Friday, December 26, 2014

Christmas 2014




It has been way too LONG since I've blogged.  My health has been lame since July, and this is the last thing on my mind. But because I love to keep records of our life... I'm determined to start back up again. Unfortunately, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures on Christmas. But I'll share what I have. So here we go.  We had sooo many wonderful people come and carol us at our house.  I love carolers! Lots of yummy treats too.  Here is one family that all have beautiful voices and harmonized so well with one another. They sounded so professional.

Christmas Eve the kids went to bed rather early.  And Santa had come and gone by 11:15pm  So it was nice that I could go to bed earlier.  Christmas morning, I was awoken at 4:55am by a sleep talking toddler.  I could hear a kid or two down stairs. So I got up and it was Isaiah and Sadee. Maci came down shortly after that.  The kids had been awake most of the night.  At 6am, Elijah came down.  Ezra came down at 6:45am.  So finally, 7am, the kids were able to open presents.
Pre opening of the presents
We let Uriah sleep though, because we knew he'd be ornery.  The kids all opened their presents and were very shocked to get tablets this year. 6 tablets = no fighting over turns. It's so nice.  Santa got a great deal on them, otherwise they wouldn't have received them. It was nice opening the presents and the kids were all nice and kind about it.  Years in the past there were comments from a younger kid or two about not getting what they wanted or not getting enough.
Post opening of the presents

Maci got a few wigs for Christmas. After trying them on, I realize that I am definitely not a brunette.She looks great though.






Ezra LOVES his remote control truck!

After we opened presents, we had to get going to Oroville so we could Skype with Cami. 

 


And we made it! Spencer got the parents all connected. It was so much easier talking to her this time around, vs. before. Since we know we'll see her in a few days. So there were no tears, just lots of smiles and laughter.





 
We got to skype with Derek, Jaci, and Logan too. It was awesome!  It had been snowing in Utah, so Derek was about to put in a full days work plowing the storage facilities in the area. I am so thankful for modern technology.
Jason got his predator sweatshirt.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay very long at the Meyers.  We have to take turns at each familes. So Thanksgiving we spend a lot of time at the Meyer's, and Christmas we spend a lot of time at the McOmbers. We got to see Mom, Dad, Spencer, the Harps and Barkeys, but not the Fords. It was weird not being able to see them on Christmas. But we'll see them on NYE. 

At the McOmber's, there was tons of food, presents, & great company.  Not too many pictures from their house though.


The kids got a ton of stuff from Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle T.T. Maybe it just felt like a lot of stuff since it was x's 6. :-)          
My whole life, we have visited with my grandparents every Christmas Day. Once I had my own family, I didn't stop this tradition. We usually go to Great Grandma's house in the evening. But for the first time ever, we weren't able to visit Grandma in her home. She is in a rehabilitation facility right now. Learning how to walk again. So we went there to hang out with her. She was in high spirits and funny as ever. We're just so thankful we go to end our wonderful Christmas Day seeing Great Grandma Meyer. 








Sunday, August 17, 2014

Isaiah turns 12!

What? Isaiah is 12? CRAZY!! I really feel like he should be 5.  That pregnancy, my thoughts and fears, delivering him, the newborn days, it's all so fresh in my mind still.  I just can't believe how time has flown by.

He started the day by opening his presents.  We got him a bike, but it hadn't been delivered yet, so we had a friend of ours who has a huge printer print out the bike for us and we put it on the wall.  Since his bike is his main transportation to and from school, he finally got a heavy duty lock for it too. And the kids all made awesome cute little presents for him.  I also wrote him a poem.  He can be so tender hearted that he wasn't able to even finish the poem because he got all teary eyed and started crying. So Jason finished it. So sweet!
This year our kids have their family party.  Which is we have their favorite dinner and then have cake and icecream just with our immediate family.  But my mom came down this year and brought Joseph, Sophia, and Joel and the kids had a lot more fun having their cousins here than just their siblings!
The crew! 

Nice photo bomb Jason!





The girls wrote and sang a song about Isaiah receiving the Priesthood. It was to the tune of one of the Teen Beach Movie songs. :-)

Grandpa taking a Sunday afternoon nap. I don't know how the heck he slept through all the noise. Ezra didn't seem to mind that grandpa fell asleep while he was reading his book. I love these moments!


Tuesday, August 05, 2014

24th of July at the Sacramento Temple

 On the 24th of July, we had a Primary Temple Activity!  I had never been to one of these. So I didn't really know what to do and what to expect. My 1st counselor and secretary were going to be out of town, but my 2nd counselor was there. We had a decent number of families able to come. We started out by reading a pioneer story related to the building of the Kirtland Temple. then we went on a Temple Grounds Scavenger Hunt. We then came back and played a few pioneer games and ate our picnic lunch. The weather was perfect! It was a great day! I'm so thankful to be able to work with the kids in our area and to be able to help teach them eternal truths!
The Vargas

The Vangs & Thaos

The Henrie's
The Andel's

The Medlar's

Quinatana's, Eberle's & Wyatt's
Little Isaac. The kid's LOVED the Popsicle's at the end of the activity. Each kid had at least 10. 
The kid's learned how to play the Stick Pull game, which was Joseph Smith's favorite game.

The Haag's
Instead of playing tug of war with rope, the kids grabbed onto the person in front of them. I reminded the kids that the Pioneer kids didn't have the things we have today, so they had to make fun with what they had and they were thankful to be able to do so.

Giles, White's, Herger's.
We have about 100 kids come to primary every Sunday.  We weren't able to get them all there of course, but we were so glad for the kids that were able to come.  Families Are Forever!

#7

Well, at the end of June I found out I was pregnant! Yay!! We were so shocked and so excited!! As you might have read in a previous post, we both felt like the Lord didn't want us to have another one yet! So when I found out, I was so shocked!  We told family, and close friends in the area.  For the first time ever in a pregnancy, I felt hesitant about telling everyone though! We usually do right away.  This time I just wanted to wait to hear the heart beat before we announced it to the world.  The first person in the family that I told was Cami since she's on her mission.  We were going to announce it to all of the family on the 4th of July and so excited to do so!  Well, on the 4th, we found out some other awesome news! Derek and Jaci announced that they were having a baby! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I screamed when I found out! I was so happy and excited for them! I decided to wait to tell the family, because I wanted them to have their day!  But guess what, I couldn't wait very long.  That night, we announced it to the kids.  Their reactions were hilarious.  They were totally shocked and didn't even believe us!  It was awesome!  The next day, the kids wanted to tell everyone and we thought, oh boy, we better let our family know first before they start telling people.  So we texted and called family and told them.  Derek & Jaci's baby and ours were going to be 6 weeks apart.  We were excited to have our child have a cousin their age!  Well, a few weeks later... we went to our Dr.'s appointment to hear the heart beat.  By this time I looked pregnant and couldn't hold back any longer from people's questions about being pregnant.  For some reason as soon as I get pregnant ever, my stomach just plops out and I look further along than I am. Our Dr. has been with us for the most part through all of our children and pregnancies.  So thankful for him.  Well, as he checked things out.... he noticed that I was measuring a lot smaller than where I should be according to my dates.  Like by a week and a few days.  Then he checked for a heart beat.  No heart beat....  I could also see it in his face, that things didn't seem right.  He's definitely an optimist, so I knew that since he was hesitant to talk about it, I knew it wasn't good.  He wanted to see my reaction to it as well, to see how to talk to me about it... what a great guy! So, he said that he wanted me to get blood work done to see what my hormone levels were doing.  I asked if I miscarried, what to expect ect ect.  He let me know and then we went on our way.  Well, my thought process began not stressing or freaking out until I knew what the results were.  I also didn't want to tell too many people.  I told my mom of course and some close friends that had been through miscarriages.  I was to find out results on Saturday. From Wednesday to Saturday, the anticipation was killing us.  I was doing ok with everything, but just wanted to know.  Saturday morning I started having braxton hicks contractions.  I knew that was not normal this early.  Saturday we went to Marysville Peach Festival and had a blast.  Saturday afternoon we got home and I read the email from my Dr.  He said that my hormone levels were stagnant and were not going up like they should.  I of course knew what that meant and he said he's calling me on Monday to talk about what we should do.  When I read those words, I wasn't shocked.  I knew that's what it was going to say.  But in the back of my mind and my heart, I wished that's what it wasn't going to say.  I called Jason over and told him and he had a very hard time with the news!  We called the kids in and told them and they actually did very well.  I texted all of my family and friends and let them know that I had miscarried.  I was bummed, but had total faith in our Heavenly Father that He knows what's best for our family.  That feeling that we had that it wasn't time for another yet, was spot on!  On Monday, I attended a funeral for a friend and wasn't able to talk to the Dr. that day.  A lot of women that I knew at the funeral saw me and asked if I was pregnant.  I knew people would ask... so I prepared myself by praying a lot and reading even more about faith before Monday.  I was thankful to be able to handle it gracefully and not break down or become angry.  On Tuesday I talked to the Dr.  We decided on doing the miso pill to get things started.  I had our Primary Temple Activity on Thursday that I was in charge of and had to be too. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me be able to do the activity and knew He would.  So I decided start it Thursday night after the activity. I continued to have braxton hicks contractions, but no cramping.  I asked Heavenly Father to really let me know that it was over with so I wouldn't hurt the baby if it was ok.  Well, when I asked, my contractions got stronger.  Ok, my question was answered.  The week dragged on.  I was ok, but just scared.  I've never been through this before and didn't know what to expect.  Some friends had awful awful experiences and some it didn't really phase them a whole lot.  So I asked my friends lots of questions.  The Primary Activity at the Temple was nice.  And afterwards, I was able to go hang out at my friend Joalea's for a little bit and just sit and relax and talk about nothing and get my mind off of things. On the way back from the Temple and Joaleas, I hit major traffic through Roseville, so glad not to live there anymore, and I was soooo nervous.  I went and picked up my prescription and then we headed home.  We got home and I went and did what I needed to do.  I felt like it was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time, but at the same time I felt so much love and comfort.  I expressed to Jason how scared I was and he said, "I don't think we should have anymore kids. I hate seeing you have to go through this and I hate seeing you go through pain." I instantly said, "I don't care what I have to go through.  It's an honor and a privilege to bring children into this world and I'll keep doing it until the Lord let's us know otherwise."  With the process, I was prescribed some heavy pain meds too.  I took the 600 mg of ibprofen and was told to take it to keep swelling down.  So I took it.  I didn't like what it did to me and how it made me feel.  I felt like I had been drugged and was a zombie.  I started watching 17 Miracles and I'm so glad I did.  I'm glad I went through this on Pioneer Day.  It made me feel so thankful and not whine and complain and have a total mental breakdown since I was able to focus on the amazing pioneers and what they endured!  I also watched Karate Kid and that just made me feel like a kid again.  As the night continued, I experienced pain like I did when I had endometriosis!  It seemed just like it.... except I didn't have major pain killers when I went through that horrible time with the endo.  I slept in until noon the next day and had weird dreams about my dad buying a mortuary and showing up at our house in a new white hearst so excited and happy for his new venture. HA! Weird!  I finally rolled out of bed at 12:26pm and realized it was the first time since I've had Uriah that I actually got to rest and sleep after 8:30am.  My body really needed it apparently!  I didn't like how I felt though with the meds, so I stopped taking them.  I got up and came down stairs and felt so weak.  I just laid on the couch and took several naps throughout the day and watched lots of black and white old TV shows. It has been quite the day today! But full of so many blessings!

I am thankful to have experienced this trial in my life.  I'm not happy too, but thankful!  Thankful to be able to be more empathetic to those that have gone through it and are going to go through it.  Thankful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and that everything like this happens for a reason and everything will be ok!  I know I am not alone through this and know that Heavenly Father and our Savior is fully aware of me and I know they're both there for me! Heavenly Father has also sent many wonderful friends into my life that have helped me through this, and I am eternally grateful to them.  And my sister in law Christina was ready to drop everything to come help us.  I have friends that have experienced it a lot too.  Some 3 times, some 5.  One person I know of had 20, in vitro!  These women are amazing!  Any woman that goes through it is amazing!  And I'm thankful of their examples of faith and for their strength.  Why do I even talk about this on my blog?  Because I am so thankful to have gotten pregnant again.  Even though the baby didn't stay with us, it's a life that should be celebrated!  A life that I was thankful to carry for awhile! Do I regret telling people about my pregnancy? Not at all!  I will do it again too if we have the opportunity to have anymore.  It's also made me so much more thankful for pregnancies that actually make it.  It's actually such a delicate process that we don't really think a whole much about.  But now I'm that much more thankful for the 6 healthy pregnancies I've had.... when before I just remembered the hardships and issues I experienced with them.  It's been quite a journey though and I know it's not totally over yet.  But thankful for the things we've learned from it.

To our dear, sweet #7.... til we meet again!


The End of an Era

Last Friday morning, our family's warehouse burnt down.  It was near the corner of Ophir and Lincoln in Oroville.  My grandparents own a bunch of property back in there and it was my grandpa's headquarters for his beekeeping business.  I think he bought the property 60 years ago and put the warehouse up on it.  This place has so many memories for the Meyer Family.  It looks like an eye sore to everyone else though.  It was pretty much like a monument for our family.  My grandpa's grave site at the cemetery is even in a spot where we could see the warehouse.  We knew that someday Grandma would pass away and we would sell her house, but we would always have the warehouse in the family. There are so many memories out there.  It was my grandpa's 2nd home.  If we wanted to see him during the week, that's where we went.  He was always tinkering around, building things, inventing things. He taught us grandchildren how to work hard!  He wasn't able to pay us a lot, but we didn't care.  We just loved being there with him and I value that hard work ethic that he taught me there.  One memory that I remember is when we were putting sugar water into 2 liters containers, Derek was wearing a red or yellow shirt and was covered in sugar water.  He went out to storage containers away from the warehouse and we just saw him running as fast as he could with his arms flailing all over the place.  I can't remember super well, but I think he went near some hives and the bees could smell the sugar water on him and decided to try to get friendly with him.  I'm glad nothing bad happened to him.... but we all learned a valuable lesson that day! Never go near the hives while covered in sugar water.  The warehouse was always dirty.  The smell of oil, dirt, honey, and grime was always prominent there. It's actually the smell that my grandpa always carried! I unfortunately have not been there for a year.  But it was always comforting to me, driving into town and looking over at the warehouse.  Just made life feel more safe and made me feel all giddy inside.  Well, we don't know exactly how it burnt down. There was a trailer that was parked behind it.  And we think some transient was living in it. Because the fire started in the trailer.  My brother's had a bunch of stuff stored in the warehouse and there was some bee equipment in there as well.  The whole back half is destroyed. It just makes me sad to think that it's gone.... it's the end of an era that I wish my kids could experience as well.

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Au revoir truck!

My father in law, Steve, bought this truck brand new in 1988.  He had it for years!  A few years ago, he decided that it was time to get a new one that was more reliable.  So he gave this to Jason.  Jason used it every now and then, but not a whole lot.  He took Isaiah fishing and hunting in it.  We got loads and loads of rock and dirt for our back yard.  But it still didn't get used a whole lot.  It needed new tires, and it was starting to have issues with it that we couldn't afford to fix.  So, we decided to sell it.  It was actually harder than we thought it'd be to get rid of it.  But we sold it to a man whom is giving it to his 15 year old son.  He wants him to learn to work on it and fix it and it was nice to see that he was excited for it and thankful for it.  Poor Isaiah though cried all morning long.  He thought he was going to be driving it someday.  I do feel bad.... but it's better in the long run.  One strange thing that I do, is memorize the sounds of vehicles.  I know my neighbors... I know ours.  And the sound of this truck starting up is very specific.  I will miss the sound.  I will miss driving it too.  We are thankful for chance we had to have it in our lives! And are thankful to Steve for giving it to us! It really did help us so much and saved us a lot of money.  Goodbye old truck!


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

McOmber's at Empire Mine

 We wanted to go somewhere interesting with grandma and grandpa McOmber. So we took them up to Empire Mine in Grass Valley. I'm always amazed by the place and think it's beautiful! If was definitely exciting when Jason came 6" from stepping on a rattle snake that was just cruising along. That thing was huge too! Glad no one got hurt!
Grandpa and the kids in front of a mine shaft.
Isaiah and Uriah
On one of the cars in a mine shaft that the men would ride down on.

The crew in front of the cottage.



Exercise

 I recently started exercising. Nothing big or major, but just walking and bike riding. We are surrounded by orchards and lots of agriculture here in our little community. While I was riding out towards the river the other day, I saw the sun flower fields and bee hives!  My grandpa was a beekeeper and seeing them made me so happy! I love little things in life like this that can make us happy. What little things make you happy?

Our Wedding Anniversary Date! Yankee's vs. A's

 Jason is awesome!  I told him that the Yankee's were coming to Oakland and it was my last chance to see Derek Jeter play!  We had gone to a Yankee's game in the Bronx, before they made the new Stadium, but the game got rained out! I literally cried while standing there in Yankee's Stadium. Anyway, so Jason said we should go see them play. We were even going to try to sit up front on the 1st base line, but they didn't have two that were side by side. So we ended up in row 25, behind the Yankee's Dugout. It was AWESOME! Now, I'll admit, I use to crush on Derek Jeter, before I met Jason.  I mean, a girl has to dream about someone that's an untouchable when she's single, right?  Once I met Jason, I didn't need to dream anymore about him. But, I still followed him and the Yankees and I have to say, he's really a great guy. I never ever get all star struck... but I have to admit, I did get all giddy when I saw him and wanted to hop the fence and run to get his autograph. HA! I think he and Mia Hamm are the only people I feel that way about.  So the game was awesome and the Yankee's won! I think Jason had more fun watching the people.  The people all around us were A's fans, and they were all respectful!  Of course most people were drunk, but there were at least no fights.  The food was overpriced, but it was fun to experience it all! My mom came down and watched the kids for us! It was so nice of her! I was worried about Uriah though. But I guess he was really good at first.  And then when it was time for bedtime, he started freaking out.  Isaiah took care of him though and that calmed him down. We came right home and got home at 12:30am. So it was a nice quick trip down to Oakland. It was seriously the most fun we had had together in a long time! I do have to say that I will miss watching Derek play! It just won't be the same!  But I do thank him for all the years of amazing hits and plays! It's been fun!


Fort Bragg Retreat


While we were at Big River, the kids loved playing in the sand!
Uriah loved playing with the soccer ball!
Uriah and Ruby
I thought this pic was funny.... The guys all threw their bocce ball at once and Isaiah and Jason have the same stance! Like father like son!
No trip is complete without our van not starting.  The kids are ALWAYS getting in the van and leaving lights on.
The crew!
Our kids absolutely loved the ocean!
Sadee especially loved the waves!
Some of the kids! I loved how they kept each other safe!
Sisters

Elijah and Kaylee

The men! How do they look so clean still on the 4th day?
They had the whole camp to play on but wanted to play in the van! Ruby, Ezra, Brigham and Uriah
The girls day 4 of camping. Brandy is the 1st coun. and Lisa is the secretary.
Isaiah and Dallin
Dale taking a picture of the kids at Glass Beach
Elijah loves to climb
Ezra was determined to get the seaweed out of the ocean.

So I'm in the Primary Presidency, which is our children's organization at church. We work our heads off together, but never get to have "fun" together. We do have fun, but not a relaxing fun, ever!  So I thought it would be nice to get away with our families and just have some relaxing fun!  So we went south of Fort Bragg to a place called Van Damme and camped.  The kids had a blast! Poor Jason was sick the whole time with a sinus infection, yet had a good attitude about things.  I didn't take a shower the whole time..... blah! But highlights of our trip included... - It was Uriah, Ezra and Elijah's first time seeing the ocean and playing at an ocean beach.  - Everyone got along! There was no stress, no time outs, no fighting, no kids talking back. Just great company! - We each took turns cooking dinner for everyone. It was fun to taste the different recipes. I even learned about dutch oven cooking! - Ezra decided to drop his pants and go #2 in the woods.  I told him that he couldn't do that because he would stink up the beautiful woods. He said, "Mom, I sorry I made the woods stinky." HA! - The ocean made me so giddy and excited! I could've stay there on the beach the whole time and would've been in heaven! - Maci threw up on the 3rd night all over her stuff.  The Kerr's came to the rescue and did everything! Jason was knocked out from cold meds and I was so out of it, due to a tossing baby next to me every night. She ate something that didn't agree with her... so glad it was that and not a bug! - The weather was perfect! It wasn't even that cold at night like we always experienced growing up. - Isaiah was taking a shower on the last morning and forgot to lock the door. A random man walked in on him! Haha! - Everyone loved the tide pools. - Being there brought back soooooo many memories! Memories with my family and my cousins.  Memories of going every Labor Day weekend with our church friends! Memories of going with the Rotars. A memory of even going as an adult while Jason and I were dating and we broke up while we were there. HA! Lots of great memories though and I'm thankful for! I really want to create these memories for my kids too!  I would have to say it was definitely a successful relaxing retreat! So sad Cheri, the 2nd coun. and her family couldn't come.  She had just had a baby and then announced the day we got back that they're moving to Idaho! NOOOOO!!! We will miss her and her family so much!