Its been forever!!

Hello again- Its been a long time since I posted last. Life continues to be so very busy. Our girls are growing up and doing it so fast. Isabelle is almost 3 and Mckayla will be 6 in just a cpuple months. Mckayla is finishing up her kindergarten year soon and Izzy is still going to preschool. They both seem to enjoy their school.

This year has been busy so far. The biggest highlight of the year so far was a trip to Australia! Mckayla's 2nd one, but first that she remembers, and Izzy's first one ever! Actually Izzy's first place ride ever too. Mckayla last flew when she was 1 and that summer we traveled both to Australia and to Illinois.

Anyway this trip to Australia was amazing, as they all are! We went with my mum and her boyfriend Marshall. The girls did well on the plane and seemed to be excited at first. The biggest issue on the plane ride iover was that Izzy wanted to go potty when we were taking off and we would not let her as we were not allowed out of our seat.- she had a pull-up on so we told her to go in her pull-up, to which she was very mad at us for suggesting. She is a BIG GIRL now and that was not acceptable! Aside from that, the flights went fine. The flight was smooth with not much turbulence. It was nice to be traveling with Mum and Marshall with us too.

Once there we spent one night at the hotel at the airport, prior to driving two hours the next day to our family's beach house (which is now owned by my uncle Neil). We loved our time there. The scenery was beautiful, as always, and there were plenty of kangaroos which the girls loved looking at. The kangaroos live on the golf-course which is just behind our beach house and we can wander along the golf-course and get quit close to them before they hop away. We spent time on the beach, relaxing at the house, and taking the girls to the parks. My cousin Stephanie came to stay with us one night, which was great catching up with her (as she now lives in another state than the rest of the family). We also had an open house one day where family/friends came to visit us at Anglesea (where the beach house is). After a week in Anglesea, James, the girls and I headed back to Melbourne, leaving Mum and Marshall in Anglsea to have some peace and quiet to themselves.

Back in Melbourne we stayed with my aunt Robyn and uncle Neil at their house in a suburb of Melbourne, called Eltham. It was lovely staying with them and they were so good to us. While in Melbourne we caught up with family. We went to a small farm with my cousin Krissy and her two little ones, who were 18 months and almost 3. The kids enjoyed looking at the animals and then loved playing on this incredible playground behind the farm. Krissy and I chatted while James followed the kids around making sure they were safe. Krissy's little one wanted to climb everywhere but is only 18 months so needed someone to follow him and Krissy being 6 months or so pregnat, was tired and was happy to have James help out. James being James, never minds helping out and having fun with the kids! We also went to a playgroup with them as well, which the girls enjoyed. One afternoon we invited them , along with my cousin Steve (Krissy's brother) and their kids over to play. His wife was unable to make it but their kids who are 3, 5, and 7 all came and the kids had fun playing together. It was noisy with 7 kids but they enjoyed themselves and thats what matters! The kids enjoyed each others company and it was fun spending time with them.

One morning I went with my aunt Bette to visit my aunt Beth (who now lives in an assisted living facility) and we took her out for morning tea.Beth has not been living there for very long and I had never visited her there. Since I was there 4 years ago, both my uncle Ian (Beth's husband and my dad's brother) and my cousin Leigh had passed away, so Beth was left living on her own. Family decided that having her live in the assisted living was the best thing for her as she has some early stage dementia and forgets things sometimes. It also gives her people to be around and they do lots of activities there and she seems very happy there.  It was great to have a chance to see Beth. Another time Bette took all four of us out to a restaurant for dinner- so she could see all of us and get to know the girls a bit. We went to a pub restaurant at a hotel which had great food and a fun playground where the  girls played while we chatted with Bette.

Another thing we all enjoyed was going to  Healsville Sanctuary which is an animal sanctuary for Australia animals up in the hills about 45min drive from my aunt and uncle's. We took my aunt Robyn along with us and had a great morning, seeing all the native Aussie animals such as kangaroos, koalas, ehcidna's , wombats, dingoes and platapus. We all had a lot of fun. One evening we had dinner at my uncle Colin and aunt Kerry's place, where by that time my Mum and Marshall were staying. It was great to see the too!

One highlight of our time in Melbourne was also the girls first train ride!! (Well it was Izzy's first but may have been Mckayala's 2nd but first she will remember). We took the train into town and did some souveneir shopping and had some morning tea. It was fun and the girls loved the train ride!! It rained while we were in the city but it was still fun and we got some nice souveneirs, aminly for the girls.

While staying with Neil and Robyn, it was so nice to catch up with them and just "be" with them. They really got to know the girls more this way. We had dinner with them most nights and just loved our time with them. Robyn seemed to really love interacting with the girls and she would read them bedtime stories every night and when the eather got real hot out (well real hot for Melbourne) she went out and bought them a small plastic wading pool for them to play with, which the girls loved. We all enjoyed catching up with Neil too when he was not working. One afternoon my cousin Hamish and his wife Katie also came over to catch up. It was great to seem them as well. When leaving we told Robyn and Neil they had the stamp of approvl as grandparents as soon as their kids were ready!! (Both their son and daughter have gtten married in the last few years).

Anyway the trip was great and we were not ready to come home, when it was time to say goodbye.

Upon returning home, I went straight into continuing to organize a big fundraising event for my best friend. This past 6 months or so I have been trying to do various fundraising activities to help my best friend to py some of her medical bills. Her and her daughter Sage are abttling many medical issues and have huge bills to pay . The event just took playce on March 28th and went well. We had various vendors selling things and I sold raffle tickets, baked goods and coffee. All vendors broguth an item for the raffle. While there was not as much traffic as I would have liked there as some and through vendors fees and raffle and baked items and coffee we raised a good amount. For now fundraising is on hold, as its getting too hot outside to do events out there and I have found indoor events don't work well. We may look at doing a fundraiser at a frozen yogurt shop sometime though or maybe a carwash but otherswise we will wait til Fall.

I have just started working for another company and am working on getting my schedule put together. Planning to work Monday afternoons and possibly Thursday mornings while the girls are at school. Looking forward to getting back to having more than just one or two clients.

Anyway thats our family news for now. Here are some photos of our trip!!

What a busy life we lead!!

Hello - its been a long time since I have posted here. We have been busy - mainly busy being parents! The girls keep us constantly busy but also constantly laughing and highlyentertained. Mckayla is 5 and a half and half way thru kindergarten and loves learning. She is starting to read a little now and is growing up so much- she is not a "little girl" anymore but really growing up. She continues to keep busy with school, gym class which ehr Grammy takes her too and then was doing tennis for several months but is now taking a break from that to do some dance classes. Mckayla os a great big sister and will look out for Izzy so much and will stick up for her and will not let anyone be mean, boss her around or take her toys, except of course herself. Thats what big sisters do!!!

Isabelle continues to change and mature. She is no longer a toddler now and really is a little girl now. She is in preschool at the same school as Mckayla. She goes 2days a week- originally it was 2 mornings  week but we changed to 2 days a week to make things easier for all of us- getting her from school at 12, getting her fed, down for a nap that would be at least an hour long and having to leave to get Mckayla by 2:15 was a challenge- so we just decided to let her stay at school and have lunch with her friends and have her nap there, and we pick her up when I pick up Mckayla. It seems to work well and she likes going there and playing with her friends. She is beginning to recognize a couple letters and has been doing well learning colors and is improving on those. She is currently working on potty-training and seems to be finally getting it. We are still not there yet but doing so much better and definitely on the road to being potty trained. We have promised Izzy a big girl bed (she currently uses her crib mattress on the floor with a guard rail to keep her from rolling out (and man does she roll!). So we promised her once she is in underwear during the day (not when sleeping or napping) and no longer having accidents she could have a big bed like Mckayla's.

My work right now is very limited. I was supervising some OT assistants but that stopped awhile ago. Since then I have just been seeing 2 children a week in their homes. One is actually 18 and the other was 6. However the 6 year old just stopped seeing me like 2 weeks ago as they found someone else through a personal friend. So now I am working all of an hour a week- but looking to find another kid or two to work with, hopefully soon! James continues to work at Statec, where he has been since before we met. He is as busy as ever and the company has finally agreed to get him some help with all the work. The new IT guy who will be joining him at the Phoenix office starts in a couple weeks. James is looking forward to the much needed help and perhaps being able to go back to coming home for lunch everyday again.




The photos below are Christmas related- just various photos of the Christmas season and having fun!

Crazy rain day here in fall- we don't get a lot of rain here very often. But we had a lot!!!

                         

The Following photos are from when we went and stayed at James' uncle Mike's cabin in Munds Park in Fall. The girls seemed to really enjoying playing outside and walking on the rocks in the yard. 

 

Anyway thats about all our news for now. I will try to be better about updating  make no promises as life is crazy!!! Crazy but great!!!

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!)

Finally cooling down!!!

Oh the weather is beautiful out lately! Finally cooling off after the constant summer heat. Sure its not cooled off that much but way better than it had been. Its finally in the 80's and tomorrow the high is going to be 73deg F and for here that is really nice. We are finally starting to enjoy spending some time outside again. The girls have been enjoying their playhouse and we have just bought a bike for me and a bike trailer for the girls and cannot wait to start using them soon!

Our family is just about through a 3 week bout of everyone taking turns being sick. First Mckayla got sick (lots of classmates were too and we think she gave it to all of us at home!). She had a cold/fever/cough. Then Izzy got it with a cold, then cough and fever. Then I got it with just a nasty cough which of course went to bronchitis as it does anytime I get respiratory bugs. So I am finishing up my 10 days of antibiotics today and still coughing but definitely doing better. Izzy had it pretty bad too and had to even have a chest x-ray. She was so congested the dr could not be sure she was not missing any pneumonia in there- but thankfully she was right and it was just a virus (but apparently a bad one as it showed on the x-ray and most viruses don't show up like that).

Izzy has been continuing to grow and change all the time. She just loves life and loves to chatter away and loves to run up to people with arms open huge and give the sweetest hugs! She will try to say just about anything you ask her to, even if it does not come out quite right. Mckayla continues to love school, loves gym class and just loves to sing and dance and have loads of fun!I love watching the girls relationshiop continue to change. Izzy really looks up to Mckayla and Mckayla likes to watch out for Izzy and help her, but obviously some disagreements, especially over toys, does occur at times. But overall they are best friends and love to play together.

Hailey (the dog) continues to be a goofy energetic dog as always. She is great with the girls. She does not typically get into too much mischief- but can often be found sleeping with our shoes. She does not chew them, just takes a nap with them. If you are missing a shoe- just check Hailey's bed! She also likes to pull toy bins down for the shelf when we are not home- but again rarely is anything ever destroyed! We really are lucky that she does not destroy things. She loves it when we are outside in the backyard but sometimes she has to be locked in the house as she has these crazy spurts of energy and will charge around the backyard and if you move and get in her way she may run into you and that would not be good. If you stand still when she goes nuts she won't run into you -but if you move she might- and Mckayla has learned to hold still or go in her playhouse when Hailey goes on a running spurt. Izzy, however has not learned that yet, so if Izzy is outside Hailey usually has to be locked in the house. If we lock her inside she can often be heard howling in the house!
     Anyway thats all the news for now. Check out some recent photos below!!

Girls in the new bike trailer

                                                     Fun in their playhouse

                                            Working on feeding herself with a spoon

                                                       Sweet sleeping Isabelle

                                                  More self-feeding fun!!!

She discovered a cup in her picnic basket works well as a hat for her baby doll

                                           Hard at work on writing at school

                                      Happy Mckayla playing on the school playground