Life is full of sunshine and giggles!!!

Its been awhile since my last post on here- life is just so very busy right now. Its hard to find time to post on here and when I do have time I forget!

Our lives continue to be busy with raising our sweet little girls God has blessed us with. They are constantly a source of sunshine and unending love in our lives and the lives of those around us. Mckayla is growing up into a very smart little girl. She is always doing something. She just started kindergarten two weeks ago and is loving it. She does not always want to go to school every day......as she enjoys lazy days around home. But she is adjusting and seems to always be happy when I come and pick her up. She is doing amazing on her handwriting and learning new things all the time. She also continues to take a gym class, which her Grammy (my mom) takes her to every Monday. She will also soon be taking a tennis class, which I think she will love. She was given a tennis raquet from my mum for her birthday back in June and loves to hit balls around with my mum at her house when we visit on Wednesdays. Isabelle is also growing up and changing so much. She has started two mornings a week of preschool and is adjusting. She cries when I drop her off but the teachers say she does fine after a few minutes but does want to be held a lot. She cries when I drop her off at church too. She is talking up a storm and says some of the funniest things! The girls really like the movie "Frozen" and one day during dinner Isabelle looked at me and asked "Mommy, do you want to build a snowman?" Then she started saying it in a silly voice. Well I looked at her and told her that we cannot build a snowman as there is no snow here. James informed her though "we could build a sandman." She looked at him and was obviously pondering this and then replied "Daddy......that would be cwazzzzzzy!" We all giggled. She also asked James one day in a very serious tone "What do belly buttons eat?" Needless to say this Izzy keeps us laughing! If you ever need a good laugh just come spend a day with us! Izzy has also now began going to a parent/child gym class with her Grammy on Wednesday mornings, which she loves. They all sorts of things, climbing, jumping, sliding among other things. She loves it!

I am currently only working two hours a week as a pediatric occupational therapist as James and I really feel that being home with the girls when they are so young is very important and we are able to do this. I have two clients and I really like the families I work with. The company is great too! James is still working where he has been since before I met him years ago.

This summer we were able to go on two vacations. Our first was in May with my mum, her boyfriend Marshall, my sister Heather and her husband Brent to Sedona. This is a lovely place with moutainous red rock and very calm and peaceful. While there we stayed in a resort and just relaxed, swam, and hung out.

Then in mid August we took a trip to San Diego, CA with my dad, step-mom, step-sisters and their husbands (and one of them has a little boy) and my sister and husband. We all enjoyed our time there but the girls especially loved spending time with their 2 year old cousin Parker (my step-sister Missy's little boy- currently the girls only cousin). We had a condo where we could see the beach from our patio and could walk there within 2 minutes. We could also walk to the bay within 5 minutes as well. So very close to the water and lots of fun. We enjoyed just hanging out, playing on the beach, building sand castles, James boogie boarded, and we explored a bit and even enjoyed 2 rides on a surrey. A surrey is like a cross between a bike and a golf cart. The one we went on fit two adults and two small kids- so was just right for us. James and I both peddled, like as on a bike. James steered with a steering wheel and was in charge of the brakes too. And the girls, well they just got to relax and enjoy the ride.

Here are a few more of the trip to San Diego.....

Anyway for now I think thats it- I have more to share but should get working on some things that need to get done while Isabelle is at preschool this morning.

Silly little girls!!!

Our time flies when you are having fun! Our days are filled with joy and lots of entertainment from our girls. They are constantly making us giggle and always saying something funny! Izzy recently decided she is a cat. She is constantly seen crawling around on the floor, meowing, and pawing at people. Mckayla at times will join in the game....they will crawl up to our dog, meow, sometimes say "dog" and then let out a kitty squeel and then crawl off to hid.....because as we all know, cats are scraed of dogs!! Sometimes when we ask Isabelle questions she will answer with a "meow" which is left to interpretation. Does a "meow" mean yes or no. It can be different every hour!

We have recently been busy planbning, organizing and finalizing a benefit yard sale for my best friend. We are trying ti do various fundraiser to help raise money that they can put toward Jen's medical bills. She has a number of chronic illness, but they are still working on a more specific diagnosis. This took a lot of time to organize etc but it was lovely weather and nice being outside for 6-10hours doing the yard sale. We had three days of it- two days one weekend and one day another weekend. We have also done a bracelet sale as well. There is also a website where people can donate if they chose to. Here is the website iof anyone wants to help out......http://www.gofundme.com/helpingjen

Our family has just been dealing with another round of illnesses. Isabelle came down with pink eye. When I took her to the dr, we found out she also had a terrible ear infection and bronchitis. Then two days later I also had bronchitis. We are both taking our time to get better. Izzy's pink eye is gone but both of us are still coughing a lot and we don't know how Izzy's ear is doing, as she never cpomplained or acted like it hurt. James also has had a cough- not a real bad one, but he has had it a bit. Mckayla though, seems to have kept it away.

We are looking forward to a weekend away in May with my mum, her boyfriend Marshall and my sister Heather and her husband Brent at a resort in Sedona. It will be a nice quiet weekend getaway and it will be a little cooler up there than in the Phoenix area. Hopefully it will be relaxing.

We are starting to get ready for Little Miss Isabelle's 2nd birhday. This Friday she turns 2. One her birthday this year- its actually Good Friday and we will be going to a easter egg hunt for the mom's group we are a part of. We will also celebrate as a family with cupcakes that evening. Her birthday party will be the following weekend (Easter is that weekend so we will wait a week) with family and a few friends. We are doing a zoo animal themed party for her this year. We may also take a family outing somewhere to celebate her birthday as well.

A difficult new year!

Ok so once again I have failed miserably at keeping up on our family blog.....it seems time goes by so quickly with each passing year and the girls sure do keep me busy!!

So we had a lovely Christmas and everything around here is going alright. It was a hard couple months but I think things are quietening down now. We just got hit with one thing after another and it was pretty rough.

January 14th (I think this date is right) James' very beloved grandmother whom we all called "Oma" had a massive stroke and was not found until the next day. They believe it happened over night but she was not found until about 4 or 5 pm that day. She was unable to eat/drink or talk. She could not move her right side of her body, but seemed to comprehend all that was going on. She would squueze a hand to anser yes or no questions and at one point would even nod. She was in the hospital for several days but it became obvious she was not going to recover and she had made it very clear she did not want any heroics performed to keep her here on earth. No feeding tubes, had a DNR etc. So she was moved to hospice. Not long after on January 22nd Oma went to be with Jesus in Heaven. She left such a legacy of serving others and encouraging others everywhere she went. She shared the love of Jesus every day, whether it was through word or actions. She has left behind so many people who loved her dearly and she will be forever missed until we see her again in Heaven one day!

Several days after Oma's stroke, we founbd out we would be putting Zephyr, the dog my Mum gave me during highschool  (who had been living with Mum) down. He was getting slower and decling medically. He could not hear well and was having issues with his hips and seemed to be hurting. Mum had been giving him high doses of pain meds and anti-inflammatory meds for quite awhile and there was not much else that could be done. It got to the point where he could no longer get himself  up from a laying down position and my mum and Marshall had to lift him to get him up. They decided that on Friday Mum would take him to the vet and have him board there while Mum was at work and overnight Friday and Saturday I ould meet her there to say my goodbyes before he got put down. Well when Marshall took him there Friday morning, the vet did not think it should wait til Saturday because he did not think he would make it through the night and there was no veterinary staff there overnight to help him if he needed something. So we went Friday night to say goodbye and put him down. When I went in they explained to me what would happen and I was given the option to be in the room or to say goobye and then leave the room before they put him down. I knew emotionally I would not be able to handle being there when he was put down. So Mum and I said our goodbyes. When they brought him in a vet tech was carrying him, as he could no longer walk. It was very obvious this was not the happy Zephyr, even from just a few years ago....this was the Zephyr who was very unwell and very very old. He never would have let someone carry him like that, let alone a vet tech. When he was young - he had to be muzzled at the vet so he would not bite them and still once he was able to get it off and give the vet or tech a warning nip. We said our goodbyes and this was probably one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing I have ever had to do. He was such a loyal and faithful companion and saw me through so much of lifes ups and downs- and he will be forever missed.

Five days later Oma passed away Jan 22nd.

Then in Febraury we all got the stomach flu- kind of staggered in timing, one after another and all with varying symptoms. Well just as I was getting over the stomach flu I began coughing, which then developed into bronchitis and a sinus infection. I am finally beginning to get better, with two rounds of antibiotics back to back and using my nebulizer regularly. Meanwhile Mckayla and James both got sick again with stomach issues but luckily I did not get it again and we don;t know if Izzy did really. Her stomach is always a bit sensitive so sometimes its hard to know what causes what.

Anyway we are all much better and getting back into the regular swing of a healhy happy life again and we are praying there will be no more sickness and no more sad or difficult news. Perhaps we just got all the bad stuff/difficult times done for the year. We can only hope, right?

Below are some photos of our sweet Mckayla and Isabelle- who truly bring so much suinshine and joy to us on a daily basis. We love being their parents. (More updates on the girls to come soon- got to goto bed now!)