Babie's Retreat

 
Here is Anna just waking up and streching.
 
Jamie and I just happened to dress our little girls in the same outfit on the same night for bed. It was wierd. But it turned out to be great for a cute picture.
 
Baby party on the bed
   Baby party on the couch.

Ladie's Retreat

  This is Chris Clarkson, you know how he is, always wants to be with the girls. He was actually helping to shuttle up all of the Ladie's luggage, seeing as how with all of the snow, 28" to be exact, only four-wheel-drive vechicles could make it up to our cabin. It took two and a half hours to get everyone to retreat.
  Here is Chris' lovely wife Shanda.
  Michelle didn't want her picture taken like usual so Sister Shuler is holding her hands down in this one so she can't block the camera.
   Here is crazy Karen and Kaufmen (Tammy).
So, retreat was grand. We had so much fun and lots of snowball fights. Most of us stayed up late and woke up too early. We had some set backs due to the snow but I don't think we would have changed that if we could. Even the set backs were fun. For me anyway. And best of all the presence of the Lord was so sweet. There was a beautiful Spirit of surrender as the Ladies came ready to worship God and recieve soemthing from Him. This is the kind of retreat you think back on years from now and smile big. It was wonderful.

She is just so pretty

  

Men in skirts

 
 
 
  
The picture you can't really see is of a very large sling shot and the other picture is of me and Anna with pumpkin launchers behind us.
 
  

Pumpkin Launch

Hello blogging world. I missed you. I downloaded something bad that took over my computer. My very nice Pastor, Brother Jon came over with Emilee and the kids and fixed it for me but I was without a computer for awhile. First I would like to say that my Grandpa is doing much better. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. He is able to eat for himself, sit up and answer easy questions. This is a dramatic improvement. He goes to the hospital again soon to make sure his brain is still okay. I was able to talk to him on the phone tonight. I couldn't understand much of what he was trying to say but it was still very good to hear his voice. The goal is for him to regain enough mobility that he will be able to return to his home and receive in home care. Please keep praying for his salvation. I am praying for an opportunity to share the gospel with him. Perhaps a letter or card will be the best way. In other news I went to the pumpkin launch on Saturday with Sister Becky. The best launcher was was a twenty five foot tall sling shot made from a huge Aspen tree. None of my pumpkin launcher pictures turned out real well. There were fifteen launchers total. Some launched the pumpkins 1,000 feet and some launched the pumpkins 15 feet. It was very cool to watch. This weekend is my Grandma's eightieth birthday. Most of the family is going to go celebrate with her this Saturday. I am very excited. I can't wait to see her again. I haven't seen her since Anna's birth day. I made some great cookies yesterday with Sam's help. Luckily the lids of my spices are on tight otherwise we would have had garlic salt in the cookie dough. These are the best cookies I have ever made and I am very proud of myself. Well I will try to blog again soon. Bye for now.

Isn't she so cute?

  

Calamity Sam

Sam decided to climb up his dresser today. I herd bump bump ba bump bump AHHHHHHH!!! He wasn't hurt thank the Lord, but he was scared.
 
  

The Mall

My husband took me and the kids to the mall last night. It was so much fun! I think I liked the Disney store the best. They have the cutest holloweeen outfits and while we don't celebrate holloween I couldn't help but want to see Sam and Anna in little cute outfits. I can't wait til they are older and can play dress up. We will have lots of fun! We also looked at the pet store. My strange husband wants a poodle like his Dad. They actually look kind of cute without the prissy hair cuts. I wold like a little scotty dog. I don't know what they are called but they are so cute and don't shed. What am I saying? I don't want a dog. Just inside the front of the mall were two Scions you know the ugly box things on wheels. My husband thinks they are great and he liked looking at them. I don't understand. Of course we had to stop by the Orange Julius booth before we left. What trip to the mall is complete without that? The Orange Julius I had was not a good as I remebered but I don't think they mixed it well, it tasted grity at the bottom like powder mix. Overall the tip to the mall was great!
SCOTTY DOG
SCION

The Latest News

So after the surgery yesterday my Grandpa was doing really good. He opened his eyes this morning and seemed to recognize my Uncle. They did a cat scan and found the bleeding had stopped. Then this afternoon they did another cat scan and found the bleeding had started again. They probably won't be taking him into surgery again so pray for the blood to clot.

What We've Been Up To

Well there is no new news on my Grandpa. I thought I would post about what has been going on around here. Sam's bigger four wheeler doesn't work even with batteries so Chris decided to tie it to the back of a bike and give Sam a ride. It was a little scary for me but Sam loved it and he holds on really good. He even leans into the turns. After I got over the initial shock of how fast they were going it was actually really entertaining.


This last Saturday we, the whole family together in our car, went to a firefighter day. They had out the trucks, a big inflatable firetruck slide, snow cones, and a robot they use for the bomb squad. Chris liked the robot best. It was a good time and the kids both got little plastic fire hats. Anna's disappeared somewhere but it didn't fit very good anyway. So we were at one of the booths and Chris was helping Sam fish in the kiddie pool for a rubber ducky that would yield a cheesy prize and this lady asked if Anna was a boy or girl. I had Anna strapped on in one of those baby backpack things and had her covered with a pink blanket. I said she is a girl. The lady said oh I didn't know with the pink. Is there a fad I don't know about? To my knowledge pink means girl and blue means boy and ugly green or yellow means they had the baby shower before they knew what the baby was going to be. Anyway, it was funny. Afterward we went to my Grandma's house and she had presents for the kids, new clothes. Yay! She said she didn't have her glasses when she bought Anna's clothes so they are 18 months but that's alright with me. They are very cute and will fit eventually. She got Sam a Harley Davidson outfit. It is very orange and it makes him look like a little basketball. I love it!

 
Today I decided to rearrange the furniture in the living room, the kid's room and our room. It is so good to not be pregnant and able to move things again. I think the furniture may have actually looked better before but I was in the mood for a change. In other news Sam has been doing great with Anna. He likes to push her in her swing although I don't let him so it very often.

 

He also likes to lay by her on the floor when she is in the baby gym. He is a good brother.

  

Update/Explaination

I will try to explain this as best I can. It is all a bit confusing to me but I'm going to try. My Grandpa was hit so hard in the head that it caused his brain to move. Then the excess blood moved it even more before they were able to relieve the pressure. In a younger person's brain the brain is up against the skull which stops bleeding in the brain. Because my Grandpa is older and his brain has moved the bleeding isn't stopping like it should. This is why he has been in surgery twice now, to stop the bleeding. However, it can easily start again and they can't just keep taking him into surgery. They are hoping that the blood will clot on it's own, but, the impression I have is that unless God intervenes it is only a matter of time before my Grandpa dies. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Please keep praying for him.

Back in Surgery

My Grandpa's neurosurgeon found some fresh bleeding so my Grandpa is going back in for more surgery. Please keep praying for his salvation. I've been praying that God would remind him of the gospel, the good news that Jesus already came and paid a price so that my Grandpa doesn't have to spend an eternity in hell. At one point in his life my Grandpa had a lot of scripture memorized. They are not sure how much Grandpa understands right now when they speak to him but the Holy Ghost speaks to the heart and can bring about a lot of understanding.

My Grandpa

My Grandpa is conscious. Thank you for all of your prayers! He can only say uh-huh at this point and has some paralysis on the right side of his face. It will take a long time in therapy for him to get back to where he was before. Please keep praying for his healing and salvation. Thanks again everyone.

New Update

My Grandpa still isn't conscious. I'm sorry I just realized in my last post I wrote that my Grandpa is responsive. He is physically responsive, squeezing people's hands occasionally but he has not regained consciousness since the surgery. Please keep praying.

Update

My Grandfather is in intensive care and probably will be for awhile. He is responsive and they took him off of his respirator today. My Aunt flew to Texas to be with him and my Uncle is driving down. I am hoping that my Aunt will share the gospel with him while she is there. He has relied on his good works to get him to heaven but only Jesus' work counts. We have all missed the mark and I hope my Grandpa realizes that before it is too late.

Day Pictures

I Own a 2000 Ford Focus!!!!!!!!!!

About time. I am so happy. I took it for a test drive when Chris got home. It is so different from my old car. I barely tap the wheel and it reacts. When I do a U turn it doesn't take the whole road to do it. I think it will take a little while to get use to the new clutch and brakes but that is just fine with me. I have a car! Yay! We can go places as a family safely again. It is also very nice on the inside. The last owner took good care of it. I will post pictures as soon as the day brakes. Well maybe not that soon, but definately before noon tomorrow. Okay nevermind, I'll go take some now even though it's dark. You all deserve that much after your prayers and support throughout the great car fiasco of 2006. Hold on I'll be right back.......................




So there it is. Isn't it pretty? Even in the dark. I am very happy with it, especially for a thousand dollars. Thanks again everyone!

Prayer Request

My eighty-seven year old grandfather, Andy Anderson is in the hospital. He is in surgery now. He had a accident yesterday which resulted in a slow brain bleed. He seemed to be okay but then took a turn for the worst this moring. They are not sure if he will make it. My grandfather has been in Alcholics Anomous for years and the Masonic Lodge. He believes that any God you believe in is valid. However, he was raised in a Christian church and even went to seminary for a short time. He had some bad experiences that he uses as his excuse to live life as he pleased. But, I know that God still wants to save him. The woman who takes care of him has been taking him to a Christian church for the last few weeks. Please pray for his salvation. Thank you.

Ahhhh the Fiasco

So one of the funniest parts of this ordeal has been me driving Chris' truck. Well it has gotten funnier. The starter is going out which means half of the time you can start it normally and the other half you have to push start it. Does anyone see where this is going? Well I went to King Soopers without a hitch on Saturday so I didn't think much about going to McDonalds later that night. Since we can't all ride safely just Sam and I went. Now Chris' driver side window doesn't roll down, actually it does but I don't know how to do it. I do know when it's up you have to shove something on the side, like a glove, to keep it up. Anyway I didn't want to deal with it, so Sam and I went inside. After I got Sam, the food and myself in the truck I tried to start it and surprise no go. Knowing this might happen I had parked on a slight incline. So I stuck one leg out of the truck and began to push us backwards then I pulled it back in, stepped on the clutch, threw it in reverse, the truck jumped, went ra ra and died. So I stuck my leg out again and repeated the process with the same result. As providence would have it a nice couple coming out of McDonalds offered to help. They pushed the truck and I tried several times to pop start it to no avail. After making half of the drive thru loop I pulled to the side in a parking spot. The woman of the couple asked if I needed a phone. I had my cell. I thanked the nice couple, who after pushing me so far were tired and ready to go on their merry way. Then a car full of people in the drive thru line asked if I needed help. I politely declined. At this point I was very embarrassed and just wanted to call my husband. I knew he was about a mile and a half away with Anna and couldn't do anything to help but I still wanted to call. He encouraged me to try to pop start it some more. So I, in a skirt mind you got out of the truck and pushed with all I was worth from the driver's side door up a slight hill right beside the drive thru till I couldn't make it go any further. Then I turned around and pushed as hard and as fast as I could the other way, then I jumped in the truck, pushed in the clutch, put it in first, felt the truck jump, herd it go ra ra and then die. I repeated this process three times as three or fours cars went through the drive thru. I think this may be my new all time most embarrassing moment or very close to it. Finally a very nice man offered his help. I said "I'm trying to push start it." He smiled and said "Yeah I could see that." He pushed and I pop started the truck and it went forward on it's own. Hurray!!! I was so relieved. I stopped and thanked the nice man and his girlfriend who was standing by their drivers side door apparently ready to progress in the drive thru line if need be. It was great. Sam was really good through the whole ordeal I just gave him a French fry every once in awhile and he was happy. So we have new news on the Ford Focus. George and his girlfriend waited for the dealership to fix the Land Cruiser only to find that once it was fixed the dealership wanted more money. So they continued their search and found a Volkswagen Jetta they like. They are suppose to pick it up tomorrow night and then give us the Focus. EVERYONE PRAY .... HARD!!! So goes the fiasco. At least there has been entertainment derived from all of this. Oh, I almost forgot, I almost ran Chris over Thursday night after church. He has taken to standing on the tire to get in the back of the truck through the camper shell window. I didn't give him enough time to get in. My bad. Wow, writing books must be contagious.

Hello

We are having a good day today. I'm actually getting use to not having a car. It doesn't bug me like it did the first few days. I gave Anna her first real bath today. She has been having washcloth baths on the couch up until now. She really liked the bath, she even smiled. I think it has to do with how much she likes to be warm. I'm the same way. I love to take hot baths and I sleep under a small mountain of blankets. Even through the summer, most nights, I slept with a sheet, a comforter, a quilt and I was very pregnant. Of course the air conditioner was on for Chris. I think I'm going to try to start scrap booking soon. It helps that I live near Emilee, the queen of scrap booking. I have wanted to for awhile and I need to start. We are averaging a kid a year and if I don't get on the ball I may never get my many pictures organized. Anna slept for six and a half hours last night. It was wonderful! I woke up this morning and my memory was back. I haven't had one of those for a long time. I'm not getting too excited though, this morning might just be a fluke. Well blogging world have a great day!

I Miss My Saturn!

A car with 210,000 miles on it that drinks oil and antifreeze sounds pretty good right now. ~sigh~ Oh well, Chevroleggs it is. George will be working with Chris tomorrow so we will find out why he's been dodging Chris' calls and if he is really going to sell us the car.

The Fiasco Continues

So George approached Chris today and said that he and his girlfriend found a car they really liked Saturday. So why didn't they buy it? Because the transmission went out during their test drive. They were stopped at a light and the light turned green but the 2002 Toyota Landcruiser wouldn't go. They had to wait an hour for the tow truck to come. The dealer is going to fix the transmission because they still really want the Landcruiser. I don't know, call me crazy but if I was test driving a car and something major broke I would see it as a big warning sign. But that's just me. Chris said "I would see it as a brand new transmission with a warranty." Anyway, maybe the dealer will fix the Landcruiser quickly and maybe they will sell us the Ford Focus and maybe I will not ever have to drive Chris' truck again. These are big maybes but I hope they all come to fruition, especially the last two.

The Great Car Fiasco of 2006

So this past Monday the 11th one of the guys Chris works with offered to sell him his car, a 2000 Ford Focus for $1,000. The next day he brought it to the job site and Chris said "you want to sell me this car for a 1,000 bucks?" The guy said yes so Chris called me on the phone, I checked it out on the internet, and found out it was worth $3,500-$4,000. Now my Saturn is a 95 that drinks oil and antifreeze and has 210,000 miles on it. Needless to say we were very interested. We didn't want to barrow money to get it so we put my car up for sale and thought of what we could pawn to come up with the $1,000. Late Tuesday night I cleaned the car out and Wednesday morning Chris drove it to a vacant lot near a main street and rode back home on a bike. Later Wednesday Chris' co-worker, George, suggested payments. We were comfortable with payments with the stipulation that we would not take ownership until the car was paid off. After work Chris drove by my Saturn on his way home and found a ticket for $50. So he came home rode the bike back to the lot and brought my car home. Only one person called on it that day. He left a message telling us to call him back but didn't leave a phone number. So Thursday someone else or maybe the same guy called. We ended up selling him the Saturn for $600. I think he got a great deal Chris thinks we ripped him off. So George and his girlfriend were suppose to get a new car this weekend and then we would buy the Focus. No such luck. She looked Thursday, they both looked Friday and Saturday but didn't find "the one." So here we are with no Saturn and a truck that seats two comfortably. Luckily, church is close by because to get there today, Anna's car seat was on the passenger's side seat, Sam's car seat was in the middle with my arm hanging over it to try to reach the shifter, and Chris was in the back of the truck in his fold out camping chair. It was great! You should have seen Brother VanDeventer's face when Chris climbed out the back. Well anyway here we are waiting for a car. Hopefully George stays true to his word and sells us the car sometime this year. If not, I guess We'll have to wait till tax time to get something. In the mean time I don't think we will be going a lot of places with the whole family.

This was my Saturn. Notice that the hubcap is missing. Actually all the hubcaps were missing. I went through this bad curb hitting stage when I first got it. There are also a couple of skid marks on the side from the time I hit the safety railing. Poor car.

This is the car I want that George is holding onto for dear life. I can't say I blame him. Can you imagine what his girlfriend's reaction was when he said he was going to sell this car for $1,000?

This is how the car seats were arranged on our way to church. It was great, Sam kept trying to wrap his legs around my arm while I was shifting.

This is where Chris sat on the way there. I'm not sure which one of us got the short end of the stick on that one.

Wow

 
I can't believe I got us all in the frame. It only took three tries. So who does she look like?  

So Cute

 
I love to watch Chris with Anna, they are so cute together. He loves having a little girl. 

Sam's 4-Wheelers and Anna's Quilt

This is Sam's outdoor four wheeler.



This is Sam's indoor four wheeler.


This is one of the prettiest quilts ever made.


This looks just like a mini bride's maid dress.

So I was driving around after church Sunday afternoon and I saw signs for a moving sale. I didn't find the moving sale but I did find a moving van. I got out of my car and asked if they were the ones having the sale. They weren't but they gave me a big toy four-wheeler for Sam. It needs batteries but Sam likes it already even though he can't go anywhere without Chris or I pulling him with a rope tied to the front. Well I mentioned the four-wheeler to my friend Emilee and she remembered she had a little four wheeler in her basement. Now Sam has two and the little one has a batterie that works and it came with a charger. Yay! Plus Sam can ride it indoors or out.

The little quilt and dress arrived in the mail yesterday. The best part is my friend who made them, Loree, also made my bride's maids dresses so the purple fabric is from the leftovers. I didn't even know there were leftovers until I opened the package. What a great surprise!

Kids

Looking at my children makes me realize how differently my life has turned out from what I thought it would be. You know how some people have life plans, where they want to be in five, ten, or twenty years. I never had one of those. I just took things day to day and blazed a spontaneous trail. I look back now and see where that trail could have led and I am very grateful for what I have. I have always loved kids. Truth be told sometimes I prefer their company to adults. I never thought I would have kids of my own. But I love it. It is hard sometimes, especially now with a new born and no sleep. But I have started an incredible journey here and I am trying to enjoy each moment. I was watching a video on child training the other day and they said the key to being a successful parent is taking joy in your children. He said if the joy of the Lord is our strength the joy of the parent is a child's strength. I want to have fun with my kids, I want to be their friend and have every day be an adventure. You know like in the sound of music where the kids fall in love with their nanny the nun because she wins their hearts by playing with them. I don't have the energy just now to make a set for a puppet show and I sure don't have the voice to be singing or the stamina to run through the hills while doing it. But hopefully someday soon I will be able to play more and set up killer forts in the living room. I wasn't very close with my parents but they did play with me when I was little and I treasure those memories.

Anna and Zeek

This is Anna's best buddie. He is the only person she knows that is smaller than her.