There went those good intentions!

I certainly haven't been very diligent about keeping up my 'Year in the Life of a Large Family,' have I?  I've been way too busy and having too much fun with genealogy to sit down and post about it all.

Quick upate on everyone:

Jared, Miranda and Makenna: Miranda graduates from Nursing school in a few weeks. She has a job interview at a local hospital in a few days. Makenna is getting so big. She's 4 1/2.

Jake, Arianne, Scotty and Stevie: Scotty fell off his bike and down our patio cement stairs and broke his arm. He had to have surgery so the doctor could place pins in his elbow. Stephen is just about walking, he's in that topsy-turvy stage where he falls a lot.

Jesse, Sage and Jaidyn went back home after staying with us for a few months. They've settled in to their new home and Jaidyn celebrates her one year birthday this week.

Sarah, Nathan, Isaiah and Lizzie: They're back in the USA from S. Korea. They're staying with us and will move to Utah this coming month. Sarah is expecting. (Yay!) Isaiah can "mad dog" with the best of them. Once he warms up to you he's a ton of fun. Elizabeth (Lizzie) is the cutest thing around. She has the pouty lip perfected when she doesn't get her way. She also is tough as nails just like her mom.

Joe: Joe is engaged and will marry Francesca (Frankie) in May. They've had eyes for one another since 2006 or so. He's working full time, coaching soccer part time, and playing soccer a few times a week.

James: James is a senior with Heritage Christian School. He helps me with driving the younger kids around. He was recently in a fender bender on our road, but everyone was okay.

John: John earned his driver's permit a few months ago. He likes driving dad's sporty car vs. my eight seater mini-van....can't imagine why. John has several jobs that he does to earn money for himself. He's a hard worker and others recognize that.

Joel: Joel is our quiet boy who flies under the radar. He's an avid football fan and loves the Colts. He's doing really well in school by studying a lot. He's going to play on the school soccer team this season.

Addis: Addis and I have had a rough couple of months. I think we're on the other side of it though. She recently pulled out of the school she was going to with John and Joel because of her math scores and is now homeschooling. We found that her understanding of previous math concepts wasn't very strong. She took a Teaching Textbooks math placement test and she's going backwards two years. She loves it as she can go at her pace whether that's two lessons or ten in a row. She also joined our homeschool Heritage Christian School just in time to join the three day basketball camp held at Alliant University. We're hoping she is picked up for one of the basketball teams and should find out this week.

Abi: Abi just finished a stellar volleyball season with Heritage Christian School. It was her first time playing and she was placed on the Junior Varsity B team. Some of her friends were on the team, and she made new friends, and let's face it....friends are what Abi is all about. She had two amazing coaches and she loved playing. She is also hoping to play basketball this coming season.

Amy: (Meskerem) This girl has come a long way. She is one of the most affectionate fun-loving girls around. She's homeschooling and also went to basketball camp. We were allowed to have her use a glove on her right hand because of her burn and scar tissue. We found a football glove, but she didn't use it until the third day of camp. I just wanted her to have something in case the irritation to the hand was too much.

Anna: Anna is a sweetie pie. She also wants to help me in any way she can. She too went to basketball camp, but the physical activity wears her out. She's just not as much as an active girl as the other girls. She'd much rather draw, paint, read a book, or cook. She takes a doll class with the other two girls and they make things for their dolls.

Adah: Adah is our resident informant. If you want to know something that's going on in the family you ask Adah. She too played basketball and took it very seriously as she does with most things. She's a little mommy with her nieces and nephews and loves the idea that they're younger than she is.

Me: I've been busy keeping up with all of the above people. I learned how to line judge for volleyball. I'm working in the nursery at church. I teach at three different Class Days, and help in the Preschool class. I celebrated my birthday at Etna's Pizza and afterwards at La Jolla Shores swimming in the warm water.

I did have a health scare after slamming on my brakes the next day. It caused some internal bleeding which resulted in test after test after test. Pretty sure I'm okay since I'm up at at 'em, and pruning our oak trees for hours on end.

Steve: He's working hard as usual! You can find him at work, an elder meeting, Bible study, or with us. We've gone to a lot of concerts this year. This week we get to see Fleetwood Mac AGAIN!!!!

A Year in the Life - Week One - Day 1 and 2

Today I was thinking about faithfully blogging every day for a whole year. I know I'll miss days here and there. So much happens in my family that I thought someday the kids might like to look back and see what we did.

I'll start with this last week.

A friend of ours plays in a Lynryd Skynrd cover band called Skynrds Innyrds. He is a guitar player in the band and we had never heard him play so we thought we would go to the show. They were fantastic! We (mom and dad) love rock music, and they did a really good job and sounded just like Lynyrd Skynryd. https://www.facebook.com/SkynyrdsInnyrds

Sunday we went to church and watched the last DVD session in our Sunday school class. We've been going through the series The Art of Marriage. It's a six session series and covers the topics listed below.

1. Love Happens: God’s Purpose and Plan
2. Love Fades: Overcoming Isolation
3. Love Dances: Fulfilling Our Responsibilities
4. Love Interrupted: Communication and Conflict
5. Love Sizzles: Experiencing Real Intimacy
6. Love Always: Leaving a Lasting Legacy

We both come from families of divorce. Both sets of parents are divorced. My dad divorced his first wife and married my mother, and then he remarried twice after my mother My paternal grandparents were divorced. We have had to make a conscious decision to do things differently than the way we were raised. We needed to break the cycle. It's not always easy, but we made a vow until death do us part. We renewed our vows in 2011 after our thirty year anniversary. All our children were here so we asked our pastor if he was available and we renewed our vows in our front yard.

After our vow renewal we had a friend who is a photographer take some family pictures. It's not often we're all in the same place. Since that picture above we've added one daughter and four grandchildren to the mix. We now have thirteen children ages 31-7, and our oldest grandchild is four.

So you can see why I'm going to make a little daily diary. I would never remember all of this, but if I write it down now, the kids will thank me later. I hope.

New Year's Eve party

Last night we invited a few families over for New Year's Eve and ended up with over fifty people. Thankfully we live on four acres so the teens and younger kids were able to run around outside in the dark and sit by the bonfire.

We had French dip sandwiches which are just roast beef on roles served with Au jus gravy. I bought twenty pounds of chuck roast at Costco. In the morning I browned the roasts in olive oil and had grilled some onions at the same time. After they were browned I stuck them in the oven, three roasting pans in all, and then later in our electric roaster. Before everyone arrived I shredded the meat and started the Au jus gravy. We used little French rolls to hold the meat. Everyone brought drinks, desserts, appetizers, salads, s'more fixings, and a vegetarian lasagna.

The adults played Apples to Apples and the kids ran around having a great time. Some went home early, but almost forty people were still here at midnight. We had party horns, hats, beads, and sparkling cider to greet the new year.

This morning was clean-up time and later in the day a well deserved nap. I had all but one of my children home, and for that I am truly thankful.

This last year brought us two grandbabies, a high school graduation, an honor roll student, a daughter and her children moving in with us, and many other blessings. I know 2014 is bringing us an ending to our time with our son Joe as he heads off to boot camp in April. It brings Jesse and his family back to us though. We'll see Sarah and her family heading to their new duty station, and that's all I know about. I'm curious to see what the rest of the year holds. Happy New Year and hopefully you have a restful rest of the week.

Father's Day 2013

Steve & Sons

                                                     Steve & Daughters

                                                    Steve & all the girls

                                                     Me, Steve and our 13 kids

                      

 

                                                Jared, Miranda & Makenna

Let's continue on with our June activities

So June was ridiculously busy. The weekend after Jared's 30th birthday party we threw a combined high school graduation party for Joe and his friend. Since the party was at the bay all of the supplies and party goods needed to be packed up and taken down there.

Joe works for a friend from church who has a kayak business, and we were able to rent the kayaks for the day. At one point Steve and I were able to go out with four couples/friends and kayak around the bay. Exquisite views and we could have stayed out there all day, but had to get back in since we were the party hosts.

Here's a few pics of the grandkids.

 

A favorite of my daughter-in-law Miranda.

 

In between both parties we still had school happening for the girls. I was asked to help at the Wacky Olympics. My station was helping with the whipped cream pies. Three pieces of taffy were placed at the bottom of a bowl with whipped cream on top. No hands were used and the team that finished first won. I decided that taffy was a choking hazard when trying to eat fast with whipped cream right behind it. Yuck! I can't figure out why the vertical pics are coming out horizontal and I'm not able to rotate them. hmmm....

 

She was in a run-off with him. He's checking on his competition.

                                       Love how she just picked it up to eat.

June, June, June

June has turned out to be so far my busiest month. I haven't danced through it gracefully at times, in fact I can usually be found doing that funky dance that Elaine Benes did on Seinfeld. But July is just around the corner.

We've had school finals and MAP testing, two school pool parties, two used curriculum sales where I shopped not sold, a dermatology appt., eleven dentist appts., Awana Awards, my oldest son's 30th birthday and his party, I had two haircuts in one day, helped on a field trip, helped at the Wacky Olympics at school, my high school senior went to his senior prom, threw a graduation party at the bay for Joe and his friend, our third son and his wife are here visiting, went to two school award ceremonies, high school graduation, my two middle school boys went to Mexico on a short-term mission trip, I've worked in the preschool and nursery at church, helped out at the Ethiopian church on two Sundays in the 1st-2nd grade rooms, VBS for a week, and we're hosting a combined co-ed baby shower for two of my sons and their wives. WHEW! Are you tired yet? I'm losing my noodle.

                                                       Joe ready for prom.

I found this chart online and reconfigured it. At the Ethiopian church the kids were told to have the names of   

Jacob's wives, their handmaidens, and his sons memorized. I found this and found it helpful for myself.

Joe receiving a scholarship from the PTSA.

Dad with Abi Mulu and Addis

The birthday boy

                                                         Arianne & Scotty

                                      Distressed Makenna because she has sand on her hands.

                                                         Smiley face Elizabeth

                                                     Miranda & Makenna

                                                 Sarah & Elizabeth

                                                    Meskie

                                                               Anna

                                                         A boy and his stick

more pics tomorrow......

To Arizona and Back

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've posted. The time has flown since we have added three family members to our household. Sarah and her two children have moved in with us for the next year while her husband is deployed.

The two youngest girls, John, and myself drove to Sarah's to clean her house and move them to our house. Since they lived on base she was given a three page cleaning list for her house and yard that needed to be accomplished before they could pass inspection so she could leave. We cleaned under, inside and around the fridge, closet door and sliding door tracks, inside and outside of cupboards and shelves, washed windows, raked the yard, you name it we did it. We were up well past midnight cleaning since we could get a lot done while the two little ones were sleeping.

The movers came the first day so that meant no furniture, no beds, no pots and pans, nothing! Thankfully I had brought my air mattress that I bought myself. Poor Sarah though was sleeping on the floor with a nursing baby.

We had debacle after debacle which at the time didn't seem very funny, but now they give us great stories to tell. My fifteen passenger van was loaded to the gills and off we went in our two car caravan, needing to pull over a little early so Little Miss could nurse. The little ones were crying part of the way so Sarah was a little frazzled by the time we got home, but I had the older kids and our van was a little quieter except for my music.
                                          

It's been a month and we're having fun with our grandson/nephew and our granddaughter/niece. Having little ones does take a little getting used to again. Things don't seem to stay put very long where we put it. Isaiah likes to explore and has his own ideas on where things should go. And poor Elizabeth, my goodness, she's so starved for attention. NOT. That girl is picked up so much that Sarah only has to hold her to feed her. If it's not grandma or grandpa picking her up she has all of her aunts and uncles as well. Poor thing. :-)





We've settled into our new normal for the next year and look forward to our Jesse boy and Sage girl coming home this month for a two week visit, adding in two more to our Crazy, Big, Happy Family. By the way-Jesse and Sage are expecting!!!! We're adding grandbaby #6!!!

 

My new mug

I was serving in the church nursery a few weeks ago when a friend of mine brought me a little gift. She said when she saw it she thought of me. I was delighted that she would think of me while she was out shopping and even more delighted when I saw what it was.

It was a perfect gift! She knows me well since she grew up with my oldest boys. I do embarrass my children quite frequently. I kiss them when we're out in public. I dance in the car with them. I say things outloud that I'm thinking at the moment-good or bad. I threaten them within an inch of their lives if they misbehave when we're out. Sometimes I'm loud and obnoxious and sometimes not. My daughter used to beg me, "Please don't talk to anyone here!" She asked that because I strike up random conversations with strangers. So on that day a lady came from across the grocery store to strike up a conversation with me. I looked at my daughter with a smile. The lady said, "I just wanted to tell you how beautiful your skirt was." I thanked her and I looked at my daughter and said, "She pursued me and started the conversation. I had nothing to do with that." My daughter looked at me shaking her head and thinking I'm sure something along the lines of what was on the cup, "Oh, why does my mom have to be so embarrassing?" It's my job, honey, it's my job.

Life at full speed

Seems as though I don't have time to blog or post little pictures here and there. Life is happening at breakneck speed and I just try to stay on top of the chaos.

I hesitate to blog when I do have time because I really don't have any lightbulb moments to share with you, I don't think that deeply that I could share some unknown wisdom on how things work or enlighten you to change your life or give you some wild wisdom. I'm just a wife, mom of thirteen, grandma to four trying to get through the day.

I'm lucky if I get some laundry going and a meal or two made. It doesn't help that I've been losing weight which means I don't cook the yummy stuff I normally do. I'm slowly starting to getting back to cooking my yummy meals, but that means I can't eat very much of what I cook. Seems as though I'm usually hungry, but that's okay. As long as I get my frozen yogurt with granola I'm good.

Tonight I made Black Bean soup. My daughter-in-law made a yummy salad with different lettuces, avocado, tomatoes, and onions. My husband brought home flour tortillas to go with the soup. We put a dollop of sour cream on the soup too to give it a little somethin', somethin'.

My second son and his family have been living with us for the last few weeks. They sold a house and are buying a house. While all the legal and financial things are being settled we get them for a bit. I've enjoyed having little Scotty Boy around. The first week he would wiggle free from my arms, but now he's resigned to the idea that gma is going to scoop him up and kiss his cute little face so he might as well enjoy it. :-) He's now laying his head on my shoulder if he's tired.

Usually we have our oldest granddaughter with us several times a week. I love how the different ages work together and how we all learn patience from different ages being around. Our youngest is six and our granddaughter is three. So in someways they could be sisters or cousins. One helps the other and they both exasperate the other. It will be so much fun for them when they're older and they have a close relationship with each other.

Two times a week I've been going to acupuncture to help loosen my facial muscles and nerve endings from the Bell's Palsy. It is helping and the acupuncture has helped my health in other ways also. When I go I have needles from my ankles to my head, sometimes as much as 27 or so needles in my face. Try scratching your nose when you can't move. Some days I'm in a room with up to three other people. I'm afraid to go to sleep, we lie there for an hour, because I just know I'm going to snore. I can't not snore when I sleep, but I really don't want others to know that. It's bad enough my family knows!!!

I just took our little Meskerem to the doctor yesterday. She's growing and thriving. Last year it was estimated that she would be 5' given her size and this year she has grown so much the dr. predicts she will be 5'3" and possibly taller if she is younger than her legal age like we think she is.

We've had birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays! James, Addis, Abi, and John celebrated as well as our granddaughter. We've had parties, dinners, and lots of fun. Abi wanted to take her friends out for Ethiopian food. They loved it!


The three youngest girls have been taking swimming lessons. I need them to know how to get to the side of the pool. They can't wear floaties forever!!! We've been doing that twice a week for the last few months and we'll continue through April. Living in Southern California we NEED to be water safe.

That's just a glimpse into what has been happening around here.

Beach in November

 

My extended family lives in Washington and Florida and the Washington contingent couldn't wait to see the ocean. I had Joe take them while I was out with Joel. They went to La Jolla Shores and some other beaches. My mom loves the ocean and everything about it.

                                   My brother heading down to the water.

                            My mom and my niece Sierra heading down too.

Mom and Sierra

                                             Sierra looks cold.

                                                My brother Joe and Sierra

                                          Cousins! Kylie, Sierra & Joe