Shock and Awe

This is a picture of Reagan just one years old at the shop having fun. As I sit here in front of the computer I don't even know how to begin. A horrible thing has happened to us today that is very surprising. This morning as we were sitting down to a family breakfast Brad received a phone call from one of his employees asking what was going on at the shop. He was the first to arrive this morning to find that someone had broken in during the night and stolen a large part of our inventory. WHAT!!!!!!! Talk about shock. We just stared at each other not knowing where to begin. We have had this business for over 15 years and have NEVER had any theft. You know it can happen but never think about it happening to you. Of course Brad left for the office right away to see where things stood. We agreed that we would not tell the children until we knew more details, if ever. We did not realize that Cameron had overheard his phone call. Brad had left within 10 minutes but during that 10 minutes there was a lot of tears. It was very touching when, as Brad was hugging me goodbye that Reagan our 5 year old said " We should pray before you go Daddy". That brought even more tears. After I was able to make arrangements for the kids, I went down to the office to help out. I only stayed for a couple of hours as there was not much I could help with. My heart is so heavy for Brad and the thought of someone entering our building with the intent to steal is so heart breaking. I do sit here in awe at the hand of God. No one got hurt. We were actually in bed last night at 9:30, so we were extra alert for today. Our child's first thought of action was prayer. God is good all the time!

What a week!!!

Where do I begin??? I have been missing in action for a while now due to MANY family mishaps. We came home from our wonderful Arizona getaway to some major Doctor issues. On the Monday after our return we finally got the blood results for all the girls blood work that we had done just before we left. FYI, our doctor had scheduled it as she has had multiple patients recently that were testing positive for Diabetes even though they did not have any symptoms. She had begun doing mandatory blood work at age 3 to help catch it. We had seen her back in September and she had given us the orders then. You may be doing the math and thinking what took so long? Well think about going to a lab with four girls and having them all get blood taken. That is what had taken so long. We were excited since our McKenna has been complaining of stomach aches and headaches for as long as we could remember. We were hoping that these tests might also shed some light on that problem. Thankfully we arrived to an empty waiting room except for one elderly gentleman. He was very entertained by the girls and their quirky games. It was soon his turn and the girls all wanted to watch. I thought what a great opportunity for them to see an adult have their blood taken and see that they don't cry and so on. That is not how it worked out. Within a few minutes he passed out and a staff of about 15 hurried into the small room. This was not going as planned. After much crying and trying to hide we were finally done and on our way to ice cream. The girls standard treat for shots and they were quick to point out that this qualified as shots! On a side note. We were in the same building this last week and no surprise the nurse that took the blood remembered us. We must not have scared her to bad. She was very nice and even offered the girls a lollipop!

Back to the results - We received a message from the Dr. on Friday after we had left and THANK GOD I did not listen to messages until Monday morning or I would have been a wreck waiting to call them back regarding McKennas results. Uh Oh! No message for the other girls only McKenna. I called but of course had to wait for someone to call me back. That was a horrible 45 minutes. I decided enough was enough and I called back blubbering that I would hold till someone could speak with me. The nurse came on the line and said very calmly that McKenna is allergic to Cows milk, eggs, and wheat. What!!!!! That is everything we eat. I am known for making one meal - no catering - if you don't like it oh well. What did this mean, what will I have to do, how will I fit in one more thing? There was good news. She was not dying, which of course is what I had thought it must be. So many trips to the grocery store and a Dr.'s visit later we are managing this thing. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! We are all very excited to know what has been causing her stomach aches and headaches. And thank goodness that she is 7 and can help regulate things.

Now can you believe there is more - That same night Brad received a call from his Dr. that the MRI he had on his knee the week before was not good. To the extent that he should not do anything almost not even walk till he came in the next morning for a brace. He got a brace alright. Just a few days ago he found out the exact problems and it is not good at all. Not good at all. He will meet with the specialist next Thursday and be scheduling a surgery to repair the damage. Possibly put in cadaver parts. GROSS!!!!!

The good news is that we are still alive and kicking. We are adjusting pretty well and in the mean time loving on each other.

Have Family will travel

I have been out of touch due to a family trip to Arizona. My goodness it takes alot to get us all packed up, plus plenty to do on the long drive. We left on Friday morning and returned Sunday night. Yes, we did drive. We have taken a few major driving trips with all the kiddos. This trip was only about 7 hours each way. It defiantly felt short compared to the yearly trips we have begun taking to Lake Tahoe, which is a 10 hour trip. The girls did great. I am wondering if it was because they are getting older, more mature. Or if it felt short to them too compared to Lake Tahoe.

My sister Joy also drove out with baby Addison, but she went on her own since she was able to stay a few days longer. My mom also flew out to Arizona on Saturday. She was staying the week on business. We all decided to go and meet up for a cousins baby shower. We LOVE our cousins and have fond memories of driving out to see them every Thanksgiving and just randomly through out the year. We also treasured the special occasion when we would get to fly out by our selves and spend a good week or more with them. Can you imagine that a ticket was only $60 back then. Boy that makes me feel old! They have seven kids in the family and our other local cousins are a family of 5. As you can imagine there was always something fun going on! So when we had an excuse to come out we jumped at it, eager for our kids to have these same cousin experiences with our cousins kids. We all had such a blast. Poor Cameron cried when it was time to go and McKenna quickly announced that if we ever move that this is where we will go. It brought back alot of great memories.

I am Bananas

OK, I know that was super cheesy but I could not resist. I love getting the most use out of EVERYTHING. And that includes those old brown bananas that did not get eaten. It is a great excuse to make my favorite Banana Nut Bread. It is so cute when McKenna sees the old bananas and instead of yelling "Oh Gross" she announces excitedly that it is time to make the Banana Nut Bread. We all love it and it even passes as desert at our house and a convented snack for school lunch. I thought it was time to share the recipe. Enjoy!!!

1 stick of soft butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 medium bananas mashed (we stick them in a zip lock and take turns mushing)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mini choc chips (I am to thrifty to buy so I chop up whole ones)

1/2 cup walnuts

Mix butter and sugar, then add bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients together. Then add to wet mixture. Next mix in sour cream, choc chips, and walnuts. We always use a fun bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min. I used to make this in the mixer but I have gone to mixing it all by hand and I do think it comes out better.

Christmas Cards

I love all the family pictures that we receive with our Christmas cards. It is a wonderful chance to see how our friends families have grown. As we receive Christmas cards we tape the on the inside of our front door so that we can see them daily and our friends and family that visit can see them also. I always get a warm feeling when I happen upon the girls studying the pictures while on their knees, or on their tippy toes trying to see those we love. It was with equally sad feelings that I un-taped these cards at the end of our holiday season. This year after we took the cards down they sat on our kitchen table for a couple of weeks. It was just so sad to see them go. Then I got the bright idea of turning them into place mats for the girls. I had the three older girls place the pictures on their own large piece of construction paper and then we laminated them. I can not believe how well they turned out. I will admit that I was uncertain the girls would be able to lay them all out. I have to say that they turned out cuter than I could have done. Already the girls are entranced with the pictures as they wait for their meal. They know exactly how many girls or boys are on each one, how many dogs. I have even seen them playing a round rosy game with them. Now I can't wait till we can make them again next year!

Changes

Last night I attended Kindergarten information night for our third daughter Reagan. I had gone for Cameron but had skipped it for McKenna thinking that I had all the info still. Although McKenna's year was wonderful, I had always worried that I had missed something at the meeting. I had not, but it is defiantly my personality to worry that I had. Therefore I was going to go this year. It was nothing new, nothing ground shaking. As I sat there listening to the information that I did in fact already know, I began to think about Reagan, and how I cant believe that after summer (which feels like just around the corner) she will be in kindergarten. Gone from me everyday. Thankfully only till 11:30 but still, EVERYDAY. Since Reagan is number 3 on this road I am also wiser and know how quickly that will turn into first grade. She is my angel, my little princess. How can she and I survive everyday. Now of course there are days where everyday sounds great, but those are far and few between. Reagan is my firecracker. The spitfire of the group. A HUGE ball of energy. With all that energy comes the tightest hugs and a smile that will light a room. I hope the teacher is ready for everyday! I am very sad to even think of the day. The first day of forever school. She is so smart, I know she is ready. I don't think I am ready.

Mmmm Good

I love this soup exchange. Super Fun!!! I see that my fantastic sis already posted my Tomato Soup favorite. It really is fantastic and sooooo easy. If you did not check it out already you can get it on her blog at http://www.carterpeople.com/. That means that you will get my recipe for Turkey Chili. This is the first recipe that I make with all our yummy leftover Turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The whole family loves it. Yes, I am saying that all 4 of our girls love it just as much as we do.

1 Medium onion chopped

2 medium zucchini chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbl olive oil

3 14 1/2 oz cans black beans undrained

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce

1 lb cooked turkey chopped or shredded

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/3 cup cilantro chopped

salt and pepper to taste

cheese to sprinkle on top but not a necessity

heat a 4-5 quart pot on medium heat then add olive oil. saute the onion, zucchini, and garlic till soft. Stir in all but the cilantro, salt, and pepper. Heat till hot then add rest.

HAPPY CHILI !!!!!!!!