Making time to write in our blog has proven to be more of a challenge then I even imagined it would be. But, now that I am up uncharacteristically early due to restlessness in my arms, here I am. So a brief update, or not so brief since it has been a few months since my last communication.
Christmas was an amazing experience. I felt my Savior's presence so strongly and had such a deep gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the most wonderful gift of Eternal Life.
Our family was adopted by a squadron in the air force and we were the recipients of way too many gifts and generosity. Sven I both already feel such a debt of gratitude for all they do for our country and the sacrifices they and their families make . It was truly Humbling and beautiful.
Not much has been happening with the rebuilding of our house that burned nearly 2 years ago. And finances have been more then a little tight. So it was an answer to my prayers to have been adopted.
On a more detailed note about Christmas, I would like to tell you about our experience getting our Christmas trees. We went up to Chinook pass again this year, and brought a good friend of ours with us. Her Husband was out of town and so we were helping her get her Tree as well. It was a beautiful day and it hadn't snowed yet which was uncharacteristic at this time of year, so we were able to go really far up into the mountain. After locating our trees and chopping them down, we had a fire started and proceeded to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Hyrum all of a sudden gets sick and starts throwing up and having diarrhea. It was a mess! It was such a long drive home!
As soon as we get home, Gerrit starts in. Needless to say all of the boys end up getting the stomach virus. I was taking vitamins, bleaching everything and praying so hard that it would pass by me. I have such Post Traumatic Stress about stomach viruses ever since I had one that lasted over a year a few years back. It is one of my greatest fears!
Anyway, we ended up getting 2 Christmas trees this year because the fee is only $10 and I had an extra ticket from someone who was suppose to go with us but ended up not. Every time I would see a noble tree that was beautiful, I would get closer and find that it was actually 2 trees side by side. So we ended up bringing 2 home with us. When we got them home, Sven decides that they would fit in our home as is without cutting them down even more with our vaulted ceiling. They were crazy to decorate and it took a really long time. But it ended up so beautiful and I had never seen anything like it. One was about 15 feet tall, and the other was about 13 feet. I think next year we may end up with three trees next year.
Two days before Christmas, Sven and I went out on a date. No sooner had we gone down the road when the kids call us and tell us that the trees had fallen over while they were watching a movie up in the loft. Apparently one of our dogs had gone under to get drink of water, and knocked them over! What a tangled mess it was!
We have been crazy busy since then and haven't even celebrated Sven's birthday yet. Hopefully tomorrow is the day! the kids and I have been working on a project ever since before Christmas and they are so excited to give it to him! I would say that I will post pictures later, but judging by my track record for posts, that may be @ Easter or even Independence Day! So I will just tell you that it is a homemade Chess set made out of wood we cut, sanded, and painted. Each piece has significant meaning to him and our Family. He and the kids love to play chess. With work, Church callings, and just plain craziness of life, getting 7 people scheduled together has been a challenge.
I have now had varicose vein surgery on both legs done. Hence the restlessness and early morning. It has been a painful process and I still have a lot of healing to go, but at least the ache and tiredness is gone. I am pretty sore and it is difficult to sleep. I don't know where the restlessness comes from but it is absolutely maddening!
I am still doing the Doula thing, and in fact have an appointment with a client of mine that is due in the next few weeks. I love this job and have actually had a client about every month in the past 3 months.
Trevor and Hyrum are both home now for their schooling, so I do not have a lot of down time. I just started with Hyrum so I hope it will go well. Trevor already takes up so much of my time during the day because he requires constant supervision in order to stay on task. I hope it will be worth it to have Hyrum home as well. He had been complaining and bugging me to home school him ever since school started this year, and finally when he started to hide his uniform clothes so that I could not dress him in the morning, ( that is where we were at, me dressing him every morning,) I decided he had to be absolutely miserable and I pulled him out just after winter break.
Well, I am still pretty groggy and I hope that this all made some sort of sense since I am on painkillers, and utterly exhausted. At least now I have an update for the next couple of months!
