Hospitals are no fun!!

At the end of October Buzz got appendicitis. After three straight days of visiting the doctor (and a trip to the imaging center for an ultrasound in which they couldn't see the appendix) they finally sent him to the hospital so that a surgeon could look at him. His pain was not in the lower right quadrant of his abdomen where the appendix is located. He was hurting just below and a little to the left of his belly button. The surgeon came in and felt his tummy and told us that she could feel a big huge air bubble in there, but that she didn't think it was appendicitis. She said that kids can be weird with appendicitis so she still wanted to get a CT just to rule it out. After she left, I looked at Mufasa and said, how much is this air bubble going to cost us???? We were all thinking it wasn't appendicitis because that's what they kept telling us. After the CT, the nurse came in and told us that is definately was appendicitis and that they were warming up the operating room. In about 30 minutes, they were ready for him. They let Mufasa and I accompany him to the OR waiting and sit with him until they were ready for him. We took a couple pictures with Mufasa's phone of him waiting for surgery. He was not a happy camper. After surgery, the surgeon said that he was lucky because it had not yet ruptured, but that it was close. He came home from the hospital two days before Halloween. The worst part of the entire ordeal was trick-or-treating. He tried to go and only made it to two houses before he was hurting too bad. He was pretty bummed, but Mulan was nice and shared her take of the candy. I am happy to report that after missing two full weeks of school, and losing five pounds he is finally back to his old self. He is making up for all of the lost meals, eating like a horse!!! We are glad he is back!!

Sisters!!!

One day not too long ago before church, Anastasia got the idea to do Mulan's hair. Now if you know anything about Mulan, she is no girly girl! She would much rather be in control of a soccer ball or basketball than a curling iron. Anastasia is such a great big sister that she convinced Mulan that it would be a great idea to curl her hair because then they could be twins. Mulan loves her older sister and will do almost anything for her. She has even let Anastasia paint her fingernails, now that's love! I had no idea that Mulan's hair could curl like it did. It was so cute and it just made her look so much older. Mulan is so lucky to have such a great big sister!!!

Homecoming 2009

Anastasia went to homecoming this past Saturday night. Her dress was made by her dates mother. It turned out really cute and she was very happy with it. They had a good time.

Very Cute Hair!!

Mufasa helping out!

Pretty nails and corsage

Anastasia is 17!!

October is here and my baby girl is 17! Anastasia shares her birthday with her great grandpa on my mom's side and also with my sister, Jaimee. My sister, Hollee had some great thoughts on Stefanie's birthday. She said that our grandpa would have been 100! He passed away about 8 years ago if I remember right. That got me thinking about all of the wonderful memories I have of him. I remember being a kid and having him be funny and take his teeth out for me. My older kids remember that about him as well. I guess when you can take your teeth out, you will be remembered!! He was a great man, obstinate but nonetheless very caring. He had a great sense of humor and would often say, "Damn it to Hell Anyway!" He liked to play the organ and I remember listening to him sitting in their home that was next to my parents house. He and my grandma were snowbirds, and would stay the summers in Bend, and the winters in Yuma, Arizona. I remember how worried I was about them when he was 92 years old and driving a motorhome towing a car from Bend to Yuma. He was stubborn and was not about to let anyone do it for him! I miss him alot but I also know that because of him I'm determined to live my life out at least as long as him and I'll probably be just as stubborn!! When Marty and I are 92, we'll be flitting around the country visiting all of our familiy!!!
Hollee also said that she was 17, when Anastasia was born. Now Hollee is blessed to be having another baby girl and Anastasia will be 17 when she is born. She remembers my mom calling her at school to tell her that Anastasia had been born. Hollee and her friend then went shopping for pink things!! Time just seems to go by so fast. How can Anastasia be 17 and I not feel any older than about 25??? It's an amazing world that we live in!!
We had a surprise birthday party for Anastasia at the Hong Kong Restaurant. This restaurant is owned by the parents of one of her friends from gym. She had about seven of her gym friends at the restauarant when we got there and boy did she jump when they all popped out!! My parents joined us as well as two friends from school so we had a great time. We ate chinese food, had a wonderful cake and had a good time. Anastasia has been pretty sick since last Friday so she made it through the party pale and all. Of course, I forgot my camera so when we got home I took a few pictures of her.

Family Pictures!!

No easy task! I scheduled it a month before and told everyone to clear their schedules for that evening. I explained that it was expected that all seven of us would be present at the family picture. It is not a request, it is a requirement is what I told one of the kids. Sometimes I dread family pictures because there's always the, "What am I supposed to wear?" conversation. "Do I have to wear that?" I think the biggest problem with the what to wear issue is me for several reasons. First, I don't exactly have a huge wardrobe. Second, I love t-shirts and could live in them. Third, I hate to shop for clothes therefore I only buy things when Mufasa is with me. Needless to say, I have not been shopping in a while. So one night while picking up soccer shoes for Mulan at Fred Meyer, I quickly browsed through the clearance rack (I love great deals, just hate looking for them) and picked out two shirts that I thought might be appropriate picture shirts and bought them. What the heck, 50% percent off the lowest price, they came to about seven bucks each. Didn't try them on, just pluck and go and hope it fits! Hmmm.. I wonder what Mufasa will wear because if he wears his black shirt, than this black one probably won't work. Oh well, that's why I got two. The next day, picture day, I was still worried about my wardrobe so Wall-E and I went to Macys real quick to see if they might have anything. After five minutes in the store I had several items and of course I was forced to try them on, which I despise. I picked out two, which happened to be on the clearance racks and paid for them. I was somewhat relieved knowing that at least I might have something to wear (upon Mufasa's approval). As the evening approached we all piled into the burb and off to Hendricks Park. Every day that week had been sunny and beautiful but of course this day was cloudy and dreary. Normally good for pictures but in the evening the darkness came fast. Brenley took our pictures and they are good. I miss Emily's pictures!! I guess the end of the journal entry could go something like this......"Mission accomplished!"

Mulan's 11th Birthday!!

Mulan celebrated her 11th birthday on Friday. Here are some of her favorite things. She is still an avid reader and spends at least an hour or two each day reading whatever she can get her hands on. We frequent the library quite often in the summer. She loves basketball and has gone to a couple of basketball day camps this summer. She also likes soccer and is going to a soccer camp this week. She recently got contacts, we thought that would be better than glasses in the rain during soccer! She gave a talk in primary on Sunday and she wrote the talk herself. She even took the time to memorize the scripture of the month for primary and most of her talk was memorized. She was pretty proud of herself for writing her own talk. Needless to say, we were very impressed and it was a great talk! She is such a great girl and we just love her so much. People often tell us how lucky Mulan and Buzz are to have us, but what they don't realize is that WE are the lucky ones. She is truly and incredible girl and a wonderful person!

Once again, Anastasia made the cute cake!!

Mulan, Anastasia and Gracie

Wall-E

Get them all!!!

Four cute kids! Lightning McQueen was in California.