Now that takes Courage...

My cute cousin Becca keeps a very entertaining and informative blog. She updated it yesterday with an interesting turn of events in the life of her little brother, my cousin Jonny. Below is her post:

Remember this and this and this. My little bro and his cutie wife went from a family of three to five in just 3 months . . . that is right- a three-year old, a one-year old and a new born. Intimidating right? Should they add another?

Six day's ago Alli's biological mom gave birth to another son. Yesterday CPS called Jaimee and Jonny and told them about the baby and asked if they would be interested in taking the baby. They decided to take a few days to pray about it. CPS called today and said the baby needed a home tonight and it was either them or the foster care system. If you know my brother and Jaimee you know that hearts don't come bigger . . baby Riley was delivered 45 minutes later(shortest delivery ever). Adoption isn't guaranteed, but it is likely.

Riley was born January 21st, his biological mother sent him home with another inmate who had just been released. CPS stopped by to check on him and he was covered in meth, needed bathing and had diaper rash.

I am sure that by now all his clothes have been washed, he has been fed and is being LOVED by Jonny and Jaimee. They have their hands full, but if anyone can handle it, they can. They will need to go car shopping on Saturday so they can get a car big enough to fit them all!!

BTW he is cute!! He looks nothing like Allie - almost looks Asian or like an islander. He has sweet chubby cheeks.

A little background...they had their first little cutie three years ago, and then endured several years of difficult miscarriages. They ended up adopting their little one-year-old Allie just as Jaimee was finally pregnant with their second child. That child was born on December 31, 2009. And now, a new joy has entered their home once again.

As I was reading this, I sat in awe as I contemplated the awesome responsibility they have accepted with this new life in their home. Knowing what it takes to have a newborn, I can not imagine the chaos this might bring. Then my next thought was..."Of course I wouldn't say no, though. I couldn't knowingly leave a baby in that situation. Ever."

I started to wonder if I have what it takes to accept challenges when I know it's going to be really hard. I have been thinking about what I'm made of. I am constantly working on doing what I think is right, but when push comes to shove, sometimes because of fear, insecurities, embarrassment, or even dare I say pride, I back down or step away.

This has given me a lot of reason to pause and reflect on what I need to work on, who I am, and what I have to give to others. I have a lot to work on!

Blast from the Past

As laundry, primary, schoolwork, and housecleaning all wait to be done...I have chosen to slack big time in every department this week. Who knows why. I found myself jumping at every invitation to do something with friends this week, along with every opportunity to take a nap or go to sleep early.

Well...here's another time-waster. Going through old pics and files for fun. I came across these videos that Dave put together years ago. Funny to go back now and relive some of the memories!

This one documented his trip with his Mom to Chau Doc, Vietnam a few months before we got engaged. He was gone for a whole month and missed my birthday and Valentine's Day. It was sad. Well...I was sad. He was living it up in Vietnam. He did come back and realize that he couldn't live without me, and that after only 2 1/2 short years of dating, maybe it was time for us to get engaged.

Here's Dave at the House of Blues in Vegas with our friend Eddie (that we just saw in Austin over the break). That trip was a blast for real.



This last one is just for fun. It's our first anniversary trip we took to Portland, Oregon. We stayed on a floating house in the Columbia River. It was a spectacular weekend, and I noticed something watching it...I'm wearing...THAT SWEATSHIRT. Weird.

Break...the END!!!!

Our last treat in TX was to go and visit with my dear friend Kerstin, who just had her third baby a few weeks before Christmas. I was spoiled with getting to hold Luke the entire time we were there. Makes a person baby hungry!!!! (Notice the sweatshirt? EEEKKK!!!!!)

After the long drive back to TX, we got to stay in AZ for another week before coming home. We thought it would be a fantastic idea to give Wes and Mary's kids some fun Christmas presents. Dave picked out these nasty teeth for Steele. Turns out that Mia is deathly afraid of this look and was panicking. Big time. Now we know for the future I suppose.

On New Year's Eve, we went to the Mesa Temple Lights, and it was the perfect way to end the year. It was beautiful and peaceful, and it was a nice chilly evening that made us grateful again that we are a family.

With all our bags packed to the limit, we headed out of the PHX airport on the 5th to make the long trek back to St. Kitts. Mia was again the best little traveler. She did amazing the whole way. Can't complain one bit.

We overnighted in Miami and decided to stay at the airport hotel this time. I highly recommend that idea. After having to overnight 5 times in the last 3 months previous to this epiphany, not having to shuttle and deal with crappy hotels was awesome. We just came out of the terminal, found the elevator, and zip! We were in our hotel for the night. Quiet, dark, awesome. I was very impressed! I changed Mia's diaper and went to throw it away in the bathroom, came out, and this is how I found her.

Our last night of "free" A/C and maximum chill. It was excellent.
I went down to get us some drinks and the hotel is right next to the American counters. I thought I'd ask one of the ladies what time she thought we should be down in the morning to check in, and she asked where we were going. I said, "We're on the 11:00 flight to St. Kitts." She not-so-nicely-replied, "Well, you better plan on staying in Miami for a few days. Montserrat (an island 65 miles south of us) is erupting and today's flights had major problems and had to come back. They won't fly when there's ash in the air because it does major damage to the planes. And American is not paying for hotels because it's weather related. You better call the 1-800 number and find out what's going on." Well thanks lady for the throw up of information. So after a long night of [me] worrying (Dave was in total chill mode), and a morning of crazy Miami airport shenanigans (including almost-lost Dave backpack with laptop, Nikon camera, video camera, and well, a lot of mu-la-la), I was just hoping that we could get back to St. Kitts.

We were the lucky flight of the week , and we got in with no problems, and no problems with customs.

Just a teeny problem with Dave's wallet getting stolen as we got off the plane, and the old alternator problem with our van that ended up costing us some of that mu-la-la, patience, and sanity. We settled back into reality pretty quick!

Break Part V

Another highlight over the break was heading to Austin for the day to visit our friends the Inukihaangana's. They are a great family with lots of love to give. Dave knows Ed from the music days, and we used to visit them when they lived in Vegas and we lived in AZ. Dave even played at the Hard Rock Cafe with Ed's band right before we got married.

We went to a dog park in downtown Austin and of course the kids attacked every dog they were able to get their hands on.

I found out later that one of the main reasons we came to this park was because they had a statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He was born in Texas and is considered by many to have been a very influential electric guitarist. The boys were excited about it anyway.

Dave insisted on a family picture by the statue.

Break Part IV (Is that the symbol for 4?)

Okay...so I'm kind of done with Christmas/New Years stuff, it's getting boring even to me. I took all these pictures (i.e. over 600) with grand ideas to blog and document for our little family, but waiting over a month to do so is kind of lame.

Now that that's off my chest...onto TEXAS! Taking a two day flying trip to Arizona wasn't enough for us over the break. We thought it would be fun to rent a car and drive 16 hours across the desert. Hey...we've been driving around in circles on a tropical island for 9 months...it sort of sounded sane.

So we piled little Mimi and all of our junk into a REAL rental car (vs. the not-so-real rental cars you get in the Caribbean) and set out for Texas.

I'm kind of anti-movie-for-kids, but I sure turned to it when we had a long drive ahead. We set up the laptop and Mia was set. Seriously. I couldn't believe how amazing she did. We didn't have to stop once, and this road trip turned out to be the highlight of our whole break. It was perfect to sit in our little car so close and just be us, talking and enjoying each other's company.

Our first stop was Sierra Vista, AZ for the night to play cards and listen to Christmas Carols with my grandparents. It was a very memorable evening, and we were very happy that we were able to stop and visit with them.

Then it was on to the next 12 hours of the trip to San Antonio. First order of business? Get all the cousins together and mess my sister Heather's house up!

Then we had to sneak some of Mom's famous apple pie. She actually let us cut into one on Christmas Eve. Couldn't believe it. Never happened before. Probably will never happen again.

(Man, that pie sure looks good right about now...)

We stayed at Shaman and Heather's house, and our Christmas morning was filled with love, lots of surprise goodies from Shaman and Heather, and lots of family. We were really glad that we were able to go home for the holidays.

It was our first Christmas without my brother John. It was wonderful to all be together, but very difficult because his absence was very marked. My sister-in-law Jacqui is wonder woman. I so admire her. I love her dearly.

Yep...you guessed it. Snuggies were received at Christmas. I have never seen two people more happy to get them until I saw the expression on my parent's faces. Snuggies were made for my parents. They both wore them the rest of the week we were there. I can bet you the $5 EC I have in my wallet that they're wearing them this very second.

We got lots of granola bars for Christmas to bring back with us. We don't buy them in St. Kitts. They are like a million dollars a box. Never thought I'd be happy for granola bars at Christmas.

Started to notice a trend as I was looking through my pictures. I wore this black sweatshirt like everyday. I didn't notice I was wearing it everyday over the break. I only noticed it when we got back and I was going through pictures. That's not only gross, but where has my fashion sense gone?

And this is where I gave Dave the "Stop taking pictures of people without makeup on looking nasty (me) at Christmas" look.

The End.

Break Part III

One of the first things we did when we got home was to make sure we brought Mia to a "real playground" type thingy at the mall. She was a little shy at first because we have nothing remotely close to this in St. Kitts, but it didn't take her long to become obsessed with the slide. It also didn't take her long to develop a runny nose and cough from the germ-infested gift of a playground experience we gave to her.

Of course, there is always plenty of Papa time in the backyard at Dave's parent's house. He loves to show her around the garden and have her help him do work!

We spent lots of time walking to Mesa High School to walk Shamoo and let Mia run around. Dave encouraged me to do wind sprints while him and Mimi chilled with Shamoo. It was tempting.

Mia assumed the family workout charge and did some bleachers.

And picked her nose while watching the airplanes fly by.

And there was lots of kissing as we laid in the grass. Did I mention it was the perfect break yet?

Break Part II

Disclaimer: These blogs are gonna stink. I am having problems with my brain or something, and can't figure out how to get these pics in the order I want them to be in. Enjoy!!!

Our first stop was Arizona after an overnight in a crappy Miami hotel. Christmas started right away at Papa and Banoi's house!

Mimi was excited to see cousin Lily and cousin Phyoung...

Mimi wasted no time rushing over to reconnect with Shamoo...

Papa was the one that couldn't wait for Christmas this time. The horses (a.k.a. Christmas presents) came out early for the grandkids this year. I don't think the manufacturers knew kids were going to ride these horses with such vigor...

Dave got to meet his four-month-old neice Lily for the first time...

Mia wasn't as "bouncy" as the boys. She is a lady after all...

Break Part I

Is that a great view or what???!!!!???

Not that we aren't incredibly blessed to be chasing Dave's doctor dreams on a gorgeous island, but plane + us = HOME!!! And there's no place like it. We headed out of the Friday afternoon flight for our much anticipated trip off the island for Christmas and New Years.

Mia decided that she was going to help with the final touches of our trip by modeling.

Then she decided she could be of more help by walking around with her hands in her pockets. I sure can't complain about having to do it all around this house!

Our taxi driver was supposed to be at our house at 1:00 pm to take us to the airport, and in true island style, she was nowhere to be found. At 1:20, Dave started frantically calling all over to try and get a ride or another taxi.

I am the one usually freaking out a little with travel, and he is the more reserved, calm one. This rattled me a little. He was seriously freaking out. He called another taxi driver, (and anyone and everyone in our branch looking for a ride) and wouldn't you know it, as soon as the new taxi driver pulls in, right behind him is the driver that was supposed to be at our house at 1:00. I asked Dave why he was freaking out, and he said it was because he didn't want ANYTHING to prevent us from leaving the island TODAY!!!!! He was just a little ready to get home...

(side note: Wouldn't you know it...we came within nano-inches of a major head-on collision in our taxi on the way to the airport. Good thing it was just nano-inches and not a real accident). Man I love this island....