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Thinking Out LoudMy thoughts on faith, friends, family and fun! 16 marzo Safe and Sound...Dave FINALLY was able to phone yesterday. It was soooooo good to talk to him. He’s fine! Things are going good. He was only given about 5 minutes on the phone because apparently it is extremely expensive to phone from Jordan. I was selfish and didn’t even tell the kids he had called until we were done talking! Aren’t I horrible? Anyway, he had been able to tour a lot and had seen a lot of really neat sites. He was able to see where Jesus Christ is believed to have been baptized. I asked him if it was strange to have people who are not even Christians showing him places where Christ walked. He said that most of the way people over there live is rooted on tradition, not on religion. He sounded excited to tell us more about everything when he gets home. I was just so relieved to hear his voice. My mom and I have had a lot of conversations that draw a correlation between Dave being overseas and my Daddy being dead. It sounds so strange, but there are so many. She has always wanted to have a “beyond the grave” experience. Through me wanting a phone call from Dave, I’ve realized how much she wants her phone call. Just an “I got here safe and sound. I really am where I planned on going, and things are what I expected them to be, and better.” Even when my dad was hospitalized, right before he died, my mom listened to the audio from her mother’s funeral when my Daddy gave the closing prayer. He pretty much bares his testimony of the plan of salvation and life after death. That has gotten mom through soooo much. Anyway, last night Boston and I were talking. I told her that I am sorry that she didn’t get to talk to Dad and that it was probably selfish of me. She said that it was okay and that she felt like she had talked to him because I had talked to him. I told her I could see her point, that what she had really wanted was to know that he was okay and now we did. She said, “Mom, I think we BOTH knew he was okay BEFORE he called. We just wanted to hear his voice and hear him say it. AND we had expected it.” I guess that’s the bottom line for my mom. She already knows my Daddy is safe and sound. She already KNOWS he got where he was going and that things are what he expected them to be, and better. I know that Mom still longs to hear his voice and hear him say it all outloud. But in her heart of hearts, she already knows what he would say to her. I don't know if she "expected it," but you don't go from being such a huge part of each other's lives to nothing without it hurting. I know that the Comforter has helped it not to hurt so much. But I am also glad to know that one day they will be in each other's arms again and can have eternity together. And this lifetime will feel like,"but a small moment," to quote my Daddy's prayer at Grandma's funeral and many prophets. 14 marzo Phone Call Please??? So Dave left for Jordan Tuesday morning. Actually that is when he left for Texas and then Wednesday he left Texas for New Hampshire and New Hampshire for Jordan. I am going berzoncerzoid waiting for him to phone me and tell me he is there and safe and sound! I HATE this waiting and worrying game. Goodness. It reminds me of Iraq all over again. We knew he would have no internet access in Jordan, so it is very likely that there is very limited phone access as well. He swore to me that he would phone at the first given opportunity. But last night I kept having horrible dreams that this "training" in Jordan was really something more. That it was a cover-up for sending him back into Iraq on some mission that nobody wants to do or something. Goodness- my imagination REALLY needs him to phone soon. The kids all had a melt-down last night as well. It was an "I miss Daddy," meltdown that brought back all too many memories. Except my younger kids are old enough to be melty now too and I don't know if I can handle 4 melties at once! Last night Kamden kept saying, "but I'm his little son!" goodness. IT IS ONLY GOING TO BE EIGHT FREAKING MORE DAYS! WHAT ON EARTH IS OUR PROBLEM? But I think it has done for my children a bit of what it has done for me. It has brought it all back. And I knew it would- I think we need a healthy reminder now and then. But come on! No more meltdowns and I will be very much needing a phone call before the day is over, alright? I hope that this trip will be good for Dave. He didn't get to interact with the people of Iraq as much as I think he would have liked to. Maybe this will help him understand culture a little more and appreciate the conveniences of home even more than he already does. I don't know what on earth my problem is. He's not GONE, GONE again. This is just a little trip! Oh- you have to see the sweet pictures at (http://roper4840.spaces.live.com/) of Jim meeting his new baby for the first time! Ryan came a few days before his daddy arrive home on leave. So sweet! I'll stop whining. In other news... Boston's school took second place for Jazz Reading. They had KYLE KORVER come and read to them to celebrate! He signed the backboard at their school. I'll post photos of that. Boston read well over 4000 minutes herself! Kamden has changed preschool teachers. His other teacher was good, but I am so glad that we have made the change. There was a boy in Kamden's class that was CONSTANTLY bullying him. Anyway, now he has MISS TRISHA! Trish was Boston's preschool teacher back when she did her own private preschool. Now she is working at the ELC. Anyway, we moved Kamden to afternoon and to Trisha's class and I am so happy that we did. He LOVES school now. He feels like SHE loves him, and that matters. He never had that with his other teacher. And we won't have to worry about Joseph anymore and maybe school can be good for him now! Also- he has QUIT needing pull-ups at night and is waking up dry every morning! HALLEFREAKINLEUIJIAH! Holden has not been up to much. He is still a Thomas the tank engine freak, but doesn't ask for a Thomas shirt everyday like he used to. Now his request every morning is for a short-sleeved striped shirt. He doesn't care what color the stripes are, but there has to be stripes. Giggling. My mom is going to shorten the sleeves on his Thomas shirts and see if that makes them his favorites again. Either way, it is nice to have a little more variety! Giggling. Kenzington has learned to fold her arms when we are having the prayer. She just started doing it all on her own! It is so stinking cute! She is so much fun! I very much needed that little girl! I just love being her momma. I've been doing a new chore system with the 3 older kids and it has made things run more smoothly at our house. I need to figure out a way for Boston to have more freetime, though, because by the time she is done with her one chore, her homework, and practicing the piano there is no time left for anything else! We'll have to figure out a way to find more balance. I better get going on my vinyl orders. I've got a banner and a car decal for a lady back east who's hubby is coming home from Iraq soon, and some 11 inch polka-dots for a lady close-by. 17 febbraio Bla-Bla-Blogging again...Okay, so it has been eons... and I guess a new blog entry is long past due...
So here goes. A brief catch-up on the Anderson family...
Dave has been working on his Master's degree. He should be done in June. He's got two classes left. It will be nice to have that done and out of the way. I don't know how he manages to do everything he does! He'll be going to Jordan with National Guard next month for about 10 days. Soon after he gets home, he'll be having surgery on his nose that will hopefully fix his sleep apnea problems.
I've been staying busy with daycare and my vinyl business. It seems that from the time we got back from Hawaii until Christmas, vinyl was a constant. It has been a little slower since Christmas, but it still keeps me busy. I have been working on my licensure for daycare recently too and I am finally done and have my packet turned in. There are just sooo many hoops to jump through with the city and state in order to get that!
Boston has been reading like a mad woman lately for Jazz Reading. She and I have been reading "The Work and the Glory" together and that has been fun. She recently got contact lenses and she sure looks different without her glasses! She has been involved with choir and omnibus at school and recently started taking piano lessons. She's growing up on me! She is working on a science fair project right now that has to do with helping Saydee climb onto her bed. She wrote a song for the Reflections contest and got first place in her school! She also placed in 3-d art for reflections! She proves to us every day that she can do anything she sets her mind to.
Kamden is a reader! He can sound out most simple words with a little help from mom or dad. He's got kindergarten registration in a few weeks and it is a little strange to think about him being old enough for Kindergarten. I think he will really like being at the same school as Boston and Daddy though. We are so proud of him for his reading and I think he is pretty proud of himself, too! He's a smartie! We recently got the boys a v-smile game system and Kamden enjoys playing that. He's pretty good, too!
Holden is learning to stand his own with Kamden more! The two of them are actually starting to be better friends. Holden is in a stage where he is picking up large words and using them often. The other day his favorite word was appropriate. Yet he still says his rs with a w sound, so it was appwopwiate! Giggling. What a goofball! The funniest things make that boy giggle and his laugh is very contagious. It reminds me of Boston when she was little. Today's words of the day are "Thomas S. Monson!" Our children felt very connected to President Hinckley and were affected by his passing. It has been neat to watch them learn about the new prophet and become attached to him as well.
Kenzington is getting so big! She has been crawling for a few months now and is pulling up to things. Today she stood by herself for about 30 seconds. She has been saying Dad for awhile now, but her newest word is uh-oh, and she KNOWS just what it means. Boston played a dropping game with her earlier and she caught on quickly! She's going to be walking before we know it and then she'll really keep me on my toes! She has been such a fun baby. I have thouroughly enjoyed her.
So that's what's going on with us right now! I'm going to make an effort to blog more often. I'm no good at keeping a journal or a scrapbook, so I'm going to have to make a better effort at this or one day we'll all be old and have no form of family history to show our lives! I'll do my best to be better at this! 06 agosto Our Trip To Hawaii! Wow! I can't even believe that it's over, but our trip to Hawaii was FABULOUS! We took our little family, my momma, and a sitter and it was all just so much fun!
We started off our trip by driving to Las Vegas. I am a cheapo! We saved about $1000 by flying out of Vegas. I guess by the time you figure up what we spent to get there and back and stay there etc. it didn't save us THAT much- but it was still worth it, I think. We visited with my uncle and his wife in Las Vegas and went to Sacrament Meeting with them. They were gracious enough to feed us lunch and drive us to the airport so we wouldn't have to pay to park! After 6 hours on the plane, we were happy to arrive ino Maui.
We went to WalMart to get groceries- wow! The prices on food! Milk was $5.18 a gallon! Yikes! The grocery part of WalMart in Maui was a bit small and limited! We visited a local grocery store a bit too, and found that food was about 2 times what it is here!
Maui was fabulous! We stayed in WorldMark by Windham condos in Kihei, right across the street from the beach. We were there for 6 days and we spent our time going to the beach EVERY morning, playing in the pool all day, relaxing and just having fun. We attended a luau on the beach in Kanapalli and did a snorkel tour of Molokini and Turtle Town. I think that snorkeling was my favorite thing we did! It was soooo neat to see all the fish and the turtles! I hope our photos from that will turn out well.
There were some "beach bums" that were camped across the street from our resort that we passed each morning on the way to the beach. They had a little black puppy (Gracie) that we visited with each time we passed. These guys were always drunk, always smoking, usually fighting, but always friendly with us. The last day in Maui we took all the food we had leftover and gave it to them. They graciously accepted and the one goofy old drunk asked us where we were from. We told him Utah and he mentioned that he'd gone to BYU! That kinda made us giggle, but who knows if he meant he attended or just walked in one door and out the other. And who knows what sorta life he's had in between. Anyway, we told him we were heading to Oahu and he told us to head straight for the North Shore. I sorta wish I'd listened!
Oahu was fabulous too, but it was very different from Maui! Our hotel was in Waikiki. Um. There is just such a juxtaposition between Kihei and Waikiki! Our first reaction to Maui was "let's move here!" and our first reaction to Oahu was, "I want to go home!" I was scared to death to drive in Waikiki, and we were CONSTANTLY lost. Not only that, but everything was extremely expensive and our initial hotel was a DUMP! We traded hotels as soon as we could and were much more comfortable after that. Can you believe that it cost $15 a day to park at our hotel? Actually at the first hotel it was $18. Yikers! It made us all want to go back to Maui!
We took a day trip to the North Shore and saw the LDS Temple and enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural Center. Those 2 things made Oahu worthwhile. Oh, and didja know that pineapples do NOT grow on trees, but on the ground? I didn't! I'm a dork though, so that doesn't mean much!
If everything weren't so expensive, I'd get back on a plane right now! All in all, the vacation was amazing. I think we will go back one day. After all, we JUST figured it all out! Of course, by the time we recover financially, it will be a completely different place! Giggling. I guess we'll visit often through our photos.
29 maggio She's Getting Big!Kenzington is getting so big! I can't believe she is just about 7 weeks old! She sure is fun! She FINALLY decided that a binky might be an okay thing. HALELUJAH! Giggling. Check out the new pics.
Valerie
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