It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, DANG IT!

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." No phase has ever been so despised by me. Grrrr. Snow is great if you are sitting in front of a warm fire with no place to go, like the song suggests, but what about the rest of us? What about the poor trucker who is just trying to make ends meet? What about the lonely traveler who is just trying to make it home? What about ME who has to drive Provo canyon every day for work. Let it snow indeed! I have nothing against snow. I love to snow shoe and ski and I even snowboarded once. We are even looking to buy a little sled for Emma this year. She is old enough. I hope that it doesn't scare her. I don't hate snow, I just hate driving in it.

Christmas is on track for us. We have been very blessed this year. Being a full time student and part time worker, our little family is has as much money as a frog has horns. Wow, that was a stretch, but you get the idea. We had an anonymous donation of a used cell phone and a sum of money from someone that knows us. Thank you who ever it is! The cell phone was to replace mine that was destroyed. The money really helped to buy things for the kids that they might actually want. No DI Christmas for us this year! YEAH!

My finals are over for this semester. It was a very difficult semester. I started to panic and freak out at the end. There were a couple nights where I let anxiety in and ended up as a balling mess. It wasn't pretty. Erin, being a good wife, pointed out that I wasn't giving enough credit to the Lord. He was the one that told me to go into this field, and I didn't have faith that he would help me. So I changed focus. I made sure to study my scriptures before I even touched my school work. Instead of looking at school as a task I was doing because I had to, I started to look at it as a sacrifice that I will give to the Lord when I am done. I will say, "I have done what thou hast asked me to do. I have done my best and here is the results that I now give to you." I am working hard to make it an acceptable sacrifice. The finals went well thought this new focus. I was happier, my mind was clearer, and received help from the Spirit throughout my tests. I am very thankful.

Emma is so excited for Christmas. She points out every Christmas light she can find. We want to take her to Temple Square to see the lights there. It would blow her mind. Matthew is getting really smart now. He has figured out that if he smacks the keyboard cool sounds come out of the computer. We think that his first word was either Mom, Dad, or Hi. He says all three now. We honestly have the cutest kids. If you don't think so........well.....no one really values your opinions anyway.

I wish everyone of our friends and family a very merry Christmas. May Santa bring you the things you need. May you find the joy in the true meaning of Christmas. May you also keep your sanity though it all.

Trials, Trials, and blessings in abundance

I thought that I would start with an update on our car status. It is as much for your entertainment as it is for our records. We like to keep this blog as kind of a journal of sorts. So here goes.

Thanks to help from Erin's Grandparents were were able to put an engine in the Mazda and get the Passat's engine reworked. It was nice to see both cars up and running. It was nice to have a willing brother in law that works on cars for a living. To be honest, we underpaid him for his work. We really can't afford his services and we are grateful for everything that he does.

This was not to be a time of celebration with our cars though. It became clear that the clutch plates on our mazda decided to die. So......we are getting clutch plates for Christmas from my parents. At least it's better then socks. The passat's ABS control module decided to fail as well. Our brakes work, but we don't have any anti lock. That scares me a little going into the winter season. We are still working that out.

One might say "What else could go wrong!" DON'T EVER SAY THAT. We spend Thanksgiving with my family. On the way down Parley's canyon our tire went flat. I have changed my share of tires in my life. I got to thinking that I just changed one last month. Then I remembered that I never did get the tire fixed. The tire that I changed last month was sitting at home still flat and our spare was still on the car. It was a full sized spare and just like the other tires so we didn't bother with it. We sat on the side of the road as a family and waited for Erin's dad to bring us a tire.

One might say again, "What else could go wrong!" I would like to find that person and staple his mouth shut. This morning on the way down Provo canyon my mazda decided it didn't like one of my spark plugs and spat it out. I didn't know cars could do that. So I had to wait for Erin to bring me some tools to put it back in. It ran fine afterward.

So what do we learn from all of this. Erin and I talked about it a couple nights ago. We learned very well how to handle car situations and the importance of Road side assistance. The most important thing that we learned is that our Heavenly Father has not abandoned us through our trials. Yes we have problems, yes my cars brake down, and yes we have trials that would make the normal person cringe. Through it all there is a way provided for us to overcome it. Never were we left by the wayside to die. We have always been taken care of. We know that the Lord's hand is in our lives. We are grateful for the problems that we have because they continue to build our testimonies.

When we have car problems, we have learned to laugh and bring a good book to read together while we wait to be rescued again. Erin's dad is getting pretty quick and saving us. We are blessed beyond what we deserve. If ever you think that Heavenly Father isn't there, start counting your blessings. You'll find him.

And life goes on!

This morning Emma and I "worked out". I had a really hard night with Matthew. Mike slept out on the couch because he has a cold and I'm a light sleeper... so yeah. I was alone, and Matthew started screaming at about 12:30 and didn't stop until 2! I refused to feed him, as he is mostly sleeping through the night now. So I held him for a bit, let him cry a bit, and held him again until he finally went back to sleep. By the time I got up with Emma just after 7, I was pretty exhausted. So! To wake myself up, I turned on a work-out "Cardio Party!" Kind of a dance/kick-boxing workout, and Emma followed me all over the room, dancing and punching and hopping all over the place. She keeps asking me if we can "go living room dance?" It's been fun. Maybe a good way to get a workout in when she's not napping!

Back to Monday

After a long and wonderful weekend, we are once again at Monday. It seems to be the day that haunts my week, maybe I'm cursed for reading Garfield as a kid. I suppose I've developed his bad Monday attitude! Oh well, there are probably worse things. ;) Luckily I woke up in a fantastic mood, and it has been a productive day thus far. I have done two loads of laundry, cleaned the family room, tied down Emma and worked the knots out of her hair, and sprayed and combed and styled until it finally resembled hair again.

THEN- in addition to my usual efforts- this morning I was checking email, trying to wake up, when I noticed Emma dotting the wall with a dry erase marker. Hmmm I thought, how do I clean that off? I looked it up on the internet, which told me to use rubbing alcohol. Turned out to be a good solution, but that was before I knew I would be cleaning marker off walls for half an hour! On my way to get the rubbing alcohol, I looked into the kitchen and - oh horrors! - there was dry erase marker on every low cupboard, and all the surrounding walls. Not to mention on the table and floor. Why did I check my email? Why, why, why??? So I took a deep breath, and started to clean. What I forgot to do was make sure Emma was within my eyesight, and near the end of my cleaning adventure, she disappeared. When I finished, and realized she was gone, a feeling of dread overtook me- it was just too quiet! Sure enough, as I came into the hall, there were Matthew and Emma, swimming in a sea of cheerios. The box had been turned upside-down, and they were joyously rolling and laughing and munching to their hearts content. Matthew had cheerios dotting his sleeper in numerous places, and Emma even had a few stuck in her hair! Oh woe is me, I thought as I ran for the vacuum. After I had it cleaned up, I wished I had some forethought to grab the camera, it would have made a hilarious picture. Even when, no I guess especially when they are making messes, they are just so cute. I can't help loving everything they do!

I have the CURSE!!!

This is not a story for the faint of heart. If you decide to continue to read this story, please be advised that the writers of this blog cannot be held accountable for any medical issues that may arise. Please seek advice from your medical professionals before reading.

This account is completely true and accurate. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Actually, our names are posted all over this blog, so I'm going to continue to use them.

Life was really good two weeks ago. My grades were seeing improvement, everyone was healthy, and Erin had reached a new peak with running. The sun was shinning, and the weather was a little overcast with a hint of rain. But, it never did! (dramatic huh?)

Erin's mom decided to take Emma for a drive. Erin thought this was a good idea, so she took Emma's car seat from our Passat and put it in her mom's car. Not having enough room in her hands, she placed our only Passat key on top of her mom's car. Needless to say, Erin's mom left and the keys have never been seen since. The dealership said it would cost $200 to replace and we would have to have the car towed to them in Orem. This leaves us with only my 91 Mazda. We could live with that.

Four days ago our troubles continued. We were going to my parent's house for dinner. When we started climbing the hill to park city I noticed my temperature gauge was off the chart high. At first I thought that the gauge was broken, so we continued. Erin suggested we open the windows and turn on the heater to let off some of the heat, but for some reason the heater wouldn't turn on. After a couple minutes, I noticed the power dying and I pulled off the side of the road. Before I made it there was a pop and massive amounts of smoke came from the engine. We called Erin's Dad for a tow. This left us with no cars.

We looked at the car closer. The head gasket was blown for sure, but the chance for more internal engine damage was great. There was a good chance the engine was toast.

I called another dealership about the Passat keys and they said that they could do it for 8.00 a key and didn't need the car. Yeah, Problem solved. I placed an order for Monday. Monday also found Erin being towed in the Mazda to Erin's brother's car shop in Orem. Erin's dad towed us again. Things were looking up.

Tuesday was great. I got to drive to school in our Passat. It felt good to not have to borrow a car. YEAH Independence again! Erin then thought it would be fun to go get some ice cream cones in Heber. On the way home, there was snap and the power to the engine died. So we called Erin's dad again for a lift home. This leaves us again with no cars.

Looking closely at the Passat we think that the timing belt was stripped out. This would also lead to more internal engine problems. The chance that this engine could be toast is also great.

We are currently pooling money and blessings to see what will happen. I offered to make plastic bottles to put up at the grocery stores for people to donate to. Erin just laughed. It is a funny situation to be in, but a troubling one. We will............pray and see what happens. I will be sure to keep you posted. At least Erin's Dad has gotten his money's worth out of his tow strap.

Emma's POV (with Daddy's help)

Since I was able to successfully use a mouse for the first time yesterday, Daddy wanted me to write on the blog. I really don't know why, I don't think that I have a lot to say. Every time I try to say anything, Mom and Dad just look at me like they don't understand. HELLO!!! It makes perfect sense to me! I understand what they are saying, why don't they at least do the same for me. It isn't fair.

Matthew isn't fair either. He clearly has boundary issues. He needs to know that my toys are my toys! I will be sitting in the TV room watching Tigger (my favorite!) and Matthew will crawl in and want to touch one of my toys. RUDE! I know that he doesn't listen so well, so I can't talk to him about it. I do the only other logical thing and push him down. Clearly I'm making a point that this is my stuff. Well, my point only lands me in the time out chair for a couple minutes.

I really do like Matthew though if he would just stay away from my toys. We play a game in my room sometimes. I will go into the closet and make a sort of whining noise and Matthew will try to come find me. It's a lot of fun!

Mommy and Daddy are a little confused I think. They try to feed me dinner every night, but I only pick at it. They know that my favorite food is cake and ice cream cones. You would think that they would feed me that stuff all the time. Don't they know who their little princess is? I should have what I want. I tell them all the time too! Anytime Mommy says "Time to eat" I always say "Ice cream cone?" So they can't pull the "I didn't know that's what you wanted" bit. I should have it all the time. I'll keep trying.

It snowed for the first time yesterday. Everyone was excited. I didn't know why. Daddy pointed out of the window and there was something white covering everything. I vaguely remembered something like this happening last year. Daddy put on my shoes and my coat and we went out side. I didn't really know what to do. I just sat there and looked at the snow. Daddy grabbed a handful of it and threw it at me. I wanted to try that to, but every time I picked up some, it disappeared in my hand. Daddy got a lot for me and gave it to me to throw. It was fun! We went to the trampoline in back and that was covered also. He put me up on it. I was so excited that I started to jump like I always do. I took one step and fell flat on my back. I sat there for a moment wondering what happened. Daddy laughed. I laughed to. Then Daddy said my nose was red and it was time to go in. I did my best to kick and scream, but you know Daddy. He just picked me up and dragged me inside.

Grandpa had just built a fire inside. I liked to sit in front of it and watch it. It was so warm that I thought I should take my shirt off. so I did. That felt really good, so I decided to take my pants off too. That felt even better. The only think left was my diaper and I knew that it had to go also. So it did! That was a lot of fun. I also knew that if you are 2 almost 3, and your not dressed, there is only one thing to do. Run around and scream. So I did that too. Wow it was a lot of fun until Daddy and Mommy found me. I could tell they were laughing, but they tried so sound upset. They got me dressed again.

That has pretty much been my life for the past little while. Mommy has finished my Halloween costume so I will tell her to put a picture of it up. I look SOOOOO good! Bye!

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