Life

Could I be blogging about this cute scared little girl?

Yep, this is the mischievous little girl I'm talking about.

Life has been so crazy and busy. I realize that it will never slow down, but the little breaks here and there are nice. I have a ton of pictures to download to the computer and upload to the blog, I will try and get it done soon.

Monday morning at 2:30 AM Luke woke me up because he had thrown up. Poor kid. He was home from school and very sad, because we were missing our friend's Christmas Party. Then right at the time we should have been at the party, I started in with it too. Man it wiped me out. At least I lost a bunch of weight with it.

Luke had to miss Tuesday as well, he still didn't have his energy back. Neither did I. We were quite the pair watching Olivia tear things apart in the house. Wednesday we tried to get back to normal. I tried to play my soccer game, I could only last 2-3 minutes on the field, and when I'd try to make a break I was thinking, "why won't my legs work?"

When I got home from soccer, Ryan told me to go kiss the kids, because they probably wouldn't be asleep yet. As I was walking up the stairs I asked Ryan what that smell was, and this cute little voice said, "It's soap."

Oh dear! Olivia had gotten out of bed, got the shampoo out of the bathroom, and had proceeded to pour it all over the carpet in the hallway. She was sitting in the middle of it massaging it into the carpet and making foamy bubbles. She was in Heaven. I couldn't help but laugh. What a mess. What a character!

I scraped it out of the carpet the best I could, I need a carpet cleaner to get the rest as I don't want to make bubble explosion all over the hallway.

After that I noticed that Olivia was wheezing, so I gave her a breathing treatment, and it made her wired and she didn't fall asleep until 12:30 AM. It's gonna be a long day today!

So to end, I have to say that I LOVE the 2 year old stage. I don't love the messes, and I don't love the fits, (luckily there aren't many of these for me), but I love the love of life. I love the exploration, I love the learning, I love the joy, I just love it. I do get frustrated at having to call poison control at times, but I love, love love having a 2 year old.

(I try to avoid the messes, Livvy is truly creative).

Time's running short

I had a goal to get my packages to the post office today. I was so pleased that I actually made it there.
I thought that I would warn others who are wishing to ship things for Christmas that time is running short to still use the Parcel Post option. They say that it takes 7-10 days parcel post, so if you sent it today it would be there by the 20th. So days are numbered for the cheaper way to send.
Merry Christmas.

Poinsettias

So since I was over at the Poinsettia fact page seeing if I needed to call Poison Control, I thought I would share some interesting facts about poinsettias.

• The showy colored parts of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually colored bracts (modified leaves).
• Poinsettias are priced according to the number of blooms. The more blooms, the more expensive the plant.
• Poinsettias are not poisonous
• A study at Ohio State University showed that a 50 pound child who ate 500 bracts might have a slight tummy ache.
• A fresh poinsettia is one on which little or no yellow pollen is showing on the flower clusters in the center of the bracts. Plants that have shed their pollen will soon drop their colorful bracts.
• Poinsettias represent over 85 percent of the potted plant sales during the holiday season.
• December 12 is National Poinsettia Day.
• There are over 100 varieties of poinsettias available.
• $220 million worth of poinsettias are sold during the holiday season
• Eighty percent of poinsettias are purchased by women.
  Eighty percent of people who purchase poinsettias are 40 or older.

There are a few facts about poinsettias, more than you'll ever want to know I'm sure. And my question is, what mother in her right mind is going to allow her child to eat 500 leaves to see what the outcome is?

Now I know I used to tease my friend who researched all her plants to make sure they weren't poisonous and dangerous to her child. "What kid goes around eating plants," were my thoughts. Well obviously Livvy feels the urge to much on some greens. We had salad for dinner, so it's not like she was being deprived of them. Sigh, what will she think of next?

Please note that Olivia only took a tiny nibble of the leaf. Not 500 full leaves.

Thanksgiving

Livvy and Kaiya loved reading books, and Brooklyn had fun watching Luke play games on the computer.

My brother and family came for Thanksgiving. They made it at 3:00 AM Thursday morning. After a few hours of sleep Ryan and Eric woke up in time to go play football, and Angella and I finished preparing the "Thanksgiving Feast." And a feast it was.

We had a turkey, (yummy and juicy), stuffing, smashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, jello salad, a veggie platter, and rolls. For dessert we had apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. It was delicious, and we all ate until we were full.

While we were downstairs putting the turkey in the roaster pan, Eric yells for us to come upstairs and see our daughters. Livvy and Kaiya were a devious pair to say the least. In the morning time, they had dumped all Livvy's pretties out, found the donuts and ate them all but a few, and pushed the water in the fridge door until we had a lake in the kitchen and dining area.

Then we come upstairs to find them in the bathroom with the shampoo. It was a new bottle. You can see from the pictures how much they used. They had poured it all over the toilet, and then they'd rub their hands in it and "wash" their hair. Eric and Ryan had to put them in the shower and spray them off for a really long time, especially Kaiya, who had covered her head with the shampoo.

On Friday morning, Angella and I went shopping for Black Friday deals. We were able to find some good buys! All in all it wasn't too bad, we did see some people make fools out of themselves. Like at WalMart a lady(and I use the term lightly) kept ramming my backside with her shopping cart. She'd giggle and apologize and then kept doing it over and over again. What made her think that her actions would move the crowd in front of me?

Then at Target, (Gasp! Katie went to Target), while we were circling the parking lot looking for a place to park, some lady (again the term is lightly used), gets out of her car and is yelling at the lady in the car in front of her for waiting for a person to back out of a parking space. I love to find the good deals, but come on people, is it worth it to act like that?

After shopping, I came home and stumbled into bed and slept for 3 hours. And I was ready for bed that night at 9:00. I'm getting old.

We had a lot of fun having Eric and Angella and Brooklyn and Kaiya over. The kids all had fun and got along very well. We're thankful that we have family and friends close enough to celebrate with.

Snowman

We have been getting snow here and there. The other day, there was no snow when we woke up, but then it just started coming down. Luke went out and built a snowman, and then he let Livvy help him put the final touches on it. She helped him to gather the rocks for buttons and mouth. They had so much fun and we were really impressed with their ability to work together. What good kids!

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

A big happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there. I hope you all have a great turkey day with lots of food, fun, and family and/or friends. We are hosting this year, my brother and his family are coming and we'll have a few friends over too. I hope the food all turns out good.

We've been talking a lot about thankfulness and gratitude lately. We are very blessed, and
we are trying to remember that. It is so easy for me to get caught in the "I need this, and that is so important" attitude. There are so many things to be grateful for.
Our Savior and His atonement for us.
Ryan finding a job and being able to work right now.
Our family
Our house.
Our food.
Our health.
Our friends.
The list continues and is never ending. We are truly blessed.
Have a great day and get your route mapped out for Black Friday. What time are you heading out?

How low can you go?

I was So excited today when I went out to run errands and I passed the gas station. Today it is $1.59. $1.59! Can you believe it? We filled up our tank (we were at 1/4 tank), and it only cost $22.00. We'll take that.
What are your gas prices these days?

My ever helpful little girl

My fingernails always peel and crack. It gets really annoying because then when I go to grab something they snag, and peel back more etc. So the other night, a nail snagged and I was trying to "smooth" it with my teeth until I could get to a pair of fingernail clippers. When Livvy saw me put my finger to my mouth she yelled, "No, I see it, I see it." So I dutifully wait until she can come over and "see" it. She grabs my finger and looks at the ripped part of the nail, and then pulls my finger toward her mouth and proceeded to try bite my nail off for me. Call me crazy, but toddler teeth and my fingers aren't exactly a perfect combination in my book, and so I snatched my hand out of her mouth. I thanked her for her concern and went and found fingernail clippers. Funny little girl.

Allergy Testing

Yesterday Luke went to the Allergist to be tested for allergies. He has been on Zyrtec since before he was 2. Whenever I've taken him off of it, he's always had really bad problems with his allergies, so we figured there was probably something going on with this. Especially because when he had his x-rays done on his adenoids they came back normal. So his ENT thought it was allergies that were the problem. (This is after of course she said she was sure it was adenoids and allergies that were the problem and prepped me to thinking that he would be going into surgery).
Well, they did the 20 point scratch test on Luke's back yesterday, and nothing. NOTHING, no reaction whatsoever. I was so surprised. The doctor then told me that even though he didn't react to those, that it didn't mean he didn't have allergies, and they wanted to test him by injecting just a little serum stuff just under his skin. Luke was very upset about that. They tested him for 2 things that way, dust mites and dog. After a minute or so, the doctor came back in to tell us about Nasonex, and he said, "Oh, he's already positive for dogs." Luke had a pretty definite reaction to dogs. We didn't test him for cats, which is because he has so little exposure to cats.
The reason why I mention that, is because we've had times when we haven't had a dog, and he's still had bad allergies. At one of those times, we did have a cat, so maybe that's why he was still having problems. I don't know. I do know that I feel bad, that our choice, parent's and child's choice was to have a dog. Luke loves dogs. He is very sad when we don't have a dog, but I think we are becoming a dog free family. We were told ways to help a person with allergies when there is a family dog, like no pets in the bedroom, (check, the dog's never been allowed upstairs), a new pillow every year encased in a allergy pillow cover, sheets washed once a week in hot water, clothes folded upstairs where dog isn't allowed, all carpet ripped up and hardwood throughout, (can we get a prescription for that?), and some other things. Whenever he's sat where the dog's been he would be considered contaminated.
We've been preparing for this, but I guess we need to decide soon what we do with our Cali. She is a really good dog. This is where we start looking for a good home for a Corgi. Anyone want a well behaved, trained dog? She's 3 years old, great with kids, mellow, loves to play, and loves to snuggle at your feet.
After we treat this, then we see the ENT again if there are any further question about the adenoids. Hopefully this treatment will take care of his symptoms. They aren't going to start the shots, they've started him on Nasonex, and we follow up in a month.

By the way, he was negative for dust mites.

The Job

Molly, you are so right, and knew what the next post would be about. Ryan was in your neck of the woods last week in Chicago/Naperville (if I spelled that right) area for training. He LOVED it. Ryan is so excited about this new job and all the possibilities. He brought home a power wheelchair, and a standard wheelchair. I need to take and post a picture, I'll try to do that tomorrow, of the kids sitting in the chair. Next week will be Ryan's first week in his area. Hopefully things will be off to a good start.
We are so blessed to have this opportunity, and so thankful again to all our friends and family who networked, prayed for us, helped us on resumes and supported us emotionally to get through. Thank you again.

The stink is history

Wahoo, it worked.
Thanks Carrie for the great idea. I soaked my stinky towels in OxyClean, I put them in at 11:00 PM on Monday night, and then I pulled them out Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM and washed them (with a different laundry detergent left by our phantom), and I think the smell is gone.
I have used 2 different towels that had the stink since then, and have not noticed the odor at all. So it appears that soaking in OxyClean may have solved the problem.
Thanks to all of you who suggested things to do.

Don't Forget to Vote

Fall Fun

What a GOOD boy! I love this picture of Luke.

And here is the cute boy helping out so he can jump!

Jumping out of the swing.

Look at me!

Today when Luke got off the bus, I tackled him, and threw him over my shoulder. Luke was so surprised he kept asking what I was doing. Ryan was in the backyard blowing the leaves into a pile. Luke still couldn't see what was going on, and I threw him in the pile of leaves. He was so excited. He ran to the shed to grab a rake to help out. We placed the leaves in front of the swing and he would swing and jump into the leaves. Luke was in heaven. He has been so jealous of other peoples homes that have tons of leaves in their yards. He played in the leaves for a while.

Tomorrow we'll have to let Livvy play in the leaves. She was napping today.

Pumpkin Fun

I was so on top of it this year, that on Halloween Day I was out running around to see if I could find a place that was still selling pumpkins. Luckily, I found some at Centre Street Market. We only carved the one. While Luke was at school, Ryan and Livvy cleaned out the pumpkin. Livvy seemed to do okay with the pumpkin guts this year. Ewwwwwwwwww.

When Luke came home, he designed and with Ryan's help carved the pumpkin. I thought he did a great job.

Then we ate a quick dinner and got the kids ready to go Trick or Treating. Did I take any pictures? Nope. We did video Halloween this year, but you have to look at the Zoo Boo to see their costumes. They were pretty cute. To refresh your memory, Luke was a Ninja, and Olivia was an Indian.

Luke was having a blast, he was running from house to house. He gets tired of it pretty quickly, and returns home and likes to hand out candy to the other kids. Some of his friends showed up and wanted him to go with them, so we let him go out with his friends a little bit. Ryan was out with him, and he said Luke and his friend's ran like crazy. Ryan and Livvy couldn't keep up with them. When Luke was ready to come home, he couldn't figure out how he got so far from home.

Olivia had fun, she loves candy so what's better than people just handing it out to you?

This year Halloween was warm. I was out with the kids for a while in a short sleeve shirt swatting away mosquitoes. Who'd thought it'd be warm enough for mosquitoes on Halloween?

It was a fun night.

Happy Birthday to Ryan

It's Ryan's Happy Birthday. While we were at the Zoo Boo, Ryan received a call from his new boss. He told Ryan when his new start date was. Ryan was very excited, he said it was the birthday present he could have gotten.

After the Zoo Boo we went to Red Robin for his free Hamburger and Sundae. We had a yummy dinner. Then we came home and ate the cake he had requested. He wanted a Butter Pecan cake with cream cheese frosting.

We love you Ryan, thanks for all you do for our family. You're the best!

Zoo Boo

This goat loved to be petted. He just kept asking for more!

We received some free tickets to the Zoo Boo. We waited for the nicest day that fit within our schedule to go, and it just so happened to be on Ryan's birthday. Happy Birthday Ryan! The kids had fun chasing the poor peacocks around, but were a little sad that most of the animals had been put away for the winter. Livvy kept asking over and over again to see the aminals.

Livvy hadn't let us put her costume on her before this trip to the Zoo. She would push us away whenever we tried to put it on. We told her that if she put it on at the zoo they would give her candy. She wore it the whole time without complaining. She received many compliments on how cute she was.

Luke was a Ninja this year. He was so excited with the trick or treating, he couldn't wait to get to the next station.

It was a fun thing to go to with the free tickets, and the kids did enjoy the candy that they received. I'd do it again if it was free. All in all it was a fun outing with the family.

Help!

Does anyone have any advice for me? I have some towels that must have sat wet for too long. They have a very faint mildew smell. People who know me well, know that I am very smell oriented. I hate the smell of mildew. I have tried bleach to kill the smell, Febreeze for laundry, (I think that made it worse), and vinegar to try to kill the smell. Nothing seems to help. I have already cut up one of the towels to see if I can stomach using it as a rag, but if the towels smell don't change soon, they will be going in the trash. There's not a lot worse than getting out of the shower, and wiping off your face in a stinky towel. Nasty!
Do you have any ideas I can try to salvage these towels? I hate to waste, and I could spend $ on a lot better things than towels right now. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Family Scripture Study

We read scriptures every night before bed. It is a good way to get the kids calmed down, (but of course there are those nights that everyone is fighting), but for the most part it's a good experience. Two nights ago Livvy grabbed her copy of the scriptures, (she has to have one because everyone else does), flips open to a page and says "And it came to pass." It was so funny.
Tonight as we were reading she was trying to talk over the person who was reading, and she would say loudly, "And it came to pass..." and then start talking about other things we had done today. She is a crack up. Not too many dull moments around here with her and Luke.
Livvy started with another cold this morning and has had to have a couple of breathing treatments. Poor little girl. At least it was warm for Trick or Treating. More on that coming soon.

Mother of the Year

After talking to a friend about her daughter who needed to have her adenoids out, she started telling me the signs and symptoms that could be seen with adenoid issues. As she was describing them to me, I said, "You're describing Luke!" And she was, to the T. Then Luke got a cold and he told me that one nostril was plugged up and that was the one he normally breathed through. In shock, I asked him if he really was only ever able to breath through one side of his nose, and he said yeah. Boy, didn't I feel like a great mom.
We made him and appointment to see his family doc, and they said that sure enough he has a classic adenoid face, checked him out and referred him on to an ENT.
Today we saw the ENT, and she thinks he has a combination of allergy and adenoid problems. She asked if we've ever tested him for allergies and I told her no, they've only ever treated him for them. I thought after I had Livvy tested for allergies it would be smart to test Luke, but did I? Nope. Mother of the Year!
So today Luke had an x-ray done to check out his adenoids, (the physical exam leaned very much to problematic adenoids), and then they are referring him on to an allergist to get the allergies checked out.
She told him after we get these things under control he'll be a whole new boy.

October 18, 2008

Saturday was a long but very great day. Luke had his final soccer game for the season, and we knew that other kids would be gone for the game, so we decided it was important for him to be there so they would even have a team. Luke played a wonderful game, and he never gave up. He played hard the entire game and did very well. Way to go Luke! In years past Luke has played defence extremely well. He used to hate offense, but this year something changed and he loves offense just as much if not more than defence. We sure have loved watching you play.

After the game, we rushed home and got ready to head to the Temple. I got the oil changed and poor Ryan got stuck with packing everything we needed. Ryan did great, and even packed things we needed that we would have never guessed would have needed. Thanks Ryan. It took longer than I anticipated for the oil change, so Luke and I ended up meeting Ryan and Livvy at the rendezvous point. There we got the van ready and met Juli, Paul, Max, and Addison, and then Brendon, Lorri, Natalie, and Gavin.
Due to people being late, we left an half and hour behind schedule. Brendon and Lorri had reservations for the 4:00 session, we left at 2:00, and it takes 2 hours and 15 minutes to make it to the Detroit Temple on a good traffic day. Just after our half way point we ran into construction which put us to one lane, stop and crawl traffic which lasted approximately 10 miles. It felt like forever. We thought that for sure Brendon and Lorri would miss their session. But Ryan never gave up, and on he went. He pulled into the Temple parking lot at 3:59, and the Brendon and Lorri rushed in and made it to their session.
Paul, Juli, Ryan, and I went to a 6:00 Sealing Session. It was so wonderful! What a blessing it is to have Temples here on the Earth, where we are able to do work for those who have gone on before us, and a place where we can be Spiritually fed in abundance. What a great experience.
We stopped and ate at Wendy's and then headed home. We made it home at about 11:30 PM. It was a long but great day.

I gave Juli many reasons to laugh at me on the trip. Ryan can be a crazy and frightful driver in my opinion. And I am admittedly a horrible "side seat driver." I've jokingly asked Ryan how he drives without me pointing out every detail he needs to know about on the road. Juli was so amazed too, at the fact that Ryan just politely smiles while I'm telling him how to drive. Yeah, someday I will cross-stitch that sign that says, "Drive as though you cherish those who in the car with you." It's so hard to not have control when you see other drivers coming toward you.

Nap Time

Do you like the nap time hair? She'll pull her "pretties" out because they get in the way while she's changing clothes.

Nap times are becoming harder with Olivia. She seems to think that she is too big for naps. I put her up in her room and shut the door and hope that she'll go to sleep. She does...after the fashion show she puts on for herself. She gets out of bed and empties her drawers of their clothes, and tries on as many outfits as she can. The other day when she woke up this is the way she was dressed (as shown in the pictures above). It was so funny, and she was mad at me for taking off her beloved pants, aka shirt that she had on. She is a funny girl.
I think I'm going to get her some more hangers and just put toys in her drawers and hang all her clothes up. She will change her clothes all day long. My laundry, which is never ending as it is, is truly overwhelming.

Miles of Smiles

We have a man who has a huge smile covering his face. I'm sure you can guess why.

Ryan received a job offer Thursday and another one Friday. What a happy guy! He will be a Sales Rep for a Medical Supply company. We received an offer with the Boy Scouts as well, which could be a great job, but they need us to move to another place in Western Michigan. That's kind of a downer considering the housing market in Michigan.
Hooray for Ryan! Our prayers were heard and answered. We are very thankful to a loving Heavenly Father who blesses us so much.
We are thankful to our many family and friends who supported us, fasted and prayed with us and for us. We are lucky to have so many good people in our life. Thanks so much to you all!

Once there was a Snowman

Olivia's first song that she can sing from beginning to end is "Once There Was a Snowman." She loves this song. It is so cute to hear her sing it. She also loves "Ring Around the Rosie's," "Popcorn Popping," and "I Love to See the Temple." We love music! I wish I could get her to sing for the camera. Maybe someday.

Mosquitoes

Yesterday evening we went to enjoy the beautiful Fall colors and take some pictures. I don't have any of the pictures to post yet, but hopefully will soon. We sprayed ourselves down with bug spray. But unfortunately someone forgot to tell the mosquitoes that bug spray was supposed to stop them from eating us alive. It was October 13th, and the mosquitoes were SWARMING all around us. It was hard to take pictures with 5- 10 mosquitoes biting you, and just as hard to hold the camera and take pictures when they were feasting on you as well.
The other night we let the dog in just before we went to bed and 8 mosquitoes came swooshing in in the short period of time the door was open. It is a crazy thing this late in the year to have soo many mosquitoes.

Our Phantom

Halloween is fast approaching, and ghosts and goblins roam the streets. Tonight, we sat down to a late dinner. The kids and I had been to a friend's soccer game and Ryan was helping paint a friend's house. So around 8:00 tonight we were sitting at the dinner table and I thought I heard a soft knock at the door. The dog barked to announce that yes, someone had been there. We ran to the door and to our surprise no one was there, but there were 2 boxes full of everything you can imagine. Livvy notices the Chex Mix first thing and says, "Oh, pretzels!" Like pretzels showing up on the doorstep is a common occurrence.

We all were surprised and amazed at ALL the wonderful products stuffed in the boxes; laundry soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, kids soap, regular soap, toilet paper, deodorant, toilet bowl cleaners, Greased Lighting, diapers, wipes, shampoos and conditioners, shave gel, fabric softener, Tylenol, Stove Top Stuffing (Luke's favorite), flour, cereal, sugar, Post its, pasta salad, black beans, kidney beans, mac n' cheese, granola bars, Chex Mix, and crayons.

To our Phantom we send out a huge THANK YOU. We're documenting it all so we can remember, and we figure since the Phantom most likely won't post it, we are for you. Thank you Phantom. We love you. Thanks for your love, and care for our family. May you be blessed for your kindness!

Love,

Katie, Ryan, Luke and Livvy.

Art Time

Cold Season

Olivia has Reactive Airway Disease, and when she gets colds her airways constrict and she starts wheezing. It's a fairly common thing for preemies to get, and she was an itty bitty 6 week preemie. For this she has to have breathing treatments to open up her airways. Up til recently she fought the treatments and screamed and cried. With this cold this week, she was asking for the treatments when she needed them, and insisted on holding it herself. She is growing up.

Jury Duty

Ryan was summoned to jury duty, when he checked in on Monday he was called to report. Then, he was selected as a juror. This came at not the best timing as he could have been in Chicago this week for an interview. But he did his duty. They choose 14 jurors, then by lottery pick 2 just before the jury deliberates as the extras who are excused. Guess whose number got drawn? Yep, Ryan's. He just called and said he is on his way home. Oh, the frustration. Oh well. Next week. The man he's interviewing with is out of town starting tomorrow morning, so next week it will be...unless he could take off right now and make it today. Hmmm, gotta go.

Prayer

Tonight as we were sitting down to dinner, Olivia folded her arms and started saying the blessing all by herself (and without even being asked). Now it wasn't the longest prayer in the world, but my little 2 year 2month old (to the day) said, "Heavenly Father, Dank you por dis day. In da name...Jesus...Amen. It was so cute. She smiled so big afterward.

I was just thinking this morning what a wonderful age this is. It is so neat to hear all that she is learning and retaining. It is just a wonder what developments they make though these stages.

She's Such a Girl

Olivia loves clothes and shoes. She loves to change her outfits all the time. If I am folding clothes, and it doesn't matter whose clothes they are, she has to try them all on. Forget about actually folding them, it's all about fighting her for them because she claims them all as her own. She is especially fond of Luke's pajama shorts. She actually wears them as her "skirt." She puts both legs into the same pant leg and parades around with a lovely tail hanging out behind her. I need to get a picture of that.

When clothes aren't out in the open, she'll head up to her bedroom, open her drawers and pull clothes out to wear. Oh, the screams I hear when she can't get a shirt over her head, or she can't move because both legs are in the same pant leg. You'd think the world was coming to an end.

She wears an outfit for about 5 minutes. How exactly does she get it dirty in that short period of time? I think it's funny that she loves to dress like a dainty little princess, but she plays like a Tonka Truck. She sure is a cutie.

She's the same way about her hair too. She loves to have "Pretties" in her hair, but the longer I spend on her hair, the sooner it's all pulled out.

This little girl sure brings a smile to our faces.

Fair Weather, Foul Weather and All Weather

My friend and I were talking the other day about friends. She said she didn't have fair weather friends, she had foul weather friends, because she knew that whenever she had a need her friends would be there for her.

So I've been thinking about my friends. I have soooo many. I am such a lucky person. I have friends all over the world. I love to catch up with friends and have time to just socialize. I love to take trip based around where we have friends. I love to know what my friends have been up, and love that they want to know about me too. When I travel back to Idaho, I try to visit as many of my friends as possible, and it just confuses my parents. They don't understand how I can, or want to, or have the time to keep in touch with so many friends. I think it's because I don't have "Fair Weather Friends," nor do I have "Foul Weather Friends," but I have "All Weather Friends." Friends who are there for me through the thick and thin, who care about me, and want to and will do anything they can to help. Through both the good and the bad.

So to my ALL WEATHER FRIENDS out there I send a huge hug and thank you to you. Thanks for being who you are, and thanks for all you do. I love you!