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Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas was split into two separate events this year. Since we came to California, it wasn't realistic to bring everything with us. We had our Connecticut Christmas on Saturday morning so we could open just a few presents that didn't make sense to bring. The kids kept calling it our "Fake Christmas" which I did not like. Either way, it was nice!

Michael got a s'mores nightlight in his stocking. Cute!

He also got my old Kindle. With cat eyes! 

Matthew got his computer (that he paid a BIG chuck of money for).
We work out a deal for the kids to get their own computer when they start high school.

He also got a HUGE Lord of the Rings Lego set.

Lauren got this really cool retro film camera.

And Collin got a new headlamp which we all know is super exciting.

Lauren gave Mike some Hobbit posters from the movie theater. Neat! 

Michael also got some cool Legos.

The very best present of all was 

inspired by the James Bond movie Skyfall. 

Did you notice Q's Scrabble mug?? I did!!

And I immediately whispered loudly, 

"Oh my gosh, it's a Scrabble mug!

I need a Scrabble mug!"

A miracle happened, and Mike remembered.

He bought me a Scrabble mug for Christmas!

I've never been so happy.

I bought Mike a new ipod. It's pretty dang fancy. 

I'll have to take pictures soon of my fancy present from Mike.

Connecticut Christmas came to an end, and we moved on to California Christmas. Our flight was at 6am on Christmas Eve. I was able to use frequent flyer for ALL of our tickets, and that was literally the only flight. We had to leave our house at 3am. Yikes! And I was so behind on everything that I didn't even get to sleep. I finished cleaning the kitchen at 1:45am, then hopped in the shower so I would be ready to pack the car at 2:30 or so. Gosh, it was early. Or late...

Here we are at 4:15am on the air train from long term parking.

We lucked out and got a new plane with free movies for everyone!

Most of us slept, but poor Matthew stayed awake the entire time.

We landed at 9:30am to a rainy Los Angeles morning.

Mike's family has a Christmas Eve party every year at his grandparents' house. It's always a fun time. Everybody was sleepy, but we made it through. And then we spent the night at Mike's parents' house and waited for Santa to come.

California Christmas was fun!

Mike's sister Erin made me the cutest thing ever.

I'll have to take a picture of it tomorrow so you can see it.

We went to my parents' house for the best dinner ever, and enjoyed visiting with everyone.

We checked into our hotel that night. It's very frustrating to have to pay for a hotel, but it really is necessary. We were happy to have a place for all of our stuff, and somewhere for everyone to sleep.
Michael got spy glasses from Great Grandma Koch at the Christmas Eve party. He wears them all the time. So funny!

Stay tuned for more California fun!

December Happenings

Just a quick post before we leave to catch up on December stuff ...

Good Intentions:

These are the "photo blocks" I was going to make for all of the women in my family. It went terribly wrong. And I firmly believe it was not my fault.

They would have been so cute.

Which one do you think was yours? Hahaha

Gingerbread Houses:

On December 14th Mike's office had a Gingerbread House Event for families. We missed the prayer meeting at the chapel that night, but it was good that we still did it. A healthy, happy distraction is a good thing.

And we did have a lot of fun!

Getting Stuff Done:

My "To-Do" list is kind of a joke.

But I still try to get some of it done.

I made goodies.

And crossed out half of the names of people I wanted to bring them to.

Connecticut Christmas:

We had our own early Christmas Saturday morning so we could open

the big presents here. Mike got me a Scrabble mug like Q had in the

movie Skyfall. I was thrilled! Seriously EXACTLY what I wanted.

And that night I got a special delivery of

an edible arrangement from Mike's boss.

Nice ... but creepy.

(and i totally think of walter when i say that)

Too bad we have to throw most of it away.

Mike got me very nice EXPENSIVE jewelry.

Maybe you will see me wear it this week.

I'll try to take a picture :)

NOW I GOTTA GO CLEAN MY KITCHEN AND PACK!

Stomach Update

After four weeks of pain, I made an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist. Mike invited a friend over and they gave Michael a very nice blessing. And then we went to the doctor a couple of days later. We had to go up the the Children's Medical Center in Hartford again. Cool place! This time we checked out the Lego insects.

The doctor said that Michael's problem is NOT swollen lymph nodes. Wow. He said that can show up on a cat scan, but what he really has is called Functional Abdominal Pain. What the heck? REALLY?? My immediate reaction was irritation. What kind of diagnosis is that? Sounds like a cop out! But then the doctor explained more and I came around. There isn't anything showing up in tests to explain his pain, but it is definitely there. Many things can cause this type of pain: a virus, stress, the beginning of Irritable Bowel Syndrome... We don't know. The doctor said the best thing to do is to create a calm environment in the abdomen and hope that his stomach recovers. He gave us two prescriptions. The first was for pain, a medicine that relaxes the muscles in the abdomen. Thank you! We were using ibuprofen before which wasn't doing much, and is bad for the stomach anyway. The second prescription is an antihistamine that is also good for the stomach. Go figure! He also wanted to Michael to do the IBS diet just to keep things calm. The funny thing is that Michael doesn't eat much, so following that diet is super easy. The only things he can't have that he normally eats are pepperoni, root beer and apple juice. And those aren't staples in his diet.

(i posted michael's diagnosis on facebook and started getting all kinds of crazy advice from many well-intentioned people. my favorite was from a friend who said that her sister had a parasite and kept "crapping her pants" every time she was out drinking with her friends. and her friends would never drive her home because they were drunk. yeah, lady, that's totally what's wrong with michael.)

A weird thing happened the day after we saw the doctor, on day after starting the meds - Michael got super sick. He had the worst pain he has ever had, and threw up three times that night. I called the gastro guy's office in the morning and spoke to a nurse. She said it was probably a virus. I was so mad! She said to wait 24 hours before starting up the meds again. Ok ... Well, after that Michael felt just fine. No more stomach pain! We started up the meds again, and had absolutely no complaints of pain. It's a miracle! I started thinking it was like the healings where the inflicted pukes out the demons. Haha. Michael I decided to go off the meds to see if he really needed them. Maybe that pukefest waslike a hard reset on his stomach. It could happen! So, we went off the meds. Maybe three days later he had another painful pukefest episode. That answers our question. He needs the meds! Haha. I really think it's the antihistamine that is helping him. So we are taking that religiously now.

I am so glad Michael is finally feeling better. This started on November 12th. Almost 6 weeks ago. He missed 15 out 25 days of school. That's a lot! And he was SO sad. Let's all pray he keeps doing well, especially for our upcoming trip.

December 14th

It has been a tough week here in our small town. I haven't felt like blogging since the tragedy of last Friday. It has been hard to process, and difficult to bear. We mourn so deeply for all of those sweet angels and the women who tried to protect them, especially for the sweet angel who was taken from a family in our church congregation.

When I first heard what was happening at Sandy Hook Elementary, I shared the story on Facebook and said "What the heck??!!" That is exactly how I felt. A shooting at an elementary school? Here of all places?? It just didn't make sense. And then as the story unfolded and the depth of what happened began to be revealed, shock and horror set in. I immediately tried to remember which families we know who have kids there. Are they safe? What happened?? Words do not suffice. I was sick. Literally. In tears. People were calling, texting, emailing. One child we know was not accounted for, and time went by. It was becoming clear that she did not make it. And there were so many who did not make it.

Our little Newtown, CT was all over the news. Anne Curry and Brian Williams were reporting in front of the Sandy Hook Fire Station. Matt Lauer, Anderson Cooper ... It was unreal. Seriously like one of the worst nightmares a person could have where you say to yourself, "Please wake up. Please wake up." But this was real. It did happen. And it happened here.

We do not live in Newtown, but it is literally down the road from us. Like two minutes away. We attend church in Newtown. We shop there. We go out to eat there. We have many close friends there.

Robbie Parker was amazingly courageous and was able to speak to the media about his little Emilie on Saturday night. What a fine example he is to the world. I feel like he set the tone for the coming days. We must forgive and set hate aside. We must find a way to make the world a better place, to be better people.

I haven't been able to sleep through the night since it happened. I go to bed very late and wake up every couple of hours. How can you rest knowing that so many people so close to you are in pain? I couldn't help thinking about how everything happened. What the children saw. The terror. What the surviving children saw and heard. How the parents felt. The scene in the fire station when Governor Malloy told those parents that their children would not be coming home.

Sunday services were so very helpful. I felt so much comfort from the words and testimonies, and the powerful spirit that was present. It felt like our congregation was literally wrapped in the arms of God and his angels as we sat in that chapel and cried tears of sorrow together. It is hard to describe. It was a very sacred experience. After Bishop Keller and President Checketts spoke to us, the congregation was given the opportunity to share testimonies and feelings. One of the young girls in our ward who is a freshman at BYU bore her testimony and sang "Sweet Hour of Prayer." I will never forget it. We cannot make sense of what happened, but we can be comforted through prayer and our faith in Jesus Christ.

There are so many details I can write about ... things we have seen and heard all week, the many connections to the people who died and even to the shooter and his parents, all of the efforts to help and comfort. For now though, I need to move on as much as I can in order to function in a healthy way. We are leaving for California early Monday morning, and I am so glad. We need to get away and be with family. I am trying to focus on Christmas and my family. We are truly blessed in so many ways.

Pumpkin Pie, Take 2

In my last post I showed you my "To-Do" list. I always have an ongoing list on my iPhone with this awesome app I have. You see it here to the left.

Every once in a while life gets too crazy for that. Those are the times when I keep an ongoing list on the kitchen counter that I can add to and check frequently throughout the day. Boy, have I been adding to my list!

I think I have added more than I have checked off.

That first day when I was supposed to get the first 6 things done ... um ... yeah, it didn't go quite as planned. I did finally take care of the insurance thing so Avis wouldn't send someone to hunt me down. I probably won't ever finish decorating for Christmas. Oh well. 

This gives you a little insight into my life:

My room has looked like this for a couple of weeks. Clothes everywhere!!! If we just had closets that fit everything, it would be so much easier. That basket and pile on the floor by my bed and on my bed are all clothes from my closet that I needed to go through. I finally did it at 11 o'clock one night when Michael's stomach was in pain and he was in my bed moaning.

 I still need to put them away, and I need to go through the clothes in the baskets across the room. Those are mostly clothes the boys have grown out of.

In the midst of all this, I decided to make pies. CRAZY! It's just that our pies for Thanksgiving were weird. I did the dutch apple pie instead of Mike's usual favorite with the double crust, and wasn't pleased with it. I also accidentally bought the canned pre-made pumpkin pie mix instead of the regular canned pumpkin, and the pie came out in an unnaturally bright shade of orange.

The new pies would have
been great if I had added sugar ... 

UGH!!! Too many things on my mind.

Pumpkin Pie - Take 2:

SO MUCH BETTER

The most important thing right now is to get the cousins' presents wrapped and in the mail. My original plan was to mail them snail mail at the beginning of the month, but then a few things got in the way. Now I will probably pay priority shipping. But it's usually around the same price anyway.

So, HEY! Who cares about all of that?

I LOST FIVE POUNDS!!!

Have you been reading my weight loss blog??

Enough blabbing ... I have to go get stuff done. I'm taking Michael to a pediatric gastroenterologist in Hartford today. He is still in a lot of pain. I'll keep you posted.