Shiloh’s Blog

Checkerboard

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 07:49:21 -0800

Aaron took this picture of Moab right after he lost another tooth. He has been losing so many lately and has another loose one. We just had to get a picture of his “checkerboard” teeth as he calls them. It’s hilarious and you should watch him try to eat. Hopefully, his teeth come in quickly so he can eat normally soon.
It’s been the same ole over here with exception of a few highlights. My brother, Judd, and his wife and 2 boys came to visit us over the weekend. We LOVE having people come see us (hint, hint) and had a wonderful weekend with them. We played tons of board games with them and went on base to look at the helicopters, went to The Strip to see the fountains at Bellagio, fed ducks at the Dinosaur park and just had a great time eating and visiting! We went on base at a good time and they were able to see a helo start up, hover, take off and return. Very unusual for a Saturday but very cool. I’ve seen it many times and it never gets old.
I met Moab at the bus stop and it was warm enough today that we walked home. I enjoy walking home with him and getting to chat with him about his day. About half way home, he told me that he got a certificate today for being Student of the Month. He said that he had a substitute bus driver today and that she got lost and so their bus was late. When the principal announced Moab for his award at the beginning of school where they all meet together before class, Moab wasn’t there yet. When Moab finally arrived, he said every one kept telling him he got it. He’s pretty proud of it and so am I! Good job, buddy! I am in the process of looking into different magnet schools in the area and seeing if I can find one that suits him a little better. He is not being challenged and his homework is so boring and lame, most of it busy work. I’m hoping to find something that can tap into his talents.
One more thing in honor of my friend, Cindy; Soon before moving from Okinawa, our branch had a chili cook off. I was in line and trying various chilis and Cindy was in line next to me. I tried one of the anonymous chilis and after tasting it I announced that I really didn’t like it, that it had a weird after taste. Cindy bust out laughing and told me it was her chili! I felt like the biggest jerk and doofus. Still do when I think about it! Anyway, her chili one 1st prize so it was obviously the taster at fault and not the cooker. Last week, the squadron did their first annual chili cook off. I figured I’d make some for it since I hadn’t attended a squadron event in a while. I asked Aaron to get me a bowl of chili and that I didn’t care which kind, to surprise me. He got me a bowl of chili #3. It was alright to me but much too sweet and I told him that. Then I told him in joking that since I didn’t like it, it would probably win 1st place. Guess what, it did. So, I suck at tasting chili. But at least this year I didn’t insult the winner of the cook off. That’s progress.
Here’s some pictures, Happy February!!!! The goofy one of Aaron is a tribute to the type of posing that seems to be in style right now. I guess making dumb faces and pouting out your lips is SO IN right now!

Smile

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:40:30 -0800

Oh, track break, where did you go? I forgot how busy life gets again when school is back in session. I haven’t had a chance to do a blog post for longer than usual and to be honest, we’ve had so much going on that I haven’t even taken pictures. If I did have a camera with me, it wouldn’t be that exciting--pictures of me teaching at Aspen’s school, pictures of me getting killed at boot camp, pictures of the kids at gymnastics, of me helping at Moab’s school, grocery shopping, cleaning my house, making lunches, you get the picture :) What I did do is take a few pictures of things around the house that make me smile. So here is a quick update of our lives in the last few weeks.

3 times a week I go to a boot camp that I paid for at the local gym. For one hour we run, do lunges, push ups, sit ups, sprints, plank, side plank, lift tires, run stairs, pain! And I LOVE it! It’s difficult and it pushes me but I feel so much stronger already. It’s a 6 week course and I’m nearly 3 weeks into it. I can’t say I smile during this, though.

This night light makes me smile. It’s plugged in downstairs near the front door and every time I see it I get a goofy grin. One word that always comes to mind when I see it -- FRAGILE. Thanks to Martin and Kimberly for this awesome gift!

Aspen has inherited the white board that used to be in Moab’s room when he was much younger. I’ve enjoyed the pictures that appear on it from day to day. This is the most recent one of a princess and her wardrobe.

Moab is completely (and sometimes annoyingly!) obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes. He recently made a Transmorgafier (Transmogrufier in the books I believe) and he and Aspen take turns turning each other into different things and acting them out. My personal favorite is the B button: Horn Dog. Makes me smile.

It’s been up for so long I just forget it’s there but it still makes me smile when I see it. Moab’s name plaque he placed on his room door that is constructed of popsicle sticks and medical tape. Below it is a Secret Code you have to enter before being able to go in.

Last and not least; LOST. As of a few months ago, neither Aaron nor I had ever seen an episode of the TV show called Lost. We heard that the last season was airing next month and decided to catch up on all 5 seasons. So, during the last couple months, after the kids go to bed or when we have a free moment we have spent our time watching Lost (thanks to Hulu). A couple days ago we finished the last episode of season 5. Now we are waiting for the series finale that begins February 2nd. We’ll again have to watch it on Hulu since we only get a couple channels. And for the record, if there isn’t already one created, I’d love to start a Hate Kate forum. Her character bugs me beyond all belief. I could go on and on but I won’t. I know hate is a strong word but she’s a fictional character. It’s ok to hate a fictional character, right?! I hope so. Hate Kate! Watching this show with Aaron has been really fun, though, and, you guessed it, makes me smile. Have a great week, we are getting hammered with rain! It’s great!

**I forgot to add that Aspen’s fingernail is growing back! It is not all the way in yet, but so far it looks like it’s growing in normal and smooth. So happy!

2010: Bring it!

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 20:01:41 -0800

Happy New Year!! A lot has happened since Christmas and since it could easily be a novel long blog post, I will do my best to just do quick highlights.

*Hoover Dam Visit* The day after Christmas, we decided to go and see the historic Hoover Dam. About 1/2 the state of Nevada had the same idea and so after 2 hours of awful traffic (should have been a 45 minute trip tops), we finally found a parking spot and did the Dam Tour. It was amazing and if you have a chance to go on the tour, I highly recommend it. What an incredible feat it was and to finish it in such a short span of 5 years. We’ve been here over a year and the local roads around us are STILL under construction. Go figure. You can CLICK HERE to see more pictures from the Hoover Dam.

*Aaron’s 32nd Birthday* On the 29th, we celebrated Aaron’s birthday. I love birthdays and love making cakes and doing what I can to make it special. I got a babysitter around lunch time and Aaron and I went and had lunch then saw Avatar in 3D. I was worried it wouldn’t live up to all the hype but have to say it was pretty dang awesome. It was a fun date. Soon after getting back from the movie, Kimberly (Aaron’s sister) and her family arrived for their visit which brings me to the next highlight:

*Kimberly and Martin’s Visit* They arrived Tuesday evening and we always have a blast when we get together. We take turns going to each other’s house every few months and our kids play so well together. We enjoyed playing Wii, going out to dinner and down town to The Strip to see the new City Center, taking them to see the Pavehawk helicopter on base, heralding in the New Year, board games, and on Friday we took them to Red Rocks and did some hiking around which was so cool.

*Boot Camp Begins* The day our guests had to return home to Utah, my 6 week boot camp started. At 9 a.m. on Saturday, I showed up to get pushed, yelled at and worked to the bone. And I paid to have it done. I am sore but it felt great and I’m so excited for it because I really need something else to mix things up. I’ve plateaued and despite my trips to the gym every week, the numbers on the scale are slowly climbing. The camp is 3 times a week and is going to be killer which is just what I need. I’m hoping that I can tone up and slim down by the end of the course. It would help if I gave up more of the junk food. I’m not horrible but I could be much better.

*New Year, New Calling* I got called in to see the bishop at church this morning and got a little excited as that usually means that you are getting released from a calling (volunteer job at church) and getting a new one. I love my calling of being in the Primary with the little kids but was looking forward to something different. Well, I didn’t get released from my Primary calling but did get a second one which is the liaison for our ward for the Stake Primary Sports Program. The Program is actually pretty cool, they sponsor baseball and soccer leagues for our Stake (combination of church groups in a certain area) and my kids have loved it. So, I’m the “go to” person for our ward when it comes to the Sports stuff in our ward and have a monthly meeting and then anything else that goes along with it which I have yet to find out. It shouldn’t be too time consuming. I hope.

*Back to School* Moab has been on track break since before Thanksgiving and I have LOVED LOVED having that break and having him home. He goes back to school tomorrow morning and I’m so sad! It will be nice to have time freed up but I sure have enjoyed having both kiddos around. Aspen’s school, the homeschooling co-op group I’m in, starts next week and I was asked to be the lead teacher of the Kindergarten group which I finally ended up agreeing to. That, also, shouldn’t be too time consuming. I hope. My other hope is to manage my time more wisely. Wish me luck.

*My Motorcycle* Last but not least, my new favorite past time. I have wanted a scooter or motorcycle for a LONG time and saw how much fun and how practical Aaron’s dual sport was and decided I wanted in on the fun. We looked around, mostly online and then on a whim, decided to look at a motorcycle shop in town after seeing Avatar. There was a dual sport bike there, used, and within our price range (sort of--we haggled and got what we wanted) and most importantly, I could touch the ground when sitting on the bike. We ended up purchasing it and that first night we had it home, Aaron told me the basics and then I gave it a spin. It is AWESOME!!! I love riding it and I totally suck but am getting better each time. I will practice as often as I can, eventually get my motorcycle endorsement and then I would like to start riding it off road when I feel ready. It is such a blast, and although I love riding with Aaron on his bike, I much prefer having my own :) I took a picture of the bike and a picture of me riding it will come soon. I told Aaron I needed him to take one of me riding it. It’s a Suzuki DR 200. YES!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy Christmas!!!

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:23:43 -0800

What an awesome Christmas we had! Each year, we have tried to simplify Christmas a little each more and some years it ends up being more complex than we had originally planned. This year, however, was pretty much perfect. I enjoyed this Christmas so much. It was so simple this year and yet I feel that I found more enjoyment out of it. Aaron and I agreed that this year we would not be purchasing gifts for each other, that we would be making our gifts. The kids thought it was so cool as they watched each of us make our gifts for each other in secret and then asked if I was making their gifts as well. So I decided that I’d make their gifts, too. On Christmas Eve, I didn’t wear myself out with a fancy dinner. I made my yummy dinner rolls, put in a Christmas ham, and served salad. I did make a pumpkin pie. But that was it. And it was delicious. It’s our tradition to let the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve (a tradition from both our sides of family) and each year we have them open up new pajamas (a tradition from Aaron’s side of the family). We lit our cheesy gas fireplace and did the Christmas story and sang hymns. It was laid back and mellow and I loved it. The kids were soooooooo excited this year and it’s such a fun age right now. The last thing the kids did was to set out milk and cookies. They were eager to go to bed so that Santa would arrive that much sooner. Aaron and I stayed up late watching a movie after which Santa arrived and put out the gifts. Christmas morning came and at 7 a.m. we headed downstairs. We did stockings first and then the opening began. Santa brought Aspen a dollhouse and brought Moab Luminator Skechers and a big stuffed Hobbes. I made the kids matching scarves and beanies and I made a fatty cool scarf for Aaron as well as a hemp bracelet. Aaron spent a lot of time on the gift he made me and I could tell by the wrapping it was something framed but that’s all I knew. Well, I opened the gift and he did good because I totally bawled! He gave me a charcoal drawing that he did himself of Mt. Fuji. Right after climbing Fuji, I had wanted to get a picture of it but just never got around to it and had pretty much forgotten about it. But, he had remembered and it meant so much and is so much better than any print or painting I could have found. It is perfect. I loved doing homemade gifts this year and keeping it more simple and am going to try to keep it that way every year. What a beautiful time of the year! I love getting all the Christmas cards from dear friends and family this time of the year, too. I hope your Christmas was magical as well! And Santa brought me a new Pocket Edward so the adventures can resume.

One thing I had to announce because it’s a big deal for us is that we finally made the big step of paying for the land we wanted in Washington. We bought 2 acres there and are super excited! There’s a lot of work to be done and a tight budget to stick to, but we are so stoked to work toward our goal and make our dreams come true! Happy New Year!!

P.S. Aspen’s finger is healing up nicely. Still no sign of a fingernail but the rest of it is healing up great!

Star Birthday

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:45:19 -0800

Some people call it a “golden” birthday. It’s when the age you turn and the day of the month are the same number and, of course, only happens once in your lifetime. So, Moab turned 7 years old on the 7th of December this year. His “Star” birthday. Aspen’s was when she turned 1 so she sort of got gypped and mine was when I turned 22 and Aaron was off doing some Air Force something. Aaron’s star birthday was when he turned 29 and he was deployed for his. So, this star birthday was exciting for us because it’s the first one that we’ve been around to celebrate and Moab was old enough to get excited. He was excited for his birthday for months before it came and the last month was almost torture for him. It finally came around and we let him open his presents and have cake in the morning since Aaron had to go to work. His gift from us was a new red bike since he’d grown out of his old blue one from back in Japan. He was thrilled and hopped on it right away and rode around. He wanted a “Hotwheels” cake and so I made a race track cake and put a few Hotwheel cars on it. I found some star candles and used those. It turned out cute and was also tasty; a bonus. Moab also has been begging to go to Chuck E Cheese for a while (Aspen calls it Chunky Cheese’s). We’d never taken him there and I did take him there once when he was a toddler but he doesn’t remember it. When Aaron got home from work, we drove to Chunky’s and with coupon in hand, got 100 tokens and played games until we ran out. We got a ton of tickets and were able to purchase random cheap crap that is made in China but the kids were thrilled! Moab had seen ads for Chuck E Cheese and saw that you could get a birthday package that included a birthday medallion. He didn’t care about anything but that medallion. I wasn’t sure if we could get him one since we weren’t going to buy the birthday package, but I talked to someone there and they made his birthday wishes come true by letting us purchase the medallion alone. He also got a special birthday star sticker and visit from Chuck E. He had a really great birthday and I’m still reeling over the fact that my baby is 7. Hmmmmmm.

I was going to do a separate post for other stuff but I know that is not a realistic goal and I’ll never get to it. So, I apologize for the length but here’s part 2 of the blog--Aspen’s Finger Drama. Friday night, we went to our ward Christmas party. It was a fun time, a nice dinner and dancing and then a visit from Santa. There were tons of kids running around ( I mean, hello, it’s a Mormon party, hee hee) and Moab and Aspen were off running around. Aspen couldn’t find Moab and came to get my help to find him. She said that kids were hiding in a certain room. She went to open the door and the kids on the other side saw someone coming in and slammed the door shut. Right on her right pinky finger. When she screamed out, I just knew it was more than a sore finger. I looked at her finger but it was pretty bloody so I couldn’t see the damage but had a feeling it was serious. By the time I found Aaron, I had blood dripping down my hand and arm where I was holding her finger. Luckily, there is a nurse in our ward and I tracked her down so she could look at it. She did and recommended a trip to the ER. Just as this was happening, Santa came out and Moab was so upset that we’d have to go to the hospital instead of sit on Santa’s lap. We asked our friends if they would take care of him while we were at the hospital and I was so thankful they said yes. Aaron and I rushed her off to the base hospital and started our long stay there. They did an X-ray and then took her back to look at it. Her finger looked really funky and I couldn’t tell what the white that was showing was. It looked almost bone white but it wasn’t the bone. Well, it was her entire nail. Now, if you are squeamish you may want to be careful because I will explain what they had to do. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stay in the room but I found myself so intrigued by it and I watched the whole procedure. The first thing they had to do was the worst of it for Aspen. They had to give her pinky a shot to numb it and so that shot of pain killer was pretty harsh. But Aspen was so tough and I was so proud of her. Then, they had to remove the entire fingernail and try to repair the nail bed and sew up the skin. Her finger was split across the nail bed so the doc had to use sutures for the nail bed and then use more for the side of the finger where the cut was the worst. She was struggling with the sutures and I asked her what was happening and her words were “it’s like hamburger. I’m finding it difficult to find good tissue to stitch together.” Yuk. But, she was able to finally get the stitches to stay and then they bandaged it up. Aspen fell asleep for the last part of it and was just exhausted. I was so thankful Aaron was there to help and he was so good with Aspen. He would joke with her and talk with her and try to keep her mind off of it. The doc looked at the X-ray and didn’t see anything obvious but since there was no one on call to read the X-ray, I got a referral to Orthopedics. Her appointment is tomorrow morning (Wednesday). Her bone is probably ok, but no one knew for 100% sure and I just want to know it’s ok, that there’s no fractures or anything. Her finger is starting to heal nicely and she is on an antibiotic so it won’t get infected. I take her in Friday to get the stitches out. I’m so glad it wasn’t worse and I have to say that the room full of kids that slammed the door now fear me and I don’t blame them. I was pretty upset and gave then all an earful and then some. Grrrrr. I am going to post a picture of her finger before they worked on it so you may not want to look at it. I’ll put it at the very bottom of the page so you aren’t forced to look at it :) Just scroll fast, people! What you will see is on the right side the deep gash where the stitches went and the whitish thing is her entire nail, even the stuff that is supposed to be hidden under the skin. The skin isn’t really there anymore so you just see her extended nail. I’m not going to lie, it’s disgusting but I also find this kind of thing interesting and couldn’t help but to take a picture. I’ll do another picture after it is more healed. We could use your prayers that it will heal fine and she’ll have a beautiful, normal fingernail to paint again.