Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is just two days away- hope everyone has a day of fabulous feasting and gracious gratitude! The weather is finally turning fallish so it's beginning to feel like the holidays. My sister and her three children were planning on coming for the holiday but they got hit with a stomach virus and are staying home. Sharing something like that would make for a memorable yet very miserable time. We'll just have to eat all the foods ourselves or find someone else to fill their spots. The rest of my family (well most of them) are gathering in Ogden, Utah for my grandma's 85th birthday. She is a remarkable woman who will always welcome anyone into her home, feed them and send them home with food. She has taught me how important it is to focus on your family and to make serving them the highest priority. I've learned from her the sacredness of quiet time together. I sure wish I could be there but I am trying to honor her by learning from her example.

My parents recently received a call to serve as missionaries in Guadalajara, Mexico. They will be helping college aged men and women with their educational needs. They don't leave until the end of March so hopefully we can visit them before they leave for 18 months.

Tonight as I was getting the kids ready for bed Gideon came walking into the family room with his arms folded and knelt down next to me all ready for family prayer. It was the cutest thing to see this little toddler recognizing the tradition of praying as a family before going to bed. I love my little boy!

Yesterday a little boy came to play that Sierra hadn't played with before. They were happily playing in her room while I visited with his mom when a very loud argument erupted. When I went in to see what the commotion was all about I nearly burst out laughing. The little boy was adamant that he was spider man and could climb on the walls, the bed, etc. Sierra who hasn't been exposed yet to the wonders of superheros was vehemently telling him that no he wasn't spider man and there was no way he could do those things. Neither could be convinced they were wrong. Kids just make me laugh.

Last weekend we went camping to a nearly state park that is also an alligator refuge. It was a pretty cold weekend (by Texas standards) so we weren't able to spot any gators. We did have a great time snuggling in sleeping bags and huddling around a fire. Here are some pictures.

Searching for gators on a cold Saturday morning.

Smores anyone?

Gideon got his two top teeth while camping so he wasn't quite a happy camper but he did chow down on graham crackers and chocolate.

supercalifradulisticexpialidocious

Happy Halloween!! Mary Poppins and Bert the Chimney Sweep made a few appearances at the Zoo, the Children's Museum, Trunk or Treating and a fun party at Craig's work. It's been a busy holiday. Sierra decided on Halloween morning that she wanted to be Cinderella so she wore her little dress up clothes to the park where we watched the play "Beauty and the Beast". The clothes are a little small and barely covered her so I made her take them off when we got home. I guess I got busy and didn't realize she never put clothes back on and next thing I knew my 25 pound bag of flour was used to create her new costume- a ghost! Those pictures are not suitable for publishing cause remember she had nothing on but lots and lots of flour. If only I could have snapped to get that mess cleaned up.

Count Your Blessings

It's been a tough week economically for most of the world. Watching the stock market stumble has caused me to pause a number of times and count my blessings.

We get to buy a house! Last month we contracted to build a house in beautiful Fall Creek. It's a cute 3 bedroom house with a playroom and a nature reserve behind us. It won't be ready until next spring so in the meantime we are just grateful to have an apartment to live in that is finally bed bug free. Little side note on the apartment living... this morning Sierra decided she needed to go to the apartment office to get a cookie. She got on her shoes and walked out the front door- by herself! Fortunately, though I was rocking Gideon to sleep, I heard the door open and quickly brought her back in. She was upset and told me that her "Big Self" would be ok going to the office without me.

I am grateful for libraries! Each week I get to take my kiddos downtown and browse through books, music, magazines, movies and take home whatever I want for free! Reading to my children everyday is something we all look forward to and having new books each week sure makes it fun.

Lastly, I'm grateful for nap time and the chance I have for an hour a day to read my scriptures in a quiet home. I know that both of them won't nap at the same time forever, but for now I'm grateful for the time to reinforce an eternal perspective on life and all it's craziness.

Gideon is One!

My baby turned one on Friday! It's so hard to believe that a year ago I snuggled a tiny infant in my arms. Now I'm lucky if I can catch the wiggly guy long enough for a quick hug and kiss.

5 things about Gideon that we love

1. He is utterly unpredictable. He'll laugh with you or just screech. You never quite know what he'll do. He often greets people with these awful grumpy eyes but just as easily he'll give a big nearly toothless grin.


2. He wakes up incredibly happy. When his eyes open his mouth turns up in a smile and he is ready to play.


3. He adores his big sister. If he wakes up from his nap first, he'll go wake her up too so they can play. When they shared a bed they would often end up just giggling together.


4. He is fascinated by things that move and can be manipulated. With amazing focus, he will sit and watch something move or attempt to manipulate something into action.


5. He is a sensitive boy who lets us know when he's had enough. He helps keep me focused on the simple (often quiet) things that bring happiness.

I know this next year will bring many changes as he totters on two feet for the first time, utters his first words and begins the process of emerging into a little boy. I'm so grateful for this little one in our home.

Gideon devoured his first chocolate cupcake. It was love at first taste.

He (and Sierra) have had so much fun playing with his new Little People Fire Truck.
Sierra and Elia (a Thunderbird friend that is now a fellow Texan), having too much fun!

Mighty Ike

The forces of nature are humbling to say the least. From business as usual last week to survival this week, I'm in awe at how quickly this city has changed. I've seen enough since Ike wielded it's fury to reevaluate my 72 hour kit and move food storage at the top of my to do list. We are very very fortunate in that our power wasn't out for even 24 hours (our milk was still fresh). I think that is because we are right across the street from Reliant Center which is the FEMA headquarters. What a blessing to have air conditioning, cold food, lights and a zillion other things we take for granted. We ventured out today and witnessed first hand the empty grocery shelves, the long long lines at gas stations and the devastation of the wind and rain. A scripture has come to my mind throughout this, "O how great is the nothingness of the children of men"

Ike

When you live near the gulf coast you can expect for some excitement in the fall and it's not typically the back to school kind of excitement. It seems like tropical storms and hurricanes have been in abundance this fall. We lived in Houston during 2005 when Katrina and Rita hit the coasts. When Rita threatened Houston, we took advantage of the unexpected time off work and headed to Disneyworld. We had such a great time we always said we'd do it again for the next one. Well the next one is here and we are in Hutto, Texas, a suburb of Austin. We were planning on coming here anyway this weekend to pick up our furniture Craig's brother has been storing for us. Now we get to stay an extra day. Guess we'll do Disneyworld for the next one. Hopefully the storm isn't as bad as they say but if not, we are here safe and sound.

Great Advice

Be forewarned this post is not for the squeamish! Last Thursday I went into the kids room to check on them before I went to bed. I usually just peek in, but that night I walked in because Sierra was sprawled out on the floor and I noticed one of her dolls in Gideon's bed- too much bedtime fun I thought. I reached in to retrieve the doll when I noticed that Gideon's skin was crawling with bugs. I screamed and woke up the entire house- wouldn't you? We moved the kids to our bed and got them back to sleep then went about the horrible process of discovery hundreds of bed bugs bedding with my children. I was beyond grossed out and literally felt sick thinking about them crawling all over the kids at night. It's been a nightmare since then trying to eradicate our home of them. Before the exterminator could come, I had to wash every article of clothing in our home and bag it up (yes, winter clothes, blankets, towels, everything!), and move everything from closets and bedrooms into the living room. Ok, we live in a 800 square foot apartment- the closets were stuffed full and the living room was filled with our couch. It was pure craziness doing it all, but we did it and the exterminator came Wednesday. Thanks to our T-bird friend Clint who let us stay with him while the bug juice filled our apartment (and Jen who offered her home). I've been slowly trying to get things back in order but the thing is I keep finding more bugs. We called the guy back and asked if it was normal and he said no and that he would be back today. So now I've halted all unpacking until I found out what to do next. I have a feeling this will be a long process. It's staggering to think about the costs of all this. We had to throw away one mattress, Gideon's bed, Sierra's beloved doll house, lots of toys, sheets and baskets. The bug guy alone cost $485 (yes, the apartment refused to pay for it saying it was an "unusual" bug and they only treat for usual ones). The biggest cost has been our peace of mind. Sierra constantly talks about bugs and won't sleep in her bed (so we gave Gideon her bed and let her sleep in a chair). It's all just so disgusting. Hopefully by next week I'll be able to see a silver lining in all this. The best advice I could give anyone right now is ALWAYS check for bed bugs when you sleep in a motel- no matter how nice it looks, and especially if it looks crummy. If sheets or mattresses have little spots on them (fecal matter and blood), or you wake up with little red bites get out of there quick.

Sierra and Gideon were good sports about spending ALL day in the laundry room. Drowned bed bugs from Gideon's bed.
The kids having fun in the midst of major chaos.