Surviving the aftermath;)................

We survived! Well, most of us has anyway;)

On Christmas Eve we hosted a dinner. We had 15 people over that night for Turkey, Ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, yams and stuffing. We also made pumpkin pies, no bake cheese cakes and brownies. I think it was a huge success, well, I hope it was a huge success! Everyone ate their fill and we had a great time sitting around afterwards visiting with each other. The missionaries ate so much that they rolled out of the house later that night and most everyone left by 10pm. We had one group that stayed late and by the time I got home from dropping them off it was after midnight. WE had a couple of extra Santa helpers to get the main gift out and set up then sent them to bed so we could work on the stockings.

I have been battling a head cold since Sunday evening so I have been feeling pretty yucky. The two younger boys were up at 7am so I slowly got out of bed and found a comfortable spot on the couch and watched the boys come in and see the gifts Santa left for a second time;) They always get up in the middle of the night to see what was left, but they always try to show their excitement when they come down when we are there. they know once they stop being excited, Santa will stop coming:o

Everyone seemed very excited about what they got this year. We got DJ and Kai a new DSi, and they have been having fun finding out everything that little toy does. Christian got another IPod Touch. We told him that this was the last one we will get for him! We got Jori and new camera, one that is better than her old one and I ILuv for her IPod touch. Now she can listen to her music in her room. DJ and Jori got a book series they love to read and Jori has already started reading them. We were able to find Christian an XBox live card so that he can now be hooked up to play with his friends in the states again. Kai got a IPod dock that is a clock radio. Now they can wake up to the sounds on in IPod in the morning and listen in his room while he is doing his homework. Sheldon, well we got him a new suit a couple weeks ago now that he's in the Bishopric and I got him a case for his IPhone that will keep his phone charges all the time! I got a a digital picture frame and Thomas Kincade cottage. I had started collecting them a long time ago but we kind of stopped. I would like to concentrate on more of the church statues but you have to order ahead for those and with no church book store in the area that won't be happening since Sheldon doesn't shop for me until Dec 24th;)

We were invited to Renata's house for a dinner and that was fun! She had a whole bunch of meets that were cut into small pieces and you put them on these small table grills and cook them. I told SHeldon that I want those! They also had small woks that you could cook individual size servings of foods. The kids were a little hesitant but by the end they were having fun and getting some great ideas about what we could cook here at home. So I have a feeling that for my anniversary we will be getting those and will have to try them out:)

We are thinking of going to Paris for next week. Jori so far is the only person who has gone there and we would like to do something tourist like. We will go and see the old stand by's. The Louver, Eiffel Tower and whatever else strikes out eye. I just hope this cold will finally be gone so I can enjoy this trip.

Well, we're going to play "Are you smarter than a 5th grader". We're trying to figure it out so wish us luck!

2 Days and counting.......

So it look s like Christmas will come wether I am ready or not;) The hubby is down at the army post picking up the last Christmas present for one of the kids. Everything got here in time:) Our new washer machine was delivered today, so hopefully this one will work properly and there will be no problems. I have only Sheldon's presents to wrap that will go under the tree and everything for the stockings should be in one place. I am also wrestling with starting to work on tomorrow's desserts so that will be done with.

Tomorrow we are planning on having about 8-9 people over for Christmas Eve dinner. It was suppose to be a smaller group and just kind of snowballed from there. I need to have the hubby call everyone tonight to give everyone a time that they should be here. We are planning on Turkey, Ham, potatoes w/gravy, stuffing, yams, green bean casserole and a vegie tray. I hope that will be enough for everyone. We are planning on pumpkin pies, cheese cakes and brownies for dessert.

I have been fighting a head cold the last couple days. I feel so yucky and hoping that SHeldon can find the right meds for me. I am suppose to go out for a birthday dinner tonight for a sister of the ward. I don't think I will be able to go. I don't think it would be wise to be out too long with everything I have to get done tomorrow. I will call

Renata and let her know. I feel bad for having to cancel. but I need to be well for tomorrow.

Well, I've stalled long enough and need to get some baking done.

Jori is in the house..............

That's what I said, after 4 months Jori is now here with us for the Christmas holidays. I dropped off Sheldon and the boys at church this morning then headed off to Amsterdam to pick up Jori from the airport. Well, it's been snowing the past couple days so the roads were a little yucky this morning. After getting out of Eindhoven the roads were drivable but I had to stay well below the speed limit. About 30 minutes into the drive I got stuck behind the snow plows. How they do it here in the Netherlands is they have 3 snowplows that stagger the lanes so they make it virtually impossible to pass them at all. The only problem to me was that the roads were clear so there was really no need for them to to keep the road blocked like that. I had to follow them for over an hour and they only went 20 mph:( Talk about frustrating. Finally I was able to to get about 10 miles out then the snow started to come down really hard, almost whiteout conditions. I ended up being over an hour late getting Jori, and the poor thing was wondering what was going on since she couldn't call me to find out. Coming home we had a lot of snow up until 15 miles out of Eindhoven. Needless we got to the church with 15 minutes left for sacrament meeting. We missed the whole program, the singing and things. I guess half the ward knew I was on the road driving to get Jori and when we walked in fine they were all relieved. Talk about how sweet!

All day we've had snow coming down so after lunch the kids went out for a little while to play in it. We finally found some boots and gloves but this will motivate me to go and get the things we need for the kids this week. I'm sure once I get it all, the snow will melt and we won't have anymore for the year, but at least the boys are ready for their skiing trip in March. It sure is beautiful to watch coming down, and the fields around the house look so pretty. We really love living out here.

Some members in the ward are having a birthday party tonight but the roads are a little slippery and we are all really exhausted. Jori feel asleep on the couch and I have a tired headache from the little sleep I've had this week. I think I'll get to bed early tonight, and tomorrow get up early to make a list of what we need to do the next couple of days to get ready for Christmas.

We will have about 14 people all together for Christmas Eve. It will be a nice evening and hopefully the food will be good;) I just want to have a fun night with everyone. We are looking forward to it.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some pictures of the kids out in the snow and post them. I need to get better at that!

SNOW!

Yep, that's what I said, snow.......

Well, at least with all the cold we've been having, now is the pay off;) I am one of those people who love's snow, yet it's ironic that I am also the least prepared with regards to having the proper attire to wear in it:( As I rummage through my closet I have plenty of capri style pants that are great for the summer months, but not much else:/ Maybe Santa will need to look into bringing me some pants this year?

I had to remind Malachi this morning that he might want to wear a coat to school. That boy has been wearing a sweatshirt to school this last week with all the cold weather. I just don't get him! Maybe I just don't get teenage boys? I figure that one day he'll get smart(or cold) and then he might wear the appropriate coat. A Mom can dream;)

Tomorrow we need to head to Schinnen Army post to do some shopping and pick up more Christmas presents. I'm hoping that everything we ordered for the kids will be here. I can go without, but I need everything for them to be here. Then I can wrap presents and get them under the tree:)

Well, I need to try and put together a synopsis of the year to send with the Christmas cards I bought this year. Maybe this year I'll get them out? We shall see;) I also need to get some cleaning done since Christian has a friend staying over tonight and we have the YM from church coming tomorrow for an evening of video games fun. I need to get some baking done and get my shopping list done so I don't forget anything when down at Schinnen. Too much to do and so little time. Looking forward to Dec 26th because I plan to sleep that day away!

Brrrr...........

It has been down right chilly the past few days. You think by all this cold that winter is finally here;) I guess it is! I needed to go to the store this morning to buy gifts for DJ's teacher's and a gift for our taxi driver. I was able to catch the bus just a few houses away and go into the Veldhoven city center. The bus is actually a large shuttle van, but it was nice an warm:) The bus only comes through every hour so I have to make sure I'm there on time, even just a little before because her doesn't stop if he doesn't see anyone standing there. And DJ got out early today from school so I had to make sure that I was home before he got here. Now that I know the schedule a little better i will be using the service a little more often. The nice thing was that the center was not crowded at all. I would like to go and back, but know that the next few weeks won't be that easy. Once the kids get out of school and we get closer to Christmas that place will be crazy. I have just a couple more things I need to get for Christmas then I will be done.

Jori flies in this weekend. I was looking at the train schedule because I was thinking about taking the train to go up and get her, but they don't run as often on the weekends. So now I need to go over it with Sheldon then we can make a decision on what we will do. Jori also wrecked the truck driving on snow in Provo so we are waiting to hear from the insurance to find out what will happen with the truck. Monica happened to be there and she figured the truck was totaled, but nothing has been settled yet. I need to get a number for a shuttle service to pick her up from her apartment to take her to the airport on Saturday morning.

I am baking 2 ham's right now or the RS dinner tonight. I hope that all goes well with them. The one in the crock pot is doing fine, hopefully the one in the oven will be good too. I think I ruined my crock pot from the states. I used the transformer like I usually do but then it started smoking:( It would just be best if I buy another european crock pot then I will have two again. I'm so mad about the other crock pot. Oh well, that just means I get to buy a new one when we move back.

Well, I still need to get into the shower. I'm still freezing:( I think I might just have to buy me some long underware for when I go out. I also want to get a couple more things done before I have to go tonight. I will be glad when this week is finally over.

Saturday Musings.......

Today ended up being a lazy day around the house. We ended up not going to Belgium like we thought we would on Friday. Sheldon and I drove with the two younger boys down to Schinnen Army post to get gas, food and anything else we could think of. We bought a new Christmas tree since the lights on the last tree we had stopped working. I think Kenzie bit through the wires that first Christmas we got her, and since we didn't need to have the tree up last year because of the move it was time to get one. I was hoping to find something before we came here, but no one thinks of selling Christmas trees in August, so we were out of luck;) I put the tree up today and tomorrow we will start decorating that and other things around the house.

Tonight we had a dinner at the church with all the High Priest group from church. There is a chinese family who are investigating the church and he owns his own restaurant. He was asked to cook the dinner and we were able to sample all the different foods. There were about 8-10 different foods choices all together. All in all it was very good. There were a couple things that I didn't like or wouldn't try, I just have a thing about tentacles, but it was a nice evening. We got to sit next to the Bishop and his wife and talked and laughed all evening. The Bishopric ended up being assigned the clean up and we ended up being there late. Unfortunately the men have to be back for meetings in the morning so it doesn't seem right to make them have to stay so late into the night cleaning. Sheldon and I are used to staying and cleaning up after activities so we didn't think much about it, but the other wives seemed a little frustrated.

Well, I have some white's almost done that need to go into the dryer, and I have to get up early so I can take Sheldon to his meeting in the morning. I guess my nap tomorrow will feel really good depending on how tired I will be tomorrow.

The rain has been coming down everyday. There are moments when it stops, but I guess this is what they mean by it raining all the time here;) Oh, Sheldon was able to finally get the Armed Forces receiver to work so we have American TV in the house. The boys watched sponge bob tonight and there are other shows that they used to watch in the states on the family channel so they are happy about. The older boys in the house are very happy to see that football is on there too;) One day when after all the men leave I might actually get to see if there is something on there that I miss watching? Then again, I haven't really watched tv for so long that I really don't care much for it now.

We are connected!

That's right! Just as it is stated above, we are connected to the internet at our house!!

Where to start?????

Well we got into the country as stated below on the 14th of August. From that day, we literally took two months to get everything done, paperwork that we needed, to look for a house and move into it within the 60 day time frame. That I can tell you was no easy task. We had problems with sofie numbers, the dutch version of a SS #, getting phones and banking, that you can't do without the sofie number in this country:/ and then trying to get a Makeleer to help us look for a place to live. We called and visited a couple of the Makeleers and while they sent us some pictures and addresses of places to look at , we just didn't get the response we had hoped for. Eventually we found on young man who would call us back and preceded to show us a few houses in the Eindhoven area. I felt like Goldilocks some times as we visited each home to see how we could "fit" our family in each place and each time there was just something not right. Some were too old, which means outrageous heating bills in winter and too hot for the summers, some were tiny, with stairwells that twisted up and up and there would be no way we could fit our furniture in any of the upstairs room then one that practically had no kitchen at all:0 Can you imagine a four bedroom home with hardly ANY kitchen counters, cupboards or oven to speak of? Just when we were thinking that we might not find something the young Makeleer found 2, yes 2 places that we could really move into. One home was older with a kitchen that would rival any american kitchen in the states, big rooms and beautiful marble floors that had double doors that opened from the living room to the covered porch out back. I have to say it was beautiful. It was an older home, but really very nice and big. The other place was newer, big and next to open fields that belong to the city which means no neighbors anytime soon. After looking at them both, we had to make a decision because we were coming to the point where we needed to get things going. We only had a couple weeks left at the bungalow park and it would take that long to deal with all the paperwork we would need to take care of. With both houses being great it was hard to make a decision. We took the weekend to think about them and on Monday we decided to take the house by the fields. Even though the kitchen in the one house was wonderful and the back yard was beautiful the house we took is open and free standing quiet. Our neighbors are sweet, even though they don't speak English and I no Dutch, but they are older and have an immaculate yard. She brought over a card right after we moved in, but unfortunately I had come down with a bad cold and not in the mood for socializing. I need to get over and say hello with the hubby these next few days so that I can say thank you and that I appreciate her welcoming me into the neighborhood.

Okay, enough of the house........

Just some other things that have happened since being here,

I was called to be in the RS presidency:0 I'm guessing it was the only place the Lord felt that I could serve at this time without hopefully causing too much trouble, and Sheldon was called as second counselor in the Bishopric! Yikes!! We are trying really hard to get to know the members of the ward, and hoping that we will be able to serve them the best way we can. There is so much more, but as I see the time is getting close, I want to get the dishes started in the dishwasher, get some more clothes in the dryer and pick up a little before deciding on what to do for dinner. The boys get home in an hour and everything here will be chaotic with everyone wanting to get on the computer now that it's up and running here at the house. You should've seen everyone dancing around the house last night when we found that it had finally been turned on;) Homework will be easier to do and with having 3 computers in the house we should have no problems with those wanting some FB time;)

The Netherlands

Well, what can I say? We've been in country for 2 weeks now and sometimes feel like we're just not getting what we need to get done accomplished:(

We were able to ge a lot of paperwork done on the first day we flew in. Our sponser Juergen took us to the bases that we needed to have new ID cards made, had us talk to the driver license people and housing people and a few other things. We got into our Bungalow Park with some minor problems but the people here have been great. Due to the militaqry not taking into account that we would need our credit limit raised on our card, we've had some interesting phone calls. Needless to say, Ellsworth AFB really can screw you over since they don't have the same urgency at getting the military credit card paid off as quick as we need it. We were finally at a point where it looked like we could be evicted from this place before we were finally able to get them to raise the limit on our card to 15 thousand dollars. Once they actually start making payments on his card we will be ok.

This week we went to get Sheldons sofi card, the NL social security #, and they kept telling us that we didn't have all the right information. The guy even tried to call Brunssum the Nato base, and they said they lost our paperwork "temporarilly"! That didn't help our cause at all. When we talked with our sponser again, he told us we got "screwed over" not only by the sofi people but the nato base as well. We did have all the paperwork that was needed, and them not having our paperwork handy was "not cool". Well, what could we say? We have been trying to get back in to get eh number, but now have to wait until next Tuesday. Once Sheldon get's his sofi number, we can get a Dutch bank account then that will make it possible for us to rent a house and get our cell phones. Needless to say, there have been some frustrating days, but really nothing too bad.

I have to say we have been enjoying the cooler weather the past few days. The area is beautiful! Everytime we are out driving it eminds us of the different places that we've lived in or visited in the US. It's been fun to just soak in the countryside and watch the people.

We are really excited about the ward we are in here. The first Sunday we got here everyone was so friendly. Christian already had boys from the YM inviting him to come and play on their Rugby team. Jori had the YA inviting her to their activities too. We have had dinner invites from other families as well. One family, The Van Empels were not at church our first day there but she was so excited to meet us called and invited us for dinner. We went and ended up being instant friends. They have been just wonderful to us. We found out she has a daughter at BYU so Jori plans to go back and meet with her once school starts. They were even great enought to take Jori to Paris tis last week. They just happened to be going and we wanted Jori to be able to see Paris before going back to school. We wanted to go but have been dealing with all the problems with the military card and sofi number we just didn't feel like we could go. Jori came back so excited about her trip and it sounds like the 2 girls, Jori and Catherina are planning to go back next summer when she gets back in country.

Jori flew back to the states this morning. We ended up having her take the train to the Amsterdam Airport instead of driving her up. We're trying to conserve the miles on the rental car. She was fine with it since she felt more sure of herself after the Paris trip. I guess she went to a couple places while in Paris on the metro there by herself since the other ladies were tired, so she is feeling confidant that she could get off the train at the airport and get inside on her ;0 I really hope she had a good time for the couple weeks she was here. I know the first week the kids were stuck at the Bungalow Park while Sheldon and I went down to Germany to take care of his paperwork, but this last week has been a little better about getting out and seeing things.

Next week Sheldon starts work and I have to start dealing with the schools to get things ready for the boys. I hope things there go smoother than some of the things we've dealt with so far, but no matter what, it has been a good adventure and we are taking things as they come.

It's been awhile!

Wow, a lot had happened the last two weeks so I'll try and catch you all up.

Like I said in the last post we had just seen the doctor and turned our paperwork in. We took the papers to the special needs coordinator and she faxed them in. At the end up that week heard from a Colonel in Germany in charge of the program that the Doctor from Geilenkerchen still was going to deny the orders. She said that was her standard protocol for that area because of the Doctor situation. He then said that their had to be something we could do. Well, she told him if we were willing to waive using their medical facility and go on the economy for the boys medical then we could bring them. We would have to use the Tri Care Europe program. Well, we were going to have to do that anyway because of how far we are from the hospital . We just shook our heads because she was denying us being able to come over as a family and we were never going to be using her medical facility anyway! So Sheldon signed the papers and we we faxed them back and we had everything done by that Friday afternoon. On Monday morning we were told we were approved from the Germany side so we needed to hound the people here at Bolling to sign off on it then we could get our orders. Sheldon went to he special needs coordinator, she signed everything then gave him the paperwork to take to our outbound assignments guy to we could get our orders cut. He of coarse was not in that afternoon but working at a special assignment that day. We tried hard to get someone else to help, but no go. We were told that we could have the the next day, Tuesday and we would be good to go. We were also told that afternoon that we were still suppose to be there by the 15th of August! That would give us 2 1/2 weeks to get there:0 So we have 2 weeks really to get out of here, going overseas, to be in place by the 15th.

Tuesday morning rolls around and we are waiting for the call but haven't heard anything. Finally around 11 am, Sheldon goes down there and the guy's there, just hasn't done it yet:( SHeldon stresses to this airmen that we only have 2 weeks to take care of everything and we can't do any appointments until we have those orders. He stands over him while the kid protests that he doesn't have the clearance from our end when Sheldon shows him that paper and he gets that "dum" look like, oh, I guess that is the paperwork I need. He finally gives Sheldon his much needed papers and he's off. We scheduled TMO (the movers), housing (gave our notice of moving) and set up out times for our pre inspection and final out. I was able to get the pets their appointments for their health check for the flight over. We also turned in our port call paperwork to get our flight information. Not bad for half a days notice;)

We made some decision during this time of a couple hours too. We found a regulation that stated that they had to fly round trip any dependent that is a student in the states once every fiscal year! Since Jori was being fired on Friday, not anything due to her performance but just because of the economy, she would really have nothing to do for the next month and become an expensive sponge for a month or more. We decided that it would be best for us to take Jori with us:) She will stay with the boys at our bungalow park while Sheldon and I go to Germany for his in-processing. It won't be a major vacation for her, but at least she'll get to see the country side of the Netherlands and Germany a little before she comes out at Christmas. She can take back some candy for her friends and pictures! At least we get to see her. It would have been a whole year if we waited until the holidays and that was too long. Jori flies in late Tuesday night just as all the fun begins here. We hope if we work really hard she will get the chance to take in the sights here at the DC Mall too. It would be a shame not too.

Well, I know I have more write but I'll try to catch up when I can. I can't wait to start adding pictures to this blog. I need to do better with that, but right now at least keeping up with the writing will just have to be enough and once things settle down I will get to that.

Looking up......

Today we had the two younger boys appointment with the pulmonary specialist. At first he seemed a little gruff and I was worried that he would get impatient with us trying to explain everything but as the morning progressed, he had more of his coffee and he became like a little teddy bear by the time we left. I have to remind myself that the attitudes of the Army are really different from the Air Force and that even goes with the doctors too.

He throughly looked through the boys medical records, and then examined them himself. He said their pulmonary function tests looked good and said if it was up to him and if we were staying here for a couple years he would work at seeing if he could wean the boys off of some of the meds they are on. He had them also have an X-ray done. There was a little spot on Kai's x-ray on the left side but he said that was normal for a kid with his symptoms. It shows a little thickening in the bronchia, but nothing abnormal and it could disappear in a few years.

The report he wrote for the appeal was that he was positive that the boys were well maintained and there should be no problem with them being over there. He also said that they could be seen by a regular pediatric doctor and just have their regular 6 month check ups to make sure the meds are doing fine.

We are hoping that the docs in Germany will change their minds and say that they can come over after all and we're hoping that they will do it before the weeks out, but they have 7 days to make up their mind so we won't hold our breath. I guess once we know then we will have a good idea when we can leave this place. It's just waiting to see which way we will be going, East or West?

It's Friday and we're going into the weekend with....

no word yet of what we will be doing. We got an email from the USAFE guy in Germany asking us to be patient and that they are trying to talk with the Dr that rejected us. I guess she's on leave for this week so they won't know anything until they talk with her on Monday. We went today to Walter Reed Medical Center to have the boys do a pulmonary function test and the lab tech there said that they were doing great with their lungs. They are stable and as long as they stay on their medications and take them like they should that we shouldn't have any problems with them overseas. We were able to go through a Spring here with all the pollen that was floating around and pooling in the streets when we had a rain and the boys never had any problems at all. We will see the specialist on Tuesday morning and then we will submit our appeal papers then. We can only hope that all this will work out.

Today is my Mom's birthday so I need to try and call to talk with her tonight if I can. She is 95 yrs old. I sent her some flowers for her birthday so I hope she enjoys them. I couldn't think of anything else to send her. I want to get some pictures printed up then we can send them to her in a book so she can look at them when she wants.

Joe Revas came over for dinner tonight. He will be going in for his stomach surgery at the end of the month and with us not know ing how much time we will have he wanted to have an evening with us. That man just cracks me up. He is so excited about the gospel and he enjoys sharing it with other. Too bad we're not all like them.

Well, I need to take care of some things and then need to get to bed. Kai has a swim meet in the morning and we need to go for that. I hope tomorrow will be a nice morning. Tomorrow we need to really go through the garage and get some stuff done in there. I want to be ready for whatever comes our way.

Tuesday again...............

It's been a week since I posted and we are still sitting herein limbo so to speak.  We are waiting to hear from Germany what they are thinking about this whole thing.  

We went to see a new doctor yesterday to see if she could put accurate info on the paperwork and she is reluctant to change it.  She wants us to take the boys to get pulmonary function tests and the last time I tried getting an appointment I couldn't get any answers from the clinic.  Hopefully she has better luck.  She was looking at the boys medical records on the computer and said that they boys had info on their charts that was inconsistent there too.  So I guess it would be good to have a look at all of their charts.  Anyway this has turned into a major hassle.  

Sheldon said that Christian was texting his "new" girlfriend and Chris was saying he was hoping we'd stay in the US instead of going to Europe.  The talk too over in Germany is that they might not have Sheldon come over by himself because of the troubles with the last guy.  I guess the last guy's wife didn't like it there and didn't do well.  They ended up getting divorced and he had to deal with all of that and ended up leaving a couple months early.  The difference with that for Sheldon is we are used to this kind of stuff unlike a younger married couple and its us;)  We are always looking for another adventure, though, its not the perfect adventure, but it could prove interesting.  So we shall see.

So lets recap, a week ago today we found out that the boys were denied going over to Europe to live.  As of now, a week later, we still have nothing resolved.  Such as the life of the military:(

Been a loong time............

Wow, I have just had so much going on and so many things popping up that I haven't taken the time to sit down and write.

Let's see, first of, I've been feeling tons better.  Saw the doctor she did blood tests.  Had to go and redo one of the blood test because I was a bit anemic, but haven't heard from them since.  I'm suppose to go in next week for a follow up so we shall see what everything says.  Since I haven't gotten a call, I'm figuring that there can't be anything major bad with me or else they would have called me to have more test done.  I'm wondering if it was just my reaction to the meds?

Spent the 4th hanging close to home and watching the fireworks show from the banks of the Potomac river.  There was no music and once the show stopped we could still hear the percussion sounds from the blast of the fireworks made for about 10- 15 seconds longer.  That was impressive.  The wind was blowing our way from the show, so we did have the smoke to deal with when watching, but they were still very pretty. We also took the boys to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  It was cute.  Definitely better than the second one.

Sheldon just called to tell me that the medical portion for our request to go overseas has been denied.  We are having problems because of what the doctor here said about Malachi.  We have never had a problem with him, he's never been hospitalized or he has never had an attack for asthma, even as I write he's been doing swim team with no adverse problems at all.   We would have flair ups in the winter time or when he would catch a cold, but nothing really.  So she wrote that he was chronic and the AF doesn't have a doctor close enough to take care of him in the NL.  So this afternoon we have to go and see what our options are now for us.  They will most likely send Sheldon over for 1-2 yrs and we will have to stay here in the states.  We are going to see that if the asthma will be the problem and all we need is to have a Dr close by,  maybe they could send the family to Ramstien AFB and then Sheldon could come home on the weekends?  They said we can appeal the Dr's notes and get a second opinion.   So this afternoon we will be off to the assignments office to find out what our options are and go from there.

Well, I guess I better get off and get dome work done around here.  I have a feeling these next few weeks are going to be crazy;(

So much to tell, so little time

I had started a post on Saturday last week to try and get up to date with everything, but ended up not posting because we had to leave quickly.  

Last Saturday we ventured down to Richmond for Tasha Hendersons class graduation. We decided at the last minute that we would stop off at a JC Penney outlet that was on the way down to exchange the boys jeans that we bought them a few weeks before that didn't fit.  We ended up getting the boys a few more pairs of jeans, a shirt that DJ thought he had to have and Sheldon bought another pair of Levi's 501 for under $20 dollars.  How can you not go wrong with that?  Now I have some clothes taht I ordered and need to send back, I just need to put them in the car and get that taken care of when I can.

We got to the Graduation just in time to be seated and once that was done, Kai rode home with the Hendersons so he could celebrate with Tasha, they were going to Sonic, and we headed home.  We took a back route that ended up taking us forever, but it was fun to see some more areas of Virginia.  We were worried because we had the house locked up and didn't know what Kai would do about getting in the house, but when we arrived home the Hendersons had just gotten home themselves so it wasn't a big deal after all.  

On Tuesday I went in to get the rest of my root canal done and talk about an adventure there.  I ended up being 20 minutes late for starters because of road construction.  Then once in there this second half of the procedure was a bear.  I forgot they had to put things inside my roots so the won't get weak.  I was starting to feel it a bit but just wanted it done.  Starting that evening when I got home I was feeling some pain.  I took my motrin but nothing really helped.  I looked inside my mouth and saw a white pimple on the tissue behind the tooth.  By the next morning I was hurting pretty bad.  I called, went back down to Waldorf, which without traffic is a 40 minute drive and they said the abscess in the tooth flared up.  No kidding:(  So they gave me a prescription for antibiotics and pain.  I went to the pharmacy, got them filled and started the regimen they prescribed.  I was told if the motrin and tylenol wasn't working to go ahead and use the percocet to help me get through the night.  Well, I woke up the next day thinking something was definitely wrong.  Cyndi Henderson ended up having to drive me to the emergency room because I was feeling so ill.  I guess I ended up having a bad reaction to the percocet even though I have had it before.  My blood pressure at one point they said was 152/55.  Now I've had hight bp before when I'm sick, but nothing like that before.  I thought maybe I was having a heart attack for a minute. They didn't check my heart or anything, just said that I was having a reaction to the meds and sent me home telling me to call the dentist.  Well, the dentist just told me to not take the pain killers and ride it out with the other meds until the infection goes away.  I am slowly feeling better, but boys that was wild.  I still think I'll go in next week and have them re check my bp so I can make sure there's nothing going on there too.  I need to have a once over before we head to europe anyway.  

I have had a hard time getting all the stuff I need to get done this past week.  I have boxes to mail back, papers to send overseas and just a lot of organizing so I know that I have everything and where its at so if I need it I know where to go.  We still have so many boxes to go through in the garage.  I just don't don't have the energy at this time to want to do it.

We've been getting rain almost ever day still.  The boys have been troopers going to swim lessons and swim team practice even though it's down rite chilly.  DJ is so proud because he has finally earned the coveted blue band at the pool.  He took his swim test and passed.  He is really enjoying swimming now, and I feel better about him going with Kai by themselves when they do go.  He can dive off the diving board and swim to the side all by himself with no help.  My little boy is growing up.  He is my most cautious child out of the four and to get him to do anything that he thinks might hurt him or kill him, he just won't do it.  So this is a big deal for him.  Now if we can get him to ride a bike.  Then we will feel like we've been good parents;)

Thursday morning musings................

I hope that's how you spell it?  So it's Thursday June 11th and we are one month away from Sheldon graduating his Dutch language class.  We are still in limbo with orders, since it has taking forever for the medical people to get their act together:(  We were able to get Christian's paperwork all dealt with, finally.  Talk about a pain in the backside for that. Somehow, and I don't understand how, but somehow the fax machine between Bolling AFB and Travis AFB wouldn't work together?  They could send out and receive faxes from everyone all over the world, but not between those two? Hmmm.....  I don't get it, but we figured out a way around it.  It took Sheldon going down to the Bolling office and standing over them to figure out a way to make it work. Christian had his briefing yesterday and they are sending the paperwork back this morning with all the correct signatures.  *Fingers crossed* Jori has her briefing this morning then we are done with all that. She isn't a problem since she's not flying over with us this summer, but we still need her to have the clearance just in case.  It also makes it possible for her to use hops to come see us so it will be cheaper for us to fly her over.  

The boys are taking their test for school this week.  In fact it's been drawn out for 2 weeks actually.  DJ will still have one more to get done, and Malachi, well we'll be taking tests up until he starts school in the Netherlands.  I'm trying to figure out a way for him to do that and still enjoy the afternoons this summer.  If you think about it they spend so much time wasting  their summer days with video games and sleeping, but if we can get done at a reasonable hour he can have most of the day for playing anyway. He won't get to sleep in, and with swim team starting up, well, we will make it work.

I had to cancel my dental appointments for this week because of the cold.  I should be all better by next week so we will start up again.  I will be glad to finally get all this done and behind me.  I should have all the crowns back by the 20th of July.  That will be good.

Gail emailed me last night to let me know that Mom had a small fall last weekend I guess. Somehow she it the top of her head and was bleeding pretty bad.  They ended up taking her to the hospital and she stayed over night.  Since Irene's passing they say her mental state has really faltered.   I feel so bad that Gail is having to deal with all this on her own.  It should be us taking care of her.  I just hope that everything will work itself out for the best.  Whatever that my be.  I just hate having to see Mom in this state.  I know she hates it too.

Well, it looks like it might start thundering again.  I think I should go and see if Kai needs a ride home from the swim team.  He's afraid of lightening since a boy in the DC area was hit last weekend and died from it.  

Here's hoping that we finally get some answer about when we can start to think about leaving.  Yikes!

Sunday

Well, yesterday I woke up with the boys cold:(  Talk about hating life.  I think summer colds are the worst.  DJ started on Monday with the coughing, and though I told him to cover his mouth there was a couple times he coughed all over my food.  I knew it was coming so I figured there wasn't much I could do at this point but wait.  I was hoping that it wouldn't hit until next week, but nope, I woke up Saturday and felt like doggy dodo.  

Yesterday was Sheldon's birthday.  He and DJ decided to head down to Mt Vernon and check out the place.  Sheldon has been wanting to go there for awhile now so when better but his birthday.  I guess DJ had a blast.  They were chosen to help lay a wreath in George Washington's tomb.  DJ wanted a picture, so when they got one and he made sure that he had his finger touching the tomb so there would be no mistake that he was actually inside!  I guess the tomb is closed off to the public, and only a couple people get to go in every day.  So DJ thought he was pretty special to be able to do that. He was even excited to go though the house there and walked all over the farm.  This was a fun time for him because he's never done anything really just one on one with Sheldon before, so this was a good day for them both.  Another thing that was fun for him is that he's been reading about George Washington in his history lessons this past week and then he was able to see where he lived.  How much fun is that.  To see where they planned some of the battle's during the Revolutionary War and hear facts about that time.  What a great way to follow up on a history lesson.

I stayed home from church today.  I don't have the energy to sit through 3 hours of church all the while coughing.  It's not that I'm coughing a lot, I just feel like I have a big phlegm ball at the back of my throat and once I get it up then my throat hurts.  Oh well,  in a couple of days it'll all be over.  I hate missing church though.  I get a calling then I don't show up for two weeks.  I'm also suppose to help sing in the stake choir this afternoon  too.  I think I'll send Sheldon then have him bring the music home so I can look over it during the week.  

Well, I need to go and lay down again.  I need some more rest.

Just another rainy day in DC!

It seems like that all we get around here.  Yesterday Kai called me at swim practice to say that there was lightening and he needed a ride home.  It was storming pretty good up till about 10 pm.  It has been great to hear the thunder these past couple months.  I love a good storm when I'm warm and safe inside my home;)

Today I had my first crown one at the dentist.  It wasn't too bad actually.  I'm sure I'll feel a little tender, but all in all, I did ok.  I'm sure by the time I'm finished with all this I'll be a pro with the dentist;)  NOT!  I'm just counting down the weeks till I'm done with all this.  He took care of the tooth above the the root canal tooth.  We figured that I should have at least one side I can chew with this next week.  I've not had too much pain with this so I'm hoping that this is a good sign and won't have that much on the other side either.  Next Tuesday I go in for the last part of the root canal, then on Thursday I go in for the other crown on the lower left side.  A couple weeks after that I get the last two done together.  I'm not looking forward to that one.  It's going to be long morning.  All I know is that once I'm done, I done for awhile.

The boys are slowly getting their tests done this week.  It's so hard to keep them on task some days.  DJ only has one test left then he's done with school.  Malachi still has a four more to take.  I think tomorrow I am going to email the school in the Netherlands and give them a heads up with what is happening with Kai.  I want to make sure he will be able to go into the 7th grade once we get there.  If not then I will have to really think about what I'm going to do with him.  I want him to get done this summer, but he needs to work on the work too so I will have to figure something out? I know it will work out, but I haven't figured this out for him yet. 

Well, Burn Notice starts tonight.  We love that TV series and we're excited about it starting up again.  I have something to look forward to tonight;)

Nothing new to report.................

and though there's not much new going on here I guess I should write something.  

On Sunday I wasn't feeling very well, so I opted to stay home from church.  I guess there was a lot of changes that happened, a new Bishopric, other's getting callings and so forth. I know more changes are coming in the ward, so it will be interesting to see how everything works out in the end.  Tasha came over after church to have dinner with us.  I made spaghetti for everyone.  It was easy and something I knew they would eat.  I never got to go food shopping on Saturday because we spent the afternoon buying boots for Sheldon for his birthday that is coming up.  

That turned into a major ordeal, but it was a fun day when it was all said and done. Talk about taking a ride through the area and getting to see more than you thought;) We had headed South towards Woodbridge, VA to look for a boot store and ended up on the other side of Manassas, VA at a Red Wing boots store.  There was also the adventure of stopping at a JC Penney's outlet to buy the boys some clothes, and lunch at a Red Robin.  It was a nice day to drive and fun to just get out.  I have to say though the traffic really bites, and the day would have gone by much faster if we hadn't all the traffic.  

Malachi  is starting swim team practice.  He sounded like he was interested is doing it this year and since the programs at the youth center are free, well then why not? We also signed DJ up for swim lessons that will start in a couple weeks so I am looking forward to him learning to be a better swimmer.  He is my most cautious kid.  I know he won't get into the pool without a life jacket on, but I really want him to be able to swim.  I mean I was a late swimmer and I was on the swim team by his age.  It really takes a lot to get him to do things.  He seems fine with the lessons.  I guess in the primary school they will go swimming every week so I think he will be great at it when we leave the Netherlands.

Well, everyone is getting the stomach thing I had.  I hope that it will go by quickly and quietly and be done.  The two boys are nursing a head cold on top of it so I need to really be on top with their meds.  Other then that I no biggie week.  I'll be glad when school is over for DJ, but then it won't be for Kai so the summer is shot.  Guess I need to go, it's a test week.

Middle of the week.........

and the day is just dragging on:(  I went to check on the boys about their schoolwork and it wasn't even lunchtime yet:(  Talk about dragging on!

For Memorial Day we spent a quiet day at home with just the family.  Sheldon had pulled his calf muscle on Saturday and the doctor wanted him to keep off his leg.  It's not like we had any plans with anyone anyway, but it was nice to not have to worry about having people over.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having fun, but sometimes I just like the peace and quiet and not hurrying to get the house clean or lots of food done.  

Yesterday I headed down to Waldorf to see the Endodontist to decided what to do about my tooth.  After talking with him, he decided he had time to start my root canal that day! Yikes!!! It wasn't too bad, he was really good with the numbing and other things.  The only problem is the price.  He pretty much took all of my money alloted for a years worth of dental care!  Wow, so now everything I have to have done is coming out of pocket for all the other work.  I was wondering if I could talk to Dental Concordia and see since I haven't really had any work done over the last 10 years that they would pay their part for all the rest of my procedures I need done then I pay the co payment.  I don't know if that's even possible, but what's the worst they could say?  NO!  Oh well, that's what I get for not going regularly like I should have. Even though we've paid thousands of dollars in insurance payments I doubt they will bend.  I have had some pain with the procedure, but it's nothing that vitamin "M" can't handle.  

The boys will be done by the end of the week with another section of schoolwork and be ready to take their section test next week.  That makes for a long week for me.  I need to get their study sheets together for them and figure out how to help Malachi with his grammar diagrams.  Talk about frustration for him and for me.  I hope that by the end of the summer we will have that mastered.

Well, I guess I've played long enough and I need to get back to work.  I still have so much to do to prepare for the move, and just wanting to keep up with the regular house work.  Need to get............

End of the week...........

is finally here.  Yippie!!!!!!!!

I don't have a lot of time because I need to get ready to go.  We bought ticket's to go see the movie "Night of the Museum and the Smithsonian" at the Air and Space Museum in DC.  The boys are getting ready as I write and I still need to finish up myself.  They are so excited!

It's been a good week.  The boys are coming along with their schoolwork, I still have some appointments to make for medical and dental, and I've been getting emails from new friends I've meet that are from the Eindhoven area where we are planning to move to.  I wish the school would have emailed me back, but they haven't so I might have to break down and call them, but I don't know how much that is going to cost with my phone plan.  I was hoping to do this by email, but if they won't respond what am I to do?  I might just mail the paperwork in and see if they write back?  

I found out last night that my Aunt, my Mom's sister is not doing too well, and not expecting to live for more than a few more days.  I guess she fell and broke her hip last week, and now it's just the waiting.  I wish I could be there for my Mom at this time.  I sent her a quick note to let her know I was thinking of her.  I hope that she will take this well.  She will be the last of her family once Irene is gone.

Sheldon and I decided to go out to the Mongolian BBQ place we went to with the Henderson's   last month.  When we got there we found out that they didn't have the Chicken wrap recipe any more:(  We decided to stay and try the other recipe's they had up there and realized that we really didn't like the food.  In fact it wasn't good at all! We were so disappointed that we couldn't have the chicken wraps. Mc Donald's would have been 10 times better.  It took us 4 hours all together to go and eat at this place with all the traffic.  That will never happen again.  

Well, I guess I should get going.   Looking forward to a long weekend.  Sheldon has Monday off!  Like he works so hard anyway;)  Maybe we'll get some things done in the garage?  We need to find the boys shorts and  I know there's a box out there that has some in it. Just need to go look:(

 

A New Week

It's the beginning of a new week and I was hoping to get the morning off and running early and instead, well.....at least we are up now and getting started;)  Maybe I should take my own advice and not stay up late writing on FB and IMing my daughter.  I keep telling her how she needs to get more sleep and go to bed earlier and I just haven't adjusted to the east coast times myself.

We had a great day at church yesterday.  I really love this new ward we are in.  When I walked into the building, a couple of our old ward members were there this week, and we were so excited to see them.  I'm hoping they will really feel the love that this ward has for everyone.  I ended up playing for primary during the second hour of the block and pretty much found out that I will be doing that and teaching the younger age kids for the next couple months that we are here.  I have an appointment with the Bishop on Wednesday so I'm sure I will get the official notice then.  It will be nice to be busy again at church.

Wow, it just hit me that we really have only a couple more months before everything starts back up again.  I have so much I need to do still.  I have a feeling that in this next move, we are going to be very transit for a few months so we are going to have to think about how we are going to deal with that.  It could possibly take us 2-3 months before we move into a home in the Netherlands and that's 2-3 months after we get into the country.  We are also trying to figure out if we can get back to the west coast before we move to go visit my Mom and our other good friends in Washington.  We had thought we would not worry about it and leave from here, but I feel like we should try to see my Mom before we go.  

The boys are excited about this week going by fast.  On Friday we will be going to see the movie the Night at the Museum Smithsonian at the theater in the Air and Space museum.  How fun will that be.  We bought the tickets when we visited with Christian and now the time is finally here.  This also means that for the past month, we've seen a movie every weekend.  Wolverine, Start Trek,  Angels and Demons and now the Night of the Museum.  That's a first!  I think we are trying to get in all our movie watching before we head overseas;)  I just don't know what to expect once we get over there.  I'm sure we will see movies, but I have a feeling it will be more at the military bases then on the economy.  Oh well, that's why we have a big screen tv and surround sound system.

Well, I need to get off and check and see how the boys are doing with school.  Malachi is really struggling with the grammar, and I need to figure out a way to help him better understand it myself.  Need to hit the books!

Tuesday May 12, 2009

When I woke up this morning, I thought it was Wednesday.  I was laying in bed going through my head all the things that I needed to get done today.  I was also thinking about all the things I need to get done for this upcoming move and how it's just a couple months away and we don't even have our paperwork in yet, yada, yada,yada...... Then it hit me that somehow this week has gone by fast because I can't even remember what I did on Tuesday and how I'm really getting forgetful.  After I went through some more things in my mind I realized that in fact it really was Tuesday and that I hadn't lost a day, but I must have had some really rocking dreams to think I had already gone through the day;)  Hmmm......I wonder if that is what happens when we get older.  My Mom is always talking about how she doesn't know what day it is, and how time just seems to fly by and she's always wondering what day it is and now I am starting to sound just like her:/  Don't know how I'm feeling about that, but anyway, I'm glad that I have an extra day for the week to get things done.  

We finally have all the paperwork we need to turn in for the medical part.  Now will come the part of having to go through the dental for me and the medical for the boys.  I know I can get the dental stuff done before we leave here, but I hope the asthma will be something they can deal with in the Netherlands.  I guess we will see.

We finally got a live person at one of the military passport places.  We ended up having to tell our go to guy we needed a good number and name.  So I'm thinking tomorrow we will take care of the military passports and be done with that.

This morning Amy Heymann (she is the Mom of one of the American families that are over there right now) called from the Netherlands to give me a heads up about getting the boys applications in to the school they are going to be attending in Eindhoven.  I guess they are in the middle of taking the applications for the next school year so it would be good that I submit ours now.  I will need to finish a couple more things then I can get those off by the end this week and we should be good for that.  Then I guess the waiting will come.  That's the worst part.

I guess I don't have much to talk about.  Things here are pretty much the same.  School every day, the boys grumbling about chores and just trying to figure out how to fit more ours in the day so we can get all we want done, done.  No matter what happens, there will be a move, one way or the other.  I guess I'm resigning to that fact.  Just starting to get excited about the dates and what we will finally do before we leave.

Sunday musings.............

Ok, so I can't spell , but hopefully it's right.

Today is Mother's Day and so far it's been a great day.  I got breakfast in bed from the men in my life, went to church and got so many hugs from the new members of the ward and really enjoyed the lesson's and sacrament meeting.  Stayed for choir practice and enjoyed singing with the other's and then came home to get a quick nap followed by my Mother's Day dinner of herb grilled chicken, baked potato and salad.  Before dinner Jori called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day, and we got to talk a bit.  It was nice and we filled her in on what we've been up too.  Now I'm hoping that Christian will call and we can see how his weekend has been going.  Life has been great today and I'm really wishing for another day before we have to get back to the grindstone of school, but I know I have to get Malachi going on his lessons so we can be done before we leave for the Netherlands.  

We meet an elder at the new ward who is leaving this week for the Netherlands.  It was so funny that we were talking with him and found out that he was leaving this week. We gave him our home address and email addresses to give to the Bishop when he gets to Eindhoven.  He was told that Eindhoven was going to be his first area he will be assigned to over there and since that's where we'll be living we asked if he would let the Bishop know we are coming at the end of the summer.  I also need to talk with him before we go over so I know what we're going to do about Christian's seminary classes for the next couple years and how to contact the CES director.  

Malachi is trying to have some people over for a movie tonight.  It's only him and Tasha who moved to this new ward so at least they have each other to pal around with during church.  I guess they were hatching the movie thing today between classes.  

I think I'll try and call my brother's house and see if I can talk with my Mom.  I know she won't hear me, but it's the thought that counts.  

I hate............

when you spend almost an hour writing on your blog then accidentally exit out of the site before you post it.  

SERENITY NOW!!!!!

Well, I'm too tired to try and write everything down again the way I did and I have school to concentrate on too.  So I will give just highlights of the past coming event's.

1. We are going back to the Anacostia ward that we first started attending when we got here.  Stake realigned the ward boundaries and Bolling AFB and the Naval Annex are going to that new ward now.  Yeah for Anacostia!

2. We moved our reporting date back 2 weeks to August 15th.  That gives us a couple more weeks to get paperwork done.  We are waiting for the paperwork from the DC school district to come back so we can turn in the papers to get the medical clearances.

3. I'm waiting for my birth certificate to come back so we can go and get the official AF passports done.  The 3 boys all got here last week.

4. Need to get my dental stuff going so that my teeth will be fixed for the PCS.  Dreading that part completely!

5. Tons of housework to do, but then that's not really unusual.  The never ending pile of laundry and picking up my room is top priority.

6. Need to get to the store today for some shopping.  Had too much going on this weekend that only got enough to get through to today.  If I get a list together I might send Shel to do that when he gets home today;)

Well, need to go and get some schoolwork done.  Finished tests last week so back to the old grindstone so to speak!

Blue Wednesday

It's the middle of the week and you would think that it's Monday again:(  Today has been a day that just doesn't seem to want to get going.  Everyone is tired and trying to get school started. There's just no motivation.  The morning is gray from the rain clouds over head, and the I have at this time is to go back to bed and lay under my warm blankets and listen to the rain gently come down on the roof.  Yesterday evening we had a storm blow through with lightening and thunder, but that only last about 20 minutes before it turned back into just rain.  I was so happy to hear the thunder and it was pretty exciting for those few minutes but unfortunately for  Sheldon he had to drive the kids to youth night through it.  I was able to sit and review some of DJ's science books so that he would be ready for his test  today which ironically had a section on lightening safety, but now I'm thinking I will wait until tomorrow to have him take it.

I have not been able to sleep well this past week.   I have had nightmares about leaving my daughter here in the states while the rest of us go gallivanting off to Europe for the next couple years.  Jori has decided she wants to stay in Utah for the summer instead of going to Kathy's house, and will be staying with a friend of hers who lives in Alpine. The girls father has agreed to let Jori stay there rent free so she can save up her   money while working this summer for school.  I am grateful for this family who has graciously accepted Jori into their home, but I can't help feel that we somehow are abandoning her:(  Of coarse this is not true, it's just how things are right now with living in the military and moving to our next assignment but this is a delicate time in a younger persons life and having your parents close by is important.  She should be able to come home, work for the summer and save up her money, enjoy the time with family and rejuvenate herself then be able to head back to college to tackle another year of school. With us having the move this summer, it makes it difficult for her to be able to do that. But with me and the boys not planning to leave here until August now it would be possible for her to come here for most of the summer, but I don't know if she would able to get a Job that would pay her enough for next year.  The other thing is that we will not be seeing her until some time next year:( I know that we have joked about getting her out of the house for college, but I wonder if she might feel a bit abandoned by not really having a permanent home to stay if she needed it? Sheldon talks about how she's adult now and needs to learn to take care of herself, and I do agree with that, but how many times were we able to come home if we needed to when things weren't working out well for us?  With the way the economy is right now things are very unsteady.  I know that she has plenty of places she could go to if she needed to, it's just hard that to get her home will be twice as hard and super expensive flying her to Europe unlike being able to drive a state or two away to get her.  She knows that she can come anywhere we are if she really needed to, and that is good. 

Well, I still need to jump in the shower and go to the store for some things.  The dog is out of food and we need milk and bread.  The boys are being great about reviewing their work and since I don't hear any thunder over head now would be a great time to jump in.

The last 3 days this week we took the boys down to the DC Mall area.  The weather has been beautiful and with only a couple more days before Christian heads back to Cali, we wanted some pictures with the boys.  We haven't gone too hog wild at sightseeing since the first few days that Christian got here it rained. We were able to take care of our passport pictures and paperwork and had them done at the Ben Franklin branch on Pennsylvania Ave just down from the White House.  After that we ventured up the Post Office Clock Tower, and got a neat view of the downtown area. We were really high up and it was fun to look around and point out all the places we could recognize.  It was nice that they had point's of interest pictures up there too to look at so we could use a a reference;)  The boys then headed underground to ride the subway so Christian could say he did, then they headed to the monuments. Unfortunately Christian's camera needed to be charged so he wasn't able to get any pictures of the monuments.  So the next day we headed back down with 3 camera's in tow so there would be photographic evidence of the days trip.  I dropped the boys off at the Lincoln memorial and headed off to find a place to park around the Air and Space Museum where we intended to finish off the afternoon, and it took me forever to get down Constitution Ave.  By the time I was able to park the van the boys had walked from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Air and Space Museum.  The traffic was horrendous and it took me 1 1/2 hours to go about 2 miles.  Anyway, we went inside the museum and started the tour.  After looking at the exhibits the men in the family decided to do a simulator ride to fly fighters so while they did that I spent the time talking with people from Italy and Germany.  When they finally came out Sheldon and Christian were not feeling too well because Malachi and DJ decided they liked flying upside down most of the time.  Too funny;)  It took awhile with traffic to get home, but we decided to stay  home for the evening to relax.  Today is the Earth Day celebration, so we have no desires to go down to the mall today and fight the crowds.  When Christian comes out this summer we will hit the other places that we didn't see this time around.

Easter Sunday

As I sit here writing, my 3 boys are sneaking around the house with nerf guns shooting each other.  It has been a long time since all three of them have had this kind of fun together.  Earlier today before we went to a BBQ at a new member's house, all the men in the house were trying out their Easter gift.  We got them the Nintendo Wii Nerf game. They had to make sure it was ok before we left.  They tried the game out ion the game system and the neat thing is that the guns also can convert to regular nerf guns and can shoot darts too.  So now they have found all the guns we have collected the past couple years in the house and with the new bag of darts we bought, well, let's just say the darts are flying by my head as I type;)  

Joe Revas a new member of the Capital Ward had invited about half the ward over for an Easter BBQ.  We had BBQ ribs and chicken, fried chicken, fried fish, sweet potatoes, potato salad, macaroni salad, hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, corn, cabbage and ham.  Talk about a feast!  He bought and cooked everything and we all just showed up.  Finally last night we asked him if there was something we could do to help for today and he said we could get some drinks and hotdog buns.  It was nice not to have to make a big meal for once.  We stayed long enough to help fold all the chairs and tables before we left.  Once we started heading out his family all showed up to eat. It was fun to meet them.

Today at church we put together a double quartet and sang the song Gethsemane. Then for young women's Sheldon and I were asked to portray Mary Magdalen, and Thomas the apostle for the lesson.  Right before we were to speak our parts I was asked to read the account of Christ's crucifixion on the cross.  Well I could hardly get through that reading before I was to portray Mary visiting the tomb on the morning of the resurrection.  I'm such a big cry baby.  Needless to say I was able to get through the part then Sheldon and I sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives".  We sang the first verse then the last 3 verses with the young women.  It was very nice way to end the day at church and I hope they felt the spirit that was present in the room as I did.  Teaching youth to recognize the spirit is so crucial in this present day.  There's so much out there that is negative and vile, and we only get few moments now days to counter act those that.  

He's Here!

Yesterday my oldest boy finally got to Washington DC!  He flew in around 7:15 am after coming on a red eye flight from San Francisco.  His plane was only delayed about an hour, so it was nice to not have to lave for the airport until around 6:15 am. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get much rest the night before due to anxiousness and phone calls all night from other's.  You see, we had flown Sheldon's niece to San Francisco the same evening so she could drive the truck back to Utah so Jori could have the truck for the summer, and her flight was suppose to arrive at 8:15 that evening.  We thought we would help Kathy out by not having her have to drive to the airport more than once that week.  Since Christian was to check in around 8:30 that evening we thought how perfect it would be when we found that one flight into SF.  Even though it was a little more money, we would have given Kathy gas money to get Karli anyway, so it was about the same so no worries right?  Well, Karli's flight ended up being delayed 4 hours!!!!!!!  Talk about how horrible.  We felt so bad for Kathy having to stay and wait all that time.  I guess her father drove down with her that night so they wouldn't have to pay for parking so he just parked someplace and read a book while waiting for Kathy to call.  So now I feel twice as bad because her poor father had to sit there and wait too:(  When Karli finally was able to get to SF, she had accidentally locked her cell phone and didn't know how to call out to find Kathy.  So Lori called me for Katy's number, then called Kathy to let her know where Karli was waiting.  I guess once Kathy found here, the poor girl was so happy to be found.  I'm sure she was tired and the delays made for a very tired girl.  Kathy called the next morning to let us know that Karli slept in then headed off to Utah.  So now we need to call and see if she drove straight through and how tings went.  I figure that so far nothing bad must have happened since we haven't gotten any phone calls.  Now I need to find out how Jori is going to be able to get up to SLC to get the truck.  

Once we were done with getting Christian, we headed home.  I was impressed at how little traffic there was on the road.  I don't know if it's because we were going in the opposite way of the flow of workers, or since Friday was a "kind of" holiday being that it was Good Friday and all, we were able to get home without too much trouble.  I bought the boys breakfast at Burger King, then it was time for home.  The boys were excited about Christian finally being here so they showed him around the house and then got to work playing video games.  I decided after awhile that I was in need of a nap due to the lack of sleep the night before, so I tried to get a nap in.  What was I thinking?  I might have gotten an hours sleep before the phone started.  This time it was Shel.  He wanted me to pick him up at Anacostia instead of waiting for the pentagon bus.  So I groggily got up and waited at the train station for him.  Once home we decided to take Christian to Golden Corral for lunch since he hasn't eaten there for almost 4 years.  He was so excited!  We'll have to go once night for dinner before he leaves so he can get some steak.

Then in the evening we went out to eat with the Henderson's from the end of the block and their kids came and ate pizza and watched movies at our house.  It was a fun night for us, and I think that kids had fun too.  Some of the boys that live in the neighborhood went on vacation for spring break so we are hoping Christian will be able to meet some of the older kids in the area.  Tasha, the Henderson's daughter is Christian's age so she can get him aquatinted with everyone.  Well, off to the commissary for some food.  Everyone is complaining of not having anything to eat.

Yesterday was my baby's 10th birthday!  He woke up with a smile and kept it the whole day.  A few weeks ago we asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he thought for awhile then asked, "can I have breakfast in bed?" Well, thinking that was a bold move on his part and no one else in the family has ever asked for that request we told him sure.  So Sunday night I asked him what he wanted and he asked for "pancakes, sausage and bacon!"  That morning when I took his breakfast to him he was determined to eat his food in bed!!!!!!!  Once he realized it wasn't as easy as he thought, he asked for a TV tray and he sat on his bed as he ate.  We ended up not doing much for school, since we knew daddy was coming home early to take him to get his ID picture, so he took a shower, got dressed in some nice clothes then he watched a little TV. 

Once daddy showed up we headed out for our afternoon of shopping at Toys-R-Us.  He had been eyeing some night vision goggles that he could wear at night so he wouldn't need a night light in his room anymore and we figured we could find them there.  Once inside the "mecca" for kids he quickly changed his tune. He looked up and down all the isles and decided that there was more for him to choose from than he thought.  He did have a budget, but he wanted to get the most bang for is buck;)  He ended up eyeing some Star  Wars legos, and with the sale they were having was able to come out of the store with 4 boxes, a Limited Edition Separatist Spider Droid, an Imperial Dropship, an Assasin Droids Battle Pack and a Rebel Scout Speeder. I think my boy is a "Dark Side" follower?   The ships also come with the little guys to fight, so he has hours of enjoyment ahead of him.  Since the Lego's were on sale he was also able to buy a video game so he got the Lego's Batman for XBox 360. I'm seeing a theme here?  He is a Lego's man!

After leaving the store we headed to Outback for his "B" day dinner.  The boy loves his ribs and has decided right now that Outback's are his favorite.  He also got his free Birthday Sundae which he gladly shared with all of us and we gladly ate;)  All in all I think he had a great birthday!  Oh, and daddy enjoyed it too because he got the job of putting all the pieces together;)

Today we took the boys to the Cherry Blossom Festival down by the Tidal Basin in the DC Mall area.  We were able to find a place to park about a mile away in the marina and East Potomac Park area.  While looking for a place to park we saw a miniature golf area and the two boys talked about wanting to go back and visit when Christian comes out to visit next week.  I hope some of the trees will still be in bloom then.

We were also able to see the Jefferson Memorial, and they had some entertainment for those visiting.  It was a group of Indian girls performing traditional Indian dances. 

As you can see in the picture's above the trees look just beautiful and the walking path is lined with them.  Like the tree behind us some of them have branches that touch the water.  It's like walking into a flower tunnel.  

Where's the Ark?

Since April has gotten here, it's been, rain, rain and more rain!  It's been a long time since I've seen rain like this.  Usually in California we get the rain's like this in January, but since we left before that, we never got the opportunity to enjoy the those downpours. I don't mind the rain too much, but I hope that it will be dry tomorrow because we have plans to get some things done in the garage and get some boxes out this next week for the big trash pick up.  I want to be able to go in there during the weeks now to go through my boxes and get things organized before we leave there.

Yesterday Christian called to let us know that his throat wasn't getting any better and now his ear was starting to hurt more.  He went in because he had a swollen tonsil and the took a strep test.  They gave him some 800 milligrams of Morton and sent him on his way.  Well, he said he came home ad found blood on his bedding which means he had some discharge the night before from his ears.  So I called Joe Erbe, our old friend and neighbor in Cali and asked him what he thought.  Since Christian seems to be having more pain then when he went in he thought it would be good for him to go back in and get checked again. Since we moved here, Christian has been moved to our tricare area on the east coast, so they won't let him get a Dr's appointment there on the base, but they will let him see the doctor's there at the ER.  So Sheldon is going to have to transfer his paperwork back to the western side.  It is such a problem.  I thing we will have the same problem with Jori now too.   He called about 2 am to let me know that they found that his ear was starting to get infected, and gave him ear drops and some stronger beds for night time.  I'm wondering though if I will need to press this even further. Joe said he would try and go in tomorrow and see if he could pull up his test records and see what they say.  It might end up he might have to do something from his end?  I just don't know.  I hate when I'm not there.  I hope whatever is going on won't affect his flight out here too.  Hopefully this will resolve itself quickly.

We are also waiting for our registration tags to show up for the truck.  I guess the DMV in California is too slow to understand that when I sent the change of address to them that the "mailing address" that if put on there was real?  Anyway, supposedly they sent it to our address here, and we still haven't' received it.  We need to get those tags so that Kathy can take the truck to the firestone place on base to get the front ends balanced.  Talk about stressed!  I'm really going to be upset if they mess things up for us.  We have one of Sheldon's niece's flying out from Utah to drive the truck back to Utah for Jori.  Since she is planning on staying there for the summer she will need the truck to get to work.  Hopefully this will help her in finding a decent job to be able to stay there for the summer and put some money away for housing next year.  Anyway, she is flying out next Thursday, the same day that Christian is flying here.  Kathy will pick her up at the airport, send Christian on his way the Karli will sleep at her house and drive back.  It will give her a couple days to so that before they go on their family vacation.  So these things need to be done, and the DMV is really playing games with me right now.  GRRRR.................

DJ is writing away on his book report.  He hates writing so this is a major chore for him, and Malachi is doing his science experiments with blue dye in the sink and really enjoying it:0  Next week DJ will be done with his next test and Malachi should be finishing up for the next week of test's.  With Christian coming we won't be having school as usual, but since Sheldon will only be at class until noon, I think I will have the boys do some work in the early morning then we'll be off the rest of the day to go and explore.  If I make up lunches we can take it with us and see a lot of DC.  I just hope the rain goes away for that week!  

April Shower's

Well, spring is here with all the rain.  So I'm figuring that the saying April shower's bring May flowers holds true to this part of the country?  I know some of the trees have started blooming, but the flowers I haven't seen too much yet.

I was hoping that the days would be nice and sunny so I can take the boys down to the Jefferson Memorial to look at the Cherry blossom's.  The trees are in full bloom and just beautiful right now.  I accidentally found my way by that area on Tuesday when I went visiting teaching on of my sister and was glad I got to see the area.  The day I drove by there were a lot of people out in paddle boas in the little basin there, so I would love to get the boys out there to enjoy.  I also hope that everything will be there when Christian comes so we can take him there too.

I got a phone call from a woman who's family just moved to the Netherlands in January.  Her husband is the KC 10 pilot that flies out of Breda.  Anyway, she heard about us from Andy, the guy Sheldon will be replacing, and was asked by Andy if she would act as our shadow sponsor.  Since Andy is our "real" sponsor but he doesn't have kids there the age of ours, he thought they would be more helpful in helping us prepare for the move.  Well, I have to say, she definitely was and is going to be helpful. She has children around the same age as ours and her kids will be going to that same school as ours.  With all the things that they have had to deal with and have learned from I think we can make this move over to the Netherlands with very little problems. We had started thinking about sending Sheldon over first to take care of his in processing and me and the kids coming over a few months later after  he got things settled and found a place to live.  Now, I think we'll let him get over and take care of in processing in Germany, then go to the Netherlands to get his SS card then we will come in August just before school starts. By then we will have what we need to get started looking for a house  to live in.  I know Shel won't won't want to pick a house before I get there, but it takes about 4 weeks for the paperwork for his SS number from the Netherlands to go through and we need that before we can even start to look for a house.  Once it's ready we will get there then we can have the fun of looking for the house and moving in.  She told of of a great place we can stay in while we are waiting and they will let us take our pets there with us.  That is huge, because I was trying to figure out how we would do that while we were at Ramstien AFB with Sheldon's in-processing.  Another thing we found is that the DOD will pay for the kids to have a taxi to pick them up for school, so I won't have to drive as much once we get settled.  I really  wanted to not put too much mileage on the van, so that will be helpful. This will make it easy to find a nice place to live so we don't have to live right in the city and if they will pay for the taxi, then that opens up a huge possibility of where we can live. So, thank goodness for Amy, and this move  won't be the huge nightmare I thought it was turning out to be.  Amy was great, and we talked for hours, so now I am a little more excited about this then before.

Well, I need to get working with the boys on their school work and shower.  I have a commissary run to do today.  We are in dire need of food in the house and I have put it off long enough.

Here is the family picture we took while at Disneyland.  I wanted to start learning how to get picture's put up on the blog so here is my first attempt.

Watching the clouds go by

For the past couple days the weather has been playing tricks on us.  We have been getting clouds but no real rain so to speak.  Not that I'm saying I want the rain, but every now and then I do love a good  thunder storm.  For the last 3 1/2 years we lived in California there was never a really good storm so to speak of and  after living living in the state of Nebraska and seeing how gray and black the clouds would get, and how they would swirl in all directions above our heads, there was a beauty, yet terrifying sense all in one during those storms, and I just couldn't help myself, staring out the windows, wondering what was happening up in the clouds and if it would somehow affect me and my family?  Once we started living in the mid West, I had become fascinated by the weather and have spent hours watching the weather channel much to the chagrin of my husband.  I guess I felt that if I could understand the weather a little better that I would know when there would be danger and would be better prepared to protect my children if needs be.  Being a mother, that is my job, to protect my younglings and keep them safe at all cost!  I have spent half of our married life if not a little more living in area's that the sky could drop down at any minute and swoop us and everything I hold most dear up into the sky and they would be gone just like that.  I know that this is a control problem which I need to over come, but I am I mother and I mean to protect my children at all cost.  So I look out today, wondering what the day will bring, and hope to see a little more than a drizzle.   

On a side not, DJ got his first test back from the school today and he is quite pleased as our we with his results.  He got a lot of 1's and a couple 2's.  There were a couple things that he knew and just somehow got put the wrong answer down and when we went over it, he couldn't figure out how he had done that, but all in all he was happy.  He seems to really enjoy being homeschooled.  It has been fun to find those things that he enjoys and get to know him a little better.  I don't think I would have really ever known about some of this if we hadn't homeschool.  We are starting to wonder if I should homeschool in the Netherlands and then we don't have to worry so much about living in a particular city and can go to one of the smaller towns.  My only worry is I would love the kids to get to know other's in the area, and if we do that they won't have that social interaction with the youth as much there.  Here it's easy because there are so many homeschooled kids in the area, and they have a lot in common, but that will not be the case in the Netherlands.  Add on top of that the fact that they will be foreigners, so how will that work out?  I still have a few more months to work this out, but I need to know what I'm going to do.  That's the control freak side of me.

Guess I should get back to school.  DJ is learning about Antarctica today in geography  and needs help.  I don't have the answers off the top of my head;)

Wet Weekend

Just a quick note to check in.  We decided to take the boys skiing one time this year before the ski seasons ends and ended up being rained on the whole time.  Needless to say it wasn't the weekend we had hoped it to be.  I was able to walk around a bit to get and idea of the resort village and shops that was there, but with the rain and no umbrella, well it was easier to stay inside.  DJ had his morning lesson on the slopes and did pretty well his instructor told me when I went to pick him up.  Of course he didn't want to go out after lunch, but who could really blame him with the way the weather was acting.  I was surprised he even agreed to another lesson, but I'm glad he did.  I want him to get a foundation so when we go skiing in Europe he'll have something to go off of.  

I guess Kai did pretty good on his snow board.  After lunch when he and Sheldon hit the slopes he came back early because of the rain making the snow slushy and hard to maneuver.  I guess he twisted his knee and wanted to rest it up.  That evening after dinner at a pizza place we took them to the swimming pool at the Resort and let them swim for a couple hours.  The pool had a couple slide, one inside and one out, and a small water fall.  There was a lot of kids their age so they had a pretty good time.  I couldn't believe how much time they spent in the outdoors part of the pool, but hey, when you're young you don't think of things like that.  I finally wrestled them out of the pool and went back to the room so they could take a warm shower and watch some tv before turning in.  When we woke up Sunday morning they boys were going to head out and get a couple hours skiing in before heading home, but sure enough the rain started so we packed up and left a little before 11am.  It rained the whole way down the mountains through the valley's and into DC:(  Talk about a bust!  For the money we spent we could have gone up to New York and seen some cool stuff!  Oh well, it was nice to get away for the weekend.  As we drove into the city and started  dealing with the traffic I could feel the stress, and tension start in my shoulders and neck:(  I really don't like the traffic here, and for everything else am glad that I only have to be here for a few months.  don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed the ward and people we've meet, but i really don't like the area that much.  Well, mostly it's the driving.  If something happened and we ended up not being able to go to the Netherlands, I would definitely be trying to make sure we got orders to anywhere but here.  

Anyway, tomorrow things start back up so I need a good night's sleep.  I hate hotel beds.  I never sleep very good so I am pretty tired.   

What can I say........

There's not really a lot of things that have changed since I last posted.  Well, we did get some snow.  It started Sunday night and snowed until Monday afternoon.  It sure was pretty.  I had the kids do some of their work for school that Monday morning, but then let them have the rest of the day off to go and play in the snow.  The neighborhood was hopping with all the kids playing outside, so I told the boys to go and enjoy the afternoon.  We bought Malachi and DJ new boots so they got to break them in.  I know that their feet will not get cold when we go skiing next weekend.  

I decided I needed to get Malachi moving on his school work so we are doubling up his work so that we will be taking tests every 3 weeks.   He has been getting his daily work done by lunch time so I figured if he is able to do that then we can buckle down a bit for the next couple months and get through this year before we leave for Europe.  He's not too happy about that, but he needs to understand that this has to be done.  

DJ is taking his first test with the course so he will be done with that by the end of this week.  This is a learning process for me on how to review for the tests.  I hope I get it figured out so that the boys will do well:)

The boys started guitar this week.  A young man who is home schooled on the block plays so he is teaching the boys.  They have the lessons on Monday afternoon then I get to listen all week to them practicing.  It's cute to hear DJ play the first stanza of "Smoke on the Water";)  I figured they can get some good basics before we take off the the Netherlands.  I know Malachi will be able to build from that if he practices.  

Jori i guess headed for LA today for 4 days with the ROTC group from BYU.  She was so excited about going.  Her birthday is Sunday so she this will be fun for her on her   "B" day.  I remember having a youth trip to Mexico on my  16th birthday, and there was a young men from Hermisillo who had the same "B" day so we shared a "B" day dance. Wow, that was too long ago;)  We gave her her money early so she will have some to spend on the trip.  

Well, DJ is done with the first half of the tests.  I guess we are done with school for the day so I need to get some laundry done.  I guess I should try and be productive with something today!