Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Our Arizona Trip

Wow, I have ton to write about and I am so behind, but here we go with our AZ trip. We got our Christmas break started a little early this year when we flew to Arizona on the 15th. I know it is so crazy that I actually got my whole little family to Arizona all at the same time AND it was near Christmas time. That people is no small miracle. We bought our tickets way back when I didn't know I was going to be watching kids, that Kylee would have preschool/pre-school party, and a bazillion other things while we were gone. However, I wouldn't trade all the things we missed for all the things we got to do and be a part of in AZ. So, yes we left at around 9:30 and went to The Parking Spot. Our Aunt Kitt gets a deal there, so that is where we left the car. Once we parked, the shuttle came and picked us up and took us to the airport. Kitt decided to curb check her suitcase, so that is were we split ways. She curb checked and we carried our four backpacks and two carseats all the way to the other end of the airport. Boy our bags sure felt heavy and awkward, but I doubt what I was carrying was anything compared to the two carseats. However, we made it down there and stood in a little bit of line and got those carseats checked. Then we went through security. It went without a hitch. Although it was really cute when the security guy asked Tia her name she held up her fingers in the 'ok' sign and said three. I couldn't help, but chuckle. That is what we get for putting so much emphasis on the fact that she was now three and not two. Luckily they still let her through and we went though security filled out bottles and were at our gate a few minutes before boarding.
Here we are on the plane. Kylee, Gaupo, Tia, and Me.
The girls wanted to board the plane right away, but we made them wait because they just want to move around and play with stuff once we are on board. So, we finally board and our plane is like empty. It is totally awesome. It was so great because when the fasten seatbelts sign turned off Tia had the whole row in front of us on both sides and Jason and Kylee's whole side to run around in without bothering anybody. It was so perfect, so that flight was pretty quick and fun. We got to the airport and Gaupo collected the carseats while I used the bathroom and then we all met Oma and Papa out on the curb. Oma and Papa had to rent a van to come pick us up, so both of them could come. By the time we got the carseats in, Kitt had gotten her bags and was ready for pick-up. So, we drove to her terminal and got her in and then headed to Sams Club.

At Sams, we got the family meal deal which was delicious. The only bad thing was we thought we could get any liter of soda, but it turns out with that deal you can only get Coke. Too bad we don't drink Coke. Oh well, we got food and everyone was happy. We also got to see Sis. Tieman. She lived on our street when we lived in Mesa, so that was fun. After eating there we got in the van and headed to Pima. We had to make a pit stop in Globe to use the potty, this still annoys Oma, but we didn't have any pee in her car this time, so even though it added time to the drive I would argue it was worth the stop. Anyway, we got home and Kara, Seth, Ross, and Klaire had beat us there. Lindsay, Allen, Betty, and Roxy were already there, so we had quite the welcoming committee when we came in an the said 'Surprise' to Tia and sang her happy birthday as soon as she walked in the door. It was pretty fun. Then we had a little bit of dinner and then Oma and Papa surprised us with a cool train cake they made together. It was a super cool train, but I also thought it was super cool that they did it together. So, Tia got cake and a gift from Oma and then we played a tich more an then sent the girls to bed. The rest of us visited for a bit, but like I mentioned before we were pretty sick, so I decided not to stay up too late and went to bed in hopes of not laying around sick all weekend.
Here is a pic of the train cake, and Tia.
Tia and her cake all lit up. She is in a swimsuit that Oma gave her for her b-day.
Friday was really fun. There was suppose to be nothing scheduled that day, but it turns out Kitt had a doc appointment and my mom and Klaire needed to go shopping and my dad was getting rock and so him and Seth needed to get the yard ready for that. So, not really a nothing going on day, but it was still fun. Kylee, Tia, Betty went outside and played on the dirt piles, and other stuff that is out there. However, we expected AZ to be a little warmer than it was, so we didn't bring jackets and so they got kind of cold and came inside where they played more. Kylee and Betty loved playing together and Tia enjoyed playing with them. I think Tia and Allen would have had good time, but Allen cracked his collarbone the day on Thursday, so he was not quite up to his normal stuff yet. Anyway, we had fun playing and Kara stayed home to play with me and the kiddos, so we got to play with her and Ross and that was pretty fun too. After all the playing it was time for lunch and then naps. The girls took okay naps and then woke up to more playing. I helped get some dinner stuff ready and the girls just played. The actually went outside were Papa and Seth were and Papa and Seth were great babysitters letting the kids play while they worked outside. I am actually very impressed at what they got done with 4 little kids tagging along and wanting to help. That night we had dinner and baths and then bed. Then we played a game for a bit and went to bed. It is kind of lame to be sick when you are only around family for a short time because you have to go to bed and really want to stay up and chat. Oh well, I did get to watch a cute Hallmark movie with them and enjoy the chatting during commercials, so it was actually a really good night.

Saturady was kind of a crazy day. We had family pictures at 9:00. It was a cold windy day. However, we got everyone out there and we got our pictures taken. I still haven't seen them, so I  don't know if they turned out good or not, but the place we went was pretty and we should have some good ones. Anyway, we took pictures real quick and then went back home where we kind of chilled for a bit and then had a birthday party. Probably my favorite part of the party was the pinata. It was fun to watch all the kids hit and mad alive can Betty swing a bat. I play baseball with my kids, but you would never know it by the way they hit a pinata. Oh well, it broke open and Lindsay had stuffed it with good candy, so it was worth helping your kids pick up the candy, so you could have a piece. After the pinata we had presents and then lunch. Then we had the girls take naps. This day I actually took a little nap too. I woke up before the girls though and got to visit for a bit.
Playing with balloon at Betty's birthday party. Kylee is hidden in the glare behind Betty. Then Allen and Tia.
Tia playing pin the nose on Rudolph.
After naps, the kids played while the adults got ready to go to the temple. We went to the temple and did sealings all together. It was so cool. That was the first time my family has been all together inside the temple and it was so fun. My mom had gotten some family names from someone and so we got to seal them in families like all surrounding the alter at one time. It was so cool. I had never done it before, so it was great. I love doing sealings because they are just so happy. I always feel like there is joy in sealing rooms. It was a lovely time together and when we were done we headed home and had dinner of Taco Salad and then Birthday Cake for Betty. We were also suppose to have our 'Christmas Eve' program that night, but yeah the kids were too tired and cranky, so we decided to postpone until Sunday. So, we got the kids to bed and then we just kind of hanging around and Gaupo said, So I think we should play a game. We did. We played Word Around and Quidler. It was really fun to play games and then we visited for a bit and went to bed.

Sunday was also a great day. It started off pretty normal with everyone getting breakfast and then getting ready for church and playing. However, around 10:30 we had our 'Christmas Eve' program. My sister Kara arranged it all and it was so great. Kara had Papa read the Christmas Story from the Bible and then Kara, Kitt, and Klaire sang a song that introduced the kids dressed up as nativity characters. Kylee was Mary and Tia was a Shepard. Although, once Kylee laid her baby Jesus in the manager the shepard took over by getting it our and holding it and hugging it. It was so cute.
Mary (Kylee) watching the baby and you can see the little shepherds hand sneaking in.
The shepherd (Tia) forgetting her sheep and staff to hold and care for the Baby Jesus.
After the nativity was done, we had my Mom's tradition of giving us and reading to us a book. This year it was The Mismatched Nativity and then we sang Jingle Bells. (The nativity and book reading may have been switched. I can't remember.) Next Kara had Kylee sing That Night in the Stable. When Kylee was done Tia popped up and asked if she could sing I Am a Child of God. Kara of course said yes, and Tia sang the whole thing, all the words, all by herself. It was so awesome. Just another testimony that miracles still happen, because even though it wasn't all clear and perfect a year ago that was impossible. It wasn't even fathomable. Then Kara had pictures hanging up and she had a song or talent associated with all of them, so she had the kids pick a picture and then we had what was ever on the back. So, Jack, Lindsay and Betty all sang Away in a Manger  for one of the things. Seth did a reading, and I believe that Kitt, Klaire, and Kara sang another song plus lots of other great Christmas songs were sung by all of us. It was such a great program. Kara did a great job.  I couldn't help but tease her that if anyone found out how good she was at programs she would be called as the counselor in primary over the primary program. Anyway, it was so good. After the program, it was time for last minute getting ready for church things, a small lunch and then out the door for church. Church was the main reason we came to Arizona and the part of church we went for was the blessing of Roxy. It was so cool to see my brother use his Priesthood to bless his baby. I am so glad Gaupo, Seth, Papa, Papa Ross, Lindsay's brother Ben, Lindsay's Dad, and uncle be in the circle. It was such a cool thing to be a part of. The rest of the block was pretty much church except that I manged to introduce myself as Katey Bryce instead Katey Merrill, which was kind of embarrassing because I loved that my last name was Bryce, but I also love that it is now Merrill. So, anyway whatever Gaupo knows I love him, so it is all good. Anyway, it is always good to visit my home ward and see my leaders there. We went home and had a dinner that my mom had for everyone. It was great. We had sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing, turkey, pasta salad and then brownies or monster bars for dessert. It was super easy and good. The kids just played and played until we finally had to have them go to bed because they didn't have naps and they were getting crazy and kind of naughty.

Monday we got up had breakfast and headed to Mesa. We were hoping to leave early enough to get ice cream with Papa before we left, but that wasn't to be the case, but it was still fun to ride down there with Papa and as always hard to say good by. We got our carseats checked and then went though security. This time our food made us have to have one backpack hand checked, but of course it all cleared and we were on our way and down at our gate. We were in the same terminal as we were this summer, but for some crazy reason they had to take out the toys that were down at the end. The girls and I were kind of bummed, but oh well. We watched planes and enjoyed until we had to board. This time the plane was full, so Tia had to stay in her seat which was kind of rough for her.
A bad pic of us three girls on the plane.
Also, the flight had some turbulence and got warm which cased us all to not feel, so good and Gaupo even ended up throwing up. (He said he is not flying again. Keep your fingers crossed this isn't true.) Tia ended up peeing her pants at the end of the flight because she had already been to the bathroom and then waited until we were descending to tell me that she needed to go and I thought she was just bored. Turns out I was wrong and the stewardess did not look happy at all about that little fact when we told her, so needless to say our flight home was not the best. However, we made it safely and we got Tia changed into new clothes. Then she and I rode the train to baggage claim where we met up with Kylee and Gaupo. Then we all used the bathroom again; caught the bus to our car; got in our car and went home. Sadly we were headed home in some pretty heavy traffic due to the fact that it was about 5;00, but it wasn't too bad and we got home safe. We had hot dogs and mac for dinner and then played Chutes and Ladders for FHE and then sent the girls to bed. Gaupo and I watch a movie and then went to bed.

It was a crazy, yet wonderful time. As always it was too short. However, I am glad Gaupo has a job he likes, so we needed to get back so he could keep it. Also, I love my family, but it was really nice to be in our home for Christmas. So, it was so worth going to Roxy's blessing and being with everyone. I am so glad we went and that other than being sick it was perfect. Yeah for family and getting together especially since I think it will be awhile before we are all together again, but like our family always says "Together Forever." Then like I like to add "No matter what."

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Tia is Three

Boy howdy has it been a week. However, you will have to wait a bit for this post because I need  to spotlight Tia and her birthday celebration. We celebrated Tia's birthday on the 14th because we were going to Arizona on the 15th. Tia kicked it off in her traditional way of throwing all MY plans out the window. Tia slept until nearly 8;00 which meant no present opening before Daddy went to work and because it was such busy day she had to wait all the way until after Daddy got home from work. Anyway, we got up and I fixed Tia breakfast of eggs and muffins. She even helped with the majority of the cooking. She did a good job and we had a super tasty breakfast. After breakfast we kind of just hung around a bit and then we went to swim lessons. I am not sure that Tia's pinkeye was 100% cleared up, but you know you can only deprive a kid so much on their birthday. Also, we only got to stay for about half of swimming lessons, because Kylee had a nativity and singing gig at an assisted living home. So, Tia had a blast a swimming and then was a super champ while Kylee did her thing. Seriously she was so good. I was trying to catch some video of it and she just was as quiet as could be and really wasn't too restless either. I was really impressed. For lunch we had the normal--meat and cheese melted together. While we were eating Aunt Kitt got here. WAHOOOO!! It was so fun to have her come and she brought some cool fruit and a new granola bar to try so it really was quite the party. Then Kitt read the girls a story and put them to bed while I started presidency meeting. Presidency meeting went well and really didn't last too long. Although, I got two insurance calls while I was in it. One was from the people insurance that hit our car saying they would pay for it and the other from the rental car company that we will be using while our car is getting fixed. They were both good an important calls, but kind of bad timing. Oh well.

After naps is kind of when the real partying began. We had a snack and made brownies. Tia was so excited to help. She did pretty good, but she still struggles a bit with keeping her hand out which is especially bad because of how sick we have been at our house lately. Oh well, we all survived and the brownies got made. It was fun to do something very special just for Tia. We played and read books and just kind of hung out till Daddy got home. Once he was home it was present time. Tia got some pretty cool stuff. She got a Duplo train, TinkerToys, Chutes and Ladders, Mr. Potato head, and some cute clothes. Tia had such a great time opening the gifts and is still loving playing with all of them. We even played Chutes and Ladders for FHE last night.

Tia opening her gifts

Tia dumping the train. Dumping is by far her favorite way to get things out of a box.
Setting up the train.
Tia and her presents.
While Tia was playing with her presents we made her birthday dinner--Mac and Cheese with hotdogs and peas. It was super easy and super delicious. After food was cake and ice cream. Then we played some more and took baths. Then we sent the girls to bed. Us adults talked for a bit, but all need a good rest for the next day.
Jason lighting the candles. We both want to do that part because we never got to light candles as kids. How silly is that?
Tia and her cake.
Our crazy family.

Our favorite Aunt Kitt.
It was kind of a simple birthday, but I think she loved it. We tried to be as much about her as we could. She loved her birthday sign. She loved figuring out how to tell people she was three. She loved the cake and ice cream. She loved licking everything to help clean-up and we ate all of her favorite foods, so really even though there was nothing super amazing it was perfect. She feels special and she knows she is three so that is what is important.

So now on to the really important part of this blog post Tia. Tia is now three and really in the last couple of weeks she has become ready to be three. It is kind of hard to explain, but she has. Just in some of the ways she handles things, expresses herself, independence, and stuff like that. It was pretty amazing to watch what my brother calls 'the losing of her tail.'

Tia is such a wonderful girl. I can not believe all the things she has done between the ages of 2 and 3. She is now fully potty trained. True she sure gave me a run for my money on this aspect, but she did it and is doing great. She has now learned that she can get down from the table to use the bathroom once during a meal and does it every day every meal.Tia has tons of words now. Kylee and I usually understand most everything she says. Others have a little harder time, but you would be so impressed. She sang I Am a Child of God all by herself on Sunday for our family's Christmas program. She sang all the words and she didn't need any help. Tia can speak easily in 3-4 word sentences and sometimes longer depending on what she is saying. She loves to sing with her sister and dance. As always, Tia is a mover. She loves to dance, run, jump, chase, play, swim, and ride her bike. She can swim underwater for about 3 seconds, and she can now jump off the side instead of just supermaning it. She can now do 12 piece puzzles and some bigger ones, but needs a little help. She loves reading books, playing with trains, building with blocks, and taking care of her baby. She loves to change her clothes. She also loves to color and it is interesting to watch her because she does it much more purposefully than Kylee did at her age. She is still Kylee's biggest fan and Kylee is her biggest fan. These two girls love each other so much and are really good at playing together. They love to copy each other, make each other laugh, team up against mom, push each other to do better, and sometimes just like to be together.

I can not believe all that has happened this last year for Tia. She has had speech and occupational therapy which has helped her go from saying "wa-wa" to saying "Drink of water, por favor." She has gone from not being able to focus on a fine motor task for longer than about 2 minutes to lasting about 10. She has so much personality it is amazing. She is determined and has her own ideas that she wants to make happen. She loves life and takes at full strength. She has recovered from her 44 staples no problem. She has learned to loving reading books and watching shows. Her favorite is "Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat." I think it is funny she calls it that instead of just Curious George. I am telling you Tia is a real joy. She gives us a run for it sometimes, but then other times she can just turn on the charm and spunk and you can't help, but stand in awe of the awesome daughter of God she is. She seems to always know when I need her and is more than willing to help with things. I feel so blessed to have my Tia girl. She is so fun and spunky and I feel so blessed to have her with me in my life right now.

Happy Birthday Tia. I hope 3 is the best year yet. You own it girl!!

Tia is so a second child. I have no recent pics of just her. So enjoy this one of the three of use taken three days before her birthday.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

The Plague

Conversation between Kylee and I on Tuesday when I planned on writing this post.
Kylee: "Are you going to blog tonight?"
Me: "Yes."
Kylee: "What are you going to blog about?"
Me: "Being sick."
Kylee: "Grandpa-Great does not want to here about that."
Me: "Well, he might not but blogs are suppose to be about our life and getting sick is sometimes part of it."

So, sorry Grandpa-Great and others. If you don't want to read about the plague we endure then just skip this post.

Last Monday, during his nap Trent threw-up. Not just like spit-up but tons. Oh man it was so gross, and there was so much. Needless to say, Trent needed a bath. I don't know that he really liked baths at my house. I must do something different than his mom, but we got him all bathed and in clean clothes. Then all the other kids wanted a snack and so did Trent, so Gaupo gave him a little taste and he didn't want anymore and went wondering off. Well we took a peek at him and he starts like spiting up. So we cleaned that up and we were getting dinner ready and he had done really well and so I let him go downstairs. Well, after a short bit down there both Kylee and Tia say "MOM, Trent just threw-up!" I go down and sure enough he had. So we changed his clothes again, but we were out of his clothes, so the lucky kid got dressed in the most gender neutral boy clothes I had. Yeah, there wer still pretty girly, but they were warm and he was not too traumatized. He went home and we thought life would return to normal, but boy was I wrong.

Tuesday morning dawned fairly normal. Tia had a little cold, but we went about our day as usual until right before lunch when Tia started crying and telling me her ear hurt. It was a bitter/sweet moment because for the first time Tia had told me what was wrong and so we could get help, but it also meant an ear infection, blaugh. Anyway, I scheduled her an appointment and got Auntie Beth to watch the kiddos while I took Tia. It was in fact and ear infection, so we got antibotics and went home. We did not go swimming that night just to try and give Tia's body a rest. The night went normal, but my stomach really started to hurt, but I didn't think much of it and went to bed.

Well Wednesday at about 5:30 I woke-up needing to throw-up. I felt pretty good after that and went back to sleep. Then the girls came and woke me up to help them get ready,so after doing Kylee's hair and before doing Tia's I had to throw-up again. Gaupo called work and said he couldn't come in and thankfully was able to stay home and help me. So, I slept while Gaupo feed the girls breakfast, took them to swim lessons and entertained them for me. It felt so good to sleep, because honestly I didn't feel like I could have done anything except lay on the couch. By the time night came, I was feeling pretty good. I managed to take a shower and watch a couple shows before tumbling into bed.

Thursday Morning Gaupo woke-up throwing up around 3:30 in the morning. Luckily I was feeling better because Kylee woke-up saying her eyes were hurting. I looked at them and they looked a little pink, so I decided to keep her home from school. Tia's therapist's decided to brave this sick house and still came over. That was really nice because it kind of helped break up our day a little. Gaupo pretty much rested the whole day and just did laundry trying to get all the sickness out. In the afternoon, I did end up taking Kylee to the doctor for her pink eye, but found out it was a viral pink eye so there was  nothing that could be done except to wait it out. AUGHHH! I think that if I pay to go to the doctor that they better have a cure. However, it was not the case and we went home. The missionaries were suppose to come over for dinner, but I had to cancel them coming in, but instead of them going without dinner I just made them dinner to go. They were so gracious and it has been nice to meet them since then. However, it is a good thing we cancelled because about 4:30 Tia threw-up. Luckily for Tia this bug doesn't seem to wipe out kids like it does adults, so she threw-up a couple more times, but really was fine. That night after dinner Gaupo gave Kylee a priesthood blessing because we needed a miracle. We need Kylee to either get sick like 2 minutes after the prayer ended or not get this stomach bug, so she could participate in the ward party. So, Gaupo gave her a blessing in which she was promised that she would be able to enjoy her activities this weekend. On Thursday night, I pretty much did nothing.

Friday nothing new happened, except I panicked and thought that maybe I had some pink eye too, but after it all I don't think I did, but I do think my eyes enjoyed the break from my contacts for a couple of days. Anyway, on Friday my friend who knows like everything about natural remedies and things like that came over because I had asked her the night before about safe disinfectant options. So, she brought me over so partial bottles of some essential oils and said I could have them. I was like are you sure these aren't cheap and she said yeah I am sure, so I kept them and am so grateful. She brought me over lemon, melaleuca, and OnGaurd essential oils. She also brought us a combo of Goldenseal and something else it is now know to my house as the nasty medicine. Anyway, I used the lemon to disinfect all the toys, couches, pillows, I don't like everything. I put the OnGaurd on my kids and didn't quite know what to do with the Melaleuca, but later found out. Anyway, nothing new happened, so we just spent the day trying to act normal.

Saturday was the ward party. We went and Kylee did a great job singing "Picture a Christmas." She loves singing and singing in front of people so doesn't bug her, so she did so great. The party itself was fun. We had a great breakfast of breakfast burritos and/or pancakes. We got to see Santa and enjoyed being around people again. Seriously, I was feeling pretty isolated at the time. Anyway, we get home and Kylee cuddles up to me and starts complaining about her ears hurting. I am like no not again, not on the weekend. So, I give her some ibuprofen and had a quick lunch and took naps. She seemed to being doing better and Gaupo had homework to do. So, I decided to go get some shopping done on the other side of town. Well, I was one block from the store when I hear sounds from the backseat. I think to myself  "Oh, no." Then it happens Tia throws-up in the car. I quickly turn around and head home because she is covered and it stinks. I try to call Gaupo to warn him that we are coming home, but guess what--some kids have played with my phone enough that it is disabled for 10 minutes. So, I just keep driving. About a block from my house, my phone unlocks, so I call Gaupo to warn him to be done with his homework. So, I strip Tia outside then send her in for a bath. Then I start cleaning the car. Oh man, that is one gross mess in a car. I hosed everything down, washed what I could and then sanitized it as best I could and then prayed that it would not stink anymore. It worked our car doesn't stink and all is well.

After Saturday, we didn't get any sicker, so we have been on the mend. We have had lingering colds and poor Kylee has had a cough, but I think we are getting over that too. I mentioned above that I found what I could use Melaluca for and it is ear infections. Between the Goldenseal and Echinacea, Melaluca and Ibuprofen we got the ear infection and the pink eye to clear up without going to the doctor. It was a test of patience to try and wait it out, but it worked and Kylee's ears don't hurt anymore.

From this Plague of sickness I learned something.  I learned that God answers prayers. He blessed Kylee that she felt great until we got home from the ward Christmas party, and she never got the stomach bug. That is a miracle because everyone else who was exposed to it got it, but she really wanted to do the ward program and she was blessed to do it. Also I learned a lot about essential oils which I really am not the person who will never use antibiotics, but I learned a lot and am so grateful we didn't need to go to the doctor again. Using my limited knowledge and a lot of prayer Heavenly Father allowed us to take care of that ear infection without having to see the doctor. Heavenly Father is so aware of our needs and desires. He truly desires to bless and help us with the things we need. We just need to trust him both when prayers are answered and when they seem to go unanswered. We have a loving Heavenly Father and I am his daughter and He loves and cares for me and my family.

Here is Kylee singing if you want to see it...