Our best news from 2011 that I never mentioned...

Dave finally got his PhD.!!!! After nearly 10 years since we started in Minnesota, he finally completed his dissertation and defense. It was a long process with certainly many hurdles for Dave but he was certainly blessed this last year for his sacrifice and determination. Every day last year he would go from work to his dissertation writing and prep. Saturdays would be spent in our little office with him working away. He was very devoted and other than Sundays probably only took about 5 days off from January to July. Needless to say, we were definitely deprived of our husband/father for 7 months. We feel very blessed though to have felt the Lord's blessing during this time.

So this year we have really been enjoying having Dad around a lot more. Our kids had a week off in February so we spent one night and a day in Monterey, CA. We found a hotel that let the kids sleep for free so we crowded in our crew and also enjoyed their indoor pool. Unfortunately due to a chemical problem or something all the kids ended up with red painful eyes. Something always has to go wrong. Luckily by morning they were fine and we headed off to the aquarium. The kids had a blast and we felt rejuvenated and grateful for all of our kids and the fun family times we can have together.

Only 2.5 months till we meet the newest member of our family. The pregnancy is going well and I am feeling great for the most part especially if I get a nap. Speaking of which the picture loading is going lousy and it is nap time so I will have to try again later.

Comments

Tom and Jen Loveland Family said…

Congrats to you all! I know it takes the sacrifice of the whole family for this kind of thing to happen. Can't wait to hear about the arrival of your new little on in a few months. :)

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Speedy Gonzales and the Black Stretchy Pants

Tues April 6 started as any other day. We woke up and went to a doctors appointment for the girls. That afternoon when I got home I was starving. I ate way too much and then soon got a headache that I blamed on the chocolate dessert that I ate. After resting for a while the phone rang and it was a neighbor who started off the phone call saying "I was hoping that you wouldn't answer because you would be at the hospital. I laughed at her and said no way I have at least two more weeks left. After the phone call about 6:30 Dave told me our goat had had a baby but had died so we called all the kids out and told them about it and we buried it. Then we had a late dinner and put the kids to bed. About 5 minutes later I had a contraction. I thought weird and Dave told me it was just goat sympathy pains. So as I had a few more sporadic contractions I convinced myself that it was just braxton hicks because there was no way that they were "real." I sat down and watched AI

Finally some pictures

Hooray we have new windows! The installers left this morning and we now have 5 beautiful vinyl windows and one of them is a bay window. We are taking advantage of the tax credit for energy efficient windows and hoping that we can stay a little warmer this winter. So all day yesterday we had no windows in our house and at the end of the day our house was full of flies. Thank goodness that global warming has taken a vacation in CA because it has been a burning 75 degrees the last 2 weeks. Of course it happens to be the weeks that my kids are in swimming lessons so they have been freezing. Yesterday one of Daves work colleagues came by to look at our goats. Seeing that we know nothing about them except what I have found googling, this guy is a definite expert. He told we should butcher them soon or sale them as they are ready. If it was a matter of me being ready they would have been butchered 2 weeks after we got them. They have been a real pain in the neck. I have gotten used

Yesterday the boys had a school holiday so Dave took a day off and we headed for the mountains. My awesome husband loves to ski and spent many hours on the slopes, but that was all before he married me. I would love for him to ski but life happens with a family and budgets exist and it makes skiing a hard hobby to maintain. Plus we spent about 3.5 yrs in Minnesota where you get lots of snow but not a single ski hill in sight-what a waste of snow. The last couple years, I have tried harder to give my husband chances to ski. We even went out about 3 years ago and purchased all the gear at a rental store going out of business. And I close my eyes as I see how much we pay, tell myself it is all worth it, and then smile. (Remember I am cheap so skiing just wouldn't naturally be on my radar.) This year for Christmas I gave my husband 2 lift tickets purchased for a great deal at Costco. First of all, I am used to spending lots of money at Costco and that way I wouldn't stress

Search This Blog