Bowling Fun!

Our church had a family bowling night tonight complete with pizza & soda! It was a lot of fun to hang out with other families from our church and our kids had a blast!

Toni, our children's youth director

What's so funny?

Bowling Contest!

Even Adalyn had fun!

Chuck, our Youth Pastor

Pastor Jeff

This was Myles 1st time bowling and he loved it!

Chris did well for not having his own bowling ball!

My turn!

Broedy's turn!

Raelyn's turn!

Yum! Pizza:-)

Natividad & Chris

Elyse & Raelyn having Pizza!

Officer Jakola

Tonight our family was invited to a dinner ceremony for officer Jakola at the Cardinal Stadium. He is the police officer that works at the school where Chris teaches at and Broedy attends.

He was promoted to a Sargent tonight at the ceremony and invited us to come. We thought it would be fun to go and support him since he is such a great part of our school system.

Sargent Jakola, Broedy & Chris

Gina, Sargent Jakola, Chris and the principle at one of the elementaries in our district!

It was a formal dinner and I was really worried about the kids, but they were excellent and it was a fun evening for our family!

Raelyn, Adalyn & Mommy after dinner!

Daddy, Myles & Broedy after dinner!

All I want is ONE stinkin Picture!!!!!

For the last few days I have been trying to desperatly get ONE stinkin good picture of our family! It's been quite the adventure. I tried setting the timer on the camera a number of times in different locations and poses of us around the house....it has lead to some funny moments. The kids didn't know where to look, Ozzie would get up and lay down right in front of the camera moments before the timer would go off and a picture would get snapped. The kids were screaming, Myles wouldn't sit where we wanted him too. Finally I gave up on the timer!

Here are some of pictures from the past few days with the timer:

Our 1st attempt! Actually not the worst pictue, at least no one is screaming! But, no Ozzie and everyone knows it's not a complete family picture without Ozzie in it! And as much as I miss Kalae and was sad that we never got a family picture with her in it, I can only imagine what it would of been like to get both dogs in our family picture. It would of been double the fun I'm sure!


2nd attempt! We made sure Ozzie was in this one! She promptly layed right in front of the camera moments before the timer went off and the picture was taken!



Okay, so we managed to get Ozzie to lay next to Broedy, Myles on the other hand wanted to be on TOP of Chris and kept climbing all over him and Adalyn was not happy with the fact they we were trying to take her picture!

Maybe this one?

Or how about this one? Myles managed to get his shoe in the picture and was running away and Ozzie by this time is gone!

This one wasn't actually all that bad! At least Adalyn is the only one crying!

Okay, let's try a new position to see if we can get one! NOPE!
AHHHHHH! I give up on the stupid timer!


This morning I marched my family down to John & Stephanie's. I asked Stephanie if she would take a picture for us (she has 5 kids, she knows how hard this can be) and she was more than willing to take the challenge and help me out! We did get ONE picture where everyone was looking at the camera, no one was screaming or crying AND Ozzie was in it!

With four kids, that IS a SUCCESS:-)

So, THANK YOU Stephanie! I owe you one:-)


And here is one I took of just the kids that actually turned out pretty well!

The simple & wonderful things in my life!

Little Miss Adalyn Grace!

She loves her jump a roo:-)

and often falls asleep in it!

I love eating dinner with my family! It's the one meal everyday that we eat as a family!

Raelyn eating her chicken!

Myles always wants more!!

Raelyn and Myles!

Adalyn doesn't like it when we leave her out and usually screams when we are eating until either Chris or I go and pick her up and let her sit at the table with us! She was sitting next to Broedy and kept looking at him and smiling! I love watching my oldest and youngest together. She adores her big brother and he thinks his little sister is pretty awesome as well!

Chris, Adalyn & Broedy

Myles reading a book to himself!

My goofy little boy!

Nap Time!

Saying Good-bye....

Kalae died this afternoon. She was 5 months old and It was heartbreaking. Chris & I cleaned up Kalae after school and wrapped her in a towel and then Chris went and got Broedy from tutoring so he could say good-bye to her. I'm not sure what hurts more, the loss of the puppy for me personally or watching Broedy deal with the loss of his beloved friend. Chris, Broedy and I took Kalae to the vet's office today so they could take care of the body (gosh, that is so hard to write out). The car ride was a very quiet one. Broedy (and Chris & I) have shed many tears tonight and I'm sure more are to follow this week and beyond.

One of the things Broedy wanted to do tonight was to e-mail both Grandmas. My Mom's computer is out of comission right now so he called her and talked to her and he was so sweet on the phone. He e-mailed Chris's mom and I wanted to share his e-mail:

Hi Grandma.

kalae died and we are sad.

Adalyn is a good baby.

Are family is sad and lance is to.

from Broedy

He typed this e-mail all by himself. I'm so heartbroken for this child tonight, yet I am so proud of him too. He has dealt with so much this past year and through it all, he has stood strong. He is one amazing little boy and I am so proud to be his Mom.

Here are some pictures of our precious puppy, Kalae. She will be missed dearly by our family.

This was the day we got Kalae!

She was about 2 months old in this picture.

She was so little.

Playing with her bone.

Taking a nap with Adalyn

She really was a beautiful puppy.

This was taken just 1 month ago at the beginning of October. He adored & loved her so much.

Sadly, I didn't take any recent pictures of Kalae. The kids love to take pictures with my old camera and I found these on it when I looked today. Raelyn took this picture of Kalae in her cage just last week.

And Raelyn took this picture of Broedy playing with Kalae last week as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And if that wasn't enough to deal with for one day, we got news today that our house back in MI is gone. They tore it down today and all that is left is part of our old chimney. They had it down within an hour. We KNEW it was going to be torn down and we thought it would be this week Friday, but it happened today. I know it sounds stupid because it's just a house, but I am so broken over this. I talked to my Mom and her and my Dad (who live across the street from our old house) were shocked when they got home today because they were not prepared for it to be gone. They had planned to take one last walk through the house tonight when they got home and were heartbroken when they came home to it gone. I've cried so many tears over this house it isn't funny. I feel bad for my parents.....it's hard enough for me and I wasn't the one who built that house and raised my kids in it, they were. I just feel like it's one more piece of my past that is now gone. It's knowing that I will never be able to take my kids and show them where I grew up or where we lived when we lived when Myles was born and Raelyn was a baby and Broedy started school. It's been a very long day and I feel like all I've done for most of it is cry.

When my parents were building the house.

Our house in the winter when I was growing up.

Our house.

It's been a day of saying good-bye to things that are very dear to my heart.

PLEASE PRAY!

If you are reading this, please pray for our family. I found Kalae not breathing about 1/2 hour ago. Chris already knows, but we still have to tell Broedy and he is going to be so heartbroken. Please pray for my sweet boy as his mourns loosing this puppy.

Life is Tough......

It's late, I'm exhausted and emotional drained, yet I still feel the need to write. For me, writing if my outlet, it's the way I process my life when I can't seem to process it any other way. Usually when life is tough and I feel like I've had enough, I write to myself. I type out my feelings and then I e-mail it to myself. I do it because I don't want others to see my weakness, or my hurt, or my pain. I feel the need to be superwomen and supermom and superwife and so I put on a smile for the world and I hide in my own writings to myself.

But tonight, I'm going to make myself vulurable in hopes that I can help someone else that hides to realize that they are not alone. That sometimes it's okay to share your trials and hurts and weaknesses. It is a humbling process and I feel like God is slowly teaching me to be humble. Because in all honesty, it is hard for me to admit that I'm weak and that sometimes in spite of trying to juggle life, I fail and I need help.


We are broke. We are living paycheck to paycheck and not making it. We knew living on a teaching salary was going to be tight and it was, but we were making it....until we went into debt to go to Michigan this summer. We almost didn't go and in all honesty, financially, she shouldn't of gone. But, Adalyn was so tiny and the thought of our families not getting to hold her and hug her and love on her was enough for us to go into debt to get back home if only for awhile. I remember reading about a little boy that died of SIDS at 12 weeks and reading that his grandparents met this precious child for the 1st time at his funeral. That nightmare played through my head so many times and I knew I had to get her back to MI to meet our families, I just had to.....

That decision along with a transmission that went out on our suburban, a smaller bonus check for Chris at the beginning of the school year than we had expected and a daycare job I had thought I had lined up for when school started again that fell through led us into a downward spiral...........which ultimatly lead us to the point where we had to ask for financial help from our church. Just a few shorts week ago we were blessed with a financial gift from our church along with a generous donation of groceries. I sat down at my kitchen table and cried that night. But, I started to see light and I had hope again. We were going to make it.


Tonight I sit here with tears because of a puppy. A puppy that my 7 year old son is in love with, a puppy that my son and my husband (although he won't admit it) is emotionally attached to. A puppy I'm not sure we can save.


She (Kalae) is sick, really, really sick. She was diagnosed with parvo. She is lifeless, she looks so, so, so awful. Everytime I look at her, I cry. Chris & Broedy took her to the emergency vet Monday night where she was given fluids, meds and sent back home with us. The cost was just over $200.....our checking account went negative. Today, (Tuesday) another visit with the vet and our checking accont goes deeper into the hole. A phone call is made and we are blessed with an early Christmas gift from Chris's parents. I am thankful. Yet, there are still decisions to be made and I'm torn.


Do we put another $350 to $650 into this puppy and try to save her or do we spend $100 and put her down? Broedy didn't want us to get this puppy because of our kitten, Pepper. We got Pepper about 3 months before we moved to AZ. If we would of known at the time we were moving, we would of never gotten a kitten. But, we didn't know and so my son got a kitten that he loved and then we had to give her away. It hurt him in so many ways and he told me then he didn't ever want another pet. He didn't want this puppy and yet when we got her, he fell in love with her. And now this, I feel like if we put her down, I'm going to scar my son for life and it hurts. And I hate it and I feel so defeated.

I applied for fiancial aid through an online orginazation called http://www.imom.org/ that helps pets in need. I'm praying that we may be blessed with a gift that would allow us to save this puppy. If not, I pray that Broedy can heal from the lose of this puppy. I pray that despite what has happened with pets in the past, that he will someday heal and be able to love a pet like he has loved Pepper and Kalae. I just feel like we have put this child, my beloved 1st born through so much this past year. Having to give away pepper, moving, having to adjust to a new school and now this. I'm so heartbroken for him and I so wish I could take on all his heartache.

And if that wasn't enough, I got word today that they are starting demolition on our old house back in MI. The house my parents built, the house I grew up in and the house that I really thought I would live in until my kids were grown. I'm in tears over it, it hurts. Everytime I think about it, I cry. And I can only imagine how hard it is for my parents to have to actually watch it get torn down.

But, despite it all. God is still Good. I know this, I believe this and today I lean on him because honestly, it's all I can do. I pray hard, I wait patiently and I know that even though I feel like the world is caving in around me, I have a rock to stand on. But, I am not supermom or superwomen or superwife. I have hope in Christ and he gives me all the strength I need to get through another tough day. He helps me see the blessings in my life, despite the hardaches.

If you have made it this far, please pray for us. Pray for our puppy, pray for finances, pray for me as I let go of yet another piece of my "roots" back in MI and pray that we see the fruits of whatever God is doing right now in all of this very soon.

And now I hit the "publish" button and put my vulurabilty out there for cyberworld............sigh