All right...all right....all RIGHT!

That's how Carissa says it! The snow can S.T.O.P. anytime NOW!! Christmas day was nice cause we knew we weren't going anywhere.

But after 2 days of Carissa having green goo coming out her nose, a cough, and finally a flaming red eardrum, I had to go out today to brave the roads for a doctor visit. So even though the boys cleared the driveway last night. We got even more today. And then the very NICE snowplow driver (that usually doesn't come down our street!) decided to clear off the street, and in the process of doing so, made a new mountain of snow about 2.5 feet at the end of the driveway! THANKS! So back out we went and shoveled some more so I could get the van out. Usually when the weather is like this, the roads are worse where we are and once you get out on the main roads, they are better. NOT TODAY! The further I went East, the worse it got. Not because they got more snow, but because it was still snowing and the roads were compact snow! But we managed to get there (a bit late) and to the pharmacy (even though the cashier was an idiot) and made it home without incident! And now that Carissa has some medication in her, she is SO much BETTER!

So here are some pictures from yesterday's snow. Today would look pretty much the same, so I didn't bother taking any more.

Here's what the porch looked like at around 3:00!

We thought we were SO smart to bring the garbage can up to the porch to make it easier to take stuff out, but soon realized we couldn't even open the door. So we waited until the wind died down.

Now can we have a few days to catch up and get the sun out to melt this all away! PLEASE???

Merry Christmas

After a brief power outage this morning, we now have computer access and heat again! Not so good timing for it...oven was just done preheating for the cinnamon rolls, and got a little crispy due to the amount of time they were in there! But they were still YUMMY!

We want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

More pictures coming soon!

A star, a House & a HUG!

Carissa has been bugging us to get a star on top of our tree. I had an old one that after many years of use, it just finally fell apart! So I broke down and bought a new topper. She insisted on letting Andrew lift her up to "do it myself"! She waited all afternoon while I ran a few last minute errands, and when I walked in the door she got so excited and before I even had my coat off, she was hauling a chair over to the tree!

She was thrilled to place it on the top...but then bummed when Andrew had to take it down to fiddle with the branches to get it to stay!

The other fun thing we did today was whip up a gingerbread house! By "whip" up I mean, I went to Wal-mart and purchased the kit, where the house is already glued together and all we need to do is mix the frosting (aka...spackle!!) and place the candy. I have never made one on my own and I admire people who take on the entire process and are still smiling afterward! Carissa was so excited to see the candy on the table. She placed a few candies and then asked if she could eat some!

Here is a picture of me concentrating to make a window!

I wish I had thought (or Andrew) to take a picture of Donavan "creating" stuff for the house. he is responsible for the wreath over the door,

the stained glass in the round little window on the back side,

and the cute trees and hedges, and the chimney on the roof. Please note the "smoke" coming out of the top!

Nikelle thought up the "reindeer" on the roof!

And Andrew crafted the little snowman on the front corner!

The we had fun opening our christmas eve jammies! And I got the sweetest hug from Carissa ever! And trust me....I NEEDED it after a super whiny day from her because she is getting a cold and I REALLY hope it doesn't get worse tomorrow!!!

Have a wonderful christmas eve! And a merry Christmas!

Busy few days!

So the last 4 days were pretty busy here. But I can finally check off my list my cards/letter and neighbor gifts. Now just need to make a batch of cookies, decorate a gingerbread house, and finish wrapping!

On thursday night, Nikelle had a choir concert. The songs were beautiful! The last song they sang with all 4 choirs combined was an African song. One of the teachers provided authentic African clothes and props. Unfortunatley I didn't get a picture of the whole group because Nikelle was nowhere to be seen from my seat, and frankly I couldn't get the whole group in the picture to do it justice, so you'll just have to imagine it!

Then Saturday the ward had a breakfast. The food was being cooked when I arrived with our sweet (and awesome!) bishop flippin' the cakes! Unfortunately (again) I forgot to charge the batteries (yup...both of them), so the batteries died! Only got 3 pictures before I realized it! It was fun to get together and enjoy some yummy food! Thanks guys!

Here's Amy checkin' the time, to see how long we have before people start arriving!

Then on Sunday we went to my sister's for my absolute favorite tradition! Family dinner, games and acting out the Nativity story. My family, when we were growing up attempted to do this when we were little. We quit when we were older. But when I moved here to Utah, Sonya was doing it with her kids, Nikelle was 5, and Donavan was 7 & we got together and started doing it together. After all with more people it was easier to have all the essential parts. It's fun to look back at the different years, and see how much they've changed!

I thought I would throw in this picture. We had all finished a roudy game of "split-second" in which the little ones didn't particpate. But that didn't stop them from playing as soon as we had all moved onto another game! Aren't they so cute together! Carissa was all excited to play with Hannah and Camille's ponies! When Nathan had enough of the "girl play" he told her, "let's play weapons now"! Carissa looked at him like he had 5 heads! We were all laughing pretty hard with that one!

The getting ready is the funnest part! Nathan wanted to be a wise man, but insisted on wearing the shepherd's robe and belt. You just argue with a 5 year old!

Josh (her oldest) doesn't like to have his picture taken, so it's nice to get one with his eyes open and a big sincere smile on his face! (He really didn't want to play Joseph---again---so he finally conceded to "donkey". Small part....no talking....perfect!

The girls love to trade off on who is Mary. This year was Camille's turn.

Hannah was a shepherd, so Carissa was our first "sheep"! She will do anything with Hannah and they are so cute together!

Nikelle was the angel/narrator

Mary and Joseph! Do you like the stable?

Here are the 3 wise "guys"!

Isn't Nathan pretty adorable!


Look at tough guy Donavan! Hard to look tough when you have spaghetti noodles for arms!!!!

This is a picture of "real life" at my house! Me under a blanket reading a book (trying to finish it..without much luck!) Carissa has to be close to me, with her feet in my face! And of course Spooky can't be very far from me either! And in this case ON ME! Never a moment of peace for me here......and I LOVE IT!!

Now if the snow would quit coming down....I'd be even happier! The bright side, is at least we have snow plows in this city, unlike where my parents live!

Elder Lenz & One concert down

We got a phone call from Andrew's brother Tom on tuesday night. He and his wife and oldest son were in town to take Chris to the MTC on wednesday morning.

(Chris was making my kids laugh REALLY hard, so this is them trying really hard to hold back the laughter...not working!)
So they came over for a quick visit! I'm so glad that they did that. We rarely get to see them, and Chris is such a fun "kid"! He has been called to the Eugene, Oregon mission. I was a bit confused because I didn't think he had had his birthday yet, and Tom informed me that as long as they turn 19 while in the MTC, it's OK! So he had his 19th birthday and entered the MTC on the same day! Good Luck Chris, we are so proud of you! You'll be a great missionary! So if anyone wants to take on a family project and write to Chris, let me know and I'll get you his address. (seeing as how we have SO many elders from our ward!)

Last night was Donavan's band concert! When Paradigm first opened, there were only about 6 band members and each year it has slowly grown in size. This year they have about 20 kids and even have a french horn and a baritone! The latest addition was a sole percussion player! Then at the end of the concert they combined the chamber orchestra and had about 45 kids crammed on a tiny little stage. But they sounded great! It's been so nice to see him improve over the years and this time he even got some really fun first trumpet parts that really stretched his high range! So if you notice in the picture he is a bit flushed! Those high notes are tough!

I've been collecting the S'mores ornaments for about 5 years now and have over 40 different ones. This year I added 3 more!

Here's Nikelle's.....lovin' the penguins!

Donavan's....of course it's a guitar! But he REALLY wanted it to be electric!

And this one's for me!

That's all for now!

A little behind

So normally I am one of those people that rushes to put the tree up right after Thanksgiving. But this year, I just couldn't seem to find the energy. (Especially after cooking all day and staying up all night for black friday!) Then the cat eating stuff really scared me! So I just had put it off. Well yesterday the Internet was down, so I had no good excuses, and decided that I must not procrastinate any longer. So Carissa helped me move the furniture (well "helped" by finding all her lost toys that were hiding under the couch!) then helped find the boxes in the basement. We started setting up the tree, plugged in the lights of my *only used once last year, easy to set up and just plug in the lights, pre-lit tree*, and soon discovered that 2 entire strands of lights were completely out. I thought no big deal, I've got plenty of lights here, since I don't have to put on lights anymore....lots of extras.

(I snapped this picture after I noticed the lights burned out, but Carissa insisted on "decorating" the tree, so I allowed a few balls to go on for a quick snapshot!)

So I began the slow and tedious process of unwinding lights that were either put on by inhuman hands or someone who was so high they couldn't feel the pain of the branches digging into their hands! I couldn't believe how they managed to get these lights wrapped on there. And after 45 minutes to un-do ONE strand, I got out the "extra" lights and NOT ONE OF THEM WORKED! GRRRRRRR! I had at least 10 strands of lights and they so conveniently don't work.....at all! So at this point, I have a choice. I can either spend the next two hours getting the other strands off to replace them with new strands that I have to go buy........OR I can just get a new tree! So to make matters worse, Andrew had taken my van to have some stuff looked at, so I was without a car to transport a large box home. But we thought we could fit it in Donavan's car. When Carissa heard that she was going to be left at home, she pitched a royal fit. So that meant we had to take 2 cars so we had a car seat. Off we went to Target. Nothing. Off to Wal-mart. Nothing. Decided we (Carissa) were done and came home, with NOTHING!

In comes my hero. Andrew got home from work with my van, and I told him about the tree. At this point it was halfway up and he could see the evidence of my mangled hands and after testing all the lights that were goners, (of course he didn't believe me) told me I could go to the store and see if I can find something. Good enough for me. Off to Tai-Pan I went with my coupon in hand! Found the tree I love, and brought that bad boy home! Set it right up (easy as that) all the lights work, and it looks lovely! Still haven't put the ornaments on it yet, as Carissa is lining them up on the kitchen floor to look at them all! I've warned her that when they go on the tree, she will not be allowed to take them off, but I have a feeling this is a battle I will be fighting every single day until it comes down. (I'm starting to remember why I put it off in the first place!) So the tree will be finished sometime today, and then I can start on other holiday things. Maybe some more shopping!!!

Thought I would put this picture up. I needed a picture for my december desktop (yes, I'm crazy like that!) So we went out to snap a few. Didn't even bother looking at my settings, and every one of them ended up all blown out. Played around with my new lightroom, and got it looking pretty cool. (Sorry, Blogger really messes up the color, and I don't want to take the extra steps to fix it) This one I think should be titled "Naughty or Nice?" She just looks so angelic, but we all know the truth!

Rude Awakening

Well this morning at 2am, we heard Carissa from her room. Went to get her, and she told us that her tummy hurt. Wanted medicine. Then she wanted toast. Yup........throwing up for 4 hours with her. Then at around 6:00am, I was up and turning on a light in the kitchen, when I literally fell to the floor, and the room started spinning. I've never had such a strong feeling EVER that I was going to throw up. I usually fight it for hours and then can manage to hold it down. But I literally smacked right into the feeling with out any warning at all. I had all the symptoms, but nothing happened, so I crawled over to the couch at 6:15 and didn't even TRY and move until 3:00. Now my body is all stiff and I have a headache of the century! Carissa is no longer throwing up (that's good at least) but I am still not feeling normal. I've only attempted to eat crackers and water. And for everyone who even suspects I'm pregnant.......NOPE......that's NOT what this is. This is far worse! (well maybe not in duration!) So mom, this would be why I haven't called you back. Sorry. I'm hoping I'll be back to feeling better soon.

The Final $$$$$

Here you have it. The culprit!

Notice that little string hanging on the bottom. I'm sure that's what enticed her to "play" with it. Not sure why she thought eating it was fun!

Well considering that the dress only cost $9.99. And I expected the total for the vet to be well over $400.00. When she told me the total was $179.95, I was ecstatic!! Then she told me that she needed to deduct the $50.00 deposit. So needless to say, I was really happy that we don't have to postpone christmas because of the stupid cat! (I love her, don't get me wrong, but sometimes animals are just not the smartest things!) So now the dress is worth $189.94!!

So needless to say, I will not be buying dresses or anything that has the tulle anywhere on the dress. And the decorations around the house will be devoid of it as well.

Spooky update

I just spoke to the vet. He told me that she is doing better. They took another x-ray this morning, and it looks like the barium has moved all the way along the digestive tract without any signs of a blockage. But they gave her a bit more to make sure that the fabric isn't still in the stomach. They will x-ray again in a couple of hours and then we'll know for sure if it has been passed through the bowel. Hopefully there are not fragments that get stuck along the way! So now we just wait (as the dollars continue to add up!) and hopefully she'll be able to come home without major surgery. Uggg, the things we do for an animal! Now hopefully she won't continue to eat things like this again! (and I've learned my lesson to CLEAN up!)

It's snowing right now, and I'm nervous about Donavan driving home in the snow! Hopefully it will stop before then! I really don't want to have to go get them, especially in the snow!

Edited: (1:00) The vet says everything looks clear, and they are just waiting for the "moving" to get all the barium all the way out. And hopefully they will find a nice (expensive) piece of netting along with it! But they will keep her overnight to observe and make sure she starts eating and drinking again. (She hasn't had anything since tuesday morning, with the exception of some fluids they pushed when she was knocked out)

Tough Decisions

I'm sure that in an hour or so, I will be forced to make a very difficult decsion. Sometime on Sunday night, my sweet, loving, adorable (heathen!) kitty, decided that she needed to tear off and EAT the netted tulle that was on the hem of one of Carissa's dress. I usually am so good about keeping these things put up, but must have missed it when I cleaned up that night. Well on Monday morning, when we got home from preschool, she started puking. She managed to get the netting up, and I thought that was the end of it. After all, she has done this with ribbons, hairbows, flowers, and even fake plants. So I didn't think too much of it. Then on Tuesday morning, we got the motherload of puke all over the house. (sorry if this is grossing anyone out!) She managed to get every carpet in the house, but not on the wood floor (go figure!) So I knew then that she probably had some more, or had eaten something new. Well I could tell that she had only gone potty twice since the night before, so I thought she might be alright cause she was at least going. So I cleaned out the box and decided to watch her. For the most part of the day, she slept, which of course isn't unusual. But it was different. She didn't want to follow me around. She didn't talk to me at all when I approached her, and the biggest tip off of all, is that she would let me touch her belly! So I decided to call the vet and find out what was going on. You guessed it......"we won't know until we can see her"! So I have an appointment this morning at 8:45. She made it through the night with only getting sick twice, but I swear she's lost 2 pounds! Even though she has plenty to survive on for awhile, she hasn't had anything to drink or eat in 2 days. I've warned the big kids that this could be something serious, but Carissa is completely oblivious. I think it would crush her the most if Spooky doesn't make it. After all this is her "little sister"! (Best I can do at this point!!)

I took this picture this morning....normally Spooky would never let Carissa be this close to her and be so content!)


So who knows what is really going on with this little kitty. I really thought it would be years before I was put to this question again, but when you have animals you just never know when it will happen. Andrew actually thought our insurance covered animals! Ha!!! Don't I wish! So now that it is time to go, wish us luck!

Edited: just got back from the vet. The x-ray didn't show much (of course) so now they have to try a barium test, to see if and where the blockage may be. I won't know anything until about 3 this afternoon. Then we'll decide where to go from there. Hopefully it will be an easy fix, but I seriously doubt that!

Edited: (3:00) The barium shows that the fabric may be in the throat still, which would explain why she won't eat, drink, cry. They are going to try and "retrieve" it. Hope it works!

Edited: (5:30) So after she has been there for over 8 hours I just NOW find out that they tried to recover the piece of fabric and in the process, they think they pushed it (or she finally swallowed it down) so now it's in the stomach. Whether it will past (cleanly) is yet to be determined, so they will observe her overnight and re-x-ray her in the morning. If they have to do any kind of dissection, it will easily be over 300.00! (and that doesn't include the "retrieval" or the office visit!) What would you guys do????

I {Heart} the internet

I just got the most glorious surprise! After getting a comment on my blog from someone I haven't seen in over 5 years, I clicked on her blog and found out she is expecting her first baby! After she ran into my mom in town, she decided to find my blog after my mom mentioned I had one! Thanks mom! This right here is the reason I don't want to go private, cause I might miss out on these moments!

Here she is at 35 weeks! Look at the view behind her. This is the view in her parent's backyard! Isn't it gorgeous! I've always loved the view from their house! Those are the Olympic Mountains back there.

This is her cute husband Scott and their whippet "Leo"!

The reason this is so special to me, is because Melissa has been a part of my life since I was her babysitter when she was in KINDERGARTEN! I used to watch her twice a week while her mom taught piano lessons, and almost every weekend! She was the sweetest little 5 year old then, and she has grown into a wonderful young lady who will soon be a mommy in about a month! I remember playing games and singing songs and making her after school snacks! She was the first "kid" that I babysat for, for an extended period of time on a regular basis, and she's pretty much the reason that I became a mom! I remember telling her that someday when I had kids of my own, I hoped they were as sweet as her! Guess I got lucky, cause they were! (Notice I didn't say "are" cause I didn't spend much time with her as a teenager, so I can only compare when they were younger!!)

Here's a picture from her Kindergarten graduation!

It has caused me to reminisce a bit and wish to be able to go home so that I could see her again when she has this little baby!! (I can still see her as this little girl sitting on her purple/pink comforter and reading stories!)

{Maybe I can talk her into a short visit on her drive west!}

Who knew that reading someone's blog can cause so many emotions! Thanks Melissa!