Ever since I was little, my mom served others in need. Babysitting, rides to church, preparing meals for others......whenever I need her she is willing and ready. After keeping Kate all day, playing Candyland, doing my laundry, changing sheets, baking cookies, matching up socks, she then brought over a delicious dinner! She never ceases to amaze me. Thanks Mom!

Update on Amelia

I failed to mention why Amelia was going through her exploratory surgery. She has always been tiny and slow to gain weight, but at 9 months (she is 16 months now, she stopped gaining weight all together. After lots of tests to rule out things, the doctor ordered an endoscopy/colonoscopy because of blood in stools. The hardest part for Amelia was not being able to eat for two days, and the hardest part for me was having to give her to the nurse and watch her cry down the hallway. The doctor took several biopsies of different part of esophagus, intestines, etc. So far the anatomical parts all looked normal and we will wait to find out about the other test in about a week. They are narrowing down the possibilities to allergies, parasites or inflamed intestines??? not sure what that means. We are grateful that it is nothing serious at this point.

There is nothin' like hide and seek at the coast.

Amelia isn't quite sure if she wants to touch it.

Skim boards looked great, but didn't work.....santa was a cheap skate on those.

Slushies, popsicles, suckers and jello jigglers. Sweet, brave Amelia...in preperation for her exploratory surgery on Monday, she is only able to have clear liquids for two days. She can't have red or purple liquids either.

She is doing great considering...but it is so hard not providing the basic needs of food and her not being able to understand.

Final Days of Christmas Vacation!!!!

Three days at the coast was the perfect way to end vacation. Four kids, two scooters, one wagon and one dog=one fun day at the park.


New Year's Eve was spent with the family making homemade hats and playing with "punch balls" Then we all stayed up to bring in the year with sparklers and watching the ball drop. It was Dick Clark's last year......of course my kids didn't understand why he was the host. We all got a kick out Kelli Pickler ignorant statements and some other famous girl saying that being in New York for new years eve was a life changing experience....how shallow can you be?

Build A Bear!!! Carsen was convinced he was the only kid in America that hadn't built a bear. When he got home he said, "Now every child in the world has a bear."

Annual Christmas tree pickup for the BSA fundraiser. Hunter loves being able to climb up high and stomp away!!!

Ice Skating!!!!

Nathan, Wyett and Hunter and some friends from church went to the ice skating rink in Fresno. They loved it! They were also able to pass off a merit badge.