out not to be greedy, selfish and arrogant. I can't wait to find out all the small details and get going and ship off a box as fast as I can! Gosh, it feels amazing to really help someone in need!

Officers Down

A little over a week ago, 4 Lakewood Police Officers were gunned down in Lakewood, in a cofffe shop. They were just about to start their shift. Lakewood is not far from my home. Jeff told me about the news. Which make me infuriated that someone could be so cold, cruel, and heartless. Not to mention, evil. The shooter was on the loose. He was found 3 days later, and died from gunshot wounds. He was a convicted felon and had been paroled out of prison. Long story short. These poor families are in the bigest state of mourning, and my hearts go out to them, deeply.

As I sat and watched the memorial today, I felt sad. And as the long memorial continued, sotries were told about each one of them. It was interesting. Prayers were offered, scriptures read. It made a difference to see people relying on faih, instead of locking themselves in a room, and crying every day.


Anyway, If you buy Pizza from Papa Johns tonight and tomorrow, ALL proceeds to go the families. Thanks to all the law enforcements out there, you are the ones running in, when the rest of us, are running out.

My Humble Christmas Story

When I live in San Bernardino, there was one Christmas, I remember not only in particular, but with fondness. I will tell my kids this story, so they get the reason why we celebrate it.

I was about 9 or so. My Dad, had been laid off from work. My mom was working as a music teacher at a school, but my Dad was also in school, working on his dissertation. With little income, right before the holidays, my mother was being extra frugal. She was always frugal, but this year, even more. She had been wanting to make us some home made goodies, from scratch. But because of little money coming in, she didn't have all the ingredients, and decided it wasn't a must, to have them. She had been at the story, and seen cocoa powder, and shortening, and thought "oh, I could use this to make treats for my kids!", but it was over $3, that was outside of her budget. She regrettably put it back on the shelf, and continued to shop at the super market.

Not many knew the hardship my parents were in, not to mention with 5 small children. My moms best friend, Ellen, knew and maybe 1 or 2 others.

The Christmas season plugged along. My mom did her best at getting us presents. We went to church, and we were assigned a secret Santa family. I absolutely LOVED those! It's when you leave a treat or a present, on someones door, and doorbell ditch it, and at Christmas time, you reveal who had who. It was just fun, and made you be creative, and we all loved running, and diving through the back window of our station wagon we had. SO FUN!

One night, we heard a knock on the door...IT MUST be the secret Santa!! We all leaped to the door to see if we could catch who this wonderful Santa was that had brought us so many good things. We opened the door...and it wasn't a plate of cookies or a book. But a BIG, white box. It said "To the Elledge's, MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and had holly drawn on it with a good sharpie. My mom seemed shocked that someone would drop of something of that size, as a secret Santa gift. We opened up the box....and there were all kinds of cookies, clothes, and treats, toys for my brothers, toys for me and my sisters....and coco powder and shortening for my mom!! I watched my mom melt into tears with joy, surprise and overwhelming amount of gratitude. She picked it all up, and hugged my Dad. I remember the priceless smile on her face and the remark of "what angel has done this for us?!"

I'm 28 and a half now, and we still have no idea who made our Christmas that year. My moms best friend said she didn't even tell anyone about their trial, let alone the cocoa powder. She said it wasn't her, ad we'll never know who did that for us.

Sometimes there are Santa's all around us. But they ARE, us. I want my children to learn to give, as selflessly as that family or person did, to my family.

Holidays!

Ok, I'll admit I, I'm SOOO excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I've never
been a fan of the month of November, was always dark and dreary, cold, wet, rainy....but, without November ending, there would never be a December!

I packed up my kids and we all went to Target today. We got a new Christmas CD, has all the classic people, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby....I LOVE IT! I was listening to it and was like for some reason, I'm so glad I have an appreciation for music to listen to the oldies. It's like Michael Jackson, not everyone listened to him, but everyone knew who he was. I want my kids to listen, like, and enjoy listening to all those poeple.

We're having 2 thanksgiving this year. One at our house! That's the first one! in '7, I went to ID with Jeff to have it with his family, and then we had it at my family's house, and now it's timea gain to do that one again, but one here in Puyallup! I've got a recipe for Lemon and Rosemary Turkey I am going to make. The list for what I am going to make is BIG, and totally yummy!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (early!)

Birthday and Wedding Chaos!

My little sister, Hillary, got married last May. But, they waited til my brother Cody got home from his mission in Caliofrnia, to have their reception. So, we had my brother Cody home, my grandparents in from Tucson, AZ. And my older sister and her little girl in town from Canada, as well as my mother-in-law, Lori, from Idaho, YIKES!!! We spent alot of time picking up and dropping off at airports it seemed like.


Cody got home from being gone for 2 years in Southern California, on Oct 20th. We picked him up from the airport and it was almost weird to have a familiar face around! I've adjusted to only having 1 sibling in town, another one is nice!


On Thursday, the 22nd, we had Leena and Landons combined birthday party. It was fun :) Just a small thing was all it was. And then Saturday, Leena got baptized.

All in all it was an insanely busy, but FUN weekend! Thanks to all those who came out for support!


I'm SO framing this!


My Grandpa Wayne tells these "old propsector" stories, they're long, fun and very details. And he's the only person that can tell them as good as he does!


My brother, Cody, is a pretty good uncle! He will rough house with Leena and my niece Maleah all day if he had the energy to!


Leena and Cody


Cute little girl!


Opening the large amount of presents the kids got.


She REALLY wanted us to get Apples to Apples Junior.....so we did!


Cody and the girls, they loooove having their Uncle Cody back!


My Grandpa Wayne with his "Stunna shades on", cracked me up!! He's hilarious!


My mom wanted a "life size" cut out of my brother, Seth...he was big. She paid a friend all of 29 bucks to make it, and he was on a stick from about...the waist down, haha.


None of the grandkids are paying attention.


My sister and my Grandma Betty :)





Leena and Maleah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!!!

I can't believe my baby is 1!! Time has gone by a little too fast! He is just a wonderful baby, and so funny, his little personality is in bloom constantly.

Landon - Your Dad and I adore you! Leena is sure in love with you too, you bring so many laughs, smiles and happy moments to our lives, I'm SO glad we have you!




Brand new

That dark hair only lasted so long!

1 year later...
Such a sweet kid!

Is it Fall already?!

Apparently so! We've finally had some wind, rain and chill hit the Tacoma/Seattle area.

I've gone out and switched the kid's clothes form short sleeves, shorts and skirts, to khakis, long sleeves, hoodies and hats. Watch out folks, it's going to get icy and cold here really fast!

Here are some random pictures I thought were cute of the kids and what not.





Leena runs and hides and takes awful pictures now - INTENTIONALLY! What a little stinker! She always says "I don't want my picture taken!" Weird. I'm not like that at all!

A very sad realization.

Ever have a phone call, that really hits home, or just knocks some sense into you?

About a week ago, I was printing off photos at home off of my memory card...and the thought occured to me..."Boy, Grandmaleen would sure gush over these ones of the kids....Ah heck, I'll send her some". So, I did.

I guess she tried calling my old phone #, twice to thank me. My mom called me and relayed the message. So, I called today, and my grandma was so cute, she happily said "I have all those sweet babies on display! What angels!" I can ALWAYS count on her to tell me how much she loves me, how sweet they are, how wonderful I am, and how much she loved god, and her family. I couldn't have asked for it any better. As I spoke to my grandma, I kept it short. She's seemed to have lost some of her edge the past year or two. I just listened to what she had to say, and put my input when I needed to. As she was going to hang up, I heard my Grandpa Willard get on the line (these are my moms parents by the way. They live in Northern CA. They're also 87 years old) And seemed overjoyed that I had called. He is still sharp as I can recall, he always has been. He and I talked for a bit about grandma, and the new baby my cousin William had. They have a heck of a legacy, about to have 141 gradnchildren and great grandchildren come next March. That is impressive and I admire my grandma for always trying to keep tabs on me and how I was doing. Anyway, as I talked to my grandpa, I think it really hit me at teh end of the conversation, He pleaded in a sincere and loving way, that I needed to come visit...one last time.

I said "I'll make it down there when I can!", and then I felt my eyes water up pretty quickly. He then closed with "Have a good life Heidi dear, I love you!" and it was like he was signing out, for good. It was the biggest, saddest moment of my day.

I've always loved and admired both sets of my grandparents, they're both all wonderful people and I love them dearly. I've also been fortunate to have all 4 of them, in my life, all 28 years and counting. I have yet to lose a grandparent, and when I do, I know I will be locked in my room sobbing for 2 days when one does go.

As I hung up the phone, and did the dishes, the thought occured to me, "count your many blessings.." So that's what I'm doing.

Look, it's all pretty!

While Landon was napping today, I was looking at my friend Brieanne's blog, (thanks lady!)and was like hmm...I really need to change mine and spice mine up a bit. And as a teenager for fun, I used to play with HTML.

Anyway, and after having to get all the updates for IE 8, and figure out what the heck XML was and why my laptop did NOT like it, I had to strain myself to find a code that would work, and I did. AND!!! It deleted all my links, etc. Ugh!

almost 2 hours later, you now have what you're reading/seeing. I'm daring to tackle my recipe blog.

Which, I don't think I've yet to ever mention on here, but here it is, feel free to post your own favorites and so on! Make it fun!

http://heidisfavorites.blogspot.com

I've tried to do some digital photography more, but we got the blue screen of death on here the other day, and this PC is all of....10ms old. Not good. Anyway, if I get my own laptop, then I'll spend more time doing that and add it to my scrapbooking to keep me sane, list.

Moms Cancer

So, as many of you know, my mom was diagnosed with stage 2-3 melanoma cancer this past month while she was on vacation in Bermuda. All her medical stuff needs to be done while she's in the country there, so she did that, and that's when it was found. The did a biopsy, and forwarded it on to Florida, Miami, I think.

She had surgery the 15th, and it was an outpatient procedure. All in all, it went well. She's got a hell of a scar now though. But, she's seeming to do fine and well. She's even back to her old self, hehe. They got the cancer out, and now we have to wait the 6mos to see if she's cancer free. But, they doctors did say that when they removed it, there were less cancer cells than what were in the Florida biopsy, which is really good!

I'm a tad nervous because the "coming back" rates for melanoma are slim...but the next door neighbor has the same thing as my mom, and his came back after 6mos, and his is so deep, it's the deepest that the medical center has ever seen. So, needless to say, we're praying for him every night.

Anyway, all in all, we're waiting the 6mos and hope she's cleared afterwards!

Something short of a nightmare.

Leena lived with my mom for a while, they're really good friends/buddies now. So, we waited for Leena to finish out the school year, then moved her down and into the new house with us.

First month, totally fine. Went to Bermuda, to see my dad, came back. Was fine...until about last week or prior, when school started.

NOW, she had constant "meltdowns" and screams and cries hysterically, for HOURS. She writes me notes, and throws them down the stairs usually when I'm making dinner, or right around the start of bed time. Never prior. I don't get it. Alot of it is (what she says at least) is "I miss grandma", but she doesn't think to pick up the phone and call my mom, to see if that will help. She has maybe once. Not the other several times.

She's totally irate and irrational when she's that inconsolable. it's trying on me because I'm so used to it, I don't really go and try to comfort her, because it literally, doesn't help. She just cries harder and harder, and the other day when I tried to, she threw a stuffed animal at me. Or my head, she missed, but it was still the fact that she'd misbehaved.

If she was fine for all that time prior, why isn't she ok now? I send Jeff to be the negotiator because I will lose my cool because I'm sick of the production she puts on, that stresses out everyone in this house.

She even fought me about going to church!! SHE NEVER does that!! I put my foot down and said "If you want to have more friends at school, and at church, you NEED to go to your Sunday school class"...she pouted on the way out to the car. We got to the church, went inside (we skipped sacrament meeting due to this meltdown) and we got to the door, and the hysteria began...I promised my mom I'd be diligent in taking her, and I have. However, Leena has pretty much told me she's not going to go anymore. What the?! What happened to my sweet little girl?!?! =(

Yay for new bathrooms! Almost...

A couple of months ago, I mentioned to Jeff that I didn't like the fact that our downtstairs powder room was so...BLAH! It had no color to it, no storage for anything, nada.

So, we looked into getting granite, and found a deal on some. We purchased it, and many hundreds of dollars later, we FINALLY had it. It took 3 months of us nagging and nagging them with measurements to cut it, and just disaster after disaster. That was just to get it cut!!!! I finally went and picked it up and it hung out here til Jeff could have the time to get around it.

Anyway, meanwhile we have absolutely NO stroage space in that bathroom. My good friend Brian builds houses for a living, I hit him up to ask how much we could get a vanity for, in a really quick and short time later, the vanity was made, delivered and in my bathroom. WOOHOO! Someone who did what I asked, and well, and didn't drag it on for months! I swear, I just need to go through him for everything, I don't know why I didn't! Anyway, it was nice to have to deal with him because he's not only a friend, he's not going to jerk me around. It even got delivered early, by accident of course, but hey! Least we got it on time!

Jeff and our friend, Dan, installed it....and we notice a problem....the measurements I gave them were 38 1/2 x 26 the 38 1/2 goes against the wall, that's the "height" of it if you will. It was too short. I about blew my lid. One detail I didn't mention was, after this company called Fine Line, they gave us a case manager, Justin...he eventually quit returning our calls and we had a new person, her name was Desiree. So, she all the sudden was the new person we were to deal with. Which, I'm glad we did because she actually got on them and got the ball rolling on things,she did her job, the other guy didn't. I talked to my friend whomade the cabinetry for us, and said we should get a new one if we call and ask etc. So, I called and left a irritated voicemail, and I immediately got a call this morning. So, after all the months of waiting...the powder room is done and it looks GREAT! BUT!!! I have gaps in my granite! If they fully refund us, then I'll setlle for keeping it and putting filler in the gaps, but, I'm not going down without a fight with all the hell they've put us through.

We did pain the powder room, "Sand Dollar" color...I got it at Sherwin Williams. And they were sneaky, they just sold me their high end paint without telling me. Yup, get this, my paint is "energy efficent", really? by sitting on my wall it's saving planet earth? And Cost between $40-50 bucks. I had no idea til I signed the reciept, and it was one of those things where my curious 10 month old was getting into everything while I was holding him, so he took advantage of a distracted mom. That makes me ticked! Anyway, I hate the paint color now...it looks pretty pink. When we tested it, it was clearly a taupe/mocha color, what we were going for...but now it's straight up pink. So, I won't be going to Sherwin Williams, I'll settle for the Behr at Home Depot (Sorry Brian! Haha) in the TeePee Brown that I really like, that's NOT pink!

Anyway, here are the before and after photos.



Before, the pedestal sink that I wanted to barf anytime I saw it, SO glad it's gone now!!!


The couch was it's home for a little while.


Dan and Jeff putting it in....before we noticed the "mistake".


New wall color, new granite, faucet, and lighting and fixtures are going in this week. Overall, gaps and all, it looks alright. The granite has alot of blue in it you can't see, so it looks cool...Just can't tell in photos.

Class is now in session!

I can't EVER get my pictures to rotateon here, sorry! (drives me nuts! and the original photo IS rotated)

Oh my heavens! I have a 2nd grader!!

School started this past week, and Leena so far, is liking it!

I will rant about htis a smidge, because I think it needs to be reversed. Leenas school district isn't doing buses for alot of routes thies year, due to budget cuts by the governor. (who, prior to her, we had no state debt, and now it's in the high billions, thanks lady) Anyway, no bus for Leena this year. Which caused he to be a smidge alte the first day. It was mayhem and pandamonium trying to get out of my development to go the .9 mile up from my house. We got there eventually, with alot of waiting and aggrivation. I'm hoping this really changes, and soon.

Leena really likes her teacher. We went on a orientation day to get her stuff dropped off and say hi to Mrs. Noel, she's been teaching for 35 years, and is a good teacher. So, I'm really looking forward to the school year with her because not only is she super nice, she's experienced and came across as very genuine and loving the kids, and her work, yay!

I found out that Leena talks to kids in her class, but has been eating her lunch alone, and playing on the playground alone. I was very saddened by hearing that. I know how sweet and loving and friendly she is, so it bugs me that she's too "shy" to go and say "hey! can I play or sit with you?". But, I did tell her that having friends is the easy part, sometimes making the friends can take a while, but it's possible!

We do have to put her to bed even earlier than her brother, if not at the same time. She cried at the dinner table the other night, that was our indication that 8pm was not early enough for her. So, she's in bed at 7:45, we get up at 7am. And are out the door at 7:45.

I hope she does well, I know she's a smartie!

Multiple Choice

Here is my "update".

I don't think many know, but if you could avoid telling my brothers and grandparents this news, much appreciated. I'll approach it here in a minute or so.

Mom and Leena went to Bermuda to visit my dad. They had a blast, Leena has learned to take on swimming and with a happy heart., She's had a water phobia for most of her life, so anything water related with her, usually resulted in tears. So, this is a HUGE break through. They got to ride a scooter around town, and most importantly, have fun time with "papa", my dad. Leena really really misses him, she's his little buddy. In fact, she's both of my parents little sidekick. Anyway, my mom went for a routine check up while she was there, it's how their insurance works. Mom can go to the Dr while she's in Bermuda, but it's allot harder and may not be covered while she's in the states. Anyway, she goes, and had a mole that was bugging her, she got it removed and tested....and was diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer. My dad has had skin cancer about 3 times or so, all non melanoma, so I don't think anyone of us saw this coming. It's in between the stage 2-3 of the cancer. It *can* be fatal. So, she's due to go to UW hospital in downtown Seattle in the coming weeks and we'll figure out what's going on. She'd had it removed, and it looks like she's been shot. She's going to have surgery, making the scar on her collar one, alot worse. It can be a fatal condition, but I'm not so much worried about that. Hillary and I will take turns taking care of her, we're trying tot be optimistic. I hope and think she'll be OK. It will always concern people cause you don't know the severity of it until later. We'll see.

Little Landon, 9.5 months!

I can't believe he's almost 10 months!! Where did the time go?!

I don't think I've written much about him since he was 6mos or so, shame on me!

He can now:
Get up on his hands and knees
Rock back and forth on his hands and knees
Grab, very well
YELL "DA DA DA DA DAAAAAAAA!" (He thinks it's so funny!)
Roates in many, many circles while on his tummy
Entertain himself for a long period of time with only 1 toy, or even just his binky.
Understand the phrase "be gentle!"
Put his bink in his mouth
Hold his own bottle, and put it in his mouth with no help (usually)

He LOVES:
Watching Leena play
Anything to do with Leena
Snuggling with Mommy before nap, or anytime at all
Listening to classical music
Watching/listening to people sing or play an instrument
Tickle with Dad
To play in his exersaucer, he's in it all the time
Cheerios, or any food product you put in his mouth
To get into anything that is in his pathway, particularly the bottom part of the coffee table.
To pet the dog, Kimmie....and rip out her fur.
To laugh at something that is new, never the same thing twice.
To smack his little hands on the ground, as hard as he can
To fake cough, it's so funny! Monkey see, monkey do!
Cry at bed/naptime. Espcially when Jeff and I leave the room. He stops after about 5 seconds though, that's nice. No guilt!
He loves his blankies and his binkies! Leena was a bottle kid, Landon is a blanket and binky kid, too cute! (for now)
And his MOST favorite thing of all, to stare at himself in mirror, he's just all smiles!


I can't believe he's still so small. He's 10ms on the 22nd, and he's still in some 3 and 6m clothing. 9mos, he looks like he's swimming in it. But, he doesn't have big parents, his percentile is always low, but this never concerns doctors when I say "my husband is an inch taller than me", they go "OOOH! Ok, he's fine then". He will down 8-12oz of baby food at dinner, but act disinterested in solids for breakfast or lunch. So, he makes up for it at dinner time. He's such a good little buddy to Leena. She's in Bermuda on vacation right now, visiting my dad, and has said the 2 things she misses right now, are the dog and her little brother. Aww.

We love our little constant babble-kins! He loves to scoot around the living room, it's hilarious because he can only go backwards, forward is overrated in his world. He's just a cue little blonde hair, blue eyed funny boy that we love to pieces!

I'm so glad people can't read my mind.

I was online today, looking at things and what not, and I don't know if I'm grumpy, or annoyed or what, but man. I'm so glad people I know, can't read my mind, because I'm pretty sure they'd think I was a very negative person.

Sure, I can be gracious and understanding, sympathetic and all of the stuff I've been told I have. But theres times where I'm brutally honest, good thing I only mumble it to myself when no one is around, or I'm pretty sure I'd lose a friend or two.

As I've gotten older, I find myself disgusted with some peoples decisions, of course I don't say anything.

I'm afraid one day, It's all going to come out, and I'm gonna get hell for having my own opinion. I guess that's why i should have a zipper installed on my mouth?

I know that my mom and I are very different people, and when I crack a joke, on rare occasion it will offend her. Or my terminology. Bad part is, I know if I said that same thing around family, I'd probably get the look of death and maybe even pulled aside by someone.

Hallelujah for filters and common sense!

It's finally happened...

Landon is 9 and a half months, and for the past 3 nights he has..




Slept the WHOLE night through!

At first, we woke up in the morning and would ask the other "did you get up with Landon" followed by a "no...did you?" and we were so stunned! On occasion he'll be so exhausted he will sleep the full 14 hours. But not 3 in a row! YAY! GO LANDON! He had a 5 hour nap yesterday (I had to go wake him up come 6:45pm)and slept for 12 hours last night. Out of 24 hours, he was asleep for 17 of them! Oh my gosh! Tired boy!

Heat Wave from HELL!

That was the thermostat in my car, about 15 min ago. We saw the forecast this week, and everyone kept saying "It needs to be hotter than 89!" It will be "cooling off" come thursday, yep, down to the upper 90's. Spare me!

It's about 103 outside right now, and I'm sure it's going to get hotter. Homes in WA DO NOT have AC in them, it doesn't make sense to when it's cold 8mos out of the year. (same reason why there are no sprinklers, because it rains SO much)

I think it's not quite 86 in my house. I have jeans and a t-shirt on. If my kids weren't here, I think I'd minimize it a bit more!

Poo on the people who wanted 100 plus degree weather, are you insane?!

Tests of life and beyond

So many "sad" or even "bad" things have happened.

A good family friend, that lives next my parents was diagnosed with cancer. Another friend of my moms passed away from cancer last week.

Recently, I've found myself annoyed with everyone saying "live each day like it's your last". Really? Honestly, If I KNEW when I was going to leave this place, I'd make dinner, watch a movie, cuddle with one child in each arm, kiss them good night, and go to sleep. Is that just me? But, I can see why certain people would say to do that, but I choose to live everday, normally.

I don't think everythings really hit me. I just know, and feel like everyones patience is being tried, tested, and questioned. But, everyones rooting for each other and coming together unbelieveably well. Interesting how a horrible illness, will pull people together. I'm glad it can do that, vs tear people apart. I'm hoping he does well, he's helped me out many times, and has been very good to my mom, while my dad is gone.

On a happier note, after we moved to Puyallup, with all the chaos, my diet did NOT change, but I somehow managed to gain a bunch of weight. Not a ton by normal standards, but enough to where I don't like it. So, we have our gym membership FINALLY set up, that literally costs us nothing, and I'll be aiming to get to 105. Go me, and I hope it freakin' works.

Patriotism

I was doing my hair this morning, and was remembering about the 2 reporters that somehow are stuck in North Korea, and are in prison because they're american.

About a month ago, while Jeff and I were in Hawaii, we went to Honoulu, and ventured the ground of the Punchbowl. Which is a national monument of the fallen in pretty much every war, (minus the really old ones like civil) america has faught in. It's the most overwhelming place because it's name, after name, war after war. grave upon grave. Hundreds if not thousands of names are there. It makes you feel appreciative while you're there.

We came home, Jeff went back to work, recruiting. And as I thought about those reporters this morning, it dawned on me. So many people go off about how dumb this country is, how dumb those reporters were to cross the border. (which, wasn't wise of them, I'll say that, they knew it was a communist country)And how this country has SO many problems and how people are going to go to Canada and live there because they hate the US.

By all means, go. Get out of here. I don't know about you, but in US history, we were taught how people faught and died for freedom. It isn't free. It never has. It not only costs billions of dollars, but it costs lives. Be proud that we have the rights that we have, we have the right to worship as we please, say what we want and usually not get in official trouble for it. We can live and drive what we want. So many LITTLE things, that if those people hadn't faught to the death for, we wouldn't have.

My mom is very patriotic, and so is my grandmother. I appreciate it now, because the more I think about it, they're right. Be proud to be an american, we live in the best place possible. SO many people want to live here and are envious of our lifestyle and our "freedoms" that we have. I'm happy my husband is in the military, and it makes me smile when fellow americans stop us while he's in uniform, and thank him for his service. It's not for everyone. My grandfathers were both in the navy during WWII. I an ever so grateful now for that. They're the one being seperated from the wives, children, family, friends, so we can live a normal life. They do things we wouldn't even dream, so we can live in the place that we live.

BE GRATEFUL! Go buy a magetic american flag, and stick it on your car. Be proud, and stay proud, count your blessings that you were born here and not in a place like Somalia where hundreds are murdered daily, and there is no food, no water, no health care. And AIDS is a big killer of everyone there, next to the murders.

Blare Bruce Springsteen today in the car, and sing along to "born in the USA", thanks Bruce for that song, and thanks to my for fathers on the currency I use, without you all, I wouldn't be here, nor would my family.

In the words of a song that my grandma loves "I'm proud to be an american, where at least I now I'm free".

And Jeff, be happy that you got into the Navy, and that you have a steady job, and it compensates you so well. Had you not joined and served, you NEVER would have met me and Leena, and Landon wouldn't exist. Stand more proudly, please!

4th of July festivites.

Jeff in our backyard with Landon....one of the few years it DID NOT RAIN HERE!! (it always rains on the 4th up here in WA)


This is our friend Tristan...he and Jeff used to be on the same ship together. Tristan has about 6-7 months left in the Navy, then I'm pretty sure he's moving back to San Jose, CA (home) He was lighting off a roman candle when I took this, it just looks cool.


Missing Leena in this....prior to Jeffs dad telling us he was going to be in town, we'd arranged for my mom to have her for about 5-6 days, so she could see all her other family on her dads side, as well as my mom, who misses her dearly. My phone looks retarded sticking out of my pocket...oh well.




The neighborhood fireworks we lit off, Landon was in LOVE and AWE with them. Even with the huge obnoxious noises, he didn't even flinch!! He's such a BOY!


Ground flower going at the same time as a mortar....mortars used to be the hardest things to find! Now, with how accessible they were this year, I'm thinking that either in this county, they're legal, OR, they've been legalized...granted we did light the neighbors lawn on fire with one (they're in TX til August) and it blew up only aout 10-12ft in the air....oops! We've since returned the fire favor with watering their lawn, it's pretty much the biggest fire hazard you've seen, ever. (people don't have sprinklers up here....WE do, but that's it out of all our street)


Who needed to watch the Seattle show, we had our own going on in our neighborhood! (it's massive housing where we live)

All in all, it was fun. Jeffs dad and step-mom came from ID. I think they had fun, at least I hope they did! I think next year, we'll have to put on a even bigger show.

There's a reason we call her "Angel-Leena"

The other day Landon was cranky, Leena was bored to death, and any idea that I had for an activity during the day, got vetoed.

The day strolled by with ease, at least while Landon took a nap. He's getting his top teethers in and can be rather a cranky pants.

Come dinner time, with my son awake, my daughter running around outside, yelling "mommy!!" every 2 seconds it seems, I was getting worn out. Then, I get teh "I'm on my way home, what's for dinner" call from Jeff. I start to scramble to make a nice dinner, and get it on the table by the time he's home. All the while, keeping my worn side, as well as flustered, to myself.

After diner was done, Landon had been fed, but this wasn't enough to not keep him from fussing. I was tending to him whie I cleaned up the kitchen while it seemed like my husband and daughter, had left the building. They came back in and could clearly tell how frustrated I was. I somewhat angrily blurted out "can someone please just stop and help clean up! I made dinner, it would be nice if someone else helped clean up besides me, I do it ALL day long!" I'm sure I didn't sound as it seems, but I was making a point that I definately wanted help for a few minutes.

Then, Leena comes up to my waist, looks me in the eye and she goes "How can I make you un-stressed mommy?" Magic to my ears!! She's such a doll! I found myself more tha pleased with what she had just asked. I said "can you clear your place please, and then I'll tell you what to do after?" and she cheerfully said "of course mommy!" she did exactly that, and then came up to me and again and said "ok momma, what else can I do to help you out?" Jeff did not tell her to do any of this. That is simply her nature. This is a child that WANTS to do chores, because she is bored.

Thank you Leena for being the best little girl, ever!

I'm feeling rather content that I have such an amazing and impressive child. She really is a rare gem, really.

Our house, in the middle of the street.

A couple weekends ago..ok, maybe 2 or so? I saw some weird ad online and thought "this can't be right"..and what did I do?

I clicked on it. Yup indeed, it was right. It was an ad for granite being solde at $10 a sq ft vs the $75 it's usually retailed for. I've seen it as "cheap" as $59ft before too. But, there had to be a catch...the address was up in Kent. So, I jotted it down, and showed Jeff, and told him I just wanted to see what was there. He agreed, and we got in the car and drove up to kent to see why the "granite" was so cheap. It was just a liquidation sale was all it was. It was almost like a warehouse lot full of everything from onyx, to marble, to granite, you name it. It was was there.

Now, our downstairs powder room, is a step or 4 above a jail cell. It has nice lighting in it, it came that way, but it's rather small. and it has NO cabinets or storage or anything like that. We found this amazingly cool piece of granite, and like the ad said, it was $10 a sq ft, which retailed basically to $1 per pound. We bough the whole slab, as that was part of the "fine print". It's a 26" x 66" piece of black granite with cool blue colors in it and stuff. We want the same stuff for our kitchen eventually. The whole slab, cost us, a whopping......ready? $160 bucks! You can't get it cheaper than that. So now, we're giving the measurements to get it fabricated and are in the midst of finding a vanity. That's been the tough part because the measurements are funky. our bathroom is 38.5"(back part) x 26"(sides) so needless to say, we pretty much need a custom cabinet for that. Which...is nice...but those cost more than they really should, espcially for such a small space. So, we've been doing our homework, and have come across a few potentials. I'm just really excited because we're going to take teh "tropical/ Hawaii" theme we have in our main entry room, and into the bathroom. It's going to be so neato! eek!

You'd think I'd be tired of decorating my house by now. Honestly, I totally am, but I've yet to do any of the bathrooms. I think by the time we sell this place, it'll be pretty sweet and get all of our investments back if not double. All the bathrooms will have granite, and the master shower will have been extended out. ooooooh. Expensive, but worth it all!

The Big 2-8, it's here already!

I turned 28 a couple days ago, on Friday to be precise. And last year, I didn't do anything, literally. It sucked because Jeff was out to sea, and I was pregnant with Landon, and it was mid-week, so none of my friends could com over.

I started off the day at 6am with an email from my dad, he was very sweet, thanks daddy! I wasn't sure what to do that day, really. But then, Jeff stayed past 8am, which indicated he was either running late, or not going in to work. Turns out he took the morning off, and just needed to be at work at 11:30am. He offered to make me breakfast, I just told him I wanted my blueberry waffles, in the freezer, ha. He assembled my breakfast and hung out with me and the kids for the morning as we went grocery shopping and at the end, he had to leave to go to work.

Took the kids home, and just hung out with them for a while. Then, come 3:45pm, we had to pack up and take Leena up to Kent, which is about 30 min N of me, to meet up with Leenas dad so he could have her until today, Jeff will go get her at 11:30. I came home from dropping off Leena and it took forever, the south end is notorious for traffic. I spend a couple hours in it a week, and I don't even go that far! Came home, put Landon down for a nap, as he was screaming for the last 15-20 min of the drive, it was awful. And we had a dinner party, with a couple of Jeffs friends, I have crappy friends when it comes to RSVP'ing, it really irkes me, but to each their own. I will ALWAYS RSVP to people! And we played games, it was alot of fun. They played monopoly as I cooked dinner, (which was a hit, woo!) and as dinner was done, we played "the game of things", which by the end, people were in tears they were crying so hard, it was that funny! I would highly reccomend it! I think the only place you can find it as target, and it's well worth the money cause it's so funny!

Believe it or not, due to a dead camera, there we NO pictures taken! Yikes! Oops, I'll have to be sure to charge it.

Jeff got me a new jewelry box, you should see my current one. it's totally packed cause there is no room. I've taken a liking to bracelts...ha.

Overall, it was nice and honestly, a bit better than I anticipated. Jeffs birthday is coming up, so this should be fun!

Only in dreams....literally.

I wish I could refer to the weezer song "only in dreams", but that wouldn't make too much sense by the time I'm done.

I tend to have the most far out, fairly unusualy, and flat out just messed up dreams, one can have. Yet, I'm by far, the most normal person. I will admit, my dream bothered me.

So, here goes nothing. In short, my dream took place at a place where all of Jeffs district of the Navy people were taking group photos, and having a full dinner with the RD (recruiting district). So, you'd assume I was sitting next to Jeff, having dinner. Nope. After somehow going to this dinner, via belgium, (i'm not kidding) I have a guy I dated off and on for a while sitting in front of me, his son to the left, the girl that I didn't ever like (because she heckled me in a way, constantly, in real life) to my left, and my ex husband to my right...WHAT THE?! And Leenas dad was there because we were doing a Leena swap, yet, no Leena. And there was a hispanic lady with a newborn little girl, that I have never seen before in my life, I have no idea who she is. And she ended up picking up Leena for me, and I watched her daughter. So weird. The ending was tragic in a sense. What had happened at the end was totally, just, off. All these people in a house, had died. But they died because they'd been exposed to a very low soundwave, but over time, it took a toll on their body. And it killed them. Some were my extended family members. WEIRD! One person died because the sound wave severed a main artery in his ear, and caused kidney failure. ODD!

We could sit back an analuze every last bit of this, but we'd be here all day. Just had to share because the kidney failure part, woke me up at 6am. The one time Landon sleeps past 5:59am, I'm awake. Just my luck.

Healthy babies

I was watching Oprah today, I usually forget she's even on the air. But today, I'm pretty sure it was a re-run, but I'm VERY glad I watched it. They had kids on there that I was amazed by, I'm glad Oprah does shows like this, it shows that not everyone's perfect,a nd some things, really do need other peoples attention. With that being said, the last segment of the show, was about a little baby boy, named Eliot. He was supposed to be born dead, due to a severe birth defect. Or multiple, rather.

Here is the video



I was crying my eyes out at the end, and so was Oprah and Celine Dion. I think it helped that the parents were so positive about all of it, and felt very strongly, they'd see their son again. I sat here on the couch, my squirmy Landon on my lap, he saw my tears, and just cuddled up with me for 5 minutes. He's so precious like that. I will never take his health for granted, I'm so blessed to have healthy kids.

Hawaiian Vacation '09

(outside the rental, it was across the street from the beach, about a 6 second walk)

About a month ago, 2 of my friends were going to the Hawaiian islands. Different islands, bt they had both told me, go out there when we're there go, go, go! So, Jeff and I looked up airfare, and it was ridiculously cheap. We couldn't go at the same time as my friends, but we decided, the end of May is probably a good idea. So, we booked our airfare, car rental, vacation rental and packed up and went to Hawaii! We went to the North Shore of Oahu, that's our favorite place. Get away from all the touristy stuff of Honolulu and Waikiki. Which, are good one day things, but only one day. It's almost mayhem.

Jeff had still a partially injured ankle from his car accident last month, but so long as he came home each night, and iced it and wrapped it up, he was free to play as he liked, the next day.

We did the one afternoon in Waikiki thing. Jeffs old ship he was on, the Stennis, happened to be in port while we were there. And, there was a leak on the ship, so they were delayed and we saw people we usually wouldn't see during and probably after deployment.

As I;m trying to write this out, I'm oddly drawing a blank after only being home from the vacation, 2-3 days. Either way, we baked in the heat and the sun, got sunburned, but loved it!


We saw this, and it was a homeless persons tropical, oceanfront shelter. You can see their stuff off to the right. I didn't want to climb in it..


I LOVE this one! You can see the blue dancing across the top of the water. This is Shark's cove, across the street.





my new favorite picture of Jeff. He's half floating, half sinking.


We got an underwater camera, and we totally love it!


a fishy


This is at the tip top part of Oahu, it was all unpaved dirt roads, you don't get any higher up than this place! It was pretty cool up there.


Jeff and his friend Crystal. She's on the currently deployed Stennis. She worked with him the nuclear reactor dept.


In the warm water. Cold sand though!


Our old roomie, DanDan....or, just Dan. He's from Maui actually.


The Stennis, not a very good photo, but I'll be back to edit this more when I don't have so much to do!

All in all, the beaches were fabulous, we had a good time, we like the new color of our skin, but most of all, we were soooo happy to come home to excited little kiddies! I got really anxious towards the end of it, I just missed my baby, and girl. I think we'll take the kids next time :)