Blessings

A Warm Day The temperatures climbed to 32* on Thursday. I took the kids out for a while to get some sunshine. We took a walk around the block, me with Grant in a stroller and Grace with her bunny rabbit in a dolly stroller. Unfortunately I managed to lock us out of the house-- it was actually kind of Grant's fault-- but that gave us a great excuse to hang out at our next door neighbor's house for a while. 

Medical Science without which I would have been child bearing toast a long time ago. Most recently we learned that my previous miscarried pregnancy was dangerously abnormal, as was my recovery from the D&C. I'm so grateful I found a new great new doctor here so quickly. After a couple weeks of tests and another procedure (which was performed in clinic-- very uncomfortable, but better and cheaper than spending a whole day doing an out-patient procedure at the hospital), my body is responding normally. We're not completely out of the woods yet, but we'll know in the next week or so. We are optimistic that things are going back to normal. In the meantime, I've officially and statistically become one in a million. I can't deny Heavenly Father's hand in this statistic either. My blood tests strongly suggested that we were facing one of two complicated situations- the words "anti-cancer treatments" and "chemo- therapy" came up in that conversation. The problem that was actually found ended up being something that made no sense but was more easily treated. My doctor asked me more than once if we were from Mars. I guess it was a quite strange but in a way, quite miraculous. 

The greater religious community of Northern Nevada who, we recently learned, were praying for our family last week. When I called my mom to explain the medical situation we were finding ourselves in, she immediately began packing a suitcase and clearing her schedule. She was talking with her trainer- also a good family friend- about why she was planning on coming our way, and this sweet woman put us on the prayer list at the Catholic church. Soon after, the other ladies my mom works out with learned and before the end of day our family was also on prayer lists at the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in town. The world is full of so many wonderful people. We were really touched and felt the strength of every one's prayers.

walls and floors

In stark contrast to how things worked out in our Petoskey house, we decided to have some small renovation projects completed prior to our move in. The plan came off without a hitch-almost. 

Most of the work was on the main floor. The dining room was painted a deep coral color and had white pile carpeting. The kitchen, laundry room, half bath and breakfast nook were floored in the linoleum pictured above. The family room and living room were carpeted in this pinkish taupe colored stuff. Most of the spaces had a very rosie feeling to them. And some of the carpet had grease stains from the lazy boys and reclining couches that had existed for years in the same places. 

We decided to repaint the dining room a deep khaki green. And we had almost all the flooring replaced on the main floor. We put laminate flooring in the living room, and in the large space that flows from the dining room, back through a hallway that includes the half bath and laundry/garage entry area, the kitchen and the breakfast nook. Then we replaced the rosie taupe carpeting in the family room with a more neutral shade.

One of the qualifying conditions for the flooring company we chose was their availability to complete the project before our move in date- Monday Dec. 29. We got into town very late on the 28th. Around 11:30 PM or so, Cori and I left Aunt Sara with the kids at the hotel and went over to our new house to check on the progress. The flooring was definitely not finished. The picture above of the kitchen was taken that Monday morning. Had we known earlier we could have arranged some different plans with the driver of the moving truck, but it was too late. The house was VERY full that Monday. There were two or three guys working on the floors, three moving guys filling the available floor space with furniture and boxes, and then after we had to check out of the hotel, three more adults and two little kiddos who needed to help with everything. 

Things got really interesting when the city came and turned our water on. The flooring guys had not shut off the water at the toilet, and once the house water was turned on we had a veritable geyser gushing a flood of water all over the new floor and down into our basement bathroom. This resulted in another week of minor work before the floors were completed. Everything worked out in the end. And I didn't have to move any heavy furniture. 

A little peek. Left-Cori standing in the doorway that separates the living and family rooms. There are french doors that hang there. Right- the dining room.

We also had the guest room and the master room repainted. The painter got things a little mixed up with our colors in the master suite, but other than that she did a great job. To give you a taste of the bold colors the family before us preferred, take a gander at the walls in the kids' rooms.

We didn't paint over these creations. Not because we are especially fond of them, nor because we would do anything remotely similar if given the chance. But Gracie is enthralled with her flower and butterfly room. She just loves it. She really loves the fishy room too. They are fun for now.

I am almost done hanging and organizing things on the main floor and will give a more formal tour soon. 

making an honest woman of me

We finally have our own legitimate internet connection. Don't ask me how I've managed some time on line in the last few weeks we've lived here- and I won't have to lie to you or incriminate myself somehow. I was desperate, Okay? 

Right now I'm busy playing with our new computer. But tomorrow... let the regular posting begin!

Baby its cold outside

The temperature outside at 7:30 AM

-18*

The predicted high for the day

-3*

Why I'm not packing up and moving West this very instant

Blue skies and Sunshine

Not that I plan on spending any time outside. The sunshine just makes the lows of winter more tolerable.

I love

Blessings

These kiddos This week was the first stretch of time that I had alone with the kids since the 19th of December. I was a little nervous about it, which seems completely absurd. But I had become pleasantly used to the extra help and entertainment. We had a great week though. I'm so grateful to be at home with my babies.

Our new ward We are still just getting to know people. But I'm always amazed at how quickly the Church can make a place feel like home. The building is different, but what happens inside the building is always the same. The faces are different, but the people's hearts are always the same. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same whether in Michigan, Illinois, Paris or London.

A new arrival due this Wednesday. We finally ordered a new computer and printer. The printer arrived last week. A shiny new Apple is en route. I have literally danced for joy several times since ordering it. So many projects have been waiting for machines capable of their completion. Our home videos will finally make it onto DVDs. I will never hand write the 200 addresses for our holiday mailer again--after our new year/we've moved card which is on its way to you all this week, that is. (our printer wouldn't load the label paper correctly. So I had to print the labels on regular paper then take them to kinkos to have it copied onto the label paper...) Anyway, I have the most fantastic feeling that so much of my life is going to become instantly easier and more interesting the moment I take the beloved contraption out of its box. It is a very materialistic thing to be grateful for, but I just can't help it!

Our first outing to the windy city

When the sad day finally came for Sara to leave us, I had to figure out a way to cope. This kind of thing runs in my genes. Reportedly, the only way my mom dealt with leaving me at college was by taking in a healthy dose of retail therapy immediately after leaving my dorm. Anyway, since Sara was flying out of Chicago O'Hare, we decided to make a day of it and visit the Shedd Aquarium downtown before dropping her off.

The day went better than could have been expected for a few reasons:



I can still drive in the city. After nearly two years of small town driving, I was a little nervous about commuting through the center of the nation's 3rd largest city on the last Saturday before the end of the Christmas break. With Sara driving shotgun with a set of map quest directions we made it through with only two wrong turns. We made good time and my blood pressure remained at a healthy level. I was expecting it to be more like driving through Manhattan- which I wouldn't recommend (Katie? Colby? You got me on that one right?). But it wasn't bad at all. I'm sure it is a much different story during midweek rush hour...

We got in for free. We arrived about an hour after they opened and didn't expect the line to be very long. The Aquarium is located on a museum campus that facilitates a planetarium and another large artifact museum. The museum campus shares parking (for $15 a car!) with Soldier Field, home of the famous Chicago Bears. After figuring out where to park - about 1/2 mile away - we excitedly approached the aquarium. As we rounded the front of the building, a guy with a Shedd Aq. fleece and a black Labrador called out to us, inquiring if we already had tickets. Not wanting to be rude, even to a scalper which I thought he was, Sara and I walked over to him. He asked how many were in our group, and when I told him he proceeded to explain that the aquarium has a certain amount of passes they hand out for free at random every day. He handed over the tickets, (worth $16 a piece) the coinciding wristbands, and tickets to their pet show as well. We didn't realize how truly fortunate this was until we got inside. Not only did the gesture save us a bundle of cash, but it saved us about an hour of time waiting in a line which was quite long. We didn't have much time to spend there, so the saved hour was precious indeed.

The Aquarium is amazing. It was so interesting. Grace was in hog heaven. She was forever against the glass... on the floor... any place she could be as close as possible to the aquatic life. The pet show was a little dull for the big kids, but Gracie was completely entertained for its 25 minutes. Grant was fairly interested in the goings on as well. We are excited to make a return trip in the summer after their oceanarium is reopened.

From the Aquarium it was a quick trip to some lunch and the airport. After big hugs and kisses we left Sara and made our way back home. We did hit some traffic on the Chicago loop coming out but had smooth sailing after that. It was a fantastic trip to the airport!