Our Thanksgiving and Weekend

Thanksgiving has come and gone so very quickly, I cannot believe it. We were suppose to be having Thanksgiving with my Dad and Kel this year, however, that did not work out as he had just returned home from the hospital. Luckily, Bri's folks were having the family at their house and had invited us to join them. So, we went there on T-Day, Bri's grandparents, Aunt Denise, Aunt Dorrie, Mom and Steve, and Pat and Kay were there. It was a nice feast. Everyone did a grand job making their dishes. Steve and I ran dinner over to Andy and Jaime, so I got to hold and see cute little Kash. Unfortunately, I did not remember that I had my camera and did not get any pictures of T-Day. :(

After dinner, we cleaned up and got ready to come home. I had looked through the ads and found that since most of my shopping was done, I only really needed to hit the Wal-Mart before bed. So, I left the house at 11:15, met up with Mom, Lindsey and her sister-in-law Kristie. I was able to score the Disney PJ's and a couple other deals, which put me in a great place for Christmas. After checking out, I hugged the others and went on my way, they were hitting other stores. The next morning after dropping Bri off at work and catching a few more zzz's, the kids and I went to Macy's so they could do their Christmas shopping for Bri. A stop at a couple more stores and then my shopping for the kids and Bri was all done. YES!! Actually, I only have a handful of gifts to get. Later, Neeners and grandpa Garry had the kids sleepover, so Bri and I got another date in. We had dinner at Skybox which was fun and then did some shopping at Kohl's.

Saturday, both Bri and I had to work, so we didn't get much done until the evening. I cooked the turkey I had purchased and we had dinner. We got my nativities set up, the tree up, and the lights up. Sunday, we decorated the tree and the kids had a ball. Especially when they came out and there was a bunch of presents wrapped already. Now Colin keeps checking that Santa is still coming and that we are going to leave the tree up. I reassure him that the tree is up for a month.

Grateful!

This past weekend, my dad called and stated that he was going into the hospital on Monday for pancreatitis and would not be out for the holiday. He said that he was going to be receiving antibiotics and no food, so the hospital staff were going to be keeping an eye on him.
Well, yesterday came and dad went thru the ER to be admitted. It was soon discovered that his pancreas was fine, but that his heart was not. They weren't sure what was going on and scheduled an angiogram for today. Having a great family, Dustin called into work and told them what was going on, then came over to my house with Carter and watched all 3 kiddos, so I could go up to the hospital to be with my dad.
While, we waited for dad to go back, he was joking and having a good time even though, you could tell he was nervous. They took him back and about an hour later, we found out dad had 2 blocked arteries. One being blocked 90% and the other 95%, and they were blocked so bad, the doctors had to put stents into both arteries. However, the good news is, there was no dead tissue in his heart, he had not yet had a heart attack and his heart is strong.
Dad came out of the procedure laughing, with the weight of the world off his shoulders. I am so grateful tonight as we approach the holiday season for all of my blessing, but especially that Heavenly Father was looking over my dad and that he has not had a heart attack. I am so grateful he will return home tomorrow and have a small recovery instead of a large one. I am grateful he is my dad.

Home Improvement - Part Deux

So, yesterday was day 3 of our supposed 3 hour task. The water was turned off at 11 AM and it took about 1 hour for the pipes to drain. We started the task of changing out the valves under the sink. Even though this was tough to get them to start turning, once they did it was a quick fix. I think it probably took 35 minutes to replace both. I felt, like finally something is going our way. That all changed within a matter of minutes.

We moved the new dishwasher over to the cabinet to start putting it in and guess what?? It didn't fit, can you even imagine that. So, feeling very frustrated we had 2 options, tear out the counter tops, something that I really don't want to do OR rip up some of our slate, something else I did not want to do, but seemed like the lesser of 2 evils. At this point I was in tears, as I was so frustrated this was suppose to be an easy fix and it was turning out to be a nightmare. So, Bri went to work ripping out the tile.

We finally got 2 pieces out and it still would not fit, we had to rip off the molding around the cabinet. Finally, we could see the dishwasher actually fitting into the space. Bri and I tried, it didn't go well, to put the dishwasher in the space. Finally, Bri called Gar and asked him if he would help out. He stated it would have to wait a little while, but he would be over after work and an errand. So, about 6 PM Gar showed up and Bri, he and I were able to get in the space and then they were able to hook up the water, electricity, and waste. At about 8:40 PM the dishwasher was FINALLY installed. HALLELUJAH!!! The first and last dishwasher that I will take part in installing.

Before:

After:

Home Improvement

When you are the mother of 2 small children and watch another small child, you rely heavily on the dishwasher to get your dishes clean, leaving you with more time to take care of other matters. Now, our dishwasher that came with our home has never been a fabulous dishwasher, but it go the job done, that is until recently. We would pull the dishes out and question whether or not they had been washed. So, we decided it was time to buy a new dishwasher.

Last night, we dropped the kiddos off at Neeners and Grandpa's, headed for Lowe's to see if we could find something in the budget and that would get the dishes clean. Well, it didn't take long for us to find one that would suit out needs and budget. Brian and I decided we did not want to wait until Saturday for the home delivery option and so we brought it home last night in the Pilot.

We decided to get the dishwasher replaced while the kids sleep, so after putting them to bed we attacked the old dishwasher. Now, this should the easy part to disconnect the old one that is going into the trash right? WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! First of all, the people that owned this before us laid slate in the kitchen, which caused major issues to just be able to pull the washer out. But after many swear words on Bri's part, we did prevail and got that blasted washer out of the wall. Secondly, it should be easy to turn off the water to the sink and washer, since the valves are right under the sink, BUT when the valve is not working correctly any more, it too is not an easy fix. OK, we decide no big deal, we can wait til morning when we call the maintenance crew and ask them to turn off the water in our building while we make the small repairs. HA! HA! No, no you see when you live in a 50+ year old former apartment complex turned condos, the water shut off is not in each building, but for the entire complex. Needless to say we have to wait until tomorrow so everyone has enough warning that the water is being shut off. SO, with me having the biggest kitchen in the world, the dishwasher pulled out and the contents from under the sink out, my kitchen is officially out of order. So, it looks like take out for dinner tonight.

Maybe...Maybe Not

Yesterday, Bri asked me how long we should wait til we put Audra in the toddler bed. I told him I wasn't sure, but I felt she was not ready. He stated that he felt she was and that it would help her feel more independent. So, after church Brian says "I have been waiting for you guys, so Coly can help me change Lou's bed." Coly changed out of his church clothes and was soon helping Bri. Lou seemed very excited about having something going on with her bed, but I am not sure she know what until she could climb in and out on her own. I told Bri again, I am n0t so sure. He states "It's about the same time we did it for Coly." I told him "I understand, we did change Colin's bed, around the same time, but this is Lou. She is not as mellow as Colin." He says "She will do good."
Fast forward to bed time, Audra climbs into her bed and seems happy as can be. Tuck the kids in and start getting things done in the kitchen. When I hear a Lynnie Lou, Bri gets her tucks her back into bed. Few minutes later, same thing. Less then 5 minutes later, I hear her laughing and being happy, I look only to find her with her Luvs (security blanket) sitting in the hall. (It was quite cute.) Bri says "Okay, well this is not going to work." Flips the lights on in the room and turns the toddler bed back into a crib. Needless to say, Lou can no longer escape and I am waiting for the words "you were right, honey..."

Kash

Remember my post about Bri's bro Andy??? Well, on Tuesday morning his wife had their baby. Kash Andrew Thomas was born on 11.9.10, after an emergency C-section. He weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, and stretched out to 21 inches. I am happy to report that both Jamie (mom) and Kash are doing well. They were released from the hospital yesterday. Bri and I were able to see the baby on Thursday night at the hospital and we even got to hold him for a minute. Welcome to the family Kash!

US Marshall

As many of you know about Elizabeth Smart and the kidnapping that took place many moons ago. The man accused of the kidnapping is Brian David Mitchell.

Well, many of you don't know about Andy, Bri's step brother. He has been a public servant since I can remember. He started out at the Sherriffs Office in the County Jail. He worked his way up to a police officer for the Sherriff's Department. He then worked very hard to become a member of SWAT. Recently, he accepted a job with the US Marshalls. In fact, he just returned from training in Georgia on October 17. So, how cool is it that he is actually the escort for Brian David Mitchell, such a high priority case. We were so happy for him and little surprised to see him so much on the news and in the paper.