Relief

It's after midnight and I just finished my primary lesson.

And I feel BLESSED.

BLESSED to have a husband who adores me.

BLESSED to have extended family that loves me to pieces.

BLESSED to have a comfortable home, healthy food, and clean water.

BLESSED to have a testimony of God and Jesus Christ.

BLESSED to have healthy children.

BLESSED to have friends that have known me for years and still return my calls.

BLESSED to have listened to a prophets voice.

BLESSED that when we went out afterwards I laughed so hard I almost wet myself.

Things are looking up.

My Madeleine

Madeleine and I both love the time we get

to spend together while Noelle is at school.

She is so precious, not to mention pretty dang funny.

Her vocabulary is exploding, loves to snuggle,

is a great sleeper and still a total foodie.

Yesterday she and I shared the best spinach salad!

Although, she must have texture issues because

most other vegetables get spit out.

~

She just soaks up all of our quality time.

Here we are at the Botanical Gardens

with no big sister taking my attention.

We washed her bedding and

she was completely fascinated.

I can still hear her little voice,

"My pee-wow! My pee-wow!"

(pillow)

Fun times at the park!

Trying to get up the courage to go

down that really big slide.

~

I feel more than blessed that I get to

be Madeleine & Noelle's Mommy.

We have our moments but

most times I just can't believe I get to

spend every day with these angels.

Several times lately I've met been asked what I do

for a living and I was love being able to

say that I get to stay home with our kids.

And their reactions were fantastic,

"Oh, that's so wonderful!"

"Good for you!"

"That's the way things should be."

I LOVE IT.

And it's not that my husband makes so

much money and we're able to do it.

It's a sacrifice.

We go without a lot of material things

but it's so worth it.

A Little Backtracking...

Here's just a quick review of our California Labor Day trip:

After getting a late start we arrived about 2am Friday morning...

After she woke up Madeleine finally got to spend some
quality time with Lena. She missed her so much.

After Auntie & Unc got home from work they loaded

up and headed off on their weekend adventure.

Camping at Pismo Beach. I was so happy and excited

for her but also sad that she was big enough to leave me.

They had the BEST.TIME.EVER.

Meanwhile, Aaron and I ran around like crazy

seeing people and getting things done.

Dinner with the Lindsays, dinner with Marin,

dinner with my girls. So much dang fun.

Saturday was beach day with Ruthie & Wilde's.

I could have sat there for days and days and not

gotten sick of it one bit. It was perfect.


Sunday after church we hung out with the

Lorenzens for a few hours. We reminisced about

their trip to NM by making Sopapillas.

They were amazing.

We went through and entire jar of her

homemade strawberry jam!

Labor Day was a fun BBQ @ the Meldrums.

Food = yum.

Water = fun.

After food the kids went inside and

played with the Daddies and the girls

sat outside in the fantastic weather and

chatted. Loved it.

(Photo by Heather Keil)

I got to snuggle sweet Naomi Jean who I've been

dying to get my hands on.

Our last night we spent @ Grandmas.

These two girls ran around like crazy getting

so dirty and stinky. They HAD to have a bath.

Auntie M was more than happy to help out.

All the while singing, "At The Car Wash."

We left the next morning. :( Leaving is so painful for me.

I love everyone so much and not having them in my daily

life is difficult. But, each time it hurts a tiny bit less.

That helps, I guess!

Next trip November 4-8...Beach Camping @ Refugio.

Ya-Hoo!

Bad, Bad, Blogger

I have been so disappointed in my blogging the last 6 months. But, I am turning over a new blogger leaf. This is our family journal and I want our day-to-day documented as much as possible. Not just a flood a pictures once in a while, what a bore!

So, I am making it public, I will be accountable! Stay tuned, friends and loved ones, things will be more entertaining around here.

So, whats the haps? Things are actually pretty boring for us, but in a good way. As I have said believe it or not New Mexico is a really nice place to live. It will never replace California but we continue to feel that living here is an opportunity and a blessing. There is always a lot to do, museums, parks, community events, festivals, so many outdoor activities. Speaking of festivals we cannot wait for the Balloon Festival!

Aaron is doing really, really well at his job. Loves his bosses here (and the lack of politics) but is still adjusting to the much more lax way of doing business in New Mexico. Apparently, they are not desperate to make each dollar like they are in California. Huh? He has been called as the ward Choir director, he's never done this, so there is a lot to learn. They have their first performance on Sunday, yeah!

Noelle is as happy-go-luck as ever. She has started a new ballet class with someone in our ward. They live right around the corner so she rides and we walk. As always she loves, loves, loves school and everything about it. Nothing brings my girl more joy than getting on that bus, her bus drivers is named Jack and he is an interesting soul. She is growing and maturing each day right before my eyes. Some mornings she will even get up and make her own cereal. She pulls the stool around from cupboard to cupboard to refrigerator collecting all she needs to get her meal together. It warms my heart and grieves me all at the same time. I love watching her grow up but miss my baby.

Then there is Ms. Madeleine. Sometimes she makes me want to have 100 more babies just like her and sometimes she makes me sure that I will never, ever do this again! And talk about growing up...Oh Boy. Someone needs to inform her that she is NOT the adult around here, nor, is she in charge. She loves to give five, kisses, hugs, and 'hit the rock.' Madeleine has never been and still not one for toys. So, the majority of her time is spent: walking behind me mimicking all I say and do i.e. getting dressed, wiping up spills(see above), vacuuming, folding clothes, putting on make-up, getting into everything (most often destroying it), and pestering her big sister. Actually, both of them do a lot of pestering. I think it shows how much they love each other.

Lastly, there's me. I just finally got a calling, I team teach the 6-7 year old primary class. It's a big group with two sweet girls and about 10 rowdy boys. So, one week I teach and the other does crowd control and then we switch. I've never been in Primary and I love it, but I do miss Relief Society. I am slowly meeting people in the ward but it is so dang huge and now that school is in the opportunities for interacting during the week are few. After we drop N off at the bus I have some quality time with M and it is so much fun! Then she goes down for her nap and I have a couple hours of pure quiet, it's so great, I feel guilty! I clean, I get dinner prepped, I organize. Yesterday I watched a movie while folding clothes and then collapsed on the couch in a crying fest (My Sister's Keeper) and watched the rest. What a treat! A whole movie in the middle of the day! Who does that?

Life is good, we are blessed, couldn't ask for more.

Lately...

Story time...

My heart soaks up moments like these.

Grandma and Grandpa Jones came to visit!

We had fun doing some projects around the house

and taking in some of New Mexico's beauty.

We got hit with storm on the mountain top

and blue skies followed 5 minutes later.

Little sis woke up while Mama was getting dinner in the oven.

Big sis said she would entertain her for a few minutes.

She chose to take pictures.

Made some seriously yummy after school chocolate-banana shakes.

Evening walks down by the river.

Sometimes we are lucky enough to have company.

So much dang fun that sometimes you just knock out where ever you are.

Weekend In Review

Friday morning before we even got out of our jammies my girls

prepared an excellent meal for their Mommy.

They even set the table!

Then we got ready and took Sis to the bus.

Madeleine and I came home to a snack of yummy toast.

I am loving the quality time with her.

Sorry to say it, but she's so much easier with a sister around pestering her!

Friday was "Feast with the Beasts" at the zoo.

We packed a yummy dinner and headed over.

It's a night for only zoo members, which meant less crowds!

They had music, treats, and all kinds of things for the kiddos.

The animals at night were much more active, too!

Saturday Aaron had a surprise in store.

He wasn't sure how I would feel about it.

His work had an event at the Horse Races.

Uh, what?

Yes, we took our kids to this type of establishment.

It was actually pretty fun.

Noelle loved watching them run

and cheered with the best of 'em.

Sunday has been a great typical day of rest.

Church, lunch & naps, choir.

Rest of the evening spent playing with our girls,

laughing at their silliness and marveling at their imaginations.

Lorenzens 2010

Last Tuesday night my amazing friend Julianna made the trip to visit us. I was so dang excited! The timing was great and horrible. I was so glad to have them here when I was still recovering but I wasn't up to doing everything I wanted. I did my best to rest and keep up.

Wednesday morning we drove back to the Jemez mountains. I thought it was a great way to see a lot of New Mexico in a relatively short distance. First we drove through the reservation and stopped for some Fry bread. We continued up the mountain and stopped at Fenton Lake. It was wonderful. The weather was stunning and the water pretty dang chilly!

We next tried to hike to the hot springs. We didn't think the kids (or I ) could make it but we thought we'd give it a shot. But we were derailed. By a heard of cows. Anyone ever gone for a hike in the mountains and come upon a heard of grazing cows? It was funny & strange. We tried to go around but one of the Mamas let Julianna know in no uncertain terms that we should back off. Everyone had plenty of fun playing in the streams and running through the trees. And my poor Madeleine took such a spill. She was splashing in the water, somehow lost her footing and fell face first down in to the water. Scratched her face so bad. :(

The next morning we took our time with breakfast, Noelle's teacher came by the house for a visit, had lunch, then headed out to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. We saw some neat dancers and learned a lot about the different Indian Pueblos here in New Mexico.

Then we were headed over to the Temple. We took a scenic route through my favorite part of Albuquerque. A great little area that incorporated itself in the 50's. It's called Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Huge Cottonwood trees, big beautiful homes, little farms, horse property, etc. We saw a sign for an open produce stand and turned right around. Little did we know what kind of treat we were in for! One day I will own this property. A little inn, organic farm, gourmet restaurant, animals, oh gosh. The life I am destined to live. http://www.lospoblanos.com/

And they were so nice to us! Let us play with all the animals, answered our many, many questions. Lucky us showed up when it was time to milk the goat and they let us all have a turn. Yep, I've milked a goat.

Lastly, we made it to the Temple. It was gorgeous.

Julianna had planned on leaving Thursday morning and I could hardly stand the thought.

But, they were having such a good time they stayed another night!
Unfortunately, I was beat. And I mean beat. I'd pushed myself well beyond the limits for two days and although I wanted to do more, I simply could not. The kids were more than happy to just play at home and I laid down for a while. Next thing I knew I was waking up. Then Julianna took the big kids to the $1 theatre and I stayed home with Madeleine.

When they got home we went to Noelle's school for an ice cream social. We loved looking at the campus and checking out her classroom. Lastly, we went to dinner at a local place called Hot Tamales. Yummy, affordable 'New Mexican' mexican food.

There was no shortage of funny faces at the table.

I've left a lot of fun details out, pedicures, yummy homemade meals, board games, Wii, long conversations, so much more.

We loved every single second of their visit and are so grateful they made the effort to come. We can't wait for next time. There was so much we did not get to!

I Love You, Julianna.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Finally...Surgery Day!!!

The week before the kids were sick and I kept hoping I would stay well. But, a couple days before hand I started to feel horrible and feverish and had a sore throat. I tried to rest, drank water like crazy, fresh squeezed lemons, honey...you name it. Aaron and a friend gave me a blessing the night before and I hoped for the best.

When I woke up my fever was fine but as we were walking out the door I felt it coming on. I was freaking out. Everything was scheduled with my kids and Aaron's days off work. Plus, I could not stand the thought of re-scheduling. I prayed for guidance, popped two ibuprofen and we headed out the door and thought "What will be...will be." Now ibuprofen is bad because is increases bleeding but I am not a bleeder, quite the contrary. What a blessing that it worked out fine.

First, I just have to say how funny Aaron was with the camera. He's not one to remember to take pictures and I did not plan on even taking it but he made me run back into the house to get it. "What about the blog?" he said. Adorable.

Checking in.

IV and adorable gown.

Pretty hat and they roll me out.

See you in a while! I'm off to take one serious nap. :)

And all of the sudden you're done!

Then you're home with an ice-pack wondering who on earth just scrambled your brains.

The doctor called me that night to check in and basically said my sinuses were one hot mess. He could not believe all the polyps and diseased, infected tissue he had to remove. Uck!

The first several days I had a headache and the strangest light-headed weird feeling. Saturday night and Sunday my throat was killllllll-ing me. One look at my tonsils and I was shocked. They were HUGE and covered in gunk. All the infection draining down my throat infecting them. That night I took two Vicodin and the pain still woke me up several times. About day 5 is when the real healing set in and my actual nose really started to hurt. The headaches have been intense and the inside of my nose feels like someone punched it. Hard.

I cannot wait to feel 100% soon. I think I am a pretty tough girl. I thought I'd be further along by now. But I am so grateful. Once in a while I get a faint smell of something and I feel hope!

See another post below!

Jemez Mountains

Last weekend before surgery we wanted to do something fun because we knew we would be laying low for a while. Noelle was just getting over a week long fever and it seemed like Madeleine was heating up but we went for it anyway. New Mexico certainly is a desert but it's also an incredibly diverse place. We have so much exploring to do!!!

We drove up to the Jemez Mountains (pronounced Hay-Maas). It's a fun drive because how fast the landscape changes in about 50 miles. First you are in the middle of no where desert...then you hit incredible red rocks...then you are in the forest. The little town is really neat with several B&B's and a bath house from the 1800's.

We wanted to scout out some camping spots, the hot springs, and Jemez Falls.

We got out at a newly renovated campground and heard distant thunder. Aaron though we should get back because that weather would be here in no less than 5 minutes. I old him in nice terms to not be such a baby and assured him the second we felt a rain drop we'd be back in the car. Suddenly we heard what sounded like the earth shattering and down came the rain. We grabbed our kids and ran as fast as we could to the nearest bathroom overhang. Poor Noelle did not feel well and was already whining to go home (which she never, ever does) and this just sent her over the edge. After about 15 minutes it died down enough to run to the car.


Next we saw a sign for a lake and decided to check it out.
Beautiful!
We didn't make the hot springs or falls...too far of a walk for our sickie girls.


On our way back we stopped at check out Soda Falls.
(a hot spring that with the rock formations looks like foaming soda!)
and at a stand on the Reservation and bought some fry bread.

Such a great Saturday. Is there anything better than family days?

Summertime Cont...

Splash Park!
We've been here a couple of times and it is FUN!!!

I am so in love with this picture.
I have to admit that it was pure luck.
I just had it on the action setting and viola!

Bowling!

Thursday mornings you can bowl for $2/game.

Noelle has done plenty of bowling but only on the Wii.

She had a dang good time. Madeleine was there too but

she was being the world's biggest pill.

Crying...whining...you know the drill. No pics of that!