Uncle Dan's Home!

I never thought January could go fast, but it has this year (thankfully.) It's been a busy month, which is probably why it's gone by so quickly. We welcomed my brother, Daniel, home from his mission in Carlsbad, CA on January 14th. Earlier that same afternoon, my brother, Rich, flew from Pennsylvania to Kuwait to begin a 10 month overseas deployment with the army. He'll be moving up into Iraq by the end of this month. Quite a mix of emotions for our family. We're so happy to have Dan home again, he's awesome and he's really been missed! We're also grateful that Rich is finally off and running so that he can come back home to stay. It's more than a little nerve-wracking, though. He commands a unit that looks for and discharges roadside bombs. Not the safest job in the army. He drives a really cool, very expensive tank called a Stryker and we hope that much of the expense was for safety features. He's looking at the whole thing as an adventure and I suppose we will too. He's already had a few run-ins with camels...yes, camels, hundreds of them that they raise over there like we raise cattle...(well, I don't, but you know.) They had to scare them off their rifle range a few days ago so they could have target practice. Just your average day in Kuwait! My cousin and her husband both returned home (safely!) from Iraq recently, so in that sense we're used to having family in that part of the world, but it sure brings the whole thing close to home. Since Rich left from PA, we don't have pictures...they'd just be full of blubbering anyway. Thanks to his wife Shari, though, we DO have pictures of Dan's return (our camera was in the car...brilliant.) Caleb went right up to him with our sign and Dan had NO clue who he was. As you can see, he was quite astonished at how much ALL the kids had changed. McKenna was born about a month after he left, so this was their first official meeting as well. Welcome Home, Dan!!

Handsome missionary!

"What happened to you?!"

November and December have passed by in a flash, bet that doesn't happen to any of you! We've had lots of winter fun this year...decorating Grandma's tree after Thanksgiving, trying on the clown wig on a random winter evening, parties, parties, parties, and snow (finally!) This season has been a joy so far, my only complaint is it goes by too fast! We still have several things on our agenda, hopefully the snow won't interfere! Merry Christmas to you all, we are so thankful for good friends and wonderful family!

Shaving with Daddy

That's my boy! He got it into his head last week that he wanted to shave with Daddy and couldn't rest until he'd wiped his peach fuzz clean! Look at his grin, though, he couldn't be happier sharing that experience with his dad.

Ah, my "little" boy. He must be pretty special, sent here to a family full of girls. A family of girls that's about to add one to it's ranks. Yep, our new little one is (most likely) a girl! It's still a little early to make an absolute determination, but I saw the pictures, folks, there's nothing there. After hearing our mild expressions of hope for a boy, the doctor remarked, "a little 'twig' could still develop, but I think your 'boy' is going to have a menstrual cycle." When I found out Grace was a girl, I was instantly filled with dread for the "teenage years." I just couldn't imagine navigating those tough years with a human ball of emotion. I breathed somewhat easier when Caleb came along, but experienced a few more anxiety pangs with Karlee. When we had McKenna, I threw up my hands...and now? It's pretty darn funny! I don't have the energy for anxiety over something years away. I have more pressing concerns, like remembering what days to send lunch to school and which batches need to be rewashed because I left them in the washer too long. We'll take what comes later, what choice do we have? Besides, I wouldn't trade my girls, or my boy, for anything. I still hold to my theory that our family was put together pretty carefully. Caleb will hold his own, and in fact, I think he's the perfect brother for a houseful of girls. He'll be the one who lightens things up, teases them out of their moods, (intimidates the heck out of their boyfriends) and cares so deeply for them. They, in turn, will depend on and adore him and teach him to be a gentleman. I was one of only 2 girls among the many (8) boys in my family and yet, after rescuing me one night and changing my flat tire, one of them remarked, "We always takes care of our dames." I'm pretty sure my girls will have the same gallant treatment.

Clean at last!

For those of you who have been following our little drama, yes, we are showering in our own home again! YEA! Will I ever take that for granted? Sadly, probably yes, but not for a long, long time! Thanks to Daren who really worked hard to get things going again, and thanks to all of you who expressed your sympathies. Truth be told, I feel like a wimp, but oh well. :)

5 days and counting...

Still without water. Ok, not completely without water, the hot water heater has been replaced and we can do dishes and laundry now; but an unfortunate side effect of the repair was the complete blockage of the bathtub plumbing, among other things. Saturday was pretty exciting! I discovered the non-working tub and thought it odd, but almost immediately we discovered a drain in Grace and Karlee's room was plugged, filling their room with stagnant, stinky water. We (ok, really Sam) was in the midst of cleaning that up when the downstairs toilet decided to join the party. About that time, friends arrived to watch the BYU football game. AWESOME! Sam cordoned off the "restricted areas" and we waited for the plumber. He came and cleaned out the drain, but of course that didn't fix the tub problem. Our truly wonderful landlord and his sweet dad came over last night, straight from Las Vegas and gave it the old college try, but to no avail. One more attempt this morning yielded the same results, but he still has some ideas, so we still play pioneer. We've trudged across the street twice with different family members to clean up (thank you Wisners!!) but I'm really excited to have our own facilities again!

Halloween fun

We did have a good time this Halloween, the warm weather was a real bonus! The kids got to go trick or treating without accessorizing with hats and gloves. Grace was a beautiful princess, Caleb was a ninja, Karlee changed her mind daily, she went to one party as a cowgirl, but ultimately ended up as Sleeping Beauty. McKenna was a little bug, and just as cute. Our Halloween evening was a whirlwind, here's what we got:

I glued, yes...glued the jewels in her hair. Elmer's has hold, baby! An extra long shower the next morning took it out, whew!

This wasn't her "cowgirl" costume, it's actually Sam's get-up from last year, but she put it on before trick-or-treating and was so cute we had to take pictures...then we didn't get hardly a one of her as a princess...oops.

What's it like to be a pioneer?

We're about to find out. Our hot water heater is broken and, while we're thankful that we don't have to pay to replace it, (there are perks to renting!) we do have to wait for our landlord to get back from Las Vegas on Sunday to install it. The kids were so excited, "No more showers!!" We reminded them that we can heat water on the stove for a bath and that was even more thrilling! (Grace and Caleb don't get to take too many baths anymore.) As for Sam and I, we'll have to test a friendship or two, either by showering at someone else's house or by the smell if we don't... :) Isn't life awesome?! (ha-cha-cha-chaaaaa.)