Deal Family Inc

Post-Triathlon

2011-12-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

In Kerrville, after Isabelle's triathlon we decided to get breakfast so we went into a little cafe. Ordering our food came with the usual questions; what side do you want with that, etc. and finally the waitress came to Abby.

Abby: I want eggs and pancakes.

Server: And how do you want your eggs, sweetie?

Abby: Ummm, cooked.

The entire cafe heard and she was a big hit!

My Funny Kids

2011-11-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

Fred: So Abby, are you happy that Mikkel is marrying Lise?

Abby: Yes... but I don't think I want to see all that kissing.

Daniel: Mommy, my leg hoats (hurts) right here by my knee. I think it must be a bunion...

Saturday Funnies

2011-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Daniel: Mom, tan us play in the spwintlowes? (sprinklers)

Me: No

Daniel: Why? Tuz it's Towesday? (Thursday)

Jacob: I really want to meet H-E-B Buddy (H-E-Buddy is the local grocery store's "mascot")

Isabelle: I got to see him the other day.

Jacob: How does he spend all his days? Maybe he's retired...

Conversations with Daniel

2011-10-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

Daniel - Papa, you should nevo eat haio. (never eat hair)

Papa - Why?

Daniel - Betuz! it's not healfy!

Daniel (to himself after going potty) - Oh no, my penis is not modest... betuz it is naked. I should make it modest and get dressed...

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2011-09-26T20:55:00.001-07:00

Conversation at dinner today...

Jacob: Mom, Santa isn't real is he.

Me: What do you think?

Abby: Santa is TOTALLY real!

Jacob: Oh yeah, then why do we get presents from other people too?

Me: Jacob, you gave me a present for Christmas... That doesn't mean Santa's not real.

Daniel: SANTA IS WEEL... AND I LOVE THE TOWN BETUZ THAT'S WHEOW HE TUMS!!!

Jacob: I don't know, maybe he is real...

Fun

2011-09-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Daniel: (snuggling up on my lap) Mommy, why do you need tids? (kids - he "fronts his sounds so 'k' and 'g' sound like 't' and 'd')

Me: Well... ... ... because I wanted to have a family to love and care for. To have that, I needed to have kids.

Daniel: But, tids don't mate sense.

Me: (thinking - Oh don't you know it!)

Daniel: Being a tid is fun!

More Pictures

2011-08-31T14:07:00.001-07:00

The next Wolverine...
Clothespinning at H-E-BNap time!
Abby left a surprise in our shower...

Photos

2011-08-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Jacob lost a few teeth...

8/23/10
Abby, wearing her 'short-sleeved pants'

8/31/11
First day of school - 2nd grade - 8/22/11
First day of school - Kindergarten - 8/22/11
Graduation day! 6/7/11

School Days

2011-08-31T13:34:00.000-07:00

Me: Hey Abby, how was school today?

Abby: REALLY great.

Me: Why?

Abby: Because we found out that the gingerbread man is REAL!

Jacob: No he isn't, it's just Mr Taylor in a costume!

Abby: No! He isn't big, he's kinda little!

Jacob: Well, then he's just a kid in a costume!

Abby: No! Because he doesn't have any hair... just crumbs!

Jacob: Well, then he's just a kid in a crumby costume!

Later...

Abby: Mom, we had a fire drill today. But it wasn't real, it was just for practice. If there was a real fire we would just run around the room screaming.

Still later...

Abby: We got to watch a movie today on that paper tv that you pull down from the ceiling with a string. We should get a paper tv someday.

"Tyuteness"

2011-08-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Daniel: (while brushing my hair) Mommy, we need to covo up yous eaows (cover up your ears)

Me: Why?

Daniel: Betuz, nobody likes eaows. Etcept mine... mine awe tyute!

Jacob's Business Plan

2011-08-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Jacob: Mom, I want to get on an airplane and go visit AnneMarie.

Me: How are we going to pay for that?

Jacob: Well, we could go up in the attic and get all our stuff from the past and sell it in a garage sale.

Me: We don't have anything 'from the past' in our attic.

Abby: What?!? Well, what are attics for then???

Mikkel and Lise - December 21, 2011

2011-08-16T16:44:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm sure everyone knows by now that Mikkel is engaged.

A little about her:

Lise Gorman (pronounced 'Lisa') and Mikkel have known each other since the first Wednesday we moved to Texas. They were about 14 when they met at mutual and she saw something in him right away. He, of course, was gloomy and angry all the time (what 14 year old boy isn't?) and wasn't interested in Texas girls... he wanted to go back to Arizona.

Her dad is currently the bishop of our previous ward (we've lived in only 1 home but will soon be placed in our 3rd ward... the church is growing out here!) and her mom is super-talented and amazing!

She's the oldest of 5 kids and is perfect for Mikkel! She challenges him in all the right ways and he calms her in all the right ways. We've always loved her and her family.

She is an Applied Mathematics major at BYU-I and is currently thinking about becoming an actuary. She's super smart and very spiritual... have I mentioned how much we love her?!?

They wrote each other a little on his mission but weren't any more than friends. When he got home, she was still away at school so they started talking, skyping, texting, etc. and soon things started to grow. On her birthday, he took her to breakfast and popped the question. She's getting ready to go back to school in a few weeks and will be home just in time for their December 21 wedding!

Have I mentioned how awesome she is?

Can't wait for this new chapter!

Hahahaha!

2011-08-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

Jacob: (to Mikkel) Did you ask mom if you could kiss Lise?!?

Mikkel: Uuhhh, no?

Jacob: I'm gonna tell on you, you're supposed to ask mom first!

Magic!

2011-07-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Me: Daniel, why did you pee your pants?!?

Daniel: It wasn't me!

Me: Well, if you didn't pee your pants, who did?

Daniel: Weeelll, maybe they're magic pants!

Things My Kids Say...

2011-06-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

Daniel: "Mommy this clock says that I can't go to bed because I don't know how to sleep."

Daniel: "Mommy, I got sick betuz I have dust mites in my body, and they make me tof. (cough)"

Daniel: "My fwoat hoats (throat hurts) when I swallow *swallows*... see?"

Abigail: *singing* "You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out... and you shake it all about, you do the hokey smokey and you turn yourself about..."

Mikkel: "Abby, what are you going to make me for dinner?"

Abigail: "I can't make you dinner because mom won't let me cook on a leftover flame!" (we have a gas oven and I told her she couldn't cook over an open flame)

Abigail: "Mom! Daniel's coloring with a pregnant marker!"

For the Men in My Life - Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

One night last week at girls camp, our bishop came up and taught an amazing lesson. He spoke about men of honor.

First he asked us what we thought it meant to be a man of honor. Among the answers were: chivalrous, hard-working, someone who desires to use his priesthood wisely, loving, kind, brave, someone who aspires to be a great husband and father... and the list went on. He then spoke about how we as women can inspire the men in our lives to be men of honor - basically by being women of honor.

As he was speaking, I started thinking about the men in my life; a dad who taught me all about how a man should be, is a great example to my family and others, a man who sacrificed so much to be there for me - always - I don't remember a single performance he didn't attend, taught me how to work, who loves me and is pleased with the woman I have become. A son who served an honorable mission; putting off school, girls, friends and being able to make money for two years so he could share the gospel with people in Mexico, who was a great example to the rest of my kids and all he knows. A father-in-law who was willing to listen to 2 young men, was brave enough to become the first in his family to join the church and raised my husband to be an honorable man. Brothers-in-law who, living or not, inspire me to be a better, kinder person.

And, of course a husband who tries so hard to be a great husband and father, works many hours to provide so well for my family, puts up with a CRAZY wife (sometimes, at least), fulfills his callings with so much preparation, prayer and true concern for those he teaches, studies how to be a better father and works to implement all the principles he learns, who will get up in the middle of the night and give one of our children, or someone else's sick or injured child, a priesthood blessing, who loves the crazy life we have and wakes up every morning ready for a new adventure, who is an amazing handyman and saves our family tons by being tenacious enough to fix things around the house/cars - even when he doesn't know how (he buys a book or looks it up on the internet and learns), a man who knows the Lord loves us and trusts in Him - even when things are scary or hard, who sometimes doesn't get appreciated enough - at work or at home, a man who is perfect for me in every way.

To all the men in my life:

Thank you for being a part of me - whichever way you are - thanks. You've helped me want to be a woman of honor and continue to show me, and my children how to be a man of honor.

Pictures

2011-05-15T14:54:00.001-07:00

Putting the finishing touches on Maverick's duct tape zoot suit.

Almost ready.

Walking out the door.
The boys in their Missionary poses. Abby just being darn cute.

Mikkel's post-mission facial hair - look REAL close, use a magnifying glass if necessary, you'll see it!

Isabelle and Matt at band banquet.

Two Months of Updates

2011-05-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Since Mikkel got home, I've had very little time on the computer but when a few people asked me why I hadn't written in a while (people that I didn't even know read my blog!) I decided it was time to assert myself and kick him off the computer for a while.

I decided that his homecoming deserved it's own post but now I'll just fill everything else in.

Mikkel: He got home too late to apply for fall semester. I was trying to get his application in on time but kept running into problems trying to get transcripts/SAT's (maybe it was meant to be). One of the first things he did was apply for winter semester at BYU and BYU-I. He's been accepted to BYU-I but won't find out about BYU until early November. He's confirmed with Idaho so for now he can get housing, etc situated in Rexburg. If he gets accepted to BYU, he'll have to make a decision but won't worry about it now.

It took a month but he finally found a job at TGIFriday's. He's currently a host but has been told that he'll be trained as a server very soon. He's looking for a second job, he figures he's used to working 60 hours a week so it won't seem like too much. Plus - he needs to pay for school!

Isabelle: She got accepted to BYU. After much prayer and fasting, she decided to go to BYU-I. She's majoring in music and will probably focus a lot of her other classes on farm animal-type studies. She's rooming with a great friend who is a junior there and will be a big help getting her college life figured out.

She made duct tape clothes with a friend for prom and they're hoping to win a scholarship through the 'Duck Tape Stuck at Prom' contest. Their picture will be on the website soon and you can go on to vote for her and her date. The couple with the most votes win a $15,000 prize to be split evenly between themselves and their high school.

During duct-tape-dress-making, she was in water polo regionals in which her team took 3rd place. This also took them to the state tournament in Houston where they took 13th. The O'Connor girls team decided to take that opportunity to dye their hair neon pink. She had a stripe right in front and one half-way back. It did look pretty cool, but the school won't allow any "un-natural" hair color... pretty sure that includes pink. So, after several days of wearing a hat during passing periods (her teachers don't care - only the administrators) she decided it was too hot (we did have temps in the 90's that week) and dyed it back.

She's been busy with Jazz festivals and competitions too. Her teacher discovered that she can also sing so she's become a big part of their show. She went to the band awards banquet and won the award for Best Female Jazz Performer. The band banquet is fancier than prom so we re-worked an immodest dress and she was able to wear it that night and also last night at Mormon Prom.

Jacob: He's been taking private swim lessons and has confidence in the water now! He has a great coach that he really looks up to - apparently that was all he needed. He's been swimming since his second class! He has been spending the last two weeks exercising so he can be ready for second grade... I have no idea where that came from!

Abigail: She's also taking swimming from the same coach. She's not quite as coordinated in the water as I expected, but she's fearless and is doing great. She's counting the minutes until Kindergarten. She's also exercising to be ready for school...

Daniel: He's taking swim lessons from a different coach and just has her wrapped around his finger. She loves his personality and assertiveness, I don't know what he does or says but I see him making her laugh - a lot! He started up again with speech therapy at the elementary school so we get to see Jacob on his way to lunch all the time now. He's doing well but I have to admit I'll be so sad when he actually starts to say "Okay, Mommy" instead of "Otay, Mommy".

So, there's our previous two months - in a nutshell. I'll post pictures soon.

Mikkel's Homecoming

2011-05-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

March 10, 2011 - we got up EARLY to drive out to Houston and pick up Mikkel. We drove there because his original itinerary had him on layover in Houston for 3 hours and he asked if there was a way we could just come get him there. It's a 3-4 hour drive each way so we'd get home about the same time as he would have flown in and he just wanted to see his family - I know the feeling!

So, we got on the road around 6am, his flight was scheduled for arrival at 10:10am. Along the way I would check out flight tracker to show the kids about where his plane was. I also had the airline website queued up so we could keep an eye on it.

Early on, the airline said the plane was leaving late and would be into Houston at 10:30am so we stopped to get some egg mcmuffins to hold us over until lunch. Each time I checked the website, the same information kept popping up. That is, until we were about 30 minutes away and suddenly... the flight was scheduled to be in at 10am. It was now about 9:50. I kept praying that he would be detained in customs (not for long, just 20 minutes was all) so we would be there to meet him instead of him waiting for us on the curb. Flashbacks of "The RM" were racing through my head.

We drove up to the terminal and Fred said "just hop out, I'll park and meet you there". So we did - except it was the wrong terminal... luckily though the right terminal was connected to the one we were in so it was just a little longer run to get there in time (and believe me, we were running!)

Just as we made it into the lobby area where we were told to go, I was searching to see if he was sitting around, waiting for us when Isabelle yelled out "Mom, there he is!" I looked to my left and he was just strolling out of customs (where he was not detained) and through the doors to us. Of course, I yelled out "Mikkel!" (at the top of my lungs which got everyone's attention) and ran to him. He barely could put his bags down before I hugged him so tight he probably thought I'd suffocate him.

Isabelle was the designated photographer but got caught up in the mood so we didn't get too many there in the airport but here are a few of the good ones:

These are the soccer jerseys he bought everyone.

So, after all that commotion Fred and I got in touch with each other and he was still looking for a parking space. I told him to just come pick us up since we were done there anyway. It was a little crazy and I have to say I'm grateful for smart phones... we had so much more information at our fingertips because of those! Of course, we probably wouldn't have stopped at McDonalds without that information too... Oh well, it all worked out and we were so excited to see him that nothing else mattered anyway!

After we got home, we had some friends come over for hot fudge brownie sundaes - his "first request meal" and then went to see the Stake President who then released him from his full-time mission. Here we are just before we went to the church - he's wearing a tie he discovered in the MTC that was made out of pajama pants:
By the way, he didn't wear that tie to meet with the Stake President.

2011-02-21T13:56:00.000-08:00

Daniel - Mom... mom... mom... SISTER DEAL!

That got my attention!

College-Bound

2011-02-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

Isabelle got an email from BYU-CES today. She got into BYU-I! This is her first choice so she's thrilled. We're still waiting to hear from BYU, but since they don't have the right animal science program, she prefers Idaho.

She had chosen Colorado State but she decided one day that instead of majoring in Equine Science she should major in Music and minor in Animal Science. Also, CSU would be about $38,000 per year versus BYU ~$12,000 and BYU-I ~$7,000 per year. We all like those numbers better!

Update on Isabelle's Hand

2011-02-07T21:34:00.001-08:00

Well, I took Isabelle to the doctor and just to be sure they x-rayed her hand. Just as we thought, it's soft-tissue damage (yippee!) and she told Isabelle to ice it, take ibuprofen and keep it braced (pretty much what I told her to do but since the doctor said it, she'll actually do it now). Anyway, she's missed 2 piano lessons and has had to practice only with her left hand for a while - BUT - she's feeling much better and has started playing both-handed again. She says she can tell before she overdoes it that she needs to stop so that's nice. Usually you don't know until you've overdone it and it's too late!

So, she played in the jazz festival at Texas State University and did an awesome job. I didn't go because Daniel is sick, but Fred said our band sounded amazing and she solo-ed (is that even a word?) perfectly! She will be able to do all she needs to in the next few months after all. Now, I just hope she makes it through water polo season uninjured!

Snow Day

2011-02-06T09:14:00.001-08:00

This is what we woke up to on Friday morning. I'll walk you through our morning.

5am - Jacob wakes up with leg pains (growing pains can be so awful!). I give him tylenol and send him back to bed. I check NISD website to check for school closures (sleet had started falling last night so I figured there might be news on that).

5:30am - Just as I'm sleeping the computer (yes, school is closed, no seminary... I can go back to sleep and doze late today - yippee!), Daniel wakes up and wants breakfast. Dozing plans trashed...

We look out the window to see this:

Just to document the occasion:

Continued...

Snow Day 2

2011-02-06T08:51:00.001-08:00

6am - Fred leaves for work (having checked to see if his big meeting had been rescheduled... no, it hadn't)

7am - the kids are up, dressed, fed... we go out to play! Daniel isn't so sure about this cold. I'm thinking he'll be one of those people who lives in the tropics all his life.

The goat comes out for a walk... she needs some exercise after being stuck in a pen in the garage for 3 days of sub-freezing temps.

Daniel still isn't so sure about the cold, but trying to have a good attitude about it all...

8am - The girls decide to build a snowman. We have to pull out the shovel (just a regular garden shovel... we don't have snow gear here) and pile up snow so they can get enough to do it.
Continued...

Snow Day 3

2011-02-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

8:30am - Here's our finished product! The snow was nice for skiing... very powdery... not so good for snowmen. It took a while and a few tries to get it done.
The kids with our snowman. Yep, he's tiny... Hey, this is Texas - we only got about 1/2 inch sticking on the ground!
Here are all the kids from the cul-de-sac who braved the early hour and came out to play. Some of the kids actually slept in on this snow day (my original plan - thwarted )
Duchess came out again... didn't like the cold, slippery snow at all.
But she warmed up to it - sort of.
No picture here, but at nine-ish Fred came home because at about 6:20 (after he checked for meeting changes and left for work), the meeting was rescheduled for another day. Isabelle promptly hit him with snowballs.

Primary Lesson

2011-01-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

The kids tell me what they learned in Primary each Sunday on the way home from church. Today, this is what Abby had to say:

"Joseph Smiff went in the forest to pray and then it got really dark. He prayed to get him out of there. Then he asked Heavenly Father and Jesus which church to go to and they said 'the white one, where Abby goes' "

Isabelle

2011-01-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

Fred's birthday was Sunday and so to celebrate, Isabelle got a speeding ticket. The good news is that she can take a class to get it taken off her record, of course - when she will take said class I have no idea! The bad news is that because we just got another car, she's the primary driver of one of the three and that means our insurance just went up by $34 per month... bummer. All this just in time for us to add Mikkel back on to our insurance which will mean another $? per month. Fun. :)

Also, she was shearing and bathing her goat on Sunday night (to get ready for the "BIG" show today) and he stepped on her hand. He weighs 105 lbs. and just slammed his foot down as hard as he could. It's swollen and really hurts. In fact, she couldn't even show him today. She had to ask someone to do it for her. Even so, he took 9th place (out of 18) so he made the sale and she'll get some money out of it - hopefully.

The injured hand is a problem because it's time for all the jazz festivals and competitions. She's supposed to be accompanying 2 people for their solo competitions in less than a month. She's also IN said competition herself. There are also several state and regional ensemble competitions she's supposed to be in soon. I have no doubt her hand will heal in time for these... it's just that it won't heal in time to practice for them. For now I have her braced up, icing it and taking ibuprofen and tylenol. She's seeing the doctor tomorrow. I just hope she doesn't need to get a cast, that would end her piano career for the next 2 months for sure. This is also at the time when she needs to be auditioning for the music program at BYU (as soon as she's accepted). Crossing my fingers!

Funny Kids

2011-01-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

Abby: "Mommy, when I grow up I want to work at the BuyMore and you can take me there."

Jacob: "Abby, she will be old then."

Abby: "Well, some old people know how to drive!"

Just a side note... my kids LOVE Chuck. We've invested in the first three seasons on DVD (thinking Mikkel would probably like it and it would be a good intro back into real life for him) and they ask to watch it quite often. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch it - it's on Monday nights at 7 on NBC.

The Pledge of the Legions

2011-01-20T21:30:00.000-08:00

Abby:

I pledge the legions to the president and for the plublance for witches belongs. To infinity and beyond. Invisible with liver trees and Justin Bieber for all.

2011-01-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

I just happened upon this video taken of Daniel (probably around 18 months ago). He discovered a metal bowl and was having a grand time.

Reverently, Quietly...

2011-01-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

I try to keep our kids reverent - well, at least quiet - during church, so I made a book with different laminated pictures from the LDS distribution center. Abby was looking at it today.

"Here's Jesus talking to Mary after He was resurrected."

"Here's Jesus and the children."

"Oh, and here's the snow white temple!"

For All You 'Chuck' Fans

2011-01-15T18:14:00.001-08:00

On the way to pick up Fred from work

Abby: "Mommy, does Daddy work at the BuyMore?"

Later

Abby: "Mommy, can we go to the BuyMore where Daddy works and get some cheeseballs?"

Even later

Jacob: "Abby, Chuck isn't real, like a cartoon. Only it's for grownups."

Mikkel Edward Deal - 11 January 1990

2011-01-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to my first-born. Mikkel, you are one of the apples of my eye (I have five others, you know). I remember how badly I wanted you to join our family... until labor really got going and the pain got so bad, I decided I didn't want a baby anymore. Dad kept reminding me how happy I was to have a baby until I finally yelled "Well, I changed my mind!". Then, of course, the epidural kicked in and I remembered that yes, I truly was excited for you to be a part of our lives.

I thought I knew a lot about caring for babies. I was more prepared than your average first-time parent, but no matter how many foster babies we had it was not the same as being the only mom 24/7. I made lots of mistakes and you have definitely been our "guinea pig" child. I'm very impressed how you've survived and sometimes even flourished despite all the things we've had to learn on the job.

I'm so pleased with the man you've become. You're a great example to everyone around you, even to people you don't know. Every chance I get I'm telling anyone who'll listen about your mission and all that's involved. I know you don't think it's a big deal but there really aren't too many people who are willing to take two years away from their lives and dedicate themselves completely to the Lord's work. Even people who are older and have no kids at home, no debt and plenty of time/money have a very hard time making the commitment you've so willingly made.

Being a parent is truly not for wimps... there are times I've felt completely unprepared and the wrong one for this job; but it's all worth it and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you and can't wait to hold you in my arms again in just 58 more days.

I hope you've had a great birthday and many more to come.

2011-01-09T17:10:00.000-08:00

Abby - "Can I have some of your caffeine?"

AnneMarie - (drinking some coke) "No, it's mine."

Daniel - "IT'S NOT CAFFEINE, ABBY! IT'S SODA!!"

Abby - "AnneMarie, can I have some of your caffeine?"

AnneMarie - "No."

Abby - (Hands on hips and looking very annoyed) "I hate water! I need caffeine!"

Jumping on the Trampoline

2010-12-27T12:31:00.001-08:00

Carson, Jacob and Abigail 12/27/10

Daniel 12/27/10

And Jack Handey is His Hero...

2010-12-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

While trying to organize, I came across a project Mikkel had to do his senior year in high school. He had to talk about his future plans, give himself advice, talk about something he's learned and give advice to freshmen.

Here are some of the things he wrote (this is word for word, without any corrections for grammar or punctuation):

I plan on getting married to the woman I will spend the rest of my life with. This has always been something I have wanted, since before I even liked girls. I knew I would get married to one so it's only natural that I would include one in my future plans.

If I could give advice to any freshman it would be this, STOP MAKING OUT IN FRONT OF THE WORLD!! This really seems to be a problem here, these people seem to kiss more than they do talk to that person. I guess that's all fine and dandy if that's all you want, but please, spare me, leave that sort of stuff to the privacy of your houses, cars or anywhere else that is semi-private. I love my girlfriend and kissing her is never a bad experience but not in public.

Running from your problems does not help at all. It may seem easier to run for now, but sooner or later, you will get tired, and then they will catch right back up, that's when things get bad.

If I could give myself advice five years from now, I would say that while preparing for the future, don't forget to live in the moment sometimes, because in the future, you won't have anything to look back on.

Abby Lyrics

2010-12-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Frosty the snowman was a happy johnny snow!

Feliz naughty dot! Feliz naughty dot prolinsdfo lwosighn felislkjs dot!

Jacob's Christmas Shopping List

2010-12-17T10:41:00.001-08:00

Here is Jacob's shopping list for Christmas:

Waterfall

2010-12-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

Look at this jungle, wow, beautiful! Mikkel and a few other missionaries went to this waterfall and hiked up to the top, I'm guessing there was a trail somewhere in there.

Hide and Seek

2010-12-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

The three little ones are playing hide and seek. Daniel is "it"and this is what I hear "5, 9, 4... hey guys, I don't know how to count!" So then I hear (from his hiding place) Jacob yelling the numbers out for him. Daniel got them all right and even knew when to say "ready or not, here I come!"

Abby's next - she sings 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' (her own little version) and then yells "100! Ready or not, here I come!"

Palenque

2010-12-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of last week's p-day excursion and a little background on Palenque.

Palenque is a ruin city that is part of the Maya civilization that dates back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD. It is located on the western edge of the Maya empire near the present-day city of Chiapas, Mexico. The ruins left behind are very well preserved and maintained by local people as well as anthropologists. Currently, it is one of the most popular ruins for tourists from around the world to visit.

His companion is the one on his left. He's from Orem, UT. His mom and I have been emailing each other since we found out about the missionary moms email/support group. His mom sent this to me and said "I don't think your son is in the picture because my son is the only gringo in it"

Wow, Sounds Serious

2010-11-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Abby - "Mommy, Jacob and I got hurt. He hit his face on my brain!"

Another Peaceful Morning...

2010-11-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

Overheard this morning through our bedroom door (as we were waking up)

(children yelling)

Abby - (running up the stairs) "Oh yeah, well I hate you - and your hair too!"

Me Too!

2010-11-09T17:45:00.001-08:00

Abby: "Mommy, I hope I never get stinked by a stunk"

Wish Flowers

2010-10-24T20:09:00.001-07:00

Abby - "Lise, do you know what this is?"

Lise (pronouned Lisa) - "It's a dandelion"

Abby - "No, it's a wish flower. You pick it and make a wish. Then you blow it and go tell your mom what you wished for and she buys it for you."

Elder Deal's Trip To The Zoo

2010-10-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

Around the House

2010-10-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a little look at some things we have around our home:

Somebody got hungry. I guess they thought if they kept trying they'd find a real pear eventually...

Daniel naming the people in the pictures on our wall: "Button, he's on a mission, Isabelle, Isabelle's goat, Jacob, Abby and dat's the baby... dat's me" (with a cute little sheepish grin on his face.)

Fish flops. (flip flops)

Gotta Love That Mexican Mail System!

2010-10-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

We got a package delivered the other day - one a VERY LONG time coming. Mikkel sent this package right after Mother's day. It was returned the Veracruz mission office saying "unclaimed". We don't even know what that means.

Anyway, I said it was sent back - after he was transferred to the Villahermosa mission... this means it took two months to be returned, hmmm... Well, President Hansen called Mikkel (he said that was very surreal to hear from his former presidente) and told him "no problem, we'll take care of it". Fast forward a few months (gotta wait at least six weeks before getting impatient) and still no package. I called the mission office and told them the situation and they said they would send it through a private company - faster, more secure, etc. Another six weeks later I call again - "Oh yes sister Deal, we'll send it - I promise". Another six weeks go by and I call again - trying not to sound impatient - and start to explain my "plight" again and to my surprise Elder Checketts says "Oh, Sister Deal... I sent that last Saturday! You can expect it in about two weeks." TWO days later... my package came! I was so excited the delivery man was a little afraid to come up and have me sign for it! After I explained the situation, he seemed not so scared of me. He even smiled and wished me a great day. Of course, I did after that!

Okay, so now to what's in there. He sent some weird thumb-shaped lollipops that taste like cough drops (??) a cool palm frond fan, a queen sized hammock (that we can only use indoors - the sun will ruin it - where am I supposed to put this thing??) and Mexico's fourth religion... Lucha Libre masks. If you don't know, go watch Nacho Libre. Stupid, but funny.

When I talked to Mikkel on the phone at Mother's day he told me "there are three religions in Mexico. Catholicism, Futbol, and this. but I won't tell you what it is so it'll be a surprise." I responded "You're sending us liquor?!?" His response "Okay, there are FOUR religions in Mexico. Catholicism, Fubol, drinking and th

is!" It loses some of the funny in writing but it

really was quite funny!

So, the kids each picked out the one they wanted.

(Notice the cute little purse in Abby's hand)

Mikkel told us about each one of these guys. The kids thought they were cool stories.

Then, they went out to play - in their masks. Abby on the trampoline and the boys wrestling each other... of course!

At one point Abby stops jumping and says "Wait! I need to

put more weapons in my purse!"

Then Daniel took a break. Even Luches need nourishment!

Jacob

2010-10-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Jacob has been sick with strep throat all week - he's been pretty well bedridden. He's had a high fever (up to 105 a few times) and feeling BAD. The good news is that he's feeling much better and is almost back to himself again!

Yesterday, he was napping with his head on my lap when I had to get up to do something. Here's the conversation:

Me (speaking softly) - Jacob, I need to get up. Do you want some water?

Jacob - Just a minute, I have to finish my dream.

Me - What was your dream about?

Jacob - Daddy and I are fishing. I caught some fish.

Me - How many fish did you catch?

Jacob - Five.

Pause

Jacob - No, wait... seven.

Pause

Jacob - Now ten.

Pause

Later, when I asked him about his dream he looked at me with a surprised look on his face and asked, "How did you know about that?!?"

He'd been asleep the whole time!

What Can You Say To That?

2010-09-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

Fred - "Daniel, why did you paint the dog?"

Daniel - "Betuz it was funny"

Artist's Protege or Evil Genius... Sometimes We Wonder!

2010-09-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Daniel got into the craft paint and we now know that green acrylic paint stains tan/brown carpet but fuchsia acrylic paint stains tan/brown carpet AND white dogs worse!

This was after a loooong bath to clean up the paint. We're going to have a pink pup for a while!

Yasir...

2010-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Daniel got playdough in his hair (also, all over my stairs I found out later). He washed it out and dried his hair with a towel but got interested in a tv show so this is how I found him - laying on the floor looking a little like Yasir Arafat...

Can You Say Ham?

2010-09-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Abby's first day of preschool was September 7th. Can you tell she's excited?

Daniel and the Freezer

2010-09-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

So, I know it sounds totally boring but I've wanted a freezer for a very long time. This year for my birthday I finally got one - yippee!

Yesterday the man delivered it, got it in place and opened it up to give me all the paperwork, etc. Daniel puts his hands on his hips and says (very frustrated)

"Hey, where's all the food?!?"

The delivery guy said that was the funniest thing he's heard all year!

Mikkel's Latest

2010-09-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

This email was very touching... I teared up a bit when he spoke of the young man he baptized last week. Above is the picture he sent.

Hello Family,

Someday, I'm going to write you in Spanish, and you'll have little idea of what's going on. What an idea.

So, we had a fantastic week, I kinda love my area right now, we're working like dogs here and we're seeing a TON of results. We measure progressing investigators here, and on Sunday my comp and I determined that we had 7 investigators that are progressing. We had 7 investigators in Church and 3 of them we didn't even know before Sunday morning, that means they came out of nowhere, and that we are going to baptise them. I'm really REALLY excited here, when will the fun ever stop? The other companionship in my district though kinda worries me though. I think we're going to have to do divisions, I wnat to know what's going on out there. I kinda feel like they are 2 good Elders, but neither are leaders, right now they're more followers, and with two followers and no leader, they're kinda workin blind. I'm going to go out there tomorrow to see if I can't help them out though. The good news is that they have two baptismal interviews, from out of nowhere, for this week. Pretty cool. I hope they've been prepared well, we'll see. I like the two missionaries, they just seem like an odd pair.

Anyway, we had a baptism on Saturday, did I mention that? He's an AWESOME guy, I REALLY hope that he goes on a mission, he'd be such a good missionary, when he prays, I kinda just want to cry, you can just tell that he's as earnest as he can be and he's just talking with his Heavenly Father, really cool experience with him. He commented to me that he got baptised in part for the faith that "I have in my eyes" sounded kinda like your "I could see the light of Christ in your eyes" story Dad. So, it was a way cool experience, baptising is great, but every now and then, you baptise someone extra special. He's one of them.

So, this is the last week of the change, I kinda feel like I'm staying here, of course, I thought that last time. Maybe it's more of a hope that I can stay here because of all the success that we're being blessed with. I thought the city would be harder, with people that are more closed, harder of heart but I guess I was wrong, this is one of my favorite areas of my mission. Although, I've never really had an area that I didn't like... what luck I've had.

So, I think I might come to terms someday with the going home thing, thanks for the advice, I'll certainly keep working until the end, that's a promise I made myself from the beginning, this really is my chance to show the Lord, and myself, what I'm made of. For now, I'll just work, and we'll cross the "going home" bridge when we get there.

I hate writer's block, it's like hitting a wall.

So, I didn't tell you last week, 2 Sundays ago, I ate something that Jacob will be fascinated to hear about. It's called "Mondongo" it's a soup made with lots of tasty things, and then to make a good thing bad, they toss in cow stomach. Yep, it's true, I ate cow stomach, it was chewy and skin colored. Tasted pretty weird, but the worst part was the chewiness. Probably on the bottom 10 list.

That's all folks, have fun, train the dog well, eat your vegetables and don't forget to wash behind your ears, Love you guys,

Our Labor Day Weekend - part two

2010-09-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Then we drove home and saw this gorgeous sunset.

Okay, so the first one has dead bug juice all in the picture but it really was beautiful!

The sky was on fire!

The kids LOVE their new puppy. Yes, at 100 pounds she's still considered a puppy. She's 18 months old and big dogs are considered puppies for the first two years.

She's actually probably as tall as she's gonna get but might gain a few more pounds.
Her name is Cutie-Pie-Honey-Darlin-Punkin but we call her Honey. So far she's super sweet and loves the kids as much as they love her!
Oh, by the way, she's a Great Pyrenees. We think this one just might work out for us all!

Our Labor Day Weekend - part one

2010-09-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

We were going to take the kids to Port Aransas for the holiday when tropical storm Hermine derailed that idea so we decided to go to Dublin, TX. This is the site of the oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant and the only place they've always only bottled it made with real sugar... SOOO YUMMY!

Every year, in June they are officially known as Dr Pepper, TX. Here's the fam showing off that fact:

Then we ate some lunch at Old Doc's Soda Shop while we waited for our tour.

Then we saw how they bottle Dr. Pepper and several other sodas.

And learned how to tell if it's good enough to sell.
After that we drove up to Granbury (a small town outside of Fort Worth) and adopted ourselves a puppy.

Daniel Math

2010-09-01T18:10:00.001-07:00

Daniel - "Mommy, dis is five."

Me - "No, that's three"

Daniel - "No, dat not fee, dat five"

Me - "No, Daniel this is five" (showing him five fingers)

Daniel - "No, mommy dat not five... dat's just a hand!"

Donny - This One's For You!

2010-08-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

So, I've been thinking I'd like to refinish my kitchen cabinets but I never planned on using PURPLE nail polish, thanks Daniel!

And it was a brand new bottle of a super awesome color too - not so sure I like it staining my cupboards though...

Daniel's New Look

2010-08-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

These are not the washable markers... why I didn't buy those I have no idea.

Anyway, the kids were playing so well together that I didn't realize what Abby was doing until it was too late. After a bath he looks like he's bruised from a head injury! I don't want to go anywhere where someone will see him until it wears off!

Later, it the tub - while I was trying to get him clean (Abby didn't know I was listening) she told him "Daniel, when we are grownups, mommy will die and then we can color on our faces as much as we want!"

By the way... I went out today and bought washable markers.

2010-08-18T22:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, she did just see Isabelle shaving her legs the other day so I guess that could've been on her mind.

Plus, she came to me a little later and asked if I'd help her shave her face - like daddy, shrek and fiona do...

And for the record - no I didn't do either.

2010-08-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!!! Abby just asked me if I would help her shave her legs... she's FOUR!!!

School Starts 8/23/10!!

2010-08-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Not that I'm excited or anything!

I'm definitely not sure I'll make it another six days...

Update on Last Post

2010-08-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I did have fun at AnneMarie's. I did make it through two more airplane flights (although the one coming home was pretty bumpy) and Abby had her tonsil/adenoid surgery yesterday. She took a long time to wake up from anesthesia which worried the nurse. This in turn worried me, of course! But she finally woke up and ate a popsicle and asked for pain medicine. Since then she's been WAY too energetic for someone on pain meds! I thought I'd get at least a few days of calm out of her. She's not wired from the meds, it's just that they work well and she thinks she's fine enough to jump on my bed and run around... Three weeks is going to feel like an eternity. She can't do any running, jumping, SWIMMING, bike riding, playing outside... etc. We'll see how this works out!

On the bright side of this surgery thing - she slept in our room last night (we had to keep her close to check on her breathing because of possible lasting effects from general anesthesia) and there were times she was so quiet I had to touch her chest to make sure she was breathing... NO SNORING!!! Yippee!

Fun, Scary, and (hopefully) a Cure

2010-07-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

First the fun... I'm getting ready to go visit AnneMarie for a few days. I cannot wait for this for many reasons - in no particular order - the weather, the mountains, the people (although I won't get to see Carson at all and Maren only some of the time. I still can't wait to hang out with AM), shopping for LDS stuff without having to do it all online, being there without children.

It drives me nuts when people here say (about Arizona) that "it may be hot but at least it's a dry heat..." To which I think "so is my oven and I don't see you wanting to live there." when it's 95 (humid) here it will be 115 there (or worse) and I don't care about dry or humid at that point 115 is worse any day! As for Utah's weather... the actual temperature is usually very similar to here but it cools down more at night and I prefer a dry 95 to a humid 95 - always!

Okay, done with the whine.

The scary is two-part. First, although I love to visit other places, I HATE to fly! From the second we start taxi-ing to finally getting into our destination gate, I'm a wreck. Call it irrational, that's fine but I still don't like it. The second part is actually worse - two days after I get home, Abby is having surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. She has HUGE tonsils, even the doctor said "Wow, those are really impressive!". She's snored super loud for years, can't breath well sometimes, has sleep apnea and can be quite grumpy/hyperactive during the day. Research seems to point to tonsils being a huge culprit in all of those issues. The hope is that she will calm down because she will actually get better rest at night. Plus, now she won't keep the rest of the house up all night either. I'm sure Susie and Isabelle could swap stories... Abigail gets her tonsil size from me.

So, that's also the (hope for a) cure part... that Abby can sleep, breathe (easier during the day and constantly during the night), be in a better mood during the day, and that Isabelle will be able to sleep peacefully again. It's so scary and upsetting though to see your baby going in for surgery. Even when Mikkel had his several years ago, I was a nervous wreck. I still think that anytime a child needs to be in a hospital for any reason they should automatically prescribe stress meds for the mom!

Oh... great news!! Daniel is potty trained!!! He still has accidents once or twice a day sometimes but overall, he's doing great! In fact, he had three accident free days this week alone! I just hope he can keep it up while I'm gone and can't remind him.

It Works!

2010-07-16T07:17:00.001-07:00

That thing Abby talked about in FHE really works! Last night Fred plugged his drill in to charge and this morning the charger was all melted and distorted with a little bit of charring on it. There's no smoke detector in that particular room and it's directly beneath my bedroom closet and Isabelle's bathroom. Had that thing caught on fire any more, we might not be in this house right now! Fred said "we must have been doing lots of apologizing!"

Whatever it was, I'm glad our home is still intact and we are still safe.

FHE

2010-07-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

Abby and Jacob decided to give the family home evening lesson last week.

Abby gave a talk on apologizing. She went on for about 5 minutes about "Jesus loves when you apologize to mommy. If you apologize, you'll be safe. We should apologize to mommy because then we will be saved." I truly have NO idea where that one came from!

Jacob came next. His talk went like this (this is word for word... he wrote it out) "When I get 8 I will be bathtized then I will go to kollij (college) but first I will go to first grade and I will be good for always and for everone."

Abby then came back and said "I do NOT want to go to college... it will take too long!"

Mikkel's Last Baptism

2010-06-28T16:19:00.001-07:00

In the Veracruz mission, that is. He will officially be in the Villahermosa mission on Thursday.

Soccer Fan

2010-06-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me by my stepmom. She and my dad are serving a mission in Johannesburg, South Africa. Turns out Moroni is a real fan - he even has his own vuvuzela!

Random Pictures

2010-06-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finally went to the apple store and learned how to add pictures so they would stay...

These are in no particular order, just as I found them.

An excerpt from one of Mikkel's letters:

So, fun story. I went to sleep and turned on my fan, as usual. Nothing exciting. I wake up in the morning and to my surprise, my fan is no longer on... hmmmmm, that's strange, let's check this out... nope looks just fine, I look at the wall and WHOA! Good thing these walls are made of concrete! Looks like the cable had a short and caught on fire during the night. So, i decide to try to pull the plug out of the wall, SPARKS FLY EVERYWHERE! Pretty cool, scared my comp, almost caught my pile of socks on fire... all in a days work. I eventually just yanked it out, one of the contacts stayed in the wall, I had to pull it out with a sock to protect against fatal shock. So, fun morning, woke up my comp and me pretty well. I bought a new cable though, it's working just fine, I'm using the same socket, but I moved my socks this time.

He has two pair - they both look like this.

Thank goodness for Missionary Mall's two year warranty on everything they sell!

February 11, 2010

Calf Scramble winners

Update: She's decided to buy a breeding goat since we have a place to keep it and we'd have to board a dairy cow... that darn budget won again!

Halloween 2009 - Trunk or Treat.

Daniel - 2

Abby - 3

Jacob - 5

Some of the young women in our ward.

Halloween Trunk or Treat 2009

Jacob

2010-06-09T19:10:00.001-07:00

Isabelle was putting sunscreen on the kids the other day so we could go "swimming" (I put that in quotation marks because what that really means is Jacob is scared to go in the water while Abby is fearless so I go between trying to get him in and trying to keep her from going in without me...)

Anyway, I digress... so she was rubbing sunscreen on and mentioned that Abby's arms are bigger around than Jacob's. He's always been so thin (and a picky eater)that this doesn't surprise me, but it does make me think. I happened to get a coupon in the mail for pediasure (or something like that) so I bought some hoping it might help at least a little bit. I told them it was just for Jacob and Abby says "it's because you are too skinny Jacob!"

Later, when Fred comes home Jacob says to him "Daddy, Mommy bought me some special chocolate milk to make me fat!"

An Abby Funny

2010-06-08T20:59:00.000-07:00

Abby: "Mom, I want to be Princess Go Poop for halloween this year."

Me: "What??"

Abby: "You know, the girl in Toy Story that has the sheep and kisses Woody"

Me: "Ooooooh, you mean Little Bo Peep!"

Abby: "Yeah, whatever."

Jacob's funnies

2010-05-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

We discovered that we can stream netflix on our Wii so we've been doing it a lot the past few days. Today, after school Jacob wanted to watch something so I turned on "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show". After a few episodes, he wanted to watch something else so I put on "The Munsters". In case anyone doesn't know what that show is, it's a show from the 60's about a family of monsters (black and white of course). About half way into the show Jacob turns to me and says "I don't like this show, it's just all gray".

2 1/2 years ago we flew to Oregon for Christmas. It was the first time Jacob remembered flying (he flew at age 11 days but of course wouldn't remember that). After our layover in Phoenix, we were on the plane taxi-ing for what seemed like a long time when Jacob leaned over to me and said "Mommy, are we going to drive this thing all the way to Papa's house?"

That happened a while back but I was just thinking of it and wanted to share.

Aaaaagh!!

2010-05-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

I guess I need to learn how to transfer pictures from email to this blog... The other day when I did it, everything was fine. Now the cute pictures aren't showing up. If I ever figure it out, I'll post them again... sorry!

If You Have A Weak Stomach...

2010-04-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

You might not want to read this "recipe".

Daniel's new favorite food is a Mah-nays Sah-nich - you take a piece of bread and spread lots of mayonnaise on it, then put another piece of bread on top and enjoy!

I know, gross - but he loves it!

Funnies

2010-03-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Abigail - (singing) "Follow the Prophet, follow the Prophet, follow the Prophet, don't be a strange..."

Daniel - (banging on bathroom door) "Jacob, let me in!"

Me - "Daniel, Jacob is going potty... why do you need to go in there?"

Daniel - "Because, it will make me happy!"

Abby - "Mommy, look! There's some blue bottoms!" (They're called blue bonnets)

Wow!

2010-03-22T09:38:00.001-07:00

I guess the lecture worked! I've gotten comments already and it motivated me to write again... see?

So, yesterday after church we went out to our car, loaded everyone in and poof... the battery is dead. Usually it's no big deal, right? Except we just took a road trip that would have charged up the battery REAL good. I went in and found the Bishop of our previous ward who said he'd help us and got the car started. This morning was crazy... the first day back after Spring Break and needing a new battery all in the same day is more than necessary to bring you back to real life!

The good news? Not only was the battery under warranty but the labor was free also - yippee!! We only had to spend an hour and a half in the dealership to get our new - free battery... pretty sweet! Plus, they fixed the metal-stick-thingy that holds up the hood so we could get to our battery without having to it up... bonus.

Missionaries and Stuff

2010-03-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Pico Orizaba

So, apparently Dad and Georgia actually read this blog because when Fred talked to them today they said they miss reading my posts. So, on the record... I emailed you guys last :)!

It's hard for me to keep this up because I never know if anyone even reads it. Soooo, if you read, leave comments so I'll feel motivated to write stuff for you. Thanks AnneMarie :)

Okay, I'm done lecturing. On the mission front, Mikkel is on a month long email "fast". I don't know if it's been a problem in the mission or if President Hansen is trying to help them appreciate it more or what, but Mikkel will be spending more time doing service on p-days and not emailing us until April 5 (two weeks away :[ ) and I'm really missing him! He's serving in a town called Mendoza which is in a valley of the tallest mountains in Mexico. He's gone from Temezcal (Steambath) - hot, humid and sleeping in a hammock without blankets to drier, cooler and needing a mattress and two blankets to stay warm at night (notice I said drier... not dry. It's still Mexico jungle so humidity is always there. And, the blankets are the thin cottony kind... not big heavy things so he's not freezing or anything!) When he told us about his area, I immediately looked it up on the internet only to find there's about 9 different places in Mexico with that name. Fred looked up the mountain - Pico Orizaba, it's elevation is over 18,000 feet. It's the third tallest mountain in North America, there's a glacier up near the top and it always has snow on it's peak - even in summer!

We have 7 missionaries now... Fred's two cousins are in California and Uruguay, Mikkel in Mexico, My nephews in Canada and Germany, then Dad and Georgia in South Africa.

Oh! I've made one more step towards completely becoming my mom. I was called as assistant ward camp director today. I think the biggest thing I'm lacking now is the cake decorating thing. Maybe when Daniel goes to kindergarten...

Bad Choices?

2010-02-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so you can judge me for letting my kids watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark" all you want (besides, it wasn't me, Isabelle started it for them... I just didn't stop it once I got home) but first you need to hear this...

At the end when the Nazi's are opening up the ark and all that stuff starts to happen - lasers going through eye sockets, people catching fire, blowing up and melting heads (my personal favorite part of the movie by the way) Jacob leans over to me and says - super calm-like - "Maybe they shouldn't have opened up that box."

I'm glad he can tell when someone makes a bad choice.

Calf-Catcher!

2010-02-14T19:40:00.000-08:00

YOUTH WINS CALF SCRAMBLE AT RODEO

San Antonio –The calf scramble was held Thursday, February 11 at the San Antonio Livestock Show & Rodeo.

4-H and FFA youth competed for $800 certificates to purchase breeding animals to exhibit in the 2010 San Antonio Junior Livestock Show. Twelve certificates were awarded last night to those who caught a calf. Four of the winners were from Helotes, TX.

One such winner was Aubrey Brieger. Brieger is an 11th grader who participates in Helotes 4-H LSO. She plans to purchase a swine with her award.

Audrey’s twin brother was also a winner last night. Chad Breiger is an 11^th grader who also participates in Helotes 4-H LSO. He plans to purchase a swine with his award.

Zane Walz is also a winner from the area. Walz is an 8^th grader who also participates in Helotes 4-H. He also plans to purchase a swine with his award.

Isabelle Deal is the final winner from Helotes, Texas. Deal is an 11^th grader who participates in O’Connor FFA. She plans to purchase a dairy animal with her award.

Mission Update

2010-02-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

Mikkel was called to the mission office for the third time in 8 days last Monday. He thought it was for a multi-zone conference but it turned out to be an entire mission conference. They announced that they are splitting the mission in two (adding a mission) and then left it at that. No one will know any more until around June when it will all take place. President Hansen doesn't know if he will stay in the Veracruz mission or go to the new one. None of the missionaries know if they will stay in the current or go to the new one either. So, there will be speculation and drama for the next several months until we hear more news.

The first two times he had to go to the mission office weren't so wonderful... He was transferred from Temezcal to Mendoza (a town in a valley of the tallest mountain in Mexico) and his companion there "liked to have fun, he likes to sin" (as Mikkel put it). He didn't like Mikkel much because he wants to work. Mikkel, being the senior companion thought he could just encourage the elder and it would all get better.

Well, a week later the companion said that Mikkel was the source of a week-long migraine and he wanted to go home. Mikkel tried motivating and encouraging with no success. The companion called President Hansen and asked "what do I need to do to go home?". So they and another companionship had to travel two and a half hours (each way) to the mission office to drop off the one going home.

Once they got home, they started doing the usual p-day stuff when they got a call saying "come back, we have a new companion for you!". So off they went - another 5 hour (round trip) bus ride to get a new companion.

This one is much better, he's from Whistler, Canada so Mikkel has a sweet place to stay if he wants to learn how to ski in a year and a half or so. They get along great and things are moving much more smoothly. They even had a baptism - Mikkel's first one since November, which is a long time in that mission.

Just for the record... the one that went home was a trouble-companion before Mikkel came along, it didn't start with him nor was he the reason for all the problems. That didn't make Mikkel feel better at the time but I think he realizes it now.

Bad Words

2010-02-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

Jacob "Haley, there are two 's' words that are bad. One is bad and one is really bad."

Me (thinking - "what has he heard in kindergarten?!?")

Haley "What are they?"

Jacob "Well, the bad one is 'stupid' and the really bad one is 'shut up'."

Me (thinking- "Whew!!")

If only they stayed so innocent.

Cows - part two

2010-02-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

She caught a calf and won an $800 voucher towards a breeding animal. She's been on such a high ever since! We're now just waiting for the information to come in the mail and the picture to come out in the newspaper. I'll try to post it when we get it.

Questions and Cows.

2010-02-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

Jacob - "Mommy, can we walk on the outside of the planet that we live on, (you know, Earth)!

Abby - "Mom, why don't I dream in chocolate?"

Why don't I get the simple straightforward questions like "where do babies come from?" kind of questions???

On a "side-note" Isabelle is competing in the calf-scramble in the rodeo tonight. There are 24 kids and 12 calves. They let the calves go and the kids run for it... if you catch a calf and can put a harness around it's neck, you win! Well, you actually win money towards a breeding animal. If she wins, she's hoping to "buy" a dairy cow, (you can make a deal with the breeder to keep it at their place if you don't have space, etc). If she can get a dairy cow, we'll have fresh milk anytime she goes and milks it (she plans on at least once a week) and when it's time to show and sell it, hopefully she'll make quite a profit! Personally, I'm just hoping for fresh milk.

I remember going to my aunt's home to get fresh milk and let me tell you, nothing comes close! I don't really like to drink milk these days partly because it just doesn't have that sweet "fresh from the cow" taste...

More From Abby

2010-01-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

We took Fred out for his birthday dinner last Saturday and as we were leaving, I told Abby we had to go home, take a bath and clip her fingernails.

She turned to Jacob and said "Jacob, we need to go home and take a bath, then clip off your fingers".

Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful!

2010-01-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

Abby - (sitting on the hood of the car - knowing she's not supposed to)
Fred - "Abby, why are sitting on my car?"
Abby - "Because I'm beautiful!" (shaking her head to make her hair flow in the wind)

That's just what we need a kid with ATTITUDE thinking she's all that!

:( :)

2010-01-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

Isabelle got her wisdom teeth out Friday. That was also the last day of finals for her... stressful week! (that's the :( part of the title). She did fine but seemed to be in a lot of pain so my uber-mom alter ego took over and nursed her back to health. She got lots of Orchid Oasis (?) Jamba Juice so she was pretty happy about that.

Isabelle was heating up some soup yesterday, here's the conversation:

Abby - "What are you making?"
Isabelle - "Corn chowder"
Abby - "Does that sound good to me?"
Isabelle - "I don't know Abby, do you want to taste it?"
Abby - "Yes... is it food?"
(and that's the :) part of the title)

In Spanish

2010-01-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

Abby - "Moneesa, Moneesa, Moneesa"
Me - "Who's that?"
Abby - "It's a in Spanish word."
Me - "Oh, what does it mean?"
Abby - "It means something like a human."

Jacob - "Mom! Daniel just spilled powder all over!"
Abby - "Mom, mom, mom" (I was talking to Isabelle and Abby was trying to get my attention)
Me - "Yes, Abby, I know Daniel just spilled powder, what do I need to do about it right this minute?"
Abby - " Well, I want you to get angry at him."

They're Watching...

2010-01-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

The kids were in bed, not wanting to be of course, and calling for me to come do something for them. I'd already given them water, hugs and kisses, etc. so I decided to ignore them.

Our computer is in the game room just outside their bedroom and Abigail decided she'd get better results if she laid on the floor and called my name under the door.

Isabelle and I were at the computer and we were being super quiet so they would think I went to bed or just couldn't hear them (in hopes they would give up and go to sleep finally!)

Instead this is what I hear...

Abigail - "Mommy!

Mommy!

Mommy!

I know you're out there...

I see you, I see you feet!"

Boerne Adventure.

2009-12-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

We went up to Boerne to renew Isabelle's driver's license. We haven't been there much so the kids aren't too familiar with the town.

Abby - "Mommy, are we lost?"
Me - "No."
Abby - "Are we in the future?!?"

And then on the way home...

Abby - "When we get home can I play with Haley?"
Me - "No, she's not home right now."
Abby - "Can I play with Alice?"
Me - "No, she's not home either."
Abby - "Aren't there any humans I can play with?!?"

How am I supposed to drive safely when I'm laughing so hard I'm crying???

More Daniel to English Dictionary entries

2009-12-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

Ifway - this way
Daffway - that way
Ep - yes (yep)

Also, Abby asked for crumdums last night - I was stumped. Apparently they are croutons. Later she said "what are those things called again, curmudgeons?" Yes, she really said curmudgeons!

Okay, Okay, Okay...

2009-11-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I think Fred has gently prodded (nagged) me enough now, I'm finally getting on to post something on here. I can't believe it's been since June that I've written! I guess summer got away with me and I thought when school started I'd have more time but looks like I was wrong.

Jacob started kindergarten in August and Abigail has been bored without him around. Daniel isn't enough entertainment, apparently. She's in a co-op preschool a few moms have decided to do but it wasn't enough so I put her in gymnastics - which she LOVES! But that's only once a week so I found another preschool that she'll be attending starting on her birthday. This one is on Monday and Friday, the home-school version is Tuesday and Thursday and gymnastics is on Wednesday. If she's still bored after this I have no creativity nor money left to fix it! I put Daniel on the waiting list for his age-group class but I doubt he'll get in until next Autumn which is fine, I don't think he's ready yet anyway.

As soon as I figure it out, I'm going to post all Mikkel's pictures so far. I know I've done it before but alot of time and forgetting has happened since then! Speaking of him, he's doing great. He's been in Mexico for 6 1/2 months, been in two different places and had three different companions. He figures it's probably about time to go to a new city in the next week or so. He started out in Cosoleacaque, Veracruz and got transferred to Temescal, Oaxaca in late July. Apparently Temescal translates directly into English as "steam bath" and it sounds like it lives up to it's name. He loves it though and is working hard. He says he's working like a dog and hasn't seen much success but I remind him that sometimes the results come much later - just like raising children!

I'm working on a Daniel to English dictionary. So far I have:

Seesa - pizza or Lise (a good friend of Mikkel and Isabelle and probably the best at keeping Mikkel in letters these days!). Usually I can tell which one he's talking about, unless she's at our house and we're all eating pizza...

Bup - cup, drink or bus (again, usually easy enough to figure out although there are times...)

Bye Bye - car (I guess this is because that's what we do in a car.)

Meemo - Elmo or Nemo (his two favorite shows right now - Sesame Street and Finding Nemo)

Elmo - Daniel (this is funny because that was one of the names I thought about for his middle name. He's named for my grandfather whose middle name was Elmo, Fred said he didn't want his son to have a muppet name so we chose John [my grandfather's first name] instead. Now, he calls himself Elmo - I love it!)

Nope - milk (I guess he just can't figure out how to say milk because he LOVES it, just calls it nope.)

That's all I can think of at this late hour. I'll try to be better at adding to it.

What??

2009-06-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Abby - "Mommy, I like your head, when I grow up I want to have a big head too like yours."

WHAT??? Is that a compliment or is she telling me I'm somehow deformed? Or, is she telling me I'm conceited? Hmmm, I'll have to dig deeper for the answer to this one.

Continued

2009-06-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

Elder Cunningham (one of the missionaries assigned to our ward) spoke last Sunday. He said the San Antonio Mission decided they would name May the "Month of Miracles". They were asked to pray every day for miracles to happen. How could they know they were helping with our little miracle???

Sooo much to say.

2009-05-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone who reads this already knows about this but since I'm using my blog as a sort of journal I'll write anyway.

May 8, Jacob went to preschool and then stayed after for a birthday party. When he got there his teacher asked if he was allowed to swim and I told her that he's not a real strong swimmer yet so he needed either a life vest or someone to help out. She has life vests so she promised to make him wear one. I felt fine with that so I said he could swim.

About 3:00 that afternoon, I got a call. "Nanette, there's been an accident. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" at this point, I'm just thinking he's hurt himself and I'll have to go pick him up early (a little annoyed that I'll have to wake Daniel up early from his nap). "Jacob was just pulled from the bottom of the pool and he's not breathing. He has a pulse but Shawn (Varney) is giving him rescue breaths and the EMTs are on their way. You need to speak to the police officer right now." (this was not what I expected nor ever wanted to hear on the other end of the phone). The police officer told me again what happened and then asked how long before I could SAFELY get to the house. I would have to wait a few minutes for my neighbor to get home from picking up her daughter at school (so she could watch Daniel and Abigail) and then I could leave so I told him 20 minutes. He then said that the EMTs would have come and taken him to the hospital by then so I should wait at home and he would call to let me know which hospital to meet them at.

I didn't want to do that but even more I didn't want Daniel and Abigail to see the scene at the pool so I decided to wait at home. I, of course called Fred immediately and told him what happened so now we both felt helpless and in total limbo. I tried calling my dad but kept getting bumped straight to his voicemail so finally I left a message (I really didn't want to have to do that). I called Cristi at least 2 more times just to get an update on things. Jacob wasn't breathing but still had a pulse, Jacob was breathing and screaming as the emts worked on him, Jacob will be going to the hospital soon but still no info on where... I saw that Angie Pruitt was home so I ran across the street and told her what happened and asked her to watch the kids. Still waiting for the call - where to go to see my baby... talked to Fred on the phone several times with no news... call my home teacher -Ryan Hooley (who just happens to work half days on Fridays) to meet Fred at the hospital to give Jacob a blessing...

Finally, around 4:00 the police officer calls and says they've just landed the life-flight helicopter and will be taking him to University Hospital. I immediately call Fred - he works about a mile away from there and could make it before me of course. He flies out of the office and I leave, asking Angie to please let the Relief Society president know so she can check on Cristi. I call the school and tell them I'm picking up Isabelle early then we get on the road. It's after four o'clock on a friday afternoon so traffic is not so great... On my way I call my sisters to tell them the news. One is home and I tell her, the other isn't so I give a basic message to her daughter, "Jacob's had an accident and is in the hospital". I get there and it's packed! University Hospital is the county hospital so it serves the poor, indigent, uninsured and prisoners. It also is the medical school's teaching hospital. Fred, Ryan & Melissa Hooley and Jeremy Pruitt have all beaten me there, they've already given him a blessing and the hospital staff takes me back immediately.

Jacob is lying there unconscious with his arms tied down and a breathing tube down his throat. He looks so small and fragile. At some point, he had been breathing on his own but isn't anymore so the machine is doing it for him. It looks so surreal. I feel like someone punched me in the stomach. I almost can't walk. The doctors and nurses keep telling me things about his condition, asking questions about his health history, etc. I don't really remember all they said and at this point I don't think it matters! He keeps waking up, trying to cry and take the tube out. He looks so scared and yet not really all the way there. It kills me to see it. I go out to get Isabelle because they only allow two visitors at a time and notice that our Elder's quorum president (David Kimball) has shown up. This is pretty amazing because he's a vice-president at a bank and going through alot of difficult stuff that keeps him at work around 15 hours a day (usually more). At this point all I can think of (besides Jacob) is how Cristi is doing. He says that people are trying to contact her but she's not answering her phone so they're sending someone over to check on her.

The ER, as I said earlier, is the county hospital so there are police everywhere and prisoners handcuffed to railings on the wall. There are people with open wounds in their heads and sick people littering the hallways so I'm thrilled when around 6:30 they take us up to the PICU. They get us settled and the doctor talks to us again (stuff I still don't remember!) then ask us to step out so they can do an assessment on Jacob (I guess it can be upsetting to parents to watch some of the stuff they do?). We do and just at that moment, walking in to check on us is the Relief Society presidency (Tracy Gudmundson, Sara Kimball and Suzanne Bergen). Three women who are busy with career and family brought us blankets, snacks, a toy for Jacob and a book to write in. I know that I would drop everything to help someone in need but it means so much to me that so many would do it for us.

We're able to go back in within just a few minutes and the nurse, again starts asking all kinds of questions which actually gives us a missionary opportunity when she asks about our religion. I don't know if it will ever go farther but at least we hopefully planted a seed. We decide I'll stay the night and Fred will sleep at home to hopefully give the kids some little bit of stability so the nurse shows the way to the parents sleeping room. Then Fred and I just sit and wait. We watch all the machines - checking blood oxygen levels, breathing for him, monitoring his heart, you name it. He even has a tube in his stomach because he's vomited several times (he was at a party = lots of food!) and they want to get out as much that's left as possible so he doesn't keep doing that. Apparently when he vomited, he aspirated some of it and that's not a good thing. I learn later that because of that they were really worried he'd get pneumonia.

I keep trying to call my Dad and AnneMarie without much luck. I leave a message on her cell phone but nothing more on his. Fred calls Carl and we talk for a while. I mention that I can't reach my dad and Carl gets an idea "He's been writing updates on facebook throughout their ride so I'll check it out". I thank Carl and we hang up and go back to our watch and wait positions.

Finally around 11:00 Fred decides to go home and I'll go to sleep. Of course, I just lay there worrying. Then I get a text from AnneMarie, she's in Hawaii and didn't get her messages because they have spotty cell service out there so she's trying to figure out what's going on. We spend the next hour or so texting back and forth about the situation. I'm actually grateful for the distraction and by the time we're done I'm actually tired.

I sleep about 4 hours, which is way more than I expected, so I figure that's pretty good. I go in to see Jacob and it's all the same as before. Machine breathing for him almost 100% of the time. The doctors are concerned because they can't get him to respond to simple commands. I remember the nurse saying they were giving him different meds to keep him sedated and out of pain so I ask about that but they say he should still be able to respond to commands such as "squeeze my hand" etc.

Fred calls and tells me that he and Carl did research based on facebook & blog comments Dad & Georgia made and they've located him. Fred already called Georgia and told her but I need to talk to Dad so I call the number he gives me. Turns out that there is no cell service in the town they were staying so we had to call the hotel to contact him. I tell him all I know and we sit on the phone and cry. I promise to keep him updated and get off the phone so I can call others.

Fred comes in around 10:00 and I go home to help Isabelle - it's prom and she wants to go still. Melissa comes over to do her hair and I keep working on last minute details with her dress. Two different families brought us dinner last night so we're good on food (if nothing else, we Mormons know how to feed people!). The day flies by and suddenly it's time to take Isabelle and Adam to the dance. I drop them off and then back to the hospital. During the day Jacob has gone from completely unconscious to awake and responding to commands. Not only that but he is breathing 100% on his own and has had the breathing tube removed. Fred and I are elated but cautioned that there is a long road ahead.

It's Angie and Jeremy's anniversary and they've been out to eat so they come by with some pie and get to visit for just a minute with Jacob. He's pretty out of it still and just wants me to hold him alot. Fred leaves at the same time they do since it's pretty late and we've been having Melissa watch kids for a while.

Since he's not on the machines anymore, I get to sleep in the room with Jacob. It's so uncomfortable but I get to be right there and hold his hand all night so there's no place else I'd be. He wakes up a few times during the night and I'm glad I'm there so he's not as afraid.

Sunday morning, Fred comes in around 9:30. before I go home to shower and maybe take a little nap, we talk to the doctors. They tell us that MAYBE they can get him into a transitional room that afternoon but that he would have to stay at the hospital at least 48 hours after he goes into one. He has to stay in the transitional room (not as high maintenance as ICU but more than a regular room) for at least 24 hours, then he has to be transferred to a regular room for at least another 24 hours.

I figure I'll drop Isabelle, Abigail and Daniel off at church and then go home to rest. At the last minute, I decide I'll go to church since I probably won't sleep anyway so (unshowered) I throw on some clothes and we go. We get there well into Sacrament Meeting so we just stand up in back. Afterwards, of course it's a barrage of questions and all I can tell them is he's doing okay but no promises as to long term effects, etc. I finally see Cristi and get to talk to her where she clears up alot of questions for me. They announce his accident in Relief Society and send around a food/babysitting sign up sheet.

At about 1:30 I get a text from Fred "Jacob's well enough to go home, they can't keep him here any longer he's doing so well. Come get us." Wow! a few hours ago they're saying BEST case scenario he'd go home Tuesday afternoon and now they can't do anything more for him! I let Sara know about it and she announces at the end of RS that he's coming home. I send Abby & Daniel home with the Bergen's then Isabelle and I get in the car and rush over to the hospital. By the time we get there, they're ready to go. We pick up his stuff and leave. Jacob wants to see the helicopter so they all go over and I get the van so he doesn't have to walk so far when they're done. We come home and Jacob falls asleep along with the rest of us. Later, around 6:00 there's a few kids outside playing and Jacob asks to go out with them. So we go, and I'm thinking "is this the child who had little chance for survival just three days ago???"

Monday, Mikkel calls. He's on his way to Mexico and has a calling card so while on his layover in Dallas he calls. We hadn't called him yet because 1) he was so far away and unable to do anything so we didn't want him to be too upset until we had more information and 2) we knew he was calling Monday and we could give him whatever we knew then. So, I have to retell the whole story and Mikkel is pretty blown away. He's glad though that we decided to wait to tell him. We talk for about 30 minutes and he has to go get food and get on his plane to Mexico. Man, I miss him!

Since then, he's had a follow up appointment where the doctor, who's known him for nearly five years says that if I hadn't told her the story, she would never be able to tell anything had ever happened. He was real quiet and introspective for a few days but he's definitely my Jacob now.

Speaking to the various people involved, I've learned this much: Jacob was wearing his life-vest and swimming. The Varney's were in town house hunting and felt like they should stop by and see how Cristi was doing that day. While they were there, Cristi went inside to frost cupcakes and left the Varney's to watch the swimmers. Suddenly, Emma Cooper says "Jacob's been holding his breath too long!" CJ Elder went over and started pulling Jacob out of the water, meanwhile, Shawn was there pulling him out at the same time. He had a pulse but wasn't breathing so Shawn started giving him rescue breaths. (a side note here, Emma and CJ are six years old, how did they know what it looks like to be under too long? How is it that they even noticed? Also, Shawn is an ER doctor for the Army. He not only is an ER doctor but one of the best in the world, they send him all over to teach and train ER staff. How is it he just happened to be there where he would be needed so badly?). It's estimated that Jacob was underwater around 2 minutes. The EMT's have a scoring system they give for each patient they have to treat that ranges from 3 to 16. Three is the worst... they gave him a four at the time they brought him in.

I've been trying very hard not to talk about this around him so Jacob won't "recover" memories he never had but willing to listen to him when he wants to tell me something he really does remember. He tells me things every so often, the hardest thing to hear was that when he fell in, he says he started calling my name. He kept calling for me to come help him and I wasn't there. I'm so grateful somebody was.

Abigail

2009-05-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

We went to Costco today and in the parking lot we saw a man. He wasn't just your average man... he was totally buffed - huge! Like he could squish me with two fingers big! He was wearing a tank top and walking into the liquor store (in Texas they can only sell wine and beer in regular stores so even Costco has it's own liquor store). He was also covered in tattoos. So Abigail looks at him and says "you colored all over yourself, you shouldn't do that."

I was mortified!

He just smiled and laughed and kept walking.

Mexico - Part 3

2009-05-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest from Mikkel:

"The Brethren made the decision to halt travel to and from Mexico. They will not even think about reversing this decision until at least the 12th. If they give us the green light then, we'll be out of here between the 14th and 16th I assume. If things really are that bad though they might just keep us here even longer than that. If worst comes to worst, we might get shipped somewhere state side until we can resume travel to Mexico. I'm pretty bummed about it but I have faith that the Lord knew what he was doing when he called me to Veracruz, I'll be okay. I'm not going to tell you to fast for us, but the missionaries coming from and going to Mexico could sure use a miracle.

I bought hand sanitizer that works for 4 hours without re-application. So my hands will be fine. I'm absolutely not buying a surgical mask, sorry, but that will look stupid and there's no proof it keeps out swine flu. You need to not worry, I am a missionary. Do you remember the blessing Presidentg Freckleton gave me before I came out here? He specifically said that I would be surrounded by disease and that I would not be subject to it."

Although I'm glad he's not going to Mexico right now, I am bummed that I most likely won't get a call for Mother's day :( It makes sense, they don't really have the capacity for all 1500+ missionaries to make phone calls in one day but it does make me sad, I've been looking forward to that since March 4th! Now I guess I have to wait all the way until Christmas, man I'm really bummed now.

Mexico Update

2009-04-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finally got my nerve up and called the LDS travel office. They aren't sending anyone to Mexico until at least May 6 (that's only two days later than orginally planned) because some haven't received their visas yet and because they wanted to keep an eye on the flu problem. There's only one mission in Mexico that has halted all activity so all the rest are still working although possibly not at full speed.

I've written Mikkel probably 5 letters this week telling him to get tons of hand sanitizer and surgical masks. He's probably tired of me nagging him long distance, I keep apologizing for it and then reminding him it's my job... I'm the Mom!

Part of my concern is that healthcare down there isn't as good as here and many providers are just turning sick people away so they don't get sick. Isn't it their job to treat the sick??? I hope there are some members who are doctors/nurses down there who'll take good care of him.

I will be happy for him to leave only because that means he can call me from the airport! I'm going to have my cell phone permanently attached to me all day that day. I told him on mother's day he shouldn't worry about the time, just call when he can. Even if we're in the middle of church I'll answer!

Mexico

2009-04-27T16:50:00.001-07:00

I've had a few people ask if Mikkel is still going to Mexico next week. The answer is, I don't know yet. The U.S. government is recommending all non-essential travel to Mexico be postponed but that's just a recommendation and I'm not sure I want to call the LDS travel office to ask. I don't want to be known as a pest there and since I've actually called a few other times, I might be at risk for that title!

I'm sending him a package and I'm so tempted to add hand sanitizer and face masks to it! If I have space I probably will. He'll think I'm being way over-protective but that's my job, I'm a mom!

I'll update Mikkel's info as I get it!

Sick Again!!

2009-04-26T20:29:00.001-07:00

Daniel woke up Thursday morning with a 103 temperature and Abby was coughing a ton still so we spent the morning at the doctors office. Isabelle was still not feeling well after several weeks so I took her in on Friday (it was a day off school - something about the battle of flowers blah, blah, blah... I never really listen when people talk about Fiesta. It just seems like a reason to drink and eat too much. But I digress). So the list of illnesses goes like this - 4 ear infections (A&D), 4 cases of pink eye (A&D), 2 cases of bronchitis (I&D), 2 sinus infections (I&A). Isabelle and Daniel are each on 4 different medications and the Abigail is on 3. Oh, and now Fred has pink eye too, I swear my house is like a petri dish right now! Of course, this means I missed church AGAIN today. At least I made it last week and I'm told I won't be considered inactive until I've been away for 3 months so I have a whole two months to go before then.

Mikkel is set to leave for Mexico a week from tomorrow and he is so happy to get out of the MTC! I'm totally nervous because he has a layover in Mexico City and the swine flu is really bad there right now. He also has a layover in Dallas so I told Fred I thought we should take a road trip to Dallas because I've always wanted to see the airport there. He just shakes his head smiles.

When I was worrying out loud about the swine flu, Fred said "Don't worry, he'll be fine" to which I replied "it's my job to worry, I'm the mom" to which he replied "I know and it's my job as the dad to tell you not to worry" and I said "well, it's not working" then he says "it's my job to tell you not to worry, not to be effective". Well, I guess he has me there!

Abigail was counting the pictures of the kids on the wall and then came to me and asked "Mommy, why do you have too many kids?" How do I answer that one??? (Isabelle was in the background laughing and saying, "I wonder too sometimes!")